Chapter 51 - Family

Daniel didn't need to pay much attention to his surroundings to know that the entire SGC was a buzz. He barely left Sha're's side for more than a couple feet, but the murmur and interrupting voices in the background occasionally would address him anyways.

The MRI proved the unspoken claim, that Amonet really was gone. Before anything else, Sha're opened up with the first part of her story. "Sa'm and Jolinar rescued me from Abydos," she said quietly, directly. "The Tok'ra cared for me through my pregnancy, helped my child when he was born, and then Sa'm and Jolinar brought me here. There was no other way to do it than through stealth, but that is all."

She looked at Daniel, and then he listened to her words instead of the wonderful sound of her voice. "Sam?" he asked, surprised.

"Do you still think ill of her, Dan'yel?" Sha're asked, disappointed as she looked him in the face.

"It's complicated, Sha're," said Janet as she swabbed Sha're's arm. "Now, I need to make sure you're in good health, and your child too. After that, I hope you don't mind, but we need to do some x-rays and things like that to make sure there's nothing wrong with you."

"Do not worry, I am not a bomb," said Sha're, smiling at the doctor. "I will let you do your tests, but not on Shifu, not yet."

"Shifu?" said Daniel, looking again at the baby she cradled in her arms.

"Is it not a good name?" Sha're asked, her smile transferring to him. "Sa'm said that I should wait for you, but it is good that I did not, no?"

Daniel reached for her hand, looking down for a second. He had missed not only the naming, but nearly the first two months of his son's life. "No, it is a beautiful name," he said, bringing his eyes back up to her face.

"Dr. Jackson, a moment please," said Hammond from where he stood in the background of the infirmary, just watching.

Daniel stepped a few feet back, and Sha're turned her attention to what Janet was doing. "Hmm?"

"Assuming that Dr. Frasier's tests all come clean, what do you think of this situation?" Hammond asked in a low tone.

Daniel tried not to look back at his wife, and tried to focus on everything surrounding the fact that she was alive, and happy, and with him again. His brow wrinkled for a few seconds, but he didn't frown. "I think it might prove what I said after the last time we dealt with this situation. Sam at least still means us no harm, and probably Jolinar as well."

"Let's not get too excited just yet," advised Hammond. "The fact is that we will have to get a full report of Sha're's experience, including what information she picked up while she was with the Tok'ra."

Daniel frowned, and rubbed the bridge of his nose, leaning forward in earnest. "Sir, you can't just jump in with a lot of questions, though. She's obviously tired, not least because she's the mother of a very young child, and—and General, I finally got my wife back. I'd like to spend some time with her before she's under interrogation."

Hammond nodded. "We're not heartless, Dr. Jackson. As soon as Dr. Frasier clears her, I can give you the rest of today. The woman looks as if she needs a good rest anyway, and tomorrow morning will be as acceptable a time as any."

Daniel felt a bit of tension start to dissipate. "Thank you sir," he said, smiling.

"I'm glad for you," said Hammond, smiling back in a rare moment of care.

Daniel turned back, saw Sha're looking at him. She smiled widely, and he felt a ridiculous grin coming to match it. Janet was just running her tests, and Sha're was lightly bouncing Shifu on her lap. Daniel took his seat by her side, and a hand reached out almost without though to stroke her arm. She looked into his eyes, and he saw the promise that everything would be fine, everything would start mending to what it had once been—just as soon as they could get all these pesky people out of the way.

He held her gaze for a moment, repeating the unspoken promise, then looked down to Shifu. "Can I?" he asked.

"Of course," Sha're answered.

Daniel wouldn't have thought he had room in his heart other than what belonged to Sha're—and then all in a second, as he took the gurgling infant and cradled his heavy head, he knew that there was room for his heart to grow. He was going to be a father.

ooooooo

The journey home was no more silent than it should have been. Sam and Jolinar could have made it anything but silent, but with no words to say, they were peacefully pensive.

*Are you going to worry about her?*

~What would be the point? We can't know or help at this point.~

*That is true, of course, but I don't feel it wise to assume completely objective views from you at all time.*

~Nicely stated, not quite an insult or a compliment.~

*Because it is neither.*

~I could tell. I meant what I said to her; I think it'll go well.~

*As do I.*

~All we have to do is our own jobs.~

The hyperdrive performed as planned for the whole trip back as well, leaving the malfunction of the cloak the only error in their plan. Nothing to report other than a successful in-and-out stealth mission, and a successful return of Sha're.

ooooooo

As Janet did her final tests, Daniel realized that Mckay had left. Left, and shared the news. Teal'c came first, and Daniel only figured out just how much guilt he had borne by seeing that some of it was now gone. Sha're was more at ease than any of them, and smiled and bowed her head to Teal'c in full forgiveness.

