"Indeed," was the stoic Jaffa's only answer. Janet just stared, unable to say anything.
In half an hour Teal'c and Janet Fraiser were caught up on the 'need to know' subjects of the day – who the triplets were, why Hammond was there and what Sam had been doing the past sixteen years…mostly.
When Sam had finished her censored extraordinary tale, she turned to Janet. "So, Jan? What have you been up to?"
Janet looked down at her left hand, where a gold wedding band and engagement ring were. "I got married, thirteen years ago." Tears filled her eyes, "We looked so hard for you in those six months before the wedding."
Sam felt tears fill her own eyes, "Yeah, I didn't have access to a telephone during those first three years." At the mention of that time, all three triplets got up from their positions around their 'grandfather', and repositioned themselves around their mother. Esther sat on Sam's left, JJ stood behind her, and Abby sat on her right side.
Sam smiled reassuringly at them, "So, Janet, who did you marry?"
Janet smiled and glanced at the dark man at her side, "Teal'c." Sam's eyes widened a little in shock at the announcement, although she wasn't really surprised. She'd seen the spark between the two and had been the one that Janet had ranted to about the black giant that had stolen her heart.
"Do you have any children?" Abby asked, curiously. She had known about the hidden tension between Janet and Teal'c as well, from stories her mother told them. It had been very well hidden, but Abby had picked up on it right away.
Teal'c smiled – something that Sam hadn't seen him do more than five times in the years that she'd known him. "We have eight children. Patrick Menno is twelve years old, Samantha Alanna is eleven, Raoul Michael and Luke Stephan are nine, Dallas Scott is eight, Gilbert Alexander is seven, and Marigold Alice and Jane Constance are both five."
Sam was shocked; "You named your daughter after me?"
Janet shrugged while Teal'c answered, "We could have found no one more worthy to be the namesake for our eldest daughter."
Sam smiled warmly; "I guess I never fully introduced you both to the kids. This is Abigail Janet-Lee, Esther Theresa and Jonathan Jacob."
"Did you give them their father's last name?" Teal'c asked solemnly.
"Yes," Esther answered for her mother, "Our last name on our birth certificates is 'O'Neill', but at school we go by 'Carter'. Mom said it would cause less suspicion for Dad's enemies and hers."
The doorbell rang for the second time in as many hours. Esther rose to answer it and when she saw who was on the other side she turned and looked at everyone in the room before settling on her mother.
"Mom, it's Henry. I'll only be a few minutes," Esther promised.
Sam nodded at her daughter, "That's fine. Actually, if you like, you can invite him to come in and meet your uncles and aunt."
The young girl nodded before going onto the front porch and closing the front door softly behind her.
"Hey, Henry," she said as her boyfriend enveloped her in a hug hello.
"Hey, Es, how's your birthday been?" the tall redhead said, releasing his girlfriend without letting go of her hand.
Esther smiled, "Pretty good, actually. Some of my uncles and one of my aunts that my mom always talks about came over. They've been catching my mom up and we've been letting them in on some of the last sixteen years. Mom said that you could come in and meet them if you want. Grandpa George is here too, I know that you two got along rather well the last time you saw him."
Henry looked a bit hesitant, "Are you sure that's okay with you, Es?"
She nodded, "Yes, actually I want you to meet them."
He nodded, "Fine, I'll meet them if it's what you want."
Esther smiled and kissed his cheek before opening the door and leading him inside. "Okay, Grandpa George, I know you already know Henry, as does Mom, Abby and JJ, but the rest of you don't. So Uncle Daniel, Uncle Teal'c and Aunt Janet, this is Henry. Henry this is my Uncle Daniel, Uncle Teal'c and my Aunty Janet."
"What are your intentions toward my niece, Henry?" Teal'c said after a few moments of silence.
Henry panicked, "I uh, I, uh… Esther!"
Esther laughed, "Just answer honestly, Henry. He won't hurt you unless you give him a reason to."
The young man gulped, not liking that response from his girlfriend at all. "Uhh, only honorable, s-sir."
Daniel nodded, "You know if they weren't we'd feel obligated to first show you how many different methods of torture we know then inform her father so he could show you all that he knows."
Sam scolded Daniel and Teal'c with a look, "You will do no such thing Daniel. Henry already knows all the consequences he will face if he hurts Esther. I happen to be his summer school teacher."
George decided that it was time to put Henry out of his misery by changing the subject. "So, Henry? How's it going with school and work? That job working out all right?"
Henry nodded, "Yes sir, it's nice to actually be given a challenge at a job like that. Thank you for allowing me to use you as a reference. School is going the same, as always, science is remaining my best subject, English my worst. Ever since I've started having Esther help me with math my grade's gone up, though. Same with history. She just has a way of putting it into plain English that our teachers don't have."
George smiled warmly, "That's good. I'm glad things are going well."
"Wait," Janet asked, "If science is your best subject then why are you taking it in summer school?"
"Because Dr. Carter is offering advanced physics in summer school and I took physics last year in high school. Not to mention that I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't have science in my life even for a short time."
Janet nodded, understanding entirely, "Well, in that case I approve of your choice, Esther."
"Indeed."
Daniel shook his head thoughtfully, "I don't know. You just said history was boring. That's not something I can easily get over."
Henry looked to Sam for clarification, "He's an archeologist, anthropologist and speaks over twenty languages."
"Thirty-eight languages to be precise, Sam."
"All inclusive?" she asked, curiously.
The other man shook his head, "All inclusive it's up to forty-two."
Henry looked at his watch and sighed, "I've got to go, Esther. They have me working in the lab in half an hour."
Esther pouted slightly (a pure Carter-pout), "You have to work on my birthday?"
The young man sighed, "Yes, I'm sorry, but they called me this morning and told me Anne had gotten sick last night and can't come in today. I need to go." He grinned slyly, "In exchange I get Thursday off, though."
Esther nodded; glad that he would be free on one of her most traumatic days. She sighed sadly, "Fine, go have fun playing with your doohickeys."
Henry laughed and bent down to give her a quick kiss but her finger stopped him, "You know how I feel about that, Henry. Now go to work."
The young man grinned playfully before saying "Yes, ma'am," as he walked out the door.
Esther sighed again as she turned from the door and found the three new guests looking at her strangely, "What?" she asked, annoyed, "I don't like kissing him in front of other people. PDA can be disturbing on so many levels."
Daniel shook his head, "No, it's not that. But you said 'doohickey'. You're father said that every time he caught your mother in her lab when she wasn't supposed to be."
Esther shrugged, "Mom told me that after the first time she heard me say it. She's always said I was the most like Dad."
"Come on," JJ spoke up, "It's Batman time!"
"What is a Batman?" Teal'c asked.
Janet hit him playfully in the side, while the three children looked dumbfounded at their uncle. "Jaffa humor," Janet said simply.
A/N: So? What think you? Wanna find out more? Please review - and don't yell at me for having Janet and Teal'c get married - in this story Danny ends up with Sarah Gardener...well, Sarah Jackson.