Chapter 3 – Unexpected Callers

Sunday was a repeat to the warm day that had enveloped Colorado Springs on Saturday. Jack and Sam decided to combine their desire for fresh air with the need to get some yard work done. Which is why JJ was presently sitting in his playpen under the shade of a maple tree, watching his parents trim bushes, rake, and plant flowers. One or the other of them would take intermittent breaks to check on him and talk to the little boy, and both were always careful that at least one of them was never out of his sight.

Although they had never experienced the threats or attempts to take JJ that had occurred with AU JJ, they always erred on the side of caution. The NID had, thus far, been satisfied to run their tests on the cord blood that was provided upon JJ's birth and the samples that Doctor Frasier sent them from his baby check-ups. Also, in lieu of the fact that Anubis had been defeated two years ago and there had only been minor incidents with the system lords, no one felt the need to study one small child in the rather unlikely event that he might one day save the planet. So, even though there was no threat to their son at the present time, the nature of their work kept them cautious.

JJ, tired of being cooped up, began to protest loudly from the playpen. Jack put his hedge clippers aside and went over to his son. "Hey little man, you had enough of the play pen for a while?" JJ lifted one arm up to Jack, while the other kept a tight grip on the side of the playpen. Jack chuckled as he bent to pick up the little boy. "That's OK. I've about had it with the yard work. Let's go find mommy."

Sam was on the side of the house, trying to finish planting the tray of petunias that Mrs. Nelson had brought over last week. She rubbed a gloved hand across her forehead and sighed as she looked at her flower bed. How come she could take apart and put together a naquadah bomb with her eyes closed, yet she couldn't seem to plant a straight row of flowers?

"Having fun?" Jack asked with a touch of humor in his voice.

Sam looked up at him with a frown. "Not particularly. There aren't enough of the yellow petunias to balance out the purple ones. I just can't seem to make this flower bed look symmetrical."

Jack set JJ down in the grass next to Sam, then sat down himself. "Sam. Honey. These are flowers. Not some science experiment. It doesn't have to be perfect," he reminded her gently.

"I know, but it should look nice," she moaned.

"It looks just fine. And in a month, they'll be choked out by weeds, so who will know the difference?" he asked with a cockeyed grin.

"Well, you're no help at all!" she frowned at him before turning away to gather up the empty plastic flower containers.

"Hey," Jack grabbed her arm and pulled her onto his lap. "I was only teasing. Come here." Jack put his arms around her and nuzzled her neck while JJ pulled himself up on Sam's legs, demanding some attention of his own.

"Do you really think you should be doing that outside for the whole neighborhood to see?" asked a somewhat amused voice near the front of the house.

Sam and Jack both looked up quickly, surprise written all over their features. "Dad!" Sam exclaimed as she scrambled to her feet and quickly handed JJ off to Jack. Jacob welcomed her with open arms, pulling her close for a hug. It had been several months since they had seen each other; a few months too long, in his opinion.

Sam pulled back and looked at her father with a quizzical smile. "What are you doing here? I thought you were on an extended secret mission?"

"Not happy to see your dear old dad?" he teased her.

Jack stepped over to them, JJ held firmly in his arms. "Of course we're happy to see you, dad. Although your timing could have been better," he stated meaningfully.

"I'd say my timing was just right, Jack," he replied with a raised eyebrow. "How's my grandson?" Jacob asked, taking in the curious look the little boy was giving him. JJ didn't remember his Grandpa very well and was very interested in this potential new playmate. "He sure has grown since I last saw him."

"JJ's doing great, dad. He's crawling now and getting into everything he can get his hands on," Sam explained, the pride in her son evident in the way her eyes lit up when she talked about him.

"Huh, just like his father, no doubt," Jacob declared, taking the little boy from Jack's arms before Jack could say anything.

