"Come on J.J., let's get you into bed," cajoled Jack O'Neill as he carried the boy towards the bed that would be his at least for tonight. "How about Grandpa Danny and I tell you a story while your daddy gets Sammy settled?"

"Sto'y 'bout what?" asked J.J. as he rubbed tiredly at his eyes. "Sto'y 'bout Napping House?"

Jack closed his eyes against the pain those words caused. He had often read that story to Charlie when he was about J.J.'s age. "I don't have the book here, J.J. So you'll have to close your eyes and imagine the pictures. Ok?"

"'kay" he consented as he closed his eyes.

"There is a house, a napping house, where everyone is sleeping. And in that house there is a bed, a cozy bed, in a napping house where everyone is sleeping. And in that bed there is a granny. A snoring granny in a cozy bed in a napping house where..."

"Everyone is sleeping." J.J. and Jack spoke together emphasizing each word in a sing song fashion. A tear slipped down Jack's face remembering moments like this with Charlie. He brushed his hand through J.J.'s hair soothing the child with the rhythmic movements of his hand as he remembered doing with his own son. It seemed so unreal that this beautiful child was his grandson...or at least could have been his grandson. 'How am I going to survive losing him again? The crystal thing was bad enough, but at least I knew that wasn't Charlie. This is Charlie...a grown up Charlie with a son and daughter of his own.' thought Jack. 'How will I handle it if I don't lose them? We may never be able to send them home. Am I strong enough to deal with this?'

"And on that granny there is a boy, a dreaming boy on a snoring granny on a cozy bed in a napping house where..."

"Everyone is sleeping." This time Daniel too joined in their recitation. 'God! I can't imagine what this is like for Jack. He barely survived losing Charlie the first time. What are we going to do? How can I help my friend? What if we have to send them back? In their world I married Janet. This little one is my grandchild as well. I've never even been a father, and now I'm a grandfather.' Jack continued to tell the story of The Napping House as J.J. began to slowly slip into the land of dreams himself. By the time the mouse had been put to sleep, so had J.J., and Jack's voice trailed off into nothingness. 'Jack must have told this story to Charlie to know it so well.' thought Daniel.

"How are you doing with all this, Jack?" asked Daniel quietly as he watched Jack continue to stroke J.J.'s hair soothingly. There was a far away look in Jack's eyes, and Daniel guessed that his friend was thinking of his son. Daniel thought briefly of Shefu, his own step-son, wondering if the Harsesis child existed in the reality that Charlie came from.

"God, Daniel. I don't know. It's gotten better these last few years. You and Sam and Teal'c have helped me move on. You have no idea how much you've helped."

"That's what family is for, Jack."

Jack looked up at his friend, this geeky man he thought of as a younger brother. "Yeah. That's what family is for. Looks like our family just got a bit bigger, Daniel."

"We can handle this, Jack. You can handle this."

"I wish we didn't have to do this to you," whispered a voice from the doorway and the two men turned to see Captain O'Neill standing there with his daughter in his arms.

"Charlie," Jack said. "We'll survive. I won't lie to you. Part of me is having a hard time accepting this, but that's not the biggest part. The biggest part of me says to grab hold of you and never let go. I've missed you so much, son."

Charlie walked forward and grabbed his father in a bear hug. "I'm glad we ended up here. I'm glad you're here."

"Me too."

On the road to Colorado Springs, Sam finally broke the silence that had encompassed the car for most of the ride. "He called me mom, Janet," Sam said from the passenger seat of a Janet's car as they drove into Colorado Springs for baby supplies.

"Sam..."

"Janet, I don't know if I can do this. Colonel O'Neill and I have kept our relationship on a professional basis for years now, but..."

"But everyone knows the two of you are in love and won't act on it because of the regs," supplied Janet.

"Yeah," Sam sighed. "Did you see those photos, Janet?" A tear slipped down her cheek. "We had three kids in Charlie's reality. Three. And here I can't even call him by his first name without risking a court martial."

"Oh, Sam," Janet said as she too began to cry. "Go to General Hammond. There's got to be a way. You two can't keep this up, Sam. It's tearing you and Colonel O'Neill apart. The tension is affecting your entire team. Daniel and Teal'c feel it too. They want you to be happy, and they don't know how to help you and Jack."

"What about you and Daniel?" asked Sam moving the topic of conversation away from herself.

Now it was Janet's turn to sigh. "He's still mourning Sha're. If it's meant to be. It will be. I have time."

Now it was Sam's turn to hand out advice. "Janet, you don't know how much time you have. You know how dangerous our missions are! You patch us up each time we get back. You know what's eating me up? What's eating Colonel O'Neill up? It's not that we can't be together now. We're so busy we can forget it most of the time. Put it to the back of our minds. It's that we don't know if we'll survive long enough to have a chance at later."

"God, Sam!" whispered Janet. "Why don't you resign? Why doesn't the Colonel?"

"Why does Daniel keep going? Why does Teal'c?" Sam asked in reply. "Because we know we're the best one's to do the job, and doing the job means maybe saving Earth. Maybe saving a lot more than Earth. Do you think there aren't days I don't think, 'fuck this...fuck it all. I want a life.'? God, Janet. I want a life with him so much it hurts! But then I think about each time my being at the SGC has meant the difference. Not only Jolinar's memories, but just my understanding of the 'Gate."

Janet pulled to a stop in front of the baby superstore at the local mall. "Let's get what we'll need and get the hell back to base," she muttered as she got out of the car.

"What exactly do we need, Janet?" asked Sam.

"How should I know? When I got Cassie she was well past the diaper stage."

Sam laughed, "Yeah, you missed the wonders of toilet training."

"Thank God. Bottles, formula, pacifier, diapers, clothes, blankets to start I guess. A portable crib if we can afford it."

"General Hammond gave me the credit card. Uncle Sam is picking up the tab."

"Oh well...since that's the case, let's have some fun!" crowed Janet. "I love shopping for baby things."

"Yeah...you noticed that General Hammond sent you and I off?"

"Separating the boys and girls? Yeah. He's not a stupid man, Sam. He's known you since you were a little girl and Jack almost as long. You're not hiding anything from him."

Sam nodded as she grabbed a cart and began pushing it through the store.

"We're not going to be able to send them home, Janet" whispered Sam. "They're going to have to stay."

"You're sure?" asked Frasier as she loaded the cart with canisters of powdered formula.

Sam walked farther down the aisle to grab a half dozen bottles. Placing them in the cart she replied, "Charlie is, and he's had ten more years experience and study of the 'Gate than I have. I want them to stay, Janet. I want this family that's dropped into my lap. A step-son and grandchildren."

"Say the rest of it Sam," ordered Janet.

Sam looked at her friend afraid to hope, to put her wants and needs into words. "I want what she had. I want what those other two had as well. I want Jack."

"Then find a way to make it happen, Sam. Take your own advice. Don't wait," Janet urged her friend.