O'Neill Residence
Colorado Springs, CO
November 20, 1999

Light was already streaming into the guest room when Jack woke up. After years in the military, he didn't need an alarm clock to wake him. He stretched his tall frame before getting up, and pulled the curtains open.

Scrubbing a hand over his face, he headed for the guest bathroom on the other side of the hallway. Yesterday had been packed with meetings and he hadn't had a lot of time to eat in between them and skipped dinner in favor of checking on Sam, which meant he was hungry. He took care of business in the bathroom and decided a shower would wait until after breakfast.

Back in the bedroom he pulled on yesterday's jeans and sweater, having forgotten to take some clean clothes with him last night. After opening the window, he left the room but stopped at the door to the master bedroom on his way to the kitchen. The house sounded quiet as usual and he was struck with how strange it felt to listen to the sound of other people in his house.

The only guests that ever slept over were his teammates and it had been months since that had happened because his undercover mission had forced him to somewhat alienate himself from them. Cassie Fraiser would sometimes sleep over when the Doc allowed it, but the alien girl had reached the age where sleepovers with friends were considered much more fun.

The kitchen floor was cold to his bare feet but he ignored it and opened the fridge. There was so much food in there he had a hard time deciding what to have for breakfast.

Maybe he'd bought a bit too much last night…

Jack settled on an omelet with bacon on the side and put everything he needed on the counter, before chopping up some veggies. He made coffee and toast while he waited for the bacon and eggs to be done. There was an old newspaper on the kitchen table and he worked on the crossword puzzle while having his breakfast.

He cleared out the dishwasher and moved around the house to pick up dirty dishes from earlier that week when he was done. There weren't many but he loaded everything into the dishwasher anyway, collected a takeout box, some old beer caps, a few magazines and newspapers from the living room and cleaned the table surfaces. He hadn't been expecting company, although the house wasn't really a mess. Still, he didn't want Sam to feel uncomfortable or have Ife come across his stash of beer caps and swallow them or something.

Once he was done he got another cup of coffee and watched some television. He went out to get the newspaper when it was delivered and read some articles, chuckled over the cartoons and filled out a few words in the crossword puzzle.

There still wasn't any sign of life from Sam when he was done, so he decided to check on her and the baby. If they were fast asleep, they wouldn't even notice him grabbing his razor from the ensuite bathroom and some clean clothes from his dresser.

The bedroom was dark when he opened the door and it took him a moment to make out the shapes in his bed. Sam's blonde hair was fanned out over the pillow and the first thing to catch his eye. It looked like she'd sprawled out comfortably under the comforter, which reached just past her waist. Ife, on the other hand, was completely uncovered and curled up to Sam's side, her hair a dark contrast with Sam's pale skin. Skin of which he could see quite a bit… Jack averted his gaze when he realized her shirt was partially unbuttoned, exposing part of a firm and round breast. She probably exchanged the t-shirt he gave her last night for a button-down shirt for easy access to breastfeed Ife…

He tiptoed farther into the room and retrieved what he needed from his bathroom, before moving back to fetch clothes from his dresser. When he cast a final glance at the sleeping twosome in his bed, he was surprised to see Ife sitting up and looking at him. "Go back to sleep munchkin." He smiled when she yawned in response and waited until she lay back down before leaving the bedroom and closing the door behind him.

He got showered, shaved and dressed in the guest bathroom and was in the living room looking through his albums when he heard the sound of a door opening and closing. Thinking it was Sam, he glanced over his shoulder to greet her but there was no one there. Frowning, he went back to his CDs and popped one of his favorite operas in the stereo.

A startled gasp had him turning around fully, searching eyes landing on the little girl standing in the hallway.

"Well, hello," he said softly, smiling. "How did you get here?"

Ife was looking around, a small frown on her face. It took him a moment to realize she was looking for the source of music and then her gaze landed on him again. "Pee."

"Pee?" He questioned, before noticing the way she was standing. "Oh, you need to pee."

"Yes." He was rewarded with a beaming smile that reminded him of Sam.

Jack wondered why she wasn't wearing a diaper and suddenly recalled he hadn't seen any in the bag Sam had taken with her from the infirmary. Had she forgotten to pack them? How had she dealt with it overnight? "Um…" He walked over to Ife and reached out a hand, mildly surprised when she grabbed it without hesitation considering her earlier shyness. "Let's get you to the bathroom."

