Jack walked, no, more like strutted down the hall on SL 28. It was his first day back at the SGC and he felt good!
"Hey, it's nice to see you again, Jack," Dr. Samantha Carter said, bumping into him as she rounded the corner.
Sam was the team's engineer, theoretical astrophysist, really. As a civilian, she'd been hired to work on the Stargate the first mission. Afterward, she'd become a permanent member of SG-1.
"You, too, Dr. Carter," Jack said smiling.
"Jack?" Sam inquired.
"Yes?"
"Is something wrong?"
"Mmm, no, why?"
"Well, you're, um, smiling."
"Yep!" Jack turned and continued down the hall, whistling.
Sam shrugged and jogged down the adjoining hallway. If that wasn't the weirdest thing…
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"Colonel!" Daniel greeted Jack, Sam and Teal'c as they stepped out of the 'Gate.
"Captain," Jack replied smoothly.
Daniel turned to a pillar beside the 'Gate and knelt down in front of it. What was behind there, Jack couldn't see, but he had a fair guess.
"You can come out now, Hon. It's only Uncle Jack."
Daniel's daughter, Ta'ashra, immediately ran out from behind the pillar, squealing.
"Unka Jack! Unka Jack!" she screamed, jumping into his arms. "Where'd you go?"
"Hey, my little pal!" Jack said smiling. Kids, they were his thing, his life, until Charlie… Playing with Tay each visit had almost brought him back. "I had some things to take care of before I could come back to see you," he told her sweetly. It melted his heart to see her eyes. He gave her a hug and ruffled her hair. "I'm sorry, but I can't stay long this time."
He stood with Tay still clinging to his shoulders. "Sorry to come and go. This was just to say we're back in action."
"So this means you and Sara…" Daniel trailed off.
"Yeah, she moved back in," Jack nodded.
"Wow, took you guys long enough. It's been, what, three months?" Daniel sighed.
"She moved back home that night, when you knocked some sense back into me."
"Why'd you wait so long to come back?"
"We needed a little time to ourselves before I ended my little 'vacation'." Jack reluctantly set Tay down and watched her run to her father. He missed that feeling. Their house seemed so empty now, even with Sara at home. It wasn't the same without Charlie.
He gave a little watery eyed grin at Tay as she clang to Daniel's leg.
"Sir?" Daniel said, suddenly official, trying to bring Jack back to the present.
"Huh? Sorry." Jack looked back at Daniel and shrugged. "You know, Sara's been acting a little strange lately," Jack said, walking through what could most comparatively been called the foyer. Or maybe a lobby? Jack smiled. Maybe a reception area?
"Like how?" Daniel asked. He wasn't sure what was going through his friend's mind, knowing it was probably more than just a few things. He followed Jack, Tay clinging to his hand.
"She kind of, hugs me… oddly. I haven't seen her wear her own clothes in about two weeks. She's been working from home most of the time." Jack held out his hand so Tay could swing between him and her father.
"If you're that concerned, take her to see Janet. Or even your own doctor," Daniel suggested.
"You know, I think she's already done that," Jack said seriously.
"Really? What do you think?" The two men exited the pyramid and headed towards the village Daniel now called home.
"I have my ideas, but I'll hold back until I know for sure," Jack replied. They both looked down at Tay swinging between them, Jack's grin broadening.
Jack stepped calmly through the Stargate and down the ramp in the Gateroom of the SGC. He smiled contently, halting in front of General Hammond.
"Welcome back, Colonel. Briefing immediately, follow me." Hammond led the way to the briefing room.
Jack grinned, knowing what was going on. Hammond was trying to get him get him home sooner. It seemed that when Jack went home early, he came back happy, and a happy Jack meant a happy team. A happy team was a productive team. It wasn't just Jack either, though. Most of the team leaders were like that.
Hammond sat at the head of the briefing table, Jack sitting directly to his right. "How'd it go, Colonel?"
"Just fine, sir. Nothing out of the ordinary," Jack replied.
"I expect your report on my desk first thing in the morning. Dismissed." Hammond stood and left the room.
Jack practically ran to the locker room, just barely taking the time to check to see if the sign was switched to "Men" before he ran in. Stripping off his dusty BDUs, he grabbed a towel and headed off to take one of the fastest showers in his life. He just wanted to get the fine layer of dust off that seemed to collect any time he visited Abydos. He loved seeing Tay, Sha'uri and Daniel, but he could do without the sand.
