Chapter 10

Car seats correctly installed, children collected and in said seats, the O'Neill/Carter family were on their way home for the first time. Jack had actually been able to drag Carter away from her lab at quitting time without too much complaint. Jack had really wanted their first night at their new home, well for Sam and the kids at least, to be as normal as possible for the kids. For Jack, that included the two of them there on time and a nice, home cooked family meal. Jack would be cooking it, of course. They had a fully stocked kitchen that they had filled last night so Jack had no excuse to order take out.

When they had arrived, Sam decided to get the children settled, showing Grace what had changed and all that. Vala had assured them that Grace knew it would be different, but Sam was surprised just how well she was handling all the changes. Thankfully, Grace didn't seem to mind having to share a room with Ian for the time being. Hopefully, she wouldn't question why her parents were in separate rooms, or even notice at all…

After the grand tour, Sam set the children in the living room where she and Jack could see them from the kitchen. Grace was excited to play with her new toys and Ian was happily cooing in the swing. Jack gave her the task of making a salad while he finished up the garlic bread and sauce he was making for a simple dinner of spaghetti – one of Grace's favorites according to Vala. Bonus points for being a fairly easy meal to make.

During dinner, Grace chatted happily about her day and what she had done, which wasn't a lot or very interesting, but at least it filled the silence. The two Air force officers still were feeling a little awkward about their new situation. It would take time getting used to it. Fortunately, Grace didn't seem to notice and/or care. After dinner, they adjourned outside, since it was a lovely night, and outside was where they remained until bedtime.

Again, they had no trouble getting Grace ready for bed, which included a bath as well since she hadn't really taken one since arriving in their fair reality. After a bedtime story, though Sam thought they really should get her more stimulating books since she found out that Grace was gifted and her reading level was way higher, Grace went down easily, per usual. Ian, not so much.

"Guess he's not ready to go down," Jack suggested as he sat on the couch, bouncing the wide awake baby on his lap.

"Apparently not," Sam agreed and stroked the baby's cheek. "Guess he was on his best behavior the other night," she referred to their first night having the kids. Last night Vala had taken care of them and Ian had fallen asleep just as they had gotten back to the base and that was after twelve in the morning! God she hoped that first night wasn't a fluke. Was this really only their third day and night with them? It seemed longer to her.

"It just occurred to me," he started, "what are you going to tell your brother? About the kids, I mean?" Sure, Jacob could know the truth, but how are they going to explain it to Mark?

"Oh my God," Sam groaned out, letting her head fall against the back of the couch. "I didn't even think about him and how to explain this to him."

"Well, I don't have any family to worry about so whatever you want to tell him is fine."

Rub it in, why don't you, Sam thought not so nicely. "Explaining Ian will be easier, but I simply can't say 'Surprise! You have a four-year old niece I've neglected to tell you.'"

Jack hummed and they started to bounce a few ideas off each other, but frankly, there weren't a lot of options outside the truth. Sam came up with the most plausible idea, which Jack wasn't entirely crazy about. They would tell Mark that Grace was Jack's orphaned niece, whom he took in after Jack's (imaginary) brother died and proceeded to adopt. Jack didn't like that she wouldn't be viewed as Grace's actual mother to the world. Sam assured him it would be okay and it was necessary, but he still didn't like it.

The remainder of the story would be that Sam volunteered to help Jack navigate sudden parenthood, they fall in love, Sam decided to leave the team to get out of the same chain of command, and then bam! Baby Ian born nine months later. Sam would explain her delay in informing him as being crazy busy with her new position and getting used to becoming a mother to Grace and that the time had just slipped away from her.

"You think he'll buy it?" Jack asked skeptically and still wasn't fully on board with the plan. It was unfair to Sam and he didn't the way she came off.

"Sir, I think it's our only choice," she insisted. "And he'll definitely believe me forgetting and pushing back telling him. I can sell it to him."

"Carter, call me Jack," he ordered lightly, "at least when we're off base."

"Only if you call me Sam," she teased lightly.

"Alright, Sam," he replied and dragged out her name with a smile.

"So Jack," she tested the name on her tongue, "I was thinking…"

"Shocker," he interrupted briefly.

She rolled her eyes. "I know we agreed to bring the kids with us to the base until we can set up permanent childcare, but I'm not entirely thrilled at bringing them with us…"

"Because…" he motioned for her to continue.

"Well, si-Jack," she quickly corrected, "the SGC isn't the safest of places for them. What if something happens while they're there. A foothold situation, a disease brought back, you name it. I don't like the idea of them being there if such a thing were to happen."

Jack thought about her words and they made sense, as usual. "So what do you wanna do instead?"

"Vala," was her answer.

"Vala?" he repeated.

"Vala," she confirmed. "I want to ask General Hammond if he'd allow Vala off base so she could take care of them here. If she was willing, of course. That way they would be off base, safe, and with someone they know and we can trust."

Ian started to fuss which prompted Sam to look at her watch to discover that it was about the time to feed him. She had noticed that he seemed to get hungry every three hours or so. She assumed that she had Vala to thank for getting him on a feeding schedule as well as a tentative sleeping schedule. She dragged herself from the couch, mumbling to Jack that she'd get Ian a bottle. It took mere minutes to make.

When she handed the bottle to Jack, he mumbled a thanks and watched his son drink it greedily. "How do you always know when he's hungry?" he asked

She raised her eyebrows. "You haven't noticed that he gets hungry like every three hours?" she asked disbelieving. "Or how he sleeps at the same times? Well, except for at night but that may be our fault."

His face scrunched up. "No…" he dragged out, looking down at said child. "You mean he's on a schedule?"

Sam let out a small chuckle and shook her head slightly at the Colonel. "He appears to be. I think we have Vala to thank for that."

"Huh," was his reply.

"So," she started, "what do you think of Vala watching them during the day, here?" she asked again, pointing to the floor when she said 'here.'

"If we can get Hammond to agree to it, I say we try," he answered. "You're right: the SGC is no place for them. And it wouldn't be for too long. Cassie's stuff didn't take that long. We should look into preschools and daycare availability for both of them."

It was then that Sam had neglected to tell Jack what Vala had shared with her earlier today. "Preschool won't work for Grace," she declared. When she saw his questioning face, she continued, "Grace is gifted. She was tested in her reality and all set to start an accelerated program at one of the schools here. We need to be looking into that school to see if there's still time to enroll her before the school year."

A proud grin slowly spread across his face. "Gifted, huh?" wasn't really a question. "Why am I not surprised. Bet this little munchkin will also be smarter than me," he stated, looking down at Ian with a smile.

"I guess we'll see."

Ian finished eating and was quickly burped and changed before Sam put him to bed, grabbing the baby monitor. They had decided to take turns getting up with Ian. Sam had first shift and when she was done, she'd put the monitor into Jack's room. Hopefully this way, they'd get more sleep. Hopefully…

Overall, their first night together in their new home went fairly well. Both officers knew it wouldn't always be this easy, but they were thankful that the last couple of nights hadn't been too brutal so they could adapt to becoming instant parents at a steady pace. Sure it was bound to get tougher, but at least they'd be ready for it.

Author's Note: So I will be traveling tomorrow and may not have time to post a chapter. I'll definitely try between my multiple layovers (yuck) and should be able to, but just a warning/FYI.

P.S. Sorry for the short chapter! Again, J/S chapters will be shorter - not because I don't love them! Its just we've seen this story for them before... D/V are the main focus!