Hello, I'm (as per usual now) not entirely happy with this one… but here we go,

Enjoy!

M.

Partial Planning

Colorado Springs

17hs

"Someone looks happy," Jack said after seeing his daughter all but dance in their kitchen when she reached home late in the afternoon. He turned around from his current task of making dinner for them.

"Hey, dad! Yes, of course! Every day there are less and fewer days until we go camping!"

"There's still a whole three weeks until that, kiddo," he shook his head getting back at work.

"I know, but that will mean you and I get to be alone." She grinned.

"Sami," He said turning around to see her. "Kerry and I will be married by then."

"Yeah, about that?" She grinned. "What's up with the rush?" Jack sighed.

"It has to do with timing, relocation, and rules," Jac frowned raising his head to see his daughter expression. "Kerry is going to be relocated because she has no string attached around here. There! I've said it."

"Oh, okay." She shrugged.

"What?" Jack asked lowering the knife and observing her closely.

"Huh?" Jac played the dumb card.

"I know that expression, Samia O'Neill. Shoot, now…" Jac rolled her eyes; she must have supposed that their cat that eats the canary expression was identical to Sami's.

"Well, I was thinking…"

"That's a first," Jack joked. "You should stop rolling your eyes all the time," Sami snorted.

"I'm here trying to let you know that I want us to go and check a hotel that I think will be nice for the wedding."

"What?" He asked surprised.

"I think that if you are really ready to take the big step… the less you could do is doing it in a wonderful place, right? So, I enlisted Uncle Daniel," It was Jack's time to roll his eyes. "And we went around searching for it."

"Kerry and I are getting married here, Sami. There's no point in making a big deal of it, and it's not like many people are crowding out our guest's lists."

"But, dad! Every girl wants to have a wedding! And…. you know what they said, third time is the charm."

"Okay, okay. If this manages to keep you this happy, I'll check the place."

"It's so cool you agreed," she grinned as Jack expression changed noticing there was more to her offering. "Because we have reserved the hotel for the next weekend."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, Uncle Daniel spoke with Grandpa George, and you have the leave days. And before you go saying no, Grandpa Jacob said that if he could make you happy he would help in everything he could. Come on, dad! It will be fun, you, me, Uncle Daniel, Uncle Teal'c, Auntie Janet, Cass, and even Grandpa Jacob, and you won't have to pay for it. What could go wrong?" Jac grinned.

"Okay, I'll do it."

"Yes!" Jac said pumping her arm.

"Okay… where is it?"

"Whatever I say you already agreed to it, right?"

"I guess I did," Jac grinned mischievously. "Well?"

"American Hotel…"

"I've never heard of it."

"That's because it's in Utah."

"Sami!" Jack winced as Sami giggled. "Dad, can I use the phone in your office to call a friend from camp now?"

"Sure, but make it short, dinner will be ready in an hour!" He shouted as his daughter already disappeared into his home office.

San Diego

Same time.

"I don't get it, why are we calling Jac Sami now," David said with a frown once they were sitting in the family room after having dinner. Sam chuckled.

"Well, because Sami is not Jac, David."

"Auntie Sam?" Lisa asked with a frown.

"Yeah?"

"Did you hit your head or something? Jac's still exactly the same person," Lisa stated matter of factly.

"I told you," Mark said.

"Good thing that I listen to my little brother sometimes, right?" Sam grinned taking a picture of her rarely seen collection.

"Who are those?"

"Well, see this small baby? That's you, Lisa. You were months old when this one was taken."

"Oh, and the ones in your arm?"

"This one is Jac, and this one is Sami," Sam said pointing to each baby in the picture. "They are twins." Both kids frowned.

"Then how come they don't live together?"

"That's a long adult history, David. But now, Sami is here visiting us while Jac is spending some time with her dad." Sami entered the room at that point with a huge grin on her face. "Hey Sami, I was trying to explain to your cousins why we are calling you by a different name."

"Oh, that's easy, because I'm not Jac. She's back home with my dad," she shrugged.

"Speaking of which?"

"Well," she blushed. Sami was never good at lying. Therefore, she had spent the last minutes of her conversation with Jac trying to convince herself of what she was going to tell her mom. "We should meet them by the weekend on…" Sam frowned, Sami, straightened the paper she had on her hand. "American Hotel in Utah."

"But I thought you lived in Colorado Springs."

"Yeah, well… dad said that if it were okay with us, he would like to spend a few days getting to know Jac. And I wouldn't mind some days getting to know you," she lowered her face mostly to keep her mom from reading the lie on her face. "But if you don't want to I can call him again and tell him we are going to meet him early? I guess there won't be an issue if you leave me at Auntie Janet's home or with the Reynolds. God knows that I'm used to it." Sam exchanged a glance with Kate and Mark feeling terribly guilty with what Sami had just said.

"It's okay, Sami. I will love to spend a couple more days with you too. So, we can go on Saturday morning?"

"We should all go and make it a holiday weekend," Kate said with a grin exchanging a knowing glance with Samia.

After that, they played some games to spend the time before it was the kids' bedtime. Once the three of them were tucked away, Sam, Mark, and Kate got together by the home library.

"So… Samia, huh?" Kate left out as Mark gave her a drink.

"Yes," Sam answered shortly.

