A/N: okay, this one's a little sad and unbeta'd. it's a little longer than some others, the italics are events of Sean's past. hope y'all like it.
Janet pushed Sam along the hallway from the elevator, the mother holding Baby A, who after being in the world six hours was no closer to a name than his brother, who was being carried along by their father.
They'd decided they were going to head up to see Jack's father, hoping maybe he'd started feeling a little better. Janet doubted it, and told the couple so, but Jack knew that if it really was his father's time, he wouldn't want to go without meeting his newest grandsons.
Jacob had already come to see how his daughter was doing and to meet the boys, as had Daniel and Teal'c who'd arrived after the debriefing was over. Mark would be in town for a while and knew he would get a chance to see his new nephews in time. There would be a lot going on in the weeks to come and Jack and Sam would need all they help they could get.
Nate and Cassie were busy watching over Neal, although it wasn't all that hard of a task, and had decided they'd wait to check out the twins. There was plenty of time for that later. Cassie knew she'd end up babysitting them at some point in their lives and Nate had until August with the O'Neills. He'd rather spend his time with Neal and Cassie right now anyway. Sam and Jack were busy with the rest of Jack's family, and they didn't want to get in the way.
Sam had worried about leaving Neal, not like she had any choice, really, but Jack had assured her the boy would be fine. He was with his older brother, after all, and Jack knew for a fact there was no way he'd let anything happen to Neal.
He saw the look on his wife's face and smiled down to her. "They'll be fine."
Sam nodded. "I know. I just worry."
"And that's why you'll make a wonderful mother. You've already had Neal for two weeks and he's still alive," Jack joked.
"I had everybody helping me, Jack. Well, except for Tommy, he was a miserable little cuss. And Neal's only one child."
Jack stopped Janet, and knelt down in front of his wife, resting a comforting hand on her knee. "Sam, we're going to be just fine. I've done this before. Besides I have all summer off, and so do Nate and Cass. This," he gestured between the two babies, "is the only thing that's not related to the military that I've got more experience at than you, and I know you're nervous. You and I, we can do anything together, Sam."
Sam smiled at her husband in reply. This was so unlike her tough Air Force Colonel. It was a side she'd always known was under the mask, and she'd seen it so much over the past months. What she'd seen of him at work was only half the man. He was so touching and caring towards anyone he considered family.
Jack brushed his hand over his other son's head and stood gracefully, perfectly balancing the baby in his arms, and motioned for Janet to lead the way to his father's room.
Karen was there waiting for them when they arrived, along with Seamus and their mother. Jack was glad his sister had been able to make it up; they weren't sure exactly how much longer Patrick had left, and he still hadn't said a word since he'd awoken, though that wasn't really unexpected.
Jack walked over and gave his sister a gentle hug, careful to make sure his baby was tucked safely and securely in his arms and wouldn't get squished.
"Karen, I'm so glad you could make it," he said, kissing her on the cheek.
"It took a little doing to get out of work." Jack cocked his eyebrow suspiciously at his little sister; he knew what she was capable of. "Okay, so I threatened to quit," she relented. Her older brothers had always done a far better job of keeping her in line as a kid than their parents ever had.
"Sean and Jenny are in the waiting room with Tommy. They weren't sure whether they should come in yet or not," Sea informed his brother. Really, they'd wanted to see what Dr. Fraiser would say about so many people in the older man's room.
Janet picked up the chart from the foot of the bed and looked it over. His vitals had been dropping over the past couple of hours and she was certain he wasn't going to last too much longer.
She faced Jack and Sea directly, being their CMO and all, her face betraying her thoughts to the seasoned officers. "You should probably get the rest of your family up here soon."
The identical men nodded solemnly and Sea left to retrieve his children.
Tears poured down Karen's cheeks, who still had one arm wrapped tightly around her brother's waist. This was her Daddy they were talking about and as tough as he'd always been on all of them, she had always been Daddy's Little Girl.
"It'll be okay, CareBear," Jack said pulling her closer into his side.
Karen shook her head. "I want Grant, Jack."
