27) The party was in full swing now, Cassie happily keeping an eye on the younger two. The men spent most of the time talking amongst themselves, while the women sat on the porch comfortably chatting. Janet had immediately checked Sam's leg upon her arrival, satisfied with how quickly it was healing.

"So, is that dog really helping, or are you just being nice to the Colonel?" Janet joked with her.

"Rico's been wonderful. The days I had trouble getting out of bed, he wouldn't leave me alone until I got up. The few times I was having physical problems, he let me lean on him and he helped me get to the bathroom. Sara did a great job training him." Sam's grin grew. "You should have seen what he did today when Sean showed up."

Trish laughed, remembering the look on Sean's face when he'd seen the overprotective dog standing between them and Sam.

"What happened?" Jackson's wife, Julia asked. She was sitting next to Trish, holding Taylor.

"We walked through the door to see this huge Golden Retriever staring at us. I haven't heard Sean's voice hitch like that since we were in high school. So, Jack scolds Rico and the poor dog drops his head. Then he introduces them and Rico holds out his paw for Sean to take."

Jack could hear the women laughing from where he stood talking with the other men. "If I didn't know any better I'd say they were talking about us," he leaned in and whispered to his son.

"Oh, believe me, they are," he replied. "Trish just told Janet and Julia about Rico."

"How do you know that?" Daniel asked, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"He can hear them." Adams shrugged. "He's got this hearing thing. We've used it on missions before. He knew you had a dog before he ever entered the house."

"Is that true?" Jack stared wide-eyed at Sean, amazed.

"Yeah. And Colin has a sense of smell better than a woman's." Sean smiled, taking another sip of his beer.

"Anything else I should know about?"

"Um, not just yet," Sean answered cryptically.

"So, Jack, what's going on between you and Sam?" Daniel asked effectively changing the subject. Sean couldn't have been happier, although it was a little awkward hearing about his dad's sex life.

"Oh, not much. There's just nothing keeping us apart now. We didn't want to say anything until the training was over so no one could claim favoritism." Jack shrugged like it wasn't that big a deal.

"What? How long?" Daniel exclaimed, causing the women to look their direction.

"The day she became the new eval officer."

"Three weeks? You've been together for three weeks?" Daniel broke off from the group and ran over to Janet. "Janet, did Sam tell you about her and Jack?"

Janet's head whipped around to stare at Sam, who only blushed in the dimming light of the evening. Jack was watching them and noticed how beautiful she looked in the setting sun.

"What? Sam? When?"

"They've been together for three weeks!" Daniel nearly shouted.

"Whoa, okay there, Space monkey. It's no big deal, why are you shouting?" Jack asked as he meandered over to the women.

"Half the base has been betting on the two of you! We should have known this already." The young archeologist smiled at his friend, as Jack finally realized he'd been putting on a show.

"Okay, haha very funny. Over actor," he muttered.

"Hey, Dad." Sean nudged his father, a look of confusion on his face. "Someone just pulled up in the driveway."

Jack turned around to see Greg coming around the corner of the house. He could tell by his ruffled clothes and bloodshot eyes that something was wrong.

"Greg? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Jack, can I talk to you?" Greg stood in front of the group, wringing his hands together.

"Sure, come on inside." Jack set his beer on the porch railing and led the man inside to his office, grabbing the bottle of whiskey and a shot glass on the way.

He pointed to a chair when they walked in and poured the whiskey for the man. "Okay, what's wrong?"

"How did you do it? How did you go on after Charlie?" Greg grabbed the shot glass and downed the contents.

Jack laughed cynically and took the glass from him, pouring his own and gulping it down. "I didn't. I almost ate a bullet a few times before they recalled me. They sent me on a suicide mission, but I couldn't blow up an entire village, not after Daniel's little speech. He found me wallowing alone by one of the fires. He looked at me with this disgusted look on his face and said, 'I don't want to die. These people don't want to die. It's a shame you're in such a hurry to.' I guess that kind of put it into perspective." He paused for a moment, then looked straight into Greg's eyes. "What brought this on?"

"They just released the autopsy reports to us. Sara was pregnant. She hadn't told me yet, but she was far enough along for them to tell me I lost my daughter as well." Tears rolled freely down Greg's cheeks.

"Oh, jeez, I'm so sorry." Jack reached across and rested his hand on his shoulder.

