The Life he Left Behind

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jacob stopped his rampage and lowered his head. "Samantha," the familiar voice of Selmac was heard. "Please forgive Jacob for his outburst. He was unable to restrain himself. He has been quite outraged over everything you have had to endure in the past two years."

"It's okay, Selmac. I understand," Sam told the symbiote. "Sir," she said, looking at Jack. "Take a seat, we need to have a talk."

Jack silently took a seat. Jacob's words still running through his head. General Hammond took a seat at the head of the table and Jacob took a seat at the other end. "Sir," Sam began, standing at the opposite side of the table from Jack, avoiding looking directly into his eyes. "Shortly after you went back to Sara, I found out I was pregnant. You are the father."

"How?" he asked, confused.

Sam couldn't help but look him in the eyes. "Jonah and Thera," she replied, quietly.

His mouth formed as if he was saying "oh", but nothing came out.

"Everyone was calling you to come back because I was pregnant. But…..then you resigned, so we…well, I told them to stop calling," Sam continued, sadness in her voice.

"Why, Carter?" Jack asked in almost a cry.

"Because…. You were happy with Sara. We didn't have the right to take that from you. I don't blame you if you hate me. I understand. At the time, I thought I was doing what was best for you. But, the older the twins got, the more I regretted you not knowing. I'm sorry," Sam cried. She couldn't look at him. All the guilt and hurt she had felt over the past two years for keeping his children from him came rushing through her body all at once.

Jack just sat at the table frozen in his seat. He had children. He was a father again and he didn't even know. The shock of the situation was starting to wear off and anger started replacing it. Damn it! He had been a father for two years and no one told him. How could they? They were supposed to be his friends and they kept something this important from him. As much as he hurt them by leaving, what they all kept from him was ten times worse. Just then, he thought of something. "Children?" he asked, looking up at Sam to explain.

"Yes, I had twins. A boy and a girl. Jonathon and Chloe," Sam told him.

"Chloe! The little girl in the infirmary today? Oh my God! I can't believe this!"

Sam didn't know what to say so she just lowered her head in grief.

"Son, I know this is a lot to take in…," Hammond started, but was cut off by Jack's loud voice.

"A lot to take in! Damn it, General, I've been on this base all day and no one felt the need to inform me I had children? For crying out loud, I saw my little girl! My beautiful little girl… I talked to her, she drew me a picture and no one, not one single person felt like I had a right to know she was mine!" Jack yelled in anger and stood out of his seat, his hands fisted tightly.

"Jack, it wasn't our place to inform you of them," the general explained.

"Yeah, and finding out this way was so much better!" Jack snapped.

Jacob shifted slightly in his seat, but remained quiet. He was fully aware this mess was his fault.

"Sir.." Sam started, but Jack turned on her.

"What, Carter? Were you really that upset that I left? You couldn't even call me and tell me?"

"Jack, her pregnancy was classified. She couldn't tell you over the phone. None of us could. That's why we called and told you to come home," Hammond informed him.

Jack just stared at Sam. For some reason, he just couldn't take his eyes off her. So many emotions were spiking through his body, he didn't know how to control them. If he just would have come back when they called him, he could have been here. He would have seen his children born, been here for the first two years of their lives. Damn it! He was an asshole. How could he have done this to Carter? He looked away in that instant. Guilt overtaking his body, he could no longer look at her. "Damn it," he said aloud, and then turned and rushed out of the briefing room. He had to get away. He just couldn't face her right now.

"Sir," Sam yelled after him, but it was no good, he was already gone.

Jacob was feeling really bad for spilling the beans to Jack. Looking up at his daughter, he had to make things better for her. "Sammie, why don't you head on over and pick up the twins? George and I will hunt down Jack and explain everything to him," he offered.

Sam, trying desperately not to cry, nodded her head in agreement and walked out the door. Fear of how much Jack was going to hate her now, coursing through her veins.

George and Jacob had yet to move when Walter knocked lightly on the open door. "Sir, I just received a call from security. Apparently there is a loud disturbance coming from Dr. Jackson's lab."

Jacob and George looked at each other. "Jack," they both said in unison and stood up to head to Daniel's lab.

Jack, angry at himself, Carter, and everyone else, walked through the SGC aimlessly. He had no idea where he was going, but when Daniel's lab came in sight, he immediately knew who he wanted to vent his frustration and anger on.

