Cassie and Anna changed their tickets early the next morning, and were delighted to find room on a flight to San Francisco late that evening. By 6pm, they had checked in at the airport, and Cassie was able to hook up to the 'net to send an email to her mother.

"Hey Mom," the email said. "We're heading back tonight, so I guess we'll likely get back before you do. I don't know exactly when you're getting away, and of course you have a longer 'journey' than we do. But don't worry, I still have a key, and we'll try not to mess up the house before you get back!

I hope you're both okay Mom. I can't quite take it in that Uncle George is gone. He was one of those people who I thought would be here forever, you know? I hope Sam's not having too much trouble writing the eulogy. I know she takes that sort of thing very seriously. I think she's amazing to have agreed to do it, I don't know how she can do it.

It's a horrible reason to be coming home, but I can't wait to see you and Sam. And I can't wait to introduce you to Annie, you're gonna love her Mom, she's just so wonderful.

Okay, I'd better go, we're due through the gate soon.

I love you both so much.

Cassie"

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Cassie was right, Sam was not finding it easy to write the eulogy. She just didn't think that words were enough to describe what George Hammond had meant to the SGC in general, and to her in particular. She discussed it at length with Janet, and slowly started sketching out what she wanted to say.

At the same time, and without getting Janet too pissed with her, she had a lot of work to do at Atlantis before heading back to Earth which they had decided they would do the next day.

By the time they reached Midway the next day, both women were glad of the enforced rest. Sam was exhausted and emotional, and Janet was just trying to hold it together for both of them, knowing that Sam would need all her reserves of strength over the next few days. She admired Sam so much for agreeing to do the eulogy at General Hammond's memorial service, but she also knew that it would be very difficult for her lover. Sam liked to give the impression of always being together, and always presented a professional and confident front. But Janet knew her better than that, and knew that she would find it hard. It was always important to Sam to do the very best job she could, and this was even more the case with something as emotional as a funeral.

"You okay, baby?" Janet asked Sam as she helped her to a seat at the sparsely furnished Midway Station.

"Yeah," Sam smiled up at her lover. "Thanks, hon, you're great, you know that?"

Janet smiled back. "I want you to get as much sleep as you can here, Sam, you're still healing, and the next week or so's gonna be hard on you."

"Hard on you too, Jan," Sam pointed out. "You loved him too."

"I did," Janet said sadly. "He was a real special person. Cassie's devastated, he's the closest thing she's had to a grandparent since you brought her back from Hanka."

"He loved her too, didn't he Jan?" Sam said. "Said she was SG-1's greatest achievement, and I don't think he was kidding."

"He always treated her like part of his family," Janet agreed. "She's been like an older sister to Tessa and Kayla. They'll all be missing him too, of course. I'm glad she's coming back for the service. I mean, I want to see her too, of course I do. But she'll be a great help to his family, I'm sure."

"We're gonna meet Anna at last," Sam mused. "I had thought that it might be a while before we did, especially as we had to put our vacation on hold just because I was dumb enough to fall in a hole. That's going to be a bit weird, isn't it Jan? Meeting the woman who means everything to our daughter. Cassie feels about her the way I feel about you. She sounds great, though, doesn't she?" Sam was half trying to convince herself.

"She sounds wonderful," Janet said reassuringly, "and she's got a real good sense of humor. She'll need that with Cassie around. She's a good person too, from what Cass says, and that means everything, doesn't it?"

"It sure does, hon," Sam took her hand and held it tight. "When you find the right person, and it turns out that deep down she's a good human being, it feels so good. Of course it helps," she smirked, "if she just happens to be beautiful. And sexy. Icing on the cake, you know what I mean?" she winked at Janet.

"Oh yeah, Sam, I know exactly what you mean," Janet drew her into a deep kiss. "Anyway, baby, I hate to be a killjoy, but you really need to get some sleep. So do I, come to that. And I have to tell you that you're on your own tonight, those single cots aren't big enough for two at the best of times, and definitely not with a cast on your leg."

Sam looked disappointed, but not surprised. "Okay," she agreed, yawning. "But we get to fool around some in the morning, is that a deal?"

