O'Neill Cabin
Silver Creek, MN
December 15, 1999

The morning after they had arrived at the cabin it started to snow and it hadn't stopped until late in the evening. Jack had suggested going for a little hike on his private land after breakfast to show them the area surrounding the cabin. Ife had almost run outside in her pajamas, eager to get some fresh air and explore – she wasn't used to being cooped up inside. If that hadn't been enough to convince Sam, the pleading look in her daughter's big blue eyes was.

They were on their way back to the cabin now, all bundled up. She was getting hungry and Ife seemed to have run out of energy, clinging to her and wanting to be carried earlier. Jack had taken over about fifteen minutes ago, despite his knee troubling him. Sam would have felt bad about it if it hadn't been for the matching grins on Jack and Ife's faces as he swung her around in the snow.

Sam bit her lip as she watched the two of them from a few feet away. She hadn't been sleeping well the past couple of days, nightmares plaguing her dreams since her argument with Jack over Ife's paternity and it left her tired, troubled and perhaps a bit emotional. Or maybe that was simply down to a guilty conscience. She'd had a perfectly good reason for keeping the truth from him at first, but the more time she spent with him the more she felt the guilt weighing her down.

He was a good father.

He didn't even know Ife was his and yet… Sam sighed and rubbed a cold hand over her face, suppressing a shiver. He'd confided in her about his late son and she knew he still felt responsible, but despite what he'd said, she could tell he'd been a good dad to Charlie. Maybe it was true that Jack was simply good with kids, but the way he treated Ife or looked at her spoke volumes…

"Sam?" He called out, turning back to her. "You coming?"

"Guess I'm not used to walking so much anymore," she said, as she caught up with him. It wasn't a total lie, because her leg muscles were actually cramping a bit and her feet still weren't used to the new boots.

Jack chuckled and gently tugged on her knitted cap to pull it down a bit. "You've just been cooped up in the house for too long. That's why you two coming up here with me seemed like a good idea."

She did her best to ignore the little flutter she felt at his gesture. "Yeah, well, maybe next time we can do a shorter hike."

"Sure can." He grinned and lifted Ife in his arms, "Might be best for the little munchkin, too."

Sam smiled when he pulled Ife closer against his chest and practically folded her into a giggling little fluff ball. She reached down to grab the girl's woolly hat when it fell and brushed off the snow, before pulling it back over her dark hair until only Ife's dark blue eyes were visible between the hat and her woolly scarf. "I think it's time for someone's nap."

Before Ife could protest as she'd become prone to do, Jack sighed dramatically. "Yes, a nap! I can't wait to snuggle into a blanket somewhere warm."

His remark elicited even more giggles from Ife.

Despite the cold temperature Sam felt herself melt a little bit when Jack ducked his head to blow a raspberry in Ife's neck, just under her scarf. "Okay," she said, clearing her throat, "let's keep going. The sooner we get back to the cabin, the sooner I can eat – and you can nap."

"Yes Ma'am," Jack said, eyes twinkling.

They continued to trudge through the snow, Jack favoring his knee as he carried Ife and Sam trailed a bit behind them. Her mind was going light-years a minute as she contemplated telling Jack the truth. It was clear he was crazy about Ife, even if he had admitted being unsure about having more kids, and Sam had been guaranteed that she and Ife would be safe from prosecution or medical experiments.

There were no reasons left to keep him in the dark.

Except, maybe, his reaction. The longer she kept it from him, the harder it became to tell him the truth. She got the feeling he was one of those people who held grudges and he'd probably be upset to find out she'd known he was Ife's father all along – perhaps rightfully so.

Jack bumped her shoulder with his and she nearly lost her balance, startled from her thoughts. "Whoa! Easy, Sam."

"Sorry," she said sheepishly, "I was just thinking."

He shifted Ife in his arms and looked at her, "Anything you wanna share with the class?"

Sam suppressed a shiver at the cold and rubbed her bare hands together, shaking her head. "No."

"You okay?"

"Just a little bit cold."

He covered her hands with his free hand. It was warm and callused. "Why didn't you put on some gloves?"

