AN: So BIG shock... annoying former HOA prez mad ZERO effort to actually help deliver the papers. This after I confronted the current prez with what exactly is wrong and in case you think hers is so great she left out at least three critical pieces of information after already submitting the wrong version that no one but me caught? Who does he think he's kidding anyway? Which mistake is worse? A typo or wrong/lack of information? Of course there will be no apologies or admissions of overstepping because we don't adult like that here in suburbia. I do think that she probably thinks I'm secretly very rich because why else do I have the biggest house in the neighborhood with a really low paying job? lol. Nope. I just don't have a boat or a camper or luxury cars I lease or designer clothing or other stupid things people in my neighborhood spend all their money on then complain they can't make ends meet. Nothing wrong with that stuff if you can really afford it or it's your main source of entertainment. I'd say my art supplies and reading a couple books a month are hardly cheap.

Chapter 5

"So?" Sam said, amusement tingeing her voice as she addressed her husband while they changed for bed later that night in the bedroom of their DC apartment.

"So?" Jack repeated, unsure which thing he was in trouble for this time. Sam had kept the conversation light over dinner. Teal'c's flight was early tomorrow morning and he was sleeping at Andrews overnight so he could simply dress and leave.

"When were you going to tell me I'd be heading up the entire orbital security unit and not just commanding the Hammond?"

"Do'h" Jack said with a wince.

Sam shook her head. "Jack…"

"It came up after we sent Woolsey off. Bill suggested it actually. He thought your talents would be underused commanding a single ship." Jack said, hedging his bets she wouldn't ask too many questions if he distracted her.

Sam shimmied an old shirt of Jack's over her head that barely covered the tops of her thighs.

Jack gave her long legs a considering look. Then he leered at her.

"Quit trying to change the subject." She admonished him, knowing what that particular smile would lead to rather swiftly.

"It was suggested that after you had commanded an entire base, a single ship was going to be a bit of a letdown." He admitted.

"By?" She prompted him.

"Um… the vice president actually. Apparently Henry and Bill agreed with him because they came to me about a day later and revised your orders."

"That's it?" she asked him, surprised it wasn't one of his more elaborate mechanisms.

"Well, I wasn't going to disagree that you are ready for the responsibility, Sam. I've been grooming you for command for nearly a decade."

"Of course, me being home more wasn't at all related to that decision." She said with amusement.

Jack crossed the room and wrapped his arms around his wife, pulling her close. "If I admit I missed you, will you quit nagging me?" he teased.

"I might." She agreed, a twinkle in her eyes.

"All right if you must know I went along with it because you've outgrown co-commanding SG-1 and I didn't want Cameron sniffing around again, trying to get you back on the team. He's doing fine on his own. Teal'c suggested one of the squids take his position on the team so he can focus on corralling his government again."

"Are they still having problems?"

"Just growing pains really. They haven't had to govern themselves in so long they don't know how and they don't like being told how for obvious reasons." He shrugged.

"Jack..." Sam's tone was almost hesitant.

Jack just smiled at his wife and let her talk.

Sam fiddled with the sprinkle of hair across his chest for a moment. "How does Gracie really feel about me being home?"

"Ecstatic." He assured her. "Same as me."

"It's just…" Sam sighed. "She doesn't ask me for help any more, not even to get her an ice cream."

Jack's head bobbed sagely. "Ah." He tilted his head and grinned at her. "The first time I had a long deployment Charlie was really little. Probably not much younger than Gracie when you left. When I came back, he kept looking at me like he thought I was going to disappear and wouldn't ask me for help for anything. It's kind of a normal reaction for kids that age I hear."

"Are you sure? She says she missed me but…"

"She's just afraid of you disappearing again. Once she sees you're home most weekends and most nights too, she'll go back to how she was before Atlantis."

"You're sure?"

"Positive." He reassured her. "Don't buy her a bunch of junk to make it up to her." He said as an afterthought. "All it did was piss Sara off." He mused.

Sam snorted then chuckled. "Oh no, Jack what did you buy him?"

"A drum set." Jack admitted, ducking his head in shame.

"And yet you live." She said laughing. "I love you." She said, still chuckling.

"I'm holding you to that, Mrs. Dr. Col. Carter O'Neill." Jack said with a soft smile of wonder. He loved it when Sam laughed. Her eyes lit up with delight and he wanted to nuzzle those adorable dimples of hers that Gracie seemed to have inherited.

"I know Bill was teasing you but we should talk about that other thing." She said once she'd stopped giggling.

"That other… oh... oh right that other thing."

"Yes, Jack, that OTHER thing."

"Yah so… Sam, that's always been up to you. You're the one that has to do all the work and deal with all the physical complications." Jack hedged, trying to get himself off the hook.

Sam shook her head in amusement. "I know we talked about it before. Do you still want another baby?" she asked him outright, glad they would never have to hedge around their feelings or wishes ever again.

Jack seemed to think about it for a while. "Only when you're ready." He finally said.

"All right. How about I get settled into this new command first then I'll skip my next Depo shot. It will probably take a few months to a year at our ages anyway."

Jack bobbed his head. "Sounds like a reasonable plan. If it happens, it happens and, if not, Sam, I'm perfectly happy with the family we have. I don't want you to go to extraordinary measures just to give me a big family."

Sam dimpled at Jack. "Want to practice?"

"How is that even a question?" He all but yelped in shock.

Sam moved away from his arms and went to the corner of the bed where Virginia was passed out belly up. "Come on, girl. Go lay in your bed in Gracie's room. Mom and Dad have some business to discuss." She told the dog as she scooped her up and carried her to the door, shutting it gently with the bewildered dog on the other side.

"Business to discuss?"

"Why, yes sir. It concerns your debriefing." Sam said with a wicked smile.

Jack grinned back.

On the other side of the door, Virginia looked at the closed door behind her in confusion, sat down and began diligently scratching an ear with her uninjured back paw. Her license tags jingling softly with her efforts.