1. Chapter 1

It was an ordinary day at Star Gate Command (SGC). SG-1, Star Gate Commands leading team, was getting ready to embark on yet another off world mission. The team had gone in to see Doctor Janet Frasier for their pre deployment physicals and were cleared of all ailments. As they were leaving the infirmary Colonel Jack O'Neill, SG-1's Commanding Officer, was followed by his team to SG-1's locker room so they could gear up.

Things had definitely changed since the beginning of the SGC. SG-1 had been given their own locker room which was quite spacious, had plenty of storage for each member of the team, and had 4 separate showering stalls rather than the "gang style" showers and locker rooms they had in the past and which others still used. This gave them much more privacy, especially with one of their team members being female, one being a Jaffa, and another being the Colonel which was SGC's 2nd in command officer. Of course, this didn't mean they didn't see each other in their skivvies on occasion, but at least never in the situation where one was nude in front of the others.

Even with the accommodations that they had, on occasion, the situation did make Major Samantha Carter's mind run wild just thinking about the sight of "her guys" in their birthday suits. And naturally her mind's eye always wondered what kind of "package" they each carried. Major Carter had a crush of sorts with her Commanding Officer Colonel Jack O'Neill shortly after she met him and saw through his exterior "tough guy" image, but the Colonel always wore those damned baggy pants leaving her to wonder. She knew Teal'c carried a nice package and a sweet ass, his clothes left little to the imagination at times. And Dr Daniel Jackson was more like a little brother at this point so she waved away the thoughts of him in her mind. All she had was the site of Col. O'Neill's cute rear end through his skivvies or when she caught a glimpse of skin during physicals, especially when they got shots and a bit of his rear was exposed. However, the Colonel was always mindful never to turn around in such a situation as to not over expose himself to his female 2nd in command. After all, he wanted to flatter but not flaunt himself to her. He knew she had a crush on him as he did her.

Of course, she had caught her Commanding Officer checking her out on occasion when she was wearing her bra & panties and even that tight black tank top that she knew drove him wild. But he never gawked so she didn't know if it was just that he was talking and not really paying attention to what he was seeing or if he was really burning her image in his mind as she did to him. She would always chuckle to herself noticing Daniel and Teal'c would never look her direction until she was fully dressed knowing it made them much more uncomfortable then it did Colonel O'Neill.

After the team dressed, geared up and went to the Gate Room, Dr Frasier met with General George Hammond, the First Commander of the SGC, in the Control Room to let him know she found no reason for SG-1 to be held back so the General gave his most important team a "Go" to embark on their voyage. Col. O'Neill gave a childish salute to the General and led his team into the blue wall and they were out of site.

Dr Frasier just watched as the team disappeared. She was always jealous that her best friend Major Samantha Carter was able to do as much exploring as she did while she was stuck in Cheyenne Mountain. She was also jealous that her friend was able to be part of the team Col. O'Neill led and that she got to spend so much time with him including overnight camps for days to a week or so at a time. Dr Frasier had served in the Gulf and she knew sleeping quarters could be close at times, especially on secret missions where small tents or no tents were used. The Dr also knew her best friend and Col. O'Neill had a special relationship so she never mentioned anything to Sam about her own thoughts of the Colonel. Actually she knew a relationship between herself & the Colonel would never work as she was not as patient with his childishness as her friend. The Colonel was always joking and making light of things, never mind his own personal issue's that he tried to hide, but he was SO hot, she thought. She smiled to the General and started walking back to her office thinking for now, she still had an advantage over her friend, she chuckled and though to herself. _You may get to serve side by side and have a relationship neither of you can act on, but it is I who gets to inspect his well tanned, beautifully muscled body when he is injured and so often during physicals and those embarrassing male genital tests he had to endure once a year. _ Just the thought of her teasing the Colonel when she snapped the glove on as loud as she could making him jump a little before she grabbed his manhood in her hand for close inspection. He hated these exams so much she would usually have to have the General order him to make the appointment and comply with the wellness health procedures.

A little while later, the Dr was interrupted by the sounds of alarms going off and Walter's voice coming over the loud speaker "We have an incoming traveler!". The Dr thought for a moment of who it could be, there were no teams due back that she could remember so she took off down to the Control Room where she found the General.

The General was shouting to Walter, "Who is it?". "Sir, it's SG-1's signal" was the Sgt's response. General Hammond and Dr Frasier made quick eye contact and she took off to put a medical team together in the event SG-1 was in trouble. The General looked back to the Sgt "Open the iris!" and the Sgt quickly complied.

The General was noticeably upset. It had only been 4 hours since SG-1 had left for a 3 day mission. What he saw come through the blue puddle didn't make him happy. The only two people who made it through before the Star Gate closed was Teal'c and Daniel who both collapsed on the ramp. Daniel's head sank as the medical team rushed to evaluate the two men.

General Hammond had rushed down to the Gate Room as well. "Dr Jackson, where are Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter?" he asked with a worry in his voice. Daniel couldn't talk so Teal'c responded and told the General of the firefight they walked into upon arrival through the gate. Then he mentioned how he saw Major Carter make it to the woods dragging the Colonel's limp body, however he was unsure if Colonel O'Neill was dead or alive. He mentioned that once the Major had made it to the woods, he and Daniel lost track of them and that they tried to keep possession of the gate since they had no way of making it to the Major & Colonel. He said that if he and Daniel had not gone through the gate when they did, they would surely not have made it.

Just then Teal'c made it to his feet and although wounded, asked the General if he could go back. He hated the thought of leaving his two teammates behind. The General's shoulder's dropped and just stared at the Stargate. "Sorry son, not right now. You go get checked out and I will figure out what we can do from here." Teal'c was not happy but understood, so he tipped his head and complied with his order.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Major Carter had been badly wounded by a staff blast but was able to pull the unconscious Colonel to a small cave. The fire fight had stopped and she hoped Teal'c and Daniel had made it through the gate but she was in no shape to go back out to check. She could hear the Jaffa teams stomping passed while she leaned against the very far end of the cave wall holding her CO against her torso hoping he didn't make any noise. Luckily the Jaffa continued on their way so she laid her CO on his back, removed her backpack which held the first aid kit and began assessing his wounds. She had to tear away part of his trousers to get to a blast wound on his right knee which she cleaned and dressed with no reaction from the man. Then she noticed a blast he took to his lower abdomen so she pulled his shirt up and unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his pants to pull them low enough to see the wound and she repeated the same treatment she had done to his leg. She saw blood on the back of his head but figured that was from his fall which probably caused a concussion, knocking him out. She cleaned the blood and knew she should wake him up but was now in so much pain herself she thought she needed to attend her own wound.

The pain she now felt was incredible so she took off her jacket and pulled her right arm out of the sleeve of her shirt and set the shirt on her shoulder before pulling up her bra. She tried to fight through the pain and clean the wound but it stung so badly she whimpered and gritted her teeth. A moment later, she heard the Colonel stirring and half glossy eyed looking up at her. She didn't realize her position gave him a view of her exposed breast until she heard a soft noise.

"Uh, Carter?" she heard. "Yes sir?" she responded. "A couple questions here… first is, why am I laying down with my pants undone while you are doing a strip tease?" He smirked and looked away from his now blushing 2nd in command. "And second, where the hell are we?" He knew he was injured and she must have dressed his wound but he had to make light of the situation. "Sorry sir!" and she dropped her shirt over her body.

The Colonel wanted to sit up so Carter helped him sit back against the wall while her own pain brought tears to her eyes. He couldn't stand seeing Carter in pain, "Let me see your wound" he asked honestly and half awake. The Major froze thinking to herself, _surely he doesn't know where my wound is or he would NOT be asking! _She responded to her CO, "That's ok sir. I can take care of it." She blushed again and moved away a little into the darkness and began trying to bravely treat her wound without wincing too much for her CO to see and while leaving her shirt on properly.

He tried to give her the courtesy of her request to do it alone but he could see she was not able to clean the wound properly and it wouldn't stop bleeding. The staff blast wound was just along the side of her right breast and travelled across her rib cage. The Colonel blinked a bit trying to stay awake and as alert as possible. "C'mere" he said softly shaking his head. "Let me do that for you." She could tell he was very serious. "Sir?" she knew it was an embarrassing situation for both of them.

"What? Are we not both mature adults here?" he asked and paused as she shot him a questioning look. He smirked "Ok, so maybe MATURE is the wrong word. But you need another set of hands." She chuckled at his joke but could tell he was serious and she just paused. "Please let me help you Carter… looks like it may need some stitches and you can't do that yourself."

The Major accepted so she removed her bra and did her best to hold her shirt over her chest with her left arm exposing only what she had to, while she tried to hold her right arm up and out of the way for her CO to clean the wound. He was holding the flashlight in his mouth for light and hated seeing her flinch each time he had to pinch and put a stitch into her skin so he kept apologizing and making his own wincing faces. She just closed her eyes and grit her teeth until he was done. He smiled at her, "See, nothing to it!", he said while he pulled her arm down which dropped the shirt back over her exposed breast. "Thank you sir." She said as she painfully put her right arm back through the sleeve. "No problem, just repaying a debt for you always having to treat my wounds." He smiled back at her and made no more comments on the situation..

Just then, they heard the clanking metal of Jaffa armor going by very slowly. The Colonel held his finger to his mouth to be sure his 2IC also heard it and would be quiet. The Jaffa moved away slowly from the cave entrance but they seemed to have set up a camp nearby, they figured near the gate.

Both injured SGC Officers were still very weak from their wounds and with night falling, the cave was dark and cold. The Colonel saw his 2IC shivering next to him so he gently pulled her over to him "c'mere", he whispered softly. She did as she was asked and she put her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her pulling her in a bit tighter to let her know it was ok. Feeling much warmer and secure laying against her CO, she fell asleep after an hour or so.

The Colonel couldn't do much about his 2IC sleeping, it was all he had to fight his own exhaustion in order to keep watch of the cave. After a couple hours and with both of them shivering from their wounds and the cold, he moved his 2IC onto his lap to lay against his body; her head was on his chest and he could cover both of them with his oversized BDU jacket. He couldn't help but wonder why it always seemed to be him and Carter trapped and injured alone somewhere but then he figured he'd rather be stranded with Carter than Daniel. Not only was she better company, but this way he could protect her and not worry where she was.

A day went by since the two SGC Officers had been trapped. They were both so weak and the Jaffa were still close by, but it was time to begin figuring out how to get out or they may never.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Back at the SGC, the General had sent a MALP through the gate the day after his two best officer's went missing and all they saw was Jaffa. The General had his hands full with Teal'c who still wanted to go and SG's 3, 4, & 7 were willing to back him up but they were ordered to stand down. General Hammond hated being in this situation as he stood in the Control Room staring at the closed gate. He couldn't send more people through on a suicide mission and yet he knew his 2 best officers were out there injured or dead.

Colonel Reynolds was the leader of SG3 and he had come up with an idea to send through a small bomb, then wait and send another MALP or UAV. The General thought it through for some time and finally decided it was a good idea so he had Sgt Siler get everything ready. They had just hoped the Colonel and Major were not going to be injured due to the blast if they were near the gate.

The bomb was sent through killing the Jaffa sentry's at the gate. The previously injured SGC Officers heard the explosion as it rumbled through the cave. The Colonel sighed a bit of relief knowing this most likely meant help was on its way. He woke up his 2IC who was still asleep on top of him. "Carter" he whispered in her ear while he shook her a little.

She woke up confused, "Sir!" noticing where she was, she was a little embarrassed for a moment. Then she thought of how warm and cozy she was and began falling asleep again. "No, Carter, you need to get up. I think help is on the way. Besides, I REALLY need to take a leak!" She chuckled into his chest and slowly moved off his lap. She blushed but said "So, that wasn't your sidearm I felt this time huh?" He just gave her a crooked smile.

About an hour later, they heard something in the distance and the Colonel's radio jumped to life "Sierra Golf 1niner, do you read? This is Sierra Golf 3niner. Colonel? Major? Can you hear us?" Carter handed her CO his radio. "This is Sierra Golf 1niner, we hear you. What is your location?". "Colonel, Teal'c is leading us to where you were last seen nearing the woods. What is your location? Over." The Colonel realized he had no idea where he was, he was unconscious when he woke up in the cave so he looked to his 2IC and handed her the radio. "Colonel, we should be about 2 clicks west of where we entered the woods line, over." "No problem, I have your signal, we'll be there shortly, Reynolds out!"

Finally they heard footsteps, "Colonel Reynolds, we can hear you so you are close by. Look for a small cave opening", when all of the sudden all they could see was Teal'c coming in the cave door. "Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, are you injured?" They both nodded their head at the same time, we're better now but yes, we both have staff blast injuries. Teal'c got on the radio, "Dr Frasier, please come to my location, both Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter are injured."

The Dr and her medics came rushing to the cave where the Dr found the scruffy faced Colonel and his 2IC laying against each other, with days of filth, and both injured. The medics removed each of the officers from the cave and put them on stretchers to go back to SGC for treatment of their wounds. Upon closer inspection, she was amazed at the suture job that the Colonel had to have done for her friend Sam. There was no way Sam could have done it herself.

Carter & O'Neill were in beds next to each other when the Dr commented on the Colonels handy work, especially in the location that it was. He just smirked "Well, I knew it was important that it not scar too badly or she would not want to wear that bikini top on her next vacation." Carter turned red in front of her friend and just shook her head. "And why would you care? Are you taking me away?" They knew even goofing around could upset someone into thinking they actually have a personal relationship outside SGC so they stopped. Carter looked over to her CO, "No, he'd do the same for anybody, it could've been Daniel or Teal'c and he would've done just as good of a job." She thought she covered it well when the Colonel just couldn't let it go. "Ya, but Daniel and Teal'c wouldn't have had a great view to offer. "

"Ok kids", the Dr said as she was getting more & more jealous of their relationship and pulled the curtain between the two beds. "Time to get a once over and get these wounds properly cleaned and treated. Daniel, Teal'c, out of my infirmary for about 20 minutes." She told them as she waved them away and finished pulling the curtains around each of the beds. "Nurse, can you help the Major get changed into a johnnie" She threw a johnnie top onto the foot of Carters bed as she herself went to the Colonel. "Yes ma'am", the nurse went behind the curtain.

"Colonel, off with these clothes so I can check you over. Here, lean forward so I can get this jacket and shirt off you." Carter could hear him wincing in pain but she was preoccupied with getting herself into a johnnie. "Looks like you have no more wounds on your upper torso. Just the one on your lower abdomen? " the Dr asked with her chipper voice. Then Carter heard the buckle on the Colonel's pants hit the side of the bed. "Ok, now lay back and let's get these pants off you so I can check your leg wound." Carter saw his clothes getting thrown on the floor making her wonder what it was he was now wearing. She couldn't see his boxer briefs on the floor so in her minds's eye the man she had a mad crush on, was laying flat on the hospital bed in nothing but his boxer brief's that she knew he preferred. It was hard for the Major to listen as her friend evaluated and went over every inch of the Colonel's body and the jealous anger was penning up causing her to react out of love rage. She jumped up and abruptly pulled the curtain so she could see the man on the bed. She was dumb founded to see he was wearing a scrub top and had a blanket covering him from the knee up to his chest. The Dr just looked at her friend and the Colonel about jumped out of his bed from the startle. "What's the matter Carter?" he was about to jump out to grab her fearing something had happened to her. Carter felt like a fool and just stood there so she had to think quick. "Sorry sir, I thought I heard you call for me. I am so sorry. It must be from being so tired." And she slinked back to her bed and closed the curtain. The Dr continued her evaluation and began treating the knee wound. It was pretty gnarly and it caused the Colonel terrible pain so she ordered an MRI and xrays which resulted in a surgery being scheduled.

After Dr Frasier and Dr Miller from the Air Force Academy Hospital, finished repaired the Colonel's knee, she gave their nurses the instruction on medications for him before going over to re-evaluate and treat her friend. The Dr treated Carter and told her she would have to stay in the infirmary at least one night and she would reassess in the morning. She said if she was well enough then, she may her stay in her personal quarter on the base so she could still monitor her. Carter nodded her head and dosed off to sleep due to the medications she was prescribed.

Daniel and Teal'c had tried to visit throughout the evening but left both Officers alone to sleep. In the morning both Daniel and Teal'c were on their way to the mess hall for breakfast and stopped in again just in time to hear a familiar voice coming from behind one of the curtains. "Doooc!?". Both men looked at each other before heading over to the Colonel's bed.

The Colonel was all bundled up in a blanket and mad that he was ordered to stay in bed. Dr Frasier was simply ignoring him as this had been going on for about 15 minutes and she told him she would not release him to his quarters until she could reassess a little later when she had a few male nurses around to help the Colonel up and see if he was strong enough to stand on his own with crutches. At one point the General actually was called down to give him the direct order to shut up and stay in bed, but he left just shaking his head chuckling at his 2IC as he did so often. He had other things to do and if the Colonel decided to get up on his own, he figured he would just fall on his rump and injure his own pride which is exactly what happened when he saw Daniel & Teal'c. They refused to help him up so he swung his feet off the bed and tried to get up however he was too weak and he fell into Teal'c who simply put him back in the bed. The Colonel knew he was defeated but he was not happy. "Could you at least open that curtain?" he pointed to the curtain dividing him and Carter.

"Major Carter is still asleep. Why do you wish to disturb her?" Teal'c asked. The Colonel made a face knowing he couldn't tell the truth that he just wanted to be able to watch the woman sleep. "Ah, it's too dark, that will give me more light." Daniel knew the truth but said nothing. Both men excused themselves for breakfast and told the Colonel they would be back before lunch. The Colonel just laid in his bed watching the beautiful woman in the bed next to him sleep until she finally woke up and acknowledged he was watching her. "Sir?" she asked in her groggy voice. He just smiled at her and paused, "sorry, did I wake you? I was just daydreaming." She smiled back, "about what sir?" He just shook his head, "nothing really, how are you feeling?" He knew she knew what he was dreaming about but it couldn't be said with all the nurses around.

Just then, Dr Frasier walked back into the room noticing the two officers staring each other in the eye smiling. She put her head down pretending to not see it, "So, I see you are both awake. At least with someone to talk to, maybe the Colonel will stop his childish behavior!" She walked over to Sam's bed with a smile while the Colonel made a face. "Sam, let me check you over and we can see if you can be released to your quarters." Sam was happy to comply and the Dr pulled the curtains around the bed for privacy. The Dr liked what she saw and pulled the curtains away as she walked over to the counter to write in the Major's chart.

"Sam, I see no reason not to let you go to your quarters for the next 24 hours, then you can be released to go home if all is still looking good." Sam smiled, she was so happy to get out of the infirmary and be able to read in peace and quiet.

"Now Colonel" she waved over two male nurses. "Sgt's Nash and Fortin are going to help you up out of bed. If you can prove to me your pain is managed and that you can hold up your own weight with the crutches, I will release you to your quarters as well. So the Colonel grimaced at some of the pain but tried his best not to make any noises. The two Sgt's had most of his weight and he knew he couldn't walk but he made it look good. "See, nothing to it!" he said as he had the Sgt's put him back on his bed sitting up. The Major knew he was hiding something but didn't know to what extent.

"Ok sir, I will release you as well but I want to see you every 8 hours for re-evaluation or I will have to readmit you to the infirmary. Sgt's, please add that to the schedule to bring the Colonel to the infirmary every 8 hours for the next 24 hours. Then can you wheel the Colonel and Major to their respective quarters in about an hour?" Both men nodded, "Yes ma'am."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It had been 15 hours since the Colonel and Major each were moved to their own quarters. The Colonel was bored out of his mind making him cranky, so Teal'c and Daniel split their time babysitting. Daniel finally went to sit with Sam for a while and she said she wanted to go visit the Colonel so he wheeled her over to the next room. She knew she could walk but she knew if Janet had found her walking around she'd be in trouble so she accepted it.

When the Colonel saw his 2IC's big smile and big eyes the color of the blue sky, he stopped complaining and sat up against the back of his headboard. "How are you doing Colonel?" the Major asked as she approached his bed. He smiled back "Doc Frasier says if I can use the crutches tomorrow she may release me to go home. At least there I can be more comfortable. How are you doing?"

The Major looked at Teal'c and Daniel who took the hint to leave so they excused themselves. "I'm doing fine, my wound is much less painful and thanks to your suture skills, it is healing nicely." She smiled at him. "Anytime Carter, anytime! Glad you are doing better. I heard Doc is releasing you from this prison this afternoon. You're so lucky!" The major just nodded her head "yup." She felt bad knowing how much her CO wanted to be home and he couldn't.

"Daniel's going to drive me home and Teal'c is picking him up so my car will be at the house. There's no reason I can't drive myself, but you know them. And General Hammond told me to take 2 weeks off so once you are released maybe I can stop in for a visit." She was figuring the General was going to give the Colonel at least that much time as well. "Hey, I heard Daniel is going with SG 13 on a mission, something about ancient ruins found on P3X-693. He's quite excited."

The Colonel acknowledged his 2IC wondering when he can get back out there. "Ya, and I heard Teal'c is going back home tonight for 2 weeks. I guess Ry'ac is really making him proud and has become quite the warrior. He can't wait to see him. I guess we'll each go our own ways for a while. I'm just sorry I can't go fishing yet. It's just too far to drive." The Major didn't know if that was an invite to drive them there or not so she just nodded and smiled as usual.

The next one through the door was Dr Frasier, "I knew I'd find you over here. I thought I told you not to be wandering around this morning." Sam knew she was busted, "Daniel wheeled me over here, I promise!" The Dr smiled a big smile at her friend. "She's telling the truth Doc!" the Colonel piped up. The Dr told Sam she could go home and that she would send Daniel and Teal'c to come get her but she wanted her back in 7 days to remove the sutures, or if the wound begins to hurt more or bleeds to call sooner.

