Ok so this chapter takes place about 3 weeks after the last one so you might wanna read that one first just to get you back into the story.
Jack had spent the last few weeks shuttling between home and looking after the kids and the hospital. There had been no change to Sam's condition but the way he saw it no change was better than bad change, Sam had undergone 2 further operations to straighten her leg but it was still looking doubtful whether she would ever be able to go back to active duty. Jack often took either Charlie or Sean to the hospital with him as both liked spending time with Sam even if she wasn't aware that they were there with her.
Jack had once taken Joey with him but she had become too distressed as she did not understand why her mom would not wake up when she began to call and cry out to her. Teal'c had become a permanent presence in the O'Neill household, helping Jack out where ever he could with anything from helping out with the cooking or putting Sean or Joey to bed. This was of course when he was not at the SGC or on a mission as Hammond had felt it was best to get Daniel and Teal'c back into the action straight away so they would not become depressed over the issue. Jack had hand picked is successor for the leader of SG-1 as Hammond had felt in light of the new circumstances Sam was not the best officer for the job so Jack had chosen his good friend Col. Robert Tyler from his black ops days whilst one of the scientist from SG-11 took over Sam's role on the team.
Mrs Hess had been horrified to find that she had not been informed of Sam's accident when she had rung to check on everything as she felt a part of the family and it took Jack a while to calm her down enough that he had wanted her to enjoy he sons wedding before he told her but she had still got on the first plane home so she could help Jack in his hour of need whenever Teal'c wasn't around.
Sam's body was healing well and the doctors were hopeful that she should be waking up soon as a majority of the swelling had gone down in her brain and her brain functions were back to normal. There was also good news on the baby front as it seemed that Sam had not miscarried and although Jack had not been able to see anything when they had done the scan, the doctors had assured him that things were progressing well.
It was mainly for this reason that Jack had brought a book entitled 'The Complete A-Z of baby names' and was now reading it to Sam whenever he ran out of things to say or when he felt he was boring her. He had yet to read any that really jumped out at him but they were still only on the letter D so he figured there were still plenty of names left to choose from, Jack had still to tell anyone about the baby for a fear of jinxing it. Things with Charlie and Cassie had also returned to normal as after a few uncomfortable days at school where neither knew what to say Charlie had come in one day and it was back to their old banter and relationship. Whenever Cassie now tried to bring it up Charlie denied it ever happening and passed it off with a joke or sarcastic comment which made Cassie realise that although Charlie did not always act like his father he certainly was an O'Neill. The one person who did not know about Sam's condition was Jacob as the SGC had been unable to get in contact with the Tok'ra as when they gated to the planet Sam had been on it was deserted.
Jack was now used to the routine he went through most days, it would start with the usual wake up call of either Joey crying out as she was awake and hungry or Sean jumping on him because he was awake and hungry. He would then have to go downstairs with Sean and Joey to find that Teal'c (if not off-world) had prepared breakfast for them, then it was bath time for Joey as she liked to paint her breakfast all over herself and getting both her and Sean dressed. Charlie would go to school whilst this was happening and then they would wait for Mrs Hess to get there so she could look after the kids whilst Jack went either to work to look over the recruits files he would begin training in the next few weeks or to the hospital for a day with Sam.
Jack was sat on the chair next to Sam reading the letter F to her (having got bored and skipped the letter E) when Janet walked in, she gave Jack a friendly smile. "Found any you like yet?" She asked knowing what Jack was doing.
"Not really, I'm hoping Sam's got some ideas because this book sucks."
"Hasn't it got almost every single name in?" Janet asked surprised.
Jack just shrugged his shoulders and grinned, "I think she might get mad if I tell her she's having m baby and I've picked the name out, so whatever she chooses is fine with me, as long as it's not too extreme."
"Oh, well as I'm Sam's friend we've obviously discussed this so how would you feel with a son called Cosmo?" She teased causing Jack to grimace at the very thought. "So I've got some good news, she's stable enough to be moved to the SGC."
Jack nodded, "Good, any idea when she's gonna wake up?"
"Like I've said before it's up to Sam." She said before leaving Jack to return to reading baby names to Sam.
Jack didn't know when he dozed off but he was sure he had. His mind was full of fuzzy images of what he hoped his future would be like Sean and Joey were playing with Charlie in their back garden with Sam looking on at them from their back porch cradling a small gurgling bundle in he arms, her face a look of pure and utter bliss. He saw he lips move as she spoke to the baby yet the only sound to reach his ears was the lingering whisper of "Grace".
Jack felt himself pulled from his dream and wake up in the harsh surroundings of the uncomfortable hospital issued chair; yet still he felt expectant. Again he heard the name "Grace" wash over him, still no more than a whisper, but this time he knew it was real. Jack opened his eyes slowly and what he saw made him break into the biggest smile that had ever crossed Jack O'Neill's face.
So I know it's short and I know I left it kinda on a cliff hanger but I like cliff hangers as they encourage me to write so don't get mad. So what do you think Jack saw? Maybe it was a chimpanzee on roller skates rolling down past the door…nah…probably not but that would be funny though.