Jack came back out to Colorado the following weekend for a very special occasion. Sunday was Abbie's second birthday, and the first birthday for the kids since they arrived in this reality. Therefore, Sam wanted everything to be absolutely perfect.

She'd decided on a princess theme, since it fit the tiny girl so well. Everything was purple and pink, from the streamers and decorations to the plasticware and plates. They set up chairs and a table in the backyard for a BBQ, and Jack was in charge of the grill. Sam was in the kitchen, cutting up toppings for burgers, when Abbie toddled down the hall from her room.

"Mama, I princess," she exclaimed. She was wearing a plastic, rhinestone-studded dress-up crown and a purple tutu over the pants and t-shirt that she'd been dressed in that morning.

"You forgot this," Jake told his little sister as he joined her, handing her a plastic scepter that matched her crown.

Sam smiled. "You are a very beautiful princess, sweetheart. Are you excited about your party?"

Abbie nodded. "I this many," she told her, holding up a pair of fingers.

The doorbell rang, and Sam sighed. "Who decided to get here early?" she wondered aloud as she went to answer it. They still had too much to get done to have extra people hanging around needing to be entertained. She was surprised to find Janet, her boyfriend, Eric, and Cassie on the front porch.

"I know, we're early," Janet told her, "But I thought you might want some help setting up before everyone else gets here. So… put us to work."

Sam smiled. "Thank you. Jack's in the back getting the grill going."

Eric nodded. "I'm on it," he said as he headed for the back door. "Hey there, birthday girl," he said to Abbie as he passed her and Jake. He let them both give him high-fives before going outside.

"I think I'm almost done with the kitchen," Sam told Cassie and Janet, "But I have more balloons that I wanted to put up around the deck out back."

"I want to do it!" Jake cried.

Cassie smiled. "I'll make sure we don't lose any of them."

"Thanks." The college student took the kids out to the backyard, leaving Janet and Sam together.

"Sounds like you've been busy," the doctor pointed out with a smile.

Sam laughed. "Yeah, you could say that. Jack thinks I'm nuts because she probably won't even remember this, but… I will, you know? And I just want everything to be done right."

Janet smiled. "It'll be fine. Now, what can I do to help?"

Daniel, Vala, Teal'c, and Cam soon arrived and everyone hung out in the backyard. Jake had made his own rope swing on one of the trees, and he had a great time with Cam and Teal'c playing with that. Abbie plopped down in the grass to watch and blow bubbles, and Cassie and Vala joined her.

"How's the food coming?" Sam asked as she passed by where Jack, Eric, and Daniel were manning the grill.

"You can't rush art," Jack told her.

"Oh, I wasn't aware that you were an artist."

"Sam, I'm hungry!" Jake called from his spot on his swing.

"Take it up with Jack," she replied with a laugh. "I'm hungry, too. How many of you does it take to just flip some burgers and hot dogs?" she asked the guys.

"Apparently, three," Daniel replied.

"I think we're almost done," Eric told her with a laugh.

Jack picked up one of the serving plates and put a few cheeseburgers, normal burgers, and hot dogs on it. "There," he told Sam with mock annoyance as he handed it to her. "Happy? And I don't want to hear about it if your burger is medium instead of medium-well."

She laughed. "Thank you, honey," she sweetly said and gave him a quick kiss before heading over to the table.

After they finished lunch, they had a big birthday cake for Princess Abigail. Jack lit the candles and everyone sang.

"Now you have to make a wish," Jake instructed his sister, who was sitting on his lap at the table. "But don't tell anyone what it is! It's a special secret wish." Abbie just giggled. "Did you think of one?" he asked.

"Okay."

"Now blow out the candles." She got both of her candles in one shot. Everyone clapped and cheered. It turned to laughter as the toddler reached forward with one hand and tried to scoop up a handful of cake. Sam just barely caught her arm in time.

"Wait for a plate, silly," she told her as Jack picked up a knife and started cutting. Once the birthday girl had her own piece, Jake tried to help encourage her to use a fork, but Abbie had no interest and Sam wasn't inclined to force her. It was her birthday – who cared if she got messy as long as she was having fun?

