Sam hadn't seen Jack O'Neill since she had ignored his proposal.
/Flashback/
He had taken her out to a very nice restaurant in D.C. They were both dressed to the nines, him in a tux and her in a dress that she had rushed out to buy while he had been at work during the day.
It irked her that he hadn't even asked her if she wanted to go out, just told her that they had dinner reservations for that evening at one of the nicer restaurants in the D.C. area.
But she had gone anyway because he had asked, given her the puppy dog eyes, and it was only their second date- if you didn't count the trip to the cabin. Sure Sam had slept in his bed with him every night they had been at the cabin, and was doing the same thing while in D.C., but sleeping was all they did. They were still trying to feel each other out as Sam and Jack, rather then General and Colonel.
They actually ate steaks that weren't burnt and talked about something that wasn't related to work, which was fine by Sam.
No her complaint was what happened an hour later, during a walk towards Jack's D.C. apartment.
Jack sat her down on a bench, pulled out a ring box, opened it up and said, "I want nothing more than to start a family with you Sam. Marry me," in the same tone of voice he had used in the field when he ordered her to hand over the C-4.
When she almost instinctively responded with "Yes sir," she knew her answer wasn't going to make him happy. So rather than answer, she flagged down a passing cab and leaped in before Jack could stop her. She was pretty sure that she set a land speed record in packing her bags at Jack's apartment and getting herself on a military hop back to Area 51. She ignored every call, voicemail, and e-mail that came from Jack over the next week until he finally gave up trying to call.
'You'll forget all about him,' she told herself every night as she fell asleep, tears running down her face. She was relieved that Cassie never asked her about her obviously red eyes.
/End Flashback/
So having him show up at one of the briefings on the status of the Daedulus was quite a surprise. Even more so when he chose to act like the whole "Marry me" thing hadn't happened.
Until he showed up on her doorstep that night, soaking wet from the rain and holding the same ring box.
"Marry me?" he begged in a tone that Sam only imagined him using as he was being tortured by Baal.
Sam slammed the door in his face and ran to the bedroom to bury her face in a pillow so that once more, Cassie wouldn't hear her sobs if she came home early.
Sam stumbled out of the house the next morning and did a face plant on her porch because she tripped over a body that wasn't supposed to be there. Jack quickly rushed over to Sam who tried to push herself up with her right hand, only to cry out in pain. Jack tried to offer her assistance only to have Sam bat his hands away.
"Leave me alone," she growled and slowly hoisted herself into a standing position. She clutched her wrist, which she was reasonably certain was broken, to her chest. After his first attempt to help her, Jack stood back and watched Sam walk to her car, get in, and realize that she wouldn't be able to go anywhere.
Jack approached her vehicle and tapped on the window. "Do you want me to drive?" he asked, tentatively. Sam swung the door open, hitting Jack in the process, and went around and got in the passenger seat. Jack got behind the wheel of her Volvo and drove to the base.
One flash of his ID and Jack was through security. It took half an hour for a doctor with the security clearance necessary to view Sam's medical file to become available.
Even then, he never opened Sam's medical file, just took one look at Sam's wrist and sent her off for x-rays. Jack was ready to throttle the doctor by the time he got around to declaring that Sam's wrist really was broken.
Sam sent the doctor a glare that clearly said, 'No surprise Sherlock' which only sent the doctor quickly running from the room. Sam directed her attention to Jack by asking a totally off the wall question.
"How did you change clothes sir?"
Jack looked at Sam, trying to see where this question was going. "Cassie let me in when she came home last night," he finally admitted. "She just told me that I had better be out of the house before you woke up."
Sam nodded in understanding. At that point, a nurse came in and hustled Jack out the door.
"I couldn't help but hear ma'am," the young lieutenant said as she prepared to put a cast on Sam's wrist, "But we have to ask with these kinds of injuries. Your husband didn't do this did he?"
At the word husband, Sam's arm jerked a little, causing a pain to shoot up her arm. Sam thought carefully before she responded.
"No, my 'husband' didn't do this. It was just an accident," Sam insisted.
The overbearing nurse caught on to Sam's carefully chosen words. "Colonel, we take abuse very seriously-"
"I'm sure that you do, but I'm telling you Lieutenant that it was an accident."
"Are you sure ma'am?"
Sam sent the Lieutenant a glare. "Warp the arm Lieutenant so that I can go home."
An hour later, Jack helped a drowsy and staggering Sam into her bed.
