A/N – Ah, lalala! I'm just running on a high right now because I got accepted at a university…it's a wonderful feeling…. Anyway. I give you a bit of a taste of Jack and Jacob interaction, and there's more to come.

And let me just say that their trip to the cabin is going to be quite eventful.

Chapter 7

Jack didn't end up having the talk with Sarah. When he dropped Charlie off at her house he was far to tired and grumpy to get into a verbal duel with his ex and so didn't even bother getting out of the car.

Sam was gone on a mission through Wednesday and so the week seemed to crawl by, making Jack wonder how the hell he'd survived that first year. Then he realized that he'd been so busy wallowing in self-pity that he hadn't had time to be bored. But now, with the two most meaningful things in his life gone, he found himself with nothing to do. He tried to occupy himself with getting ready for their trip up north, but that was still two weeks away and there was only so much he could do this far in advance.

Thursday came as a welcome relief because it meant that Sam showed up on his doorstep first thing in the morning. Charlie had a game later, as well, and while Jack knew that there could be issues, the boy had demanded that both he and Sam be there, and so Jack hesitantly agreed.

It was pleasantly cool out as they got to the park where the game was. Families were already packing onto the bleachers and Jack found him and Sam a seat, and they even spotted Charlie where he was standing off along the sidelines with his team, waiting for the game to start. He grinned when he saw them and waved.

As the game started Jack found his eyes wandering over the crowd. He'd spotted Sarah's car in the parking lot and…sure enough, there she was sitting down in the front row near the opposite corner of the bleachers from him and Sam. As though she could sense Jack watching her, Sarah glanced up, though barely acknowledged him as their eyes met. She quickly looked away.

Charlie made several good plays throughout the game, including one spectacular home run that had Jack leaping out of his seat and cheering.

They were standing around waiting for Charlie when Sarah finally approached them.

"Well, Jack, are you going to introduce us?" She said, eyeing Sam the way one lion might eye another.

"Yeah," Jack shifted awkwardly from foot to foot. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife. "Sarah this is Sam. Sam, Sarah."

"Nice to meet you," Sam said, trying to smile warmly.

Sarah just nodded. "Mhmm."

They were saved from any further awkwardness by Charlie, who bounded over excitedly. "Did you see that?! God I'm so kickass!!"

"Great job, Sport," Jack said, grinning and pulling his son into a hug.

"Ice cream?" Charlie said, turning to his mother and looking up at her expectantly. It was another little tradition, the post game sundae, and Sarah nodded. Charlie turned to Jack. "You guys coming to?"

And there was that awkwardness again. Jack cleared his throat, quelling a little under the cold glare that Sarah shot him. "Uhm, kiddo, Sam and I have got other stuff we have to do, so you and Mom go."

"Oh." Charlie looked slightly disappointed. "Ok. But could you take my gear back to your house?"

"Sure," Jack nodded and pulled his car keys out of his pocket. "I'll help you put it in the car…"

"I can do that," Sam said, snatching the keys and giving Jack meaningful look. "I'll meet you back by the car."

Jack watched them go with a flutter of trepidation in his stomach before turning back to Sarah. "Ok, so reason number one. What don't you like about her?" his voice dripped with terse sarcasm.

"You are such a stereotypical man sometimes," Sarah replied.

"Okaaay…I don't think that's what I asked but what do you mean by that?"

Sarah turned and stared after Charlie and Sam, who were walking to the car. "Oh just look at her."

"Ok." Jack took a deep breath and stuck his hands in his pockets, trying hard to keep calm. "Look, I know what you're saying here and you're wrong. She's a caring, intelligent major in the Air Force and she also happens to have a PhD in astrophysics…"

Sarah raised her eyebrows. "See and that's where my skepticism sets in again."

"Oh for God's sake…"

"Jack you hate scientists," Sarah pointed out, eyes narrowed. "So excuse me for doubting that that's the reason you're dating her and not her perfect body and blond hair."

"Oh how shallow, I would never guess that you're jealous of her."

Sarah folded her arms over her chest and glared at him.

"I don't think your mom likes me very much," Sam said, casting a glance over her shoulder as she and Charlie made their way to Jack's truck.

Charlie sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "No…"

Biting her lip Sam unlocked the back of the cover on Jack's truck so Charlie could throw his gear inside. Then, to her surprise the boy threw his arms around her waist in a brief but fierce hug before stepping back, looking slightly embarrassed.

"What was that for?" Sam asked, bemused.

"You're not my mom," Charlie said, fidgeting. "And I know that you never will be, but I still like you. And you make my dad happy and you guys don't fight so…yeah…" He shrugged, grinned, then without another word turned and ran back towards the field.

