Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are not my property. No copyright infringement is intended.
After sending a MALP through the stargate, SG-1 stood in the control room watching the reaction of the people on the other side. The inhabitants of P4X-324 slowly approached the strange machine and whispered to each other with curious expressions.
Jack, Daniel and Sam noticed that everyone was dressed like early American Pilgrims. The women and girls wore black dresses that came to their ankles with long white aprons. The men and boys were dressed in white shirts with black coats and trousers.
Daniel commented it looked like a scene from what the first American Thanksgiving must have looked like in the early 1600's.
Sam maneuvered the camera on the MALP in another direction and they could see small houses and a hay field in the background.
After receiving permission from General Hammond to go check out the planet, SG-1 gated through, causing the people to back a few feet away as the team came down the steps and the event horizon faded behind them.
Jack smiled and raised his hand in greeting. "Howdy, folks."
The people stared in silence.
The team immediately noticed how short in stature the adults were, the tallest being only a few inches over five feet and weighing around a hundred pounds.
Daniel took a few steps forward to the man closest to him.
"Do you spoke English?"
"Yes, English is our native language."
Daniel explained to the people that they were explorers from Earth.
"What is your name?" Daniel asked.
"My name is Dey."
"Do you have a twin named Night?" Jack asked with a straight face.
The man frowned and Daniel glared at Jack as Sam bit her lip to keep from smiling.
The man conversed with them for several minutes and invited SG-1 to join them for their noon day meal. Knowing how alien food had affected them in the past, the team looked at Jack for direction.
Jack glanced at the people then back to his team. "I guess it wouldn't hurt. Just be careful."
Dey led them behind a building where people were gathering. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the tall strangers.
Under a grove of trees were several wooden tables and benches, not very high off the ground.
Dey smiled and motioned with his hand. "Please . . . join us."
The team looked at each other and considering their heights, each guessed how they were going to sit on the benches and be comfortable.
"My knees will be under my chin" Jack whispered to Sam and she tried not to laugh.
"Plus my butt will be numb when I try to stand up" he added.
Sam put her hand to her mouth as she tried not to giggle.
Daniel sat down backwards on a bench, turned around and stuck his legs under the table as he looked up at Jack and smiled. "See, Jack? Nothing to it."
Teal'c sat down cross-legged on the ground at the end of a table, eliminating the need to sit on a bench.
Sam sat down as Daniel did and looked up at Jack.
Jack slowly lowered himself down beside Sam, turned around and put his long legs under the table, crossing his ankles.
Jack and Sam took off their P-90's and laid them between them on the bench.
As Dey and Daniel started chatting, a pretty young woman with dimples sat down beside Jack.
"Hi" he smiled.
The woman smiled and tipped her head in greeting.
Sam leaned around Jack and spoke. "My name is Sam."
"I am Ena. I am Dey's wife."
Sam smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Ena."
Ena nodded. "Although we have never met strangers from another world, you are welcome here."
Just at that moment a little girl about three years old with long brown curls, ran up behind Ena and threw her arms around Ena's neck.
Ena took the girl's hand and pulled her around to stand beside her. "This is our daughter, Mya. Can you say hello to our visitors?"
Mya smiled shyly at Jack but didn't speak and he noticed that she had dimples exactly like her mother.
Jack leaned over and looked into Mya's big green eyes. "Hi there."
Mya giggled as she released her mother's hand and pushed her way in to sit between her mother and Jack.
Food was passed around the table as the team talked with Dey and Ena, asking them questions about their people and planet.
Mya kept looking up at Jack and every time he would catch her watching, she would quickly turn her head, stare at the ground and smile.
Sam whispered to Jack "I think she likes you, sir."
Jack looked at Sam with a twinkle in his eyes. "It wouldn't be the first time I've turned the head of a younger woman."
Sam grinned. "This young, sir?"
Jack smiled. "Well, maybe not quite this young."
After the meal, the team walked with Dey, Ena and Mya, learning about their history and customs.
Dey led the team inside a building to show them some books regarding their ancestors. As they stood listening to Dey speak, Mya held up her arms to Jack. He grinned as he unhooked his weapon, handed it to Teal'c and picked up Mya.
Exiting the building, they made their way around the village, eventually ending up where they had started.
Dey stopped walking and looked at the team. "I have some matters to tend to but I'm sure our people would like the chance to talk with you further. Please feel free to wander around."
"I want down please" Mya said politely to Jack. He set her on the ground and she started to run off.
"Hey, where you going?" Jack asked as Teal'c returned Jack's P-90 to him.
Mya turned around and grinned. "I'll be back."
Jack smiled as he watched Mya run as fast as her little legs would take her.
Jack decided he liked these people. They were much less advanced in technology than Earth, but they were friendly and eager to learn about the strangers who had come through the Big Circle, as they called it.