"I'm sorry Sam," Jack whispered as he tucked the covers in around her.
"Naut your fawlt," Sam slurred.
"Why not?" Jack asked, but all he got in response was a soft snore.
--
Sounds from the kitchen accompanied by pain in her wrist were what woke Sam up. She gained her bearings and let her head clear before she went in search of her pain medicine.
"What are you doing here?" She demanded when she found Jack standing over the stove, obviously cooking something.
Jack's head whipped around to look at Sam. "I didn't want to leave you alone," he explained.
"Cassie's here."
"No," Jack shook his head. "She went somewhere with friends for the weekend."
"Oh." Sam saw her medication sitting on the counter and reached for it. But a broken wrist in a cast made it hard to open a childproof cap.
Jack waited patiently for Sam to give up and ask for help. When the first tears started to fall, Jack gently took the bottle from her hands, opened it, and handed her two pills and a glass of water.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Sam whispered.
Jack titled Sam's head so he could look into her eyes. "It's my fault you got hurt. It's my fault you're upset. It's my fault that I kept asking you for something you weren't ready for."
Jack paused and took a deep breath. "It's my fault that I can't sleep at night anymore unless you're there. It's my fault that the only thing I can dream about, even think about, it being married to you and having a family with you. For the first time in a really long time, I see a future that doesn't involve the Air Force, and that future revolves around you. Marry me?"
By this time Sam was in tears, and Jack was fully supporting her weight as she had collapsed against his chest. Jack couldn't understand why the idea of marriage had sent her running. They had been dating for three months, less then what her and Pete had dated before getting engaged, but they had eight years of 'not dating' under their belts.
"Eight years of wasted time," was what Daniel had called it during one of their talks prior to the trip to the cabin. Of course, Daniel had drunk an entire beer by the time he had said that, but Jack had weighed those words and considered them to be true.
And he had sworn that he wasn't going to let it be nine years.
Sam pulled away from Jack, shaking off his every attempt to hold on to her. "I'm not that women, nor will I ever be that women Jack," she said softly, refusing to meet his eyes.
"Sam-" Jack said reaching for her.
"Please leave," she begged before rushing from the kitchen.
"Sam," Jack called again, but all he got in response was a slamming door. His shoulders slumped in defeat. He quickly cleaned up his mess, put the leftovers in the fridge, and locked the door on the way out. Using his status as a general, he was on the next military transport to D.C. Once he was back in his apartment and had a beer in hand, he called Daniel, in the hopes that his best friend would be able to explain Sam's behavior.
After Jack relayed the latest in what was becoming a saga of failed proposals, Daniel had only one thing to ask.
"You really sat outside her door all night? And then broke her wrist?"
"Yep."
"And all of this resulted in Sam saying 'No' to your proposals- twice."
"Three times. She ran out on me in D.C. the first time I asked too," Jack reminded Daniel.
"Oh. Yeah."
"And she never really said no, more like ran out of the room, slammed the door in my face, and told me that she's not the woman I want her to be," Jack added.
"I don't understand it any more than you do Jack. I can try and talk to her, given Janet would be the best person to ask, but…" Daniel trailed off. "But for the time being, I would say give her some space. Maybe you were just moving too fast for her," Daniel suggested.
"I don't know Daniel, I just don't know any more," Jack said mournfully.
--
Jack took Daniel's advice and gave Sam some space, until Cassie called and demanded to know what he had done to make her aunt so upset. So Jack flew to Area 51 for the weekend, intent on taking care of this 'thing' between him and Sam once and for all. If he couldn't get her to see that his future did indeed lie with him, there wasn't going to be anything that he could do, he was going to have to give up and find a new reason to keep living.
He showed up at her house and rang the doorbell, knowing that Sam would be the only one home. When she answered the door, it took all of his strength not to just reach out and pull her into his arms.
Lucky for him, Sam seemed to want the exact same thing and had no reserves about throwing herself into his arms.
Jack quickly found his tears mixing with Sam's.
Sam pulled away and dried her eyes. "Will you come in sir?" Sam asked. She blushed when she realized her slip. "Will you come in Jack?" She corrected herself.
"Only if you promise to hear me out and talk to me Sam, no running out this time," Jack requested.
"I can do that," she assured him with a nod.
Jack sat down on the couch, waiting for Sam to find her own seat and get comfortable. He watched her hesitate before sitting in the chair opposite the couch, tucking her feet under her.
