This chapter begins shortly after the fire, and after a while, it skips ahead to the following Spring. No spoilers.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy.
~X~X~X~X~
ADJUSTMENTS AND TRANSITIONS
Each day that passed it seemed that Jack noticed something else he had lost in the fire. His telescope, which he built himself. Albums of family pictures. The stamp collection he inherited from his grandfather and had added to with first day covers over the years.
Some of the losses were silly things—like the Homer Simpson bobble-head that his cousin Mac had sent him ages ago. A book of limericks he bought in Minneapolis last year. The yoyo with the colored lights that flashed when it spun—but still he missed them.
All of his most favorite, comfortable clothes were gone. He hadn't realized how attached he was to some of them, and he was inordinately happy when he discovered that Sam had 'borrowed' his Academy sweatshirt and two of his 'best' flannel shirts, and had them safe at her house. All three were faded and well-worn, and felt like the embrace of old friends against his skin. He found his eyes burning when the blue plaid shirt slid like silk over his arms.
There was very little salvageable from the burnt house. The fire had gained such a head start in the basement that it literally exploded through the upper floors, consuming everything in its path. Whenever he thought of that night Jack's heartbeat would falter at the idea that he could have lost them—Sam and Cassie and Beanie. He barely considered his own life—in fact he knew he would not have wanted to survive if they hadn't. Every day he thanked God for Kono.
The fire became incorporated into Jack's nightmares. On the third night at Sam's house, he bolted up in bed, smelling smoke, shouting for Sam to get out. It took long minutes before she could wake him completely and convince him that it was only a dream. Afterward he didn't dare go back to sleep, although he lay quietly, pretending, until she fell asleep in his arms. The next evening he roamed the house for an hour before he could convince himself it was safe to go to bed, and then only because Sam begged him to. Even then he did not sleep for hours. Sam would have stayed awake with him, but the exhaustion of pregnancy overcame her, and the soundness with which she slept made it even harder for him to give in to his own weariness and leave her vulnerable.
The safe that Jack had pulled from the basement proved to indeed be fireproof, and he was grateful he had spent the extra money to buy the highest quality. His important papers were intact—the deeds to his house and the cabin, insurance policies, passport, his military papers, his and Sam's marriage certificate, his citations and ribbons. Gathering it all together, he rented a safe deposit box in a nearby bank.
Jack was given compassionate leave after the fire, but he soon found the free time much too empty. Everything that he could do for now had been done. After shopping for clothes and other replacement items and moving to Sam's house, there was really not anything left to do. Sam was needed back at the SGC, so he was alone in her house—their house, he supposed.
The first day he was alone, he spent the hours drinking and going through the items in Charlie's box. He reread all of the letters that his son had written him—with Sara's help, he was sure, but still Charlie had done the writing himself, it was his wobbly printing on the pages. Going through the pictures took even longer than the letters. He remembered every occasion; Charlie's eighth birthday, each trip to the cabin, picnics in the park. He recalled every play of the little league tournament that Charlie's team had won; every kid had received a trophy, and they'd been as proud as peacocks! With tears in his eyes, he drank some more. When Sam came home she found him passed out on the couch with the pictures and letters spread haphazardly on the coffee table.
Jack apologized profusely to her the next day. She realized what he'd been doing, and understood. Since the fire his feelings were way too close to the surface, including the knowledge that he'd almost lost everything he had left of his son. He and Sam talked seriously and that was when they agreed to ban alcohol from the house at least for the duration of the pregnancy.
Instead of continuing his leave time, he called General Braddock's office at Peterson and asked to be put back on the duty roster. It was the right decision—it took his mind away from the fire. He even began sleeping better.
He put Charlie's things in the safe deposit box—all except the trophy; it wouldn't fit so he stored that in the toolbox behind the cab of his truck. He realized he wasn't ready to risk leaving any of it in the house; the memory of the fire, and the fear it caused, were still ever-present in the back of his mind.
However, things seemed to improve after that. Jack found that each day became easier. He made a serious effort to put the fire behind him, since he could see that his depression worried Sam and knew that was not good for her or the baby.
Thanksgiving was great. They had an excellent meal with Teal'c and Daniel, Janet and Cassie, at Janet's house. They hadn't spent much time with any of them lately, since Jack was at Peterson, and Sam was almost always in her lab. Even Jack was more engaged in the conversation than he'd been lately, although his normal snarky humor was missing.
Shortly after the fire, Jack and Sam had made an attempt at searching for a new house. It was a waste of time. Jack barely looked at the places, and after a couple of visits, Sam suggested they wait a while. Now she decided to give it another try and Thanksgiving evening after they returned home she suggested that they look again. She did so hesitantly, wondering if it was still too soon. But he had been quiet and pensive for so long, that she thought he needed a distraction.
At first the suggestion did not seem to interest him. "I was thinking we could rebuild," he said.
That surprised her, and after a moment she sat down beside him on the couch and slipped her arm through his, considering the idea. "We could do that," she said at last. "But we can't get started until spring—and it won't be finished until after Beanie is born—probably not til the end of next summer. And that's only if we can find a contractor with an opening in his schedule."
