The day of the funeral began with a light drizzle, as if the heaven themself was mourning Jacob Carter. However, as friends and family gathered at the cemetery, the clouds parted and the sun broke through, shining as if to celebrate his life.
Sam stood between her two families, her family by blood with Pete on her right side and her chosen family to her left. First came Jack, between him and Daniel was Cassandra, who had recently lost another mother with Janet, and at the end came Teal'c and General Hammond. Sam and both Generals were wearing their dress blues, everyone else was dressed in black. In times like that her uniform was a comforting item, it helped her find strength not to break out in tears.
She took a quick glance over her shoulder to see that the cemetery was filled with military personnel. Half the SGC was here to support her and to say goodbye to a man they had all looked up to. Mark was overwhelmed by the crowd, not having known that his father was deeply appreciated by so many people.
Jack was the first one to recognize the black limousine guarded by two black Jeeps, all secured with armored glass. Mainly unnoticed by most of the people, President Hayes made his way around the crowd to stand next to Hammond. He, Hammond and Jacob had been a unit and served together in their younger days. And knowing what Jacob had done recently, saving the planet a few times it was important to him to say goodbye personally. Looking eyes with Sam first he then greeted the rest of his favorite front line team with just a firm nod, not to draw anymore attention on himself.
What Sam didn't know was that Hammond had asked Jack to say a few words, Hammond could have done it easily by himself, but as Jack was the base commander now this duty would be on him, and he did it with great pride.
When he stepped forward he pushed Cassie towards Sam, to fill the space he left behind.
During his eulogy his eyes never lost Sam's.
"You all know I'm a man of few words, but when it comes to Jacob Carter I've got a lot to say. He was not only an astounding commander, he was a role model for so many of us, a good friend and for me a person I could always turn to. When I met Jacob for the first time I jokingly called him 'Dad', he never asked me to stop that and I never did. So for me he was a father figure as well, maybe more than my own. I will miss those evenings he found me in my office to play a round of chess and drink the disgusting whiskey he really liked. I'm sure each and everyone of you has a similar comforting memory of Jake. Let's not mourn but celebrate the great man he was. He has formed and inspired many of us. Thank you for everything Jake!"
Jack took a moment to silently say goodbye before he stepped down and took his place again between Sam and Cassie.
Throughout the entire funeral she was the brave soldier that she used to be, only faltering a bit when the flag was folded and handed to her. She held the flag in her right arm, a sign for Pete to leave her be. She told him beforehand she didn't want any contact at the grave of her father, not sure if she could remain composed otherwise and he understood her.
However when the casket was lowered a tear escaped and made its way across her cheek. That didn't go unnoticed by Jack and his index finger brushed the back of her hand. It linked with her index finger for just a few seconds and it was enough to give her strength to overcome the rest of the funeral.
Mark was stunned how many people hugged his sister and offered their condolences to him before they left and made their way towards Jack's home. He offered to hold the funeral service afterwards as Sam's home wasn't nearly big enough and her new home with Pete wasn't ready at all. Dixon and Reynolds offered to let the guests in and keep an eye on them until they arrived.
Hayes left Hammonds side to approach Sam, so Cassie took the opportunity to hug George, who has been like a grandfather to her since she arrived on earth, like Jacob has been when he was here.
As she was old enough now to make her own decisions and was away at college only few people knew that actually Jack and Sam are her legal guardians. Only SG-1 and the man who had his arms around her just now knew about it.
When the President stood in front of Sam she saluted before she took the hand he offered her to tell her how sorry he was for her loss. Her brother observed this scene curious. He knew his sister and their father did an important job, but he never had guessed that they personally knew President Hayes.
"Colonel, I'm so sorry for your loss. We all lost a great man with Jacob. I even lost a friend. Sure you're aware of the fact that he saved my life in Vietnam."
"Thank you, Sir!" She smiled slightly, "Yes, he told me. And I have to admit he was a little proud of it."
Hayes laughed. "I can imagine that, and he had every right to be proud. It was a tough rescue mission and if it wasn't for Jacob Carter, George and I wouldn't be here today. You're a lot like your father, Colonel! I know he was proud of you."
"We're both very stubborn, I know. I was told before."
"That's a good characteristic, keep it. And Colonel Carter, I just wanted to say sorry for the other thing I wasn't very helpful with. I just couldn't. I hope someday you'll understand how valuable you both are."
She nodded until she found her voice to answer him. "I know, Sir. I won't question your decision." She needed to change the subject, otherwise she couldn't guarantee not to burst into tears. "Mr. President, do you know my brother, Mark?"
Sensing what she was trying to do he helped and followed along.
"No, we haven't met yet." He turned towards Mark, who also introduced his wife and children.
Daniel came up to Sam to inform her that Teal'c, Cassie, Hammond and himself were going to leave to give a hand to Reynolds and Dixon. Jack stayed behind because he offered to drive Sam's brother, she had come with Pete.