"Without you, I should have not had Shifu," she said.

Daniel knew she didn't take that subject lightly, and the hurt and discomfort could not be over psychologically—but looking at Shifu, it was easy to see why anyone, especially his mother, would do everything to look past that. Perhaps she had even found a way to live past it too.

A little later, and Jack and Dixon returned. Jack was more excited than Daniel had ever seen him, especially since Sam had gone. He was grinning, slapping Daniel on the back, bowing courteously to Sha're, and criticizing the baby's features with the fond mockery of any uncle. Sha're laughed, even more so when Dixon scooped up Shifu and started cooing exuberantly. The two older men were much freer with Shifu than Sha're and Janet had been, and Daniel found himself frowning with worry as he watched their antics. Then they noticed him.

"Someone's got new father neurotics," Dixon snorted, as Daniel's fingers kept a rhythmic beat on his thigh.

"Kids are pretty sturdy, Daniel," said Jack, handing Shifu back to his mother finally. "Right, Sha're?"

"They are not," Daniel protested, as Sha're laughed and said, "To an extent, yes."

Jack smirked. "We would know better."

"And don't worry, you will too, eventually," said Dixon, thumping Daniel's shoulder a second time.

"Speaking of that," said Janet, coming back over to where they all sat in her infirmary. "I've finished with the tests, and given the results General Hammond is satisfied. Sha're, you are free to roam around the SGC, as long as you are accompanied by either Dr. Jackson or an armed marine at all times—just for a probation period."

Sha're nodded. "I understand."

"Good," said Janet cordially. "Now, there is a room made ready for you and your child on the VIP level—Daniel can show you there. I'd like to follow a regular check-up schedule over the next couple days, to make sure everything stays well. Okay?"

Sha're smiled. "Of course, whatever is necessary for my cooperation."

The others drifted off, and Daniel found himself staring at her. A year and a half, at least, since he had seen her this happy, this peaceful. She had aged more than that; if not so much physically, then definitely in the character behind her face.

"Dan'yel," she said softly, meeting his gaze with a soft twist of her lips. "Shall we go?"

"Right," he answered, blinking. He stood up, offering her an arm. "Let's get settled for good."

She snuggled into his arm, sighing as they left the bright lights of the infirmary. A guard stood at the edge of the hall, but as soon as Daniel shut the door, that was forgotten. It was hardly VIP by Daniel's standards, but that meant nothing. Sha're immediately found the makeshift bassinet, and Shifu, who had dozed off once the noise was finally gone, was placed within.

She shook her arms a little, sitting on the edge of the bed with a little happy sigh. Smiling, she patted the seat next to her, and Daniel blinked, once again realizing that he was standing like a gazing fool. They sat, side by side, taking a deep breath of the silence.

"Is it like what you imagined?" he asked quietly. She had never been on base before.

"It is like what Sa'm described for me, so yes," she answered. "And so much better, because with you and Shifu, it is now home."

So Sam was the first to give Sha're a mental tour of this place; Daniel felt like the outcast one for a moment.

Then Sha're turned closer to him, and raised a hand to brush his cheek. He lost track of everything in the room, in the base, in the world, and anywhere else. His hand slipped to the small of her back as she removed his glasses. Her face was close enough to his that he could still see every detail as clear as life, and he slipped her into his embrace just as she leaned in to kiss him. It was soft and gentle, because they were both tired in so many ways, and distance had taken its toll despite their loyalty.

But Sha're pulled back just for a second, just to catch her breath, and then Daniel felt overwhelmed with her as she melded her body against his. A year of lost time turned the instant renewal of their passion into something that couldn't survive sitting up. Sha're pulled him back down onto the bed, his fingers tangling in her curls and pushing them back from her face as he kissed her all over. And he completely forgot about his glasses.