Stepping out of the shower room, he dried off his hair with the towel and grabbed his civvies. As he pulled his shirt over his head, his eyes fell to the pictures taped to the inside of the locker door. His family, Charlie. Jack blinked back the tears as he stared at Charlie's school picture, the one he'd brought home the day… Jack tore his eyes away. No, he wasn't going to do this anymore. Charlie was gone. He'd done his grieving and being a miserable pain in the ass wasn't going to bring him back. He would be happy remembering the fun he'd had with his son and how happy they'd been.
He pulled his leather jacket out of the locker and held it for a moment, looking between it and a photo of Sara, Charlie and himself.
Charlie had helped Sara pick out the jacket for him for Christmas right before Jack had been sent to Iraq. When he'd left, he'd placed the jacket on one of Charlie's hooks, just in case he didn't come back. But he had. Four agonizing months later, he'd made it home. Charlie had been ecstatic.
Jack threw the jacket on and smiled, heading for the door and out of the mountain.
He met Teal'c at the elevator. "Hey, T," he said coolly.
"It is good to see that you are back again, O'Neill," Teal'c responded.
"Thanks, you too. I'll see you tomorrow morning." Jack nodded and stepped into the elevator.
Teal'c turned up the corners of his mouth. Translated, it was one of the largest grins Jack had ever seen from the stoic Jaffa. As the elevator doors closed on Teal'c's still ginning face, Jack thought to himself, 'Man, it's great to be back!'
--------------------------------
Jack quickly, but carefully pulled his truck into the driveway. He hopped out whistling and carrying the groceries Sara had called the base and asked him to pick up. He was so wonderfully happy, he'd been given a second chance and he wasn't going to blow it.
He shuffled the bags, trying to get to his house keys, but before he had a chance to put the key in the lock, the door opened. He nearly dropped the grocery bags right there on the front step.
There, right in front of him, stood Sara, in just his shirt and boxers. She leaned against the door frame, her eyes peering into his. She just leaned, nothing else.
Jack slowly moved around her, never taking his eyes away. Shuffling into the kitchen, he practically threw the groceries down, being only careful enough to make sure they didn't fall. He didn't know what had gotten into Sara, but he was sure he was going to enjoy it.
"You know," he said with that unique O'Neill grin. "I could've sworn you had clothes when you moved back in here."
She giggled, finding his smile breathtaking as usual. She breathed in his sweet scent as he enveloped her in his arms. She'd always felt safe with him, but after Charlie things had changed. Now it was as if he was back to the man he'd been before. He pulled her in, kissing her slowly.
She loved the way his lips brushed hers, the gentleness behind the kiss. He moved into it, pressing against her. Her stomach suddenly lurched and she had to break away from his embrace. She ran to the upstairs bathroom without giving him an explanation.
"Sara!" Jack called after her, worry straining deep in his voice. He heard the bathroom door slam as he started up the stairs.
"Sara, Honey, can I come in?" He knocked on the door, knowing full well that each time she got sick was different. He didn't know the best way to react to her, so he just let her lead him.
"Please," he heard her plead from the other side of the door, her voice barely above a whisper. He slowly opened the door, moving gently into the room.
Sara was kneeling on the floor, ready to heave again. Jack sat on the side of the tub, and started rubbing her back. He didn't say anything at first, letting her relax in his arms.
"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, not really wanting to disturb her.
"I will be." She gave him a weak smile as she tried to stand. Jack helped her up, still holding onto her. They walked to their bedroom, Jack laying her gently on their bed.
"Rest," Jack said, pulling the covers over her shoulders. "I'll go unpack the groceries." He kissed her forehead and left the room, staring at her. She smiled back as he walked out of sight.
When she was sure Jack was all the way downstairs, she jumped up and ran to the bathroom, frantically searching for her toothbrush and the toothpaste. She had to stifle a yelp of joy at the discovery of the two coveted items. She brushed her teeth, ridding herself of the awful taste. She would tell him, tonight, she finally decided.
Jack was just folding up the last of the grocery bags to put them away, when he heard the soft pat of bare feet across the hardwood floor.
"I thought I told you to rest," he said, trying his best to sound fatherly. He turned around and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"I'm feeling much better now." She nuzzled against his neck, feeling fully comfortable with him right there by her side. "How was work?" she decided to ask. "I know you can't give me details, but…"
"No, I know. It was okay. Nothing big, went to visit Daniel. Came home. Same old, same old," Jack smiled.
"Okay," Sara nodded. "I can accept that. It's more than you used to give me. How's Daniel doing?"
"Pretty good. He's, uh, stationed, in the desert," Jack replied hesitantly.
"Yeah, sure Colonel O'Neill," Sara joked.
"What would you like for dinner?"
"Forget dinner," Sara smiled. "Come upstairs with me." She pulled him along by the hand.