There had been an extra pair in the cabin, which was good since she'd forgotten to buy any – and her off-world mittens had disappeared when she went into quarantine. "They felt… restrictive."

"Oh." He entwined his fingers with hers, his grip strong and secure, before slipping it into his warm coat pocket. "Better?"

"Hmm, yes." She slipped her free hand in her own coat pocket and leaned into his body, enjoying his warmth.

Once they reached the cabin, she went straight to the fireplace to warm herself and Jack headed to the bedroom to put Ife to bed. A little while later, he entered the living room with a steaming mug in his hand and joined her by the fireplace.

She smiled gratefully when he handed her the mug – hot cocoa. "Thanks."

"Still cold?"

"Yeah, just give me a few more minutes," she said, stepping even closer to the fire.

Jack moved away but returned a few seconds later with an afghan. He must have felt her tense when he draped it over her shoulders because immediately stepped aside to stand next to her. "I didn't mean to startle you, sorry."

Sam had learned early on that Jack was rather tactile but also cautious about how he touched her and when for which she was grateful – she suspected he held back on her account, too. But sometimes, it caught her off-guard and she couldn't check her body's reaction. It mostly happened when she didn't expect the touch or it reminded her of Klorel and, in this case, it was both. She forced herself to relax and pulled the blanket tighter around her with her free hand, pushing the memory of Klorel draping a robe around her to the dark place in her mind that stored all the bad things she'd experienced. "It's okay."

"So, um," Jack said, clearing his throat, "Ife practically fell asleep on the way to the bedroom."

"The hike wore her out."

He nodded, a small smile on his face. "Yeah, she finally got rid of that pent-up energy."

Sam knew what he meant. "The fresh air was good for her, too."

"For all of us and while I was kidding earlier, I'm pretty sure we could all use a nap now."

"Hmm, I'm exhausted."

He watched her as she took a sip of the hot cocoa, concern on his face. "You haven't been sleeping well."

She looked up at his statement, even though she knew he couldn't possibly know about her nightmares. "I'm fine. It's just the different surroundings, I guess."

"Right. Next thing you'll tell me it's the bed."

"Jack…"

He held up his hand to forestall her next words and leaned against the mantelpiece, facing her. "I understand if you don't want to talk about it. Just, don't lie to me, Sam."

She ducked her head and pretended to study the mug in her hands. "I didn't mean to. It's just-"

"It's personal," Jack said, interrupting her. "I get it. We all have nightmares. I don't think we can do the work we do or see what we see out there without it affecting us. Some more than others."

"Yeah."

He pried the mug from her and took a sip of the hot cocoa, before handing it back. "Why don't you go lie down on the sofa? Try and catch some shuteye. I'll whip up something for lunch."

"No, I'm good. Besides, I probably wouldn't fall asleep anyway if I know you're making lunch."

"Then at least curl up on the sofa to get warm. I can get you another blanket."

She shook her head and gently touched his forearm when he was about to move past her. "This is fine, thank you."

He watched her take a seat from his position against the mantelpiece. "You sure? It was pretty cold outside. Not like Colorado Springs and probably nothing like those balmy planets you and Bra'tac lived on."

"They weren't all balmy planets," she said, rolling her eyes.

"No?"

She smiled at his teasing and could feel herself relax in the pillows. "Nope. I think there may have been two or three cold ones. As a matter of fact, the planet Ife was born on was freezing cold."

The look in his eyes changed to something more serious. "Yeah?"

"It had snowed most of the day when she decided she wanted to get out," she said softly, a smile playing around her lips. The delivery had been hell, especially out there and on her own, but so worth it.

"Bra'tac couldn't have found you a nice sunny place?"

She snorted, shaking her head. "Hell, he thought I still had a month to go."

Jack had a thoughtful look on his face when he replied, "Right. The Doc mentioned something about it. That's why she thought Ife was born too early."

"Yeah…"

"But it all turned out all right," he said, after a beat.

Sam had expected something else from him. After spending so much time together, she'd gotten pretty good at reading him – when he let his guard down and didn't purposefully erect the blank mask to hide his thoughts. Maybe he was simply curious about the delivery but didn't want to pry. She'd only shared a few details with Doctor Fraiser, deciding the rest wasn't relevant to her and figured the woman had shared even less with Jack and General Hammond.

