It was the last day Elliott was in Sam and Jack's home, and they had both taken a few days to see the boy off. On the downtime, they had taken Elliott to get what he needed and up to the college book store to get his books, as well as Colorado State shirts for the lot of them. Jack promised he was welcome any weekend and let him keep the spare key. They had everything packed and ready to go for move-in day. Elliott's schedule was set. Luckily with grants and scholarships, the only thing he needed was money for general needs. He had saved enough to get him a small tv and printer for his dorm room. Sam had fixed up his car, and now it was running like new. Jack and Sam had paid both him and Cassie extremely well for babysitting to the point Janet complained no teenager should have that much money. Jack assured her that Cassie could save it for college. Janet insisted Cassie do just that, and after a few negotiations, Cassie put ¾ of it in the bank and was allowed to use the rest on whatever she wanted.

They were having grilled steak for Elliott's send-off. Jack had pushed Elliott to try and call his parents once again. This time his mom did answer and talked to him, stating how proud she was. It was barely anything, but Elliott was just glad his mother spoke to him. They hadn't shown up for his graduation, Janet and Sam were both there, Jack had been on a mission. Elliott was thankful that they were all there to support him.

Elliott was excited but sad he was leaving all of them. He didn't know he would become so attached, and even though Myalah and Lupali had only been in his life for the last three weeks, he already considered them his second family.

Sam was cutting up a steak for Lupali and showing Myalah how to do the same. The girls were bubbly as can be, and although not overly noisy or rambunctious, the two could hold their own over everyone else's noises.

Although it took some talking into, Sam and Jack agreed the girls needed counseling; the SGC was really the only place to get it, so twice a week, the girls are there. Jack and Sam have both admitted to each other they feel bad for leaving the girls for so long, but right now, everything was working. Sam was still head of SG-11 and going through the gate. They were still adjusting to this new life, but it was for once happy chaos.

"So Elliott, I expect a weekly check-in, at least!" Jack says seriously.

He smiles at the man who has taken him under his wing.

"You better be calling me every day!" Cassie claimed.

Elliott smiled.

"You know I will," Elliott claimed.

"I can't believe you're going," Cassie stated.

"Cassie," Janet warned.

"No, I didn't mean that I don't want you to go. It just seems like everything is happening so fast," Cassie claimed.

Elliott realized that Cassie wasn't just talking about him, but Sam and Jack as well. Their two little girls who successfully ate 2 bites and are now on a swing set put up the previous weekend.

Elliott wasn't quite sure what to say.

"Sometimes life is like that Cass, one day you wake up and your life changes in a moment, and then sometimes years go by, and everything's the same," Sam explained.

Janet and Jack both nodded at the statement.

The group of five enjoys their steaks with Jack and Sam trying to get the girls to come to take another bite every so often.

Janet smiled at the two of them, complimenting each other relaxed. Janet was more than happy that her friends had found some happiness among all the darkness.

As the group enjoys their evening, Lupali is out asleep by 8 pm and Myalah at 9."

Cassie is holding on to Elliott as if she didn't. She would float away. Sam and Jack knew the feeling quite well.

Janet looks at them, knowing it was going to hurt, but she says nothing about it.

It was almost 10 when Janet claims, "it's getting late."

"Can I stay, please?" Cassie asked.

Janet looks at her and Elliott and sighs.

"You know the rules," Janet claims.

"Have a good night. I love you." Janet sated.

"Be careful; I'll see you tomorrow night Cass," Janet claimed.

Cassie hugged her mom, and she left.

"Well, I'm ready for bed," Jack stated.

"Me too," Sam claimed.

"You heard your mother," Jack stated.

Cassie nodded her head but didn't move her arm from around Elliot's waist.

"Have a goodnight, don't stay up too late. We have to leave here by 8 am if we want to get moved in by midnight," Jack said dramatically.

Cassie smiled.

"Night, dad," Cassie claimed.

Sam and Jack walk up the stairs to bed.

They check on the girls.

Lupali's room has Sam's old bedroom furniture in it, and the twin bed looks massive for the little girl, but she so sprawled out she's taking up the whole space.

They let her pick some of the other furniture, nightstand, decorations, and fluffy area rug to cover the floor.

Myalah's room has Sam's spare bedroom furniture and a few pieces they let her pick out. Sam and Jack decided no TV in the girl's room, kept the minimum amount of toys in the bedroom, and put most of them in the playroom. Myalah had a night star map projected on the ceiling. It was on a timer, so they both knew it would go off soon.

"How did this happen?" Sam asked.

"Don't ask me, but I absolutely love it," Jack claimed.

Sam and Jack went to their bedroom, and they were lying next to each other.

