Disclaimer: Don't own them, wish I did but Santa wasn't that nice this year!

Ok so this is set quite a bit in the future. It is part of my series that has Jack and Sam together with a family set after Continuum. However I have made it AU as Universe doesn't happen in this set of stories ie the promotions are not the same for Jack and Sam as they are in that. You don't have to have read the others to understand this but if you do you can find them on my page. They are, in order, Dreamers Never Lie, Sam and Jack's trip to Washington, Daniel and Vala's trip to Washington, Problem of Airports, Grace's Garden, 3 men and a little girl, Favourite Place, My Daddy, I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus, The School Photo and The General in charge. This fits in between 3 men and Favourite Place. As I say you don't need to read them to understand this one.

So I realise that the Fourth of July is like 6 months away but it would be nice to think about summer when it is so cold at the moment. Hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave a review, I appreciate hearing all your comments. Thanks for reading.

Fourth of July – A Family Business

They were all off on a trip to Washington this time, the whole SGC family, kids and all. Jack O'Neill was semi-retiring; well, he called it that. He'd decided that he needed to be in Colorado full time with his family so he was giving up his Washington job and taking a newly created position at the SGC. The IOA had decided to put the SGC back in control of Atlantis and the other Milky Way bases and they needed someone to be in overall charge of all of the off-world bases, reporting directly to Homeworld Security. Although many would see it as beneath him, 2-star General O'Neill had decided to take the position, which would allow him to move back to Colorado permanently. At the same time his wife, Sam, was being put in charge of the SGC. It was now going to be a family business, although many would say it had been from the beginning - the SG-1 family. And, as Daniel was still there with Vala and Cam - although taking a back-seat role and not travelling off world as much - it still felt like a family.

This trip was special for another reason, however. It was July 3 and tomorrow, for the first time, members of the SGC would take part in the Independence Day parade. In fact, not just some members but the entire command, minus a skeleton crew that would have to remain behind to ensure that the world wasn't invaded while they weren't looking. The new President had been so grateful and amazed once he'd been told of the SGC's exploits by Henry Hayes and Jack that he'd insisted on booking an entire hotel and inviting all the SGC staff and their families for the weekend.

So Jack, Sam and their children were going to DC for a special weekend. A chartered plane had been organised for the entire group and it was ready to leave Peterson Air Force Base. In a decision that had shocked most of the command, the President had ordered that spouses and close adult family members could now be informed of the basics of their loved ones' jobs. While not revealing the extent of the missions off world, they had been told of how their loved ones had saved the world multiple times and were now being honoured for it. That 'briefing', for want of a better word, had taken place at the SGC only yesterday and most family members had been amazed at what they had been told, after having all willingly signed a non-disclosure agreement. For the members of the command, though, it had marked a day when they could start to be more honest with those they were closest too.

The plane was therefore full of excitable children, worried wives and stressed husbands - a complete recipe for disaster. As the final passengers came aboard and took their seats Jack stood at the front of the plane and took the microphone from its cradle and cleared his throat, getting ready to speak. The noise settled down as those who could see Jack nudged others to be quiet.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to an historic trip. I'm not one for speeches and many of you will be happy that I'm keeping this brief." Several chuckles could be heard and Jack waited until they'd settled down. "The rest of you will be glad that I'm not piloting the plane." There was a smattering of laughter plus a few comments yelled out in agreement from the likes of Dave Dixon and Lou Feretti.

"I just wanted to say that I appreciate all the help you've given me to date and I hope to continue to call on that after today. We face many challenges but I know we can face them together. Now, since Danny Boy is indicating for me to stop talking, I will." He was about to sit down when he remembered exactly what he was supposed to be telling them. "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot! There'll be buses waiting for us at Andrews so just follow the directions and your luggage will go straight on to the bus. All courtesy of our new Commander in Chief."

There was a round of applause at the announcement; many people on board were enjoying their first family holiday in years and the small touches made it so much better. The O'Neills were only one of the families looking forward to this time together. They'd managed a few holidays at the cabin but they'd had little time to visit other places together as a family.

Jack retook his seat beside Sam and their children, Grace, Jake and Dan, who was sleeping in the bassinette attached to the front of the passenger area, and had missed his father's speech.

"Good speech, Daddy, but a bit too long," Grace stated critically, frowning at her dad.

"Thanks, Sweetie." Jack grinned at his daughter and got more comfortable in his seat. He looked around and saw that Daniel and Vala were both behind him. Vala was already wearing her blue eye mask, which Jack was about to comment on, when Daniel signalled to him not to. His friend looked rather earnest so Jack kept his humour to himself. He'd need to discover what was going on there, though, over the weekend.

Cam had sat himself down beside Dr Lam across the aisle from Daniel. Jack had no idea what was going on there but was again going to comment when Sam hit him on the leg.

"Ouch! What'cha hit me for?" Jack glared at his wife.

"Leave him, Jack. He doesn't need you making things harder for him."

Jack was amazed to see that Sam still had her eyes closed. "How'd you know what I was going to do?" Jack asked incredulously.

"Mommy always knows when we is thinking naughty thoughts," Jake said very seriously, seeing his father's amazed look.

Jack turned back and tried to shuffle to get himself into a more comfortable position, earning himself a prod in the ribs from Sam, which forced him to stop fidgeting. Once the seatbelt sign had been turned off Grace decided she would be far more comfortable in Jack's lap, so launched herself at him. There was a grunt from Jack when she landed in his lap but the family then settled down to enjoy the flight.

AN: So the trip of a lifetime, with Jack as the organiser it can't all go right, can it? More soon, story is complete so I just have to make time to post. Thanks.