You probably all thought I'd disappeared off the face of the Earth ... So sorry - I've been on the road travelling for the last few weeks. I'm in Colorado today - which inspired me to get back to writing some Stargate. Forgive me for the delay and the short chapter. I'll try and do better once I'm not suffering jet lag.

"I must admit I miss the food", Jacob leaned back on the couch and sighed. "Even Selmak agrees that Tokra meals are less than exciting."

"Another slice?" Jack opened the pizza box and offered it to Jacob. Sam had gone to bed, claiming that she was tired, although Jack suspected she wanted to leave them so that her father and he can 'bond'. He almost laughed at that, knowing that they were more likely to argue than to bond. Although he had to admit that, so far, things had been pretty cordial.

"No, I'd better not. I think six pieces is plenty."

"God, what I wouldn't give for your metabolism", Jack groaned, knowing the days were long gone when he could pig out on fattening food.

Jacob smirked. "I'm afraid you can't have her."

"Huh?"

"Selmac. She's my 'metabolism'. The symbiote can regulate all that. Makes it almost impossible to get fat – or sick for that matter."

"You almost make it sound worth it Jacob."

"But not quite?"

Jack shuddered, remembering his two experiences with the little brain sucking snakes. "'I'm afraid nothing could make it worth it for me." He sighed and put the pizza box down, knowing that he'd simply have to exercise self-control which, though hard, was much better than a snake-in-the-head.

"So, how are you doing Jack?" Jacob, probably with Selmac's urging, cut right to the chase. "The last time I was here you were having a rough time with everything."

Jack looked down at the almost empty bottle of beer on the coffee table and reached for it. It wasn't that he was particularly thirsty, but he needed something to concentrate on other than Jacob's penetrating stare.

He almost opened his mouth to make a sarcastic quip, but stopped himself in time. This wasn't the time, the place and definitely not the person to do that with. He sucked in a breath. "You're a lot like your daughter you know?" he asked after a second. There was no way either Carter would let him get away with avoiding the truth. They demanded honesty from him – which was good but difficult.

Jacob laughed. "I think it's more that she's like me."

"Mmm", Jack said, a slight grimace on his face. "Anyway, I'm fine."

"Jack!" Jacob scolded him. "The truth please."

"That is the truth Jacob." He lifted his head and looked the other man in the eye. " Do I still get the occasional nightmare? Yes. Do I still want to shoot the bastards that did this – yes. But what's come out of it makes everything worthwhile", he admitted. "If it hadn't been for those damn aliens, Sam and I – well, we'd be back to the way things were before."

"And this is better."

"Oh yeah – much better! I love her Jacob, more than you could possibly know."

"Then why didn't you do something about it years ago?" the older man asked.

"Why? Oh, for a bunch of reasons that seemed really important at the time but now – well, let's just say that now I wouldn't change things for the world."

"And what about the babies?"

He grinned. "At first I was pretty freaked out, if you want the truth. But now – now I can hardly wait."

"I always wondered if you'd want more children." Jacob spoke seriously, the specter of Jack's son rising between them.

Jack began to pick at the label on his bottle, not wanting to have this discussion, but knowing he owed it to the other man. He sighed and put the bottle down on the table. He might as well get this over with.

"I didn't think I did", he admitted. "In fact, that was one of the reasons I didn't -" his voice dropped off and he shrugged, knowing he didn't need to say more. "It's still – hard sometimes, but I'm gonna make damn sure I don't do anything so stupid this time."

Jacob nodded. "I know that Jack. I also know you'll be a great father. I saw you with Reetu Charlie and Cassie."

Jack looked at his future father-in-law gratefully. "I'm thinking of retiring", he suddenly told the older man.

"What?' Jacob looked at him in confusion. "Why? I thought the Air Force was okay with this?"

Jack shrugged. "Yeah – I guess. At least I figure they've decided this is the best solution but – I don't want to miss any of my kid's lives", he confessed. "With Charlie – well, I was gone a lot of the time and I missed some important things." He swallowed and it took a moment before he could continue. "I can never tell you how much I regret that now. I don't want that to happen with these kids."

