Second Chances (up to Chap 29)
Second Chances (up to Chap 29)
by Elliemaehudson
Summary: Jack and Daniel both get a second chance at having a family thanks to the mirror. ( NOT SLASH)
Category: Alternate Universe, Romance, Series
Season: any Season
Pairing: Daniel/other, Jack/Sam, none
Rating: 13+
Warnings: minor language
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
Archived on: 2005-04-01
Legal thing: I don't own them, and I don't get any money for this.
Second Chances
CHAPTER ONE
In the early light of morning, they awoke. Megan was thinking to herself that this is the last chance that they had of survival. Their supplies were running low and she had to admit that she felt a little worse for wear. She told the others to wait until she returned and turned towards the mirror looking back once more as she placed her hand upon it.
A millisecond later she was on the other side of the mirror, all of a sudden alarms were going off everywhere. She surveyed her surroundings it was a small room, no windows, and only one door. A lot of crates surrounded her and she assumed that it was a storage room of some sort.
Megan turned to face the door with her only weapon, a 9mm pistol with only a half a dozen or so rounds left ready to use it if necessary. The door sprung open and three or four soldiers pointed their weapons at her. "Put down the gun and identify yourself?" one of them ordered.
She had no choice except to comply. Four against one wasn't a fight that she had the strength to fight at the moment.
"I'm Captain Megan O'Neill, and I request to speak to the person in charge of this facility."
The sirens could be heard throughout the base announcing an unexpected arrival. Colonel Jack O'Neill and his team were just arriving for a briefing when all the commotion started. As they entered the last checkpoint he asked the airman on duty what the situation was.
"Someone set of the motion detectors in one of the storage rooms in the lower levels of the base Sir, properly just a false alarm like last time."
"Thank you, airman." O'Neill stated as he headed for the elevators.
Once inside the elevator, Major Samantha Carter spoke up, "Wonder if it is a false alarm or if someone has come through the mirror again?"
Daniel Jackson the resident archeologist just shrugged his shoulders in response.
"We will soon find out Major Carter," answered the forth member of the team Teal'c.
Once the elevators opened on the desired level the team known as SG 1 to those in the mountain complex headed towards the briefing room.
Finally someone turned off the alarm, and the room plunged into silence.
The commander of the complex General George Hammond exited his office with a young woman behind him. The woman looked very heavily pregnant but she still seemed too thin and rather gaunt, she had shoulder length blonde hair and wore a set of too large air force blues.
Colonel O'Neill also noted that she had the brightest green eyes he had ever seen, they looked familiar but he couldn't place it. The team noticed that she looked taken back when she saw them sitting there. Before anyone could speak she was ushered out of the room by a waiting airman.
"Take her back to the storage room to collect her group and then straight to the infirmary and tell DR Fraiser that I wish to see her once she has completed the examinations." General Hammond commanded as he went to sit down.
"Yes sir," was the reply he got.
Colonel O'Neill started the questioning.
"What was with the alarms, sir do we have a visitor?"
"Colonel O'Neill, you and the rest of your team have perfect timing, in light of what has just happened this morning the mission that was planned for this afternoon will be postponed." Stated the General.
"May I ask why? Sir" asked Major Carter.
"We have had some visitors from what it seems, another reality. The young woman you just saw was one of them. Now before you ask any further questions I just want to inform you that she has asked on behalf of her small group for asylum, but she has specifically asked that you all agree with what ever decision the president comes to or she informs me that she cannot stay."
"What do we have to do with it? Daniel asked from his side of the table.
"Well from what she has told me son, it appears that you all have a lot to do with her reason for being here. I request that you all stay here while we wait for her to return from her examination. So we can make some sense out of this all."
They all nodded in agreement and started talking amongst them selves, speculating as to what role they would play in this latest drama bearing down on the SGC.
Megan stood outside the briefing room taking a deep breathe before she entered the room. She didn't know if she could handle seeing them all again, especially if she had to leave.
"Ah come in Megan" the General announced her presence while standing up and motioning for her to enter the room.
"Thank you General Hammond." Megan replied in what Daniel recognized as an Australian accent intertwined with something else that he could not put his finger on.
Megan stood before the room full of faces that were so familiar to her but not the faces she knew.
"Why don't you start by introducing yourself, you told me that you know who these people are already" the general prompted her.
"Right, um before I start I would just like to say that this is very hard for me and that I apologize now if I offend anyone with anything I'm about to say." She took their silence as understanding, as she started the speech that she had told more than a few times before.
"I don't know what the General has told you about me or the people I'm with but ill start at the most logical spot. I am Captain Megan O'Neill, and before you say anything Colonel, in my reality I'm your daughter" she let the first bombshell sink in before she continued.
"To explain it a bit further, I'll detour off the track slightly" again she took their silence as an opportunity to continue.
"From what the General briefly explained I understand that in this world you do not have a daughter and that you were not married to a woman by the name of Sandra Thompson?"
Stuck oddly silent Colonel O'Neill just shook his head before thinking better of it and adding
"No I was never married to Sandra but I did date her after I finished high school when I first joined the air force. She was an exchange student from, um Australia if I remember right. But we never married we dated on and off for about six months before I got transferred to California I think it was."
"Well my mother told me that while you were dating she fell pregnant and you did the gentlemanly thing and proposed. She accepted and you were married a few months later. I was born in California but shortly later you both decided that it had been a mistake and divorced. Mum moved back to Australia with me. But I saw you, ah my father quite often and was even flower girl at his wedding to Sara." A small smile appeared on her face as she quietly remembered a happier time in her life. Soon the smile was replaced once again with a face trying not to betray any emotion.
Every one sat quietly for a few moments taking it all in.
"I remember the reason that Sandra and I broke up was that she had fallen pregnant and had got an abortion without telling me about it. It went down hill from there." Jack added.
"Mum died from breast cancer when I was sixteen and I moved to the states to be with my father. I stayed with him until I enlisted in the air force myself. And that is the short story on how I know you all by name. We can go into the longer one later. The reason I'm here now is because my word was attacked by the goauld about five months ago. Most of the personnel were evacuated to another planet. Myself and a few of the other's including Daniel and Sam were the last few out," she continued, glancing at Sam as she said her name but not looking anywhere near Daniel.
"Sam and Daniel were killed getting myself and the others through the quantum mirror after we were cut off from the stargate. I have spent the last five months jumping to different realities looking for somewhere where none of my group or I exist, and where we were safe from the numerous enemies that earth has seemed to accumulate. I have tried to go back to my reality but I'm afraid that it is not possible I think that the mirror was destroyed by the staff blast that killed the Daniel from my world." She finished the summing up of her presence in their midst. Slightly fatigued from not getting enough sleep over the past few weeks she sat down heavily in a chair and waited for the inevitable questions that always followed when ever she had to explain her predicament to a new group of people in a new reality.
After a few moments of silence she realized that they were waiting for her to continue. Slowly she tried to remember where she left off. Remembering she labored on with her story.
"I know this might be a bit of a shock especially to you dad, um sorry Colonel O'Neill" blushing at her use of that name for him, he looked uncomfortably at the woman standing in front of him.
"No problems Megan. Keep going"
Slightly relieved that he didn't take any offense she kept going. "The others that I came with are waiting with Doctor Fraiser until you are ready to meet them."
After the General had called to say that they were ready for the others to come to the briefing room it only took DR Janet Fraiser a few minutes to gather everyone together and escort them there. After knocking on the door, Janet entered the room with the two from the other reality.
A girl of about ten or so with shoulder length brownish blonde hair, that looked slightly familiar to the group of people seated around the table walked quickly over to where Megan was standing. Janet walked to Megan as well and handed her a bundle of blue blankets with what appeared to be a child wrapped tightly. She cradled this one, with love in her eyes. Jack knew immediately that the child was hers.
Shit, that meant that he was a grandfather, he was too young for that. All of a sudden all the information he had just received along with the idea of being a grandfather started to weigh on his shoulders and was about to say something when Megan started to introduce the children.
"The general has informed me that a few years ago you bought a young girl by the name of Cassandra through the stargate and gave her asylum here on your planet." They all nodded in agreement.
"This is Caitlin," she said motioning towards the girl.
"She was also bought back from the same planet as Cassandra. She and Cassie are sisters, both of them were brought through on my world. With luck our Cassie is on the planet that the others evacuated too with her mother Janet Fraiser. I have already met your Doctor Fraiser and have explained to her the situation." Janet had taken a seat at the table and she turned to the young girl and gave her a warm smile. She then turned to the General
"Sir, I'll have the results of the DNA test by this evening." The general then nodded to Megan for her to continue.
"This little man that I have here is my son. He is 18 months old, and his name is Jonathan after his grandfather." She looked at Jack trying to gage his response. She thought she saw a smile form as he looked at the little boy in her arms.
"His middle name is Daniel, after his father." She kept her eyes on the child in front of her not wanting to see hurt or disgust in DR Daniel Jackson's eyes.
After hearing a collective gasp rise from the room, she slowly raised her head to scan the faces in front of her. Finally resting on Daniel's face she wasn't sure what she saw but it wasn't disgust and he didn't look hurt at being told that he is a father, well sort of. He was the first to break the silence.
"You and I, I mean you and your Daniel have children?
"Yes, we are married, I mean we were married for about two and a half years, before he died."
"Can I ask how he died?" Morbid curiosity got the better of Daniel, he had to know.
"He died saving us he and Sam held the Jaffa off while the children and I got through the mirror. My husband and Sam were supposed to follow but after we had arrived safely I turned around to see that just as he put his hand on the mirror he was shot in the back by a staff weapon. He came through the mirror but died shortly afterwards. I never saw Sam again. I assumed that she was killed in the same way. The only people that I know for sure that are still alive are Janet and Cassandra, my father was killed in the first wave of attacks on my earth and my General Hammond stayed at the base and was either killed by the Jaffa or died when the self destruct finished the base off." Megan finished, before she would burst into tears.
"I'm sorry Megan I didn't mean any disrespect I was just curious." Daniel apologized.
"We don't talk about Uncle Daniel that much cause Aunt Megan gets upset and starts crying." Clearly embarrassed, Megan leaned down as far as her pregnant body would allow her and whispered something in the child's ear that seemed to calm her down.
"The three of us have been traipsing all over the universe trying to find someone that will take us in and welcome us into their group of friends, I ask on behalf of my little group here that we be allowed to stay, but in saying that, if any of you cannot accept the relationships that we had with the people of our world we will move on, all we ask for in that instance is some supply's and ...."
Before she could finish. Colonel O'Neill stood up from where he was sitting and walked slowly over to Megan and the younger ones.
"I think I speak on behalf of everyone here" before he continued he looked around the table to seek approval from the people there for what he was about to do. No one challenged him so he continued.
"You, Caitlin and your son are more than welcome to stay with us as long as you wish." He walked toward Megan and held out his hands for the toddler. As Jack held the boy he felt mixed emotions.
He was un-nerved thinking that he was about to wake up from a dream, he also felt upset as he remembered when Charlie was this age. He forgot that he wasn't alone and started to enjoy the feeling of being a grandfather of sorts. Looking up from the baby he noticed that every one was smiling except Daniel. Knowing him as well as he did he could read his expression a mile away.
He seemed confused and a bit overwhelmed. Jack realized for the first time that this meant that in Megan's universe that Daniel was his son-in-law. He took a mental note to have a word to Daniel in the near future about what he was thinking about all this.
Slowly the rest of the group got up and came over to fuss with the children. Sam went over to Megan and started to talk to her. Jack knew that she could make anyone feel welcome and loved, with one little smile. He heard them talking and decided to join in.
"Megan, he is definitely a beautiful boy, so he is Jonathan then? That could get a bit confusing, with two of them around."
"Yes, Caitlin and I have nick named him Johnny. So there is no confusion with two Jack's. They are both very good kids, considering everything we have been through, they have done much better than I thought they would. This was pretty much our last hope. It is not easy traipsing all over with two children. Caitlin has been a huge help with Johnny through it all." Megan said with gratitude in her eyes as she looked at the young girl who was happily talking with Janet and Teal'c at the moment.
Sam was so taken with the boy in Jack's arms she almost forgot where she was and started baby talking to him, much to the amusement of Jack. Daniel was still sitting at his place at the table. Jack realized that he hadn't even gotten up and still had a strange look on his face. Leaving the girls to talk about Megan's pregnancy, that talk always bored or grossed him out, Jack wandered over to the Daniel sitting at the table.
"What you thinking Danny boy?" He asked trying to lighten the mood.
Suddenly snapping out of it, he looked up at Jack who he realized was holding his son, well his counterpart's son. The child was also Jack's sort of grandchild, which was stranger still.
"Nothing, I'm just trying to take it all in, Jack"
Sitting next to the archeologist, Jack unwrapped the toddler and held him out so Johnny was sitting on the table and he was facing Daniel. The child looked around happily and smiled at both Daniel and Jack.
"Isn't he perfect. I know it sounds soppy but I get this way around babies, they bring out the child in me." Jack said with a smirk on his face.
"Who would have thought that you were a daddy and I was a granddaddy, considering how young I am" he continued sarcastically.
"Ah what? Oh I'm sorry Jack I'm just a bit shocked that's all. Ill get over it. It is strange to find out that in another reality I'm a father and a husband to a complete stranger and to top it all off, that I'm dead."
"Well you obviously weren't strangers in her world," he said motioning towards Megan with his head and her obvious state.
"Think how she feels, she had been wandering around for the last five months with a toddler and a young girl, and she doesn't look in the condition to do much herself. She obviously hasn't been eating well, my guess would be that she was giving everything to the children and not eating enough herself. She has been put in the situation to almost beg for a place to stay and raise her small family. And here you sit looking all sorry for your self and horrified at the thought that you have become and instant father. Have you thought, Daniel that maybe she didn't expect for you to be an instant dad. It's not like she can force you to do it or anything. Just try and look likable for a little while then excuse your self, but not before you at least look at Jonathan." Jack said this a little bit more harshly then he intended, but it had the desired effect.
Daniel seemed to snap out of it, and for the first time focused on the baby in Jack's arms.
"I'm sorry Jack. So this is Jonathan then?" he asked while holding out his arms for a cuddle with the baby.
"Megan said that they had nicknamed him Johnny, so not to confuse everybody. Jack looked over and noticed that his 2IC Major Carter was warmly talking to "his daughter." He liked the sound of being a dad. He liked it a lot. He hoped that if Megan decided to stay she would let him be that. He had missed not having family around the last few years. No, that wasn't true, his team was his family but he did miss having children around.
After letting everyone have a moment to comprehend what was going on, and letting them ooh and ahh over the kids, General Hammond decided that he had better call order to this unusual meeting.
"Megan, DR Fraiser has informed me that you are all in good health, considering. And waiting on what the president has to say on the matter of you staying with us, you do understand that you are confined to the base?"
"Yes Sir, I appreciate everything that you have done so far. I'm rather exhausted and I hope you don't mind but I would like to take Johnny somewhere to feed him and then try and get a bit of sleep?"
"Certainly. Major Carter you and DR Fraiser can take Megan and the children to the VIP quarters and let them have some rest?"
"No problem Sir." Major Carter answered as her and the Doctor ushered the group out of the room. Megan walked over to Daniel and held out her hands for her son.
"He is a very happy child." Daniel stated shyly as Megan took Johnny off of him.
"Thank you very much," she replied just as shyly not really making eye contact with him.
Colonel O'Neill broke the awkward silence,
"Megan, do you mind if I come and see him later on today, after you have all had a rest?"
"Not at all, you're more then welcome to." With that she was on her way out the door, turning briefly to again thank the General for his help. With a quick nod at Jack she was gone.
CHAPTER TWO
Sitting back in his seat, the General turned to the three men that remained in the room.
"I think I can safely say, that that was a strange morning meeting. Colonel O'Neill, due to these unforeseen circumstances, you and the rest of SG1 are on stand down till further notice, I recommend that you spend the next few days getting to know Megan, Caitlin and your grandson. How are you taking this DR Jackson?"
"I'm coming to terms with it I guess, they really are adorable children. Caitlin looks strikingly like Cassie, doesn't she?"
"She is Cassandra Fraiser's sister, is she not? Daniel Jackson." Teal'c spoke for the first time since the beginning of the meeting.
"Ah, yes I guess she is, in a roundabout way." Daniel replied.
"All I can say is wow, I didn't expect this when I came to work this morning." Jack exclaimed. Everyone else silently agreed with him.
"Well I guess that you are all dismissed," the General stated as he got up and moved towards his office, adding
"Colonel O'Neill, Ill inform you as soon as I hear back from the president as to whether they are welcome to stay, but I don't see a problem."
With that they three remaining men, stood and exited the briefing room. Teal'c going towards his quarters, and the other two men heading towards Jack's office, down the hall.
When Sam opened the door to the VIP room, Megan realized that for the first time in a long time she would be able to sleep on a proper bed today. Thinking of that she smiled to herself.
"Thank you very much for bringing us here, Major."
"No problem, please call me Sam."
"That goes for me too, call me Janet."
"Thank you all again, Caitlin honey are you hungry"
"Yes Aunt Megan, I'm starving."
Megan was looking around the quarters to see if there was a fridge or something for Caitlin to eat.
Janet interrupted her on her quest to find food.
"I'll take her to the mess, if you like? And I can also bring something back for you and the baby if you want? I don't know what we have in the way of baby food though."
"I would love something to eat, but you don't have to worry about baby food, he practically eats everything we do, just mushier. He has a very large appetite."
"Ill see what I can find, come on Caitlin. We'll be back soon." With that Janet and Caitlin left Megan and Sam alone with the boy.
"Do you want a hand with him?" asked Sam.
"You wouldn't believe how much." Megan replied.
Sharing a small chuckle with each other, Megan made herself comfortable in one of the overstuffed armchairs with Johnny still in her arms. Sam sat on the edge of the bed. In amongst making faces at the baby, Sam continued the conversation with Megan.
"I admire how you managed to survive all this time, by yourselves."
"It was hard at times but these two made it worth while, every time I felt like giving up I just cuddled one of them and the reason that we were out there made sense again. My husband wouldn't have wanted me to give up and I hope he can rest knowing that we are safe."
"Megan, I'm sorry to hear that your husband died."
"Don't be it's not your fault. He died saving his family and I think that is the way that he would have chosen to go. He was an extremely decent man. I loved him very much, and I miss him so much sometimes. Especially when I see him in Johnny. They seem to have the same mannerisms so it can be difficult at times. It is comforting and upsetting all at the same time."
"I guess it is hard to see our Daniel here?" Sam asked.
"I think ill get used to it, for the moment Ill have to deal with it. As much as he looks like him, your Daniel is not my husband. So ill just have to keep reminding myself." Megan continued as she arranged herself, trying to get comfortable.
"It was strange seeing you all, you and I were best mates, sorry I mean myself and my Sam were."
"Stop apologizing, you are bound to slip up occasionally. I think the Colonel liked it when you called him dad. I think secretly he has missed having his own blood around. After Charlie and all."
"Charlie died in this reality as well?" Megan questioned.
"Was it with dad's gun as well?" she continued to ask.
"Yes, it happened about five years ago. Before Jack became involved with the stargate project." Sam continued to coo to the baby beside her.
"My dad took it pretty hard, he almost killed himself, the only reason he didn't was because I busted him and gave him an earful. I was pissed off, and I told him so. I knew that when Charlie died he didn't cope well, but I told him off cause he was acting like I wasn't worth sticking around for. Soon after that he and Sara divorced and he started to get back to normal. It was all after I joined the air force, I joined straight out of high school. So I wasn't around that much, but I got transferred to the SG project and that is how I got to know all of you."
"I bet your dad wasn't happy about you coming here"
"Not really, he didn't want me in danger and all, but he learnt to deal with it, when he realized that I was as good of a soldier as he was, if not better. There were a few close calls, but nothing serious. You guys got into more trouble than I did with my team, SG9."
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you and Daniel get together?" Before Megan could answer Janet and Caitlin came back in the room, with two trays laden high with food, for all of them.
"I got enough for everyone so we can all have a picnic if you don't mind Megan?"
"No not at all, can somebody feed Johnny for me, I'm finding it difficult at the moment, this little one never seems to sleep." She said pointing towards her stomach.
After she sat down with some food and tried to get comfortable again she started the conversation up again.
"Sorry Sam, what did you ask?"
"I was just curious how you and Daniel became involved. But you don't have to tell if you don't want to talk about it." Sam said while trying to balance Johnny on her lap to try to feed him with some mashed potato.
"No I don't mind but before anything else, you might want to put a cloth or something over your shirt if you are going to do that." But before Megan finished Johnny had made a stain on Sam's blue uniform shirt. Quickly wiping it off, she looked unfazed about it.
"Let me see, Daniel and I knew each other through dad, of course. I had been out to dinner with all of you plenty of times, and had cooked when you came over to our place for a BBQ more times than I can count. I lived with dad in his house before, Daniel and I got married. Why pay rent when he was never hardly home anyway. Daniel and I were good mates before we hooked up together, we were always innocently flirting and stuff like that. At one stage we were all invited to a big ball hosted by some senator's wife, and we all decided to go together. The three of us girls got ready at my place." Megan said as she nodded at the two other women in the room.
"Dad was sick of all the women in his house so he went over to Daniel's to get ready and to help explain the reason of wearing a tux to Teal'c." The women all shared a small laugh at this.
"I can tell you that we all looked fantastic and when the boys came to pick us up, their jaws collectively dropped to the ground. We left Cassie and Caitlin with their baby-sitter for the night, and headed off. You two were secretly trying to set me and Daniel up, so I found out later. So you made sure we went in the same car and sat next to each other at the function. Dad asked Sam to dance, and Janet was already out on the dance floor with Teal'c, who I have to add, isn't a bad dancer either."
"Daniel and I had had a few to drink, mind you we weren't drunk but on our way to being so. We started talking and then went out on the verandah to get some fresh air. I remember this part as if it was only yesterday. We were leaning on the banister looking up at the stars. Our shoulders were touching, and in a moment of weakness I lent my head on his shoulder. He turned to face me, and put a finger to my chin to make me look at him. He asked me what I was thinking?
So I told him that I was thinking how handsome he looked that night. He replied by asking me if I realized how beautiful I was all the time. I got a bit shy and tried to look away but he wouldn't let me. He told me that he had always thought that my beauty was breathtaking, and that he was having trouble breathing just looking at me then. As you can imagine I almost burst into tears, no one had ever said anything like that to me before. He lifted my head up with his finger and gave me the most soft gentle kiss you can imagine." Megan said this as she touched her free hand to her mouth and shared a secret smile with the group.
"We had been friends for about a year, and I considered us good friends, and when he kissed me it seemed so right. Like it was the most natural thing in the world to do." Megan paused remembering the moment in her mind. Tasting his lips on hers again.
Sam bought her out of her trance.
"What did your dad say?"
"Ah, well he didn't find out about it for a few months, I didn't want to tell him just in case things didn't work out and Daniel didn't tell him cause I think he was scared shitless of what dad would do to him when dad found out that Daniel was falling for his little girl, as he referred to me. After we had been out on the verandah for a while he asked me if I wanted to leave. I agreed and we went in and told you guys that we were leaving, we said that I wasn't feeling well.
Janet almost blew it when she started fussing about me. I whispered to her what had happened, and all she did was publicly announce that I needed bed rest, with a wink implying something else altogether. We went back to his place and the rest is history. Dad was pretty good when he found out, he was a bit strange for a while but he got over it. As he said he wouldn't have trusted anyone else except his best friend to look after his girl.
I know to other people it might sound weird, me marrying my dad's best friend and all, but their wasn't a big age gap or anything. Dad was young when I was born and Daniel was only four years older then me. I was planning his 30th birthday party when we were attacked. It was going to be a surprise. God, I miss him so much." And that is where Megan burst into tears.
Finally being able to mourn her husband and friends. Janet got up and helped Sam move Megan to the bed. Sometime while Sam was comforting Megan, Janet and Caitlin slipped out of the room with Johnny to leave them in peace for a while.
"I miss him so much, I haven't been able to cry for him until now, I'm sorry Sam."
"Don't you dare be sorry, let it all out. I'm here if you need anything."
With that Megan cried all her stress of the past six months out and held tight to the exact double of her best friend.
CHAPTER THREE
"How are you doing Caitlin? You know with all this" Janet said motioning around the room.
"With being in a new place and all" Clarified the good Doctor.
"I guess I'm fine, I'm worried about Aunt Megan, but she needs to cry. I cried for a week after she explained that we couldn't go back and see Cassie or my mum again. But Aunt Megan has never cried. She needed to let it out. I hope she can relax now."
This girl must be older then ten, she talks like a 16 year old, thought Janet.
"When we get confirmation from the president, I can bring my Cassandra in to work so you to can meet, if you want?"
"Definitely, do you have a photo of her, I want to know if she looks the same?"
"I've got one in my office, you can go and get it if you want." Putting Johnny down on the bed next to where Janet was sitting, Caitlin went in to the doctor's office.
A few moment later she returned holding a frame with a picture of Janet, Sam and Cassandra in it.
"She looks almost the same, my Cassie had longer hair." Caitlin stated quite knowingly.
"I let her get it cut a couple of months ago." Janet replied lovingly.
The girl, in front of her was almost the exact image of her adoptive daughter. It almost took her breath away about their similar mannerisms.
While Caitlin made herself busy fussing over the child, now lying on the bed, Janet came to the conclusion that she would ask Caitlin if she wanted to come and live with her and Cassandra, if both the girls were happy with it. Of course she would wait till the president gave the O.K. before she got the girls hopes up.
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RRRRING, RRRRING, RRRRING.
"Colonel O'Neill,"
"Colonel, I have just heard from the president, he has approved the request for Megan and the children to stay."
"That's great General"
"Colonel, we need to organize some accommodation for them all as well as the necessities. I have got someone working on their new ID's right now. They can stay on base for the moment but we need something in the long run. If you can think of anything let me know."
"I'll think about it General."
"Ill let you go and tell them the good news, and can you also let DR Jackson know as well. He seems to be taking this hard."
"No problem sir, ill do that right now." With that both the men hung up.
"What was that about?" Asked an irritant Daniel from the other side of Jack's desk, where he had been brooding for the past hour or so.
"The General was just telling me that the president has given the OK, for them to stay. Are you all right with this Daniel? Remember Megan didn't want to stay unless we were all comfortable with it."
"I know, ill get over it, I don't want them to leave. But it is a lot to take in."
"You'll be right Daniel, I feel sort of the same way, I'm a father again and a grandfather. And to top it all off, I find out that you, one of my best friends by the way. Is married to my daughter. Although I know you would look after her, it seems a bit strange that you were my son-in-law. Very strange."
"I don't know how to take that, thanks I guess." Daniel said with a puzzled look on his face.
Getting up out from behind his desk, Jack asked Daniel if he was coming. The man nodded in consent.
Walking down the hall to the VIP rooms, Daniel and Jack ran into Major Carter quietly leaving the one that was assigned to Megan. Daniel started to speak, but before he could utter a word, Sam held her finger to her mouth to stop him.
She motioned for them to follow her towards the elevator. They silently complied. Once in the safe confines of the elevator, Sam started.
"What's wrong? Has the president made a decision yet?"
"General Hammond just rang fifteen minutes ago saying that they are free to stay if they wish." Answered Jack.
"That's really good, Megan really needs some time to get over everything that has happened. I don't think she could have left if she wanted to. She is so exhausted. I just left her asleep in her room." She didn't think the guys needed to know that she had cried her self to sleep.
"Janet took the kids to the infirmary, I think."
"Well off to the infirmary we go" Jack commented as the doors opened on the right floor.
"Janet, how are you doing with the kids?"
"Fine thanks, Sam. Caitlin is a big help. I managed to find some diapers and Johnny is now clean. They are such good kids."
"I told you," piped up the little girl who had just run into the room.
"I know sweetheart, did you find the bathroom?" Janet asked.
"Yep, so do you know if we can stay yet?" she excitedly asked the men standing there.
"Yes, you and your Aunt are more than welcome to stay if you want." Replied Daniel, who couldn't help but smile at the girl.
"So where are we going to stay? We don't have to live here do we, one of the places we went to, they wouldn't let me go outside to play and they made us stay in our room's unless they wanted to speak to us. Your not going to do that are you?" Caitlin asked suspiciously.
"No not at all, we still have to work out the details but I'm sure we can come up with something that makes everyone happy." Answered the man she once knew as Uncle Jack.
"Sweet," she said gaining a laugh from the others present.
"She really has been around you too much, hasn't she Colonel?" Janet asked after she stopped laughing.
"This you can not blame me for." Colonel O'Neill stated quite innocently.
While the baby and Caitlin entertained the men, Janet pulled Sam aside.
"What would you say if I told you that I was going to ask Caitlin if she wanted to come and live with me and Cassie?" Janet blurted out.
"I think that would be great for everyone, Cassie is always complaining that she is an only child and she might get a kick out of having a sister. I think Caitlin would appreciate it and I think you would love it." With that said the decision was made.
"Caitlin, honey I have something to ask you?" Janet approached the child with caution.
"Do you want to come and live with me and Cassie? I know she would love it and so would I."
"I don't know, I want too but I don't want to upset Aunt Megan." "That is not a problem, we will wait until Megan is up and we will talk to her about it." Replied Janet a little bit disappointed, but not offended.
"Changing the subject slightly Doc, but don't you think we need to get some stuff for these guys." Asked Jack trying to dispel the tension that had shifted into the room.
"Your right sir, what sort of stuff do kids need, that is apart from diaper's?" The Major replied.
