The few times that Sam had woken up in Jack O'Neill's arms were great, but waking up in his arms married to him was the perfect start to any day, at least by Colonel Doctor Samantha Carter-O'Neill's standards. Although the fact that the man was tracing patterns on her back and placing soft kisses in her hair was probably the reason she was waking up, Sam didn't mind.

It was a long time before they ate breakfast that morning and every morning that week.

During their honeymoon, they spent much of their time in bed, or lounging by the lake (which actually had fish in it), and just being together. They talked and laughed, hugged and kissed, and made plans for their future, one of which Jack was very glad he had investigated.

//Flashback//

When Ba'al had attacked, Jack had ordered everyone on base through the Stargate. While he never regretted this decision, it made for future difficulties as there had been several groups of school children on field trips to NORAD that day. It wasn't until he spent time with Izzy's preschool class that he realized how some of these children had become orphans because of his decision. He had saved their lives but had left them without a family. While most of the children had found homes with 'adoptive' parents, a few of the younger children were now being cared for by the older kids-all of whom had been left un-adopted.

Spending time with those kids whenever he could, quickly become one of Jack's favorite activities. It had gotten to the point that if Jack wanted to hide, he went to his office because everyone thought that he wouldn't be there.

On the last full day they had at their cabin, Jack had broached the subject of kids with Sam.

"You know how before I told you that we could adopt children if we were told that we couldn't have children." Seeing her questioning gaze and her nod, he continued. "Well, before I left I did some checking and there are quite a few kids here that are in need of parents."

"If you're asking if I'm still interested in the idea of children, even if they aren't really our children Jack, the answer is yes," Sam offered with a smile. "I just think that we need to discuss some things before we take on a child, like how we're going to make time for a child with our current responsibilities for one."

"Is that your only objection? 'Cause I'm willing to make some sacrifices to have a family," claimed Jack.

Slightly disgusted with Jack, Sam began pacing, "You can't be the only one making the sacrifices for our family. If having a family is the only thing you really want, then why did you marry me?"

Rather than let her think too much, Jack got up and placed his hands on Sam's shoulders, forcing her to stop. He reached his hand for her chin and titled her head so that he could see her face. "Sam," he began, "the only family I want is the one that involves you. If you aren't ready for our family to be more than me and you, then we'll wait until you're ready."

Sam felt bad then for even insinuating that he hadn't married her because he loved her. "Jack, I didn't mean that I didn't want a family, I just meant that we shouldn't jump into this without considering everything. I grew up without a mother and my dad wasn't around that much. I don't want that for our children," she explained.

"Me neither," he admitted as pulled her head under his chin, wrapping his arms around Sam, hugging her to his body, "Me neither."

//End Flashback//

Somehow that conversation had finalized the idea of a family, for the both of them. A silent agreement had been reached to at least meet the children who were in need of a family when they went back to reality.

----

Right on time, he walked through the door to her lab, and she was almost ready.

"Just one more minute Jack, I'm almost done," Sam said.

"Take your time, I don't want you blowing up the base because you were rushing," Jack replied.

Once she had managed to finish up the two walked together out of the base, respectful of where they were by not having any physical contact. Once off the base though, Jack had no reserves about wrapping his arm around his wife as they walked towards the school where a crowd of children waited them.

They began their visit in Izzy's classroom, because well, they hadn't told anyone that they were looking to adopt, so they were visiting under the guise of seeing their favorite niece. The whole class was excited to see 'General Jack' as they had come to call the regular visitor to their class and 'Colonel Sam' was welcomed as well.

They spent the next two hours playing with the children before the kids took up the chant of asking for a story, something which obviously had occurred many times before.

Sam noticed how Izzy took the position of honor in Jack's lap, while several other children scampered for the seats next to him. Yet one little boy with black hair, blue eyes, and a big smile had no problem being the one to sit in Sam's lap. He had stuck close to Sam all afternoon, never uttering a word, but always giving her a giant grin whenever she paid him special attention.

