THROUGH THE YEARS
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a/n: This chapter is different from the rest. It mainly follows Grace and Charlie through their first year of school. When reading it, remember: Jack still doesn't know he has a daughter. He doesn't even know Sam is a mom. Also, I made sure throughout this story that no one ever said Charlie's name in front of Sam, so she knows Jack had a boy, but doesn't know his name.
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Chapter 25: Making Friends
1994 Colorado Springs
Sam and Katherine wasted no time packing and moving to the Springs. Sam found a small, two bedroom home in one of the small neighborhoods in Colorado Springs, while Katherine preferred a larger house on the outskirts of town, situated on several acres of woodland.
Sam and Grace made sure to visit Mrs. Hammond before leaving the DC area. The chemotherapy wasn't working and General Hammond had informed them that she only had a few months left to live. Once the project was approved and arrangements had been made for Sam and Katherine, General Hammond requested personal leave to spend as much time with his wife as possible.
As soon as Sam and Grace were settled, Sam bit the bullet and called Jack's phone number. Being told that his number was disconnected, Sam called his work number and was told he had been transferred. She was disappointed, but in a way, relieved. Having to deal with Jack and start this project at the same time was overwhelming just to think about. She wanted him to know about Grace, she was just too afraid to tell him.
Instead of daycare, Katherine volunteered her maid, Jenny, to watch Grace while she and Sam worked inside the mountain. Jenny would arrive at Sam's small house right before Sam left for work and spend the day with Grace. The change from daycare was a welcoming experience for Grace and she enjoyed spending time with Jenny.
Over the summer, Jenny helped Grace learn to ride a bike, and then on to rollerblades. Living in an apartment and spending most of her time in daycare, Grace never had a chance to learn these simple childhood activities while in DC.
Before Grace realized it, the summer was up and she was due to start kindergarten! Sam requested the day off to take her baby girl to her first day of school. Grace was nervous and excited all at once.
"You ready to go, squirt?" Sam asked her little girl as she leaned against the door to her bedroom.
"Uh huh! Do I look pretty in my new dress, mommy?"
"Oh yes, you are beautiful, Gracie," Sam answered, walking in and picking her daughter up in her arms. "You are absolutely gorgeous," she squealed as she spun Grace around in her arms.
"Mommy! You're going to mess up my hair!" Grace complained as her mom spun her around and around.
Sam laughed lightly and then set her daughter down. "So, sorry," she laughed. "Come on, you don't want to be late on your first day."
Grace followed her mom out of the room.
The school was a small school, only holding kindergarten through third grade students. Sam read the room number off the paper to Grace as they got out of the car. "Okay, it looks like you are in room 5. Uh, I think we have to go this way," Sam said, pointing towards the main doors.
Grace giggled and flung her backpack over her shoulders. The two walked into the school, dodging several other students rushing off to their classrooms.
Room 5 was easy to find and Sam felt tears well up in her eyes as she dropped her little girl off at her classroom.
"Hi, I'm Mrs. Thomas, and you must be…" the lady standing outside room 5 prompted.
"I'm Grace. Grace Suzanne Carter," Grace replied, holding her hand up to shake.
Mrs. Thomas looked a little surprised, but quickly recovered and shook Grace's small hand. "Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Grace. I think we are going to have a great year, what about you?"
Grace smiled up at the lady and then turned to her mom.
Sam hugged her baby girl one last time before she walked into her classroom.
Grace felt a little overwhelmed by the sea of faces in the classroom, none familiar. She saw an empty table, walked over and took a seat. She looked around at the room full of children, feeling shy for the first time ever.
A few minutes later, another student entered, looking just as lost as Grace felt. The boy had blonde hair and a fair complexion with a small sprinkle of freckles across his cheeks and nose. His eyes were the same color brown as Grace's and he looked to be the same height as well. He searched the room and noticed, at the same time Grace did, that the only remaining seat was the one next to her.
He slowly walked over and flung his backpack on the desk. "Hi, I'm Grace," Grace greeted the boy, smiling prettily.
"I'm Charlie," he grumbled, pulling out the seat and plopping in it.
"What's wrong with you?" Grace asked, forgetting about being shy.
"Nothing."
"Then why do you look so mad?"
"Cuz."