Janet smiled. "We'll just have to see what tomorrow brings, hon," she smiled.

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Cassie and Anna reached the family home early on the Thursday morning. Both of them were exhausted. The flight from Japan was long and tiring, and included a frantic change at San Francisco to catch a final flight to Colorado Springs. They had both had trouble sleeping on the flight. Cassie managed to snatch a few hours, but Anna stayed bolt upright, and awake, throughout the nearly 18 hour journey. Cassie realized that she was a nervous flier, and wondered why she hadn't noticed on the flight to Japan from London. Then she remembered that they had spent most of that flight wrapped in each other's arms, so that must have distracted her.

Cassie showed Anna round the house. Anna was delighted to see Cassie's 'family home', and lingered long over each photograph. Sam was a keen photographer, so photographs were liberally scattered along all the walls. Most of them were of Janet and Cassie, but there was also the occasional one of Sam. "You have beautiful parents, Cass," Anna told her in a quiet voice.

"I do, don't I?" Cassie agreed. "I don't think I could have asked to be adopted by better people. They'll be back soon, in a few hours I hope. I can't wait for you to meet them."

"I can't wait either, Cassandra," Anna agreed, stifling a yawn.

"You need to get some sleep, Annie," Cassie was pushing her toward the stairs.

"You too, Cass," Anna reminded her.

"We'll both sleep," Cassie agreed, as she led her towards her bedroom.

"You know, Cass," Anna laughed ruefully. "I never imagined that when I first saw your bedroom that sleep would be top of my list of priorities."

Cassie grinned. "We've got all the time in the world for anything else you may have in mind," she said, teasingly, "once you've had some sleep. You're exhausted, Annie," she kissed her gently. "And there's still the jet lag to look forward to. We'll get some sleep before Mom and Sam get back. They should be back this evening, I guess."

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At 7pm that night, Cassie stirred as she heard the door open downstairs. She then heard Toby the dog bounding upstairs, so she levered herself out of bed and put on a robe, keen to get to the door before Toby started scratching on it and woke the still-sleeping Anna. She got to the landing just as Toby arrived there, and he leapt excitedly at his adored mistress. She made a big fuss of him, and then led him downstairs.

As she got to the bottom of the stairs, she saw her mom coming in the front door again, carrying all the bags. Janet dropped them on the floor, and opened her arms to her daughter. "Welcome home, baby," she said, and Cassie flung herself into her mother's arms, holding her tight, and rocking gently from side to side.

"I've missed you, Mom," Cassie's voice hitched. "I can't believe I'm here with you now. Where's Sam?" she looked around.

"I'm here, Cass," Sam was standing at the door to the living room, leaning heavily on her crutches.

"Sam!" Cassie shouted, and ran over to her, stopping just short as she approached her. "Can I hug you?"

"I'll be real pissed if you don't, Cass," Sam laughed. Cassie was careful as she put her arms round her other mother. "I've missed you so much, Short Stuff," Sam teased her daughter.

"Missed you too, Sam," Cassie told her. "More than you can imagine."

"You've been okay, though, Cass?" Sam pulled back and looked anxiously in her face. She was relieved to see that her daughter was fine, if clearly still tired, and obviously upset about George Hammond, as they all were.

"I've been great, Sam," Cassie told her with a shy smile. "And the reason why I've been so great is asleep upstairs."

"Cass?" Janet nodded to the stairs. "I think your 'reason' may just have woken up!"

Anna, clad in her robe, and still very sleepy, was making her way down the stairs.

"Hey Anna," Janet said gently to her. "We meet at last."

"Janet!" Anna said, warmly as she reached the hallway. "It's so good to meet you at last."

"Well don't just stand there, you're part of the family now," Janet teased, as she enveloped her in a huge hug.

The next twenty minutes were taken up in introductions, hugging, laughter, shrieking and tea drinking.

"Well that was a bit of a baptism of fire," Sam said laughingly to Anna once they had all calmed down a bit. Cassie and Janet had cleared the table of all the mess from the tea, and were in the kitchen, still nattering away to each other. "D'you think you're gonna cope as part of this family?"

