"So is there anything else I need to do then?" Sam asked her attorney. "Ok, well, hopefully he doesn't get any bright ideas." She chuckled at the response. "Yah it would just figure. Thanks."
Jack looked up from his work. A question in his dark eyes. He slept on base but generally he was at the house as soon as he was dressed until after dinner now. He didn't want to set the precedent that he was available on base for problems even if it did look a little hinky, him showing up at the house daily even when Sam was off for the day.
"That was Lorin. I have a court date for next month about Pete's parental rights. If he can make it to the six months mark without bothering himself about his kids, I have an open and shut case to have them severed." She told him.
"Ah. What happens to his back child support?"
"He's still on the hook for it though given everything else he's done I don't expect to see it unless they garnish his wages and that might lead to him being an active parent out of spite. I don't think Georgie could handle that. He's too honest."
"He gets that from you." Jack told her.
Sam shook her head. "I used to be."
Jack got up and walked over to her. He stepped closer and tilted her chin up. "You've had to make some tough choices. That doesn't make you a dishonest person Carter." He told her; his voice thick with emotion.
But her eyes slid away from him. He wouldn't think that if he knew the rest.
"I'd like to be there for the hearing." He told her.
She nodded thoughtfully. He had a vested interest after all. "All right."
"Danny and Vala should be here any time. We figured we'd take the kids for the afternoon and you and Vala can just relax for a change."
She tilted her head at him. "What are you up to, Jack?"
"It's been a rough month for the both of you. We thought you might like some time without us underfoot. Sit around drinking wine or go shopping or something." He said grinning.
Sam crossed her arms over her chest. "Are you devolving or something?"
"No. I just know Vala really likes shopping and she'll drag you along." He said with a grin.
Sam had to concede that Jack had a point. "All right but take them to the mall. It's too cold for the park and Georgie just got over a cold."
Jack nodded. He could work with those parameters. "He's a good kid Carter. Thank you for raising our son so well in spite of your situation."
Sam's heart fluttered a little when he said 'our son'. "Jack… I…"
Jack had leaned in and his hand that had gently held her chin had moved to cup her cheek, his eyes dipped to her mouth then back up to her eyes, asking permission before he followed through on his obvious intent.
She swallowed and her lips parted, her eyes a little startled when she realized where he was going with this conversation.
Jack lowered his head and gave her lips the barest of brush when the front door opened with a swirl of cold Colorado January air.
"Anyone home?" Daniel called from the front hall and was greeted by the boys yelling 'Uncle Daniel!' at him.
Jack chuckled a little and rested his forehead on hers. Five months ago she'd flinched when he'd looked like he might touch her. She still had at least some feelings for him. He hoped it was enough to rebuild on.
"Jack? Sam darling, where are you two lovebirds hiding?" Vala called cheerfully as she headed towards where they were in the kitchen.
Jack stepped back from Sam and quirked an eyebrow. "Where pray has Vala gotten that impression?"
Sam gave him an incredulous look that he could even ask after he'd just kissed her. She saw by his eyes he was laughing and rolled hers.
"There you are! You boys go have a good time together. Sam and I will sit here and relax for a change."
"Are you sure she knows how?" Jack asked Vala which earned him a punch in the arm from Sam. "Ow. Carter, assaulting a superior officer is a court-martialable offence."
Sam gave him an arch look. What he'd clearly been about to do wasn't exactly regulation either.
Jack grinned at her.
Vala grinned happily. Sam hadn't been this relaxed or happy in years. Had she known she'd have done something about this situation years ago. Daniel had not wanted to talk about the fight he had with Jack or Jack at all, not even a little. She'd been in the dark this entire time that Sam's unhappiness wasn't just a loveless marriage, it was losing the love of her life for reasons Vala still hadn't figured out yet but she would.
"Shoo! Shoo! Go." She told Jack, steering him out of the kitchen and towards the door where Daniel was trying to get the boys to put on their coats. They could make eyes at each other later. She had work to do.
Jack sat back on the bench watching Daniel chase the boys around, laughing. The cold was bugging Jack's bad knee and Daniel had told him to relax and just let the boys play. One of the moms sat down next to him while he checked his phone, one eye on Georgie and Jake's locations.
"So which one is yours?" She said with a smile as she set down the baby carrier between them. Jack grinned at the little bundle half covered in a blanket and made faces at her until she gurgled happily.
"The two crazy ones being loud. The blond and his messy haired brother." Jack said with a proud smile.
"Your husband seems to be having fun with them." She observed.
Jack laughed. "We aren't… he's my brother-in-law. More or less." Jack said, not sure why he'd said that.
She smirked. "Which one is it, more or less?"
Jack shrugged. "He's their mom's best friend." Jack admitted.
"Oh, you aren't married then." She said in that kind of conversational voice one adopts when they are fishing for a date.
Jack chuckled. "No. Working on it though."
"Wants the attention and kids but not the commitment, huh?" she observed.
