Chapter 7 - The mess
"That night, we went out as a couple to a military ball for the first time since we got married."
2011
The trip to the White House wasn't that long of a ride from their house, but Saturday night traffic was a big issue in D.C., and that was a huge reason Jack O'Neill hated DC and was happy with using the designated driver and car.
Oh! The look of surprise of the driver when he saw General O'Neill getting out of the house with one baby seat and one booster seat was priceless. Both men secured the safety seats in the car, and then Jack walked once more inside his home. This time, went he went out, he was carrying a black baby bag that looked similar to a standard-issue backpack.
"Huh, Richards, come inside. You will freeze to death before the kids are ready," Jack said to the driver.
"Sir?" the young man said, confused.
"The kids aren't ready yet. Come inside, or do I need to make it an order?" Jack grinned.
"No, Sir. Thank you, sir."
Looking at the young Captain, Jack had to smile. If a three-star General asked him to come over to his house when he was a Captain, he would have probably wet himself. But before he could try to calm the poor guy, Terran ran downstairs, followed closely by Alex.
"Daddy! Daddy! Mommy said if we are lucky, we'll meet the President! Not only," T stopped himself, seeing someone else in the room. "Goodnight, sir."
"Goodnight, sir! Oh! You are Air Force like! Like!" she looked at her daddy excitedly.
"Yes, sweetheart, like me. Do you know which rank he is?" Jack asked his little girl, and she nodded.
"I think so, daddy, but I can't see his…" she said, touching her shoulders when she couldn't remember the name.
"Lapels," Jack offered as he picked her up. Alex frowned for a second, looking at the embroidery.
"He's a Captain!" Alex beamed.
"Well done, Alex!" Sam said.
Jack turned around to look at her. He saw her all dressed up before, but seeing her coming down the stairs slowly, took his breath away.
Jack eyed at the Captain, and he had to control his jealousy when her voice called his attention. "So, General O'Neill, are you ready for tonight?" she asked huskily, her eyes shining with merriment.
"Captain Richards, I believe you hadn't met my wife," Jack said and saw as the guy went white in a second and then wholly red, which caused the kids a giggling fit while both grownups tried to contain their smiles.
"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am. If you are ready, sir?"
Jack came out of his reverie the moment the car pulled up in front of the White House. Someone came to open the back door and helped Sam to get down, as Jack stepped out from the front seat, since, with the children's chairs, they didn't fit in the back.
To the surprise of the helpers, Sam dismissed the one that went to help her, and turned around to unstrap Alex. While Jack, walked to open the back door on the other side of the car and freed Terran. The helpers' eyes widened in terror as they saw as a General, and his wife unstrapped two kids from their seats and lowered them on the floor before they straightened their clothes.
"Sir, ma'am, kids aren't allowed tonight," one guy dared to say.
Ignoring them, Jack shouldered the backpack, offered his arm to Sam, and stretched his hand to Alex. Sam picked up Terran, and then took Jack's arm before they carried on towards the inside.
The guard followed them until they reached the door, but when he thought the inside guards would reject them, they signaled the family to follow one Lady.
"You should go to the ball," Sam said as they walked towards the East Room. "I can catch up to you when I finish settling here," she said as the woman finally opened the door of the room for them and walked away.
"Are you sure?" Jack asked, lowering the backpack on the floor.
"Yes, Jack. You might want some time to get in touch with your fan club," she joked.
"Yup! That's precisely what I am dying to do!"
"Don't worry, General, you know you can always count on me to save your six," Sam said, kissing him much to their kid's delight. "Go, Jack. Between the three of us, we will have this ready in no time, right, kids?"
"Yeah!" the kids shouted, and with no room to discuss it, Jack left the room towards the party.
2050
"But since we still had to set the security measures to the room, I told him he should go to the ball, and I would join as soon as I finished," Sam explained.
"She threw me out of that room straight to the lion's den," Jack huffed.
"I did not!" She exclaimed outraged.
"Yes, you did!" He smiled knowingly.
2011
"Oh, you liar! I don't see him with a wife!" Mrs. Hayes said.
"She is probably putting the kids to bed, honey," Henry grinned. It was then when Jack found Henry and walked towards the Presidential couple with a smile on his face.
"Mr. President, sir. Ma'am. I came to thank you for letting us use the East room for the kids."
"I take your beautiful wife is putting the children to bed?" Hayes grinned.
"Yes, that and ensuring the security levels. You know how much of a mother hen she can be," Jack joked.
"Hopefully, she will be here soon. I haven't seen her for a month now," Hayes added.
"Right. Well, if you two excuse me, I need to go talk to General Jumper," Jack said as someone he didn't know approached the President.
"General O'Neill, you know that today is not for work."
"And yet my Commander-in-Chief is working at its party. Sir, if you see my wife before I do, sent her over. She knows all about my conversation with General Jumper," Jack grinned.