"Cindy will be here at 730, "Sam claimed.

"Mmm," Jack stated, already starting to fall asleep. Sam wrapped her arm around him, drifted off, wondering what tomorrow would bring.

Lupali wakes her and Jack up at 5 am. The girl is smiling bright and ready to start the day.

Sam and Jack look at each other and smile, walking down the steps and explaining to Lupali that they had to stay quiet because other people in the house were still sleeping.

Lupali was quiet for about 20 minutes before she decided to play with the loudest toy in the house that had been left in the living room. Sam had already had thoughts of throwing it in the trash, but Lupali laughing and giggling made the meddlesome toy all worth it.

No one had come up or down the steps. Sam and Jack had turned on the TV, something that both Lupali and Myalah had become intrigued with.

It was 6 when Jack finally went into the kitchen to make a big send-off breakfast. He was making pancakes, bacon, and eggs.

At 6:30, Myalah came down the steps, and Jack pulled her into the kitchen, showing her how to make the pancakes.

Sam hadn't heard movement from downstairs and went to check on Elliott and Cassie. She knocked on Cassie's door and heard nothing and opened it to find it empty.

She looked around and didn't see anything, and then went to Elliott's room to find Elliott's arm wrapped around Cassie. They were both under the covers, but Sam could that Cassie at least had a shirt on. She was pretty sure it was Elliott's but didn't dwell too much on it.

Sam took a deep breath.

"Cass, you and Elliott need to be getting up," Sam claimed.

Cassie's eyes popped open, and Sam smiled lightly at her and closed-door the, not saying anything at all.

Cassie blushed but wasn't going to run out to explain herself. Besides, she decided it really didn't matter anyway.

Elliott had slept through Sam waking her up, and she rubbed his arm to get his attention.

"Sam just caught us in here," Cassie claimed.

Elliott groaned.

"So this drive isn't going to awkward," Elliott claimed.

"I thought you set the alarm!" Cassie claimed.

"I did it!" Elliott huffed.

Cassie went back to her room and got dressed and ready to go.

Elliott changed the bedsheets, knowing that Cindy was most likely the next to sleep on it. He got dressed thew his dirty clothes in a bag, and grabbed the last bit of stuff. Cassie was already up the steps. Elliott came up, and it seemed Sam had made no big deal out of the situation. Sam was talking as if nothing had happened, and both Cassie and Elliott were relieved.

Jack and Sam got in his truck, filled with Elliot's belongings.

Cassie and Elliott drove his car with some things loaded in the trunk.

He had to pay for a parking pass, and because he was a freshman, it was in the middle of nowhere. So Sam and Jack were following him to his parking place, and the 4 of them would take Jack's truck up to the dorms.

They had stopped in Denver for a fuel stop and a snack. Jack had to go to the restroom, and Elliott thought it was a good idea leaving Cassie and Sam alone for the first time all day.

"Cassie, what on Earth were you thinking? What if that was your dad coming down instead of me?!" Sam claimed.

"You didn't tell him, did you?" Cassie asked.

"Is Elliott still alive?" Sam asked.

Cassie started to laugh.

"It doesn't matter, Cassie. Just you have to be more careful." Sam claimed.

Cassie looked at her, and they both smiled.

"I remember being 16 fairly well, even though that was quite a while ago. Rule number one, don't get caught." Sam claimed.

Cassie nodded her head.

"So you're not going to tell dad," Cassie asked.

"There are somethings dad's are better off not knowing," Sam claimed.

"Thank you." Cassie smiled.

The four continued on their journey, got to Elliott's parking space, which was far from anything.

"It's gonna take you $10 to get a taxi out here," Jack claimed.

"They have a bus, and the sidewalk is lit the whole way," Elliott claimed.

The four get into the truck, and Sam and Jack are trying to read the signs. Elliott pointed out the road to his dorm.

Jack got on the street, and they were at a standstill.

After 45 minutes, they moved 3 car lengths.

"Well, this is fun," Jack claims.

"So tell us your schedule again," Sam asked.

Cassie already knew it by heart and quickly jealous of the fact that his earliest class was at 10 am. She was also annoyed that he got Tuesdays completely off.

When they finally were at the drop-off point 2 hours later, a man approaches the truck, and Jack rolls down the window.

"You have 15 minutes. We have the bins for your convenience. Jack saw huge laundry hampers and saw the people in front of them, attempting to put a big screen TV in one.

Jack attempted to get out.

"Someone needs to stay in the vehicle at all times, sir." The man stated.

"Alright then…" Jack said.

"After your 15 minutes is up, if you haven't gotten everything you needed out, you will need to proceed down the street and either get in line again or park and bring the rest of your stuff up." The man continued.

