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Trio of Blessings

Chapter 9: Sixth Month

Casey was sitting in the waiting room at Dr. Montigue’s office. Daniel was supposed to meet her here, today they would learn for certain whether she was right about them having a boy. She had decided to wait until she knew for sure before shopping for little boy things. This time, however, she would take Emily with her. Daniel just wasn’t capable of dealing with a two-year old alone. At least, not if he was getting sidetracked by tablets that just begged for his attention.

It had taken her less that twenty minutes to clean the crayon marks off of the dresser drawers with a little WD-40 and a clean cloth. The grape juice on the sofa had required a hydrogen peroxide and water solution and twenty-four hours to let it soak in. Thank goodness the oven was self-cleaning, because the casserole had bubbled over, during the time that Daniel had been chasing Emily through the house to get her pajamas on her after her bath.

She shook her head and giggled. He had been exhausted when she arrived home; he had hugged her tightly, told her he gave up, and went to bed. It was the next day before she learned of all the adventures he and his daughter had had. Mike had barely been able to tell her about the incident at the Center, he had laughed so hard.

"You’d better not be laughing about the other day," a familiar voice growled.

She looked up into his blue eyes. "I’m sorry, Daniel. It’s just that you can negotiate with aliens, and fight off Goa’uld, and even get treaties signed with corporations on Earth, but you can’t handle one two year old girl…who happens to be your daughter." She giggled again.

He sighed as he sat down. "Guess it was just a bad day for both of us," he said.

"So it would seem." She took his hand. "I warned you that she could move like greased lightening. At least the urinal was clean. And Mike did manage to get that rock out. The dresser is okay, the sofa is cleaned, and so is the oven. The only thing left to take care of is you."

He smiled at her. "Got any ideas on how to do that?"

"One or two," she smiled. "Tomorrow is Saturday, my heart," she reminded him.

"I’m glad," he said softly. "I need to be alone with you."

The nurse called her name, and they went back to the examining room.

Dr. Montigue hurried into the room. "Well, how are you feeling, Casey?"

"I’m fine, Doctor," she replied.

"Good. I hear that you had a little excitement over that the Archaeological Center the other day, something about a flooded urinal," he grinned at Daniel.

Daniel rolled his eyes. "I suppose everybody in town knows about it," he said.

The doctor laughed. "It’s a small town, Daniel. And it is a funny story!"

Casey giggled. "Yeah, well, it wasn't the only disaster of the day."

"Casey!" Daniel’s voice held a warning tone.

She giggled harder. "Oh, Sweetheart, it’s all just too funny!"

Dr. Montigue laughed. "Let’s leave the man some dignity. And find out what the next Jackson baby will be."

The nurse helped Casey lay back, and exposed her soccer-ball-sized tummy. A generous amount of goop was squirted on to her skin, and the ultra-sound probe was put against her.

"Well, let’s see what we have here. Two legs…there are the feet, two hands, oh, good, this baby is going to be cooperative," Dr. Montigue said. He watched the screen, moved the probe several times. "Well, Casey, you were right. It’s a boy."

"Yes!" she said excitedly. She reached for Daniel’s hand. "I wanted so badly to give you a son," she whispered.

He raised her hand to his lips. "Thank you, Angel," he said softly. His heart was pounding in his chest. A son! He was going to have a son! There was nothing else in the entire universe that he could ask for. A beautiful wife who loved him, a daughter and a son…no, there was nothing else in the universe that he needed. "Love you," he whispered, leaning over to kiss her.

"Love you, too," she whispered in reply.

The doctor smiled. "Looks to be a healthy boy, too. I’d say right now he’s weighing about five pounds. Which means by the time he’s born you could be looking at seven to eight pounds."

Casey shuddered slightly. Emily had only been a little over six pounds, and she had been difficult enough to deliver. She glanced up at Daniel.

"It’ll be okay, babe. You can do it," he said, knowing instinctively what she was thinking.

"Doctor, I know it’s a bit early to ask, but I want Daniel to deliver the baby. He delivered Emily, I want him to deliver his son," Casey said quietly.

"Not a problem. Now, according to Doctor Williams’ notes, you were at seven months, three weeks gestation when Emily was born, and she was rated as a full term baby. We are assuming this shorter gestation is due to your Ancient genes. So starting at the end of next month I'll see you every week. Everything looks good, your blood work is good, your weight gain is a bit low, but I’m not too worried about it, both you and the baby seem to be perfectly healthy. Continue on your current exercise schedule, and I’ll see you again in two weeks."

"Thanks, Doctor," Casey said, smiling at the older man.

