Chapter 17
When they pulled apart from their kiss, they grabbed the drinks and moved into the living room where Jacob and Cleo were sitting down waiting for them. Cleo had picked the movie Pocahontas to watch; they were half way through the movie when she fell asleep so Jack picked her up and took her to room and put her to bed.
When he returned, Sam and Jacob were talking "So Mark is being difficult because he doesn't believe that Shanahan would do something like that?" Sam nodded and said "pretty much."
Jack moved into the room and sat on the sofa next to Sam; Jacob was sitting in one of the recliners.
"Dad there's something else I need to tell you" she said nervously,
He frowned and looked at Jack then back to Sam.
"Ok" was all he said.
"Umm…I asked General Hammond for reassignment to the lab permanently" she said in one breath.
Jacob sat in silence for a moment then looked at Jack, "Was this your idea or hers?"
"It was mine Dad," Sam said before Jack had a chance; she moved forward on the sofa.
"Dad, something else happened in Ireland that you should know. I…umm, I miscarried after Pete raped me. Jack's sister is a doctor and she said it as because of the trauma of the rape combined with the stress of what Pete had been doing to me," the sadness and despair in her voice had Jack reaching for her hand.
Sam took an unsteady breath and continued, "after what happened in Ireland I decided that as much as I love going off world, I…I want more and I want it with Jack. With the miscarriage and all of the other things my body has gone through over the years, I don't want to push it. It just isn't worth the risk anymore and I don't want to take the chance of going through the gate and getting hurt" she said.
She turned and looked at Jack "I'm not pushing, but someday if you, I mean…" she stopped said when she saw the look on his face. Jack squeezed her hand and nodded, understanding where she was coming from and what she wasn't saying.
Jacob sat looking at his daughter and nodded.
"It's your life to do with as you wish Sam, so long as you are happy, I am happy for you" he finally said.
Sam smiled at him; she'd known he would be a little upset at the fact that she wasn't going to be doing any field work or gate travel.
"It's not like she's giving up the Air Force, she just won't be doing any field work" Jack said.
Jacob frowned, so Sam explained "the Joint Chiefs want me to keep my rank" Jacob nodded in understanding.
They sat talking for a while before Jack looked at the clock and saw it was after midnight.
"You might as well stay here Jake, I'll make up the spare bed for you" Jack said standing up and leaving the room.
"I thought Jack only had three bedrooms" Jacob said to Sam.
She blushed and looked down at her hands "well yeah, he does."
Jacob nodded, he knew Jack wouldn't push Sam into something like this, so it must have been her choice.
Jack came back a few minutes later "Ok, the bed is made up for you Jake," he said as Jacob stood up.
"I'll show you the way," he said.
"I'll lock up," Sam said standing up.
Jack showed Jacob to his room is for the night; "you know where the bathroom and everything else is right?" Jack asked.
Jacob nodded and turned to the younger man "how long have you and Sam been sharing a bed?" he asked out off the blue, catching Jack off guard.
"Umm…"
"Don't lie to me Jack" Jacob warned.
"Since Ireland, but I swear to God Jake nothing has happened, not until she's ready" Jack said. "You know I would never do anything to hurt her."
Jacob nodded, and then Sam came up behind Jack.
"Goodnight Sam" he said to his daughter.
"Goodnight Dad."
She gave him a kiss on the cheek and a hug before she headed to Jack's room. Jacob grabbed Jack's arm before he could walk away,
"There is something I want to talk to you about in the morning," he said.
"Alone" he added and Jack nodded.
"Janet is going to take Sam and Cleo to the mall tomorrow, we can talk then" Jacob nodded and let go of Jack's arm.
"Goodnight Jack."
"Goodnight Jacob."
Jack left Jacob's room and headed to his bedroom. Sam was already in bed sitting up waiting for him; he quickly went to the bathroom. He came back out in his boxers and a t-shirt and crawled into bed and pulled Sam close to him.
She laid her head on his chest and curled her body into his side.
"That went surprisingly well," she said while playing with his t-shirt.
Jack nodded "yes it did, but are you really sure Sam? I mean you will be giving up a lot and I'm not sure I'm ready for…I mean this whole fatherhood thing is pretty scary for me." Sam smiled and placed her hand tenderly on his cheek,
"I know Jack, but what I will be getting in return means so much more to me and we can take everything nice and slow. I won't push you Jack, I meant that." Jack smiled at her and said "ok, now lets get some sleep, huh?" she nodded and he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. They both fell asleep quickly.
Jack woke to the smell of coffee; he looked over to see Sam still asleep so he carefully untangled himself and went to the bathroom to relieved himself and wash his hands. Then went back out to the bedroom and got dress, then walked down to the kitchen.
When he entered the kitchen he saw Cleo sitting on the counter talking to Jacob who was making pancakes. She was telling him all about what had been happening since she got here which made Jack smile. She stopped when she saw Jack
"Morning unkie 'J'" she said.
"Good morning my little angel" he said moving over to her and giving her a hug, then he turned to Jacob.
"Morning Jake"
"Hey Jack" he said.
Jack turned back to Cleo "how about you go watch some cartoons," he said to her.
She nodded and held up her arms to him. He picked her up and carried her into the living room and switched on the TV for her, then headed back into the kitchen.
When he got there Jacob was still cooking but turned when Jack walked back. Jack went and got himself cup of coffee.
"She reminds me of someone" Jacob said.
Jack smiled "she's a lot like her mother, but still has some of her father in her" he said.
"So, she's your sisters' daughter?" Jake asked.
Jack nodded "Yeah, she was one of my youngest sisters, actually now that I think about it you've met her" Jack said. "My dad had a picture of her with you, Hammond, Ryan and Hayes."
"Really, what was her name?" Jacob asked.
"Alex," Jack said smiling,
Jacob thought about it for a minute before turning quickly and looking Jack in the eye.
"I knew you reminded me of someone" he said pointing the spatula at Jack.
"She was with us when she was a lieutenant because she beat the crap out of a superior officer." Jack nodded and Jacob continued, "she was such a good officer and had such potential that we all agreed we didn't want to loose her to a court marshal. Fortunately the powers that be agreed to let us handle her disciplinary action ourselves."
"Was it Cromwell, because he left me for dead in Iraq?" he asked. Jacob nodded then added "It was because of those special circumstances that we were able to avoid the court marshal"
"Then I guess I owe you my thanks."
Jacob nodded "She was a damn fine officer Jack," he said and Jack nodded.
"She better have been, I trained her myself" Jacked mused, then said "thanks Jacob, that means a lot coming from you" Jack said.
"Well it's true, plus she was the only one out of all the smart ass insubordinate officer's that could actually get us all drunk at once" he chuckled at the memory.
Jack looked dumbfounded for a minute,
"So Alex got what, you would have all been colonels at the time, four colonels drunk?" Jack asked.
Jacob nodded "four drunken Colonels and she was a lieutenant. My God, I can't wait to see Dixon's face when he hears this" Jack said.
TBC…