"Colonel, you missed your 8 hour window for recheck. How is it going? I want you to cooperate with the nurses when they come in to get you up or you will end up here indefinitely!" The Colonel made his normal sighs of complaint. "Yes Doctor!" He was feeling stronger and was moving his injured leg more. His abdomen was still sore but not horribly painful with the meds he was taking. "Now let's get you to the infirmary for a check." Doctor Frasier wanted to help him to the wheelchair. "Doc, can't we just do it here since you are already here?" he gave her a pitiful face. "I suppose so sir. Sam, I can take you back to your room so we can have some privacy."

"She can stay. You're only checking my wounds right?" the Colonel preferred his 2IC stay. "It's not like she hasn't seen my wounds before." He shot the Major a look and lifted one eyebrow. The Major's cheeks turned a little pink at the thought of his seeing her the way he did and having to treat his wounds. She still sees herself unbuckling his belt and pants buttons to access the abdominal wound. _If it were only a little lower he would have been in some trouble and it would have been a LOT more awkward!_, she thought to herself. She snapped out of it when she heard her CO yelp in pain from the Dr bending his right knee.

The Dr finished what the Colonel called "abusing" him and went back to the infirmary to get the Sgt's down to get him out of bed. When they arrived, they helped the Colonel out of bed and the Major realized, her CO was wearing just a white scrub top and green military issue boxers and quickly became embarrassed. He showed off to her that he was doing much better with the crutches. When he turned around, she got a good view of his toned butt through the boxers.

Teal'c and Daniel arrived to get her on her way home. "Looks like you are coming along nicely Jack. Keep up the good work!" Daniel was happy for him. Sam felt bad for leaving him but she knew both Teal'c and Daniel were on a time crunch for their own endeavors so she said goodbye and the three of them left.

It hadn't been more then 3 hours since Teal'c had left for Chulak and Daniel left with SG 13. The Colonel was bored again, and that was no good for anybody. The General had stopped in to visit before he left for the night, then Doc Frasier stopped in before she left. The halls were quiet, his friends were all gone and the pain killers the Dr gave him for the night had relaxed him too much to try to get up but he couldn't sleep. Finally after 5 hours, he got on the phone and called his 2IC. "Carter? You up?" all he heard was a soft groggy voice on the other end.

"Huh? Is that you Colonel? Is everything ok?" She couldn't quite wake up as she hadn't slept well in 4 days. "Carter, it's me, sorry to wake you up, I am so bored and can't sleep." "Sir, if you are ok, can we talk in the morning?" She heard a deep sigh. "You bet. Sorry to bother you. Get some sleep." Then a long pause before " Love you Samantha" and the phone clicked off.

Carter just laid there in awe thinking to herself. _Did he just say he loved me? Either I'm dreaming or he's high on pain pills._ But it made her lay there thinking before falling asleep, now dreaming of her CO.

In the morning, the Dr and the General both checked on the Colonel together and he was able to get up on the crutches, though still quite painfully. He was so miserable sitting there alone, that the General agreed to have one of the Airmen take the Colonel home. They agreed that the Colonel would call if he needed anything and that someone would be by to pick him up in 24 hours to be brought in for a recheck. He agreed, he knew it was only way out of the mountain.

The Airman took the Colonel home and set him up in the house with the crutches and saluted his Superior Officer before leaving. The Colonel was so happy to be home, he hobbled over and put in a Simpson's DVD and sat back in his chair where he quickly fell asleep.

Later that morning his phone rang, it was Carter following up on last night's call. "How are you doing sir? I hear you were bailed out and are home now?" She was so cheerful in the mornings, it drove him nuts sometimes. "Yup, I'm home. Unfortunately I have no food in this house though so I am going to have to order take out." The two talked for about 10 minutes before they hung up.

That evening, Carter had decided to have a pizza delivered to her CO's house and she would take a taxi there since she didn't want to be caught driving with the pain meds she was taking which could make her a little loopy. She had been trying to call the Colonel for 2 hours and there was no answer. She figured he was sleeping or his phone had died. Either way, she figured she would handle it when she got there.

Upon her arrival, and the taxi left, she walked up to the door but there was no answer so she used the key he had given her years earlier when the General wanted them to exchange keys in the event of an emergency. What she found was the Colonel in boxers and a t-shirt laying on the steps against the wall. She could tell he was upset, with his palms against each eye. "What are you doing here Carter?" he was too proud to ever let anyone see him cry so he was upset she was there.

"Well, I ordered pizza and thought you would want company." She walked over and sat next to him. "Is everything ok, what happened?" She knew what happened, he must have fallen on the steps and just stayed there feeling sorry for himself as he had done in the past when he was injured. "Oh, nothing, just sitting here on my steps with nothing to do." Was his wise crack answer.

She shook her head, never understanding why he was like that. "Oh good, cause it looked to me like maybe you had tripped on the steps and couldn't get up. I mean, I know that sometimes when people are on heavy pain meds their coordination can be off." The Colonel took his hands off his eyes and smirked at his 2IC, but still facing the floor. He knew she knew him as well as he knew himself at this point.

"Want help getting up?" she finally made him know she understood. "No, I don't want to hurt you, you can't lift me right now" and as he was talking, she just put her left arm in his right arm. He used the crutch and her balance to help himself up and he hobbled to the recliner. After a minute he started to get up again so she followed him up. "Where are you going sir?" she was concerned.

"Well, the reason I got up originally was cause I needed to pee but I never made it there. My bladders ready to burst." Carter helped him up the steps and to the bathroom before she backed off. "It's all you now sir." He laughed as he looked back and shut the door.

The pizza had arrived and they were comfortable on the couch watching the Simpson's before they both fell asleep. Carter woke up at about 2am and realized it was late and that she should be getting home. She woke up the Colonel and got him his meds before she took hers. Before I go, let me help you get to your room and I will check back with you sometime in the morning.

The Colonel shook his head as they were walking to his bedroom, "you're welcome to sleep on the couch. It's too late to be going home now." He plopped himself on the bed after she pulled down his covers for him and he swung his legs under them. "I think I will take you up on that offer. Thank you sir." And she shut off the light on her way out as she turned off all the lights on her way back to the living room and covered up with the blanket.

Not an hour went by when she could hear the Colonel talking or whimpering in his sleep so she got up and stood in his doorway. This had happened in the past when they were together on missions. His past was so emotional between his prior deployments, the loss of his parents, his son, and she knew he still had feelings for Sara his ex-wife. When it got worse and he was yelling, Sam went to sit on the bed next to her CO and gently shook him to wake him up. "Sir? Sir, your having a bad dream."

The Colonel woke up, embarrassed at his 2IC seeing him like this again. "Flashbacks sir?" she asked softly. He looked away from her, "ya. Sorry, did I wake you up." She just looked around, "no problem sir, I understand." She leaned over and put her head on his shoulder. It was something they did on occasion to comfort each other if needed. It was kind of a hands off approach to cuddling, which is what they really wanted to do. The Colonel was happy she was there and she listened so he could talk out his flashback. Of course he couldn't tell her details but she understood that. She knew he had been sent on some top secret military missions in the past when he was in Black Ops and he had been hurt badly with no recue to help. He had been through hell and back which is what build his tough image, unfortunately the mental scars didn't go away.

After a few minutes, the Colonel put his arm around his 2IC and they laid back on the pillows. "Carter, I am so happy you are here. You're a good friend." She paused for a moment before responding, "me too sir." She meant it but wished they could be more. Even her father kept telling her not to let Military frat regs stand in their way, he saw the relationship the two had. But he also told her that if they couldn't get passed it, that she needed to move on but she knew her heart could never be with another man. She was head over heels for this one, even if it could never be, at least she was with him everyday.

Carter leaned over and gave her CO a quick kiss. "Carter?" he was surprised by her kiss. "Yes sir?" A moment later he leaned into her, "we probably shouldn't start something that we can't finish." And he gave her a kiss back that was a little longer. When he leaned back, she followed him and met his mouth with another kiss. This time it didn't stop, it became quite passionate, tongues dueling, and both bodies warming up. Between kissing and coming up for air, "Carter?", "Carter? Are we ok with this?" He didn't mind, in fact he was perfectly fine with it but he wanted to be sure she wasn't doing anything she would regret later.

"Sir, I'm ok with it if you are." He took her tightly into his arms and he tried to turn her over but his knee and abdomen hurt so he couldn't get them rolled over. She knew what his plan was but rolled over his thighs as to not hurt either of his wounds.

By this point, they were heated and the animal in her came unleashed, "No way flyboy, I'm in command of this ship!" He had never been in the situation with the woman in charge during love making, even with Sara. This was erotic to him so he allowed her control.

His manhood was at full attention as she removed his shirt and pulled down his boxers. She took her time kissing him from his neck, tickled his nipples, and softly kissed his abdominal wound. "Now, where's my joystick flyboy!?" He was in such delight he could hardly stand himself when he felt her take total control of his manhood. She could feel herself getting wetter by the minute as the Colonel had been kissing her neck and trying to catch her breasts as she teased him.

She wanted him, but she was unsure how he'd feel. _So far, so good_, she thought. "Sir? Are we ok?" she asked again kissing his neck turning him wild. "Can I go further?" she asked. He tipped his head, "do whatever you want Sam." That turned her on even more, she loved when he called her by name but it rarely happened. She took hold of his manhood and slowly lifted herself over him, taking him slowly. His manhood was large so it stretched her and she just stayed for a moment feeling him inside her. Finally she started rocking and moving up and down taking him deeper each time. She could tell he was not going to complain and she finally felt the heat waves charging through her and she started to spasm in an erotic orgasm. He held her sides while her body convulsed and her eyes rolled back into her head. He could feel her juices pushing against his manhood. Finally she came out of it and realized he had not finished so she kept going. His eyes started to close and mouth was moving, breath erratic so she could tell he was tensing up, "Sam? Uh, Sam, I need to pull out. I don't have a condom." She ignored him still in her own blissful state. "Sam!" He said louder. "Sam, I'm gonna blow, I need to pull out, now." She still ignored him and squeezed his manhood tighter with her inner muscles. "Shhh… It's ok. Let it go." And a moment later she could feel his seed spilling into her as her muscles milked him for everything he could give.

Finally, with both being spent she fell next to the Colonel. He took her into an embrace and they both laid against each other for a while each thinking of how wrong it is that they be doing what they were doing when the Colonel leaned in and kissed Sam on the cheek. "I'm sorry" he told her in a soft, loving voice. "About what?" she asked. "That the damned military regs are in the way of our being a couple." Sam nuzzled tighter to his body and they both fell sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

At about 8am, Sam's cell phone rang but she didn't hear it. It was still in her coat pocket in the living room. Dr Frasier had tried several times over the next two hours but received no answer making her worry about her friend, so she drove over to Sam's house on the way into the base. When she arrived, she saw the car parked out front but there was no answer at the door. Now even more worried Sam was injured or passed out somewhere, she used the key Sam had given her. Not finding Sam anywhere she began to panic. With Daniel & Teal'c gone she decided to call Colonel O'Neill, figuring maybe he had heard from her.

There was no answer at his phone so she drove to his house. She noticed the Colonel's truck was not in the driveway but remembered one of the Airman had drove him home in the government car. There didn't appear to be anything unusual outside the Colonel's residence either so she knocked on the door. She didn't have a key for the Colonel's house so she tried peeking into the windows that she could see into. She saw no movement and couldn't figure out what the hell was going on. _Where could they be? _She thought. She figured she would quickly get to the base and talk to General Hammond or maybe something had happened during the night and they were both there. As she was approaching her car, she saw the obvious black government car pull up and an Airman step out. She asked why he was there and he informed her he was to pick up Colonel O'Neill to get him to the base for his checkup_. Oh, right. I scheduled him to come in the morning,_ she remembered.

The Airman knocked on the door and still nothing so the Dr, being a Captain, told the Airman somehow to get into the house, it could be an emergency. She was surprised when he had a key which apparently General Hammond had given him in the event the Colonel couldn't get to the door. "Hello?" the Airman shouted out as he entered the house. "Colonel? General Hammond sent me to pick you up." The Airman and Dr Frasier walked up to the first bedroom and saw her two missing people still cuddled in bed. The Airman saw the blonde woman but didn't realize it was Major Carter, however, it was an awkward moment seeing the Colonel in bed with a woman so he backed out of the room letting the Dr enter first.

Dr Frasier asked that he wait out in the living room with which he was quick to comply. "Sam" she whispered and shook her friend who finally came to life. Sam jumped up holding the sheet over her chest and pushed on the Colonel's shoulder. "Ah, Colonel! Ah Sir.. wake up!" Finally the Colonel opened his eyes to see Doc Frasier standing over his bed looking down on him so he thought quick.

"Oh, Carter, how's the wound? Still hurt like hell?" he asked his 2IC pretending she just slept over. The Dr was pissed but she didn't know if it was just from jealousy or because they obviously broke military rules and could be court martialed. Sam took the sheet and jogged to the bathroom leaving the Colonel with the blanket up to his waist, bare chested which angered the Dr even more knowing what her friend just had.

She became very serious, "Colonel, if I find out you took advantage of her!" she shot him an angry eye. She knew he didn't, she knew they had loved each other for a long time but now she wondered how long they had been a couple and slept together. "Sir, if the General were here, you would be Court Martialed for this and you know it!"

The Colonel became very serious himself and squinted his eyes at her as he usually did when he was mad or didn't comprehend something. "Yes, he may, but he won't find out right?" The Dr just stared at him. "You're Sam's best friend right? You really want her to get tossed from the Air Force for this?" the staring contest continued and the Dr shook her head in disbelief but knew he was right. "You can't honestly think I would do anything that would hurt Carter. And I would certainly never take advantage of her if that's what you are thinking." He just kept drilling it into the Dr's mind that she needed to be quiet about it.

Dr Frasier softened up a little, she knew damned well the Colonel would never hurt her friend. For crying out loud, he had chosen to give his life to save hers so many times when aliens invaded their bodies or they were being tortured on another planet. "Will you wait out in the other room so I can get up?" he asked.

"I suppose this means you are doing well so if I can quick look at your wounds I will leave and take the Airman with me." She just rolled her eyes. Sam had gotten dressed and walked back into the bedroom but stayed where the Airman couldn't see her.

The Dr looked quickly at the Colonels abdominal wound and said it looked good. Then she manipulated his knee a bit and he showed a lot of pain so she told him she would schedule an appointment at the Air Force Academy Hospital in 2 days to begin physical therapy. Sam had tried talking to her friend and they agreed to talk when Janet got home that evening.

Carter just sat back on the bed and the couple just paused, looking at each other before Carter broke down crying. It hurt the Colonel to see her upset, he just wasn't good at "feelings". _What did we just do? _He wondered to himself. He sat up against the headboard pulling the blanket with him to stay covered. He didn't know what to say but knew she needed to be comforted so he gave her his soft "puppy dog" eyes and put his hand out to her. "C'mere" he said softly and she complied, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry" she whispered. He was confused. "You're sorry?"

Carter turned to face him, "yes, I'm sorry. I should have stayed on the couch or gone home. I went to you, you didn't come to me." He was getting mad that she was taking the blame. "No, don't do it. This isn't your fault, I could have said no. For crying out loud Carter, I am your CO, I should have never let it happen. But to be honest, I am not sorry at all." Carter let out more tears and cried into his shoulder, "I'm not sorry either. But what do we do now?" The two just sat together thinking about their next step.

In about a half hour, she helped the Colonel up so he could get dressed and use the bathroom. While he was there, Carter decided to make coffee and breakfast, though it was more like lunch time at this point. The couple enjoyed their day together just talking and playing cards. The Colonel wanted to play strip poker but Carter knew that would be a bad idea. She didn't want to go home but thought she should. "Sir, I think I should get going home. Janet will be calling soon and I probably should not be here when she does."

The Colonel knew she was right but hated to think about her leaving so he frowned. "Ya, you're right." She felt like she just deflated his bubble and felt bad. "Don't worry, I will be back tomorrow to check on you. Actually I will stop by the grocery store on my way in so you have food in the house." He agreed and asked her to hand him is wallet so she would have money. Then she called the taxi to pick her up.

When her ride arrived he got up to walk her to the door. They wanted to kiss but decided it would be best to just smile. They could tell what the other was thinking through their eye contact. "I'll be back around 9:00, is that ok?" she asked. "He kept his eye contact and smiled back, that is perfect. Thanks Carter." And his 2IC got in the taxi and left, taking his heart with her.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The Colonel had left over pizza for dinner and fell asleep in front of the tv. He knew Carter was meeting with Janet and wondered how much Carter would tell her friend. The two were really close and he knew Janet had known about the feelings between he and Carter for several years without saying anything. He just hoped that whatever Carter told her friend, that her friend kept it to herself. After all, when he and Carter were forced to express their feelings about each other during that stupid mind test, Janet was in a professional situation and he and Carter had the benefit of Doctor/Patient confidentiality. He didn't know what else Janet may know from just being Carters friend. He knew Teal'c knew as well but he trusted he would never say anything. _If Frasier or the Airman say anything, we are screwed!_ He thought to himself. He didn't know the Airman that was there either so he could only hope that Dr Frasier had told him to shut up about what he saw. He had no idea the Airman didn't recognize Carter. Finally he took his pain meds and fell asleep in his chair.

In the meantime, Sam and Janet decided to meet for dinner and they talked about that morning. Janet was upset at first but finally softened as her friend talked about the man she loved so dearly. Sam had expressed how much the two were in love and last night was just something that happened. Janet was happy to hear this was the first incident where things went all the way. "I hope you used protection at least!" Janet was always thinking like a Doctor. Sam just paused and looked up to her friend. "You're kidding!" Janet said, she was amazed her friend was so careless. "You ARE still on birth control pills!?" she asked Sam disappointed.

Sam thought about it, "it's probably been a month or so. I mean, come on, after Pete left, I really didn't see any reason. " Janet couldn't believe her friend was so reckless. " If you suspect anything, you come into my office!" Sam nodded her head "of course." The two women were now awkwardly sitting at the same table. "So, what are you going to do now?" Janet asked. Sam shook her head, "I don't know. I guess the Colonel and I need to talk it all out and for now, we go on as if nothing has changed."

Janet shook her head, "that will never work. But at least for now, you are grounded for another 10 days or so. As for the Colonel, there is no way he will be released for light duty for at least 6 weeks and that is IF he does well with physical therapy and ever gets full motion back in that knee. Sam, I am worried that this one may be it, that knee has already been fixed once before." Sam's face dropped. "Does he know that?" she kind of knew the answer. Janet looked her friend in the eye softly, "No. Because I know if I tell him this could be it, he will give up." Janet paused. "Sam, you know the Colonel has some emotional issues. He can't know. What he needs is you! He needs you to help him on his feet and to believe he will be active again and lead his team, and be with you."

Sam was trying to digest all the information, she had never thought about his injury being permanent. "Does the General know?" Janet nodded her head again. "Yes, actually I talked to him this morning." Sam had a horrified look. "Don't worry, he doesn't know I found you two together and the Airman didn't recognize you. But the General and I talked for a long time about the Colonel's condition and he said he would contact Daniel and Teal'c about what they wanted to do. Daniel is going to stay with SG11 for now and just move where he is needed. Teal'c said he wanted to stay on Chulak until needed." Sam bit the inside of her lip. "and me?" "Well, the General and I talked about that. He said when I clear you to return active, you could join any SG unit you wanted for now and if the Colonel was forced to retire, he would get you into a position to run SG1 and put together your own team." The thought of returning to duty without the Colonel, even for a few months was just not something she prepared herself for. " Or, he said if you didn't want to join another team right now, he would allow you to be the Colonel's physical therapy assistant. He and I talked long, hard and honestly, we think if the Colonel has any chance of a full recovery, you are the only one who could make him do it." Sam didn't know what to say. "Sam, you know he's a tough nut to crack. He trusts you completely and if you think you can handle the emotional rollercoaster that is coming, he will need you to be with him." Sam thought for a moment still taking everything in. "Of course I will help him. And you're right, it's going to be a roller coaster but I have to be there for him, no matter how hard."

Janet smiled and took her friends hand, "remember, the General and myself are here for you too. Just keep us abreast of how things are going and you need to be honest with us so we can help. The General is very concerned; he really likes the Colonel and wants to give him every chance possible for a full recovery." Sam let out a tear, "Let the General know he should expect the Colonel back in 8 weeks." Sam said very confidently. The two just kept eye contact for a while and decided it was time to leave. They agreed to talk in the morning to discuss the following day's agenda for the Colonel. Sam was going to take the Colonel to physical therapy and learn what he needed so she could continue at home.

The following day Sam had spoken to General Hammond. Apparently Janet kept her promise and did not tell him she found them together in bed. But the General knew there was a special something going on between the two however he never pried. He figured what he didn't know was perfectly fine with him.

After hanging up, Sam headed over to the Colonel's house and explained the plan to him. He was shocked that the General and Doc Frasier were letting this happen and he figured it must have been some tall talking from Carter to get them to agree to such a thing but he accepted it. Of course, he had no idea what his upcoming challenges were.

Sam spent a fairly uneventful day at the Colonel's house. They had sat out on the back porch for a while, played cards and after dinner she told him she was going home for the night. "I will be back at 9:00. Can you be up and ready to go to physical therapy by then?"she asked. He agreed and she left to get a good night sleep, she knew this wasn't going to be easy.

When Carter arrived at the Colonel's house in the morning she used her key to enter the home. She didn't see the Colonel in the living room or kitchen so she yelled out to him. She walked to his bedroom but she didn't see him. "Sir?! Are you here?" she continued to look around in the spare room and the guest bathroom. Still no sign of him when it dawned on her to check his master bathroom and found him unconscious in the shower, water still running.

"Sir?!" She shut off the water and moved the curtain out of her way. She figured he must have fallen getting into the shower with only using one leg. She grabbed his head, _no bleeding at least, _she thought. She cupped his chin, "Sir! Sir.. can you hear me? Wake up!" Slowly he opened his eyes and became conscious of what was happening. "Carter? What are you doing in my shower?" She smiled, she knew he was going to be ok since he was cracking jokes.

"Sir, I came to pick you up for PT and found you unconscious in the shower. You want to get up?" she asked him. "Oh, I suppose… this really isn't the most comfortable I've ever been. Hey Carter… say, can you hand me that towel over there, it's a bit chilly in here. You know, I'm feeling some serious shrinkage happening." Sam laughed at him and blushed. "Oh, we wouldn't want that, now would we?" He smirked back at her, "that's my story and I'm stickn' to it!"

