One last hurrah before I devote myself to my grandson, who arrived yesterday!

This is the next story in my series that includes Lunch at the Pentagon and Picnic at the Zoo. I just kind of jumped in where Zoo left off, so it won't make much sense if you haven't read that one at least.

Medical disclaimer once again! Do not take anything medical that I say seriously! I try but I know nothing!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

DINNER IN ATLANTIS

~nearly seven weeks into Sam's stay in Atlantis

It was 08.45 according to the infirmary clock. Dr. Jennifer Keller looked up at the knock on her open office door and smiled at her visitor. "Come in, Colonel Carter." Jennifer had gotten to know Carter fairly well in the weeks that the colonel had been in command of Atlantis. The doctor had quickly discovered that Carter was a workaholic, and was not inclined to socialize; however in order to get to know the people of her new command quickly, she had established a routine of spending several hours a week in the places where Atlantis' crew passed their downtime—recreation rooms, officers' lounge, etc. The two women had discovered they had things in common and formed a quick friendship, often eating meals together. The doctor was greatly impressed with the dedication Sam showed toward her new assignment.

Sam stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. "Do you have a minute, Jennifer?"

"Yes, of course. Sit down." Jennifer closed the laptop she'd been working on and set it aside. "How can I help you?"

Sam sat down in the chair across from the doctor. "I would like you to examine me."

"Are you feeling ill, Colonel?" Keller asked, instantly concerned.

"Oh, no. I feel fine."

"Then, why...?" she let the question hang.

Sam drew a breath before continuing. "I want to find out if I can... have a healthy pregnancy, and a healthy baby."

The statement was totally unexpected, and Keller was speechless for a moment. "Do you think you're pregnant, Sam?" she asked finally.

Carter could not hold back a grin. "Yes. I believe I am."

"I see." Jennifer responded with a smile of her own. "We can find out very quickly if you're correct."

Sam's expression sobered. "I need to know what the risks are, Jennifer. I need you to check everything."

Keller nodded. "I understand. But first let's confirm that you are pregnant," she said calmly. "Do you have a few minutes?"

"I'm free for the next two hours."

"Then let's get started."

Keller rose and Sam followed suit.

Twenty minutes later, Jennifer drew a sheet over Sam's lower body, and pulled off the exam gloves she was wearing. "You are definitely pregnant, Sam."

Joy and apprehension warred on Sam's face. She'd been fairly certain, but knew there was a possibility she was mistaken until she had confirmation from the doctor. Now she was feeling the excitement of that confirmation, as well as the fears that had been lurking in the back of her mind since she first suspected her condition. So many things that might complicate this pregnancy...

"How far along?" she asked.

"I'd say seven weeks or so. I'll do an ultrasound to confirm that."

Sam bit her lip. "I need you to talk to me about the risks."

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to do the ultrasound first?"

"I need to know as much as I can," Sam said anxiously.

"All right," Jennifer said. "How old are you, Colonel?"

"I'm forty-one."

"Well, as I'm sure you know, there are some risks because of your age. Certain birth defects are more likely to occur. The risk of miscarriage in the first three months is also higher. But actually most of those happen in the first few weeks and would have already happened by now. So at this point the actual numbers are still low, despite the increase." Jennifer regarded Sam sympathetically. "I know what you're most worried about—the naquadah in your blood and the protein marker that Jolinar left."

"Yes."

"Unfortunately, those are the hardest to predict. We have no way to test the effects of naquadah on pregnancy, since no one has had it before. The marker appears to be harmless—merely a genetic flag—but again with no prior experience, I can't guarantee anything."

Sam nodded. "I understand that. But you can test to see if there's been any effect on me."

"Yes. And we can make sure that all of your systems are functioning normally, and that there's nothing structurally wrong. But are you sure you wouldn't rather return to the SGC for that? Dr. Lam is much more familiar with your history than I am..."

"No." Sam shook her head. "You have all my records—you can do all the tests. Plus you have the Atlantis technology. It may tell us more than the SGC infirmary can."

Jennifer nodded slowly. "That's probably true."

"Also, it would be too obvious that something was going on if I show up back on earth for medical tests. Caroline would have to ground me because it's policy that pregnant women don't go through the gate. I'd be stuck there."

"I hadn't thought of that," Jennifer admitted. "Umm... you realize that you're off the mission roster here, also?"

"Yeah, I do," Sam agreed ruefully.

"All right, we'll do the tests here."

"How long will it take?"

"The testing itself will only take a few hours. The results in some cases may not be ready for a couple of weeks. When are you available?"

"I have a meeting at 1100, but I'm free this afternoon. And I can be free tomorrow—I planned to spend the day on paperwork in my office."

"Today and tomorrow is plenty of time. I'll draw blood and do the preliminary today, and tomorrow morning we'll do scans and an ultrasound. Can you be back here at 1400?"