"Cuz?" Grace prompted.
"Cuz I want to! Okay?"
Grace rolled her eyes at the ill-tempered boy. "Fine. Be that way," she replied and crossed her arms across her chest, turned her body straight and stared at the front of the class.
Mrs. Thomas came in a few minutes later and started introducing everyone. Grace was happy when Mrs. Thomas moved her to a table with two other girls and another boy who was much happier than Charlie. Unfortunately, Charlie was moved to the same table.
All in all, the first day of school turned out quite well for Grace.
However, in the next weeks to come, Grace and Charlie became much more irritable with each other. On the third day of school, Charlie pulled Grace's hair, claiming he just wanted to see if her curls would bounce right back into place. On the fifth day of class, Grace pushed Charlie down in a mud puddle when he chanted, "girls were from Jupiter to get more stupider."
The second week of school, Charlie made Grace cry by telling her that she stinks. Grace retaliated by taping a piece of paper with the words "kick me" written on it to the back of Charlie's shirt. The third graders had a ball kicking Charlie on the playground and Mrs. Thomas couldn't believe that she was gullible enough to believe Grace when she asked her how to spell, "kick me" and told her it was for a story she was writing for her mom.
By the end of the third week, Mrs. Thomas was ready to call a meeting with Grace and Charlie's parents. The students were asked to draw a family picture and then stand up at the front of class and tell everyone about his or her drawing.
Grace drew a picture of just her and her mom. Charlie immediately started teasing Grace about not having a dad. When it was Charlie's turn, he showed his drawing. Charlie's picture was he and his mom on one side of the paper and his dad on the other side with a gun in his hand. There were also bodies drawn lying on the bottom of the page and the red crayon was used a lot. Charlie explained that those were the bad guys that his dad was off killing.
Grace announced that Charlie was weird and this started another bickering match between the two. Mrs. Thomas was at her wit's end!
The fourth week of school started and Mrs. Thomas decided that if the two students couldn't get along this week, that she would have to arrange a meeting with their parents and probably have one of the students transferred to a different classroom.
Charlie had been unusually quiet and had left Grace alone on Monday. On Tuesday, Grace was a little surprised that Charlie hadn't said or done anything to her yet. By Wednesday, Grace had enough and sought out Charlie on the playground during recess.
"Charlie?" Grace's sweet voice sounded next to Charlie who was hiding on the side of the building under the stairs. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing," Charlie retorted.
"Why not?" Grace asked, sitting down next to the boy.
"Cuz, I don't feel like it," he murmured.
"Why not?" Grace asked again.
Charlie sighed, but didn't answer the girl. This didn't bother Grace and the two both sat there in silence until the bell rang, informing them that recess was over. The two stood up and headed back to their classroom.
Charlie continued to be withdrawn for the rest of the day. When school was over, Charlie sat on the bench outside waiting for his mom to pick him up.
Grace rushed up to Jenny when she saw her walk up to the school. Just as they were turning to leave, Grace spotted Charlie sitting on the bench, his head bent over. "Jenny, I'll be right back, okay?" Grace said, handing Jenny her backpack and running over to Charlie.
She sat down on the bench with Charlie for several minutes before speaking.
"Your mom picking you up?" she finally asked.
"Yeah," Charlie replied, not looking up.
The two continued to sit silently on the bench.
When Grace was just getting ready to get up and leave, Charlie finally spoke. "Why don't you have a dad?" he asked, lifting his head and looking at her.
"I do have a dad!" Grace exclaimed, defensively. "He just doesn't live with us. He lives far away and does really important stuff."
Charlie nodded his head. "My dad does too. He is fighting bad guys on the other side of the world……..He's been gone a long time."
"Do you miss him?" Grace asked.
"Yeah. A lot. What about you? Do you miss your dad?" Charlie asked.
"I've never met my dad," Grace answered.
"Never?"
"Nope. My grandma says I will someday, though. She promised and grandmas never break their promises."
"I know. My grandma tells me that all the time," Charlie responded.
"I hope your dad comes home soon, Charlie."
"Me, too," Charlie replied. "I hope yours does, too."
Grace smiled and then stood up and ran back to Jenny. "Okay, we can go now," she told the bemused woman.