"What is it?" Jack asked softly, coming closer and taking a seat on the coffee table. "You can tell me, Sam."

His genuine concern only made her feel guiltier and she realized this was the perfect opportunity to tell him. It was time. Finally. She couldn't keep it from him any longer. "I-I, um, I don't think Ife was born prematurely."

He frowned and leaned forward, their knees only a few inches from each other. "Why?"

"Well, there weren't any complications."

"Fortunately."

She threw him a hesitant smile, her nerves back in full force. Back at his house, she'd used his computer and did some research on the internet – which had come a long way in the time she'd been off-world – when he was on duty. "I remember pretty much everything of the delivery."

He made a face, "Guess Bra'tac didn't have some neat Jaffa painkillers?"

"I read up on it," she said, ignoring his remark. "I think Bra'tac just miscalculated how far along I was because of all the different planets we stayed at."

"I guess that's possible. It's easy enough to get it wrong for someone who lives on Earth and doesn't have to deal with those pesky planet rotations. And then you'd have to pinpoint…"

Sam took a deep breath when he trailed off uncomfortably and decided to bite the bullet. "I didn't have to pinpoint-"

He touched her knee, an intense look in his eyes. "You don't have to tell me, Sam."

"I want to," she said, licking her lips nervously.

"Okay."

She looked down at where his hand lay on her knee and was tempted to cradle it between hers, but didn't want the rejection of him pulling away after she told him. "I know when Ife was conceived."

His fingers twitched but that was the only sign of how uncomfortable he was with the topic. "When you say know…"

"I mean I know."

"But the Doc said you'd been kept isolated after they captured you and that you lost the ability to keep track of tie," he said, frowning. "Unless… it happened after you escaped and you used the dates of SG-1's missions to narrow it down."

She knew he meant their mission to Apophis' ship and the few times they'd met up off-world, "I didn't have to, Jack."

His frown deepened and he sat back, creating more distance between them. "What do you mean?"

"I wasn't raped after I escaped the ship."

"Then… how?"

Biting her lip, Sam tried to steel herself for his reaction. "I was already pregnant."

He ran a hand through his hair, but the unruly silver mess only made him look more confused. "But you said it wasn't Skaara."

"Technically, I guess you could say I was already pregnant when his Jaffa found me…"

"What?"

"She's yours, Jack."

He evaded her hand when she reached for him and got to his feet, "What? That's not possible."

Sam stood up but he immediately took a step back when she tried to approach him. "That night in DC," she reminded him. "The torn condoms."

"I remember," he said calmly. Too calmly. "But that was almost two and a half years ago. What the hell are you playing at, Sam?"

"I'm not playing at anything," she said, confused. "It's the truth."

He simply stared at her, disbelief written on his face. "That's impossible! It would mean Ife was born in… late April last year. She'd be almost twenty months old!"

"You know she was undernourished and I wasn't exactly in the best shape during the pregnancy either. Doctor Fraiser herself said Ife was small for her age."

"When she thought she was fifteen months old!"

Sam flinched at his tone, but wasn't about to give up. Carters aren't quitters. "Yeah, well, guess what? She made a mistake. You've seen how much Ife has changed since we got settled on Earth; do you really think she behaves like a normal fifteen-month old?"

He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again. There was a pensive look on his face as he thought about what she'd just said. "If that's the case, then why did you lie about it? Why let everyone believe Skaara-"

"Because it was safer," she said, interrupting him. "I swear, I wanted to tell you all along but I couldn't. Not right away."

"You knew? All this time?"

Sam nodded slowly, "Yeah."

He was clenching his jaw and the anger in his eyes flared up. "You let me believe… Damn it, Sam."

"She's yours, Jack. I swear. We could ask Doctor Fraiser to do a DNA test, if you want."

"Christ," he muttered, scrubbing a hand over his face. His eyes darted around the cabin, looking anywhere but at her. Finally, he sighed and pushed off the mantelpiece. "I'm gonna go out. I need some space, I'll be back later."

