Warning: For those of you who are emotional or hormonal (like me!) you might want to grab a tissue
The Gift
Jack dismissed the airman guarding the door before gently knocking on the door of the VIP quarters.
"Come in." Jack heard his other self say. As Jack and Sam entered the room the other Jack and Samantha both moved to get up from the bed. Before they had a chance to get up Jack waved them back down wanting to keep this discussion as informal as possible.
"Stay where you are guys – Samantha should be staying off her feet as much as possible." Jack said gently as the other couple both propped themselves up to a sitting position while Jack and Sam both took seats at the small table next to the bed.
"We need to talk." They all said in unison, earning a small smile from each of them.
"Jack took Sam's hand across the table and gave it a gentle squeeze for encouragement. "So – Grace ….." he said.
Samantha spoke up first needing to voice her concerns. "We bought her back because you are her parents; I never for a second considered you might not be together."
"Yeah about that." Jack said sheepishly, "Thing is, Sam and I have been married for nearly a year now - we just haven't broadcast the fact – guess it's time to let the cat out of the bag." He grinned at his wife and then at her double. He saw Samantha visibly relax.
"Well that's a relief – I know it must be a huge shock to suddenly be presented with a three year old and I assume you'll probably want to have children of your own but she really is a special little girl. I guess I need to know – what I'm trying to say is – well have we done the right thing bringing her to you? Are you prepared to raise her?" Samantha asked cutting straight to the heart of the issue.
Sam spoke up for the first time since entering the room. "Of course we will raise her – Jack is already planning her bedroom." She smiled indulgently at her husband. "I have to say you seem to be handling giving her to us very well." She commented with concern.
Samantha looked at the person she was meant to be and saw only compassion in the other woman's eyes. "It's certainly not easy, but I have never really thought of her as mine – I always thought of her as belonging to the other Sam and I was raising her because she couldn't – don't get me wrong – I couldn't love that little girl any more if she were mine but I know she is going to where she is meant to be."
Samantha saw Sam relax and decided now was the best time to bring up the other topic she and Jack had been thinking about. She looked over at her husband and he silently agreed. They both rose from the bed and came to sit at the table with the other couple. Both Jacks could see Samantha was having trouble broaching the topic she wanted to discuss. Her husband placed a reassuring hand on her thigh and decided he would have to be the one to get the ball rolling.
"So Samantha thinks that eventually we will cease to exist in this timeline – Grace should be fine because she was meant to be here." He paused to take a breath and Samantha decided she needed to be the one to ask.
"What we don't know is what will happen to our baby – even though we are the wrong Jack and Sam for this timeline I'm theorising that if our baby is born before we cease to exist, that it will probably be fine."
Jack looked at his Sam for confirmation that what Samantha was saying was correct. "Unfortunately I think Samantha is right – I think that eventually they will both just cease to be." Sam looked at the other couple with compassion and felt tears well in her eyes. This was the second version of herself being forced to leave her child and here she was unable to have any children at all – sometimes the universe really liked to screw with you.
"What about the tropical cascading thingy?" Jack asked remembering what happened to the Dr Carter who came through the quantum mirror. He definitely knew he did not want Grace to ever experience that.
"Shouldn't be a problem" both Sam's said at the same time. The two women smiled at each other. Sam began to explain. "Grace was born to the Jack and Sam that were essentially us – this Jack and Sam lead completely different lives to them, for example, Samantha was never taken by a Tok'Ra and I'm guessing she hasn't spent as much time in the infirmary as the other Sam did. Add to that the time and place of conception were completely different and we know that both those factors impact on the development on a foetus – even if Samantha was to have a daughter she would be so different from Grace that they would share nothing more than the DNA of siblings."
"That was my theory too." Samantha said.
Jack looked at Jacks and they both rolled their eyes before saying "You just agreed with yourself!"
Both Sam's chose to ignore their husbands. Samantha looked to the other couple. "What we were wondering," she felt Jack squeeze her leg gently for support, "Well, we were wondering, if our theory is correct and the baby is fine, once we cease to exist here would you be prepared to raise it as well?" Samantha sighed. There it was out. She hated – absolutely hated – the thought of not being around to raise her child. Tears started to well in her eyes at the thought of not being there to see her child's first smile, or word, or step let alone sending them off to school – it was a mother's worst nightmare not to be there to raise her child. Samantha took a deep shuddering breath and decided to focus on the positive. If she couldn't be this child's mother then she wanted someone who could raise the baby as their own, and who better than her other self.
Jack and Sam were speechless. Sam shed the tears that had been threatening to spill since they agreed to take Grace. Sam felt like she was being given the greatest gift imaginable – earlier in the day she had been told she couldn't have kids and now she was going to have two. "Of course we will raise the baby."
At that moment Daniel knocked briefly and entered the room holding a grinning Grace in his arms. After seeing that grin Jack had no doubt that this little munchkin was his – it was pure O'Neill. "So where have you two been hiding?" Jack asked, even though he felt for the other couple he couldn't suppress excitement he felt coursing through his veins – this little angel was his and Sam's daughter.
"Well I figured who better to solve the whole blue/red Jell-O debate than your daughter – go figure she likes yellow". Daniel shrugged.
"Really?" They all asked in unison, as if there could be no other choice than the two colours.
Daniel set Grace on her feet and they all watched as she took in the two sets of parents dressed in BDU's in front of her. She looked between Sam and Samantha several times as if trying to work out which of the two was her real mother. After what seemed like forever as all five adults in the room held their breath Grace finally made her decision and toddled over to Sam and crawled into her lap and wrapped her arms around her neck.
Sam nuzzled her daughter's neck and breathed in the scent of her, tears spilling from her eyes with the wonder of this moment. Over on the other side of the small table, Samantha also had tears shimmering in her eyes – her heart was breaking but she knew this was the best thing for Grace. She was relieved that the child had accepted her other mother so easily.
Both Jack's looked at their respective wives and then at each other. With silent agreement both men knew they needed to get Grace out of there before both women dissolved into gut wrenching sobs.
Jack scooped Grace out of his wife's arms "C'mon Gracie girl let's go introduce you to the wonder of The Simpsons".
The three men exited the room each thankful that Sam and Samantha had each other and they didn't have to deal with tears – because if there was one thing Jack O'Neill regardless of reality or timeline, did not do well it was tears.
TBC
Next Chapter the Sam's have a talk.
Thanks again for all the lovely reviews. Keep them coming they are really encouraging me to update quickly – which is why I am sitting here at 1am when I have four children who will be awake at 5am!