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phantismaFandom: Stargate SG-1
Title: And Yet, Here We Are (Part Two)
Characters/Pairings: Cameron Mitchell/Daniel Jackson, Sam Carter, Jack O'Neill, Teal'c, Vala Mal Doran, Hank Landry, Carolyn Lam
Word Count: 17832
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Cameron and Daniel have a casual sort of relationship that they keep discrete and away from the base (or so they think) until a visit to a planet with temple ruins that may have been built by a contingent of Ancients brings the two of them face to face with everything between them, because what is between them is increasingly Cameron's belly.
Notes:
A/Ns & Warnings: I keep saying that I don't write mpreg. And I don't. Except when I do. And usually, once Brain gets her teeth into one, she doesn't let it go. I apologize for the saccharine sweetness to follow. And if Cameron seems a little flat, I apologize for that too. He and my muse weren't getting along. #sexpollen #aliensmadethemdoit #mpreg
Cameron looked uncomfortable in his SGC issued sweats as he took a seat beside Daniel in the otherwise empty briefing room. Daniel squeezed his hand and offered him a smile. "This is not how I imagined this getting out." Cameron said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"We'll be alright." Daniel responded, his fingers brushing over the back of Cameron's hand.
Landry entered the room and Cameron stood, though Landry waved him back down. Behind Landry was Sam and Doctor Lam. The door closed and everyone sat. The room was silent for a long moment before Landry laid both hands on the table and looked to his daughter.
It was Sam who spoke first however, drawing all of their attention. "I would feel better if we had one of the scanners from Atlantis, but I'm fairly sure that the nanites are specifically focused on Colonel Mitchell's …um…reproductive process. They are only replicating when one or more of them have stopped functioning."
"Well, that's something." Daniel said, his hand sliding onto Cam's leg under the table.
"Not much." Cameron amended. "There's still the fact that there are nanites at all. Oh, and did I mention the part where they got me pregnant?"
"Technically, they only made it possible." Sam corrected, wincing as she said it. "There still would have needed to be…well…" her face flushed red and she glanced at Daniel, then away.
Daniel cleared his throat, but before he could say anything, Cameron grabbed his hand and slid his fingers through his, bringing them up onto the table. "Okay, you know what? Fuck this. Yes, Daniel and I have been known to entertain one another on occasion. On that occasion, I'm not sure we even had a choice, given the whole situation. And I'm tired of pussyfooting around this and if it gets me discharged, well then the Air Force can go fuck itself."
Landry's eyes were wide as he turned to look at them. "I'm going to assume that outburst was fueled by your current medical status, Colonel and not take it seriously."
"Thank you, sir." Daniel said, his free hand rising to sooth down Cam's back. He could feel his cheeks blushing, but he nodded and exhaled. "And yes, Cameron and I…what I mean to say is that it's likely that the…the baby….is mine." Daniel blinked as he said it, suddenly very aware of the consequences of what he just said, of the idea that he was facing unexpected fatherhood at a time in his life when that was the last thing he should have to consider.
"Regardless of who is the father," Doctor Lam said, "we need to consider the medical risks, and whether or not the Colonel is going to bring the child to term."
"Wait, what?" Cameron asked, pulling his hand free of Daniel's. "What other choice is there?"
"I think I could reprogram the nanites." Sam offered.
"To do what?" Cameron asked, glaring at her.
"Colonel Mitchell, we have to consider your health. The male body is not built for this." Doctor Lam inserted. "There is no natural path for birth, your internal organs are all being shifted."
Cameron stood and paced away, shaking his head. Daniel followed him, conscious of being watched. He took Cameron's hand and led him into the corner. "Hey, you okay?"
"No." Cameron said. "I am not okay."
"You're shaking." Daniel pitched his voice low, soft and trying to be comforting. "Talk to me."
Cameron closed his eyes and breathed in, holding it for a long moment, then exhaling slowly. "I never really thought about kids. I mean, I did, but in the abstract, you know?"
Daniel understood that. He hadn't either. Not since Shar'e. "Are you saying you want to keep it?" Daniel asked as gently as he could.
Cameron's eyes were red when he opened them, tears brimming in the corners. "I don't know. It's all happening too fast and I need a minute."
"Okay." Daniel stepped in closer, brushing his lips over Cameron's. "Give me a minute." He stepped around Cameron and crossed back to the table. "We're going to need some time to think this through, and I'd like to go back to the information I brought back from the computer there. I had stopped looking through it when it became clear that it wasn't going to help us. There might be information in there that will help."
"In the meantime, I want you both restricted to base." Landry said, standing. "And keep me informed."
"Daniel--" Sam's face was still a little pink, but she was clearly concerned.
"It's okay, Sam." Daniel said. "I think we need to talk privately before we do this again."
She nodded. "Yeah, okay."
Daniel turned to Cameron who was wiping his eyes and looking annoyed at the same time. They left the conference room together, heading down toward the room that had been hastily set up near the infirmary to afford Cameron some privacy, but also allowed Dr. Lam and her team.
"You don't have to…" Cameron said, pausing at the door.
Daniel looked at him until he conceded and held the door open. "You don't think we need to talk about this?"
"No, I do. I just…honestly, I haven't gotten much past freaking out that this even is real." Cameron said, sinking to a seat on the bed. "This shouldn't be real."
Daniel understood that. "No, I know." Up until now they had been focused on figuring it out, on making sure Cameron was okay, and now that they knew there hadn't been a whole lot of time to process the idea that Cameron was pregnant.
Cameron rubbed over his face and up through his hair, looking up at Daniel with eyes filled with questions. "So…what do we do?" Cameron asked, his voice small in the space between them.
"Well…" Daniel rubbed his hands together before coming to sit beside Cameron on the bed. "I guess the first thing we have to decide is…do we want this? Are we ready for this?"
Cameron was quiet for a long time, his hand coming to rest on Daniel's knee. "I don't not want it."
"Okay." It was a start. "Are you ready for what it means if you decide to go through with it?"
Cameron sighed and stood, pacing to the door and back. "No?" His hands rubbed across his stomach. It wouldn't be long before it was going to be difficult to hide the evidence. "I don't know. I haven't really given Lam a chance to…go into details."
Daniel stood and intersected his pacing. "Forget the details for a minute. Focus on just one thing. On the fact that we will be parents. You and I and a baby." He took Cameron's hands and squeezed to try to get him to look him in the eye.
Suddenly, Cameron pulled away, pressing both hands to his face and turning away. "I am so sorry. This is all my fault."
Daniel shook his head. "What? You heard Sam, it took two of us."
"No, I mean….this…" He turned back to look at Daniel, gesturing between them. "I pushed this on you."
Daniel chuckled and shook his head. "Did I say no? At any time?"
Cameron frowned at him and crossed his arms, leaning back against the dresser. "No, but…this is different."
"Okay, look…nothing we've done was something I didn't want…and what happened on that planet, well, neither one of us resisted that at all." He sighed. "Maybe you should rest and think about what you want. Just understand that whatever you decide, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere." He kissed Cameron softly, before he slipped out the door and exhaled, leaning his forehead against the cool metal for a long moment before he gathered himself and headed for his office. At least being grounded meant he might make a dent in the piles of cataloguing and translating he had to do.
"Daniel?"
He looked up from the translation he was pretending to be working on to find Sam in his doorway, tentative smile on her face.
"Hey, Sam. Come in. I'm just…" He put the papers in his hand down and sighed. "Not getting anything done."
"I just finished going over the rest of the lab work with Doctor Lam and I thought you'd want to know that you are completely clear of nanites."
He nodded absently. "I sort of figured, since…you know, no pregnancy." Given everything that they did in that temple, it was completely within reason that he would have been infected too.
"Yeah, about that…" Sam bit her lip like she wasn't sure what to say.
Daniel winced. "How freaked out are you?"
Sam frowned and shook her head. "About you and Cam? Not at all. I've known for a while."
"What?" Daniel asked, standing and crossing to the coffee pot he wasn't supposed to have in his office. "Did Cam tell you?"
She grinned and rolled her eyes at him. "No. You did."
It was his turn to frown, looking at her like she was nuts. "No, I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I told you that I was sleeping with our team leader."
She laughed, leaning back against the long table filled with artefacts. "You don't even realize it, do you?"
"Realize what?" He was frowning harder and forced himself to breath out and pour his coffee.
"Men." She shook her head. "Do you even remember when you stopped calling him Mitchell and started to call him Cameron? Or when that changed to Cam?"
"What?" Daniel cradled the coffee to him, his mind skipping back over the time since the first time Cameron had knocked on his door and ended up in his bed. "I don't…" Except he did, and he really wasn't sure when that happened.
"And I'm sure you haven't noticed that he doesn't call you Jackson any more either?" She was clearly enjoying herself. "He brings you coffee, you almost never have lunch without him. You come in together, you leave together. The last time we were all at your place, Cam knew his way around your kitchen far too well, and the two of you cooking together was clearly something you've done before."
"And here I was thinking we'd been discrete." Daniel said dryly, though his heart was speeding up, remembering the thrill of Cam's hands dancing over his and around him, the softest touches that they couldn't take further with the others watching, Cam's grin, his voice warm on Daniel's ear as he whispered. He cleared his throat and sipped at his coffee.
"You were." Sam said. "But I've known you a long time. I see your eyes when you're with him. I haven't seen that look in your eyes in a long time."
Daniel could feel his cheeks flushing as he turned away, making a show of going back to his desk, but Sam wasn't quite done and she followed him, sitting on the corner of the desk. "Have you told him?"
"Told him what?" Daniel asked, looking up at her and wishing he hadn't. Her eyes sparkled and she was grinning and it made him blush harder.
"Come on, Daniel, you're not that dense." She pushed his chair with his foot. "You should. Tell him, that is. He probably really needs to hear it right about now."
"I should probably get back to work." Daniel knew he wasn't going to get anything done, not with his head racing around and around what Sam had pointed out.
She nodded and stood. "Yeah, okay, I get it. But while you're mulling over all of the options, remember that he's the one with the scary medical condition. You may be that baby's daddy, Daniel, but Cameron is the one dealing with a life growing inside of him."
His breath caught in his throat as she headed for the door. "Oh my god, Sam." He blinked and fought through the sudden lack of air. "I'm…going to be a father."
She stopped at the door, nodding. "Yeah, I thought you'd figured that out already."
"No, I did. I just….I don't think it hit me until just now. I've been so focused on making sure he was okay…"
"Like I said…you really should tell him."
She was gone before he looked up again, leaving him with a warm feeling in his stomach and the slowly growing realization that she was right.
Cameron paused with his hand raised to knock on the door to Landry's office. There were conversations he had never thought he'd ever have with a commanding officer, but this had never even made that list. He was about to turn around and leave when the door opened, Walter stepping out and nodding at him before Landry was calling him in.
"I…don't want to disturb you." Cameron said as he stood in the doorway.
