An hour later:
The kids had finally surfaced. The adults were organizing breakfast in the kitchen barely large enough to accommodate four easily amused adults that were spending more time teasing each other then accomplishing their task of making batter and frying meat.
The boys had been shuffled off to the den to watch cartoons so they missed out on their father juggling eggs until one broke in his hand and the rest of the adults laughing at his expression when sticky slimy goop dripped from his fingers. He was busy washing them while Sam wiped up the floor when a late model sedan pulled into the driveway. A black and white pulled in behind him and popped off a two note warning.
Jack and Sam exchanged a look. The boys chose that moment to return to the kitchen. "What was that mom?" Jake asked, not being as familiar with the sound of a police siren as his older brother.
"Boys," Jack's voice went to command mode. "Go on upstairs. Stay there and be quiet until your mom or I give you the all clear, ok?"
Georgie nodded and dragged his little brother out of the room. "But I want to see what's going on," Jake protested
"Shut up stupid." Georgie said more but he had drifted out of ear shot. Jack knew Georgie had figured out the guest bathroom they shared was over the garage behind his observation deck and they would be able to overhear the conversation without being seen.
Jack looked at Sam and Vala as he cranked the kitchen window open slightly. "You two stay here. Daniel." He didn't say any more but his eyes cut to the door and Daniel followed him out.
Sam and Vala exchanged a look and flanked the window where they couldn't be seen.
All this happened in seconds. Jack was already out the door flanked by Daniel who, while not in possession of the steely eyed killer look Jack wore like a second skin, he was an intimidating looking man himself, even in Jack's borrowed sweatpants.
Jack strode forward and stopped where the walkway met his drive as Shanahan was getting out of the sedan.
"That's far enough. You aren't welcome here detective." Jack told the other man in an easy sort of voice, his posture deceptively loose.
"I have a right to see my kids." Pete told Jack as the cops got out of their car, one of them said something into his radio.
Jack tilted his head and smiled meanly. "Not as of yesterday… detective." He looked at Daniel for confirmation as though he wasn't sure. Daniel nodded firmly. "Ah yes, yesterday. Where were you detective? I was there. Danny here was there, Sam and the kids were there. Her CO and her CO's CO were even there. Did you forget where the courthouse is by chance? Like you forgot where the house you bought Sam but made sure was foreclosed on, no matter what she did to get caught up was?"
"Sir, detective Shanahan is trying to arrange visitation with his children, that's all."
Jack looked at the cop, smiled. "Officer… Davies? Has the detective informed you he missed his court date yesterday regarding his parental rights? He's no longer legally their father. If you like, my buddy here can bring out the paperwork but if you call the courthouse, friend of the court will confirm Detective Shanahan has lost the legal right to see his former kids."
The cop looked uncertainly at Pete.
"A temporary set back. I'll be reinstated." Pete assured the cops.
"I really doubt it buddy." Jack said with a grin.
"You don't have a legal right to keep me from my kids."
"Don't I?" Jack asked as he tilted his head and frowned as though intrigued. "Probably not. But I do have the right to keep you legally from my kids." Jack had a glint in his eye that anyone who knew him would realize he was holding all the face cards and they should just fold.
Pete wasn't a good card player and missed Jack's tell. "That's cute. You think because she shacked up with you again that those are your kids now? She left you for me. Jumped right in my bed without a second thought and I gave her what you never did. Her kids." Pete said, a snide smile on his face.
But Jack laughed. Jack laughed like he was in on the best joke of his life and only he held the knowledge of the punch-line. "You sure about that, 'detective'?" He said, still laughing.
Realizing he might not be on firm ground Pete did grasp that perhaps Jack knew the oldest boy might be his. "Fine, you can keep that moody little shit you probably spawned but only one of those kids is yours, old man."
Jack's eyes went cold. "When you decided to marry her, that's when you should have committed to her kids being your own even if you weren't sure. Especially after going to that much work to bed her when she was too upset to fight you off." But now Jack's mean smile got wider. "You also should have gotten your junk checked more often. You're shooting blanks buddy."
Pete glared at him. "Not that it matters to you but that's pretty unlikely."
"Is it? Then how come I have paperwork from Family Center for Fertility Clinic with my name on it signing off on Sam's insemination… with my sperm."
"I don't give a shit how you two made the older boy, that's your problem." Pete said with a shrug.
