Steps, CH.12 - 15, Stubborn, Sonogram, Special, Shuffling
Steps
CHAPTERS 12 - 15 (Stubborn, Sonogram, Special, Shuffling)
Stubborn
He held up his finger as she opened her mouth to say something.
"No."
Vala sighed and leaned in the doorway of the nursery. "Daniel, you don't even know what I was going to say." She didn't mention the fact that he'd known she was going to say something without even looking at her.
He gave her a combination of a nod and a headshake. "Oh, I do...I know exactly..." His voice was just as agitated as it'd been for the past hour. "And the answer, response, reply is still no, no matter how you phrase the question or make the request."
Placing a hand on her round belly, Vala rested her cheek on the doorframe. "You've been at it for an hour."
"Thank you for the update." Daniel muttered, flipping back and forth through the booklet sitting in his lap. No matter how many pages he leafed through, clarity in the task he was trying to attempt just wouldn't come. "Now if you're done being...useful, why don't you go away and stop distracting me."
She didn't even flinch at his hostile words. "Okay." Vala said quietly, pushing off the doorframe. For a moment she considered stepping into the room and giving him a reassuring kiss, but Vala decided against it. Instead, she turned and carefully started making her way down the hall.
"Don't do it." Daniel hollered after her even as she thought about going against his wishes and picking up the phone.
-------
Vala's head came up from the magazine she was perusing as the front door opened quietly. She quirked a small smile towards Jack, who immediately headed over to her.
"He's still trying?" He asked her on a whisper.
She nodded, dropping the magazine on the counter behind her. "I was really hoping he'd get it by now, but he's been at it all evening. And every time I go check on him, it's like he's more lost then the time before."
Jack nodded, then looked out of the kitchen and down the hall as a few choice Abydonian curses filtered out from that direction. Without another glance towards Vala, he turned and headed for the room Daniel hadn't left since the early evening. Vala, as expected, was right behind him.
Stopping in the doorway a moment, the retired General eyed the mess before him. Brown eyes landed on the figure facing away from the door, in the middle of the room on the floor. Jack stepped over pieces of wood and piles of screws and bolts, his shadow falling over his friend as he blocked out the dull light coming from a small lamp on a table by the wall.
"I thought I said no." Daniel mumbled to Vala, who he knew was once again leaning in the doorway. He turned slightly betrayed blue eyes on her. "You didn't listen." Looking up, he stared at Jack. "I told her not to call you."
Jack shrugged. "I know, but it looks like you need some help."
Shaking his head, Daniel slapped the booklet in his hand against the floor. "Dammit, I shouldn't need help." He turned an angry glare on the pieces scattered around him. "I can figure out the stargate, and ascend and come back to life and defeat...gods."
He reached out to pick up one of the wooden pieces. "And yet I can't put a damn crib together." Daniel tossed the piece away from him with frustration. "If I can't even put a crib together, how am I supposed to raise a kid?" Blue eyes found brown once more. "I'm failing this child before it's even born."
"Danny..." Jack sighed as he knelt down next to his best friend. "You're not failing your kid." He reached out and took the crinkled pages of the instruction booklet from Daniel's tense grasp. "Putting a crib together is a lot more difficult than most people think...and something you shouldn't try alone."
Daniel pouted, and Jack threw a quick look over his shoulder at Vala. She shrugged innocently, not owning up to the 'he's definitely spent to much time with you' glare. The older man quickly returned his attention to Daniel.
"Come on..." He plopped down on the floor and pulled off his jacket. "Let's show this crib who's the boss."
Reluctantly, Daniel nodded. He continued to pout, Jack's presence doing nothing to ease the burden of failure.
-------
After another hour, Vala quietly made her way back to the nursery. There had been an argument of sorts between Jack and Daniel not long after the older man had arrived, and she was starting to get unsettled by the near silence that was coming from the room.
When she reached the doorway, Vala realised why it had grown so quiet. The crib was nearly finished, Jack sitting before it, twisting another screw into the frame. Daniel, on the other hand, was lying in front of the already finished bookshelf, dead to the world.
