Cliff Simon Factoid: Cliff played a ship captain in an episode of NCIS. His credit reads as Cliff Marc Simon.
JACK
I am so nervous about bringing Carter home after lunch. I have to stall and keep her out of her house a little longer after our appointment. Our appointment. Appointments that I cannot even be recognized as the father of my own child right now. I'm the 'escort' for Doctor Carter while she's in the building.
I do not regret a single thing that has happened between us, and yet I am saddened that we have to hide the fact that it's my baby. That hurts me. But it is what it is. I am certain her heart hurts because of that, too. It's easier to just not talk about it.
I stand nervously next to her as I open the bedroom door. I put my hand on her lower back.
"OK, mommy. Open your eyes," I whisper because I can't find my own voice due to my nerves.
I watch her as her eyes open, and I see her mind register what is in front of her.
I have no idea how she'd feel about anything that I've done in her home. All I know is that I want to give her, and our son, the world. They both mean more to me than my own life.
I know all too well about the fucking rules and regulations. We broke them. I get that. And how do they even apply to us now? But even that seems trivial in light of bringing a new life into the world.
"Oh my god," she says. She raises her hands to her mouth in surprise.
She takes a step or two forward and looks around the room. Her mouth is agape, her eyes wandering, her mind racing.
"When? How?"
She freezes in place.
"Jack, this is not new. Where did this come from?" she turns and asks me so softly, it's almost a whisper.
"I, uh. I called Sara," I reply, suddenly nervous for her reaction.
We lock eyes and I see the moment it registers in her heart. Her eyes fill with tears.
"What? Jack. I can't," she says softly, her eyes once again looking around the baby's room. She looks back at me.
"I mean. Are you OK with this?" she asks so softly.
She knows about Charlie. We have never really talked about him. Or more like I have never really opened up about him. But she knows how he died. She has to know that I will never forgive myself for what happened.
I feel like I'm getting a second chance. This baby will never replace Charlie. Ever. That little boy was my life and my soul. I'll carry Charlie with me forever until the day I die.
But the baby with Sam is a new start. I get to be a dad again. I wonder if she knows how much this means to me? I wonder if she really knows how much I love kids? I wonder if she will ever really know what Charlie was to me, and how there will always be a hole in my heart? Maybe one day we can talk about it.
Her soft voice calms my heart. Her questioning voice is reassuring me that this was the right decision. She has nothing and needs everything for this baby. And through all of it, she wants to make sure I'm OK.
I have missed waking up with her. When she was gone, the nightmares returned. I get grumpy when she is not here to anchor me. I want to share everything with her. I have for a long time.
"I want you to have it. Sara wants us to have it. Charlie would have wanted his brother to have it."
I almost don't get that last part out.
"When I called Sara, I told her about the baby. She still had Charlie's nursery set in her attic. She married a lawyer, and they have a two year old little girl. They never used Charlie's nursery set," I tell Sam.
I am happy for Sara. I really am. She sounded happy to me.
Maybe the incident we had with my double and the nuclear Charlie helped Sara heal a little, as it helped me. A little. I think a part of me will always love Sara.
"When Sara said yes to the baby furniture, I sent Daniel and Teal'c over to pick it up. When I took you to the appointment, and then out to lunch, the guys came over to set the baby's room up," I continue.
Carter walks up to me and puts her arms around me. We hold each other for a while, taking in the magnitude of this.
"Thank you. As long as you are OK," she whispers into my neck.
"I wouldn't have done it if I wasn't OK with it. I thought it would be nice to have a little piece of Charlie for our son," I said, burying my head in her neck and kissing her tenderly on her thin skin beneath my lips.
I feel her arms tighten around me. She was giving me her OK. She was telling me she supports me and that it's OK to miss my son.
"We need to think of a name for our baby," I say, giving her a rub up and down her back.
"We could name him after my dad," she says.
"Or my dad," I offer.
"What was your dad's name?"
"James," I say.
"Jacob James O'Neill. Has a good ring to it," she says, and I could tell she was smiling.
I let her go and look at her. She is stunning. Her eyes sparkle and her skin is radiant.
"James Jacob O'Neill?" I ask with my boyish grin.
"Um. I think Jacob James flows better. We can pick a different name, too, if you want," she offers.
If she wants Jacob James, who the hell am I to deny this woman anything?
"Jacob James O'Neill," I repeat. "Works for me. So did we just name our son?"
"Ya, I think we did. So now what?" she asks me.
I bring my hands to her face, and I cradle her in my palms. I look into her eyes and watch her blush just a tiny bit. Her eyes smile with the rest of her face as she looks at me. She is gorgeous.
