The sun was shining as Jack pulled into the Arlington National Cemetery parking lot. He turned off the car before he looked over at Sam. "Here we are."

She managed a small, sad smile as she nodded. "Here we are..."

"You gonna be okay?"

"I told you once before," she said, softly. "My dad's death...it was time..."

"Still not easy."

She shook her head. "No. Not easy."

He reached over and held her hand gently. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Maybe when we actually get to his headstone... right now, I'm just..."

"Quiet? Pensive?"

"A bit of each, I guess."

"You wanna do this by yourself?"

She shook her head. "My dad's final piece of advice to me was not to let the rules get in my way of finding happiness," she said as tears moistened her eyes. "I want him to know that I took his advice."

"Didn't realize Jake was so fond of me?"

"Are you kidding?" She asked with a chuckle. "You're the only one who could call him Dad without him raising an eyebrow. Even Pete got this look from him that made Pete think twice about his choice of words. And that was a month before we were supposed to get married."

"I'm flattered."

"You should be." She said, tenderly.

"Come on, Carter," he said after a moment passed. "Let's go visit Jake."

She nodded soberly.

They walked slowly through the well-manicured cemetery, and Jack looked over at his silent companion. "Penny for your thoughts."

She managed an appreciative smile as she looked over at him. She bit her lip in a little hesitation before she shrugged. "My grandfather died when I was ten years old. He was also an Air Force general, and he was given a plot here."

He looked over at her as they walked, obviously interested in her words.

"My mom...she cried." She said, softly. "My dad – nothing. His father had died, and he didn't even shed a tear. At least, not so that I could see..."

She sighed softly. "I got so angry at him," she remembered. "And my mother came into my room, and she told me that everyone grieved in their own ways, and that even though my my dad hadn't cried as much as I thought he should, he was still suffering."

"Wise woman."

Sam nodded, emotionally. She and Jack had never talked about her mother.

"You okay?" He asked, looking over.

"I'll be fine," she managed. "I just...miss my mother."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, hugging her close to his side as he kissed the top of her head.

They walked in silence for a moment before she swallowed. "My mother and I used to go to the mall on the first Saturday of every month. Just the two of us. We'd get coffee, and we'd stroll through the mall, stopping every so often to go inside a store that piqued our interest. I guess...that's one of the things I love about having Cassie live with me. I get to do all of those things again. I get to share those things with her like my mom shared them with me, and like Janet shared with her."

He nodded soberly. He obviously had something on his mind.

"What is it?" She asked, looking over at him.

"You're a great mom." He said, softly.

She tensed. "I'm not..."

"You may not be Cassie's mom officially." He said, seriously. "But you don't have to be in order to act like one."

The tears that had moistened her eyes were increasing as she managed a grateful smile. "Thanks."

"Who knows? Maybe someday, you'll get a chance to do the mom thing from start-to-finish..."

"Maybe someday." She said, nodding.

"And I hope I'm there to see it."

"I'll hold you to that, Jack." She whispered with a gentle smile as they reached her father's headstone.

She pulled away from Jack and looked over at the headstone. "Hi, Dad." She whispered, softly.

"I'm...bringing someone home to meet you, although I think you'll recognize him. And I'm pretty sure that you'll approve." Sam said, looking over at Jack with a tearful smile.