The rest of that evening:
Sam was surprised when Landry showed up with everyone else. Hank had a realtor buddy who set up a short sale on the house. Sam would never recover what was owed but at least it would be a significant dent in the balance. She was on the hook for the second mortgage, her attorney had told her over the phone, until they could nail the slimy bastard on forgery and falsifying records. He'd used her income prior to making her cut back her hours to qualify for the loan.
Vala came back without the kids and Jack had been a little beside himself when Vala had admitted the 'friend' who took the kids to the mall for a few hours so SG-1 could come up with a game plan for Sam had been none other than one Jon O'Neill. He'd given Vala a hard look and she'd returned it, a challenge in her eyes, daring him to give her one good reason why his own clone shouldn't be taking care of the boys he took care of every day.
About an hour later Vala got a phone call she excused herself for. "Are the boys all right" She asked him, concerned.
"No, they're fine. Danny was right. G-Man is definitely mine, er, well, his."
"Well, that's a relief. You have no idea how hard it was to slip that thing out of her office. Make sure you get it back so I can smuggle it back in, darling."
"Of course." There was a long pause. "Ah, Vala…" He huffed out a sigh so like his older self Vala chuckled. "Did, um, did they?" He paused again. "You know… after?"
"No darling, they hadn't seen each other in ages, not until he popped back up at the end of this August. Why do you ask?"
"Well, you know how kids are, J-Dog wanted to give it a shot too. Vala… he is too."
"Wait… both of them?" She asked nearly but not entirely shocked.
"Unless the shrub is but I find that pretty unlikely. Somehow she… oh. Oh hell Vala. Jesus, what was she thinking?"
"Jon, I have absolutely no idea what you are going on about."
"Shit. I don't know if I should be relieved or angry. She must have… dammit. Look, they are almost done in the can, I gotta go."
"All right. I'll text you when the party winds down and let me know how much I owe you."
"It's Sam, Vala, you don't owe me a thing."
Vala grinned. She'd told Jack exactly the same thing.
She walked back in on Teal'c and Cam discussing coordinating base personnel to help them box up Sam and the kid's things.
Jack was standing by the fireplace turned to them. "Have them box up my stuff too." He interrupted their discussion.
Sam, the edges of panic in her eyes, looked at him.
He saw it, saw that she thought he was abandoning her to her fate and he needed to nip that in the bud before it took hold. Never again. Especially not now. "Have the guys take her stuff to my place. It's just been sitting empty anyway. I'll sleep on base." He told Teal'c.
"A most agreeable solution." Teal'c agreed.
"Wait… Jack, I can't take your house." Sam insisted. "I'll get us an apartment or... or something."
"The house is paid off and the property taxes and insurance have been on automatic withdrawal for years now. This way the kids have a home instead of an apartment, they can be with their dog; they still have a yard to play in. It's in their school district so they don't have to make new friends. You don't have to worry about rent or working on a down payment for a new place.
"It's the most logical solution Carter." He told her.
"Look it makes… some sense but I can sleep in the basement. It's not fair to put you out of your own home." She insisted.
Everyone was looking at them covertly. Only three people at the house besides Jack and Sam knew why things had ended between them. At least one of those people knew Jack never stopped being in love with Sam. There was a high probability two of them did. Jack's eyes swept the room. "Outside, Carter. That's an order." He said softly and stalked to the front door. Eyes huge, Sam followed him, not understanding his sudden shift in behavior.
After she closed the front door behind her Jack turned. "I am doing every possible thing I can here, but Sam, I can't… if there's any hint…" He scrubbed his hand through his hair.
She waited for him to compose himself. Something, she reflected, she probably should have done nine years ago.
"I can't kill that shrub you married and I can't afford to buy your house back for you…" He could but it would leave him pretty deep in the hole and unable to ever follow through on his other plans. "All I can do is make it so the shit he's pulling doesn't force you into a position that you feel you have to take him back to survive." He gave her a hard look. "My problem didn't go away though. I still have a target on my back and if there's even a whiff that I'm… I can't undo what that creep did to you if they torpedo your career Carter. Did any of that make sense?"
Sam looked down at her feet for a moment then looked up at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. She nodded slowly. "Thank you." She told him softly. "It's not fair to you and you shouldn't have to do things this way, but… thank you."
"We'll… we'll figure things out Carter. I promise. It won't always be this way." His heart twisted in his gut with that near admission that he still wanted to be with her in whatever way she'd have him. "But until I neutralize that threat, everything needs to be as above board as a guy in my line of work can manage."
