Daughter of My Heart, Chapter Seven

[Set during Secrets - some lines re-used, no copyright infringement intended]

Sam was reeling. First, from the shock of seeing her father, here, in Washington, for her awards ceremony, and now from what he was telling her.

NASA? He'd pulled strings with NASA?

"Dad...," she trailed, fumbling with the realization of just all she hadn't told him since joining the Stargate program. "Dad, it's not that simple," she said, wincing.

He laughed. "Usually, no," he agreed. "But they've seen what you could offer them. They want you, Sammie."

Sam pressed her eyes shut a moment, trying to collect her thoughts. "Dad...there's something I need to tell you," she said, hating that she'd waited this long. Not that her dad picked up the phone any more often than she did...

"What is it?," he asked, confused.

"It's not that I don't appreciate what you've done," she said. "I do. It's just that things are a little complicated now."

"Sam, what are you talking about?," he asked, voice incredulous. "A transfer is a transfer."

Sam swallowed hard. "I adopted a little girl," she rushed out. "On a mission, to a pretty devastated area," she improvised. "I'm all she has."

Jacob Carter looked shell-shocked. "You adopted a little girl?," he repeated, disbelievingly.

"Yes."

"Without so much as a phone call to your old man?," he asked, stunned.

"I'm sorry, Dad," she said, meaning it. "Everything about the mission was classified, and I guess I've been so wrapped up in getting used to the whole single parent thing that I forgot to let you know."

"Does Mark know?," he asked, naming her brother. Sam shook her head.

"No one outside of work, Dad," she replied, guilt lancing through her.

He was silent for a moment, processing. Sam felt for all the world like a little girl herself, about to get into boatloads of trouble with her dad.

"How long?," he asked.

Sam winced again. "About ten months," she confessed.

"Ten months?," Jacob demanded. "You mean to tell me you've been a parent for nearly a year, and this is the first I'm hearing about it?"

"I'm really sorry, Dad. I never meant to exclude you. Things just happened so fast..."

"What about you? Your dreams?," he asked. "You have gifts, Sam. Deep Space Radar Telemetry, or whatever the hell it really is, can't be using those gifts to their full potential."

"You'd be surprised, Dad," Sam replied evasively.

"Lots of astronauts have families," he pointed out.

"I know. This is all just so new..."

"At least call them. Talk to them. Please?," he begged. "Let me do this for my little girl."

"I can't," Sam said. "I can't do that to Cassandra."

Her dad stepped back, shaking his head. "I'll catch up with you after the ceremony," he said numbly, walking away.

Sam leaned against the wall, drained beyond measure. She'd forgotten to tell her dad about Cassandra. She hadn't spoken to him at all in almost a year...


Everything was wrong. Everything about this visit, this return to Abydos, was all wrong.

Daniel stood at the foot of Sha're's makeshift bed, wishing the baby would wait, wishing for more time.

There was so much he still needed to tell her, so much to say...

She pushed against the pain, the baby insistent on coming, though Daniel couldn't fathom having to let go again. Having to lose Sha're to the Goa'uld, again.

They'd had so little time together.

And now the fate of another child was in his hands. His wife's child. He couldn't let the Goa'uld have their way. He couldn't let this child fall into the hands of Apophis and his Queen.

He could see the head, could hear Sha're's fear as she screamed for him, all but begging him to hold the child back, to keep her demon at bay.

He wished more than anything that there was a way, some way to save both her and the child. He was afraid for her. For what horrors she'd have to endure.

But he knew there was no help for her on Earth. No salvation beyond keeping her from Apophis' greedy reach. She'd be a prisoner twice over, first to the Goa'uld within her, and then to whatever branch of the US government took custody of her.

At best, they could protect the child.

"I love you!," he was saying over and over, as if it could somehow change things. As if it could take away the pain.