Jack grinned and willingly followed her.
"Jack?" Sara whispered. He looked down into her eyes. Her expression told him she was about to apologize for something.
"Shhhh. Don't speak," Jack said softly, enjoying their union. He held her close to him, their skin rubbing wonderfully together. Their clothes, well actually his clothes, had been discarded on the floor, happily.
The soft tones emanating from Sara's throat indicated to him she was enjoying their activities as well. He ran his hand through her hair and she rolled her head to the side. She slowly opened her eyes and promptly screamed.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked frantically.
"Colonel O'Neill." He heard that familiar, small, almost computerized voice say his name, but he didn't want to believe it. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was.
"Thor," Jack stated solemnly. "Anybody ever tell you, you have really bad timing!"
"I am sorry, O'Neill, but your, situation, made it impossible to bring you on board. We need your help." Thor's image fuzzed in and out in front of them.
"Okay, just let me get dressed, then you can come and get me," Jack said, sounding defeated. He quickly got out of bed and found his clothes.
"Jack, what's going on? What the Hell was that thing?" Sara was scared, Jack could feel it.
"Remember my friend, Thor?" Sara nodded, her eyes wide. "That was him." She closed her eyes and shook her head.
"At this moment, I can't tell you anymore than that, but I'll see, okay? Don't worry, Thor's a great, um, person?" Jack explained. "I'll be fine."
Sara got out of bed and approached him, throwing his arms around his neck. She hugged him with all her might.
"We have to talk when you get home, okay?" she told him quietly. She kissed him softly and stood back.
"I'll be home as soon as I can. It might take a while, ya never know with these guys." He shrugged somewhat jovially.
The room was suddenly filled with a bright white light. "I love you," Jack said as he disappeared.
"All right, Thor. What the HELL is going on?" Jack shouted.
"We are sorry, O'Neill. We are in need of your assistance," Thor answered.
"This better bee good." Jack tried to glare, but Thor was one of his best friends. It was hard to stay mad at the little guy.
"We were interrupting-"
"Ya think!" Jack snapped back. "Sorry, but did you have to scare my wife so bad?"
"We could not bring you on board, such as you were," Thor tried to explain yet again.
What was it with this guy? "So you've said. I've seen you bring up two people before."
"We could not bring up just you, but until we ran our scans we thought we could transport your wife with you," answered Thor. "Why do you engage in the ritual of procreation without any need to?"
"We needed to, Thor. Believe me, we need to still," Jack responded, a grin on his face but agitation in his voice.
"After your need has been met, you should not continue that action for some time."
"You know what? I'm not even going to try to figure out what that's supposed to mean. I stopped trying to understand you a long time ago," Jack replied. "Okay, so what do you need help with?"
---------------------------
Sara was asleep when Jack returned home. He noticed she'd put his shirt and boxers back on and was curled up under the covers. He'd found her in this position most of the times he'd returned from missions over the years.
He stripped down to his boxers and crawled in next to his wife, wrapping his arm around her waist and settling in behind her. She didn't stir when he moved like she normally did. Jack suddenly became alert, checking her breathing and pulse, but they checked out fine. Something just didn't feel right. He couldn't place it so he decided not to worry about it. Sara's soft rhythmic breathing quickly put him to sleep.
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Sara gently awoke to the soft morning rays shining through the window. She snuggled back against her husband, who… wait, Jack was back?
She quickly sat up to make sure it was really him. It was. She hadn't heard him come in the night before, but judging by the way he left, she wasn't sure if she would have.
"Jack," she nudged him. "Jack, wake up."
"Huh?" he answered groggily. He gently opened his eyes and smiled. "Hey, you're up early," he said, spying the clock. It was quarter to six. Sara usually refused to open her eyes before seven.
"Jack, is it really you?" she asked nervously.
"Nope, I'm a copy. My real name is 'Comoniwannalayou'." He smiled mischievously. "Yes, of course it's me."
"Jack you've been gone for a week." Sara was concerned, something just wasn't quite right. "General Hammond called for you when you didn't show up at work. I told him what had happened and he just got real quiet, said 'Thank you' and hung up."
"It was only supposed to be for an hour. Believe me, Thor got a good tongue lashing for interrupting us." Jack pulled Sara back so she was leaning against him. "I'm sorry, but the Agard are our allies and when they need a really dumb idea, they call me. Don't worry, Thor's allowed me to tell you everything and Hammond has some papers he needs you to sign."
He nuzzled up to her and put his arms around her waist. "So, where were we?" Jack grinned and pulled her down to him.
Jack held his wife close, not willing to let her sit up. She giggled playfully as she struggled against his strong arms.