All Sam wanted to do was stop him, but she recognized the urge to be alone to think things through. So, she stepped aside and let him pass. Her gaze remained locked on her feet, unable to watch him leave.

Hours later, Jack parked the truck in front of the cabin and turned off the engine. The sun had already set and it was dark outside, but he could see some light coming from the living room. He briefly wondered if Sam and Ife had dinner yet before getting out of the truck. It was just a few steps to the front door but he was freezing by the time he closed it behind him and could absorb the warmth in the cabin.

It was quiet inside and for a moment he thought Sam had taken Ife and left, before shaking off the irrational fear; he'd taken the truck, after all. He still wasn't entirely sure what to think of the whole situation, but he did know he'd been the first to question Ife's light coloring and whether Skaara really was her biological father…

The light in the living room turned out to be on for no reason, as Sam and Ife were nowhere to be found. The cabin wasn't huge so it didn't take him long to check everywhere else until he located them in the master bedroom. Sam was out for the count, sprawled across the bed, but Ife was sitting up and appeared to be playing with Sam's braid.

"Dack!" Ife called out, dropping the braid and instead crawling towards him over the comforter.

Jack felt his heart ache at her enthusiasm over seeing him and before he realized it, he'd walked over and picked her up from her bed. "Hey there," he whispered, "let's not wake Mommy, okay?"

"'Kay."

Sam was still fast asleep, sprawled out, shirt twisted around her torso and some of her hair had escaped her braid and was sticking out. Despite the hours on his own, Jack had no idea what to think of what she'd said or how he felt about it. But he still felt the same thing he always did when he found her asleep like that, so he decided they could talk later and pulled the comforter up to her chin.

He exited the room with Ife on his hip before he accidentally woke Sam – no matter how he felt about her at the moment, he knew how little rest she'd gotten the past few days. "You hungry, munchkin?"

"Uh-uh."

"No?" He couldn't help but smile when Ife shook her head and laid it on his shoulder, her arms wrapping around his neck. "Guess you had a big lunch."

He figured Ife had enough of sleeping, so Jack took her to the living room and sat down at the floor on the blanket they'd designated her play area. She only clung to his shirt for a moment before her gaze fell on the few toys she had and her attention was diverted. He let her crawl from his lap and pick a toy, debating with himself whether to stay there or do… well, something else. Something useful, maybe. But he wasn't very hungry despite the morning hike and skipping lunch after Sam had dropped her little bomb, and he couldn't bring himself to ignore the toddler in front of him now that he knew there was a possibility she was his daughter.

Ife had a pensive look on her little face as she eyed the few toys she had and he watched as she grabbed the latest addition. The blocks used to belong to Charlie and had been gathering dust in what used to be the boy's bedroom, so when Jack came across them a few days ago he'd given them to Ife. Watching her play with them hurt a little, but in a good way.

She looked so small sitting there that he found it hard to believe she was twenty months old. At the same time, he'd been wondering why Ife didn't look anything like Skaara since he first laid eyes on her. Jack kept observing her, mentally comparing her to Charlie and searching for any resemblance. Then again, Charlie had started looking more and more like Sara as he grew older – the only time he'd been the spitting image of Jack had been as a baby.

Jack grabbed some of the colored blocks to Ife's left and scooted a bit closer, using them to start building something of his own. He smirked when the girl stopped and watched him, her eyes following the movements of his hands. "You want some of these?"

"Me," Ife said, holding out her hands.

"Yeah?" He asked, tickling her tummy with his free hand until she erupted into a fit of giggles. She looked like a young version of Sam, dimples and all, as she giggled. "How about we share, munchkin?"

She shook her head, "Uh-uh. Gimme."

He raised a brow in surprise, reminded of how he'd said something similar the other day – he'd forgotten how quickly kids adopted words they heard around him. "If we share, we can both play."

"Want that," she said in a plaintive tone, reaching for him.

Jack avoided her little hands and added another block to his structure, before grabbing a brightly colored one and offering it to her. He figured she was probably too young to understand the concept of sharing toys fully, but they had to start somewhere, right? "This one is for you, Ife."

She wordlessly grabbed it and, after a moment, added it to her collection, a small smile on her face.

