A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and the critiquing. I really appreciate it! On with the story.

Just a few points: I am leaving out Continuum for a twist to the story. Col. Mitchell is not part of the SGC and may not even appear in the story. And obviously, neither Sam nor Jack got their promotions. I just think it will work better with my story if that's the way it is. Thank you for your patience, and on with the story!

Chapter 3: Sam's Explanation

Samantha Carter walked up the lawn to where Jack O'neill sat in his chair on the dock fishing. She had been parked for a few minutes, down driveway, thinking about how much she would tell him. So, here she went, to talk to the father of her child, to tell him the whole truth of everything that had happened when she had left, and how Sabrina had come to be kidnapped. It was only six thirty, but she couldn't wait any longer.

Walking over to the dock, she said, "Hello, sir."

Jack looked back at her and said, "You're early."

"Yes, sir, I couldn't wait anymore. I hope it doesn't inconvenience you, sir."

"Carter," he said as he began reeling in his fishing line. "You're retired from the Air Force. I'm not your CO anymore. You don't need to call me 'sir.'"

"Yes, sir. Sorry. It's just habit."

"Well, stop it. Just call me Jack or O'Neill for crying out loud." He closed his tackle box and stood up, taking the tackle and the fishing pole with him. He walked up to the cabin porch and put it down outside the door. Turning back to Sam, he asked, "You want a beer?"

"Yes-O'neill." Sam felt her throat close up at using that name. She couldn't bring herself to call him Jack until he knew everything. And only then would she call him Jack if he gave her permission a second time.

Jack returned a few minutes later with two beers in his hand and then walked to the dock again, putting an extra chair next to his for her to sit down in. Sam sat down and took a drink from her bottle, then sighed.

"What did you need to talk about Carter?"

"It's complicated. I wanted to explain to you why I left the SGC and the Air Force without a real explanation or warning to any of the team. But I wanted to talk to you first."

"Why?"

"I think I owe you more of an explanation than the others."

"Why do you say that, Carter," He asked sarcastically.

Sam cringed and then said, "Well, after what happened while we were drunk I think that you would want to know more than I tell the others. I owe you more than I owe the others. Not only because of that night, but also because of how many years we've worked together and how many countless times you've saved my life, putting me over you."

"I would have done that for anyone under my command," Jack said stoically. Sam felt a jolt in her chest, like she had just been shot.

"Regardless," she said, like it didn't bother her, "I still owe you. So, I'm going to explain what happened after I left and what led up to Sabrina's kidnapping."

"Who's kid is she, anyway?"

"Well, I was going to explain that after I got everything else explained. I hope you don't mind."

"Hey, if you don't want to tell me, I don't mind. It's not really any of my business anyway. I was just curious. Is he anyone I know?"

"O'Neill, if you want to know any of this, you can't keep asking these inane questions."

"Agreed. I'll shut up now."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, drinking and wafting dusk come around, both thinking about Sabrina's father. When Sam finally spoke, she leaned forward and made herself look out at the water, rather than at the man beside her.

"When I left the SGC, I did it for a lot of different reasons. One of them was discovering that my father was still alive. My brother Mark called me one afternoon while I was at home with the day off. He told me that dad was alive and in his living room. I took the weekend off and went to find out who the imposter was and how he managed to fool Mark. When I got there, I searched for all kinds of different technologies. The only thing I detected was a Tok'ra symbiote. Selmak came out and explained why they did what they did and it seemed too good to be true.

"When I thought I was going to lose him to the cancer, I found a way to help him. But when he had told me that Selmak was the one dying and that she couldn't save him, I knew I had lost him for good and there was no way of getting him back. I argued over and over with the Tok'ra about my father's right to be buried with my mother, but they weren't swayed. If Hammond hadn't stepped in and let the Tok'ra take him, I don't know what would have happened. I might not even know that Ba'al was the one to kidnap Sabrina."

"You're rambling, Carter."

"Sorry, sir."

Jack gave her a look at the sir, but she ignored him and continued. "I retired from the Air Force to spend some time with my father and Selmak, getting to know each of them. Mark, and my nieces and nephews only got the chance to see Dad, and not Selmak because of the security risk. But, Selmak didn't mind just talking to me.

"After Sabrina came into the picture, my dad moved in to help out when she was a baby. After she turned four, he moved back out and told me that I was ready to handle it on my own. I don't think he liked the idea of me being a single parent, but he got used to it."

"Where's her father?"

"I thought you agreed to not ask any inane questions?"

"That's not an inane question. It's a perfectly relevant question as to how you became a single parent."

"I will answer that, but not until the end."

"Carter, I'm not exactly getting any younger here."

"O'Neill, if you ask anymore questions, I won't be able to tell you anything else. By order of the president." When Jack kept quiet, she continued again. "After everything that happened over the years, Sabrina became smarter and smarter. She has my intellect combined with her father's sarcastic sense of humor. And she loves to talk to people that she claims I can't see. She always tells me that when they're ready for me to see them, I will. No matter how much I tell her that she's too old to have imaginary friends, she keeps telling me that they're not imaginary."

'kids will be kids."

"Yeah, I guess. Now, do you even have the slightest clue to her parentage?"

"Well, I know it's not me, because our encounter was in December, not January."

"Babies can be late, Jack."

Jack looked over at her with a smart ass remark on his tongue, then thought about her remark. It finally sunk in and he sat there for a moment before standing up and walking back into his cabin. Sam heard a loud crash inside the cabin that sounded like breaking glass. It echoed from the outside to the woods. Now she knew that she shouldn't have come back. Her father had insisted that they would need the help of both the Tok'ra and the SGC. He had also made her promise to tell the father of her child what was happening. She had never told him who Sabrina's father was, but it seemed that he had figured it out. Sabrina did look like Jack; more than herself, anyway. Jack had returned and was standing beside her.

"I understand that you're angry about this-"

Jack cut her off and said, 'I'm beyond angry, but Hammond called and said that we may have a lead to finding Sabrina. We need to get back to the SGC for a briefing."