"Well I guess ill start a list, diapers, bottles ..."
"I don't think he needs a bottle any more Sir." The Major interrupted.
"OK then where was I, that's right diapers, clothes, I suppose you need some of those too don't you Caitlin?"
"Yep" came her reply.
"I can handle that Colonel, I still have some of Cassie's old clothes at home they should fit until we can come up with something else." Inserted the Doctor.
"OK, then I suppose the only thing is diapers, and clothes. But I'm sure we will find something that we have forgotten to add to our list when we get to the shops. Anything else that I'm forgetting?" He asked the group.
Everybody shook their head in unison.
"Alright then, I guess I'm going into town for a few supplies. Its 1430, so Doc you want me to pick Cassie up from school, on my way back."
"I'll ring the school and let them know you are coming, thank you Colonel." Janet said over her shoulder as she went into her office to make the call.
"Anyone else want to come?"
With only Daniel raising his hand, the two of them left.
Janet came back into the room just as the baby started crying. Sam picked up the child from the bed beside her.
"It smells like he needs a change." Caitlin added while quickly exiting into Janet's office leaving the two air force women trying to decide who would do the deed.
Knock, Knock.
"Enter, ah Teal'c how can I help you?"
As Teal'c entered General Hammond's office he took a seat.
"With SG1 not being required, I would like to request permission to go and visit with my wife and son Sir."
"It shouldn't be a problem Teal'c, I'll see what I can do and get back to you in the next hour." With that the big Jaffa stood, and slightly bowed his head then turned to leave the room.
"Jack, Daniel what are you doing here? Is everything OK? Is mum and Sam Alright?"
Jack interrupted Cassandra.
"Well Cassie if you let me get a word in edge ways, ill tell you."
With the few seconds of silence that followed, he took that as an OK to continue.
"Everyone is fine, your mum just wanted us to pick you up and bring you back to base. She has someone she wants you to meet. But first we have to go and get a few things, and stop by your place. Do you know where your mum keeps your old clothes?"
"Yeah, in the attic, why?"
"Save your questions for the Doc. I'm sworn to secrecy. And you know what Carter and your mum will do to me if I tell you anything."
They all piled into the car and headed off to the nearest store.
Megan awoke with a start, she quickly opened her eyes and looked around. It took her a few moments to get her bearings. When she remembered where she was, she relaxed slightly.
Not knowing where everyone had gone, she opened the door to see if anyone was outside. Spotting an SF at the end of the corridor, she tidied herself up somewhat and walked down to the man.
"Excuse me, do you know where Major Carter and my son are?"
"No mam' just give me a moment and ill find out for you. Would you like me to get them to come down here?"
"Yes thank you."
Megan went back to her quarters to splash some water on her face.
Soon there was a knock at the door.
"Come in." She called out from the ensuite.
The door opened to reveal, an air force Major and a ten year old girl each with a hand in Johnny's little ones and helping him swing between the two.
Megan walked over to the pair and held her arms out for her son. Caitlin handed her charge over and went to turn the TV on.
"I've been sent to give you the good news. The president has approved you request for asylum. You can stay if you want to."
"I don't think you realize how much I wanted to hear that. I feel like I can relax now." Megan paused before she continued.
"Sam, I'm sorry about before. It just came out."
"Don't stress about it, you needed to do that. I know it is not a quick fix but I hope you feel a little better for it all?"
"I am thank you."
Sam guided herself over to one of the chairs in the supposed living area of the quarters. Smiling at the baby the whole time.
"He seems to have taken to you."
"I don't know why, my brothers kids can't stand to be in the same room as me. I thought I was cursed or something." Sam replied as she continued to talk softly to the baby in Megan's arms.
"Where is everyone else?" asked Megan.
"Well let me see, Janet will be here soon she just went to get the results of your tests, she said that she had to send your ultrasound scan off to an obstetrician, as she said, she doesn't have much call to examine pregnant women down here. She then has to go and see General Hammond but she wont be long. The Colonel and Daniel have gone to go and get some supplies for the children, you know diapers and all. We don't exactly have call for a supply of them here either."
"Fair enough."
"How is Daniel taking all of this, it is a lot to take in. What about Jack, it's a lot for him too?"
"Daniel is just being Daniel, he is a trying to think it all out too much and he will soon get over it. Honestly I think he deep down like that idea of being a sort of stand in Dad. That goes for the Colonel too. He seems to be doting on Johnny. I think for everyone it will take a bit to sink in, but I think they are off to a good start."
"So how far along are you?" Sam asked motioning towards Megan's stomach.
"Close to term now actually, I'm due in about a month. Janet did the scan while I was in the infirmary, I suppose I'll know for sure when she gets back with the results. Although I think this little one is keen to make his or her appearance very soon. I don't know how I would have done this by my self." She placed Johnny on the ground and pulled some toys out of one of the two bags that she had bought with them through the mirror.
Standing beside the bed Megan started to pull things out of the bag, slowly examining each article and putting it in one of two piles. One for stuff to keep and one for stuff that could be thrown out, like the MRE's that one of the other worlds had given to them.
When she opened the second bag she pulled out her photo album. The one that she had kept in her office on the base she had managed to grab it when they were evacuating. Quietly she sat on the bed and looked over to see Sam sitting on the floor playing with Johnny.
"In my world you were his godmother." Megan broke the comfortable silence.
"Really? I think he remembers me." She replied.
"I think he does."
When Sam noticed that Megan was holding some kind of album but looked like she was afraid to open it, she got up of the floor, leaving the toddler to play by him self and went to sit next to his mother on the bed.
"Is that a photo album, Megan?"
"Um yeah, I managed to salvage it before we had to leave."
"Can I look at it, if that's OK?" Curiosity got the better of her, she wanted to see what her other self and friends looked like.
"Go ahead." Megan stated as she handed the album over.
Sam opened to the first page and noted that it said `Daniel and Megan Jackson's First Album.' She turned the page and was rewarded with a beautiful photo of a wedding group.
Megan and Daniel were in the middle sharing a kiss, on his left was Jack looking on proudly. Standing beside him was Teal'c. On Megan's right, was a version of herself looking on and laughing, still with short hair, which was surprising. The other Sam's that she new about had longer hair. Beside herself was Janet, and the two girls, Cassie and Caitlin. All the girls in similar dresses, pastel blue thin strapped flowing knee length gowns. The men all looked gorgeous in their suits. The next few pages were photos from the wedding.
Megan and Daniel obviously only had eyes for each other. Their was a photo of Teal'c and Cassie dancing, in the back ground she saw that the other Sam was dancing rather closely with the other Colonel O'Neill. A bit shocked by her discovery, Sam looked to Megan to confirm her suspicions.
Seeing what Sam was looking at Megan said
"Yes you two were dating at the time. You both got married just after Johnny was born. You were celebrating your one year anniversary the day before the attacks started. Again to some people it seemed weird that I was married to one of my fathers best mates and he was married to one of my best mates but I think I can safely say that we didn't exactly lead normal lives within the SGC either. You were perfect together. You treated Johnny like he was your own and dad always joked that when you and him had kids that Johnny would be older then his Uncle or Auntie. It was sort of an ongoing joke." Seeing that it had taken Sam back a bit, Megan stopped and let it sink in.
"Wow, that was definitely unexpected. We were married?" She asked still a bit stunned.
"Yep, it took you two a while to pull your collective fingers out and make a move towards it, but it eventually did happen. He loved you so much, and you him." Megan replied with a smile.
Trying to forget that her and the Colonel had anything but a platonic relationship for a while, Sam continued to turn pages. Soon getting to ones of a pregnant Megan with Daniel protectively hugging her from behind with both hands on her belly.
There was some ultrasound photos in their obviously of Johnny. Next came the baby photos. Then there were the ones of her and the Colonel on their wedding day. Again it was a group photo the only differences were that Daniel and Megan had traded places with herself and the Colonel, and that there was a baby of about four or five months old in Megan's arms.
Taking in every detail of the photo, Sam allowed herself to run her fingers over the central people in the photo. She had only ever imagined of this happening, she never thought that it could actually happen. Granted it was in another reality but still, they looked exactly the same.
Remembering where she was Sam quickly composed herself, before looking at Megan and trying to lighten the mood.
"So I was your evil stepmother then?"
"Stepmother yes, but only occasionally evil." Megan said while laughing at the look she got from her new friend, who reminded her rightly so of her departed friend.
"You and Jack aren't together in this reality, I gather?"
"No, military regulations and all that." Sam replied with sadness in her eyes. Wanting to change the subject she quickly scanned through the next few pages of her wedding.
Quickly finding a couple of Janet and her girls together, and a couple of group photos of all of them together. Finding the rest of the book empty Sam put it back on the bed. She sat back down on the floor to continue playing with Johnny, leaving Megan to finish her unpacking.
A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," called out Megan.
Janet entered the room smiling at the girl in front of the TV,
"They are all the same no matter what reality always in front of that thing." She said as she entered the room shaking her head along the way.
"Well, Megan the tests have all came back with the right answers, everything is fine with you and the kids and with the babies," she indicated towards the yet unborn baby bulge under Megan's way too big clothes.
"Babies, you mean I was right, it's twins?" Megan exclaimed while quickly sitting down with a dumbfounded look on her face.
"Yes it appears to be identical twins, cause of the fact that there is only one placenta.
"Shit, what am I supposed to do with two of them. I'm going to a single mum with three kids under two. Oh god, how am I supposed to do this without Daniel, he was the one that told me he thought it was twins, cause I was getting so big so fast. My DR Fraiser couldn't confirm it she said that if it was twins one was lying in the way and she couldn't see any others. How am I supposed to do this?"
By this time both Sam and Janet were beside her trying to comfort her.
"It's OK Megan, we are here to help if you need it. Both of us." Sam said looking at Janet and getting a nod of agreement.
"I'm sure the guys will be too." Janet added.
Sitting Megan back down on the bed, Janet continued.
"Do you want to know the sex of the babies?"
"Ah, I don't know, I only have a little while longer to go. I don't know. After seeing what you went through with Cassie and boyfriends I think I want these one's to be boys as well." She chuckled along with the other women in the room, the tension of the past few minutes dissipating.
"Well if you want to know, I have the results for you. Have you thought of a names yet?" Asked Janet.
"Ah, no, not really, Daniel and I had talked about it before he died but we never really decided on anything. Oh god, I just realized. I don't have any where to live, no money, no furniture how am I supposed to support these kids?" Megan asked quietly, the tension slowly building again.
"We will sort something out, it's not like we're going to throw you out into the street or anything. Stop worrying about it you might bring on your labor and you don't need that right now so try and calm down and we will figure something out. OK?" Sam told Megan.
"Yep, I guess, I don't want them here any sooner then they are supposed to be either." Slightly more calmed down Megan started to think out loud about names for the babies.
"Caitlin what do you think about names for the babies?" Megan asked the girl.
"I don't know, how about something weird, like Zavian I knew a guy at school called that, but no don't use that name cause he was always mean to me. I don't know."
"Do you guys have any suggestions?"
"Suggestions for what?" Asked Cassie as she entered the room, closely followed by Jack and Daniel. Everyone in the room turned around to see the new arrivals. Janet got up to introduce the two girls, but was beaten to it by a very happy Caitlin running towards the older girl and enveloping her in a huge hug. Cassie not knowing what was going on just returned the hug with less enthusiasm then Caitlin.
"Cassie, sweetie, this is Caitlin. Caitlin and Megan" Janet said as she pointed to the obviously pregnant woman on the bed.
"They came through the mirror that Sam told you about, they are from a different reality, do you remember when Sam explained it to you." The older girl nodded, moving to beside her mother away from the over excited Caitlin.
Janet put her arm around Cassie and took Caitlin's hand and headed for the door.
"Don't mind us we will be down the hall in my office, it's going to take a while to explain all of this." With that the two girls and their adoptive mother headed down the hall towards the elevator.
"So what are we suggesting for?" asked Jack as he placed the arm full of bags at the foot of the bed. Daniel stood shyly at the door, before Jack motioned him in the room. They both took a seat on the lounge.
"We were trying to think of names for Megan's babies", the Major replied.
"Babies? As opposed to baby. Major." Asked a surprised Colonel.
"Yes Sir, we found out a little while ago that Megan is pregnant with twins."
"Hello, I believe I'm in the room." Megan interrupted while trying to get up from the bed. Sam helped her upright, and walked her towards the bathroom.
"The bub's are in the wrong spot, I wont be a moment." Megan stated as she shut the door to the ensuite.
After settling herself in one of the seats beside the lounge, Megan asked the group
"So any idea's yet?"
"No not really, did you have any?" Replied Sam, "You said that you and your ah" finally finding a word that wouldn't be Daniel, "husband talked about it?"
"Yes but we never decided on anything in particular. He really wanted a girl after Johnny," she said motioning to the boy who was waddling towards Daniel. Pulling himself up on Daniel's pants leg. He held his arms out to the man, wanting to be picked up. Daniel seemed happy enough to comply with the request.
As Johnny sat in Daniel's lap trying to pull his glasses off like he used to do with his father. Megan became very silent. Finally the spell was broken and she composed herself enough to continue. "My Daniel liked the girls names Isabella and Alexandra. I liked them too, but we also picked some boys names just in case. Um Daniel wanted Daniel Jnr, but I didn't think it was a good idea considering we already had two Jonathan's around. Two Daniel's as well would be a bit too much. Um we liked Lachlan and Conner. But we hadn't thought up middle names or anything, ah we never got that far before, you know."
Finally Daniel broke his silence and added to the conversation, "I really like the girl's names, Isabella and Alexandra Jackson that sounds good."
"Thank you, I actually am surprised that either you or da... ah Jack have picked up on the coincidence with Johnny's name. In my world it was the source of many jokes for the first few months of his life." Megan stated shyly.
"No what do you mean?" Asked Jack.
"When you say his name out loud, his full name you will notice it, just remember there is another reason he isn't called Jack apart from the confusing part. Jonathan Daniel Jackson, Jack Daniel. I didn't realize until after I had signed his birth certificate that my husband had named my son after a drink."
They all had a good laugh at that, it helped to relieve the tension, Sam noted.
"Trust you two to do that to a poor innocent child." She said still laughing at the innocent looks that she got from both men. Jack stood to leave, and covertly motioned for the major to join him, he knew that Daniel and Megan had to talk about all of this.
"Thank you for getting all this stuff for us da.... Jack, ill pay you back as soon as I get some money."
"No sweat, don't worry about it. And Megan,"
"Um" she replied while once again trying unsuccessfully to get up off of the chair Jack reached over and grabbed her hand to pull her up.
"Call me Dad, I like it." Megan smiled her appreciation at him.
Daniel realized that Jack had left to give him a chance to talk to Megan but he didn't know what to say. Johnny solved the problem and broke the silence that had descended upon the room. Megan sat back down in the chair just as she heard the voice.
"Daddy," Johnny stunned the man whose lap he was sitting in and was able to grab a hold of his glasses and started sucking on them before the older man composed himself enough to wrestle them back from the toddler.
"Did you here that? He just called me daddy." Daniel exclaimed excitedly.
"Well to him, you are. He is way to young to understand everything that has happened. You are I guess, the next best thing. I wanted to talk to you about this, sort of thing." She said motioning towards the boy.
"Ah, OK. What did you want to talk about?" He coyly replied, not wanting to meet her eyes.
"Well mostly about what role you wanted to play in Johnny's life, now that we are able to stay. You are Alright with that aren't you, you don't want us to leave do you?"
"No, no not at all. I think it will just take a bit of getting used to. For every one, I guess. What sort of role do you want me to be with him?"
"Well that is entirely up to you, I mean he isn't really your son, I don't mean to be harsh, but it's not like you were the one that was there when he was conceived. This is hard, I still can't grasp all this alternate reality stuff my self." She hid her face behind her hands, on the verge of tears.
Daniel put the baby down on the ground with the toys and kneeled beside the chair that Megan was sitting in. He pulled her hands away from her face and saw that a few tears had escaped.
"I'm sorry, it's so hard. I mean you look just like him, you sound just like him, Johnny thinks you are. God, you even smell like him." She quietly added trying to look away from the man in front of her.
Seeing that he wasn't moving, she couldn't help herself any more, Megan moved her left hand up to his face simultaneously grabbing his hand with her right one. She gently stroked his jaw, moving her fingers up to his hair, noting that he needed a hair cut.
Tracing the angles of his face with her small hand. He was looking in to her eyes and noticed precisely how beautiful they were.
He bought his free hand up to his own face and cupped her hand with his, slowly stroking her palm with his thumb.
Almost whispering, she pulled her hand away "I'm sorry, I know deep down that you are not physically the same person that I married but I don't know how to accept that when I see that you are the same person." At his slightly befuddled look she apologized again.
"Stop apologizing. I think this is going to be hard on both of us, but I want you to know, that I will not take advantage of you or your children. I never had any brothers or sisters and when my parents died I thought that I would never have a family again. I think this is my second chance, I mean after Shar'e died I went through the same feelings."
"My Daniel loved her very much, she was the main reason that we got together. After she died I comforted him and we ended up spending a lot of time together. My husband once referred to me as his second chance at life, and when Johnny was born he was over the moon."
"I can see why, I've never imagined that I would have children. If it is alright with you I would like to be a part of Johnny's life, a big part and even of the these two." He said while gently laying his hand on her extended stomach. At the precise moment one of them decided to wake up and gave his hand a kick.
"Ah, wow did you feel that." He asked Megan with a huge smile on his face.
"Yeah, I think they are both awake now, and a game of hockey is about to start. Daniel, I would love you to be a part of the children's lives, but you have to understand that at the moment I'm still mourning my husband. The children need a father and if you are willing to do that then I will not object, in fact ill welcome it. I only ask that if you decide to be there for them, you can't change your mind in a year if you find someone else and not want to know them, if you want to do this you have to be willing to do this for life. I know it's a lot of pressure, but I don't want my kids going through what you did, loosing your parents and all."
"I also don't need a replacement husband, I need a good friend, I need someone to talk to about the kids and I need somebody that understands all of my complicated little idiosyncrasies, and trust me I have a few."
"I think I can manage that. And to tell you the truth Megan, I relish the chance to be a dad. I want to help you and the children get on your feet, so to speak."
"Thank you Daniel, I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about that, but speaking of on my feet can you give me a hand?" She asked while holding her hands out motioning that she wanted to get up.
"Janet said she knows the sex of the babies if you're interested. I told her I didn't have to much longer to wait any way." Megan asked Daniel as she waddled off to the bathroom again.
"No, thanks I think ill wait as well." Daniel replied as he sat down with his son to contemplate his new role as a father. He secretly hoped that he would succeed at it.
It would still take a bit of getting used to, but he realized that he didn't have to do it alone. Johnny pulled himself into Daniel's lap and again started playing with the toys in front of him.
CHAPTER FOUR
That night they all met in the SG1 rec. room for dinner. Jack had disappeared up top of the mountain to go and get some pizza with Teal'c. Cassie and Caitlin, apparently getting along just fine. They were sitting on the lounge playing Jack's play station. Janet, Sam and Megan sat around the table chatting near the kitchenette, with Daniel on the floor next to Megan, taking his new role of father in his stride.
Soon Jack and Teal'c were back and everyone dug in.
"That smells so good, I haven't had pizza for so long." Exclaimed Caitlin.
"It does smell appetizing." Replied Teal'c.
Suddenly Megan stood, with her hand on her stomach apparently in pain. Daniel was at her side in two seconds flat.
"What's wrong Megan?" He asked clearly concerned.
"I don't know, the babies seem to be moving around a lot and my back is aching. I don't think it is labor. They are properly complaining about the pizza, after so many months of MRE'S." She answered trying to quell everyone's panic.
"I'll be right, I think I should just go for a walk, that always seems to quieten them down." She added while heading for the door.
"I'll come with you, if you don't mind?" Asked Daniel while helping her toward the door.
"OK."
"Megan, if the pain persists come back and get me and ill see what I can do." Stated Janet before Megan escaped through the door nodding her answer.
After they had walked down the hall a bit Megan started a conversation with Daniel trying to take her mind off of the moving around in her stomach.
"Thank you for coming with me, you could have stayed and finished your dinner."
"That's no problem. I prefer cold pizza anyway. Are you sure your alright?" He asked worry still etched on his face.
"I'm fine I promise, they just wont sit still, see." She said as she stopped and placed both his hands on either side of her swollen tummy.
"Wow, they are going at it. Was it like this with Johnny?"
"No not really, he never moved that much, that is except when he heard your voice. He seemed to know when his daddy was in the room. That might be what is wrong with these two. Hearing so many familiar voices after only hearing Caitlin and I for a while."
Still standing there with his hands on Megan's protruding bump, Daniel suddenly become conscious of the fact that he was standing rather close to her.
Looking up from where his hands were resting, he noticed the smile on Megan's face. All the time he could feel the little kicks and bumps under his hands. Taking his hands away he continued the way that they were going, slowing down to the pace that Megan was keeping.
"That seemed to quieten them down, do you mind walking me back to my quarters, I'm not that hungry after all and I'm still rather tired."
"No, not at all. Wait here a moment and I'll just run back and let them know what we are doing, do you want me to get Johnny?"
"Yes, thank you Daniel, he was looking pretty tired too."
After Daniel had turned back to the rec. room, Megan kept on slowly towards the elevators. Sitting down around the corner not far from them, she waited for Daniel to return. While she was waiting she heard footsteps from the other direction that she had come.
They seemed to stop in front of the elevator. Megan didn't know who they were but she heard what they were saying.
"Mary, did you hear about that woman that came through the mirror?" a feminine voice drifted around the corner.
"Yeah apparently she has came with a ready made family for Dr. Jackson. He is such a catch, smart and gorgeous to boot. What a waste. I mean did you see her, she is pregnant, almost about to pop from what I read on her chart. Don't worry what chance has she got against us girls."
"Obviously more than you think, Tony was on guard in the hall of the VIP rooms and he said the Daniel was in there most of the afternoon. You don't think they were, you know?"
"I doubt it, she had her son with her. But either way she has a fight on her hands it seems that just about all the nurses seem to have a thing for him. This will be fun."
It got the better of Megan, so she stood and walked around the corner with Daniel and Johnny coming from the rec. room not far behind her. The women noticed the subject of their gossiping and looked slightly embarrassed, not knowing if she had heard them or not.
"How are you ladies?" Asked Megan as she pressed the button for the lift.
"Fine thank you, ma'am." Replied one of the nurses.
As Daniel walked up behind her he nodded to the nurses, he recognized them from his many times in the infirmary.
"How is my boy?" Megan asked.
"You were right, he is very tired." Daniel replied motioning towards the child in his arms.
Daniel heard the elevator near their floor, just as the doors opened and he was about to get on Megan surprised him by taking a hold of his hand. He didn't fight it.
The nurses followed the small group.
Suddenly as soon as the doors opened and they began their descent, Megan surprised him further by leaning into him with her full body and resting her head on his shoulder.
Still taken back he wasn't sure what to do. The elevator slowed and finally came to a stop at their floor. Just as they had cleared the doors, Megan reached up and gave him the most passionate kiss that he had had in a long time. He thought he heard gasps behind him as the doors shut on the elevator. Relishing this embrace he was reluctant to end it.
Megan pulled away slowly from him meeting his eyes as she did.
"I'm sorry Daniel, I'm really sorry." She said as she grabbed her son out of his arms and started for her room. Daniel quickly snapped out of it and jogged the short distance between them, meeting her as she was about to open her door.
"What was that?" He asked innocently.
"Um, I don't know." And with that said she promptly burst into tears.
Not saying anything just ushering her into her room, Daniel shut the door behind them, took Johnny from her and put the boy down on the floor with his toys. He gently navigated Megan to one of the lounges, sitting down next to her.
"What's wrong, what happened?"
"It's so stupid, don't worry about it." Megan replied calming down somewhat.
"Well it obviously upset you, and I don't know what that was in front of the elevator, are you feeling OK? Do you want me to get Doc Fraiser?"
"No I'm fine, I promise I just...... I don't know, when I was waiting for you upstairs those women didn't see me there and they were bagging me, telling each other how I had brought you an instant family and that I had a lot of competition on my hands if I wanted to keep you. Considering just about every female on base thinks you're hot, and theirs to keep."
At the slightly shocked look on his face Megan tried to continue,
"I'm sorry I don't know what happened, I only meant to hold your hand to stir them up a bit, but then I don't know it felt right. I apologize I shouldn't have kissed you. Your not angry with me are you? It will never happen again, I promise."
"No, no I'm not angry with you I'm angry with the nurses, I don't blame you for what you did. I properly would have done the same thing if I'd known the whole story. And you don't have to apologize for kissing me, I sort of enjoyed it." He said with a blush on his cheeks.
"Thank you Daniel, I only wanted to stir those bitches up. I just got carried away, I guess."
Johnny was not happy with the lack of attention that he was getting and took that opportunity to pull himself up on the lounge in between his parents, while trying to stifle a yawn.
"Can you please keep and eye on him while I have a shower, I wont be long."
"No prob.'s."
As Megan waddled to the bathroom, she noted that the walk had seemed to calm the babies down.
When Megan was finished and dressed she came out of the bathroom to find Daniel and her son curled up together on the bed, both of who were asleep.
Daniel was in the middle of the bed on top of the covers and Johnny on the left side under the blankets. With the lamp beside the bed revealing the time of the clock on the wall, Megan locked the door and climbed into the only space available on the bed and turned the light off. After a few minutes of trying to get comfortable she finally fell to sleep thinking about how interesting the next few days would be.
Daniel was woken up in the middle of the night by a small jab in the back. Lying there not completely aware of where he was, he felt another jab. Finally remembering where he was, he was relieved to find that Megan was curled up against his back, as close as she could anyway. The little jabs that he was feeling must have been the babies, obviously jostling each other for a better position. Laying there not knowing whether to make his escape or not, Daniel started to think about the previous day.
One minute he was waiting for a mission briefing and the next he was being told that he had a family in a sense. Not that he disliked the idea of a family. It was just a shock to the system.
When he thought about it he did like the idea of being a father, he just never thought he would ever get to experience it.
The toddler curled up on his left was almost the spitting image of himself when he was that age. The only difference was the curly hair. It must be something on Jack's side of the family. No one in his family had curls. The women on his right was fascinating in her own right, she was beautiful, intelligent and a great mother.
He understood what his alternate self saw in her. If given the chance he felt that he could love this woman. But she had made her feeling known, she was still grieving for her dead husband. He respected that. He even knew what it felt like, with Shar'e and all.
He would have to settle for just being there for her if she needed anything, and for the children. Given the fact that he had only decided that he wanted to be a part of their lives a few hours ago, he felt extremely attached to the idea.
Turning slightly so he was laying on his back, Daniel gently rested his hand on Megan's stomach. She quietly stirred, but didn't wake. Slowly moving his hand around in a small circle he tried to calm the babies back to sleep. Finding it harder to keep his eyes open, he finally let sleep overtake him with a smile on his face.
CHAPTER FIVE
Jack knocked quietly at first, knowing that it was rather early in the morning. There were some muffled sounds from inside the room. Soon the door opened to reveal a very ruffled looking Megan.
"Good Morning, Megan. I know it's early but I couldn't sleep and I wanted to see if you wanted any thing for breakfast?"
Standing there with the door partially open, Jack couldn't see who was still asleep in her bed.
"No thanks, da.. I'm sorry, no thanks Jack."
"Stop saying sorry, I told you to call me dad. I like it."
All of a sudden there was movement at Megan's legs and a little head popped around the corner.
"Good morning, Johnny."
As an answer the toddler barged past his mother and reached up to Jack to be picked up. Obliging, Jack picked the boy up.
"Since you don't want anything to eat, do you want me to take this little one and let you get some more sleep?"
"Only if you don't mind, he is a handful this time of the morning."
"I don't mind one little bit, you go and get some sleep. You look tired."
"Thank you......dad."
With that Jack turned on his heel and headed for the elevator. Megan went back into the room, thankful that Jack hadn't seen Daniel who was still sleeping on the bed.
The babies seemed to have woken up and realizing that she wouldn't get any more sleep with them also being active at this time in the morning, she grabbed a change of clothes and went to have a shower and get changed.
Eating this time of the morning usually meant that you would be eating alone. So Jack was surprised when he entered the mess and found Major Carter sitting over a bowl of fruit loops reading a very big book.
"Carter, how are you this early morning?"
Slightly startled, Sam took a moment to finish her mouthful and answer.
"I'm good Sir, how about you?"
"Good thank you, do you mind baby-sitting for a minute while I get this one something to eat."
"Not at all."
Handing Johnny over, Jack noticed how different Carter was when she was around the boy. She was talking baby talk to his grandson, not caring who saw her, very unlike her. After her had filled his tray with food, Jack filed back to his 2IC.
Sitting down opposite her, she seemed reluctant to give up the child in her lap. Realizing that he had a fight on his hands, he gave in and handed Johnny's breakfast over the table, letting her help him eat.
After not long they were all covered in scrambled eggs, and bits of toast.
"I swear with him around I need a few more spare uniforms."
Carter said trying to untangle herself from Johnny.
Getting up to help his Major, Jack replied,
"Well, he is sort of an O'Neill, we make messes."
"I've noticed Sir." Sam answered with a smirk.
"Megan seems really nice, and this little man is just precious. Where does the curly hair come from, is it your side or Daniel's side?"
"I don't think it is my side, but Megan's mother had curly blonde hair when I knew her. And come to think of it, so did her mother. Must be a family trait. It has been an interesting 24hrs hasn't it?"