"No, I kind of screwed up and we didn't see each other for a while."
"I'm sorry, that must have been hard on you, not seeing your kids."
"It was." He admitted and realized that he was sad that he'd missed out on so much of their lives but it wasn't Carter's fault he hadn't been around. She'd e-mailed him a couple times even though she'd avoided personal contact. If he'd been less stubborn they might have talked sooner and while she might have still had to keep Georgie's parentage to between just them, he could have been a part of his son's life and steered her away from letting the cop control her the way he had.
Daniel chose that moment to come back and plop down on the bench next to Jack. "I'm getting too old for this." Daniel told him with a rueful chuckle.
"I've been saying that for twenty years Danny." Jack told him dryly.
"Sarah! Time to go!" The mom yelled to her curly haired daughter as she slid her coat back on. "It was nice to meet you." She said with a smile. "I hope you work things out."
Jack nodded his thanks.
After she left Daniel gave Jack an arch look. "I hope you work things out?"
"Just idle chit-chat, Daniel."
"About Sam."
"Daniel."
"Jack."
"Drop it."
Daniel shrugged. They both knew the conversation wasn't over.
"I might have insinuated I was trying to get back together with their mom." Jack admitted.
"Are you?"
"No. Yes. No."
"Well that's decisive." Daniel said with an amused smile.
"Georgie figured out who I am to him."
"Oh."
"Cass was over for New Years Eve and playing with him in his room. She said something about the shrub and Georgie blew a gasket. Denied the shrub like I'd deny ol' Bocci. Carter came clean. Thought I'd be mad at her for it."
"Were you?"
"A little but I was proud of her for being honest with the kid. She could have brushed him off or denied it. It's not like the kid had any proof beyond that crazy hair of his."
"And your sparkling personality." Daniel said with a grin.
"I'm a delight." Jack said, his eyes crinkling in amusement. "I made sure Carter knew I understood her reasons. She's working on getting the shrub's parental rights severed because he doesn't call or see the kids at all and hasn't been paying his child support either."
"Bastard. Why is he trying to ruin her this way?"
"Because he can hide behind his badge. If he thought he could threaten her too I bet he probably would. I think he knows that would backfire. She has bigger bads on her side than he does on his."
Daniel nodded and gave Jack a wolfish grin that Jack returned.
"Anyway I haven't talked to her yet about it but I want to adopt the boys legally."
"Wouldn't it be easier just to do a DNA test?"
"Probably but that doesn't solve the problem of Jake and I wouldn't claim just Georgie. That's not how I work, Daniel."
"I know Jack, and for what it's worth, I hope she accepts. When will you tell her?"
"Not until after the hearing. The attorney can't file a formal motion until his rights are severed anyway and I don't want to get my hopes up before that."
"Or hers."
"Why would she hope my screwed up ass wants to adopt her kids?"
Daniel just looked at him like he was being unusually stupid.
"So Daniel tells me the house sold." Vala said as she made sandwiches.
Sam handed her a beer. "Yah. Didn't get nearly what that idiot paid for it or even close to what I owe but at least it paid down some of the debt. It's going to take me at least two years and a lot of overtime to make a dent in the balance and let's face it, it's going to be hard to prove that's not my signature on the other mortgage. They sent it to me, it's similar enough that it probably won't hold up in court."
"Oh Sam. I'm sorry. Thank goodness Jack is letting you rent the house."
"He won't let me pay him. Told me he's here all the time anyway."
"I wonder why that is." Vala said, her voice full of snark.
Sam shook her head. "He's still stuck in the same situation as before so I have no idea why he's even entertaining the idea."
"At least you admit you've noticed he's still in love with you." Vala told her sagely.
"I don't understand why after everything I've done to him."
"Did you stop being in love with him just because he broke your heart all those years ago?" Vala asked Sam pointedly.
"No, I suppose not."
"Well then there you go. Some loves you just don't get over."
Sam sighed and bit into her sandwich. "I may as well tell you in case he slips up." Sam bit her lip. "Pete isn't Georgie's father… Jack is."
Vala looked at Sam impassively and bit into her sandwich.
"You already knew." Sam said, a sick look on her face.
"I have a confession, Sam. I'm the reason Jon knows about the boys."
"You?" Sam looked at her incredulously. "How?"
"Oh well, you know me, I was curious about it after I saw Jack up close and noticed how much Georgie looks like him and how skittish you were so I borrowed that useless toggle thingy you use to check people for the Alteran marker."
"Vala. Why did you do that?!" Sam looked panicked.
Vala ignored the question. Sam should know by now that curiosity was reason enough for Vala. "Jon didn't elaborate how he knew what you did Sam but he knew how Jake is Jack's too without you having… well, you know, for years."
"Oh god."
"Sam, what did you do? You know I won't judge you. I'm the last person to ever do that. I won't tell Daniel or Jack either, at least not until you've talked to Jack."
