A/N: Thank you so much to the people who reviewed, and again I'm sorry this took so long to update - coursework. shudders. Sorry!

Summary: You should know by now.

Disclaimer: Not mine!

WARNING! The chapter after this one will feature both some highly unpleasant encounters (abuse etc) between some characters and also scenes of a sexual nature (both good and bad). Please be aware that the rating on this fic is for a reason. You may also wish to have a box of tissues handy.

That said, this chapter is fluff again. Sorry! (Not really...)

One week later…

Sam walked up to the house in front of her with a strange sense of foreboding. It seemed so large, looming above her like some scary mansion out of a horror film. What was she getting herself into?

"Uncie Jack! Uncie Jack!" The twins called out to the man who was walking down the path towards them. Suddenly, Sam's reservations disappeared. She was being stupid. Moving in with Jack wasn't such a bad idea – she trusted him, he was one of her closest friends and the father of her children. It made sense – Janet's place was okay for a while but it couldn't hold two toddlers and a pregnant woman as well as Janet and Daniel, who was staying there much more often nowadays. And even if Jack did suddenly change in his feelings about her – unlikely as he had practically begged her to live with him – she knew that he loved his daughters almost more than she did. If that was possible.

"Sam. Glad you're here. I just ordered pizza, and even Teal'c couldn't eat the amount I ordered on his own! You take the girls inside, and I'll bring your bags in. I've set up the guest room for you and a couple of cots for the twins. I know it's not much but I need to do some serious rearranging here before I can start on the nursery…" 'And hopefully, that rearranging will end up with this 'just friends' idea out the window,' Jack thought. He loved his blonde ex-2IC more than he would ever admit to anyone, except eventually her, but he hadn't wanted to press matters between them considering what she had been through until recently. Not that he had let her know that he knew… So when she had mentioned that she was going to try and get out of Janet's hair, he had jumped at the chance to have her move in with him – his place was big enough, and then maybe, eventually, he'd get his Sam back for good.

Snapping from his musing, Jack carried Sam's bags into his house. From having practically nothing after leaving Pete, she had sure gained a lot of stuff in the past week or two, Jack thought. Funnily enough, the man who would once have quailed at the thought of a stray toothbrush left in his bathroom relished the idea of Sam's knick-knacks strewn across his house. 'Shows what being in love will do to ya.'

"Uncie Jack? Wanna pway?" Hearing Gracie call him 'Uncie' brought a pang to Sam's heart as she watched Jack kneel down and play pony rides with the kids. One day it'll be 'Daddy', she vowed. And they'll never call that bastard 'dad' again… Shaking her head to banish the unpleasant memories, Sam joined in the game, picking up Jenny and giving her a pony ride as Grace rode around on Jack's back.

"Fastwer mommy, fastwer! Giddy-up!"

"Hey, Sam? I have an idea. How bout this weekend we take the girls for a real pony ride? I know a guy who owns a couple of Shetland ponies, tiny things that'd be perfect. And then maybe we could all go out for dinner afterwards?" 'Please say yes, please say yes,' Jack internally pleaded, although he was aware that dinner with three-year olds tagging along wasn't exactly a romantic evening.

"Sure, Jack. That sounds great. Saturday? And then maybe Sunday we could take the girls out shopping?"

"Yeah, sure you betcha!"

Later that evening, Sam lay curled in her bed listening to the soft sleepy noises coming from the two cots at the foot of her bed. She was trying desperately to stay awake. When she fell asleep, he came back. Every night in her dreams, he found her and pulled her away from this life, the happiness she had finally achieved. And each time, Jack was unable to help. She didn't know which dreams were worse. The ones where Jack was hurt, killed even, trying to protect her. Or the ones where he just stood there, and let it all happen, a blank look on his face as she desperately reached out to him, pleading and begging him to save her from Pete, save her from the pain of the last three years…

"Jack! No! Please…" Hearing the sounds coming from the room next door over the small baby monitor he had installed, Jack bolted out of bed and ran into the next room. Sam was writhing around on the bed, tangled in the blankets as she played out the worst moments of her life over and over again in her dreams. He rushed to her side, mumbling soothing words – "Its okay, baby, I'm here, its okay, don't cry, don't hurt, its okay," and pulling her close as he tried to somehow take away her pain. Gradually, Sam's cries subsided, and she clung to him like a life-line, desperately moving as close to him as possible as if she could almost bury herself inside him and never leave. As Jack stroked her back lightly, making soothing sounds, Jack was aware of two angelic faces peering at him from the cots at the foot of the bed.

