It was clear there had been a pitched battle in the immediate area. They could see blackened, still steaming sections of ground and rock. But in a matter of minutes they saw their primary problem – the gate was gone!

PART 12: LIVING LIFE

It had been nearly 10 days since SGs 1 and 3 had left on a routine scientific mission. Over one week ago, SG7, their backup, had returned without them and with no clue as to their whereabouts. At that point, Generals Landry and Hammond had sent urgent messages to off world allies, particularly the Asgard, requesting help in find the missing teams. Unfortunately no timely help was available from either the Tokra or the Asgard.

Just two days ago, SG7 had returned to the planet with fresh resolve and specialized equipment to augment aerial surveys from UAVs sent through the gate. Yet after another 48 hour period of intensive searching, there was still no sign of the team. At that point, the powers that be made the decision to suspend the search with a fairly certain assumption that the men were no longer on P3X-779.

OoOoOo

Sam and the children had stayed pretty close to home since her return from the planet, occasionally going to visit the Jacksons or playing hosts to other good friends from the base, particularly George Hammond. All the while, in the back of everyone's mind was the hope that Jack would return at any moment.

Early on, Col. Mitchell had called Sam's brother Mark to tell him that Jack was missing. Cam meant well. He believed that Sam should have family with her at a time like this. Mark called within the day, but Sam turned down his offer of a family visit. It was too soon; to have them with her now would feel like Jack was really dead and the family was coming for a funeral.

But she had seen Jack die and for all she knew, he was truly gone. Maybe, it was more than time for a memorial service. But others were missing too; what about them and their families?

Cam Mitchell had made a statement that "the not knowing must be the hardest part". Sam had replied that this wasn't really true. And it wasn't. So long as she didn't know for sure, there was some hope, no matter how small, that Jack would come back to her and their children.

The younger children, Jon and Beth, were becoming more and more insecure and clingy.

They couldn't understand why they couldn't visit their daddy. How could they understand? Try as she might, Sam didn't know what to tell them. But tell them something, she must, and soon.

It was time for this family to start living their lives again. Sam knew this without doubt. She also knew it would be hard to do her part. She could send the children back to school, encourage them to pick up their lives with their friends, but she wasn't sure she was up to doing the same. More and more, she just wanted to stay in the house, locked away from everyone. Maybe with the kids back in school, it would be even quieter and she could forget, just forget everything that hurt.

She shook herself at the thought. 'Jack would kick my ass if he heard me talk like that!'

The O'Neill family needed their friends and sure enough, they'd been invited to the Jacksons' for a barbecue tonight. 'Okay, enough of this, Sam thought. Tonight's the time for the O'Neills to get back to their lives. When Jack comes home, I want him to see his family alive and well. And until I know otherwise, I'm going to assume he's coming home.'

OoOoOo

According to plan, the O'Neill SUV pulled into the driveway of the Jackson home right at 1700 hours. There to greet them were Janet, Daniel -- carrying Ethan -- George Hammond and Hank Landry. Jake took Grace and Jon out back for a quick pick up basketball game before supper. George and Hank, as they insisted on being called at these gatherings, sat watching the older children from the deck, all the while playing honorary grandfathers to Beth and Ethan, and loving every minute of it.

Daniel started the grill, with Janet and Sam flanking him on either side. "I'm not sure I need this much supervision, ladies", he quipped.

"Don't worry, Daniel. I think I'm the one who needs a little supervision, or at least advice, right now".

"Sure thing, Sam. My wife knows I'm the 'Dear Daniel' of the neighborhood. Right honey?" he said, speaking pointedly to Janet, who frequently teased that he gave all the female advice columnists competition.

Janet threw him a look and turned to her friend. "What do you need, Sam?"

"I need to get the O'Neill family moving, Janet. It's been nearly two weeks. I want to see all of us back to some kind of normal routine."

"I'd say you're all doing as well as anyone could expect, given the situation," Janet volunteered.

"Janet, I want to see the kids back in school with their friends, me back at work. It's time. I'll wait for Jack forever, but we need to live our lives."

So that night before dessert, with the younger children sitting on the laps of their honorary grandfathers, Sam told the children that everyone would be returning to school or work on Monday morning. She was quick to add that she or one of the Jacksons would be only a phone call away if any one of them needed to talk.

Jon had politely raised his hand in this impromptu extended family meeting to ask, "But what if they send Dad home from the hospital and no one's there when he gets home?"

"Well when the doctor sends your Dad home, he'll be feeling well enough to take care of himself and the first thing he'll do is call your Mom."

"But Aunt Janet, what if he thinks we forgot about him. After all, we haven't even talked to him since he's been in the hospital."

"I'm sure your Dad would never think any of you 'forgot about him', Jon. He's just too sick and too far away to have visitors right now."

Jon didn't respond to Daniel, but sat quietly until the group began to break up.

Sam had gone off with Janet and Jake to wash dishes while Grace entertained 6 month old Ethan and little Beth. Daniel took the opportunity to make his way over to Jon, who still hadn't moved from his seat.

"Hey, Jon, what's going on? I've got a pretty cool Xbox game we could play for a bit."

"No thanks, Uncle Daniel. I just want to sit by myself for awhile." Jon looked up at Daniel and there were tears in his eyes. "I want to see my Dad. I don't know why Mom won't take me to see him. Doesn't she love Dad anymore?"

Daniel thought carefully about what he could tell his nephew. There were no easy answers in all of this. How did you ask kids to go on with their lives when they were still missing a parent and you couldn't tell them what was really happening? Eight year old Jon was probably in the most difficult position of all. A bright, adventurous boy, he understood just enough to be very concerned for his father yet not enough to comprehend his dad's mysterious disappearance.

"Let's take a walk, Jon. We've got a lot to talk about."

Please let me know what you think so far. Constructive criticism greatly appreciated.