"Thanks, Doc," Daniel said, shaking the man’s hand.

They walked out to the parking lot together. Casey had driven her mother’s car. "I’ll see you at home later," she said, leaning up to kiss him.

"You sure will," he smiled. He kissed her, ran his hand over her swollen belly. "You and my daughter and my son."

"You’re happy about having a boy?"

"Yep. More than you know, babe," he replied. He kissed her again. "Love you, Angel."

"Love you, too."

He waited until he couldn’t see the little car before he walked to the jeep. A son. A son! I'm going to have a son! He was still grinning when he entered his office in the mountain ten minutes later.

 

A  A  A  A  A  A

 

They had made love…twice, and were laying in front of the fireplace. She was laying naked in his arms, and he was gently caressing her belly.

"We have to think of a name," she said quietly.

"Any ideas?" He had a couple of names in mind, his father’s and his grandfather’s. His father remained a hero in his mind, his memories of the man untarnished by time. He and Nick had made peace before his grandfather had elected to stay as an emissary to giant beings on a distant planet.

"Well, I was thinking of a few…Daniel Melburn Jackson, Jr., Daniel Nicholas Jackson, Daniel James Jackson…"

"I kind of like Daniel Nicholas Jackson," he said softly.

"I do too. We could call him DJ to keep the confusion down," she suggested.

"Or Nick."

"True."

"Any others?"

She shifted slightly against him. "Ethan Daniel Jackson…EJ…I kind of like that."

He thought about the name for a minute.

"Okay, then," she said with a smile, Daniel Nicholas it is."

"Are you sure, babe?"

She smiled. "Absolutely. You like it too, don’t you Daniel Nicholas?" She rubbed her hand over her protruding belly.

 

A  A  A  A  A  A

 

The ‘family’ was gathered at the lake for the day, food was spread out on one blanket; Tessa, Sam and Casey lounged on another...all of them sporting round bellies full of babies. Tessa was carrying a boy, and Sam a girl, just as Carlotta had predicted.

The women were discussing the names chosen for their babies.

"Duncan was thrilled when I suggested Richard Conner," Tessa said.

"Richard…that was the name of his student, right? The one who was killed by Kalas?" Casey asked. She recalled Duncan telling her about the young man during their time together.

Tessa nodded. "Duncan was so distraught over Richie’s death. And then Conner, his kinsman, was killed by Horton, a renegade Watcher."

Sam shivered. "I can’t imagine having to live the way the Immortals did for all those centuries."

"I’m sure not surprised that Framone was the bastard who cooked the whole thing up," Casey declared. "He was one twisted SOB."

"So what have you and Daniel decided on?" Tessa asked.

"Daniel Nicholas Jackson. Isn’t that the most perfect name?" she sighed.

"Going to call him Danny?" Sam asked.

"No, Daniel wants to call him Nick, so I suppose that’s what we’ll call him. I sort of like DJ, but he didn’t seem too excited about it. Nick is fine. Or Nicky, at least while he’s small." She turned to Sam. "So what’s this little girl going to be called?"

"Amber Lynn."

"Oh, Sam, that is so beautiful! Any special reasons for the name?" Tessa asked.

"Lynn is my middle name," Sam said shyly. "I found ‘Amber’ in a book of names, and Jack didn’t object."

"Gee, after all that the two of you went through to name Evvie, that was easy," Casey laughed.

"Guess the second time around we’re not as uptight about the perfect name," Sam laughed.

Casey rolled to her side, then pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Right now Daniel Nicholas is driving me crazy. I have to go have Daniel rub my belly. That always seems to calm the baby down," she said.

The two women watched as the slender blonde made her way to where her husband sat with the male members of the group, his daughter asleep in his arms.

Daniel looked up and smiled. "What’s up, babe?"

She smiled in return. "Your son is doing the rumba…again. I need you to calm him down," she replied.

Daniel transferred his sleeping daughter to Duncan’s arms, Evvie was sound asleep in Jack’s. He stood up, turned his wife around and held her close, her back to his chest. He let his hands move over her swollen belly. "Take it easy, son," he said softly. "Give Mommy a break."

She smiled and leaned back against him. As always, the baby began to settle down from the gentle touch. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Any time, Angel," he whispered in reply.

They stood there, watching the sun going down, reflecting off of the calm water of the lake. Daniel looked down at his wife, the woman he had loved for fifty-one years, the woman he had been married to for nearly that long. If anyone had asked, he would tell them that he loved her more than he ever thought possible, and that the love grew stronger every day. He kissed the side of her head. His heart was so full of love and happiness that he thought it would burst. So why was he so afraid?


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