"Uncie Jack?" A tremulous voice asked, "Is mommy dying?"

"No" Sweetie, mommy's not dying. She's fine, baby, just had a nightmare, that's all. And she needed Uncie Jack to come and scare it away. Mommy's fine."

After a slight pause, the other face piped up.

"Uncie Jack?"

"Yes honey?"

"Can we come stay with you and mommy? I get nightmares too. Bout daddy. You scarwe them away like you did mommy's?"

"Aw, come on then," Jack replied, his heart aching as he thought of his little babies scared of the man that had been their 'daddy' for three years. Bastard. His babies… he'd never let that scum near his loved ones again. As the twins climbed into the bed and snuggled up to Jack and Sam, sleep gradually overtook them all.

The next morning, Sam woke up feeling refreshed for the first time in a long time. The nightmares hadn't been anywhere near as bad last night. Stretching, one hand came across a small thatch of blonde hair, which wasn't unexpected. The girls often crawled in bed with her at night, at least now that Pete wasn't there. What shocked her was the hard wall her other hand encountered. Opening her eyes, she found herself snuggled up to a sleeping Jack O'Neill. Or, at least, a previously sleeping Jack O'Neill. The eye that had snapped open as soon as she hit him in the chest was glaring at her, annoyed that his sleep had been interrupted.

"Sam? Wanna tell me why, at," he checked the clock beside the bed, "8.30 on a Friday morning, a Friday morning in which neither of us has work to go to, you are wide-awake. And, what's worse, apparently hitting me to ensure that I, too, am wide awake?" He asked, with a slight hint of irritation, and – was that a pinch of amusement? – In his voice.

"Jack. I… uh…um…"

Realising that Sam was probably wondering what he was doing there, Jack explained, in a way only he knew how.

"Nightmare. Crying. Came in. You stopped. Stayed."

"Oh." A little embarrassed and more than a little relieved, Sam tried to explain, only to be cut off by Jack.

"Sam. It's okay. People get nightmares." He may have known about Pete, but she didn't know that, and he didn't want to make her uncomfortable or feel that she had to tell him. Plus, he had hardly been able to handle hearing it from Daniel. Hearing it from her, he wasn't ready for.

"Mommy? Are you okay now? Did uncie Jack scarwe away the bad dweam?" Gracie's sleepy voice piped up, breaking the awkward moment between Sam and Jack.

"Aw, honey, yes. Mommy's fine now." Sam replied.

"Yeah. Brave uncie Jack scared away the nasty nightmare" Jack added, puffing out his chest in pride. Sam giggled. Jack, looked down at the girls, and up at Sam.

"Girls, wanna know what uncie Jack is thinking?" He asked in a teasing voice. Sam suddenly grew wary at the glint in his eye.

"What?" Came the twin chorus of replies.

"TICKLE MOMMY!" Jack yelled, as he pounced on Sam, the girls right behind him. Helpless at the three-person onslaught, Sam shrieked and wriggled as they attacked her. As the merciless three finally ceased their attack, Sam pulled her babies towards her. "Revenge is hell, Jack," she taunted, and began her counter-attack, the twins helping her.

"Traitors!" He yelled at the girls, as they switched sides to help their mom. "And you know what we do with traitors, don't you Sam?" In unison, the adults ganged up on the children, and gradually it became an all-for-one, with Jack finally admitting defeat in the face of the three girls.

"Well, all that tickling has left me pretty darn hungry. Who's for breakfast?"

"Me!" Came the chorus of answers from the three girls, all collapsed in a heap on the bed, as the broke out in fits of giggles.

'They all giggle. I'm living with THREE giggling girls. God, will my life ever be the same again?' Jack laughed ruefully to himself as he walked down the stairs; ready to make breakfast for the three (soon to be four) most important people in his life.

Across the road, in a plain grey b.m.w. with tinted windows, a man looked into the house with a pair of binoculars. "Target confirmed. Subject is indeed living at this address. Awaiting further instructions. Over." A crackle came from the radio device he held in his hand. "Take preliminary photographs and then retreat. Ensure that subject does not, repeat, does NOT make your position. We will regroup and plan the next move. Over." The man in the car drew out a camera that had a large, telescopic lens attached and aimed it at the large window at the front of the house. He took several photographs, and then drove away…