Jack opened the door for Sam and followed her into her house. "Would you like a glass of diet coke? Wait, can you still drink diet coke?"
Sam grinned and put her hand on his arm. "Relax Jack, yes, I can still drink diet coke but considering how late it is I think I'll avoid the caffeine. Maybe just some water."
"Water I can do."
He gave her the water and then disappeared to the bedroom for a few minutes. He sat beside Sam on the sofa when he returned. He looked tense.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, yes, probably."
Sam put her hand on Jack's leg. "Jack."
"I did find a difference."
"What?"
"I came back here last night and looked around, only through my stuff, promise."
Sam gave him a small smile. "I don't have any secrets from you Jack."
"Still, I didn't go snooping through your stuff."
"But?"
"I found something in my stuff, something I'd been thinking about but hadn't followed through on yet."
"What?"
Jack leaned to the side and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small box. She reached out for the box, but he opened it before she could pick it up. She swallowed as she looked at the silver ring with a topaz stone.
"There's an inscription. It says we will always travel together."
She extended her finger and touched it. "You've been thinking about this?"
"Yeah, for weeks. I went to a couple stores in DC, but nothing struck me as quite right."
"And this?"
"Seems perfect."
Sam closed the box. "Knowing she was pregnant would have spurred him to find a ring."
"Yes, but it's important that you know I was thinking about it before I knew you were pregnant."
"You mean him. This isn't our lives Jack."
He put his hand on the side of her face. "But it's our lives now." He let go of her face and moved his hand to her abdomen. "All three of us."
"Jack."
"No, don't tell me this isn't real."
"It's real, it just isn't our lives." Tears were forming in her eyes. "It won't be like this when we fix it." One tear escaped, and Jack reached up and wiped it off her face. He pulled her close and held her.
"Good morning once again ladies and gentlemen. Dr. Jackson, did you learn anything useful?"
"I think so. Cameron's grandfather was the captain of the Achilles, the ship that brought the stargate to America. The ship was attacked and the man in the photo, Carl Michaels, was credited with stopping the attackers and saving the ship. Carl Michaels first appeared in merchant marine shipping records about five years before joining the Achilles. He got his start on a fishing liner about five years before joining the merchant marines. There are no records about him before that. He died six years after the Achilles brought the stargate to America. He didn't have a family, but he did leave a will." Daniel projected an image on the screen. "The will led us to safe deposit box here in town."
"Here?"
"Yes, sir. The box was paid for through next year and nobody has visited it since 1948."
"We took the liberty of going to the bank, sir." Cameron folded his hands on the table. "I was listed as next of kin and the bank let us get the letter out of the safety deposit box."
"What does it say?"
Everyone in the room leaned a little closer to Cameron. "It seems I was the man in the picture."
"What? You?" Jack looked as shocked as the rest of the room's occupants.
"Yep. Ba'al went back in time. Sam, Daniel and I ended up in an altered timeline with an Earth that was doomed to be decimated by Ba'al and the system lords he'd taken over. I ended up being sent back in time to stop Ba'al's initial assault before he could alter the timeline. I wrote the letter to myself, in case the restored timeline was still wrong."
Jack leaned back. "So, we have to decide whether this timeline is close enough or not?"
Sam sighed. "Going back could do more damage." He saw her right hand slide over her stomach.
Mr. Miller stood up. "You can discuss this as long as you wish but ultimately it's the IOA that will make this decision." He left before anyone had a chance to debate his statement.
Jack reached over and grasped Sam left hand as Daniel looked over at them. "Things don't seem too different, right?"
Sam went to her lab and tried to work while Jack and General Landry started making phone calls. A few hours later Jack dragged her out for dinner. The rest of SG-1 came along, to make up for the lunch they never got after the extraction. They avoided talking about timelines or the IOA. They had several laughs and enjoyed the company and drinks, except for Sam who stuck to lemonade. Jack drove Sam home and offered her a foot massage that progressed further than he had intended, not that he argued with her.
Jack went back and forth between Sam's lab and Landry's office the next day while they waited for the IOA decision. She'd encouraged him to go back to Washington, since they didn't know how long it would take for the IOA to make a decision, but he made silly excuses to stay.
They picked up dinner on the way home and sat on the sofa, watching the news as they ate. She felt him watching her chew.
"What is it Jack?"
"Nothing."
"We both know that's not true."
"Fine." He put his beer down. "What do you want?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Do you want this timeline, or do you want to change it?"
She looked down at her hands in her lap, "It's not that easy and even if it was, it isn't our decision."
"It's easy for me." He put his hand on her leg. "I want us."
"The scientist in me knows we messed things up and should put it back. But there's another part of me that wants this." Sam moved her hand to her stomach. "I spent years wondering if I would ever get to have children and then I gave up on that dream. Now it's within my grasp but it could be taken from me." She looked up at him. "I can't believe in this if it could all be taken away."
He cupped her face. "That I can understand." He leaned forward and kissed her.
Two days later Landry called them all to the conference room just before five.
"The President called to let me know he agrees with the IOA. This timeline is close enough. There's no reason to risk bigger changes."
"That is excellent news." Teal'c looked around the table, please to see Sam and Jack with wide grins.
"Yes, it is." Jack stood up and put his hand out to Sam. "How about we get out of here."
Sam was surprised at his desire to leave without further discussion, but she took his hand and followed. He led her to the locker room and told her he would wait while she changed clothes. Once she was out, he led her to his truck and drove to downtown, where he'd made reservations at a steak restaurant. He kept rubbing his hands on his pants, so Sam knew something was up, but she knew it was best to wait rather than ask him. They made it to dessert before he had the courage to pull out the box and open it.
"Sam, now that we know we get to live this life I hoped you would do me the honor of living it as my wife. I love you and I'm very excited about building a family with you."
Sam stared at the box and the beautiful ring it held. Her heart raced, and she stopped breathing for a moment. She felt people in the restaurant stopping to watch her.
Se leaned forward and whispered, "You're sure."
"One hundred percent. I'm rarely this sure of anything. No plan B needed."
Sam held out her shaking hand, "Yes, yes Jack, yes." He slid the ring on her finger, stood up, and held out his hand to her. She joined him, and he hugged her before turning to her for a long kiss as the restaurant erupted in applause. Jack settled the bill and they headed home to plan their future.