"Definitely, Sir. How are you taking it?"
"Not to bad I think. I keep waiting to wake up from a dream. I was shocked at first but I think I will used to it very quickly. I know it has been less then a day but I like the idea of having a family again. Someone to spend the holiday's with and to have dinner with, that sort of thing."
"I understand. Wonder how Daniel is taking it all, he seemed a bit weird when Megan first introduced herself. But last night he seemed a bit better, walking her back to her room and all. Do you know where he disappeared last night, I thought he was going to come back after he walked them back."
"I don't know, maybe he wanted to think about things. You know what he is like when he has something serious to think over. He often disappears."
"Your right."
They wound down the conversation, instead watching the boy now sitting in Jack's lap play with his food.
Daniel woke to hear the shower going. He lay there for a few moments, realizing that he desperately needed a cup of coffee and also realizing that he has slept in his clothes last night.
He must look like a wreck. He didn't particularly care. Rising, he walked over to the makeshift kitchenette. He heard the shower turn off and called out.
"Do you want some coffee Megan?"
"No thank you Daniel I can't have it." Came her muffled replied.
Shrugging to himself, he put the kettle on, found a mug and added the ingredients. Turning on the small radio above the sink he found a music channel that wasn't too annoying.
Humming along with the song he tidied up the toys on the floor and was partially through with making the bed when he heard the door to the bathroom open and the whistle of the kettle boiling.
Making his way over to pour his coffee, he asked
"Why can't you have coffee?"
"Don't ask for the technical explanation, all I know is that they advise you against it when your pregnant, I think it is the caffeine. I don't think it is good for them."
She said rubbing her stomach.
"It's not like they need the buzz, they hardly sleep anyway." She added, while looking through one of the bags that had been placed at the end of the bed, trying to find shoes.
"About last night Megan, I'm sorry, you should have woken me up. I didn't mean to fall asleep."
"That's OK, don't stress about it. It was nice having a warm body beside me that wasn't fighting for the covers or kicking me in the back like Johnny does. I know it has been confusing about all this alternate reality stuff, but I hope we can move past it. I don't want to feel awkward around you, and don't get me wrong, I don't think I will stop missing my husband but when your here it makes it a little easier. That doesn't sound creepy does it?"
"No, not at all. I feel the same way about Shar'e, ill never forget her, or stop missing her, but it gets easier with time. And I appreciate the chance you have given me to be a dad to Johnny. Speaking of Johnny, where is he?"
"Dad, stopped by earlier to get me some breakfast, I told him that I wasn't hungry yet so he took Johnny to give me a few minutes break. He said that he was going to be in the mess hall. I was about to head down there and get some toast. Do you want to join me?"
"I think I better go and have a shower and get changed. But ill meet you there in twenty minutes."
"OK, see you there." Having found some shoes, Megan made her way out the door, leaving Daniel searching for his boots.
Walking into the mess hall, Daniel quickly scanned the room to find the people that he was looking for. Spotting them he smiled and went to line up for some more coffee.
"Do you ever actually eat anything, Daniel?"
Sam asked as he sat down with nothing but a mug.
"If you get it chunky enough coffee is almost a food group." He replied examining the mess of food in front of Johnny.
"What exploded here?"
"It's called feeding time at the zoo, Johnny thinks it is a fantastic game to spread his meals as far as the eye can see. Don't you sweetheart?"
All Megan got in a reply was a big greasy smile.
"Don't you dare kiss your mother with that mouth." Megan told the toddler. Noticing that the table was lacking an occupant, Daniel asked where Jack was.
"He got called into General Hammond's office a few minutes ago." Replied Sam.
Everyone continued eating in comfortable silence.
--------
"General Hammond, I have a proposition." Jack spoke up after he had taken the offered seat.
"Go on, son."
"Well I would like permission to ask Megan and Johnny to come and live at my house. I'm hardly ever there anyway and I like the idea about having some family around. It is an awfully big house for just one person."
"I don't see why not Jack, if you think that it is a good idea. I think the pentagon would prefer her to be near some one from the SGC any way. Go ahead and ask her if she agrees ill organize it."
"Thank you General. I also wanted to talk about how Megan is going to pay for things and so forth?"
"Well son, we have organized a savings account in her name at one of the local banks. There is enough money in there for her to get started, even more now she doesn't have to pay for somewhere to live. We have arranged ID for her. We took the liberty to look up her mother in this reality and it turns out that she also died of cancer at around the same time as in the other reality. She has a social security number and so does Johnny, Megan is listed as Megan O'Neill and Johnny is Jonathan Daniel Jackson. However if Megan wants to change either surname all she has to do is ask. We still need both Megan and Dr. Jackson to sign the birth certificate for Johnny, ill get you to send them in here when we are finished."
"Yes sir, ill go and talk to Megan now and then send them in."
"Dismissed. Colonel, good luck."
Walking back to the mess hall, Jack was thinking over what had happened in the past day. It was like somebody was finally giving him a break and giving him a chance at being a dad again.
To top it all off he now got the chance to be a dotting grandfather. After Charlie he never thought he would have either chance again. Spotting Megan sitting at a table that was covered with scrambled eggs, he wandered over.
"How are you feeling this morning Megan?"
"Much better now that you took Johnny off my hands for a while this morning. It was only half an hour but it was practically heaven. Since he learned to walk he has been getting faster and faster and I've been getting slower and slower."
"When you are finished Megan I would like to have a word to you in private if you don't mind?" Jack asked.
"No not at all, I'm finished now if you want."
"Daniel, we will be in my office, can you meet us there in thirty minutes?"
"Not a problem." Daniel replied picking some half chewed toast off of his pants.
Jack picked up Johnny after cleaning his hands with a wet wipe and followed Megan who with her short steps had only made it to the door.
--------
"Megan, I just want to let you know that the General has set up an account in your name with one of the local banks. He has also organized social security numbers, ID's and birth certificates. I have to sign off on yours, and you and Daniel have to sign off on Johnny's. Your last name is listed as O'Neill and Johnny's as Jackson. But you can change either if you like."
Jack put Johnny down on the ground with a couple of his tennis balls that he always kept in his office for moments of utter boredom. Helping Megan into her seat he continued.
"What I wanted to know Megan is if, that is if you want to. You and Johnny are more then welcome to come and live at my house. After all I'm hardly ever there and I really stink at cooking. But only if you want to, I don't want to force anything on you." Sitting down on his side of the desk, Jack studied the woman sitting in front of him.
"Dad, I would love to. But only if you are sure you can handle all the noise that Johnny makes, as well as the noise these two will make in a month or so. Going from living alone to a house full can be difficult. And I don't cook that well either, I got that from you."
"Honestly, I think it will take a bit to get used to, but I'm willing to make a go of it. I have missed having kids in the house. OK, now before you can change your mind. That is settled. We still have time to kill before Daniel gets here, tell me about what your life was like before, you know the mirror. And please explain to me why you married Daniel."
They both had a small chuckle about that, Jack because he was still slightly nervous, and Megan because that was exactly what her father had said when she announced her engagement.
"Well let me see. I lived in Australia until I was sixteen, but I did come and visit you two or three times a year depending on if you were home or on a mission somewhere. You married Sara and then you had Charlie and it was so nice to have a brother. Mum died about a three weeks before my sixteenth." Megan paused while she reflected on bad memories.
"You flew over to be with me and after all the arrangements had been made I came to live with you, Sara and Charlie. When I turned eighteen I joined the air force, not my first choice I wanted to join the marines but you had a spastic."
"Yes well I can imagine why, bone heads, all of them."
"I see some things never change. Three weeks into my training course, Sara called me and told me about Charlie and the fact that you were on the verge of suicide. I came straight home, went up to Charlie's room and abused the shit out of you. You told me later that if I had been five minutes later it properly would have been too late. I'm just glad the plane was on time. After that incident you went to Abidos with Daniel on the first mission. I knew nothing about it at this time. I was off learning to fly. We kept in close touch and when Sara left I got a transfer back to Colorado and moved back in with you."
"Well, I'm glad that my alter ego, I suppose, had you to help him through. And I'm glad that I have you here now. Now changing to a happier subject how did you and the space monkey get together and remember I'm your father and I don't want details. I might have to hurt my Daniel."
"I suppose you might. Well it is quite simple really I suppose. We met when I transferred here, on to SG9. Because I was still living with you I saw all of your team pretty regularly. Sam and I became really good friends. Same with me and Daniel, I guess. One thing eventually led to another and we started secretly dating."
"Why secretly, scared of your old man hey?"
"I wasn't but Daniel was a little worried what you would do to him if it didn't work out. One night after a really hard mission for SG1, the team came to our place for a pizza night. Daniel and you got very drunk, and you started asking Daniel if he knew who I was seeing cause you knew that something was going on but you didn't have a clue who with. Daniel being the two pot screamer that he is, blurted out that he was the one that was seeing your daughter and that he was completely and utterly in love with me and then he asked you for permission to marry me. Sam and I were on the roof at the time and we heard you yelling from there. By the time we got downstairs you were hugging him. It was rather funny really. Within the space of three minutes you went from wanting to hit him then joining him in a congratulatory drink. You wouldn't tell us what had happened until the next night when Daniel proposed. You walked me down the aisle at the wedding and also stood at Daniel's side as best man. To an outsider I suppose that would have been very confusing."
Johnny was up walking around and headed for his grandfather, just as there was a knock on the door.
"Come in, Daniel take a seat" called Jack absentmindedly. His attention was more focused on the child trying to climb into his lap.
"My meeting with General Hammond this morning was in regards to Megan and the children staying here. He has organized an account for Megan at one of the local banks, as well as id and social security numbers and the such. I have invited Megan to come and stay at my house as long as she wants. I need someone to water my plants when I'm away." Jack remembered that trying to continue seriously with a child trying to do acrobatics in your lap is always a challenge.
"I just wanted to make sure that it is OK with you?"
"That sounds like a good idea, as long as I can come and visit the little bundle of energy over there."
"Good I'm glad that's settled. You two better follow me over to the Generals office we all have some paper work to sign." Jack got up with Johnny in his arms and left quickly, giving Megan and Daniel time to talk if they needed it.
Realizing that Jack was giving them some breathing space, Daniel fell into step beside Megan.
"I would like to think that you would want to come and visit me as well." Megan jokingly asked.
"Of course I would. I ah wanted to ask you something."
"Yes,"
"I'm assuming that we are going to have to sign birth certificates and the such, is that right?"
Megan just nodded.
"Well, I um just wanted to know what Johnny's name will be on his, and the same with these two." Daniel said motioning towards Megan's bump.
"Well that is entirely up to you, I was going to have them with your last name but if you don't want them...."
"No, no I do. I just wanted to make sure that you were OK with it. Can I ask one more question?"
"Shoot."
"What will your last name be?"
"I'm going to stick to my maiden name. It is simpler. That way it doesn't confuse anyone around here unintentionally. We already know what a man eater I am, after all I don't want to dash all the nurses hopes of numerous sponge baths with the great DR Jackson."
Laughing they both turned into the Generals office and signed all the necessary documents.
"Sir, when am I able to leave the mountain? I haven't seen the sun on earth for a long time now." Megan asked when all the formalities had been finalized.
"Now if you like. DR Fraiser has cleared you and Johnny."
"Thank you so much sir. Everything that you have done is very much appreciated." Megan sincerely said.
"OK kids then I guess we get a game plan organized. Daniel, Johnny and I are going to go to my house and clean out the spare rooms. While Megan, you, Carter, Janet and her girls go shopping and spend up big on the company credit card. You know for clothes and baby stuff and all that. Then I reckon that General Hammond comes to my place after work and we all have a bit of a BBQ. How does that sound?"
With affirmative nods all round it was decided. After giving Johnny a kiss, Megan headed off to find Sam, and left the boys to their scheming.
CHAPTER SIX
On the way to the mall the three woman and two girls worked out a game plan. They would all go to the furniture shops first and get the necessities first then they would head for the clothes. Cassie and Caitlin soon became bored and asked if they could go to the movies while the furniture shopping was being done. After Janet gave them some money and made them promise to meet them for lunch at one o'clock they hurried off.
"I don't know what I need. I'm not sure what Dad has in his spare rooms."
"Well, from personally spending a few nights in that horrible bed that he has in one of them I recommend a new one or at least a new mattress. A bed for Johnny, plus some sheets and a few extra towels wouldn't hurt. Oh look at that rocking chair over there. That is gorgeous. Ouch, look at the price tag." Sam exclaimed.
"It is very nice, but your right, not exactly what I would call a necessity I suppose ill just get stuff for my self and for Johnny. I can get some stuff for the new babies a bit closer." Megan said while scanning the store.
"Um, Megan I wouldn't leave it to much longer you are only about a month from your due date and twins do have the tendency to come early." Janet added.
After about and hour everything had been arranged with the store, they would deliver the stuff to Jacks place some time after lunch.
"Now its time for clothes." Janet stated as she headed for the closest fashion shop.
"Can we take a breather for a minute and get a drink, my back is so sore from walking around. I must look like a beach ball on legs."
"OK we stop for coffee first then on to the clothes. But first I have to go make a phone call, ill also ring the boys and let them know when the stuff will be there. Ill meet you at the caf over there." Sam said as she pointed to the closest coffee shop. Quickly she turned on her heel back towards the furniture shop and started dialing her mobile.
After coffee the three women headed for the children's clothes section for Johnny and Caitlin. They made a short detour to the maternity section only purchasing a few items fully aware that Megan would have to go shopping again after the twins were born. Finally they meet the girls for lunch at the appointed hour and found somewhere nice to eat.
"Can we go home after this, I'm exhausted. I can't believe I did that much shopping today." Megan exclaimed as she sat heavily in the chair.
"I think we got everything, oh I just remembered that the Colonel wanted us to pick up some food for the BBQ tonight. Come on Cassie, Caitlin finish your lunch and we will head over to the grocery store while you two finish your lunch." Janet hurried the girls on. Leaving Megan and Sam to enjoy the remainder of their lunch in relative silence with out the girls noisy chattering.
"So Megan, have you decided what your going to do after the babies are born. I mean are you going to come back to work." Sam asked.
"I don't know I haven't really thought about it. I went straight back to work as soon as Johnny was born but I think with these ones I want to be home for a while. I know it sounds very fifties but I want to try staying at home and doing all that cooking stuff and cleaning stuff, you know with the apron. Well maybe not that bad, but I want to be the stay at home mum for as long as I can afford it. Because I don't have to pay rent I can stretch the money that General Hammond arranged for me a bit longer."
"I can just picture it now, the I love Lucy dress, mixed in with the Brady bunch ideals." Sam said stifling a giggle.
It was after two o'clock by the time everything and everyone was packed in the car on the way back to Megan's new home. Driving up the street Megan was relieved to see that it was the same house that her father from her reality had owned.
Noticing all the packing boxes at the front of the house it looked like the furniture had already been delivered and was in the process of being put together.
Janet honked the horn as they pulled up in the driveway. Daniel came running out just in time to help Megan out of the car.
"I see that you bought the entire store home with you." He said while surveying the contents of the boot of the car.
"Stay here while we take all this in, the rooms are not ready yet and Jack really wanted to surprise you."
Megan nodded her answer, not trusting her voice at the moment.
She wondered how long it would take for her not to have her breath taken away when he was so close. She mentally shook her self to get some composure and sat on the front porch, awaiting entry.
Finally after all the bags had been taken inside and she could hear Janet and the girls in the kitchen, Daniel and Jack appeared to lead her inside. Walking through the lounge room, Megan got a huge hug from her son, whom Sam was holding at the bottom of the stairs.
Each man took an arm and led her up the stairs.
The first stop they made turned out to be Johnny's room.
Complete with the assembled space ship bed she had purchased that morning. The walls were painted with a solar system theme. Even the dresser and the toy box had planets and space ships on them.
"Sam has put the sheets in the wash so they will be ready for when he goes to bed tonight. Do you like it?" Jack asked.
"It is fantastic. I can't believe you did this all in one day, thank you so much. It looks like Johnny likes it too." Megan answered while watching her son open the toy box to find something to destroy.
"That's not all, and behind door number 2 we have a nursery." Jack continued as he escorted his daughter down the hall to the next room.
"Lacking a few essential items though. Namely babies." Daniel added.
A huge smile crept on his face when he saw Megan's utter surprise at the room. He had to admit that he even thought it was well done. The walls were in an underwater sort of theme, blue and green walls with big stick on fish and mermaids.
Complete with two cribs that had been delivered along with everything else this morning. Megan seemed dumbfounded as she walked over to the rocking chair placed perfectly in the corner.
"Sam rang me and told me that you liked it, so I told her to get it for you. I hope you like it." Daniel said. He was quietly proud of her reaction.
"I love it, thank you Daniel. Thank you Sam. Thank you dad." Megan said while hugging each one in turn.
"I'm going to take Johnny outside to play, Colonel you want to come with me?" Sam subtly hinted for Jack to follow her, leaving Daniel to show Megan the last room.
"Um sure, Megan I'm glad you decided to stay here." With that he followed Sam down the stairs and outside.
"We also did up a room for you but you can change the colors if you want." Daniel said while leading Megan to the next door.
Megan realized as Daniel opened the door that this room was the same one she had had before she got married in her reality. It had a queen size bed in the middle of the room, the blue curtains that she bought that morning and all the other bags on the bed.
Needing to sit down for a while Megan sat on the edge of the bed while Daniel moved the bags to the floor. Sitting down beside her he asked,
"Are you alright? You seem very quiet."
"I'm fine Daniel, I'm sorry. I'm just a little overwhelmed. I really love all the rooms. I think Johnny approves of his as well. I think I'm just tired. Sam and Janet can really shop. I haven't walked that far in a long time and not with such a heavy load."
"Lay down and have a nap if you like there is nothing left to do, and Johnny is in good hands."
"I think I might, can you sit with me a while."
Daniel nodded.
As soon as Megan had fallen asleep, he left the room quietly and went to the roof to think.
"Daniel are you up there?" Jacks voice came up the stairs.
"Yes Jack."
After a few moments Jack was up on the deck with the younger man.
"What's going on? Why are you hiding up here?"
"Nothings wrong I don't think. I came up here to think."
"About what?"
"I don't know, um everything. Our lives have changed a lot in the last two days. In a good way I think."
"So what's the problem?" Jack asked with a concerned look on his face.
"It's not a bad problem, I think it is a good one. Um Jack I don't know whether I should be speaking to you about this."
"It's about Megan, and you don't want to speak to me about her because what, you think ill beat the shit out of you? I'm still your friend, tell me what's bothering you."
"Its hard to explain, it is about Megan and the children. I don't know where I'm supposed to fit into the equation. She told me that she was still mourning her husband and she needed a friend most of all, but in the two days that I've known her I understand what my alternate self saw in her. She has such courage, not many people would have survived what she had been through in the last few months and especially not in the condition that she is in. She is so beautiful, and I honestly never thought that I could think of anyone that way after Share`. I slept with her last night..."
"You what, you slept with her, she is not only eight months pregnant, but she is recently widowed. And you sleep with her after what 10 hours of knowing her."
Seeing that Jack's temper was starting to get the better of him, Daniel backtracked slightly.
"No Jack I didn't have sex with her." Daniel continued after enjoying the look of horror on the older mans face at the use of THAT word.
"I was watching Johnny while she had a shower. Johnny and I fell asleep on the bed. Next thing I knew I woke up in the middle of the night with Johnny cuddled up on one side and the twins kicking me in the back. So settle down." Daniel couldn't help but notice the look of relief that washed over Jack's face.
"So, Daniel, what is the problem?"
"Are you sure you can handle me talking about this." Daniel continued when Jack nodded his approval.
"Well, I think I'm falling for her. I'm not going to rush into anything. I don't want to intrude into her private space, but I'm almost positive that I want to be more than a friend. She has already told me that she wants me to be the children's father and I'm extremely grateful for that but I also want to be hers."
"Daniel all I can say is, let her decide, it's not up to you. She needs some time to adjust, and to see if she likes you for who you are or the fact that in some weird way you are identical to her late husband. Give her space, but be there when she needs you."
Daniel nodded his agreement. The two men leaned on the edge of the balcony and watched as Sam and Johnny continued to play in the back yard. Daniel couldn't help but notice the look of yearning on Jacks face and decided that two can play at this game.
"So when are you and Sam going to realize what everybody else already knows?"
"What are you talking about Daniel?" Jack replied with guarded look clouding his features.
"Well Sam and I were talking this morning over breakfast after you and Megan left. She told me that Megan had bought through a photo album with her. Her and Megan had looked at it yesterday afternoon. Megan being home sick and all. There were the normal pictures you know, her wedding, her son, and a few group photos of all of us. Then of course there was the one from Sam's wedding." Daniel left that hanging in the air, while he waited for Jack's reaction.
"Her wedding? Um to who?"
"Um let me see, I'm pretty sure it was you."
The relief washed over Jack like a tidal wave.
After dinner, everyone sat around on the deck enjoying the evening breeze. General Hammond had just left and Megan was trying to put Johnny to bed. Daniel noticed that she had been gone for a while and went looking for her.
He found her in Johnny's room, lying on the bed with her son reading him a book. Daniel stood at the door and watched her unnoticed for a moment.
Johnny spotted him at the door and smiled. Megan looked over to see what had caught the toddler's attention.
"I'm sorry Megan I didn't mean to interrupt, I see he just doesn't want to go to sleep."
"No not at the moment and Dr Seuss isn't helping." She said holding up the book and revealing the title `Green eggs and ham'.
"Normally it is his favorite book." She added.
"Do you mind if I sit down?" He asked.
"No not at all, maybe you can get the terror to sleep. Before you sit down can you help me up, this bed wasn't designed for pregnant women to get up from."
After helping her sit up, Daniel sat at the head of the bed with his son curling around him waiting for the book to be continued.
Megan watched the interaction between these two and for the first time in a long time she felt completely happy and contented.
As Daniel neared the end of the book, Johnny drifted off to sleep. Daniel quietly put the book away and kissed the boy on the head.
Megan got up off the bed and headed out the door, motioning for Daniel to follow her. After shutting the door quietly the two of them headed downstairs to rejoin the others on the deck.
"Where have you two been? I thought you were getting me another beer, Daniel."
Before Daniel could answer Megan replied that she would get him one.
Daniel took a seat on the deck and Megan headed back into the kitchen.
Just as she was popping the top on the bottle she felt somebody else's presence in the room. Instinctively knowing who it was she asked with out turning around.
"So, Dad what's up?"
"Um nothing Megan. I just wanted to see how you were doing with everything." Jack answered.
"I'm fine, really. I'm a little tired but that's from all the shopping today. Here's your beer. Are you alright?"
"I'm um fine I think. Can I talk to you frankly Megan?"
"Only if we sit down."
"Deal."
With that they made there way into the living room and took a seat next to each other on the couch.
"Megan this is hard for me, I'm really out of practice at this dad stuff, and well to tell the truth I was always a little disappointed that I didn't have a daughter. I feel like you have given me a second chance. I always felt that if I did get married again, that I might have kids but I would be too old to enjoy the grandkids when they came. It feels like the universe has handed me a neat little package complete with daughter, grandson and soon to be grand kiddies. I don't know what I did to deserve it but I'm going to take this gift by both hands and I hate to tell you I'm not letting go anytime soon." He continued with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"I also want to let you know that if you want to talk about anything, even the girlie stuff, I'm here. But I just want to know one thing?"
Megan nodded her consent to ask the question.
"Well I need to know if you were happy in your world, before everything happened of course. Did you have a good childhood? I know that you said that you lived in Australia while I was over here, did you ever feel like you missed anything?"
Megan thought for a moment before answering.
"Honestly, when I look back on it now, I did have a good life. Don't get me wrong I did miss you like crazy when I wasn't here. But, I guess the last 8 years or so, not including the last six months, have been the best of my life. I had you so close, I found some really close friends, and I got married to the most wonderful man, whom you approved of. And I had the most beautiful son, not to mention the latest editions. I had my shares of ups and downs and I want you to know that I will always have them. I'm going to worry every time you guys go through the stargate, never knowing if you'll come back alive or otherwise incapacitated. But honestly Dad, I feel like I've been given a second go at life, with almost the same people."
Taking a moment to compose them selves, Megan moved closer to him on the couch and rested her head on his shoulder. After her cry yesterday afternoon with Sam, Megan knew that she had a long road ahead of her towards grieving over lost friends and family.
Jack wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. Kissing her gently on the head he whispered for her ears only.
"Thank you."
Megan buried her head as far in as she could and closed her eyes enjoying the moment.
After a few minutes Megan took her fathers hand and placed it on her stomach. The twins were moving around as much as they could manage in the confined space.
"I hope you like babies cause the house is soon going to be filled with children."
"I love babies, I even change diapers occasionally. Boy those two are really going for it, I bet that they will be football players when they get older." He replied while getting his hand bruised.
Jack couldn't believe it, he remembered when Sara was pregnant with Charlie but then he had felt more scared of the impending birth of his son. Now he was in excited awe of the two babies moving under his hand.
"God I hope not, I hope they decide to make their debut soon, I feel like they are turning me black and blue from the inside out. I wanted to ask you something?"
"Go ahead." Jack said as he removed his hand reluctantly to face her.
"Well, I wanted to know if you had any suggestions for names, I honestly can't think of anything except Isabella and Alexandria for girls, but I also need middle names and boys names."
"I like Issie and Alex for girls names,"
"That is so not going to happen. I hate nick names I've spent my whole life telling people including you that my name is not Meagie or Meggs."
"Well the only way you are going to avoid nicknames is if you only give the kid a letter name like T or M. And I don't think Daniel would approve."
"True, very true." She answered laughing.
There was a knock at the back door, getting up Jack went and opened it.
"We were just wondering where you two had gotten too." Sam asked as she stuck her head through the doorway.
"We were, ah just having a father daughter talk. I'm sorry guys, I lost track of time." He said to the others still sitting outside.
"Come inside any way it is starting to get a bit chilly. You girls can go and watch a movie in my room if you want, just don't wake Johnny up." Jack told Cassie and Caitlin.
Janet disappeared for a few minutes while she took the girls up stairs and settled them in.
Meanwhile the other adults all made them selves comfortable around the living room, topping up drinks and getting some snacks from the kitchen.
After Janet had come back downstairs, they all took their seats. Jack in the middle on the lounge with Megan on one side and Sam on the other. Daniel on the floor next to the coffee table facing Megan and Janet was on the armchair opposite Sam. They all started chatting amongst them selves when Caitlin came bounding down the stairs and headed directly for Megan.
"Aunt Megan."
"Yes Caitlin," Megan answered.
"Where's that box that I bought with me, and the photo's. I want to show Cassie?"
"I think they are still in one of the bags upstairs in my room, I'll go and get it for you. Go up and wait for me in Jacks room, and don't make so much noise on the stairs or I'll make you change the twins diapers for a month." With that Megan playfully stuck her tongue out at the girl. And had one pointed at her in reply.
Daniel got up to help Megan out of her chair, and followed her up stairs to help her if needed.
"Do you want to see these? There are photos of Johnny in here from when he was younger." She asked while she picked up one of the bags that she had bought with her from the base.
Rummaging inside she eventually found the box that Caitlin was talking about and took it into the girls.
When she came back she reached in until she found the album that she had showed Sam the day before. Megan also found the smaller package of photos that she had not shown Sam.
CHAPTER SEVEN
"Do you want to see the photos?" Megan asked again.
"Sure, I would love to see them."
Sitting down next to Megan she began to turn the pages. The title of the album caught his attention. Daniel and Megan Jackson's First Album.
It hit him fully when he opened to the first page and saw his wedding photo, or rather Megan's wedding photo. Daniel sat and stared at it for a moment taking in every detail.
"You looked absolutely beautiful." Daniel commented.
"Well all I can say is that I look a lot better then than I do now. I know every pregnant woman says this but I feel like a beached whale. Do you mind if I lay down my back is very sore?"
"No go ahead, do you want me to rub it for you"
"Yes thanks, that would be fantastic."
Lying down on her side, Megan took the album from Daniel and held it so he could still see it and turned the pages for him.
"Is that what I think it is?" He suddenly exclaimed a few photos in.
"What?"
He pointed to one of the photos.
"Oh that one, well in my world. My father and Sam were dating at the time of our wedding. They actually moved in together about a week after this photo was taken.
Sam saw these photos yesterday. She was a little shell shocked by it. You think that they would be used to it by now. I think over the last five months I properly would have visited about twenty or so realities. I would have to say that in 19 of them they were an item. There were ones where, we were together. There were also ones, where it was almost exactly the same as the reality that we came from. I was even pregnant with our second child in a few of them."
"It must have been hard, seeing some one else lives your life, while you're traipsing all around the universe trying to find some where to fit in." "I know that Sam would never forgive me when I say this, but honestly most of them have blurred into another. I was never there that long. Once it was established that we couldn't stay, I usually only stayed to gather some supplies and then I headed off. I'm so glad we finally found some where to settle down, so to speak."
"So am I. How does that feel?"
"Like heaven. That feels so good. Thank you Daniel."
Megan continued to turn the pages of the album, showing Johnny, Jack and Sam's wedding and some other assorted photos.
When the album was finished Megan picked up the envelope that she had pulled out of her bag earlier.
"Do you want to see these ones? They are family photos. They are photos of your family. I gathered that your parents died when you were young as well. My husband always cherished these photos they were of his early child hood with his parents."
Daniel stopped massaging Megan's back and lay down next to her. They both rolled on to their backs.
Megan handed the envelope to Daniel.
