It all belongs to MGM...I just play with it.

Some mush and then a blast from Jack's past.

CHAPTER 17

The days following Jack's proposal were a bit on the busy side. After leaving the restaurant they had gone home. Within a minute of being in the house, Sam had been on the phone with Maybourn telling him the news and giving him the okay to close down her apartment in DC.

Jack officially moved back into his bedroom and Sam officially into 'their' house. When Sam's stuff arrived from Washington later that week (thanks to Harry) they took a day off in order to sort through everything. They put everything that weren't going to use into storage and found places for everything else. They ventured over to the hardware supply store in order to pick out a color for the baby's room, which turned out to be more complicated than they thought. Sam was sure that they were having a boy, while Jack kept insisting that it was a girl. Agreeing to compromise (a word that Jack still has not fully figured out) they agreed on a pale green color that would complement the nursery theme. Jack had also insisted that they go to the store to pick up more baby supplies, so Sam grudgingly went along.

They arrived back at the house three hours later laden down with bags of what Jack had deemed 'necessary' items. However what defined necessary was completely different for Jack. While Sam had picked up more crib sheets, blankets and diapers, Jack had spent the time filling the cart with things like a miniature baseball glove (his only concession to Sam's idea of them having a boy), toys, and stuffed animals. While Sam sorted everything Jack headed to the nursery. Thirty minutes later found Sam looking up from the report she was reading when she heard Jack's voice trailing down the hall. He seemed irritated and it sounded like he was mad at something. Getting up she headed towards the nursery only to find Jack sitting in the middle of the room trying to put the crib together.

"Want some help?"

"No, I can manage. I just need to figure out which end goes where."

"Let me help Jack; I did put this crib together last month."

With Sam's help it only took two hours to assemble the rest of the nursery. When they were done the walls had been painted and the furniture put together. They stood back admiring their work when Jack suddenly told her that he had forgotten something. He walked out of the room only to return five minutes later carrying a rocking chair. He passed by her and placed it under the window.

"Where did you get that?"

"Attic; I used to rock Charlie in it when he was a baby."

"Jack…"

"I think that he would want us to use this with his baby sister."

"Baby sister ha? What if this sister turns out to be a brother?" she asked.

"Well, I think that either way he would want us to use it."

"Thank you Jack."

"You're welcome. I just thought that you would want some where to sit when you were up with her all night."

"Jack!"

"I'm kidding; it won't be all night. The kid is bound to sleep some."

"Jack O'Neill" she warned.

"It was a joke Sam. I promise that you will not be the only one with the night shift. I missed out on taking care of Charlie when he was little, and it is not a mistake I plan on making again. When ever I am home I promise to be a hands on dad. Even if that means that I am up at three a.m."

"Why do I have the feeling that you are going to be off world as much as possible until this baby learns to sleep through the night?"

"No more than usual Sam."

"No more than usual ha? What does that mean, five nights a week instead of the typical six?"

"More like four."

- - - - - - - - - - -

Monday morning when they returned to the base they found that news of their engagement had already spread like a wild fire. Ferrirti had practically knocked them down in excitement when he saw them. He was jumping up and down like a child, only for them to find out he had won the base pool. Sam had laughed when she found out that after all this time, the pool was still around.

Though Monday was a pretty low key day for them, it was still busy. Jack had to spend the day filling out all of his reports (he was two months behind) and going to meetings with some of the other teams. Sam was stuck in her lab working on multiple projects. Needless to say that when it was time to go home, neither was in the mood to cook dinner so they headed to O'Malley's instead. They didn't know that they would be running into Jack's past while they were there.

- - - - - - - -

They had been there for about twenty minutes when Sam excused herself from the table. That was when Jack spotted her. She was sitting across the restaurant with her back to him, but Jack would recognize her anywhere. He had actually noticed her friend first, and unfortunately she had noticed him too and pointed him out. The woman turned in his direction giving him a small smile. She excused herself from her friend and headed to his table.

"Hello Jack."

"Hi Sara."

"How have you been?"

"Pretty good; work is still keeping me busy. How about you?"

"Good. Still teaching. I thought that you retired from the Air Force? What are you doing back there?"

"I thought that I retired too. Unfortunately they decided that they could still get a couple of more years out of me. They pulled me back about five years ago and truthfully, I am kind of glad that they did."

"I'm glad that you're happy Jack."

"Thanks; how about you, are you happy Sara?"

"Yeah, I think so. There was a time where I didn't think that I would ever be happy again, but I've met someone a couple of months ago and…I can't believe that I am talking about this with you. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry Sara. You should be glad that you've moved on, that we both have."

And almost as if those words were some kind of cue, Sam came walking back to the table. Having never really met Jack's ex-wife before (she only caught a glimpse of her from several feet away) she did not recognize her.

"Sorry it took so long, but I got paged on the way back and had to…" she stopped when Sara turned around.

Sara looked at Sam then at Jack and finally back at Sam again. She noticed Sam's obvious condition and put two and two together.

"Hi, I'm Sara." She said, offering Sam her hand.

"Sam Carter; it's nice to meet you."

"Congratulations Sam, Jack. I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks Sara."

"Sara? As in Sara O'Neill?"

"That would be me."

"You know what, I'm going to go get something to drink; why don't you two talk."

"That isn't necessary Sam." Sara said, but Sam was already half way to the bar. "I didn't mean to chase her away."

"Sara, I'm sorry that you had to find out this way."

"Believe me Jack, its okay. Our marriage ended years ago. We both knew that we would eventually move on with our lives. I am so glad that you are finally happy. She seems to have brought out a whole new Jack O'Neill."

"Thank you Sara."

"I'm glad you found her Jack."

"Me too; you know that if you ever need anything or anyone to talk to, I'm still here for you."

"I know Jack. You told me that six years ago when the divorce was finalized."

"I still mean it Sara."

"I know. You know, I've been meaning to apologize to you for a long time."

"For divorcing me?"

"No, not for divorcing you; for the way I went about it. I know I should have waited until you came back from that mission, but at the time I thought that if I did that, then I wouldn't be able to find the courage to ask you for a divorce."

"I won't say that it didn't hurt Sara; but you're right. In the long run it really was the best thing to do."

"Okay; I'm going to go back to my table. I know that Kathy is waiting for me and I am pretty sure that Sam would like to come back too."

"It was really great seeing you again Sara."

"You too Jack."

Sara headed back to her table and sure enough Sam returned a moment later. They sat there quietly for a moment, both thinking about what had just happened.

"So, that was Sara?" Sam asked although she already knew the answer.

"Yeah, that was Sara; now enough of the past. Are you ready to eat?"