After watching Hope head off to Janet's office followed by an airman Jack heads to his office. He closes the door and sits in his chair before taking a deep breath. Slowly he reaches out and grabs one of the many files on his desk and flips it open. It's a mission report from SG6. He starts reading it when there is a knock on his door.
"Come in," he calls.
The door opens and Sergeant Harriman smiles as he walks to the side of the desk.
"Good morning Sir, I thought I'd bring you your morning coffee," he says setting a steaming cup down.
"I hope it's the strong stuff, thanks Sergeant," Jack says setting down the file and grabbing the cup.
"Rough night Sir?"
"Rough morning; Hope told me this morning that she wants to join the Air Force."
"That's great Sir."
Jack looks at Walter over his coffee cup causing him to stammer slightly, "Isn't it?"
"Well that depends. She wants to go thru the Academy so she can be stationed here," Jack says before taking a sip of his coffee.
"Between basic training and OTS that would give her a couple of years to change her mind."
"I'm less worried about her actually making it in here and more concerned about what would happen if she didn't."
"May I give you my opinion Sir?"
Jack waves his hand and leans back in his chair.
"I think you should sit down with her and tell her all the pro's and con's to both sides and let her decide."
~#~
Sam sits down at her desk and flicks the button to turn on her computer. After a minute she is able to log in. She waits until everything is connected and then she takes the mouse and clicks a small icon labeled 'Hope'. A journal type word document opens and she begins typing.
The most recent medication that Dr. Fraiser put Hope on seems to be working just as it should. However she has already aged well past a child. Janet thinks she is around 18 years of age. We have finally come up with a convincing story that fits with her sudden appearance. She is strong and healthy physically; the biggest thing that has been worrying me the past few weeks is that she seems to know things that she shouldn't. I have been working with her, trying to prepare her for school if we were able to find something that would slow her aging. The thing that I have started noticing is that while she is very intelligent I sometimes feel as though she knows the answers to some questions before I ask them. And not just about things from her studies. I have asked her some complex questions from my time in the Academy and not only has she understood what I am asking, she knows the answer. It's like she has part of my mind, or my memories, if that makes any sense.
The phone in the kitchen starts ringing so she saves the document and closes it then makes her way to the kitchen and grabs the phone.
"O'Neill residence"
"Good morning Sam"
"Hi Janet, how are you?"
"I'm fine, thank you. And you?"
"Oh, I can't complain. How was your visit with Hope?"
"It was nice. I was looking at your file and I noticed that you are due for a checkup. Do you have time to come in today?"
"I can come in after lunch."
"Okay, I'll put you down for one o'clock. And when you are here I do have one thing about Hope that I would like to ask you about."
"You can ask me anything."
"It would be best if it were in person."
"Is there something wrong?" Sam asks, panic creeping up her back.
"No nothing is wrong, I just feel better talking about some things face to face rather than over the phone."
"Alright, I'll see you in a couple of hours."
Sam sets the phone down and lets out the breath that she didn't realize she was holding. She walks back to her small office that will soon be the baby's room and shuts the computer off. She waits till the screen is black before making her way to her bathroom to take a quick shower. After she gets out she wraps a towel around her body the best that she can and then she makes her way into her room and over to the bedside table where the portable phone is sitting beside the lamp. She sits carefully on the bed and dials Jack's office number.
"O'Neill"
"Hi babe."
"Hi, are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine, why?"
"Because you're home alone and I worry about you and the baby."
"Well don't worry. I was just calling to tell you Janet is having me come in for a checkup at thirteen hundred. When I am finished I can bring Hope home with me if you want."
"You can if she wants to go. Right now she is having an early lunch with Daniel. I was going to join them but if you are coming in why don't you just come now and we can have lunch, just the two of us. My treat?"
Sam laughs, "That sounds nice. So when did Daniel get back?"
"SG 11 got back late last night. I had to debrief them when I got in this morning. Hope and Daniel have been hanging out ever since they were both free of the meetings."
"Good, she had been asking when he was going to come back to see her. Well, I am starving so I think I will get ready and come for lunch now if you are sure you have the time."
"I will always have time for lunch with my wife; you should know that by now."
The thought makes Sam smile.
~#~
Daniel sets his fork on the empty plat in front of him, "I still can't believe how much you have grown in just one year."
Hope chuckles as she finishes her last bite of pie, "Well hopefully that will slow down a bit now. Dr. Fraiser has me on a medication that seems to be regulating my aging accordingly."