Luckily she was able to get him up and he finished his shower before he got into his sweat pants and t-shirt for PT. "We better have the Doctor on duty check you for a concussion while we're there. You must have taken a pretty hard blow to knock you out like that." He made a face, "Carter, I get knocked out all the time, forget about it." She rolled her eyes. She knew he was going to be stubborn about it and figured as long as she told Janet she could keep an eye on him.

At PT, the Colonel still had a headache from his earlier fall and ended up with an older nurse who had no sense of humor. He dubbed her the "Queen of Pain" and thought she was worse than the drill instructor he had when he first entered the Air Force. He kept looking at the pretty, young, brunette Therapist and kept cracking to Carter why he couldn't have gotten her. Sam told him it was because she knew he would enjoy it too much and nothing would get done. He agreed that would probably be true and after a few screaming matches with the Queen of Pain, he and Carter were given their instructions for "homework" and were told to return in 2 days.

Carter wanted to stop for lunch on the way home but the Colonel was in pain from the treatment so they did carry out. When they got home, the Colonel planted himself in his recliner chair and a tv tray and Carter brought him his lunch. The two talked about little things, nothing really important and they watched a movie.

Later, the General stopped by and they invited him to stay for dinner. He explained to the Colonel what his plan was for the SG1 members over the next 2 months and explained to them how he would reassess the team at that point. He wanted to be sure the Colonel knew the plan and told him how important he was to the team and why he assigned Major Carter to aid him in any way he needed in order to recover faster. As the General was talking, the Colonel just kept making eye contact with Carter as his mind ran wild with dirty thoughts regarding how Carter can help him recover. The General was very careful not to mention that the Colonel would possibly not be able to return to active duty. That had not yet been decided and it was still a possibility he could if all the pegs fell into place and his PT worked.

After the General left, Carter cleaned up dinner and had the Colonel wait in the other room. When she finished, she found him asleep in his recliner so she covered him over and figured it was the pain meds making him so drowsy.

At about 8pm, the Colonel was still asleep so she called Janet just to talk and to fill her in on how PT went. She also mentioned that she had found him knocked out that morning and Janet told her to keep an eye on him. He was right, this was not his first time but they didn't know if it was from the meds or if he slipped so Janet told her to keep an eye on how many pain pills he is taking and suggested she could begin a chart. If he asks, just to tell him that Dr Frasier required a chart be kept for her records since he should still be in the infirmary.

Janet agreed to stop in to see them over the next day or two. By this time it was about 10pm and Sam was getting tired. "Well, I better go. I need to get the Colonel to bed." She was very innocent about what she said but Janet just made a noise. "Mmmhm, getting him to bed huh?" and she chuckled. "Janet! That's not what I meant and you know it!" Sam knew her friend was kidding but she was still embarrassed for being caught red handed the other day, never mind that no one is supposed to know. "Good night Sam…" Janet returned with a childish tone. "Goodnight Janet.." Sam returned and she hung up.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Several days had gone by and the Colonel had gone to another PT appointment. He still had the "Queen of Pain" as a Therapist and the two got into a few arguments during each appointment. Carter didn't know what hurt him more, the pain or his pride. She knew he had pain, that was definite, but it hurt her to see his pride being shot down each time the Therapist would have him do something he couldn't yet do. She also didn't know if it was that he didn't want the Therapist and the other people in the room (there were other military personnel doing their own PT), to see him so weak, or that Carter was there to see it. So she tried to step out of the room a few times but that seemed to be when the screaming matches began.

_Oh Jack, _Carter thought to herself. _Why do you have to be so damned stubborn? Just do what you have to do so you can recover._ She loved the man with her whole heart but his male ego, stubborn, pride crap was ridiculous sometimes. Then she remembered why the General and Janet came up with the plan to have her watch over him during his recovery. She was the only person besides the General and Sara that could calm him down. That is not to say he has never been upset and yelled at his 2IC but it was generally in a tight, life or death situation when the stress of getting his team home safely was of the utmost importance which she understood. Otherwise, off duty he would just shut her out if he was mad at her or at himself and didn't want company or help from anyone.

All the way home and throughout the evening, all the Colonel did was complain about the Therapist and how he didn't want to go back. Carter reminded him that he didn't have to go back for 4 days and that they would be doing the exercises at home during that time. Unfortunately the exercises were becoming increasingly more difficult for him which caused more pain.

Janet stopped by on the way home from the base and was pleased to see the Colonel able to get himself around quite well on his crutches. She checked his abdominal wound which was just about cleared up so she told him he was off the hook with that one. Then she checked his knee. The wound was just about cleared, she told him it was just the matter of time to get the ligaments and muscles back in shape as they took a horrible shot. Janet figured the bone was no longer the problem but she wanted him to return to the base in 2 weeks for an xray and MRI to be sure things were going as planned.

Janet decided she needed to get home to Cassie and asked Carter to walk her to her car so they could talk. She explained her ulterior motive to get him back to the base and around the people he liked (whether he said so or not) and to be sure he doesn't forget how much he loves his work. She explained how much she and the General are still keeping their hopes high that this works out as they hoped. She also suggested to Sam that she start going home at night and not to let the Colonel get too dependent on having Sam be at his beckon call.

Sam agreed and told Janet she would see how the Colonel did tonight and consider leaving him for longer periods of time. The two women said their goodbye's and Sam thought about what Janet said. If he gets too comfortable at home with Sam at his side, he wouldn't miss going to work. That scenario played over and over in her mind. _Maybe that's actually how it is supposed to play out?_ She thought. _Maybe this is how we are going to end up together. If he is forced to retire, there is no more problem. _She just sat staring at the wall for a while until he noticed.

"What'cha think'n 'bout? He asked. "Oh, nothing really, just figured I should go home tonight and check on the house." The Colonel frowned a bit. They hadn't been separated at all for 6 days and even then it was just after they returned. He looked to the floor, "ok. What time will you be back in the morning?"

She thought for a moment, "well, I should do some grocery shopping for you again and I should get some things for myself. So I will probably do that before I come over. Wanna say 1-ish?" He squinted a bit as he hoped she would be over first thing in the morning. "Ya, that sounds good." He lied but he tried to sound chipper. "Good, then we can make a late lunch and start your exercises. Let's remember, that's really why I'm here right?" The two smiled at each other , "Is there anything you need before I take off?"

He shook his head, "No, I'll be fine." She smiled, don't forget to take the bedtime pills and mark the chart. You know how anal Janet can be about keeping records. And if you need anything, just call me, I will keep my phone next to the bed. He nodded his head, "ok, thanks."

Carter left and the Colonel just sat in his chair staring at the wall. He felt empty because she was gone. _What's wrong with you? _He thought to himself. _You know damned well you can't have her so you better get over feeling like this! _He finally got up and took his meds before heading to bed.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

In the morning, the Colonel woke up, got himself showered, dressed, and ate breakfast. He remembered that he didn't give Carter his credit card to pay for the groceries so he thought about calling her but didn't want to make her think he missed her_. After all, she is here simply to help me recover per orders from the General, _he thought. _What happened between us that night was a fluke, Jack, and you know it. Sure, you both care about each other but she doesn't want a dirty old man like me! _He talked himself out of the thought that she loved him.

When Carter had arrived at 1:00, he was taking a nap in his bed. The sun shining down on his peaceful body wearing only boxers and a white t-shirt was amazing. Just the thought of him made her core tingle.

After putting the groceries away she went into his room to wake him up for lunch, "Colonel?" She got no response."Colonel…. Sir?" she leaned in toward him when he woke up groggy. "Carter? You're back." He smiled a half grin and stretched his arms and yawned. She could see his erection through the boxers. Christ_, does he always wake up with a hard on? _She chuckled to herself as he pulled his blanket over it hoping she didn't see him. "Yes, I am back, time to get up for lunch."

The Colonel got himself up, into the bathroom and put on sweat pants before heading out to the kitchen. Carter had brought the ingredients for sandwiches and some baked chips for lunch. "Guess what I got for you?" she asked. He could not even imagine. "Blue Jello and whip cream", and she laughed. "I figured you'd be missing it by now." The Colonel just smiled back at her, "ya, I do miss it. All that crappy food from the mess hall." And he rubbed his belly with his hand.

After they ate, she broke the news that it was time for his exercises. Some required he lay down and some he could do from the chair so she figured she would start with the ones in the chair. It had gone ok, and although the Colonel did get a little grumpy with her, there was no yelling. Then they figured the bed was the only place to lay down besides the floor. So he went and laid flat on the bed. She had manipulated his knee and leg and had him lifting it the best he could. He grimaced with pain but he grit and bared it as expected. She was so happy he seemed to be recovering well. The look in his eyes were a blend of pain and love and she could barely handle it. When he sat up, she sat next to him. "How does it feel? Any less pain that a week ago?"

He sat there with his palms to his eyes. "It's a little better each day but it still hurts like a bastard when we do any kind of PT!" He shook his head. Carter put her hand on his thigh, "I am sorry this happened to you."

He finally dropped his hands and looked at her, "Ya, but I'd rather have it be me than you, Daniel, or Teal'c." it was a common thought for him, she knew he would always do anything to protect his team and she knew he went further out on a limb to help her. She also knew he put himself in front of that blast headed toward her when he took it in the abdomen. She just wasn't sure he was aware she knew. She turned her body to face him, "You're gonna get through this you know." Just then she leaned forward to kiss him.

The Colonel accepted the kiss and sat back a little looking her in the eye, "Carter?" "Sir?" "Carter, are you certain you want to get involved like this?" _I love you, you fool! Just go with it!_ She thought to herself.

She looked him in the eye again, "Sir, there is nothing I wouldn't do for you. I will always be here for you. I do love you!" He smiled, "hey, part of that sounds familiar." And they chuckled together when he took her chin in his hand and kissed her.

They laid side by side in each others embrace, he started kissing her neck and moved down to her collarbone before going back to her lips. She was getting wetter in the core. She was returning his passionate kisses and working on removing his shirt. Finally she pulled herself back on the bed making him follow, totally forgetting about any pain. He crawled over her and continued with his lips down to her chest unbuttoning her shirt with one hand while the other held him up to support his knee. She noticed he was quick with his long fingers and got her shirt undone as well as her bra within seconds. She was in total ecstasy as his lips continued to kiss up and down her body, back to her neck, chest, collarbone, naval, then found their targets as he took each nipple one at a time sending fireworks through her body. She tried to keep up with his movements but could only keep her hands rubbing his chest hair tracing his nipples. He finally unbuttoned her jeans and kept his passion going down to her lower abdomen while she slipped out of her pants. He rolled back allowing her the room and to take in the site of the beautiful woman in front of him.

When she was done, he began kissing and caressing her thighs and his fingers found the warm, wet spot they were looking for. His thumb found her clit while he slipped a finger into her cave. She shot up with delight. Between each kiss he would speak softly as first one finger, then 2 began moving in and out, " I can feel the fireworks going off inside you." She was just taking in the feeling, no man had ever actually truly made love to her, only cheap sex from time to time. Even Pete wasn't as sensual as this. Kind of a wham, bam, thank you ma'am type. The passion that the Colonel showed her was definitely of someone who loves and cares for the woman he is with. Her body kept jumping making her head move back with her eyes closed. Then she felt an odd feeling so she opened her eyes to look. He had begun going at her with his tongue to her clit and caressing all around her folds. His fingers still going in and out finally finding her G-spot when he felt the quiver and smiled as he continued and gently kissed her abdomen.

He stopped to enjoy the show as one hand each found a breast to hold and the other around her hip to help support her during her moment of delight. When she finally stopped, she felt the wetness pouring out of her and she was spent but the Colonel continued kissing her chest wound which was just about gone and was nibbling and tracing her nipple with his tongue.

She finally got her second wind and tried to roll the Colonel onto his back but he resisted. "No way, this time I run the ship. " He began repeating his caressing and kissing until he started panting heavier as his manhood, now obviously at full attention, was grinding her cave through the cloth. He finally gave in and stripped off his sweat pants and made eye contact with her to be sure it was ok. When he felt he was given permission to go on, he took his manhood and entered slowly, just a little in, and pulled out and continued until she took his entirety.

He continued to slowly slide his manhood into her wet cave, until he finally was able to get her to take all of him, his thumb found her clit again and he caressed while he rode her like a horse. All the while his mouth kept her mouth and neck busy. He could feel her wetness around his manhood and her eyes rolling around in her head so he knew she was about done. A few more plunges and he felt himself ready to explode so he pulled out and she took his manhood in her hands to finish him off while her mouth had been juggling and sucking his sac. Both lay there totally spend but she was able to crawl tight into his embrace as they fell asleep together.

In the morning, they both woke up still entangled in each other's arms and legs. They stared into each other's eyes as he kissed her neck. "Sir, I think we should get up and maybe revisit this later." He whispered into her neck, "ya know, if we are going to keep this up, you should probably drop the sir. At least when we are alone, it makes me feel REAALLLY guilty." She smiled and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, "no problem sir… ur, I mean Jack" and she wrinkled her nose and got up.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Two weeks later, things were continuing to get better, Carter was still going home at night as to not draw more attention than necessary in the event someone drove by. Of course she had fallen asleep on the couch a few times, spending the night but that was innocent she figured.

The General had stopped in to check on things. He was actually impressed with Jack's progress and told Jack he hoped to see him when he came into the base that week for his recheck. He just hoped that Sam was able to keep her head on straight and not want to start playing house with him for good.

Sam had informed Jack that today was the day they were going to the base so he could see Doc Frasier. He was torn about it so she just ignored him and let him work it out in his head. Sometimes, the more you tried to put something in his head, the more he would rebel against it, she knew him like a book.

As they arrived on base, Sam took her normal parking spot. Neither of them had realized or thought about the amount of walking that is required to get down to the infirmary but the Colonel took it in stride and didn't complain. Several of the SF's and other Officers smiled and saluted him, happy to see him doing well. This kind of gave him a boost of pride but thought they probably just felt bad for the old man.

They stopped at Sam's Office just to check messages and make sure all was good, when the General caught up to them with a huge Texas smile. "How you doing Jack? You look well." The Colonel nodded his head and smiled, "coming along General. I hope to be back in a few weeks." The General slapped him on the back and told him he was on his way to a meeting but he would try to catch up again before they left for the day.

As the Colonel and Carter continued to their destination, Dr Frasier could tell there was an extra spark about her friend. She knew things must be getting a bit more intimate by the way Sam held the Colonels arm when he went to get up and the smiles they shared. It made her wish she had a man that made her feel as loved as the Colonel obviously was doing for Sam. But she kept the feelings in check and was always happy for her friend to have finally found what she was looking for.

The Colonel was wearing his typical long button down shirt and baggy BDU pants. She first assessed how well he was getting around on his crutches and she flexed his knee making him grimace and grit his teeth. Sweat pouring from his face trying not to tear up. She smiled her usual smile, "looks like it's coming along but I still want x-rays and an MRI." The Colonel agreed, there wasn't much he could do about it.

"Nurse!" She yelled out. "Nurse, can you escort Colonel O'Neill to Radiology. I need two views of his right knee." The woman accepted and came to escort the Colonel. Sam was about to go with him when Janet called her over. "Sam? How's it going at home? Is he doing the exercises I told you about?" Sam smiled at her friend, "yah, it actually is going better than I expected. There really hasn't been any yelling, not that he doesn't get angry with me at times. But we work through it." Janet gave her friend a crooked look, "I bet you do." Sam couldn't stop smiling and blushed, "Janet!" "Well, am I wrong?" the Doctor looked back into Sam's eyes. "Well, actually, no, you are not wrong. Things are going well." Janet just smiled, "we'll have to have dinner so you can fill me in." Sam just shook her head as she and Janet walked to Radiology.

Doc Frasier viewed the x-rays and confirmed that knee procedure they did actually looked in perfect shape so she was confident that it was more muscle, soft tissue, ligament, and tendon damage that he needed to heal from but she ordered water therapy to be included in his PT.

She met the Colonel and Sam in the back room where the hot tub & pool were located. When they entered, the Colonel just stood looking at the hot tub. "Is there a problem Colonel?" the Doctor was confused. "No, just, the last time I was in that tub it was filled with snakes!" he was remembering when Hathor had tried making him a host to a symbiote. He shook the thought out of his mind "ewww" he kept walking to the room with the small pool.

"Sir, there's trunks in the men's locker room you will need to change into. Sam, there's a suit in the ladies locker. I want you to see what it is I want you to do so I am going to have the Therapist come down to show you while she's here. She had to come from Academy Hospital for some Therapy on Siler. That one is ALWAYS getting himself hurt!" Janet shook her head.

Sam & Jack both nodded, "Just give her a few minutes to get down here. Colonel, I don't want to see you near the pool until she gets here." The Doctor shook her finger at him. "Yes, ma'am!" and all three headed in their own directions.

Sam was changed and back out at the pool within minutes so she waited by the pool to see the Colonel hobbling out of the locker room all pissed off. She started laughing when she saw him. She knew what he was upset about. There was only short 1960's army style green swim trunks and were not at all baggy as he preferred. They left little to the imagination and she knew he didn't like that. He was threatening to leave when she handed him a towel and told him to wear it until he got into the pool and that he could put it back on as soon as he got out.

He took her suggestion but still grumbled "this is why I didn't join the freak'n Navy! They wear crap like this during their training drills!" She couldn't stop laughing at him when he finally stopped and noticed the beautiful blonde, his 2IC, in the bathing suit. "Why are you still laughing? At least you don't have to worry about your junk showing! Or falling out!" Trying to stop chuckling, "no sir, my suit doesn't show any 'junk' but believe me, I am not comfortable in this either. My "ladies" tend to stand at attention in the water." His mind finally changed knowing she was right.

The Therapist came in and each of the women helped the Colonel into the pool. Carter watched everything and actually the Colonel enjoyed this more than he thought he would. There was so much less pain and he was standing and taking steps on his own.

After about a half hour, they helped the Colonel out of the pool and Sam quickly handed him the towel. She thought he had actually behaved himself in front of the Therapist. As soon as she left he started, "I better go get dried off, I have EXTREME strinkage happening!" Sam just shook her head and laughed as she went back to the changing room. "Always an excuse!"

They had made a few more stops that Carter had planned before they left. The Colonel watched SG 4 returning from a mission and Carter could see that he missed being at the base. She just hoped that after they keep making him feel the urge to work, that he is actually able to return. After visiting with everyone in the Control Room, they left and stopped for dinner before returning to the Colonel's House.

It was a big day for the Colonel so he crashed when he got home. It was early so Carter decided tonight may be a good night to go home to her house. She gave the Colonel a quick kiss and told him she was going home for the night. After all, if she was going to be bored, she could be bored at home with her own computer and tv.

Carter had returned to the Colonel's house and followed their routine of PT and then visiting the base to use the pool twice a week. It had been several more weeks and he was making great progress. The pain had fairly well subsided but he still had a little 'hitch' in his step.

Carter had begun going to the base for several hours every other day and some of those days she would 'piggy back' with his PT in the pool. She just had him hang out in the dayroom so he could watch tv and talk to his fellow SGC members. At this point, he and Carter were trying to figure out their relationship and how they would handle things when this was over. Of course, word was already out that they were a couple but the General continued to tell people that they certainly were not and were only close friends. He told them that with Daniel & Teal'c away, he had ordered Major Carter to assist the Colonel in his recovery. The others would not bring it up again but they knew there was more to it. They already had suspected things were happening and now word on the street was the Major had been staying at the Colonel's House.

At this point they did truly become a well established couple at home. Though Carter would go back to her house occasionally, there was also a couple nights the Colonel spent at her house. They figured this way, no one knew if he was with her or not as he still wasn't driving his big truck.

When the appointment day finally came for his 8 week recheck, he was nervous. Though he felt good, he knew he wasn't 100% yet. Carter was even more nervous but she too thought he was doing so much better, though not well enough to begin off world deployments yet.

So they both got dressed, showered and back to the car to go to the base. The Colonel was no longer using the crutches and Dr Frasier was impressed with his recovery. "Ok Colonel, it looks like today is the big day, huh?" he just sat on the bed with his feet dangling. "That's what they tell me. But I am feeling fine." The Dr smiled at him, "Let me be the judge of that. What I have planned is an abbreviated physical fitness test. If I feel you have conquered this test, then I will decide where we are going to go from there. She could tell by the way he walked in that he was not ready for active deployment but the General had come up with some things for him to do as "Light Duty" if she felt he was going to be able to return to full duty eventually.

The Dr, Carter, and the Colonel all went down to the gym where they met with one of the Lieutenants in charge of the physical fitness tests. Dr Frasier instructed the LT on what it was that she wanted to see the Colonel do so he put some things together.

The Colonel aced all the upper body tests as she figured he would, she basically put them in to boost his ego and not give him all negative's. The Colonel did fine on the walking, steps, flexibility, but jogging got a little tiring by the end of the time on the treadmill. He was showing a little more gimp in his step. By the time they got to the weights, he was tired and had some trouble lifting the weights with his legs making his left leg do most of the work. Also, the Doctor could tell he had some pain which frustrated him. "Ok." She smiled at the Colonel. "One last thing is I want to see how well you can move across the pool 4 laps. Do you think you are up to it?"

The Colonel said he would be fine, there was no way he was going to fail this fitness test. The General had now arrived and followed them to the pool area. He knew that if things were not going well, Dr Frasier may need him there to calm his 2IC. The Colonel slipped off his sweat pants and had been smart enough to wear his own swim trunks as he had been doing since the second day.

He dove into the pool and completed 2 laps extremely fast, the third was a little slower and the fourth was obviously done due to his strong upper torso and core but he completed it in the allotted time. When he got out, Doc Frasier and Carter were talking and discussing how he did. "Well Colonel, I have no problem releasing you back to limited duty." The General was happy and smiled "Good to have you back Jack! Well done son!"

