AN: And here we meet Michael. For those with loving, supporting families, I actually had a friend in college who had to sit through a conversation just like this one, where her boyfriend's family tried to warn her off him.

Ten minutes into the movie, she was asleep on the couch, snuggled in Jack's arms. He turned the volume down to avoid disturbing her and thought. Maybe Janet would be able to convince her to slow down a bit? He'd tried everything short of chaining her up and refusing to let her go in to work, and it obviously wasn't enough.

About the time Riggs and Murtaugh sat down to dinner with family, there was a knock at the door. Jack eased himself out from under Sam and went to answer it; she stirred, but didn't seem to wake up. He wondered who it was; the SGC would have called ahead, and their friends didn't come over that often. Maybe Sam would like to have a party or something—show off the house, talk with friends about non-work-related stuff. He opened the door.

"Hello, Jack."

He blinked. "Michael. This is a surprise."

"Yeah, well, if you answered your phone occasionally, it wouldn't be," Michael shot back. "I've been trying to get a hold of you for almost a month. Peggy's tried, too. You gonna let me in, or what?"

Jack glanced towards the living room; he couldn't see Sam from here, but with her in the living room the only place they could go that wouldn't disturb her would be one of the bedrooms.

"What, you got company?" Michael asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not exactly." Jack stepped back to let him in and was about to head to the spare room when Sam's voice stopped him.

"Aren't you going to introduce me?" Her hair was messy from sleep and she bit back a yawn. The sweats didn't quite cover the bump on her abdomen that was now noticeable. "Jack?" she said, glancing between the two of them.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you up," Jack said. "Sam, this is my brother Michael. Michael, this is my girlfriend Sam Carter."

"Pleased to meet you," Sam said politely.

"Likewise," Michael replied with a tense smile. "Jack, can we talk somewhere? I'm sorry to cut you out," he said to Sam, "but I'd really like to talk with my brother."

"Of course," Sam said. "I'll go get dressed; you guys can talk in the living room.

"Please don't go to any trouble on my account," Michael said. "You look fine."

Sam smiled. "And you are a flatterer. I hope we get the chance to get to know one another. How long will you be in the Springs?"

Michael shrugged. "I'm in Colorado for a business trip—my company is looking to expand westward, opening a branch in Denver; my current business is done, but I don't have any fixed date I need to be back in Chicago by. It kind of depends on family stuff."

"Ah. Well, it's nice to meet you."

Jack followed Michael into the living room while Sam disappeared down the hall. "Want a beer?"

"Nah, no thanks." Michael sat down on the couch, and Jack took the chair opposite him. "Sarah told us you'd got a girl pregnant, but didn't tell us you'd shacked up with her."

"Yeah, well, Sam hadn't moved in when I told Sarah about her." Jack shrugged.

"I'm glad you at least had the courtesy to tell Sarah yourself, at least," Michael said dryly. "Considerate of you."

"I try."

"Well, I'd've been more impressed if you'd waited more than a few months before replacing her."

"I wasn't doing it to replace her," Jack said testily. "Nothing and no one could ever replace her. Or Charlie." He looked away, trying to keep his temper in check. He didn't have much contact with his family any more and that suited him, but he didn't want to alienate them completely. If nothing else, Sam wouldn't like it. "Sam knows that and isn't trying to. She's her own person."

"She's also a decade-younger version of Sarah." Michael snorted. "Jesus, Jack, I know you've got a type but did you have to pick someone so similar?"

"She picked me, actually."

"Yeah, right. She's gorgeous, sexy, twenty years younger than you—"

"More like ten."

Michael waved a hand dismissively. "Fine, ten. And Sarah says you told her she was a scientist of some kind, so she's gotta be smart. What would a woman with all that going for her want with a dried-up old warhorse like you?"

"She likes the lunatic fringe," Jack said, deadpan. Sam had said something to that effect during their mission to retrieve her former fiancé. Besides, he couldn't very well tell his civilian brother that she'd seduced him while they were both infected by an alien virus that turned them into mutant monkey cave-people, could he?

"More fool her, then." Michael shook his head. "Jack, I didn't come here to do this. I mean, no matter what I or anyone else thinks about it, it's a done deal. The thing is, Peggy and I know because Sarah called Peggy in tears after you told her. We haven't told anyone else in the family because that's your responsibility. But it's been two months, Jack. We were kinda starting to think you weren't ever going to tell the family."