"Yeah well, in a few years, I have no doubt he'll be taking everything apart, just like his mother,' Jack shot back with a grin. Though Jacob had been a bit leery about this relationship at the start, the two men had quickly found common ground in their shared desire to make Sam happy. When JJ had been born, that bond had just grown stronger. Now, they enjoyed each other's company greatly and showed it by the constant teasing and baiting they engaged in. For her part, Sam found it annoying at times, but left them to it. She realized things could be a lot worse between them, after all!

Jacob held JJ up over his head and talked to him in a tone of voice that neither Sam nor Jack had ever heard him use before. "Hey there big guy. How's my grandson? Can you say Papa?"

Sam and Jack exchanged a look of amusement before Sam said, "Uh, dad. He's not really talking yet. Just an occasional Mama or Dada right now. He's still a little young."

"He's never too young to learn how to say Papa, are you JJ? If I recall, Sam, you were saying quite a few words by the time you were 11 months old."

"Most likely multi-syllable words, at that," Jack said, directing a teasing look at Sam.

She smiled back before turning to her father once again. "Why don't we go inside, Dad. I'll get you something to drink and you can tell us about your visit." Jacob followed Sam into the house, not yet willing to relinquish his grandson to either of them.

Once they were all seating in the living with something cold to drink, including some apple juice for JJ, Sam looked expectantly at her father. "Well Dad? Are you going to tell us how you came to be back on Earth today and how you got out here? You didn't even call first," she stated in a somewhat accusatory tone.

"It was kind of last minute, Sam. Our mission got wrapped up a little early and I decided it was time to take a little vacation to see my family," Jacob shrugged. "General Landry kindly allowed me the use of a base vehicle so I could come out here today. I always did like that man," he commented, referring to the new base commander who just happened to be an old friend of both his and General Hammond's.

"Can you tell us anything about this mysterious mission you were on, Jacob?" Jack asked with a quirk of his eyebrow. When Jacob had left a few months ago, he had been rather tight lipped about the whole operation.

Jacob frowned in remembrance of the mission. "It was actually pretty much a waste of time. A long waste of time," he stressed. "It was a wild goose chase, of sorts. The only thing we came away with were a few devices that may or may not be Ancient in origin."

Sam frowned. "Why couldn't you tell us this before you left?"

Jacob sighed, "I'm sorry Sam, really I am. It's just that the Tok'ra High Council is rather tired of the Tauri always finding the Ancient artifacts and having first crack at them. I was instructed not to mention anything in the hope that we might be able to find and use some of the Ancient technology to further our own agenda." He looked at her apologetically. "Turns out, we kind of need your help now."

Jack rolled his eyes, "And why does that not surprise me?"

Jacob shot Jack a look before continuing. "I brought back one device in particular that I need you to take a look at, Sam. We think it might be a long-range scanner of some sort, able to operate even through heavy electrical interference. It would come in handy for both of us," he assured her.

"I'd be happy to look it over, Dad," Sam readily agreed. Any new technology was bound to get her excited and this promised to keep her intrigued for quite a while ,especially if it had anything to do with the Ancients.

"Tomorrow," Jack amended somewhat sternly. After all, he didn't want this perfect weekend to be ruined by a Sunday evening trip to base. Jack knew that if Sam left now, she'd get enthralled in the doohickey and not return until late in the evening.

Jacob looked back and forth between the two of them while he held JJ on his lap. He was rather curious to see if Sam would put up an argument about going back to base. He, for one, was on Jack's side in this matter: the scanner could wait until morning. Still, he was interested in how this new dimension in their relationship would play out.

Surprising both her father and Jack, Sam turned an indulgent smile onto her husband and said, "Yes, dear," in an overly sweet voice. She had not had any intention of going in tonight, but was willing to let Jack think she had given in to his wishes. Of course, Jack was not fooled for a minute and just shook his head at her in response.

Jacob laughed at the two of them. "Well, it looks like the honeymoon is over and you've settled into real life."