Together the two Air Force officers told the children the story of meeting the Nox, leaving out the part about dying. The children obviously enjoyed the story, laughing in all the right parts.

Eventually however, Jack and Sam had to leave and return to their other responsibilities. It took almost 30 minutes for them to disentangle themselves from the classroom. Before Sam could leave though, the class aide pulled her aside and told her, "I haven't seen that little boy smile like that the whole time he's been here. I've never heard him say more than a few words, none of which really told us anything. Usually he just goes through the day, quiet and unnoticed and without any relative to ask, we aren't sure if this is normal for him, despite the doctor saying there's nothing wrong with him. We're really not sure where he came from or how he ended up here."

"Where is he living?" Sam asked, starting to get her hopes up.

"I think he's in one of the tents with some older kids, but he really doesn't get very much attention there. I think if he was adopted, he'd really improve and probably start talking," she commented, before apologizing as she ran to stop one of the children from jumping off of a table.

Sam and Jack didn't have time to discuss their visit until much later that evening, as they were sitting on the roof with Jack's telescope, gazing at the stars.

"So, did you like any of the kids?" Jack finally got up the nerve to ask as Sam snuggled into his side a little more.

Sam pretended to carefully consider the question before answering, "Uh-hu."

"Anyone in particular?"

"Uh-hu," she responded again.

"You gonna tell me which one, or will I have to torture you to get it out of you?" Jack grinned, waiting for her reply.

"The little boy that sat in my lap all afternoon, he was my favorite," she finally whispered.

"Yeah, I thought so," Jack replied in a quiet voice, "Whenever the other kids would let me away from them, he always seemed to enjoy having me around. He's friends with Izzy too. Do you think he's the one?"

Carefully considering her words before speaking, Sam replied, "Do you like him?"

"Sam, I want to take each and every kid that I meet home with me," he claimed honestly, "But I will settle for the one that you will let me have."

Sam dissolved in giggles, thinking that he looked and sounded like a little boy who had brought home stray animals asking his mom if he could keep them. "Jack," she offered, "I think we'll start with one and see how it goes from there."

"You're serious? You want to see about making him part of our family?" Jack questioned, almost in disbelief.

Sam placed her hand on Jack's shoulder before leaning in and kissing him. "I think that he'll make the perfection addition to the O'Neill family. The only thing left to do is to see how he feels about it," she claimed, slightly worried about what the little boy might have to say about the issue.

----

It turned out that the little boy didn't have anything to say about joining the O'Neill household, but he did break out in a huge grin and literally attempted to tackle Sam as she told him that he was coming home with her and 'General Jack'. As she lifted the boy into her arms, she looked up to see Jack there offering her a huge grin that matched the one on her face.

The little boy had a huge smile on his face the whole evening, and didn't seem at all concerned when they used the Asgard beaming technology to go home that afternoon. Even when he was introduced to Teal'c, Daniel, and Cam, the young boy never quit grinning. Eventually though, it was Cam who was able to draw words out of the little boy. Cam and the little boy were in the backyard, playing with toy airplanes and cars while the adults sat on the porch going over some paperwork and laying plans for the next week's training schedule.

"Little man, what is your name?" Cam asked as he attempted to draw words out the boy, just as everyone had been doing since their introduction.

Much to Cam's surprise, the boy put down the X-302 model that he had been playing with and walked over to whisper something in Cam's ear.

"Really?" asked Cam, "Can I tell everyone else?"

The little boy seemed to consider the question before nodding his agreement. Cam, who was enjoying his role as 'Uncle Cam' scooped the little boy up and placed him on his shoulders as he tickled the child, getting squeals of laughter from the kid.

Coming to the porch, he removed the boy from his shoulders and set him down. The little kid scampered into Sam's lap, and without a second thought threw his arms around Sam's neck and said plain as day, "You aren't going to send me back are you? I don't wanna go back to wiving wiff the big kids."

