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Jack and Sam were throwing a party.
Daniel still wasn’t entirely sure what the occasion was - it wasn’t anyone’s birthday or anniversary as far as he could remember - but Jack had said he was providing the booze and Sam was handling the grill, and Daniel wasn’t one to turn down a free steak.
Especially when Sam was cooking, as it meant his steak wouldn’t be charred to a crisp on the outside.
He’d asked if he’d needed to bring anything, and while Jack had told him no, Sam had quietly asked if he could take care of dessert, which was the only reason he was running a few minutes behind, because he’d stopped at the little bakery not far from Jack and Sam’s place that he knew they loved.
The bakery had been out of tiramisu, but Daniel didn’t think either of the hosts would mind if he was a few minutes late because he was getting freshly made cannolis instead.
When he arrived, he wasn’t surprised to find the front door open - he was convinced Jack didn’t actually know how a lock worked - and he let himself inside with a loud “Hellloooo! Anybody home?”
“Daniel Jackson,” Teal’c rumbled from what sounded like the kitchen, and Daniel quickly headed in that direction to find the Jaffa standing there watching with a hint of amusement as Jack fiddled with something on the griddle attached to the stove.
“Sorry I’m late,” he started as he carefully slid the bakery box down on an open spot on the kitchen counter. “I was picking up dessert.”
“You didn’t have to do that, Daniel,” Jack replied, looking over his shoulder. “I told you we had it covered.”
“Yes, well, I always try not to come to a party empty handed,” Daniel chuckled. “Besides, I’ve never heard you complain about cannolis.”
“...are they from-”
“Yes, Jack, they’re from Kaminski’s.”
“Excellent. I suppose we’ll keep you after all.”
Daniel snorted at that. “Where’s Sam?”
“Samantha is manning the grill,” Teal’c answered. “I was going to take my leave of O’Neill to go check on her progress when you arrived.”
“I’ll go say hello, then. You… stay here and make sure Jack doesn’t burn the asparagus.”
“Hey! That was one time!”
Daniel snorted again but didn’t respond, instead making his way back out of the kitchen and through the living room to the open door that led to Sam and Jack’s back porch.
Sam, as Teal’c had stated, was manning the grill, checking the internal temperatures of the steaks she was cooking as Daniel moved closer.
“Hey!”
“Daniel!” She beamed up at him, accepting his side hug and giving him a quick kiss to the cheek before returning to the task at hand. “I’m glad you made it!”
“I was picking up some cannolis from Kaminsky’s.”
“Thank you for that,” Sam grinned at him again. “I wasn’t sure what to get, and Jack was insisting we didn’t need anything, but I was really craving something sweet.”
“Happy to oblige.” Daniel spared a glance back towards the house where he could see Teal’c holding out a plate towards Jack, clearly trying to get the other man to take the asparagus off the heat before it was overcooked. “Is it just the four of us tonight, or…?”
“It is,” Sam replied as she flipped the steaks, checking the grill marks again. “We thought it would be nice to just have the original SG1 here. Like our old team nights.”
“Well… not entirely like our old team nights,” Daniel teased. “You don’t have to give us the excuse that you’re going to stay and help clean up anymore because you want a few minutes alone with Jack.”
Sam blushed at the teasing, but didn’t deny it, instead choosing to tease him right back. “And yet, we still have to put you up in the spare room these days when you’ve had too much to drink.”
“Oh, so that is the reason the two of you went for the two bedroom when house shopping. I knew it!”
“Well, one of the reasons…”
But before Daniel could ask what she meant, Teal’c had come out to announce that the rest of their dinner was nearly ready. “O’Neill is wondering how much longer the steaks have to cook.”
“They’re done,” Sam announced. “They’ll just need a few minutes to rest once we get them inside. Can one of you help me get them in there?”
Daniel volunteered and Teal’c returned inside to pass along the message.
Soon enough, the four of them were sitting down to eat, their conversation naturally flowing from the latest gossip at the SGC to recent missions to Daniel’s ongoing thing with Vala and back around again.
When it came time for dessert, though, Jack and Sam shared a look that Daniel couldn’t quite read. Clearly they were having their own conversation in that weird quiet way that they’d perfected back when she was still a Captain, but Daniel figured whatever it was, it would come to light soon enough.
And boy was he right on that front.
As Jack returned from the kitchen with the cannolis, he also brought with him the bottle of wine they’d been drinking, though Daniel noticed he only topped off his own glass and Daniel’s. Sam was still slowly nursing the one glass she’d started dinner with, and of course Teal’c wasn’t drinking.
“So,” Jack started as he reclaimed his seat next to Sam and rested his arm across the back of her chair. “The two of you might be wondering why we invited you over tonight.”
“Indeed,” Teal’c agreed just before Daniel followed up with, “It had crossed my mind, yes.”
“We… have some news,” Sam replied with a small grin before turning to meet Jack’s gaze.
Daniel could honestly say he’d never seen Jack look so soft before in all the years he’d known the man, but there was absolutely no other way to describe the way he was suddenly looking at Sam.
“For starters-” Jack finally continued, his eyes not yet leaving his wife. “-I’m retiring.”
“What? Really?” Daniel asked, sparing a glance over at Teal’c who had an eyebrow raised in intrigue. “That seems… Sort of out of nowhere.”
“Well, I figured it was time to start being home more,” Jack answered, finally pulling his eyes away from Sam to meet Daniel’s. “Some things are changing, and I want to be here for them.”
“What sorts of things O’Neill?” Came Teal’c’s rumbling response.
“Lemme put it this way,” Jack chuckled. “How do the two of you feel about being godfathers?”
Daniel blinked. “What do you mean godfathers? Like head of a mob family, or…?”
