Author's Note: There have been a couple requests for what Sam was thinking when Jack came back, so I'm considering writing a sequel with the same story told from her point of view. The Guardian's Wife, or something like that. As it is, since this is all Jack's POV, he can't really share Sam's thoughts with you. Let me know what you think (unless you already have).

Bixata

Chapter 8

We don't awaken until the next morning. Nearly eighteen hours, a record for me when you don't consider comas, head trauma, meds, and Asgard cloning experiments.

Must have been the bed. Or maybe it was the feeling of actually being home, of being safe and secure and comfortable with those I loved.

Although I'm pretty sure it was the bed.

The twins wake up with me, they usually do, and we silently creep down the hall to the living room. Teal'c is sleeping on the couch and his eyes open when he senses our approach. He sits up to greet us but doesn't say anything. He seems to understand we like it quiet. I lead them to the kitchen and look for something to give them to eat.

If Carter were in here I'd be glaring at her now. Her cupboard is practically bare. Her refrigerator isn't much better. We settle on a piece of bread and I diligently tear it into thirds and give us each a share. We sit down on the couch with Teal'c, munching slowly. The Twins look around at their surroundings carefully, wondering what is the purpose of everything. They're curious. It isn't their survival instinct kicking in, they really are just curious, like any normal kid should be.

When we finish our bread I lead them outside. It's early summer and the sun is just rising. They stare in awe at the beautiful colors in the sky and we sit down together in the grass of her lawn. They lean against me to keep warm but already the morning is pleasant and not too chilly at all.

It's perfect.

Every once in a while a car goes by and they cling to my shirt until it's gone. A woman jogs by trying to ignore us as I watch her carefully for any deviation in her pattern that might suggest an attack. Probably thinks I'm a perverted old man watching her like that with two kids in my arms. The kids watch her too so maybe she doesn't.

People don't run in Hell. Waste of energy. The Twins have never seen a human move so fast under their own power. They don't ask about it though. They don't think to ask questions because I can't answer them. I wish I could. I've been trying to speak but it doesn't work. I don't remember how. It's not like riding a bike. Well, actually, it's like trying to ride a bike after a twelve-year coma. You just don't have the strength for it, muscle atrophy and all that.

Most of the time I just forget to try.

People are up and moving now. I'm surprised Carter hasn't come out to check on us yet. Teal'c is keeping watch through the window, I don't know why he hasn't joined us. Probably because we aren't doing anything, just sitting here like spring daisies, loving our freedom.

I'd love to show the kids a good time. The park, the zoo, the movies. The forest. Nice nature walk would do them some good. Doc won't let us. We don't have the strength, he says. If we die on his watch it'll be from boredom, because he just wants us to sit still and eat. Not that I mind eating.

We're prisoners of our own bodies now.

Screw it, we're going for a walk.

I stand up and they follow suit silently. I walk back in the house and grab a bottle of water to take with us. I don't know where we're going, but we're not just going to sit around victims of our past. My kids are going to know how to have fun, how to be free. They're going to learn to ask questions.

I knock loudly on Carter's door so she doesn't wake up and panic when she realizes we're gone. I hear her moving around and when she opens the door I can't help but grin at her very adorable bed-head. She frowns at me and brushes at her hair with her fingers, looking so endearing as she pouts at being wakened from what was obviously a deep sleep.

I motion that we're going for a walk and she asks me to wait so she can join us. I figured she would, that's why I woke her up. I could have just left a note.

We set off down the street, going nowhere in particular, the boy holding my hand, the girl clutching Teal'c's. She knows she's safer with him, he can protect her. It's a funny sight to see those two. His arm is bigger than her, but he's just a great big teddy bear with children. She takes three or four steps to keep up with him, but our pace is pretty slow, mostly on my account. The cane slows me down.

We've walked about a mile before the Twins get too tired to continue comfortably, and Teal'c and Carter pick up their tiny frames to carry them back to the house. I kind of wish there was someone else to carry me, but I'm sure I'm far too dignified to allow it if it were actually offered. We sit down on Carter's lawn comfortably, and the Twins start playing with the grass, pulling it up and running their small hands through it.

I swear I hear them giggle. Better music than the greatest of operas. I take a piece of grass and run it along Girl's bare feet. There it is again, a little bubble in her throat. She pulls her feet away from me but I chase after them with my blade of grass, and she scurries behind her brother, smiling over his shoulder at me. Boy stands up brave and tall, grinning defiantly at me and I back off, bowing to his dominance.

We don't really know where to go from there. By all rights they should be attacking me now, but they don't know that.

We stay outside on her lawn all day. Carter has the good sense to provide sunscreen for our pale complexions, something I would have never remembered to do. We toss a ball around, giving ourselves something to do without getting too much 'stress'.

One of the neighbors, an elderly woman…a woman about my age…has been watching us all day, checking every so often to see if we are still out here, doing pretty much nothing. Finally, she can't take it anymore and she comes over to talk. I point her out to the kids so they won't be startled.

"Hey Sam."

"Linda. How are you?" Carter responds in a friendly manner. They must know each other reasonably well.

"Oh, I'm fine. Is this your family?"

I wish.

"This is…uh, he's a friend of mine. We used to work together, but he's been away for a while. General Jack O'Neill." She introduces me.

I wave from the ground, not bothering to get up or even smile.

"General. Are these your kids?" She smiles sweetly at the Twins.

"They're adopted. He's their guardian."

I smile a bit at that. Very cute, Carter.

"They're very sweet. I'm sorry, I've been spying on you all day. They're so well-behaved. I have grandchildren about their age and they're little terrors."

The Twins look to me curiously, not understanding. I nod at the woman, indicating they should ask her.

"What are little terrors?" Girl asks.

"Oh, they're just always getting into trouble. Running around all day, never sitting still."

"They don't get hurt?"

"Oh sure, they're falling down all the time, getting scraped knees, scratched elbows, the works. Just part of having fun I guess."

That isn't exactly what he meant, but she doesn't know that. They're more baffled than before.

"They want to be hurt?"

"No, dear, they just like having fun. The pain is worth it."

"It is?" Girl asks, wrinkling her nose in disbelief.

"To them it is."

Boy frowns. "I don't think it is. Do they help people?"

"Huh? No, not really."

"Pain is only worth it if you help someone." Boy states wisely.

The woman, Linda, stares down at the boy, surprised by his sincerity and conviction. "Maybe you're right," she concedes.

"Father gets hurt when he helps people. He doesn't do it for fun." Girl adds her own wisdom.

The woman glances over at me and I think she's only just now putting two and two together to get the inconceivable fifteen. "I'm sorry, General, I didn't realize…" she trails off, unable to finish the thought.

"Father doesn't talk." Girl explains when I make no move to respond. "He wasn't allowed."

"He wasn't allowed to talk?" she asks incredulously.

They shake their heads.

"Why not?" She can't help herself from asking, but I can see she regrets it.

"He's the Guardian," they answer together.

They look at each other and start laughing. And THAT is the sweetest sound I have ever heard. After everything they've been through, they know how to laugh, at something so simple as saying the exact same thing at the same time. They're going to be okay.

And knowing that, so am I.

TBC