"I never had any photos of my parents. They got lost along the way, moving so often and the fact that my grandfather was the one that packed up their house and he wasn't exactly fond of sentimental things."
Watching him open the envelope and carefully handle each one, scanning it in to his memory, taking in every detail, Megan couldn't help but see the sadness in his eyes.
He stared in awe at the photos, even though he knew deep down they weren't actually him, he did not care it looked like him and the older people in the photo looked like his parents.
"Johnny takes after your dad. You can see it in his eyes." Megan said while watching him.
Megan was rolling to her side trying to get comfortable when Daniel leaned over and kissed her out of the blue.
It wasn't a passionate kiss, more of a thank you kiss. But all the same their lips lingered together. They both enjoyed the physical contact of another person.
Daniel brought his hand up to Megan's face and gently stroked her cheek. Both of them forgetting where they where, lost in each other. After a few moments Megan pulled back from him, with an apologetic look on her face.
"I'm sorry Daniel, I can't do this." Getting up as fast as her body would let her she left the room.
Daniel stayed there thinking about what he had done. He didn't mean to kiss her. As much as he enjoyed it he mentally berated himself for allowing it to happen.
He knew her feelings on the subject. And he truly understood that she was still deeply missing her husband. But he couldn't stop himself. The emotion just swept him up, seeing those photos, laying here next to her, smelling her perfume. He was such and idiot.
He couldn't handle it if she got upset over him being so absolutely stupid. He brushed his fingers past his lips, still tasting her there; he realized that she had kissed him back. Granted that she was the one that had pulled away, but she had kissed him.
He didn't know what to do; he didn't know if he should go after her or leave her to sort it out by herself. Deciding on the former he went off to see if he could find her.
Megan sat in darkness in the nursery with her back to the door.
Megan silently moved backward and forward on the rocking chair that Daniel had bought her. She was trying to sort out all the confused emotions running around in her head.
She loved Daniel Jackson so much. But the one that she fell in love with was dead. The one that just kissed her had no knowledge of her until a day ago.
She could see all the characteristics that she fell in love with.
The way he nervously pushes his glasses up when he is self conscious about something. The way he stuffs his hands in his pockets when he is embarrassed. Little things like that.
She was so confused. Did she only feel attracted to this man because in essence he was her husband? If it was because he was just like her husband then it wasn't fair on him.
Megan, who was unaware that a solitary figure was watching her thru a crack in the door, started singing a lullaby softly to the unborn babies.
Knocking softly on the door Daniel entered.
Megan continued singing as Daniel walked up behind her. He sat down on the toy chest beside the chair.
"Megan, I'm so sorry. I can't believe I did that."
He took one of her hands in his; suddenly she stopped singing and looked at him. With the moonlight behind him, Daniel could see that she was crying.
"Megan, I've decided that I can't keep hurting you like this. I don't know how, but I have feelings for you. They grow every time you are in the same room with me. It grows when I see you playing with your son, or singing to your babies. I don't want to hurt you. I'm going to leave now. I will not come back until you ask me too. If you decide that you don't want me to spend anytime with the children, then as much as it hurts I won't. You and Johnny have grown very important to me. I know I sound like a mad man ranting, we have only known each other for just over a day. But I know what I'm feeling is real."
He stood up and headed towards the door. Stopping just short of exiting, he turned around to face her.
"Megan, I above most people understands what you're going through, being widowed. But I want you to know this. If I had been in your husband's position, I would have happily died to guarantee my family's safety. And I would not think of what we just did as betrayal. I can honestly say that there is no one else that I would trust to look after you, more than myself. Think of it as a second chance at happiness."
Quietly he left the room and sad his goodbyes to everyone downstairs, then went home and got drunk.
CHAPTER EIGHT A week later.
Jack slowly got out of bed and headed off to have a shower as the first rays of sun poured through the crack in the curtains. While enjoying the steady stream of hot water on his back, he thought about everything that had happened recently.
He had a family again. It hadn't taken him self and Megan long to fall into a routine around the house. He got up early, gave Johnny his breakfast, and let Megan catch a bit more shuteye. When she was up and ready, they would do a quick tidy up of the house and then head off to either a doctor's appointment or over to Sam's place. Damn it, he did it again. He called her Sam. It had been happening a lot lately. He thought to himself that it must be the fact that they were all on leave and that due to Megan; they were seeing a lot more of each other.
He couldn't understand the change in his Major. Before Megan's arrival they had the agreement to bottle up any feelings that they might have toward each other. But heralding Megan's arrival, he noticed that Sam was smiling at him more. She wasn't worried of what people would think if she came over for dinner. Little things. He wasn't sure what to make of it.
After finishing in the shower, Jack headed towards Johnny's room where he found the boy up to his elbows in his toy box. Jack decided that being a Grandfather was rather fun. He had filled that toy box to the brim in the last few days. And the best thing was that he got to test all the new toys out, just to make sure they are all in working order and safe for a toddler.
Megan emerged, waddling, from her room about an hour later.
"Hello sweetheart, what have you and granddad been up to this morning?"
Megan asked her son as he gave her a big hug.
"What do you want for breakfast?" Jack asked Megan.
"Honestly, I'm not that hungry. I didn't get much sleep last night. The babies don't have too much room to move in there, but I swear that they are constantly fighting with each other. Kicking each other and tiring out their poor mother. It's times like this that I really miss coffee."
"Speaking of coffee, have you spoken to Daniel yet?" Jack asked with an accusing look on his face.
"No, I haven't. Sam said that she has tried to call him a few times and just gets the machine. I want to talk to him but it is complicated."
"I wish you would tell me what happened that night. I can't help you if I don't know and Daniel is one of my best friends. I want to know why he hasn't come around here to see you and Johnny."
Megan didn't say anything for a moment, trying to find the words to say what she wanted.
"Daniel and I sort of had a fight."
"How do you sort of have a fight, either you do or you don't."
"Dad, I don't want to talk to you about it. I don't want to come between you and Daniel. Here, give Johnny to me. Off you go and have a day to yourself. We have been tying you up all week and you should go and watch a hockey game with Daniel or something."
"I do need to go and get a few things down at the shops, do you want me to take Johnny with me?"
"No I said for you to go out. I cross my heart I'll be alright. Plus if there is a problem I'll call Sam." "OK, but I'll have my mobile with me if you need anything," Jack said, picking up his jacket and keys.
Megan took Johnny into the living room and spread out some toys to keep him amused. Pottering around the house, she went from room to room tidying up. When she saw the doctor yesterday, he had said that it wouldn't be long before the babies were born and the best way to bring on labor was light exercise. So that's what she was going to do. Thinking of the conversation she had had with her father this morning, Megan couldn't help but get upset. After her 'conversation' with Daniel, Megan had thought things over. She did love him. This one. It scared her and definitely confused her.
She had tried to ring him the next morning to tell him that she wanted to be a part of his life, but on the third ring he picked up and she panicked and hung up.
Like he had told her, she was still mourning her husband. She would not tarnish her memory of him by falling in love, or into bed, with another man so fast. She wanted to see how it progressed, but she kept telling herself that she already had too much on her plate as it was and she didn't need any more complications. She didn't want to stress herself out because of the babies, so she pushed it to the back of her mind.
Megan had told Sam what happened. She needed someone to talk to, someone who knew Daniel, and she was not going to bring her father into this. Sam agreed with Megan's reasoning about waiting a while longer before doing anything. At Megan's urging, Sam had tried to ring Daniel at home a couple of times, but only got the machine. Worried about him, they rang the base and found out that he had been staying there. Working until all hours of the night, getting a few hours sleep and then back at it again. Megan and Sam were both worried, but they both knew that he had to work through this himself, in his own way.
As Megan reached up to adjust a picture on the wall, she felt a sharp stinging pain in her lower back. Grasping her stomach, she quickly sat down in the closest chair. She had been having back pains on and off all night. Realizing what was happening, she waited until the contraction subsided, and then went to find the portable phone.
~*~*~*~
When Jack arrived at the base, he went through all the checkpoints and headed down to Daniel's office, knowing that he would find the other man there.
"Knock, knock," he said while pushing the door open.
He sighed when he saw Daniel slumped at his desk, asleep in a very awkward position.
"Oy, Daniel. Wake up." Jack said as he shook Daniel by the shoulder slightly.
"What, what's wrong?" came the reply.
"You fell asleep at your desk."
"Oh, OK. Give me a second."
After grabbing a coffee and sitting back down, Daniel started to speak.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm checking up on you; we haven't heard from you for a while. And what the hell are you doing here? We are supposed to be on stand down. You know what that means: No work, more play, and maybe the nasty doctor will stay away."
"Very funny. I had to catch up on some work. So, um, how is, um ...... Johnny?"
"Both he and his mother are fine. Speaking of which, are you planning on seeing either of them any time soon?"
Daniel looked around the room, anywhere but at Jack.
"Daniel just tell me what is going on? Megan is beyond depressed. She is spending every spare moment with Sa... um Carter and you know that can't be good for the babies to hear that techno babble all day."
"Jack, I don't want to talk about it; especially not with you."
"Why not? And if you say because I'm her father, then I will shoot you. I grasp the concept of not wanting to talk to the father of the girl you are hopelessly falling for."
Stopping at Daniel's dumbfounded expression, Jack paused a moment before continuing.
"Yes Daniel, I'm not that dense. Do you think I am blind? Daniel, I know that you have feelings for Megan and for what it is worth I'm pretty sure that she has the same ones for you."
"She, um, she does?"
"Well, she hasn't said so in so many words to me, but I heard her and, uh... Carter... talking. Come on, your coming home. First things first. You need a shower and a shave. Go on off with you, I'll be waiting."
With that, Jack shooed Daniel towards his on-base quarters to get ready.
Sam heard the phone over the music and, after jumping off the treadmill and turning the volume down, she picked up the extension in the living room.
"Hello?"
"Ah, Sam, it's Megan. I think you need to come and pick me up. My water has just broken."
"Where's the Colonel?"
"Uh, he--he went out. I can't get him on his mobile. Can you come and get me please? They are getting really strong. These little buggers really want out."
"Ok, give me ten minutes and I'll be there."
Sam dropped the phone, picked up her keys and headed straight out the door.
"Sam, thank God you're here! I can't believe how much it hurts. It wasn't this bad with Johnny; I've started bleeding on every contraction. They are about 8 minutes apart." Megan suddenly clutched her stomach and dropped to her knees. Sam quickly helped her to her feet, and sat her just near the door. Racing into the house, Sam grabbed Megan's bag; which was a permanent fixture at the front door. Going back to help Megan to the car, she heard Johnny in the other room.
"I'll just go and get Johnny, don't move," Sam ordered Megan.
After getting everyone into the car, Sam took off at a rate of knots. She called ahead to the base to let them know she was coming and told them to find Janet and get her there ASAP.
Going through the first checkpoint, Megan was glad to see her father's jeep in the parking lot.
"He's here. That's why his phone didn't work. He had to turn it off in the mountain," Sam said to no one in particular.
Pulling up close to the entrance, Sam helped Megan out of the car and in to the waiting wheelchair one of the nurses from the infirmary had thought to bring up. As she was grabbing Johnny out of the back seat, a car pulled up beside her and Janet and the girls jumped out. Cassie came over and took the toddler from her arms and Caitlin grabbed the bag as the group made their way to the first elevator.
Janet was asking Megan all the important questions. It all blurred for Sam who, instead, focused her attention on the kids.
"OK, Cassie, Caitlin I need you to look after Johnny while your mum and I are in the delivery room. Take him to the rec. room. If you need anything just come and get one of the nurses. OK?"
Both girls nodded and got off on the right floor when the doors opened.
The four women, including the nurse, carried on down to the infirmary.
While Daniel was having his shower, Jack made his way to the rec. room. He hadn't been getting too much practice at his play station lately, so he figured he could get in at least a half hours worth while he waited.
When the half hour was up, Jack reached over the turn the TV off. Heading out the door, he bumped into Cassie and Caitlin with Johnny walking between them. "What's wrong guys? Why are you here?" Cassie answered as Caitlin took the boy into the room. "Megan went into labor so Sam bought her here. Mum is with them now." Taking off at a run, Jack only slowed down to ask where they were, once Cassie told him where he took off again.
Megan was being settled into bed, when Jack burst through the door. "Megan, are you all right?" "Peachy, thanks dad. What are you doing on base?" "Came to see Daniel." If there hadn't been so many people in the room, Jack swore that Megan would be yelling at him, but she settled for giving him a foul look instead. Just as she was about to say something about it, she clutched her stomach in agony and curled up in the fetal position. "Janet, this is worse then when Johnny was born, is there anything wrong? I feel like I'm splitting in two." Megan asked in between panting and trying to control the pain.
While Janet reassured Megan, Jack took Sam aside. "Carter, can you go and get Daniel please? He is in the locker room." "Do you think that is such a good idea Sir?" "I don't know, but I do think that Daniel should be here." The Major turned on her heel and left to find the archeologist.
"Daniel, are you in there?" Sam yelled from the door, cautious of the fact that the sign on the locker room door still said Men Only. Daniel opened the door clad in only a towel. "Sam! What are you doing here? Is everything alright?" "Hurry up and get dressed, Megan has gone into labor and she is down in the infirmary." Quickly, Daniel shut the door and, in five minutes flat, he was walking with Sam toward the elevator fully clothed.
Stopping just short of pushing the button, Daniel started to turn on the spot. "Oh no you don't Daniel. I don't care what the two of you are going through at the moment. Megan has told me that she wants you to be the children's father. So unless you have a problem with that part, I suggest we get going." "Sam, I don't know if I can do this. I want to be there for the kids, but I don't know if I could handle it. I don't know what Megan told you, but we, um, well, we had sort of a disagreement last week. It wasn't a full blown fight or anything like that, but she never told me what she thought about all of it."
"Daniel, Megan has very deep feelings for you, but she is too afraid to act on them." "Why? I told her that I pretty much felt the same way." "She has a lot on her plate at the moment. Daniel, one minute she thinks that she only cares for you because in the whole scheme of things you are her husband. The next minute she realizes that you and her husband do have similarities but there is also subtle differences. She also worries about tarnishing her memory of him, by jumping straight into another man's arms. Daniel you have to understand that, not only does she have a lot of hormones messing with her at the moment but she has had a very tough few months."
Daniel stood rooted to the spot looking at his feet and Sam reached out and pressed the button for the elevator.
Arriving in the infirmary a few minutes later, they were both pushed out the door by one of the nurses who was running around in what looked like an emergency. A few seconds later Jack was literally tossed out of the door. "What's wrong?" Daniel asked, starting to pace realizing that something was wrong with Megan. "I, I don't know. Everything was fine and then alarms started going off and Megan wouldn't wake up. I was holding her hand and it went limp. Janet kicked me out."
Without saying a word Daniel pushed past Jack and into the room. Jack and Sam could hear one of the nurse try and tell him to leave but he simply ignored her and went and sat beside Megan and brushed the hair away from her face. "Daniel, get out." Janet yelled at him. "I'm not leaving her. These are my kids and I'm not leaving her to do this by herself." "Fine Daniel, listen to me. I'm going to get one of the nurses to gown you up. We are going to have to do a cesarean section. One of the babies is in distress. Megan passed out from the pain. Go with that nurse and get gowned up then you can stay." Daniel went and got ready, sitting back down again he whispered in Megan's ear. "I love you, don't you die on me." Resting his forehead on her cheek, a few silent tears escaped from his eyes.
Megan was given an epidural. Janet said that with the epidural she might wake up but it also made her numb from the waist down so she couldn't feel a thing. Daniel stayed by her side the whole time, bits and pieces of the medical jargon that Janet was saying registering in his mind. He heard her ask for things, scalpel and retractor. He also heard her ask for sponges. Lots of sponges and lots of suction. They had a sheet hooked up so he couldn't see what she was doing, but he did see how pale Megan's face was, the color draining slowly from her cheeks.
Then he heard it. A baby crying.
Chapter Nine
A huge smile crept over Jacks face as he heard his grandchild crying through the double doors. "Wow," Sam muttered. Jack turned and looked at her, noticing for the first time that she was wearing rather skimpy gym clothes--- A Lycra crop top and three quarter leggings.
Caught up in the moment of joy, Jack turned to his second in command and embraced her. "Congratulations Jack. You're a granddad." Suddenly both of them remembered where they were and hastily let go of each other.
"I hope Megan is OK," Jack said, quickly inserted into the uncomfortable silence that had descended. Deciding to risk Janet's wrath, he quietly pushed the door open to the infirmary and entered with Sam followed close behind.
Janet asked Daniel to stand up and one of the nurses then passed him the baby. He vaguely heard Janet saying that the other one would be here in a minute. He was worrying about Megan too much to realize the fact that he was holding his child.
He sat back down on the operating table next to Megan's head and rested the baby next to her face. "Megan, wake up. Meet your baby." The baby that he was holding quieted down as Daniel slowly lowered his head to kiss Megan on the cheek. As he bent down he noticed her eyes flickering. "Megan, Megan, can you hear me." Daniel whispered close to her ear. Opening her eyes a crack, Megan turned her head slightly towards the baby lying beside her and smiled. "Megan I'm here. Don't you dare think about leaving me! I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me." With that he reached down tenderly and kissed her ever so slightly on the lips. Megan just smiled.
"Jack, I think we should wait outside." Sam stated as they made there way through the infirmary to the operating room. "I'm not going in, I just want to peek," he replied pouting. Silently they made their way to the viewing window beside the door. Both of them gasped when they saw the amount of blood pooled on the floor and in the sponge bucket. Taking his eyes off of the mess on the floor he noticed that Daniel was sitting by Megan's head. He also noticed that Daniel was holding a baby.
Daniel looked down at the child in his arms. The reality that he was holing his own child hit him like a brick. Megan was a bit more alert, so Daniel moved the baby into her arms as she lay on the operating table.
Daniel looked up as Janet called his name. "Daniel, do you want to cut the cord of this one?" With out saying a word, Daniel stood and took the scissors from Janet and did as she instructed. As soon as it was done the baby was taken to be weighed and cleaned up a bit.
After the baby had been swaddled, it was handed over to the excited father. Daniel sat back down next to Megan and bought the second baby up to her face so she could see it. "Daniel they are beautiful. Are they alright?" Megan asked. "I don't know, I think Janet said so. They look perfectly fine to me. Gorgeous just like their mother."
He leaned down and kissed her forehead, seeing how beautiful she really was. She was sweaty and pale and looked like she needed to sleep for a few days but in his eyes she was the most gorgeous woman on earth.
"Megan I love you." He noticed some tears cascading down her cheeks on to the bed and immediately changed his expression from happy to that of concern, "What's wrong?" "They are happy tears I promise. Happy ones."
When Megan turned her head to look at Daniel she noticed that her father was standing at the viewing window. His face was lit up by a huge smile. When Daniel turned to look at what Megan had spotted he noticed that Jack was standing very close to Sam with his arm around her shoulders. Smiling at what he saw, Daniel held the baby up so they could see its face. Megan took the thumbs up signal that they got in return as a good sign.
"Oh my god, look how small they are." "Newborns normally are Sam." Jack replied with absolute elation evident in his voice. "I know that but, wow, look at there little faces. Have you ever seen anything so cute?" "I think you are getting clucky Sam. You might want to watch that, I don't think they make camouflage nappy bags." Jack joked around, getting a playful punch in the ribs for his efforts.
Jack realized that he had his arm around 2IC. Ah stuff it, he said to himself. He didn't care what anyone thought at this very moment. He was a grandfather to two adorable babies. Sam interrupted him in his thoughts. "Um, sir. Are they boys or girls?" "I don't know, I didn't see."
----------------------------------------------------
Two hours later.
Megan had been settled in her own room in the infirmary. The baby's were all cleaned up and quietly asleep beside their mother's bed. Daniel was sitting beside Megan's sleeping form when he heard a quiet knock at the door.
Getting up, he opened it to reveal a very proud Grandfather, with two huge bunches of flowers. "So do I need the blue bunch or the pink bunch?" Jack said as he barged past Daniel into the room. "Megan is asleep. So are the babies." "Daniel I promise I won't make a sound." Daniel was about to close the door and ended up bumping it on Sam who was carrying in two teddy bears.
"The little Nazi doctor finally let us in." Jack said with a smirk. "How are they?" Sam asked Daniel as she put the bears down on one of the chairs in the room. "The babies are perfect, a little small, but Janet said that is normal in twins. Megan lost a lot of blood, but Janet said that she should be fine in a couple of days, but she is going to be weak for a while."
"Dad." Megan whispered from the bed. "Hey sweetheart. You did really good. They look just like little angels. How are you feeling?" Jack asked as he passed the flowers to Sam, and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Not too bad, I only feel like I've been run over by a semi. Where's Johnny?" "He is with Janet and the girls, she said she would bring him in soon." Sam answered as she leaned over one of the babies. "You can pick him up if you want." Megan told her. "I wouldn't know how to, wait a second you said him, didn't you." "Boys, well done. Janet wouldn't tell us. She said that I would have to wait to find out if I had to buy blue or pink. Boys. Well Daniel, you must be very happy." Jack said as he almost strutted over to Sam's side and expertly picked up one of the sleeping infants.
"Honestly Jack, I wouldn't have cared what they were. I'm just over the moon that the boys and their mother are fine." "So have you picked out names yet?" Sam asked. She was sitting down in one of the chairs and Jack was showing her how to hold a baby.
Daniel and Megan looked at each other, silently deciding who would tell. Jack had gotten the other baby out of his crib and was cooing softly to him. Megan took the lead. "Well, we are not entirely sure. But the final choices are: Lachlan, Rowan, Conner or Andrew. We can't make up our minds."
"Personally I like Homer and Bart." Jack mentioned quietly while he was talking to one of his grandson's. "Dad, you need to get out more." Megan said, unsuccessfully attempting to hide a laugh. "Sam, do you ever feel like there are way too many men around." Megan asked her friend. "All the time." Sam replied, grinning. "Well I have a feeling that I'm always going to be the only woman in the house. Three sons now. I don't know if I want to try for a girl. I might end up with a baseball team of men."
"We are sort of partial to Andrew and Lachlan. But have not got a clue for middle names." Daniel added. The infant that Sam was holding started to cry, shocking her slightly. "Um, Megan he is making a lot of noise." Sam said with out a clue as to what to do. "Bring him here, he is probably hungry." Megan said.
"Sam you definitely surprise me. You can pull apart a naqueda reactor but you don't have a clue when it comes to babies." Jack said with a smirk. "Well, I've never had to practice." Sam replied, taking the child to his mother.
Daniel was sitting on the edge of the bed watching Megan breastfeed his son. His son. He really liked the sound of that. He walked over to where Jack was sitting and knelt down beside him.
A few moments later Jack handed over baby number two to Daniel and silently hinted for Sam to follow him out of the room.
Daniel came back to sit on the bed when Jack and Sam had left. "Megan, I hope you realize what this means to me. You letting me be a part of the children's lives." "The only thing I want from you Daniel is that you love these kids unconditionally." "I do Megan. And I think that I might love you as well. Before you say any thing let me finish." He paused, taking a deep breath before continuing.
"I know we both have a lot of emotional baggage to contend with. And I also know that there is more than just yours and my feelings at stake here. There are three children to consider, as well as all the extended family that we seem to have. I just want you to know that I do have very deep feelings for you, and I can accept it if you need more time. Take as much time as you need. I don't want to push you into any thing. I just want you to know that I will be there for all of you forever. And I'll wait for you forever." He paused again to compose himself, wiping the tears from his eyes.
"Megan, when I thought that I would loose you in the operating room, I didn't know what I would do. You were so pale, and Janet said that you were loosing so much blood. My heart felt like it was in a vice. I've lost so many people in my life; I couldn't loose you as well."
He gently reached down and brushed the back of his hand against her face. With her spare hand, she took his and held it against her cheek, gently kissing his palm. And he knew that everything would turn out perfect.
The next day.
Megan was exhausted. Still recovering from the birth of her twins, as well as the fact that she had not had a moment's peace since yesterday afternoon. Daniel and she had talked for a while about what they would do now. A few conclusions had been made. Firstly the baby's names had been decided on. Nicholas Andrew Jackson after Daniels grandfather and Lachlan Callum Jackson after Megan's grandfather.
They had also discussed living arrangements. For now, Megan and the boys would stay where they are, Daniel promising that he would be there almost all the time anyway. Megan thought she still needed a little space and that meant technically not living with Daniel. He was happy with that for the time being.
She couldn't wait to get out of here, but Janet said that she couldn't leave for another two days or so. In that respect she was like her father, she hated being told to lay still. She had better things to do. Like hurt these nurses. She was not one of these women that stood around all day bitching about each other, and she hated that trait in other women. Gossiping and bitching were two totally different things.
Ever since the incident at the elevator with those two nurses bitching about Megan trying to steal their archeologist, it hadn't stopped. And now that she was stuck in the infirmary it was even worse. They never did anything when there were other people in the room. But they were always snide when talking to her, rough when they handled her. They always seemed to make up an excuse to come into the room whenever Daniel was there so they could pick up on little bits of conversation. She was starting to go batty.
Everyone else had been down right nice, bringing her and the babies little presents--- granted most of it had been because they knew Daniel, not her, but it was still sweet just the same.
Megan was just starting to think that nothing could ever get as worse as it had over the last few months, when the PA system crackled to life: UNSCHEDULED OFFWORLD ACTIVATION.
Chapter ten
The klaxons were sounding throughout the complex. People were running around the infirmary preparing for an emergency. Then another voice came over the loud speaker.
"Medical team to the gate room. Repeat Medical team to the gate room."
Megan saw Janet run out of the room followed by a few nurses and a gurney at a rate of knots.
The boys started crying with all the loud noises. Megan tried to sooth them but to no avail.
Suddenly the base went silent. In a matter of minutes there was a flurry of activity outside the infirmary.
Soon enough they burst through the doors heading straight to the operating room.
Megan couldn't see who was on the gurney but she did recognize the few people that followed a few minutes after.
The Tokra.
Daniel pushed his way through the crowd in the viewing room above the stargate.
He spotted Jack standing behind Sam who was at a console typing at the speed of light.
"What's going on Jack?" Daniel asked just behind the man.
"Um, the Tokra have just sent their ID code through. There must be a problem."
As soon as the computer accepted the code, the iris slid open and Daniel, Jack and Sam headed down to the gate room.
The first body through the wormhole exited at an extreme velocity. Therefore landing rather hard. Daniel didn't recognize the man who tried to stand up too quickly.
Lunging to help the man before he collapsed, Daniel noticed the blood down the front of his tunic.
Looking behind him up to the control room Daniel called for a medical team.
"Help us please." The man on the ramp muttered before he lost consciousness.
Jack and Daniel picked him up just as two more bodies were flung out of the gate.
These two were able to get back up by themselves. In no time at all the unconscious man had been loaded on to a gurney and taken straight to the infirmary.
Jack approached one of the other two Tokra. "What's going on? Who are you guys?"
"My name is Bobel. We are of the Tokra. We require some medical assistance and some help in rescuing one of our operatives, Selmak." The first man answered.
"What has happened to my father, where is he?" Sam asked suddenly very worried for her father's safety.
The General entered the room at this point and suggested that they take it up to the briefing room.
Once seated around the table, the two member of the Tokra informed the General and 3/4s of his flagship team what had happened.
It was decided that Teal`c would be called back from his holiday with his family, and that SG1 would accompany the two Tokra operatives in a rescue attempt of Jacob Carter.
Daniel explained it to Megan as soon as the meeting was released.
They had estimated that they would have approximately four hours before they could start the mission.
"It looks like Jacob has been taken prisoner by some minor Gould. He was busted using one of those communication devices. He has been held for the last four days. The Tokra lead a mini rescue mission, but they didn't have enough man power."
"So when are you going?" Megan asked trying to hide the fear in her voice.
"The general actually pulled me aside after the meeting and told me that under the circumstances I am not ordered to go. Well as much as he can order me to do it I suppose. I wanted to tell you in person that I can't stay behind. I have to go with them. I'm sorry I don't want to upset you."
"Daniel, it's ok. I'd be worried if you didn't go. Don't get me wrong I'd prefer it if you didn't but I'm not going to get shitty with you if you do go. Just promise me you will be careful. After all you have a family to come home to now. Three beautiful sons and their mother who will miss you like hell."
Megan was feeding Nick, while Daniel was entertaining Lachlan.
Johnny was playing on the end of the bed with some toys.
Daniel grabbed one of Megan's hands and held it to his face kissing her palm.
"I promise ill be careful. Ill miss you too. You should be out of here day after tomorrow. Are you sure you will be fine to go home to Jack's house by your self? I don't know when we will be back. Hopefully not that long."
"I should be fine, Cassie and Caitlyn are on holidays from school for the moment. Ill ask Janet if they can come and stay with me for a couple of days. I don't think she will have a problem with it. I can handle it. Ill be fine, you just concentrate on coming home in one piece." Megan said while finishing up with Nick.
Watching Megan expertly handle his son, while his other two boys amused them selves around her was a beautiful sight.
"I've got to go and get ready. Ill come back and see you as soon as I can. I promise. Ill defiantly come and see you before we leave." He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek and leaned his forehead against hers for a few seconds.
"I love you Daniel." Megan whispered as he left the room. If he heard her he no made indication of it.
In the SG1 locker room, Daniel walked in to find Sam by herself, checking over her equipment.
"Oh. Hi Daniel. How's Megan?"
