Hey People, sorry for my disappearing act. My life has gotten complicated, and somehow in the mix I lost track of what I was writing here, so maybe you noticed I went trough and reviewed all the previous chapters…. And now I'm ready to keep going, I really wanted to upload a 2x1 again, but I'm beat for today … I promise I will try and post the next one on a shorter note. :D .

Anyway,

Hopefully you will enjoy this one,

M.

Chapter 25 – Rejection

"Then we woke up on that 'future', remember? The one when they tried to convince us we were…"

"Yeah, Hathor," Jack added disgusted and Sam winced.

"But you two saved the day"

"And we threaded the needle," Hammond remembered with a fond smile on his face

"Indeed we did" Teal'c agreed.

"And there's no way for you to possibly know anything from that mission, I woke up alone, then I found her, then we found you… then Hathor found us, and I was frozen by the Tok'ra. Then Sam was with you, until she came back and then we were alone on the explode the complex part and saving the day"

"Yeah, you are right, I can't come up with anything. What was next?"

"I believe Jacob Carter came visiting"

"That's right, for that Seth Goa'uld. I remember the pyramid thing he brought with him, Sam was at the edge of a techgasm and you were about too wet yourself for the history behind those shinny drawings," Jack mocked both nerds in one attempt, but they both answered with sheepishly smiles. Sam was the first to sober up by adding, "Would you be surprised if we told you that Seth was related with the Green Haven Society?"

"Was he? Why you didn't say something?" Daniel asked frowning.

"Yes, he was… one of the founders in fact" Jack shrugged.

"He was one of the rarely seen ones. The other founders described him but he was never caught. Apparently, he was the one with the idea of making the group. But, after we crossed the timelines of those two missions we came to understand that Seth had created the Green Haven Society to be able to improve his grasps on our tech, and then protected himself with his Cult."

"With the Society he got humans to create stuff for him to destroy Earth or maybe, another Goa'ulds, and with his Cult thingy, he managed to keep his ego boosted as 'the God' he believed he was"

"That's why you knew how the complex was settled? I thought you were making lucky guesses."

"Sorry to disappoint, Daniel, the complex was in fact quite similar to the Green Haven main building, although, the rings where a new addition."

"And there weren't zat's either at the Society. Just normally hand to hand combat."

"We theorized he wanted to keep trained people so he could use them as their 'jaffa's' of sort, when the moment came. But it would be too risky to have the Instrument Builders under the influence of his hormone of his, because one shortcut and they would be wondering what the hell were they doing and all the work would be lost"

"It makes sense" Janet approved, "Who knows maybe he already tried that before and ended up having to fly"

"It was the first time you actually used a kara kesh" Daniel looked at Sam, her whole demeanor changed. Jack glared at him.

"She did what she had to do, Daniel. As she already said killing another human being is not something we take lightly, no matter how many of those we already have in our backs"

"At least Selmak hidden mission was a success thanks to the father of the guy we rescued from the cult," Sam smiled, and the group frowned not quite following her, "Selmak talked to me because she was worried for my dad, she couldn't understand why he and my brother were not talking at all. At the end of the mission, my dad had a change of heart sort to speak and we even ended up going for a visit"

"How did that go?" Daniel asked

"Actually, did he know about Jack or Aidan at all?" Janet questioned, Sam sighed. Which question caused it was not clear. She cleared her throat.

"He knows…. Now. He didn't know about Jack or Aidan because of the clearance issue, until later once we got Aidan back. He learned about it a few months before the second mission to Abydos."

"When we decided we needed some safety network for Aidan, we managed to convince the powers that be that Mark and his wife were a need to know and ended up going for a trip to San Diego"

"It was easier back then, to travel I mean, because we were working on different facilities, therefore, asking for the same leave days wasn't something that could raise an alarm. So we asked for a few days, grabbed Aidan and went to San Diego and then to visit Jack's parents, Liz and Dave were already living here"

"It really didn't help Aidan was already almost two and…" she looked at Jack who nodded almost imperceptibly, "Jack's age was a huge issue for Mark " She doubted not because it bothered her, but because it was something it bothered him.

1998, April.

Mark Carter's House

San Diego.

Sam called her sister in law earlier that week to let her know she would be coming, they decided to make the trip on a Saturday to try and not to interrupt the other family's affairs. Her sister in law was very accommodating with their visit, she insisted on her staying at her house, which Sam politely refused because 'I would be having guests with me' and after a long discussion about who they could take her and her guest they finally settled for a visit on Saturday afternoon.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked to her husband once they stopped in front of the suburban address they got. He looked at her, then to the boy sleeping in the back of the rental car. They drove to Denver earlier that day and then hopped on a commercial flight to San Diego and thankfully Aidan behaved as no other toddler would, sleeping for the whole hour of drive and then during the flight the flight attendants fused over him because he was either too cute, or too well behaved for an almost two years old and he was the only kid on board. And that gave them more time to go over all the scenarios which could come from this, so she had a very good idea of what was going on his head.

