25
Carolyn arranged for the test to be done the next day, and it was a very nervous couple who sat in the new house unpacking boxes that night. Neither wanted to mention the procedure, nor the problem it was meant to detect. Jack tried several times to make her smile, but her efforts were wan and strained.
They rose at 0600 the next morning and Jack tried his best not to smother her, he felt so helpless, he wanted to show her how much he loved her, how much he wanted to protect her and how much he wanted everything to be alright, but the brittle smile and lack of her usual fluid grace as she moved told him loudly just how tenuous her hold was on herself, so he held back and tried to be as 'normal' as possible.
Her small smile as they exited the house told him he was doing the right thing, but his heart ached as he helped her into the pre warmed car.
When they got to the infirmary it was to witness an argument in progress. Dr Wallace had found out about the test and had evidently asked permission of the JCoS to run a full genetic work up. Which would mean that Carolyn would have to draw more fluid than she had planned.
Carolyn was objecting loudly, but it seemed her father had received orders that morning to green light the test. Jack soon picked up the argument, his voice joining with Carolyns, and it was a good couple of minutes before he realised that Sam wasn't saying anything. He turned to see her slumped on the bed, her head in her hands, weeping.
He felt ashamed immediately, he ordered both Hank and the geneticist to leave, while he moved to comfort his wife.
"Shh" he said, smoothing her golden hair with one hand while his other moved along her spine "Sorry my love" he whispered "I didn't mean… I should have…" he stumbled as he had no idea what he needed to say.
"Do the genetic work-up Carolyn" Sam said to the woman stood at his shoulder, she looked Jack straight in the eye. "If there's anything else, we need to know" he nodded, accepting what she said, while internally he disagreed totally. It was her choice, he would stand by her through it.
The procedure went well, Sam was told she had to stay in the bed for the rest of the day, but she would be allowed out of the base the next day as long as she promised to take it easy.
The 'quick' result would be ready about 48 hours after the test, but the full work-up usually took a couple of weeks. However they were not limited to a public lab, where there were queues for tests to be done, so Carolyn told them they could have the proper full result in just over a week.
Simon Wallace gave them the same timeline for his genetic mapping, though he gave the news through General Landry as he had been intimidated by Jacks actions and was reluctant to confront him again.
Jack stayed on base, Juan brought him the paper work that 'had to be done' but he only moved from his wifes side for the bathroom.
He was shattered the next morning, ancient gene or not, his back and legs protested after sleeping in the hard plastic chairs all night, though he recovered by the time she got out of bed after her breakfast.
She decided to 'visit' with Vala and Daniel, who were planning on getting married some time soon, while he went to work. He sorted through the latest AGs, planning to get them all together in the UK the week after, he was flying more and more often over there, and though he hated the weather, he loved their selection of cakes and pies, and he always tried to time his visits to coincide with 'high tea' at a place called the Country Fayre Café he had found just outside an army barracks in Yorkshire. He was rapidly becoming addicted to scones with cream and 'jam' as the English called it.
They returned home at 1700, and strangely the mood had improved, he wasn't sure if it was because the test was over, or because Sam had some naughty gossip from Vala that he really didn't want to know the details of, but she kept laughing and blushing every time he mentioned the couple or their wedding.
The next day the test was back, and as expected by Carolyn it showed nothing. As she had pointed out, the fluid build up was new and slight, though now easily discernable, and they would have to wait for the full test to be completed.
Sam was at home most of the time now, Carolyn had slowly cut her hours week after week until she was limited to 8 hours a week, which she usually did on Mondays and then sulked around the house the rest of the time. Jack dare not leave her in the new house alone though, he knew she would not be able to resist unpacking, so he arranged for the rest of SG1 to visit and they cleared everything away in the one evening.
Jack worked all week and caught up again on the two days he had been absent, he wondered why he actually came in as often as he did, as he always seemed able to catch up so quickly.
Friday morning Dr Wallace asked to see both the Generals, Dr Lam and Colonel Carter, he sounded urgent and so Jack sent a car to pick up his wife.
"The first thing I want to show you is this…" he clicked the hand control and the screen lit up, two genetic graphs side by side appeared.
At first glance they looked identical but the shaky red light the geneticist was waving showed a couple of differences between the two charts.
"Whos are they?" Carolyn asked.
"This is General O'Neill" he said
"And the other?" she asked
"No you don't understand, they are BOTH General O'Neill" he said
"SO, is that the genetic marker Thor put in me to stop cloning?" Jack asked, remembering Janet trying to explain it to him after he had left mini me with Thor to be 'fixed'
"No, these genetic samples were BOTH taken after that. This is before… and after, the death of the Asgard race" Jack and Hank nodded, his 'gift'. "This…" another two graphs showed up, they looked no different from the first pair "Is the clones genetic make-up, you notice the same two changes?" no wonder they looked the same!