The Colonel didn't know what limited duty would involve but he figured he would at least get back to a routine of going to work. _Unfortunately that means no more lunch time sex. But at least we'll still be together. Now is the hard part, how we're going to handle this relationship. We've come too far now to stop. _His head was swirling with all the thoughts running through it.

He went into the men's room to change and met the General in his office as requested. "Colonel, I am going to give you the weekend, and I want you to report here at 08:00 Monday morning. I have put together some things I want you to work on during your limited duty and Dr Frasier says she would like to recheck you in 2 weeks." The Colonel acknowledged his CO, "Thank you sir. See you Monday morning."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Sunday night Carter had stayed at the Colonel's house after going to the base for a few hours. She told him that Daniel and Teal'c had both returned from their respective places and were excited to see the Colonel in the morning. The two sat snuggled on the couch watching the Simpsons. "So, have you thought about how we are going to handle this after tonight?" Carter asked. "I mean, people are already talking about our being together, we certainly can't afford to be court martialed!" He leaned in to kiss her, "Carter, I don't care what people think, they would have to prove it. If we are careful especially in town and at the base, there is not much they can do." He kissed her again, "and I could care less about me but I don't want to risk your career. If you want us to step back, I certainly understand and will accept it. Whichever path you want us to take I will understand. As I've told you before, I will ALWAYS be here for you no matter what. I love you and I always will. It would hurt me to see you with another man but I do understand that we are restricted and would have to accept it if you chose another…" She stopped him with her mouth and she crawled over him trying to get her tongue to meet his. "I don't want any other man but you."

He was ready to take her right there, "Get your little sugar shaker over here!" He said as he stood up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. They continued to kiss as he flipped her on her back on the couch and laid over her as they were heating up. His mouth was moving from her neck and down her chest and stomach as his hands found their way under her shirt. She could feel his manhood growing as it met her thigh which was making her to want him more. This time he was more primal then he had been in the past but still very gentle. He was panting as he delivered each kiss and caress of her breasts with his hands until he finally pulled her shirt off over her head before he paused and pulled his off leaving his dog tags dragging on her body as he laid over her and his arms under and around her arms.

She was on fire and her head fell back, eyes closed. His mouth was sucking her nipples and gently kissing her old wound as he pulled her shorts off . His mouth finally made its way to her folds which were oozing her juices at this point. How he got her into such deep ecstasy every time they were together, she didn't know but she loved it. His tongue tickled her clit with soft, swift movements and his fingers plunged into her cave finding her g-spot. She couldn't hold off anymore, her body fell into complete delight and she began another Jack O'Neill Orgasm Special. He went back to teasing her breasts and moved to her collar bone and neck until he saw her come back from her delight. He dropped his sweatpants and stood up. She sat up a little and took charge of his manhood with her hand and finally took it in her mouth pumping it in and out and teasing his shaft with her tongue. Her hands were squeezing and juggling his balls which from time to time made his eyes roll back. He couldn't be more satisfied with this woman. She did so much more than Sara ever would do but Sara was the one who taught him to be the passionate lover he was.

Finally Carter laid back down and pulled his manhood to her, "I want you now!" she growled to him and he let her guide his manhood into her cave. He took his position over her as he slowly entered giving her time to adjust but she met his move and began rocking faster so he figured that must be what she wanted. He sped up his moves meeting her each time which made her take his full length each time hitting a wall. She made him pound harder and harder until he was ready to explode so he pulled back to tickle her g-spot with his hood. He couldn't hold it anymore and when he tried to finish pulling out she was dripping and met his move making him go in further to spill his seed. When they finished they collapsed in total exhaustion. "We better never do this right before a physical cause my heart rate right now would never pass!" She laughed at him. He always called himself an old man but she would tell him he was hotter and better than any young man she ever knew or was with which made him twitch his head as if he won an honor. "You better get off me and go dressed flyboy! Don't forget we have Cassie & Janet coming over for dinner!" He grabbed his clothes and streaked to his bedroom while Carter got her clothes back on.

They each showered and got dressed for dinner just in time for Janet & Cassie. Janet could tell they had just showered and wondered if they had just had sex. Why else would Sam be showering at the Colonels house just before dinner. The four had a great time and after dinner, the Colonel was playing checkers with Cassie while the ladies were out back talking. Janet wanted to hear all the juicy details but it made her hurt inside that not only was she still single and hadn't had sex in many years but that her friend landed one of the men Janet actually admired. He had his moments and his issues but was smoking hot and so well built. She was daydreaming as Sam was talking. Just the thought of letting the Colonel take her to bed was enough to get her wet and though Sam didn't tell her friend every juicy moment, it was enough to make her friend jealous so Janet finally got up and told Sam she was getting tired.

The two walked in to find Cassie & the Colonel finishing a game of checkers which Cassie finally won. Janet and Cassie said their goodbye's and left leaving the couple together. Since the General had no idea the two were still together day & night and with Sam living across town, he scheduled a car to pick up the Colonel Monday morning and Sam didn't want them to see her car in the driveway so she told the Colonel she was going to go home for the night. He agreed it would be the best idea for now and he would try to get his truck home Monday evening. He thought he could get himself up into it by now but with his right leg being the one that was injured, it made it hard to drive so he hadn't yet tried.

They kissed goodnight and Sam went home. The Colonel changed into his sweat pants and t-shirt before falling asleep in his chair. _What are we going to do? I love this woman but we can NOT be together or we could both lose our jobs!_


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Monday morning the Airman showed up at the Colonel's house to bring him to the base. Things appeared as normal and the Colonel changed into his BDU's which he missed so much. He loved the baggy clothes, they were comfortable and felt like pajama's to him. He stopped to talk to a few SGC members that he had missed and many welcomed him back to work. He finally made it to the General's Office as requested.

The General pointed to the chair in front of his desk, "Colonel, you're five minutes late. Shut the door." He just shook his head at his 2IC. He knew he'd never change the man. He was a damned good soldier, a perfect leader in battle, and was much more intelligent than he let on but sometimes the General just didn't know how the man had made it to Colonel with the childish personality he had at times. "Sorry sir, it was hard to get through the crowds who kept stopping me." The General smiled, "Well… It's good to have you back son. I know it's been a long road. I do have some things to run passed you…." And the General filled the Colonel in on some of the missions that happened while he was gone. There had been another situation with the replicators and SG6, 2 men were lost and the To'kra had another situation with Anubis. There were 2 SG teams currently deployed to move the To'kra to the SGC Bravo site for temporary reprieve." The Colonel just listened and made mental notes.

The Colonel was waiting to see Daniel, Teal'c and Carter and expected them to come up to the Briefing Room by the time he was ready to leave the General's office. The General knew his 2IC's mind was onto something else. "Jack?" The Colonel looked up to him, "Sorry sir, I was just thinking that I hadn't seen Daniel or Teal'c since they got back. The General nodded, "Jack, I had to deploy SG1 early this morning to help with the To'kra situation. I'm sorry I didn't get to tell you." _Good, this means Major Carter was not with Jack when I called her in early, _The General thought.

"Jack, there's one more thing. I don't want to pry into your life but I have been hearing people talk. I know you and Major Carter have a special relationship." The Colonel was going to talk so the General put his hand up. "Don't say anything, please. It is probably my fault, as I put Major Carter in charge of helping you recuperate and maybe I shouldn't have. Anyway, Jack, you know the Frat Regs don't allow a personal relationship between a CO and someone in his chain of command. I don't want you to tell me anything, what I don't know, is fine. However, if people continue to talk, it just may be enough for NID or Kinsey to use to remove you or Carter from the Air Force and never mind shutting down the SGC." He could see the disappointment in the Colonel's eyes. The Colonel was going to say something and again he was stopped, "no Jack, don't. You know she's my best friend's daughter and she is a great asset to the Air force and especially the SGC Program. She has a great career in front of her and a court-martial could ruin all of it. I wish I could allow it but my hands are tied."

The General could see the wheels in the Colonel's head turning as he blinked more when he was thinking things through. "The only thing I can do is move one of you somewhere if it continues. As long as you are not in the same chain of command you have no problem." The Colonel stood up, "there's one thing we can do!" The General knew what was coming, he was expecting it, "I can retire!" The General smiled and put his hand on the Colonel's shoulder, "Jack, calm down. SGC still needs you, hell, I still need you here. You're my 2nd in command and to be honest Jack, there's been talk of reassigning me to the Pentagon. I NEED you here."

The Colonel immediately calmed down and looked the General in the eye, "what!? That's all we need is some dumb ass General who just learned about the SGC to come in and screw it up. Then I might as well retire!" The General shook his head and rolled his eyes, pressing his lips together. He knew he shouldn't be saying anything to the man yet but he had to. "Jack, sit down, I have something else to tell you" the Colonel complied.

"Jack, I was supposed to leave a month ago but with you out, I couldn't leave." The Colonel was confused, _why would it matter if I was here or not? _The General finally told him, "Jack, the President wants to give you command of the SGC." The men just stared at each other for a moment, "son, if you would accept it, you will be given a Brigadier General Star and command the SGC. I will be commanding a new department called Home World Security at the Pentagon. We need a voice there besides Major Davis. He does his best but he needs more help keeping an eye on the NID."

The Colonel didn't know what to say so he kept running it through his head when it came out, "General O'Neill." He smiled at the thought when the General broke his thought. "There's one glitch. You need to pass the Physical Fitness test even though you wouldn't be deployed anymore on missions, it is still a requirement. " He put his hand on the Colonel's shoulder again. "Do you think you can get through it?"

The Colonel looked around the room and nodded his head, "I know I can sir. But what you said about not going on missions anymore…" The General smiled, "I'm not saying you need to be a pencil pusher but running this place leaves you little time to go off world so you'd have to choose a new member for SG1 to fill your spot." He padded the man's shoulder, "first let's get you through the Fitness test. I am here until the end of the month so you have two weeks to get it done."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Two weeks had passed, the Colonel and Carter were taking it slow trying to be sure someone else was with them all the times when not on camera at the base. It made it more creditable but with Daniel & Teal'c, they were always able to sneak in a kiss or a butt squeeze and a smile without being detected. If they were seen, nothing was ever said and they knew their secret was never going to be exposed. None of the rest of the team knew about the reason the Colonel needed to pass the Fitness test other than to return to duty. The General did notify everyone he was leaving shortly but he said it was undetermined who was going to take command, and really he didn't know since the Colonel hadn't yet proven he could even stay in the service.

When the Colonel arrived at the base that morning, he had felt good and went straight to Dr Frasier's office. She and the rest of the SG1 team escorted their CO to the gym where the LT had set the course for him. What the Colonel didn't know was Dr Frasier had approved the other three SG1 members to also take the test figuring it would give the Colonel competition.

The Colonel was surprised but they just said they were due to retest in a month anyway so this would satisfy their requirements. The Colonel never kept track of that so he just figured it was true and didn't question it but he sure was happy they were there.

They started with the 1 mile run on the track, then the weights (Dr Frasier decided to put them earlier in the test for the Colonel), then the sit ups and crunches, pull ups, push ups, and the tests went on. The Colonel had not even thought about his prior injuries because he didn't want to lose to his team mates, especially Daniel. He knew Teal'c could always overpower him and he knew Carter could probably kick his ass these days if she really wanted to, but Daniel's a geek!

When the test was completed Dr Frasier was happy to tell all 4 SG1 members that they passed the test. Carter wanted to run over and hug her CO but knew it was not appropriate so the two just made eye contact and smiled at each other while Daniel & Teal'c congratulated the Colonel for making a great recovery.

When the Colonel made his way back to the General's Office with Dr Frasier, the General was so happy he couldn't stop smiling. Dr Frasier stopped at the Major's office on her way back to the infirmary. She made sure no one else was around "Hi Janet!" Carter was still smiling from today's achievement. The Dr smiled back, "I wanted to congratulate you for a job well done. The Colonel made much better progress than I thought he would. He had a great nurse." Janet just looked up at Sam and grinned. Sam was trying not to turn completely red and nodded her head looking at the floor. "Ya, he did great." Janet caught on, "Want to meet for dinner so we can talk?" Janet knew there was now going to be a problem with the relationship that had developed between her friend and the Colonel. Sam accepted and they made a time and place.

The General had made the Colonel shut the door and sit down so they could talk. "So you just about packed General?" The older man nodded his head and sat at his desk. "Yes, I should be out of here by the end of next week." The Colonel could see the sadness in his eyes. " Jack, I wanted to tell you how proud I am that you worked so hard for a full recovery. I know you'll do well commanding this unit but there's gonna be days you wish you didn't accept it. " The General gave the Colonel a crooked smile. "Just keep your wits about you and think things out before you act." The Colonel looked to the floor knowing exactly what the General was talking about as he knew he could be compulsive. "yes sir."

"Of course, you have the advantage of your current team's knowledge. Use it, listen to their suggestions. Even though you are no longer going to be a member of SG1, the team you built will always have your six." The Colonel looked over at the General grinning knowing the General was completely correct. His mind went back to the fact that he wouldn't be going off world much anymore, if at all. Sending his team out there without him was going to be a big change.

The General could tell his 2IC's mind was running elsewhere, "Jack, why don't you and SG1 take a few days off. It's been quiet anyway and you know once you take this chair you won't be going far for a while." The Colonel was making faces with his lips and eye brows still taking in the thought of being in command of the SGC then he hopped up out of his chair. "Oh Jack, be sure you return and are ready for Monday morning 08:00, we have a ceremony to attend." And the General smiled at the man in front of him. Over the last 8 years, he had begun thinking of the Colonel as a good friend, and was proud that the Colonel had worked out as his 2IC, _everyone told me it was a long shot when I called the Colonel back, _he thought to himself. _Now the man they told me he was, has come full circle and will be the General in charge of one of the government's most secretive operations. _The General just shook his head at the thought.

The Colonel went to Daniel's office first where he found all three of his SG members, _this is odd!_ He thought, they are normally scattered all over the base. He just walked in and smiled, hands in his pockets. The others knew what was coming, they had already spoken to the General earlier about getting the rest of the week off and had agreed to do whatever the Colonel came up with.

"Hey guys" he smiled. "Guess what I just worked out?" They all just looked trying not to let him know they had a plan. "I got the General to give us the rest of the week off. We just have to be back by Monday 08:00. I know I am off to the cabin. Probably won't be able to get up there too much in the near future." They all told him what a great idea it was and wished him luck. They all waited for him to ask if they would accompany him as he normally did. The Colonel bounced a bit on his feet and smiled at the team, "Well, then I'm off" and he spun on his heel and waved as he left the room. "Have fun doing whatever you are doing, stay safe!" and he was down the hallway.

The team all looked at each other in confusion. They had planned this, they were all packed and ready to go as soon as he asked. "Um, what now?" Daniel looked at the others. Sam was still in shock of her CO not asking her at least. They decided to slowly work their way towards the locker room where the Colonel was changing into civilian clothes. As he walked out of the locker room, bouncing and happy to be going fishing, he saw the others looking like deer in the headlights and quite suspicious. He stopped and raised an eyebrow, "So, whatcha doing?"

"Oh, uh, we thought we would come down to get changed so we can leave." The Colonel just looked at them with the eyebrow up. "Uh-huh, and what are you all doing with your free time?" He asked. Carter thought this was her chance, "well sir, we were just going to hang out at my house, have a little cookout but really no solid plans."

The Colonel nodded, he knew something was up but he didn't want them to win. "Sounds fun, see you all Monday morning!" and he began walking past them. "You too sir" Carter blurted out as Daniel slapped her on the arm because she was letting him leave. "Ya, sure, ya, betcha!" the Colonel walked down the hall and into the elevator smiling. He knew something was happening.

After the doors closed the rest of the team stood watching, not knowing how to handle not being invited. All of the sudden, the elevator doors opened again with the three SG1 members again looking like kids with their hands in a cookie jar. The Colonel just stood still with a serious face looking at them, "well… my house in one hour. That's when the truck leaves." and smirked his devilish smirk. The three started to laugh, "You were onto us the whole time weren't you sir?" Carter couldn't believe he knew and smiled a huge smile.

Teal'c nodded his head, "Colonel O'Neill, we are packed and ready to go… fishing." He said with a pause. The Colonel had brought him to the cabin once before and he did not think fishing was a fun event but just being with friends and out of the base was pleasure enough. The Colonel smiled, "Let's meet at my place in an hour. Make sure you bring sleeping bags and toiletries, not sure I have enough for everyone. " Sam smiled, "Yes sir, we'll see you in an hour


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

SG1 had met the Colonel at his home and helped pack the truck. It was a long ride so Sam and Daniel had fallen asleep halfway up. The Colonel loved to watch Carter sleeping. He had been in many situations with her over the years and he found her almost angelic and peaceful when she slept. Of course Teal'c was not much of a talker so the Colonel turned on the radio softly just to pass the time.

Carter had woken up to stretch and the Colonel snapped out of it. "There's a gas station just ahead, I'm going to stop to refill and stretch a bit. Teal'c wake up Daniel." The Colonel watched through the rear view mirror and Teal'c acknowledged with his usual nod.

After the foursome refilled the truck and bought some snacks they got back on the road. This time there was more conversation as Daniel and Carter had never been to the cabin and were getting excited. The Colonel reminded them there wasn't much there but fishing, camp fires, and hiking in the woods.

When they finally arrived, the Colonel went first to unlock the door and turn on the lights. It was quite dark at this point and it was getting chilly. As the others walked into the cabin, the Colonel got kindling together and started a fire in the woodstove. Daniel and Carter walked around looking at everything although they found it very similar to the Colonel's house except there were no Air Force ribbons and plaques on the walls. There were photo's of wildlife, photo's of the Colonel with Sara and Charlie and some they guessed were him as a child with his Grandfather proud as peacock's holding up a tiny sun fish. Carter just smiled, knowing now how close to his heart the Colonel held his family. As much as she wants to be with the Colonel, it breaks her heart that he never reconciled with Sara, deep down, she knows the Colonel still loves his ex-wife.

The Colonel plugged in the refrigerator and they stocked it with beer and cold cuts, the meat went into the freezer. Daniel was impressed, he couldn't wait to be able to scout around outside in the morning. Anything he could put his hands on was right up his alley. He really wanted to get in some time hiking and Teal'c had agreed to go with him in order to avoid fishing.

After their late dinner, a lot of talking, and a few games of chess and checkers, they decided it was time for bed. That awkward moment of who was going to sleep where had arrived. "Carter, why don't you take my bed and Teal'c, Daniel, and I will bunk out here." The cabin was only a one bedroom place. Carter felt bad, "that's ok sir, this is your house, you get the bed. I will sleep out here." The Colonel threw up one hand, "no sweat Carter, I usually fall asleep on the couch anyway." She smiled at him and went into the bedroom with her belongings.

In the morning, Carter woke to the smell of eggs, bacon, and toast being cooked so she got up and came into the kitchen in her tank top and sweat pants. When the Colonel turned around his heart skipped a beat at the sight. Daniel and Teal'c were a little uncomfortable but got used to it. Though they had all spend many mornings after overnight deployments, Carter always woke up in the same BDU's she had worn everyday, never pajama's.

They discussed their plans for the day and had agreed to go for a short hike. The Colonel wanted them to know their way around a little and to let them know where not to go but had not been out on a hike in quite some time so he didn't want to over do it the first day out.

They packed sandwiches and water and headed out into the forest. Daniel commented on just about every tree and plant species he saw and the Colonel would identify paw and hoof prints in the soil. They had a good time together and returned early in the afternoon.

When they got back, they were hot and sweaty so Daniel asked the Colonel if the pond was safe to swim in which the Colonel agreed it was, just to watch for water snakes and snapping turtles. Daniel and Teal'c got into their shorts and went in. Carter decided the water was not quite clean enough for her to be interested in a dip so she and the Colonel stayed on the dock watching and laughing at Daniel while trying to dive down and explore the floor of the pond.

After their barbeque dinner, it became dark, so they started a camp fire and just laid around staring at the stars. The Colonel always impressed them with his knowledge of astronomy. They just didn't expect it with his playing dumb most of the time.

It was getting late and it had cooled down quite a bit. Carter had fallen asleep against the Colonels shoulder as she had done so many times before over the last 8 years. Daniel was falling asleep as well so Teal'c and the Colonel decided to start letting the fire burn out. Daniel had gone in to bed and Teal'c agreed to sit out and wait for the fire to die out. The Colonel looked up toward the sky and back to Teal'c before the Colonel gestured that he was going to carry Carter in to bed so he didn't wake her. It had been a very long day and she was completely zonked out cold. Teal'c tipped his head in acknowledgement.

The Colonel turned slowly and got up on his feet while keeping Carter propped up before lifting her and carrying her to bed. He removed her coat and boots and slid her under the covers before giving her a quick kiss on the forehead and leaving the room. He couldn't stand how much he loved her now that they lit the flame but it had to remain only in his mind right now.

The Colonel stoked the fire in the woodstove and climbed under his covers on the couch before Teal'c came in. Teal'c was actually surprised to find the Colonel there and not in the bedroom. He shut the lights off as he made his way to his sleeping bag. Jack looked up at him, "thanks T. Good night." Teal'c again just smiled a small smile and tipped his head, "Good night O'Neill."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Several days had passed with SG1 enjoying their time at the Colonel's cabin. It was the day before they had to leave and Daniel, Teal'c and Carter were thoroughly enjoying their long hikes and today was no different. The Colonel had still not caught a fish but it didn't stop him from trying and simply enjoying the peace and quiet. Today Carter decided to stay back and 'fish' with the Colonel. She figured it was a good time for them to discuss what their future plans were while the other guys were out for the day.

Daniel and Teal'c left right after breakfast and had brought lunch with them so the Colonel and Carter knew they had until mid afternoon. The guys had found some caves which they wanted to explore so the Colonel gave Teal'c his old style shotgun to carry in case they met up with someone or something living in them and they needed to protect themselves. Teal'c couldn't believe the Colonel still had such a primitive weapon but it was all the Colonel kept at the cabin.

The cabin had been broken into several times over the years so he didn't leave anything of value there. Nothing was ever stolen so he figured it was probably just someone needing a place to crash but he didn't want to take the chance. Once he knew a bear had gotten in because things were busted up without reason and markings that appeared to be claw marks were left on the door. So if everything such as the shotgun was hidden in a hidden panel of the wall in the closet.