After the small chat on the bench, Charlie and Grace were inseparable. The small war between them was over and Mrs. Thomas was shocked by the turnaround.
At the beginning of December, Charlie came to school the happiest Grace and Mrs. Thomas had ever seen him. He was so excited, he couldn't even sit down. "My dad came home!" he exclaimed, the humongous smile never leaving his face. Grace and Mrs. Thomas were both very happy for him.
A week after Charlie's dad came home, the class was scheduled to go to the planetarium on a field trip. Grace was excited to meet Charlie's dad and Charlie was looking forward to spending the day with Grace and her mom. Unfortunately, on the day of the field trip, Grace was dropped off in Katherine's limousine, alone.
"Who is that?" Jack asked Charlie, seeing a pretty girl get out of a limo.
"That's Grace," Charlie answered his father.
"That's Grace? You didn't tell me your friend was loaded!" Jack teased.
Charlie looked at his dad with a confused expression on his face. "She's not loaded," he replied.
"Does she always come to school in a limo?" Jack asked.
"No, not always. Once in a while, though"
"Oh. Her parents must have really good jobs."
"She only has a mom and she does what you do," Charlie answered his dad.
"She's in the Air Force?" Jack asked in surprise.
"Uh huh," Charlie replied and then stood up to catch up with his friend. "Come on, dad, let's go in."
"Okay," Jack said, standing up and following his son into the building.
Grace was sitting at their table alone when Jack and Charlie walked in. All the other kids were showing their parents around the room.
"Grace, where's your mom?" Charlie asked, approaching the table.
Grace looked up at her friend with tears in her eyes. "She couldn't come. She had to go to a meeting in DC," Grace replied, accidentally allowing a tear to escape and run down her cheek.
Jack felt an incredible urge to hug the little girl and comfort her. The sad look on her face was tearing him up inside. He rationalized that he was feeling so strongly because of all the stories Charlie had told him about this little girl, but he also wondered if it might have anything to do with the fact that she looked so much like his baby sister when she was this age. Giving in to his impulse, Jack took the seat next to Grace and pulled her into a hug. "Well, Grace, you are more than welcome to spend the day with Charlie and me. Charlie here tells me you know a lot about the stars."
Grace nodded her head in the comforting embrace of Charlie's dad. "Uh huh. I'm gonna be an astronaut when I grow up."
For some reason, Jack's heart swelled to unbelievable proportions at this girl's comment. It was at this moment that Jack realized how much he missed Sam and wondered how close she was herself in becoming an astronaut. He gently squeezed the little girl one more time before letting go.
Grace sat on the bus with Charlie and his dad, she felt better and was chatting away nonstop like usual. "Mr. O'Neill, did you beat the bad guys?" she asked, innocently.
Jack tossed a look over at Charlie and then turned back to Grace. "I sure did," he replied.
"That's good. Charlie said you would. He says you always beat the bad guys. My mommy fought bad guys before, too. But, now she just works inside a mountain. She does classified work now cuz she's really smart and that's what Air Force wants her to do."
"Is that so? She works in a mountain?"
"Uh huh, um Shawna Mountain."
Shawna Mountain?" Jack repeated, confused. "You mean Cheyenne Mountain?"
"Uh huh, that's what I said," Grace replied.
"Oh. Your mom works at NORAD," Jack announced.
"I guess. She works on a project there. Her and Katherine. They started it in DC and now work at the mountain."
"Who is Katherine?" Jack asked, having a slight problem keeping up with the girl.
"She works with my mom. She has a lot of money. She dropped me off for school today."
"Ah!" Jack replied.
At the planetarium, Grace, Charlie and Jack were mesmerized by the star-filled dome room. Grace and Jack both pointed out several constellations and Charlie listened intently to them both explain the stories behind several constellations.
By the end of the day, Jack was ready to take Grace home with him! He had absolutely fallen in love with the little chatterbox. He couldn't quite place it, but he felt an overwhelming connection to the little girl. When they returned to the school, Jack felt bereft after Grace said her good-byes and ran off to catch up with a young woman she called Jenny. The feeling left Jack reeling with confusion. Why was he so attached to this little girl? Why had a girl he never met before stolen his heart so quickly?