"Hey, he'll be here, you know he will."
She nodded and wiped her eyes dry, her little outburst over for now. She gave her older brother a watery grin. "Enough of that. Now, who are these little guys?"
This was the first any of Jack's family had seen of the boys, though they'd all been filled in on the events of earlier that afternoon. There was enough going on as it was and Janet had done extensive tests on both babies to make sure they were alright. Baby A had the murmur, but was, so far, doing just fine, and once they were home Jacob was going to see what he could do.
Jack smiled, ready and willing to show off his boys. "For the moment, we have 'Thing One' and 'Thing Two'."
"You haven't named them yet?" Karen asked.
"We thought we should explore their personalities a bit before we stuck them with names they'd hate," Sam spoke up.
Eleanor left her husband's side to take her first real good look at their newest grandsons. Sam smiled warmly and transferred "Thing One" to her loving arms. Knowing full well the women needed some sort of distraction, Jack passed "Thing Two" to his sister, enjoying the loving look on her face. Oh yeah, poor Grant.
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Sean hugged his brother close while Jenny held them both. Sean was exhausted. While Jenny had been able to drive in from Denver, Sean hadn't been able to get a flight from Abilene and had to drive the seven hours after he'd been called in to work early that morning.
"It'll be okay, Tommy," Sean whispered to his brother. He and Jenny had been filled in upon their arrival, but he wasn't sure how much Tommy understood.
"No, it's not!" Tommy shouted, pulling out of his older siblings' arms. He crossed his arms over his chest in typical childhood defiance. "Grampa's gonna die."
Tommy's outburst startled Neal, who'd been napping peacefully with Nate on his chest and the young boy's eyes popped open, filling with tears. Nate awoke, trying to pacify his brother with no success. Neal let out a screech and started crying, very unhappy to be woken from his lumber. Nate stood from where he'd been laying across the row of chairs and rocked the baby, trying to get him to settle.
Tommy shot a glare in the direction of the crying baby and turned his back, resting his forehead against the wall. He bounced his head against the cement trying to block everyone out. He couldn't take it anymore! Nobody understood! He growled and whipped around. "Be QUIET!"
He collapsed onto the ground, shaking in tears, and wrapped his arms around his knees. It was quiet now, the only sound his sobs as they wracked his small body.
The entire room was staring at him, Neal having been scared into silence. It only took a fraction of a second for Sean to be there on the floor, wrapping his brother in his arms. There was a bond between Tommy and their Grandfather that nobody really understood. Even though they'd been hundreds, sometimes thousands, of miles apart they talked to each other every day.
Sean remembered what it was like losing his best friend at the same age. Jerod was Tommy's best friend, and those that didn't understand their family thought it was a little odd, but their Grandfather was the next closest thing Tommy had and it was going to be hard on the boy.
"My best friend died when I was your age," Sean confided. It wasn't something they'd ever told Tommy about; Sean's downward spiral was generally avoided by everyone. "Jerod's actually named after him."
Tommy scrubbed the tears out of his eyes, afraid he'd look weak in front of the others. "What happened," he asked softly.
"When I met Jer, we'd just moved to town and I was in fourth grade. Dad had bought a house up in the middle of nowhere…
Sean sat on the bank of the canal, tossing stones into the quick flowing water. This officially sucked. There was no one around for miles and he was bored, just as bored as he was going to be for however long they were stuck in this empty forsaken valley.
He didn't register the clip-clops immediately, the sound of the rushing water and blowing wind covered up most anything.
"Hey!"
He looked up to see a boy just about his age, on a horse, riding down the dirt road that ran parallel to the canal. He had on a white cowboy hat, green sweatshirt, black trench coat, jeans and grey Ropers.
"Uh, hi," Sean replied, not quite sure what to do. He didn't make friends all that easily, and didn't have anyone from all the other places they'd lived over the years.
"You the new kid?" The boy leaned forward, his forearms resting on the saddle horn and the reigns hanging loosely in his hands.
Sean scoffed. "I'm on the property, ain't I?"