"I'm not sure. She isn't upset that I'm going on a rescue mission, but I'm worried about how she will be when we actually go. She is still very weak and I don't want her doing too much. She was going to ask Janet if Cassie and Caitlyn could stay with her until we get back to give her a hand." He replied while he started sifting through his own pack discarding anything that didn't seem relevant to the mission.
"She will be fine Daniel, she survived a long time by her self."
"I know, but I'm still going to worry about her."
Sam smiled at him. "That, I can understand. How are you two going?"
"I'm not going to tell you that until you tell me how you and Jack are going." Daniel recognizing the fact that Sam wanted to keep talking to take her mind of her father's abduction.
"Well, there is nothing to tell. Wait a second, what do you mean? Have you seen the photo album?"
"Yep. You two make a cute couple." He replied trying to hide his smirk.
"Oh my god, has he seen the album? Does he know about the, um particular photos that you are talking about?" Sam was mortified.
A part of her thought that well of course he would have seen the album, after all it is in his house. But, oh my god, he hadn't said anything.
"He knows about it but I don't think he has seen it." Daniel could no longer contain it, he let loose with a huge smile.
"You told him didn't you? You bastard. How the hell am I supposed to look him in the eye now?" She said jokingly.
"Well you looked quite comfortable outside the operating room the other day. Jack properly can't sleep at night thinking about that tight workout gear you had on."
Sam, who was now standing next to Daniel so they didn't have to yell across the room, playfully punched him in the arm.
"Well he was looking at me funny. You know it makes me wonder. Including this reality, Megan's and the previous two that we have had contact with, this is the only reality that Jack and I are not a couple. Megan said that in her reality, Jack and I were together, we were both in the military and we were both still on SG1. I asked her about the regulations, and she said that her Jack and her Sam had said basically, stuff em. To use her words."
Daniel thought that finally Sam was making sense. He never understood all this military mumbo jumbo about fraternization.
No one, as far as he was concerned could tell you who you could and couldn't fall in love with.
"Megan told me that, they had a near death experience. She never went into detail, but never the less. She said that they realized that if they were to wait until the world was a safe place they would, odds on never get together. Megan said she was absolutely ecstatic when they got together. Little did they know that General Hammond knew it was going to happen eventually and took them aside once he realized what was going on, just after Megan's wedding. He told them that the President had given permission for the SGC as a whole to be exempt from certain rules in the hand book."
"Wow that is one hell of a limb to be going out on to." Sam replied.
"If it hasn't sunk in yet, you two are meant to be together. If you don't do something about it, I know he won't." He continued at her questioning look.
"Sam, he thinks that you don't want to risk your career. No, no I think that it is more like HE doesn't want to risk your career. So I'm afraid to say it, but if you want to throw caution to the wind, you will have to make the first move."
Sam giggled.
"What are you laughing at?" Daniel asked her.
"I was just thinking what he will think if I make the first move. He will properly think I've been re-infected with the virus from The Land of Light."
"That is rather funny. I'd love to see his face, the expression would be priceless." Daniel said while trying to stifle a laugh.
"Whose expression would be priceless?" Jack asked as he walked in on two of his teammates, who in turn saw him and burst out laughing.
"Um. Hi Jack." Daniel said when he regained some control.
Jack went over to his locker shaking his head the whole way.
Sam made eye contact with Daniel, while Jack was rummaging through his pack. She was looking to him for some reassurance.
Daniel simply nodded his head as to say that she should go for it.
He could see that she was stressing about her father and about her new found understanding of her relationship with Jack.
He noticed her looking up on the wall.
He looked up and noticed the security camera. It was positioned discreetly so, as not to be intrusive. But he understood what she was thinking.
She wanted to make her move, but preferably with out the whole base knowing in two minutes.
Daniel caught her eye and nodding that he understood what she wanted, he subtly stood on a bench out of view of the camera and slightly moved it towards the door.
Now all that would be recorded would be through the door.
Jack turned around just as Daniel was jumping off the bench.
"What the hell are you doing Daniel?'
"Um, nothing Jack, just stretching." Daniel answered after a moment's hesitation.
"What the hell are you two up to? There is something going on and I don't know what it is but I will find out about it, mark my word."
"Sir, um Jack." Sam called her CO over to where she was re-packing her gear.
Daniel took the hint and after a smile of reassurance at Sam, he turned around and made him self look busy.
The fact that she had used his first name had not gone un-noticed by Jack.
He shook his head to compose his thoughts and just put it down to the fact that she was worried about her dad.
When he was standing beside her she looked up from the floor and into his eyes.
He was standing in front of her. She could see confusion in his brown eyes.
"Jack," the word still felt unfamiliar on her tongue.
"Jack," she repeated. "I um, wanted to talk to you about something."
Daniel turned around, behind Jack's back and motioned for her to get a move on, to stop stalling.
All of a sudden she wrapped her arms around her neck and pulled him down for a passion filled kiss.
Jack went with the flow for a moment and then pulled back with a combined look, of longing and worry.
"Before you say anything Jack, I'm not sick, I'm not on any alien drugs. I just thought it was about time to say stuff it."
Jack went to take a step back, but paused. He looked those blue eyes that could melt his heart in an instant, and he knew.
He knew that if she was willing to take this big of a risk, then so could he.
He leaned forward and took her mouth with his.
Daniel quietly left the room, locking the door from the inside on his way out.
Chapter Eleven
After a few moments Jack and Sam broke apart for some air.
"Can I ask? What bought this on?" Jack asked with his arms still wrapped around his second in command.
"Um, like I said Jack, I just thought it was time to say stuff it. I suppose seeing Megan and Daniel and how happy they are together now. I want that. I want to be happy and as much as it will surprise my father when we find him, you make me happy."
Jack unwrapped his arms from around Sam's waist.
He sat down on one of the benches in the small room.
Sam followed his lead, sitting next to him.
"I know what you mean. I want to be happy too. But I don't want to ruin your career. Mine I don't really give a shit about. And I promise you Sam, if it comes down to it, I will retire. Ill do anything to be with you." Jack said as he took one of her hands in his.
"Jack it wont come down to that. I don't want to keep doing this without you here to watch my six."
"Oh and what a lovely six it is." Jack commented with a smirk on his face.
"Jack, get a grip." Sam playfully punched him in the arm.
"That's what I was hoping to do later on." Jack remarked as he dodged another fist thrown in his direction.
"Sam, I want to give this a go, I really do. But, I don't know. We will be walking a fine line. Plus at the moment we have to go and rescue your father." With that Jack got up to finish shoving stuff in his pack.
Sam finished off her packing, and went to leave. She stopped when she felt a hand on her arm.
"Sam, we will talk about all of this when we get back. Ok."
"Ok."
Jack continued smiling at the door long after Sam had left.
Going back to what he was doing, he couldn't stop his thoughts.
His life had taken a dramatic turn in the last month. He now had a daughter, grandsons, and now it looked like he would have the woman he wanted in his arms very soon.
The twins were asleep, Johnny was on the way to Janet's house with Cassie and Caitlyn, and Megan was out of bed going through her overnight bag, trying to find something decent to wear that wasn't a hospital gown.
Finally finding a pair overalls, Megan wandered into the bathroom to get changed. She might have to stay here a while longer but at least she would be a bit more comfortable.
Looking at herself in the mirror after she had changed, Megan took pride in the fact that she had only just given birth to twins but her body was bouncing back slowly but surly to its old shape.
It had only taken her about two weeks after Johnny was born before she fit into her old jeans. She knew it was going to be a bit longer this time, but she was still satisfied with her progress.
Going back out into her room, she was on the hunt to find Janet. If she had to stay on base, not a problem, but she couldn't see why she had to stay in the infirmary.
There were plenty of VIP rooms were she could spend the rest of her stay.
Checking the babies on her way through her room, Megan went straight to Janet's office.
After pleading her case with Janet, Megan went back to her room unhappy.
Janet swore black and blue that she had to keep Megan and the boys in the infirmary at least until tomorrow morning. It was a partial victory, but not a complete one.
Megan sat up on her bed, watching her sons sleep. This was when she loved them the most, when they were quiet.
Deciding that she still had some time before Daniel stopped by on his way to the gate room, Megan got out the baby albums that Sam had bought for her. She started filling them out one question at a time. Baby's Name: Lachlan Callum Jackson.
Baby's Name: Nicholas Andrew Jackson
Weight: 5 pounds, four ounces Weight: 6 pounds
Fathers Name: Daniel Jackson
Mothers Name: Megan O'Neill Jackson
That was far as Megan had gotten before she received a knock at her door.
"Come in," Megan answered as she put the albums down on the bed.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" She asked when Jack poked his head around the door.
"I came to see how my girl was doing. You know it surprises me how easily I have fitted into this protective father/daughter thing."
"It doesn't surprise me one bit the other Jack had it down pat."
"I just wanted to see how you were doing before we shipped out. I also wanted to make sure that you don't want to stay here until we get back. I don't know how long we will be gone. I don't want you going back to the house by yourself."
"Yes, Dad." Megan whined in her best disobedient teenager voice.
"I'm serious. You just had surgery and two babies are a handful, let alone three." Jack said putting his pack on the floor next to the door.
He came over to Megan and stood beside the bed. Megan could tell that he wanted to tell her something by the way he had his hands shoved in he pockets and kept looking at his feet.
"Dad, what's wrong? Has something happened?"
"No, nothing bad happened. No, um don't worry about it, ill see you when we get back."
"I don't think so. Get your ass back here Jack O'Neill and tell me what is on your mind."
Slightly shocked at the tone, his `daughter' had just used on him. Jack stood rooted to the spot.
Slowly he turned and met her eyes. And before he could stop himself he blurted it out.
"Sam just kissed me in the locker room, and Daniel must have been in on it cause he moved the camera, and then locked us in there and then Sam said that she wasn't sick, she was just saying stuff them, and I kissed her back and now I don't know what to do." Taking a deep breath, he sat down on the bed next to Megan.
"Wait a second, Sam kissed you. Wow. Didn't think she had it in her. It's about bloody time. How long did it take for you to realize that she felt the same way about you as you do about her?"
"That's the thing, I'm not 100% sure what I'm feeling. I know I care deeply about her, but the L word. I don't know."
Megan could see that he was truly confused. It was very unlike her father to show his true feelings to anyone.
He let his guard down around her before but never like this.
It took Megan a few seconds to think of something to say.
"Dad, the only thing that I can think to say to you is this. When my Dad, told me that he thought he was falling for the Sam in my reality, he said that he didn't know what to do about it. Everyone had noticed the sexual tension between them, it seemed like they were the last two people to know. I asked him one question."
"And?" Jack replied impatiently.
"Well I asked him if she was worth everything to him, if she wasn't there what he would do. He told me that she was worth absolutely everything to him, second only to me. He also told me that if she wasn't there he wouldn't know how to go on. His exact words were that it would be like loosing Charlie all over again."
"I feel exactly the same way. She is everything to me, and of course I agree with the other me. She only comes second to you." Jack said as he put one of his hands on his daughters.
"That is so soppy dad, I think I might have to go and throw up." Megan joked, while giving his hand a squeeze.
"Thank you Megan. I know what I have to do now." Jack reached over and gave Megan a big hug.
"I have to go now, but promise me you will take it easy when you get out of here. Take care of my grandsons." He reached into each of the cribs and gave each boy a kiss on the head and whispered "love you" to each one.
Coming back over to the bed he gave Megan a kiss on the forehead and whispered the same thing to her.
Just as he was walking out the door, Megan spoke,
"Dad, be careful out there, and take care of Daniel."
Jack nodded and headed out of the room.
Later that night.
Daniel had stopped by to say goodbye as he promised and gave Megan a present that he made her promise he wouldn't open until he left.
Megan obeyed his wishes and waited until he left. As she was about to open it the boys started crying for their afternoon feed.
Megan spotted the box on the bedside table after she had fed the boys and sang them to sleep.
Opening it carefully Megan, put that paper aside and opened the little jewellery box.
Inside was a beautiful bracelet.
A charm bracelet.
It was white gold and rather delicate. Exactly how Megan liked her jewellery.
It had four charms on it. M, J, N, and L.
It was hers and the boy's initials. She struggled to put it on her self but eventually succeeded.
Thinking that it was missing an initial, Megan made a call to Cassie.
Megan didn't realize that two of the nurses were watching her through the viewing window beside the door. LT Alison Baxter and LT Erica Samson.
Alison spoke to her fellow nurse in a hushed tone.
"Can you believe that, he is buying her jewellery now? Boy she must be putting out or something."
"She just gave birth to twins Ali, I don't think she is capable of putting anything out except to breast feed." Erica replied feeling slightly guilty about spying on Colonel O'Neill's daughter.
"That gets my goat, I have been flirting with Dr Jackson since after his wife died. And I get nothing, and now this tramp comes along, with an instant family and pulls him into her web. I mean come on, how many men out there want instant responsibility in the form of three kids and a desperate wife of sorts."
"Ali, come away from the window, Dr Fraiser will be back soon, and she will bust your hump if she sees you doing that. Plus, Megan really isn't his wife. Plus I think the bracelet was a really sweet gesture. I would only hope that my husband would think of something so nice after I'd just given birth."
"Either way I think she needs to know that she has a little competition." LT Baxter said as she pushed open the door into Megan's room.
Megan looked up from the phone, and told Cassie that she would have to call her back.
"How are you feeling Captain O'Neill, or is it Captain Jackson?"
The Lt asked as she went about checking the chart at the end of the bed.
"I'm fine thank you Lt. and it is Captain O'Neill." Megan replied shortly, reminding herself that this nurse seemed like the little ringleader of the `I hate Megan Club'.
"Well everything looks fine here. Is that new?" Lt Baxter said pointing to the bracelet dangling from Megan's arm.
"Yes, Dr Jackson gave it to me. Was there anything else Lt?" Megan asked noticing that the nurse seemed to be stalling her departure.
"Yes just one more thing." She stated with and evil smirk on her face.
"I just wanted you to know, that you will not get anywhere with Daniel. I have tolerated his relationship with you so far but I might not so understand in the future. I was here first, he is mine. So after you leave here I suggest you go back to your daddy's house and stay away from my man." With that she turned on her heel to leave.
She hadn't noticed that Dr Frasier had returned and was now standing at the door and had properly heard everything that Alison had just said.
"Lt Baxter, if you would be so kind to get your ass into my office before I court martial you on the spot." As she was leaving the Lt turned and gave Megan a look that could kill.
After she had left Janet was beside the bed in an instant.
"Are you alright Megan?"
"I'll be fine Janet. I'm a big girl. This is why I wanted to leave the infirmary today, because I know that a few of the nurses hold a grudge against me. I'm not stepping on anyone's toes, am I? I mean Daniel wasn't seeing anyone recently was he?"
"No, not that I'm aware of and remember that I do the full medicals for SG1, and I think I would have noticed if he had been um, active, if you know what I mean."
"Ok, I still feel like I've got to sleep with one eye open at night."
"Well if you want we can move you down to the VIP room now, I had them make it up this afternoon for your stay tomorrow so it should be ready."
Megan nodded as she got off the bed and started packing the few personal items she had in the room.
Janet left the room for a minute to make sure that Lt Baxter was waiting in her office.
When she returned she unlocked the wheels on the babies cribs and started pushing Lachlan towards the elevator.
Megan followed closely behind pushing Nick in his crib with her bag tucked safely at his feet.
During the night Megan slept rather soundly not being woken by the babies once.
She was quite surprised when she woke up and looked at the clock. It said 6:45 am. She figured that the boys must have slept through the night.
Slowly getting out of bed, so as to not pull her stitches, Megan walked the short distance between the bed and the cribs.
Megan reached in to pick on of the bundles up, only to realize that it was one of the teddies that Sam had bought the boys.
Putting the bear down, she reached into the other crib and unbound the bundle of blankets to reveal the other bear.
Megan tried to calm herself down thinking that maybe Janet had taken them for some tests and had let her sleep in.
Quickly reaching for the phone Megan rang the infirmary.
"Janet, have you got the boys?"
"Megan? No I haven't seen them since last night. Why what's wrong? Megan aren't they there with you?"
"No, Janet I don't know where they are I woke up and they were gone."
"Megan don't move ill be right there."
Megan lowered herself on to the ground and started sobbing for her missing children.
Chapter twelve
Janet hurried to the VIP room that Megan was staying in.
Pushing the door open she saw Megan sitting on the floor leaning against the bed sobbing.
"Megan, what's happened? Do you know who took the boys?"
Janet asked while she frantically searched the room for any sign of the twin's whereabouts.
"I don't know Janet, they were gone when I woke up." Megan replied.
"Oh god, Daniel isn't back yet is he, he might have come and taken them so I could sleep in. Yes it had to have been him Janet."
Janet kneeled down next to the distraught mother and offered her some tissues.
"No sweetie, SG1 hasn't returned as of yet.
Helping Megan to her feet, Janet helped her get dressed.
After she had splashed some water on her face and changed Janet took her straight to General Hammond's office.
Entering the office after hearing a faint Enter called from inside, Janet helped Megan sit in a chair opposite the General.
"What's wrong Dr? Is Megan ok?" He asked taking in Megan's appearance.
"Sir it seems the babies have been taken from Megan's room in the VIP quarters. She awoke this morning and they were missing. Can I request that we check the security cameras from the hallway outside her room, and recall SG1?" Janet answered.
Picking up his phone the General called the security room, and after a short conversation ordered the tapes of the hallway to be reviewed straight away.
"On the other matter Dr, I can not recall SG1 as they are undercover and as of this morning we have no idea where they are. Last we heard was that they had been taken aboard a ship heading towards the planet where Jacob is."
Megan who had been sitting back watching all of this, pulled her self together.
She wiped her face free of tears, stood up and adjusted her clothes so they looked somewhat decent and turned to the general.
"Sir my children are missing, I would like to request that somebody please check on Cassie and Caitlyn as they are looking after Johnny for me at the moment. I am fully prepared to search every house in a 100 mile radius if need be to find my boys. And I can tell you this now that when I find who ever did this too me, that after I'm done with them they will only be recognizable by there dental records." (Thanks to EyeCandy for that one.)
"And with your permission sir I would like to go and view those tapes."
"Granted, Captain, but before you go."
"Yes sir?"
"Well make sure you leave a little bit more than teeth. I need something to throw in the brig."
Megan left his office quickly with Janet closely on her heels,
"Megan, are you sure you should be doing this? You should still be resting."
"Janet what would you do if somebody had taken Cassie away from you. You would hunt them to the ends of the universe and beyond. That's what I intend to do. Who ever the hell did this is about to learn that you don't get an O'Neill angry."
"Well just promise me you will take it easy. And I am not leaving your side until we find the boys."
Entering the surveillance room, Janet introduced Megan to the two men sitting at the console.
"The general said that he had spoken to one of you about reviewing the security cameras from floor 21 outside room 4. Can we see it airman?" Janet asked while taking a seat and motioning for Megan to do the same.
Silently they all watched the tape from the time Megan had entered the rooms with Janet and the twins until someone in a large dark jacket with a hood slowly walked past the room.
Then a few moments later turned around and walked back past the other way. On their third pass at the door, the person stopped and carefully slid a key into the lock and turned it.
The person knew where the camera's were, not looking up once.
After entering the room, about ten minutes passed before the figure exited the room, with two noticeable bulges under their jacket.
"They must be using those baby sling things. Can we follow them, through the facility?" Megan asked one of the airmen.
"Yes mamm. It will just take a few minutes."
Megan turned to Janet with a mixture of absolute rage and pure fear shining in her eyes.
"Janet what do I do? How am I supposed to tell Daniel that I slept while somebody stole our children?"
Janet responded by pulling the woman into a hug.
"Megan don't you dare feel guilty, don't you dare blame yourself for this."
"Mam, we have followed the person through the facility, they seem to have headed straight for the elevator and to the surface. It looks like a she. Mam here you can see that she looks up in the elevator at the floor indicator apparently. Wait a sec ill see if I can freeze it. There we go. Do you know that person?"
Megan looked at the image and couldn't believe her eyes. Pure rage took over as she left the room, tipping her chair over as she left.
"Megan, where are you going?" Janet asked as she quickly followed the smoldering woman out the door.
All of a sudden Megan turned on the spot and composed herself slightly.
"Where does she live Janet? Tell me her address."
"I'm not going to tell you Megan, we will get a team to go over there. Go back to your room, while I go and inform the general what is going on."
Seeing the look of determination in Megan's face Janet told her again to go to her room and wait.
Realizing that she couldn't get any further with the doctor Megan agreed with a short nod and turned in the direction of the elevators.
Janet followed her as far as that and then took off as fast as her high heels could carry her towards the general's office.
Once Megan was in the elevator she hit the floor number for where she wanted to go.
Stepping off on floor 20, Megan headed straight for Sam's office where her laptop would get Megan the information she needed.
She only made one more stop on the way to the surface after finding the information that she needed.
She stopped by the SG1 locker room to pick up the keys to her fathers truck out of his locker. He had told her that they were there if she needed them for anything.
After finally getting thru all the check points Megan came to the conclusion that it was harder to get out of the complex than to get in.
Driving down the mountain road, Megan tried to think of a way to approach the bitch that had taken her children.
Should she just knock on the door and then knock her out or should she really beat the shit out of her.
Deciding that she didn't have a clue as to what to do, she decided to wing it.
Quickly navigating her way through the streets toward the desired address Megan sped up as she neared her destination.
Pulling up a few houses away from the street number that she wanted Megan winced as she got out of the car.
She thought that she might have pulled a couple of stitches from her caesarean incision. Nothing she could do about it now.
Megan might have been only a Captain in the air force but she was well trained in hand to hand combat and had done some level three training in that field.
It also didn't hurt that her father originated from the black ops or that her stepmother taught the level three courses.
Slowly navigating her way around the outside of the correct house, Megan noticed a few things.
There was only one light on, and she could hear babies crying. Positive that they were hers, Megan got as close to the window as she could and covertly looked in.
The bitch that had taken her children was laying on the lounge with the remote, turning the volume up on the TV.
Suddenly she started yelling at the screaming children to shut up.
Apparently giving up she turned back to the TV.
Megan didn't know what to do, does she go in directly or does she try and sneak in and steal the boys back.
It's not like bitch face would hear a bomb go off at the moment anyway.
Satisfied that she couldn't see any weaponry in the direct area she decided on the former.
She snuck around to the front of the house and tried the front door. Megan couldn't believe how stupid this woman must be to leave the bloody front door unlocked.
Lucky for me, stupid for her, she thought to herself.
Back on the base.
Janet had just reported to the general on what had happened she was on her way to stay with Megan when the alert for unscheduled off world activation sounded.
Running to the gate room, Janet arrived just in time to see Jacob Carter thrown from the open gate at a high velocity.
Six other people hurled through the gate at equal speed. Janet counted the four members of SG1 and the two tokra operatives that had first arrived on base yesterday.
Unconsciously checking each member of the group over with her medical eye, Janet noticed that Daniel wasn't getting up like the others.
Quickly moving to his side Janet noted that he appeared to have had a blow to the head, judging by the amount of blood running down his cheek.
Calling for a gurney, Janet looked up from him for a moment to take in the various wounds of the others.
Jack appeared to be limping rather badly, not that he would ever admit it.
Sam seemed to have hurt her left arm, judging by the way she was cradling it with her right.
The others appeared to have minor bruising and cuts.
There was nothing that couldn't wait a moment.
Daniel was halfway out the door being pushed by some orderlies towards the infirmary.
Just then the general's voice could be heard above the other clatter and noise ordering the rest of the SG1 to the briefing room immediately.
Janet followed Daniel straight to the infirmary silently glad that he wasn't awake for the news the other members of his team would be getting in a moment.
"Colonel O'Neill, I see that you were successful in your task of rescuing General Carter." Hammond stated as he, Teal'c and Major Carter entered the room.
"Please take a seat." Once everyone was seated he continued.
"Jack, I am going to be frank here. Megan awoke this morning to find that the twins were missing out of her room." Before it fully registered, the General continued.
"Johnny is fine he is at Janet's house under guard with Cassie and Caitlyn."
"What the hell? What do you mean that they were missing, are they still missing and where is Megan?" Jack stood shouting towards but not at the General.
"Megan is in her room in the VIP quarters, and no Jack they have not been found. We are pretty sure who has taken them she was caught on security camera leaving Megan's room. We have dispatched the police to the address of the woman, a Lt Alison Baxter. She is a nurse in the infirmary and it appears that she threatened Megan last night, and followed that with stealing the children."
"Permission to go to the address and bring my grandson's home, sir." Jack said as he stood to leave.
Major Carter and Teal'c who both stood and informed the General of their intention to go as well quickly followed him.
"The only place you three are going is either the infirmary or to Megan's room to tell her that you arrived home safe. Now dismissed, and Jack if I find out that you are even contemplating leaving the mountain then I will lock you in the brig. Be there for you daughter, she needs you Jack. I'm going down to check on Daniel." The general finished off as he left the room.
The remaining occupants of the room took off to find Megan, except Teal'c who followed the General to check up on Daniel at Jack's order.
Arriving at the room, it took all of three seconds for the soldiers to realize that the room was empty and had been for a while.
Heading straight for the infirmary the two did not speak until they arrived and quickly reported their findings to the General.
"Sir, he is just regaining consciousness now." Janet said to General Hammond.
"Can everyone please leave the room except Colonel O'Neill?" The General ordered not asked.
"Son, are you awake, can you concentrate on what I'm saying." The general said quietly while he watched Daniel's face for any recognition that he was being heard.
"Oy, Danny boy, wake up." Jack tried with a little less dignity.
That seemed to get the attention of the archaeologist. His eyes slowly opened and focused on the two men by his bed.
"Hey Daniel it looks like you bumped your head, but can you concentrate on what I'm saying." Jack asked a little more insistent this time.
Daniel slowly nodded while he took in his surroundings. Realizing that he was in the infirmary Daniel looked toward the room where Megan had been staying.
"Where is Megan?" Daniel asked still half in a daze.
The General and Jack both looked at each other deciding who would tell Daniel.
Jack took the lead.
"Daniel, last night while Megan was asleep, someone, one of the nurses broke into her room, and stole the twins. The general told me that they have dispatched the Military Police to her residence and are going to bring the boys home."
Jack sat down on the bed next to Daniel waiting for his mind to catch up with everything that Jack had just told him.
"Where is Megan? Is she alright? I have to go and find her." Daniel quickly blurted out as he tried to get out of the bed.
Pulling on Jack's arm so he could lift himself up to a sitting position.
As soon as he was sitting Jack had to quickly grab him before he fell forward of the bed.
"Daniel don't be stupid, you are no help to anyone if you hurt yourself more. Megan is in her room asleep, Janet gave her a sedative the same kind she is going to give you." With that, Jack nodded to Janet to inject the sedative into Daniel's IV tube.
After the archaeologist had fallen in to a fitful sleep, Jack motioned for the Doctor and the General to follow him outside.
"General, where is Megan, she wasn't in her room." Sam asked in a minor panic as the general exited the infirmary.
"But Jack just said that she was asleep in her room." The General responded.
"Sir, she wasn't in her room, I only said that so Daniel would calm down." Jack replied.
"General, permission to go and find my daughter." Jack asked already heading down the hallway to the elevators.
"Granted, you two go as well. Jack. Be careful."
General Hammond watched as Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter and Teal'c went to find Megan and her sons.
Arriving in the locker room first, Jack opened his locker and pulled out a jacket and looked for his car keys.
"Shit she must have taken the truck. The keys are gone. Carter can we take your car?"
"Yes sir, got the keys lets go. I got Baxter's address from Janet while you were talking to Daniel."
The three of them headed for the surface and to the address of Lt Alison Baxter.
Chapter Thirteen.
Megan slowly opened the door, to the front of the house.
Wincing slightly as it creaked on its hinges.
Relaxing somewhat when she realized that no body could hear a thing above the noise of the television and the crying babies.
Quietly she made her way up the hall, nearing the living room where the woman who stole her children sat. As she got closer she heard another voice from the back of the house.
All of a sudden the room went dead silent, Baxter had turned the television off and was leaving the room. Megan froze where she was, quickly looking around for somewhere to hide as well as a weapon of any sort.
A few meters in front of her along the hall, there looked to be a bedroom with the door ajar.
Maneuvering silently, Megan gently pushed open the door with her foot waiting to see if she surprised somebody inside.
Satisfied that the room was empty, Megan entered and closed the door like it was a moment ago.
Megan heard voices from the back of the house roughly in the same area as she had heard the twins.
One male voice and the Lt.
"Lt Baxter, do you realize what you have done? You have kidnapped Colonel O'Neill's grandchildren. He will hunt you to the end of the earth to find them." Came the male voice Megan could not recognize.
"Hank that's why I called you, I took them in the heat of the moment now I realize that it could have been handled a lot better. I'm pretty sure that they don't know it was me, but I'm a bit nervous just the same. I need you to get them out of here. I know you have connections with the NID. Take them to your boss and see if I can get any credit for taking them. I'm sure they are worth something. After all you said it, they are O'Neill's grandkids and to sweeten the pot they are Daniel Jackson's sons."
"How the hell did that happen, I knew O'Neill's daughter had come through the mirror, which had been reported to my superiors. Are you telling me that his daughter is married to the geek?" The man called Hank started laughing at his own joke.
"I had seen pictures of her, she looked like a babe, except for the fat part." He added.
"It is called pregnancy Hank. It's a lot more common than you think. So can you take them?" The Lt asked rather nervously.
"Sure I'll take them, I'm sure they will be worth something, if worse comes to worse we can use them to bargain with and get O'Neill and the geek to do some work for us. They could come in very handy."
