The following twelve hours went by as though she was watching someone else's life and not hers. She couldn't believe all that had happened was real! But more than that...she didn't want to believe it was real. Ashley was dead, as was Jack's unborn child!
*~*~*~*
Sam had spoken to Daniel very quickly right after the police had arrived at his apartment, and then she didn't hear from him again until almost two hours later. Daniel had called her from the police station.
"Sam, it's me. Sam, I'm with Jack at the police station."
"How is he, Daniel?"
"I'm not sure. He's kinda quiet now, but you know how Jack can be. Opinionated. Stubborn when he's sure he's right. Well, he gave a pretty good demonstration of those qualities earlier, when he unloaded on the officer in charge. Jack told the detective everything about him and Ashley and about Mike, Ashley's ex-employer. Jack insists Mike did it, but of course the police aren't about to take his word for it."
"Shit, Daniel, I wish I could come down there! Why don't I see if Janet can come and take care of Katie?"
"No! I don't think you should become involved, Sam."
"I already am involved, Daniel!"
"That's not the kind of involvement I mean, Sam. Just stay at home, and I'll phone you when I know anything more. Please, Sam!"
"Okay, but call me in the next hour! If you don't, I swear I'm coming down there!"
"All right. I promise. Oh, and Sam, I was correct; they say it looks like someone drowned Ashley before they...before they tried to make it look like a suicide."
"Oh, my God, Daniel! That poor girl," she cried as she collapsed onto the sofa.
"They're calling Jack in for questioning right now, so we should know something soon...I hope. I'll call you," he had said, and then he hung up.
*~*~*~*
By seven o'clock the next morning the police finally allowed Jack to go home, calling him 'an investigative lead', but Jack knew they suspected him. He let Daniel drive him back to the apartment house, where Jack got into Sam's car.
"Jack, don't do anything stupid," Daniel warned the man as he stood next to Sam's old Volvo, holding onto the door handle, as though that might stop his friend from making a foolish mistake.
"Like what?" Jack looked like he was about to blow a gasket, but by now Daniel wasn't afraid OF him so much as he was afraid FOR him.
"Like trying to find the person who did it. That wouldn't be smart, Jack. So just go back to Sam's and don't do anything. Promise me, Jack!"
Daniel knew that Jack suspected the guy Ashley used to work for, and he knew it was just like Jack to go after the guy and make him pay. In a way he couldn't blame Jack for wanting revenge. After all, whoever did this hadn't just killed Ashley, they had killed Jack's unborn child.
"I'll go to Sam's, but I can't promise you anything. The bastard deserves to suffer," Jack said, tears glistening in his steely eyes.
"The police will find whoever did this, Jack. Now go home," Daniel said firmly, and then he watched as Jack drove away.
Daniel's first instinct was to follow Jack, just to make sure he really went back to Sam's house. So he did exactly that, keeping his distance, even though he figured Jack knew he was there anyway. When he saw Jack pull into the driveway of Sam's house and climb out of the car, he breathed a sigh of relief and left. Then he went back to the scene of the crime...a place he never wanted to set foot in again, let alone live in.
But for now he needed to go back there. He needed to find out how soon he could remove his belongings. Somewhere between finding Ashley's body and midnight last night Daniel had decided he never really needed the apartment anyway. So as soon as he was allowed to, he'd be moving his things into a storage facility. For now he just wanted to make sure that nothing valuable was missing, or damaged in the process of collecting evidence.
Sam was sitting at the breakfast table when she heard the car on the driveway. She ran to the back door and watched through the multi-paned French door as Jack stopped the car just in front of the detached garage and got out. Then she opened the door and stood there, waiting to take Jack into her arms. He came willingly, hugging her till she thought she wouldn't be able to draw another breath. Then he suddenly let her go, and she backed away, allowing him to come inside.
"Jack, I'm so sorry," she said, reaching out to touch the back of one shoulder.
He didn't answer her, but instead walked through the kitchen and down the hallway into Katie's room, stripping off his jacket as he went. He dropped it on the hallway floor before entering the child's room.
Katie was sleeping peacefully in her crib, and Jack just stood there looking down at her. Sam came up and stood behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist, her face against his back. She couldn't help it; tears began to spill from her eyes as she thought about all that Jack had lost and about the poor girl who would never fulfill any of her dreams.
"It was a boy," he said, and it took a second for her to realize what he had meant.
"Ashley's baby was a boy? How do you know," she asked quietly, her voice muffled as she pressed her face into his shirt.
"Ultra sound. I found it at the apartment. Apparently she had just gotten it in the mail yesterday. I'm sure she would have told me, if..."
"You can't be sure about the sex of the child, Jack. Sometimes those photos are misleading," she said, realizing what this loss could mean to him. 'If Jack has lost another son, then the loss might be more than he can bear,' she warned her fearful heart.
"There was a note from her doctor. Said it was a boy," he informed her as he turned around to face her. Even in the dim light Sam could see the tears running down his face. She reached up and tried to wipe them away with one hand, but he shrugged out of her reach.
