A Little Piece of Me Chapter 45: Ch45, a stargate: sg-1 fanfic

45) Jack woke up before the sun the next day, eager to get up and going. He felt Sam's body laying against him, her sweet smell wafting into his nostrils. This was what he had to look forward to for the rest of his life. Oh yeah, this rocks!

Trying to disentangle himself as carefully as he could without waking her, he silently climbed out of bed, rustling around to find his swimtrunks wherever he'd last seen them. He heard Sam move on the bed and quickly whipped around to make sure he hadn't woken her. Seeing her eyes still closed as she rolled over, he sighed in relief, pulling his trunks up.

He made his way as quietly out of the cabin as possible, hoping nobody else would hear him sneak out. He didn't pay any attention to where he dropped his towel, just as long as it stayed dry, and launched himself off the dock and into the water.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

This was his thinking time, and usually he'd do it every morning, but he hadn't had the chance to swim since he'd arrived. They'd been busy or just taking the time together and he knew Sam liked to swim later in the day, once his pond warmed up a little, but he couldn't use that time for himself. Too many people around.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

He wasn't going to see his mother again, that was for sure. Not that he minded, anyway. He was getting way more out of it than he was losing. His mother really was just that, a mother, not a mom. She stayed home when he was little, but that had been expected of her, but he always knew she hated it. She'd rarely paid any attention to him. In all actuality, he'd always known it was most likely that he reminded her of the terrible mistake she'd made, throwing away a marriage to a rich Irishman.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Tag.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

His father on the other hand, had been a great dad. He'd always tried as hard as he could to give his son the best life he could. In Ireland, the O'Neill's had been in the service of the McGrady's for longer than Jack knew. It was humorous to him, McGrady being a typically Scottish name. But then again, somewhere in their history, the McGrady's had moved from Scotland to Ireland, employing an O'Neill upon arrival, and later taking them with the family to America.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Matthew O'Neill had been the last to be in the service of the McGrady's. Corin hadn't fired him even after the two men had found out about Maggie's pregnancy. Corin McGrady had known from the beginning that it was Margaret Williams, the sweet little American girl who'd seduced his stable hand. Matt had had no idea who she was and though the two had been young, he'd been enticed by her. That was how seventeen-year-old Matthew O'Neill found himself the father of twins, his daughter having passed on, while he still had his wonderful son to spoil, and the husband of a sixteen-year-old woman who just happened to resent him.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Growing up could have been easier, he supposed, but his mother had never actually been mean to him. She'd never said an ill word to him, or punished him, or praised him. Mostly, she'd just ignored him.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Tag. Schloop. Schloop.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

"Muvver, I wanna play."

"Jonathon, you are four years old, talk like a human being."

"Will you play wiff me?"

"No."

"But it's my birfday." Tear.

"Go find your father."

"He's my Daddy!"

"He's your father. And don't you yell at me."

"God's the Father!"

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

"Mother."

"Jack, maybe you should leave her alone for now."

"But, Dad, I just wanted to tell her I made Captain. I was hoping maybe she'd come to a game this year."

"You have two more years and all of college. Maybe we'll get her to one of those."

Sigh. "Yeah. Maybe."

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

One ring. Two rings. Three rin-

"Hello?"

"Dad!" Huge ass grin.

"Jack?"

"It's a boy, Dad! Charles Tyler." Grin still growing.

"Congratulations." Shouting. "Maggie, it's a boy!"

Rustling.

"Johnny. Johnny? It's a boy?"

"Yes, Mother."

"Oh, Johnny. We'll have to come and visit."

Sigh. "Yes, Mother."

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Tag. Tag. Tag.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

And that's what it finally took. Almost thirty years and the birth of his son to get her to open up and talk to him. She was even friendly towards him. For ten years he'd actually had a mom. One like Sara had, one like Karol had. Until Charlie's death, he'd actually felt like a normal family. Then everything just fell apart.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

He wasn't going to let that happen again. He had a family again. If his mother wanted to be stubborn and throw it all away, that was fine with him. He wasn't going to let it bother him. He just wished Charlie were still alive to meet his older brothers. He would have loved to see that. He was sure Charlie would have loved having two older brothers even if they were eleven, twelve years older.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Stroke, stroke.

Breathe.

Yep, life was getting better. And as much as some facts of his life were sobering and made him feel old and worn out, he couldn't be happier. He could, but the Goa'uld were the ones who brought people back from the dead, not him. Well, no that wasn't true, he'd lost count of how many times Daniel'd bit the bullet.

Practically choking on the stirred up lake water, Jack chuckled to himself and pulled himself out of the water onto the dock. Two bodies exited the water on each side of him and panted as they tried to catch their breaths. Reaching behind him, Jack grabbed his towel and wrapped it around his shivering body. Swimming might be a workout, and though it was summer, the sun wasn't fully up yet and that meant the weather in northern Minnesota was still chilly.

"Can't keep up with your old man, eh?" he snickered as he calmed his own breathing and rubbed the towel over his dripping hair. He glanced to his left and brown eyes connected with twinkling hazel as Sean shook his head laughing.