As everyone was ready to leave Hayes held Jack back.
"A word, Jack, please!"
"Of course, Mr. President!"
He handed his keys to Mark's wife and told them to wait for him in his car, he knew this wouldn't take long. Feeling Sam's eyes on him, he tried to ignore her.
"Jack, I wanted to talk to you face to face. I know we talked about it over the phone, but it was important to me to explain it again."
"You don't need to. I do understand, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I dedicated my life to the service and I never asked for anything in return. I lost a family and now I'm denied another one. Please forgive me if I'm being rude, but it's a sensitive topic for me. However I keep doing my job you don't need to worry."
Hayes swallowed, taking in his honesty.
"As I told Colonel Carter, I'm sorry."
Jack just nodded when Hayes continued.
"Who was the man beside her? I didn't recognize him."
"Her fiancé!"
"She's going to get married?" The President couldn't believe what he heard.
"Yes, she is! It wouldn't be fair to ask her to wait, would it?"
"No Jack, probably not."
The atmosphere in Jack's backyard was filled with laughter and tears as people reminisced about Jacob Carter. The warmth of the sun contrasted with the somber occasion, creating a unique blend of celebration and sorrow.
Amidst the laughter, there were also poignant moments.
Jack looked around at the faces of those who loved Jacob. It was a bittersweet reminder of the impact Jacob had on their lives. In that moment, the stories flowed freely, each one a testament to a man who gave so much without realizing.
Looking around Jack didn't see Sam anywhere, he suspected she had gone to change clothes, as most of the military people already left. Just a few officers from the SGC, Jake's family, Pete and SG-1 were left.
About to head to his bedroom to get rid of his dress blues himself he was stopped by Pete.
"She wanted to change into something comfortable, but I think she's hiding somewhere. I'm not that great a help because I haven't known her father well enough."
Jack nodded, understanding what Pete was asking him.
"I'm going to have a look at her. I'm sure she'll be outside again soon."
"Thank you!"
He stepped into the cool comfort of his living room, taking off his tie was his first task, getting out of his jacket the second. With both items of clothing over his arm he stopped in front of the guest room. There was no answer to his knock, so he opened the door carefully just to find the room empty. Only her dress blues lay neatly folded on top of the duvet.
There was just one other spot he knew she could be, but before going there he needed to change. He was looking forward to his blue jeans and that worn black sweater.
Again he was climbing up the ladder to his roof where just two days ago he had his conversation with Daniel. Now it was him taking the vacant chair next to her. He sat down and leaned back before he closed his eyes, arms resting on the armrest, hands on his knees.
She sat the same way as him.
"Well, that happened."
"Yeah, hard to believe that he won't come around the corner demanding to be right."
She chuckled, knowing her dad would only do this with people he liked and respected deeply.
"Yeah. What did Hayes want? Earth is not on the verge of destruction, huh?"
"No!" Jack laughed bitterly. "He wanted to apologize."
"Apologize, what for?"
"For not being able to give me an out, for not letting me retire for good."
"Oh!"
"Yep, deep down inside him I think he regrets this as much as we do, but his hands are also tied."
"He told me." She confirmed, "Not in so many words, but I got the message."
"He was surprised that you're engaged." Her head snapped towards him, but he was smiling. "I told him it's none of his business, so he changed the subject. How are you doing? Need some space?"
"It's okay, I just needed a moment of my own."
For a while they sat in silence before she began to speak.
"Thank you for everything today! And don't say 'it's nothing', it's so much and I appreciate everything. Being there for me and hosting the wake. I loved what you said about Dad." She smiled while she remembered. "I didn't know you and him were playing chess."
"Yes, well I'm not as good as you, but I do play chess. Every time he visited we played, from early on. I think it started because he wanted to make sure his daughter didn't have a total ass as CO. I meant it, Carter. He became much more of a father figure to me than my own."
"He loved you like a son. He didn't say, of course, but he never treated you any differently than me. And he liked to tease the hell out of you." She laughed out loud as she remembered the time when they were on Apophis' ship, fighting against the Replicators.
Jack laughed with her, he clearly remembered the same situation.
He held out his hand as he stood up. "Let's go back down before they send a search party. I'm pretty sure by now it's only family left."
She took his hand and got up too. Back down it really was just Mark, Penny, the kids, Pete, Daniel, Teal'c and Cassie left. Cassie took it upon herself to entertain the kids while the adults settled into seats around the large wooden table.
As it got dark Cassie approached Jack, wrapping her arms around him from behind. "Daaad!" she exclaimed, her voice laced with a tone that Jack immediately recognized - one that signaled she was after something. Everyone else fell silent, their eyes wide in disbelief; they had never heard her address him like that before. She started it around the time Janet died and Jack became one of her legal guardians.
"What do you want, kiddo?"
"Can we build a campfire and roast some s'mores?"
"S'mores? Just how old are you?" Jack asked her, teasingly.