Sam had been making huge strides at work. It took some time to get the energy requirements just right to get the inner ring to spin on the large object. Turning and locking different images took a lot of time, so Sam started working on a dialing program. By Christmas, Sam had completed the dialing program and could spin and lock six different images on the ring.
The pentagon was impressed with the project, but a little impatient that they weren't seeing any gainable results as of yet. Sam was constantly being ordered to the Pentagon to explain the significance of their progress and ensure them that the money they were spending would be worth it in the end.
At the end of their first year on the project, Sam was under tremendous pressure from the Pentagon to get the ring figured out. Sam and Katherine were both sure that the last key they were looking for was in the hieroglyphics and strange writing on the cover stones.
After reading the latest report on the ring, the Pentagon decided that Sam was no longer needed on the project. She had supplied the right amount of power and created the dialing program. If the only thing left to figure out on the ring was the writing, Sam was useless there anymore.
Sam couldn't believe the Pentagon was going to pull her from the project. Pulling all the markers she could, she talked the Joint Chiefs in to allowing her to remain on the project until the end of the summer, if she couldn't figure it out by then, she would move back to DC, no questions asked.
The Joint Chiefs agreed and Sam knew she would be spending even more time under the mountain, trying to figure out the ring. She didn't want to spend so much time away from Grace, but knew, deep down, that this project was very important. Deciding that she would make sure that Grace got an enjoyable summer, Sam called her dad and arranged for Grace to spend the summer with him in Florida, where he had been stationed for the last year.
Jack regained shared custody of Charlie and had him every other week. When he first returned from Bosnia, he stayed with Sara and Charlie until he could get a place of his own. After two weeks, Jack signed the papers on his new house. It was a quaint, little house in the same neighborhood as Sara and Charlie. The best thing about it was the observation deck on the roof. Charlie had started showing a great interest in the stars after their trip to the planetarium, and Jack wanted to teach him everything he knew.
On the weeks Jack had Charlie, he would walk up and pick him up from school. Without realizing it, his eyes would search out for the little girl with long, curly hair and a smile that melted his heart. He rarely saw her. She was often picked up before Jack made it to the school.
On one particular Spring day, Jack was surprised to see Grace swinging on the swingset with Charlie. Jack had been running late that day and wasn't expecting any kids to be left at the school. "Hello, Grace," Jack greeted, smiling warmly, as he approached the two children.
"Hi, Dad," Charlie greeted.
"Hello, Mr. O'Neill," Grace responded, smiling back at the man.
"So, you two aren't in trouble or anything, are you?" Jack asked. He had been made well-aware of their earlier antics at the beginning of school. Mrs. Thomas had told him they reminded her a lot of the boy and girl twins she had in her class the year before, always bickering, but always sticking together at the same time.
"No, I'm just waiting for you. Grace is the one who has to stay after school," Charlie answered.
"Oh really?" Jack asked in surprise, looking at the pretty little girl still swinging.
"My mom has to come up and talk with Mrs. Thomas," Grace told him.
Jack wondered what this cute little girl could have possibly done, but before he got the chance to ask, Mrs. Thomas appeared and approached him.
"Hello, Mr. O'Neill, how are you today?"
"Good, and you?" Jack asked back, standing back to his full height and smiling at the teacher.
"Oh, just trying to finish off the school year," she answered.
"Mrs. Thomas, is my mom here yet?" Grace cut in.
"No, Grace, not yet. She called a little bit ago and said she was running late. She'll be here soon."
Jack raised his eyebrows and looked at the teacher.
Mrs. Thomas saw the questioning look on Jack's face. "I have a meeting with Grace's mom about her class next year," she supplied.
Jack still looked confused.
"Grace is a very bright young lady. I feel it would be in her best interest to have her skip first grade and go right into second. I've talked to her mom about this earlier in the year, we're just finishing up arrangements now."
"Ah," Jack replied. "So, I should have known you were a genius, Grace. You have that look."
"Look?" Grace giggled.
"Well, not so much a look as a way about you. You remind me of someone very important to me. She was a genius, too. In fact, she wanted to be an astronaut when she grew up, just like you."
"Really? My mom was going to be an astronaut, but she decided to be a mom instead."
"Well, with a daughter as great as you, I can see why," Jack grinned.