********
Jack sat on a bale of hay and watched a little girl with long red hair lean way over from where she was perched on Teal'c's broad shoulders. Looking into his face, she said something to him and he grinned at whatever she had said. She straightened back up and Teal'c grasped her ankles to keep her from falling.
A few moments later, Teal'c lifted the girl from his shoulders and set her on the ground. A group of children surrounded Teal'c and so that they wouldn't have to look up at him, he sat down on the grass. Jack grinned as the little girl that had been sitting on Teal'c's shoulders, immediately climbed onto his lap and the children began to ask him questions, all of them mesmerized by the tall muscular man. It was one of the few times he had seen Teal'c this relaxed, smiling and enjoying himself.
Jack turned his head to see Mya standing nearby with her hands behind her.
"Hi, Mya."
Mya walked up to him and smiled as she handed him a red flower, similar to a rose.
"I picked this for you, Mr. Jack."
Jack grinned as he lay down his weapon beside him and lifted Mya up on his lap.
"Thank you" he said as he took the flower from her. "This is very pretty."
"My Mama has a whole garden of them in lots of colors. I like to play in the garden. It's pretty and smells good."
"Do you have brothers and sisters to play with?"
Mya dropped her head to her chest and slowly shook her head. "I had a little brother but he died."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"He died in childbirth" Jack heard someone say as he turned to see Ena standing behind them and she sat down beside Jack.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry."
Ena smiled. "It's okay. You could not have known. Do you have children?"
"I had a son but he died a few years ago."
"What was his name?" Mya asked as she wrinkled her nose and squinted in the bright sunshine as she looked up at Jack.
"His name was Charlie."
Ena patted Jack's arm. "You know the sadness of losing a child as well as Dey and I. It is by far the hardest thing that we have ever had to endure. It's something I don't think parents ever truly recover from."
Jack shook his head. "No, you don't."
"Would you like to have more children?"
Jack glanced at Sam as she sat on the grass several feet away, talking with two men.
"Yes, I would."
"I hope you get the chance, Jack. I've seen how impressed Mya is with you, so I know you would be a wonderful father."
Jack smiled. "Thanks."
As Ena and Jack continued to talk, Mya laid her head on his shoulder.
One of the other women from the village approached Jack and Ena, asking for Ena's help with a quilt she was making.
Ena smiled. "It was good to talk with you, Jack."
"Same here."
Ena stood up and held out her hand. "Come, Mya."
Mya slipped off Jack's lap and as they started to walk away, Mya turned around and waved.
Jack waved back and watched as they went into a nearby building.
He put the flower that Mya had given him in his pocket.
Wondering where Daniel was, he turned to his right to see him sitting under a tree talking with a young woman. The look on her face told him that she was smitten with Daniel. He had lost count of how many times on other planets, women found Daniel attractive and would give him their undivided attention. Daniel being Daniel, he was totally oblivious to it all until he or Sam would tease him about it after they arrived back on Earth.
His eyes wandered to Sam where she now stood talking with a group of women. Sam was a tall woman by Earth standards, so here on this planet, she towered over the people, just as he, Daniel and Teal'c did also.
Sam had been distant with him ever since their confessions with the zatarc detector a few weeks ago, but here on this planet, she had been a little more relaxed around him since that eventful day. It was difficult to keep a safe distance between them as they tried to suppress their feelings for each other.
A woman swayed her baby back and forth as she conversed with Sam. He watched as the woman stopped, gently laid the baby in Sam's arms and a slow smile spread across her face as she gazed at the infant.
He could not take his eyes off Sam. He had often dreamed of them being married and having a little girl that would be just as beautiful as her mother. The scene before him looked so right, but he had to look away.
When he looked back at Sam, she was staring at him and their eyes met. A look of sadness came to her face as she suddenly looked down at the baby and tried to blink away the tears that threatened to come.
"Stupid regulations" he muttered to himself.
He watched as Sam held the baby a few more minutes before returning it to its mother. Sam quickly glanced at him before walking away in the opposite direction.
********
The people had been most gracious but finding out there was nothing that the people had that the team would be interested in pursuing, Jack made the decision to return home.
Dey, Ena and others followed the team to the gate.
As they thanked the people for their time and hospitality, Jack felt a tug on his pants leg. He looked down to see Mya and knelt down so they could be eye to eye.
"I want you to stay."
He put his hand gently to her face. "I can't, sweetheart, I have to go home."
Mya leaned up and gave Jack a kiss on the cheek. He stood up, lifted her in his arms and smiled.
"You're quite a beauty, young lady. I wish we could have spent more time together."
Mya put her arms around his neck and gave him a tight hug. "Bye, Mr. Jack."
Tears moistened Sam's eyes as she watched.
