Jack asked Daniel to call Janet and see if she and Cassie wanted to come and join the BBQ. Half an hour later both women arrived; Sam went to answer the door with Cleo in her arms.
"Hi guys come on in," Sam said stepping back to let them into the house.
"Hey Sam, and this must be Cleo" Janet said looking at Cleo. Cleo turned her head and tucked it against Sam's shoulder and neck, Janet smiled.
"Hey Sam" Cass said as she walked in after her mother,
"Hello Cleo, I'm Cassie, and that's my mum Janet."
"Hi" she said to both.
"Ladies the steaks are done, come out
here and get them while they are hot" Jack called out from the
sliding glass door. They all walked outside and sat down. Cleo sat
between Jack and Sam during dinner;
they all enjoyed their dinner
and talked for most of the evening until it got late.
"Colonel, thanks for inviting us to dinner; it was great getting to meet Cleo. We better get going, Cassie's has school tomorrow" they all stood up.
"We'd better get going ourselves Jack, we have an early briefing in the morning" Daniel said.
"Ok guys, thanks again for the help."
"No problem, it was fun" they all walked to the door. Sam had Cleo in her arms.
"Bye Cleo, it was nice to meet you" Daniel said smiling at the little girl.
"Bye" she said to them in a sweet voice that made them smile.
They walked down the steps to their cars and saw Cleo wave to them, so they waved back before getting in to their cars. Sam noticed Cleo was tiring.
"Come on sweetie let's get you changed into your pajamas" Sam said. They walked down the hallway to Cleo bedroom while Jack closed up the house and locked the doors.
Jack was cleaning up the kitchen when a small figure appeared in the doorway. Jack moved over and picked her up,
"You sleepy angel?" Jack asked, she nodded laying her head on his shoulder. "Ok, it's bed time anyway."
Jack walked to her bedroom and when Sam came out of the bathroom she followed Jack into Cleo's room just as Jack was putting her in bed.
"Good night Cleo," Sam said as she gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"G'night" She mumbled as she closed her eyes holding her bear in arms.
"'Night my little angel" Jack said before he gave her a kiss. They both left the room and went down the hall to the kitchen.
"You want something to drink Sam?"
"Yeah, water thanks" she said,
Jack took out two bottles of water and handed her one.
"Thanks"
"Come with me" he said; he opened the patio door and walked over to the ladder with Sam right behind him.
"What about Cleo, if she-" Jack held up the baby monitor and smiled.
"I switched on the one in her bedroom" he said.
Jack climbed up the ladder to the roof first, and then Sam followed. When she reached the top, they both sat down and looked up at the stars. A few minutes later Sam decided to finally tell Jack about her transfer request to General Hammond.
"I asked to be reassigned to the labs on a full time basis" she said looking at him.
Jack's head jerked around to look at her "You what?"
"I asked to be reassigned to the labs" she repeated herself.
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to continue living the way we were before we went to Ireland," she said.
"I can't go back to that, and I don't want to" she looked at him; he was looking down at his hands,
"Why don't I retire" he finally said.
"Because with my reassignment I can still work on the base; but if you retire you can't, and the SGC needs us both. There are more reasons if you want to hear them" she said.
"What did Hammond say?" Jack asked looking at her.
"To talk to you," she replied.
Jack looked puzzled "You're not telling me everything are you?" he asked; when she didn't answer he knew he was right, "Sam please."
"I asked to be reassigned because I fell in love with my CO and I can't go back to the way things were" she said in one breath then she looked away.
Jack put a finger under her chin and tilted her head to make her look at him,
"I love you too" he said.
He moved his head forward, leaning into her and their lips met; it was a slow gentle kiss. When they pulled apart he leaned his forehead against hers,
"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked.
"Yes" Jack nodded and kissed her again.
"If you're sure" he said. They sat there just enjoying each others company for a while before Sam shivered. Jack stood up and said,
"Come on its getting cold and its late" Sam stood up and he helped her down the ladder. Once on the ground they walked back into the house and locked it up then walked down to Jack's bedroom. When they walked into the room, Sam stopped and hesitated a bit. Jack turned and looked at her then stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her,
"Not until your ready ok" he whispered in her ear.