Although surprised by the boy's words, Sam immediately comforted the child by saying, "Not unless you want to go back. I want you to stay here with me."

"Forever?" the little child questioned.

"Forever," reassured Jack, who by this time had made his way around to be beside his wife and son.

"Good, cause I luv you and I don't wanna weave," the boy claimed.

Despite her best attempts, tears were now flowing down Sam's cheeks as she whispered, "We love you too little one, we love you too."

Jack placed his hand on the little boy's back and smiled down and the child that had stolen his heart. "Since you're going to staying with us now, how about you tell us your name?" asked Jack.

"Jacob Charles Smith, but I wike Jake," the little boy declared.

"Well, Jacob Smith, welcome to our family," said Teal'c.

Suddenly, Sam realized that she had found the one thing that was missing from her life.

----

Later that night, Jack was lying in bed holding his wife, when he said, "You know, I always thought that if we had a son, we would name him after your dad. It's almost like someone knew and sent Jacob to us."

Sam turned around so she could face her husband and said, "You wanted to name our son after my dad?"

Pulling her closer to him, Jack replied honestly, "I loved and respected your dad Sam. I can't imagine anyone else who I would rather name a child of mine after."

Sam starred into her husband eyes before reaching down and kissing her husband with such feeling that they started something that wasn't finished until the early morning hours.

----

Jacob quickly became part of the O'Neill household. He learned to accept that his family was slightly different and much bigger than his classmates, except for Izzy, who was of course part of his family.

About six months later, not long after his fourth birthday, Jake approached his parents with several important questions one night when they were alone after dinner.

"Sam, how come I don't have a mommy and a daddy like Izzy?" the little boy questioned.

Realizing how important this discussion was to Jake, Jack joined his son and wife on the couch and began to talk, "You are a very special little boy Jake. Most of your friends, like Izzy, came here with their mom, dad, and the rest of their family. Your mom and dad wanted to make sure that you were safe so they sent you here. I wish they could be here with you now, but they can't."

"Why not?" The little boy asked innocently.

"Because they had to go away for a long, long time Jake," explained Sam.

"Oh. Okay," accepted Jake before continuing with his next question, "Then are you my new mommy and daddy?"

At this point Jack and Sam exchanged a glance, before Jack continued, explaining things just like Sam and him had discussed already. "See Jake, Sam and I wanted a child so much and when we met you, we knew that we wanted you to be part of our family."

"You don't have to call us mom and dad if you don't want to, but you can if you want to," Sam added.

"Okay," accepted Jake, who gave his parents a hug and a kiss before running off to play with his new toys.

Sam and Jack just starred after their son, as Jack wrapped his wife up in his arms, and said, "Well that went better than I thought it would."

----

It took Jake quite some time before he asked the other question that Sam and Jack had diligently prepared for.

After a night spent with friends and family celebrating Cam and Carolyn's engagement, Jack was tucking his son into bed, when the small boy asked, "Daddy, why is my last name Smith and yours and mommy's O'Neill? And how come some people sometime call mommy Carter?"

Already knowing how to answer the second question easily, Jack explained, "Well Jake, before your mom married me and we got you, her last name was Carter. Now her last name is O'Neill, but to keep people from getting confused, she still uses Carter. It's kinda like a nickname, you know we call you Jake even though your real name is Jacob."

"Oh," acknowledged Jake.

"Your last name is Smith, because that was your real parents' last name," Jack further explained. Despite hearing Sam right outside the door, Jack continued talking, knowing that she would let him explain this. "If you want, we could change your last name to O'Neill."

"Okay Daddy. Can I have my story now?" asked Jake.

"Sure son," Jack replied as he pulled a book off of Jake's dresser and sat down to read with the boy until Jake was fast asleep.

----

Later that night, Jack snuggled with Sam and asked, "So did I do good?"

Sam dropped a kiss on her husbands lips before cheekily replying, "Yes, sir," which led to some night time activities that they were thankful Jake slept through.