"Yeah. I guess you're right," he agreed. "I suppose it won't hurt to look at a few places."
"Sometimes prices are better in the winter, too," she added.
"True. Okay. Where do we start?"
"Online. In the newspaper. Or we can call a realtor." She could tell his heart was not wholly in the idea. "Why don't I start looking online," she suggested. "If we see something we like, we can go from there." She leaned up and kissed his cheek, then disengaged her arm and reached for her laptop on the coffee table. "So what are we looking for? Something in the city? Out of the city? How many bedrooms... stuff like that."
"Not in the city, but no more than half an hour away," he said.
"At least three bedrooms?" she suggested. "No. Four. We've got to have a place for Daniel and Teal'c. And Cassie, too. Five?"
"A big yard," he added. "And a view of the mountains."
After they had entered several options on the website, she let the search engine do its work. She was amazed at the list that came up. They paged through the houses, picking out the ones that deserved a second look, then narrowing them down even more. Eventually they had ten houses that they agreed to go and look at. Jack felt somewhat overwhelmed at the number, but Sam said they could spread the search out over several weeks.
"I'll call tomorrow and set up an appointment for the first one," Sam said. She leaned back beside him.
Jack put his arms around her and pulled her close. He'd been holding her even more than usual ever since the fire, touching her to make sure she was all right. Not that she minded at all. She'd been pretty shaken up by the whole experience, but he was clearly even more affected. He had also been calling Cassie every day, just to check on her. Janet had assured them that Cassie was handling things well; she had related the entire experience to her mother, praising Jack as a hero. A naturally resilient person, the teenager was nearly back to her usual self.
On Friday morning, Sam called the realtor who was handling several of the houses they had picked and made arrangements to see two of them that day and two more on Saturday. She was a little surprised that Jack agreed to that many, but he seemed to have acquired a little interest, so she decided to take advantage of it. They also attended a couple of open house showings on Sunday. The houses were all nice, and each had some selling points, but by Sunday night, they had not found one that excited them and Sam could tell that Jack was losing what little enthusiasm he'd had. She had arranged to see some more places on the following Saturday, and was hopeful that Jack would feel better about the venture after a few days break.
It was the first house they visited the next Saturday that got their attention. It was a large chalet, located on the road that led up toward the nearby State Park, about fifteen miles out of the city. There weren't many houses on the road, the nearest was more than a mile away. In fact, Sam recalled passing this very house on their trip with Cassie up to the lake. She hadn't noticed a 'For Sale' sign, but she remembered thinking that it had a beautiful setting. It stood far back from the road on a gentle hill, with the mountains rising in the background. To the right of the house, a short distance away, was the edge of the woods, which extended from there over the foothills; to the left, the land dipped gradually toward a lake, which at first seemed small until one realized it was only a bay of a much larger body of water that stretched out around the curve of the hill.
"Nice..." Jack commented as they got out of the car and joined the realtor at the front door.
The woman smiled. "Wait until you see the view from the back deck!" She unlocked the door and led them inside.
The house was post and beam construction, with hardwood floors, lots of glass and tall windows, and a ceiling that soared two floors above the living area. To the left of the entranceway, the kitchen was open and bright and modern, with the dining area beyond. Straight ahead was the large living room at the center of the house. The master suite was off the hallway to the right; the suite included a smaller room, which may have been intended as a dressing room, but was the perfect size for a nursery. There was also a study on the main floor, which was large enough to be a bedroom. Beside the entranceway a staircase led up to the second floor, and down to the finished basement. There were two bedrooms and a bath on the upper floor, and a small sitting area at the top of the stairs. A second-floor balcony looked down onto the living room.
The realtor led them through the living area, pointing out the large fieldstone fireplace, which divided the living and dining areas. They walked out onto the deck which stretched across the entire rear of the house, allowing access from the master suite and dining area as well as the living room. As promised, the scene from the deck was breathtaking—with the lake, the forest, and the mountains in the background. The deck wrapped around the lake end of the house, with glass doors into the dining area and kitchen on that side. There was a beautiful lawn and garden at the same end of the house. In the back of the house, below the deck was a flagstone patio which gave entrance into the basement level.
There were two more bedrooms and two baths in the finished basement, as well as a family room, a small efficiency kitchen, a sauna and hot tub, storage and utility rooms, and the entrance to the attached two car garage which was on the side of the house toward the woods.
"This is great," Sam said to Jack, once they had seen the entire place. "Five bedrooms, plus the nursery and the study! Daniel and Teal'c in the basement, and Cassie could have the whole top floor until the baby is old enough to move upstairs."
"The owners don't live here?" Jack had noticed that although the house was fully furnished, there were no personal items about.
"They live in Denver," the realtor, Brenda Mills explained. "They're both attorneys."
"How long has it been on the market?" Jack asked.
"It was listed in May of last year. So eighteen months."
"That long! I'm surprised it hasn't sold before now," Sam said.
