"Jake, Grace, I need your help in the kitchen," she called.

PART SEVEN: EXPLANATIONS

Sam motioned for the twins to join her at the kitchen table. Sitting down, she realized just how many touching moments the family had shared around this table. She remembered vividly some of the earliest times with just Jack and the twins when they were little. Each parent would have a twin in their lap or in an adjacent high chair trying to persuade them to eat. It was quite a sight! Jack was so good at it; he'd taught her a few tricks about getting babies to ear, always with humor.

She felt the tears forming again and fought them back, promising that she would be strong for Jake and Grace. These two knew just enough about the gate and what their parents did at the mountain to be very frightened right now. For all Sam knew, Grace's nightmare had been a premonition of her father's death.

Sam was finally shaken from her thoughts by Jake's question, "What's really happening, Mom?. "You went through the Gate, didn't you?"

"You mean Dad's not even on earth?" Grace asked in a shocked tone. "How could you leave him?"

At that comment, Jake shot his sister a glare. "Grace, let Mom tell us. Can't you see how upset she is?"

By now, Sam could feel the tears threatening to fall as she began, "Grace, Jake, I need you both to listen for awhile. You have to believe that I wanted to stay with your father, but I also knew that I needed to get home to all of you." Sam paused, looking lovingly at each of the twins in turn. Then letting her head fall towards the floor and taking a deep breath, she continued.

"Jake's right, your dad and I were on a mission to another planet. We thought it would be safe, a routine scientific mission, or we never would have gone. We were met by hostile soldiers, almost as soon as we walked through the gate". Sam paused, closing her eyes briefly to hold back the tears before continuing. "Your dad was wounded very badly; by the time I could get to him…. he was dead."

Through her own tears, Sam watched the horror dawning on the faces of her eldest children. Grace began to sob and Jake's eyes went wide, as he reached out for his sister.

"So, the hospital….?"

"There is a device that can restore vital functions if the wounded person is placed inside it within a few hours of death. We had information that such a device was on the planet. Uncle T. and SG3 took your Dad with them and they are searching for the device. If they find it, there's a possibility your Dad can be revived".

Sam realized that the tears streaming down her face belied the confidence she tried to put in her words. As she scanned the twins' faces, she realized they were as devastated as she felt inside. She didn't want them to feel that pain; she didn't know how to prevent it. But she could comfort them. So she pulled herself from her chair and sank to her knees behind the chairs that held her children, placing her arms around them.

Almost immediately, Jake and Grace slipped from the chairs and onto the floor, into their mother's arms. Sam simply whispered to them and rocked them as she'd done when they were much smaller, hoping that in some small way she could ease the pain.

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Minutes later, Daniel pushed through the kitchen door, his arms laden with 3 large pizza boxes.

"Pizza's here", he called, before he looked over the boxes to see Sam and the twins huddled together on the floor. He stopped in his tracks, set the boxes on the table and lowered himself to the floor beside Jake. "Hey, guys, let us know when you're ready."

Sam's head came up slowly and she answered softly, with the twins still wrapped tightly in her arms, "Just give us a few, okay?"

Daniel nodded, reached over to squeeze Sam's shoulder in silent support and quietly left the little group alone.

Jake and Grace lifted their heads, pulling back just slightly, to meet their mother's eyes. Still firmly in the safety of her mother's arms, Grace asked, "Mom, can't we do anything to help him? I really want Daddy to come home."

"Of course you do, princess. We all do." Sam briefly studied the now tearful face of her lovely daughter. Jack always said Grace was the spitting image of Sam at that age, currently sporting long blond hair and her features highlighted by cobalt blue eyes. Grace had loved to spend time with her dad and had picked up Jack's sarcastic wit and his penchant for all things Simpson. Little did she know that her father had no plans for her to ever start dating; if he could, he would keep her young, and safe, forever! Sam remembered hoping she'd get her husband to see the light of reality before he alienated every potential date their daughter might ever have.

"Right now, we have to trust that Uncle T and Colonel Reynolds will do their best to bring your dad home to us. The best thing we can do is to take very good care of each other," she said with a sad smile, gazing intently at first one and then the other of her twins. "That means being very patient with each other, helping out with chores, realizing there are going to be days one of us is just very sad …."

"We'll help, Mom", Jake started, "we'll do anything we can for you and the kids, won't we, Grace?" Sam's heart warmed as she heard her son's promise. He had Jack's sense of responsibility and had learned so much about being a man from his father. She prayed that Jon would have the same opportunity.

"I love your both, so much ….Okay," Sam continued, in a somewhat stronger voice, "first of all, this family needs to eat. Come on, Jake, help me get some paper plates. Grace, would you get some drinks for everybody?"

"Sure, Mom", came the small, fragile reply from young Grace, who'd always been Daddy's little girl. Her initial anger towards her mother for leaving her father behind seemed to have been transformed in the last few minutes of shared grief. Although Grace's fear for her father was great, she would do all she could to support her mother and the younger children during the days ahead.