"That is great. So how have you and your parents decided to handle your education?"
"Mom has been helping me try to keep up on the major thing that I would learn in each grade and according to Dr. Fraiser I should be about 18 so I want to get tested and see where I place. If I can place high enough then maybe, even if I am a year or two behind, mom will let me go to school so that I can graduate."
"Alright, so I will just assume that you are high school aged. Do you know what you would want to do after high school?"
"Yep, I want to work on getting at least an Associate's degree so that I can join the air force and get into the Academy, just like mom did. And once I am finished with that I want to come to work here with you and dad and mom."
"Wow, big plans. Do Jack and Sam know that is what you want?"
"I told dad this morning on the way here."
"And you are sure that there is nothing more exciting that you would rather do than work here?"
Hope looks at Daniel for a long moment, as if trying to figure out an answer, "Why wouldn't I want to work here? I would love to do what you guys do every day."
"Study deep space rad…"
"Radar telemetry? You really think that I would buy that line?"
"I don't know what you mean," Daniel says, sounding far more believable than he feels.
"I know that there is a device here that people aren't supposed to know about."
Daniel sits silently, praying he doesn't give away the truth with his next words, "And who told you that?"
"No one; I just know it's here. And I know what it's for. I want to use it like you and my parents have been for years now."
"Well it takes a lot of practice to be able to read the information that is gathered from the satellites."
Hope takes a breath and stands to take her tray to the cleaning station, "I know it's called the stargate, and I know you use it to travel between worlds."
~#~
Sam drives up to the first check point and hands the guard her ID badge.
"Good afternoon Ma'am."
"Good afternoon."
The guard scribbles on a clipboard and then hands her ID back to her.
"The General wanted me to tell you that he will meet you inside," he says as the gate in front of her opens.
"Thank you Airman," Sam replies, putting her car into drive and moving forward.
Moments later as she is pulling into a parking spot her phone buzzes. She turns the car off and then looks at the screen, there is a text from Jack.
'I'm on an important call. Sergeant Harriman will bring you down to my office.'
Sam smiles and gets out of the car.
"Dr. O'Neill" she hears Walters voice behind her.
"Hello Sergeant, how are you today?"
"I'm well Ma'am, and you?"
"To be honest I can't wait to get back to work."
"And we are anxious for your return," he says with a smile.
"So Jack said that he's on an important call, is everything alright?"
"Oh yes Ma'am, the General is just dealing with a minor situation. Happens all the time," he replies as they climb onto the elevator.
After they disembark the elevator car they walk down the corridor to Jack's office. They stop just outside the door.
"Well Ma'am, now that you are here all safe and sound I will leave you and get back to work."
"Thank you for walking me down."
"Of course," Walter smiles and then walks briskly toward the conference room.
Sam opens the door and walks into the office. Jack is in his chair with his phone in his hand.
"Yes Sir, I understand…And when can I expect him to arrive?..Very well, I am looking forward to meeting him very soon…No, thank you Sir," Jack says hanging up the phone.
"So, new personnel?" Sam asks sitting down.
"Yeah, George called to tell me that the big bosses decided to send a new guy to lead SG1. He'll be here by the end of the week."
"Oh, well that's good, right?"
Jack looks at Sam for a moment, "Yeah I suppose, I just never thought about replacing myself. And I guess when I did think about it I always thought that I would give SG1 to you."
"I think you made sure that I wouldn't get that anytime soon," Sam says putting her hand on her belly.
Jack smiles, "Well now we don't have to worry about it for a while, and when you are ready to come back to work you will always have a spot on that team."
"Right now the only team that I am worried about is team O'Neill. And right now the youngest of the team is telling mommy that it's time to eat."
Jack stands and looks at his pregnant wife, "Well let's go take care of that."
As they walk toward the commissary Sam's stomach rumbles.
"Yep, defiantly lunch time," She says as they enter the main room.
"Go grab a seat; I'll bring your lunch to you."
"Wow, what service."
"I have to add every little bit that I can to make up for the food," Jack says as he walks away.