"And THIS…" he showed a single graph "this is the baby, you see the changes that were in both O'Neill males are in the new one as well."
"You mean the baby will have the healing ability?" Jack asked
"I can't say for certain, but I would suggest on the evidence so far, that it is likely" the doctor looked smug "I will have the rest of the chart later in the week, but I forced this test to see what the results would be here…and here" his pointer moved madly on the screen.
"You got us all together and you don't even have the full results?" Jack growled, the scientist looked surprised by his attitude, but he helped Sam to her feet and they left the room, he knew she was as eager to get away as he was, she didn't want him to beat the crap out of the man and face charges instead of attending the babys birth instead.
OoΩoO
Again the week dragged, they had a small celebration for Jane when she got her promotion through, she proudly displayed the leaves on her uniform, a richly deserved promotion according to both Teal'c and Jack.
Major Jane Flynn and her brothers Philip and Matt were scheduled to go through to Atlantis on the Friday and Jack invited all three around for a meal on the Wednesday before they left. He didn't know the two men very well, but had spent a lot of time with Jane since she came to the programme, and he was pleased to see a lot of her mother in her.
They were going to travel with 3 Brits, a Russian and 2 French, bringing Atlantis up to more AGs than they had ever had, even with gene therapy.
They had a pleasant evening, and Jack had just seen them off to their cars when Sam cried out.
She was on the floor, her hands over her stomach…obviously in pain.
Jack dialled Carolyn and lifted her into the car, they made it to the SGC in record time, but too late to stop the labour.
Jacob Jonathan O'Neill was born at 28 weeks, weighing in at 1lb 3 oz. Carolyn had an incubator already at the SGC and he was placed inside as soon as he was born.
Jack was torn between comforting a very upset and worried Sam and wanting to see his son. Carolyn gave Sam a breast pump and asked her to try and fill a bottle for the baby, but try as she might she couldn't produce any milk.
Jack was taken into the sterile room and he held the baby and helped feed him, via a nose tube and a small syringe, his first feed, after he held the child, bringing his considerable determination to focus upon a single point at the base of the babies skull. He felt… another presence as he fought to bring balance to the chaos he sensed around the childs body, he guessed it was because the baby was born so early.
Jon arrived in the small hours of the morning and he also spent time touching the child and concentrating. Both men were exhausted by their efforts and slept well into the next day.
Jon then tried to help the baby while Jack comforted Sam, Carolyn wouldn't allow her out of bed yet and so she had not got to hold young Jacob as she couldn't go through the rigorous cleaning that the doctor was insisting everyone go through.
Simon Wallace could be heard in the corridor as Jack sat on the bed with Sam in his arms. Eventually Carolyn came onto the ward and moved to sit in the chair that Jack was supposed to be using.
"The results of the test came back, of both tests" she clarified. "According to the test I ran, Jacob tested positive for hydrocephalus, however I examined Jacob at his birth and again a couple of hours ago, and I can say with some certainty that I don't think there is anything to worry about, I don't know if the General and Colonel have anything to do with his lack of fluid, or if he had so little that it is undetectable, or even if he managed to heal himself, which is what Dr Wallace is insisting, but whichever scenario is correct, your son seems to be very healthy, especially for a child so small, and actually for the gestation time he isn't small. That's a respectable weight for a child of 28 weeks!
"Dr. Wallace is insisting that I share the result of his full genetic work-up, he is insisting that Jacob IS a strong AG, probably with the healing power that you yourself display General, and he thinks it is possible that the child may be even stronger than yourself… a 'potential 5' he is terming it, he has asked that somehow we get the child to activate the ancient life-signs detector, to test" she rolled her eyes, mute comment to her thoughts on that idea, Jack snorted, how the hell could you tell a baby to activate the machine? He dismissed the idea out of hand.
Jack had tightened his grip on his wife as she cried at the news of Jacobs illness, and then again at his apparent 'cure', and shortly after Carolyn allowed Jack to wheel her into the room with the baby, Jon wasn't there, but Jack lifted the side panel down and brought the tiny bundle out, Sam was trembling as she reached for him, but the shaking stopped the second her fingers made contact, and though she could not feed him herself she brought the restless child to her breast, where he immediately calmed.
Jack looked down on the most perfect sight a man could witness, his wife holding their first born child, the baby still faced battles, being so small and early from his mother there were any number of complications that could set in, but Jack was confident that the young man was a fighter and would overcome anything thrown at him. He remembered his thoughts at the start of the year, everything WAS connected, and everything was genetic… and here in front of him was living proof.
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It's all in the Genes
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