"I can't think of anything nicer, Sam," Anna replied, her eyes glowing. "You and Janet are just how I expected. I'm really sorry for the reason we're meeting now, but I'm so enjoying getting to know you both."

Sam looked her straight in the eye. "You've been wonderful for Cass," she told her seriously. "She's never looked so happy. Thank you for looking after her so beautifully."

"We're looking after each other," Anna told her, "she's a spectacular human being."

"She is, isn't she?" Sam agreed, her eyes misting over. "She's made us so happy over the years."

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"George Hammond was a remarkable man," Sam began, leaning heavily on the lectern in the church four days later, her crutches at her side. She had been offered the chance to give her address from a chair, but insisted that she would stand. "All of you here know him from different parts of his life. His family," she looked straight at Sadie, her husband Jeff, and Tessa and Kayla, "were everything to him. He lived for his family. But he was also loved and respected in his work.

I first met 'General Hammond' nearly 12 years ago, when he became my commanding officer. Most of you here know that his work in the military was classified. What you may not know, however, is how he never hid behind that classification. For George Hammond, it was more, not less, important that every decision he made would stand up to scrutiny at the highest level. As a commanding officer, he had both integrity and humanity. Anyone who ever worked under him knows that. He never became jaded, or complacent. He put his heart and soul into his work, and it was a sad day when he left Cheyenne Mountain. His influence remains to this day, however. General O'Neill told me recently that when he took over from George, whenever he had a difficult decision to make, he always asked himself 'what would Hammond do', and somehow the right decision would come to him.

Enough about work. All of you who have ever served with, or under, George Hammond, will never forget him and his influence will go on.

But George Hammond was more, much more, than a general in the Air Force. He was a loving husband, who was devastated when his wife Jean was taken from him nearly sixteen years ago. He was an active and involved father to Sadie, who is already finding that there is a huge hole in her life that cannot be filled. And his granddaughters Tessa and Kayla have lost their greatest ally. I have been speaking to them all over the past few days, to try and understand a little about what he meant to them, and how he affected all their lives. Sadie talks of a father who, despite his very heavy professional commitments, never failed her once, was always there to support her, and loved her unconditionally.

Tessa and Kayla tell a similar story, of a grandfather on whom they could always rely. They also had some stories to tell of his impish humor. If you ever wondered, Sadie, where the girls got the idea to put salt in the sugar shaker, or to duct tape you to your garden chair that day, then look no further than your father. There are other incidents that would not be appropriate for this gathering, but ask me later and I'll tell you all about them!

I've spent the last few days, worrying and wondering how I could possibly find the words to do justice to George Hammond's memory. Eventually I realized that it is just not possible. There aren't enough words to describe his humanity, his integrity, his overriding love for his family. For me personally, he was much more than a commanding officer. He was a surrogate grandfather to our daughter Cassandra. He was a wise man who counseled me on more than one occasion when I just didn't know what to do - not just in the military but also in my personal life. He was a man whom I am proud to have called my friend. We will all miss you George Hammond. Rest in peace."

Sam was shaking by the time she finished speaking. Janet saw her reach out for her crutches, and approached the lectern to help her back to her seat in the pews. Sam's face was white with the strain, but she still smiled gratefully at Janet as she supported her down the few steps and along the aisle. Sam settled back in the pew, and squeezed Janet's fingers.

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The wake was a surprisingly joyous affair, attended by over 200 people, including many dating back to when George Hammond joined the Air Force. After a couple of hours, though, Janet could see that Sam was flagging, so she persuaded her to go home with her. Cassie and Anna stayed longer; Cassie wanted Anna to get to know Tessa and Kayla, and when Janet looked over as she and Sam left, she could see the four girls laughing at some unknown joke.

"You okay, hon?" Janet asked Sam in the car.

"I'm fine, Jan," Sam replied. "What about you?"

"I'm good too, Sam," Janet told her. "I was real proud of you up there during the service. What you said was beautiful, baby. I know it was hard for you, but you did him proud."