Tonight he wouldn't be going home to an empty bed. Not when everything he had ever wanted was here. Sha're might advise him to thank Sam for it, if she could have anything on her mind but him—and if he had any mind left to hear. They were happy to be otherwise occupied.

ooooooo

Sam conveyed the records to Anise, who frowned at the error, but as Sam left the most flawless information to last, they parted on smooth terms. Sam wondered how often Anise was called on for things like this, and Jolinar had to admit that she didn't know. The Tok'ra made innovations, of course, but nothing that Jolinar was familiar with. Any of them could have taken years just as much as weeks; Jolinar had only ever used them.

There wasn't much time left in the day, and nothing on their schedule. As planned, they would have a full day of rest before returning to Quetesh—and it was unlikely that they'd be coming back here again, not for a long time, not when reports could be made distantly.

Jolinar noticed it first, the difference in the feeling now that Sha're was home. The way there wasn't an unconscious tensing as they ringed down to the tunnels, the way they could focus and not feel like they were forgetting something. Jolinar couldn't recall the last time she had felt like that, but in the silence Sam seemed to understand that it had been with Rosha.

~Are we ever going to talk about that?~ Her question wasn't tentative, but it was soft.

*It is possible.* There was no flinch in her answer, no true avoidance.

But not today, not before the mission like this. Jolinar knew where Selmak's quarters were, and Sam had a feeling she'd be familiar with their location too before long. He and Jacob were still taking it easy, but more than happy to liven things up.

"All these memories and stories—it's almost like being in history class," Jacob said, as Sam hugged him.

"I haven't really focused on that part," Sam admitted, sitting next to him on the bed in the quarters. "It's been more like—a family drama, than anything else."

"Which Selmak is finding very odd," Jacob said, leaning back and stretching his arm out across the headrest that they sat against. "Did you notice that they don't really deal much with relationships? Everything's very understated, but not on purpose. So Selmak's used to reading between the lines, and now—we brought lines, kid. Big fat ones."

Sam grinned. "It is a bit strange for them, I guess, two hosts who have a history."

*To go along with the two symbiotes, yes, it is abnormal.*

"It is the sort of relationship that should be encouraged, in any normal society," Selmak said, and neither Sam nor Jolinar had noticed the change. "And if it is not here, then at least in this situation it is paramount."

"Is that what you think?" Jolinar asked, when Sam wasn't sure what to make of it. Her feelings were wary, and it seemed like Selmak had spoken words that touched her, but she couldn't qualify how.

"I think that your relationship with Samantha, and mine with Jacob, has saved much disaster," said Selmak.

Jolinar turned a little, looking across at Selmak's expression on Jacob's face. She said nothing, falling back to inner thoughts of how some of that disaster was a result of the relationship in the first place.

"In any case, we may now be at ease and without guilt over personal behavior, if I am correct," Selmak finished, clearly implying that the 'if' was not needed. His arm seemed to slip a little, resting around Jolinar's shoulders.

Jolinar paid attention to the action, and Sam recognized its purpose first. Jolinar gave a light sigh and didn't pull back, though. "If you are correct," she said, finishing the conversation for the moment.

It was a quiet evening, and the physical closeness of the four was comforting in the way it drowned out all barriers. This was abnormal—this was something Jolinar had only ever shared before with her mates. But Sam remembered family as such a core value that it did not feel wrong to feel it as more than a memory.

ooooooo

Daniel woke and couldn't breathe. Panic flooding his veins, he turned his head from what was smothering it, and gulped in half air and half—well, half Sha're's hair. As the adrenaline was already beginning to dissipate, he brought up his hand and pulled the attacking curls from his face, smiling as he spat out a couple loose strands. He would give anything to wake up in terror every morning, if it was always just the fear that his wife was over-close to him in the night.

Her warm body was draped over him, her head and one hand resting beneath the covers on his bare chest. Sometime in between love and utter exhaustion, Sha're had moved Shifu into the bed with him so that she was sandwiched between them both. As this meant that she was within arms' reach to quiet the child in the night, Daniel had fully approved, as Shifu was very picky about meals and comfort.

That being said, and despite the late night, Daniel felt alert and refreshed. He hadn't even had coffee yet, and though he knew he'd need it in a little, right now he did not. He lay comfortably, Sha're's sleeping frame rising with his chest at every breath. Running his fingers gently up her skin, he stroked the smooth skin of her back, brushed each stretch mark on her side, and started to write imaginary characters with his fingertips. Safety, health, happiness, in Chinese and Japanese and Ancient Egyptian.

After a few minutes she woke with a giggle under her breath. "Dan'yel," she whispered, "that feels strange."