"You're not. Come, sit." Landry smiled at him from behind the big desk and Cameron gave serious thought to just running away, but instead, he wiped his hands on his thighs and sat, shifting around uncomfortably. "I'd ask how you're doing, but just from the look on your face I can tell you're still trying to wrap your head around this whole situation."
"That's one way to put it." Cameron said quietly. "Sir, about earlier…my outburst--"
Landry waived him off. "Like I said, Colonel, I've already forgotten it. I think, under the circumstances, you're allowed a little leeway."
"Thank you, sir." Cameron shifted again, then stood, pacing to the window. "We've gotten into some strange situations before, sir. But this is a whole other level of crazy."
"Son, since taking this position I have had to write some crazy things into reports, things I would never have believed before coming here. I haven't even begun to figure out how to write this one up." Landry said.
Cameron's heart sped up a little. He hadn't even thought about that. About the reports that would get written, about the chain of command who would all know…which would mean that they would all know about him and Daniel. His career would be over. He sighed and turned back to look at his commanding officer. "Sir…" He pressed his lips together and tried to figure out how to say any of the things running through his mind. "I don't….Daniel and I…"
Landry stood and came to lean on the corner of his desk. "Colonel, no one in this command is going to fault you for loving someone."
Cameron looked up quickly, not sure he'd heard him right. "Sir?"
Landry smiled, crossing his arms. "If I were to have kicked out every young man or woman under my command that fell into bed with the 'wrong' person, I'd still be doing paperwork. Trust me, Son, that's the last part of this whole situation that I'm worried about."
Cameron nodded, not completely convinced, but willing to take him at his word for now. "And, what about this?" Cameron placed his hands on his stomach and didn't look up, afraid to look Landry in the eye.
"Colonel Carter assures me that if you decide to go through with it, the nanites will continue to do the job of keeping both you and the baby healthy, and Dr. Lam is already working on a delivery protocol. Of course, you'll be confined to base for the duration. I'm not sure the world at large is ready for this."
"I'm not sure I'm ready for this, sir." Cameron said. Part of him wanted to take the easy way out, have Sam reprogram the damn nanites, have the whole thing just go away, but he also knew it might be his only chance to have a kid of his own. But then, who brings a kid into the life he lived. "It's a lot to think about."
"Yes, Son, it is." Landry agreed.
"I don't know what to do here." He looked up and Landry smiled.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you what to do either. This is one thing you'll have to figure out for yourself, I'm afraid."
Cameron nodded, standing up straight again. "Thank you sir. I should go. I'm supposed to meet Daniel for lunch."
The mess hall was nearly empty, but for Cameron and Daniel, sitting at a table in the corner, lingering over the last remains of a meal spent mostly avoiding the elephant sitting between them. Daniel glanced up and around them before he caught Cameron's eyes. "So, we should talk."
Cameron smiled and shook his head. "I thought that's what we've been doing."
"Yeah, about everything from Atlantis to your mother's apple pie." He slid one hand across the table, covering Cameron's hand with his own. "But, we have some important decisions to make, Cam."
Cameron sighed, turning his hand over so that their palms were touching. "Yeah, I know." He took a deep breath. "I just keep expecting this to be some dream and I'm going to wake up and vow to never eat leftover Chinese at two in the morning again." He licked his lips and seemed to think carefully before his eyes lifted back to Daniel's. "I think I've decided to go through with it. I mean, I keep hearing my mother asking me when she'll have grandkids and I don't know if I'll ever…because this is…this is different and we won't ever get this chance…" His eyes widened as Daniel tightened his fingers around his hand. "But, but I'm not saying you have to…I mean I get that you might not want…I'm not trying to pressure you into…"
"Cam, stop." Daniel said, lifting his free hand to press a finger to Cam's mouth. He smiled and shook his head lightly. "Breathe." Cam nodded and Daniel dropped his hand. "I told you I would support you no matter what. I meant it."
"I know what you said. But I also know that we've never talked about…." He rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Any of it. We're just…we're friends and a baby implies so much more."
This wasn't exactly the setting he'd thought about having this conversation, but Daniel exhaled and lowered his voice, leaning forward across the table. "Yes, we're friends…but we're more too. And we have been, since before this."
Cameron looked confused, but leaned in, mimicking Daniel's position. "I'm not sure what you mean."
"I mean, somewhere along the way we went past friends and it took me a while to figure it out…it took Sam pointing it out to me, actually, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't wrong."
Cam's frown only deepened. "I still…is this going somewhere?"
Daniel looked down at their joined hands, working up the nerve to say what he needed to. "Yes." He looked up again, into Cameron's eyes. "I think I love you."
For a long moment Cameron didn't seem to be breathing, then suddenly he pulled his hand away and stood, turned his back and left the mess hall. Daniel sat stunned for a moment before he got to his feet to chase after him, following him until he lost him at the elevators.
Daniel shook his head and waited for the next car, assuming Cameron was heading for his room. He spotted him as he came down the corridor, watching the door shut. "Cameron?" He knocked, then tested the knob to see if it was locked. The door came open and Cameron turned away, his hand lifting to his face. "Cameron?" Daniel stepped in and shut the door.
He held a hand up and drew in a deep, shuddering breath, exhaling it slowly as he turned around. His eyes were red and he looked annoyed with himself as Daniel stepped closer. "I'm sorry if what I said…" Daniel started, but Cameron grabbed him and pulled him close, his mouth covering Daniel's in a nearly bruising kiss. His face was wet as he pulled back and he wiped at the tears angrily.
"Stupid fucking hormones." Cameron growled. "Don't apologize. I just…I couldn't…not there. It was too much." He paced to the bed and sat, shaking his head. "I…shit, I knew I was going to cry and this whole situation is insane and I didn't need to…"
Daniel nodded, understanding replacing the fear that somehow he'd been wrong. He sat beside Cameron and took his hand. "Sam said that the hormones were going to give you wild ups and downs for a while."
"She wasn't kidding." Cameron agreed, sniffling.
Daniel licked his lips and ducked his head to find Cameron's eyes. "I meant what I said."
Cameron nodded, lifting their joined hands to kiss Daniel's knuckles. "I don't know how it happened. I never meant for it to go so far."
Daniel cupped his hand to Cameron's face and turned his head, kissing him softly. "And yet, here we are."
Cameron took his hand and put it on the round of his stomach. "All of us."
Daniel nodded and kissed him again. "All of us."
Cameron turned more fully to him, hands lifting to Daniel's face, tongue sliding into his mouth. "So, we're doing this?" Cameron asked breathlessly, pulling back just enough to look in Daniel's eyes.
Daniel nodded. "I guess so."
Behind them the door opened and they pulled apart. Lam's face flushed pink and her eyes were wide. "I'm sorry. I just…"
"Should have locked the door." Daniel whispered to Cam before getting up. "It's okay, Doc, I actually have some work I need to get back to." He crossed to the door and smiled back at Cameron. "I'll bring dinner when I come back."
Daniel closed the door behind him and headed for his office, smiling to himself. He'd have to remember to thank Sam for the push.
***
Cameron paced in front of the glass, his eyes on the gate, his hand rubbing over his protruding stomach where the baby was just as agitated as he was, tiny feet kicking against his internal organs. He'd been kicked out of the control room, well, truthfully, he'd been ordered back to his temporary quarters, but he was tired of not being told anything.
Daniel was missing and they expected him to stay in his room like and wait for someone to come talk to him. Well, he wasn't having it. No, he was staying close to the gate. He had to be there when Daniel came back.
He'd been in the control center for the initial call. Daniel had sounded tired and stressed. "No, Sir, things aren't going well. We've had to abandon the relocation for now. We're cut off from the gate due to the rising waters. The river over ran its banks yesterday, and the entire field is flooded now. Colonels Strummer and Carter are leading the villagers to higher ground. Teal'c is on his way with a couple of cargo ships, but until he gets here we're kind of stuck."
That had been two days ago. Two days and no word, no way to contact them and no one telling him anything. Which is why he had stormed into the control room an hour before, which hadn't pleased Landry. Cameron leaned against the frame of the window, wishing he could will the gate to turn and Daniel to return.
They'd argued before he left. He hadn't wanted Daniel to go, not when they were getting close to the end of this pregnancy, not when Cameron had been feeling worn down and tired by the simplest things, like walking to the infirmary for his check ups. He had said some terrible things. Things he wanted to take back. Things that could never be the last things Daniel heard from him.
"Wow."
Cameron looked up, surprised to find General O'Neill in the doorway from the hall. "General." He made an effort to stand up straighter, but his back complained and his stomach tightened so it was more of a wobbly grimace than anything else.
"I mean…Daniel said…and I thought…but wow." The General's eyes snapped up from Cameron's stomach, to his eyes. "Look at you."
"Yeah, I know. I'm huge." Cameron said, turning his attention back to the gate.
"You look…..good. You look good."
Cameron smirked and looked back at him. "I look fat, sir."
Jack rocked back on his heels, hands in his pocket. "You look pregnant, Mitchell."
Cameron nodded and stepped away from the window. "What brings you to the mountain, General?"
"Oh, you know…things." The general walked to the conference table, his eyes still stuck on Cameron's stomach. "So….you and Daniel, huh?"
Cameron bristled, worried that O'Neill wouldn't share Landry's laid back philosophy. "I wouldn't have guessed." He crossed to the window, looking down into the gateroom for a minute before turning his back and crossing his arms. "I get it though, Daniel's a good looking guy."
Cameron was still wary, moving to one of the chairs and easing himself into it. "Sir?"
"Easy, Colonel, Daniel and I are friends. Nothing more. My taste tends to run on a more traditional path. But, Daniel is a good looking guy."
Cameron breathed out, relaxing a little. "That he is, sir."
"And he's going to be an amazing father." Jack continued.
Cameron rubbed over his stomach, grimacing a little as two tiny feet pressed in against his kidneys. He gasped, trying to calm the baby who seemed more interested in bouncing off the walls than resting.
"You okay?"
He looked up to find General O'Neill right there, in his face, leaning in. Cameron sat back, holding up a hand. "I’m good. Just...active little thing today." He deflated a little in his chair. "I'm probably not helping."
Jack nodded and sat beside him. "Stress. Babies don't like stress." He drummed his fingers on the table for a few seconds. "It's Daniel. He's fine."
"Yes, sir." It was a programmed response, one he gave without thinking. It was Daniel. And Daniel was always fine, except when he wasn't. "Doesn't mean I don't worry."
Jack smiled. "It's hard, isn't it? Being the one who sits here while they go off through the gate to god knows what?"
"God yes." Cameron replied. He hadn't even considered that part of this situation when he decided to carry the baby to term. "I'm feeling very…frustrated." He hadn't been off base in months. His whole world had narrowed down to the infirmary, his quarters and the halls of the SGC.