Mrs. Thomas smiled at the warm exchange between Grace and Mr. O'Neill. She knew that Grace didn't have a dad and was happy to see Mr. O'Neill pay so much attention to her.
Before Mrs. Thomas could say anything else, Charlie decided he was ready to go and after saying good-bye to his teacher and Grace, pulled his dad away.
Sam arrived a few minutes after that, and their meeting started. Sam was thrilled that Grace was skipping a grade, but a little disappointed that she would be leaving her friends behind in first grade. Grace always talked about Charlie, and Sam hoped that they would remain friends even with Grace in a different grade next year.
A few weeks later, Grace and Charlie were playing on the monkey bars. "My dad said you can come over and play with me this summer," Charlie informed her.
"I can't. I'm leaving for Florida the day after school ends. I'm staying with my grandpa for the summer," Grace told him, wrapping her feet tight around one of the bars and hanging upside down.
"All summer?"
"Yup! My mom has to work all summer and my grandpa promised to take me to Disneyworld."
Before Charlie could respond, Grace slipped and fell to the ground. She landed on a stick and cut her leg. Charlie quickly jumped down and ran to his friend. "You okay, Grace?" Charlie asked, kneeling beside her.
"Yeah, I just cut my leg up. Ouch! It hurts!" Grace whimpered after touching her scratch.
"Here," Charlie said and sat down beside her. He picked at a scab on his elbow until he opened it up and blood started coming out. "We can be blood brothers," he announced.
"But, I'm a girl," Grace responded.
"Okay, we can be blood brother and sister," Charlie corrected and touched Grace's scratch with his elbow.
"What is blood brother and sister?" Grace asked.
"It's when you take some of my blood and I take some of yours so we have the same blood."
"Oh. But won't my white blood cells kill your blood once it's in my body?" Grace asked.
"What are white blood cells?"
"They're the little soldiers in your blood that kill anything that goes in your body that isn't supposed to," Grace explained.
"Jeez, Grace! You really know how to suck the fun out of stuff."
"Sorry," Grace squeaked.
"S'okay. Let's go play before your blood kills me," Charlie replied and pulled Grace up by the arm.
Grace shook her head at Charlie's wording and then ran off after him. She was definitely going to miss the kid over the summer!
Mrs. Thomas just shook her head and pulled out the first aid kit when Charlie and Grace appeared before her with blood running down their limbs. She wasn't even going to ask!
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Ohio
"Valerie and I are taking Sean to Colorado this summer," Rob announced to his mom and dad.
Maggie looked up at her son. "Any particular reason?" she asked her son, a little coldly.
"Jack has a right to know," Rob announced.
"Robby, we know that…"
"No, mom. You gave her two weeks a year and a half ago! It's obvious Sam isn't going to tell him. I understand why you put it off after he was sent to Bosnia, but he's been back since December."
"We can't find them, Rob. What good would it do to tell him when he won't even be able to see her?"
"He can find them."
"You don't know that. Mike works in the Pentagon and he can't even find out where she was transferred. Her file says she is still working for the Pentagon."
"Mom, no offense to Mike, but he is only a civilian consultant. Jack is an Air Force Colonel. He would probably be able to find them a lot quicker than Mike," Rob retorted.
Maggie looked her son in the eyes and held her ground. "Sam should be the one to tell him."
Rob stared right back at his mom. "She had her chance. She didn't do it."
"She did call him. Jack told us she left him a message on his answering machine."
"Yeah, to invite him to her wedding," Rob remarked in distaste.
"You don't know that! He didn't talk to Sam, only her fiancé."
"She didn't call him back," Rob responded.
Maggie just stared at her son. "I'm not going to change your mind, am I?"
"Nope."
"You do what you think you need to do, Rob."
"It's the right thing, Mom."
"If you say so, Rob."
Rob left a few minutes later and Maggie sat down next to her husband. "You know, you could have stopped him," Charles mentioned.
"He is right. Jack does have a right to know. I just can't bring myself to be the one to tell him. He should find out from Samantha. I just wish I knew where she was."
"Well, maybe Rob's right, maybe Jack will have better luck finding her."
"I hope so, Charles, I really do."
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a/n: There are only two, possibly three chapters left. I'm pretty sure the next chapter will have Jack finding out that Grace is his daughter.