To his surprise, she confidently walked up to the toilet, pushed down her underwear and simply stood there, "Up."

"Okay." He lifted her up onto the seat and held on for fear of her losing her balance, but it all went off without a hitch. Sam must have done the same thing with her last night and perhaps even in the infirmary, since Ife didn't seem to have any issues with using the toilet.

"Done."

Before Jack could do or say anything, she slipped off the toilet and pulled up her underwear before toddling off. Okay, so maybe she didn't have the whole bathroom routine down entirely, but he was still impressed. If he recalled correctly, Sara hadn't started potty training Charlie until he was about two and a half – and they'd started with a potty, not the toilet.

He wondered if Doctor Fraiser knew, because he was pretty sure that meant the girl was closer to a year and a half than a year old…

He found Ife in the hallway, trying to open the bedroom door. "What'cha doing, munchkin?"

"Momma," she said, in the most plaintive voice he'd ever heard.

"Do you want to go back to bed or your mommy?"

Ife sat gracelessly down onto the floor and sighed. "Momma."

Jack leaned down, ignoring his aching knees, "I think your mommy is still asleep, but let's take a look." He reached out and lifted the girl into his arms, before straightening up and opening the door to peek into the bedroom. Sam had rolled onto her side, but appeared to still be asleep. "See," he whispered, "Mommy is asleep."

Leaning back in his arms, Ife pouted. "Hungwy."

He closed the door and headed towards the kitchen. "Well, we can do something about that," he said, tickling her tummy.

Ife giggled and hid her face in his neck.

In the kitchen, Jack took a bowl from the cupboards and got some fruit and juice from the fridge. It had been a long time since he'd cared for someone as young as Ife and he wasn't sure how much she ate, so he just put a couple of berries in the bowl. He'd rather give her more later or have Sam feed her, than give her too much.

He walked over to the kitchen table before realizing the chair would be too low for the girl, so he went to the living room and put the bowl onto the coffee table. "I'm just gonna put you down onto the sofa, okay? Then I'll be back with some fruit juice."

Ife simply blinked at him, not saying a word.

To be honest, Jack was surprised she'd said as much as she had, considering he hadn't heard her speak at all at the SGC. He left her on the sofa and went back to the kitchen to pour her the promised juice. There were no plastic cups and he hadn't thought to buy a sippy cup when he and Daniel were in the baby store, so he grabbed a glass and hoped for the best. He had just left the kitchen when he heard a loud bang, followed by loud cries.

"Crap!" A million scenarios flashed through his head before he'd reached the living room and found Ife crying on the floor, in front of the sliding door to the patio. He set the glass on the table and rushed over, kneeling next to the girl. "Hey, what happened?"

Ife simply continued crying, tears rolling down her face.

"C'mere," he pulled her into his arms and rubbed her back in a hopefully soothing manner. "Hush, now munchkin. You're gonna be fine. Ssh."

Slowly but surely, the crying stopped and when Jack got a good look at her, he saw a big bump forming on her forehead. A quick glance at the glass door confirmed his suspicions and he silently berated himself for not keeping a closer eye on her. She'd probably never encountered a glass door or window before…

Jack spoke soft, comforting words to Ife as he took her back to the kitchen, breakfast forgotten, and got a bag of frozen peas from the freezer. He threw a towel over the bag and made Ife sit on the counter to get a closer look at her bump. "This is going to be a bit cold, but it'll help with the pain. I promise," he added, when she just looked at him with wide eyes.

Ife whimpered, her bottom lip trembling as if she was about to burst into tears again.

"You're gonna be okay, munchkin."

After icing her forehead for a few minutes, Jack tossed the bag of peas in the sink and examined the damage. Her forehead was damp and her cheeks tear stained, so he wetted the towel and used it to wipe her little face. The gesture seemed to calm her down and he smiled at her, hoping the worst was over. Using a dry corner of the towel, he wiped her face dry and was surprised to see how pale her forehead was. Her eyes and cheeks were still red from all the crying, but he was pretty sure he'd just removed the final layer of mud on the girl's face. Fraiser had told everyone her theory about Ife's rash and how scrubbing her skin clean could worsen it, but that had been days ago. He'd expected the last traces of mud to have already been removed and hoped his actions wouldn't have any consequences for her health.

"There, all better!" He said, in the most cheerful tone he could muster.

Ife reached for her forehead, wincing when she touched the bump. "Ow."