"I haven't swam all the way across the pond since we were in high school and used to race each other." He wiped his body down, keeping the cool morning air from chilling him.

Jack turned to his right expecting, yet still surprised to see Jay sitting next to him. Blue eyes would not connect with his own, also expected, and he sighed. "Sam shouldn't have gone to see you yesterday."

"Sorry to be such a burden," Jay snapped back, keeping his eyes fixed on the other shore.

"Dammit, I didn't mean it like that." Jack stood up and started pacing, the towel wrapped around his waist. He was frustrated, this conversation so not going where he wanted.

"Sure." The kid was definitely a chip off the old block. Sarcasm just dripped off of him.

Sean threw his towel down and glared at the two men. "Will you two grow up already!" He turned to Jay, his hands closed into fists at his sides. He brought one finger up and jabbed his brother in the chest. "You! Dad's trying to apologize. Let him talk. And you, quit talking in damn riddles."

Jack smiled. Being reprimanded by his own son was something he'd never thought would happen that's for sure. "Jay, I should have gone to find you. That's what I meant."

"It's a good thing you didn't." There was no elaboration, but Jack was pretty sure there was a 'you woulda been thrown off the property' attached there somewhere.

"Lilly's a beautiful little girl." The change of subject was something they both needed. Sean smiled behind their backs. It was going to be a long day, but so far, it looked like it was turning out okay so far.

"She's my pride and joy." Their eyes finally connected and Jack recognized the twinkle in his son's eye. It was the same thing everyone used to see when they looked into his own.

"See! This is what I mean," Sean said, breaking into their conversation. "Both of you are too stubborn to apologize, so there's undercurrents here, but you keep resolving all your issues, so there's nothing left to be upset about."

Jack leaned back on his hands, his feet dangling over the edge of the dock as a small smile played across his lips. He raised his face to the rising morning son and sighed. "Yup. He's just like your mother."

"I coulda told you that," Jay replied, skipping a rock across the water he'd picked up from the shore.

Jack's heart sped up momentarily as he watched Jay's fluid motions. "Charlie used to do that."

"What?"

"Sit out here for hours and skip rocks while I was fishing. And everybody wonders why I never caught anything. It was probably all you guys beanin' 'em in the head!"

Jay snickered.

"I wasn't exactly expecting to see you today," Jack said, his voice just barely audible.

Jay smiled shyly at the insecurity he could hear in his father's voice. It wasn't something he'd associate with the tough man he'd met or the stories of the young soldier he'd heard from his grandfather and it was comforting in a way. It showed the man was actually human.

"I wouldn't have if I hadn't been chewed out by that darling little monster I'm married to. Basically told me if I didn't wizen up, she'd head home and take Lilly with her."

Jack grimaced and ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah, that's the worst one. Sara used it on me a few times."

"Well, it nearly tore me apart. I know she wasn't doing it to be mean, but my heart just about stopped when she said it. The only time I've been away from Lilly since she was born was work and Mom's funeral."

Sean's head dropped at the somber thought. "I still can't believe she's gone."

"Yeah." Jay sighed.

Jack felt a little left out at the brothers' relationship. It hadn't been the best they could have had, but they had it. Jack barely even knew anything of the two men currently sitting on either side of him. It was pretty Damn near to perfect right now, but he knew it'd get better, eventually.

He was still thinking intently when a high pitched shout rang out from the cabin. "Uncle Jack! Look out!"

Before he could turn around and see why he was being warned, he heard Rico thumping across the dock and felt the hard, slobbery tennis ball connect with the back of his head. Rico couldn't stop in time on the slick wooden dock and the next thing Jack and Jay knew, the yellow ball of fur went flying over their shoulders between them and into the water.

Cassie came bounding up behind them, panting, and leaned on her knees. "Sorry, Uncle Jack. I thought I could make it over your heads." She barely held back a tiny smirk as Jack rubbed the back of his head.

"Don't worry about it. Not like there's much up there anyway." He grinned at his "niece" and pulled her into a hug. "So, where's everybody else?"

"Dad's still asleep, Teal'c's making breakfast, and Sam's in the shower," Cassie answered with a shrug.

Jack cocked his head at her. "What's with all this 'Dad' stuff?"

"Well, Daniel's gonna marry Mom, so that would make him my dad. I just want him to know that it's okay with me."

"You know you scared him when you started all that."

"I didn't mean to." She looked down at her feet dangling over the dock. Rico whined and knocked her hand with his nose, begging for her to pet him for her comfort.

"I think he got that." Jack smiled and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into his side.

Sean and Jay chose that moment to break back into the conversation.

"Dad, I think we're gonna head back now. We'll see you later," Sean said as the brothers started back towards their vehicles.

"Okay." He turned to Jay. "You're bringing Steph and Lilly back?"

"Yeah."

"Alright."

Jack and Cassie turned back to playing with Rico after they heard Sean and Jay leave. They let Rico play in the water until Teal'c called them in for breakfast.