A/N: Thanks for pointing out my mistake with the title - as you can see I changed it. It was meant to be plural and now it is. I think I did really awesome on the test...although I felt a lot like Daniel trying to dumb something down for Jack as I was taking it. Anywho, here's the next chapter! Thanks for your conscern!

After that night, they had an unspoken pact not to ever breach the subject again, ever again. That was the main reason behind Sam's decision to leave one month later. It was just sex to him, was her mantra as she packed a bag and left, forever looking back, but never going back.

"Was it just sex to you?" Sam asked suddenly.

Jack looked at her like she had just asked him what his name was, "Would I be here now if it had been?"

"Yes."

The Major General conceded that point, "I came to D.C. last year – looking for you and them. It had taken me that long after George told me to file for divorce and get it finalized." Sam's eyes grew wide with shock, "Don't look at me that way, Carter. You were there during the zay'tark testing just like I was. Kerry was just a sad replacement for you. I wasn't happy.

"Anyway, I moved to D.C. a year ago and actually got to your front door a few times. Just, after seeing you and the kids so happy, I couldn't bear to show up and ruin that."

Sam silenced his rambling with a kiss, "I've been such a fool. Can you ever forgive me?"

Jack's saddened eyes lock with hers, "I'm not sure I can, Carter. You kept me away from my children for fifteen years. I can't hold this last year against you – but you didn't even tell me I was a father for fourteen years."

Tears started to flow down Sam's saddened face, she knew she was in the wrong with keeping the triplets from their father – but for the majority of that time she was terrified that Pete would hurt him. Oh, a hospital corridor wasn't the place to get into this – she'd tell him later.

"What happened last time, Carter?" Jack finally asked.

Sam looked at him with a look that could only be described as a mother out for revenge, "Last time… last time was the consequence of the first time he sent her to the hospital." Sam closed her eyes, trying to stop the tears. Her voice was strained as she said; "That first time he tried to rape her, he gave her a very bad concussion." She looked into Jack's hard, loath filled eyes and added, "She was twelve at the time."

If it was possible for Jack O'Neill to digress back to the anger of his days in black ops through just hearing words – that's what happened. "What happened then?" he asked in a dangerous, low voice.

Sam looked down, "It took her seven months – and her thirteenth birthday, to get over her fear of sleeping alone." Her baby blues met Jack's chocolate browns, "He struck for the second time five months after their thirteenth birthday. He raped her, Jack. He raped our baby."

Jack took Sam into his arms and held her as the tears flowed down her worn face, "Shh, you don't have to tell me, Carter."

"Yes, I do," she whispered into his collar. "She knew she was pregnant three days later. She missed her period. Two days before their fourteenth birthday, she was showing – and glowing. It may have been a child sired by a rapist and a bastard, but we all wanted that baby. Pete took her again – for the third time. That son of a bitch had Esther for two days before we got her back. She was in such bad shape, Jack. The day we got her back – their fourteenth birthday, she gave birth prematurely to a little girl. Our granddaughter died four days later."

The tears were now not only falling from Sam's face, but from Jack's as well. "We'll get him, Sam. We'll get him. He will pay dearly for putting all of you through that."

Sam looked up at him and found his face mirroring her grief-stricken one. "Our children need you. They love you so much."

Jack snorted, "Abby and JJ didn't act like they love or need me."

Sam just shook her head, "They're too much like you to show need. Come on, they need you as much as you need them."

Mother and father walked back into the room their children occupied. Sam turned to JJ, "I'm going back to the house to get the records and some clothes for all of you."

"I'm going with you," Jack and his son said at the same time. JJ turned to his father and glared. Frankly, it made Jack proud that his son wouldn't let Sam go into a potentially dangerous situation alone.

"I'd thought you'd say that," Sam said. "We better go now, while Grandpa George is still there with the team." Turning to her daughters, she said, "Are you sure you'll both be safe here by yourselves?"

Abby nodded, "Tom's waiting by the nurse's station. If it'll make you feel better you can tell him to come and watch the room."

Sam nodded, smiling sadly at her youngest daughter, "I'll tell him."

As they walked past the nurse's station, Sam caught Tom's eye and nodded once to the big man. He nodded in reply before turning back down the corridor to Esther's room. Jack turned to the mother of his children and asked curiously, "You're seriously okay with the fact that he likes her and she him?"

JJ looked at his father carefully, "You can't tell your heart who to love and who to like."

Sam nodded, at that, "She could have done worse. Tom Keplar is working on getting his Master's Degree in physics. He has a steady, good paying job and isn't married." She looked Jack in the face, "At least Abby didn't fall for her CO."

The car ride to the Carter house was silent, until right before Sam pulled into the driveway. Without turning to her son, she asked, "You remember what to do?"

"Yeah. Mom, I'm going to keep in constant contact with you. It's the only way to make sure that nothing happens."

Jack frowned at his son, "Make sure what doesn't happen?"

