A few days had passed since the gathering to celebrate the life of Janet Fraiser and Jack still felt odd in his own home. Having Sam finally moving into his bedroom felt really good, but Jack was not ready to shake the feeling that it was only because of Janet's death. The mood in his house, the home he had fought to build, was still understandably sombre with the other three older females wandering around in silence and tear-stained faces. Daniella had grown even quieter, becoming incredibly clingy with himself and more aloof from Sam; she could sense the new atmosphere. Jack was a man of action who could analyse any situation and know how best to achieve an objective. He had no idea how to make his home a happy one again.
Opening the refrigerator for no real reason, Jack sighed and pushed the door close again.
"What are you looking for?" Sam asked, entering from the den.
"No idea." Giving a weak smile at her which she returned, Jack moved towards Sam and they both stood in the open archway between the kitchen and den.
"Did Daniella go to sleep okay?"
"Yeah, I didn't even finish the story." Glancing across the room, Jack saw Cassie curled up on a chair fast asleep. "She's not the only one."
Following his gaze, Sam's eyes fell on the sleeping teenager. "She's still having nightmares." There was a brief pause. "Jack, General Hammond wants SG-1 on a mission to Los Angeles, Agent Barrett's asked for us."
"I'm not fit for active duty yet." Jack did not need reminding that his arm was still painful whenever he moved it.
"Do you mind?"
"I could do with some LA sunshine, but my place is here."
"With your girls?"
Slipping an arm around the woman he loved, Jack considered her and the two girls he was now responsible for. In that moment he could almost see a glimpse of a future where there would be laughter and smiles in his home again, there would be happiness again, there would be a happily ever after for the O'Neill-Carter-Fraiser family. "Yeah. My girls."
The End.