"We made him the old fashioned way. Jake, on the other hand… You wanted another kid but your swimmers were trash so she asked me if she could use my POA to start the paperwork. Of course I agreed because I love her and would do anything for her." Jack's smile was genuine now. "Both of them are mine Pete, and I can prove it so you can take your friends and get off my property now. I wouldn't suggest trying to get custody of those boys either. I can prove both are biologically my sons.
"Oh and Pete, you never loved them anyway. Any of them. You only married Sam out of spite. If you ever loved her you wouldn't have tried to ruin her life so she'd have to come back to you. That's probably the reason she came to me about the second pregnancy. She knew if push came to shove, I'd never let anyone hurt my kids by taking them from their mom. Only a total asshole does shit like that."
Jack turned his back and walked away to the door.
"This isn't over." Pete yelled.
Jack turned. He put up a finger thoughtfully. "You know what, you're right. It's not. I need to legally adopt the boys seeing as they don't have a dad now other than me. Oh!" Jack grinned. "I need to retire and marry your ex-wife and get the kids names changed. Mine, hers, doesn't really matter. As long as there's nothing left to remind them of the man who didn't make them and couldn't bring himself to love them even when he thought he had." Jack shook his head, almost sadly. "That's the difference you know. I loved those boys even when I thought they were yours because I love Sam and the only thing that matters is that those kids need someone to love them. It never mattered to me whose dick they came out of. It shouldn't have to you either."
Pete's face fell. He was being erased and even if he fought it, it was unlikely he'd win.
"Oh and don't get any bright ideas about hassling Sam with your buddies. Officer Davies say hi to Rick for me. I'll get with him about Toys for Tots in a few weeks. I've got some ideas." He told the uniformed lieutenant behind Pete. Rick was his chief and a former Marine sergeant.
"Yes sir General." The quiet radio conversation had been to confirm the ownership of the house. Pete had bitten off way more than he could chew here and he really wanted to abandon the guy to his fate on this one. The general seemed to have the upper hand here and Detective Shanahan needed to cut his losses.
Jack rotated his shoulder indicating to Daniel the conversation was over and they were heading back in. "Have a nice life Shanahan. Stay out of mine." Jack turned and walked away.
"All right, let's go." Davies said to his partner and they went back to their squad car.
"That bastard." Pete muttered.
"Yah yah. Probably should have paid your child support and not been such a jerk to your ex-wife Pete. You knew all her friends were crazy." Davies told him. Working together didn't make them friends.
"Shut up." He snarled and slammed the car door as he plopped into the driver's seat.
"The fertility clinic?"
"What can I say, I'm a generous guy."
"You really enjoyed telling him that, didn't you."
"You have no idea Danny."
"So you've known all along then."
"Nope. I just found out this morning that I signed that paperwork. Gosh it was nice of me to do that and forget all about it until now." He said with a grin.
"Wait, this morning?!"
Upstairs Jake turned to his brother. "What's a fertility clinic?"
"It's where people go to help them have kids when they can't on their own." The eight year old told his brother.
"What did Jack mean?"
"About what?"
"He said both of us were his."
"Well, he's adopting us both."
"Yah but he said it like he's our dad, like our real dad."
Georgie bit his lip then shrugged. "If mom marries Jack and he adopts us, he'll be our dad."
Jake didn't look like he believed his brother. "I think he's our real dad and Pete is a big fat liar."
"I think your brain is full of beans." Georgie said.
"I see you filled our esteemed General in on your previous transgressions." Vala said archly as she watched Pete's car pull away.
"I better hack my email and fake a conversation from six years ago asking for his help." Sam said thoughtfully. She hadn't expected him to handle the situation quite that way but in retrospect she probably should have. Jack was willing to do some fairly sketchy things to protect the people he loved. Her heart had done a gleeful little dance when he'd told Pete he planned to marry her. They had talked around the idea this morning but hadn't addressed it head on. She should probably be mad that he did that without confirming she wanted to get married to him at this point but she didn't see a reasonable reason not to. He clearly loved her regardless of whatever crazy things she did
"Yah, he's the sort that would dig around just to cause trouble."
"I wish he'd got his ass shot off the first time." Sam said spitefully.
"I can still arrange that Carter." Jack said as he came in, having gotten the gist of the conversation. He plopped a kiss in the edge of her forehead before going to yell up the stairs. 'All clear.' to the boys. Hutch barked.