JJ saw the concerned look on his father's face and couldn't help but feel that maybe, just maybe this relationship could work out. "Esther is terrified of Pete. It's a crippling fear for Esther. Abby's also afraid of him, but she handles it a lot differently. Mom's a little bit of a…shall we say, madwoman when she sees Pete. Nothing's really safe. Whenever he's on the loose, I have to stay in constant contact with the three of them to keep them safe from Pete."

"What about you, JJ?" Jack asked softly, "Are you afraid of him?"

JJ's hard eyes met his fathers, "He's afraid of me."

"Enough. We're here," Sam said as the car came to a stop behind Hammond's. She hated that JJ told Jack about her reaction to Pete, but she guessed he had a right to know. The trio got out and Sam turned to the two men, "I'm going for the clothes. JJ, I need you to get the records – all of them."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Jack, you can go with him or you can come with me. It's your choice."

"I'll go with JJ." To keep him safe, he added silently.

"Let's go then."

"JJ?" Jack asked as he pulled out his gun, clicking the safety off just in case.

"Dad?" JJ answered, checking his room to make sure it was clear.

"What records was your mom talking about?"

JJ snorted, "Birth certificates, journals, photo albums, scrap books, and Mom's legal documents. Why?"

"Just wondering." Jack saw something move in the corner of his eye and when he turned around he came face to face with a middle-aged man with light brown, thinning hair. Jack knew right from the first glance that this wasn't one of Hammond's men, "Don't move a muscle – Pete."

Pete's brown eyes grew wide, "Who the hell are you? Some pimp come to get some from the three bitches?"

JJ started his mental attack on Pete, causing the older man to drop to his knees in pain, "That would be my dad." JJ intensified the attack, "Pete, Pete, Pete. How many fucking times do I have to tell you – my sisters and my mother are not your personal whores!"

Pete snorted, "Could have fooled me."

"JJ, stop," Jack commanded in a cool tone.

JJ glared at his father, "Why the hell should I?"

"Because he's not good enough for this – and because you're too good for this. Don't go down that road… please."

The attack swiftly stopped and Pete collapsed, panting. "Thank you," he whispered.

Jack strode over to the younger man, picked him up by his collar and pushed him against the wall (three inches off the ground). "Don't thank me. I've killed more scum like you than I care to remember – I will not let my son end up like you." Jack tightened his hold, "You want to know why you're scared of a kid? A child less than half your age, Petey-boy? Because my blood runs strong in his veins."

"Then it doesn't run in your daughters' veins. They're both terrified of me," Pete spat in Jack's face, but the older man just wiped it away with his free hand. Jack's grip tightened noticeably.

"Jack," Hammond said softly from the door. His voice was soft, but there was an edge to it that made the enraged father have to listen. "Let him down. Justice will be met, but you need to let him down."

Slowly, ever so slowly, Jack lowered Pete to the ground, "You ever touch any of them again, I will not only find you. I will make sure you spend eternity in damnation and torment."

"You ever been to hell, Jack?" Pete asked defiantly. "I hear it's warm."

"Hell has nothing on the place I'm talking about." Jack pulled out a zat, fired it at Pete once and with that he stormed out of the room, his son by his side. Hammond quickly had one of his team handcuff Pete while he called the FBI. The Major General was positive they wouldn't mind holding the rapist and kidnapper until he could be brought to trial.

Sam, who had been standing in the hallway during all the drama, was staring in shock at the space of wall across from her when JJ and Jack found her. JJ touched his mother's arm lightly, relieved when she turned and acknowledged him.

"Time to go, Mom. Did you get the clothes?" he asked softly so not to startle her.

Sam nodded, mutely, pointing to the duffle bag at her feet. JJ picked it up, and motioned for his father to comfort Sam. "I'll be right back. I need to find the records," the boy said in the same soft voice. He may have been furious that his father had shown up out of the blue like that, but at least his father had been there during this traumatic event. The man deserved to see what they had been like growing up.

Moment's later JJ returned, carrying a box in his arms, "I got it, let's go back to the hospital. Dad, can you get Mom?"

"Yeah, JJ, we'll be out in a minute." The boy nodded to his father, concern for his mother evident on his face as he walked down the stairs of his home into the living room to await his parents. "You okay, Sam?"

Sam nodded, "Peachy."

"No you're not. What's this about?"

Sam shook her head, "I guess I just went into shock. Seeing him there, knowing we've got him in custody and not some turncoat police station."

Jack nodded, accepting that answer for the present. "Look, I know you probably don't want to talk to me right now – we both screwed up big time but maybe we can sort all of this out later – after tonight. Deal?"

Sam nodded, her eyes locking with his, "Deal."

A/N: Just one more chapter about their birthday - then we can move on to the next day! Yay for me! Review please and tell me what you think of my tricky ways to make it so Jack's not married...hehehe, that comes up later, too.

Oh! Yeah! If you have any requests for Pete-torture, please tell me