"Well…"

"Think this'll be the last jump?" Jack glanced across at Sam, reluctant to place his hands back on the main controls beyond getting the ship back into Earth's atmosphere.

"Maybe, maybe not," she replied, "We'll make do, whatever happens. Don't worry."

"…Unless this thing decides to spontaneously combust…"

"Combust?" Ryan echoed, grinning, pleased with the word.

Sam smiled back the boy, shifting the bundle in her arms closer to her, "Now look what you've done," she chided her husband.

So they were 'technically' married. If they were honest, they hadn't actually 'wanted' to get married so soon, but thought if they could wave a marriage certificate in the faces of their superiors, they were less likely to be split up. Or make them more angry, they weren't sure which. But it had been the right thing to do, they both thought, especially since they had two children. At the time, one of their witnesses hadn't seemed at all amused that they not only had a son, but were expecting another child, though she managed to contain herself until she'd signed the papers. They'd had just enough money for simple gold bands, Sam hadn't even had an engagement ring, not that she'd particularly wanted one. There was a certain satisfaction in knowing they'd return home as a family, with the documentation to prove it. Even little Emma's birth certificate, despite the fact that it, and the marriage certificate, were dated to the year of 1956.

"And you'll be teaching him to destroy things and confuse me in a few years, let me have my fun!" Jack smiled.

"Combust? What's tha' mean?" Ryan asked.

"…Loud noise, explosion. Fire, lots of light," Sam explained. She looked down at three week old Emma, "You better not be listening to this, baby," she whispered. The little girl didn't even react, fast asleep, eyes closed.

"Hey, we can play guys Vs girls hockey and have it be fair teams…"

"Because a baby of three weeks can play hockey."

"Give her a few months. She'll be good," Jack nodded, trying to provoke her. He exhaled slowly and placed his hands back on the console, "…Okay…clear mind…"

Ryan stood up from his seat and wandered to stand beside his mother.

Sam wrapped an arm around him and kissed the top of his head, murmuring for him to be quiet.

"…And…fourth time's a charm…" a white light blazed through the ship for a moment, making Ryan duck down and Sam instinctively drag him closer, closing her eyes tightly. The light faded and she looked down at both their children, checking neither had reacted in any severe fashion.

"W…What was that?" Ryan questioned, eyes wide.

"We just took a little trip," his mother replied. She looked up, "…Do you think…"

"Only one way to find-"

"-ral O'Neill, Major Carter, respond. Do you copy?"

They'd both dreamt of the moment they'd get back. It generally involved a lot of yelling and hugging and ecstatically announcing their return…but… silence reigned in the small compartment.

General O'Neill.

Colonel Carter.

Ryan broke the silence, "Who's that?"

"…We could just go, you know…" Jack uttered their unspoken thoughts, "…They wouldn't know…"

"I know…" Sam replied, "…But I'd know…and you'd know…that we did all this…and just left them again."

He shot her a sad half grin, "Wanna go kick some ass?"

She frowned and covered Ryan's ears, "Language!" but she was laughing at the same time, "…Let's go. Let's go home."

"Jack, Sam? You there? Guys?"

"Who is it?" their son repeated.

"Now that sounds more like it!" Jack grinned. He reached across and pulled his son onto his lap, "That's Daniel. I'm sure you'll like him. He'll give you more books," he looked back at Sam, "Wanna do the honours?" his hand hovered above the control to open the comms.

She shook her head, "This is your show. You got us back," she smiled and shifted Emma in her arms as their daughter opened her eyes and emitted a thin wail.

Jack activated the comms, "Daniel? Danny boy! You there?"

A confused reply was promptly offered, "Yeah, Jack…what was with the silence? We've been trying to contact you for five minutes and got no reply."

Emma chose then to test her lungs and burst into tears, wailing as loud as she possibly could.

"...Guys, what's that noise?"

"My daughter," Jack answered proudly, without hesitation, grinning from ear to ear.

"Your what?"

"Daughter."

"Who's that?" Ryan wanted to have his say.

"Colonel Carter, just what is going on?" one of the military personnel present demanded.

"We've been gone a lot longer than you think," was all she could think of to reply.

"…Just how long?" it was Daniel who asked the question, after several moment's silence.

"…I…er…nearly six years…"

"What?"

Sam held Emma closer, rocking her, ignoring the stunned exclamation from several voices.