"How are you?" Jack asked in attempt to start the conversation.
"Fine."
Jack raised his eyebrows, letting her know that he didn't believe her. "That bad huh?"
Sam looked at him confused.
"The last time I was fine, I was speaking an alien language that resulted in me being put in stasis. Or the time I broke my leg in Antarctica, I said I was fine," Jack claimed.
He paused and took a deep breath. "So how are you really Sam?"
Sam had to blink back tears when she heard the concern in Jack's voice. There was never a doubt in her mind that she loved this man.
"Not real great," she finally admits.
"Why?" Jack asked, prodding her a little bit.
For the first time since he had arrived, Sam met his eyes. "Because I thought I had lost you for good."
"How are you losing me? I thought I was the one losing you," Jack pointed out.
Sam closed her eyes and chewed on her bottom lip, trying desperately to fight back tears.
"You wanted something from me that I could never give you."
"If this is about getting engaged and getting married, I can wait Sam. I would wait forever for you," he promised.
"It's not that," Sam said as the first tear ran down her face.
"Then what is it Carter?" Jack demanded.
Sam stood up. "It's that. I do something you don't like and suddenly I become Carter. The first time you 'asked' me to marry you sir, it sounded more like my ex-CO asking for some C-4 then it did a man asking me to be his wife. I did that once with Jonas and I swore I would never let myself go through that again."
Jack gaped at the woman in front of him as she continued her tirade.
"Heck Jack, you couldn't fit the words 'I love you' in there somewhere, going right from starting a family to almost ordering me to marry you. You took the two things that I want more than anything else and tied them together Jack, making it so that I can't have one without the other," Sam said through the tears that were now streaming down her face.
"And I can't do one without the other," she sobbed, collapsing in the chair she had recently vacated, burying her face in her hands in an attempt to hide the tears.
Jack couldn't help himself. He hated watching women cry, and even more so when that woman was Samantha Carter. So even though he had no clue what he had obviously done so wrong, he went over to her chair and scooted her around until she was half sitting in his lap.
He let her cry into his chest until all the tears were gone, keeping up the constant motion of rubbing her back, much like he had years ago with Charlie.
When she finally quieted, Jack said, "I'm not nearly as smart as you Sam, so I need you to explain something to me. "Why didn't you say 'Yes' the second time?"
Sam took a deep breath to calm herself. "It's stupid," she whispered.
Jack couldn't help himself. He chuckled.
"I doubt it was stupid Sam, you are a genius after all," he reminded her.
Sam smiled a little bit, which she was sure had been his goal all along, but refused to say anything.
"Okay," Jack finally said when he realized she wasn't going to tell him, "What about the third time?"
"Same thing."
"It's stupid?"
"No, you asked again for something I can't ever give you," Sam explained.
"Just what did I ask for that you can't give me," Jack demanded, trying desperately to keep his temper under control.
"A family," Sam whispered, tears once more threatening to take over.
Jack's eyes darkened as he connected the dots. Quickly, he pushed Sam off his lap and ran from the house, leaving a distraught and sobbing Sam behind.
'I knew it,' she repeated to herself over and over again, as she realized she had just lost the one man who had promised never to leave her.
But just as quickly as Jack had left, he came back.
And this time he wasn't going to give her the chance to say no.
He tried using the sleeve of his shirt to try and dry some of her tears as he kneeled in front of her, but she shied away from any contact.
He took the box from his hand, opened it up, pulled the ring out, and as gently as he could, considering Sam was shying away from him, placed the ring on her finger.
"Hey," he said softly, still trying to get her to look at him as he continued trying to dry her tears. "Look at me," he pleaded.
"Look at me," he repeated.
Slowly, her eyes met his, and what Sam saw there made her heart stop.
"This is my fault," he said as he used his thumb to wipe a tear off of Sam's cheek. "I'm horrible with words, so bear with me here Sam," he pleaded.
"I love you," Jack began, "And for some unknown and totally stupid reason, you love me back, or at least I hope you still do. And I'm giving you this ring and telling you that I'm not going anywhere. Today, tomorrow, years from now, when you decide you're ready to marry me, you let me know, because I'll still love you and still want to marry you."
"But what about-"
Jack put a finger on Sam's lips to stop her from speaking. "You're all I need," he assured her. "You and Cassie and Daniel and Teal'c are my family, that's all I need Sam. As long as I have you, that's all I'll ever need."