"Is it related to her new status?" Hayes asked.
"Yes, I have to thank you for that too, sir."
"Why? It's not like you will live together."
"Well, at least, will be in the same country, sir. I am pleased about it, and so is she," Jack finished before he left them noticing that the first Lady was looking very confused by his conversation with Hayes.
Jack was on his way to talk with General Jumper when his most famous stalker, Amber Jumper, stopped him halfway.
"General Jack O'Neill. I went to visit today, and you weren't there," she said, pouting a little and caressing his chest with one finger. "An ugly woman was there with her kids," she scrunched up her nose in disgust. "She is most likely a gold-digger looking for a daddy for her children. She told us she is your friend!" Amber snorted at that. "Yeah, sure! Like we can't recognize a gold-digger when we see one." Jack was clenching his jaw hard.
On the other side of the room, a blond-haired woman was looking disbelievingly at that scene. She even got scared when a brunette nudged her a little while passing by until the brunette turned to say 'I'm sorry,' and the blonde raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"I thought you weren't coming," the blonde said.
"Amy Lynn," Sam said as a greeting to the blonde girl she had met early that day. "I never said I wasn't, coming," she answered curtly.
"You told us the General was coming, and that it was a closed event," Amy Lynn pointed out.
"Yes, the General is here, and as far as I know, it is a private event."
"You lied to us!" she hissed. "You are fooling around with the General, so he brought you here to pay for your services!" Sam clenched her jaw tightly. 'Oh, the nerve of this woman!' she thought.
"Look, Amy Lynn. The President of the United States invited me today, and he also invited my husband. That is why I am here. Perhaps, you could try to use that little brain of yours to close your mouth while I attempt to find my husband who is wearing in his dress blues in a sea of dress blues," Sam stated. Then she turned around and walked away, but before she could go into the party much, the Marine Chief of Staff stopped her.
With the corner of his eyes, Jack glimpsed the dark blue hue of Sam's gown. She was talking to the Marine Chief of Staff General, something. Jack looked at her, and Sam looked at him, and both smiled. Amber Jumper knew the exact moment when she lost Jack's attention. Irked by that, she followed his gaze to find out who could take his attention out of her.
Jack grinned when he saw as Sam excused herself from the General and started to walk towards General Jumper.
"Excuse me, Amber," he didn't want to offend her; she was after all General Jumper's daughters. So he moved out of her way and walked to talk with her father.
"Henry, do you know that brunette over there?" Mrs. Hayes asked.
"Yes, honey. That's the General's wife."
"Jumper got married again?" Mrs. Hayes frowned in confusion.
"Of course not! " Henry chuckled.
Hayes noticed Sam was trying to reach the object of her affections, who was already talking with Jumper.
"Come on. Honey, I'll introduce you," Hayes grinned, grabbing his wife and walking towards the trio.
Under the watchful gaze of the Hayes, Sam, Jack, and General Jumper finally met. It seemed they were all looking for each other.
"General Jumper, sir!" Sam smiled as she finally reached them.
"Samantha O'Neill, I'm happy to see you are finally here," she smiled at the salutation that he gave her as she laced a gloved arm with her husband's.
"Well, when I added her to the guest list, I wasn't sure she would make it," the President said, joining the group.
"Mr. President, ma'am," Sam saluted politely, being the only one that hadn't exchanged pleasantries with them before.
"Honey, let me introduce you to Samantha O'Neill, General O'Neill's wife. She is joining us at DC for a short period. I believe you know my wife?"
"Your reputation precedes you, ma'am. It's a real pleasure to meet you."
"It's a pleasure to meet you at last. Jack doesn't talk about you at all."
"I'm not surprised, ma'am. We are very private persons." Sam smiled. "General Jumper, sir, I just wanted to thank you for your help on that last development. I understand I should thank you too, Mr. President."
"Well, I think Jack mentioned to both of us how pleased he is by having you back," Jumper said with a smile.
"I'm happy to be back, sir. It might not be the same house, but at least it is the same… country. Nothing that a flight can't solve."
"So, Samantha. I know Jack has that ring on his finger for five years now?" Miranda Hayes started.
"Almost seven, actually," Jack corrected, and Sam smiled.
"You know each other long?" Miranda asked, intrigued by this development.
"We go way back, ma'am," Sam said, quoting her husband.
"And Henry mentioned you have children?"
"Yes, that we do."
"Two little devils. Alexia is almost six, and Terran is three," Jack answered proudly.
"Terran? What an unusual name. What does it mean?"
"It means: from Earth," Sam provided.
"Why would you put a name with such meaning to your child?" Miranda asked. Jumper and Hayes shared a look, while Jack and Sam just smiled used to those kinds of comments.
"Believe us, ma'am. It's a long, complicated story. Not to mention quite boring," Sam said gracefully.