"Long story. Permission to return to the SGC? With the ship cloaked, of course…" Jack proposed.

"Of course," the sergent stated, "I suppose a 'welcome home' is in order, General, Colonel?"

"I'd say so, Sir…"

When their friends walked into the briefing room to find it already occupied by a nervous Sam and Jack, with not only one child accompanying them, but two, nobody was sure where to begin. They'd changed. Perhaps they weren't delusional, as had been proposed, maybe it had really happened. And how else to explain the children? It was General Hammond who halted at the door to the room,presence requested and flownback to try and handle the situation, considering Jack couldn't very well demand answers of himself.

Sam resisted the urge to jump up and hug her well missed former companions, sadly staring at the surface of the table, knowing that they hadn't 'missed' them at all. They'd been gone no longer than was expected. A few hours at the most. She distracted herself from the pain by pretending even greater interest in Emma's wellbeing, even though the young girl was asleep once again.

Jack held Ryan on his lap and stared back into the eyes of his CO, unrepentant. He'd done nothing wrong. They'd made a life for themselves. Six years. What did they expect of them? To still be calling each other 'General' and 'Colonel'? A thousand questions stared back at him from several pairs of eyes, making him feel the need to defend himself. He wasn't going to back down and say that it had all been a mistake. Events had happened beyond their control, but he wouldn't exactly call any one of them an absolute mistake. He just wanted to get home. Take their children home, his home, Sam's home, rooms he would be expecting to be piled with dust, but would be exactly as they left them that morning.

The General sat at the head of the table, Teal'c beside Jack and Daniel beside Sam.

"…Six years?" were the first words Hammond could form that made any sense in his mind.

"Six years," Jack replied.

Sam didn't offer a response, but took the opportunity to hug Daniel tightly with the arm that wasn't supporting her daughter.

"How?"

"…We don't know exactly…" now she did speak, "The time component of the Ancient ship was activated and the next thing we knew, we were in Ancient Egypt, Sir. We've been doing repairs, with help, on the ship ever since. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. Its taken us four attempts at reactivating it to get back here."

"And this took you six years?" the General kept his voice quiet, hoping it didn't sound as if he was accusing them of anything.

"Years to get the ship fixed and survive wherever we wound up. It wouldn't take two jumps in a row, we tried, trust me on that, Sir," Jack answered.

Ryan was staring at the ceiling, "What is this place?"

"Ryan, now isn't the time, I promise I'll tell you later," Sam said softly.

"Why don't you introduce us?" Daniel proposed, a smile he had been hiding for several minutes emerging.

Jack was all too happy to oblige, "This is Ryan Daniel, he's three and a half, well, by how we kept count anyway…" he glanced around the table before speaking to his son, "This is Daniel, Teal'c and…" he wasn't feeling quite so brave as to refer to the General as 'George' as he would have done so if he were in a more flippant mood, "General Hammond."

"And this is Emma Eleni," she smiled, unable to help herself, and tilted her daughter in her arms, "She's three weeks old."

"And these are…your children…?" Hammond pressed.

"Carter or O'Neill?" Daniel asked.

Sam and Jack exchanged a slightly confused glance before they looked away.

"We never really decided…or thought about it…really…" he frowned.

"And yes, they're ours. Emma's birth certificate is in the ship, with our BDU's and weapons," Sam nodded, not quite wanting to spring the wedding certificate on them unless they noticed the bands on their fingers.

"What of Ryan Daniel's?" Teal'c questioned.

"Not a question I was expecting from you, T," Jack frowned.

"I believed it was the most relevant."

"Ryan…doesn't have a birth certificate. He was born in Ancient Egypt…" his mother replied, looking away and waiting for them to put his age and the years they had been gone together and start assuming they'd been together from the start, glad of the excuse.

It was at that moment that Janet walked in, offering a quick apology for her lateness. She halted, apology forgotten, and blinked several times at the sight before her, "…I think I've missed something here…"

"We're playing six year catch up," Jack grinned at her.

"Six years…?" her eyes fell on Ryan, then widened as she saw the bundle in Sam's arms. Knowing what she did, she'd one day hoped to see such a scene, but perhaps not quite so soon or so suddenly. She'd only just seen them off a few hours ago! Janet shot them both a brief, reassuring, smile before she took her seat and fell back into 'stunned' mode, "…I think you'd better start from the beginning again…"

AN: Just the epilogue to go now.