"This is it." Xander shoved his hands into his pockets as he stared, ominously, at the quaint little house in front of him. "No regrets, right? That's the whole point of this little meeting, right? No regrets, no matter what?" He questioned the blonde leaning against the car beside him. Once this was over and done with he made a mental note to ask her how she got Morris to hand over the keys to the BMW; usually the car came with Morris attached.

"No regrets." Buffy reassured him. "No matter what you're apart of a family that loved you. Who needs blood, huh? Blood is so overrated unless you're a vampire then it's so...rated." She babbled feeling as nervous as her friend about this meeting. Anything could happen and she had no doubt in her mind that anything would happen. Nothing was ever simple when it came to the two friends, nothing.

Xander pulled his hands out of his pockets and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. Her little babble fit gave him a bit more courage. "Alright, wish me luck." He started up the walkway pulling Buffy along with him; this was her idea after all. Why should she miss all the awkwardness that was sure to come?

Buffy grunted as she was pulled along. "You thought about what your going to say to her?"

"Nope." Xander stopped once they reached the front door then released her hand so he could knock. "I'm not good with the whole speaking thing, you know that. So I decided to try the wing it approach instead. Worse she can do is slam the sodding door in my face, right?"

Nodding, Buffy wasn't surprised that her friend hadn't prepared. Xander rarely prepared but always managed to make his way though a situation with only a few minor cuts, scrapes, and bruises. "She's an idiot if she passes on the opportunity to have you for a brother. Wil will back me up on that." She added for good measure.

Xander smiled at her words of comfort, he felt a little better. "Thanks." He mouthed as the door opened to reveal a young lady, no older than Dawn.

"Can I help you?" The curly haired young woman asked as she eyed the two people on the doorstep. Her eyes lingered on the man and his eye patch a little longer than was polite but she finally managed to look away before she could be confronted on impolite staring.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Samantha Carter, does she live here?" Xander asked after Buffy elbowed him, in the ribs, to speak instead of shifting, uncomfortably, on the doorstep because of the stare he was receiving.

The younger woman nodded. "Yeah, she lives here. You from the base? I haven't seen you before." She ducked her head back inside. "Sam, company!" She bellowed before returning her attention to the two unsuspecting newcomers. Having been stuck with Sam for most of the week, she was beginning to go stir crazy so she viewed the two on the doorstep as an answer to her prayers of reprieve.

Buffy winced at the shrillness of the yell suddenly reminded of Dawn. "She in the next city or something?" She asked under her breath then added. "We're not from the base, we're actually not even from the states." She tucked away the fact that the girl said base and not NORAD so her previous assessment had been correct. At least one of the Carters was involved with whatever went on under Cheyenne Mountain.

"I'm Cassie." She introduced not completely forgetting the manners her adopted mother had tried to teach her; some Earth customs were still strange to her. "Really? Not from America? I'm not either, I'm from Canada." She elaborated then eagerly asked. "You ever been there?"

Xander had to smile, he too reminded of Dawnie. Girls would be girls. "We both have, actually. Many times, many, many, times."

Cassie grinned feeling comfortable around these two complete strangers. "That's so cool!" She may have not known them but she had to admit that she liked them. Then again she also liked the nice young man with the bible that had stopped by three days ago. "You been anywhere else? What country do you come from because you so sound American?" Folding her arms, she leaned against the door frame while she waited on Sam to appear and put a stop her very interesting conversation.

"We've been all over the globe." Buffy didn't want to sound like she was bragging so she just pretended she was talking to one of her girls. "I actually lived in Rome for a while and Xander here put down roots in Sydney. But in the end we both ended up in London."

"You came all the way from Great Britain to see Sam? You sure you don't want to see Daniel instead?" Cassie asked as she tilted her head to the side at the sound of approaching footsteps behind her.

"Daniel? Brown hair, military cut?" Xander inquired. "Why would we want to see him instead of Samantha?" He was sure that he was missing something and hoped the girl would elaborate further.

Cassie didn't even blink when Sam stepped up behind her to observe who was at the door. "Because he always has foreign visitors, Sam not so much, right? Uncle Daniel's the one with the stuffy friends from unpronounceable countries."

"I'm sure you've talked their ears off enough, Cass. Why don't you go watch the chicken so it doesn't burn?" Sam was subtlety asking the girl to concede the conversation to her.

"Fine!" Cassie huffed, pushed around Sam, and disappeared into the house. "I'm not a kid anymore!" Came the muffled yelled followed by the slamming of a door.'

Sam winced but smiled none the less at her two visitors. "I'm Samantha Carter, how can I help you?" She ran a hand through her newly cropped hair, trying to make herself look a little less frazzled.