"It's got a pretty steep price tag," Ms. Mills admitted. When she named the figure both Sam's and Jack's eyes widened.
"That's quite a lot," Jack agreed.
"There's a hundred and fifty acres that goes with the house. There's the lake that you can see, as well as another small one further out, and more than forty acres of forest."
Jack and Sam exchanged a look. "Definitely a plus," Jack said.
"The catch is, it can't be subdivided," Melissa explained. "Because it adjoins the Park, there are Federal conservation laws that apply."
"Is the owner open to an offer?" he asked.
"He might be." She looked doubtful. "But so far he's refused to come down. He has a lot invested in building the place, and wants to recoup as much as possible."
"I can understand that," Jack said. "Can I get a copy of a survey map?"
"Yes. I can send you one from my office."
"Thanks."
The next house they visited was an attractive colonial, with four bedrooms, located nearer the city, and with a much more affordable price. However, neither of them could help comparing it to the chalet.
"I don't see how we can swing it," Sam said that evening, after they had gone over their finances. "Even with your pay increase, and the insurance from your house, it won't be enough—especially since I've lost my hazardous duty bonus because I'm not on an SG team anymore."
They talked about making an offer. "We'd have to bid at least ten percent below the asking price," Sam commented. "Even that would be a stretch for us."
He agreed and they dropped the subject. A few days later when the survey map arrived, along with detailed information regarding the land which went with the house, Jack put it aside without mentioning it. When Sam brought up the subject of resuming the search, he put her off. They did not visit any more houses.
As November turned to December, they said nothing more about finding a new place. They'd both admitted to falling in love with the chalet, and were not yet ready to settle for something less.
Christmas came and went, and so did New Year's. At the beginning of March, General Hammond's request to have Jack returned to the SGC was finally granted, and SG-1 celebrated their re-uniting! After a brief re-orientation, the team, consisting of Jack, Daniel and Teal'c, resumed gate missions. With his return to SG-1, Jack appeared to be back to his old self. By the beginning of April Sam was heavily pregnant.
On April 10th Jack received a phone call from the realtor, Ms. Mills.
During the intervening months, Jack and Sam had occasionally mentioned their need to search for a new house, but had not done anything else about it. The subject of the chalet came up each time, and was dismissed regretfully. Sam thought of the house often, imagining them living in the beautiful home. Jack had examined the surveys sent to him in November, noting the large tract of land outlined on the map, and described in detail. But for the most part, they had come to terms with the fact that they would not be able to buy the house.
When the realtor called and identified herself, Jack thought at first that she was going to urge them to renew their search, but that turned out not quite to be the case. First she inquired if they had found a house, and when he replied in the negative, she went on.
"I'm calling about the chalet you and your wife viewed last fall—the one on the Upper State Park Road," she began. "You both seemed quite taken with the place."
"Yes—we liked it a lot," he admitted.
"Circumstances have changed somewhat, Colonel O'Neill," she went on. "The owners have divorced, and the house belongs to the ex-wife as part of the settlement. To make a long story short she's not interested in keeping it. She has moved to New York, and she wants to sell it as soon as possible. She has instructed me to solicit offers, and convey them to her, and I thought of you and Mrs. O'Neill. Would you be interested in making an offer?"
Jack felt a thrill of excitement, which he quickly tried to suppress. "I'm sure our offer would be too low..."
"As I said, she wants to sell the house quickly. She may be willing to take an immediate lower offer. What have you got to lose, after all?"
"I'll call you back as soon as I talk to my wife," he promised.
Sam agreed with Ms. Mills. "What have we got to lose?"
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"We both love the house," she pointed out, and he nodded agreement. "Let's figure out what our best offer is and call her back."
They called with their offer the next day, and within twenty-four hours, it was accepted. After they got the good news from Brenda Mills, they simply stared at each other, stunned. They'd been sure they would be turned down, since they'd offered nearly fifteen percent below the original asking price.
With whoops and shrieks of excitement, they fell into each other's arms. Jack picked Sam up and spun her around—pregnant belly and all—until she demanded that he put her down. "You'll strain your back!" After all, she had gained nearly forty pounds, much to her horror.
"You're light as a feather," he declared, laughing as he kissed her.
It was the happiest she had seen him since the fire!
The closing was two weeks later, and afterward they started moving in. The seller had not been interested in dealing with the furnishings, considering the distance involved, and so had included them with the house. Sam and Jack sorted through the things that were there, and ultimately kept most of them. They wouldn't have had enough furniture to fill the place, anyway! There was only about a month to go before Sam's due date, and they were very excited at how smoothly things were going!
With furnishings already in place, moving was not nearly as difficult as it might have been. With the help of Daniel, Teal'c, Janet and Cassie, and some of their other friends, over the course of a weekend they were able to move their clothing, a lot of books—almost all belonging to Sam—odds and ends, and personal stuff to the chalet.
On a sunny morning in the first week of May, Sam and Jack awoke for the first time in their new house!
~X~X~X~X~