She made her way over to him, coming to sit Indian style by his side. Her fingers stroked over his hair as Jack's quiet voice broke the silence.
"I told him to just go to bed, but you know he's just so damn-"
"Stubborn." Vala finished with an understanding smile and nod. "Yeah, I know." She looked down at the finally relaxed face of the man she loved. Her gaze drifted a little to look at her stomach. She brought her free hand to rest on top of it. "Wouldn't be here if he wasn't, though, so I can't really complain."
Jack smiled knowingly. "Neither would I." He said gently. His brown eyes looked in her direction as she shifted to lay down with Daniel. "You really shouldn't be lying on the floor, kiddo."
She gave him a mischievous smirk. "There's a lot of things I shouldn't do, but that doesn't stop me." Her smile softened as Daniel's arms instinctively came to rest across her, just above her stomach.
Shaking his head, Jack turned back to his work. "Damn stubborn pair." He murmured playfully, once again looking at the soon to be parents. Soon to be great parents if that stubborn streak they shared with each other was anything to go by.
Sonogram
Shifting a little in the infirmary bed, Vala stared nervously at the machine being wheeled her way.
Carolyn caught the look and gently squeezed her friend's ankle. "I'm just getting it ready." She offered with an understanding smile as grey eyes looked at her anxiously.
"Oh, okay..." Vala attempted a relieved laugh, but it just made her feel more on edge. She brought her thumb to her mouth and began to worry her nail. Her eyes watched each movement Carolyn made to check the machine.
After a few minutes, she dropped her thumb. "He's gonna be here...I told him when I was coming down here, and he said he'd be here." Vala stared into Carolyn's gaze. "I'm sure he has a reason why he's not here now - a very good reason."
The doctor nodded, smiling once more. "I know, Vala." She looked at her watch and shrugged. "He's only a few minutes late, and either way." Her brown eyes came back up to meet grey. "I don't have any other patients right now, so we've got some time to wait." Stepping up to her, Carolyn brushed Vala's bangs to the side.
"No need to make yourself crazy over this." She said gently. "Don't need to upset the baby."
Looking down at her swollen stomach, Vala chewed on her bottom lip and nodded. "Yeah, sorry..." She brushed a hand over her tummy. "I know I'm just over reacting, but I can't help it." Vala looked back up at her friend. "I can't help any of my emotions anymore."
Carolyn gave Vala a reassuring smile. "It's okay, that's natural when you're pregnant."
A concerned frown graced Vala beautiful face. "I wasn't this bad when I was pregnant the first time - at least I had some control over my emotions." She looked down at her stomach once more, wishing she could glare at it, but didn't have the heart to. "Now I freak out over every silly little thing."
"Well," Carolyn said as she stroked a hand over Vala's hair. "Neither of your pregnancies are good examples of normal, and this one now is making you more exhausted every day." She shook her head. "It's the combination of both that's making you feel-"
Vala pouted. "Wonky."
Laughing slightly, Carolyn nodded. "Yeah."
Both women looked up at the sound of heavy footfalls coming from the hall. It wasn't a few seconds later that a very out of breath Daniel pushed through the doors. He immediately made his way over to the pair.
"Sorry..." He panted, placing both hands down on the bed. "Sorry I'm late. I just couldn't break away from that briefing if my life had depended on it." Daniel said quickly, still trying to pull air into his lungs rapidly. He leaned down and dropped his forehead to the cool sheets.
Feeling ten times better just by his presence, Vala smiled and brought her hand to rest in his hair. "Perfectly alright, darling." She shared a look with Carolyn, who was trying to hide her smile. "Carolyn and I were just discussing the pregnancy."
Daniel's head came up. "Everything okay?" He asked, still panting slightly, his tone laced with concern. He moved closer to Vala, looking from her to Carolyn.