"She must have been waiting until after the wedding to tell me," Greg said as he wiped the streams from his face and sat up.

"Or she wanted to make sure everything was going the way it was supposed to. She was probably worried. It took us three years to get Charlie. Listen, I think there's someone else you need to talk to. My son, Sean and his wife lost their baby son a few years ago."

Jack stood up and left the room, giving the man a pat on the back. Sean and Trish were sitting in the living room when he came downstairs. "Sean, I think you should go talk to him," he said jerking his thumb in the direction of the stairs.

He turned back to Trish and rubbed his hand over his face. "Where'd everybody go?"

"Tommy had a date, Scott went to go see his girlfriend and Jack and Julia had to get the kids home and into bed. The others could tell something's wrong so they left. Sam wasn't feeling well so she left Rico down here and went up to your room." Trish rested back against the couch, her hand trailing over Rico's head.

"I'm just going to go talk to her." Jack turned around and headed down the hall.

He stood in the doorway to his bedroom and looked in on Sam, lying on the bed. She rolled over and smiled up at him, causing a grin to break out over his face.

"Hey," he whispered. "How you feeling?"

"Not so great. Just tired, so don't worry." She held her hand out to him, pulling him onto the bed next to her. "What's wrong with Greg?"

Jack sighed, slumping his shoulders slightly. "Did Sara tell you anything, um, about a baby last time you talked?"

"Yes," Sam looked down to their entwined fingers. "She was scared. She, uh, told me how long the two of you tried for Charlie. She didn't know how to tell Greg." Sam paused as her eyes widened. "He didn't know, did he? She never told him?"

"No, apparently not. Sean's in talking to him now."

"Good, that's good." She paused again, not quite knowing what else to say. She figured now would be the perfect time to mention it, since they were on the subject, but she didn't have a clue as to how he would react. "Jack?"

"Hm?"

"Do you want more children?" she asked nervously.

"Yes, but only if you want them." He smiled at her, his eyes soft. "I've had my shot, I have two sons I'm just getting to know, and I have a grandson on the way. I would love more children, with you." He cupped her face and ran his thumbs over her cheeks. "If you don't want children, we don't have to have any. I love you, it's your choice."

"I love you, too, and I definitely want children." She got quiet, reflecting on all the tests done since the incident. "But we're not sure if I can have any. Jolinar did some pretty funky things to my system." A single tear slipped away down her cheek.

"Hey, it's okay. I don't mind. Listen, you rest for now. I'll be in when I'm done talking to Sean. I think I hear him now." Jack kissed her forehead and pulled the covers up her body, marveling at what a wonderful and amazing woman she was. He left the room and returned to the living room just as Sean was coming down the stairs.

"He's asleep in the guest room. I hope you don't mind," Sean said, sitting down next to his wife. Jack handed him a fresh beer and sat in the chair next to the sofa.

"Of course not." Jack watched silently as his son put an arm around Trish and held her close. He could tell the young man was reliving painful memories as he had been moments before. "Hey, I want you to talk to Colin and Rick, get everybody up to the cabin this week. I'll call your grandfather. There are two cabins on the property, I want all of SG-1 up there, too. I would really like to meet your brother, and I have a lot to thank Rick for. Make sure he knows to bring Kyle and his girlfriend, too."

"Pape Matt used to bring us up there all the time. Kyle, too. Mom never went though. She always said it didn't feel right without you." Sean took a swig from the bottle and leaned his head back. "Listen, I didn't want to say anything earlier, but I don't know exactly how receptive Jay'll be." Jack cocked his head to the side, trying to figure out whom he was talking about. "Sorry, Colin. When we were teens, mom told us she picked out my first name, you picked out my middle, and exactly the opposite for Colin. He wouldn't let anybody call him by his first name for years, so we just started calling him Jay for James. I still use it most of the time. He really didn't like you."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Jack replied. "I hope in time he can forgive me for not being there."

"Yeah, well I'll give them all a call tomorrow, and let you know what's going on. Right now we'd better get going home, it's getting late." Sean stood and helped Trish up. The couple made their way towards the door, Jack following closely behind.

He smiled as he grabbed the beer bottle from Sean's hand. "Maybe you'd better drive," he said, grinning at Trish. He closed the door behind them and made his way to join Sam in the bedroom, figuring he'd clean up tomorrow, no big deal.