When Jack returned, Janet was there checking on Jake. "What's going on?" he asked as he set the tray down.

"We got some test results back."

"And?"

"It looks like the surgery did its job; his intracranial pressure is back down to the normal range. We won't know until he wakes up if it was in time, though."

"If it wasn't?" Sam asked.

Janet held her gaze, then Jack's. "There's the possibility of brain damage, but right now I'm optimistic. Children can tolerate higher pressure levels for longer than adults. I know it's not what you want to hear, but we just have to wait and see."

They were still waiting three days later. Jake's condition hadn't deteriorated, but it hadn't really improved, either. The longer he stayed unconscious, the lower the chance of a good outcome.

Sam was still recovering, too, and spent most of each day sitting beside Jake's bed. As she'd gotten stronger, Carolyn had had a more difficult time trying to get her patient to follow instructions. Jack tried to make sure that she didn't get overtired, but she wasn't really talking to him. Or anyone else, for that matter. He finally decided to get drastic.

Around noon, an Airman brought a visitor down to the infirmary. Sam's eyes filled with tears when she looked up and saw her big brother.

"Hey, Sammy," he said as she got up and hugged him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Jack called me. Five words that I really never want to hear again: 'there's been a car accident'."

Her tears spilled; she'd never wanted her brother to feel that terror again. "I'm sorry."

Mark hugged her closer. "No, no, don't be sorry. I'm so glad you're okay. For a second I was so scared…" He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. How's the little guy doing?"

"We're not sure. He hasn't woken up yet, so…"

"He will," he assured her. "Just keep telling yourself that."

Sam looked down at Jake. "This wasn't how I wanted you to meet him." They'd planned on Mark and his family coming to Colorado for a week earlier in the summer in order to visit, but that trip had been postponed when Sam had to go to the Midway Station. They had intended to reschedule, but it hadn't happened yet. So this was the first time that Mark was seeing his nephew – looking tiny and practically lifeless in a hospital bed.

"It wasn't what I was planning on, either," he told his sister, "But I'm glad that I'm here."

Jack walked in, holding Abbie, and Mark offered him a little smile. "Thanks for letting me know," he told the other man, reaching to shake his hand. "And it's nice to meet you face-to-face."

"No problem, and likewise."

"This is Abbie?" Mark asked his sister, indicating the toddler. She nodded. "She's beautiful…It's so strange how much she looks like you. She looks a lot like Lisa did when she was a baby, too."

Sam glanced at Jack. "Blonde hair and blue eyes, that's all."

He frowned a little. "No, I mean, she really looks like you…" It was one coincidence too many, and Mark wasn't stupid. "What's going on?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Exactly what I said. Why are you at an Air Force facility instead of a normal hospital if this was a car accident? Why did I need security clearance in order to be able to come see you?"

Sam looked to Jack. "What kind of clearance did Landry authorize?"

"High enough for the truth," he replied. "All of it."

That didn't help Mark's confusion at all. "Sam?"

She took a deep breath. "I don't work on deep space radar telemetry. I use alien technology to travel to other planets, even other galaxies. And Jake and Abbie are biologically my and Jack's kids – they were just born in a parallel universe."

Mark was understandably stunned. They spent most of the afternoon talking about what had really happened to her and to their father over the past decade. It was a great deal to take in, but it also made a lot of things make more sense.

"So Dad wasn't working, he was on other planets?" Mark asked. They were both seated on her bed, with Sam holding Abbie. Jack had gone back to the house to pick up some things for them.

Sam nodded. "He was very involved with the Tok'ra's efforts against the Goa'uld."

"I knew he was different after he miraculously got well… I mean, he'd never had any interest in trying to make things better between us. And his attitude… I just figured it was a near-death experience kind of thing, but…"

"In a way, it was."

"Wow… I bet I'd have a hard time believing some of the stories you could tell me, right?"

She smiled a little. "Probably."

"I'm glad that you made your dreams of going to space come true, even if it wasn't exactly how you'd planned. I can remember watching you put 'fins' on your red wagon and call it your rocketship."

"Yeah."

"So…with all the technology that you've got around here, there's nothing else that anyone can do for Jake?"

Sam looked over at the little boy. "No."

"I can't believe what they've been through. I mean… us losing Mom was bad enough, and we were nowhere near as young. And I don't know if I can wrap my mind around the concept of parallel universes, so it's amazing that they've adjusted so well. Especially considering the differences here."

"Amazing is a pretty good word to describe them all around."

"Mmm. And on top of all of that, now this..."

Sam sighed, looking away. "Yeah."

Mark was staying at a local hotel, and finally headed off around dinnertime to check in and get something to eat. Daniel took Abbie down to the mess hall to get her some dinner, but Sam insisted that she wasn't hungry. "You okay?" Jack asked her as he sat with her.

"Yeah, just… a lot to think about. I've wanted to tell him the truth for so long."

"I know."

"I keep thinking about what we were saying. After everything that Jake and Abbie have been through… they were brought here to be safe. I was supposed to give them a new life."

"You did, Sam. This wasn't your fault. The other driver ran the light."

"I veered away."

"What?"

"I turned away from the other car. I saw it coming, and I turned away. Which put the front-left part of the car further away and Jake…" And then he understood. Turning had made the passenger side backseat the closest thing to the oncoming car. Jake had been in that seat.

"He'd still be pretty bad off if he'd been in the front seat and had the airbag go off in his face," he pointed out, but that didn't seem to be any comfort. "It was just a reflex, Sam. I would have done the exact same thing."

"But it wasn't you. I was the one who forgot the stupid dessert and I was the one who let Jake come along to the store."

"There was no way you could have known."

"That doesn't help him very much, does it?"

No, unfortunately, it doesn't. "Sam – "

"He called me Mommy," she blurted out.

Jack frowned. "Huh?"

"Maybe I'm imagining it, but right before the accident, I thought that Jake called me Mommy."

He wasn't sure what to say to that; Jake hadn't ever called either of them Mom or Dad or anything of the sort. It definitely meant something if it had really happened, but if it was just her mind playing tricks…

"I was supposed to take care of him," she quietly continued. I was supposed to keep them safe. That's why they're here. I was supposed to protect them."

"Unless you're going to put them in glass bubbles, there are no guarantees. There are plenty of things in this world that you have no control over."

Sam nodded. "I know. I can't stop thinking about it. When they first got here, I was just thinking about making them happy, giving them a home. I didn't consider…there are so many risks, Jack. How do you stand it? How do people make the choice to bring kids into this world, knowing all of the dangers they can face?"

"Because they don't think about it. They can't. They'll go insane if they do."

"I feel like I'm halfway there already… This is so much bigger of a responsibility than I imagined."

"Yeah, but it's OUR responsibility," he pointed out, unsure if she would believe him. I should have been here with her from the beginning, he thought. This WAS mainly her responsibility for way too long. "You're not on your own with this, Sam. Not anymore."

She slowly nodded, though her eyes didn't meet his "I know," she stated as she looked back down at Jake. "A year ago, I didn't even know that he existed. And now… now I can't imagine my life without him or Abbie."

"Yeah. I know it took me a while, but I can't either."

"I now understand what people mean when they say that being a parent is like having your heart walk around in another body… Jack?"

"Mmm?"

"I'm scared."

He sighed. "Yeah. So am I."

TBC...