AN: You know you wanted this

Twinkle Twinkle

Sam was exhausted but Jacob O'Neill was born at three AM Mountain time. Two AM, Jack mused, if you went by Pacific where they technically were. They had ordered the paternity test so there was proof Pete had no claim on the youngest member of the O'Neill family. Jack kissed Sam's forehead and called Mark to let him know his nephew was hale and hearty.

Grace slowly approached her mom's bed. They had ordered her out during labor but she'd returned as soon as she'd gotten an all clear from a nurse. Marge urged her forward "Go on, Doll. You get first dibs. It's your baby brother." She'd held Sam's hand during Grace's birth. Jack had been where he would have been last time had he known, Marge thinks.

"Hey." Grace says shyly to her mom. She's never seen her look more exhausted.

"Hey, pretty girl. Want to meet your baby brother?" Sam said with a tired smile.

Grace nodded, uncharacteristically mute. Her eyes are bright.

"Hey, you okay, kiddo?"

"Did it hurt?" Grace finally asks. Her mom had not screamed in pain but one of the other women who went into labor around the same time had made agonized screams for hours while she labored and the walls of the maternity ward at the Groom Lake medical facility just weren't that thick as it was a very small ward meant for emergency and high risk cases like Sam's not general hospitalizations. Marge had to have a special pass to even be here. She and Grace both had lanyards with their info on them listing them as immediate family and their clearance levels.

"Yup but not as bad as some of the crap that happened at work." Sam says a little amused until she saw the expression on her daughter's face. She'd heard Lt. Conners too. She'd been induced and was pregnant with twins. Sam felt nothing but sympathy for the other woman's pain. "Everyone is different but it's probably on level with those ear infections you used to get." She tells her stark white daughter.

"Those felt like I was being stabbed in the head by a molten hot ice pick, mom."

"Yup and you survived them just fine."

"I think I'm gonna adopt." Grace announces which makes her mom chuckle.

"Not the worst decision ever." Jacob took that moment to squeak in objection to the noise.

Grace looked at him in interest. "His face is all smooshed up."

Sam chuckles. "Yah, yours was too. It will look okay in a couple days. Want to hold him?"

"He's awfully little." Grace debated but nodded anyway. She may as well get used to this tiny interloper. Until now, she'd been an only child. Charlie didn't really count as he'd died a couple years before she was born. Sometimes she felt guilty because if Charlie hadn't died, she probably wouldn't have been born. Her parents might have still met, but her dad might have still been married. She'd eavesdropped on her folks talking about that one night when she was little. They had been trying to decide how to handle everything going on and dad had admitted that as much as he loved Sara, she probably would have left him either way. She'd been pushing for him to stop taking black-ops missions and had she succeeded, the fights about his moodiness would have continued and gotten worse until she was tired of it. He'd admitted to Sam that while part of him would always love his ex-wife, he knew in his heart how it would have ended and possibly, he wouldn't like himself much that way. It had stuck with her and made her feel guilty until Grandpa Jake reminded her that her dad wouldn't treat her any different if she was some other random guy's kid.

Sam handed Grace her little brother who regarded his sister with alert dark eyes. "He likes you." She told Grace.

"He's just a baby. He likes everyone." She countered.

"Nope, he hated the nurse." Sam said chuckling. He did not calm down until Jack had taken him and finished washing the baby with the nurse's supervision while Sam pushed out the placenta.

While Grace held her new brother, Jack was on the phone with his brother-in-law. "Yah, she came through fine, pretty tired but he's healthy and she's fine." He told Mark.

"I'm glad she's all right. The baby too. Pete said there was some question about the paternity." Mark mentions.

Jack smiles to himself in amusement. "We tried out a special tech Sam's department has been working on. The baby's genetics match mine. I'm mailing the official paperwork to Shanahan once the traditional test comes through."

"I guess that's one less complication to worry about." Mark agreed. Jack was having trouble reading if the guy thought it was a good thing or a bad thing until he finished with "I wish Sam would have talked to me before agreeing to that date. I wouldn't have pushed if she'd been honest with me."

"Don't sweat it, Mark. She and I were having some problems and I should have realized it was because she felt insecure at the time."

"Well don't tell her I said this because she can kick my ass but Sam has a bad habit of thinking we can read her mind."

Jack chuckled.

"So tell me about my new nephew and if you plan to add on at some point."

"He's great. Very very cute and not unless we have another accident." Jack says grinning.

"Sam doesn't have the best track record with that so far." Mark says laughing.

"I'm starting to think it's me." Jack admitted. They had quietly told Mark during the wedding that Jack was Grace's father. Mark had grinned and told them that this explained pretty much everything about the last eight years.

"You do seem to be the common variable, Jack." Mark told him.

Jack grinned. "I leave the math to Sam on this one. I should probably go, I'm getting looks."

"Oh yah I know that look. Tell her Kim and the kids and I send our love and we'll try to get out to see the baby this summer if I can get some time off."

"Will do. Stay in touch Mark."

"You too Jack." Mark said and hung up on his brother-in-law. A thing he never thought he'd be saying given Sam's habit of chewing guys up and spitting them out.

"Mark and Kim say hi." Jack says to Sam as he kisses her forehead. "Think you're up to a shower yet?"

Sam looks up at him. "I think I'd need some help." She admits.

"I can watch Jake if you want a shower mom." Grace tells her parents helpfully.

"You sure kiddo? We don't expect you to watch the baby while we do stuff, we can get one of the nurses to help your mom."

Grace shakes her head though. "Nope. He's just a little guy. I think I can take 'em." She quips.

Jack chuckles. "Come get us or call a nurse if things get out of hand. Come on, Carter, let's get you cleaned up." He tells Sam as he helps her up.

"I hurt all over." Sam admits to Jack as she hobbles into the bathroom, Jack's arm gently supporting her around her waist.

Grace sits holding her brother. "Well Jake. How do you like it on the outside so far? You know, when you're my age, I'll be in college. I'll still be here for you though 'cause that's what siblings do." She smiles down at him. "You're kind of cute even if you do look all smooshed up." She admits.

Forgotten in the waiting room, Marge had leaned against an arm rest and dozed off for the night.