Sam didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she settled for kissing Jack while tears continued to stream down her face. "Yes," she said when their lips parted.
"Yes?" Jack questioned.
"Yes," Sam repeated, her eyes shining despite the tears running down her cheeks.
Jack relaxed and pulled Sam out of her chair, causing her to land of the floor with a thump, which only made her giggle.
"No giggling Carter," he ordered on reflex, and then tensed for the reprimand he knew was coming.
But it seemed that getting engaged made Sam a very happy woman, because her eyes continued to sparkle. "Why do you call me Carter?" she finally asked.
"Because no one else does," Jack responded.
Sam thought for a couple of seconds and then nodded in agreement. There were people that called her Colonel Carter, or Doctor Carter, but no one else except Jack called her Carter. And she accepted that to him, at least in some part, she would always be Carter to him.
And she realized she wouldn't trade it for any other name.
Epilogue Because that ending just wasn't happy enough for me and there was another part to this story begging to be written!
"They needed medical help fast Jack," Jacob said over the attempt to quiet the infant in his arms, one of ten children, age infant to ten, which the Tok'ra had recently rescued from a planet where all the humans were being used as slaves.
"Why here Jake? The Tok'ra had to know some other planets where a couple more kids and adults wouldn't be noticed," Jack demanded as he watched his father-in-law try to quiet the child.
"The older kids and adults, yes," Jacob agreed. "Those I'm more than willing to take somewhere else after Doctor Lam gives them the all clear, but this one," he said indicating the child in his arms, "There was no way I could just drop her off on some back water planet. Most of them don't have formula Jack," Jacob reminded him.
"True," Jack admitted. "But do you realize the paperwork it causes every time refugees show up?"
"Why should you care, you're retired, remember?" Major General Hank Landry pointed out with a look of longing.
Jack only barely managed to hold back a grin in respect for the torture by paperwork Hank was about to endure.
Retirement had been his choice, a choice that Sam and Jack had reached prior to their wedding over a year ago. He had hated D.C. almost as much as he hated living on the other side of the country from Sam, who missed the SGC almost as much as she missed him. So when Sam had finally decided she was ready to tie the knot after a two month engagement, Jack had retired and Sam had transferred back to the SGC, and to their home in Colorado Springs.
Of course, retirement still meant that he spent a couple of days a week at the SGC working with the new recruits, and bothering his wife in her lab. But on the side, he found himself getting involved in the community, coaching whichever sport happened to be in season, co-ed teams only, so that his wife didn't accuse him of showing favoritism towards one gender of the other.
And as far as Jack was concerned, the decision to retire was one of the best decisions he had ever made, second only to marrying Samantha Carter.
"Where's Sam?" Jacob asked, looking at the door of the infirmary for his daughter, surprised that she hadn't come to see him yet.
"Jacob," Jack said in a voice that clearly said 'don't push it'. "She's probably just busy."
"Too busy for her old man?" Jacob asked quietly in disbelief as he finally succeeded in quieting the infant in his arms.
"What kind of paperwork is there for helping refugees Jack?" Hank asked, mostly to keep Jack from saying something he would regret to his father-in-law.
It took Jack five minutes to recount the paperwork involved, before he realized that Jacob wasn't in the room any longer. He stopped the closest nurse.
"Where did General Carter go?" he demanded.
"He said something about going to see Colonel Carter sir," the nurse quickly replied. "He even refused to leave the baby here, offering to feed her, but forgot the bottle-"
Jack didn't even hear her finish, grabbing the bottle she was holding, and taking off at a run for Sam's lab, hoping by some miracle that he would beat Jacob there before he upset Sam by dangling the one thing she couldn't have and so badly wanted.
He screeched to a halt in the doorway of her lab, in time to hear Jacob say, "Her name is Grace, or at least that's what one of the adults told me."
Jack dared to peek in the door, and was surprised at what he saw. Missing from Sam's face was that haunted look she acquired whenever she was around a baby. Kids over the age of three weren't as bad, but babies and toddlers were the one thing Jack had learned could bring his wife to tears.
Instead, she looked in awe at the little creature in her arms.
A look that Jack remembered from many, many years ago when his ex-wife had looked at Charlie for the first time.
"You forgot this," Jack said, making his presence known as he handed Jacob the bottle.
Jacob's eyes flashed as Selmac took over. "Jacob has no knowledge of how to feed an infant General O'Neill."