The doctor gave him the same smile she'd been giving Vala all throughout her exam. "As well as can be expected." She stepped away from Vala and over to the machine. "All that's left is the sonogram, and then Vala will be done." Carolyn threw a smirk towards Daniel. "Now that you're here, I can do it."
He blushed and gave her a 'go ahead' nod. Daniel took Vala's hand in his as Carolyn pulled up her shirt, which was in fact one of his, and squeezed the gel onto her pregnant stomach. She flinched just a little bit.
"It's cold." Vala admitted when she saw the curious look Daniel gave her. He laughed a little and leaned in to kiss her sweetly - a kiss she happily accepted.
Carolyn brought the trandsducer to hover over Vala's stomach. "Okay," The word brought Daniel and Vala's attention to her. "Let's see how your baby's doing."
Vala bit her lip as the wand touched her skin, and Carolyn started moving it over her. The screen of the monitor sprung to life with a staticy picture. It didn't take too long before the unmistakable features of a growing life became visible.
She smiled, laughing in her little way, at her baby on the screen. Feeling pressure on her hand, Vala looked up at Daniel. He looked at her a moment, giving her a happy smile, before looking back at the screen. Not just her baby, she thought as her own attention went back to the monitor.
"Looks like everything is fine." Carolyn announced as she examined the image. "Baby appears to be a little bit bigger than I first thought, but other then that, he or she seems to be okay."
"Is that why I'm fat?" Vala asked, meeting the unsure stare Carolyn shot her. "Cause the baby is bigger than normal?"
Daniel leaned in and whispered in her ear. "You're not fat." He placed a chaste kiss to her temple.
She shot him a look. "Shush, you don't have a say in this because you never think I'm fat and ugly." Daniel held up his free hand in surrender, and Vala returned her gaze to Carolyn. "So is that why?"
"Both you and the baby are healthy." Carolyn offered, not about to get herself stuck in the middle of an unwinable argument. She looked back at the screen, then at the expecting couple once more. "I'm assuming you want a picture?"
They nodded, and Carolyn turned back to the machine to print the image. When she was finished, she handed Daniel the image across the bed, turned off the machine, and wiped the goo from Vala's stomach. Pulling the large black shirt down, she smiled at the former vixen.
"You're all set."
Vala gave her her usual grin. "Thank you." She swung her legs over the edge, carefully hopping off the bed. Her hand snatched the picture out of Daniel's hand as she started walking towards the door. It was obvious her insecurities from just a little while before were long gone.
Having no choice, Daniel fell into step beside her in order to continuing gazing at the picture. After a moment, his blue eyes looked up to the face of the woman he'd love until he was long past dead. "You're not ugly either."
She didn't even look up from the picture of their child as she smacked him hard on the shoulder.
Daniel winced. "Hey! What was-"
Grey eyes turned a stern glare on him. "That's for not shushing." Vala pointed her finger his direction. She squinted. "And for being late." She added as they made their way out of the infirmary.
"You told me that was perfectly alright!" He said with slight frustration, rubbing at his shoulder.
Vala shrugged and flipped some hair over her shoulder. "I've changed my mind."
Finishing up with the ultrasound machine, Carolyn allowed herself to laugh as the two's banter continued to filter back into her infirmary.
Special
"Oh."
Daniel looked up at the startled exclamation. His brow furrowed in slight concern when he noticed Vala had stopped translating, and was instead holding her very pregnant tummy.
"You okay?" He asked, dropping his pen and pushing his chair back a little.
She shifted a little, placing one palm flat on the workbench. "Yeah." Her grey eyes came to look at him. "I think the baby just kicked."
Mild excitement made it feel like his heart was fluttering. "Really?"
Vala nodded and 'mmmhmm'ed. She pulled the hand off her stomach and waved him over with it. "Come here, come here..." Her smile mirrored the excitement she could practically see pouring off him. As Daniel rose from his chair and started towards her, the baby kicked again. "Yeah, definitely kicking."
She didn't hesitate to snatch his hand as soon as it was in reach, and bring it to her stomach. Holding her slender hand over his larger one, Vala looked up at Daniel. He was staring down at her hand covering his against her belly, his expression unsure.