And then the baby was in his arms, a tiny red-faced boy, screaming from the depths of his lungs, and for a moment, Daniel felt the euphoria of new life. He could almost forget who the father was, could almost forget everything that had led to this child's birth. For a moment he simply held his wife's child, a wash of love and joy overcoming him as he saw her beauty reflected in this boy's small face, and felt the precious warmth of his tiny body cradled in his arms.

And then the moment was over, Sha're's eyes blazing with the light of the Goa'uld, and Daniel, ever careful of the child, was following Teal'c from the room, from his wife, numb to the reality of all that had just passed.


Sam hadn't thought her day could get any worse. She should have known better.

Surprise announcements, a canceled ceremony, and a possible leak at the SGC aside, her dad's newest confession really took the cake.

"I have cancer, Sam."

Sam stared at him in stunned disbelief. "What?," she gasped.

"Lymphoma."

"How long have you known?"

Jacob shrugged. "A few months."

Apparently Sam wasn't the only one with issues picking up a phone. Even when the news was life-altering.

"How long do you have?," she asked, almost dreading the answer.

Jacob smiled, one of his tight, patronizing smiles. "I'm not going anywhere just yet," he said, not quite answering her question. "I had hoped to see you fulfill your childhood dream before I die..."

"Dad..." Sam was at a loss. "You should come meet Cassandra. Stay with us for a while," she said, wishing he could understand that her dreams had changed. Wishing, for a moment, that she could tell him about the Stargate, and about the family that had come from it.

"Next time I'm in Colorado," he promised, but Sam knew better than to believe he'd come. Work never brought him out her way, and he never traveled without orders from the Air Force.

Sam hugged him, silently wishing things could be different. Wishing they could be more like the family they'd been when her mother was still alive.

"The doctors say this thing could go on for a while, so you don't have to check up on me tomorrow," he said, ever the General, showing no weakness.

"Dad..."

But he was already gone.


Janet helped Cassandra put the finishing touches on their Friday night feast, glazed ham with scalloped potatoes and corn, and a deep dish apple pie for dessert. Sam and Daniel were due back any time now, having been away the last three days, Sam in Washington with the Colonel for their awards ceremony, and Daniel back on Abydos with Teal'c.

Nothing, she was relieved to think, that would put either one of them in danger, or require her immediate medical expertise. It was a handful, patching those two up.

The door opened, and Sam slogged tiredly in, trailed almost as enthusiastically by Daniel.

"Mom! Dad!," Cassie shouted, running to give the pair of them a hug. Janet hid her smirk, still enjoying Cassandra's straight-forward interpretation of an otherwise complicated situation.

"Hey," Sam greeted, wrapping her arms tightly around the girl. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Cassie chirped. "But Janet has been teaching me how to make all sorts of things!," she announced proudly. "Come see," she said, grabbing the two adults by the hands and pulling them forward.

"Wow," Daniel breathed, taking in the food laid out on the table. "You did all this?"

"Janet helped," Cassie confessed. "But I did a lot of it myself!"

"It looks amazing," Sam said, and Daniel nodded his ascent.

"It should taste amazing too," Janet said, ushering them all to sit.

Cassie chattered all throughout the meal, happily telling Sam and Daniel everything she'd learned about how each dish was made, but Janet couldn't help but think that something was wrong. For all intents and purposes, the teammates seemed to be listening, even asking questions where appropriate, but they were both subdued, even withdrawn. Janet frowned inwardly, trying to figure out what could have gone wrong for either one of them on their seemingly disaster-proof missions.

As the table was cleared and the dishes were piled into the dishwasher, Cassandra suggested a movie. Janet had no objections, so they traipsed into her living room, each picking a spot, and she started up one of her all-time favourites, Gone With the Wind.

Cassie fell asleep about an hour in, and Janet seized her opportunity.

"So," she said casually, startling her remaining two companions to attention. She arched an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "What really happened?," she asked.