I lean in and kiss her. Gentle and tender at first. I want to feel her against my skin. I hold her lips to mine for a few seconds, then I look in her eyes again and smile. I kiss her nose, then her forehead. I kiss each of her cheekbones. She puts her hand behind my neck, and kisses me back.
Then the kiss gets deeper, and I begin to taste her. She draws my lower lip into her teeth and gently bites at it. Her hands begin to wander over my body. She can't reach all the way around me, but her palm finds my skin at the side of my waist. I feel the tug of arousal take over. I pull back and hold her by her shoulders.
Her eyes are dark, probably like mine. She is flushed from her neck to her cheeks. She is hot, and if she wasn't pregnant, I'd have her against the wall.
"What's wrong?" she asks me.
"Not a single thing. Are you OK?"
"I'm very fine. What should we do?"
"Oh, I don't know. How about some of that sex you were asking about today at your appointment?" I say, giving her my best boyish grin.
I wrap my arms as far around her as I can get. The baby is gently pressed between us. She puts her hands up on my chest, and I watch her face. Is she thinking about it?
"Oh, Jack," she exhales. "I don't know. Is it OK if I say no?"
"Of course it is. We don't have to do anything you don't want to do. Ever. How about we go make a list of things you can give to Janet for the baby shower?" I ask her.
"I'm sorry. I don't deserve you," she says softly.
"Oh, sweetheart, I can assure you that it is the exact opposite. You are way out of my league. C'mon. Let's go write some stuff down."
I take her hand and we go to her table in her office area. We spend some time making a list of things that we need, then we make a list of things that would be nice to have. After we get done, Carter calls Janet. Janet and Cass will come over tomorrow and they'll do girl things.
I'm going back to my house tomorrow. I can go shopping with the boys to buy baby furniture for my house. This way baby Jacob will have a home with both mommy and daddy.
I'd love nothing more than to marry Carter and move in with her. She didn't really like that idea when I brought it up the first time. Maybe I'll ask her at some point if she wants to just move in together with Jacob.
After we are done, Carter is too tired to go out on the date with me. She wants to take a shower and relax. I sit in the bathroom talking with her. When she gets out, I jump in the shower real quick. Then we snuggle together in her bed before she moves her butt so far into me that I almost fall out of the bed. It's all good. I sleep for a few more hours on the couch.
The next morning, I cook cheesy scrambled eggs for breakfast. We eat together sitting on her kitchen island. I clean up the kitchen when we are done. I make her sit and not lift a finger.
As I clean up, we talk and laugh about some of our prior missions before she went missing. Almost at the same exact time, we both say loudly -
"Urgo!"
We laugh some more as I turn on her dishwasher. I walk around the house picking up clothes and towels. I put my things in the laundry. Then, I wait with her until Cassie and Janet come over. It's been a while since I've seen the little nugget. I can't wait to tell them about Jacob Junior.
SAM
I sit and watch as he cleans my kitchen. How have we gone from me being so angry and hurt, to this sort of seamless transition into perfect domestication? I laugh at my own thoughts. I never imagined this when I first met him six years ago. Or is it seven now? I don't know. What I do know is that he is a good man, and he loves his baby.
There is a knock on my door, and he immediately insists that I stay seated. He goes to get the door. It is Janet and Cassie. Cassie almost jumps into his arms. She is so big these days. She's almost done with high school and should be going off to college soon.
Janet told me before I went missing that Cass had no clue what she wanted to do. I tried to get her thinking of math or science stuff, but she has this love of dogs and animals. I'm pretty sure I know where she got that from. We are thinking she may choose to become a veterinarian. That is still very sciency.
Jack spends a few minutes talking to them by the door before Cassie comes running down my little hall to hug me. She immediately pulls back and smiles.
"Wow, Aunt Sam, you really are pregnant!" she says rather loudly.
"Cassandra Fraiser!" I hear Janet yell from the door, "Manners! Please."
"Well, she is," Cass says, turning her head back to me and smiles.
Jack and Janet walk to the kitchen with us. Cass looks from me to Jack, then back to me.
"It's Uncle Jack's baby, isn't it?" Cassie asks.
I fidget in my seat. Jack coughs. Janet tries to reign in the teenager with the power of her mommy eyes. We all stare at Cassie.
"What? He is here early in the morning. Whose else could it be?" Cassie added.
"Cass, we talked about this. You, me, and Aunt Sam will talk later. Now, say goodbye to Uncle Jack."
I could see Cassie roll her eyes at her mother.
"Goodbye, Uncle Jack," she says rather comedically.
"Bye, nugget. You ladies have fun today. Let me know if you need me tomorrow to get into the building," Jack says to me.
"Just sleep here, Uncle Jack. That will make it easier," Cassie says.
This kid is unrelenting. She has wanted me and Jack together for as long as we have had her on Earth.