Another kick came, and a smile came to her lips as Daniel's eyes widened and he stepped closer to her.
"That's the baby?" He asked, his voice soft and childlike.
Vala nodded and stroked her fingers over his hand. She bit her lip at the smile that came to Daniel's face, widening even more as the baby kicked again. She totally understood his amazement - this was the first time Daniel was having a child.
Reaching her hand up, Vala turned his attention to her. As he stared at her, she leaned up and kissed him lovingly. The hand he had on her stomach moved to the back of her neck, fingers tangling in her hair.
She pulled away with a barely audible 'smack.' "That's your baby, darling." Vala whispered to him, fingers running over his jawline. "Our baby."
Daniel smiled softly, his eyes closing as Vala's hand came to brush through his hair. "Our baby." He murmured the words himself, placing a hand on her stomach once more. Vala brought his head down so their foreheads rested together.
As the baby kicked again, she placed another kiss to his lips.
Shuffling
Daniel met all the annoyed glares focused his way with a smug smirk. He relaxed further into his chair, sipping his beer while his free hand came to rest on the back of the person sitting next to him.
"Dammit, the whole point of poker night is to get away from our women..." Dave Dixon growled as he glared at the archaeologist. The other various team leaders nodded and grumbled, save for Cameron, who shared a knowing look with Daniel.
The archaeologist just shrugged and worked his hand under the tank top Vala had insisted on wearing, despite being pregnant. "You guys know I've never been able to get away from my..." He caught the glare she shot him out of the corner of his eye. "From Vala."
Taking another drink from his bottle, he relaxed even more. "Besides, she's a hell of a lot better at poker than I am."
"And you're very good, darling." Vala winked, leaning over and capturing his lips in a playful kiss.
Groans erupted from around the table.
Dixon glared at the couple's not-really CO. "Mitchell, can't you do something about this?"
Shuffling a deck of cards, Cam shrugged and shook his head. "These two haven't listened to a single order I've given them since I joined the team." He grinned and looked around the table. "Plus I want to see her kick all your asses at cards."
"But she's pregnant." Reynolds leaned in and whispered to Mitchell.
Vala heard the comment and pulled away from Daniel, who pouted at the loss of her contact. Her grey eyes stared icy daggers into the Colonel. He sat back in his chair, swallowing at the look. She then looked at Cam, and held out her hand with a smile. "Cameron, beautiful, the cards?"
He obliged like the surrogate brother he was, and grinned as she easily shuffled the cards and started dealing them out.
"Do we at least get to know what we're playing?" Dave asked in exasperation.
Nodding her head, Vala grinned and winked at him. "Of course, darling...we're playing a lovely game called seven card stud."
Daniel smiled and drank from his almost empty bottle, sharing a smile with Cam as Vala began her night of poker dominance.
-------
By the time Cameron was saying his goodbyes to his teammates, Vala had nearly cleaned everyone of their money and Daniel was several beers past tipsy.
"You sure you don't need any help?" The colonel asked Vala as they stood on the porch, watching Daniel slowly start to make his way down the steps and to the car.
Vala smiled and turned her attention back to her friend. "I'm quite capable of handling a drunken archaeologist." She leaned up and placed a sweet kiss on Cam's cheek.
He smirked at her. "I like you pregnant - you're nicer to me."
"Winning an absurd amount of money also makes me very happy." She added, looking up as Daniel dropped his keys and just about fell over trying to pick them back up. Her grey eyes found Mitchell's blue. "I need to get him home."
Nodding, Cam gave her a gentle hug. "Yes, you do." As Vala moved to intercept Daniel, Mitchell snatched onto her wrist. She flipped her head around to look at him curiously.
"Be careful, okay?" He told her with complete sincerity. "I'm excited to be that little squirt's uncle."
Vala smiled and nodded. "I'll be careful." Waggling her fingers at Cam, she started down the steps and quickly caught up to Daniel. She stepped into his path, making sure he didn't get any closer to the car.