Daniel had acted like a child earlier when Jack had gone to him and apologized. He told Jack he was deeply hurt by the way he was treated and didn't know how long it would take him to completely forgive him. With that said, Daniel had still engaged in idle conversation with Jack and Teal'c through the remainder of the afternoon, even accompanying them to the commissary for dinner.

Jack had been happy that Daniel was at least willing to try and forgive him. But now, with so much anger coursing through him, he was pissed. He marched into Daniel's office, saw a group of artifacts sitting on a low shelf and knocked them to the floor in anger.

"Jack, what the hell are you doing?" Daniel yelled as his artifacts crashed to the floor.

"You are a bastard, Daniel, you know that?" Jack yelled back. "You know how much Charlie's death hurt me, you were supposed to be my friend, and yet you couldn't even tell me I had children? You whiny bastard! I've been groveling and asking forgiveness all day to people, and here I was, looking like a complete fool. Ha, ha, jokes on me. Everyone knows about them but me. Ooh, let's all see how long it takes for the dumb old colonel to discover he has kids," Jack ranted on.

"Jack, it wasn't like that," Daniel started. "We all wanted you to know. If you would have just come home, but you're the one who was acting like a baby….What do you think, we wanted Sam to go through all that crap without you? You have no idea what was going on here, Jack."

"Daniel!" Jack yelled.

"Jack!" Daniel yelled back. "You've really got a lot of nerves blaming the rest of us. Yeah, maybe we should have tried harder to get you home, but you were pretty insistent you weren't coming."

"You should have told me!" Jack screamed.

"You don't think I wanted to? All those times I called you on the phone, begging you to come back! But, with Thor's involvement, the whole pregnancy was classified. I was ordered not to tell you over the phone by the president, himself."

"Thor? What the hell did Thor have to do with Carter's pregnancy?"

"They didn't tell you?" Daniel asked in disbelief.

"No."

Daniel sighed. He really didn't want to be the one to tell him. "Jack, Sam would have miscarried. She wasn't able to carry the babies to term. Something about her uterus being damaged. Thor's ship picked up on it and he was able to help," Daniel took in a big breath and exhaled, slowly. "Jack, Sam had the babies two months after you left."

Jack just stared at Daniel, not quite understanding what the man was telling him.

Daniel recognized Jack's confused look and started to explain. "Thor sped up the incubation time. They were full-term when she delivered them."

"Damn it, Daniel. Why the hell didn't someone fly out and get me? She shouldn't have had to go through this alone."

"She didn't, Jack. We were all here for her." Daniel looked his friend over. "Uh, Jack, did they tell you about the court-martial?"

"What? No….Wait, I think Jacob may have screamed something about it at me, why?"

"Um, well, I think it's part of the reason Sam wouldn't let us come and get you. Um, when we found out about the pregnancy, Kinsey and Simmons started hanging out, trying to dig up dirt on you. They wanted to nail you, Jack. But, since you were gone, they went after Sam, instead. She knew they were after you. She wouldn't admit she was protecting you, though."

Jack's face turned slightly red. His anger had turned from Daniel to Kinsey and Simmons. "Shit!"

"As soon as the babies were born, Simmons ordered DNA tests on them to prove you were the father. The babies were only a week old when they dragged Sam into court."

"You're kidding!" Jack stated in disbelief. "Our minds were stamped. We didn't know who we were. Those bastards!"

"Yes, my sentiments, exactly. But, they claimed that because the stamp didn't include you two being a couple, you shouldn't have had sexual relations, unless there was already something between you two that the stamp didn't erase."

Daniel noticed the guilty look on Jack's face, but continued anyways. "She went to court everyday for four days. The judge finally dismissed the charges claiming there wasn't enough evidence. He even asked Sam if she wanted to file harassment charges against Simmons. All they did the whole time was question her about you. Told her they would drop the charges if she admitted you instigated the intimacy. But, she wouldn't give you up. I think what finally made the judge realize how out of hand Simmons and Kinsey were being, was when Sam's breasts leaked in court and he had to call a recess for her to go and get cleaned up. Sam went through it all without complaining once. I think she was the only one in the entire mountain who never once said anything negative about you during the ordeal. Well, excluding Teal'c."

"Yeah," was all Jack said, too upset about what Carter had to endure to reply any further.

"Jack, I trust Dr. Jackson has been filling you in a little more," Hammond's voice sounded behind Jack.

Jack and Daniel turned to see General Hammond and Jacob standing at the door. Jack cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah, a little," he told them, gesturing for them to come in. Now ready to hear the rest of the story.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------