Jacob bowed his head, and once more spoke. "I was deployed when both Mark and Sam were born," he explained with a shrug, handing the bottle back to Jack.
Jack turned and tried to hand the bottle to Sam, who caught his eye, shaking her head. "Don't look at me. I do good with kids once they're old enough to feed themselves."
Jack sighed, silently cursing Jacob as he held out his hands for the little girl who was fussing again.
'Probably from hunger' Jack realized.
Sam carefully transferred the infant into his arms, and it was suddenly like no time at all had passed since he had fed Charlie. Of course, the fact that 'Grace' was hungry probably helped.
He didn't even realize that there was a conversation going on around him as he studied the infant, getting his first real look at the baby. She had a small amount of blonde fuzz and bright blue eyes that reminded him of Sam's eyes. Her little fist could barely wrap around his pinkie finger.
"She's so tiny," Jack said, realizing that she was indeed much smaller than Charlie had been at birth.
"She's only a day or so old," Jacob explained, "And the conditions for slaves weren't exactly the best, you know. Doctor Lam said that she's actually pretty healthy for her size, but that kids aren't exactly her specialty, you know."
"Yeah," Jack agreed as he looked up to see Sam had turned all of her attention to studying the baby.
"General Carter to the briefing room, General Carter to the briefing room," Walter called via the intercom system.
Jacob took one look at his daughter, Jack, and Grace. "Take her to the infirmary when you're done, will you? The pediatrician is supposed to be here by then." He said, and not waiting for a response, walked out the door.
The bottle was almost gone by this time. So Jack decided to make his escape with the baby while he could. "I'm going to take her back to the infirmary. I'll come get you for lunch at 1300 hours, okay?" Jack asked, trying to keep Sam's attention off the infant, for fear that the tears would start any time now.
"Sure."
Jack gave Sam a kiss on the cheek and left her lab, getting some strange looks from the passing Airmen and scientists as he walked through the hallways on his way back to the infirmary. He put it down to the fact that it wasn't every day you saw the ex-CO of the base giving a baby a bottle, even in the SGC where the unordinary was the norm.
Jack quickly settled the baby in a makeshift crib that one of the nurses had found and went to his office, intent on forgetting all about the little girl.
Of course, that attempt went out the window when he couldn't find Sam in her lab at lunchtime. He stopped Doctor Lee, who was currently working on the same project as Sam.
"Do you know where Carter is?" he asked.
"She said something about going to the infirmary before meeting you for lunch General," Lee replied.
Jack once more turned and rushed out of the room, something he felt like he was doing a lot that day. It took him all of three seconds to locate Sam once he got to the infirmary. She was sitting in a rocking chair, that Jack didn't recognize, let alone know where it could have come from, giving a baby a bottle.
Jack sighed. He had an idea as to exactly which child Sam was feeding. After all, there was only one child in the group that Jacob had brought which required that kind of care.
Jack knew Sam was only setting herself up for more pain when one of the adults stepped forward and claimed the child as their own.
As if she realized he was there, she looked up from where she had been studying the infant and smiled at him. Jack smiled back, trying his best to hide his worry for Sam.
Later that night, they were lying in bed, spooned together, when Sam said something about children for the first time since they had gotten married.
"I never realized what you were giving up until I held Grace in my arms today," she said quietly.
"I didn't give up anything," Jack was quick to claim.
Sam turned to face him and studied his face, clearly saying she didn't believe him.
"Alright, but what I gave up was more than worth it because I got you," Jack added with a smile, trying to reassure her.
"I love you," was all Sam could say and hope that those words would convey everything she was feeling at that moment.
Jack just pulled her closer and brushed a kiss into her hair, knowing that his actions would speak just as loud as his words.
The next morning Jack was surprised to receive a call from General Landry. After a quick exchange of pleasantries, Hank got down to business.
"How did General Hammond decide who adopted Cassie?" he asked without prelude.
"You'd have to ask him to find out for sure, but I know there were quite a few people interested. I think he looked at the options, what Cassie needed, and who had already formed a connection with her, which at the time was mostly SG-1 and Fraiser," Jack recalled.
"Okay. So people on SG teams were pretty much out then?" Hank asked for confirmation.
Jack sighed. "I know Sam thought about adopting her, but that would have meant that she would have had to leave SG-1 to do it, and Hammond wasn't going to let it happen. I think Hammond just wanted to make sure that Cassie would have a relatively secure and normal home life. If one of the team members wanted to adopt one of the kids and they have a significant other at home, I don't see why he or she couldn't be given the opportunity. Does that answer your question?"