The Colonel set up Carter with a fishing pole and some worms before sitting in his own chair on the dock. They enjoyed the quiet for about an hour when Carter decided it was time to discuss their situation. The Colonel didn't know what to say and again told Carter he would do whatever she wanted. If they were worried about any career it was hers he figured. Finally Carter got up and went into the house. The Colonel didn't know if she was upset or was just done with trying to catch fish in a fishless pond.

In about a half hour he decided to go in and check on her and found her on the bed crying. He stood in the doorway simply watching her while chewing on his lips, hands in his pockets. A minute later he walked over to her and sat on the bed. He said no words for a few moments when Carter looked up at him. She moved into his arms and he held her against his chest shaking his head and staring out the window, "Carter, I don't know what to say. You know I love you, I don't think you can deny that. I know you have feelings for me. I just don't know how we should move forward. If I wasn't able to go back full time, I would have retired in a flash and things would be very different but they offered me General. If I accept it and can get at least 2 years in before retirement, do you know how much that changes my pay rate and ultimate retirement later?" Carter was snuggling tight. "I know Jack. And I don't blame you."

Jack flinched his eyes from his mind moving so fast, "But if you want me to retire Monday morning, I would do it. I've retired before, I can do it again", he kiss the top of her head. She looked up into his eyes, "I know you would but I don't want that either." She moved in for a kiss but moved away, "Carter, if we can do it, two years is all I need I promise. It would still be considered an early retirement but I'll be 57 years old by then, I'm an old man ready to hand it off to the next generation. Who knows where the SGC will even be then, maybe it won't be an issue for us then, who knows. And besides, it still gives us time to start our own family. I know I can be a great dad this time around and I can stay home with him or her while you are off to work." He leaned down to kiss her lips and she met him with a passionate kiss in return before he laid back on the bed and she climbed up over him not letting their mouths leave each other, tongues dueling.

He let her take control for the time being, allowing her to remove his shirt while he did the same to her, their lips never leaving each other. She unbuckled his belt and began unbuttoning his pants when he moved to get up. He was going to flip her onto her back but she pushed him back down, "no way flyboy.. let me command this mission." They made eye contact and he laid back on the bed. Her mouth moved down to his chest and rib cage which she knew tickled him, fingers running through his chest hair and down the line of hair leading to his pants. She could see his manhood swelling so she rubbed and cupped him through the material. His lips where opened and she could tell his breathing changed, she loved making him want more. His own passionate lovemaking had given her the courage to do more than she had with any other man. Slow and steady, passionate, lovemaking, not just sex.

Finally she pulled the front of his pants down to release his manhood. She took it into her mouth like an ice cream cone. His head kept pushing back into the pillow, she knew he was in utter delight. Her hands then took control of his manhood while her mouth moved to his sac parting his balls with her mouth and tongue before moving back to his manhood.

He was completely enjoying himself but was not used to being the one pleasured. He always wanted to be the one to pleasure his woman. "Sam" his hands were caressing her breasts. "Sam…." She began moving her lips up his abdomen and massaging his sac and manhood with her hand. She was looking up to meet his eyes, and without her lips leaving their mission, she answered. "Yes Jack?"

He really didn't want it to stop, "Sam, don't you want me to…" She met his lips with hers. "Shhh….I told you I was piloting this bird. You just sit back and enjoy the ride." He accepted as she worked her way back down his body with her tongue to what she really wanted. When she took his manhood in her mouth again she was not as gentle as she had been and with the combination of her hands and mouth got him ready to explode. She could tell he was beginning to tense, "Sam!, Sam…!" His head was pushing into the pillow and his eyes were closed. She finished him with her hand as she watched the eruption time after time. His breathing was quite winded and when he opened his eyes her gorgeous baby blues were looking right at him and she carried a big smile as she moved up to move into his embrace.

He pulled her in to cuddle closely and his mouth found her neck, kissing her softly. "You didn't have to do that ya know." He whispered into her neck between kisses. She loved it when he kissed her neck so softly but she turned her body to face him while he put his manhood back in his briefs. She traced his face with the back of her hand staring into his big brown eyes and smiled. "I know, but you have shown me so much more than I could ever expect from a man in bed, it was time I returned the pleasure."

Jack took a deep breath and chewed the inside of his lip again, "Sam, can we do this, can we keep it a secret? Honestly?" Sam smiled at him, "well at least with you not going on missions with us we won't have a situation where we are sleeping near each other." He raised his eyebrow, "true."

They laid together for about a half hour before they decided they should get up to have lunch and get back outside in case the others returned.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Monday morning had arrived, all the members of SG1 had returned home Sunday night and were up bright and early to get to the base. Today was the day the Colonel was getting his promotion, though bittersweet with General Hammond leaving in a few days.

The Colonel had been on time for a change and reported to Hammond at 08:00 as requested which impressed the General. "have a seat Jack." The General pointed to the chair in front of his desk. There had been no one else in the briefing room so he left the door opened. "Did you and the rest of SG1 have a good time up at your cabin?" The Colonel wondered if someone had said something about he and Carter.

"Yes sir, Daniel and Carter had never been there so they wanted to do a lot of hiking while I was able to fish in peace and quiet most of the days. Barbecue's, Bon Fire's, and cards were our nightly agenda." The Colonel wanted to try to account for every moment. The General smiled, "sounds nice."

"Well, I wanted to run something by you for your opinion." The General knew the Colonel was going to agree and he figured it was inevitable so he wanted to take care of it while he was still the CO of the SGC and not the Colonel. "Colonel, what is your thought about my promoting Major Carter to Lieutenant Colonel today as well?" He smiled at his 2IC and Jack lit up like a Christmas Tree, "I think that is a wonderful idea." The General had a huge grin, "I figured you would. I also wanted to take care of it while it was my name on the paperwork so no one could say it was favoritism." The two men's eyes met.

"Son, I know you are both professional and will not let anything interfere with your jobs. And as I have said before, I don't know anything about what you both do off hours and I don't want to. But I will remind you to be careful. The president has been made aware because of Kinsey and he and I have talked about the two of you for quite some time now. He agrees that what we don't know we can't act on but he did say that if proof was brought to his attention he would have to reassign one of you to prevent court martial." The General became very serious, "Be careful Jack. And I hope you two can eventually be together, but PLEASE be careful at this time. You know there are people who would be more than happy to pull your star and ruin the SGC."

The Colonel acknowledged his CO with a head nod, "Yes sir. I understand and I know Carter does as well." The General got up from his chair, "I hope you do son. I left the personnel files here for you to go through so you can pick your 4th SG1 member."

The Colonel looked at them and disregarded, he wasn't going to be picking anyone anytime soon. The Colonel got up and headed for the door, "See you in the Gate Room at 11:00, please be sure to be in your dress blues!" The General said with a little sarcasm so the Colonel played along as he snapped his feet together and saluted his CO. "Yes sir!" and he left the room down the steps. The General just stood smiling and shaking his head. _Never did I think I'd see the day that boy was a General,_ he thought to himself with a big smirk.

At 11:00 everyone had congregated to the Gate Room all sharp in their dress uniforms. The Colonel and his team took their spot at the bottom right of the ramp while the General was at the podium under the gate. He had a full speech about his leaving and about what he hoped was the future of the SGC. Finally he announced the Colonel was receiving the promotion to Brigadier General so O'Neill made his way up the ramp and faced his CO, very serious and saluting him. The General removed the Colonel pins on O'Neill's lapel and replaced them each with one star. They shook hands and the new General saluted his superior again before moving back a step and out of the way standing at full attention.

The General stepped back to the podium and announced the surprise no one expected. "And now I would like to congratulate Major Samantha Carter on her newest promotion to Lieutenant Colonel." Everyone clapped and Carter was in shock, she had not expected it right now. Daniel kind of pushed her while he was clapping and she moved her way up the ramp next to O'Neill who had a huge Cheshire cat grin. He was very proud of his 2IC. The General repeated the tradition he did with O'Neill a moment earlier. When she stepped back, she and the new General shook hands with each other and smiled. The General had a couple other promotions of lower rate SGC members.

That night, O'Neill had invited many of the other SGC members to his home for a barbeque. It was a celebration for he and Carter and kind of a 'send' off to the General who made it all work. They thanked him for putting the team together and for putting up with all their shenanigans (especially O'Neill) over the years. It brought gentle tears to Hammond's eyes, he was going to miss his SGC team. They really were like family but he knew his decision to move to the Pentagon was going to help the SGC in their ultimate endeavors.

The crowd had finally left except SG1, Janet, Cassie and General Hammond. O'Neill wouldn't let anyone leave unless he knew they were sober enough so it had taken awhile to get everyone sorted. Janet decided she needed to get Cassie home as she had a date and finally Teal'c had agreed to take Daniel home and was going to crash on his couch which left Hammond alone with Carter and O'Neill. They talked for a while before Hammond decided it was time to go so Carter decided she should go as well so it wouldn't look good having the General leave the two together at Jack's house. General Hammond walked her to her car alone giving him the chance to talk to her. After all, so far, he had only approached Jack about the relationship he knew was happening.

Since Jacob had passed away, General Hammond really had become more like a father figure to her and he knew Jacob wanted Sam and Jack to be together. He wanted to be sure Sam was ok with the situation between the two without prying too much into their business. She seemed like she was in total bliss and that it definitely was not something Jack had forced, which he knew deep down but needed to be sure. He hugged her and wished her well in the future and told her to keep in touch if she needed anything work or personal related. When he parted from the hug he looked her in the eye with a smile, "and now it's your job to watch Jack. Keep him in line, he needs it. If you have trouble, I'm just a phone call away." She knew what he meant. Obviously she couldn't order her superior around but besides Hammond, she was the only one who really could control him at times whether it was his childishness or emotional issues. She smiled and nodded, "you know I will" and the two got in their cars and left.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Several days had passed and General Hammond had gone. Jack O'Neill was in his new office and trying to make it feel like home. He was sitting back in his nice leather chair swirling around when SG1 entered and knocked on the door, it was a little awkward for everyone since Jack didn't feel like a General and the others, especially Carter had to at least semi treat him as one. Daniel just raised his eyebrows as Carter and Teal'c stood in silence, "Jack? Whatcha do'n?" Daniel asked. _Doh! _Jack thought to himself when he was caught so he sat up and looked sharper. "Nothin', just checking out the new chair." Carter and Daniel just nodded their heads, "Ya, ok sir" Carter responded.

"So, have you gone through the personnel files to choose a fourth member of SG1?" Daniel was interested in what O'Neill was going to do. He figured they already had an Archeologist, they had Teal'c who was a good foot soldier and could fly ships and death gliders, and they had Carter who could MacGyver just about anything into working and she could definitely hold her own in battle. Daniel knew Carter could be a good leader if given the opportunity. Really, Jack was there to lead the missions, especially at the beginning. He was there to watch everyone else's back and with all his Special ops training he could usually outsmart the enemy but the others have really stood their ground and grown themselves over the years.

"No Daniel, I haven't chosen a new SG1 member yet. There doesn't seem to be anyone…." Daniel stopped him. "Well, what is it you are looking for in the new member? Maybe we can help you." O'Neill just looked at his desk, he hadn't made any decision yet because he didn't know what he wanted to add. He knew it isn't the smarts they were missing without him there, and Teal'c certainly was quite a warrior and could watch their backs, Carter could definitely lead the others and was a good tactical soldier with brains, Daniel had learned how to defend himself and the others, he just didn't know what he wanted. _Me, I want me to be going with you_, he thought.

What he really wanted was someone simply to watch their six, especially Carter. The most important thing is to get his people home. The General had no problem with the idea of Carter running SG1 and he knew she wanted to but she was a pay grade lower than some of the Colonels that were the leaders of other SG Units. How was he going to explain that one or another higher Colonel wanting to transfer in. He always wondered if someone would ask.

A week went by with SG1 not being assigned any off world deployments and they were getting antsy. The Colonel had told them that he wouldn't deploy them without a fourth person. He understood they could probably hold their own and it had been done. There was nothing in the regs saying there had to be a team of four but the fourth person certainly helped in a gun fight.

SG1 had watched numerous other teams leaving and returning so now they were mad. When the alarm went off and the Sgt got on the loud speaker, "incoming traveler!" The General raced down the stairs to the Control Room to stand behind the Sgt. "What do you have?" he asked.

The Sgt looked at his computer, "I don't know sir. Wait, there's code. Trying to identify. General , it is showing as your old code sir." The rest of SG1 arrived and were standing next to the General. O'Neill stood staring for a moment doing his normal chewing of his lip, "open the iris." The Sgt looked back at him, "are you sure sir?". The General nodded his head, "do it!"

The Sgt opened the iris and the SF's took their position at the bottom of the gate and waited. The General stood trying to figure who it could be, when out of the puddle came Laira. She was bleeding badly and passed out just in time for a staff blast to come through hitting the walls. "Close the iris!" The General ran down to the Gate Room and waved off the SF's. "Stand down!" he yelled as he ran up the ramp. In the mean time, someone had called the medical staff and the medics along with Dr Frasier ran up to the General who had taken Laira in his arms. His eyes were filled with worry, she didn't look good. He picked her up and put her on the gurney and ran with the medical team holding her hand. Of course, no one really knew what had happened between them. Only SG1 had known there was some kind of friendship maybe relationship between them.

When they got to the infirmary, Dr Frasier told the General he had to wait outside as she pulled the curtain around the bed so the staff could help Laira. He did as he was told and waited outside the doorway as Daniel, Teal'c and Carter arrived. They could see he was distraught. Carter felt a little bit of jealousy though she didn't really know why.

"What happened?" Daniel was usually the most curious. The General looked up at him, "I don't know. She hasn't been able to say anything yet. If I were to guess, I would say they were attacked by Jaffa." As he tilted his head and looked at the team sarcastically. Daniel realized it was kind of a stupid question.

When the Doctor had finished treating the wounds and running tests, she went out and told the General he could go ahead in, that Laira had been asking for him. He bounced off the wall with his hands that were behind his back and went in. He went to her bed and she reached for his hand so he took hers. He was never good at feelings and didn't know what to say.

She smiled up at him, "Thank you for helping me Jack. I didn't know what else to do." She began crying so he squeezed her hand tighter. "They came in ships. We tried to befriend them but they killed many of our villagers when they refused to cooperate. Before I knew it, they were attacking us. The General closed his eyes trying not to think of the people he had learned to get along with being killed. "I don't even know if Garan and Johann are…." and she cried a bit harder. The General knew what she meant but thought about who Johann could be. He hoped that Garan had brought people back to the cave he found when the fire rain was happening. They would have a chance there as long as the Jaffa didn't find them which meant it would only be a matter of time before they would be discovered.

The medication Laira had been given for pain was beginning to set in and making her fall asleep. The General patted the hand he was holding with his other hand. "We're going to do the best we can, you sleep and I'll be back in to check on you." She closed her eyes and turned her head letting her hand be freed from his. The General gave her one more look over before leaving the room to find SG1 still out in the hall. He didn't want to talk right now, he had things to work out in his mind about what to do next.

SG1 just watched as the General walked past them down the hall. Daniel wanted to go after him and ask questions but Carter held him back. "Let's give the General a few minutes to figure things out. I'll meet you guys in the Briefing Room in an hour." Daniel and Teal acknowledged her and they headed down the hall. Carter went into the infirmary to talk to Dr Frasier and found her at her desk.

"Hey Janet" Carter smiled at her friend. "How's Laira?" Dr Frasier figured on a visit from her friend knowing that having the General worried about another woman would peak her friends interest. "She will be ok, a lot of cuts and bruises, one blast to her arm but she will recover. Now, who is she and where did she come from?" Dr Frasier gave her friend a crooked look.

Carter was looking at the floor and moved her eyes up to look at her friend. "Remember a few years ago when the General was trapped on Edora for about 3 months? Well, because so much time had gone by and the gate was nowhere to be found he thought he was trapped there forever…." The two women made eye contact and Dr Frasier filled in the blank. "And, the General became friends with this woman." Carter nodded her head and not really knowing how close of friends. She remembered being a little jealous when SG1 had finally gotten back to rescue the General that he ignored her to go to Laira and say goodbye which was a little more involved than just a friend but she couldn't be certain.

"Is this going to be a problem? That she's here I mean" Janet asked her friend. Carter became quite stoic, "Of course not. I mean, that was a long time ago right." Janet just raised her eyebrow and stood up and the two started to leave the Doctors office, "well, you know where to find me if you need to talk." They smiled and went their own directions.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

The General had decided to have the recently promoted Lt Siler get a UAV ready to be deployed. He wanted to know if the Jaffa were still there or if they could find any people alive. He couldn't figure out what they would want with such a peaceful planet but the Goa' uld had surprised him in the past. Just then Carter found the General and asked what his plans were. He was very serious and didn't make eye contact.

I have Siler setting up a UAV to send through the gate. "If everything looks clear, I want SG's 1, 3, 6, and 8 to go do a damage assessment. Have Teal'c take you to the caves we had found, there may be people hiding inside." Carter acknowledged her assignment and went to tell Daniel and Teal'c about the pending deployment. Daniel was confused, "I thought Jack wouldn't let us go without a fourth person?" Carter gave him a look and informed him that SG's 3, 6 and 8 were accompanying them on the mission. Teal'c and Daniel each raised an eyebrow before Daniel could help but respond sarcastically. "Wow, nothing like a little 'over doing' it huh?" Carter couldn't help but think the same thing, "Ya, that's what I thought" as she rolled her eyes and left to get ready.

The General had found the other SG Team leaders to fill them in on what was happening. As they were leaving the Briefing Room, he called Colonel Reynolds into his office and shut the door. "Reynolds, I need you to be on your 'A' game out there. It is the first deployment I am sending my team on without me, I need you to watch their six!" The Colonel nodded his head, "Yes sir!" he knew what the General really meant, he was no fool when it came to the relationship between the General and Carter. The Colonel turned to leave and the General met him at the door to open it, "oh, and if you can find out about one's named Garan and Johann. Garan is Laira's son, it would mean a lot." He made eye contact with the Colonel and Reynolds acknowledged.

While waiting for the UAV to be ready for flight, the General had gone down to the infirmary observation area and sat, just watching Laira sleep. He was thinking back about the colony he had lived with for so many months but he could not come up with anyone named Johann. Suddenly he heard his name being called to the Control Room so he went up. The Sgt announced to the General that the UAV was ready to be deployed so he commanded them to open the gate and watched his SG teams congregate in the hall ready to go. Carter and Reynolds came up to the Control Room to see the monitor and what they were walking into. The monitor showed no reason not to allow the teams to leave so he gave them a 'go' and wished them luck.

The General just stood watching SG1 and the others leave on the mission and wanted to go with them. Instead he walked away and back to the infirmary observation area. He was just looking at Laira wondering what had been happening since he last saw her. He promised her he'd visit but he never built up the nerve. His life here on Earth with Carter was what he really wanted but Laira was a wonderful woman unfortunately she wouldn't come to Earth and leave her people.

The thought of their last night together when Laira had asked him to father a child for her filled him with emotion. He had made passionate love to her that night, she was the comfort he had needed and wanted at the time he thought he lost everything, especially Carter. He kept thinking that he controlled himself enough that night. He wanted Laira but was not certain he wanted to father her child quite yet. So when he never returned he didn't feel like he had left a fatherless child.

_OMG! _He couldn't help but run the thought through his mind. _If Johann is my child, I truly fucked up! I would have hung it all up to be with Laira if she had my child or I'd at least stop in for a visit and help her raise him. _The thought that he could be a dead beat father was killing him. He rested his elbows on the desk and put his eyes to his palms.

A few minutes later Dr Frasier walked in and watched him as he was looking out to Laira. "How are you holding up General?" as he looked up out the window. "Oh, I'm ok, just tired." The Doctor knew it wasn't simply from fatigue but she let it go.

"So, Sam says Laira was a friend of yours when you were trapped on Edora." The General leaned back in the chair with his head leaning on the head rest still looking out the window. "Yes, she and her son let me stay in their home when the others had blackballed me." Janet was getting the idea, "So, she's a special friend."

"Doc, I was trapped on Edora for over 3 months, the gate was gone and I received no word from the SGC. I had no idea what to do and Laira and Garan took me in. The village finally accepted me after I helped them with the rebuilding and harvesting, they are nice people and I can't fathom how the Goa'uld found them and why they would just kill them. It is a beautiful plant, much like Earth in the colonial times but there was nothing I could find that would make them want it." His head was still back on the headrest and just rolling back and forth as he talked.

The Doctor still didn't think she had the full story. "General, I am sorry if you feel this is too personal but I am going to ask anyway. Don't answer if you think I am out of line." Janet felt it was a very awkward situation. "Laira keeps asking about Garan who I know you mentioned is her son but she also asked about a child named Johann." The General froze, confirming that Johann was a child, probably his child. "Did she mention how old the child was?" he had to ask still sitting stiffly. Janet knew then that Laira was a very close friend and did more than just give him food and a roof over his head.

"No sir, just that he was a child." She didn't know what to say. "Let's just hope the teams find them and that they are well." She could tell the General was having a hard time keeping it together. If it was his child and he had not been part of his life it would tear the General up but if it was his child and is now dead, SGC was in for a horrible time as the General will crack as anyone would losing two sons, one which he never knew.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

It had been many hours since the General had fallen asleep in the observation room. He just stayed watching over Laira when he was awoken by the sound of the Sgt on the loudspeaker. "Incoming transmission." The General jumped from his chair and ran to the Control Room. The Sgt immediately connected the incoming voice, "General, this is Carter, can you hear me?" He leaned into the microphone, "Yes, Carter, we're hear. What did you find?"

"Sir, the village has been destroyed and there are no survivors found as of yet." She knew he was going to ask, "sir, there is no sign of Garan or his girlfriend." That was not what the General wanted to hear. "Ok. Did you check the caves? That's were Garan and his girlfriend ran last time, there is a possibility they are held up there." There was a pause, "Sir, we have checked every nook & cranny."