"Goodbye, Cassie. I'll see you two later or tomorrow," he says to me and Janet as he pivots. He lets his eyes linger on mine for a little longer than normal. Janet and Cassie notice. They both smile at me. Then he leaves my house.
I spend the day with Cass and Janet going over the list that Jack and I made for the baby. Janet will take the list to work tomorrow and make copies to post on the bulletin boards around the common spaces.
Janet arranges to have the baby shower in the back part of the loading dock on level 5. That way I don't have to be escorted, and people can come and go as they need to during their work day. Janet says she's got food catered in from O'Malley's coming for the shower.
After a long time of talking, I realize I forgot to tell them what Jack did for the baby's room. I take them to the nursery and open the door. At first I didn't tell them that it was Charlie's. I let them take it all in at first. I stand in the doorway as the two of them walk around the small space.
Janet's eyes are moving back and forth. Cassie is touching all of the furniture as if tactile connections are possible between her and the crib. Janet runs her fingers along the dresser and finds a nick and scratch on it. It is a worn nick, and she looks back at me questioningly.
"Whose was this? Where did it come from?" she asks me.
I can already feel my chest welling up with pride and tears.
"It. Uh. It was Charlie's," I say, looking directly into my friend's eyes.
"Oh, Sam," Janet whispers, and she gets a loving smile on her face, and then a few tears escape her eyes.
"What's wrong, mom?" Cass asks Janet.
"Come here," Janet says, putting her arm around Cassie.
"Charlie was Uncle Jack's son from a different mom. He died at a very young age. His death hasn't ever left your Uncle Jack. This furniture was Charlie's baby furniture. Your Uncle wants your Aunt Sam to have this for her baby."
Cassie looks around the room and settles her eyes on me.
"So Uncle Jack is the father of your baby," Cass says, rather assuredly.
"Yes, he is, Cass. But, for now you can't say anything around anyone at our work other than your mom and SG-1. Your Uncle Jack and I may end up getting in trouble for this."
She looks strangely at me.
"Why?" she asks.
"Well, your Uncle Jack is my boss, and we're not supposed to have this sort of a relationship."
"Why?" she asks again.
"It could show favoritism, or we could compromise a mission due to our feelings for each other. There are reasons. Good reasons. But, for now, what would you two like to do today?" I ask.
We spend our day talking and laughing. We go out to the shopping centers to register for the baby items to make it easier on guests to purchase something for the shower. I can't wait to see my house full of things for our baby.
The three of us go out to eat. We decide to go to my favorite pizza place. I eat pizza with them, but then I order a large spaghetti dinner to go. Cassie looks at me and rolls her eyes.
"What? If Uncle Jack comes back over I want to have food for him. Plus, I might get hungry later, too," I say, smiling at them both.
"Right. Like he won't come back to your house. Aunt Sam, you know he will," Cass says.
"Ya, probably," I say, averting my eyes and taking a bite of pizza.
…
Janet drops me off at home. I thank both of them for the day I spent with them. Janet waits in the car until I walk inside my house. I wave goodbye and lock the door behind me.
I put the spaghetti in the fridge. I turn around and just stare at my house. None of this is baby-ready. I will have to ask the guys to come help. But I'm running out of time. The shower is Wednesday, my next doctor's appointment is Friday, and who the hell knows what will happen to me tomorrow.
I go into Jacob's room and sit in the rocking chair. Jack said it was his mother's. His mother had given it to him and Sara. So much history with his family. And Sara's generosity really touches me.
I hear a knock on my door, and a key jingling. I hear the front door unlock, and I know that could only be one person.
"I'm in Jacob's room," I yell.
"OK, be right there," he says.
A few moments later he is standing in the door. I am still rocking in the chair. I look up at him and smile.
"This is very comfortable. Did you use it a lot with Charlie?" I ask.
"Ah, ya. We did. You look wonderful in the chair," he says, smiling down at me. "How was your day?"
I tell him everything that happened today. I tell him we registered baby products at Target and Babies R Us. I also tell him spaghetti is in the fridge. His eyes get large and he smiles.
"Excellent," he says, tenting his fingers like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons. I laugh.
I join him for his dinner, and get a few nibbles in myself. We get ready for bed later in the night, and snuggle up under the covers of my bed.
I must have squeezed him out of bed again because when I wake up Monday morning, he is not in bed with me. I get up and go to the bathroom. As I sit there peeing, I realize today is the day. Today I find out what my future holds.
Babies R Us was a store dedicated to selling baby products in the USA. It was a sister store to Toys R Us. Both companies went bankrupt as of 2017 due to billions in debt. Before Covid, they were to have opened only two Toys R US stores in the USA, both of which would look nothing like the original stores. In 2021, they finally closed those last two remaining stores due to losses from the lockdown.