Chapter 3: Normal

General O'Neill was sitting with other officers based in the SGC watching the live TV broadcast about the ball of light. It had just disappeared, there was some sort of blast. Then the TV cameras picked up people, that hadn't been there before. "Oh, my god!" Jack exclaimed. He might of just been imagining things, but he could have sworn that he had just seen, "Charlie?"

Six Weeks Later- Seattle Branch Homeland Security

After six weeks of petitioning Homeland Security they had finally agreed to release the people that the media was calling the 4400. Jack had taken a week's leave, Hammond decided that under the circumstances that he could come back to help him out. The Prometheus was being overhauled anyway.

While it was hard to tell your son who last remembers his parents being happily together that they are divorced, and that your mother is remarried with 2 kids. Sarah and Jack had decided that for today they would pretend that everything was okay, even though they knew that they would have to tell him. But for today they were a normal family.

Jack was so nervous as they waited for the 4400 to be released. He had his son's number held up, but he didn't need it. From across the room he saw his son. The blond hair and brown eyes that shone just like the last time they had played baseball in their backyard. He could tell that Charlie saw him, he was holding the hand of a tall black man, but as soon as their eyes met the kid was running through the crowd, and Jack had his arms around his son.

For that moment they were they were the only two people in the room. Tears were going down his cheeks as he smelled his sons hair and rubbed Charlie's shoulders. Then the voice that he had missed for almost a decade, "I missed you daddy," and he wiggled trying to get down. Putting his son down at that moment was the hardest thing that he had ever done. Charlie then went to his mother's arms who was crying more than Jack.

Jack turned to the man who had been leading his son to them. Holding out his hand Jack shook the hand of the man, "Jack O'Neill."

"Richard Tyler"

"Nice to meet you, I want to thank for looking after my son, We can't thank you enough."

"Oh, it was my pleasure. He is a good kid."

"If there is anything that you ever need…"

"No I couldn't do that."

"Well, if you are ever in Colorado Springs look me up."

"I may just do that."

The trip back to Colorado was relatively uneventful. They spent a few hours in Seattle. They found a place that had miniature golf and some batting cages. Jack hadn't remembering being this happy since before Charlie disappeared. They played for a few hours and made the flight to Denver.

When they went to Colorado Springs they went to Jack's house which Jack had set up all of Charlie's things that had been in boxes since Sarah had gotten remarried. Jack had made sure that it looked exactly how Charlie had left it down to the color on the wall.

When they reached Jack's house Charlie asked, "Dad? Where are we?"

"Charlie this is my house now," Jack bent down to Charlie's level, "You need to understand, we thought that you were lost to us forever and we couldn't see the house without it bringing back some really bad memories. But look," Jack pushed open the door to Charlie's room. The model planes and helicopters were hung just like Charlie had done; the same picture on the wall and everything, "it's your room."

Charlie went into the room excited. The only thing different was the view out of his bedroom window. Charlie jumped on the bed, and Jack sat down next to him and Sarah sat to Charlie's other side. Sarah started the conversation they both had been dreading, "Charlie you know that your father and I, we both love you very much and we always will, but honey, your father and I, well we aren't married anymore."

"Why?"

Jack took his turn, "Well son, after we lost you it got harder and harder to be together, and eventually we decided to separate. Your mommy got remarried to a great guy and you have two little brothers, James and William. And they are 5 and 2. I am sure that they will love you like we do." Charlie didn't know what to say. How is an eight year old supposed to understand the fact that not only were his parents divorced, but that he had a stepfather and two half brothers, when to him it has only been 6 weeks since he disappeared?

Sarah saw the uncertainty in her son's face and changed the subject. "Well, it's really late why don't you get into your pajamas. These are new ones that we got you." Charlie just nodded and put on the new green ninja turtles pajamas. Jack and Sarah had decided that for Charlie's sake that for now he should live with Jack, to help him adjust.

With Charlie tucked in bed at 10:30, which was much later than they had ever let him stay up till, but they had only gotten back at 10:00, and he had to force himself leave the room instead of sitting by his son's side and watching him sleep. His son. He was still getting used to the fact that Charlie, but it was a good thing.

Jack had decided, in light of the new reunion, that he would have a barbeque on Saturday. He invited everyone from the base, especially Sam, Daniel, Teal'c, Janet, and Cassandra. Sarah was coming with her husband and two little boys.

After Sarah had left and Jack was sitting on the couch in his room in the dark, just thinking, he realized something. His life was never normal. Here he was, a decade after he lost his son. Charlie should have been 17 or 18 by now, but by whatever power that left his son by that mountain, they had given him a gift with the fact that his son hadn't aged a day, he didn't miss his son growing up.

Normal, no, his life was definitely not normal. He ran a facility that's personnel traveled to other planets by means of an alien device they called the Stargate. He realized that if his son hadn't disappeared, he wouldn't have joined the Stargate program in the first place. Maybe whatever left his son along with 4,399 other people had a plan for them after all.