"You could ask for an Earth based assignment. You don't have to go off-world, or even overseas anymore, not if you don't want to."

"I know but – I want to spend time with them and I'm not particularly concerned about my career at this point. I'll already have a great pension and I've put by a good nest egg. I spend most of my time off world so haven't needed to spend a lot. And then there's the fact that Sam is just reaching the peak of her career. If I stay home it will allow her to get ahead without worrying so much about the kids."

"Maybe, although I expect she'll still worry. She's a perfectionist and she'll want to be the perfect mother and the perfect officer. I don't know if it's possible."

"It's never possible to be a perfect parent", Jack said softly. "That's a lesson I learned the hard way." He suddenly grinned. "I'm working on Sam to loosen up a bit. By the time the kids graduate high school she may be a bit more relaxed."

Jacob laughed. "Don't count on it! Well Jack – all I can say is that as much as it was a bit of a shock, I am happy to have you be the father of my grandkids. I couldn't think of a better Dad."

"Thanks Jacob, that means a lot."

"It also means that you owe me an ice cream. I haven't had ice cream for way too long."

Jack laughed and stood up. "I'll see what we have. Sam may have finished it off though. She's been craving it." He walked slowly to the kitchen, feeling relieved at how well things had gone with Jacob. He was happy for himself, but even happier for Sam. He knew she'd worried about how her father would accept the news.

It was just as he pulled out the ice cream container that the phone rang. Thinking it might be Daniel or Teal'c, checking up on him, he reached out and picked up the phone. "Hello."

He listened for a few seconds, deep lines appearing on his forehead. "What? Janice, what are you saying?" There was a pause as she continued to speak. "Okay – look I'll be over right away. Just take it easy." He slowly hung up the phone and then walked out to the living room.

Jacob looked up at the Colonel and frowned. Jack looked extremely pale. "What's wrong?"

"Uh – that was Janet." He stopped and stared at the other man.

"And? What is it? Has someone been hurt?"

"No – no. It's Saeena."

"Saeena? What about her."

"She's gone", Jack answered. "She's left Janet's and taken her things with her. Janet has no idea where she's gone."

Jacob leapt to his feet. "What? Does she know when she left?"

"She things maybe – last night sometime."

"And she's only now discovered it?" Jacob asked sharply.

"She left early for work and didn't think of checking on Saeena. It was only when she got home that she realized she hadn't heard anything from the girl and went to check on her. It was then she discovered she was gone."

"But why and hell did she leave? I thought things were going well."

"So did I", Jack was swiftly gathering his keys and jacket. "Although we knew she wasn't totally happy. Damn it!"

"What about Sam?" Jacob stopped him just as he reached the front door. "She's gonna be pissed if you go without telling her."

Jack sighed and nodded. Quickly turning on the balls of his feet he took the stairs two at a time. "Sam", he called as he reached the bedroom door. "Sam, wake up."

She blinked and slowly sat up. It took her a second to realize that Jack's voice sounded strange. "What is it?"

"Saeena. Janet just called and she's gone. I told her I'd head to her place. You coming?"

"What?" She threw her legs over the side of the bed and stuck her feet in her shoes. "Yes of course. Where has she gone? Why has she gone?"

"Janet doesn't know. Let's go – we'll find out more when we get there." They said a quick goodbye to Jacob and left the house.

"Janet!" The doctor opened the door almost the instant they arrived, obviously waiting for them. "What's going on?"

"It's Saeena", Janet said, a heavy frown on her face. "She took her things and ran away."

"But why? What happened?" Sam stepped forward, followed by Jack. They stood in the hallway as they talked.

"Sit down", Janet indicated the living room with her head. "I think you need to hear it from Cassie. She's the one who knows what's going on."

"Cassie?" Jack looked at her in surprise. "What is this Janet?"

"Just wait. Cassie!" her mother called. "Come here."

There was silence for quite a few minutes as the three of them waited for the young girl. Janet called again and they could suddenly heard a door open and footsteps slowly make their way downstairs.

"Hey Cas", Jack smiled gently at her. "Your Mom says you know what's going on?"

