A/N: I really wanted to thank everyone who sent reviews for the past couple of chapters. I've been having a rough few days and you guys have definitely made it easier, so thank you very much.

They spent the next few days doing some sight-seeing around Washington DC. Jack had taken their whole first week off of work, and then had found an outdoors-y summer camp for Jake for the second week, while Abbie would go to day care. Their itinerary for the first week included monuments, museums, the zoo, and the waterfront.

After a long day at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, Jake and Abbie were tired out and got to bed pretty easily. Jack was also looking forward to a good night's sleep, but it was interrupted by the sound of screams around 2 AM. He quickly headed for the kids' room and saw that Jake was in the throes of another nightmare. Sam had warned him that he still had bad dreams frequently, though never was willing to share any details.

"Jake, pal, wake up," he tried to tell him. "C'mon, buddy, it's just a dream."

Jake's eyes opened, and he stared at Jack for a moment before starting to pound little fists against his chest. "It's all your fault!" he accused. "Everything's your fault! You weren't supposed to leave us! Mommy would still be alive if you hadn't left us!" His last four words were each punctuated by blows.

Jack was completely taken aback by that outburst. They'd all known for months that the little boy had a lot of demons in his head, but to actually finally hear about them was a total surprise. "I'm sorry, Jake," was all he could think to tell him as he tried to contain his swinging arms.

The strength from his anger quickly faded, and Jake started to cry. "I'm sorry," he got out between sobs. "I'm sorry I couldn't take care of her. I'm sorry…"

Jack looked across the room to see that Abigail was standing up in her crib, silently watching them with big, worried eyes. "Come on," he quietly told Jake as he picked him up. "Go back to sleep, princess," he added for Abbie as they left the room. Jack shut the door so that she wouldn't be disturbed, and then sat with Jake on the couch. "Talk to me, pal. What were you dreaming about?"

"My mom," he quietly admitted. "She was really hurt. She didn't want me to see how much, but…I could tell. She told me she loved me and then…she went to sleep and she never woke up. And I broke my promise."

"Your promise to who, pal?"

"My dad…When we left Earth, he told me to take care of Mommy and Abbie, but I didn't."

Jack sighed. That was too big of a burden for a six-year-old. "Oh, Jake… You didn't do anything wrong, pal, and you didn't break a promise. There was nothing you could have done, nothing anyone could have done. I'm sure your dad never meant for you to have to carry that around." It was such a simple statement – a quick way to try and instill some bravery and responsibility in a little boy – but for a fiercely protective and loyal child like Jake, it was such a bad idea. Jack hated the fact that he'd been silently keeping that locked up inside him for so many months.

"Why didn't he come with us?" Jake asked after a long moment of silence. "He always said that we were the most important things, but he left us!"

"I don't know. He probably didn't think that what happened would happen. He probably thought he still had time. I know he never would have left you on purpose."

Jake was quiet again. "Jack?" he finally asked. "I don't like it when you leave. I know you live here, but…"

He sighed and held the little boy closer. A lot of things were making more sense now, like Jake's moods when Jack would leave Colorado. Considering what he'd been through, Jack couldn't blame him for being angry that another person was so easily leaving him behind. He was lucky that Jake hadn't completely shut down on him after his first departure.

"I know you don't like it, pal," he quietly said. "I know…I'm gonna fix things."

Jack had a lot to think about during the rest of their trip. Everything that he and Sam said and did could have a much larger impact on the kids than he'd ever realized. Big mistakes were easy to see, but little things could be incredibly devastating, too. What kind of damage had they unintentionally already done in the past few months?

Or, more accurately, what kind of damage had HE done? He'd sworn to himself that he wouldn't hurt the kids, but it seemed like that vow had been broken. Unlike in his past, however, Jack had the opportunity to try to make things right. And he'd be damned if he wasn't going to make use of it.

It took an extra week, due to a few unforeseen adventures with Atlantis, but Sam finally returned to Earth. When she stepped through the Gate into the SGC, she smiled to see Abbie and Jake standing at the bottom of the ramp, holding a handmade welcome home banner. Jack was standing off to the side behind them.

"Aw, you guys, this is great!" she told the kids as they both hugged her. "Thank you."

"Are you happy you're home?" Jake asked.

"Very. Especially since I get to see you three."

Jack patiently waited for his turn to give her a hug. "Whatever happened to this just being a nice, quiet mission to get the Midway Station operational?" he asked her. Besides working on Midway, she'd also been part of the search for Atlantis, which had just barely survived a major attack and was now located on a new planet.

Sam laughed. "Since when does anything ever go according to plan?"

They all went out to dinner to celebrate and Sam and Jack shared the work for baths and bedtime once they returned to her house. "I'm glad you're back," Jake told Sam as she tucked him in.

"Thanks, buddy. Me, too. Sleep well." He snuggled under his blankets as she turned off the light and left the room.

Jack was waiting in the living room and offered her a beer. "Don't expect me to stay conscious for too much longer," she warned him as she took the bottle and sat down with him. The last few days had been extremely busy as Atlantis settled in on its new homeworld and they tried to repair the city.

"Well, maybe it won't be tonight, then, but we need to talk."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, we do. And it probably shouldn't wait. I can stay up a little longer."

"You want to go first?"

"Okay…the IOA's offered me command of Atlantis."

That was very close to the last thing that Jack had expected her to say. "Wow."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what I was thinking."

The logistics of that started running through his head at light speed. It was an incredible step forward for her career, and an honor that she definitely deserved. A year earlier, he would have been disappointed that they'd be separated by an even greater distance, but he would have told her to go. Now… there was no way she'd be able to take Abbie and Jake along, especially after the battles that Atlantis had just been through. So that meant… leaving the kids with him? They'd survived the past few weeks, but he knew that they really needed her. They needed both of them. Staying apart just wasn't going to work anymore.

"Jack?" he heard her ask and realized he'd spaced out. "You okay?"

He shook his head. "No." And then two words tumbled out of his mouth before he'd even realized it: "Marry me."

Sam's eyebrows shot up. "What?"

That wasn't at all how he'd intended on starting this conversation, but it was too late to take it back now. "Look, I've been…flat-out scared of some things for a long time. And while I was doing that, there are a lot of things that I've been missing. I thought that not being involved would make things better, but…you know nothing good ever happens when I start thinking too much."

"Jack – "

"Let me finish. I love you, Sam. And I love Jake and Abbie. More than I thought I was capable of. I don't want to hurt you and I don't want to run away anymore. What I want is actually pretty simple: you, me, and the kids. All under one roof. For good."

She blinked. "Okay."

"What?"

Sam smiled. "I didn't get a chance to finish what I was saying before. The IOA offered me the position, and I considered it for a couple of seconds. But I realized that what I have here is more important to me now than what happens next with my career."

"So you said no?"

She nodded. "So I said no."

Jack paused for a moment. "Just to clarify, when you said 'okay' before…"

"I believe you had asked a question. Well, it was more of a demand, actually, but still." She smiled. "I want what you want. It's what I've wanted all along."

TBC...