Summary: Sam informs her Dad of her engagement. Missing scene from Reckoning (part 1)

Spoilers: Reckoning pt 1, Affinity, general

Author: Angel of Fire SG1

Pairings: Sam/Jack…Sam/Pete (unfortunately)

Warnings: None

Disclaimer: Yep all mine on guys…what do you mean MGM owns it?

A/N: This just popped into my head while watching Reckoning before…

Short Conversations

"Dad!"

Jacob Carter turned around to see his daughter jogging down the hallway towards him. He stopped and waited for her to catch up.

"Hey kiddo…" he said, hugging her again. "Sorry it's been so long."

"That's OK, I understand," Sam replied, then paused. "Uh, Dad…can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure thing," he said.

She looked around. "Somewhere private?"

Ok now he was curious…She lead him to her lab which was only a few doors down. Once they were inside she stopped, patting her hand on her desk a couple of times before turning to face him. Something he knew she did when she was nervous or thinking. Or both.

"Dad, you remember how I told you about Pete?" she started, cringing slightly.

"Yeah…" Jacob replied.

Very curious.

"Well uh…" she paused again, avoiding Jacob's eyes completely. "Dad, we're getting married…"

She looked at him expectantly. Jacob froze. She was what?

I think this is where you say 'congratulations', was Selmak's input.

"Dad?" Sam asked.

"Congratulations," he said, although there was still something bugging him. "But…no nevermind, its none of my business."

Sam looked at him, her turn to be curious. "Dad?"

"What about Jack?"

Sam looked down at her hands, where she was twiddling her thumbs. "Dad, he's my CO…you know we can't…"

"Don't give me that crap, Sam," Jacob said.

Sam looked shocked. Jacob guessed that to her it had always been a valid excuse. She let out her breath and blinked a few times, trying not to cry.

"It's complicated," she replied.

"Not really, Sam," Jacob replied.

"You don't know!" she said, raising her voice. "What we've been through, what we all go through every day, its not as simple as 'lets quit the Air Force to be together' and I want a normal life, someone to go home to and have dinner with, watch TV…be normal!"

"And you think you can have that with Pete? You think your life can be normal…" Jacob trailed off. "Look at your life, Sam, your life isn't normal. Look what you do for a living! Does he even know?"

"Yes," Sam replied, quieter now.

Jacob fell silent. What was she doing? He knew how much they cared about each other, he'd sensed it when he'd first met Jack in Washington all those years ago, his suspicions confirmed years later when Anise had come back from Earth telling her stories about them having to admit their feelings for one another.

Yet here they were, four years after that, and his daughter was getting engaged to the wrong man.

"What does Jack think?" Jacob asked, calming down slightly.

"How would I know? He never says anything."

There was a tone to her voice which gave away everything. She was angry at Jack. Suddenly everything seemed to make more sense. She was waiting for him to say something, to stop her, but Jack wouldn't. It was stale mate. Jack would be happy for Sam as long as she was happy, even if that meant sacrificing his own happiness.

"Why can't you just be happy for me?" Sam shouted.

Jacob was slightly taken aback for a second. "I'm just trying to make sure you're doing what's right Sam."

"Oh but of course you don't trust my judgement," Sam replied.

"Yes I do, I'm just saying that you're making a big decision and I want to make sure you're choosing the right thing!" Jacob replied, he breathed in deeply and changed his tone. "Sam…when I was with your mother, that was the happiest time of my life. I loved her more than anything, no matter what happened. And I still do."

"I love Pete," Sam said, sounding forced.

"No you don't. You're settling for second best Sam," Jacob said.

"If that's what you think, then fine, I am," Sam said. "But at least I'll have a life, a husband, kids…it's easy enough for you to make my decisions for me, you've had all that, I haven't! Excuse me."

She grabbed a folder from next to her computer and stormed out of the room, leaving Jacob standing alone in the middle of her lab.

Well that didn't go down well, Selmak said.

Jacob didn't reply, just stared ahead, hoping he'd said the right thing to get her thinking.

A/N: That's all…sorry it just hadda be written!