The General was saddened but then realized that if they had not yet found Garan, then he didn't die with the others. _He's a smart kid, if there was anyone who could survive, it would be Garan._ The General kept thinking to himself. "Ok Carter, keep looking and report back in 4 hours, or sooner if you find something. If there is nothing by then, I will bring you all home." "Yes, sir." and the radio went silent.

The General chewed his lip and was on his way to the office for a few minutes but was stopped in the hallway. "General, Laira is awake. I thought you would want to know." Laira had asked one of the nurses to find him.

He went running down to the infirmary to find Laira awake and sitting propped up on her pillow. She smiled a big smile when she saw him walk into the room. The General immediately took her hand and smiled back. "How are you feeling? Any better?" He asked very softly as he looked around the room and only saw Dr Frasier. "I am well. Do you have any information on my people? Garan?" He could see the worry in her eyes. He tilted his head down, "I'm sorry, Carter just checked in and they have not found any survivors yet. They probably ran into the woods and found a new place to hide." He didn't want her to immediately believe her son was dead and he was hoping she would just come out and say who Johann was.

She just nodded her head and slumped back down in the bed. The Dr kept looking over at the two, it was very obvious the woman was in love with the General. She couldn't determine what the General's feelings were. He was very hesitant and not making jokes as he would if it were Carter or his team mates. It made the Dr really wonder what happened over on Edora.

He padded her hand and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "I have a few things I need to take care of. I will be back in a few moments ." He felt very awkward and had to leave. His mind was full and confused. What if Laira's entire civilization was gone, he couldn't make her go back, but was committed to Carter. He smiled down at her and left the room.

About 2 hours later, the Sgt was back on the intercom, "Incoming Transmission!" The General was down to the Control Room in a flash. "Sir, its Col Reynolds." The General nodded, "Patch him in."

"Sir, we found a few people. They are fine, one is named Garan and he has a toddler with him who's name is Johann. They are both fine." The General about collapsed in relief. "How many people total Colonel?" "Sir there are eleven sir." The General didn't hesitate, "Ok, have the people transported here and I want all the teams except SG's 3 & 6 to return. Have them stay and continue to bury the dead before they return." "Yes sir, Reynolds out."

The General saw the people coming in through the Star Gate. When he saw a tired, tattered, Garan carrying the child, he went down to them. "Garan, your mother will be very happy to see you." The General took the child from Garan and put his hand on Garan's shoulder to lead him to the infirmary. The child had sandy blond hair and big brown colored eyes. The child was obviously exhausted and tired so he tucked himself tight to the General's chest. All the way down to the infirmary it was on his mind, _Is he mine?_ He was surprised no one had yet to say anything to him.

When they approached Laira, she lit up brightly almost jumping out of the bed. She opened her arms to take the child which was very happy to see her. Laira smiled at the General and hugged Garan who sat on the side of the bed and was interacting with the child while he was filling his mother in on the situation on the planet. _So, when are you going to tell me who the kid is?_ The general thought, he couldn't stand it anymore.

"Garan, can I have a minute with your mom?" Just then Dr Frasier came over to them knowing what the General needed to talk to Laira about. "Yes, Garan, I need you to come with me for a moment. I just have to run a few quick tests to be sure you are not a carrier of anything contagious. No big deal." And she smiled over her shoulder to the General as they walked to the other side of the room.

The General looked at the child and back to Laira. He was still confused as to why she wasn't saying anything. "Laira, is Johann our child?" She smiled up to him and took his hand. "Jack, how could this be your child?" He felt kind of out of place, "well, it's been what 3 years since we were together. How old is Joahann?" She kept from giggling, "Jack, Johann is the son of Garan and Jennifer. They married not long after you left Edora. Unfortunately Jennifer died during child birth and I have been helping Garan raise his child." The General was relieved, but then a flow of mixed feeling came in. He had prepared himself to accept that he had another son and now he didn't. He squinted his eyes and chewed his lip trying to think.

Laira took his hand again, "The option is still open." She smiled to him and he returned with a smirk. As they were talking SG1 had come to the infirmary for their post deployment physicals. They saw the General holding Laira's hand who was still holding the child. It was the same thought in all three of their minds. The General must be the father but Carter was confused as to why the General wouldn't be interacting with the child a bit more if he was his.

Daniel went directly to the General and Laira, "So, who's this adorable guy?" Daniel smiled with Carter standing behind him. "How are you feeling Laira?" Daniel asked in his normal interested way. The General looked to Carter, "Meet Johann, he is Garan & Jennifer's son". The General could see Carter's shoulders drop in relief as he half smiled to her before SG1 continued to the other side of the room for their return physicals.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Several days had gone by and SG's 3 & 6 had finished their mission and returned to Earth. Laira and the other survivors had made a great progress in their recovery and Dr Frasier was willing to release them. The General had been periodically stopping in to see Laira, Garan, and the child using the child as an excuse to stop in to play. On occasion, the General was even caught walking around with Johann letting him play in his office to push buttons on the computer which the General barely knew how to use anyway. He always loved children and would like to have another someday with the right woman if he could be in a steady relationship. He would want to be there every minute with the child, not like he did with Charlie having to work all the time.

The General called for a briefing with all the SG Teams that had been to Edora to discuss how they wanted to proceed. There had been no sign of Jaffa or the Goa'uld since they had arrive so they hoped the Goa'uld believed everyone was dead and that there was nothing for them to get and not return. But there was no promise of that.

They decided that once the villagers returned to Edora, SG's 5, 11, 21and 22 would return to help them rebuild and to protect them for a month. After that, they would return one SG unit per month until they felt it was safe enough to pull all the teams out.

When the General went to Laira's room, he asked that she get her people together to go over the plan. They all agreed it sounded like more than they could ask for and accepted. When the others all returned to their rooms, the General stayed with Laira and shut the door. She just sat on the bed and smiled to him. He was uncomfortable again but he felt that since she was leaving in the morning, he should spend a few minutes with her. They just talked small talk for a while when Laira made the move to kiss the General. He accepted a small kiss and sat back. He knew it would get out of hand if he continued. He took a deep breath and looked at the wall.

"Laira, I am sorry I did not get back to see you" he said softly. "It's just. Well, see…" Laira stopped him and smiled while taking his hand, "but you have another." The General's eyes were so soft, he had grown to love this woman but she was not the woman he was 'in love' with. The General just nodded in return, "It is Samantha. Am I right?" He looked her in the eyes, "yes. Carter and I have developed a relationship that is a little different but we love each other and I do plan to never leave her." The two just sat and looked at each other for a while understanding what they both wanted. "And if I had returned with you then?"

The General chewed his lip thinking hard and covered her hand with his, "things may have been different." She acknowledged what he was saying and though she wanted to, she kept from crying. The General couldn't make eye contact anymore so he stood up and she followed. "I will see you before you leave." She just smiled at him as he turned to leave.

In the morning, three of the SG teams had gone ahead to be sure things were still clear and the Edora villagers were formed at the bottom of the ramp with SG5. The General was playing with Johann who was admiring all the blinking lights and the big blue puddle. He finally handed the boy back to Garan and walked over to Laira. They looked into each other's eyes and gave each other one long last hug. "You know where I am if you ever need anything." He gave Laira one last squeeze before he released her and stood up. He just stood watching every last villager walk into the puddle and disappear before deciding it was time to call it a day and go home.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

A year had gone by since Jack O'Neill had taken over the SGC. He and Lt Col Carter hadn't seen each other in almost 4 months as she was gone to help with the Prometheus Program. She had decided to help on the project because things were quiet around the SGC it was getting old sitting around just doing lab work. The General had still never replaced the fourth member of SG1 and therefor rarely sent them on dangerous missions exploring new worlds. If he did, he sent SG3 with them. He trusted Col Reynolds to cover their six and to bring his team home. So after a while, the members of his # 1 team kept signing up for different endeavors. Besides Carter helping the Prometheus Program, Daniel was off to Atlantis, and Teal'c was back on Chulak trying to help Bra'tc with all the rebel Jaffa. It had been a year since General Hammond had moved to the Homeworld Security office in Washington and he decided with the Prometheus Project off and running that he wanted to get back out in the field when the post was offered to him.

When the president asked who Hammond thought should take over the Homeworld Security Office, he couldn't think of anyone better than his previous 2IC, Jack O'Neill. General O'Neill had been pondering about accepting the president's last proposal to move to Washington and especially to watch over the NID. He'd even get another star in the process.

He didn't want to leave the SGC but with everyone always gone, and seemingly all the System Lords had been defeated or at least quiet, he thought that it may be time for change. He had discussed it with Carter the last time they talked and she thought he should do what he wanted. Of course she preferred he stay at the SGC as she was almost done with the Prometheus Project and would be back. She didn't want to prevent him from advancing in his career just as he would never block her from doing. They'd just have to do a bit more travelling in order to see each other.

When Carter returned to the SGC, she felt the vibe very different. O'Neill had already cleared his things out of the General's Office and was on a two week break before taking his new post. She met with General Landry who appeared to be a nice guy but it wasn't the same without O'Neill there.

Carter then met up with her friend Janet. She hadn't been feeling well over the last week or two and wanted to be checked out. Dr Frasier did a full physical and didn't find anything but with the symptoms, she suspected one thing, so she took blood. There were several people in and out of the infirmary so she asked her friend to follow her into her office and to shut the door so they could talk.

Janet looked up to her friend with a questioned look almost embarrassed, "Sam, honey, you know I wouldn't ask if I didn't feel it necessary…. But, when was the last time you had intercourse?" Sam turned bright red, "Janet?!" The Dr had a serious look, "Sam, what I am asking is, do you think there is a possibility that you are pregnant? I am trying to establish a timeline." Janet just looked to the floor not able to look her friend in the eye.

Sam was in shock, "Pregnant? It can't be, I mean, um, let me see…" she had talked to her friend about the secret relationship she shared with O'Neill, it was not a rare thing to talk to Janet but for some reason, she was more embarrassed right now, probably because now they'd been 'caught'. "Janet, I am on birth control!" The Dr just shook her head, "I know, that's what you told me but it isn't fool proof." Janet gave her friend a look with a raised eyebrow.

"So, when was the last time Sam?" she asked again. Sam started thinking, "Well, I have been gone 4 months so it's more than that, so I'd have to say the night before I left." The Dr was nodding her head, "That would be about the right timing. Let's get the bloodwork going and I will let you know later tonight. But I do feel a difference in your pelvic palpation and you have gained a few pounds since your last visit…." Sam started crying in disbelief so Janet went over and put her arms over her friend.

"Janet, what am I going to do? I can't have a baby right now." Janet didn't really know what to say. "It'll be fine honey, you will work it out and right now only you and I know. Once I get the results, I will call you. If it is a positive, sit down with Jack and discuss it. You know he will do whatever he needs to make it ok." Sam slowed her crying knowing it was true.

General Jack O'Neill had thought a lot and finally accepted the position forcing him to move to Washington. On the day of the ceremony where he received his second star, Hammond and Carter both attended and congratulated him. "Major General Jack O'Neill. It's got a nice ring to it huh?" he asked his friends. General Hammond smiled a big smile and shook his hand, "Congratulations Jack. I heard General Landry has taken over the SGC, I hope he knows what he's in for!" Carter shook General O'Neill's hand to congratulate him and gave him a quick hug while whispering in his ear. "Tonight flyboy!" He raised one eyebrow and released the woman after all, they were in public.

After the reception Gen O'Neill went to his apartment while Gen Hammond gave Carter a ride to the hotel where they were staying. About an hour later, Carter called a taxi and found herself at the General's apartment which had been set up with wine and candles.

Carter knew she was in for quite the night. The lights were dim and she did not see Jack. She walked in and put her bags down when she saw the rose pedals on the hallway floor leading to the bathroom. She smiled, removed her shoes, and followed the path. When she got to the end, she found Jack in an oversized Jacuzzi tub smiling and holding a glass of wine for her. "What took you so long?" he asked with a smirk.

She stood just trying to take it all in, "Jack O'Neill…. I didn't know you were such a romantic." He smiled, "There's a lot about me you still don't know….. now, all you have to do is get out of those clothes and climb in, I'll take it from there…." Tears welled up in her eyes as she got undressed and climbed into the tub, she loved this man so much.

Sam climbed into the tub and sat back against Jacks chest. His hand pushed her hair from her neck so his mouth could begin exploring while his other hand was finding her breast. She was in complete ecstasy. He always knew exactly what she wanted as he continued kissing her neck and shoulder, her head against his chest allowing him to explore wherever he wanted.

After a few moments he realized she was still teary so he whispered while kissing her shoulder and pulled her closer against him. "What's the matter baby?"

She didn't want to tell him yet but she thought now she needed to. "Jack, I have something to tell you…." He was still caressing her with his mouth, "ya? What's up?" Her tears got a little heavier so he stopped kissing and just held her tight against him and nuzzled into her neck. "Jack, I was feeling funny the other day so I stopped in to see Janet." He paused, "and?" She turned to look at him, "and she thinks I'm pregnant. She is running blood work now to confirm but she thinks I am about 4 months into it and has removed me from any gate travel. Jack, what am I gonna do?"

He was in shock but took her face in his hands and took her for a deep kiss. "Sam, WE will do what WE need to do. I can retire, I've done it before." She didn't want him to have to retire but right now she didn't see any other way unless she resigned from the Air force.

Sam just cried and stayed cradled in the arms of the only man she ever truly loved. She knew he'd do anything for her and ALWAYS be there for her but it was so scary. "Are you upset?" He cradled her and shook his head, "Upset? About what? It takes two to tango right?" he squeezed her tighter. "Samantha, you do believe me when I say I will ALWAYS be here right? That includes for our child."

Somehow the thoughts Jack had for the night were gone, they were just curious to wait for Janet's call to confirm the pregnancy. He was with the woman he had always wanted but there would be consequences. The couple climbed out of the Jacuzzi and decided to order dinner from room service.

At about 9:00, Sam's cell phone rang and she ran to answer it. When she saw it was Janet she took a deep breath and she and Jack stared into each other's eyes. "Hello?" Jack walked over behind Sam to hold her and rested his head on her shoulder from the back so he could hear Janet as well. "Hi Sam, it's Janet." Sam was frozen, "Hi Janet, so.. did you get the results?" There was a pause, "Yes, I just got them. Sweetie, the results came back as positive." Jack squeezed Sam against him and nuzzled his face into her neck. There was a pause, "Have you told Jack?"

"Yes, I just told him tonight and he's right here so he heard you tell me." "Ok,sweetie, I want to check on you again in 2 weeks but when you get back to the SGC we need to sit down and discuss things with General Landry since he's going to have to make some changes in the teams and decide how he wants to handle your not doing anymore gate travel for a while."

Jack heard every word Janet said so he talked over Sam's shoulder. "No, problem, she will be back tomorrow. But give Sam & I a chance to talk some things out before you mention anything to Landry ok?" Janet knew what he was referring to, "Yes sir, I will wait until I speak to you or Sam. I do wish you both luck."Jack could feel the sincerity Janet conveyed in her sentence and could picture her with a big smile. "Thank you Janet, talk to you later." "Bye Sir, bye Sam." And they hung up.

The couple sat on the couch holding each other just thinking things out. Where they would live, Sam and Jack each still had their own houses but with Jack in Washington and Sam in Colorado Springs it wasn't easy. The other and biggest issue is how to handle the relationship without being court martialed. Jack had made up his mind that he would retire, he wasn't going to let his baby grow up a Military Brat without a father in his/her life and besides, he didn't want Sam to have to take on all that pressure without him.

Jack decided to return to the SGC the following day with Sam so they could talk to General Landry together. Jack had Sam pull the transfer records up on the computer. "Yes!" Jack blurted out. General Marque had signed the temporary transfer accepting Carter as an assigned officer at Nellis AFB 4 days prior to Sam actually flying down to Area 51 to work on the Prometheus Project. So technically, she was not under Jack's direct chain of command at the time of what anyone would know was their "first and only affair" the night Sam must have become pregnant. Jack had it all worked out in his head and explained his thoughts to Landry and Carter.

Landry certainly was not happy about being in this situation but technically this happened before he took the post. He just left the room shaking his head with a half smile. "You two kids just work it out, let me know what you decide, neither of you technically work here at the SGC or even at Peterson AFB at the present time, so it doesn't matter to me!" Sam slapped Jack on his arm and smiled and she began typing. "Sir! Look at this, General Marque signed the transfer of my records from Area 51 to General Hammond when he took command of the Prometheus Project." Jack just stared into her eyes with question and she knew she was stumped at her thought. "Don't you see sir! General Hammond has still not signed my transfer back to the SGC! I am still under his command!"

Jack was still staring into her baby blue eyes as he caught on. "Let me make a call!" and he ran to the phone to call General Hammond. Jack explained the situation and Hammond was beyond pissed off to the point that Sam could hear the screaming through the phone across the room while Jack held the phone away from his ear. But when he hung up the phone he had a smile on his face. "He'll do it, he'll hold you on the Prometheus Project doing research for another month which will give us time to better handle things." They were both excited; they may have dodged the proverbial bullet as they say. And it would make it hard for anyone to prove that Sam & Jack had an affair during the actual time Sam was in Jack's direct chain of command. Of course very shortly thereafter leaving his command yes, but technically she had been transferred a week prior to her leaving Colorado Springs.

Of course with their latest plan with Hammond, it meant Sam would have to go back to Nellis AFB for another month to do the research on the Prometheus Project but it was better than being court martialed they figured.

Jack & Sam walked out and informed Landry of what they had worked out. Sam would not be transferred back to the SGC for 30 days and when she did transfer back, she would not be doing any gate travel per Dr Frasier so General Landry was going to have to do something with SG1 for about 10 months to a year at which time Sam would return to work and could go through the gate. Sam had figured 5 months while she was pregnant and then she was hoping to take a 6 month maternity leave.

"A year? I can't hold up SG1 for a year!" Landry didn't know what to do. "Colonel, if you are not going to be able to lead SG1 through the gate for a year, I am going to be forced into bringing in a senior officer. I am not sure I can hold a position for you to lead your own team when you get back, you may have to take second OR THIRD IC depending on what is happening at that time!" Sam and Jack made their usual eye contact so they could communicate without talking. Sam finally responded that she understood he had to do what was best for SG1 but made sure he knew she was going to be ready to take the command when she returned.

After they were done talking everything over, Jack & Sam stopped by Janet's Office to say hi and to let her know what their plan was. When Carter stepped out to use the ladies room, Jack informed Janet of his intention of marrying Sam in the next three weeks. He is going to pop the question before he left to return to Washington and they would be married before Sam returned to the SGC.

Janet was taken back but understood that they needed to do this in order to stay out of trouble, if they could. She smiled up at the General and gave him a quick hug. "You take care of her, you hear me!" Jack smiled down at her. "You know I will. And I will be in touch with the plans, please don't tell anyone. The wedding will be small, maybe just you & Cass, Daniel, and Teal'c. I will mention it to Hammond but I doubt he would come, he is PISSED!" Janet chuckled, "well sir, Cassie & I wouldn't miss it for the world!"

Jack stepped out into the hallway as Sam was walking back down the hall. Now that he was looking, he could see a tiny baby bump showing through her fitted shirt. The two left together and headed for Sam's house. As they pulled up, Jack asked if he could borrow her car so he could run a few errands and check on his house. "Sure.. but, I'll go with you." Sam wasn't catching onto his intentions. "No, no, you go rest, you've had a long day and you don't want to get too tired, remember you have to fly back to Nellis in the morning."

Sam thought for a moment, "ok, you're right". She couldn't help but suspect he was up to something but figured he just had some things to take care of as he said. After all, she was not privy to all the things he had to handle at the new job. She leaned over to give him a kiss before getting out of the car so he could slide into the driver's seat.

Once Jack saw that she had made it into the house, he left directly for the strip mall downtown and found the jewelry store. He sat for almost an hour looking at ring after ring uncertain of which diamond she would like. He knew she wasn't really a jewelry wearer even at home so he didn't think she would want anything too elaborate but more functional yet something that didn't look like it came out of a Cracker Jack box.

The jeweler finally showed him the one that he thought would be perfect so he took out his credit card to make the purchase. The jeweler could see the glow in Jack's face and couldn't help but comment. "She is one lucky woman, not many men spend so much time picking the perfect ring. It is obvious to me that you are truly in love with your lady." Jack was beaming. "I don't know how lucky she is but I know I am getting the best partner I could ever hope to have and she is carrying my child."

The jeweler smiled and tipped his head, "well congratulations then. Here's your receipt. Please keep me in mind when the two of you are ready to purchase your wedding rings and maybe someday a mothers ring." Jack's face just dropped, _shit, I still have to buy wedding rings for both of us! Doh!_ He shook the jewelers hand and thanked him, "I'll see you soon!"

After leaving, Jack stopped by his house to check on things. As he was walking through his living room he looked up at the photo of he and Charlie and stopped. He took the photo off the wall and sat on the recliner for a moment staring at the photo, suddenly memories flooded his mind and a tear hit the glass. When he snapped out of the thoughts, he took the photo and a few other things and put them in a duffle bag with a bottle of wine he had been keeping for a special occasion and took one more look before locking up the house and getting back in the car.

He decided he need to make one more stop before going back to Sam's house. As he pulled into the narrow driveway winding through a peaceful field of stones , he finally came to a stop at one with a familiar name. He got out of the car, walked over, and squatted down tracing his finger over the etched name "Charles O'Neill". Again a tear had escaped as he was telling his son about how much he missed him and that he was going to be marrying Sam and they were going to have a baby. He apologized to the boy and promised that he would be a better father to his little sister or brother and that he hoped Charlie would help watch over his new sibling.

Shortly thereafter, a shadow approached behind him and stopped. Jack spun around to see who it was and was surprised to see the figure of his ex-wife. She could tell he had been crying and had a concerned look on her face. The last time she found him like this it wasn't really him, it was some kind of alien energy form.

When he stood up and saw the gentleness in his face, she knew it was the real man. "What's going on Jack, are you ok?" He turned back to her and tried to close to dams that had opened up a few moments ago. "How long have you been standing there?" he asked as he finally made eye contact with her.