The boy smiled. "Yeah, I guess so." He tipped his hat slightly, the long feather bobbing as he did so. "I'll see you around." He sat up straight and urged the horse forward, breaking into a gallop after just a few yards.
Sean shook his head and stood, wiping the dirt – mostly sand – off of his jeans. Jenny was running through the tumbleweeds that plagued the field their house was built on. It was really more like a barn that had been turned into a house.
He watched his little sister playing in the tall grass and plant growth and thought again how much his missed his mom. Jenny looked so much like her; he knew from the pictures they had. His father would watch her sometimes, like he was now, and he'd see the sad look in his eyes.
He shook his head again, clearing the thoughts away and headed up to the house. He had school tomorrow and it was going to be just like all the new schools.
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Yep, he was right. Just like all the rest. They'd appointed someone to show him around during lunch and recess, but he didn't want them there, and they didn't want to be doing it.
He walked to the bus stop, head low, waiting for Jenny to come out of the first grade wing of the elementary school.
"Well, look who it is."
He would have recognized that voice again any time, and the smile he heard was unmistakable. He jumped, not having realized he was that close to another human being.
"Whoa, chill kid. Didn't mean to scare you." The boy was leaning against the chain-link fence, looking like those wrought iron silhouettes he'd seen people prop up against walls and fences before. "Name's Jerod. I go to the middle school, but I come down here to make sure my brother gets on the bus everyday."
"Sean. Um, my sister, Jenny, should be coming out here soon."
Jerod smiled. "You'll be getting off at the same stop as we are. You can ride next to me."
Sean smiled back at the older boy and got on the bus.
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Fifth grade wasn't that hard. Of course, Sean had been able to get good grades without trying ever since his second grade teacher had bullied him into turning his homework in on time.
"Okay, Chief, you'd better get down to the bus stop. I'm sure Jerod's waiting for you."
Sean smiled up at his father and hugged him as he ran out the door, leaving his flashlight behind. It was dark out still as he headed down their long dirt driveway, but the light from the flashlight made everything else just seem darker. His Gramma hated it, especially since he could still hear the Coyotes yipping and howling at that hour of the morning.
When he made it down to the crossroads no one was there. That was odd. Jerod and his older brother, Will, were usually there before him, since their house was right on the corner. He spun around nervously, though he'd never admit he was scared. It was just dark and a good soldier always knew his surroundings.
The silence was starting to get to him. He couldn't even hear the annoying Magpies that usually started their squawking around now. This wasn't right, something was terribly wrong.
He heard a rustling off to his left and he whipped around facing the tall grass of the field. This was not good, not good at all. He picked up a large stick, more like a branch, and dropped his bookbag to the ground. If he was going to get attacked, he was going to be prepared.
Oh, he was SO NOT prepared.
Two screaming figures came rushing out of the ditch on the side of the road, running straight at him. Sean threw his hands up in the air, forgetting he still had the stick in his hands and screamed in response. He quickly gathered his wits about him and grabbed the stick with both hands, rushing the two figures and bringing the stick down on them.
"OW! Hey! OW! Sean!"
He stopped and looked at the curled up figure on ground. "Jerod?"
Jerod sat up, rubbing his head. "Yeah. Ow. You know, that worked great until you thought you could brain me with that stick."
Sean threw his hands in the air. "Well, why'd you scare me like that?"
Will leaned against the stop sign, laughing. "You should have seen the look on your face."
Sean stalked over to where he'd dropped his bag. He threw it over his shoulder and shuffled his feet in the dirt. "It wasn't funny," he muttered.
"Oh yeah, it was."
"Will, shut up." Jerod nudged Sean lightly with his shoulder. "Sorry. We didn't think it would be that bad."
Sean nodded and looked up at his best friend. This was definitely his favorite place he'd lived so far.
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This was definitely the worst place he'd ever lived. They'd spent all the previous weekend getting their pictures taken on Jerod's horse for their Christmas cards, which really wasn't all that bad, but they hadn't gotten the film back on time so that idea had flopped anyway.