"Yeah. Thanks Jack," Hank said before hanging up the phone, leaving Jack listening to a dial tone.
Jack shook his head and went about getting dressed. Even if this wasn't one of the days that he had to be at the base, he would catch hell from his wife if he didn't go in and spend some time with his father-in-law.
He was surprised when he realized that his feet had taken him to the infirmary, rather than to Sam's lab. 'What the heck,' he thought, 'Might as well take a peek at Grace while I'm here.'
He snuck to the spot in the infirmary where Grace had been the day before, expecting her to be asleep. To his surprise, her eyes were open. "Hey there," he said as he reached down to pick her up. He enjoyed just holding her for a few minutes when Captain James Lewis interrupted by coming in and then quickly turning around and leaving.
"Captain Lewis," Jack called, not letting the man leave the room, "Can I help you with something?"
"No sir," James was quick to say. "I thought it was my turn to spend some time with Grace, but if you're here…" the man trailed off unsure.
"Your turn?"
James nodded. "Yes sir. There is a list of people who are interested in adopting her and we're all taking turns."
"Adopting?"
The Captain looked at him confused, but wasn't going to question. "Yes sir, Grace is up for adoption, as are the other nine children, although I have to say that the majority of the interest is in Grace General. I heard the General Landry spent all morning entertaining offers to adopt her from just about every officer on base."
"Oh. I'll let you have her then Captain. I need to go make nice with General Carter anyways otherwise I'll find myself sleeping on the couch tonight," Jack joked as he transferred the girl to the Captain's waiting arms.
Jack didn't go find Jacob.
Instead he went to his office and found the e-mail he needed from Hank about the adoption application process an SGC employee needed to go through in order to express their interest in adopting Grace. Noticing the deadline was only an hour away, Jack flew thorough the required forms, finishing with just enough time to get the papers to Hank's office, if he moved fast.
Jack knocked on Hank's door, not wanting to interrupt, but also wanting to make sure that Hank knew he had delivered the papers- before the deadline. What he didn't expect was who was inside, having a conversation with the other General.
"Hey Hank, I just wanted you to know I got this here in time…" he trailed off as he realized Sam was standing there, handing over the exact same set of papers.
Hank smiled as the husband and wife exchanged looks, both of them blushing a little bit as they realized just what the other was there for. He reached out a hand to take the two sets of paperwork.
"Well that solves one problem," he declared as he took a rather large pile of paperwork and dropped it in the trash.
Jack looked at him confused.
"I'm using the precedent Hammond set when he let Doctor Fraiser adopt Cassie. Couples with the appropriate security clearance and at least one person not on an SG team get first chance. I haven't seen anyone else fit those requirements better than the two of you," Hank explained.
"You can't do that sir," Sam insisted. "Everyone deserves the same chance as we have."
"She's right Hank, no special treatment," Jack agreed as he went to stand next to his wife in a gesture of support to her.
General Hank Landry sighed. "Okay," he relented. "But I can almost guarantee that once word gets out that the two of you want Grace, all of these applications," he claimed, gesturing towards the stack he had just pulled out of the trash, "Will suddenly be withdrawn."
Jack watched Sam out of the corner of his eye, as a flash of hope crossed her face, and then was quickly hidden beneath her military mask, like the perfect Air Force officer she was.
"In the meantime," Hank continued, "this base is no place for child, let alone an infant, so would the two of you be willing to take temporary custody of Grace?"
The husband and wife duo didn't even look at each other as they both said "Yes," at the exact same time.
Hank smiled. "I'll call the infirmary and tell them to release Grace to the two of you, provided that the two of you don't have any urgent projects or paperwork," he said looking pointedly at Jack.
Jack tried to look innocent, giving Hank his 'who me' expression, while Hank just continued to stare at him in earnest.
"I'm caught up," Jack assured Sam who was also starring at him. "Meet you in the infirmary?" he asked Sam, but didn't wait for any response as he quickly left the office.
Sam was more respectful, waiting to be dismissed first. She was halfway out the door when Hank called after her, "I don't expect to see you here again until Monday Colonel unless there's an emergency."
Sam turned around and graced Hank with a dazzling smile, one that she usually reserved for just Jack.
Hank waited a few seconds until Sam would be out of earshot to pick up the phone.