"So did your hair in my mouth this morning," he answered back.

He felt her free hand reach to touch Shifu, make sure he was still there.

"He's not an early riser?" Daniel asked quietly.

Sha're shook her head, lifting it to look Daniel in the face. "He is usually up too late; he was most cooperative last night."

"Most cooperative?" Daniel asked, a bemused smile at the word choice.

"Are you surprised at how I speak, Dan'yel?" she asked playfully, dancing her fingers up his chest and throat.

"Perhaps I will not be once I hear your full story," Daniel allowed. She dipped down for a kiss, something slow and sweet in the morning. No urgency needed. "I love you," he murmured, in the Abydonian they had once spoken to each other.

Despite the situation, he managed to pull out a half-normal morning for all three of them. Sha're wore her short underrobe beneath the set of fatigues that had been prepared for her, but refused flat out to put Shifu in the "horrid" plastic diapers provided. She had brought her own linen ones, and Daniel didn't blame her choice.

It was only leaving the room that Daniel remembered that things in general weren't exactly back to normal like in his world. Technically Sha're was still on probation. Technically she needed to be interrogated first and foremost. Technically even taking those two things out of the question, nothing was normal at all about the situation.

Of all the mornings that Daniel didn't care about team meals, this was the one where he cared least, and where all the team swarmed them. At least, that was Daniel's perception. Dixon gave his greetings to Sha're again, saying with a wink that he wasn't sure if she noticed him yesterday.

She laughed, and didn't exactly deny the fact.

Mckay too had a few words, and Jack quite a few more. Teal'c held Shifu for Sha're so that she would have both hands to eat.

"I recall when Ry'ac, my son, was of a similar size to this," he said.

"I didn't know you had a son," said Sha're, nodding her thanks to him. Shifu was staring with saucer eyes up at Teal'c, but not fussing. "How many years?"

"Eight," Teal'c answered. He looked down at Shifu, and smiled in a way that Daniel had not seen before. Shifu didn't expect it either, and froze after a blink. But he was not crying, and so Daniel tried to feel as at ease as Sha're.

The team did leave them after breakfast, and life on the base was continuing as usual. Mckay mentioned wanting to ask Sha're a few questions about how she got here, because his duty was going to be installing better outside security.

"You'll get the notes from the meeting," Daniel said.

As Mckay preferred facts to communication, even with someone like Sha're whom he seemed to like instantly, no protestation followed.

"I will need my focus to remember," Sha're said, as Daniel led her towards the briefing room where she would give her full report on her rescue and return. "Will you keep Shifu?"

Daniel nodded quickly. "Of course." Janet had provided Sha're with a bottle, and while Sha're was skeptic of using it for feeding, she let Daniel fill it with water to keep Shifu occupied.

General Hammond sat at the head of the table, accompanied on either side by representatives of the Pentagon and the NID. Sha're took her seat just down from that, and Daniel took the seat across from her, holding Shifu upright in his lap so that he could see Sha're.

"We would like to start off with your unhindered story, Mrs. Jackson," said Godwin, the NID agent, opening his files and clicking his pen open.

"Just tell us everything that you think is important, from time you last saw Dr. Jackson until now," said Hammond, a little more personal in tone.

If they expected her to cringe under the cool gaze and formal atmosphere, they had not been paying attention to the reports. Though Daniel himself was surprised at her easy air, it soon became clear that she'd been preparing for this.

"What made you trust Captain Carter, even knowing she was possessed?" Cribbins from the Pentagon asked, as Sha're made it through to the part of the story where Sam had come to Abydos.

"She did not behave as a Goa'uld would," said Sha're, resting her hands in a clasped position on the edge of the table, in a manner that imitated Mr. Godwin in a way he seemed to find eery. "There was no force, only promises of aid."

"Such as?" Cribbins questioned.

"A promise to return me to my Dan'yel once Amonet was slain," said Sha're.

"And these promises were kept?"

"Yes, and much more," said Sha're. "I was treated as a guest, even when Sa'm and Jolinar were not around."

"You speak of the two as separate," Godwin brought in.

"Was I not separate from Amonet?" Sha're asked him, her eyelids slightly hooding her eyes in an impression of simplicity.