Uncle Jack and Aunt Sara had come for a visit, which was cool, but they'd been tired from driving from Colorado. They were going to have a baby soon, so he was glad he got to have some time with them before they wouldn't be able to travel lightly anymore.
Christmas Vacation was over, it was the day after New Year's and he'd trudged all the way down to the bus stop in over a foot of snow, in temperatures below zero with the wind chill, and Jerod hadn't even been there to cheer him up.
Jerod knew about his mother, and how much he missed her. Any time his friend had spotted him getting melancholy he was always making jokes or goofing off. He'd do something to make it seem like it wasn't quite so bad. Christmas was always hard, on the whole family, and this year he'd actually had someone here to talk to about it.
Will ran out of their house and got on the bus, stopping quickly to say something to the driver. He doggedly stepped to the back of the bus and flopped down in the seat across the aisle from Sean.
Sean looked over at his best friend's older brother, confusion in his eyes. "Where's Jerod?"
Will wiped his eyes quickly and turned to face him. "He's in the hospital. We were playing hide and seek with Alex and Tara. He dug a hole in the snow and fell asleep. He's been sleeping all vacation. They're doing tests, but they think his cancer came back."
Sean's eyes widened. Cancer? Nobody'd said anything about cancer, and Jerod never looked sick.
Will continued to explain. "Jerod had muscle cancer two years ago. It's been in remission, but they told us to look out for certain signs, and lethargy was one of them."
Sean nodded, schooling his expression. See, this was why he didn't get attached to people whenever he moved. Something always happened. But if it was something Jerod had beaten before, he could beat it again, right?
The rest of the day passed, but Sean wasn't paying attention. He didn't care. His best friend was sick. For the first time he could remember, he prayed. He prayed for his best friend, and he prayed for the family.
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He had gym class second period for that block. Normally, the boys and girls were split during class, but they did warm ups as a group, and he couldn't stand the girls chittering away while they were trying to do jumping jacks. He tried to tune them out, but their conversation suddenly became interesting.
"My cousin died this morning."
"Really? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I guess. I mean we didn't really know each other."
"Which one was it?"
"Jerod."
His jumping jacks faltered and he struggled to catch his breath.
"What happened?"
"He had Leukemia. Something about his cancer spreading to his blood or something."
He couldn't do it anymore. He'd figured something had happened when Will didn't get on the bus that morning, but he'd allowed himself to hope that maybe Jerod had been getting better.
He stepped out of the line and sat stubbornly on the bleachers. The gym teachers tried to get him to cooperate, but he wouldn't. He just shook his head and pulled his knees up to his chest.
He didn't say a word the entire day. Nothing. He couldn't. His brain had shut down completely. He didn't answer any questions in class, and some of his other acquaintances had tried to get him to tell them what was wrong, but he couldn't.
He got home and, as per usual, phoned his father to let him know he and Jenny were safe. He couldn't say it this time, though. The only sentence he managed to get out before breaking down and hanging up was, "Jerod's dead."
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Seamus leaned against the doorway, listening to Sean tell Tommy about the boy his grandson was named after. He remembered Jerod Connelly well, and he'd truly liked the kid, a lot. Jerod's mother had come up to the house shortly after his death, asking to see some of the negatives of the photos they'd taken before Christmas. There was one, Jerod sitting tall and straight in the saddle on Kitten, the horse he'd gotten from Make a Wish during his first stint with the cancer, and that was the photo his mother had chosen to have engraved on his headstone.
He shook his head of the thoughts and approached his family.
"Hey guys."
Tommy flew up out of his brother's arms and wrapped his father in a tight hug, crying against his stomach. Sea pulled his other two children to his sides, holding the three of them in a comforting embrace.
Sean was the first to pull away, being the oldest – and male- and faced his father. "How's he doing, Dad?"
Sea lowered his eyes, squeezing his son and daughter tighter in his arms. "Not good. Janet says we should all get up there, it's not going to be much longer." He felt Tommy tighten his hold on his waist.
