In The Land Of Hope, There Is No Winter 10
At The Turn Of The Season
by Bethany
URL: http://www.stargateslash.com/asb/bethany6/inthel10.php
Summary: Daniel sits in the Infirmary before the Caesarean. He is visited by some of his friends, and Jack sits at his side the whole time
Info: This has a warning of adult themes because it talks about the right to choose whether or not to continue a pregnancy... I'm a pro-lifer myself, but I'm not so dumb as not to realise that there are some situations in which the decision is extra specially tough..!
Daniel sat in the Infirmary bed, with Jack nearby. He was exhausted, and he hadn't even had the baby yet.
He was exhausted because he kept thinking of all the other men out there, who'd been in that lab. Most of them probably wouldn't have the medical support, the moral support he had... And what would happen to them? Jack said he doubted many men would have the bravery Daniel did, to give birth... But, and as Daniel thought of this, he suppressed a shudder, did the other men have any choice? Would their medical people even know how to safely operate on them, for purposes of either having the baby, or not... And what happened to these men? Did they die, as their body, so newly changed, tore apart somewhere in their abdominal region (which was where Janet said the scans told her the artificial birth canal was, and it was to be removed, of course, hopefully before it had the chance to do any damage to Daniel, or even the baby...)... Daniel had seen the changes in his body, of course, and this new set of changes, as in the last days, his body prepared to split open, what would happen then?... What was meant to happen to him if he was somehow forced to do this naturally? He would just die, without medical help; that was for sure... And those damn scientists who started it all, those at least, didn't even give a crap! Of course not!!
Jack reached out from the bedside chair, and squeezed Daniel's hand.
"Do not worry, DanielJackson..." Teal'c said. He'd been standing there for several minutes. "After the baby is delivered, when Jack goes to watch over your child, I will stay in the surgical observatory to watch over you..."
Daniel looked up at Teal'c, as he hastily wiped away an errant tear. "Thanks, Teal'c."
"It is the least I can do for you, Daniel..." The Jaffa replied.
"I remember when you kept watch while I helped Sha're give birth..." Daniel mused. He looked up as Janet drew back the bed's curtain a little, and walked to the end of the bed.
"Please, trust me, Daniel..." She pleaded.
"You're not the problem, Janet..." Jack said gently.
Janet then looked to Daniel.
Daniel looked to her. "He's right, Janet. I'm sorry. It's not you!"
Janet reached out to pat his hand, and said nothing, as she watched Daniel fight against the instinct that still persisted, to flinch whenever medical personnel touched him these days. "I trust my team... And the General's had me check and recheck everybody anyway, plus, Daniel, no one has been sent in from outside..."
"And we've been very careful to monitor base safety, DanielJackson... To make sure no one can get in."
And to go to lockdown, if things go wrong! Daniel thought.
"Colonel Carter has installed many devices to ward off beaming technology and the like..." Teal'c said. "She is putting the finishing touches to properly installing them now..."
Daniel fought the fear that made him want to say 'Watch it, perhaps you'll all have to beam out in a hurry...' and 'Where's Cam? Going over the Military strategy for any big showdown!??' Or 'How about the General? Stuck in meetings with the Joint Chiefs, by any chance??' Daniel knew he wouldn't get the thoughts in his eyes past Jack though, who was trying to hide his own concern. At that moment, Daniel heard Vala's voice on the other side of the curtain.
"Coo-eee!" She announced.
Daniel figured she must have picked that oddity up while living among them all...
"Can I visit?" She asked.
Janet poked her head back around the curtain, to the outside world. "Only for a short while..." She smiled genuinely to soften her words. She knew this must be a tough time for Vala.
Vala walked in, and sat on the end of Daniel's bed.
"I will leave for a moment, DanielJackson, O'Neill..." Teal'c nodded at them both. "Is there anything you wish me to bring back for either of you, from the canteen, or your quarters, perhaps..?"
Jack looked to Daniel, and Daniel to Jack.
"No, thanks, T, buddy..!" Jack smiled to their friend.
As Teal'c left, and Janet scribbled, again, on Daniel's charts, Daniel looked into Vala's eyes, and saw there that she was trying to be as brave as he was trying to be. He wondered if he should be afraid. How desperately did Vala want a child? He tried to push the thought away, knowing that Jack would have already thought of that as well... And, he watched as Janet left the 'cubicle', if only for a moment...
Vala smiled. "You'll do fine, Daniel." She promised.
No one ever really left the Stargate Program, but when Jack first did less of the Missions, before any of this hand unfolded, this was why Daniel felt drawn to Vala. She had a similar ability to bicker with, or to, conversely, try and comfort him, when need be, that Jack did... And, of course, she and Daniel had similar histories: A rough time growing up, almost entirely parentless; Also, of course, Daniel could already sympathise with her because she'd suffered a similar fate to that of his wife, Sha're, as well as having to give up a baby. Daniel had done that, too, already, with Shifu. Tears prickled his eyes, even in front of Vala, as he thought of how he might be asked to do that again, very soon.