"George," he said, "You might want to let Jacob know that his daughter and son-in-law will be at home rather than here at the base."
"So you decided to approve them?" George asked.
Hank sighed. "Yes, but Jack and Sam insisted that everyone gets an equal chance at adopting Grace. So I figure I'll take until Monday to sort through all the applications, hoping that the majority of them will be withdrawn."
"What are you doing with Grace in the meantime?" George asked, not quite believing that the other General would leave the baby on base all weekend when there were obviously two people who very much wanted to have the child at home with them.
"I granted temporary custody to Jack and Colonel Carter," Hank explained.
The two men exchanged good-byes, and hung up, leaving Hank to once more begin sorting through the many applications of possible candidates to adopt Grace. But every time he opened up a folder to begin reading it, he got interrupted.
Occasionally it was Walter Harriman, bringing him more paperwork, but more often then not, it was one of the people under his command coming to withdraw their application due to everything from a 'change of heart' to his personal favorite from Dave Dixon who said, "My wife is pregnant again. And sir, I just don't think I could take having another infant in the house right now. I figure I have seven months to get ahead on my sleep before I start loosing it all over again."
Hank finally pushed the pile of applications to the side and began working his way through the various mission reports and requisition forms. By the end of the day the pile of almost thirty applications had dwindled to just ten, and he figured that there would only be two left by Monday morning, considering all the SG teams that had shipped out during the day would have returned by then.
At least, that was what he hoped.
In reality, he came in Friday morning to find that all of the applications, save Jack and Sam's, had disappeared from the pile.
So Friday afternoon, he appeared on the doorstep of the O'Neill household with a guest. Both of the men were dressed in civvies.
Lieutenant Colonel Paul Davis had used a couple of favors to get the required paperwork drawn up and approved in record time, even coming out from D.C. to hand deliver it. And General Landry felt that after all of his hard work, he deserved to at least see the little girl he had went through all the trouble for.
--
When the doorbell rang, Jack and Sam traded looks.
"Who could this be?" Jack asked as he headed for the door, knowing that Daniel and Teal'c wouldn't have bothered to knock, Jacob was busy at the base, and that it was too early for Cam to be coming over. Besides, the new member of SG-1 would have just sat in his car until someone else showed up. He might be old friends with Sam, but would forever be uncomfortable with the retired General.
Sam shrugged her shoulders in response, trying not to jostle Grace who was asleep in her arms. The past 24 hours had been loud and sleepless, for the most part, but oh so worth it. The little girl in her arms filled a hole in her heart that Sam hadn't even realized was there.
And the effect Grace had on Jack was incredible.
Sam hadn't seen him smile and laugh as much as he had in the past few days. He had come alive, making Sam wish once more that they had been able to have children of their own.
"We have guests," Jack said as he led two familiar figures into the room.
Sam went to stand out of respect for General Landry, only to have Jack put a hand on her shoulder preventing her from standing up just as Landry said, "Don't move on my account Colonel, I wouldn't want to be responsible for waking the baby."
"Thank you sir. Grace seems to have already acquired Jack's grumpiness when her sleep is interrupted," Sam said with a straight face.
Hank chuckled loudly, causing everyone to hold their breath when Grace stirred slightly, and then went right back to sleep.
"I'll go put her down and then we can talk," Sam said, rising slowly and walking out of the room. She returned a few minutes later holding a baby monitor.
Jack waited until she was seated next to him before asking, "So what brings you the whole way out here from D.C. Paul? You can't be out of paperwork to do at the Pentagon!"
Paul shook his head. "Actually the amount of paperwork on my desk had increased quite a bit in the past few days, ever since Jacob Carter arrived. You wouldn't believe the amount of paperwork that a child who weighs less than ten pounds can generate!" Paul exclaimed.
Jack shook his head. "I don't know about that, I remember…" he trailed off suddenly and his eyes got really big. "Is that why you're here?" he asked.
"Yes sir," Davis was quick to assure Jack, "That is if the two of you still want to adopt Grace."
Jack gave Hank the evil eye. "I thought we agreed on an equal opportunity for all applicants," he reminded him.
Hank held up his hands. "And I told you that once word got out, there would be a sudden flurry of changed minds. The only two applications I have left came from the two of you, so I'm really hoping that one of you wants to sign off on these papers that required Colonel Davis to call in a couple favors and spend a great deal of time coming out here to deliver."