The foursome made their way back to Patrick's room in silence. When they got there, Sea noticed a change in the mood immediately. It wasn't quite as somber as it had been before, and his father looked just a bit more aware of his surroundings. That was good, right?
Tommy ran to his grandfather as soon as he made it through the doorway, throwing his arms around the older man as best he could.
"I'm gonna miss you, Grandpa. I love you so much," he cried, tears streaming down his face. He laid his head on his chest for just a minute before retreating to find his own safety in one of the plastic chairs brought in for the family.
Jack had a slightly brighter look on his face than Sea was used to and he disentangled himself from his daughter who was going over to say goodbye to her grandfather, and approached his brother.
"What's going on?"
Jack hugged "Thing Two" to his chest and stared straightly at his father. "Sam suggested we lay the twins in his arms, with our support of course, and 'Thing One' already had his turn. Didn't even wake up long enough to say hi. Dad's eyes lit up, though, Sea. I don't think it means anything, but there was a difference."
After Sean and Seamus had their turns with Patrick, Eleanor spoke up. "While you're all here… You're father and I talked this over when his health started going down hill. When he finally goes, he's not to be resuscitated or defibrillated. He doesn't want any 'heroic action'."
Jack understood perfectly. He and Sam both had living wills. He stepped forward and sat on the edge of his father's bed.
"Hey, Dad. I don't know if you understand us at all, but I wanted to say I'm sorry. It wasn't just you, I could've tried harder not to be such a pain in the butt." He got momentarily uncomfortable, his whole family there to hear what he had to say. "Guess it's my turn to say it. I love you, Dad. Here's 'Thing Two'."
He rested his son on Patrick's chest, his feet pointing up at the man's head so they could face each other, Jack supporting him to make sure the little baby didn't roll down his side. The baby immediately opened his eyes to stare at his grandfather, wiggling his arms in an attempt to get free of his blanket confines.
A gasp went out around the room as one of Patrick's arms moved in a small attempt to reach up to his grandson. Before he could reach more than a couple of inches off the bed, the heart monitor slowed and flat lined, his arm falling to the mattress.
Jack gathered his son up in his arms, and stared down at his father. "Daddy?" he heard softly behind him. He stood up out of the way as Karen flew up to the bed, throwing herself onto their father. Seamus made his way over to their mother and wrapped her up in his arms. They'd spent over fifty years together and he knew it was going to be hard on her.
Jack sat in a chair next to Sam and leaned into her. One look in her eyes told him she was thinking the same thing he was. He looked down at his son and spoke softly. "That was your grandfather, Liam. How'd you like him?"
Sam looked over at him. "Liam Patrick O'Neill. It fits him, Jack."
Her husband nodded, barely noticing the bustle of the others in the room. "And judging by each of their reactions to their grandfathers, we should name 'Thing One' Jacob Christopher."
Sam fully agreed. "I'm sure Dad would love it."
The family left the room after they'd each said their final goodbyes, Sam and Jack back to their room, and the rest of the family to Sea's. Mark and Jacob took Nate and Neal back to Sam and Jack's to get the boy settled in for the night. It'd been a long day, and every member of the O'Neill family, whether it be by blood or extended, was exhausted. They had a lot to take care of now, but it would have to wait until tomorrow.
A/N: so what'd you think? it kind of ended awkwardly b/c i wasn't sure how to do it. i didn't want them to just leave but wasn't quite sure what i should do with it. if there's a way you'd all like to see it go or any ideas that would improve it, let me know.
Jerod Connelly, is based on a real person. my friend Jake died 3 January 1995. i was in fifth grade he was in sixth. i met him after i moved to Emmett, Idaho, it really is the middle of nowhere, and Jake and his brother Clay really did jump out at me and scare me to death but i just screamed and tried to hide behind the stop sign. the day he died, i didn't speak at all and i do have a picture of him sitting tall on his horse kitten and the negative was used for the etching. he was the first friend i had when i moved and he was one of the sweetest guys i ever met.
anyway, tell me what you think i'd love to hear both positive and negative. thanks again!