Jacob made a point to walk out into the hall before Jack. But waited for him to walk at his side before reaching out and taking his shoulder. "You know I was kidding about the whole inflicting—"

Instinctively, Jack shoved his hands deep into his pockets as he looked over to Jacob—a classic Jack smirk on his face. "Yeah--I figured."

With the nod of his head he was walking back down the hall as he said, "But not about the grandchildren—that I was serious about."

Jack watched Jacob walk down the hall and smiled at his comment. He waited a moment until Jacob turned back to look at him and delivered his line perfectly. "So was I." Jack couldn't help but put that last little nudge in there.

The look on Jacob's face could have melted solid steel. He walked back to the younger man that he'd just assume as grab by the ear at that moment—he instead stopped short of running into Jack and leaned in close as he spoke so know one else passing in the hall could hear his words. "You know Jack—you're a good man, and I'd like to thin of you as a friend—but now that your dating my daughter, I think there are certain things we shouldn't feel free to discuss." His point was clear. The lift of his eyebrow before turning back down the hall way emphasized his meaning and Jack trailed after Jacob as he walked to the commissary.

"Now Jacob…don't get embarrassed..." he called down the hall as he jogged up to his side.

The commissary was all a buzz as the afternoon lunch rush hit full force. So when Jacob and Jack entered it was no surprise that Carter didn't see either of them until they were standing behind Daniel.

She was about to bite her cheeseburger when Jack caught her eye and she set the burger down and looked over to her dad. Having the two men stand side-by-side made all the blood rush to her face in a fraction of a second.

"Hey Honey." Jacob said as he took the seat next to Daniel.

"Hi dad." Her voice was louder and more excited that she had intended it to be and suddenly all attention was on her. With the wave of her hand Daniel and Teal'c dismissed her outburst and continued with their lunch.

"So, how's work?" Jacob asked over the noisy commissary. "Daniel says you got some new artifacts in the lab."

"Uhmm—yeah." She had to fight through her mind to retrieve the information on the artifacts she had been so excited about only an hour ago—at the moment she could only concentrate on the pair of eyes that were focused on her—the pair of dark smoldering eyes belonging to none other than Jack O'Neill. She stood abruptly from the table and took one last drink from her glass before pushing her seat in. The three men sitting at the table looked at her blankly. "I uhmm…have to get back to the lab—I told Lt. Banks that I would be back for the results on the Lanta artifacts." She was out the door before Daniel could say a word edge wise—and so was Jack O'Neill.

Jack walked down the hall and felt slightly off balance. It was still odd to be wearing civilian clothes while at work. His uniform had been a suit of armor through the years and now that it no longer kept him within himself he felt rebellious and couldn't help but walk with a bounce in his step as he neared the hiding place of one Samantha Carter. Her lab was dark as he pushed the door open and walked in. She would be in the far corner of the lab looking at something…ah there she is.

He smiled as she came into view.

Hovering over something small on a table in the dark—she was trying to focus on the markings on the side.

He flipped the lights on and watched as she jumped two feet into the air from shock.

"Hi." He said simply as she whipped around and tried to cover her reaction.

"Hello Sir—Jack…" she was uncomfortable around him suddenly and she shook her head trying to rid her self of this sudden awkwardness that was pushing a mile between her and Jack.

He recognized the look in her eyes—he'd seen it numerous times through the years, only this time he was in a position to head her off. He crossed the room in two steps and pulled her in to his arms. She gave into his embrace and let her head rest on his chest as she released a deep breath.

"You okay?" He asked, running his fingers over her hair and down her neck as he tried to sooth her nerves.

"Uhmm…yeah I think so." She said through a shaky voice as she let her arms fall around his waist.

"Want me to fire someone?"

She laughed and shook her head into his shoulder. "No…"

"Need me to kill someone?"

She giggled this time and buried her face into his shoulder to stifle the noise. "No…"

He was happy just to have her laughing again and was content on holding her as long as she needed him to.

Jacob wanted to sprint down the hall but kept his feet from taking off as he walked towards his daughter's office. He didn't know why she had left so abruptly—but he felt responsible. He wanted to try and catch her in the hall but Daniel had insisted on prattling on about something he found the week before on P3X-982156. But now he was bound and determined to find out why his daughter was upset—and if Jack O'Neill was the cause, may the good lord be with him.

He stopped short of the door, noticing it stood open a few inches and the light in the back of the lab had been flipped on—but the front of the room still lay in shadows. He had come here with the intentions of busting in and prying into his daughters emotional state—but the scene that lay before him nearly took his breath away and calmed his fears for his daughters future.

It was the sign he had been waiting to see that would let him know they belonged together. It was so simple and yet complex at the same time. And in that moment he stood in the door way the world stopped turning as he watched his little girl in the arms of the man she loved—in the arms of the man that loved her.

The shadows of the room kept at bay as they stood in the dim light from the desk lamp. He watched as this man before him held his daughter in arms and traced the line of her back with his fingers. She had buried her face into his shoulder—had she been crying?

He watched still, unable to look away from them. It was as though they were dancing—even though no music played and their feet did not move. It was in the way he held her and moved his body around hers to pull her closer to his embrace. It was how her body—now seemingly a great deal smaller, fit into his frame as though two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle had found one another after a life time of searching and all they desired was the safety and comfort of the other.

This is what he needed to see. This moment, however intimate—even if he was intruding on their privacy—he needed to see them like this, he needed to know that this is how they loved each other and this is what lay in her future….

A soft smile creased his aging face and Jacob silently backed away from the door. He pulled the door shut without a sound and smiled once again at the couple inside—they were going to make it.