"Now, this one is for me," he said, grabbing a new block.

"Mine."

He couldn't suppress a smile when she grabbed one he offered her and repeated the action, taking a block for himself before offering her another one.

Ife looked at him expectantly, grabbing the block as soon as he showed it to her.

Suddenly, he was struck by the smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she admired the latest addition to her collection of blocks. It reminded him an awful lot of… himself. Sara used to call it his smug little smirk. He got to his feet and picked Ife up in one fell swoop, "Hold that thought, munchkin."

With her in his arms, he dashed over to the guest bathroom and stepped in front of the mirror, turning so that Ife was looking at it as well. He waved at their reflections when her little smirk threatened to make way for a confused look… and yep, there it was again. Jack focused on his own reflection and forced a smile. The first attempt looked more like a grimace but at the second try he couldn't miss the similarity to the smile tugging at Ife's lips.

"Guess there's no denying now, eh?"

Ife simply blinked at him.

He'd just taken her back to the living room, his mind going a mile a minute, when he heard the door to the master bedroom open and close.

"Ife?" Sam's voice rang out before she appeared from around the corner, all rumpled and sleepy.

"Hey."

Her eyes widened in surprise and ran a hand through her hair self-consciously, only succeeding in making it stick out more. "You're back."

He shrugged, "A little while ago."

"Oh."

"Did you… uh, get enough space?"

Jack sighed and glanced from her to Ife, who he was still holding. "She's got my smirk."

Sam's whole posture relaxed, "Your hair, too."

"Poor kid."

She snorted and shook her head, either in disbelief or disagreement. "So…" She said after a beat, watching him, "You believe me?"

The whole thing still confused him and he was hurt that she'd kept it from him, but he couldn't deny the resemblance now that he'd started looking for it. "I just don't understand why you didn't tell me."

"I-"

"You let me – and everyone else – believe she was Skaara's."

Wincing, Sam looked away for a moment. "I had my reasons."

Jack clenched his jaw, feeling his anger rise again. Slowly, he turned and set Ife down on her blanket. He didn't want to argue in front of the girl – his girl – but he didn't feel comfortable leaving her on her own with a fireplace in the room, either. He was all too aware of how easily a child could hurt themselves… "That's it? You decided not to tell me because you had your reasons, even though you've known from the start that she was mine?"

"I couldn't risk anyone finding out."

"Why?"

She looked at him in disbelief. "Because the Goa'uld were intent on wiping out all life on Earth – and Apophis and Klorel especially wanted you dead. If they'd found out about Ife… they would have used her against you."

The two Goa'uld had been less than thrilled with him over fighting back and getting Teal'c to switch sides. "You could have told me," he said in a steely tone. "Not once did you mention her existence when we met up off-world. All you said was that you had 'responsibilities'."

"You'd have preferred me telling you that you had a daughter when I saved you from Hathor?"

"Afterwards, yeah. Or any of the other times we met up. You should have told me, Sam. Hell, it's been a month since you introduced us and you never said anything."

Sam seemed to deflate a bit, her shoulders sagging. "To be honest, I didn't know if you'd believe me," she said, softly. "Back when we were off-world, my priority was keeping Ife safe and that meant hiding her."

Jack sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. He'd been furious when she told him that morning but he knew he had to keep his feelings in check. The fact that she'd lied to him, especially after he'd confided in her about Charlie, hurt. It had crossed his mind that perhaps she hadn't told him because of what happened to Charlie, but after taking off he'd thought about it some more and didn't think that was the case. He just couldn't understand why she'd lied for so long and finally decided to tell the truth. "And that meant hiding her from me, too? You gave us a lock of your hair, so don't give me that crap about not believing you – you're a scientist and you're obviously aware of DNA testing."

"We had a one-night stand over a year ago, Jack," she said. "We barely knew each other. I had no idea how you felt about kids and even if you'd believed me and been happy about it, it could have made you reckless in your pursuit of Grieves and the people he worked for. I didn't want you to take unnecessary risks to get Ife to Earth as soon as possible."

"So you made the choice for me."

There was a stubborn glint in her eyes when she lifted her chin. "She was my responsibility."