"Going a little stir crazy?" the General asked and Cameron nodded.
"You have no idea."
In the gateroom, the gate began to spin and Cameron stood, moving to the window, his breath stuck in his throat. Walter's voice carried up the stairs. "Receiving IDC, it's SG1, sir."
"Open the iris, let them in."
The iris opened and Teal'c, Vala, Daniel and Sam came through the event horizon, looking tired and pale, but none of them seemed hurt. Daniel's eyes lifted as he came to the middle of the ramp, his lips curving as he lifted a hand.
A few minutes later, Daniel came bounding up the stairs from the control room. "Hi Jack." Daniel didn't even look at the general though, as he dropped his pack to the floor and came to where Cameron waited. "Hey."
Cameron's hands found Daniel's vest and pulled him in to a hug. "Easy, I'm here." Daniel said softly in his ear.
"Don't do that again." Cameron responded, letting go of him as Jack cleared his throat.
"Sorry. It took us a bit to get everyone on the new planet."
"You could have called." Jack said, raising an eyebrow.
"We tried. Sam spent most of the trip trying to get the sub-space communications working." Daniel smiled and rubbed a hand down Cameron's arm. "We're fine, and we're home." He rubbed a hand through his hair. "I need a shower and some sleep, but I'm good."
"Excuse me, General. I'm going to make sure Daniel gets what he needs."
General O'Neill's eyebrow went up, but Cameron ignored him, his hand tightening again in Daniel's vest and headed out the door. "I'm coming, you don't need to drag me." Daniel protested as they reached the elevators. When the door opened, Cameron dragged him in, then shoved him against the wall, kissing him. "You know there are cameras?" Daniel whispered as they separated.
"Don't care. Missed you."
"So I notice. Missed you too." Daniel kissed him, hands sliding to hold either side of his protruding stomach. "How is our little one?"
"Restless. Been kicking me and standing on my various organs all day."
Daniel smiled, letting his hand slide into Cameron's as the doors of the elevator opened. "It won't be long now."
Cameron opened the door to his quarters, which had begun to resemble his home, so much of his stuff had migrated over the months. Nearly every day Daniel brought him things from home, a home he was likely not going to live in again, as Daniel had also been slowly moving Cameron into his house, and setting up a nursery.
Daniel wasted little time in stripping out of his clothes, leaving a pile of them by the door as he headed for the bathroom. Cameron heard the shower come on and the low groan of appreciation as Daniel stepped under the stream of hot water.
"Did Jack say why he was here?" Daniel asked as Cameron put the lid down and sat on the toilet.
Cameron frowned. "No, I actually don't think he said." The General didn't usually show up for no reason. "Maybe there's something we should know?"
Daniel peeked around the shower curtain at him. "He would have said something. I'm sure he's just…maybe something with Landry?"
Cameron was starting to get a sneaking suspicion that Daniel knew more than he was saying. "Did you ask him to come check on me?" he asked, standing.
"What? No. Well. Maybe I suggested that if anything were to delay us…he might come keep you company."
"Company?" Cameron shook his head.
The water turned off and Daniel stepped out, grabbing a towel from the rack. "Well, I wanted someone to be with you and it isn't like it could be just anyone. It had to be someone with clearance."
Cameron was torn between annoyed and touched. "I'm a big boy, Daniel."
Daniel caught his hand and lifted it to kiss. "Yes, but you're also dealing with out of control hormones and physical changes and you've been rather good at getting yourself all worked up over the little things. I figured if anything big came along, you would need someone to help you deal."
Daniel wrapped the towel around his waist and kissed Cameron as he passed back into the bedroom. "I can't decide if I'm annoyed that you think I need someone to babysit my fragile emotions, or happy that you thought enough about it to make arrangements…or angry that you could have gotten yourself killed, again, when we have a baby on the way." Cameron followed him, sinking onto the bed.
"I vote for happy to see me." Daniel responded, turning to look at him, dropping the towel to show that he was certainly happy to be seen.
Cameron smirked and gestured for him to come closer. "Thought you wanted to sleep." His hand circled around Daniel's hardening cock, rubbing slowly up and then back down as Daniel moved so that he was all but straddling Cameron's legs.
"I can sleep later." Daniel murmured as Cameron licked around the head of his cock.
Cameron's own cock was waking up as he opened his mouth and took Daniel in, sucking deep before sliding up and off and then going back for more. It had been a while since they'd done more than sleep in the same bed. Daniel moaned as Cameron increased the suction, his hips moving in unison with Cameron's mouth. Cameron hummed a little, sliding off and looking up. "Now that's what I'm talking about," he said with a smirk.
Daniel laughed and leaned in to kiss him, his tongue caressing Cameron's before his kiss traveled along Cameron's jawbone and up to his ear. "You're wearing too many clothes." Daniel whispered, his fingers playing now along the hem of Cameron's shirt, easing it up over his stomach and over his shoulders. Cam shed the shirt, dropping it on the bed beside him and shivered, his hands moving to try to cover the roundness of his belly.
Daniel shook his head, smiling as he went to one knee in front of Cameron. "No, stop." He pulled Cameron's hands up, kissing across the palms. "It's beautiful. You're beautiful." His lips pressed to the taut skin, over and around it before he looked up at Cam, his blue eyes sparkling.
He kissed his way down to Cameron's hip, his fingers playing now along the hem of the sweat pants that had become Cameron's uniform the last few months. Cameron shifted uncomfortably as Daniel's fingers pulled, moving enough that the pull brought the sweats down, under his ass. Daniel eased them down, moving slowly as his mouth traveled back along Cameron's stomach.
Cameron let Daniel lift each foot, sliding his pants down and off before Daniel was standing again, licking his lips. "Lay down."
"Daniel…really…" He reached for Daniel's cock, but Daniel stepped back.
"I have an idea." Daniel said. "Trust me."
Cameron was skeptical because sex around the big balloon that was his stomach just didn't seem practical, even if his cock disagreed. He moved back, lifting his legs up and scooting closer to the middle of the bed. Daniel followed, straddling over his leg, grinning down at him. His hand was hot on Cam's cock, drawing up and down it several times as he settled in position. He licked the palms of each hand, then brought their cocks together, circling the joined girth with one hand above the other. Even before Daniel started stroking, Cam was moving his hips, trying to thrust up. "Easy, I've got this." Daniel said, smiling as he started to move his hands and his hips so that their cocks slid against one another and through his hands.
Daniel's eyes drifted shut and for the longest moment there was only the sound of their bodies sliding together, before Daniel moaned, the sound vibrating through him. Cameron's body tightened , his cock already starting to leak. Daniel's hands tightened, twisted and Cameron yelled as his cock began spilling come, easing the friction a little, but adding to the heat. Daniel's hands sped up and only seconds later, he too was coming, smearing come over Cameron's stomach.
He chuckled as he got up, grabbing his discarded towel to clean them both up. "See, trust me. I'll get you there." He came around the other side of the bed, easing blankets down and crawling in. Cameron shifted enough to get in under the blankets and rolled toward Daniel, his stomach pressing into Daniel's side.
"I can't wait until I can go back to sleeping on my stomach."
"Has Doctor Lam talked about when yet?" Daniel asked, his eyes soft with concern.
Cam nodded and laid back on the pillow. "Another couple of weeks at least. She wants to wait until the baby is close to ready…but not so long that actual contractions start. The OB was here a few days ago, the guy who is actually going to perform the procedure."
"Yeah?" Cam settled on his back, fingers idly stroking over his stomach. Daniel turned on his side. "And?"
Cam shrugged. "Nice enough, I guess. He was more interested in the novelty of it, I think. Lam says he's the best. Sam says that once the baby comes out, the nanites should do the work of restoring all of my insides to what they were before, so they shouldn't have to remove anything but the baby."
"Yeah, she told me that too." Daniel said, though his eyes had closed and Cameron could tell he was drifting toward sleep. Cameron watched him sink deeper into sleep before he let the nearly constant fatigue of his condition pull him down to nap as well.
Daniel watched the clock, fidgeting and paying no attention whatsoever to whatever it was he was supposed to be doing.
"Dr. Jackson?"
He started, looking up and around him. Sam was trying to hide her smile, the archeologist at the screen was looking embarrassed and he had no idea what had been said. "I'm sorry, Dr. Aines. I'm a little distracted."
Sam shook her head. "Why don't we reschedule this for a day when Dr. Jackson's mind can join us? He has other things on his mind today."
"Yes, that would be great." Daniel said, standing. "I'm going down to the infirmary."
"I'll be down later." Sam said as he dashed out of the room. The actual procedure was still over an hour away and Daniel had scheduled the briefing with the junior archeologist as a distraction, not realizing he'd be well past the ability of that manner of distraction to help him.
He made a bee-line straight to the bed where Cameron had spent the last 24 hours, hooked up to all manner of monitors. A nurse was just finishing drawing some blood and Cameron was telling her to leave him alone. "I won't have any blood left! Fucking vampires."
Daniel chuckled and pulled a stool closer. "Abusing the staff?"
Cameron pouted at him, holding out his arms that showed the signs of multiple needles over the last few days. "My mother's going to think I've become a junkie."
Daniel took his hand and kissed over the knuckles. "Your mother knows you're in the hospital, that comes with needles."
Cameron scowled and shifted in the bed. "I hate lying to her. She should be here."
"You know she can't be. You know why we had to tell her like this." They had gone round and round it for weeks, because Cameron's parents deserved to know they had a grandchild, but they could never be told how it happened. So, they had started by telling his parents about them, and how Cameron was moving in with Daniel, that they wanted to spend their lives together and be a family. Then they told them that they had a surrogate carrying their child.
After some initial shock, Cameron's mother had wanted to come to Colorado to meet Daniel, to spend some time with them. Which was when they had to come up with the "training accident" story and that he was in a navy hospital overseas, but he'd be home in time for the baby.
Cameron sighed and lifted his head, trying to see around the curtains to the clock and giving up when he couldn't get high enough. "How much longer?"
"You need to calm down, if your blood pressure gets too high, they're going to put you under instead of just doing it under local." Daniel's eyes scanned the monitors, stopping on the bay heart monitor. He could feel his lips curling up into a grin, and couldn't be bothered to hide it. "She's nice and steady." He lifted a hand to rest on the curve of Cameron's stomach. "It's hard to believe that we will get to hold her in just a little while."
Cameron's hand covered his and they were both grinning like fools when Dr. Lam approached, already in her surgical scrubs. "Well, you two look happy. We're almost ready so we're going to get you moved into surgery in just a few minutes. Dr. Jackson, if you plan on being in the room, you need to get changed."
Daniel nodded, kissing Cam's cheek lightly as he stood. "I'll see you in there." He followed Lam to a small locker room where she handed him scrubs and a surgical bonnet and the elastic covers for his shoes.