Megan heard them gathering some things getting ready to leave. Still not sure of what she should do, she looked around the room in one last attempt to find a weapon of any kind.
Noticing that it appeared to be the main bedroom, Megan opened the drawers quietly on the bedside table's hoping to find a gun.
Finding nothing she checked the top shelf of the wardrobe. She found a small velvet box, similar to the size that her father had always kept his gun in, carefully opening it she did indeed find a small hand gun, already loaded and ready to go.
Stepping into the hall way after listening to see where in the house they were, Megan slowly made her way to the back of the house.
Arriving at the desired door, Megan raised the gun in front of her and got ready to kick the slightly ajar door fully open. She mentally prepared her self to aim high so as to miss the babies.
Unknowing to Megan, just as she aimed with her foot to kick the door. A car pulled up at the front of the house.
"Colonel, there's your truck it's just up the road there." Carter said quietly as she pointed out the vehicle semi concealed in the trees.
The fact that it was still early in the morning meant that there were not that many people out walking around the streets. There were the occasional few walking their dogs or going for a jog Jack thought to himself.
Less likely hood of casualties.
"Ok, this is how we do it, Teal'c you go around the back and stop anyone from leaving. Use your Zat gun if anyone tries to escape, just in case they are holding the babies." Jack was about to continue, when he heard it.
The second time in his life that he had heard the most terrifying sound.
A single gun shot.
Suddenly the three of them sprung into action. Teal'c ran for the back of the house with Jack and Sam covering each other as they entered through the front door.
Agonizingly long seconds passed as Jack and Sam cleared the first few rooms of the house, as they neared the back of the house Jack heard somebody quietly sobbing.
He also heard Teal'c scuffling with somebody in the back yard.
Sam on one side of the door and Jack on the other they counted down silently together, 3 2 1.
Then they both turned and kicked in the closed door. Sam kneeling, with Jack standing behind her, weapon's drawn.
That is when Jack's heart sank it's lowest for the second time of his life. The nurse who took his daughters babies away, was standing up against a wall.
In her left hand she held a small handgun, in the other she held his daughter up by the hair.
Megan looked to be still alive, but he couldn't tell how bad she was by just looking at her limp body.
She had blood seeping down her stomach, and down to the floor.
She had a nasty bruise appearing on the side of her face and she was very pale.
The sobbing that they heard was Baxter, she was struggling to hold Megan upright so she could use her body as cover.
She also seemed to realize that she was in a dead end situation. She wasn't going to come out of this unscathed.
"Stay the hell away from me, or I'll shoot your precious little girl. Get away from the door, I'm going to leave, don't try to stop me."
Sam slowly stood up and scanned the room, seeing if the twins were in danger. It appeared that they were not hurt, but they were screaming their little heads off.
"Lt Baxter, let Megan go and we will sort this out. The babies look as if they are ok, so just let her go." Jack almost pleaded with her.
"Piss off, what do you care, Colonel?" Baxter said in the most condescending tone she could manage.
"No one gives a shit about me, all you care about is this man stealing bitch and her bastard children. She came out of nowhere and stole my man. I'm pretty sure that at the moment you would quite happily blow my head off, if I didn't have the upper hand."
"Baxter, you are covered on all sides, you have no where to go. If Megan dies then it is gonna get a whole lot worse for you before all this is done, so let her go and give yourself up." Sam said with calmer voice than Jack could have managed at the time.
Sam quickly surveyed Megan to see what damage had been done. It looked like she had torn her stitches and she appeared to have a bullet wound through her right shoulder, it looked like a clean exit, judging by the amount of blood pooling at her feet.
"Lt, don't do this. It won't take too much to seriously hurt Megan at the moment. You were one of her nurses you should know how much blood she lost during her operation."
Jack heard the front door open, and somebody walking heavily up the hallway.
Thinking it was Teal'c, Jack was surprised to see Daniel hobbling down the hall supported by the large Jaffa.
Jack looked back at the Lt and noticed that she was slowly loosening her grip on Megan. It didn't appear that she could hold her up much longer.
Jack was getting worried that Baxter might realize that there was nowhere to go and shoot herself and Megan. Jack stilled his thoughts as Daniel came up behind him.
"Jack, where is Megan?" Daniel asked from the hall. He hadn't witnessed the scene inside the bedroom yet.
Baxter froze at hearing his voice. She immediately knew who it was. Jack motioned with his head that Megan was in the room. Jack and Sam had both lowered their guns a few moments before.
Daniel's face paled, expecting the worse when he looked in the room. He could still hear the babies crying so that was a good thing he hoped.
Slowly he shuffled forward between Jack and Sam, and saw what had everyone at a standstill.
Faintly he noticed the sirens he could hear in the distance and hoped that there was an ambulance amongst the emergency vehicles.
What he saw as he entered the room stilled his heart. He never realized how deeply he felt for Megan until that moment.
He had been scared during her operation but one of his best friends Janet was doing the surgery and he trusted her.
But this nurse, Lt Baxter was holding the life of Megan in her hands and she was definitely not to be trusted with it.
"Alison, please let Megan go, she has to be seen by a doctor. I promise no one will hurt you if you let her go." Daniel spoke over the boys crying.
He tried to hide the truth on his face, that if he got a hold of her that he would strangle her with his bare hands.
Calming his voice trying not to upset the situation even more so, Daniel continued slowly into the room.
He could sense Jack fidgeting behind him, and could almost hear Sam's brain ticking over with scenario after scenario to secure the gun in the nurse's hand.
Daniel stayed with his eyes fixed on Baxter, knowing that any sudden moves could end in disaster.
"Alison, please let her go." He begged one last time.
"I can't Daniel. She took you away from me. She made you fall in love with her. She tricked you somehow. I can't let that go. How do you know she is telling the truth maybe she is a Gould after all?" Baxter started ranting at Daniel, most of it came out in slurs and incomplete sentences.
But he got the general gist.
"Alison, Megan did none of those things, you know that. I was never yours to take away." Daniel replied in a calm and soothing voice.
His head was throbbing and his heart was breaking.
He couldn't see Megan's face and it scared him. He kept slowly moving towards her. With his hands stretched out so she could see that he was holding no weapons.
Suddenly, Alison let go of Megan's hair and let her body slide to the ground. While everyone was focused on Megan, Lt Alison Baxter raised the gun to the side of her head and fired once.
Jack saw the woman raising the gun to her head. For a split second he thought about doing nothing and letting her finish it all for them.
But he knew that Megan would want to face this bitch when she was well enough, and to know that she hadn't gotten away with everything so easily.
Just as Jack raised his Zat gun to knock her out, Daniel lunged for the gun and Lt Baxter and pushed her arm out of the way just as she squeezed off a round.
It fired very close to her ear but it didn't connect with anything. The gun was knocked out of her hand as she fell to the floor.
Alison tried to get up from the floor, but received a right hook to the jaw that knocked her out for the count.
Daniel leant over Megan's unconscious form and brushed the hair back from her face.
She was deathly pale, and judging by her blood soaked clothes she was bleeding heavily.
Daniel scooped her up as gently as he could manage and seeing that Jack and Sam had both picked up a baby each after checking them over. Daniel headed outside towards Janet and a waiting ambulance.
Teal'c grabbed the Lt and dragged her out to the waiting Military Police.
Janet loaded Megan into one of the waiting ambulances and hopped in the back with her.
The ambulance speed off, leaving Daniel sitting in the gutter with his head in his hands.
Jack looked the babies over, they appeared to be fine. Just hungry it looked like.
Sam had Nick in her arms rocking him, trying to calm him down. Jack noticed her singing quietly, it appeared to be working Nick was slowly calming down and after a few minutes his screaming became a quiet whimpering.
He himself had calmed down Lachlan to a whimpering level as well.
Noticing Daniel sitting in the gutter, Jack went and sat by him.
"Daniel, she will be fine. Look at me." He exclaimed after a few moments. "Look at me." Realizing the first time had no effect.
"What Jack? How do you know she will be alright? She looked like death warmed up. There was so much blood." Daniel had started to sob into his hands.
He was a sensitive man. Normally he could control the tears but not now. He couldn't stand to loose anther woman that he loved.
Jack noticed that Teal'c had got ridden of his charge and was calmly walking towards them. Jack stood for a moment and handed Lachlan over into the huge arms that enveloped the baby.
Teal'c and Sam walked down to the truck, to put the babies in the car seats that Jack had bought only a few days ago.
Before Janet had left she had said that she wanted them to take the babies to the hospital just to be sure.
Jack sat down again, this time he laid his arm around Daniel's shoulders.
Usually this kind of emotional outburst freaked Jack out, but at that moment he felt like joining in. Daniel leaned into Jack's arm, still sobbing.
"Jack what am I going to do, I can't loose her. Not after Shar`e. I can't go through that again. What am I supposed to do with the babies? Megan was breastfeeding them, and Johnny what am I supposed to tell him? He was supposed to come in and see her this morning. I know that technically that the children aren't mine but I don't care it feels right. It feels right when Johnny calls me dad. I love it."
"I know Daniel. But stop talking like that. I don't want to loose another child either. And I know like you said, it feels right her calling me dad. I think we should go to the hospital. Sam has put the boys in the truck, I grabbed the spare keys when I left the base."
Sam stood beside the open door of the truck, watching the Colonel and Daniel. She had never seen the Colonel so open with his feelings before. She had to admit her heart had skipped a few beats when she first saw Megan like that.
Even though Megan had only been here for a month or so, she had really warmed up to her. Sam considers her on the same par as Janet in the best friend category. She had a lot to thank Megan for.
After all, her arrival had heralded the new step in her relationship with Jack.
She watched as Jack slowly got off the ground. He put his hand out to help Daniel up. When Daniel was on his feet he looked rather unsteady.
Jack casually put an arm around his waist and helped him towards the truck and in to the passenger seat. After helping him put on his seatbelt, Jack came over to the driver's side where Sam was standing.
"Come here." She said to him.
He didn't need any further invitation. He let her encircle him in her arms.
It was not a passionate embrace.
It was a supportive embrace that told him that she would be there for him no matter what. They stood like that for longer than they normally ever would have in public.
It just didn't matter any more. An unspoken decision had been made at this house that morning.
Neither of them talked about it at the time. But they could both tell, that from now on, no more hiding.
What they had was too precious, too special to care about the consequences.
They had both seen the look on Daniel's face as he entered the room, thinking that Megan was already dead. They were not going to hide there feelings any more. And god help any one who stands in there way.
"Follow me to the hospital with Teal'c." Jack stated as they finally let go of each other.
Not trusting herself to answer without bursting into tears, Sam just nodded and turned back to her car.
Chapter fourteen.
At the hospital, Sam found a car park just next to Jack.
After she got out and locked her car, she went over and opened one of the back doors of the truck and picked one of the babies up, he was awake but quiet.
She still had trouble telling them apart with out looking at their hospital Id's that Janet had put on them when they were born.
She turned her head slightly so she could read the small writing. Lachlan.
After she had pulled the capsule out, she went around the other side of the truck to help Jack with the other baby.
He seemed to be having difficulty. She had surprised herself with being able to put them in and pull them out in the first go.
Teal'c helped Daniel out of the front seat. He really shouldn't have been out of bed but I can see why Janet had let him come.
He was determined to see Megan. He needed to be with her.
They made a strange entourage entering the hospital, Jack with Nick in a baby capsule, Sam with the other capsule with Lachlan inside. Teal'c was bringing up the rear supporting Daniel until he spotted a wheelchair and was helped to put Daniel in by one of the nearby nurses.
Jack walked up to the admissions desk.
"Can I find out where Megan O'Neill is? She would have come in an ambulance with Dr Janet Fraiser no more than half an hour ago."
"Are you immediate family Sir?" The nurse asked.
"Yes I'm her father. Do you know how she is?"
"Ill just check for you. I won't be a moment." The nurse typed a few things into the computer in front of her, and then turned to pick up the phone.
After ringing the desired floor, the nurse pointed them in the right direction.
When they arrived on the floor they were surprised to see Cassie and Caitlyn in the waiting room. Caitlyn saw them first.
"Auntie Sam, what's wrong with Auntie Megan? Mum rang the man who was waiting at the house with us and told him to bring us here."
"I'm not too sure honey, we will have to wait until your mum comes out and tells us." Sam replied.
Johnny awakened in Cassie's lap, and couldn't get off fast enough. He headed straight to Daniel. Calling him Daddy as he climbed up into his lap.
Daniel wrapped his arms around the little boy and kissed him on the head as the toddler wrapped himself around his father.
Everyone sat down fairly close to one another. Teal'c locked the wheels of Daniel's wheelchair right in front of the small group.
Jack put the baby capsule down and sat down next to Cassie, who immediately linked one of her arms with him and rested her head on his shoulder. Jack responded by placing a light kiss on her forehead.
Sam sat on the other side of Cassie as soon as she put the baby down in front of her. Caitlyn climbed into her lap, like Johnny did with his father. Even though she was in her early teens, Sam could tell she needed comfort.
She was almost taking this as bad as Daniel.
Teal'c stood guard at the door to the waiting room after he dismissed the SGC guard that had brought the girls to the hospital.
Almost an hour passed before Janet came to tell them the news.
Teal'c greeted her at the door with a slight bow of his head. He shut the door after she had entered and joined the rest of the worried people.
Daniel had his back to the door and didn't realize that Janet had came in until Jack and Sam untangled the girls and stood up waiting for any news.
Daniel stood shakily at first then he steadied. Johnny was still wrapped around him but he had fallen back to sleep.
"Janet what's happened, is she alright?" Daniel asked on the verge of tears.
"She is still in the operating room. The other doctor is finishing up now." A collective sigh of relief emanated from the room, thanking god that she was still alive.
Janet continued,
"Megan suffered severe blood loss, the stitches from the Caesarean did rupture. She also had internal bleeding. It appears that the stitches on her uterus, also from the Caesarean were ruptured as well. Daniel, I'm so sorry but she may never be able to have any more children but we won't be able to tell for a few hours. We had to remove her spleen, it appears that she had a blunt trauma to her lower abdomen. Like someone kicked her in the stomach. We re-stitched as best we could, but we will know in a couple of hours whether or not we have to do a full hysterectomy, and remove her uterus and ovaries." She paused for a moment to let that sink in.
Daniel had handed Johnny to his grandfather and sat down. He had never though about having any more children with Megan but the fact that he might not have a choice knocked the wind out of him.
He quickly recovered, deciding on the spot that he didn't care.
She was alive and that was all that mattered, he thought of the boys as his own, genetically they were, so as far as he was concerned he had a family. Realizing Janet wasn't yet finished he nodded at her to continue.
Janet sat down in between her daughters and continued.
"Megan also had a gunshot wound on her upper arm, but that was a clean exit. She was also stitched up for that and there was no muscular damage. She also took a blow to the head, but it appears that all she got out of that was a black eye. I've got one of the nurses from the maternity ward mixing up some bottles for the babies. She will bring it in when it is ready. The boys may not take it at first because they are used to breast milk, but Megan won't be in any position to breast feed anymore."
As if right on queue, a nurse holding two bottles of formula quietly came in the room. Sam took the bottles off of her and handed one of them to Jack.
Daniel spoke first, "Janet, when can I go in and see her?"
"Not for another hour or so, they should be finished with her up in the operating room soon, Ill come and get you when she is ready. I better go back and see how she is doing, Ill come and get you I promise Daniel." With that she gave her daughters a kiss on the head each and left the room.
Jack handed Johnny over to Cassie and passed out some money. "Teal'c can you take the girls and get them something to eat. Johnny will be hungry when he wakes up and grab some extra sandwiches or something for us."
Teal'c inclined his head slightly and opened the door for Cassie, Johnny and Caitlyn to pass through before following.
Sam picked Lachlan up and Jack showed her how to hold him properly while she feed him.
She sat down in one of the seats and Jack kneeled in front of her with his hands on her knees to support him self.
Jack watched Sam feed his grandson. He tilted the bottle she was using to more of an angle, putting his hand over hers. As he did so, she looked him in the eye with a small grin spread over her face at her own mistake.
He kept his hand there, slowly turning circles on the back of her hand with his thumb.
Nick hadn't woken up yet so, Jack pulled himself up and went and sat with Daniel, leaving Sam to continue feeding the baby.
"How are you holding up Danny?" He asked putting his hand on the younger mans back in a comforting gesture.
"I um, I don't know. I just want to go in and see her. Why did this happen? It's all my fault. I shouldn't have gone off world, Megan needed me more. I'm going to have to take some leave from the SGC Jack. Megan is going to be in the hospital for a while and she needs me to look after the children. I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I have to do it for her." Daniel paused while he composed him self.
"Plus when she gets home she will need someone to help her with everything. I have some money saved up, so I think that if I spend carefully I can properly make the money last for all of us for a couple of months at least. Jack I'm babbling, I'm sorry."
Daniel leaned forward and put his head in his hands.
"Daniel, it wont come down to all that. I think you should take some time off, but it will be paid. I checked just after the babies were born, the four members of SG1 have about two months leave up their sleeve. If you haven't noticed, we haven't taken holidays for a really long time. Ill clear it with General Hammond when we get a bit more information from Janet about Megan's condition. I think we could all use a little time off. Daniel since all the kids stuff is at my house, why don't you just move in for a while. I'm defiantly taking some time off, and I could use the company."
"That sounds like a good idea Jack, I hadn't thought about that, but your right. My two bedroom apartment is way too small for three kids. Plus I think my neighbors would kick me out of the building. Jack what am I going to do without her. It feels like Shar`e all over again. I don't think I can handle loosing her."
"Well, Daniel here's the short of it. Nothing is going to happen to Megan, she is a tough American Air force Captain. If death comes knocking at her door, she will open it and kick his arise. After all she is an O'Neill, and we don't quit. Daniel, think positive. She will be fine, and when she is strong enough she will come home to all the men that love her. All five of us."
Nick woke up at that moment demanding a feed. Jack went to pick him up but Daniel got there first. Realizing that it was properly therapeutic for Daniel to do it he showed him the basics. Jack realized that for the first time he actually knew how to do something that the scientist's didn't.
He was about to voice that fact when Teal'c and the kids came back bearing gifts of food and coffee.
Daniel walked up to the door in the recovery wing of the hospital, a little hesitant to go in. Jack was behind him. Sam and Teal'c were looking after the children.
They were told that they could go in together if they didn't upset or excite Megan.
"Daniel I swear to god if you don't open that door I will push you through it." Jack piped up from behind him, with his subtle charm clearly evident.
Ignoring him, Daniel slowly pushed the door open. There was no body else in the room, just a lot of monitors hooked up to Megan.
She looked so tiny in the bed with tubes and machines everywhere. Daniel made his way over to the side of the bed and gently grasped one of her hands.
Jack followed suit and went to the other side of the bed and did the same.
Her eyes flickered, but Janet said that she might not be fully with it when she gave them the last update. Daniel pulled one of the chairs in the room closer to the bed and sat down. He leaned forward and gently rested his head against Megan's hand.
Seeing that the younger man needed some time alone with her, Jack lent over his daughters head and gave her a kiss on the forehead and whispered something in her ear.
On his way out the door, he patted Daniel on the back to let him know that he would be just outside.
After Jack left, Daniel started sobbing. Being an emotional man was extremely hard on him at times. He could only let his defenses down so much in Jack's presence.
He knew that Jack wouldn't look at him any differently but there were all the defensive walls that Daniel had built up to protect himself from the military in general.
He wept openly in that room for the first time in a long time. He hadn't noticed that Megan had awaken .
She still lay deathly still, trying to work out what was happening. Her eyes finally opened to see Daniel sitting beside the bed crying into her hand.
He hadn't noticed her yet and she didn't have the strength to speak or to move her hand. She felt exhausted. It felt like every muscle in her body was crying out in pain. Daniel was mumbling something.
She tried to concentrate to hear what he was saying.
"I promise Megan that when you wake up Ill make this right. Ill do anything you want. Ill quit the SGC, Ill be a house husband I don't care. What ever you want."
Daniel's head shot up at a slight movement of her hand under his.
When he saw that her eyes where open, he almost fell out of his seat. Putting his glasses back on, he righted himself and leaned closer to her face.
Janet was right she did have a huge black and blue mark across the side of her face. He didn't care, at the moment she was awake and that was all that mattered.
"Megan, you scared the crap out of me. Why did you have to go and do something so stupid?" He was only half heartedly berating her.
Megan tried to talk but her mouth was so dry. She turned her head slightly wincing at the pain and looked at the jug of water sitting on the bedside table.
Daniel understood what she wanted and poured her a small amount of water. Waiting until she had sipped some through the straw for her to reply.
"Don't be an ass Daniel you would have done the same thing." She murmured barley loud enough for him to hear her.
He chuckled at her response.
"Typical O'Neill humor."
"Are the boys alright?" She asked in a whisper.
"They are fine, your dad is showing Sam how to feed them right now in the waiting room. She is almost as bad as me. How do you feel?" Daniel asked pulling his chair closer to the bed.
"I feel like absolute shit. It feels like every bone in my body is broken. Daniel, I'm not going to be able to feed the twins any more am I?" The last part coming out as a sob.
"Janet said that you lost another large amount of blood. Twice in a week is never a good thing. You will be very weak for a while, it is better for you and the babies that they start on formula. Jack has organized with General Hammond a couple of months leave for me so I can stay home and look after Johnny and the twins. I don't know how long you will be in here for, but I will also be there when you are allowed to go home. I'm not going to let anything like this happen to you again. I love you Megan."
He held her hand up to his face and kissed her palm.
"Daniel I love you too. Before I passed out, I realized I love YOU. Not because you are practically the same man I fell in love with all that time ago, but because you are slightly different. Those differences make you a different person. Listen to me I sound like I'm babbling. Do you know what I mean?"
He nodded, realizing that he didn't need to speak. Megan continued.
"Daniel, I still feel a bit groggy from what ever Janet has me on."
"You go back to sleep for a while. Ill stay until you wake up again. Jack and Sam said that they will watch the boys for the rest of the day, I was going to send them home if Janet says its ok."
"Is Dad here?"
"Yep Ill get him to come in, in a minute." Daniel leant down over Megan's delicate form and placed a gentle but passionate kiss on her lips. He put his forehead to hers and stroked the undamaged side of her face.
She lifted her good arm, and grabbed a hold of the front of his T-shirt pulling him back down for another kiss. This one lingered a little longer, before Megan broke away almost falling asleep.
Daniel left the room to find Jack, once spotted Daniel told him that Megan was awake and wanted to see him.
Jack hurried towards his daughter's room.
Daniel sat down in between Sam and Caitlyn, letting Johnny climb into his lap once more.
"Hey, sweetheart how are you feeling?" Jack asked as he entered Megan's room.
"Dad, I feel like I've just been hit by a freight train. Take the boys home and get some rest, you look like shit."
"Coming from the one in the bed that has been sewn together like a patch work rug. You can't make a comment."
Jack sat down beside the bed staring at the big bruise on her face.
"Megan you scared the crap out of me. Please don't do anything so stupid again, and before you start arguing, cause I can see you are about to make a comment. Well before you do start to complain, just remember that you might be trained to kill a man with your little finger but not just after you gave birth to twins. With complications I might add."
"Don't lecture me Dad, I'm a big girl now." Megan stated defensively.
"I know you are an adult and I realize that I was not the father that was there for you for the past 26 odd years but in the short time that you have been here I have come to think of you as my daughter. There fore I worry about you because of it. I hate all this mumbo jumbo, alternate reality crap. From now until I say so, you will do nothing other then what Janet tells you too. No strenuous activity's, no chasing around after children, and no beating up people because they look at you funny. None of that until I say so. OK."
Realizing how deeply he seemed to be worried, Megan didn't want to sound ungrateful for everything that he had done for her and her children so she simply just nodded.
"Good to see that you are learning. Now I'm going to take the boys home. Sam is coming too, and before you make any snide comments may I remind you that you were the one that is to blame for the new familiarity that I now share, illegally by the way with my second in charge. And if I get my arise kicked for this, it will be worth it."
He leaned over and gave Megan a kiss on the cheek and told her to take care of herself, before he left.
Daniel came in a few minutes later and stayed with her until she fell asleep.
Chapter fifteen
Two weeks had passed since Megan had been admitted to hospital for the second time in a week, and now she was about to go home.
They had had a briefing in her hospital room a few days after the event that bought her here. She told them that when she entered the room, the man that was in there with nurse bitch, was beside the door when she kicked it in.
She had felt her stitches pull when she had lifted her leg. The man who apparently worked for the NID, had shot her in the arm when she burst in the door.
It was all a bit blurry after that the only other thing that she remembers in nurse bitch punching her while she was on the ground.
All she remembers after that is the babies crying and then she must have passed out.
Megan was waiting for Daniel and Johnny to come and pick her up some time this morning. She had to admit it. She felt a hell of a lot better for lying in bed for almost two weeks.
The stitches had been removed earlier that morning and she was just left with a nice big scar along the lower part of her stomach.
Standing up in her private room, Megan went to the closet to finish packing her stuff and to find something to wear that wasn't PJ's.
Everything appeared to be settling down in her life and the lives of the people around her. All the members of SG1 were on two months leave, and they were all using it differently.
Sam, of course worked in her lab for most of the first week until Jack busted her and dragged her out of the mountain. He ordered the guards at the front gate not to let her into the building unless it was an absolute emergency, and he got General Hammond to sign off on the order.
Needless to say that Sam chucked a major shit. After a few loud words were spoken she got over it when she realized that Jack was not going to budge.
Since then, so Daniel told me, she had been spending a lot of time at his house, apparently just helping with the children.
Daniel moved into the O'Neill house the first day of leave that he had. He had moved into Megan's room, being that there were not any more spare rooms.
Megan was happy enough with that. Thankfully he had only bought his clothes and few necessities with him cause the house was getting pretty crowded. Daniel had told Megan that he was rather proud of him self for how easily he had turned into a Mr. Mom as he put it.
He visited her everyday with the kids, and she was glad to see that when he arrived everyday that he actually seemed organized.
They had talked about what would happen when she came home. He said that he would move back to his place. But she had told him not to be stupid. She wanted him to be there. Of course if it was ok with her dad.
Apparently Daniel had discussed it with Jack, and to everyone's surprise he was all right with it on a few conditions. Number one, that Daniel sell his apartment and either sell his stuff or find somewhere for it all. After all there wasn't much room left at the house.
And number two was a complete mystery to Megan. Daniel and her father had talked about something that she obviously wasn't able to be a part off. She would find out eventually, in a house that crowded you couldn't keep anything a secret too long.
Finally she could hear some movement out in the hallway. Becoming slightly self-conscious lately around Daniel, Megan quickly checked herself in the mirror. She looked rather good, wearing a short sundress.
Looking at her self in the mirror, Megan was glad to see that her body had almost bounced back completely. Still a little podgy around the middle but nothing a bit of basic training couldn't get rid of. Back into a size ten almost. Not too bad, for being a whale a short time before.
Johnny burst into the room, and ran straight for his mother. He had really come out of his shell that last few weeks he was openly talking to just about anyone who would listen and when the adults were talking he would sit and listen and pretend to follow what was being said.
"Hey baby, how is my little man?" Megan exclaimed as the toddler launched himself into her arms.
"Good, mummy." He replied.
"Have you been helping daddy around the house like you promised you would this morning?"
The little boy nodded proudly to his mother.
"Tell mummy what you did this morning Johnny?" Daniel egged the boy on from the doorway, admiring the view of a beautiful woman.
"Nothing, mummy I promise." Johnny said as he squirmed his way out of his mother's arms and tried to make himself look inconspicuous.
Looking at Daniel for explanation, Megan packed the last few things away in her bag.
"Ill tell you later. Ready to come home?"
"God yes, I swear if I have to spend another day in one of those horrible hospital beds Ill scream. Take me home Daniel."
He walked up behind her, and hugged her from behind, mindful of her tender stomach.
Admiring how she had shaped up since the birth of the twins, even considering the fact that she had been in bed for the last two weeks.
He kissed her on the neck and smiled when he heard her moan her appreciation. Turning in his arms, Megan placed her arms around his waist and looked up into his beautiful eyes.
"I've missed all my boys, especially you Daniel Jackson." Megan whispered seductively in his ear.
Resting her forehead on his chest she gave her self a few moments to be thankful that the nightmare of the past few weeks was gone. Lt Baxter had been court martialled, and sentenced to ten years in maximum security detention with no hope of parole and health wise Megan was doing better than was expected.
Janet had discussed her options with her after she had been there a few days. They didn't have to do a hysterectomy, her internal damage wasn't that severe, but there was a chance that she may never be able to conceive another child naturally.
When Megan discussed this with Daniel, he told her how he felt when Janet had told him about it all in the waiting room that first day. He said that he didn't care, she was alive and that was all that mattered. And that if Megan ever wanted to have any more children that he would be there for her no matter what happened.
Johnny broke her out of her trance, by climbing up on the bed and jumping up and down to get some attention.
Walking over to her son Megan reached out her arms for him, and picked him up.
"You coming home today Mummy?"
"Yes sweetie, you and daddy are taking me home right now. Do you want to sit with me in the wheelchair?"
He squirmed out of her arms and got in the wheelchair all by himself.
"I guess we will take that as a yes." Daniel said as he picked up Megan's bag and motioned for her to join Johnny.
Checking out took no time at all and before Megan knew it they were in the car on the way home.
Megan watched Daniel for most of the drive home. Quietly glancing at him as he drove. She was utterly surprised at the way that he had handled all of this.
For gods sake he even had a wiggles CD in his car for the younger passengers. He was fitting in so completely to this readymade family.