Jack sat forward in his seat, and squeezed Daniel's hand again, looking into his eyes.
Vala sat forward, as much as she could, without hurting Daniel's feet, ankles, and legs, all of which were swollen. "You will be fine, Daniel..." She reiterated.
"I'm about to recreate THE scenes from the film Alien, possibly in more ways than one..!" Daniel replied, on the verge of tears. "What's going to happen?" He looked up at Jack.
Jack got up, and hugged Daniel. "What's going to happen is, we'll all be there for you both, you and the baby..."
"Sorry, Vala..." Daniel sniffed, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands.
"Don't be, sweetheart." She said. "It's totally understandable."
She'd said sweetheart, another term she'd picked up from Earth, in a totally affectionate, but platonic way, and yet, Daniel felt another stab of guilt, or sympathy for her... "What do we tell the child?" Daniel suddenly asked Jack.
"We'll tell him or her as much as we can, Daniel..." Jack said.
"How much is that? How much of the sci-fi side to life will the kid have to know about?" Daniel asked, aware that, in that moment, he sounded like Jack, as he sometimes did. "It's not fair to scare the baby, but it won't be fair if, one day, regarding him or her or not, some alien invasion drops out of the sky..! Not necessarily anything to do with the baby," Daniel added quickly, suddenly fearing walls, or curtains, with ears, "but you know what I mean!"
"Yep, we do!" Jack assured him.
Vala nodded. She'd grown up in a culture that knew about the existence of people on other planets, but she knew that Daniel and Jack's culture, Daniel and Jack's planet, for the most part, had no clue... And from her darkest, Goa'uld led days; she knew how scary that could be when someone did try to land in your backyard.
"Daniel, we'll figure it out together, some day..." Jack told him.
"God willing..!" Daniel replied.
Jack reached out, and brushed the side of Daniel's face with his thumb.
"Even if it turns out that you can't tell the baby the whole truth," Vala began, "you can still tell him or her something of it, Daniel... Don't worry." She smiled, holding back the tears she wanted to cry for him, and because she was suddenly thinking about how she never had to explain anything to the very fast growing Adria... Vala prayed that Daniel wouldn't have to stand by while something like that happened all over again. "Anyway," She said, getting up off the end of the bed, and walking over to the head of it, bending and kissing Daniel's cheek, "I'll leave you and Jack be..." She straightened her back, and looked across to Jack, and smiled genuinely at him.
"Thanks for dropping by, Vala..." Jack grinned at her, also genuine.
Daniel caught her hand a moment. "Thanks for making the effort..." He said, as he momentarily held her hand.
She smiled. "See you soon, you three..!" She said, turning on her heal, and letting the curtain swish behind her.
Daniel's stomach turned over at the thought of three... He was so scared, but he wanted this baby, and everything to be fine with it, so badly...
"Three, huh?" Jack noted, smiling and holding Daniel's hand.
"Yep, three!" Daniel tried to be brave, smiling. Though Heaven knew what he'd call the baby. He'd almost settled on Melissa Clarice for a girl, even if that meant her having the initials, M.C (like a DJ or something!)... But for a boy, he still wasn't sure... He loved Jaron, He'd figured on spelling it that way, after all...As it still had some letters from each of the names of the people he loved, or had loved, most in his life... J (or JA) from Jack, AR from Sha're, and ON, as in O'Neill, or N for Nicholas Ballard, the grandfather with whom he'd been reunited... But he wasn't sure about Jaron, for fear of tempting fate, because of the meaning, and the possibility that the child might sing out to the enemy..! He thought, if he did use that name, then, he would use the middle-name Clarence, in honour of his mother (it meant Of Clare, and was a male form of the name)... After all, the boy would already share his grandfather's name, in his honour, because of the surname Jackson... But Daniel was afraid Clarence might be a bit too geeky a name, a name that soldiers like Jack might tease a geek for... Not that he could picture Jack himself being cruel in that way! The other name Daniel was thinking of right now; was Sunesh, which meant 'Good'... And he figured he'd just use his surname, Jackson, as the baby's middle name, asking Jack to give the child his surname, despite the fears they both shared of the child being literally labelled to remind people in the Military, that both his parents were men once in their service... Daniel wanted to ask Jack to adopt the baby with him... Daniel figured that even he might have to adopt the child; since he wasn't even sure he was genetically related to him or her. He was afraid of whether or not he'd get the chance to adopt the baby, afraid he'd never see the papers... And, he knew, that, still attached to the Military as they were, he and Jack could never formally enter a civil partnership, yet if the child was named Sunesh Jackson O'Neill... That way, his name would literally mean Good, Jack's son... Daniel only hoped that all would be well, and he'd get the chance to see what suited his baby, as he held the child in his arms sometime soon...
The End
