The ride to the hospital was a silent one. Alison sat behind Sam, just gazing out the window. Watching the small homes and pass by. When they drove past the play ground where her mom had taken her and her sister every Saturday until she was thirteen: Alison let the tears quietly stream down her face. The raw feeling in her heart felt like someone had stuck a red-hot knife into her chest. 'God, why did you take them from me? They never did anything to you.' Alison prayed. Even though her father and Sam hadn't really believed in god since their mother died, Kathy was a firm believer. Alison could remember the first time her mother had convinced her father to come to church with them. Ali couldn't remember him ever looking so uncomfortable. She would have smiled, but she was too angry. She was angry at god for taking her parent from her. She was angry at her Dad for speeding on his way to the hospital, angry with her mom for making her stay home and watch Jenna. But most of all she was angry at herself, she was angry that she never told her mom and dad that she loved them enough. Alison felt a tear slide down her face. She quickly wiped the offending liquid away.

Jack drove silently to the hospital, one hand on the wheel, one holding on to Sam's hand. Every so often he would glance behind him to check up on Alison. When they were pulling up to the parking lot, Jack glanced back at Ali, and saw her crying. His heart went out to the little girl. From his observations so far, Alison was just like Sam, always needing to be strong, independent. Jack knew what that kind of attitude can do to a person. Hell, he was a poster boy for locking away your emotions. Jack quickly parked the car and watched Alison get out. Locking the doors after Sam had gotten out, Jack stopped Alison as she walked past him, her eyes down cast to hide her unshed tears. Jack tilted her head up.

"Alison look at me please." Ali's eye's slowly rose to meet his. "You don't have to hide your tears, and you don't have to always be brave and strong. No one will see you differently if you choose to let out your emotions." Alison's lower lip began to tremble and Jack pulled her into a one-of-a-kind Jack O'Neill hug, holding her protectively to his chest as she cried. Jack didn't make any shushing noises to stop her tears, he just held onto her. After a few minutes of hiccups and sniffles, Alison pulled her self back together, and took a deep breath.

"Thank you Jack." she said, against Jacks chest.

"No problem kiddo, just don't bottle up your emotions anymore, okay?" Alison backed up and Jack let her go.

"I'll try, I can't make any promises though." Jack smiled at her and brushed away a few tears that she had missed.

"That's good enough for me."

Jack held Alison's hand as they walked into the maternity ward of the hospital. It had been a long time since he had been in one of these. Sam wrapped her arm around Jack's waist, and held him tight. The trio quickly walked to the nurses station.

"Hello, I'm Samantha Carter, I'm here to get my nephew." The nurse looked at Sam then at Jack and Ali.

"What's your nephew's name, and why are you picking him up?" The nurse asked with a definite attitude.

"Well, he doesn't have a name, and I'm picking him up because I'm his legal guardian." The nurse was about to say something else, but the doctor who had delivered Alison, Jenna and now their little brother walked around the corner. He immediately saw Alison and a sad smile swept across his face.

"Hello Alison. My condolences for your loss." Tears welled up in Ali's eyes.

"Thank you Dr. Browne. Can you please tell me where my brother is, I'm pretty sure he still needs a name before we go home." The doctors eye's widened a bit before he responded.

"Are these your guardians?" Dr. Browne looked at both Jack and Sam before looking back at Alison.

"Well, kind of, this is my Aunt Sam, she's my legal guardian, and this is her fiancé, Jack." Dr. Browne

"Hello, ma'am, my condolences for your loss. If you will come with me, I'll take you to your nephew, then we can sort out the paper work."

Sam, Jack and Alison followed the doctor in silence as he led them into the nursery, walking past four rows of babies before they arrived at small bassinet marked 'Carter'. Inside was a little bundle of blue blanket. Alison bent down and gingerly lifted her brother into her arms, and placed a soft kiss upon his head. Alison turned around to show her brother to her aunt and Jack. Sam just smiled at the small figure, but Jack had to look away to keep his eyes from tearing up.

"Jack, Sam. I'd like you to meet my brother, Charles Jacob Carter." When Alison looked up, she saw two very wide-eyed Air Force officers looking at her. Alison was even more shocked to see a tear sliding down Jack's cheek.

"What?" Alison asked looking back and forth between her adult companions. Jack cleared his throat.

"Uh, Charlie was my son's name, he died nine years ago." Jack's voice cracked a little.

"Oh, well, dad wanted him to have grandpa Charlie's name, and mom wanted him to have grandpa Jake's name, so they settled on giving him both." Jack nodded his head in understanding, and stepped closer to Alison.

"May I hold him?" Jack asked softly. Alison smiled and handed the baby over. Jack held Charles with such tenderness, it was as if Jack had always been meant to be a father. Sam watched as the battle hardened General gently stroked her nephews face and little tuft of jet black hair. Jack's hands had always held her fascination, especially when he around kids. Those hands which could, without a doubt, kill her in less time than it would take her mind to actually realize what was happening, and yet here he was, treating her nephew as if he were made out of glass.

"He's beautiful, Sam." Dr. Browne cleared his voice behind them, and Jack turned around. "Yes?"

"If you'll set down young Charles, and come with me, we can fill out the paperwork, so you can take him home, as well as get you in touch with, um, with the uh." Dr. Browne was trying to convey his meaning without upsetting Alison.

"With the morgue." Alison said matter-of-factly, her voice tight.

"I'm sorry Alison, I was trying not to upset you." Dr. Browne said softly, then he turned his attention to Sam. "Ms. Carter, if you'll follow me I can show you to the record keeper, and the people you need to speak to in order to set all the arrangments." Sam nodded her head, then turned to Jack who was now once again at her side.

"Jack, I'm gonna go, will you stay with Ali, and Charlie please?" Jack studied Sam's face for a moment before answering.

"Are you sure you want to go by yourself?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Okay" Jack placed a soft kiss on Sam's lips. Sam backed away with a soft smile on her face, then she walked over to the doctors side.

"Alright doctor, shall we?"

A/N: Please let me know what you think, I know it isn't much more than the first posting, but this is all the muse would let go of.

As always, thank you for the reviews!