41) Jack and Sam were on their way back to the cabin, enjoying the sunlight and the coolness the pond blew their way.

Jack had made many decisions on their walk. He wouldn't push Colin into anything, that was a given, and he would let him know that no matter what, he was there for him now. Rick had done so much for his sons, and unfortunately, that led him to believe Rick was their dad, as much as it pained him.

The rest of his decisions all had to do with Sam. He knew he loved her beyond even his understanding, and he would do anything to be with her forever. She'd already told him in no uncertain terms that she would be there for eternity with him. He also knew he wanted to make it official as soon as she was comfortable with it. That meant proposing to her as soon as possible. He'd learned a lot about her in the past few weeks and more was that she was a private person, didn't like a lot of publicity. This had made up his mind about at least one aspect of his proposal: it wouldn't be in front of the family like he had originally planned. So, when they were about halfway back to the cabin, he suddenly stopped and turned Sam to face him.

"Jack?" She was startled by his quick movement, not sure what it meant. In the field it meant they were in danger, but out here there was nothing.

"Sam, I'm not really all that great about this sort of thing and I know it seems fast but…" He dropped to one knee and pulled the antique ring out of his pocket and held it up to her. "Sam, will you marry me?"

"Jack?" She was more startled than she'd first let on. He was right, it was really fast, but they'd known each other for so long, and they'd been dating for a month. But, what would her father say? She knew he was okay with the prospect of them dating, but getting married was a huge step.

"I've felt this intense attraction to you from the moment I first laid eyes on you and you went all FemiNazi on me. I knew there was something about you that I just didn't think I could ever do without. When that Snake that took over Kowalski grabbed you, my heart sank. When I saw the elevator lights going back down with Cassie, my heart went with it. I knew I cared about you more than I was supposed to when I was on Edora and you were all I could think about. I knew for a fact that I loved you when you found out about Sean and Colin and didn't go running for the hills. You know everything about me and are still willing to stay by my side. And I want you there, forever." He stood up and pulled her into his arms as he saw a single, solitary tear slide down her cheek. If they hadn't been so close he would have missed the whispered, "yes" she just barely choked out.

He pulled her back and brushed his thumbs across the tear tracks on her cheeks. He pulled her face forward, crushing his lips against hers, letting out all the passion and love he felt for her in that one moment. He let go of the past and let her see the future with that one simple kiss and smiled as he pulled her into a tight hug.

He twisted her around and kept one arm across her shoulders, his other hand slipping the ring onto her left ring finger. "C'mon, let's go back so I can get this talk with the son who hates me over with." His tone was joking, but by the look in his eyes, Sam could tell he felt anything but jovial. He just couldn't feel upset by anything at that very moment.

The walk back seemed to fly by, both parties feeling as though they were walking on clouds. They were back at the cabin in no time. He noticed immediately none of the men were outside, but Trish and another woman about the same age were both down at the dock.

Sam gave him a gentle kiss and headed inside to find her father while Jack went over to talk to the girls.

"Hello?" he greeted them questioningly, allowing Trish the opening to introduce them.

"Oh, hi Jack." She made a move to stand, but Jack waved her off knowing how hard it was for her to stand at the moment. Instead she pointed to the woman next to her and said, "This is Stephanie, Jay's wife. Steph, this is Jack O'Neill, Sean and Jay's father."

Steph looked up at him wearily. "Hi."

"Uh, hi. Trish, I'm going to go see if Colin and Sean are inside." He jerked his thumb in the direction of the cabin and turned to head that way.

"The guys went for a walk. I think Sean was trying to calm him down before he came in," she explained, letting him know he wouldn't find them in there.

Jack was frustrated. He just wanted to meet the kid, not get into an all out war with him. "This is stupid! We're all adults here…" Jack was broken off by the sound of approaching footsteps behind him.

"Uh, Dad?" Sean's voice suddenly carried through the silence that had descended over the group.

"Oh, hi, Sean." He turned and smiled, knowing Colin was behind him as well. He was caught off guard to see the tiny baby in his arms. "And you are obviously Colin."

"It's Jay." Jay pulled the hat up off of his daughter's face and pointed her in the direction of Jack. "And this is Lillian."

Jack's face softened at the little girl. As much as he'd loved Charlie, and he did with all his heart, and now the twins, he'd also wanted a girl eventually and Lilly stole his heart immediately.

"She's beautiful," he crooned. "She looks just like your mother."

"And Steph," Jay added with a smile.

Jack motioned forward with his hands at the baby. "May I?" he asked.

Jay looked momentarily uncomfortable, but knew that Sean had been right, he had to give the guy a chance. "Um, I suppose." He gently lifted her out of the sling and handed her over to her grandfather. The wonder in Jack's eyes immediately dispelled any ill feelings Jay had had about handing his daughter over to who was essentially a stranger.

Jack noticed how young the child was and only one thought entered his mind. "Did your mother-"

"No, she was born the same day-"

"Ah." Jack couldn't think of anything else to say that would portray how truly awful he felt about the whole situation and how it had turned out. "I'm sorry."

Jay was immediately skeptical, just like his father was known to be. "For?"

Jack just shrugged. "Everything. I know it doesn't sound like much from someone who hasn't been around like he should, but I mean it. I know we can never get the past twenty-six years back, I won't try to, but I would like to get the chance to get to know you. I know you hate me and I don't blame you one bit."

