" Dear Diary.
Our friends left today. We drove them to New York yesterday because Daniel and Sam had to go to see someone in Jersey City, then Jack and Tilk had to go to an observatory to check out the sun or something. They had to be in Washington for today. We left them at an old armoury there.
I can't stop crying.
We asked if we could go with them, at this point I didn't care if it was to another planet.
I am just so worried Diary.
Sick with worry.
Michael got drafted.
We were just going to the concert, and then decide what to do, go to Canada and hide, or have Michael go.
But they wouldn't take him with them. Sam said he had to make up his own mind, that Jack couldn't say anything.
I am going to miss her so much, she's been like a big sister to me.
When they left, Sam hugged me and I said that we would keep her secret.
And she will keep mine.
If Michael knew, he wouldn't leave.
I am pregnant with Michael's baby."
XOXOXOXOXOXXOXOXOXOXOXXOXOXOXOX
One month later.
"Dear Diary.
Today Michael was reported missing in Vietnam.
How can I go on?"
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Six months later.
In California.
" Dear Diary.
Today Michael's baby boy was born. He is beautiful, with long eyelashes, and my dark hair and eyes. I have named him Matthew, which means "gift of God." Because that's what he is, diary. A gift. And if Michael never comes back, I will have that precious gift to cherish for the rest of my life.
I am making a life for us here. I am working at a garden center, and am content. I think about Daniel nearly every day, but know that Daniel is happy with Claire, and I don't want to break up their family. When he is older, he can know about me. But please God, let Michael come back to me. That's all I want. "
Matthew put the book down on the table in the briefing room, and gazed around at the silent assembly.
"I am afraid that's where that particular diary ends", he said. "Mom chose to end there, but I will tell you the rest."
"She raised me on her own, working at odd jobs here and there, including work that involved typing," he said, with a smile at Sam, "until one day when there was a knock at the door. It was Michael. I must have been about 6 years old at the time, but I can still remember. Mom almost passed out from the shock, but then the two of them were crying and hugging and kissing for hours. I remember her saying to Michael, "this is our son, " and he swept me up and kissed me, and he had just the kindest face and eyes, that I wasn't a bit afraid. The two of us became inseperable after that, and have remained so to this day. "
"So Michael is alive, "Jack exclaimed. " I always wondered, but when I tried to look to see, there was no information available I could find."
"He was taken prisoner, and then locked up for several years in a camp. He managed to survive, and found Jenny's address through the military records when he was finally released from hospital. We lived together quietly and happy, Michael getting work as a carpenter building houses, and him and Mom walking along the beach, the three of us going camping, laughing all the time, and just having a wonderful life.
Then Mom got a call a few years back. She wrote to Claire after I was born, but after a couple of years, maybe when Daniel would have been about eight, her letters were sent back to her by the post office, with 'address unknown'. She was very alarmed, and tried to call, but strangers answered and said they knew nothing of a Claire Jackson, or her family. She knew that Claire wouldn't have moved without telling her, and the only other person that knew anything was Nick. She couldn't find him. He was away traveling on his archeology work, she figured, or maybe didn't want to see her still, so she just kept calling and writing, leaving her address and phone number in California, thinking maybe that one day she would be able to contact him.
Then, after several years, an institution in Oregon called one day out of the blue. They said that a Nicholas Ballard had checked himself in, after several severe breakdowns, as being mentally insane. They wanted her, as listed next of kin, to notify her, and sign some papers.
Mom was just stunned. What had happened to Claire, and Daniel, she asked? The institution said that they knew nothing about them, and Nicholas was saying nothing except raving about giant aliens, so they doubted he could be much help at this point, but she was welcome to try.
She flew with Michael to Oregon. Since I was in high school by then, I stayed home at my friend's house, so I didn't miss classes. They stayed away for a month, and cleaned out Nick's apartment, looking for clues to Claire also. They found a news clipping that had come from a 1973 newspaper, saying that a Dr. and Mrs. Mel Jackson had been killed in an accident at the New York Museum of Art. There was no mention of a son.
This just crushed Mom for days. The fact that her beloved sister Claire, who had been such a lifeline to her growing up, was dead. And the terrible panic about Daniel. What had happened to him? Did he end up in foster care, if Nick was miles away not knowing what had happened, and there was no one to take him in? They wouldn't have known about Jenny's relationship to Daniel, if her letters were noticed, they would have figured just a friend or something. Why didn't he tell her about Claire when he got back? She figured his mental breakdown about aliens had already started, perhaps, so he wasn't in any condition to do so.