"If we tell you how it goes, then I will have to shoot you," Jack added. Henry glared at him. "Sorry, sir, ma'am, but half of that story is classified."
"Where did you keep your family hiding all these years?" Miranda continued questioning.
"I was stationed abroad, ma'am."
"Honey, there are the Stones. Care to help me out there?"
"Oh, Henry. Now? I am having a pleasant conversation with the General's wife."
"No, Hun. You are questioning them. Let them be; they haven't seen each other in over a year!"
2050
"Amy Lynn or one of the other girls from the O'Neill fan club overheard that I was military too. Somehow they got people's attention on our relationship," Sam sighed.
"As we were afraid it might happen, everything got screwed up. They accused me of helping Sam up the ladder, and they accused Sam of sleeping her way through it," Jack grimaced.
"And all that happened while I was on vacation. When I went to the office for my first day, shit was already reaching the ceiling."
2011
The Brigadier General, in command of the SGC, was staring up at nothing at all while contemplating the pandemonium that life was at the moment. The knowledge of how mighty calm the universe was compared to what Earth had thrown at General's way was astounding. After all the years and the sacrifices made, it all came crumbling down thanks to Amber Jumper, Amy Lynn Hayes, and their issues with getting no for an answer.
"General Carter, ma'am," Walter stood by the threshold of her door, looking at the General. He was pleased to have her back after all those years. Like most of the SGC personnel, her lack of romantic life disappointed him. They all knew about her lovely kids. Some knew her file said she was married, none of them ever saw a husband. Added to that, everybody at the SGC always thought she and General O'Neill would get together at some point. It was sad for him to know that the bet was yet to be collected.
"Please, Walter, tell me it's not another boss calling to chew my ass," she whispered tiredly, raising her eyes to find the Chief she had known since forever now. He grimaced.
"Worse than a boss, I guess?" She sighed, rubbing her face tiredly. Walter grimaced, he had seen her work herself out to extremes during her SG-1 days, but the look of defeat she was carrying was far worse than anything he saw.
"It's General O'Neill on line two, ma'am. He is on a secure line," he said. Sam nodded, took the call, and dismissed him, but not before he was pleasantly surprised to see that General O'Neill could still make her eyes shine brightly, and make her smile even on the worse situations.
"General, what can I do for you?" was the last thing that Walter heard before closing the door of his new boss's office.
"I just wanted to let you know that they are reviewing the whole thing," he sighed.
"The whole thing?" Sam frowned.
"Yup, right from day one until now. They are not thrilled with us; they said someone showed clear favoritism towards us," he chuckled dryly.
"Favoritism? You are kidding, right?"
"I wish," they both went silent for a while
"You know that no matter what, they won't break us, right, Carter?"
"I know, sir," she smiled at his words.
"How are the kids?" Jack asked, trying to make the conversation lighter. Sam chuckled.
"Will you believe me if I told you they are learning Russian with SG-9?"
"Really? That's cool! Good thing they are so special for this universe, right?"
"Yeah, if only Thor were alive," Sam sighed.
"How are you holding up, Carter?" Jack asked, and she smiled. His Carter sounded a lot like 'honey' to her ears.
"I'm good, sir. You?"
"Good," there was a moment of silence, and Sam figured he was trying to find a way to say something. "Listen, Sam," she bit her inner cheeks before she sighed.
"Sorry, General, this might be a secure line, but it doesn't prevent eavesdropping," Sam added sadly.
"True... Hold the fort, General."
"Will do, General."
2050
"It took around eight months to get the situation sorted out finally," Sam stated.
"Eight months?" Malcolm asked in surprise.
"Yes. Around eight months and two teams of fully authorized people."
"The Chief of Staff had a full understanding of everything we did, except for those things everybody failed to put on the reports," Jack added.
"So, there was stuff that could prove the accusations?" Malcolm wondered with widened eyes.
"Well, there are things that never get to reports. Things like the number of times we exchanged glances, or the way we always communicated with each other without uttering a word, or how in most of the cultures we visited, they would pair us together as 'mates,'" Sam explained.
"There is also 'stuff' written, which showed that our relationship did not affect our work. Like the times where I had to save someone else above Sam; or when she had to follow orders that usually a spouse wouldn't want to follow. We both have heavy stuff in our files."
2011
Not only Sam was feeling stressed about the results that would be out today. Her pregnancy was shaking her bad. Nothing was sitting well on her stomach, and the most simple things she used, like her body lotion, were giving her allergies. It was awful.
And she was supposed to sit for hours to no end listening to people shattering her life's work, because of some bimbo. Not even the existence of papers rejecting the hundreds of resignation and retirement letters that she wrote did anything to calm the situation.
The good thing was, this time, her knight in shining armor was there, right next to her, just a whisper away. The even worse was that his life's work was on the same cutting table than hers.