Sam smiles and looks around the room. Oh how she missed being here, having some piece of alien tech in her lab waiting for her to figure out how it works. For the next six months at least she was on full maternity leave; after that if Doc Fraiser gives her the green light she can at least start coming in to work in the lab even if she isn't allowed off-world until the proper evaluation is taken care of. Who knew that having two children in the span of two and a half years could affect a woman's body so much. Sam stops; two children. She and Jack have two children; or at least they will when this little one is born in about five months. Sam puts a hand on her belly as she thinks about what they should call her, or him; as her hand is resting there she feels the gentle kick of her unborn child and it causes her to smile.
"Whatca doin?" Jack asks as he sits next to her with their lunch.
"I can feel the baby moving; here," Sam takes his hand and gently lays it over her stomach.
After a moment the baby moves again and Jack smiles.
"He feels strong."
"What makes you think it's a boy?" Sam asks as they start eating.
"Just a gut feeling that I have."
"Okay, so what should we name him?"
Jack thinks for a minute, "I think we should call him Joseph."
~#~
Janet looks over Sam's chart, "Well it looks like you are doing well and the baby is growing at the normal rate it should be. So have you decided if you want to find out if it's a boy or girl?"
"I think we would rather be surprised, but Jack already thinks it's a boy. He said that he has a gut feeling."
Janet smiles, "So have you started talk about names?"
"We like Joseph for a boy and I can't decide on any names for a girl."
"From what I can tell it looks like you'll have plenty of time to decide on a girl name just in case. Have you felt any movement yet?"
"Yeah a couple of times but at lunch he was finally moving enough for Jack to feel."
"That is wonderful. Well you are goo to go, but I would like to see you every other week from here on out just to be on the safe side."
"That sounds good. So this morning you said that you had something that you wanted to ask me about Hope?"
"Yes, when we talked a few weeks ago she mentioned that she could remember things that made no sense for her to remember, so when she came in this morning I asked her to tell me about some of the things that she is remembering."
"Okay, and what is she remembering?"
"This is going to sound a little strange but I think she may be remembering things that you have done."
"That doesn't sound too strange."
"Things that happened before she was born. She told me this morning that she knows that the General isn't her father, and she was able to describe Jared to me in detail."
Sam looks at Janet for a long moment, "How would she know that? I never talk about him, to her or anyone else."
"That was actually the least of my concerns. I try to keep in mind that she is in all likely hood at least 18 years old now and she may be able to keep this all to herself, but if she knows about him what does she know about the stargate program?"
"Oh my g…I hadn't thought about that. But how is any of this possible?"
"I have been thinking that it may be another part of whatever caused her rapid aging. While you were pregnant with her your memories may have been transferred to her. I know that the Goa'uld have genetic memories so it is possible that is what this is but I don't have the slightest clue as to how it happened to her. What I do know is that you and the General need to sit down and talk to her and find out exactly how much she knows about what."
"And if she truly does have all of my memories?"
"Well I can tell you this much, that would explain how she seems to be so smart without trying. And if that is the case this could work to her advantage."
"How could this possibly work to her advantage?"
"She would be able to pass all the necessary classes to graduate high school and get into whatever college that she wants. I know that you have been worried about her education but this could be the answer that you needed."
~#~
"So when will Teal'c be back?"Hope asks as she and Daniel walk toward Janet's office.
"I'm not sure. The last time I talked to him he was going to spend some time with his son. He is usually only there a couple of weeks."
"Okay."
They stop outside the office as the door opens and Sam comes out with Janet a few steps behind her.
"And remember I want to see you again in two weeks," Janet says.
"I know, I'll be here," Sam says then turns to Hope. "Okay kiddo, let's head home. I have some cleaning to do and I would like to do something nice for dinner if you will help me."
"Sure mom. Bye Uncle Daniel, Bye Doc," Hope waves as she and Sam head for the elevator.
Daniel waves and then turns to Janet, "Hey you got a minute to talk?"
Janet looks at her watch, "Actually, I've got five. What's on your mind?"
"You talked to Hope this morning right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Did she say anything strange to you?"
"First, if she did talk to me about something strange it has to stay between she and second, she jumped from 12 years old to 18 in just a few months so strange to us may be normal to her right now."
"I was only asking because when we were eating lunch she said something that I feel like I need to tell Jack but I wasn't sure if it was something that you and she had talked about as well."
"What did she say?"
"She told me that she knows about the stargate and she knows how it works."
A/N I know it's been a while since I posted an update but I want you to know that I am always working on a new chapter. I will try to be better about posting new chapters in the future. If you enjoy this story please let me know. And if you don't like it then tell me what you don't like, I welcome honesty.