A group of college kids rushed to help give their names and explain they were there to help. Within 10 minutes, all of Elliott's belongings were in 2 bins.

"I'll see you guys soon," Jack claimed and drove around block after block to find a spot. Finally, after 25 minutes of driving around, he found a spot carefully paralleled parked and walked the mile back to the dorm.

Jack suddenly realized he forgot the room number and called Sam.

"I thought you got lost, room 704," Sam claimed.

Jack looked at the long line for the elevator and took the stairs, not that it was much better, but it was at least movement.

When he finally got to the 7th flight, he was annoyed.

He walked into the open door and smiled at the fact that the roommate had not yet gotten there, giving Sam, Cassie, and Elliott, to pick his side of the room. He preferred to be away from the window. Everything was lining up when his new roommate walked through the door.

The boy looked a little shy but was nice, and his parents came through the room. Jack wasn't the biggest fan of the boy's mother wearing designer clothing, his dad in golf shirt and khakis. They were overly formal for his tastes.

Raymond was the boy's name, and Elliott and Raymond tried to see if they had anything in common his mother made his bed and looked around the room 100 times, insisting they get him more towels and frowning at the community bathrooms.

"It was quite unfortunate Raymond here last minute decided on Colorado State which led him too late picks for dorm rooms. I guess we can see what's available after next semester." His mother claimed.

Just then, Jack's phone rang, knowing it is the base.

"Colonel O'Neill." He answered.

"No, that's fine. Yeah, Carter's with me. I didn't hear it ring."

"Here you go, Sam," Jack stated and handed the phone over.

No one could hear the other end.

"It's supposed to be my day off. I'm nowhere near the base right now."

"Don't Major Doctor me like I don't know my title!" Sam stated.

"I am in Fort Collins!" Sam claimed.

"No, you don't need to send a helicopter to come to get me!." Sam gruffed.

"Is the General there?" Sam asked.

"General Hammond, Sir, I am in the middle of unpacking Elliott in his dorm room. What's going on?" Sam asked.

"I see, yes sir, no sir, yes sir, that sounds fair, sir. Thank you, sir." Sam stated.

"Thanks, George." She smiled.

Jack smiled a that too.

"We may need to leave sooner rather than later, but only if I get another call," Sam claimed.

No one asked Sam to explain, and Raymond and his parents look at Sam and Jack in awe.

Jack and Sam ignore them and go around the room asking Elliott for the 100th time if he needed anything else.

Elliott insisted he didn't.

"Well, how about lunch?" Jack asked.

Elliott nodded.

"I'll see you later, Raymond," Elliott claimed.

"You guys are welcome to join us," Jack stated even though he'd rather not.

"Oh no, no Raymond has a small group of friends we're from Seattle, and he and 4 friends decided to come here together. We'll be meeting with the families in a little while, thank you though." The woman claimed.

Jack smiled. "Okay, then."

The four groups walked out the door and around Campus Elliott, pointing out all the things he remembered from his campus tour.

They made it a few blocks north, where if you didn't know any better, it was just another town. The four walk into an uncrowded cafe and enjoy lunch together.

"If you have any problems, let us know," Jack stated

Elliott nodded.

"Roommate issues are a common occurrence and if you just can't deal with him, talk to us first before you do anything," Jack claimed.

Elliott nodded his head.

"I think we'll be okay," Elliott stated.

"Hope he's not like his parents," Jack stated.

"He was mouthing sorry about every 5 seconds, so I'm pretty sure he knows." Elliott laughed.

The four enjoyed their lunch and walked him back to the dorm.

"Well, I guess this is it," Elliott claimed.

Sam and Jack nodded. Cassie walked up to him, kissed his lips, and held on to him.

"You know what we talked about," Cassie stated.

Elliott nodded.

"I promise Cass," Elliott claimed.

"I'll call you when we get home," Cassie stated.

Elliott smiled.

"I love you," Elliott claimed.

"I love you too," Cassie admitted and kissed him one more time, hugging him for minutes until turning around and saying goodbye one more time.

They made it all the way to the truck before Cassie had tears streaming down her face, but she didn't cry.

Sam turned around and put a hand on her shoulder.

"He'll be back in a few weeks, Cass," Sam claimed.

"I know," Cassie stated, and the three started the long journey home.

Sam had gotten another call at 4. She told the base she was about 40 minutes out.

"So detour?" Jack asked.

"Yes, apparently, the gate's down, and no one else can figure it out." Sam huffed.

Jack nodded, and he dropped her off at the SGC,

"I'll see you at home," Jack shouted as she walked towards the entrance.

"See you then," Sam claimed.