"I just walked up. I was driving by and saw you down here so I thought I would stop. Are you ok?" She knew it was not often if ever that Jack cried. He put his head down and tried to figure out what to tell her. He hadn't thought about running into or telling Sara about his new found fortune of love but now he's faced with it. He looked up to look her in the eye, "ya, I ah, I came down to talk to Charlie a bit. I wanted to let him know some things that were changing."

Sara's face became more concerned, she still loved her ex-husband but they both knew too much had happened to ever make it work again. "Like what? Jack, are you ok?" He just nodded his head," I am fine. Actually I came to tell Charlie I was getting married and am expecting a new child." He looked away, it was a very uncomfortable situation. Tears welled up in her eyes and began biting her upper lip as she accepted the info. "Well, then I am happy for you. I hope everything works out" and she began turning to leave. Jack stepped and grabbed her shoulder turning her back towards him. He took ahold of each shoulder and looked her in the eyes, "I'm sorry Sara. I hope you also find your soul mate. You truly deserve to find and be loved by the perfect man. I know I am blessed to have Sam in my life and certainly don't deserve it as much as you do. If there is anything I can do…" she held her hand up to him as she began crying harder. She was hurt, jealous, and happy for him all in the same moment and didn't want to say anything she would regret. Enough regretful words had been said between them over the years.

"Jack, I am happy for you, I really am. And I am sure Charlie will watch over his new brother or sister. You don't need to do anything for me.." and she was crying so hard she was shaking. Jack took a deep breath and pulled her in to embrace her. She grabbed him and held on, his strong body was so badly missed. Jack nuzzled his neck to her shoulder and whispered in her ear. "I will always love you, I hope you know that. Don't ever hesitate to call me if you need anything or just need to talk. And I do truly hope you find the right man." They both separated and smiled before letting each other go and getting into their separate cars.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Jack pulled up to Sam's house and went in. He found her napping on the couch and went over to give her a gentle kiss which woke her with a smile. "I brought home some Chinese if you're up for it" he said softly while moving a stray hair from her face.

He took her hand and helped her to her feet and they walked over to the dining room table. The two enjoyed their dinner together and discussed their plans and timeline. They decided Jack would remain at the Pentagon for now and reassess in 1 year if he would retire then. For now the plan is to take his 4 weeks vacation when the baby is born or sooner if Sam had any complications, but after returning, he would be travelling home every other weekend and every holiday until the baby was born and then every weekend and holiday for a few months or until they thought the baby could travel and then Sam & the baby would stay in Washington until it was time for her to return to work. She planned to take 6 months of maternity leave so by then it would be one year and time for Jack to decide on retirement.

Of course, the base has a daycare and Sam knows the staff well as Cassie used to stay there, but Jack just didn't want his kid to be a regular there and certainly not if Sam was ready to start going off world again. There was just too many things that could go wrong and the baby would be alone. No, he didn't want that at all, he made that clear to her. To spend a couple hours playing with other kids while she was in the mountain working was ok, but certainly not otherwise and Sam agreed.

After dinner they cleaned up and decided to go to bed early. As Sam was getting into bed, he walked over to his duffle bag and pulled something out. When he turned around he walked over to her taking her hand and got on one knee looking up at her. She was trying to figure out what was happening when it clicked.

"Samantha Carter, you are my soul mate, my lover, soon to be the mother of my child…" by now Sam began crying and still trying to listen to every word.. "You are my rock, the one who keeps me grounded, keeps me sane in this mad world we keep safe. And for that, Samantha Carter, I hope you feel the same. With the blessing your father once gave me and the hope he would still feel the same; Samantha Carter, will you marry me?"

Sam was crying so hard she was trembling, Jack was swallowing hard trying to keep back the tears. "Yes! Yes, I will marry you. Jack I love you." Jack quickly got up and met Sam half way where they took each other into a tight hug. Jack kissed her and snuck back down on his knee to fit the ring to her finger. She held it up to see it in the light. "Jack this is beautiful! When did you have time to buy this?" He sat next to her and embraced her again, "shhhh, don't worry about when or where, just that I did and it was NOT an easy decision mind you. I wanted to find the right one, I hope you like it."

Sam jumped up, "oh, I have to call Janet!". Jack just smiled, "don't worry she knows." Sam gave him that huge smirk he loved so much, "you mean Janet knew about this?" He laughed, "yup, and so does Cassie, Teal'c, and Daniel." Sam went over and sat on Jack's lap grabbing him around the neck and they began a very long passionate kiss. As Jack moved them both further onto the bed they were losing clothes. It wasn't long before he was in her and she was begging for more. They knew it would be quite a bit of time before they were together again so Jack was slow and passionate making it last. Besides he didn't want the baby sloshed all over because his/her father couldn't control his urges, he laughed at his own thought. After Sam's second ride through ecstasy, he was ready to let loose so she squeezed her walls causing him to release everything he had and he fell to her side.

Jack had to be to Peterson AFB early for his flight. It wasn't easy getting to sleep with so much on their minds but they just laid cuddled together with Jack rubbing Sam's belly talking to the baby knowing the baby couldn't hear him yet but wanting the baby to know he was there. As he was talking he was nuzzled up to Sam's neck and just the feel of his breath made her feel warm and comfortable.

He was going to mention seeing Sara at Charlie's grave today but decided against it. He just wasn't good at talking out his feelings and if Sam thought he was thinking about Charlie instead of their child he wasn't sure how she would handle it. Instead they each drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.

In the morning, they both got ready, Jack put on his dress blue's which he hated so much. It was actually the one part of this new job he just despised but using the Air Force flights he had no choice but to wear what he called his "Monkey Suit". What he had never realized before is that even to this day, when Sam saw the man in his dress blue's and those aviator sun glasses it made her loins burn. "You are SO hot in that uniform!" she said to him with a smile before their last kiss leaving the house. They could not chance displaying any affection's in public, not yet.

Sam dropped the General at the air strip before she went back to the SGC. She had a few more hours before her flight so she figured she would go see Janet and if Daniel and Teal'c were around she'd love to see them as well.

Janet was so excited for her friend that she gave her a huge hug. Then Sam explained to her friend what their plans were going to be as for a schedule and thought she would plan a gathering at her house (or Jack's as that was where they usually met) in two weeks when Jack returned for his every other weekend. Sam made no mention of a wedding so Janet bit her tongue and didn't reveal what the General had told her and wanting to be married within the month. Sam just hadn't thought about why Jack wanted Hammond to give them another month and not three months, her mind had just been too busy.

When General Landry saw Sam in her office he stopped, "Oh, Colonel Carter, I've been looking for you." He entered the room and smiled. "I received a radio transmission early this morning from General Hammond. Apparently he has decided that you can accomplish your tasks for the Prometheus Project from here for the next few weeks and that you knew all the appropriate codes to access the computer to finish your tasks."

Sam smiled so big she was beaming, "yes sir, I suppose I can access everything from here. I will get right on it." General Landry gave her a non judgmental smile and nodded before he left the room.

The first thing Sam did was text Jack the good news and then she ran down to Janet's Office. She would have told Daniel & Teal'c but they were off on some mission.

Most of a week went by with just Jack & Sam talking on the phone a few times, just chit chat, nothing truly important. Sam had told Jack she wanted to have a party when he flew in and he agreed to allow them to use his house. It was a little larger and had the back yard and porch everyone loved to congregate around. Jack had told her he would be flying in the following Friday night very late and said he was going to have someone from the base drive him home. Being a General certainly had its perks.

In the mean time Jack had been talking to Janet, Daniel and Teal'c about his plans to have the wedding the Saturday Sam wanted to have her "party" and everyone would be around. It wasn't going to be many, but besides the regulars, he figured Siler, Harriman, Reynolds, he would invite Sam's brother Mark and a few others. Of course he was going to invite Gen Hammond and Gen Landry but he wasn't sure they would show up.

That first Saturday morning Jack was supposed to be in Washington but he took a commercial flight back to Colorado Springs to make a surprise visit to Sam. She in total shock and couldn't help but adore the man for his wacky ways sometimes. No one else knew he was in town so they stayed in her house all day just enjoying their time together. His phone had rung a few times and he just went in the other room to talk. _A General's job never ends, _Sam thought to herself and didn't worry too much about it. What she didn't know was that he was making plans to meet with a Justice of the Peace as well as Janet, Daniel, and Teal'c at his house in the morning to go over the wedding plans he had not yet told his future bride about.

That night they were in bed snuggled together with Jack holding her tightly against him as he continued to rub her belly and talk to the baby as he did the previous weekend. "You know, it isn't a genie!" she laughed to him. "Rubbing it isn't gonna make it come out and let you make a wish!" she said with a big grin. He smiled and leaned into her to meet her lips, "maybe not, but my wish has already true and my second wish is on its way. If the genie will grant me one more wish…." Their kissing didn't stop for a few moments. She finally pulled away, "wait, what is your last wish?"

Jack leaned back to give her space to roll onto her back to look at him. "My last wish is that you will marry me next Saturday." He didn't know how she was going to take the news. He knew she deserved a big wedding with lots of guests and the big white dress, horse drawn carriage, etc, but they had to get this done as quickly and quietly as possible.

It took a moment for it to sink in to her mind, "next Saturday? How…" He put his finger over her mouth. "Shhh… if you agree, then it is all set. We just need to sign papers in the morning and have Janet pull our blood before I leave." She just stared into his eyes, "But… but how can we get all this done in one week." He smiled back at her, it's already done, the guests have been invited, the caterer, the JP are meeting me in the morning at my house and the rest is because we have awesome friends who are behind us.

Sam grabbed him and hugged him tight, "Yes, let's do it! Who did you invite?" They laid in bed talking over everything Jack had already done. He told her Janet was meeting them at his house in the morning as well so she would know the entire plan. Janet was also in charge of taking Sam to choose a wedding dress and decorations. He figured he and Sam could go to the bakery Sunday before he left to pick a simple wedding cake and other odds and ends.

Sam couldn't believe he had actually thought of everything on his own and put it all together. She never even once thought about a big extravagant wedding, this was perfect.

In the morning, they got up and headed to Jack's house where they met with everyone. They signed all the necessary paperwork and Janet took their blood samples before she left. She had planned to meet with Sam Tuesday after work to go look at dresses. Sam didn't want anything too fancy, she loved getting dressed up but she wasn't into the frill's and lace. So Janet left along with the JP and caterer so the couple could go to the bakery and then the jeweler.

The cake was easy to pick, a simple medium sized marble two tier wedding cake with the bride and groom decoration. When Jack walked into the jewelry store the jeweler remembered him and welcomed him. "So this is your beautiful bride to be…." He shook Jack's hand and then Sam's. "Why ma'am, I feel like I know you already. Your fella here spent a lot of time choosing your perfect engagement ring, I hope you liked it."

Sam smiled a huge smile to the man, "I certainly do, it is perfect." And she showed the jeweler how perfect it fit her finger. "So I assume you are now ready to pick out Wedding Rings? I have a set I think you two may like right here. It is a fairly simple pattern which matches the gold on your engagement ring. The couple each took a ring and looked at some of the others available but they came back to the one the jeweler had in mind for them. "Will you need them right away or should I hold them for you?"

Jack and Sam looked at each other and decided they wanted them right away but Jack had one request, "I would like Sam's to be engraved on the inside" she looked him in the eye not knowing what he was going to say. I want it to say "ALWAYS". Sam started tearing, so he took her into a hug while the jeweler agreed and Sam requested his be engraved the same way. The jeweler said that the rings would be done on Tuesday so Sam and Janet could pick them up. Jack paid for the rings and off they went back to Sam's house.

It had been a very busy day and Jack needed to catch a 4pm flight back to Washington. He said he would be home very late Friday night and unfortunately there wasn't much he could do about that. He had an afternoon meeting Friday with the President and Joint Chief's which he couldn't get out of. He gave her a kiss and went on his way. As she watched him leave a tear came to her eye, _How am I going to be able to watch him leave every other weekend? I miss him already!_

Sam was sitting on the couch watching a Hallmark movie when she heard a knock on the door. When she went to open it she found Janet & Cassie standing there with a pizza, chips, and a bottle of soda. "Delivery!" Cassie said with a smile as Sam let them in and gave Cassie a big hug. "What are you two doing here?"

Cassie laid the pizza down on the table and smiled. "Uncle Jack called mom when he left because he didn't want you to be alone with everything that happened today. Man.. he knows you like a book!" The thought made Sam chuckle, "ya, I guess he does."

The three women talked for quite some time about the plans for the wedding and they looked online at different dressed Sam may like. They decided they were going to go to Jack's house Wednesday after work to start cleaning it up a bit. It had been sitting empty for several weeks and the dust was no doubt collecting. The yard was being done by a boy in the neighborhood but Sam thought it may be a good idea to hire a landscaper to mow, weed whack, and just clean it up a bit just that one time. She would find someone in the morning.

As the week went on, Sam & Jack talked every night, Tuesday the women went out and Sam did chose a dress which following tradition, she was not going to show her groom to be so he respected that. She had told him about the landscaper and he agreed it was a great idea as he knew young Tommy Johnson did a quick and half assed job just to make $20 a week.

Wednesday night Sam had gone over to Jack's right after work and Janet agreed to meet her there after picking up Cassie from her summer job. When Sam walked into Jack's house she felt out of place and she wasn't sure why. She had been there dozens of times, never mind the time she spent there while Jack was recuperating and all the overnights she had after that. Maybe it was because he wasn't there with her, it was just different, like she wasn't supposed to be there or something but he knew her plans. Someone had to clean up the house before the wedding.

She had put her things down and walked around deciding what to do first when she noticed a picture missing from the wall. At first she figured he must have taken some of his metals that were framed or something, when she saw the photo of Jack, Charlie, and Sara so happy with Charlie in his baseball uniform. She pulled it down and realized the photo missing was the photo of just Jack & Charlie. She couldn't help but think Jack looked so happy in that photo and what a beautiful family it was. It was very similar to the stock photo of the perfect family that comes in the frame when you buy it.

Just then she got a pit in her stomach, she felt like she was taking something away from someone but she didn't knew who. Although she knew Jack still had feelings for Sara, she knew Jack & Sara were over long ago, she didn't even question that. But Charlie, Sam knew Jack still had unresolved feelings about Charlie's loss and she started crying. She sat on the arm of the couch just looking at the photo for a while before hanging it up. She was crying when she was thinking of how hard it must be for Jack to be having another child. She hoped he would love the baby as much as he did Charlie and not try to replace Charlie. It was at that time that Sam decided she would embrace Charlie as their first child so that Jack didn't feel he had to ignore him. She also knew one day a year Jack disappeared without telling anyone where he went.

Sam didn't notice Janet & Cassie walking in so she startled when Janet put her hand on her shoulder. "Are you ok?" Sam looked up and smiled through her tears and explained her thoughts. Janet looked Sam in the eye with a caring look, "do you know he still goes to Charlie's grave on the anniversary of his death? I don't think he's missed one year."

Sam was in shock, she still didn't think of Jack as a sentimental person although time and time again he has proven he is, he just doesn't want to talk about it. "How do you know where he goes? Did he tell you?"

Janet just smiled, "there are many things I could tell you about Jack O'Neill, but I won't. I think with time he will tell you himself." Janet turned to Cassie, "and you are to tell no one, that you even know THAT!" Cassie waved her hand and walked into the kitchen, "ya, ya, I know, and I'm from Toronto!" The three women laughed.

"No, you have to remember, I've known Jack and Daniel a very long time. Of course I didn't know him yet before or during the tragedy with Charlie but shortly after that I did. I worked with General West when he first opened the Stargate Program and that was right at the time Jack had walked away from Sara. It was a very tough time, he drank a LOT and as the years went on, he would always come in with a hangover the day after. I knew it was related to Charlie's anniversary and one time he was in rough shape. He was still a bit drunk and he told me he had spent the entire night at the grave. I think he has a better grip on it now, it's been so long and he's good at covering things up. Now I bet you guys don't even notice, but I always did. He used to come in looking for Tylenol and he was wearing his sunglasses inside the base."

"Oh Janet, I knew about the anniversary date and him leaving for a little while, I had no idea he went to the gravesite for the day!" Janet gave her friend a hug, "No worry, I am sure he will tell you when he's ready. He's a private person, and to him, his feelings are private."

Sam stood up and put the photo back on the wall, "Ya, your're right, I just hope he doesn't resent this baby." Janet shook her head, "Sam, honey, don't think like that! Jack is SO excited about the baby, every time I talk to him he asks how you are doing and how the baby is doing. I don't think you have anything to worry about, really. Jack is a different man then he was back then and most of it is because of you."

She told Janet her thoughts about starting to talk about Charlie as their first child and didn't know the best approach. Janet had suggested that she not confront him about Charlie but to let him work it out himself. Let him keep the photo's of the boy around and even if it felt weird, let him keep the photo's of the good times he had with Sara & Charlie, and how harmless it should feel. The man had been through a very tragic event in his life and if that was all they had to do to keep him sane, then that's what she would do. Janet felt that with time, the photo's of the memories Sam & Jack were building with their baby would fill the walls and maybe move the Sara picture's out of the way but she suggested they always keep a photo of Charlie among the other family photo's so he knew Sam had embraced the boy into the family. The night got late as the three finished dusting, vacuuming, and moving some furniture around so they packed everything up and left.

Thursday after work Sam returned to Jack's house to finish doing some things. She wanted a few groceries in the fridge for when Jack returned home the following night and although she REALLY wanted to see him Friday, she decided again to stay with tradition and not see her groom to be the night before the wedding.

So she talked to him on the phone Thursday night to let him know things were going well and all set that he had a few beers and some cold cuts, bread, eggs and butter in the fridge. He told her he had talked to Daniel about being his Best Man and Teal'c as Groomsman. Sam had already spoken to Janet about being the Maid of Honor and Cassie the Bridesmaid. Jack had told her that he had a florist making up corsages for the guys and that Janet was going to be picking them up as well as the bouquets on her way home from work Friday pm. Sam couldn't believe she had forgotten about flowers and especially couldn't believe he remembered! Jack also told her Daniel was going to stop by Sam's Saturday am to pick up the corsages for the guys on his way to Jack's house.

Friday, Sam didn't get much accomplished at work but she stayed locked in her office watching the clock tick. At 5:00 she left with Janet close behind. Janet told her she would meet her after picking up the flowers. When Janet arrived, Sam couldn't believe how beautiful the bouquets were that Jack chose for them and when she was putting the corsages in the fridge, she saw three but didn't think about the fact that there were 4 of them until later.

Janet, Cassie, and a few of the women from the base went out for dinner and a small bridal shower. Janet had rented the back room of a restaurant so they didn't have to deal with the general public. Sam couldn't believe some of the things the other women had gotten her, some were beautiful and others were xrated making her blush. Cassie had put together some games as well, and Sam had a hard time believing her little Cassie, now an adult could even think of such things. Unfortunately being pregnant Sam couldn't drink so she got "high" on Apple Juice & soda. Luckily the other women were busy drinking so they didn't really notice. It was not yet common knowledge that Sam was pregnant, only that she was getting married to General O'Neill.

At around 10pm, Daniel and Teal'c picked up Jack at the Peterson air strip and they stopped at O'Malley's where Daniel had done the same as Janet and rented the back room for the bachelor party. Several of the SGC guys were there already half drunk. Jack was exhausted but they had fun drinking and laughing when finally General Hammond walked in. Jack had invited him in hopes he would walk Sam down the aisle but didn't say anything to Sam just in case he couldn't make it. Jack stood and met the man at the door. "Come on in sir, have a seat. I wasn't sure you were going to make it." Hammond pulled up a chair and sat with the man which he could tell was getting to his limit of drinks. The waitress brought the General over a mug and filled it from the pitcher.

"Jack, I wouldn't miss this for the world." He leaned into the younger man's space, "but son, if you screw this up or you do ANYTHING to hurt that girl, you will have me to deal with. I promised Jacob I would watch over his little girl and I fully intend to. Jacob had told me he gave you his blessing to marry Sam which is the only reason I am here, cause you and I both know this affair has been going on a lot longer than anyone else knows."

Jack was frozen, he didn't know what to say, "sir, thank you for being here and you know I would never do anything to hurt Carter." Hammond cracked a smile knowing full well Jack wouldn't do anything to hurt the woman, "son, if you are going to marry the lady, I think you should call her by her first name, not Carter." Both men smiled and they talked a bit. It meant a lot more to Jack having Hammond there then Hammond knew. General Landry finally pulled up a seat next to Hammond and Jack had left to use the rest room. Hammond got to talk to Landry about "his" people and how special Jack & Sam were to him and to call him if there were any issues at all with either of them either work related or personal.

Around midnight all the women left the restaurant and Janet & Cassie decided to stay overnight at Sam's, that way they would be there early in the am ready to go.

The men did the same at about 2am, but Jack was quite drunk so Teal'c carried the man to the car and the guys drove him home. Daniel decided to sleep on the couch and Teal'c would come back in the am to help finish with the set up for the big day.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

In the morning the women had woken up early to begin their prepping of hair, makeup, dresses, etc and Teal'c stopped by Sam's house to pick up the corsages and the wedding rings before heading to Jack's. He couldn't help but comment to the women how ravishing they looked and he gave Sam a congratulations hug before leaving.

When he arrived at Jack's house, he walked into a battle of wills. Jack was getting into his Dress Blue's and making everything spit shine and perfect, something he rarely did. Daniel and Teal'c got their suits on and corsages all set pinned to each of them as General Hammond walked in also in uniform. Jack thanked him again for being there for them and for offering to walk Sam down the aisle. Something she did not yet know Jack just remembered.

By 9:00 the party supply rental people had put together a nice little area in the back yard. By 10:00, the Justice of the Peace had arrived as well as the caterers. Daniel and Teal'c had taken care of all of them while Jack was in his bedroom shaking like a leaf. He just couldn't come to grips with the fact that Samantha Carter was soon going to be his wife, she was really going to be his. General Hammond had gone in and tried his best to keep Jack calm. By 10:30 the guests had begun to arrive and the JP suggested he meet with Jack and the Groomsmen out at the trellis which had been stood up. General Hammond had stayed in the house to intercept the women when they arrive which he did.