A few minutes later, Daniel was following Lam into the surgical suite where Cameron was already on the table, his stomach bare, a blue curtain keeping Cam from really seeing much. The OB, a Dr. Markins, looked up and nodded.
"We're almost ready, just waiting for the local anesthetic to take full affect."
Lam directed Daniel to Cameron's side where he could see both Cameron's face and the procedure while holding his hand. "Colonel, I'm going to begin the procedure now. You may feel some pinching and some pressure."
"Okay, Doc. Let's do this thing." Cameron responded.
Daniel watched as the first incision was made, smiling down at Cameron. "So far so good."
"You going to give me the blow by blow?" Cameron asked.
"I could, but Sam would do a better job at it. I could go get her." He pretended to pull away and Cameron's hand tightened around his.
"Don't even think about it. You're staying right here."
"Okay, I'm in. Let's get some suction so I can see what I'm doing." The doctor looked at Cameron and nodded. "Next cut is into the uterus itself. Then we'll get a good look, make sure there's nothing to prevent us from lifting her out. Once she is out, we will cut the cord and I'll work on getting you stitched up while Dr. Lam checks the baby, okay?"
Cameron nodded, his hand squeezing Daniel's. The doctor's hands moved back to the incision in Cameron's stomach, drawing Daniel's eyes. His hands were steady as he made the incision. "Pull that back. Okay, light."
Dr. Lam swung an overhead light and turned it on, flooding the area with bright white light. Dr. Markin leaned over, his eyes sweeping around the cavity, his hand slipping inside to feel around. He nodded. "Okay, it looks good. I'm going to bring her out now. Dr. Lam, have your team ready."
The doctor eased his second hand inside the opened incision and slowly he lifted a squirming little body up, turning her as it became clear that the cord was wrapped around one leg. A nurse helped him get it clear and as he pulled the tiny body out of Cameron's stomach, Daniel got the first look at his daughter's face. "Cam…she's…oh my god, Cam." Tears burned at his eyes as Dr. Lam held out towel covered hands to take her, pausing while the cord got clamped in two places and a nurse handed Daniel the surgical scissors.
He exhaled slowly, his hands shaking as he lifted the scissors. Her tiny face scrunched up and she started to cry as Daniel cut the cord. Dr. Lam handed the infant to him then and he turned to Cameron, his smile so wide it hurt his face. "Cam….look." Cam's hand lifted to brush over her tiny arm, his own smile wide. "You did it."
"Daniel, bring her over here so we can clean her up and check her over."
Daniel hesitated, his eyes darting to Dr. Markin and back to Cam. "Go on. I'll be fine." Cam said.
Daniel nodded, turning to where Lam was waiting to take the baby. He watched as she cried as they wiped her clean and laid her on the scales. Dr. Lam gave measurements over her shoulder to the nurse taking the notes, before lifting her stethoscope to listen to her heartbeat. She nodded, then let another nurse move in to take the blood sample. By the time they were done, the baby was crying hard, her little feet kicking and Daniel wanted to pick her up, but Dr. Lam held him off while she got a diaper on and wrapped her in a clean blanket.
Finally, Daniel had his daughter in his arms, cradling her to him as he hummed and bounced her, turning back to the operating table where Cameron was watching them. Dr. Markin was just finishing his stitching as Daniel came back to Cameron with the baby.
"She's beautiful." Cameron whispered, tears spilling from his eyes.
"And perfect." Daniel added. She wasn't crying anymore, but her little face was all red with the exertion.
"Daniel, we should take you and the baby out now and let Dr. Markin's team finish up and get Cam back to his bed." Dr. Lam said. "Besides, Alison says you have an entire hallway full of people waiting to see you."
He let her lead him out and into the hallway where Jack was sitting with Sam, Teal'c and Vala, all of them standing as he approached. Daniel couldn't keep the smile from his face as he held the tiny body close to him. "Hey."
Sam was beaming and even Jack was smiling as he stopped beside them, holding her so they could see her. "Cameron did just fine." Lam said. "We'll want him to sleep for a while now and we'll need to keep a close eye on him for the next few days. As for the baby, she looks healthy and normal. I've got the blood work started, so we'll know for sure in a couple hours."
"Did you two ever settle on a name?" Vala asked.
Daniel looked up at her. "In fact we did. Yesterday. Her name is Claire, for my mother. Claire Jackson Mitchell."
Cameron sat nervously on the passenger side of the car, twisting every few minutes to look behind him at the car seat. Daniel's hand slid down his arm to his hand. "She's okay."
"I know. I'm just nervous."
Daniel lifted his hand and kissed it. "Don't be. Your parents got in last night, we had a nice dinner and there are great parents."
"And we're about to lie to them some more." Cameron didn't like the lying. It was one thing when it was about the job, that was just something he'd learned to live with and they both understood. Some things he couldn't talk about. But this was his daughter…a child that had lived inside him.
It had been nearly a week since the delivery, a week spent in the infirmary for the first few days, until they were sure that the nanites were doing their job, then in his on base quarters until his bloodwork showed that he was shedding the nanites and the ultrasound showed his body was nearly back to normal.
Daniel pulled up in front of the house. "Welcome home." He leaned over and kissed him before he opened his door and got out, opening the back door to get Claire out as Cameron worked himself up to his feet. The front door opened and his mother and father were on the porch, smiling and waving. Cameron held up a hand and started up the walk a little gingerly. He was still trying to find his equilibrium without the huge belly as a counterweight.
Daniel was beside him , his free hand sliding around Cameron's back in support. "Hi Mom. Dad." He stepped up onto the porch, letting his mother pull him close.
"Easy, he's still healing." Daniel said, leaning in to kiss her cheek.
"Oh, and this must be our little one."
"Mom, Dad, our daughter, Claire."
Daniel relinquished the baby to her grandmother without a fuss, turning his attention to Cameron. "Let's get both of you inside." Daniel guided Cameron to the living room chair that had clearly come from Cameron's place. In fact, all around them he could see things that had come from his place, and surprisingly they fit easily, kind of like the way he and Daniel had come to be…him and Daniel.
His mother settled the baby into his arms, smiling at him. It was good to see her so happy. Claire gurgled up at him, little fist pressed against her little lips. "She's probably hungry," he said, looking up at Daniel.
"I'll get a bottle." Daniel replied, kissing the top of his head before he disappeared into the kitchen.
"You know, we never did hear what your accident was," his father said as the two of them sat on the couch.
"Not actually my accident." Cameron said, shifting a little to get comfortable. "I was standing on the sidelines when there was a minor explosion, took a hunk of metal to my abdomen." He rubbed across the place where there was a red scar to mark the incision. "I was lucky, it didn't penetrate, just bruised a lot of stuff. They had to go in to stop the bleeding." It was the easiest lie…and it didn't sit well, but it was convincing.
Daniel came back to the living room, a bottle and cloth diaper in his hand. He handed them to Cameron with a soft smile. "We had decided he would move in here just before the accident, so he's never actually seen the nursery or where we put all of his stuff."
"So why here, instead of Cameron's place?" his father asked.
"I liked Daniel's place better." Cameron said, watching as Claire sucked at the nipple on the bottle. "He had more room."
"And more stuff. I collect stuff like you wouldn't believe. Hazard of the trade I guess."
"So, Cameron, Daniel wouldn't tell us how you two met."
He grinned up at his mother, then Daniel. "No? Did he tells you he speaks like 300 languages?"
"It's not that many." Daniel argued.
"Well, anyway, he was between digs and we needed a translator." Cam turned his eyes back to Claire. "I'd read some reports in which he had been helpful and found out he was in the area…so we called him."
"I was packing up to leave for a new dig." Daniel continued. "But Cameron convinced me to stay, and I've been a civilian contractor with the Air Force ever since."
"And you're not going to have any problems with you two living together?" Cameron could feel the concern from across the room.
"My commanding officer is aware of our situation and has decided it's none of his business, Dad. We're fine." Cameron replied. "I think she's done. Can you take her?"
Daniel leaned in, throwing the cloth over his shoulder before he lifted Claire up to start burping her. "You okay?"
Cameron nodded. "Just wiped out."
"I'll put her down, give you some time with your folks." Daniel kissed him lightly before disappearing down the hall.
Cameron waited until the door closed before exhaling and turning back to his parents. "So, how upset are you?"
"We're not upset," his mother said, taking his father's hand. "Just a little surprised."
"Yeah, me too." Cameron said. "I never expected…this."
"But you love him?" It was only half a question, making Cameron look up at his father, then down the hallway.
"Yeah, Dad. I do."
"Well, it's obvious he loves you, and that baby."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. We wanted to wait until we were sure it was going to happen. Then things got crazy with the accident and I really wanted you to meet Daniel before now, but with our schedules…"
His mother came to sit closer, her hands taking his. "We're not upset. Though, now that you have a baby to think of, one of you will be staying home, at least for a while?"
Cameron smiled and patted her hands. "Yes, Mom. I'm off duty for at least the first month, then Daniel will be taking some vacation time while we sort out how this is going to work."
"I just worry."
"I know Mom. We're going to be great though." He stifled a yawn and shook his head. "I'm sorry. This is the longest I've been up and moving around in a while. I flew in this morning and then we were at the hospital and signing paperwork."
"We should let him rest." She stood and came to kiss his forehead. "We're staying at a hotel not far from here. Daniel has our number. We'll be by tomorrow."
Cameron stood to walk them to the door, waving as they got to their car on the street. When they were gone, he closed the door and locked it before wandering down the hall to the door that he knew hid the nursery. When he'd seen it last it was wall to wall with books and boxes of artefacts and memories of Daniel's life.
Now it was painted pastel yellow and filled with a white crib and changing table and dresser. A rocking chair was in the corner, currently held by a fluffy bear that was half as big as he was, a gift, Daniel had told him, from General O'Neill.
Daniel stood by the crib, looking over his shoulder as Cameron came into the room. "They've gone to their hotel." Cameron whispered, sliding his arms around Daniel's waist and putting his chin against Daniel's should to look down on their sleeping daughter. "Every time I look at here I can't believe we did that."
Daniel leaned back enough to kiss his cheek. "You did that. I just watched."
"She's beautiful."
Daniel nodded, taking Cameron's hands and pulling him around so that they could kiss properly. "Your parents okay?"
"They will be. Still a little shocked, I think. We did kinda spring it on them."
"It's a lot to take in all at once." Daniel agreed. "But they'll adjust. They don't even have to adjust to the part where you got pregnant because aliens left behind their magic oil."
Cameron smirked. "Please, god, don't ever make me have to explain that to my mother."
"You look tired. She's asleep. Let's put you to bed too."
"Just one more minute. I want to just savor this." Cameron tugged him closer. "I never expected any of this, you know."
"I do know." Daniel said. "And yet, here we are."
"Here we are." Cameron echoed, letting the feeling of it settle over him. The feeling of family and home, something he thought he'd left forever when he'd enlisted, or at least once he'd joined the SGC. "Here we are."