Megan was of course concerned about the twins. Not being able to spend a lot of time with them was making her depressed.
She knew that they were being looked after by the great Jack O'Neill slash baby whisperer, but she was slightly upset because she was worried about the bonding that she had missed out on.
She saw them everyday that she was in hospital and it was for at lease four or five hours at a time, but she did get rather lonely at night and was rather disappointed when her milk had dried up.
Daniel pulled into the driveway of his new home carefully so as to not jostle Megan.
Johnny started wriggling in the back seat wanting to get out and go and play with his granddad.
Before he got out of the car Daniel turned to the woman in the passenger seat and undid her seatbelt for her as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you for everything Daniel, I don't think you realize how much I appreciate it." She cupped his face with her hands and gave him a gentle kiss.
A knock on the window shattered the moment, the door was opened and her father helped her out of the car.
"Dad, I'm not an invalid. I can do some things on my own."
"I know. I'm just excited that you are finally home."
"So am I Megan. Way too many men around here at the moment." Sam piped up from over his shoulder.
Sam was holding Nick when she came out to greet her friend.
Dutifully handing him over to his mother as soon as she was standing.
After giving her a hug around the child, Sam ushered her in side.
Going straight inside Megan sat down on the lounge while everyone milled around her. Lachlan was in his rocker on the floor by the seat she was in. Looking at her children Megan realized how loved they were here.
"So who's up for some lunch, what about a BBQ?" Jack asked as he helped Daniel up the stairs with Megan's bags.
"Sounds fantastic to me Dad." Megan replied over Johnny's enthusiastic yelling that he would help.
After they had dumped the bags, the men headed out to the deck to cook up a feast. Megan put Nick down in his bouncer and joined Sam in the kitchen.
"Hey," Megan said as she walked in the room.
"I just rang Janet, and she and the girls will be over in a couple of minutes. You don't mind do you?"
"No, not at all. I haven't seen Caitlin in a few days, it's a Saturday isn't it?" Megan asked.
"Yep. I bet it feels good to be home?" Sam asked as she got some salad ingredients out of the fridge.
"God yes, so how has it been around here, chaotic?"
"No not really. I think Jack and Daniel were a bit overwhelmed at first but between the two of them, they managed. I didn't know how they would cope, living together but they surprised me completely."
Megan grabbed the lettuce from the bench and started washing it.
The women continued with the idle chitchat until Janet and the girls arrived. After squeezing the stuffing out of Megan in a hug Caitlin and Cassie both went out side to help the boys.
After Janet gave Megan a hug she launched right in to the gossip.
"Megan, have you noticed any subtle changes around here at all?"
Knowing what the Doctor was trying to do, Megan played along.
"Whatever could you mean Janet?"
Both the women looked at Sam who was trying to look uninterested in what they were saying.
Janet continued.
"Oh I don't know, maybe the new fixture in the house. She is blonde, about your height....." before she could finish Sam piped up.
"And she is going to kick your ass. If you don't get over it."
"Come on Sam, you wouldn't hurt the daughter of the man you are gaga over, would you?" Megan said trying to stay serious.
"It depends how much she pisses me off." Sam replied not being able to control her chuckling any more.
"Come on Sam, I've already told Megan all about it at the hospital. I told her how you and Jack are like lovesick teenagers. It is quite gross actually." Janet said bursting out laughing as well.
"Come on seriously Sam, are you and dad really finally getting it together or are you just yanking our chain?"
"What the hell does that mean? Yanking your chain." Janet said in between fits of the giggles.
"Pulling your leg, joking around, that sort of thing. Boy you yanks are dense aren't you?" Megan replied.
"Well, seriously yes we are getting it together. We haven't been on any dates or anything, but we have been talking a lot more openly and he has stopped calling me Carter except when we are on base, that in it's self was a big step."
"Please just don't tell me too many details about what else you have been getting up too, just remember no body likes to think about their parents having sex. So can I start calling you mum yet?" Megan got a poke in the arm for her effort.
"Not unless you want me to turn into your evil stepmother."
The women continued gossiping while putting some salad's together.
Cassie and Caitlin were running around with Johnny in the backyard, while Daniel and Jack looked on from the deck.
"So Daniel, any thought as to what the ladies are gossiping about in the kitchen?" Jack asked while he poked the meat on the grill.
"Well, there is properly two choices, either you or me. I'm betting on you." Daniel replied.
"Why do you say that?"
"Well cause they are looking out the kitchen window, and well, Sam is blushing a nice shade of red and the other two are laughing at her." Daniel said as he looked over his shoulder at the women through the thin curtains.
Jack also looked over his shoulder, pausing a moment when he caught Sam's eye. She gave him one of her huge smile that made his heart flip in his chest.
"Well I think they are about to start on you, Danny boy."
"Hey Uncle Jack, what's so funny?" Caitlin asked as she came up on to the deck puffing from chasing Johnny around the backyard.
"Nothing, sweetie. Can you go in and tell the cackling women that the meat is almost ready."
Nodding her answer she headed in through the back door.
"Mum, Uncle Jack said the meat was almost ready. Can I have a drink?"
Janet helped her daughter get a drink out of the fridge, and gathered up some cutlery and took it out to the outside table.
The other women with all the salad and a couple of beers followed Janet for the guys.
After the BBQ Janet and the girls hung around for a while until it started to get cold outside.
Just before they left Janet took Megan up to her room and gave her a quick check to make sure that she was ok.
With a clean bill of health, Megan followed the good doctor downstairs and into the arms of Daniel who was waiting at the bottom.
Jack had asked Sam if she wanted to go out to dinner and a movie that night. She had agreed then headed off home so she could get ready.
After Jack had had a shower, he asked Megan to follow him to his room. Daniel stayed down stairs and kept the boys entertained.
"What's up dad?" Megan asked as she sat down on his bed.
"Well, I just wanted to have a chat. We haven't had a chance to talk for a couple of weeks. Plus I need you to help me pick out a shirt to wear tonight."
"Worse than a woman, I swear. What did you want to talk about?" She asked as she got up from the bed and started rummaging through his wardrobe sorting through the choices.
"Well I don't know. I suppose I wanted to double check that you are OK with me and Sam dating."
"Dad, honestly, I've already been to your wedding. I think I'll survive." Megan said sarcastically as she held up a shirt for him.
He shook his head at the choice and continued.
"I know that smart arise, but I just wanted to check. I've never been in this situation before, and I thought it was the right thing to do. Since your ok with it I can start in on the fatherly interrogation shall I."
"Give it your best shot. What about this one?" She said holding up another shirt.
He shook his head, "No, that one is too big. Do you think I should wear jeans or slacks?"
"I don't know where are you taking Sam to dinner and I swear to god if you say some steakhouse I will kill you. You should take her somewhere fancy, and I honestly don't think you will make it to a movie."
"What are you implying Megan? That she will get bored and ditch me?"
"No father dear, I am implying that you wont be able to make it to the movies cause you wont be able to keep your pants on long enough." At the shocked look on her fathers face Megan burst out laughing.
"Megan, I can't believe you just said that. You have been hanging around me way too long. I suppose I will take her somewhere nice, can you pass me my black slacks on the hanger in there?"
Jack headed into the ensuite to change into his pants, still talking as he went.
"So changing the subject, what's going on with you and Daniel? I hear he is staying here."
"Don't be an ass, dad he asked you and you said that it was ok. Plus even if you didn't I am a big girl now daddy." She said the last part in the most horrible little girl voice.
"Point taken. But seriously how are you coping with all this stuff?" Jack asked as he walked out of the bathroom with his pants on waiting for a shirt.
"I don't know, I'm finding it a lot easier now to see this Daniel as a different person than my husband. I can differentiate the two now, in my head. I still want to take it slow for a while, but it will be good for the boys to have their father here. You honestly don't mind do you?"
"Hell no, Daniel and I have lived together before, back after the second Abydos trip. This time he is a lot neater though. It is strange, going from living by myself for years and then in the space of a couple of months having a house full of people. Can't walk around in the buff anymore."
"Thank god for that." Megan said as she found a shirt and a tie and handed it too her father.
"Here give it to me ill tie it for you, after half a lifetime in the air force you still can't do a bloody tie up." Megan did it up for her father.
"Don't forget to use that cologne over there, it is Sam's favorite. Ill go down stairs and book you a table at one of the nicer restaurants in town."
"What did I ever do without you sweetheart." Jack said as he leaned over and gave his daughter a kiss on the forehead.
Once downstairs Megan avoided Daniel's curious looks and went straight to the phone. After booking her father a table at an Italian restaurant in town, she rang Sam to warn her that they were going somewhere nice and jeans wouldn't cut it.
Thankfully she had called cause that is all she was going to wear.
Completely oblivious as to what to wear, Megan told her she would be there in five minutes to help her.
She told Daniel where she was going and found out what he wanted for dinner, saying that she would get it on the way home.
She told him just to tell her dad that she was getting dinner and not to mention that she was going over to Sam's.
Megan grabbed the keys for Daniel's car and gave each of the boys a kiss on the head.
"Samantha Carter you have 35 minutes to finish getting ready. Do your makeup and ill find you a dress?" Megan yelled down the hallway as she let herself in the house.
Going straight up to Sam's bedroom, Megan opened her closet to start the search.
Sam walked out of the bathroom, halfway through applying her makeup. "Thank you so much Megan, I'm the first to admit that I am completely dense when it comes to dresses, I think I only own three."
"Not a problem, I just finished dressing dad. I feel like I have my own ken and Barbie set."
Sam pulled the three dresses out of the wardrobe and laid them on the bed, and headed back into the bathroom to finish her makeup.
"Do you have any skirts and tops or is this the final choice?" Megan asked as she examined the first dress.
"Depends how dressy it is."
"Well dad is wearing a tie, don't know about a jacket. He will most likely wear his leather jacket."
"This one doesn't look too bad, here put it on I'll find you some shoes."
Sam tried all three dresses on before the women decided on the first one. Once Megan was satisfied that Sam looked perfect she headed off before her father came to pick up his date.
Picking up dinner on the way, she made it home in record time.
Just in time to give the twins a bottle and put them to bed.
With in an hour all three children were in bed and the Chinese takeout was in the oven heating up.
Daniel had set the table up in the dining room with candles and good dinnerware, while Megan had put the boys to bed.
He heard her moving around up stairs as he took their dinner out of the cardboard boxes and put them on the plates.
Putting them on the table he had a quick look around to make sure that everything looked perfect. He lit the candles as he heard Megan coming down the stairs.
Meeting her at the door to the dinning room, he noticed that she had changed into a pale green dress. It was shorter than the other one she had on and showed more of her shapely legs.
The green of the dress made the green in her eyes shine as if they were luminescent.
"I figured since we couldn't go out for a romantic dinner, I thought I would bring the romantic dinner to you. Plus Jack told me that he properly wasn't coming back tonight. But I think you might have realized that." Daniel said as he pulled out her chair for her.
"Thank you Daniel, it's lovely. Now hopefully the boys give us a couple of hours to enjoy it."
They ate in comfortable silence for the rest of the meal.
After dinner Megan went into the lounge room, while Daniel cleaned up. Megan tried to help but Daniel made her sit down and pick a movie to watch.
Soon after she made her selection Daniel finished putting the dishes in the dishwasher, and sat on the lounge next to her.
Up until tonight they had not been completely alone since Megan had been in the hospital. Either the kids where there or somebody else was visiting at the same time.
Megan turned her self on the lounge so she was facing Daniel, and grabbed both of his hands with her own.
"Daniel, I want to say this when there is no body else around. I know I've said it before but I want you to realize how deeply I appreciate everything that you have done for me and for Johnny and the twins."
"Honestly Megan, I love being part of your family. I can't believe it that after all this time I can say that. I can say that I have a family. I can't wait until I meet someone and am able to say `Hi nice to meet you. These are my children Johnny, Lachlan and Nick. To say that they are my children, that is enough thanks."
He said while fiddling with the bracelet around Megan's wrist that he had bought her after the twins had been born.
Megan saw the look of pure joy in his eyes as he explained that to her.
At that moment she knew that it was the right decision to come here, to let him be a part of her life and all the other things that she had been questioning during the lonely nights at the hospital.
"Daniel, I want to show you something that I asked Cassie to buy for me." Megan jogged up the stairs and up into their room.
Coming back down a few minutes later with a tiny package in her hands.
"When you got me this bracelet, I noticed that there was an initial missing. I have M for Megan, J for Johnny, N for Nick, and L for Lachlan." She said each one as she counted them off. She handed the package to Daniel.
He opened it up and found a small charm, about the size of the others in the shape of the letter D.
He wrapped it back up telling her that he would take it to the jewelers first thing in the morning to get them to attach it and placed it on the coffee table.
Daniel leaned forward slightly, lowering his eyes to their hands.
He slowly pulled his left hand out of her grasp.
Gently he lifted it towards her face and rested it on her cheek.
Turning slow circles on her skin with his thumb. He could feel the electricity when they touched. Slowly, as if asking for permission he moved forward as he gently pulled her forward until there lips almost met.
Resting his forehead on hers he reached up in between them and pulled his glasses off, discarding them on the nearby table.
"Megan, you are beautiful. I can't believe that I have you here in my arms." He whispered.
Growing impatient, Megan closed the distance between them and kissed him. Lightly at first, she slowly allowed him to deepen it.
Daniel kissed her back feverously, enjoying every sensation that she caused in his body.
Megan ran her hands through his hair, leaving her hands at the back of his head pulling him closer to her.
Daniel leaned back onto the arm of the lounge and Megan followed. Soon he was lying fully on the lounge with Megan cuddled up on top of him.
They spent the rest of the evening exploring each other, knowing full well that they could only take it so far. After all Megan only gave birth a few weeks earlier.
They eventually went to bed and they were only awakened a few times by a crying child. Each time Daniel left Megan to sleep and he looked after it like a pro.
The next morning Megan slept in, until she heard her father's jeep pull up in the garage.
Feeling a little bit groggy, she slowly got out of bed. She could hear Daniel and the boys downstairs making a late breakfast.
Coming down the stairs as her father came in from the garage, Megan took note of the look of absolute happiness that was on his face.
He looked up at her with a half guilty look on his face, looking like a fifteen year old boy busted trying to sneak back into the house.
"Hussy." Was the only thing Megan said to him as she walked by.
He realized that she was just stirring him up and wouldn't bite back.
She went into the kitchen as Jack went up stairs. After sitting down at the breakfast bar, Megan allowed Johnny to crawl up into her lap, so he could actually see his father making pancakes for everyone.
Giving Jack about ten minutes to go up stairs and get back into bed, as she knew he would. Megan sent Johnny on a mission to keep him awake.
As the little boy scampered up the stairs in search of his grandfather, the twins cried out and demanded some attention.
Leaving Daniel to take care of breakfast, Megan happily went about seeing to her babies.
For the next month things went smoothly. Jack spent most nights over at Sam's place.
He said it was to give Daniel and Megan a chance to be alone as a family. But everyone knew there was an ulterior motive. And there were no dire emergency's at the base, so no one was called in.
Teal'c was spending his leave with his son, so they hadn't heard much from him recently. But they were due for a communication check in within the next few days.
Janet had been back to the base a few times, it appeared that there had been an emergency with one of the off world teams.
They had gone to a planet called Kelnoween, one of the members of SG4 had been exposed to a high amount of radiation from a bomb that he had stopped from detonating.
The man had unfortunately died even the Tokra's healing device didn't help. She had been called back to base when one of the people from the planet had come through the stargate.
He had bought a small amount of a metal, which would help them in their fight with the Gould, and had asked for asylum. His name was Jonas Quinn and the good doctor found him rather interesting in a non-medical sense.
Daniel and Megan had managed to go out a few times for those romantic dinners that Daniel had promised her.
Sam and Jack looked after the kids for them every now and then.
Daniel had sold his apartment and at the moment he and Megan were looking at buying a house hopefully not to far from her fathers house.
Daniel had put all of his stuff in storage but had refused with Megan's backing him to sell his stuff. They were hoping to find somewhere with a decent sized office and an attic so he could keep all of it.
With only a week and a half left of there holidays Jack decided that everyone was going up to his cabin.
They would leave the next morning, flights had been booked, car's had been hired and the guy who looked after the cabin during the off peak time was asked to open all the windows to let in the summer breeze.
They were all looking forward to a week in the summer heat fishing and relaxing.
Megan was up late the night before packing all of the kid's stuff that she thought that she would need.
Four suitcases later, she had both hers and the boys stuff ready to go. Daniel chucked a duffle bag on top of the pile the next morning, followed by Jack's then Sam's stuff.
The cabs came by the house and picked up the occupants shortly afterward.
Daniel, Megan and the twins went in one, and Jack, Sam and Johnny went in the other.
Janet, Cassie, and Caitlin meet them at the airport.
Teal'c was invited but being the only one that had been there previously politely declined stating that the lack of fish defeated the whole point of fishing.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
After a long day traveling, they finally arrived. Rooms were assigned, as everybody unloaded their luggage from the rentals.
While everyone was taking their stuff into the cabin, Jack noticed Megan walking towards the small dock.
Handing his bag to Sam silently asking her to take it in for him he followed his daughter.
"What you doing?" He asked as he approached
"Nothing, just remembering all the good times up here with Charlie, and with my Daniel. This is where he actually proposed to me." Megan said with a far away look in her eyes.
Jack walked up behind Megan and put his arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him putting her head on his chest.
He had surprised himself with how easily he fit back into the fatherly role. Granted Megan wasn't a kid any more, but no matter how old you are you still need a daddy occasionally, or so Sam had told him.
They stood that way for about ten minutes just surveying the view, appreciating the beauty.
They were rudely interrupted by a naked toddler racing past them at 100kms an hour running straight to the end of the dock and jumping in, splashing water everywhere.
Daniel came racing down from the cabin chasing Johnny still trying now, to get the boy to put on his swimming shorts and floaties.
"I wouldn't bother Daniel. He is a water baby, he can swim rather well. But you might want to be careful when you jump in because it isn't that deep at the end of the dock. And Johnny knows it." Megan said as she took a towel from Daniel's hands chuckling at his worried expression.
"Trust me Daniel, he will be fine. If you stood up in the water it would only reach your knee if that." Walking to the edge Daniel saw that the boy was actually sitting in the water and it only reached his waste as he sat. Upon seeing his father Johnny promptly splashed some water in his direction.
Jack watched on, reminiscing about the times he spent up here with Charlie when he was that age.
The spell was broken as Megan wolf whistled from beside him. He turned to see what she was whistling at, and was rather shocked to see a bevy of scantily clad women heading his way. Sam took his breath away. She was wearing or should he say almost wearing a sapphire blue sting bikini. Holding a towel in her hands she looked straight at him as she walked down to the lake, swaying her hips seductively.
He snapped out of it when Megan reached around from behind him and promptly pushed his jaw up with her finger until his mouth was shut again.
Janet and her daughters were also making their way down to the shore, with the twins in their capsules.
"Well I guess I better go up and get changed into my togs (swimmers for any one that doesn't know)." Megan stated when she noticed Daniel stripping off his shirt getting ready to go in with Johnny.
"Megan you don't need to do that." Jack said as he grabbed her from behind and hoisted her over his shoulder, and promptly dumping her off the deep end of the dock. Standing up in the shoulder deep water Megan looked up at her father who had a shit eating grin plastered on his face until Daniel took revenge and pushed the older man into the water next to Megan.
Soon everybody was in the water.
Megan had disappeared back up to the cabin to go and get changed into her togs. And was now sitting on the dock on her towel enjoying the summer heat.
The twins were asleep under the shade of a tree at the edge of the dock.
Everyone was having a ball. At the moment, Caitlin who was sitting on Daniel's shoulders had pulled him under the water when Jack, who had Cassie on his shoulders, had pushed the younger two crumbling into the water.
Johnny was quietly playing in the shallow water with Sam and Janet who were both thoroughly enjoying them selves.
After a couple of hours playing in the water Jack made his way back up to the house with Daniel and Johnny in tow.
They were going to find the BBQ in the garage and give it a clean to be ready for dinner.
Megan was inside feeding the twins and in the process of putting them down for an afternoon nap when Sam and Janet came in.
"Where are the girls?" Megan asked as she finished fastening Nick's nappy.
"They are out on the row boat trying to impress the boys they spotted out on a pontoon further out in the lake." Janet said with a half worried expression etched on her face.
"Don't stress Janet, Jack and Daniel can see them from the back of the cabin and they said that they would keep an eye on them." Sam stated as she went into hers and Jack's room to find a shirt, the breeze outside had picked up a bit making the afternoon air a bit chilly.
Megan settled her self down on the front porch with a bottle ready to feed Lachlan, as Janet rocked Nick to sleep.
She felt a little strange being up here again.
Everything was mostly the same, she noticed a few differences, like the color of the paint on the boat shed was a slightly darker green then she remembered it, there was an old oak tree that had stood about 100 meters away from the cabin, that over hung the lake. It wasn't there any more, and neither was the rope swing out over the water.
Janet sitting next to Megan was staring out over the beautiful view watching her eldest daughter shamelessly flirt with one of the boys from the pontoon who had swam over.
"I hope I was never that obvious when I was that age." Janet said to Megan pointing towards her daughter the flirt.
"What do you mean that age?" Sam said as she walked out the door and sat on one of the stairs in front of the other women.
"Am I missing something?" Megan asked.
"Yes, I would like to know what your implying Samantha Carter." Janet said mockingly, knowing full well what she meant.
"Well, let me see. Where shall I start? Oh that's right, Janet and Jonas sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G." Sam sang the last part.
At the humorous look that Sam received from Megan she went on to continue.
"You knew about that man that came from the other planet with the upgraded Naquada."
At Megan's nod of recognition Sam continued. Ignoring the foul looks she was getting from the vicious doctor.
"Well, the first thing that Janet said to me about this guy was YUM, and I quote directly."
"You had to examine him right?" Megan asked Janet.
"Yes, I did and I did not say yum. I said yummy." Janet started giggling.
"Ok, she said yummy. Either way, she was practically drooling over his shirt. He seems a bit strange to me a little naive, but nothing a certain brunette doctor couldn't cure." Sam corrected receiving a jab in the arm for her effort.
"Janet didn't you tell me that he was in his early twenties?" Megan asked as she got Lachie in the position to burp him.
"I did, yes but I found out that in earth years he is about 26ish." The doctor replied.
"So let me get this straight. Cassie is going to have a step father that is ten years older then her. I'm sure that's illegal in at least one state." Megan said trying to keep a straight face, and failing horribly when Sam made eye contact and the two women burst out laughing.
"Just remember girls, one, I didn't say I wanted to marry him, I only implied other things, and two, women hit their prime in their mid thirties, men hit it in their mid twenties. That puts both me and Jonas in our prime, all I can say to that is that if the bedroom's a rockin' don't come a knockin'."
"And before either of you two says a word, may I remind you that even if they are supposedly past their prime, cause I know that that is what you are thinking at least." Sam said pointing at Janet. "That it doesn't mean that they can't rock a bed or two."
"Are you saying what I think your saying? Oh my god I'm going to have to go and throw up. Wash my ears out with turpentine or something. That was mean Sam, yuck, yuck, yuck." Megan squirmed in her seat until she passed Lachie to Sam and stood up and went in side as fast as she could.
"What she puking about?" Jack asked as he and Daniel walked around the corner of the house with Johnny swinging in between them.
The only answer that he got was both women still left out on the porch looking directly at him and bursting out laughing.
"I think Ill go and check on Megan, are you right with Johnny?" Daniel asked Jack, who still looked completely bewildered as to what was happening.
Jack looked down at his grandson, standing beside him and picked him up. "I will completely understand if you want to become a priest. After all Johnny, women are nuts, can't live with them and can't kill em." Jack said as he turned away from two USAF Majors, who were practically rolling around on the floor.
Daniel took that as a yes as he headed off in search of Megan.
Finding her in their room, he walked in and shut the door behind them.
Looking around the room he silently watched while she unpacked.
Knowing full well that she would tell him what was wrong when she was ready.
He thought about how deceptive this place was, from the outside it looked rather small and he was actually worrying where they would all fit when they drove up.
He was definitely surprised to find that it actually had five bedrooms and they were rather big as well.
He and Megan had one, Jack and Sam the master room, Janet had one all to herself and the girls had their own room as well complete with a couple of bunk bed.
That left that last room, which appeared to be a converted study for the boys. Megan had bought two portable cots with them and was in the process of trying to find the sheets for the cots that she had packed.
Johnny was supposed, to be sleeping with the babies, but he had told his father that he wanted to sleep with the older girls, especially when Jack had told them that there were bunk beds in there.
Cassie and Caitlin said that it was ok, and Johnny was told that he could sleep in there only after he was told that he couldn't sleep on either of the top bunks.
"Did you hear that your son is turning into a womanizer?" Megan said when she successfully located the sheets.
"Just like his old man." Daniel replied laying back on the bed.
"Oh, please. He told me quiet matter of factly that he was going to be sleep with the girls and when he said it he winked at me. I have a sneaky suspicion that my father had something to do with that." Megan said as she sat next to Daniel on the bed.
He still hadn't replaced the shirt that he had taken off down at the dock.
He was stretched out on the bed in nothing but board shorts.
Admiring the view, Megan noticed how much his tan had improved over the last few weeks. He hadn't been cooped up inside reading books, he had actually been doing yard work, and playing with Johnny in the sun.
Even though hers and Daniel's relationship had yet to progress past a certain point, she felt so close to this man.
They had slept together in the same bed ever since Megan had gotten back from the hospital.
They had never gone past second base, as Cassie put it, but she was starting to wonder if he actually wanted to take their relationship further, what if he didn't want to.
She told herself that she was just being stupid, he wasn't a selfish man and properly thought that she wasn't ready to take the next step.
He was properly right in some respects, she had been physically able to go further with him for at least two weeks. It had taken a while for her systems to get back in check after she had Johnny but this time around everything was running like clockwork.
She was a little worried that he didn't find her attractive, he had told her plenty of times that he thought that she was beautiful. But you can say that without meaning it.
After all he had seen her give birth to twins, granted it wasn't the normal way but it still had to be a bit traumatic.
Her body had bounced back completely which had surprised Megan to no end. She had a scar on her lower belly and a few stretch marks because she got so big, but that was about the only reminder that she had had three children.
Daniel had seen her scar, in fact he had seen her naked, he walked in on her in the shower at one stage about a week ago. He had looked her up and then down and had smiled at what he saw.
But he didn't say any thing. He just turned around and walked out again.
As if reading her thoughts, Daniel sat up behind her on the bed so she could lean against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned in and kissed her on the neck.
"You are so beautiful, have I told you that today." All Megan could do was shake her head slightly as a response. He knew that her neck was one of her very sensitive spots.
"You looked absolutely gorgeous laying on the dock in the sun. You took my breath away."
Megan sat up suddenly and turned to look at his confused face.
"What's wrong Megan what did I say?"
Megan just fled the room, running straight past the women at the front door and headed to one of the walking tracks that led around the lake.
Jack heard all the commotion and hurried around to the front of the house where he had left Janet and Sam.
"What's wrong? What was all the noise?" Jack asked just as Daniel came bolting out of the house.
"Where did she go Sam?" He asked after looking around for a few minutes.
The look that Jack gave Sam stopped her answering.
"What did you do Daniel?" Jack asked in a raised voice, positioning him self in front of the younger man so he couldn't escape.
"Jack get a grip, I didn't do anything. I told her that she was beautiful and that she took my breath away and then she bolted." Daniel answered as he barged his way past the angry father.
"Ah, Daniel I don't think you should go after her." Sam said as she suddenly remembered something.
"Daniel sit down and Ill explain it to you." Sam continued as she stood up and placed a sleeping Lachie in his capsule.
"After Megan first arrived at the base, you remember after the first briefing, Janet and I took her to her room. After a while I asked her how she and the Daniel from her world had gotten together. She explained to me how it all happened. The short story is that we all had to go to some fancy dinner, she knew us cause she lived with her dad, and was often home when we visited. Either way Megan and her Daniel, went out on the balcony and in short he told her that she took his breath away and that he had trouble breathing looking at her right then. She told me later as she was crying herself to sleep that she knew that was the moment that she loved him with all her heart." Sam wasn't sure whether Megan wanted this Daniel to know that story, but she didn't feel that she had a choice.
When he did go to find her he needed to be prepared.
The others just sat there dumbfounded, Janet with a romantic smile in her eyes, Jack was pacing watching in the direction that Megan had gone, and Daniel got up and went to find her.
Megan slowed to a walk and told her self that she had to sort out her feelings right then and there. She couldn't string him along if she couldn't commit to this relationship.
No that wasn't it. She thought to her self. It wasn't that she couldn't commit, she was fully prepared to commit to this man.
She found a log off the track a little and sat down overlooking the lake. She did love Daniel, and she knew that it wasn't because of some warped obsession with her dead husband. She loved him because he was different, he had different scars, he had a slightly different personality and he was in awe of the family that he now had.
It was then that it hit her.
She was scared to love him just in case anything happened to him while he was away on a mission.
Megan didn't want to put her self or the children through that again. She was scared, that was it.
The realization of the truth hit Megan like a hammer. Would she always be this scared? What if she couldn't get over it?
She heard someone jogging up the path, coming to the conclusion that it was most likely Daniel she turned her back to the path hoping that he wouldn't see her.
She needed a few more minutes alone.
She was glad that she had thought to put on a shirt and shorts when she had gone into their room to look for the cot sheets. It was starting to get a bit cold.