When Cassie pulled up with Sam and Janet, General Hammond had gone out to meet them and assisted Sam out of the car by taking her hand. Jack had informed the General that he had forgotten to ask Sam about the General walking her down the aisle but knew she would be honored. When the General told her the plan, Sam began weeping. She felt so loved by everyone and if her father couldn't be there to walk her down the aisle, it would be General Hammond that she would want to ask.

Cassie had gone in to inform everyone that they were ready. Just then, the music began and Jack felt like he was going to pass out from the nerves. When he saw Cassie walking down the aisle looking so beautiful in her dress and carrying the bouquet, he couldn't help but think how much he would adore a daughter. Then came Janet also looking so gorgeous in her dress and finally taking her place next to Cassie. The music changed and everyone stood up, and the most beautiful woman Jack had ever seen came walking down the aisle in a simple yet beautiful white gown right towards him. He was speechless and just took in the whole site. General Hammond stopped in front of the JP and the JP asked if the General was willing to give Sam to Jack which of course he said he would and the General took a seat after giving her a quick kiss.

As Sam took her place next to Jack and he took her hand, they turned to the JP and listened and recited when asked. They had exchanged vows and finally slipped the rings on each other's fingers which was followed by Jack's favorite part, the part when he was told he could kiss his bride.

The small crowd of friends had cheered them on, they had all been waiting for this moment between the two. As Jack & Sam turned to face the crowd, the JP finished reciting his words, "And may I introduce to you, Mr & Mrs Jonathan and Samantha O'Neill." The two walked down the aisle followed by Daniel & Janet then Teal'c and Cassie.

The reception went well and everyone had a fantastic time. Jack & Sam got to visit with everyone and Sam was saddened that her brother did not show up for her wedding. She thought they had gotten over everything but after Jacob died, Mark because upset with Sam again so she really wasn't surprised.

When the caterers picked everything up and the guests had left, Daniel, Janet, Teal'c and Cassie finished picking up the odds and ends before leaving the newlyweds alone. Jack walked around and locked up the house totally exhausted while Sam went into the bedroom to change out of her dress.

When he walked into the bedroom, he found her fast asleep face down on the bed. He tried to shake her a little but she didn't want to wake so he slipped her shoes off and woke her enough to sit her up to take off the dress and undergarments before slipping her under the covers. He proceeded to get himself out of his uniform and into bed next to her while he was chuckling. This was his second time around at the marriage thing and he still laughed that people assume a newly married couple is going to make mad, burning sex the night they were married. Both times, Jack and his wives were far too exhausted for any of that. He snuggled up next to his wife, rubbed her belly, and fell fast asleep.

In the morning Sam woke to the smell of eggs and bacon so she got up, threw on one of Jack's t-shirts and wandered out into the kitchen where she found her new husband. He made a typical sarcastic response about her sleeping in causing her to laugh and she waked over and hugged him around his waist making him raise him arm to pull her into him. She rested her head on his strong chest and just stayed there until he needed his arm back for cooking.

She began to move away so he pinched her but, making her jump and give him the evil eye. "Not yet flyboy, but maybe after lunch…." Her grin was almost evil to him, he wanted her right now but he knew he could wait.

The two ate their breakfast and went to get dressed before their friends came over again this morning before the newlywed couple took off for the cabin for a 3 day honeymoon. They couldn't think of a quieter, more relaxing place to spend their first 3 days as a married couple together undisturbed and away from civilization.

When Sam was in the shower Jack decided to sneak in and share. Sam laughed at her husband's advances but with company coming any minute, she didn't want to start anything they couldn't finish before they arrived. Jack took her face in his hands to kiss her which warmed her up inside, she wanted him right there too but she had to stay in control. "Come on, I can get it done quick", he tried. They chuckled together, "Sorry flyboy, if you want to make a go of that mission, your gonna have to pilot your own bird." She was laughing as he continued to try holding her with his gentle kisses all over her neck.

Just then there was a knock on the door, "see". Sam turned to give her husband one more kiss and grabbed his manhood which was already at full attention. "Here's the joystick, all you have to do…" she began pumping her fist a few times when they heard the knocking again. "Sorry General but you'll have to handle this bird on your own." She let him go and snuck out of the shower, "sorry, I'll copilot the next mission." And she stuck her tongue out at him and grabbed a towel.

Jack was not frustrated at her, he knew it was bad timing, probably Daniel at the door, he figured. He had a way of disturbing thing's, then again, Janet seemed to have the same knack. Now he had to finish what she had started before getting out of the shower and getting dressed.

Sam had met their guests in the living room and they were all chatting when Jack finally came into the room. Jack walked up behind Sam and just pulled her back into him. Sam couldn't help but smile, trying not to laugh as Jack whispered in her ear about getting back at her later. Janet & Cassie saw them couple and figured it was something personal so they stayed out of it.

Sam gave Cassie the key to her house as they had discussed letting Cassie stay there to take care of the house while she was away. Any chance Cassie got to house sit for someone, she took it. Sam told her one, and only one female friend could stay with her and no parties. Now that Cassie was out of school and working, preparing to go to college in the fall, Sam gave her the responsibility every chance she could.

When the guests left it was about 11:00 and Jack was ready to get the show on the road and Jack loading his truck. Luckily he had not yet taken it to Washington as he was driven everywhere by Airmen when needed and had no place to keep it safe in the city.

It was a long ride but Sam slept most of the way. She had been to the cabin once before and remembered it as a charming little place and knew it meant a lot to Jack to be there. When they pulled into the driveway Jack parked and shook Sam on the thigh. "We're here." Jack went ahead and opened up the cabin hoping there were no bears hiding in or around it. He turned on the lights and knocked down a few cob webs before going back out and helping Sam out of the truck. She was still half awake and needing to stretch.

Jack grabbed the bags and they went into the cabin. I guess we can go down to the general store in the morning, we still have some sandwiches and chips left if you are ok with that for dinner. Sam nodded and walked around. She knew he had been to the cabin a few more times since she had been there but it looked the same. Jack went around checking the water in the sink and toilet to be sure they worked and then plugged in the refrigerator and put their food inside.

Sam wanted to go out by the pond even though it was getting dark so she started a little fire in the pit Jack had built years ago near the dock and sat in the wooden chair nearby. When Jack saw her out there he grabbed a blanket for the ground and went outside with his beer and a bottle of water for Sam.

He handed Sam the water and spread the blanket near the fire so he laid down on his back with his feet crossed and his hands behind his head looking up at the stars which were just beginning to come out. He named several star patterns and Sam helped with some of the others he had forgotten. She got up and laid next to him on the blanket so he moved over a little giving her room.

Sam laid with her head against his chest looking up. They talked for quite some time about some of the one's they saw while they were actually in space and when she appeared to be chilled, Jack pulled her closer. She felt so safe and warm against his body, he was so virile she thought.

As the night went on, Jack made his move. He rolled against her and his mouth began gently kissing her neck, nibbling on her ear, his hands finding their way under her shirt to unclasp her bra and find her breasts. She laid back and let him take over. Not only did she want it, she owed it to him for her earlier incident. His long fingers unbuttoned her blouse and his mouth continued on a path down her chest, taking each breast in his mouth, nibbling and finally moved down her stomach where he apologized to the baby and kissed very gently around her belly while one hand was stroking her breast and the other unzipping her pants.

He sat up very quickly to pull his shirt over his head and went right back to what he was doing. By this point Sam's hands had unbuttoned Jacks pants and she pushed them off his hips so he could kick them off. His mouth moved back to hers and she thought for a moment about where they were. "Um..Jack.. honey… we are outside." She was trying to get the words in between their brakes. Jack laughed, "ya.. and…" he smiled through the kiss as he began moving down her body again. "Do you meant to tell me you've never made out outdoors before?"

She laughed, "ah, no!" His fingers had now found the little button he was looking for so he began rubbing while his mouth was still nibbling her nipple. Jack didn't care where he was, he was taking his wife down right now. "Are you sure it's private enough out here?"

The thought made him laugh at her, "I think we're private enough out here… and if Yogi's watching, maybe I can teach him a thing or two." She gently slapped him on the arm, "You know what I mean." Again he had to be wise, "Ok, ok…. well, we're private enough unless little old Mrs Kendall decides to Tommy over with cookies." All this time jack didn't stop. Sam was ready to explode with his fingers going in and out of her cave and his tongue working her button and folds. What he was saying barely registered for a minute and she caught on, "What? Tommy? Who?" He giggled like a girl, "No worries, you can usually hear him coming a mile away."

Just then Jack moved his mouth back to her lips as she began convulsing with pleasure. He held he against him and as she stopped he slid his manhood into her tickling her special spot making her eyes roll back again so he slid into her his full length and together they gently rocked for several minutes. Finally he sped things up and his primal behavior took over pounding into her faster and harder until he spilled his seed into her and slid down off her.

About an hour later the fire was dying down so they grabbed their clothes and went into the house. They spend the entire night awake nuzzling, kissing, and talking to the baby. They had another round of slow, erotic sex again before the sun came up and being so spent from their activity caused them both to doze off a bit.

At about 9am they decided to get up and make breakfast. The day was very similar to the previous although they decided to go for a walk on the trails where they had stopped at a spot Jack had always loved and just sat, holding each other watching the water run down the mountain into the pond. That night they had another campfire and talked out more ideas on how to handle their schedules.

They decided that although it was hard but their current planned schedule was going to be best. They had also discussed the need for Sam to trade in her sport car for a 4 door so the baby could safely ride in the back seat. She could always drive Jack's truck, it was just sitting in the driveway and had plenty of room but she thought it was too large and opted for the trade in option.

Tonight they both fell asleep cradled together next to the fire. Sam woke up because she was chilly, the fire had gone out at some point during the night. When Jack felt her moving, he too woke up and they went into the house. After going in, Jack promptly fell back asleep so Sam left him alone and just laid beside him with her mind spinning, knowing this was going to be her last night with her husband for another two weeks. They would be leaving first thing in the morning to get back to Colorado Springs so Jack could take off for a 3pm flight out of Peterson AFB.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

It had been 4 months since Jack and Sam were married. Jack had been travelling every other weekend as they had discussed and he had gone to a couple of Sam's maternity visits. Dr Frasier had referred Sam to an OB/GYN at the Academy Hospital. Dr Frasier was going to be involved in the birth and accompanied Sam to her visits when Jack wasn't around. Due to the naquida in Sam's blood Janet needed to do some explaining and choose a dr and nurse crew who had proper clearances to handle the situation as it would look like an abnormality to a normal doctor if he/she took blood for any reason. And now, there was no doubt the baby would carry at least traces of the chemical.

Sam's pregnancy had been fairly easy and a week before Sam's due date Jack came home for the weekend as scheduled. He had been painting and putting down new carpet in what was going to be the nursery and this weekend he was putting together the crib they had chosen. They chose to make the room a light baby blue as a neutral color since they did not want to know the sex of the baby, they wanted it to be a surprise. The motif was baby ducks so the rocking chair pads, crib apron, and lamps all matched the crib and bassinette sheets.

Sam wanted the bassinette to be in her room so the baby could stay in there for the first few weeks with her and Jack in their room since the babies bedroom was going to be down the hall and not directly next door at Jack's house. At her house the bedrooms are back to back but she had agreed to move to Jack's house and to sell hers as his was bigger and had a larger and more secluded yard.

That night Jack, Daniel and Teal'c had taken Jack's truck back to Sam's and moved all the boxes she packed and moved her things to his house. He figured that way he and Sam could get everything placed before he returned the following Friday for his 4 week maternity leave.

It had been a long day and Sam was napping before dinner . Everyone else had left and while unpacking, Jack kept stopping to just watch the gorgeous woman doing her best to sleep comfortably with the huge belly she was carrying. He was almost done and had everything except her clothes put away in the dressers so he decided to lay down with her for a few minutes.

Her shirt had pulled up exposing her belly button so he snuggled up and kissed her belly, tracing her belly button with his finger. He was whispering to his baby and put his hand on her side when he saw the bump of a tiny foot or hand. He was growing teary eyed with the thought of his child almost coming into the world. He talked to the baby for about 15 minutes when Sam woke up but didn't let him know she could hear him.

Finally she tried to stop herself from giggling at him when he was telling the baby about certain people or things he or she needed to expect and he noticed she was awake. He crawled up and dropped next to her on his belly and gave her a kiss. "I love so you much", she said shaking her head.

Jack had a Cheshire Cat grin on his face, "What?" She couldn't stop herself from grinning so big, "you, already telling the baby who he/she should or shouldn't hang out with. You're too much."

Jack kissed her again and rubbed her belly, "well, I want my son or daughter to know who the geek squad is that is no doubt gonna be fussing with him/her." They laid together for a while until she decided she needed to pee so he helped her up so she could waddle to the bathroom.

The weekend had flown by and Sam was getting her knick knacks placed around the house making it feel more at home for her. Janet & Cassie had come over for dinner Saturday evening. Cassie was trying to get either of them to revile the names chosen but they refused. They wanted everything to be a surprise to everyone besides, that way no one gave them alternative options as they had made their minds up on names.

Early Sunday morning Jack was awoken by the bed moving. He knew Sam was not comfortable all night but something was different so he turned to look and Sam was concerned. "Jack, I think my water just broke", she was frozen.

Jack jumped out of bed and slipped on his pants, boots, and t-shirt and ran over to her. "Are you sure? Are you having contractions? You still have a week before your due date." Sam looked at him and now huffing, "Yes, they are about 5 minutes apart now and as for the due date, for all we know we are a week late. Remember, we only told them we were together once, we could have gotten pregnant on any of our times together." Jack just lifted an eyebrow and agreed with her statement before he helped her to the truck with her overnight bag in tow.

Jack had called Janet on his way to the hospital so she was able to meet them there. Cassie had been at a friends overnight and Daniel and Teal'c were off on missions until the following day. Janet went in to peak to the doctors and get everything ready while the nurse escorted Jack & Sam to a room.

Several hours had passed and Jack was doing his best to keep Sam calm. The contractions were getting closer together and stronger, at one point Sam grabbed Jacks belt by the buckle and pulled him into her while she was getting more & more tense from the pain. Jack quickly learned to stay back far enough to not be grabbed, he was worried he may lose an appendage if he wasn't careful.

Finally Janet and Dr Keen had checked on Sam one more time and decided it was time to start pushing. Janet stood on one side holding her friends hand while Jack was on the other. He kept cheering her on and things were going well, when finally Dr Keen told her to give one more hard push, and quickly he handed the baby to the nurse who ran the baby over to the side table. Janet took off to assist. Jack was just amazed that a woman could squeeze something that big out of her body when Sam realized, "Why isn't the baby crying!? What's wrong?" Jack squeezed his wife's hand tighter while Janet shot Jack a serious look.

About a minute later, though it seemed like hours, the sound of a baby crying filled the room. Jack let out a big breath of relief. Janet had bundled up the screaming baby and placed the baby on Sam's chest. Still not knowing if the baby was a boy or girl, Jack was about to ask when Janet asked what they were going to name their son. Jack was still trying to hold back the tears being barely successful, Sam was crying, Janet was crying, when Cassie finally came into the room.

Cassie was so excited the baby was healthy and ran up to Jack to give him a big hug. He stood with his arm on her shoulder while Cassie was adoring the sight of the baby. "So, what are you naming him?" she was so excited she almost squeeked. Jack squeezed his wife's hand and looked to Cassie & Janet, we are going to name him Jacob Charles O'Neill. Jack tried to swallow back a tear but it didn't work so well. Cassie hugged him tighter and smiled, "That's awesome!" Jack squeezed her tighter to his side and kissed her on the top of the head.

Jack spent the night at the hospital with his wife and baby . In the morning he ran home to get the outfit Sam wanted their baby to come home in as well as the car seat and baby bag. Being a week early threw off Jack's schedule a little as he had an important meeting on Wednesday but Captain Davis was able to work it all out and attend the meeting in his place.

One of the first things Jack did when he went to the Pentagon was pull the strings to have Major Davis appointed to his command and get him promoted. He had learned to trust the man when they had pulled off a few non sanctioned missions together. Captain Davis had come a long way since he first met him, he had been very 'by the book' and General Hammond and O'Neill had taught him a lot about how an officer sometimes just has to get things done whether it is in 'the book' or not.

When Sam & Jack got home, they rested little Jake in his bassinette still next to the bed. She let Jack make all the phone calls to their extended friends and family except for Mark. She called her brother Mark and he seemed happy for her. She was still sad he couldn't make it to the wedding, even if it was just him and not his wife and kids but she understood under the circumstances. After all, she had left his best friend practically standing at the alter to run off with her IC and now they were married with a kid.

Sam rested on the bed, Jack was the perfect nurse constantly making sure she was comfortable and had everything she wanted. When the baby started to fuss he ran over and picked him up making Sam smile, "you know daddy, your son is going to be spoiled if you run to him every time he makes a little fuss." He held the boy and smiled. He knew it, but the boy was so perfect and he wanted to protect him.

Little Jake finally quieted a bit but was still fussing, "I know what you want, you little milk monger. I am sorry to say I can't help you with that." Sam laughed at him and held her arms out to take the child and put him to her breast. She had decided she wanted to breast feed as long as the doctors continued to recommend it. It made her feel motherly and knew it was healthier than canned formula.

Jack just laid on the bed watching the little miracle and the love of his life together so natural. He ran his hand gently over Sam's arm letting her know he was there. Sometimes words just were not needed. They heard a knock on the door so Jack went to answer it, "General Hammond, sir. Great to see you, what brings you here, I thought you were in outter space by now."

Hammond did his normal Texas smile, "well, I got your voicemail about the baby arriving already and with my not needing to leave until tomorrow afternoon, I thought I would stop in. Congratulations. " Jack shook the man's hand when it was offered and walked him to the living room. "Have a seat, Sam is just feeding the baby and we can bring him out. Want a beer?" Hammond agreed on the beverage and he and Jack talked for a few minutes when Sam decided to bring the baby out to see his Uncle George.

Hammond stood to meet her and gave Sam a quick hug, "Oh, he's precious. Looks healthy, did everything go well? Oh, and here's a little gift for him as well, thought we'd get him started off right" and grinned.

Sam answered him while Jack took the gift bag, "Yes sir, he is healthy and so far a good boy. We decided to name him Jacob Charles O'Neill. We will call him Jake." Hammond nodded knowing how important each of the names were to them. "Very fitting tribute, I am sure they would be proud." Sam held back a tear while Jack was busy opening the gift. It was a stuffed cartoon spaceship. They both laughed, "Very cute sir, thank you." Hammond smiled back, "figured we'd get 'um started early." And Sam got up to give the man a hug.

The three adults had been talking for about an hour or so when Janet, Cassie & Daniel showed up at the door with dinner. They invited Hammond to stay but he had to get going back to Nellis AFB for tomorrow's mission. He wished them all well and promised to stop in when he got another chance but the mission they were leaving on was going to be a 6 month voyage.

Daniel handed Jack a gift bag for the baby with a big grin. Jack knew there was something up but he took the bag. He was going to hand it to Sam to open but Daniel requested Jack open it which made him more interested so he peeked in before putting his hand in the bag. He pulled out a toy stuffed Monkey wearing a replica SGC uniform. Jack thought it was cute when Daniel finally answered, "and now, maybe I can get a promotion and Jake can be your new Space Monkey." They all laughed, "very clever!" Jack loved it.

The month flew by quickly and Jack had to get back to Washington. Janet had suggested they wait until the baby was about 3 months of age before he fly to Washington if they were going to take a commercial flight.

That was going to be their plan with Jack coming back & forth every weekend but with all the catching up it was getting hard so he decided to make a few calls and get an old buddy to fly Sam, the baby, and a bunch of their things in a private jet. Janet agreed the baby was well enough for that and he made it happen.

So one weekend, Jack flew home and helped Sam pack up a bunch of their things to take to Washington. When she had arrived at his apartment she realized she had never been there, only the hotel Jack had been staying at. She loved it, Jack was a simple man so there wasn't much for decorations but she loved the small two bedroom townhouse he had chosen.

She was surprised when she walked down the hallway and found an almost identical nursery set up as what was at home. The furniture was a different model but very similar and the decoration was identical. While she was standing in the doorway with Jake in her arms she was just taking in the thought about when Jack would've had the time to do all this work and to keep it a secret.

When Jack saw her, her quietly walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist and nuzzled his face into her neck, giving her a gentle kiss and squeezing her against him. "Do you like it?" She was teary eyed again about her amazing husband so she turned to look at him. "I love it. You are always full of surprises!" He just smiled at her and took the baby.

I put all your clothes on the bed, don't know where you want everything but the dresser to the left of the bed is all yours, I have the one on my side of the bed. "He's ready to get changed and go down for a nap." Sam was putting her hands up to take her son but Jack stepped aside. "No problem, I'll do it. He's already been fed right?" Sam nodded, "Ya, he should be all set with that."

Jack walked into the nursery and put the Jake on the changing table. He was talking to the baby and he was careful to keep things covered as he removed the diaper, "and you little man, are NOT going to shoot me in the eye like your brother did! Charlie taught me my lesson about you little guys!" And on and on he talked while little Jake just cooed at his dad's soft voice.

Sam could hear him from the other room and was chuckling when suddenly she realized Jack had just mentioned Charlie. She quickly quieted and continued to listen far enough away that Jack wouldn't notice. She could hear that Jack had sat in the rocking chair and was eventually whispering low enough that she could barely hear. But what she did hear brought tears to her eyes as Jack and his son had the private time her husband needed to start healing his broken heart and tell his youngest son all about his big brother.

Sam thought to herself that this was something she would never mention to Jack, at least not anytime soon. She was going to take Janet's advice and let Jack work it out in his own head. When things became quiet she decided to peek into the nursery and what she found was her two guys fast asleep together with Jake cradled into his father's elbow. It seemed her at this moment, she should not ever worry that Jack would feel Charlie would be jealous of his new baby brother.

The End- But please watch for new stories of my O'Neill Family :)


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