Sam sighed. "The whole thing was a nightmare," she said, looking oddly small. "Someone leaked information about the Stargate program to a reporter, who confronted Colonel O'Neill just before the ceremony. The Colonel denied everything, of course, but the reporter wouldn't let it go. He was hit and killed by a car while the Colonel watched, and we still don't know if it was an accident or not, or who might have leaked the information in the first place."

Daniel frowned. "You think someone may have set him up?," he asked. Sam shrugged.

"I only heard about it second hand from the Colonel," she confessed. "I was busy taking care of...family issues, at the time."

This time Janet frowned. "Family issues?"

"My dad," Sam sighed, slumping in her seat.

Daniel blinked slowly. "Your dad was there? At an award ceremony for a classified mission?"

Sam groaned. "The perks of being a General, I guess," she muttered.

"I take it the two of you don't exactly get along?," Janet questioned.

Sam looked at her helplessly. "I don't know how to explain it. We don't not get along," Sam said. "We just...never seem to say any of the important things until it's too late."

"So this time...," Daniel prompted.

"I told him about Cassie."

"Oh."

"And he told me he has terminal cancer."

Daniel and Janet both gaped at her. Sam shrugged.

"Like I said," she repeated, rubbing her hands across her weary face, "The whole thing was a nightmare."

"I found Sha're," Daniel whispered, and Sam flinched. Janet guessed she already knew at least some of what the archaeologist had to say, and it wasn't pretty.

"She has a son by Apophis," he continued softy, never meeting their eyes. "Teal'c and I managed to rescue the child, and put him in Kasuf's safekeeping. But Apophis took Sha're with him, to God-knows where. I had her, and I couldn't save her."

Janet looked from one to the other in utter disbelief. "I swear, sometimes, the two of you are magnets for trouble," she said, shaking her head. Sam smiled wanly.

"Not just us. All of SG-1," she corrected. Janet 'hmphed' her agreement.

"At any rate," the doctor said, "you both look beat. Do you want me to keep Cassandra another day or two, while you take some time for yourselves?"

"No," Sam answered quickly. "The way things are with my dad...that has nothing to do with Cassandra. I'd rather be there for her, than alone worrying about him."

Janet nodded as Sam turned unexpectedly to Daniel. "You don't have to be alone, either," she said softly, meeting the archaeologist's muted gaze. "If you want to spend the weekend with us, we could go somewhere. Poke around a museum if you'd like. Just so you're not alone," she reiterated.

Daniel smiled wanly at her. "Thanks, but...I don't think I'd be good company right now," he said.

"Well, you're not spending all weekend cooped up alone in your apartment brooding," Janet admonished. "I'm sorry you lost Sha're again, but at least you know she's still out there, that there's still a possibility of saving her another day."

"Janet..."

"No. I like Sam's idea. If you have to hurt, it's better to hurt among friends than all alone."

"Did you want to come too?," Sam asked cautiously.

Janet grinned. "If only to see Cassandra's reaction to dinosaurs," she replied gleefully.

Daniel smiled. "It would be nice to show her some of the exhibits for cultures I've tried to explain to her. There's nothing quite like being able to bring history to life."

"In that case, I'd better get Cassie home," Sam said, lightly ruffling the sleeping girl's hair. "It sounds like we'll have a busy day tomorrow."

Janet watched wistfully as Sam gently woke Cassie, quickly gathering their things into her car as Daniel helped gather their drinks and snacks from the movie and carry them to the kitchen.

She'd never really minded her solitary life, since leaving her ex-husband. But on nights like this, after having Cassandra bounding through the house, and Sam and Daniel for company, everything just seemed too quiet when they all left.

She was glad she'd be part of tomorrow's adventures. There was no doubt that Cassandra was very special to all of them, but Janet, it seemed, was usually on the outskirts of the fun. A surrogate Aunt to Sam and Daniel's 'Mom' and 'Dad.' She sighed.

Maybe the Colonel was right. Maybe she just needed to get a dog.