Jack held her in place with one hand and opened the fridge with his other. "There's just one more thing to make you good as new," he said, grabbing the butter. He scooped some butter up with his finger and reached for her forehead. "My grandma always put butter on my bumps and bruises when I was a kid," he told the girl. "It helps with the swelling and makes them go away faster."

"Gwandma."

"Yeah, a grandma is… like my mommy's mommy."

The concept of a grandparent seemed to go beyond Ife's understanding. Instead, she smiled. "Hungwy."

"Right, breakfast. We forgot all about that. How about this time I just stay on the sofa with you, okay?"

Sam slowly woke up but refused to open her eyes just yet and instead stretched her tall frame, before snuggling back into the warm comforter. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept so comfortably and was reluctant to get out of bed. Her eyes popped open though when she realized she couldn't sense Ife nearby. A quick look around the room gave no indication of where her daughter was.

Panic welled up inside of her and she dashed off to the bathroom, but Ife wasn't there either. When she came back into the bedroom, Sam's eyes caught sight of the alarm clock and she was stunned to see half the morning had already passed.

Maybe Ife was with Jack?

Sam went over to the dresser with Jack's clothes and retrieved a pair of black boxers. The sweat pants he'd given her last night had proven to be too warm in bed, so she'd only worn the shirt and exchanged that for a long-sleeved button-up shirt in the middle of the night. She put on the boxers and buttoned up shirt before going into the hallway.

She stumbled into the kitchen by accident, but no one was there. Last night, she hadn't really taken a look around, so she had no idea of the house's layout. It turned out the kitchen was connected to a simple dining room and beyond that was a sunken living room. "Ife? Jack?"

"Over here," Jack called out, his hand appearing on the other side of the half-wall. "There are steps to the living room on your left."

In the living room, she found the two of them on the sofa, watching TV. "Hey."

"Good morning," he said. "Sleep okay?"

"Yeah, I slept really well, actually. Thanks again for putting up with us."

Jack turned to face her, a mildly exasperated look on his face. "I told you, it's fine. Don't worry about it."

She nodded in understanding but quite honestly couldn't imagine having done the same thing if their roles had been reversed. "I hope Ife didn't wake you up."

"Nah, I was already up."

"I didn't mean to sleep so late."

He shrugged, "Guess you needed it."

Sam was starting to feel self-conscious as he kept his gaze on her, a small smile playing on his lips. It had been a long time since she'd worried about looking good for a man and suddenly felt frumpy and unkempt. She hadn't even gotten dressed properly and was probably suffering from a severe case of bed hair. His smile turned into a grin when she quickly ran a hand through her hair to tame it and she figured it was no use. "Has Ife been good? She's been unusually shy since we got to Earth so… what's that?"

"Don't worry, it's just a small bruise," Jack said, when her eyes landed on the bump on Ife's forehead. "Damn glass door. I'll get some of those bird stickers or something."

"Uh, that's okay."

"No, I don't want it to happen again."

Sam figured Ife would learn soon enough that the glass doors were solid after the encounter. "You don't need to make adjustments to your house."

He shrugged. "Nothing wrong with baby proofing it when there's an actual baby in the house. Hell, my knees would probably appreciate some of those cushion thingies to cover the sharp edges of that damn coffee table."

"Jack…"

Ife started squirming, drawing both their attention, and reached for her. "Momma."

He waited until she took her from him before he spoke again, gesturing at the baby. "I hope you don't mind me taking care of her. I mean, you were fast asleep and I didn't want to wake you. You looked like you needed the rest. I just iced it for a few minutes and then put some butter on it. To reduce the swelling."

"Thank you." She caressed her daughter's hair and gently ran her finger down her forehead, circling the bump. Ife didn't react, seemingly already having forgotten about the injury. Sam turned back to him, smiling gratefully. "I really appreciate what you did. Both for her and letting me sleep. I swear, this won't happen again. You offered us a place to stay until my financials and everything has been sorted, but I don't expect you to take care of Ife for me. Next time, I'll set the alarm and if she does wake up early, feel free to wake me."

Jack got up and made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "It's fine, Sam. These things can happen and I don't mind. As a matter of fact, I think Ife and I had a lot fun, didn't we?" He reached out and caressed Ife's cheek, who smiled before shyly hiding her face in Sam's neck again. "Why don't you two take a seat and I'll make you some breakfast. Ife already had some fruit and juice, so I'm pretty sure she's had her fill. How do pancakes sound, Sam?"