He threw up his hands, "That's exactly my point! She's our daughter, so she's our responsibility!"

"Look," Sam said in a calm tone, "I understand you're upset, but I had a choice to make back then and I chose to keep Ife safe."

"But you still waited a month to tell me," he said, working his jaw. "You've both been living with me this whole time and you let me believe that she was Skaara's or, worse, that you'd been raped after you escaped the Goa'uld. Would you even have told me if I hadn't questioned whether Ife was harsesis?"

She reached out and put a hand on his arm, her blue gaze holding his. "I wanted to tell you all along, Jack. I guess I was waiting for the right time."

He couldn't hide the skepticism in his voice when he replied, "And today was the right time?"

"I would have preferred a different way to tell you, but I didn't want to keep it from you any longer. You're so good with her and she's really fond of you, too."

"You should have told me the truth after the quarantine was lifted. Christ Sam, she's my daughter!"

Sam started pacing in front of the fireplace with a pensive expression on her face and he could feel himself calm down a bit as she tried to find a way to explain herself. "I knew about Amaunet's pregnancy and Daniel told me about how he helped his wife during the delivery. If I'd told the truth about Ife from the start then people would have known that meant I was in control of Herit during the pregnancy."

It took Jack a moment to realize what she was saying and suddenly some of his question were answered. "So, basically, that you'd been in control all along, even when the Goa'uld were about to attack Earth."

"Yeah."

"That was why you wanted a guarantee that you wouldn't be charged with anything," he said as realization dawned on him. Collaborating with the enemy, sharing intel with aliens, treason – the list went on. "It wasn't about Grieves and his accusations about you and the stolen technology we'd already retrieved from the Rogue NID."

She shrugged, neither confirming or denying. "I knew you wouldn't say a word if I had told you everything, but I didn't want you to feel trapped either."

"What are you talking about?"

"Like I said, we didn't know each other very well, but you had proven to be honorable and loyal. I figured you'd offer to do the 'right thing' if you knew about Ife."

For someone who didn't know him very well she certainly had him pegged. "I wouldn't force anything on you, Sam. But yeah, I would have insisted on being a part of Ife's life."

"And you are."

"But not as her dad," he argued.

Her expression was unreadable when she looked from him to her – their – daughter and back, a small smile playing at her lips. "You've been more involved with her than I'd expected when I accepted your offer to stay at your place," she admitted. "Maybe you weren't officially her dad but you were the closest thing to a father she's ever had."

As much as that meant to him, it was different. "It's not the same."

"I know." She looked down at her hands, which she was nervously wringing. "I swear I wanted to tell you the truth. I figured I'd get to know you a little bit better and find out if you even liked kids, but then you told me about Charlie and I knew I couldn't just dump it all on you. It would have felt like I was trying to replace him. So, I waited… and the longer I waited, the harder it was to tell you."

"I guess that makes sense." Jack turned and ran a hand through his hair, trying to process everything. He could understand some of her reasoning, but not all of it. Her keeping such a big secret from him didn't feel right. But she had told him. Considering the circumstances, she was still taking a big risk even now – and she didn't have to. She could have just claimed someone other than him or Skaara was Ife's father. Instead, Sam told him the truth and gave him a second chance at fatherhood. A daughter. A little girl who already had a place in his heart.

"Jack?"

He looked at her and sighed, "Look, I'm not happy you kept this from me for so long, but I'm not mad either."

Sam appeared surprised. "You're not?"

"It's a lot to take in, but you clearly gave it a lot of thought before you came to a decision. You were out there, off-world, and had to fend for yourself with little hope of returning home. How could I blame you for choosing to keep our daughter safe? I just wish you'd told me earlier, but you had your reasons."

"You have no idea how much that means to me," she said, clearly relieved. "Thank you."

Jack glanced at an oblivious Ife and smiled as he watched her play. She was his child. He had a daughter. With Sam. Somehow, he'd been given a second chance to be a dad and he wasn't going to mess it up this time. "She's our little girl, Sam."

Sam touched his hand cautiously, until he caught it in his. Their fingers entwined as they looked to Ife. "Yes, she is."