As the conversation continued, Sha're's good humor seemed to fade with every question. Daniel might have guessed that they had made a mistake with Sam long before this, and maybe even Hammond had reassessed that issue—but these two men had certainly not. Even worse, they were simply spouting the reasoning that had been the SGC's only recently—and it was hurting Sha're. The more she talked of Sam and Jolinar's care for her, and the support of the Tok'ra in general for her case, the more Daniel felt her disbelief that these suspicious questions were still being asked.

He felt guilty for ever allowing that she might not be telling the objective truth. It did not matter if it was subjective, because this whole matter was. And there was no way that a base of hundreds would change its entire purpose just to fool one woman who might report back to the SGC. Sha're might be biased, but she couldn't help but speak the truth.

Daniel had a feeling that the analysis of this briefing would be just as painful for all of them as its necessity was to Sha're. Shifu bounced in his lap, suckling down the water in the bottle with gusto, and Daniel now knew just how indebted he was to Sam and Jolinar for this opportunity.

ooooooo

"Are you free?" Sam asked, as she finished breakfast with her father and Selmak.

"For whatever you have in mind," Jacob said, nodding. "Selmak and I have decided to use our time wisely before the grind begins."

Sam grinned. "Maybe a game or two, then?"

"Sounds good," said Jacob, and Sam could see his mind conferring with Selmak on what game they had been familiar with. He frowned. "Wait—come on, Sammy."

She cocked an eyebrow at the name, while Jolinar tried to grimace but only managed a mental smirk. She blamed Sam for the fact that she was almost finding this amusing.

"Checkers?" Jacob looked incredulous. "You just showed them checkers?"

"It was simple," said Sam. "Chess, then? I'm sure you and I could make a set."

"That's more like it," said Jacob with a snorting sigh. "I knew I'd have something to teach this old guy."

Sam laughed. "You would assume that, Dad."

If it hadn't been for her dad's straight-forward outlook, Sam would have felt silly scrounging for appropriate chess-like pieces. He was impressed by the checker-board that they'd created, and both Sam and Jolinar discovered that Selmak had an artistic side. After attaching small scraps of tunnel crystal to each other in a style that was close enough for those who knew what it should look like, they retired to Selmak and Jacob's quarters again.

Jolinar didn't want to hear the rules, and though Selmak was a quick learner, he preferred that Jacob start. So Sam took white and Jacob took black, and they played a few traditional moves. It was not hard for Sam to see just when Jolinar started to take interest, and realize that the game wasn't just a mind puzzle. Jolinar had never cared for planning out strategies just for the fun of it, but as Sam started to win and lose pieces, Jolinar suddenly found herself caring. And she blamed Sam.

They played in a fairly standard fashion for the first half hour, both Sam and Jacob immersing themselves in playing the game for people who had never heard of it. They were rusty too.

Then Jolinar caught onto Sam's building strategy, cautious as she judged how her father was going to play. The symbiote pulled it into focus, giving Sam a moment's pause to recheck, and then Jolinar's intuition took hold and spun out exactly what Sam had been planning.

~How did you—wait.~ Sam struggled with it for a moment, Jolinar equally in the dark, until Sam accepted the fact that Jolinar just knew how things worked. She acted quickly, but when it failed, it wasn't a lack of planning, just that one could never know the exact future. But when it worked, it wasn't just luck, it was just that she unconsciously knew in an instant what took Sam logical progression to figure out.

*And your reasoning for that is proof,* Jolinar commented, not objecting to the content.

While they waited, Jacob finished thinking. He moved his bishop, and Sam and Jolinar frowned at once. "That's unusual," Sam said aloud.

"Selmak is not so sure he does not know how to play," Jacob said with a hinting smirk. "And he's bringing in strategies I'd never seen before."

Sam said nothing, only looked at the board, knowing that now she'd have to rethink her strategy to take new ones from them into account. ~Jolinar, want a go at it?~

Far from the caution she'd felt before, Jolinar had a feeling she knew Selmak well enough to make this work. *You have convinced me about this game of yours,* she said as she eventually prepared her move.

Many hours later, with a stalemate outcome, Sam and Jolinar took their leave. It was one of the few times that Jolinar didn't feel urgently called back to their mission. Despite the relaxation, chess was just a warm-up to the real thing awaiting them. Now, just as the peace and satisfaction made it comfortable for them to be often around others of the Tok'ra, they were facing a long mission. Jolinar almost regretted that she still had so few that she called close to her.

And Sam, through her, didn't regret so much as wonder how her few were so closely tied to Jolinar's.