"Done talkin' to Cam?" He asked her, staring at his keys with a little more concentration then was necessary.
She nodded. "Yep." Her hand came out in a 'give' gesture. "Keys."
Daniel looked up at her quickly, stepping back to keep his balance in the process. "What?"
"I'm driving, give me the keys." Vala said in a tone that was both commanding and gentle.
Shaking his head, Daniel looked down at her stomach. "Shouldn't be driving." The movement caused him to have to take another couple of steadying steps.
Vala reached out her hand, she placed it on his shoulder as he gently swayed in place. "I'm perfectly capable of driving, and right now you can't." Her other hand carefully pulled the keys from Daniel's pliable grasp. "Come on, let's go home."
"'kay." He easily complied, having already forgotten about not wanting her to drive. Daniel smiled dopily as Vala gently steered him to the passenger door. He clumsily climbed in and quickly relaxed back into the seat.
-------
"Baby?"
Vala looked over for a moment at Daniel, who was quite obviously feeling no pain. "Yes darling?"
He didn't even bother to open his eyes. "You know I love you, right?"
Smiling, she returned her attention to the road. "Of course."
"Good." Daniel grinned, slouching even further into his seat. "Cause I do...a lot."
"I know, Daniel." Vala was trying very hard not to laugh at the state of her Daniel.
Silence came once again for a few minutes. Then Daniel called out to her again.
"Baby?"
Vala did let herself giggle a little. "Yes Daniel?"
He lethargically pushed himself into a more upright position and looked at her. The look was that of a sudden, drunken realization. "I'm really happy we're having a baby. I've wanted to be a daddy for...long time, and it's very cool I get to be the daddy of your baby."
Vala licked her lips and fought against her smile as some of his words slurred together. She looked at him for a moment as he continued.
"And it's way cooler that you're going to be the mommy of my baby, 'cause you're the best person a...person can have for a mommy." Daniel looked at her, blinking slowly while trying to gather his fuzzy thoughts. "And I hope we have a daughter 'cause, if we do, she'll be as beautiful as you - and you're drop dead gorgeous."
Nodding, tears watered in her eyes as she tried to stem her amusement. Coming to stop at a red light, Vala turned her attention to Daniel. He was frowning, though she couldn't tell if he was confused or if he'd come to another realization.
"Wow..." He drawled out. "I'm really, really drunk."
Finally the laughter broke free, and Vala covered her mouth with both her hands. She nodded at the half-assed indignant look Daniel was giving her.
He pouted his lips playfully. "And you're laughing at me."
"I'm sorry darling." Vala said through her laughter. "It was just really adorable hearing all of that...coming from you...when you're drunk." She collapsed back into giggling as his pout deepened.
Daniel squinted at his laughing girlfriend. "I meant it all, though." He looked down at the floor. "Really."
Vala quickly stemmed her laughing at the tone of his voice. It sounded like he had failed at something important. Ignoring the fact that the light had already turned green, she reached out and tilted his chin up. His unfocused blue gaze met hers, and she leaned in to kiss him softly.
"I know, Daniel." Vala assured him, placing another kiss to his nose. "I know." She emphasized, giving him a third kiss, this one in his hair.
Laughing just the slightest bit, Daniel nodded. "Okay..." He sat back in his seat and looked at her. "I love you, Vala."
She smiled as she settled back in her seat, not really caring that the light had just turned red again. Her grey eyes found blue. "I love you too, Daniel. And I think it's cool we're going to be parents too."
Daniel grinned and took her right hand with his left. He let his eyes close again, gently humming the Indiana Jones theme as the car started moving again. A thought suddenly came to his mind, and he couldn't stop himself from saying it out loud.
"You kicked their asses," Daniel let his voice rise at the word. "Tonight."
Vala looked at him and grinned at the smug smile on his lips. "I did."
He looked at her. "You make me proud, you fruitcake."
"And I also make you rich." She added with a wink, squeezing his hand out of love and pride.
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