She nodded and walked in to the bathroom while Jack went to check on Cleo. She was still sound asleep in her bed; he closed the door, leaving a small crack then moved back to his room. Sam was now in bed and he went into the bathroom himself to do his nightly things before returning back to the bedroom. He then striped down to his boxers and a t-shirt, climbed into bed and carefully spooned up behind Sam.
"Good night Sam" he whispered, kissing her neck
"'Night Jack," they closed their eyes and fell asleep within minutes.
Sam woke up first the next morning; she looked at the clock and saw it was just after eight. She gently detached herself from Jack and carefully got up and walked into the bathroom. A few minutes later she came back out; Jack was still asleep but now lying in a different position.
Sam walked out of the bedroom and down the hall to Cleo's room. She pushed the door open and saw the little girl lying on her side with her little arm wrapped around her teddy. Sam couldn't help but feel a rush of pain; how she wished to have a baby of her own one day. Cleo must have heard the door open because she opened her eyes. Looking around she saw Sam standing in the door way and she sat up smiling.
"Well hello sweetie" Sam said moving into the bedroom, she picked up Cleo and gave her a hug.
"Did you sleep well?" Sam asked, Cleo nodded sleepily and said
"need to pee."
Sam smiled and took her to the bathroom; when they finished washing their hands they went to the kitchen.
"What would you like for breakfast sweetie?" Sam asked
"Bacon" Sam smiled
"Ok, do you want to watch some cartoons?" Cleo nodded.
Sam picked her up and took her into the living room sitting her on the couch, then pick up a throw blanket and put it over Cleo's legs. She then picked up the remote and switched the TV to the cartoon channel. Once Cleo was settled, Sam moved back to the kitchen and turned on the coffee and began to cook breakfast.
Jack woke up a few minutes later, smelling coffee and something cooking. He got up and went to relieve himself and wash his hands and face before getting dressed and walking out to the kitchen.
"Morning Sam"
"Morning Jack" he then heard the TV going so he knew that was where Cleo was. He turned to see Sam handing him a mug of coffee.
"Thanks, need any help?" he asked as he took a sip
"Yeah, can you set the table, breakfast will be ready in a few minutes" she said.
Jack nodded and began to set the table, When he was done he went to get Cleo.
"Morning Cleo" he said smiling at her. She looked up and smiled back
"Morning unkie J"
"Come on, breakfast is ready."
"Ok" Jack picked up the remote and turned the TV off and followed Cleo, who had taken the blanket off her legs to stand up and walk into the kitchen. Jack help her up on the chair at the breakfast bar; Sam finish dishing up bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast, then she got the three of them orange juice before sitting down to enjoy breakfast.
When they were finished, Jack cleaned up while Sam went to get Cleo dress. They decided on blue jeans with a white t-shirt and a sky blue sweat top, white socks and blue slippers. Once she was dressed and her hair was combed, they walked back out to the kitchen.
"I'm going to go and have a quick shower?" Jack said
"Ok."
Sam took Cleo into the living room and turned on the TV for her while Jack went to shower and shave. Sam was just walking back into the kitchen when there was a knock on the door. She looked through the peep hole before unlocking the door and opening it up.
"Hey Carter, love the get up" Colonel Dixon said, looking at her clothes. Sam looked down at herself; she was wearing baggy sweatpants and one of Jack's old t-shirts. When she realised what she was wearing she blushed and Sib, who was standing behind Dixon, whacked him across the head.
"Leave her alone" she said to him,
"Ignore him Sam, he's just tired from the flight, but I had to drop something off for Jack, mum insisted on it."
"Ok, come on in" Sam said letting them in.
"Jack is in the shower, but he should be done soon" she said as she fiddled nervously with the hem of her shirt.
"I'll be right back, I'm going to go and get changed" she said then started walking down the hall,
"Cleo's in the living room" she called out, and then disappeared into Jack's bedroom.
Before moving to see Cleo, Sib hit Dixon again because she saw him smirk,
"What?" he said.
TBC…