"Yeah, about that," Jack said mildly. "We've been real busy at work, and Sam's Dad is here visiting, so she's kind of stressed out. I was gonna tell you guys when things calmed down around here. If nothing else, I was gonna put it in my Christmas cards.

"You were going to let your family know in Christmas cards?" Michael snorted. "Jack, you're an asshole, you know that? You didn't even bother to send any, last year."

Jack shrugged, looking out the window. Last Christmas had been his first without Sarah and Charlie, and he hadn't exactly been in the mood for cute cards and well wishes. He'd just wanted to be left alone, but no one in the family had been willing to respect his wishes.

"Do you guys need more time?"

Jack glanced over to see Sam standing there in jeans and a nice sweater. The jeans were fairly low-cut and the top stretched, but it looked like maybe she'd need to get some maternity wear soon. "I don't know, Michael, do we need more time?"

Michael narrowed his eyes. "I think I covered pretty much everything I wanted to say to you," he said. "But I would like to learn more about your girlfriend."

"Okay," Sam said, settling herself into the other chair. "Well, I'm a captain in the Air Force, and I'm also an astrophysicist. I work in a lab in Cheyenne Mountain, where I met Jack. My dad is a retired major general, also Air Force, and I have a brother who's married with two children and lives in San Diego. There's not much else to tell, really." She shrugged.

"Sam kinda left out the fact that she's not just a scientist, she's one of the most brilliant minds in the country," Jack put in. "Possibly in the whole world." And if by "world" he meant more than just this one planet, well, Michael would never know.

"Really?" Michael said, eyebrows raised.

Sam blushed. "Jack's exaggerating."

Jack shook his head seriously when Michael looked over at him.

"In any case, what do you see in him?" Michael asked. "I mean, I know he's my brother, but he's not very smart, he doesn't talk to anyone, and he was never there for Sarah."

"Jack may like to play dumb, but he's a lot smarter than he lets on," Sam said, crossing her arms. "He's got a great sense of humor, and when he's gone it's because he's on a mission. I'm an Air Force brat; I understand that. And he does talk to me."

"Not about the important stuff, he doesn't," Michael countered. "We know he's had problems because of stuff that's happened to him at work, but he'll never say why or what happened to him. Did you know he was a prisoner in Iraq for four months?

"Yes."

Michael blinked, but plowed on. "He was so screwed up when he came back from that—but he wouldn't even talk to Sarah about it. And nobody could get him to talk about Charlie, after it happened. We all tried, for months. He just sat there in that damn bedroom until Sarah couldn't take it any more. He's one cold loner."

"I've found that if you don't attack him and try to force him to talk to you, he's a lot more likely to actually open up," Sam said hotly. "He's not perfect. He does internalize his feelings more than he should. But he's a damn good man, and I love him."

Jack froze, eyes darting to Sam's face. It was the first time either of them had used that particular four-letter word, and he wasn't quite sure how to react. Her entire focus was on Michael, though, so he turned back to his brother; there'd be time later to deal with it.

Michael was sitting back, eyebrows raised, surprised at the strength of her defense. "Okay," he said. "Fair enough. I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were getting into, that's all." He paused, turning to Jack. "I'm sorry for disturbing the two of you this evening; it sounds like you've been busy. But you really do need to let everyone know about this, and the sooner the better. If you don't, Peggy and I will." He stood up and dug out his wallet. "My cell number's on this. I'll be in town tomorrow, at least, if you guys want to get together for dinner or something." He handed the card to Jack. "Don't be a stranger." He smiled at Sam. "It was nice to meet you, Sam, but I think I'll be going."

"I'm glad to have met you, too," Sam said with a smile Jack recognized as fake.

He stood and walked his brother out. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mikey," he said in a low voice as his brother stepped out the door.

Michael shrugged. "If she wants you, that's between her and you. I just thought I should make sure she knew what kind of a man she was getting."

"Yeah," Jack shot back. "You're a real considerate guy. Look, we're both busy at work, and Sam's Dad is in town."

"So don't expect you to call, eh?" Michael fished in his pocket for his keys. "Don't worry, Jack, I'm mostly sticking around for Sarah's sake, anyway. I thought someone should think of her feelings. Good night."

Jack gritted his teeth as his brother headed out to his car, closing the door gently. No way was he going to let him know he'd gotten to him. He turned around and saw Sam standing at the end of the hall.

"Wow," she said, shaking her head. "No wonder you wanted to just send them a card."

"Yeah," he said, pulling her into his arms. "Wanna watch the rest of the movie?"

"Sure," Sam replied.