What on Earth – Chapter 12

Well here it is, the final instalment. I cannot believe how well received this has been and big thanks needs to go to my beta who has been really unwell for the last wee while. Hope you enjoy and congratulations to the reviewer who had the correct answer – you will work out who you are by the end.

"Unscheduled Activation!" Walter cried through the intercom as the gate sprang to life. Troops ran into the gate room in case of an enemy attack and the alarm went off around the base. The group which had been on the surface were just about to exit the elevator when they heard the alarm. Hank left quickly, followed by Jack, both making their way to the control room. Sam and Vala took it slower but headed for the same destination.

Just as Jack and Hank entered the briefing room, Teal'c and Daniel reached the top of the stairs from the control room.

"General, we think…" Daniel began but was cut off by Carolyn .

"General, we have some unbelievable news." She and Cam entered the room, closely followed by Sam and Vala.

General Landry took charge. "It seems we all have news. Please, let's sit and hear what everyone has to say."

The group sat down around the table. Landry sat at the head of the table. Jack, Sam and Carolyn sat on one side with the baby on the desk in front of her mother. Vala, Daniel, Cam and Teal'c took seats opposite them.

"Dr Jackson, perhaps you can tell us what you discovered in Atlantis," Hank began.

"Well, General, we spoke to Colonel Shepherd, Dr Keller and Dr MacKay. All confirmed that Sam hadn't been on any compromised missions. However, Jennifer did voice her belief that the baby didn't grow at a normal rate. She feels that Sam wasn't pregnant for 40 weeks, but more like 6."

There were a couple of gasps around the room but Carolyn spoke up. "I must say, I did wonder. I thought a doctor as good as Jennifer would've picked up a larger foetus with an external exam and feel of Colonel Carter's stomach."

"That's what she said," Daniel said, nodding towards Carolyn. "Anyway, we then reviewed the missions and activity on Atlantis for the month before the pregnancy was discovered and we came across a small notation about a few odd things that happened to some other personnel."

"The ultimate dreams," Sam whispered.

"You remembered!" Daniel exclaimed.

"I wondered."

"So that would explain it!" Carolyn murmured.

"What?" Hank turned perplexed from Colonel Carter to his daughter. "Ok, Carolyn, what is your news?".

All attention now shifted to the young Doctor. "At Colonel Mitchell's suggestion I ran the baby's DNA against everyone in our system and it gave a remarkable result. The baby's father is General O'Neill."

"WHAT?!" Jack spluttered.

"There's no doubt, Sir. You're the father and Colonel Carter's the mother."

"That makes total sense." Daniel sat back, fully happy about the way things had worked out.

"Daniel, this might make sense to you, but the rest of us are still in the dark," Cam said from the bottom of the table.

"Sam, you want to fill him in?" Daniel asked, looking at both Jack and Sam who, although shocked, looked perfectly content with the new information.

"You go ahead Daniel." Sam responded viewing her daughter in a whole new light and spotting all the signs that she was an O'Neill; the lips, the unruly wispy hair, and the eyes – she should have guessed!

Daniel smiled at her, as if reading her mind and continued to address the group. "Well, the way Colonel Shepherd explained it, there was some kind of accident in a lab, nothing major, but part of the city's infrastructure and computer system was accessed that had never been seen before. No one who'd been in the room was hurt but something strange happened to each of them. One was given an engagement ring in the next supply delivery; another was asked out on a date; while another found herself losing weight, gradually but easily. It appeared that the only person in the room who hadn't been affected was Sam. Only at the meeting on Atlantis we all thought that maybe you had been affected, but until now no one put two and two together."

Sam smiled at him across the table, peeling her eyes from the tiny figure in the seat, then finally spoke. "We translated some of the information from the panel we uncovered. It basically talked about wishes coming true, your ultimate dreams, I never even thought about it." She smiled at Daniel then directed the smile to Jack, the man she loved, and the father of her child, she was so happy she could almost burst!

"And the rest of us know what your dream would be." Daniel smiled back.

"Totally!" Vala added, a huge smile crossing her face, she was unbelievably happy at the news and the answer that Sam had been given.

"So, the baby should be General O'Neill's?" Carolyn asked for confirmation, looking from Daniel to Sam and back again. Both looked at each other and nodded.

"Okay, I really don't understand any of this," Cam said straightening in his chair. "The General" he pointed to Jack, "never left Earth and Sam never came here. How did they… you know...?" He blushed at the innuendo of his question.

This, even after all the other bombshells, did bring silence to the table.

"If I find someone did some kind of weird experiment on me, I am not going to be a happy camper," Jack finally mumbled from behind the baby seat where he was admiring his daughter. His daughter, that was amazing! She was just adorable, her brown wisps of hair were so soft, the skin of her hand he could stroke forever. This was his dream and Sam's and somehow she was here, she was real.

"I don't think they experimented on you, Jack." Sam laughed. "Sir, I think if the city was able to read our thoughts and decide on our dreams it's perfectly conceivable that it could take data from its computers and make a baby."

"Now you've lost me, Sam," Vala said, her pigtails swishing as she lowered her legs from being crossed on the chair to the floor.

Sam looked at her friend and glanced at the others, seeing many were as confused as Vala she tried to explain her thoughts. "Well, the computers on Atlantis are very sophisticated, much more so than ours. And they do things that we aren't even aware they're doing. We know that everyone who's been on Atlantis has been recorded in the city's database. We even know it has a full DNA profile for all of us and it's capable of reading our bodies and assessing any injuries. So is it that inconceivable that they can also create DNA?"

As she finished Cam, Vala and Landry still looked sceptical, until Daniel spoke up.

"It's what McKay believes happened. He has some evidence that the city's able to do it," he added.

Sam turned to look at Jack and smiled. This was happening, it was really happening. Jack reached down and grasped her hand tightly. He had already accepted the little girl as his own but now that he had found out that she was, he was bursting with love and happiness. He couldn't even express it in words so let his smile tell Sam the whole story. She clearly got the message and squeezed his hand in return.

Around the table there were sighs of happiness as they watched Jack and Sam communicating their joy without words.

At the top of the table, Hank put his arm on the table and rested his forehead on his palm. "What on earth am I going to write in my report?!" He lifted his head and smiled at the group who smiled back at him. They'd find a way. A birth certificate would be filled out and the family created by a city in another galaxy would live here on Earth.

EPILOGUE

Evie O'Neill and her mother moved into her father's old Colorado house, which he had not managed to sell two years before but was very glad he hadn't, on her one-week birthday. She, of course, knew nothing about the event and slept in her carry seat as furniture was built and moved and finally placed exactly where her parents wanted it. Her first party was a BBQ, again that she knew little about, but the calm joy that surrounded her made for a very contented baby.

Her parents planned to marry and would have done so close to her first birthday if Sam hadn't fallen pregnant with Evie's new sibling. This one had a full gestation period but, thankfully, a shorter labour. In fact, it was touch and go whether Evie's little sister would be born in hospital or in her father's truck.

Sitting on the edge of the bed with her parents, Evie curled into a ball and fell fast asleep. She may now have a sister, and they were likely to fight and be jealous of each other, but ultimately both would know that they had a whole extended family who loved them and parents who'd move heaven and earth just for them.

AN: Well that's it, thanks for all the support, reviews, theories etc. Hope to have another story done soon, something totally different again. Hope to hear your thoughts on the end.