"Can you ever be too old for s'mores? And of course I thought about the kids." She nodded towards David and Lisa.
"Of course you did." He grumbled and lifted himself up. Looking at David and Lisa, he said: "So kids, who has made a campfire before?" Jack was met with two blank faces. He thought so. Mark seemed nice, but clearly not the outdoorsy kind of guy.
"Alright, first of all we need to make sure there's nothing lying around the spot that could catch fire. So we start with that. Cassie, would you go inside and gather the ingredients?"
With a quick salute she was gone, looking inside for everything they needed. And the kids had gone with Jack, getting their first lecture on how to build a proper fireplace.
"That was new!" Daniel stated when everyone else was following their own thoughts for a while.
"What do you mean Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked, but he was already aware what Daniel meant.
"I mean Cassie calling him 'Dad'."
Sam, who sat with her back against Pete's chest, his arms around her, was looking up to them.
"It isn't." Teal'c told them.
"What isn't?" Daniel wanted to know, raising one eyebrow, like the Jaffa always did.
"Cassandra Fraiser has started calling him 'Dad' not long after the passing of Dr. Fraiser. Around the time O'Neill and Colonel Carter became her legal guardians. I believe it's easier for her to lean on a father figure for a change when she has lost two mothers already."
Sam first felt a pang of jealousy, but with Teal'c's explanation that it might be harder to call someone 'Mom' again than going for a father this time she could accept that. And she was happy for Jack, if someone deserves to be a father it would be him.
She didn't recognize that Pete had stopped caressing her arms and was staring at her, just like Mark and Penny did. Only when her brother asked her about it did she become aware that whether he nor Pete knew about her guardianship over the young woman.
"It was noted in Janet's last will. She took her in and adopted her when they denied me to do so."
"You wanted to adopt a young girl?" Pete was curious.
"Yes, I wanted to, but with my job it wasn't an opportunity. Janet knew she couldn't have a child of her own and she was, with me, one of the first people who had contact with her. It was easy to fall in love with this kid, so she adopted her."
"Cassie is family to all of us." Daniel added.
"She's always welcome at ours, we have a lot of space to make up a guest room for her whenever she wants to visit." Pete told her.
"Thank you, Pete."
The conversation stopped when Cassie came back out, her hands full with crackers, marshmallows and chocolate.
"Would somebody please help me?" She shouted. So Jack told David and Lisa to help her set it all up next to the fire.
Penny had silently observed the man teaching her children. And when Sam went inside to get them new drinks Penny offered to help. From the kitchen they could watch them outside.
"He's good with kids!"
Sam took a look at Jack, who was laughing with Lisa while David's face was smeared with chocolate. Him sitting at a campfire surrounded by kids, that's how it should be for him.
"Yes, he is! He loves kids and they love him."
"He's nothing like those General's Mark spoke about."
"No."
"Doesn't he have a family?" Penny wondered having seen the pictures of Charlie and Sara, which were clearly taken years ago.
Sam debated whether she should tell Penny or not.
"He had. That's another sad story." She looked around to make sure nobody listened. "His son shot himself with Jack's gun. He never got over it and couldn't fix what broke the relationship with his wife."
As Sam spoke, her sister-in-law watched her with keen interest. It was evident to anyone who looked closely that the feelings Sam harbored for the person she was describing ran deep.
"You love him!"
Sam's eyes widened and shocked she looked at Penny.
"It's obvious that you do. That leaves the question as to why are you going to marry Pete?"
"I do love Pete." Sam tried to defend herself.
"That might be, but are those anything like the feelings you have for your boss?"
"Penny!" She spoke with a warning tone. "As you pointed out correctly, he is my boss. There are regulations against something like this."
"But couldn't you work elsewhere? I mean, in a department where he wouldn't be your boss?"
"No! Penny, I'll tell you, but I need your word you'll never tell anyone, not even Mark."
"I promise." She said and sat down.
"We're both needed in the jobs we're doing right now. Too valuable to let go. Jack tried to retire, multiple times. The last time the President himself told him he couldn't. This isn't going to change any time soon. We talked about it and decided it is worth more to stay best friends than nothing at all."
When she finished she sat down next to her brother's wife.
"I'm sorry Sam! But is marrying Pete the best choice if you love someone else?"
"As I said, I do love Pete. Really! I just love someone else more, but I can't ever have him that way. So yes, I made my choice and I know I can be happy with Pete. Otherwise I wouldn't do this."
Penny nodded and was interrupted by Jack who stuck his head inside.
"Hey ladies, we're having s'mores. You coming? I don't want to be responsible if the kids eat all the sugar alone, right before bedtime."
Sam laughed wholeheartedly. "We can't have that, can we? Come on Penny, let's go. When was the last time you had s'mores?"
"Honestly? I can't remember."
They grabbed their drinks and joined the guys around the fire.
What started as a day filled with sorrow ended in a heartfelt celebration of friendship.