The two men stood in silence for a long time before Jack finally spoke.
"I am so sorry Jacob" it was spoken quietly but Jacob still heard him.
Jacob turned to Jack, only now realising the depth of guilt Jack must feel.
"Jack, it wasn't your fault, how could you have known he had trackers on her"
"I should have seen that he was abusing her" he said back. Jacob moved over and stood next to Jack "if she blamed you she wouldn't be here with you now Jack, so don't beat yourself up about it." he said.
"I don't blame you either Jack, and if Sam had told you, Shannahan wouldn't be alive now" so it's probably a good thing she didn't.
Jack didn't say anything for a while and both men just stood in the afternoon sun. It wasn't long until they heard the patio door open and little feet running towards them. Jack immediately built up the walls that had fallen earlier and turned around to see Cleo running out and over to him.
Jacob smiled at the little girl as she reached her arms up for Jack to pick her up; when she was safely in his arms she turned and looked at Jacob.
"Jacob, this is my niece Cleo; Cleo this is Sam's dad Jacob"
Jacob smiled at the little girl,
"Hello Cleo."
"Hello!" she said happily then turned back to Jack.
"Sam make dinner" she said and Jacob looked at Jack.
"You sure that's a good idea Jack?" he joked.
Jack smiled at the man "she's getting better, but maybe we should go supervise" he said the last bit to Cleo, who grinned.
The three made their way into the kitchen to see Sam cooking spaghetti and meatballs. She turned when she heard footsteps,
"Hey," she said to them.
"Hey Sam" Jack said.
"Hi honey" Jacob said moving over to her.
"That smells really good"
She frowned at him, then looked at Jack and then back at Jacob.
"I'm not that bad of a cook, thank you very much! There's no need to sound so surprised that it smells good" she said, then whacked his hand when he reached to taste the sauce.
Jacob smiled "Just like your mother, always whacking me when she was cooking" Sam smiled at him.
"With good reason" she said back to him.
He held up his hands in surrender, "I give, I give" he said backing away smiling.
"Why don't you two gentlemen set the table with Cleo while I finish this" she said to them.
They both nodded and moved to set the table. Once everything was done and the meal was served, Sam sat Cleo in the seat between her and Jack so they could help her eat the very messy meal.
Jacob smiled at the three of them,
'That child has changed them Jacob'
'Yes she has, but somehow I don't think it was just Cleo'
'What are you referring to?' Selmac asked.
'A lot has changed since we were last here Sel; you heard what Sam has been going through and what happened in Ireland, and you saw the guilt on Jack's face and in his voice'
'Yes I did, and it only shows how much he truly loves her, and the child. Hopefully she will help push them in the right direction'.
'We will have to wait and see' Jacob said to his faithful symbiote.
He looked back to Jack and Sam and their attempt to get Cleo to stay clean and eat her food; he smiled, they looked so much like a family already.
When the meal was finished, it was obvious that Jack and Sam had failed in their attempt to keep Cleo clean; she was covered in food so Jack said,
"I'll go give Cleo a bath" then he looked at Sam.
"I'll clean up" she said,
"I'll help Sam" Jacob said.
Jack picked Cleo up and left the dinning room to walk down the hallway to the bathroom.
When Jacob was sure Jack was gone he turned to Sam "I'm sorry if I upset you earlier when I mentioned Mark."
Sam looked at her father then down at the floor "Jack told you" it was more of a statement then a question.
"He only told me because of what happened in Ireland," he said looking at Sam.
Sam continued to put the dishes in the dishwasher; Jacob looked at her for a moment then said, "Sam, I know you may be angry at him for telling me but-"
"That's not it" she said, putting the last dish away.
She looked up at him finally, but couldn't hold eye contact with him and turned and walked into the living room. When she heard him following her she stood with her back to him looking out the backyard.
"I let someone do that to me and I couldn't stop him, even with all my training" he could hear the tears in her voice and he took a few steps forward so that he was standing next to her.
"Sam, honey" he tried to talk but she cut him off,
"I tried, I really did but I couldn't stop him, he would just…, every time he hit me it was when I was turned away from him or not expecting it, and I was just so embarrassed that I was letting it happen that I couldn't tell anyone or do anything about it."
Jacob moved in front of her and pulled her into his arms.
They stood like that for a long while before she spoke. "I'm sorry Daddy."
Jacob was shocked at her words; he lifted her chin up so she was looking at him and said emphatically,
"There is nothing to be sorry about Sam, absolutely nothing, do you hear me."
She nodded and buried her head in his chest crying softly; he rubbed her back for a moment. They separated when they heard little feet running down the hall and saw Cleo dressed in her jammies coming straight for them. Sam bent down and picked her up.
"Hey sweetie, did you have a good bath?"
She nodded then asked "Why sad?" and put her little hand on Sam's face.
Sam smiled weakly and said,
"Don't worry honey I'm not sad when you're here" and gave the little girl a hug.
Then she looked up to see Jack standing a few feet away with a questioning look on his face, she just shook her head indicating that she would talk to him later.
Cleo was looking at Jacob then asked, "You stay for movie?"
He looked at Jack, who nodded "Might as well," Jacob said.
Cleo why don't you take Jacob and find a video to watch" she nodded and Sam put her down.
Once Cleo was on the ground she reached for Jacob's hand and the two went over to the video cabinet to pick out a movie while Jack and Sam moved into the kitchen.
When they were safely away from Jacob and Cleo, Jack asked "you ok?"
She nodded, then said "I will be" and moved into his arms so he could hug her.
"Thank you, Jack."
"For what?" he asked.
She smiled up at him "for always being there for me when I need you." Before he could say anything she leaned in kissed him.
TBC…