Title: And Yet, Here We Are (Part Two)
Characters/Pairings: Cameron Mitchell/Daniel Jackson, Sam Carter, Jack O'Neill, Teal'c, Vala Mal Doran, Hank Landry, Carolyn Lam
Word Count: 17832
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Cameron and Daniel have a casual sort of relationship that they keep discrete and away from the base (or so they think) until a visit to a planet with temple ruins that may have been built by a contingent of Ancients brings the two of them face to face with everything between them, because what is between them is increasingly Cameron's belly.
Notes:
A/Ns & Warnings: I keep saying that I don't write mpreg. And I don't. Except when I do. And usually, once Brain gets her teeth into one, she doesn't let it go. I apologize for the saccharine sweetness to follow. And if Cameron seems a little flat, I apologize for that too. He and my muse weren't getting along. #sexpollen #aliensmadethemdoit #mpreg
Cameron looked uncomfortable in his SGC issued sweats as he took a seat beside Daniel in the otherwise empty briefing room. Daniel squeezed his hand and offered him a smile. "This is not how I imagined this getting out." Cameron said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"We'll be alright." Daniel responded, his fingers brushing over the back of Cameron's hand.
Landry entered the room and Cameron stood, though Landry waved him back down. Behind Landry was Sam and Doctor Lam. The door closed and everyone sat. The room was silent for a long moment before Landry laid both hands on the table and looked to his daughter.
It was Sam who spoke first however, drawing all of their attention. "I would feel better if we had one of the scanners from Atlantis, but I'm fairly sure that the nanites are specifically focused on Colonel Mitchell's …um…reproductive process. They are only replicating when one or more of them have stopped functioning."
"Well, that's something." Daniel said, his hand sliding onto Cam's leg under the table.
"Not much." Cameron amended. "There's still the fact that there are nanites at all. Oh, and did I mention the part where they got me pregnant?"
"Technically, they only made it possible." Sam corrected, wincing as she said it. "There still would have needed to be…well…" her face flushed red and she glanced at Daniel, then away.
Daniel cleared his throat, but before he could say anything, Cameron grabbed his hand and slid his fingers through his, bringing them up onto the table. "Okay, you know what? Fuck this. Yes, Daniel and I have been known to entertain one another on occasion. On that occasion, I'm not sure we even had a choice, given the whole situation. And I'm tired of pussyfooting around this and if it gets me discharged, well then the Air Force can go fuck itself."
Landry's eyes were wide as he turned to look at them. "I'm going to assume that outburst was fueled by your current medical status, Colonel and not take it seriously."
"Thank you, sir." Daniel said, his free hand rising to sooth down Cam's back. He could feel his cheeks blushing, but he nodded and exhaled. "And yes, Cameron and I…what I mean to say is that it's likely that the…the baby….is mine." Daniel blinked as he said it, suddenly very aware of the consequences of what he just said, of the idea that he was facing unexpected fatherhood at a time in his life when that was the last thing he should have to consider.
"Regardless of who is the father," Doctor Lam said, "we need to consider the medical risks, and whether or not the Colonel is going to bring the child to term."
"Wait, what?" Cameron asked, pulling his hand free of Daniel's. "What other choice is there?"
"I think I could reprogram the nanites." Sam offered.
"To do what?" Cameron asked, glaring at her.
"Colonel Mitchell, we have to consider your health. The male body is not built for this." Doctor Lam inserted. "There is no natural path for birth, your internal organs are all being shifted."
Cameron stood and paced away, shaking his head. Daniel followed him, conscious of being watched. He took Cameron's hand and led him into the corner. "Hey, you okay?"
"No." Cameron said. "I am not okay."
"You're shaking." Daniel pitched his voice low, soft and trying to be comforting. "Talk to me."
Cameron closed his eyes and breathed in, holding it for a long moment, then exhaling slowly. "I never really thought about kids. I mean, I did, but in the abstract, you know?"
Daniel understood that. He hadn't either. Not since Shar'e. "Are you saying you want to keep it?" Daniel asked as gently as he could.
Cameron's eyes were red when he opened them, tears brimming in the corners. "I don't know. It's all happening too fast and I need a minute."
"Okay." Daniel stepped in closer, brushing his lips over Cameron's. "Give me a minute." He stepped around Cameron and crossed back to the table. "We're going to need some time to think this through, and I'd like to go back to the information I brought back from the computer there. I had stopped looking through it when it became clear that it wasn't going to help us. There might be information in there that will help."
"In the meantime, I want you both restricted to base." Landry said, standing. "And keep me informed."
"Daniel--" Sam's face was still a little pink, but she was clearly concerned.
"It's okay, Sam." Daniel said. "I think we need to talk privately before we do this again."
She nodded. "Yeah, okay."
Daniel turned to Cameron who was wiping his eyes and looking annoyed at the same time. They left the conference room together, heading down toward the room that had been hastily set up near the infirmary to afford Cameron some privacy, but also allowed Dr. Lam and her team.
"You don't have to…" Cameron said, pausing at the door.
Daniel looked at him until he conceded and held the door open. "You don't think we need to talk about this?"
"No, I do. I just…honestly, I haven't gotten much past freaking out that this even is real." Cameron said, sinking to a seat on the bed. "This shouldn't be real."
Daniel understood that. "No, I know." Up until now they had been focused on figuring it out, on making sure Cameron was okay, and now that they knew there hadn't been a whole lot of time to process the idea that Cameron was pregnant.
Cameron rubbed over his face and up through his hair, looking up at Daniel with eyes filled with questions. "So…what do we do?" Cameron asked, his voice small in the space between them.
"Well…" Daniel rubbed his hands together before coming to sit beside Cameron on the bed. "I guess the first thing we have to decide is…do we want this? Are we ready for this?"
Cameron was quiet for a long time, his hand coming to rest on Daniel's knee. "I don't not want it."
"Okay." It was a start. "Are you ready for what it means if you decide to go through with it?"
Cameron sighed and stood, pacing to the door and back. "No?" His hands rubbed across his stomach. It wouldn't be long before it was going to be difficult to hide the evidence. "I don't know. I haven't really given Lam a chance to…go into details."
Daniel stood and intersected his pacing. "Forget the details for a minute. Focus on just one thing. On the fact that we will be parents. You and I and a baby." He took Cameron's hands and squeezed to try to get him to look him in the eye.
Suddenly, Cameron pulled away, pressing both hands to his face and turning away. "I am so sorry. This is all my fault."
Daniel shook his head. "What? You heard Sam, it took two of us."
"No, I mean….this…" He turned back to look at Daniel, gesturing between them. "I pushed this on you."
Daniel chuckled and shook his head. "Did I say no? At any time?"
Cameron frowned at him and crossed his arms, leaning back against the dresser. "No, but…this is different."
"Okay, look…nothing we've done was something I didn't want…and what happened on that planet, well, neither one of us resisted that at all." He sighed. "Maybe you should rest and think about what you want. Just understand that whatever you decide, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere." He kissed Cameron softly, before he slipped out the door and exhaled, leaning his forehead against the cool metal for a long moment before he gathered himself and headed for his office. At least being grounded meant he might make a dent in the piles of cataloguing and translating he had to do.
"Daniel?"
He looked up from the translation he was pretending to be working on to find Sam in his doorway, tentative smile on her face.
"Hey, Sam. Come in. I'm just…" He put the papers in his hand down and sighed. "Not getting anything done."
"I just finished going over the rest of the lab work with Doctor Lam and I thought you'd want to know that you are completely clear of nanites."
He nodded absently. "I sort of figured, since…you know, no pregnancy." Given everything that they did in that temple, it was completely within reason that he would have been infected too.
"Yeah, about that…" Sam bit her lip like she wasn't sure what to say.
Daniel winced. "How freaked out are you?"
Sam frowned and shook her head. "About you and Cam? Not at all. I've known for a while."
"What?" Daniel asked, standing and crossing to the coffee pot he wasn't supposed to have in his office. "Did Cam tell you?"
She grinned and rolled her eyes at him. "No. You did."
It was his turn to frown, looking at her like she was nuts. "No, I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I told you that I was sleeping with our team leader."
She laughed, leaning back against the long table filled with artefacts. "You don't even realize it, do you?"
"Realize what?" He was frowning harder and forced himself to breath out and pour his coffee.
"Men." She shook her head. "Do you even remember when you stopped calling him Mitchell and started to call him Cameron? Or when that changed to Cam?"
"What?" Daniel cradled the coffee to him, his mind skipping back over the time since the first time Cameron had knocked on his door and ended up in his bed. "I don't…" Except he did, and he really wasn't sure when that happened.
"And I'm sure you haven't noticed that he doesn't call you Jackson any more either?" She was clearly enjoying herself. "He brings you coffee, you almost never have lunch without him. You come in together, you leave together. The last time we were all at your place, Cam knew his way around your kitchen far too well, and the two of you cooking together was clearly something you've done before."
"And here I was thinking we'd been discrete." Daniel said dryly, though his heart was speeding up, remembering the thrill of Cam's hands dancing over his and around him, the softest touches that they couldn't take further with the others watching, Cam's grin, his voice warm on Daniel's ear as he whispered. He cleared his throat and sipped at his coffee.
"You were." Sam said. "But I've known you a long time. I see your eyes when you're with him. I haven't seen that look in your eyes in a long time."
Daniel could feel his cheeks flushing as he turned away, making a show of going back to his desk, but Sam wasn't quite done and she followed him, sitting on the corner of the desk. "Have you told him?"
"Told him what?" Daniel asked, looking up at her and wishing he hadn't. Her eyes sparkled and she was grinning and it made him blush harder.
"Come on, Daniel, you're not that dense." She pushed his chair with his foot. "You should. Tell him, that is. He probably really needs to hear it right about now."
"I should probably get back to work." Daniel knew he wasn't going to get anything done, not with his head racing around and around what Sam had pointed out.
She nodded and stood. "Yeah, okay, I get it. But while you're mulling over all of the options, remember that he's the one with the scary medical condition. You may be that baby's daddy, Daniel, but Cameron is the one dealing with a life growing inside of him."
His breath caught in his throat as she headed for the door. "Oh my god, Sam." He blinked and fought through the sudden lack of air. "I'm…going to be a father."
She stopped at the door, nodding. "Yeah, I thought you'd figured that out already."
"No, I did. I just….I don't think it hit me until just now. I've been so focused on making sure he was okay…"
"Like I said…you really should tell him."
She was gone before he looked up again, leaving him with a warm feeling in his stomach and the slowly growing realization that she was right.
Cameron paused with his hand raised to knock on the door to Landry's office. There were conversations he had never thought he'd ever have with a commanding officer, but this had never even made that list. He was about to turn around and leave when the door opened, Walter stepping out and nodding at him before Landry was calling him in.
"I…don't want to disturb you." Cameron said as he stood in the doorway.