"I…" he passed a hand nervously through his hair and she grabbed his other hand, and smiled sweetly, "I won't lie to you, Sam, I'm nervous and you know how bad I really am with extended 'family'"

"I know," she caressed his face, "And you aren't bad with extended family, Jack. My dad loves you," Jack snorted.

"The guy was my CO for at least 5 years! And then he almost killed me"

"It will be fine" she assured, she didn't know if she said it to reassure him or for herself.

"Mommy, I'm hungry" Aidan stated sleepily from the back seat.

"I guess that's our queue?" Jack grimaced.

Of course, by that time of the day and all the excitement of the travel, Aidan would be hungry. They could give him a snack bag or hope her sister in law would have something for Aidan to munch while they talked. With a sigh, both left the car and as Jack moved towards the back to pick Aidan, Sam moved to the door to ring the bell. Soon the door was open and she was face to face with Mark's wife Stella.

"Samantha? Oh my God you haven't changed a bit! It's so good to see you," Stella still thick Italian accent filled her ears and soon she engulfed Sam on a tight embrace. Sam had totally forgot how expressive her sister in law was. And it was a good 2 or 3 years maybe, since the last time she saw her, and then Stella spotted the pair walking to her door, "Your guests?" She asked knowingly and freeing Sam of her hug, getting a nod as response

"Hello, I'm Jack and this is Aidan," O'Neill introduced himself to the woman he supposed was Sam's in law.

"I'm hungry," Aidan added before they could say anything else, making both parents blush with his childlike honesty.

"Then come on in! I'll have something for you in no time," Stella smiled fully concentrated on Aidan, then she looked to the pair and added, "Please, do come in. Mark will be back home in an hour or so, we can make this young man a decent meal while we wait for him. Sophia and Massimiliano are upstairs, they will be down here the moment they smell food," she winked at Sam.

"We really don't want to bother you, Stella"

"Assurdo! it's just food and I'm good at doing it"

"Sam told me you are a cheff?"

"Yes, don't worry your kid will be eating healthy" she winked at him and they blanched, she noticed quickly they didn't expect that from her. "He really does look like you…you said your name was Jack? Didn't you?" He nodded, "Ok, the bambino does look like you, Jack and if I didn't know you better, Samantha, I would say he was your kid too, you can totally pass as his mother, with those blue eyes is like the perfect mix of you," The couple blushed, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you, I don't even know what kind of relationship you have. I'm not putting any pressure here" she waved between them.

"Good to know" Jack added and Sam giggled nervously.

"So, what brings you here?" Stella tried, she knew she could be very convincing if she wanted to. She also knew, her sister-in-law was the one whose walls she never managed to break.

"Well, I had a few leave day and so did Jack… and we needed to talk with you guys, then we will go to Minnesota"

"What's in Minnesota?"

"Grandpa and Grandma," Aidan answered.

"Aidan, is rude to interrupt and you know it" Jack admonished his son.

"I'm sorry" he pouted, "I miss grandpa and grandma, daddy," Stella raised an eyebrow at that, suspecting her sister-in-law intentions to come all the way to San Diego was to introduce them her… boyfriend? Fiancé? Oh, the kid was lovely, buy she knew Mark wouldn't like Sam going out with a guy who already had a kid. Or too much older than her… that was a big no with Mark, she was only two years younger than him and he had issues with age between them, and Jack didn't look like just two years older than Sam.

"How old are you, Piccolo?" Aidan giggled, and Stella frowned because it certainly sounded too much like her Max.

"I'm not Piccollo, I'm Aidan," he smiled, then he raised two fingers, "almost two" he blushed. Stella smiled at the kid, he certainly spoke way more than Sophia or Max at his age. She looked again between him and the couple(?) on the other side and shook her head.

"Wow, Aidan so you are almost two?" Aidan nodded eagerly and she had to shake her head to clear her mind of the non-sense it was providing her. Aidan couldn't be Samantha's, she would have known her sister in law had a kid, Mark would shout to the skies either angry or pleased depending on how that happened. But they were far worse than non-talking before, when she was introduced to Sam and her dad. Back then they barely sent cards for the Holidays and called once in a while to let them know how they were doing… and then, Mark was transferred to Colorado and she had called Samantha and the siblings made up. After that, her sister in law tried hard to keep in touch with them as much as she could, since for some unknown reason she was always traveling between Colorado and D.C.