Sam put a hand on his arm. "I understand." She told him and he'd have thought for just a moment that he saw a flash of what he felt for her returned in her eyes but he told himself it was a trick of the light and put his hand over hers.
"I'm sorry about the house Carter." He told her sincerely.
"I'm not." She grinned. "It's an ugly house. I like yours better."
Jack chuckled. "It's yours as long as you and the boys need it. You have to share when I retire though because I don't think they will let me live on base at that point."
Did he just suggest? No. That's your imagination Sam. He's just making a joke. "Deal."
"All right. Let's go back inside. It's too damned cold out here."
It wasn't much longer after that when Vala called Jon to bring the boys back home. The kids ran inside and literally attacked Jack to tell them about their fun afternoon with Jon. Jack was beside himself again. Beside himself because he'd literally been beside himself. Jon found it far more amusing than Jack had. Sam thought it was hilarious and had affectionately kissed the younger man's cheek as a thank you in front of Jack just to get a rise out of him.
Shortly after, Jon made his goodbyes and Sam walked him out. Jack was getting the kids ready for bed. "Thank you, Jon. I appreciated the help. They don't need to be mixed up in all this adult drama."
"Sam, it's you. You know I'd do anything for you."
She nodded. Without the vested interest of her returning his regard due to his age, Jon had the option of being far more truthful than Jack did.
"Have you told him about Georgie?"
Sam gave him a panicked look.
"I'll take that as a no. You know I won't say anything to him Sam, but someone else might. Someone like Danny. You need to tell him before he finds out on his own." He told her gently.
"I know. There's just not a good time in all this to tell him." She admitted.
"I suppose not." He agreed. "Do it soon, Sam. You better tell him about Jake too while you're at it."
Sam looked up at him in horror.
"If you had asked I'd have taken care of it for you the legal way. I'm technically still him." He shrugged. "You have to tell him Sam. I think I get your reasons but he has a right to know."
Sam sighed heavily.
Jon tilted his head and lifted her chin. "He won't stop loving you because of this, Sam. I promise."
Sam's eyes went very wide. "No, Jon it's not like that, he's… he's just helping out after what happened; he feels guilty, responsible." She told him, her voice quavering.
"Sam. I know me." His mouth quirked in a smile. "If you need someone to watch the boys just call." He laughed a little. "I always knew we'd make great kids." And he kissed her cheek fondly and left.
Sam bit her lip in worry then went back inside. There just wasn't a right time to tell him this kind of thing. She'd fudged her rights with his DPA and HCP paperwork that he'd never removed her from to get things set up then outright forged his name on the documents the clinic sent her. She'd had no other choice. Pete was infertile and had he gone to get checked he'd have found out for sure Georgie wasn't his child. Sam hadn't even been sure until she'd tried to actively get pregnant again. The only reason Sam knew herself was because she'd tested a sample of his semen herself to find out what was going wrong when all her own tests came back fine.
She'd had all the paperwork routed to the mountain so Pete never knew she'd been artificially inseminated. She'd told herself it was because their hair and eye color was enough of a match that Pete would never notice anyway just like he hadn't noticed Georgie wasn't his but she was lying to herself. She'd done it because she had access to something Jack had done at the recommendation of the Asgard after the first repository incident. He'd laughed telling them that he had a popsicle of swimmers on stand-by if anyone needed it.
But deep, deep down her real reason had been horribly self-serving. She knew if Pete ever went from controlling and manipulative to violent that Jack would do anything to protect children and he'd murder to protect his own children. She had that weapon in her arsenal. That neither boy was Pete's and he had no right to them because she did, in fact, know exactly who the father was in both cases.
And oh how she'd loved knowing for certain this baby was his. She'd sat in her rocking chair, Georgie too young to understand or repeat what she said. She'd told them both about their father and how much she loved him, what a good man he was, how much she wanted them both to meet him some day. Silly pipe dreams of a desperately sad woman at the time that Jack would somehow come back and still love her, that it had all just been some horrible mistake.
But he'd protected her only to have her commit a felony to cover her own ass. Jon was wrong. Jack might still care about her, but finding out the terrible self serving lie she'd been living would crush any blossoming feelings he might be entertaining for her. She'd tell him about Georgie of course because Jack had a right to know the truth in that matter but for now, at least, the identity of Jake's father needed to remain a secret.