The young alien woman kept her eyes focused on the floor and moved back and forth from one foot to the other. It was clear to the three adults that she was feeling uncomfortable.

"Cassie sweetheart, what is it?" Sam went to move towards her when the teenager moved away. "Cassie?" Sam glanced at Jack and frowned, wondering what was going on.

"Tell them", her mother instructed firmly but gently.

At that her daughter looked up, tears hanging from her eyelashes. "She didn't want you to take her baby", she whispered.

"What?" Jack practically shouted but forced himself to calm down when Sam glared at him. "What do you mean?" he repeated more softly. "Cassie, it's not her baby, it's ours."

"It may be yours Uncle Jack, but it's hers too and she didn't want you to take it."

Janet shook her head at her two friends, not sure what to make of this. "Come on, let's sit down. Cassie, you need to explain everything to Jack and Sam." She waited until everyone was seated and then sat down herself. "Now, tell us what Saeena said."

Cassie sniffed and again looked down. "She was unhappy because she said everyone was going to make her give up her baby because she wasn't from here and that Sam wanted it."

"But – Cassie, it's Sam's baby", her mother said.

"No it's not", the young girl said angrily. "It's Uncle Jack's and hers."

Jack rubbed his eyes, feeling a headache coming on. "Did she tell you that?"

"Yes."

"But it's not true", Sam finally spoke, trying not to sound angry or upset but finding it difficult. "It's mine Cassie. It's my baby."

"No it's not. She said you'd say that but it's not true. You already have a baby. She told me – she told me the aliens used Jack as the father but that she's the mother."

Jack blew out a deep breath, trying to keep from yelling at Cassie, knowing it would serve no purpose. "Cas – she lied. It's true that the aliens – uh – used me as the father, but Saeena is not the mother. Sweetheart, they created embryos from Sam and me and one of the aliens implanted one of them in Saeena."

Cassie pursed her lips together and refused to make eye contact with either of the people she'd always adored. She refused to believe what Jack was saying because if she did, then she'd have to admit that she'd helped Saeena leave. "No, it's not true", she said. "I'm sorry Sam but – but it's hers."

"Cassie, why would Jack or Sam lie to you? You know they've always told you the truth. It is their baby. Look, we all knew it was hard for Saeena, to carry someone else's child. That was the reason we got her someone to help her and to talk to. We all felt badly for her but the fact is, the baby isn't hers, it's Sam's and we need to know where she is."

"Please Cassie?" Sam's voice broke. "She's carrying my baby. I know what happened is hard – I feel horrible for her, but I can't let her take our child."

At that Cassie lifted her tear covered face. "Uncle Jack?" she said, suddenly sounding unsure. Her eyes traveled between the adults and suddenly her face crumpled. "No", she shook her head, but they could see that the truth was starting to sink in.

Jack stood up and quickly walked over to her, sat down and put his arms around her. "It's the truth Cas", he said softly. She immediately burst into loud tears.

They let her cry for a few minutes until finally Jack lifted her chin. "Cassie?"

"I'm sorry Uncle Jack", she sniffed. "I'm sorry Sam – I didn't – I thought – I'm so sorry!"

"We know Cassie and we're not angry", Sam told her, not entirely truthfully, although she knew the teenager hadn't meant any harm. "But we need to know what Saeena said. Do you know where she's gone?"

"No", Cassie shook her head. "She didn't tell me. She just wanted me to help her a bit. If I'd known – I'm sorry", she repeated. Jack gave her another hug and then let her go. "I'm going to call Hammond", he announced suddenly. "He'll authorize a search for her since this will be considered a major security issue."

"God Jack – where could she be?" Sam looked at him, her face appearing almost as upset as Cassie's.

"I don't know – but we'll find her Sam, don't worry."

"You'll be safe here Amy", the safe-house worker said, reaching out and taking the bag from the young pregnant woman standing in the entranceway.

"Thank you", Saeena said softly, sounding frightened. "If he finds me, I'm afraid he'll kill me!"

"Don't you worry! Your boyfriend will never find you that I promise."

The older woman turned away to lead her newest resident to her room. She missed the smile on the younger woman's face.