However, not all her travelling stopped her to be at the crowded hospital room the day Sophia was born four years ago, She also managed to make a trip to visit them for Massimiliano's birth barely a year after. Whenever Samantha was in Colorado, she used to spend time taking care of Sophie and Stella mom's suggested once that Sam was really good at it, a natural, she had said. And Stella had made the mistake of telling her that and saw her wince. She never knew why, she tried to make her sister in law talk to her and even asked if she wanted to have kids someday and the younger woman answered with an strangled 'I don't know' but the unmistakable cloud of pain which covered her eyes was also something Stella never understood. In her natural curious way, she asked Mark about it and he just dismissed it as 'my sister is like that'. She couldn't understand why sometimes they seemed like oceans away from each other, she blamed it on some cultural thing she just couldn't understand after being raised in her not little Italian family. And then, Mark got another promotion and they moved to San Diego, she was happy, her family was mostly settled there and she having been a daddy's girl all her life, missed them. But she didn't expect the ramifications that such a thing would bring on the barely holding Carter family. Sam couldn't keep as much contact with them and then one day she simply stopped calling.

They learned Sam was at the hospital in grave condition one day, when Jacob Carter had called them to let Mark know, but as it was usual those days, they only fought until one of them hanged the call angrily. She asked Mark what was that about and he told her he didn't know, he didn't want to know.

Something inside told her Jacob had called for a reason different than just fighting, the man had stopped calling before Sam did, because all they ended up doing was fight, and maybe, this time her husband was wrong and Jacob was calling for a good reason, so she called him… and he let her know that apparently her sister in law was abducted and recently retrieved and she was just at the edge of dying. She managed to convince Mark to go and visit her little sister, maybe for the last time, but couldn't arrange things to go herself. So she stood behind with the kids, hoping things to turn on a good way. Then Mark called her, and told her Sam was barely alive and not improving, and angrily informed her that it took his dad almost 3 weeks to notify him of his sister's condition.

In an exasperated tone, he added they've decided to unplug Sam the next day. She remembered quite well how she prayed for Samantha's health that night, and then next day. Mark called to let her know he was staying longer, Sam was still breathing, and two days later, against all odds, she was awake and calling someone's name. Mark was disturbed because he didn't knew Sam was dating someone but apparently Jacob did. The older Carter then took off to find the guy, something that Mark never knew if he managed to do or not.

With his dad missing, Mark asked for a temporary transfer to D.C's office so he could keep an eye on his little sister, and she did her best to fully support him. But a week later he came back home, arguing Sam was okay and didn't need a sitter anymore, he ranted something about how she wasn't cooperating with the Doctors and how that was all to do with her damn military bravado… It was the last thing they knew from her.

And over six months passed since that.

Her call earlier that week had really surprised her, she agreed with everything because she wanted her husband to be really happy, Samantha tried to make her wait, to check it with Mark and call her back, but she stubbornly fought and they settled for today. When she told her husband about the imminent visit of his sister, he made a show of how he wouldn't be there when she was there, as he was still doing earlier that day. Tired of his childish behavior she send him off with some warnings she knew he wouldn't try to test.

"Uhu, I'm two on August" he grinned bringing her out of her musings.

"I'll be two," Sam provided and Aidan nodded once. Then grinned mischievously

"You too?" he snorted making all of them laugh. Then the smell of food got to his nose and his stomach growled in answer, and soon they could hear some footsteps quickly coming from upstairs

"I told you so," Stella added with a smile and soon two kids were stopping openmouthed in front of the 3 adults. "Sophia, Massimiliano… do you remember your aunt Samantha?" they blinked a couple of times and then they hugged their Aunt as they hugged all the other aunts they had just because their customs were those. But to Sam that wasn't as important as the fact they freely launched themselves to her, she went to her knees to see them at the same level, and so did Jack.

"Oh my god, you have grown so much!" She whispered amazed. The weight of the years settled in a blink of an eye, when Max blinked and touched her hair,

"You are pretty" he said then he looked at Jack observantly, "Hello"

"I'm Jack," he provided to both kids and they nodded a little embarrassed. Then as most kids do, they turned around and forgot all about the uncomfortable moment and sat on their designated chairs waiting for their dinner. The front door opened when they were half way through inhaling their spaghetti and they all tensed up again.

"Cara, I'm home" Mark yelled as he always did, and following the scent he went to the kitchen and found them. Sam quickly stood up and so did Jack.

"Sam? What are you doing here?"

"Mark," She whispered, "I, we need to talk to you"

"We?"

"Yes" Jack stated, his firm voice didn't allow for recriminations or questioning. Mark nodded, and clenched his jaw, his instincts told him he was in front of yet another military man. "Once they are done"

"They can stay up until 8," Stella provided, "but the nanny should arrive at any moment now"

"You didn't have to call a nanny Stella," Sam whined.

