Sorry for the wait, but RL conspired again. I hope you like this part, thanks for your reviews and please keep them up!

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"I'm not sure I can trust you with my heart again." she said after what seemed like an eternity.

"I know." Jack's voice was fully of guilt, pain and understanding.

Her head then turned to him, her eyes glossy, as she whispered "But I want to."

The anxiety in Jack's face lessened a little, replaced by cautious optimism, mixed with uncertainty "You sure?"

Her nod was a sharp one "I'm sure." finally her eyes settled on his and regained focus. "You hurt me more than anyone ever before, partly because I believed you never would." she ignored the guilt reappearing on his face, she needed to say her piece first "But the few weeks we had together were the best time of my life, bar none. These last ten months without you were torture. I want those good times back and I want more of them and I'm sure that the potential outcome is worth the risk. But only if you're really sure there's no-one else there anymore."

Jack nodded slowly, knowing full well there was no-one else but this amazing young woman for him anymore. "There's no-one but you."

Who would've thought he'd end up tying his life with that of a woman only 2 years older than Jennifer Hailey, a woman he'd thought way too young when he'd realized her crush for him...

When a tear broke so did he and moving swiftly and surely he took Kerry into his embrace.

She hid her face in the crook of his shoulder and soon he could feel a dampness on his neck. In response he just held her closer.

"We'll go slow." Jack murmured, running a soothing hand up and down her back.

"Okay." she nodded into his shoulder.

"Well, not too slow, I don't have so many years ahead of me anymore and don't want to lose too much time." Jack winced and by the way Kerry looked uncomfortable he knew it wasn't something she liked to think about. Not the part about him being so much older, but the fact they'd only be together for 30 years if they were really lucky.

While she was sure Jack wouldn't favourably react to a suggestion to have himself cloned and his consciousness transferred into that new body to extend his life expectancy, but the next time they'd hear from the Asgard she'd ask him to have Thor give his body at least an overhaul. Jack was a good man and Earth needed him too much just to lose him so soon. But frankly, Kerry didn't care whether Earth needed him or not, her motivations were purely selfish because she needed him and wanted him to be there as long as possible.

"Yeah." she nodded.

In the end, even Jack's love for Kerry couldn't fight against his usual discomfort when it came to emotions and comforting weepy women, so he gently let go of her.

She looked up and he brought both hands to cup her cheeks and wipe the tears away with his thumbs.

"What do you say to a date tomorrow night?" his voice was gruff, but Kerry knew it was only because he was trying to cope with his own emotions.

The reaction was instinctive. Her face widened into a smile and her eyes finally had that bright sparkle back into them, the sparkle that had been missing for months. "Would love to."

Jack smiled one of his slow smiles "Great, I'll pick you up at 1900."

He knew they both needed some time to themselves now, to process the new changes and get used to the new state of their lives.

Their previous relationship had been all about easy and unspoken, no promises of a future, just going with the flow; but this time it was opposite. With their words, with Jack's promise to never hurt her again, they'd started a completely different relationship than before, one based on commitment, on a promise for a future together, a promise to each other, a much more adult, official relationship, clearly outlined, with solid sides and a clear direction.

Even though she felt bereft when he let go of her and turned to the door, Kerry knew they both needed time to reconcile with their new lives as an official couple and say goodbye to their old lives as single people.

Then he seemed to remember something and turned around, his hand already on the doorknob. For a moment he hesitated, unsure whether saying it would bring more unneeded pressure on their relationship or do it a favor by defining it more, this time outloud, with no misconceptions and with no way for either to not know what it was about and where it was headed.

"Hey, Kerry."

"Yeah?" she looked up.

"Uhm..." she saw his face frown and she knew he was trying to ask her something important, heavy. Finally he seemed to decide on the words. "How do you feel about twins?"

The spirit of the question didn't surprise her, she knew Jack had been married and had had a child, and after having ended up alone and lonely, without any family, she knew he would be yearning to have that kind of happiness again. Inwardly she shook her head at the stupidity of the blond Lt Col for never having snatched this man off the market even though she had so many chances and opportunities, but having put her career ahead of him for so long, for 8 whole years.

On the other hand... ' Her loss is my gain. If she had snatched him up, he wouldn't be mine now.'

She grinned at him and purred seductively. "Get me pregnant with them and I'll tell you."

He took it as a favourable idea and grinned back. "Okay." then, realizing he'd misworded. "Well, not right now, but soon."

She nodded still grining, knowing they'd just made a big break-through. They'd just discussed their future in firmer terms, the future of their relationship and acknowledged they both wanted the same destination.

"Good." she fired back "I'm looking forward to it."

It looked like Jack wanted to ask her what she was looking forward to, either being pregnant with their children or the future the pregnancy was a symbol of. He was sure it was the last option, but when he caught her unconsciously running a hand over her flat belly with a wistful expression on her lovely face, he knew she'd been talking about both. That only made him grin harder. Because of his job he'd missed most of Sara's pregnancy and he was looking forward to seeing it in it's entirety with Kerry and to be with her from start to finish, besides to watching Kerry grow large with their children. Maybe he was weird, but the mental image of Kerry large with his unborn children did wonderful things to his libido. It was a primal thing, he decided.

"Me too." he grinned roguishly "Especially the part about making them."

With that he disappeared out the door, leaving her grinning foolishly.

On the other side of the door, nothing could wipe that grin off Jack's face for the rest of the day.

Not even politicians.

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