"Yes. That's fine." Sam smiled. "Thank you, Jennifer."

Sam spent two hours in the infirmary that afternoon, and returned the next morning for more tests.

jsjsjsjs

It was three days later when Jennifer called Sam to her office.

"I did comparisons of your current scans and tests with those from before Jolinar to see if there were any detectible differences," the doctor said. "I didn't find anything that couldn't be attributed to the passage of time or some other change that's happened in those eleven years. As far as I can tell, the only effect has been the presence of naquadah in your blood, and we know that hasn't caused you any direct harm. It does make you more resistant to certain medications, especially anesthesia."

"Are you saying that the naquadah and protein marker don't present any risk for the pregnancy?"

"No, I can't say that. There's no way I can know that for sure, Sam. But there's been no adverse effects on you that can be traced to either abnormality. Your scans all came back good. There's no structural reason why you can't carry a child to term. However, there are still test results that won't be back for a few more days. We need to wait for those in order to have the most complete picture we can get."

Sam nodded. "All right."

"Also, your baby is healthy. He has none of the markers for genetic conditions that we test for in older patients..."

"He?" Sam interrupted, grinning. "The baby's a boy?"

Jennifer smiled. "Yes. Sorry. I was getting to that. Yes—your baby is a boy."

Sam's smile widened and her eyes sparkled. "That's great," she said softly. "That's great..." Of course, she'd have felt the same way if Jennifer had told her it was a girl!

"You were right about the Atlantis technology giving us added information. We were able to check for a lot of things earlier than we can with earth facilities. The genetic tests I mentioned, for example. I'll call you as soon as the other tests come back."

"Thank you." Sam started to rise.

"There's one more thing, Colonel."

"Yes?"

"Your baby is carrying the Ancient gene."

sjsjsjsj

"I know you're frustrated, Jack," Daniel said. "I understand that. But don't start doubting that Sam loves you! Not for one minute does she want out of your relationship—I'd stake my life on that. She's running Atlantis! That takes a lot of her attention."

"I know, Daniel. I know." Jack ran a hand through his already rumpled hair and reached for his beer. Sam had been gone eight weeks—eight weeks that felt like eight months! The two men were sitting in the living room of Jack's Alexandria row house, waiting for the dinner they had called out for half an hour ago. "But I feel like something's wrong—something she's not telling me. The last couple of flash thingies she's sent just aren't normal. They're a lot shorter—and she seems like she's in rush..."

Jack and Sam had been exchanging encrypted flash drives, with personal messages, just about every week since she had been in Atlantis. Each time the wormhole between Earth and Atlantis opened, they would send through the little portable drives, to be delivered by the person traveling through the gate.

"She's got a big job, Jack," Daniel repeated. "It's only going to be about six more weeks, anyway. Right?"

"That's the original timeline. Yes." Jack nodded.

"Has the IOA made any progress picking Dr. Weir's permanent replacement yet? It's been six weeks since she turned in her resignation."

"They haven't let Homeworld know it if they have. They're still resisting the idea of a military leader—even though the best candidates are military." Jack picked at the label on his bottle. He refused to voice his biggest fear—that the IOA would offer the job to Carter, who was undoubtedly the best choice, despite being Air Force. The thought made his gut clench, and he downed a long swallow of his beer. It terrified him that she might accept the position if it were offered. She would almost have to—the pressure on her would be enormous.

"Do you know who's on the list?"

"I've seen it. Sheppard's on there. McKay, believe it or not. Col. Mark Danson, 2IC of the Odyssey Project. He'd be a good choice because he's both Air Force and scientist. And Dr. Francine Michaels."

"The Dr. Michaels who was at the Antarctic research station—the one who found Ayiana?"

"That's her. Afterwards she was head of that project. And more recently head of R and D at Area 51. Does brilliant work. The only drawback is she has no off-world experience."

"Well, we all started somewhere," Daniel commented. "Anyone else on the list?"

"Yeah." Jack didn't say any more.

After a moment, Daniel looked at Jack, and immediately read his expression. "Oh, no. Sam."

"Yeah." Jack finished off his beer.

"And you're afraid they've chosen her and she knows it, and doesn't know how to tell you."

"That's it," Jack confirmed. He got up and headed for the kitchen. Naturally Daniel had said it all in that one sentence—everything that Jack had been trying to avoid thinking about! He grabbed another beer from the fridge, and when he turned around, he discovered Daniel had followed him. "Look, Danny. Can we not talk about Sam right now? I really don't want to."

"I... all right, Jack. I'm sorry. I just can't believe that she..." He broke off when he saw Jack close his eyes in frustration. Mentally Daniel kicked himself. He really didn't believe that Sam would hold something like this back from Jack, and he wanted to convince him of that. At the same time, he didn't want to upset his friend any further.

Just then the doorbell rang. Dinner was here!

"Saved by the bell," Jack muttered, and brushed past Daniel, heading for the door.