"At least we are doing this together," he whispered, stealing a glance towards his fatigued wife. Sam nodded, unsure if that was supposed to give her some comfort or not.
Sitting quietly in front of a panel, they heard how Generals and Admirals fought about the decisions they made during their long careers. It seemed so easy to say their decisions were wrong now when there wasn't a pressing matter, and everyone was having a cold heart.
They knew there were many things they could have thought or made differently. But, at the end of the day, they also knew they would do it all over again.
They had come to terms with the simple fact that they were on the line every time they had to make one of those decisions. They had come to terms with the fact that their friends had come to terms with them too. It was simple, really; they knew they were good at what they did. They knew they were honorable, and they knew they did nothing wrong.
"According to this record provided by the NID, you acknowledged being in love with each other. After that still worked together," a General trailed off.
"Yes," they both answered at once.
"There's also a Tok'ra analysis which states you both knew the situation. I am quoting from the report of Anise from the Tok'ra related to General O'Neill's Zat'arc test - "I care about her, a lot more than I'm supposed to," which shows General O'Neill that you knew your relationship was compromised. With that knowledge, you should have been removed from the same command line," the same General continued.
"Yes, sir. That's why I presented a resignation letter after that incident, sir," Jack stated. "I know for a fact that General Carter had also presented not only a retirement letter, but she also placed a transference request, sirs," he added, noticing Sam wasn't feeling all too well to say those words herself.
"And after that, you still worked together for quite a while. Another four years if I'm not mistaken?" Jack nodded. "As far as I am aware, it wasn't until we approved their resignations that their request was finally approved, and then we withdrew their approval in less than a week after," Jumper intervened.
"And we all know what happened when they both resigned!" another General exclaimed. Besides Jack, Sam took a deep breath while trying to fight the bout of nausea that came to her. Risking a glance towards his wife, Jack noticed and tried not to panic.
"GENERALS! STOP!" Jack yelled, feeling desperate for Sam's situation. He wanted nothing more than get her to a restroom and help her throw up. With his outburst, the room went silent. "Thank you. First, l would like you to please dismiss General Carter for a while, as you can see, she is not feeling well. I don't think you should put pregnant ladies on this level of bulls, I mean, stress."
"General Carter. Considering your state, feel free to come and go whenever you need," General Jumper said with a soft smile. Carter nodded and walked out as calmly as she could without throwing up the breakfast she thought didn't have left anymore.
"Now, second: We took steps to be out of the same command line, several times, safe for once, and all our requests were rejected. I don't know who was in charge of doing it or why, but every time we asked for a change of commission, it was denied. Every time we sent resignation letters, they came back denied. Every time we were eligible for retirement, we were forced to stay. We are responsible for presenting our request. We can't be responsible for what we can't possibly approve."
"The only time we weren't at the same chain of command, our retirement and resignation request where approved. We got married, and not even a week later, General O'Neill was promoted, and I was reassigned back to his chain of command once again," Sam completed as she joined Jack again, with a cup of water on her hand and looking slightly better. "We both did what we could to fix the situation until we were left no more choices," Sam finished.
"I can speak for General Carter when I say we couldn't believe it when we got our resignations approved. It was even more surprising for both of us it happened at the same time. I can also tell you we had discussed our situation and decided a long time before, that if such day came that even one of us was out, we would get married as soon as possible before the odds changed again."
"As you know, that's what we did. Now, our wedding papers went to the proper channels on the same day we got married. We came to DC to deliver them personally. They got processed two days before we were called back to active duty."
"Therefore, we don't see the reason behind this. You can scrutinize our files, and you only will find that we did nothing but our jobs, in the best we could. We were out there, putting ourselves in the line. We saved the earth, this galaxy, and others. We never asked more than simple things, and that was me doing the asking more than her. We made our kids grow between gate travels, female warriors, different galaxies, and even some vessels. We gave you everything you asked because duty binds us, and now you want to jail us for it? Because we did what you've asked of us? Because we took the only chance we got?"
"General O'Neill, General Carter; both of you are pushing your limits here."
"But they are right, Carson! They did everything and more and not once, CO's or Subordinates, no one complained about them. What's even better, every CO and Subordinated we interviewed thought they were in love, but they weren't even a couple. I don't know how the hell they made everyone believe that, but they did."
"That's right, I interviewed Dr. Daniel Jackson, and he was sure they married other people. Most of the SG-1 is under the same impression. If SG-1, the team who knows them better than anyone else around here thinks like that. Then why on Earth are we criticizing those two?"
"Let's take a break for today, and we will return tomorrow after thinking this trough."
2050
"Then, the final day came, and we were free of charges. It was unbelievable! They told us we would be on probation again, and any screwing up could generate another of those," Jack explained happily.
"By the end of that year, we were free again, and Sasha and Allistair joined the family," Sam smiled.