"You're not. Come, sit." Landry smiled at him from behind the big desk and Cameron gave serious thought to just running away, but instead, he wiped his hands on his thighs and sat, shifting around uncomfortably. "I'd ask how you're doing, but just from the look on your face I can tell you're still trying to wrap your head around this whole situation."
"That's one way to put it." Cameron said quietly. "Sir, about earlier…my outburst--"
Landry waived him off. "Like I said, Colonel, I've already forgotten it. I think, under the circumstances, you're allowed a little leeway."
"Thank you, sir." Cameron shifted again, then stood, pacing to the window. "We've gotten into some strange situations before, sir. But this is a whole other level of crazy."
"Son, since taking this position I have had to write some crazy things into reports, things I would never have believed before coming here. I haven't even begun to figure out how to write this one up." Landry said.
Cameron's heart sped up a little. He hadn't even thought about that. About the reports that would get written, about the chain of command who would all know…which would mean that they would all know about him and Daniel. His career would be over. He sighed and turned back to look at his commanding officer. "Sir…" He pressed his lips together and tried to figure out how to say any of the things running through his mind. "I don't….Daniel and I…"
Landry stood and came to lean on the corner of his desk. "Colonel, no one in this command is going to fault you for loving someone."
Cameron looked up quickly, not sure he'd heard him right. "Sir?"
Landry smiled, crossing his arms. "If I were to have kicked out every young man or woman under my command that fell into bed with the 'wrong' person, I'd still be doing paperwork. Trust me, Son, that's the last part of this whole situation that I'm worried about."
Cameron nodded, not completely convinced, but willing to take him at his word for now. "And, what about this?" Cameron placed his hands on his stomach and didn't look up, afraid to look Landry in the eye.
"Colonel Carter assures me that if you decide to go through with it, the nanites will continue to do the job of keeping both you and the baby healthy, and Dr. Lam is already working on a delivery protocol. Of course, you'll be confined to base for the duration. I'm not sure the world at large is ready for this."
"I'm not sure I'm ready for this, sir." Cameron said. Part of him wanted to take the easy way out, have Sam reprogram the damn nanites, have the whole thing just go away, but he also knew it might be his only chance to have a kid of his own. But then, who brings a kid into the life he lived. "It's a lot to think about."
"Yes, Son, it is." Landry agreed.
"I don't know what to do here." He looked up and Landry smiled.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you what to do either. This is one thing you'll have to figure out for yourself, I'm afraid."
Cameron nodded, standing up straight again. "Thank you sir. I should go. I'm supposed to meet Daniel for lunch."
The mess hall was nearly empty, but for Cameron and Daniel, sitting at a table in the corner, lingering over the last remains of a meal spent mostly avoiding the elephant sitting between them. Daniel glanced up and around them before he caught Cameron's eyes. "So, we should talk."
Cameron smiled and shook his head. "I thought that's what we've been doing."
"Yeah, about everything from Atlantis to your mother's apple pie." He slid one hand across the table, covering Cameron's hand with his own. "But, we have some important decisions to make, Cam."
Cameron sighed, turning his hand over so that their palms were touching. "Yeah, I know." He took a deep breath. "I just keep expecting this to be some dream and I'm going to wake up and vow to never eat leftover Chinese at two in the morning again." He licked his lips and seemed to think carefully before his eyes lifted back to Daniel's. "I think I've decided to go through with it. I mean, I keep hearing my mother asking me when she'll have grandkids and I don't know if I'll ever…because this is…this is different and we won't ever get this chance…" His eyes widened as Daniel tightened his fingers around his hand. "But, but I'm not saying you have to…I mean I get that you might not want…I'm not trying to pressure you into…"
"Cam, stop." Daniel said, lifting his free hand to press a finger to Cam's mouth. He smiled and shook his head lightly. "Breathe." Cam nodded and Daniel dropped his hand. "I told you I would support you no matter what. I meant it."
"I know what you said. But I also know that we've never talked about…." He rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Any of it. We're just…we're friends and a baby implies so much more."
This wasn't exactly the setting he'd thought about having this conversation, but Daniel exhaled and lowered his voice, leaning forward across the table. "Yes, we're friends…but we're more too. And we have been, since before this."
Cameron looked confused, but leaned in, mimicking Daniel's position. "I'm not sure what you mean."
"I mean, somewhere along the way we went past friends and it took me a while to figure it out…it took Sam pointing it out to me, actually, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't wrong."
Cam's frown only deepened. "I still…is this going somewhere?"
Daniel looked down at their joined hands, working up the nerve to say what he needed to. "Yes." He looked up again, into Cameron's eyes. "I think I love you."
For a long moment Cameron didn't seem to be breathing, then suddenly he pulled his hand away and stood, turned his back and left the mess hall. Daniel sat stunned for a moment before he got to his feet to chase after him, following him until he lost him at the elevators.
Daniel shook his head and waited for the next car, assuming Cameron was heading for his room. He spotted him as he came down the corridor, watching the door shut. "Cameron?" He knocked, then tested the knob to see if it was locked. The door came open and Cameron turned away, his hand lifting to his face. "Cameron?" Daniel stepped in and shut the door.
He held a hand up and drew in a deep, shuddering breath, exhaling it slowly as he turned around. His eyes were red and he looked annoyed with himself as Daniel stepped closer. "I'm sorry if what I said…" Daniel started, but Cameron grabbed him and pulled him close, his mouth covering Daniel's in a nearly bruising kiss. His face was wet as he pulled back and he wiped at the tears angrily.
"Stupid fucking hormones." Cameron growled. "Don't apologize. I just…I couldn't…not there. It was too much." He paced to the bed and sat, shaking his head. "I…shit, I knew I was going to cry and this whole situation is insane and I didn't need to…"
Daniel nodded, understanding replacing the fear that somehow he'd been wrong. He sat beside Cameron and took his hand. "Sam said that the hormones were going to give you wild ups and downs for a while."
"She wasn't kidding." Cameron agreed, sniffling.
Daniel licked his lips and ducked his head to find Cameron's eyes. "I meant what I said."
Cameron nodded, lifting their joined hands to kiss Daniel's knuckles. "I don't know how it happened. I never meant for it to go so far."
Daniel cupped his hand to Cameron's face and turned his head, kissing him softly. "And yet, here we are."
Cameron took his hand and put it on the round of his stomach. "All of us."
Daniel nodded and kissed him again. "All of us."
Cameron turned more fully to him, hands lifting to Daniel's face, tongue sliding into his mouth. "So, we're doing this?" Cameron asked breathlessly, pulling back just enough to look in Daniel's eyes.
Daniel nodded. "I guess so."
Behind them the door opened and they pulled apart. Lam's face flushed pink and her eyes were wide. "I'm sorry. I just…"
"Should have locked the door." Daniel whispered to Cam before getting up. "It's okay, Doc, I actually have some work I need to get back to." He crossed to the door and smiled back at Cameron. "I'll bring dinner when I come back."
Daniel closed the door behind him and headed for his office, smiling to himself. He'd have to remember to thank Sam for the push.
Cameron paced in front of the glass, his eyes on the gate, his hand rubbing over his protruding stomach where the baby was just as agitated as he was, tiny feet kicking against his internal organs. He'd been kicked out of the control room, well, truthfully, he'd been ordered back to his temporary quarters, but he was tired of not being told anything.
Daniel was missing and they expected him to stay in his room like and wait for someone to come talk to him. Well, he wasn't having it. No, he was staying close to the gate. He had to be there when Daniel came back.
He'd been in the control center for the initial call. Daniel had sounded tired and stressed. "No, Sir, things aren't going well. We've had to abandon the relocation for now. We're cut off from the gate due to the rising waters. The river over ran its banks yesterday, and the entire field is flooded now. Colonels Strummer and Carter are leading the villagers to higher ground. Teal'c is on his way with a couple of cargo ships, but until he gets here we're kind of stuck."
That had been two days ago. Two days and no word, no way to contact them and no one telling him anything. Which is why he had stormed into the control room an hour before, which hadn't pleased Landry. Cameron leaned against the frame of the window, wishing he could will the gate to turn and Daniel to return.
They'd argued before he left. He hadn't wanted Daniel to go, not when they were getting close to the end of this pregnancy, not when Cameron had been feeling worn down and tired by the simplest things, like walking to the infirmary for his check ups. He had said some terrible things. Things he wanted to take back. Things that could never be the last things Daniel heard from him.
"Wow."
Cameron looked up, surprised to find General O'Neill in the doorway from the hall. "General." He made an effort to stand up straighter, but his back complained and his stomach tightened so it was more of a wobbly grimace than anything else.
"I mean…Daniel said…and I thought…but wow." The General's eyes snapped up from Cameron's stomach, to his eyes. "Look at you."
"Yeah, I know. I'm huge." Cameron said, turning his attention back to the gate.
"You look…..good. You look good."
Cameron smirked and looked back at him. "I look fat, sir."
Jack rocked back on his heels, hands in his pocket. "You look pregnant, Mitchell."
Cameron nodded and stepped away from the window. "What brings you to the mountain, General?"
"Oh, you know…things." The general walked to the conference table, his eyes still stuck on Cameron's stomach. "So….you and Daniel, huh?"
Cameron bristled, worried that O'Neill wouldn't share Landry's laid back philosophy. "I wouldn't have guessed." He crossed to the window, looking down into the gateroom for a minute before turning his back and crossing his arms. "I get it though, Daniel's a good looking guy."
Cameron was still wary, moving to one of the chairs and easing himself into it. "Sir?"
"Easy, Colonel, Daniel and I are friends. Nothing more. My taste tends to run on a more traditional path. But, Daniel is a good looking guy."
Cameron breathed out, relaxing a little. "That he is, sir."
"And he's going to be an amazing father." Jack continued.
Cameron rubbed over his stomach, grimacing a little as two tiny feet pressed in against his kidneys. He gasped, trying to calm the baby who seemed more interested in bouncing off the walls than resting.
"You okay?"
He looked up to find General O'Neill right there, in his face, leaning in. Cameron sat back, holding up a hand. "I’m good. Just...active little thing today." He deflated a little in his chair. "I'm probably not helping."
Jack nodded and sat beside him. "Stress. Babies don't like stress." He drummed his fingers on the table for a few seconds. "It's Daniel. He's fine."
"Yes, sir." It was a programmed response, one he gave without thinking. It was Daniel. And Daniel was always fine, except when he wasn't. "Doesn't mean I don't worry."
Jack smiled. "It's hard, isn't it? Being the one who sits here while they go off through the gate to god knows what?"
"God yes." Cameron replied. He hadn't even considered that part of this situation when he decided to carry the baby to term. "I'm feeling very…frustrated." He hadn't been off base in months. His whole world had narrowed down to the infirmary, his quarters and the halls of the SGC.
"Going a little stir crazy?" the General asked and Cameron nodded.
