Jake wasn't able to stay awake for very long, but he woke up again a couple hours later and was a little bit stronger. Janet ran a few more tests on the little boy.

"Everything looks good so far," she told Jack and Sam as they stood together a few steps away from Jake's bed. "He may have a bit of memory loss, but there's nothing that I'm really concerned with. He has full sensation and motion in his extremities and his coordination seems okay. We'll keep watching him, but this is very positive."

Sam smiled. "Thank you, Janet."

She nodded. "This is what we were all praying for," she told them before walking away.

Mark was sitting by Jake's bed, talking with him and Abbie, who was in her brother's lap. Jack and Sam went over and joined them. "Can I have a cookie?" Jake asked as he looked up at his parents.

"A cookie?" Jack repeated. "I don't know about that. We'll check with Janet later and see what she thinks. Maybe dessert with dinner."

"Are you feeling okay?" Sam asked him. "Are you tired? Does your arm hurt? Or your leg?" He'd ended up with over twenty stitches closing a gash on his right leg.

Jake looked down at the cast on his wrist. "It hurts a little."

"Do you want me to see if you can get some more medicine?"

Jake shook his head. "No. I don't like it here. I wanna go home."

She smiled. "I know you do, but you're going to have to stay here for a little bit. You were hurt pretty badly, buddy, and we all want to make sure that you're okay."

He sighed. "Okay."

"We've got some ways to pass the time, right?" Mark asked the little boy. "I want to hear about your summer camps and your trip to DC. We've got lots to catch up on."

Jake smiled. "Yeah, Uncle Mark." He then realized something, and his smile faded. "I missed the camp picnic, didn't I?" he asked Sam.

"Yeah, buddy, you did. But that's okay. We can still go play baseball at the park once you're home. And we'll have our own barbeque there."

"Promise?"

Sam smiled. "Yes, I promise."

"When do I get to go home?"

Sam and Jack exchanged a look. It was likely that Jake would be in the infirmary for at least a week, but they were both relatively certain that he wouldn't like that answer. "Well, that's up to the doctors," Jack finally said. "But we've got a few things here that'll make it a little more like home."

"Like what?"

Sam picked up the bag that Daniel had dropped off that morning. "A couple of your books are in here. And your notebook. And we can get your blanket from your bed if you want it."

"Okay."

"And we're all here together," Jack added. "That's the important part, right, pal?"

Jake smiled. "Right."

Jake's body was still recovering, so he needed a lot of sleep. He took a few naps over the course of the day, and was still ready for bed at the normal time that evening. He'd been extremely clingy since waking up, so Sam decided to stay at the mountain for the night while Jack took Abbie home to sleep in her own bed for a change.

"I don't want you to go," Jake whined as Sam tucked him in.

"I'm not going to be far away," she promised. "If you wake up and you need anything, just tell the nurses and they'll come get me."

"You promise?"

She smiled. "I do. Cross my heart."

"Is Daddy staying, too?"

"Daddy needs to go make sure that our house is still in one piece," Jack told him, which made Sam laugh a little.

"We've been spending all our time here this week," she added. "So he needs to check on things, but he'll be back in the morning."

Jake sighed, but settled back against his pillows and didn't argue further. "Okay, Mommy,"

Sam sat on the edge of his bed. "Can I ask you something? Why did you start calling us Mommy and Daddy?"

He shrugged a little. "Because you are."

"I'm not upset, Jake. I'm really glad. I just want to understand."

He thought about it for a moment. "I decided before that I should. 'Cause you love me. And you take care of me. That makes me lucky. Then it just came out, and it sounded right."

Sam kissed his forehead. It seemed like all the things she'd been worried about weren't so important to the little boy in front of her. Maybe this complicated entity known as family wasn't really so complicated after all. "I do love you," she told him. "And I'm lucky, too, that I have you and your sister."

Jack held Jake's good hand. "I love you more than the moon and stars, pal."

He smiled. "I love you, too, Daddy."

"Sweet dreams," Sam told him as he closed his eyes.

Mark was waiting for them out in the front area of the infirmary with Abbie, who was already asleep. "Thanks for watching her," Sam told her brother as she took the toddler.

"No problem. Almost makes me miss the days when my kids were that small – almost." She laughed. "I'll see you guys in the morning."

Sam smiled down at Abbie once he was gone. "She's been so good through all of this… Although I guess she might be conditioned for having to fall asleep in strange places."

"She and her brother are going to be fine," Jack reminded her.

"I know… Jack, I've been thinking, about us and getting married."

He frowned, not liking the sound of that. "What about it?" he asked slowly.

"I know I said before that we should wait, but… if anything, this has proved that we never knew whether we're going to get tomorrow."

The color started to come back to his face. "So you don't want to wait?" he asked.

Sam shook her head. "No. Once Jake's doing better, and we can get things organized…"

Jack nodded. "Okay."

"And I want to rejoin SG-1," she added.

He frowned. "That was a bit of a topic switch."

"I know, I just… I left before because of the risks. And I know that those haven't gone anywhere, but… the risks here can have the same consequences as the ones out there. At least if I'm with the team, I'll have a chance at making a difference in the universe."

Jack smiled. "Oh, Samantha Carter, you have definitely already made a difference in the universe."

She nudged him in the shoulder. "You know what I mean."

"I do. And if it's what you want, then I say go for it."

"Yeah?"

He nodded. "Yeah. The three of us will be here waiting for you."

TBC...

A/N: One more chapter left!