"Your other daughter," Kate tried once more.

"Yes."

"And if you have the chance of getting to know your other daughter, why the hell are you pacing worriedly down here?" Sam chewed her lower lip and looked at her Kate and then at her brother.

"It's work related." Mark raised his eyebrow. "Well, kind of…"

"Sam…"

"Remember the reason why we fought?" Sam winced as Mark nodded.

"Yes, what does it have to do with it? It was ages ago, and we've both outgrew that issue," Kate looked from one to the other, after all, she never knew the reason that drove them apart.

"Here's the thing, I must present myself at Colorado Springs as Sam Carter the PM of their project tomorrow," she frowned.

"I'm still not getting it, Sam," Mark added.

"If I don't get my ass there, they will recall me for active duties," she grimaced.

"What the? But you've never? You need to go," he affirmed.

"Yes, but what should I tell Sami? Hey, nice to know you are here, I must leave you behind now? You heard the girl; she's left with other people often. Or, hey Sami, what about I take you to Colorado Springs with me and drop you off at your dad's or Auntie Janet's or the Reynolds for a few while I solve my life for a bit? Or, I don't know, hey Samia, you know what, I need to take you to your father and leave you and Jack behind with him because something I did a while ago, it's coming out to bite me and I didn't want to cut our days short before?"

"Okay… time to calm down." Kate tried. "And maybe explain to me what the hell is going on? I mean, I knew they were twins, and I thought that the revelations of having the other twin home was going to be *the* shocking news of the day, hell, month or year." Mark sighed.

"The reason why I decided not to contact Sam any longer wasn't that she left me behind with dad. I got that, she had a scholarship and she had to use it. But, because I figured out later that her scholarship was due to the little fact that she went for an Air Force ROTC."

"Wait, what?" Kate said looking at Sam.

"Yeah, when I was 17. I guess I could've picked any other scholarship but the Air Force offered the best one I could hope for, so I took it."

"And that's why you know how to fly?"

"Yeah…"

"Okay," Kate accepted readily.

"Okay? She completed the ROTC and was Commissioned for two years!" Mark roared. "That's the best-kept secret from her career!" Sam grimaced.

"But wait, by 17 you already had a degree. Isn't ROTC supposed to be for undergrads?"

"Yeah, and that was the reason why I took it. All the scholarships that were offered to me were for the same path I already was, Physics. However, the Air Force allowed me to go for the aerospace and mechanical engineering."

"But your Doctorate?"

"Astrophysics. I found a loophole when I was commissioned to complete my ROTC," she shrugged. "And there was nothing they could do to stop me from taking those courses."

"So, you fulfilled the duties attached to the scholarship?" Sam nodded but kept biting her lower lip. "But can they recall you?" Kate asked.

"I wish I could say no, but it's not the first time they bring it on," Sam said finally sitting. "I've spoken to my lawyer about this the second time it was brought up. And she concluded that by military laws they could, even against my will."

"Damn."

"Yeah, so… what shall I say to the kid sleeping upstairs?"

"I think you must go with the truth, Sam. She's a military brat, just like you and Mark were… what would've you preferred? Not knowing where your dad was, or that he told you where he was?"

"I'll guess that I will bring it up before breakfast tomorrow. Now, can you take care of her while I'm gone?"

"What kind of silly question is that?" Kate grinned. "So, you had a commission?"

"Yeah, as a Second Lieutenant for a year, they promoted me to First Lieutenant and had that paygrade until I fulfilled my two years."

"Whoa."

Colorado Springs

6 AM

"General Hammond, sir," Jac said when he entered Hammond's office and found it wasn't empty.

"Ah, Colonel O'Neill. The Doctor here was telling me that the PM of the Stargate Project will be arriving today as requested by the Joint Chiefs."

"Oh, and why did you call me?" Hammond sighed.

"I know you'll like to keep yourself as far away from here when the squints are around, so I thought you would like that piece of information."

"Sir?"

"What I'm saying Colonel, is that you are ordered not to disturb the team from the Providing company. Understood?" Hammond said Jack, nodded. "That's all. And thank you, Doctor Parker." George waited until his visitors left the room before he scrubbed his face tiredly. "So much from keeping them apart in here."

San Diego

8:40 AM.

"So, that's it? You are going to work, and I'll stay here?" Sami said tears filling her eyes.

"Listen to me, Sami. I wouldn't do this if it weren't extremely important. You can ask Jac about it. I could take you with me to Colorado Springs, but you would have to find a place to stay because I can't take you with me to my working place."

"Is it super top secret like Cheyenne mountain or something?" Sami asked.

"What do you know about Cheyenne mountain?"

"Uh, they do deep space and radar telemetry. And it's a high-level security facility," she grinned. "I'm being raised by a military man with military friends." She said proudly.

"Oh well. We provide some equipment to the mountain, and that's failing. So, I need to go and fix it before it breaks the other pieces."

"Ok, I get it."

"You do?"

"Yeah, go, mom. But…. You will owe me a date," Sami grinned.

"A date?"

"Yup, a date."

"I'll guess it's just fair. I should go now," she said somewhat awkwardly. Sami threw herself at her.

"Have a safe flight; I love you, mom!" Sami whispered.

"I love you, Samia. Don't ever doubt about it." Sam whispered back.