Then when they started sorting through Nick's personal items, they found pictures of him and a tall handsome young man with blue eyes and light brown hair. They had been taken on archeological digs, and the captions on the back, read 'Nick and Daniel.'. There was also magazine journal articles and pictures clipped into a scrapbook, about Daniel Jackson, his beginning work in Egyptology, and named his parents as Dr. And Mrs. Jackson, also in the academic field, who had been killed in a tragic accident in New York City.
Mom and MIchael instantly recognized the pictures as the Daniel they had met all those years back in 1969. They just couldn't believe it. That Daniel, the Daniel with the sweet smile and blue eyes, was Jenny's son? How in the world could that be, he was only about four years old at the time. They finally guessed, that maybe there had been some sort of time travel device, that had sent them back in time. They knew that Jack had that funny ray gun thing, and they had worn uniforms, so figured that they were all working for the military that was experimenting with such things. They knew they weren't aliens, particularily after seeing "Star Wars", when it came out. Mom and Michael started choking with laughter in the movie, I remember, and told me the lines that Jack and Daniel had used on them!"
Jack grinned sheepishly. "Well, it was the only thing I could think of quickly… and I didn't think they would ever find out!!"
Matthew grinned back. "They thought it was hilarious, actually!" He continued on.
"They knew that there had to be a pretty good secretive reason, but of course they never figured on seeing you again. When they saw the picture of Daniel, they were just stunned. But they hadn't a clue where to find him. They contacted even his old work associates from the magazine journals, finding a Dr. Jordan who used to work with him, but he had no idea either. It was like you dropped off the map, Daniel. Now I know. You dropped into Cheyenne Mountain, and through the Stargate. It wasn't until we saw the picture of Sam that we put two and two together, as it were, and figured you were all in this together. General Hammond comfirmed it, of course
And she particularily wanted Sam to have the diary, because she knew that she knew how to find Daniel. And to thank her for being such a special friend. .
So here we are, and the reason that I came now is not a very good one, I'm afraid.
Mom was always afraid that you wouldn't accept her if you did see her, and she wanted me to wait till almost the end to find you and bring you to her. "
"I'm afraid she has cancer."
"She has only a few weeks to live. "
Daniel
slumped over at the table, his head in his hands, completely stunned
at the news. Surely Fate couldn't be so cruel, he thought.
Was
he going to find a family, a mother, only to lose it?
Only Jack remained unaffected, but sat there with a little smile playing around the edges of his mouth.
"Colonel?", asked Sam, unbelieving.
"Well, General", Jack said slowly. "It's a little unorthadox, but given the circumstances… do you think the Tok'ra could do anything for Jenny? It worked for Jacob. "
"That's a damn fine idea, Jack!" the General exclaimed. "I'll contact the President for clearance, Major Carter, if you wouldn't mind trying to reach your father. I think Jacob should be the one to accompany them. I'll get an Air Force plane to fly them out here right away. And Daniel," he said, nodding at Matthew who was looking more and more puzzled, "maybe you and Teal'c wouldn't mind explaining all this to Matthew, and then phoning Jenny, of course. I have a feeling this will take some explaining."
"Let's go, people. We have a lot to do and not much time to do it in."
"Let me also fill you in on Nick, " Daniel said to Matthew, as he and Tea'c left. " Um, those giant aliens, by the way, well , they're real…"
"Oh, Colonel, by the way, hold on a second, will you, " Hammond said, waiting till all had cleared the room.
He cleared his throat and looked with a half smile at the suddenly sweating Jack.
"Let's just say that for the record I am presuming that the little incident which took place between you and Major Carter in 1969 occurred while under the influence of, well, just influences, I guess, only naturally, being the year it was. Would you agree, Colonel?
Jack swallowed, and nodded.
"General?"
"Jack, I had to know everything for the security of this base. You know that. This is the most top secret facility there is. For all I knew, that diary could have contained material or instuctions to blow up the mountain. "
"So, for the record, it never happened. I am sure that will be the best thing. But perhaps, any other incidents, while they don't affect your fine performance with SG1, would be better deferring until retirement. It would make things a little easier on us all. "
"Yes, Sir." Jack smiled thankfully, as he left.
At least officially, Hammond muttered as he dialed the red phone.
" Hank? It's George. I have a little favor to ask. Oh, and by the way, concerning the bet, triple my share. "
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
In the corridor.
"Sir, what did the General want? Was it about what I thought? ' Sam whispered urgently.
"Yup."
"Are we in trouble?'
"Nope."
He grinned at Carter's suddenly open mouth, and pulled her into her empty lab down the hall.
"So I never asked you, what did Jenny tell you the next day about us?"
"She never let on that she saw us, just told me that you were the sexiest looking thing that she ever saw on two legs and that I was a fool if I let you go. "
"She said that?"
" Well, not in those exact words, I guess. "
" And are you going to let me go?" Jack whispered.
"What do you think."