"Vala, you absolutely cannot tell anyone ever. What I did was illegal and not just a fudge the law a little illegal but full on things you have done level illegal."
"Sam, are you saying I've been a bad influence on you?" Vala said with a grin.
"Oh you don't know the half of it."
"Well then, why don't you come tell me?" Vala told her and took her sandwich into the living room to sit among Sam's plants and Jack's photos.
Sam followed her and sat on the couch with a look of mild panic on her face. "I wasn't sure about Georgie. I thought it was a possibility but I put it out of my head. It didn't matter I told myself. Jack had made himself very clear that being with me had been the biggest mistake he'd made in a while. A couple years later when they offered me the Atlantis position after Liz died, Pete told me how much he wanted another baby. I don't know why I believed him. He didn't love Georgie. I think he knew honestly or suspected. In retrospect he was very determined to get me into his bed once he knew I had just broken things off with Jack. I couldn't have been more than a week along or so but I think Pete was covering his bases, muddying the waters just in case.
"I turned down the promotion even though it meant I'd make full bird and tried to have another baby. I know my cycle. I should have gotten pregnant just as easily the second time so when I didn't I had everything checked. I was fine. I started to worry, if I was fine then it must be something on his end so to speak."
Vala chuckled at her choice of words and Sam smiled then sobered again. "I couldn't just take him to a fertility clinic without having to explain myself regarding his son who was another man's child. A man Pete vehemently hated by the way."
"Jack is everything Pete isn't Sam. Most especially I'm told by those in the know, that your father loved Jack and let Jack call him dad, something he denied Pete then tried to get both Jack and your brother to stop you from marrying him."
"Teal'c needs to shut his big yap." Sam said affectionately.
"Then where would I get all my good intel?"
Sam saluted Vala with her beer before continuing. "You don't need to have a lot of experience to examine a semen sample for fertility issues. Unlike ovum, sperm show signs of obvious anomalies under a microscope."
"Well that's a novel way of handling things." Vala said in amusement.
"Yah. I acted like it was some kink thing to suck him off under the covers and when he came I got as much as I could into a sample jar then acted like it was my new favorite thing for a few days so he wouldn't catch on. When he fell asleep though which he always did almost immediately after, I took it downstairs and examined his output. I was expecting a low count or something along those lines, something I could work with if I had myself implanted."
"He was shooting blanks." Vala said.
"Not quite. But he may as well have been. He's infertile. Sperm don't live very long outside the body but his wouldn't have mattered. They were abnormal. Almost all of them. I couldn't get pregnant with Pete if I tried."
"If it makes you feel any better Sam, you might not have been able to get pregnant with many people at all given you're a former host."
"Janet had mentioned that. She told me it wasn't impossible but it might be harder. At first though I figured if it happened easily the first time…"
Vala nodded. "That still doesn't explain how he's Jack's without Jack knowing about it."
Sam sighed. "I've had a durable power of attorney and a health care proxy for Jack for years. He was mine until the break-up as well. Neither of us really had anyone we could rely on back then. After the first time Jack was exposed to the Alteran repository and Thor's later examination and subsequent revelation that he had the genetic marker, the Asgard suggested Jack secure genetic material in the case of his untimely death."
Sam chuckled a little. "We all had a good laugh about it but Jack said something to me that popped in my head when I realized Georgie had to be his because he couldn't be Pete's. He told me half joking that if something happened to him, it was up to me to decide what happened to his 'spermcicle.'."
"He was giving you permission if you ever wanted his baby if he was gone."
"Yah, there was something in his will about it too but I'm sure he's long since changed that. After the first time Daniel died we all had wills drawn up and each of us had a copy so there would be no surprises."
"You still had legal access to his swimmers." Vala said thoughtfully but unable to be entirely serious.
Sam nodded. "He never took me off apparently and I forged the rest of the paperwork. I'd mastered his signature to help him fill out requisition forms for things he didn't care about. Sometimes Daniel and I ordered strange things as a joke and had them delivered to his office." She chuckled at the memory. "Vala what I did would land me in front of a tribunal. I wouldn't just lose my job, I'd face dishonorable discharge and Jack would probably hate me for taking advantage of his good faith."
"I don't think Jack could hate you for anything." Vala told her honestly. "Especially for giving him another child to love."
"Part of me did it because I knew if it ever came down to it, I could prove who the father of both of them was. And that if I did have to cut and run, Jack might tell me to go to hell but he'd take his kids."
Vala gave her a sympathetic look that she was considering leaving for that long and had been afraid to do so.
"Jon knew what I had to have done and he says Jack won't be angry but he's not really Jack anymore and I never hurt Jon the way I have Jack. This is going to be too much even for him. I can't tell him. Not now. Possibly not ever." She looked Vala square in the eyes. "Promise me you won't tell Daniel any of his."
Vala huffed out a sigh. "Scouts' honor. Besides, I only have one best girlfriend and if I betray her trust who will I go shopping with?"
Sam chuckled a little. "Who indeed."