A stack of presents had been growing in the corner of the deck as everyone arrived, and once they were finished with cake, Abbie could start opening them. Jake stayed at her side and helped her peel off the wrapping paper when she needed assistance. Sam smiled as she and Janet watched from a couple nearby chairs.

"He is a Grade A big brother," she commented. "I hope she knows how lucky she is."

"He's always been protective of her," Janet told her. "From the day she was born…I can't believe it's been two years already."

Sam smiled. "Were you there?"

"Oh, yeah. I delivered her at the SGC. Five pounds, ten ounces, and two weeks early."

Sam laughed. "She had her own schedule."

"Mmm. Jack didn't quite get there in time; it was in the middle of the Prior's plague. Sam was less bothered by that than I would have been in her place."

She smiled a little. "That's a tough one. Family or the planet."

"Yeah, he hated it… I don't think he was quite ready when Jake was born; he still had some skeletons to deal with. But he wanted things to be different with Abbie. Circumstances got in the way."

This was one of the first times that they'd really had a conversation about their former lives, and Sam wanted to take advantage of it. "What was Jake's birth like?" she asked.

Janet smiled a bit. "Mr. Jacob was even more impatient than his sister. He was born at home."

"Really?"

"Mmm-hmm. Jack delivered him – and treated him like he was made of glass until he was at least two years old. He was so afraid… but he got through it. He loved those kids so much." Sam nodded, and they watched as Jake helped Abbie get down from her chair so she could give hugs for her presents. "I've been wondering about Jake," Janet spoke up, "About whether his helpfulness today is really an attempt to share the spotlight."

Sam looked up. "What do you mean?"

"He didn't really get a birthday this year. We were at the Alpha site and it was about a month after we lost his parents… I did what I could, but there wasn't much to celebrate. I wonder if he's missing it now. He grew up too fast; I'll always be sorry for that."

Sam took her hand. "He's alive, Janet. And he's happy." They watched as Cam lifted the little boy up on his shoulder and pretended he was an airplane. "The past is the past and it can't be changed now. There isn't much more that we can hope for."

Their guests eventually headed home and Jack and Sam got everything from the party cleaned up. Sam sent Jack out on a special errand while she got Abbie in bed. Once he was back, they headed for Jake's room.

The little boy looked up from the book he was reading when he heard a knock on his open doorframe. "Hey, buddy," Sam said as they came in the room. "Good story?"

Jake nodded. "How to Train Your Dragon."

"We're going to be building you a library pretty soon," Jack told him. Jake had a shelf built into his headboard that was already stuffed with books, and a couple more were stacked on top. He'd struggled initially with schoolwork, but had arrived in this reality with a love for reading. He could easily get lost in books intended for children two to three grades ahead of him.

"I don't have to keep the ones that I've finished," he pointed out. "We could give them to the library at school."

"That sounds like a good idea, buddy," Sam agreed. "We can let someone else enjoy them now."

Jake nodded, and then frowned slightly as he realized what she was holding. "What's that?" he asked as he put his book down.

Sam handed him the little plate, which held a cupcake adorned with a candle shaped like a number six. "This is a miniature birthday cake," she told him.

"For who?"

"For you, pal," Jack replied as they sat on his bed with him.

"It's not my birthday," Jake pointed out.

"We know that, but we thought we'd celebrate a little late."

"It was months ago," he continued to protest. "I'm 6 and a half now."

"It can be a half-birthday cake if you want," Jack told him.

"We got to celebrate a birthday with your sister for this year," Sam explained, "But we didn't have one with you. We know we're really late, but we wanted you to have a little bit of celebration, too."

Jake slowly nodded. "Okay."

Jack pulled out his lighter and lit the candle. Jake watched the flame for a moment before blowing it out. "Hey, Mr. Speedy, we were going to sing," Sam told him.

"It's probably better that we didn't," Jack spoke up. She swatted him on the shoulder.

"Did you at least make a wish first?" Sam asked as Jake took the cupcake and started peeling the wrapper off of it.

The little boy shook his head as he handed her the candle. "I didn't need to."

TBC...

A/N: As always, thanks for the feedback! You guys are awesome.