"I don't know what you expect me to say." Jay was starting to get upset and didn't notice Steph take his daughter from his father's arms, or the four of them heading into the cabin. "You weren't there when Mom needed you. You weren't there when Sean and I needed you. You were too busy playing happy families to even acknowledge us."

"I didn't know about you!"

Jay shook his head, knowing he wasn't being fair. "Yeah, just keep telling yourself that." He turned a glare to his father and spat his next words. "C'mon, you had to have had some inkling that it was at least possible."

"I had hoped, but when your mother never wrote me back after three solid months of letters, I gave up." Jack gave a resigned plop onto the dock and pulled off his shoes and socks to let his feet dangle over the edge. It still hurt deeply that his parents had kept something so special, so monumental from him.

"Mom wrote you every day." Jay's voice softened at the realization that no, he hadn't been there, but he would've if he'd known.

"Yes, and my mother kept the letters from me. I didn't even know she had kids until she found me. I didn't know how old you were. I thought all three of you were Rick's. I'm glad that of all the people in the world she could've spent her life with it was Rick who took my place. He shouldn't've had to, but I'm glad it was him." Jack rubbed the back of his neck, uncomfortable with the emotional play out of the conversation. It seemed he'd done a lot of that over the past few weeks.

"Rick is a great man. He took more shit for us than he deserved." At Jack's questioning gaze, Jay elaborated. "His parents kicked him out when he started helping Mom, taking care of another man's kids and all." Jay sighed and sat down next to his father, finally resigning himself to get a little closer to the man.

"For years I wondered what you were really like. All I'd ever heard was how great you were. I saw all the trophies and plaques all over the school, had to hear the teachers constantly telling us what a great student you were. Nan refused to talk about you."

"That was because she never wanted me in the first place." Jay's head shot to face his father. "Your grandfather begged her not to give me up. I just found out today. And I had a sister for a few days, too." Jack sighed and turned to look into Jay's eyes. "You guys were never unwanted. Even by me. Your mother and I would talk all the time about kids and what they would look like, how they would act. When I moved, those hopes were dashed on the rocks, at least to me."

Jay thought about his own daughter, and Sean's sons. "I don't know how anybody could not want a child. Sean was so happy when he and Trish had Charlie, and since we've had Lilly, I can't say I've been happier."

Jack caught the delight in his son's eyes and knew exactly how he felt. "I felt the same thing when my Charlie was born. He was everything to me."

"I came up here only to tell Sean about Lilly, completely prepared to hate you. I've spent the last ten years that way after all, but I'd always thought Pape Matt and Nan were just covering for you not really wanting to know us. I never imagined you really didn't know." Jay sighed heavily. "There's just one thing about you that bothers me still. Charlie."

Jack winced. No, that part didn't sit well with him either. "I wish I could tell you exactly what happened, but I'm still not sure. The investigation never turned up anything. He wasn't strong enough to pull the trigger, much less break open the lock on the box."

Jay immediately felt chastised. He'd always assumed that Jack had left the gun out where the little boy could get to it. It had never dawned on him the situation could be different. He was starting to understand why Sean thought there was more to Charlie's death.

"Sean never said anything about that. I just thought you'd been careless."

"Never!" Jack was appalled, mostly with the fact that his son thought so little of him that he'd even think that. "Even before we had Charlie, I made sure my gun was always locked up. That was exactly what I was trying to avoid."

He paused for a moment, debating whether or not to reveal the next little bit of information to his son. In the end, he decided it could only help them. "The police investigated the shooting. At first they thought Sara or I had done it. All the evidence pointed to someone else killing him, but there was nothing to incriminate either of us. With no other suspects they eventually ruled it an accidental shooting in the home."

"I… I didn't know." Jay stared at his folded hands in his lap. He couldn't imagine losing Lilly and then having the police blame Steph or him for it. He was starting to understand what his father had been through all those years ago, now that he was a father himself.

"Not many people do. I just figured, he was your little brother, you should know." Jack shrugged like it was nothing, when in reality he was dying all over again inside.

"What about Sam?"

"What about her?"

"Sean said he wasn't sure what you guys were right now. Does she know about Charlie, everything you just told me?"

Jack sighed, remembering the car ride up to the cabin in the first place. "Yeah, she knows. She also knows that if we have any kids, there's a possibility we would be investigated by Social Services."

"Well, that sucks," Jay stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, but she told me she doesn't care. And since we originally thought she couldn't have kids in the first place, it really doesn't matter."

"So," Jay said with a slight smile on his face. "What is she to you?"

Jack broke out into a full grin and stared out into the lake. He still couldn't believe what'd taken place not an hour ago. "You're the first to know. Back there, on our walk, she agreed to marry me."

Jay smiled, actually happy for his father. The attitude he'd driven to the cabin with had almost completely disappeared. "Congratulations. What does Sara think of her?" He remembered his mother telling him, Sara and his father had gotten divorced shortly after Charlie had died.

"Sean didn't tell you?" The sadness momentarily returned to Jack's eyes, but vanished almost as quickly as it had shown up.

"Tell me what?"

"Sara was visiting her brother in Chicago, she was in the seat next to your mother when the plane went down. That's how I originally found out about it."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Yeah. Sara and Sam had been best friends before the accident, so I think she would have approved. She wasn't really the jealous type." He stood up, holding his hand out to Jay to help him up. "C'mon, you're probably starving after that drive."

"Thanks," Jay said, wiping off the back of his pants. The pair headed up to the cabin in companionable silence, an agreement reached between them. This was like Jack's probationary period. If he did well, he knew he'd be in Jay's good graces forever.