"Okay," she laughed. "Jack, c'mon, I need to go to the bathroom, let me up. And you need a shower."
He watched her throw on his t-shirt and walk away. Yup, now he knew it. He could put his finger on what had been bothering him. And the suspicions he'd had when talking to Daniel, those were now confirmed as well.
He crawled out of bed after her, not bothering with clothes and walked to the bathroom. He stood there, leaning on the door frame, watching her brush her teeth. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her as she finished rinsing.
"What would you like for breakfast?" she asked, turning around to face him. She leaned against the sink and grabbed his hips, pulling him closer to her.
"Surprise me," Jack responded, grinning. He gently kissed her, then broke their embrace to start his shower. "I'll make it quick," he said, hopping in.
Jack came downstairs to find Sara dishing out two of the biggest omelets he'd ever seen onto their plates. His eyes bulged at the site.
"Wow," he said. "You, uh, must be hungry."
Sara just grinned and sat down next to him. She immediately dug into her food. Jack sat there, amazed.
"So what's this talk we're supposed to have?" Jack suddenly broke out.
Sara almost choked on the mouthful she had been chewing. Jack had never been so keen on talking, but now it seemed like they did it all the time. Sara wasn't sure if she'd ever get used to this new side of him. She just stood there, watching him.
"Thor said some things about us that were a little confusing," Jack said, breaking the silence. He could tell she was nervous, but he couldn't help playing dumb.
"Oh, yeah? What did he have to say?" Sara asked suspiciously.
"He said he's sorry for scaring you, but he couldn't take you with me. When I asked him why he told me that if I didn't already know he didn't have the right to tell me. Personally I think he's been hanging out around Earth too much. Then he said we should stop…" Here it was where Jack started snickering. " 'The ritual of procreation.' That's a direct quote." Jack was full on laughing now, something he'd just recently started doing again.
"I'm pregnant, Jack," Sara blurted out.
Jack's eyes bulged and his jaw dropped. His fork fell to the plate as he searched for something to say. He knew this was coming, and thought he was prepared, but she said it so blatantly it startled him. A small grin crept across his face.
"Really?" he asked, the goofy grin still plastered where it was.
Sara nodded. She wasn't sure what to read out of Jack's reaction.
"How far along are you?"
"Four months," she nervously answered. She could tell Jack was doing the math in his head, trying to figure out when this had started. His eyes grew wide.
"You knew!" He jumped up and started pacing the room. "You. Knew. When you left, you knew. What happened?"
"We weren't on anything close to good terms. We were just doing it because it was something we just… did. I suspected and got scared. When you left on that mission, I ran. I was so scared. Of you, of another life, of what happened to Charlie." Sara started crying, her tears falling into her eggs.
Jack ran around behind her and held her tight. She leaned her head against his should and cried into him. He stroked her hair in comfort, whispering softly to her.
"I'm sorry, Sweetheart. Why didn't you tell me sooner, though?" he whispered into her ear.
Sara sat up straight to explain clearly. She wiped her eyes quickly and continued, "I found out for sure while you were gone, after I had sent you the papers. I didn't know what to do. My father doesn't know, even though I stayed with him. When we settled everything, I couldn't find the right time to tell you. I was going to tell you last week, just before Thor showed up."
"I suspected something, but I wasn't sure what. Is that why you were wearing my clothes, to hide it from me?" Jack asked. The hurt in his voice stung Sara's ears. She winced.
"I wasn't exactly hiding it. I just didn't want you to find out without me telling you. I'm still scared, Jack." The tears started flowing again.
"I know, Honey. I know." Jack didn't say anything else, he just held her. He waited until she was done crying before he spoke again.
"Are we ready, Sara, for another one? I mean after Charlie?" Jack was shaking.
"I don't know, but whether we're ready or not, we've got another one on the way," Sara answered. "I just, what if I screw up again?"
"You didn't do anything wrong. What we really should have done was teach Charlie about the dangers, instead of chasing him away. Maybe he wouldn't have become so curious, and that was my fault."
"Jack, I don't blame you, and I'm sure Charlie wouldn't either. We'll just have to do our best." Sara gave a weak smile.
"Of course," Jack replied. "I love you, so much." He hugged her close, kissing her neck softly.
Their breakfast forgotten, the two of them sat together, enjoying their embrace. Jack sighed deeply and placed his hand over Sara's womb. She rested her head on his shoulder, completely relaxed.
A/N: Okay how'd you like? Like i said before this is all something i "wrote" last summer, im just getting to typing it up and posting it. I don't feel like changing anything i did to it, so if it's really crappy, please tell me. I have a hard time writing some characters. r and r, thanks!