Buffy gave the other blonde woman a sympathetic look. "Kids, aye? Teenagers especially. Could so live without them but don't have any choice in the matter." She told her, knowingly.

Looking startled, Sam took a moment to observe her two visitors. "You have a teenager?" Neither one of them looked old enough to have a kid Cassie's age. "Cassie isn't mine, her adopted mother died a few years back and I've kinda been trying to keep an eye on her." She found herself explaining.

Xander chuckled at the horrified look on Buffy's face. "Buff's referring to her sister. She became her legal guardian back when Mrs. Summers died. Dawn was only fourteen at the time." He paused then shook his head to clear away the painful memories. "I'm Xander Harris and this is my friend, Buffy Summers." He motioned towards his companion with a jerk of his chin. "May we come in?" He asked, hesitantly.

Sam blinked and felt herself prickle just a bit. They looked harmless enough but she had learned long ago that looks could be deceiving, very deceiving. "Is something wrong?" She asked, not granting them access to her house.

"No, nothings wrong but what we have to tell you might be better received if you were sitting down." Buffy switched to her voice that she used when speaking with baby Slayers families. "It's nothing bad, I swear." She shared a look with her friend before returning to gaze to the other woman.

"Alright." Sam, reluctantly, stepped aside to let them enter. Once they were inside, she shut the door and lead them into the small living room. The whole time she was fighting the urge to call her teammates for back up. "So, what is it that you got to tell me?" She asked as she sunk down into the recliner positioned across from the couch.

"Um." Xander chuckled nervously and blew out a breath. "Last week I received a package of sorts from New York Anyways, it was from Child Protective Services based out of New York City. A lady there, a case worker, stumbled upon some old case files her predecessor left behind; one of the files was mine. Imagine my shock since I had no idea that I was even adopted."

Sam listened, growing more confused with each word. "What does your getting a package from Child Protective Services have to do with me?"

Buffy could tell her friend was floundering so she stepped in. "Your mother was killed in an auto accident twenty seven years ago, correct?" She asked, gently, knowing how hard it was to talk about a lost parent.

"How did you...?" Sam trailed off, rethinking about calling her friends. Something felt off. For now she'd go along with it. Clearing her throat, she answered. "Yes, my mother was killed when a drunk driver smashed into the cab she was riding in. What does her death have to do with anything? Why are you here?"

Xander sighed. "Were you aware that your mother was pregnant at the time of the accident?"

Sam snapped her gaze away from the girl, Buffy, and onto the boy, Xander. "Yes, she was eight months along. She and the baby died on that day." An uneasy feeling was starting to creep up her spine.

"December ninth, nineteen-eighty, right?" Buffy questioned. The sooner they got to the reason for them being there, the better.

"Who are you?" Sam demanded to know as she jumped to her feet and headed for the phone only to be headed off by a very fast moving Buffy. "How did you know that?"

"Because it's my birthday." Xander answered, quietly, from the couch; he had never moved. "The lady said the file listed a Jacob and Marie Carter as my biological parents. I'm your brother."

Sam felt the air rush from her lungs then felt a pair of strong arms steer her back to the chair she had previously abandoned. "Impossible." She whispered. "Dad told us the baby died. He wouldn't lie. Not about something like that." She slumped down into the chair.

Buffy knelt down at her side. "Losing someone is tough maybe your father just couldn't handle it? Maybe the child reminded him of what he lost?" She was throwing out suggestions. "I really don't know why he would have lied, I guess you'll have to ask him. What I do know is that my friend is a good man so just think about it? We're staying at the Radisson downtown, for another two days, if you decide that you want to get to know him; get to know your little brother." She motioned towards the door with her head. "We'll see ourselves out." And with that her and Xander left to return to the hotel room for the night.

"I need to talk to dad." Sam whispered to the dark living room, finally having snapped out dazed state. "Cassie?" She called out and searched the house for her niece. "Cass?" She stepped into the kitchen and picked up a note that had been left on the counter saying that Cassie had went out, with friends. Sighing, she gathered up her keys and left the house. The guardsman on duty at the base didn't even bother checking her ID as she drove through the checkpoint. After that, everything was a blur as she woke General Landry with a frantic plea to contact her father via the Stargate. He had some explaining to do. Because if their story checked out, the Carter family just added a, previously forgotten, member to its ranks.


Authors Note

I know Jacob died but for the purposes of my story I need him alive to provide back story so please don't hate me.

This was actually the hardest chapter to write, thus far. This is the second draft and I'm still not happy with it but it's the best my muse can come up with so here it is.

Reviews make me happy and a happy writer writes more!