"Nonsenso, she is on call Saturday's because of the restaurant… It's a crazy day for us there, but no worries, they aren't expecting me to work today. We can go there and have your meeting at the back room if you wish"

"Whatever won't be too much trouble for you is okay for us," Jack added, "However, wherever we talk must be far from any possible eavesdropping and prying eyes" Mark raised his eyebrow as if to say something but a quick look to his wife made him stay silent.

"Then here is better, once the nanny gets here, they can go to their play room and they won't bother us… and once we finish, I leave," Stella settled and that's exactly what they did. It wasn't half an hour before the nanny arrived, for the resemblance they figured out she had to be related with Stella, when the Italian words fluidly started to pour they knew for sure

"She's my cugina…uhm, cousin" Stella dismissed when she saw the pensive looks in her visitors faces

"Right"

"Well! Out with it! What's this sooo secret thing you have to tell us, Samantha?" She smiled, hoping she was right on what was about to come.

"Actually, we need you to sign this forms first," Sam nervously smiled and gave them some important looking folders.

"NDA? What are this for?"

"Well, you will know when you sign them," Sam provided with a sigh

"And if we don't?" Mark questioned

"Then, we say nothing and we go to Minnesota," Jack affirmed, a killer glare from Stella was all that Mark needed to sign the forms, he threw his to the table as a form of rebellion. Jack's eyebrow rose, really not impressed by Sam's older brother demeanor.

"Why do I have a feeling that I won't like this?" Mark asked rhetorically and Sam sighed, because she had the gut feeling he wouldn't like it at all.

"Well, because you probably won't" Jack stated clapping his hands once.

"Who are you anyways?"

"Now that you signed that, I can tell you, I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, USAF." Mark quickly worked his jaw, and Jack saw the familiarity of such act. "A couple years ago, we were send on a mission together…" he looked at Sam to see if she wanted to do this or if he should do it, she nodded imperceptibly to him, he sighed. "To infiltrate into a compound, we were asked to get married"

"Son of a bitch" Mark launched himself towards Jack, who with all his training, quickly had him pinned down.

"Will you stop and listen to us? Good," he said when he saw his brother in law head moving, "I'm going to free you now, do not do anything that dumb again"

Jack let Mark go and stood up, and walked to sit next to Sam. He knew before that there was a high change for that to be Mark's reaction, that's why he was standing when it happened.

"And you accepted, didn't you?" Stella asked not at all bothered by the previous display.

"Yes," Sam answered looking straight to her sister in law eyes. Stella did a go on gesture with her hand, "we got married, we thought it was a fake certificate and all, but a mistake at the office got us married for real… and we stood married" Stella eyes widened under the implications of such affirmation

"Don't get us wrong, we like being married, we can't tell a soul without making them sign one of those things," Jack pointed to the folders, "but we manage"

"Aidan?" Stella questioned, all those things her mind was providing her could be truth.

"We had him not long after the events of that mission."

"Get out!" Mark went to his feet quickly.

"Mark," Sam pleaded

"Mark!" Stella menaced.

None of those work.

" ! Get the hell out of my house! Now!"

Sam blanched pained with the expected but not less painful reaction. They had assessed such situation, and Jack noticed Stella would hear them out, Mark wouldn't. And the O'Neill's had agreed they didn't want to cause any damage to Mark's family and as it was, they would be causing a fight.

"Bring Aidan and we go," Jack stated calmly, Mark disappeared quickly into the hallway and Stella eyes widened. "Don't worry, we knew this could happen. Here, this is the number of the hotel we will be staying at until tomorrow noon, give us a call when you can. We will see how to "

"Here"

"Mommy! Daddy!" Aidan grinned to them unbeknownst of all the tension that mounted in the room, Jack picked Aidan on one side and grabbed Sam on the other side and walked them to the door as soon as he could.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Stella" he said over his shoulders, "Mark" then he turned around and walked them to the car. He only let go of Sam's hand when he had to walk around to sit at the driver's seat and when he had to get out of it once they arrived at their hotel.

Sam's bravado was crumbling and he knew it, they walked as fast as they could back to the safety of their room and the moment the door was closed and Aidan was safely on the floor again, she cried.

"Why it's always my family the one who doesn't understand?" She said between sobs, "I mean, Stella was willing to hear us out, why Mark couldn't?"

"I don't know, Sam… but you still have me, and Aidan, and your dad…and my mom and dad, and my brother and sister… you have a lot of people who care about you and he will come out of it, he will want to know, well, maybe not me, but he will want to know Aidan"

"I doubt it"

An hour and a half later, the room's phone rung, twenty minutes after that, they stopped in front of a quaint Italian restaurant. They walked in, and the girl in the front directed them to the offices, where Stella sat behind a desk.

"Out with it" she said, a big smile on her face. "I have a brother in law and a nephew I know nothing about! Don't worry no one comes near this office, and if they do you will know" she turned a screen around and they saw a video feed of the outside, with a smile, they started to explain the reason why they came to them.