"I'm so sorry, Jack!"
"Not half as sorry as I am," was all he said before side-stepping her and walking out of the room.
Sam just stood there, her heart in her throat as she watched him walk away. When would this poor man ever find peace and happiness, she wondered as she followed him out of Katie's room.
Jack went to their bedroom and sat down on the bed, flipping open his cell phone. Sam sat down next to him, and he put his arm around her while he called General George Hammond to tell him most of the facts he figured the man needed to know.
Sam flinched when she heard what he said next.
"I'll understand if the President and the military no longer want my services."
Even though Jack wasn't being accused of any wrongdoing, he still had an affair with a woman thirty years his junior and had conceived a child with her. If these facts got out to the media, his reputation would be ruined. And more than likely an offer from the President and the Joint Chiefs to teach new SGC recruits would never come about.
After talking to Hammond, Jack tossed his cell phone onto the bedside table and pulled Sam into his arms. They laid down together, their arms around each other protectively. Almost three hours later they were awakened by the vibrations of Jack's cell phone.
Jack reached the phone before it began to ring and flipped it open. At almost the same instant, Sam heard Katie crying, so she climbed over Jack and went to get her daughter.
"O'Neill."
"Jack, I've got good news," Daniel shouted into the phone.
"What is it, Daniel?"
"They found him! They found Mike! And there's more! When I was finally allowed inside my apartment again, I noticed there were some pieces from my collection that were missing stones...diamonds, rubies and such. And guess where they found the stones! In Mike's car! He was almost at the Arizona border when they caught up with him. They think he was headed for Mexico," Daniel said in one long breath.
"That's good news, Daniel," Jack said in a monotone voice.
"Mike says he followed her home and then waited till she was alone. He says he just went there to try and apologize to her, but most likely he was angry because she had testified against him. Anyway, when he saw all the valuables in my apartment, he decided to steal some. Apparently Ashley tried to stop him. She put up a pretty good fight, Jack."
"The police think he killed her before he even knew about the baby. While he was looking for items to steal he must have seen the letter from the doctor, and that's when he decided to try make it look like a suicide. In fact, since she was living in my apartment, he probably thought the baby was mine. He wanted me...er...you to suffer thinking she had killed herself. The guy's one sick bastard, Jack."
Jack didn't say anything, so Daniel continued.
"Detective Garrity said to thank you, since it was your testimony that was instrumental in solving the case."
Jack didn't respond, and naturally Daniel was worried about him.
"Are you gonna be okay, Jack?"
"Ya, sure Daniel. We'll be just fine," he said as he watched Sam though the open bedroom door. He could see her changing Katie, and it soothed his heart to know that he still had the two of them. And if he had anything to say about it, he would never lose them!
"Okay. Well, I'll call you later, Jack. Give Sam my love."
"I will, Daniel. And thanks...thanks for being my friend," he said before snapping the phone shut.
Jack put the phone down on the night stand and got up. When he entered Katie's room through the adjoining door, he saw Sam sitting in the rocking chair, feeding the baby. He stood there in the doorway as he told her the news in a calm, quiet voice.
"Come in here," he said, motioning for her to rejoin him in the bedroom. They cuddled on the big bed, Sam's back propped against a stack of pillows, while Jack laid his head on her bare stomach, just beneath the baby's bottom. He could hear Katie making these little snuffling noises as she nursed at Sam's breast, and Sam's skin felt cool and comforting to his hot flesh.
He felt more relaxed than he'd felt in weeks, but he was almost ashamed to even think that he might be happy, when poor Ashley was dead. She would never know the joys of motherhood, or marriage or anything else, and he wanted to weep for all she had lost and for what he had lost as well.
Jack took a deep breath, drawing on his military training. Self-discipline and years of experience at hiding his emotions came into play now, as he fought back the tears that threatened to fall. Instead of giving into his feelings of anger and hopelessness, he concentrated on the woman and the child that lay here with him. They were here, they were alive, and they were his...or at least they could be his.
Jack lifted up and saw Sam watching him, and he treated her with just a hint of a smile. He realized she had been very concerned for him, and he felt guilty about that too. He was determined to correct all the harm he'd done to her in recent months.
Then he kissed the baby's bottom and nuzzled Sam's belly with his nose. He loved how Katie smelled...just like all babies do...sweet and innocent. He inhaled their combined scents, and then he kissed the patch of Sam's bare skin before he laid his head down again and sighed.
"I love you, Sam. Do you believe me?"
Sam touched his head with one hand, affectionately running her fingers through his tousled, gray hair.
"Yes, I know you do. And I love you, Jack," she answered, her voice a choked whisper.
"Enough to marry me?" he asked quietly, and then he lifted his head and stared up at her, his dark molasses eyes shining with unshed tears.
"Yes, Jack. Enough to spend the rest of my life with you," she assured him in a steady voice, and then she smiled through her tears as Jack brought his face up to hers for a tender kiss.
The end.