"You have no idea."
In the gateroom, the gate began to spin and Cameron stood, moving to the window, his breath stuck in his throat. Walter's voice carried up the stairs. "Receiving IDC, it's SG1, sir."
"Open the iris, let them in."
The iris opened and Teal'c, Vala, Daniel and Sam came through the event horizon, looking tired and pale, but none of them seemed hurt. Daniel's eyes lifted as he came to the middle of the ramp, his lips curving as he lifted a hand.
A few minutes later, Daniel came bounding up the stairs from the control room. "Hi Jack." Daniel didn't even look at the general though, as he dropped his pack to the floor and came to where Cameron waited. "Hey."
Cameron's hands found Daniel's vest and pulled him in to a hug. "Easy, I'm here." Daniel said softly in his ear.
"Don't do that again." Cameron responded, letting go of him as Jack cleared his throat.
"Sorry. It took us a bit to get everyone on the new planet."
"You could have called." Jack said, raising an eyebrow.
"We tried. Sam spent most of the trip trying to get the sub-space communications working." Daniel smiled and rubbed a hand down Cameron's arm. "We're fine, and we're home." He rubbed a hand through his hair. "I need a shower and some sleep, but I'm good."
"Excuse me, General. I'm going to make sure Daniel gets what he needs."
General O'Neill's eyebrow went up, but Cameron ignored him, his hand tightening again in Daniel's vest and headed out the door. "I'm coming, you don't need to drag me." Daniel protested as they reached the elevators. When the door opened, Cameron dragged him in, then shoved him against the wall, kissing him. "You know there are cameras?" Daniel whispered as they separated.
"Don't care. Missed you."
"So I notice. Missed you too." Daniel kissed him, hands sliding to hold either side of his protruding stomach. "How is our little one?"
"Restless. Been kicking me and standing on my various organs all day."
Daniel smiled, letting his hand slide into Cameron's as the doors of the elevator opened. "It won't be long now."
Cameron opened the door to his quarters, which had begun to resemble his home, so much of his stuff had migrated over the months. Nearly every day Daniel brought him things from home, a home he was likely not going to live in again, as Daniel had also been slowly moving Cameron into his house, and setting up a nursery.
Daniel wasted little time in stripping out of his clothes, leaving a pile of them by the door as he headed for the bathroom. Cameron heard the shower come on and the low groan of appreciation as Daniel stepped under the stream of hot water.
"Did Jack say why he was here?" Daniel asked as Cameron put the lid down and sat on the toilet.
Cameron frowned. "No, I actually don't think he said." The General didn't usually show up for no reason. "Maybe there's something we should know?"
Daniel peeked around the shower curtain at him. "He would have said something. I'm sure he's just…maybe something with Landry?"
Cameron was starting to get a sneaking suspicion that Daniel knew more than he was saying. "Did you ask him to come check on me?" he asked, standing.
"What? No. Well. Maybe I suggested that if anything were to delay us…he might come keep you company."
"Company?" Cameron shook his head.
The water turned off and Daniel stepped out, grabbing a towel from the rack. "Well, I wanted someone to be with you and it isn't like it could be just anyone. It had to be someone with clearance."
Cameron was torn between annoyed and touched. "I'm a big boy, Daniel."
Daniel caught his hand and lifted it to kiss. "Yes, but you're also dealing with out of control hormones and physical changes and you've been rather good at getting yourself all worked up over the little things. I figured if anything big came along, you would need someone to help you deal."
Daniel wrapped the towel around his waist and kissed Cameron as he passed back into the bedroom. "I can't decide if I'm annoyed that you think I need someone to babysit my fragile emotions, or happy that you thought enough about it to make arrangements…or angry that you could have gotten yourself killed, again, when we have a baby on the way." Cameron followed him, sinking onto the bed.
"I vote for happy to see me." Daniel responded, turning to look at him, dropping the towel to show that he was certainly happy to be seen.
Cameron smirked and gestured for him to come closer. "Thought you wanted to sleep." His hand circled around Daniel's hardening cock, rubbing slowly up and then back down as Daniel moved so that he was all but straddling Cameron's legs.
"I can sleep later." Daniel murmured as Cameron licked around the head of his cock.
Cameron's own cock was waking up as he opened his mouth and took Daniel in, sucking deep before sliding up and off and then going back for more. It had been a while since they'd done more than sleep in the same bed. Daniel moaned as Cameron increased the suction, his hips moving in unison with Cameron's mouth. Cameron hummed a little, sliding off and looking up. "Now that's what I'm talking about," he said with a smirk.
Daniel laughed and leaned in to kiss him, his tongue caressing Cameron's before his kiss traveled along Cameron's jawbone and up to his ear. "You're wearing too many clothes." Daniel whispered, his fingers playing now along the hem of Cameron's shirt, easing it up over his stomach and over his shoulders. Cam shed the shirt, dropping it on the bed beside him and shivered, his hands moving to try to cover the roundness of his belly.
Daniel shook his head, smiling as he went to one knee in front of Cameron. "No, stop." He pulled Cameron's hands up, kissing across the palms. "It's beautiful. You're beautiful." His lips pressed to the taut skin, over and around it before he looked up at Cam, his blue eyes sparkling.
He kissed his way down to Cameron's hip, his fingers playing now along the hem of the sweat pants that had become Cameron's uniform the last few months. Cameron shifted uncomfortably as Daniel's fingers pulled, moving enough that the pull brought the sweats down, under his ass. Daniel eased them down, moving slowly as his mouth traveled back along Cameron's stomach.
Cameron let Daniel lift each foot, sliding his pants down and off before Daniel was standing again, licking his lips. "Lay down."
"Daniel…really…" He reached for Daniel's cock, but Daniel stepped back.
"I have an idea." Daniel said. "Trust me."
Cameron was skeptical because sex around the big balloon that was his stomach just didn't seem practical, even if his cock disagreed. He moved back, lifting his legs up and scooting closer to the middle of the bed. Daniel followed, straddling over his leg, grinning down at him. His hand was hot on Cam's cock, drawing up and down it several times as he settled in position. He licked the palms of each hand, then brought their cocks together, circling the joined girth with one hand above the other. Even before Daniel started stroking, Cam was moving his hips, trying to thrust up. "Easy, I've got this." Daniel said, smiling as he started to move his hands and his hips so that their cocks slid against one another and through his hands.
Daniel's eyes drifted shut and for the longest moment there was only the sound of their bodies sliding together, before Daniel moaned, the sound vibrating through him. Cameron's body tightened , his cock already starting to leak. Daniel's hands tightened, twisted and Cameron yelled as his cock began spilling come, easing the friction a little, but adding to the heat. Daniel's hands sped up and only seconds later, he too was coming, smearing come over Cameron's stomach.
He chuckled as he got up, grabbing his discarded towel to clean them both up. "See, trust me. I'll get you there." He came around the other side of the bed, easing blankets down and crawling in. Cameron shifted enough to get in under the blankets and rolled toward Daniel, his stomach pressing into Daniel's side.
"I can't wait until I can go back to sleeping on my stomach."
"Has Doctor Lam talked about when yet?" Daniel asked, his eyes soft with concern.
Cam nodded and laid back on the pillow. "Another couple of weeks at least. She wants to wait until the baby is close to ready…but not so long that actual contractions start. The OB was here a few days ago, the guy who is actually going to perform the procedure."
"Yeah?" Cam settled on his back, fingers idly stroking over his stomach. Daniel turned on his side. "And?"
Cam shrugged. "Nice enough, I guess. He was more interested in the novelty of it, I think. Lam says he's the best. Sam says that once the baby comes out, the nanites should do the work of restoring all of my insides to what they were before, so they shouldn't have to remove anything but the baby."
"Yeah, she told me that too." Daniel said, though his eyes had closed and Cameron could tell he was drifting toward sleep. Cameron watched him sink deeper into sleep before he let the nearly constant fatigue of his condition pull him down to nap as well.
Daniel watched the clock, fidgeting and paying no attention whatsoever to whatever it was he was supposed to be doing.
"Dr. Jackson?"
He started, looking up and around him. Sam was trying to hide her smile, the archeologist at the screen was looking embarrassed and he had no idea what had been said. "I'm sorry, Dr. Aines. I'm a little distracted."
Sam shook her head. "Why don't we reschedule this for a day when Dr. Jackson's mind can join us? He has other things on his mind today."
"Yes, that would be great." Daniel said, standing. "I'm going down to the infirmary."
"I'll be down later." Sam said as he dashed out of the room. The actual procedure was still over an hour away and Daniel had scheduled the briefing with the junior archeologist as a distraction, not realizing he'd be well past the ability of that manner of distraction to help him.
He made a bee-line straight to the bed where Cameron had spent the last 24 hours, hooked up to all manner of monitors. A nurse was just finishing drawing some blood and Cameron was telling her to leave him alone. "I won't have any blood left! Fucking vampires."
Daniel chuckled and pulled a stool closer. "Abusing the staff?"
Cameron pouted at him, holding out his arms that showed the signs of multiple needles over the last few days. "My mother's going to think I've become a junkie."
Daniel took his hand and kissed over the knuckles. "Your mother knows you're in the hospital, that comes with needles."
Cameron scowled and shifted in the bed. "I hate lying to her. She should be here."
"You know she can't be. You know why we had to tell her like this." They had gone round and round it for weeks, because Cameron's parents deserved to know they had a grandchild, but they could never be told how it happened. So, they had started by telling his parents about them, and how Cameron was moving in with Daniel, that they wanted to spend their lives together and be a family. Then they told them that they had a surrogate carrying their child.
After some initial shock, Cameron's mother had wanted to come to Colorado to meet Daniel, to spend some time with them. Which was when they had to come up with the "training accident" story and that he was in a navy hospital overseas, but he'd be home in time for the baby.
Cameron sighed and lifted his head, trying to see around the curtains to the clock and giving up when he couldn't get high enough. "How much longer?"
"You need to calm down, if your blood pressure gets too high, they're going to put you under instead of just doing it under local." Daniel's eyes scanned the monitors, stopping on the bay heart monitor. He could feel his lips curling up into a grin, and couldn't be bothered to hide it. "She's nice and steady." He lifted a hand to rest on the curve of Cameron's stomach. "It's hard to believe that we will get to hold her in just a little while."
Cameron's hand covered his and they were both grinning like fools when Dr. Lam approached, already in her surgical scrubs. "Well, you two look happy. We're almost ready so we're going to get you moved into surgery in just a few minutes. Dr. Jackson, if you plan on being in the room, you need to get changed."
Daniel nodded, kissing Cam's cheek lightly as he stood. "I'll see you in there." He followed Lam to a small locker room where she handed him scrubs and a surgical bonnet and the elastic covers for his shoes.
A few minutes later, Daniel was following Lam into the surgical suite where Cameron was already on the table, his stomach bare, a blue curtain keeping Cam from really seeing much. The OB, a Dr. Markins, looked up and nodded.