Jack sighed dramatically as he leaned back in his chair, "Yep, dirty diapers, yard work and endless bills. Blissful married life, indeed."

Sam rolled her eyes at him, "And you're loving every minute of it!"

"The diapers, not so much," Jack stated with a grimace.

Sam turned back to her dad. "How long can you stay, Dad?"

"A few days at least, Sam. Long enough to spend some time learning about those items I brought back. As well as spending time with my favorite grandson," he added, smiling gently down at the little boy in his lap who was trying to pull off the belt from Jacob's tunic.

"Isn't JJ your only grandson?" Jack reminded him needlessly.

"Yes he is, and your point is?"

"Nothing," Jack stated with an innocent shrug. "I'm just saying…"

"You will be joining us for dinner, won't you dad?" Sam asked, steering the men away from the direction this inane conversation seemed to be heading.

"I'd like that Sam, but only if you let me take all of you out for dinner. It's been a long time since I've been to a restaurant with my family," he replied a bit wistfully.

Sam leaned across the couch to give her dad a kiss on the cheek. "We'd like that dad. We'd like that a lot," she assured him.

Two hours later, they were sitting comfortably at a neighborhood Italian restaurant that catered particularly to young families. Jack and Sam came here often, well as often as was possible with their schedules, as they didn't have to worry about bothering other patrons if JJ became too fussy. He was never the only fussy child present, after all.

After a light dinner, they had each ordered dessert and, while Sam and Jacob discussed a few of the other artifacts he had for her to look at, Jack fed JJ small pieces of Italian Sorbet. The little boy made a surprised face each time the cold, creamy dessert passed his lips, but eagerly opened his mouth for another taste once the first had gone down.

JJ's dessert came to an abrupt end when Jack's cell phone rang. Jack took the phone out of his jacket pocket, checked the caller ID, and frowned. "It's the SGC," he explained before flipping the receiver open. "O'Neill."

Jack glanced at Sam with a look of annoyance on his face as he responded into the phone, "What… now? Can't they possibly wait until tomorrow? Yes General, I realize that it might already be tomorrow to them but…Yes sir, I'll be there as soon as possible." Jack's frown grew as he continued to listen to instructions on the other end. He shot a look over at Sam, the confusion evident in his features. "Why do they want me to bring Sam?"

Sam and Jacob shared a quiet look of puzzlement as Jack finished his conversation. "Alright General, we'll be there in 30 minutes. Thank you." Jack closed his phone with a snap and looked over at his wife and father-in-law. "Well, it appears that the Makesh have gated to the base and have an urgent need to speak with me. They want me to bring you along as well, Sam."

"Do you know why?" Sam asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"No idea, the General just says they are most insistent that we both come in," Jack replied, turning to clean up JJ before taking him out of the high chair.

"What about JJ? Should we bring him with us?" Sam and Jack often brought the little boy onto base: there was no shortage of personnel who were willing to look after him for a little while.

Jacob got to his feet after laying some money on the table for their bill. "I'll come along and watch him Sam. Teal'c is still on base: JJ and I will go and visit with him for a while."

"Thanks Jacob," Jack replied sincerely as he lifted his son out of the high chair. "This shouldn't take long. Well, I won't let it take too long," he assured them both. Sam put her hand on his arm in reassurance as they made their way to the door.

"I really hate it when a perfectly good Sunday is interrupted by unexpected alien visitors coming to call," Jack grumbled as they left the restaurant. "Uh, present company excluded Jacob," he added with a slight smile.

"That's OK, Jack," Jacob grinned back. "I didn't exactly come to see you!"

Sam just rolled her eyes as the incessant bantering continued on the way to the car, wondering if maybe in 10 years or so, the two of them would have a more mature relationship. Probably not.

A/N: The nextchapter will start to pick up the pace and add the mystery/mayhem piece of the story. I just wanted to let them enjoy a little more time together! Hope you enjoyed it!