Mya looked at Jack. "Come back to see me, Mr. Jack?" she asked sweetly.
Jack grinned. "I would love to come back and visit you, Mya."
Jack set her on the ground and she ran over to Ena and took her hand.
Jack nodded at Daniel to dial the gate.
Teal'c stood beside Daniel, Jack and Sam stood several feet behind them. Sam had hardly looked at him since their eyes had met earlier in the day when she had been holding the baby.
"You okay, Carter?" he whispered so that only she would hear.
Sam stared straight ahead. "Yes, sir."
Knowing that she really wasn't, there was nothing more he could say as the event horizon formed in front of them.
The team turned to wave goodbye to the people one last time. Jack looked at Mya to see tears on her cheeks and he had to swallow the lump in his throat.
Jack turned back around and the team stepped through the gate.
********
Jack stood in the locker room and removed his jacket. Opening the pocket, he gently pulled out the flower that Mya had given to him. He smiled as he laid it on the top shelf of his locker.
The team met with General Hammond for the debriefing. While Daniel told the General about the planet and people, Jack watched Sam as she sat across the table from him. She contributed very little to the conversation and looked anxious to get the debriefing over with.
As soon as the General dismissed them Sam hurried out the door.
"What's wrong with Sam?" Daniel asked. "It isn't like her to be this quiet during a debriefing."
"Maybe she's tired and wants to go home" Jack answered. "I'm a little tired myself. I'll see you tomorrow."
Teal'c and Daniel looked at each other, wondering what was going on with their teammates.
Jack knew that he and Sam needed to talk so he headed to her lab, hoping to ask her to go get something to eat since it was still early evening. The light was off in her lab and the door was locked. Guessing that she had gone home, he headed to the surface, signed out and quickly hurried to his truck.
As he drove, he thought back to the day of their confessions with the zatarc detector. He had wanted to talk with Sam and see if she had really meant it when she said it was best to leave their feelings in the room, but he had been hesitant about talking with her. At times, he would catch her staring at him but would quickly look away. He knew they needed to deal with the tension between them before it grew any worse.
He came down her street and stopped. Staring at the house for a moment, he got out of the truck and climbed the steps.
Taking a deep breath, he rang the doorbell and waited patiently for her to answer. She opened the door and he could see that she had been crying.
"Can we talk?"
Sam stood back for him to enter, closed the door and followed him to her living room.
"What did you want to talk about, sir?"
"I think you know, Sam."
Sam turned her back to him and wrapped her arms around herself.
"We can't go on like this, we need to talk about what happened that day."
Sam turned to face him but she looked at his chest. "We can't . . ."
Jack reached out and took her hand in his. "I love you, Sam."
A tear ran down Sam's cheek. "And I love you."
Jack reached up to wipe away the tear. "Back on the planet when I was watching you hold the baby, it did something to me. Do you know how beautiful you looked? Do you know how often I've dreamed about us getting married and having children?"
"And you think I haven't wished the same thing? I saw how good you were with Mya and I was wishing that she was our daughter."
Jack opened his arms to Sam and she put her forehead to his chest as he placed one hand to the back of her head and the other around her shoulders as she tried not to cry.
After a few moments, Jack let go and took her hand as they sat down on the sofa.
Jack looked into Sam's eyes. "I've wanted to talk to you since the zatarc test but I just kept putting it off. Are we really doing what's best for us? Neither of us is happy with the situation."
"I know, but we can't do anything about it. We both have our careers to think of and we can't give up the fight against the Gou'ald."
"I could retire" Jack offered.
Sam shook her head. "General Hammond won't let you retire and I don't think you really want to, do you?"
Jack hesitated a moment. "No, we have a responsibility to do our jobs."
"So where does that leave us, Jack? I would like to have a child, maybe two, but I don't see how that can happen any time soon."
Jack moved back on the sofa and pulled Sam to him. She wrapped her arm around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder as they sat lost in thought.
Moments passed before Sam leaned back and looked at Jack. "Mya was such a beautiful and sweet little girl, wasn't she?"
Jack smiled. "She certainly was. I wanted to kidnap her and bring her home with us."
Jack turned so he could face Sam and took her hands in his. "Look, I know that what we both want isn't possible right now but I promise you that someday we will have what we want."
"But" . . . Sam hesitated as she looked at their hands.
Jack put his finger under her chin so she had to look at him. "But what?"
"You could find someone else to love who isn't in the military, some other woman who could give you children."
"Sam, I've loved you for a long time and I want only you to be the mother of my children. My feelings for you are not going to change. Don't ever doubt that."
Sam laid her head back on Jack's shoulder and he laid his head on top of hers.
Sam sighed. "So, we wait."
"We wait."
"But someday, Jack?"
"Someday, Sam. I promise. Someday."
The End