"We're almost ready, just waiting for the local anesthetic to take full affect."
Lam directed Daniel to Cameron's side where he could see both Cameron's face and the procedure while holding his hand. "Colonel, I'm going to begin the procedure now. You may feel some pinching and some pressure."
"Okay, Doc. Let's do this thing." Cameron responded.
Daniel watched as the first incision was made, smiling down at Cameron. "So far so good."
"You going to give me the blow by blow?" Cameron asked.
"I could, but Sam would do a better job at it. I could go get her." He pretended to pull away and Cameron's hand tightened around his.
"Don't even think about it. You're staying right here."
"Okay, I'm in. Let's get some suction so I can see what I'm doing." The doctor looked at Cameron and nodded. "Next cut is into the uterus itself. Then we'll get a good look, make sure there's nothing to prevent us from lifting her out. Once she is out, we will cut the cord and I'll work on getting you stitched up while Dr. Lam checks the baby, okay?"
Cameron nodded, his hand squeezing Daniel's. The doctor's hands moved back to the incision in Cameron's stomach, drawing Daniel's eyes. His hands were steady as he made the incision. "Pull that back. Okay, light."
Dr. Lam swung an overhead light and turned it on, flooding the area with bright white light. Dr. Markin leaned over, his eyes sweeping around the cavity, his hand slipping inside to feel around. He nodded. "Okay, it looks good. I'm going to bring her out now. Dr. Lam, have your team ready."
The doctor eased his second hand inside the opened incision and slowly he lifted a squirming little body up, turning her as it became clear that the cord was wrapped around one leg. A nurse helped him get it clear and as he pulled the tiny body out of Cameron's stomach, Daniel got the first look at his daughter's face. "Cam…she's…oh my god, Cam." Tears burned at his eyes as Dr. Lam held out towel covered hands to take her, pausing while the cord got clamped in two places and a nurse handed Daniel the surgical scissors.
He exhaled slowly, his hands shaking as he lifted the scissors. Her tiny face scrunched up and she started to cry as Daniel cut the cord. Dr. Lam handed the infant to him then and he turned to Cameron, his smile so wide it hurt his face. "Cam….look." Cam's hand lifted to brush over her tiny arm, his own smile wide. "You did it."
"Daniel, bring her over here so we can clean her up and check her over."
Daniel hesitated, his eyes darting to Dr. Markin and back to Cam. "Go on. I'll be fine." Cam said.
Daniel nodded, turning to where Lam was waiting to take the baby. He watched as she cried as they wiped her clean and laid her on the scales. Dr. Lam gave measurements over her shoulder to the nurse taking the notes, before lifting her stethoscope to listen to her heartbeat. She nodded, then let another nurse move in to take the blood sample. By the time they were done, the baby was crying hard, her little feet kicking and Daniel wanted to pick her up, but Dr. Lam held him off while she got a diaper on and wrapped her in a clean blanket.
Finally, Daniel had his daughter in his arms, cradling her to him as he hummed and bounced her, turning back to the operating table where Cameron was watching them. Dr. Markin was just finishing his stitching as Daniel came back to Cameron with the baby.
"She's beautiful." Cameron whispered, tears spilling from his eyes.
"And perfect." Daniel added. She wasn't crying anymore, but her little face was all red with the exertion.
"Daniel, we should take you and the baby out now and let Dr. Markin's team finish up and get Cam back to his bed." Dr. Lam said. "Besides, Alison says you have an entire hallway full of people waiting to see you."
He let her lead him out and into the hallway where Jack was sitting with Sam, Teal'c and Vala, all of them standing as he approached. Daniel couldn't keep the smile from his face as he held the tiny body close to him. "Hey."
Sam was beaming and even Jack was smiling as he stopped beside them, holding her so they could see her. "Cameron did just fine." Lam said. "We'll want him to sleep for a while now and we'll need to keep a close eye on him for the next few days. As for the baby, she looks healthy and normal. I've got the blood work started, so we'll know for sure in a couple hours."
"Did you two ever settle on a name?" Vala asked.
Daniel looked up at her. "In fact we did. Yesterday. Her name is Claire, for my mother. Claire Jackson Mitchell."
Cameron sat nervously on the passenger side of the car, twisting every few minutes to look behind him at the car seat. Daniel's hand slid down his arm to his hand. "She's okay."
"I know. I'm just nervous."
Daniel lifted his hand and kissed it. "Don't be. Your parents got in last night, we had a nice dinner and there are great parents."
"And we're about to lie to them some more." Cameron didn't like the lying. It was one thing when it was about the job, that was just something he'd learned to live with and they both understood. Some things he couldn't talk about. But this was his daughter…a child that had lived inside him.
It had been nearly a week since the delivery, a week spent in the infirmary for the first few days, until they were sure that the nanites were doing their job, then in his on base quarters until his bloodwork showed that he was shedding the nanites and the ultrasound showed his body was nearly back to normal.
Daniel pulled up in front of the house. "Welcome home." He leaned over and kissed him before he opened his door and got out, opening the back door to get Claire out as Cameron worked himself up to his feet. The front door opened and his mother and father were on the porch, smiling and waving. Cameron held up a hand and started up the walk a little gingerly. He was still trying to find his equilibrium without the huge belly as a counterweight.
Daniel was beside him , his free hand sliding around Cameron's back in support. "Hi Mom. Dad." He stepped up onto the porch, letting his mother pull him close.
"Easy, he's still healing." Daniel said, leaning in to kiss her cheek.
"Oh, and this must be our little one."
"Mom, Dad, our daughter, Claire."
Daniel relinquished the baby to her grandmother without a fuss, turning his attention to Cameron. "Let's get both of you inside." Daniel guided Cameron to the living room chair that had clearly come from Cameron's place. In fact, all around them he could see things that had come from his place, and surprisingly they fit easily, kind of like the way he and Daniel had come to be…him and Daniel.
His mother settled the baby into his arms, smiling at him. It was good to see her so happy. Claire gurgled up at him, little fist pressed against her little lips. "She's probably hungry," he said, looking up at Daniel.
"I'll get a bottle." Daniel replied, kissing the top of his head before he disappeared into the kitchen.
"You know, we never did hear what your accident was," his father said as the two of them sat on the couch.
"Not actually my accident." Cameron said, shifting a little to get comfortable. "I was standing on the sidelines when there was a minor explosion, took a hunk of metal to my abdomen." He rubbed across the place where there was a red scar to mark the incision. "I was lucky, it didn't penetrate, just bruised a lot of stuff. They had to go in to stop the bleeding." It was the easiest lie…and it didn't sit well, but it was convincing.
Daniel came back to the living room, a bottle and cloth diaper in his hand. He handed them to Cameron with a soft smile. "We had decided he would move in here just before the accident, so he's never actually seen the nursery or where we put all of his stuff."
"So why here, instead of Cameron's place?" his father asked.
"I liked Daniel's place better." Cameron said, watching as Claire sucked at the nipple on the bottle. "He had more room."
"And more stuff. I collect stuff like you wouldn't believe. Hazard of the trade I guess."
"So, Cameron, Daniel wouldn't tell us how you two met."
He grinned up at his mother, then Daniel. "No? Did he tells you he speaks like 300 languages?"
"It's not that many." Daniel argued.
"Well, anyway, he was between digs and we needed a translator." Cam turned his eyes back to Claire. "I'd read some reports in which he had been helpful and found out he was in the area…so we called him."
"I was packing up to leave for a new dig." Daniel continued. "But Cameron convinced me to stay, and I've been a civilian contractor with the Air Force ever since."
"And you're not going to have any problems with you two living together?" Cameron could feel the concern from across the room.
"My commanding officer is aware of our situation and has decided it's none of his business, Dad. We're fine." Cameron replied. "I think she's done. Can you take her?"
Daniel leaned in, throwing the cloth over his shoulder before he lifted Claire up to start burping her. "You okay?"
Cameron nodded. "Just wiped out."
"I'll put her down, give you some time with your folks." Daniel kissed him lightly before disappearing down the hall.
Cameron waited until the door closed before exhaling and turning back to his parents. "So, how upset are you?"
"We're not upset," his mother said, taking his father's hand. "Just a little surprised."
"Yeah, me too." Cameron said. "I never expected…this."
"But you love him?" It was only half a question, making Cameron look up at his father, then down the hallway.
"Yeah, Dad. I do."
"Well, it's obvious he loves you, and that baby."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. We wanted to wait until we were sure it was going to happen. Then things got crazy with the accident and I really wanted you to meet Daniel before now, but with our schedules…"
His mother came to sit closer, her hands taking his. "We're not upset. Though, now that you have a baby to think of, one of you will be staying home, at least for a while?"
Cameron smiled and patted her hands. "Yes, Mom. I'm off duty for at least the first month, then Daniel will be taking some vacation time while we sort out how this is going to work."
"I just worry."
"I know Mom. We're going to be great though." He stifled a yawn and shook his head. "I'm sorry. This is the longest I've been up and moving around in a while. I flew in this morning and then we were at the hospital and signing paperwork."
"We should let him rest." She stood and came to kiss his forehead. "We're staying at a hotel not far from here. Daniel has our number. We'll be by tomorrow."
Cameron stood to walk them to the door, waving as they got to their car on the street. When they were gone, he closed the door and locked it before wandering down the hall to the door that he knew hid the nursery. When he'd seen it last it was wall to wall with books and boxes of artefacts and memories of Daniel's life.
Now it was painted pastel yellow and filled with a white crib and changing table and dresser. A rocking chair was in the corner, currently held by a fluffy bear that was half as big as he was, a gift, Daniel had told him, from General O'Neill.
Daniel stood by the crib, looking over his shoulder as Cameron came into the room. "They've gone to their hotel." Cameron whispered, sliding his arms around Daniel's waist and putting his chin against Daniel's should to look down on their sleeping daughter. "Every time I look at here I can't believe we did that."
Daniel leaned back enough to kiss his cheek. "You did that. I just watched."
"She's beautiful."
Daniel nodded, taking Cameron's hands and pulling him around so that they could kiss properly. "Your parents okay?"
"They will be. Still a little shocked, I think. We did kinda spring it on them."
"It's a lot to take in all at once." Daniel agreed. "But they'll adjust. They don't even have to adjust to the part where you got pregnant because aliens left behind their magic oil."
Cameron smirked. "Please, god, don't ever make me have to explain that to my mother."
"You look tired. She's asleep. Let's put you to bed too."
"Just one more minute. I want to just savor this." Cameron tugged him closer. "I never expected any of this, you know."
"I do know." Daniel said. "And yet, here we are."
"Here we are." Cameron echoed, letting the feeling of it settle over him. The feeling of family and home, something he thought he'd left forever when he'd enlisted, or at least once he'd joined the SGC. "Here we are."
