Ch. 57

(SGC, VIP Room)

Stacey paused before entering. John, still holding Adam, looked down at her. She nodded to the SF at the door to open it. Stacey took hold of the knob and entered slowly, with John and Adam following. She inhaled a large breathe and held it, expecting the worst.

When her daughter was in view and realized that there wasn't a scratch on Allison, Stacey exhaled slowly. Allison, now 11, was coloring. John saw that his daughter was fine and smiled at Stacey. Allie finally looked up from her coloring book.

"Mom!" Allison gasped.

The girl jumped up, coloring forgotten, and hugged her mother tightly. Stacey held on to her, not wanting to let go.

"Oh, you feel so good," Stacey told her. "I missed you, sweaty."

"I missed you too, Mommy,"

"Hey, what about your old Dad, huh?" John asked.

Allison let go of her mother and, smiling, went for her dad. John passed Adam onto his wife. Allison hugged him around his waist and rested her head on John's stomach. John returned her hug, kissing the top of her head affectionately.

"How's my girl doin'?" John asked.

"Sad," Allison answered, quietly. "I miss Grandma and Grandpa."

No one spoke for several moments. Until little Adam started crying and wriggling to get free from his mothers hold. Stacey sat him down on the ground. Adam crawled over to the TV and started pressing buttons on the remote.

"Who's this?" Allison asked.

"This is Adam. Your brother," Stacey told her.

Allison's eyes lit up with excitement.

(Sheppard's Cabin)

Stacey cleaned up after dinner. John put Adam down in his crib. Allison was getting ready for bed. Outside it was windy and rainy. Lightning and thunder shook the ground. John had started a fire in the unused fireplace by the time Stacey had read Allison a bedtime story and tucked her in.

Stacey walked into the living room with a yellow-brown folder in her hands. The folder looked official looking. John suspected that the folder held the divorce papers. She stood in front of the fireplace, staring at the folder and then to John. Stacey looked into the fire and threw the yellow-brown folder into the flames.

Lightning flashed across Stacey's face to reveal her features. She suddenly looked tired and run down, John observed. His wife made her way to the couch and slumped down next to him. Stacey rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. John kissed the top of her head.

Stacey rested her head on John's lap. She was tired, now, and she felt it.

"I miss them, John," Stacey finally said after a long moments of silence.

"I know,"

John caressed her cheek affectionately.

"We didn't necessarily leave on the best of terms either," Stacey said, tiredly. "I mean the last time I saw my mother was the look of disappointment on her face when I told I was leaving for a really long time."

John wasn't sure what to say. He, himself was in bad relations with his Air Force General father. And his mother died of Cancer 6 years ago. So, he let her sit in silence as she watched the remains of the divorce papers engulfed in the flames.

To be continued . . .

(A/N: Sorry this took so long to get posted. Writer's Block, RL, and the like.)