Sam leaned against the side of the truck, folding her arms over her chest and sighing. This certainly was complicated. She'd always heard that dating a guy with kids always had a lot of extra baggage along with it and now she was learning that that was true. But as she watched Jack walk towards her she realized that it was also worth it.

"You ok?" she asked, reaching out to put a hand on his arm as he drew closer.

"Mmm." Jack nodded, wrapping his arms around her and drawing her close. "Just suffering some post-traumatic ex syndrome or whatever." He peered down at her, concerned. "You're ok, right?"

"I'm fine." Sam grinned up at him. "Oh! I almost forgot, my dad's going to be on the planet next week…if you wanted to meet him. I know he wants to meet you. And Selmak too."

"Selmak?" Jack raised his eyebrows at her as they climbed into the truck. "Oh that's right, you're dad's got a snake in his head…"

Sam rolled her eyes. "Don't say that to his face. They might get offended. Selmak is a two-thousand year old Tok'ra symbiote. You'll probably like him, he's got a great sense of humor."

"Great. Yeah, sure I'd love to meet him."

Sam peered at him. "It's not too early or anything?"

"Too early? Nahh." Jack waved his hand dismissively. "Really, I'd love to meet him. Do I get to come to work with you?" he grinned at her.

"We could do that," Sam said, laughing. "I'll have to sort out all the paperwork but does Tuesday sound good to you?"

"Sounds great." Jack smiled, then leaned over and kissed her before pulling out of the parking lot.

Jack felt butterflies fluttering around in his stomach as he stepped off the elevator and was told to wait while they called Sam. There was always something nerve-racking about meeting your girlfriend's father, and when he also happened to be the host to an alien symbiote well…that just made everything worse.

Sam rounded a corner, dressed in regulation olive drab pants and a black shirt. She grinned when she saw Jack and hurried over. "Hey." They exchanged a brief hug and kiss before she took him by the hand and led him down a corridor to another set of elevators.

"Geeze, Sam, you're more nervous than I am," Jack said, raising his eyebrows at the way Sam was fidgeting.

"Oh, it's just, I don't know," she shrugged.

Off the elevator, down a corridor, and they stopped before a large metal door. "It's my lab," Sam explained. "Dad and I were just working on something." She swiped a key-card and the door slid open.

Sam's father looked far less strange than Jack had expected him to. With the exception of his odd clothing he appeared to be a normal, older man with a kind face and a balding head. He turned and nodded to them as they entered.

"Dad, this is Jack," Sam said, clasping her hands in front of her and biting her lip nervously. "Jack, this is my dad, General Jacob Carter."

"Pleased to meet you, sir," Jack said, shaking Jacob's hand.

Jacob nodded. "Same. After hearing Sam talk about you so much it's good to finally put a face with the name."

"So," Jack said. "What can I tell you that'll assure you I'm not a total jerk-wad?"

"Actually, I'd be more worried that you were completely insane," Jacob said, smirking. "Considering Sam's track record."

Sam looked affronted. "Oh, thanks a lot Dad!"

"Got an attraction to the lunatic fringe, Sam?" Jack raised his eyebrows at her.

Jacob's smirk deepened. "Oh just a little."

"Then again, you know what they say," Jack said, turning back towards Jacob. "Girls tend to be attracted to men who resemble their fathers in certain ways."

Jacob chuckled approvingly.

Hours later after finishing a few reports Sam headed down to the commissary where she met up with her father.

"So, what'd you think?" She asked, sliding into the chair across from him.

Jacob looked up. "Of what?"

"Of Jack, obviously!"

"Oh, right," Jacob nodded. "Yeah, I like him a lot, Sam. He's got a great sense of humor and I think he's got the perfect personality to balance yours."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sam narrowed her eyes.

"Just that he seemed very easy-going and carefree and you're generally so uptight." Jacob gave his daughter a few moments of silence to digest the information without exploding. "Selmak liked him a lot."

"Great."

"Are the two of you very serious about this?" Jacob asked, resting his elbows on the table. "Like do you think it's headed towards marriage…?"

Sam shrugged, smiling in a daydreaming sort of way. They hadn't ever talked about marriage and she didn't want to be the one to bring it up. Jack was the one who had been through that all before, and she would let him decide when he was ready to go through it again. "I don't know, Dad, I don't want to push things too quickly."

"No no of course not," Jacob took a sip of water, eyeing his daughter curiously. "But if he asked would you say yes?"

"Of course I would!" Sam said, turning bright pink. "Dad!"

Jacob laughed, reaching over and patting Sam's arm. "Sorry, kiddo, I'm just giving you a hard time. I liked him, I really did. Now, just one more overly protective father question…"

Sighing heavily, Sam leaned forward and looked at him with raised eyebrows. "Ok…what is it?"