Sam let out a very unladylike snort at that, and Jack was staring at him in confused amusement. “You’ve had one and a half glasses of wine, Daniel. Please tell me you aren’t already too drunk to understand what I just said.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “It’s a simple question, Jack. I mean, what other context for a godfather is the-” his eyes suddenly went wide as he realized. “-Oh. Oh!”
“Now he’s got it,” Sam giggled.
“I would be honored, O’Neills,” Teal’c answered with a bow of his head.
“Wait wait wait wait wait- Sam, you’re… You’re pregnant? Like… Really pregnant?”
“Really really,” she giggled again, leaning a bit more into Jack’s side and sighing contentedly as he dropped a kiss to the top of her head.
“I didn’t even know you two were trying!”
Sam lifted one of her hands to rest over her abdomen, her bump barely perceptible through the thicker material of the sweater she was wearing, her eyes a little watery all of a sudden. “We… wanted to be sure it stuck before we said anything to you guys.”
Daniel and Teal’c shared a mutual frown at that, though Daniel was still the first to ask, “Ho-how long have you been trying?”
“Little over a year and a half,” Jack quietly answered before dropping a kiss to Sam’s temple.
“There were some complications,” Sam continued as she reached over with her free hand to rest it on Jack’s knee. “Between my age and Jolinar and then just everything else my body’s been through over the last several years, but… I’m good. We’re good.” She drummed her fingers idly against her stomach to emphasize her point.
“How far along are you in your pregnancy, Samantha?” Teal’c asked.
“Twenty weeks as of yesterday.”
Daniel gaped. “You’re already halfway there?!”
Sam giggled again. “We go next week for the anatomy scan, but so far all of the regular sonograms have been positive.”
“Are you going to find out what you’re having?”
Jack and Sam both shook their heads before Sam answered. “We only care that it’s healthy. The rest is semantics.”
“I am elated for you both,” Teal’c replied with a warm grin and another bow of his head.
“Me, too!” Daniel followed up. “And yes, by the way, to your question!”
“Excellent,” Jack replied with a chuckle. “Because we’re going to be converting the spare bedroom into the nursery this weekend, and we’ll need the two of you to help with putting the furniture together.”
“Hey, now, that’s not-” Daniel started to half-heartedly protest.
“Please, Daniel?” Sam cut him off, her eyes all wide and pleading as she took her hand off Jack’s knee to reach across the table and rest her hand over his. “Jack’s going to need help lifting everything out of his truck, and I can’t anymore.”
Daniel narrowed his eyes playfully at her. “Oh, sure, appeal to my sense of honor.”
“My knees and back thank you in advance,” Jack chuckled again. “Besides, we’ll feed you again.”
“You know what we could do-” Daniel’s tone was thoughtful as he glanced around at his three best friends. “-is we could ask Cam to come over and get him to do it.”
Teal’c arched an eyebrow at that. “Colonel Mitchell was telling us just the other day about his recent interest in IKEA.”
“Well you two have turned diabolical in your old age,” Jack snorted before taking a sip of his wine. “I don’t know if I’ve ever been prouder.”
Sam playfully thumped him on the chest with the back of her hand. “If you invite Cam, I’m hiding my good tools. He’ll have to suffer with the allen wrench.”
“That’s my girl,” Jack beamed as he planted another kiss to the top of her head.
“When are you going to tell Vala?” Daniel asked.
“Saturday. I’m taking her out shopping and was planning on surprising her by telling her I need to get maternity clothes.”
“So, you’re telling me I need to take her credit cards away from her before she buys out all of Amazon shopping for baby clothes?”
Sam giggled at that, and Jack looked mildly terrified at the thought.
The four of them continued sitting around chatting for another hour or so before the sky started to darken and Daniel and Teal’c announced they were going to head out, both of them congratulating the couple again before leaving them alone.
Sam was rinsing the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher while Jack scrubbed down the grill and she was almost finished when she heard him come up behind her, a soft, happy sigh escaping her as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and pulled her back into his embrace.
“That went well,” he murmured against her neck before placing a tender kiss to the space just below her ear.
“Told you it would,” Sam cooed as she rested her hands over his where they’d settled against her belly.
“I was worried they’d be more put out about how long it took us to tell them.”
“I think they read between the lines when I mentioned complications.”
“Probably.” He gently spun her around in his hold, one of his hands drifting up to cup her cheek before he leaned in to press a kiss to her lips. “But I’m glad they didn’t ask more questions.”
Sam nodded at that. “I-I would’ve been okay telling them if they had, but… Yeah, I’m glad they didn’t push, too.”
“Hey-” he pressed a kiss to her forehead as his hold on her tightened a hint, having clearly taken note of the tears trying to gather in her eyes again. “-we’re here now, and you’re healthy, and our kid is healthy, and that’s what matters.”
She gave him a small grin, nodding again in agreement before she moved the rest of the way into his hold and tucked her head up under his chin. “I know. And in case I haven’t said it recently, I love you, and I’m glad it was you here with me through all of it. I-I couldn’t’ve done it without you.”
He started gently rubbing her back at that, his tone thoughtful as he replied, “Well, it does take two to tango, Samantha.”
She giggled, which was exactly the reaction he’d been going for. “I lucked out when it came to dance partners, then.” She pulled back to peer up at him again. “Because no one dances with me better than you, Jack.”
His hold tightened on her again. “Oh, that was smooth.”
“Yeah?”
“Oh, yes. Keep flirting with me like that, Samantha O’Neill, and I may have to take you up on your offer.”
“Perish the thought, Jack Carter.”
“Oh, now you’re just asking for a kiss, aren’t you?”
“Always…”
And honestly, how could Jack deny her?