Jack opened the door for Sam and Grace a few hours later, Sam carrying a suitcase, and Grace carrying a few plastic bags full of new clothing and necessities that the SGC had provided, and that Sam, Grace, Janet, and Cassie had gotten. "Welcome to my humble abode."

Grace walked in, taking in everything about the house. "It's just like home!"

"I'm glad you approve." Jack said, with a smile.

She bounded into the living room and found pictures of Charlie and Sara. "Who're they?"

Sam looked nervously toward Jack. The expression on his face was unreadable. "That's my ex-wife, Sara, and our son, Charlie."

"When do I get to meet him?" She asked, excitedly.

"Grace!" Sam scolded.

"No, Carter. She deserves to know." He knelt down and returned his attention to the little girl. Before he continued, he took a deep breath to prepare him. "He died a few years ago."

Tears fell unchecked down her cheeks as she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. I'm sorry I made you sad. She thought as she cried.

He closed his eyes in pain as he let his arms encircle this little girl. "It's okay." He whispered, grateful that fate had sent Grace his way.

Sam watched the two with an added measure of interest as tears moistened her own eyes. It should have been their daughter- one that they, not their alternates, had raised from infancy. But she had miscarried after their first encounter with Osiris, the blast from the hand device causing irreparable damage to the fetus.

She had never mentioned the "incident" to Jack since the baby had been conceived during by their alter-egos, Jonah and Thera. By the time she might have told him that she was pregnant, she had miscarried, and she couldn't bear the thought of telling him that he had lost yet another child.

"Carter?"

She turned, startled. "Sorry."

"You ready to see your room?"

"Sure."

They walked down a hallway and into a darkened room. She set her overnight bag down next to the door as Jack reached for the light. There was a queen-sized bed in the corner, a chest of drawers, a television, and a desk set neatly in the fairly small room. "Thank you, sir."

He nodded and began to walk out of the room. Suddenly, he stopped. "Carter, you got something on your mind?"

"Huh?" She asked, turning her attention back to him.

"You seem a little preoccupied."

"I do?"

"Hey, Carter, it's not really any of my business." He said quickly, to ease the discomfort of the situation.

Unfortunately, Sam's conscience screamed at her that it was most definitely his business.

"Uh, I was thinking of ordering some take-out. Do you have a preference of Chinese or pizza?"

"Whichever."

"Chinese, it is. The usual beef and broccoli, sweet and sour chicken, egg rolls, wontons, and fried rice?"

She placed her hands in the pockets of her jeans and shrugged. "Sounds good to me."

He turned to leave, deducing that she wasn't going to tell him anything. "Sir?"

"Yeah?"

She looked back up at him. Unfortunately, she was unable to tell him what she had tried to gather up her courage to tell him. "Where's Grace staying?"

"Down the hall. To the left."

"Oh."

He studied her for a few moments. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. Everything's just…a little…disconcerting."

"The fact that you and I have a kid together in another reality?"

She took a deep breath in, allowing her shoulders to raise, showing her tension. "Yeah."

"Something else is bothering you."

She was silent.

"Carter, if you don't want to stay, you don't have to. Grace just mentioned that she wanted both of us, so I thought I'd do my best to accommodate."

"That's not it."

"Throw me a bone, Carter! PLEASE!"

She sat down on the bed. "Do you really want to know?"

He gave her his signature look of confusion. "Carter, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't. You know that."

"What if I told you there could have been a Grace?"

He froze. "What?"

She looked up at him, her eyes hooded with sorrow. "Thera had a miscarriage. The encounter with Osiris caused some internal injuries to herself and the fetus."

"Baby."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Baby."

"Whoa." He said softly. "You've been carrying that around for this long?"

"What else was I supposed to do?" She asked. "Go to meetings? My name is Samantha Carter and I miscarried my commanding officer's baby?"

Her words stung, but he remained silent, albeit still processing the information she had just given him. "You could have told me." he whispered.

"Admit it, Jack, this whole situation sucks! You're my commanding officer for cryin' out loud!"

Jack looked up, and she covered her mouth, somewhat embarrassed.

"Good for you." He said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Stop."

"Stop what?"

"That. Making me feel better. Can't I just feel lousy for once? Do I really have to pretend that this whole fiasco was simply exhaustion and that a few days of extra rest and easy work days are going to fix it?" The tears of anger, bitterness and resentment streamed down her cheeks. "And why the hell aren't you pissed off at me? I withheld your child from you! You should be throwing me out of your house right now!"

"Do you want me to?" He asked softly as he sat on the bed next to her.

"No." She sobbed, allowing herself to be pulled into his embrace.

"I can't see how you've been able to deal with this all these years."

She looked up at him. "You think this is dealing? Hell no! I've been living with it. I haven't even really acknowledged that IT happened until now."

"Sam, say 'the miscarriage.'"

"Don't."

"Sam, we can't make any progress until you say that."

Tears flowed freely down her cheeks as she looked into his eyes. "I…can't."

"Yes, Sam, you can."

"No!"

"Sam…"

"It hurts! Everywhere." She turned and threw her arms around his neck. "Make it stop, Jack! Make it go away!"

Tears threatened to escape his carefully guarded tear-ducts as he held her, remembering a time many years before, when he had held Sara, much like this. "I wish I could. I really with I could."

Meanwhile, Grace trembled in the corner of her room. This was how her parents had felt before they had rushed her to the SGC and the Quantum Mirror. Imprints of her parents' deaths flashed past her. The fear that engulfed her actually paralyzed her for the better part of thirty minutes. She couldn't lose another set of parents just hours after the first.

When her frozen limbs finally released, Grace crumpled to the ground, her body unable to sustain her distress.