"Why did he and his wife get divorced?"

"I…" Sam frowned thoughtfully. "I haven't really talked to him about it, specifically…I think they just weren't getting along anymore. Lost their spark or whatever. I don't think it was anything specific that either of them had done." She arched one eyebrow. "Happy now?"

Jacob smiled at her in an overly jovial way. "Yes, very, thank you."

Jack groaned as he woke up Wednesday morning. In the few blissful seconds of half-sleep before fully regaining consciousness he'd had the peaceful idea of going fishing, and then the memory that he had a meeting with Sarah and their lawyer came crashing down on him. One year and there were still things they were smoothing out.

Dragging himself out of bed he pulled his clothes on and trudged out into the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee. Glancing at the clock above the stove he saw that it was a quarter after seven and Charlie still wasn't up yet…

"Charlie!" Jack called. "You're going to be late for school, get outta bed!" He paused for a few minutes, drumming his fingers on the edge of the counter and waiting for the sound of Charlie's bedroom door opening. When he didn't hear it he turned and stomped into the hall, grumbling under his breath. "Charlie, get up!" he said, sticking his head into his son's room.

There was an incomprehensible grumble and shuffling from underneath the covers.

"Come on, sport, I know you don't want to go to school," Jack walked over and shook Charlie's shoulder.

"Daaad…don't do that…" came the weak retort. Slowly, Charlie rolled over and peered up at Jack.

"Hey, Charlie, you alright?" Jack sat on the edge of the bed and put a hand on Charlie's forehead. "You feel a bit warm…"

"I feel like shit…" Charlie grumbled through gritted teeth. "Dad, I think I'm gonna puke…"

Jack got to his feet and moved the trash bin so it was near the bed. "Here, it'll probably be better if you don't puke all over your bed. I'll call you n sick but I've got that thing with Mom today…"

" 'S ok…" Charlie said. "I'll be ok here."

"I'd rather not leave you home alone," Jack said, gently brushing his son's hair off his face. "What if I call Sam and see if she'll come and wait with you?"

Charlie rolled his eyes before closing them. "I don't need a babysitter, Dad."

"I know, but you're sick, and I'd feel better if there was someone watching you," Jack straightened up. "You'll probably just sleep the entire time, so don't worry about it."

A short while later Jack was standing just outside his front door, looking at Sam who stood just inside.

"Thanks," he said. "I really appreciate this…"

Sam grinned. "It's no problem, really. You caught me on a dull day…I was just getting caught up on some mission reports."

Jack eyed the briefcase she had tucked under one arm and made a face. "Oooh, now I remember why I retired…" he chuckled and leaned over, gently kissing Sam. "You're amazing," he said, straightening back up. "Anyway, you know my cell number…I shouldn't be gone more than a couple hours but just make sure Charlie doesn't die while I'm gone or anything."

"Don't worry," Sam leaned against the door way, smirking at him and giving Jack a salute. "I'll hold the fort, sir."

"Hey." Jack made a face. "There's a time and place for that, and if you want me to actually be on time for this meeting now isn't it."

Sam laughed and made a shooing motion with one hand. "Go on then. Have fun at that meeting."

"Oh, I will…" Jack smiled at her one last time then turned, shaking his head as he walked over to his truck. "I'm sure I will…"

"So Charlie was home sick today…" Jack said an hour and a half later as he and Sarah walked out of the lawyer's office.

Sarah looked up at him. "You left him home alone? Jack we could have rescheduled!"

"No no, it's fine, Sam stayed with him."

"Oh." Sarah stopped by her car, turning and leaning back against it with her arms folded over he chest, regarding Jack with a sour expression.

Jack blinked at her. "Oh? Sarah, she's just keeping an eye on him."

"He's not her son," Sarah muttered, looking away.

"Yeah, I know that! But she cares about him," Jack took a few deep breaths. "Look, I know you're drowning in jealousy here…but…no, you know what? Just forget I said anything."

Sarah turned back towards him. "Kind of hard to do that now, Jack."

"You know, it's getting really hard for me to not turn spiteful right now," Jack said, pulling his sunglasses out of his pocket and slipping them on. "Sam's never done anything to you and you're treating her like…I don't know, something."

"Oh, she hasn't done anything to me? She's not trying to insinuate herself into your and Charlie's lives in my place?"

"What?!" Jack stared at her. "No she's not. Look, I don't really want to be having this conversation. I have to get back home to our son."

Jack started walking down the street towards his truck, but Sarah called after him. "Oh, so I suppose you're going to tell me that you're madly in love with her now, are you?"

"Yes," Jack shouted over his shoulder, feeling his annoyance reaching a breaking point. "Yes I am."