"You think so?" Sam's voice was uncertain. "I just couldn't think what to say. I still can't believe he's gone, baby, I feel kind of numb, is that how you feel?"

Janet reached out for her hand. "Yeah," she said, wistfully. "It'll sink in eventually, I guess. It was a good turnout, wasn't it?"

Sam smiled. "No less than he deserved," she said, in a quiet voice.

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Two days later, Sam was working on her laptop in the living room, Janet sitting on the chair opposite her, reading the latest medical journal. Cassie and Anna were in the kitchen, and every now and then the companionable silence was punctuated by shrieks of laughter coming from the kitchen.

"Jan," Sam asked, a grin on her face. "D'you really think it's such a good idea for the girls to cook for us all tonight?"

Janet grinned back. "They have to learn to cook eventually, Sam," she said, trying to keep the laughter out of her voice. "So I've given them a tutorial. They're only making chilli, they can't go too far wrong with that."

Sam looked dubious.

They were both surprised when they heard the doorbell ringing. Sam reached for her crutches, but Janet put her hand out, "I'll go baby," and she headed toward the door. Sam heard a voice that she thought was Sadie's, a guess that proved to be true when Janet led her into the room.

"Don't get up, Sam," Sadie said, and bent down to kiss her affectionately on her cheek. "I came because I wanted to thank you for the eulogy. It was beautiful. Dad would have been so proud."

Sam looked embarrassed.

"I also wanted to give you this," Sadie continued. "Dad wanted you to have it. It's only an old thing, but it meant a lot to him." She handed over George Hammond's old service watch.

Wordlessly, Sam took it from Sadie's hand, too emotional to speak. "There's a letter too," Sadie passed that over too.

Sam took the letter, and opened it up. Janet could see the emotions flooding through her lover. When Sam had finished it, she turned over the watch and read the inscription on the back of it. She handed the letter over to Janet, at the same time reaching up to hug Sadie tightly. "Thank you so much," she whispered. "He was a good man."

Janet turned to read the letter.

"My dear Sam," it began.

"I wanted you to have this watch, as it has always signified to me just how important the SGC has been, and will continue to be. In 1969, I met a young Air Force team who were just 'passing through', and it was that encounter that shaped the whole of my professional life. In the two days I spent with the team, a whole world - universe â€" of possibilities were opened up to me. I knew then that the future was going to be a blast, that I would do, see and hear things that I had never imagined.

The day after you all left me on that road, I took my service watch to be engraved," Janet reached out for the watch, which Sam passed over. On the back was written simply 'GH, 1969, SG-1'.

"I wanted to remind myself of the day that everything changed, of the day that I first met you, Jack, Daniel and Teal'c. I want you to have that watch now, and for you to remember the scale of what is still out there for you.

You've made an old man proud, Sam. You were so young, so full of fire, ambition and passion when you first came to the SGC. And you have lost none of that enthusiasm. But I have seen you develop, and mature and grow in confidence. I can safely say that you are the one thing that makes me proud of what I have achieved in all my years with the Air Force.

My love to you, and Janet, and my 'spare granddaughter' Cassandra.

George"

Janet's eyes filled with tears, and as she looked over at Sam and Sadie, she saw that they were similarly affected.

Cassie came bounding out of the kitchen, her apron spattered with tomato sauce. She caught sight of Sadie, and cried out with pleasure, running over to give her a huge hug. Sadie laughed. "Don't tell me you're cooking Cassandra!" she said in disbelief.

"I am!" Cassie announced gleefully. "Well, *we* are. Me and Annie. And," she couldn't keep the pride out of her voice, "it's going real well. Hey," she had a sudden thought, "why don't you all come over for dinner? We've made far too much. It'd be fun!"

Sadie's face lit up. She wanted to get away from the intenseness of the last few days, and she reckoned a few hours away from it all would do them the world of good. "Why not?" she said. "I'll call Jeff, get him to bring the girls over. And if it all goes wrong, at least there's a doctor in the house!"

Cassie shrieked her disgust at this remark, but hugged her again tightly. "I'm so sorry about your Dad," she said quietly. "We're all gonna miss him so much."

Sadie squeezed her fingers gratefully.