The longer Hank had continued to speak, the deeper the blush on Paul's face had become and the more amazed Sam and Jack had appeared.
Sam was the first to recover. "Thank you Paul. You have no idea how much this means to us."
"Ditto," Jack added for good measure.
"Well just name me an honorary Uncle and we can call it even," Paul joked.
Jack nodded. "I think we could do that," he claimed, checking with Sam who was also nodding.
Paul quickly raised his hands to ward off their offer. "I was just joking General, you don't have to do that."
Sounds of a baby cooing could be heard through the baby monitor interrupted the discussion while Sam went to get Grace and Jack heated up a bottle for her. While Sam fed Grace the bottle, the adults turned the discussion to other work topics, though mostly it involved them catching up on the latest gossip from the Pentagon. Once Grace had been burped, Hank redirected the conversation.
"So Uncle Paul, you want to tell these folks where to sign and I'll hold the baby," he suggested, sticking out his arms in the hope that Sam and Jack would willingly let him hold the little girl.
Paul shook his head. "Actually sir, all three of you need to sign the documents, you know since you're the commander of the base," he explained.
"You just want to hold Grace," Jack accused him.
"You caught me sir," he admitted with a grin on his face.
Sam stood up and carefully transferred Grace into Paul's eagerly waiting arms and watched the transformation take place. She had noticed that every time someone held Grace, they seemed to almost glow with happiness. She didn't know if it was something that happened with all babies, but then again, she really didn't care about any other babies now that she had her own.
It took them over a half an hour to get through all the paperwork that adopting Grace required. Of course the last sheet of paper was the one that raised the most discussion, and considering Daniel, Teal'c, and Cameron Mitchell had arrived at this point, there were quite a few differing opinions on the subject.
"You are not naming her Grace Lisa O'Neill," Sam declared, "Or any other character's name from the Simpsons," she quickly added as Jack opened his mouth to make a suggestion.
It was Teal'c who finally helped them get things pointed in the right direction.
"Is it not customary for the people of Earth to name their children in honor of someone?" he questioned.
Daniel quickly jumped in with an explanation. "Some couples do Teal'c, usually in honor of a mother or father or other person who played an important part in their lives. Others just pick a name they like," he explained.
Teal'c bowed his head in response to the explanation.
"Grace Megan O'Neill it is then," Jack declared without preface.
"No," Sam insisted, "That's not fair to you."
"I'm getting the last name," Jack said with a shrug, "Which I think it's a pretty good deal. Besides we're not just naming her for your mom Sam. My grandmother's name was Meg, short for Megan."
"Are you sure Jack? It's not like a name is something that you can change with a drop of a hat," Sam reminded her husband.
"At least until she gets married," Cam said with a smile.
Everyone turned and glared at the younger man.
"What?" he asked.
"Grace isn't dating until she's 40, at least," Jack claimed.
"Well with a dad like you to scare every boy away, I could understand it Jack," Hank chuckled.
"You," Jack said pointing a finger at Hank, "Need to remember whose daughter you're holding. Otherwise I may see fit to revoke your honorary uncle status."
Sam elbowed Jack in the side.
"Ow!" he exclaimed.
"Excuse my husband General, he forgets that he only has a fifty percent claim on our daughter," Sam reminded him.
"You're forgiven Colonel, provided you can convince your husband to get all of his paperwork done by the end of the week…"
"Not a problem sir," Sam promised as she gave her husband a glare. "I'm sure he'll complete it in plenty of time else he won't be able to spend time with our daughter."
"You wouldn't," Jack said.
"Teal'c?" Sam asked, turning to her Jaffa friend for assistance.
"I would be happy to watch over Grace O'Neill while O'Neill completes his paperwork," Teal'c assured her. "I have often heard that young human children are items of attraction for poultry."
Everyone paused as they tried to puzzle out what particular Earth phrase Teal'c was using this time.
It was Jack who figured it out first.
"I think the appropriate phrase is 'chick magnet' Teal'c," Jack informed him, attempting to keep a straight face and failing miserably as Sam began to laugh next to him.
"Is that not what I said O'Neill?" Teal'c asked seriously, but everyone that knew him could see the spark in his eyes.
Which was why Sam, Jack, and Daniel were the first ones to laugh and were shortly joined by the rest of them after they figured out that Teal'c wasn't going to harm them for laughing at him.
Sam looked around the room and saw her family, and she had never been so happy before in her life.