56) Jack threw his four wheel drive into park and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. The swirling snow covered the windows of the still truck. He couldn't see anything as he forced the driver's side door open against the wind, but it didn't matter. He knew exactly where he was going. He'd walked the path many times, but only twice in the past few years had he actually stopped at his current destination.

He was glad to be out here, away from everybody. Not that he really needed it, especially from Sam. He'd just been made the happiest man in the Universe, but the invasion of their house, and the upcoming mission were both weighing heavily on his mind. Thankfully, Sea was going to be looking for their own house and their parents would be moving in with him and Tommy and then he and Sam would have their own pressures to deal with.

He trudged through the thick winter snow, head bent against the wind and hands shoved deep into his jacket pockets. He stopped and stared down at the polished granite, willing the single tear not to fall. He knelt down and tried to brush some of the blowing snow away.

He sat back on his haunches; his knees groaning in protest, and let his eyes roam over the hand carved lettering and the beautiful engravement adorning the smooth stone.

He took a deep breath and let it out, preparing himself. He'd only been up here quick when he'd shown Nate his family's graves, and hadn't said anything then.

"Hey, Charlie, it's, uh, it's Dad." He paused, not sure what he should say. "I know I haven't been to see you a lot, but it's been, um, I just… I couldn't handle it, Bud. I'm sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. I just wish sometimes it could be like it used to. But, since it's not, I think you should know I got married again. Her name is Sam. You'd love her, I'm sure of it. I don't know how much your mom's told you, but you have a little sister. Sam and I are going to have twin boys in a couple months, too.

"I guess I just wanted to tell you because we have this mission coming up. It's important, but I have to leave Sam for a while and I really don't want to. Your step dad, Major Ken Thompson, is on one of the other teams. Just, if you could watch out for your mom, and the kids. We miss you Charlie."

The tear finally dropped from his eye and dropped into the snow. He was glad no one was around to see his breakdown. He wasn't much for emotional soppiness, but it was Charlie, and he hadn't spoken to his son in over five years. He would give anything for Charlie to talk back.

He sat there for a little while, still thinking. If Charlie had lived, he was certain their lives would be so different. Would he and Sara still be together? Would he have ever been brought into the Stargate program? Hell, Earth could be enslaved by now in another reality. He wondered if there was a reality out there where he had everything; Charlie, Sam, the twins, and a great job without the slimy snakeheads.

"God, Charlie! Why you?" he yelled into the wind. He finally let himself break down, his sobs carried away as he dropped to his knees, not really giving a rat's ass how cold he got. It was the first time he'd ever cried, at least since he'd hit puberty anyway.

He snuffed in heavily, sucking the snot down his throat and stood up. He rubbed his eyes dry, checking to make sure nobody was within view of him. Of course, if they were he would have noticed them by now, three feet away is pretty close after all. Even with his eyesight he had a hard time seeing very far.

There was no way he'd ever let anyone know about what had happened out here, it was a private father/son moment. He wasn't sure Sam would ever know. He'd tell her where he'd been, but that was about it. He didn't like to keep secrets from her, but he was a very private guy, and it was a bit embarrassing.

As he climbed back into his truck, he took one last look up into the cemetery and at Charlie. He felt better just for coming up here. He'd have to remember to dig out all those pictures of his son to hang around the house. He hadn't had the courage to do that before, but the boys needed to know about their brother, just like they'd make sure Neal knew all about his biological family.

57) Jack pulled up outside his house and steeled his face for the next part of their plan. He knew he was being hard on the kid, but Sam had been frantic with worry and that just wasn't good. Besides, he needed Nate to be able to teach the younger guys what not to do.

Sam met him at the door, her arms crossed over her chest, foot tapping the front walk.

He gave her a kiss and rubbed her belly, a smile gracing his lips. He found himself doing that a lot lately, smiling that is.

"He shut off the water."

Jack's eyes shot to hers, widening.

"He did what?"

"I tried to do the dishes, but the water was cold. He shut off the water." She couldn't keep it in anymore and let a slight smirk crack her lips. It was creative.

Jack wrapped an arm around her shoulders and ushered her into the house, trying to protect her from the wind and cold. He didn't want her catching anything so close to the boys' birth.

"What now? It's been almost two hours since you left and he was down there a while before that." Sam turned concerned eyes on her husband and lowered herself down to the couch. She grumbled to herself. She'd spent more time on her butt the past couple months and it was getting frustrating.

Jack kneeled down in front of her and rubbed soothing circles over her stomach. "Hammond wants us in the mountain by 1300. We're running the briefing today for tomorrow's mission."

"And are you just going to leave him down there?"

Jack stood up and let himself fall onto the couch next to her, his arm flopping behind her shoulders. "Sam, we have to leave for the mountain now," he chuckled.

"Oh." Sam paused. "So what exactly is this ingenious plan you've cooked up anyway?"

"Just a little silent treatment, make them think we're more angry than we really are. Don't worry they'll be fine."

Sam swallowed, ready to breach the subject she knew was touchy with her husband. "Where'd you take off to today?"

"Charlie," he answered simply.

She nodded and understood. He didn't want to talk about it and that was fine with her. They were headed off on an important mission tomorrow so she wasn't exactly surprised he'd gone up to the cemetery.

Jack pulled her to his side and gave her a deep kiss. It held so much love for the couple, as had every kiss they'd ever shared. She felt so comfortable there in his arms, but she knew he had to leave and reluctantly let go of him.

"You guys have to get going," she whispered, cupping his cheek in her hand. They touched their foreheads together and gazed into each other's eyes.

Jack was the first to break away, standing up and pulling her along with him. He tugged her into his embrace, not really wanting to let her go. He was loath to leave her, but he had to. He let her go and grabbed a folded up pair of BDU's and combat boots, heading to the basement to retrieve Nate. Sam held back, curious as to what was going to happen next.

Jack marched down the stairs, putting on his tough Colonel face, and unlocked the door at the bottom of the stairs. He stepped through the doorway and immediately thought maybe he had gone a little too far with this one. It was freezing down here.

He spotted Nate pacing the floor, rubbing his arms furiously tossed him the BDU's, setting the boots and socks on the floor. He waited while Nate got dressed and had put on the boots before grabbing him by the back of the neck and forcing him back up the stairs. He stopped quickly to give Sam a kiss goodbye and pushed Nate out the door to the truck.

He threw the young man in the passenger side and slammed the door shut, never saying a word to the kid as he climbed behind the wheel. They made it about halfway to the base before Nate ventured to speak.

"What the hell is going on?" he whispered.

Jack didn't answer right away. Not five miles later either.

"Jack! What did I do?"

Jack just kept on driving. Of course, Nate didn't know that while he'd been out, Levi and Jack had been talking, and while thoroughly chastised, Levi knew exactly what was going on.

"Colonel?" Nate tried the professional approach. Didn't work.

The men were waved through the security check points and both entered the mountain flawlessly, signing in at each checkpoint along the way down to the bowels of Cheyenne Mountain.

A/N: i fixed them, and i posted both together b/c that's how i got them back and didn't feel like separating them.