She heard him stop, right behind her. He slowly walked in her direction, obviously seeing her in the shadows.
"Megan, are you alright?"
He sat down next to her on the log, but didn't touch her. He gave her some space.
"Daniel, I'm sorry. I can't do this any more."
"Do what?" He asked with trepidation in his voice.
"This, us. I can't put you through this any more. It's not fair on you, or the kids. I'm a wreck. I don't know what I want, and I'm most likely going to drive you nuts while I try to figure it out. I'm so sorry Daniel."
All of a sudden, he stood up and started pacing. She could tell he was angry, she was willing to suffer his anger rather than having to suffer the effects of his death if god-forbid it ever happened.
He pulled her to her feet and gave her the most passionate kiss that she had ever received in her entire life.
They stood there in each other's arms for a long time. Finally he pulled away from her, raised his hands to cradle her face and looked into her eyes.
"Now tell me that you don't want this to happen. Tell me that you didn't just go weak at the knees. Tell me Megan, and I will never mention any of this again. I promise."
Megan looked up at him, and didn't say a word. She leaned into him and put her cheek to his chest, hearing his heartbeat.
"Daniel I'm scared, I don't want to loose you." She whispered to his heart.
"I'm not going anywhere, I could never leave you. Don't you see, you are the most important thing in my life? Ever. You and the boys are the only thing that has gone right in my life for a long time. I love you with all my heart and soul Megan. I need you to understand that."
"My husband told me that he wasn't going anywhere, and look what happened to him. You do such a dangerous job, if any thing ever happened to SG1, I would loose my father, two of my best friends and you all in one blow. I couldn't do that again. I can't stop loosing my father from hurting, but I feel that if I let my self fall in love with you something like that is going to happen. I don't want to go through that again."
"Megan, anything could happen whether we are together or not, wouldn't you prefer for us to be together now and being happy rather than denying what we feel and waiting for something to happen. What if nothing happens, and I live to a ripe old age of 103. Think of the time we wasted on the chance that something could happen to me. I don't want to do that."
He held her close when she started to sob. She appeared to be weighing up her options.
Be happy now maybe forever, or unhappy waiting for something that may never happen.
Eventually she looked up at him through puffy crying eyes. "Daniel, I love you so much it hurts. I'm sorry for not believing in you."
It happened right there, the thought came into his mind and in an instant he was on his knee. He held both of her hands in one of his. He reached into his pocket with his other one.
"Megan, I hope I have proved to you over the last two months, how much you mean to me. I want to be able to come home to you every night, to have you and the children with me always. It would mean the world to me if you agreed to become my wife."
She looked at him dumbfounded.
A slight look of confusion passed over her face, followed by a look of ecstatic surprise as he opened the box that he had pulled from his pocket.
He presented her with a white gold engagement ring, centered with an emerald and surrounded by small diamonds. Her heart leapt in to her throat, she couldn't speak.
Chapter Seventeen
Daniel slowly stood up and he placed the ring on Megan's finger as she mouthed the word yes.
He took her face in his hands and claimed her for a kiss. Megan was dumbstruck, a Gould mother ship could have landed on top of them and she wouldn't have noticed.
After a moment she pulled back from him, and looked him up and down. She had never seen him so happy and nervous all at the same time.
"Daniel you have just made me that happiest person in the universe. I love you too."
They slipped into each other's arms once more and slowly explored each other's mouths.
After a few minutes Megan pulled out of his arms and grabbed his hand, urging him to follow her.
They continued down the path a little way until they came to a small cabin, obviously older than the one they were staying in.
"I hoped it would still be here." Megan said to herself.
Outside the door of the cabin Megan turned to face Daniel.
"My father owns about 10 acres on this side of the lake. This is the original cabin that my Great Grandfather built forever ago when he lived up here. When he passed away my grandfather decided to upgrade and he built the newer one closer to the water. This one is looked after by the caretaker too, it is rented out some times. Well it was in my world." She added as an after thought.
Telling Daniel to stand at the front door, she headed around the back to the little shed.
After rummaging around in it for a few minutes she came out brandishing a key.
"Wow, it is a lot smaller than the other one. But it makes it all the cozier." Daniel said as he entered the room behind Megan.
They stood in a large room that housed a rather romantic setting.
The room contained a large bed, already made against one of the walls, a small lounge chair and a small kitchenette.
There was also a huge fireplace with a good supply of firewood stacked by it.
Daniel walked up behind her and laced his arms around her waist. Enjoying the fact that he was holding his fiance. Megan turned around in his arms to face him and kissed him.
"Daniel, you stay here and Ill be back in about 15 minutes."
"Where are you going?"
"Well we do have children, Daniel. I'm going to go back to the cabin and let them know where we are and see if Dad can look after the kids. Plus I think I should get some supplies that is if you want to spend the night here?"
"Of course I do. Ok you head back but don't take long, I have a great idea on how to celebrate our engagement." He said with a wink.
She left him pottering around trying to start the fire.
When she got back to the cabin, there was no one in sight. The front door was open so she figured that everyone was inside.
Walking in the door, she found Cassie and Caitlin sitting on the rug in front of the television watching some movie. Janet was sitting behind Caitlin trying to put her hair up in a braid, and Sam was cuddling up with Johnny on one of the other seats.
Sam was the first one to see her enter. Johnny was laying on top of her with his legs wrapped around her waist as much as he could on the lounge. He had his head resting in the crook of her neck and was twirling her necklace with his fingers slowly nodding off.
"Hey, are you alright? Where's Daniel?" Sam asked.
At the mention of Daniel the others in the room looked up in Megan's direction.
"He is fine, Sam, Janet, can you come with me for a minute?"
Both women nodded and went to follow Megan into her room. On the way they ran into Jack coming from the bathroom drying his hair with a towel.
He was about to say something when he was silenced by Johnny being thrust in his direction.
He stood back with the boy and let the women file past him, giving each one a questioning look as they passed.
Shrugging he looked at the tired boy in his arms and realized that he better start dinner soon, before he fell asleep.
"How bout you and me go out and get the grill started?" The boy perked up a bit and nodded with slight enthusiasm.
Even before Megan shut the door to her room they started questioning her.
"What happened? Is everything still ok with you two?" But their questions were cut short as soon as she held out her left hand for them to inspect.
"Oh my god Megan. Is that what I think it is? Did he propose?"
Megan nodded in response. Sam enveloped her in a huge bear hug followed by Janet who wrapped her arms around both of them.
"Oh Megan we are so happy for you. I can't believe that he actually did it. Jack let it slip about a week ago that he had bought a ring, but he wouldn't tell me if there were any definite time period that he was planning on. Oh my god, it is beautiful." Sam exclaimed as she took a hold of Megan's hand to get a closer look.
"On to the important stuff. What the hell are you doing back here if he just proposed? You obviously said yes, you are wearing the ring." Janet asked.
"Well that is why I needed your help. Well I left Daniel at the old cabin down the path." At the questioning looks that she got, Megan told them to ask her father after she had gone and he would explain it.
"I left him there while I came back here for supplies. I was going to get some food, and some clothes and other necessities. Now I don't want to sound melodramatic but I have to ask if either of you have any um you know protection."
"Don't look at me, do I look like I've had any before the expiry date on my last pack." Janet exclaimed sitting down on the bed looking through the clothes that Megan had tipped out of her bag.
"Ill be back in a second." Sam said as she quietly left the room.
While she was gone Janet found a lacy scrap of material poking out of the pile. Pulling it out to examine it further, she noticed the lack of material attached to a few strings.
"I got it when we went shopping last week. I was hoping that I would be able to get some alone time with Daniel so I could wear it."
Just then Jack walked in the door, his eyes went straight to the black lacy thing in Janet's out stretched hand.
"Oh god, what the hell is that. Put it away Janet. I so didn't need to see that." He exclaimed as he put his hand over his eyes.
"Well you should have knocked, serves you right." Megan said as she gave Janet a cheeky smile.
"You can open your eyes now dad. I'm going to be staying at the other cabin tonight, OK, are you all right with the kids? There is plenty of formula in the fridge for the twins. And here is the bedding for the portable cots that you will have to set up in the study." Megan continued as she passed him the sheets.
"So I'm assuming that Daniel found you."
"Yes and he proposed. Hey why did you know about this before I did?"
"You mean he actually did it. God he was shitting himself when he told me about it. I didn't think he had it in him." Jack told his daughter as he wrapped her in a big hug.
"I'm so happy for you Megan. You did say yes didn't you?"
"Yes, Dad. See!" Megan said as she showed him the ring.
"It looks even more beautiful on your hand than it did in the box. And to answer your question I knew about it because Daniel did the right thing and asked my permission before he asked you."
"How 1950's of you dad! Either way, Daniel and I are staying at the old cabin for the night and if you can look after the children I would very much appreciate it."
Sam came barging in the door and almost took Jack out, she had enough sense to hide the packets that she had in her hand behind her back before he turned around.
"Yes, Megan we will look after the kids. It's not a problem." Sam piped up while Jack gave her a suspicious look.
"Yeah Megan that's fine. I suppose have fun." He said cringing at his own choice of words. He reached over and gave Megan a hug and kissed her on the forehead.
"If he ever hurts you Megan, I know how to dispose of a body, just remember that." He whispered in her ear before he turned and left to find his cooking assistant.
Janet who had been watching the exchange between father and daughter had to question something.
"What the hell was that? You just got away with telling your father that you and his best friend are about to go off and have a sex filled night. I wish I had that type of relationship with my father. On second thoughts maybe I don't." She said half joking.
"I don't know why. But before the twins were born, dad and I had a really big talk. I was always very open with my father, my whole life about my relationships. I think he is seething under the surface but he knows that if he shows it he will gain a lecture from Sam."
"Damn straight." Sam replied while tossing quite a few packets into Megan's overnight bag.
"Bloody hell, Sam, we are only going for one night." Megan exclaimed over the amount that Sam had put in her bag.
- - - - - - -
After kissing the twins good bye Megan headed off down the path without seeing her father or Johnny, they had disappeared somewhere.
It only took her about five minutes to reach the cabin. She noticed the smoke coming out of the chimney, and the fact that he properly hadn't found the light switch. It was starting to get a bit dark, and for summer it was getting rather cold.
As soon as Megan walked in the door, she smiled in surprise.
The whole room was lit by candlelight. She had now idea where he found all the candles but along with the fire it was rather romantic.
Daniel turned to face her as soon as she entered the room. He was in the kitchenette fixing something for them to eat. That's when she remembered that she had forgotten to bring anything for them to eat.
"Where did you get the food from?" Megan asked as she put down the overnight bag next to the bed.
"Well a tall, grey haired colonel and a toddler that looks remarkably like me dropped it off about ten minutes ago along with a few words."
"What did he say? Did he behave himself?" Megan asked slightly worried of what her father might have said.
He was definitely getting into this whole fatherly protection thing.
"He congratulated me for, let me see, his exact words were `having the balls to finally pop the question'."
"Well, that was eloquent. Sam and Janet said congratulations."
"Are you hungry?" He asked while he watched her enter the room that he had discovered earlier was a bathroom.
"Not just yet. Ill be back in a few minutes." Megan shut the door behind her and rummaged through her bag in search of the required items.
Daniel was looking through the bag that Megan had bought for him and had changed into some black satin boxer shorts that she had bought him a couple of weeks ago.
He found a thick rug in the blanket box at the end of the bed, and laid it on the floor in front of the fire. He popped open a bottle of wine that Jack had bought over for them and poured two glasses.
He grabbed the pillows off of the bed and arranged them on the rug. Looking around, he was pleased with the romantic scene that he had created. He laid himself back on to the pillows and picked up his glass.
He had just taken a sip when, the bathroom door opened to reveal the most beautiful thing in the world.
Megan opened the door to find Daniel lying back on some pillows on a rug in front of the fire.
He looked stunned, she silently wished for him to say something.
He slowly got to his feet, revealing the black boxer shorts that she had bought for him recently. Admiring his muscled body, Megan forgot her own nervousness and walked toward her fianc.
He couldn't speak. She had taken his voice away.
She was wearing something black and lacy, he had no idea what they were called, the only thing that he knew at that moment was that she was absolutely gorgeous.
When he eventually found his voice he told her so.
Megan fell into his embrace and gave herself over to him completely without fear.
------------
Megan opened her eyes to the harsh morning light coming through the window above the bed. After getting her bearings, she looked at the man deep in slumber beside her.
She couldn't help but smile. She had everything that she had ever wanted right here with her.
She gently stroked Daniel's jaw line, tracing the line of stubble down his cheek.
He had told her last night that he wasn't going to shave for a while and see what he looked like with a beard. She didn't mind, she had never seen either of her Daniel's with a beard.
Eventually they got out of bed, and cleaned up after themselves. After having a quiet breakfast they eventually made there way back to the cabin finding that they couldn't keep their hands off of each other.
The cabin was a hive of activity, Cassie and Caitlin came running to them from the waters edge when they saw them.
"Auntie Megan, Mum told us that you and Daniel were getting married. Are you?" Caitlin asked with her eyes full of hope.
Daniel grabbed Megan's left hand and held it out for the girls to inspect.
Both the girls started squealing in delight, bringing all the adults out of the house at the noise.
"Jesus, girls you almost gave me a heart attack. Don't do that to an old man." Jack said from the door.
"You're not an old man Uncle Jack." Caitlin told him with certainty in her voice.
"How can you say that Caitlin, my daughter is getting married. That officially makes me old."
Sam walked up to him and put her arms around his waist kissing him on the cheek. "Good thing I like old men."
"Suppose it is." He replied with a wink.
"We are all going out to tea tonight, so no arguments from anyone, it is all on me. My baby girl is getting married and it is time to celebrate." Jack continued as he walked down the steps letting go of Sam's hand and embraced his daughter.
"Baby girl?" Megan whispered in her father's ear.
"It sounded good in my head." He whispered back.
"Well you should have kept it there." Daniel stage whispered so everyone heard him, gaining a swat over the head from his soon to be father in law.
"Hey Jack, so does this um mean that I can call you Dad." Daniel said in his most innocent voice, earning him another swat over the head.
"Yeah, I don't think so." Came Jack's reply just as Johnny came running out of the house and almost leaped of the top stair into his father's arms.
"Daddy, your home. Let's go for a swim."
Daniel agreed telling his son that he needed to go inside and get changed. Watching Johnny go down to the waters edge with the teenage girls, Daniel felt as if everything was perfect.
Author's note: Hello everybody, I have included a small family tree that I feel will be helpful for everyone who is seriously trying to follow this story.
Any questions, or if I buggered something up. Just let me know.
Ellie Mae
Family Tree
Elisa (65) - Jonathan (70) Air force Ret. -Jonathan 45 (Jack) Air force -James 43 (Jimmy) Architect -Thomas 40 (Tom) Teacher -Michael 35 (Mike) F.B.I. Agent -Elizabeth 30 (Lizzie) Doctor in the Marines
Jack -Megan 26 Air force ? Jonathan 2years old (Johnny) ? Lachlan 2 months old (Lachie) ? Nicholas 2 months old (Nick) -Charles (Dec.) Charlie
Jimmy - Melissa 40 Hairdresser -James Jnr. 18 (JJ) -Jeffrey 16 (Jeff) -Lucy 14
Tom - Caroline 35 Teacher -Anthony 10 -Brad 8
Mike - Katrina 30 Political Speech Writer. -Rory 5
Elizabeth not married.
And on to the story.....................
Chapter Eighteen
Jack looked over at his daughter who was fidgeting in the passenger seat beside him.
"Calm down Megan, its not like you have never ever met them before." He said trying to get her attention.
"I know, but it is different this time. They don't even know I exist. What are you going to do walk up to them and say Mum, Dad congratulations it's a girl. She's a bit bigger then you'd expect oh and by the way she is a widow with three sons. I'm sure that will go down well." Megan said sarcastically.
Jack saw a petrol station up ahead and remained quiet until he pulled into the parking lot beside the store.
He turned in his seat so he was facing Megan and put his hand over hers. "Megan they have to know about you, or next time they visit me they will have one hell of a surprise in the spare bedrooms. I rang my parents last night and told them that I was up at the cabin with some friends and that I had a surprise for them. It's not exactly something you can say over the phone. It is only an hour drive to their house and we are only about ten minutes away. Are you sure you can do this? I can leave you at the shops if you would prefer and pick you up afterwards."
"No, I want to do this and the boys deserve to know their great grandparents. I just don't understand why Daniel couldn't come or at least Sam."
"If we want them to believe our cover story they will have to wait to meet Daniel and I asked Sam not to come."
"Why would you do that Dad?"
"Cause I thought it was something that I thought we should do together and plus I don't want to overwhelm the folks. OK. Let's just go over the story one more time. For my sake." He added when she rolled her eyes in his direction. Taking her nod as a yes Jack continued.
"Ok, here we go. We'll try to stick to the facts as much as possible so we don't tangle a huge web of deceit. You tracked me down a few months ago, with one son and another two on the way. Before your mother died she told you about me and roughly where I was. After she died you lived with an Uncle and Aunt of yours until you got joined the Royal Australian Air force (RAAF). During that time you married another person involved in the air force but not of rank." He paused to make sure that she was getting all of this. At her nod to continue he kept going.
"Your first husbands name was Daniel but he died on a mission when you were a few months pregnant with the twins."
Megan continued, "And feeling that I had nothing left to stay in Australia for, I hoofed it onto the first plane with my son to the good old US of A to find my daddy." Megan said the last word in a whiny child like voice gaining a response from her father.
"Smart arise. We also have to tell them why you have that honking ring on your wedding finger."
"Well why don't we tell them that oh let me think. That I'm engaged. To strangely enough a man. It is a coincidence that he has the same name as my first husband. Who by the way is one of your best friends that I met through you. Boy does that sounds like you pimped me out."
"You have been around me way too much. Sarcastic pain in the arise. And no, it does not sound like I pimped you out. Come on are you ready for this?"
"Yes let's go."
Arriving in front of a large wooden house Jack got out and went around to open the door for Megan.
After they had gotten Johnny and twins out of the back of the car they made their way up the path to the house.
Jack realized when he saw his reflection in one of the windows that he would have to tell his parents quickly what the surprise was before they got the wrong idea.
Here he was lugging a baby capsule in each arm, followed by an attractive young woman holding a toddler in her arms. It looked he guessed from the outside that he was suffering from a midlife crisis.
He knocked on the door after he put the capsules on one of the patio chairs. After a few moments the door flew open and his mother engulfed him in a huge hug.
"Jacky, it is so good to see you. I haven't seen enough of you the last few years." His mother exclaimed as she kissed her son on either cheek. Looking behind him she noticed the young woman holding a child looking nervously at her.
"Come in, come in." She said as she motioned the trio forward. Wondering for a moment what her son was doing when he reached over to the patio setting.
Seeing what he was reaching for made her even more suspicious.
Babies. Now she was absolutely confused. What had her son been up to the last few years that she didn't know about?
Once everyone was inside she went into the kitchen to get the pitcher or homemade lemonade that her son liked so much.
She called out the open back door in the kitchen for her husband to come inside.
When she re entered the living room, Jack was sitting on the lounge next to the nervous young woman with the tired toddler in her arms.
The babies were asleep in their capsules beside her son.
Her husband sat down next to her on the opposite lounge after he had greeted his son.
"Mum, dad. I have a surprise for you. This is Megan. Megan this is my parents, Elisa and Jonathan O'Neill."
"Nice to meet you Megan." Elisa replied, receiving a nod from the young woman.
"Here's the surprise. Mum, Dad there is no other way to say this except outright. Megan is my daughter, your granddaughter."
Letting the news sink in Jack moved just a little closer to Megan and took Johnny from her lap.
"How is that possible Jack, how old is she?
"I'm twenty six Mrs. O'Neill. My mother was Sandra Thompson, dad, sorry Jack dated her when he was about eighteen years old. She never told either of us about the other, until I was sixteen. She told me his name, what he did for a living when she knew him and a few other details that she thought would come in handy if I wanted to track him down." Megan spoke up.
Silence filled the air, Megan and Jack in anxious silence and Jack's parents in confused silence.
Lachie picked that exact moment to realize he was hungry and let every one know about it.
Megan reached over her father and picked the crying boy up. Johnny stirred in his grandfather's lap for a few moments before settling again.
"Is there any where I can heat up a bottle for the babies please?" Megan asked of the elderly woman sitting opposite.
Elisa nodded and led the way into the kitchen. On her way, Megan put Lachie back in his capsule and picked them both up to take into the kitchen. She always fed them at the same time, even if it meant waking the other one up.
Jack followed her in with Johnny resting on his hip and carrying the nappy bag. He put the bag down on the bench and got the pre mixed bottles out of the right compartments. Elisa stood at the door for a moment watching how her son was so well suited to this role of grandfather she assumed, not knowing the identities of the children. She left them to it and went back into the living room to have a quick word with her husband.
Seeing that his mother had left them alone for a moment he grabbed Megan's hand before she could pick Lachie up and pulled her into a brief side way's hug.
Megan reached over and gave Johnny a kiss on the forehead and kissed her father on the cheek, before she returned to feeding her sons.
Jack turned on his heel and went back into the living room with Johnny still in his arms. Sitting down in the same spot Jack looked at his parents. He couldn't tell what they were thinking so he came out and asked.
"So?" He prompted them.
"Well, I don't know son. This is a rather big thing. I'm assuming the babies and the toddler you have there are hers." Jonathan Snr. Asked.
"Yes dad. This is Jonathan Daniel O'Neill he is almost two, his birthday is actually the same day as yours, but to stop any confusion he is called Johnny for short. The babies in the kitchen with Megan are Lachlan and Nicholas, they are nine weeks old. Megan found me about a month before they were born."
He paused to gauge their reaction to the fact that he found out so long ago. His mother nodded for him to continue.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but we had a few drama's when these two were born and a few emergency's at the base. So I kept putting it off. I didn't want to tell you over the phone so I had to wait until I could get some time to come up and visit. Are you guys ok with this?"
Elisa and her husband looked at each other and then over to Jack.
"Jacky it's just a bit of a surprise, that's all. It's not everyday that you find out you have another grandchild and great grandchildren to boot. How did you not know about this?" His mother asked.
"Well when Sandra and I dated she fell pregnant. I knew that much. She told me at the time that she wanted to have an abortion. I didn't want her to do it, I proposed and everything. But she refused the proposal. She had told me that she had gotten rid of the baby the day before she flew home to Australia. I never saw or heard from her again. I had always assumed that she had had an abortion, she never told me other wise. And before either or you ask the Chief Doctor at the base did a DNA scan and it proves that she is mine."
"We would never say anything of the sort Jack." His father stated.
"I'm sorry dad, I just didn't want to leave anyone guessing. I wasn't there for the first part of her life but I intend to live up to my responsibilities and help her with anything she needs from now on. Megan and the boys are living with me at the moment until her and her fianc' can find a house."
"Fianc'. When did her husband die?" Jonathan asked.
"He died when she was two months or so pregnant. And before you say anything dad, I just want you to know that her fianc' is a very close friend of mine and I approve of Megan's decision. He is a very kind and caring man and he is in the process of adopting the boys at the moment." Jack thought that one little white lie wouldn't hurt, after all Daniel didn't have to adopt the kids, biologically they were already his. But they had decided that it would be way too hard to explain to anyone who didn't know Megan's true origin.
"Megan met him when she found me and they have been close friends ever since. He only proposed two nights ago. He works with me, in Colorado." Jack added.
"So when do we get to meet this young man." Elisa asked of her son.
"When you get to know Megan better. Mum she has had a hard life. I don't want something like this to be hard on her. Her mother died when she was sixteen, she lived with her Aunt and Uncle in Australia after that. In the past year her life has been literally turned up side down. Her husband died, when she went into labor with the twins, she had a series of complications. And to top it all off not even a week after the babies were born, some psychotic woman kidnapped them because they thought they could use them as leverage to get me to do some things not exactly in the regulations. Megan spent two weeks in hospital after she found them, she almost bled to death, and she has been told that she may never have anymore children." Jack finished when he saw his mother was about to burst into tears of sympathy.
"Sounds like a script from a soap opera doesn't it." Megan piped up from the doorway to the kitchen burping Lachie after his lunch.
Every body's head snapped in her direction. No body moved except Elisa, who stood up and went immediately to Megan's side.
She took Megan's face in her hands and looked into her eyes.
"You are definitely Jack's daughter. Smart arse's the lot of you." Elisa raised one of her hands to her own face and wiped at her eyes.
"Megan, you call me Nana, all the grandkids do. Now are you going to let me hold my great grandson or not." She said after she composed her self.
Megan who was slightly taken back, thrust Lachie forward for her Nana to hold.
--------
On the way back to the cabin late that afternoon, Megan was excitedly chatty.
"So do you really think they liked me and the boys?" She asked for the eighth time in a row.
"Megan they loved you, why wouldn't they. They think the boys are adorable and my father is so chuffed that not only is Johnny named after him but the fact that their birthday's are the same date."
"Yeah, because I really had much say in that last one. Do you think the General will let you have time off from work for Pop's birthday party?"
"I think I can sweet talk him into it. I've been thinking about cutting back on my work load now anyway." Jack said a little too quickly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Megan asked suspiciously.
"Well, I've come to a conclusion."
"God, did it hurt?" Megan interrupted him receiving a jab in the arm for her effort.
"Ha ha. You're hilarious. No, smart arise. I came to the conclusion that it was about time to call it quits on active duty. Don't get me wrong I don't want to sit behind a desk. But I have been thinking, that I'm a grandfather now. I also have this amazing daughter who I want to spend all my spare time with getting to know. And I also have a beautiful woman who, get this, actually love's me. She told me last night before we went to bed, that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with me."
"Dad, I'm so happy for you. I saw how much joy the Sam from my world bought into my other father's life. You deserve some happiness. But what do you want to do about work?"
"I don't want to retire, I enjoy what I do way too much for that. But I do want to get more involved in the training of new recruits and the such. I suppose you could say I want to trade real bullets for blanks. And to top it off, Sam won't be in my direct chain of command, so the regulations don't count."
"Well that is a good thing. Hopefully Daniel and Sam can get time off to come to the party as well. So ill get to meet all the family again. This is so weird, I know all of them, and I know their wives and their kids but I have to pretend I don't when I meet them again. Does that make any sense?"
"I know what you mean Megan. Just be thankful that Johnny is too young to really remember them. Otherwise there would be some explaining to do."
"I wonder if everyone is the same as they were in my world."
---------
Two Months Later.
Jack sat in the driver's seat going over what had happened in the last few weeks. It had been rather chaotic.
He had retired from active duty, and was now head of the training and ongoing development department.
Sam had moved in with him the very next day. By pure coincidence Megan and Daniel had been looking at houses in the area when the one right behind his own had come up for sale.
Four bedroom plus a large study for all of Daniel's knick-knacks.
The day that they had moved in, Teal'c had helped him put a gate in the back fence, originally to make it easier to move all the furniture but it came in handy for people moving as well.
Johnny being the original little toddler terror, made use of it daily, in his search for something to destroy. Thankfully he was in the backseat quietly asleep at the moment.
They were on the way to the airport to pick up Jack's baby sister Lizzie and her boyfriend.
Megan, Daniel, Sam and the boys were already up at the cabin getting ready for the party at his parents place tomorrow.
There wasn't enough room for everyone to stay at Jack's parents place so his sister and one of his brothers were staying at the cabin.
His brother Mike and his family were arriving sometime this afternoon.
Arriving at the airport, Jack jumped out of the truck and opened the back door to a groggy toddler staring back at him, having just woken up.
"Come on Johnny we have to go and meet Lizzie."
Pulling the young boy out of the backseat, Jack headed into the crowded arrival lounge.
Finding the correct gate, Jack found a seat and sat with Johnny watching the planes land and take off out of the window.
Finally the doors opened and Jack stood with the boy resting on his hip so he could see over the crowd milling at the door.
He turned his head for a minute to check that Johnny was alright, just as a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind.
"Hey big brother, I almost didn't recognize you there. Looking all domesticated and all."
Jack hugged his only sister back.
"Lizzie it is so good to see you. I want you to meet my grandson Johnny." Johnny who all of a sudden had become shy cuddled up to his grandfather and hid his face.
"Give him an hour and he will never shut up. Trust me."
"Mum told me about Megan, and you being a granddad. But wow, to see him in the flesh. I can't believe it. I'm too young to be a great Aunt." Lizzie said with mock tears.
"Jack, I want you to meet Peter."
Jack and the man who he now knew as Peter shook hands.
---------
At the cabin Megan puttered around nervously cleaning and folding clothes, anything to keep her hands occupied and her mind off of tomorrow.
She was looking forward to seeing everybody, but she wasn't sure that she could keep up the guise of not knowing anyone.
Family had always been important her, especially after her mother died.
Sam startled her from her thoughts.
"Megan tell me about the people I will be meeting tomorrow and tell me if I should be wary about anyone."
Sitting down on the lounge together the women got into a comfortable position.
"Well let me see. To start with, my grandparents. Jonathan Snr who is a retired Air force General, and Elisa who is an absolutely fantastic cook. Dad is the eldest at 45, then there is James, Jimmy, who is an Architect and lives in Chicago he is 43. Then we have Thomas, Tom, he is a high school teacher in California. Then Michael, Mike is actually an agent with the FBI, he is living in Washington at the moment I think. And last but not least there is Elizabeth, who absolutely hates being called Lizzie and that is why dad calls her it constantly, she is in the Medical Corp of the Marines I believe she is a Major."
Taking a quick breather Megan jumped up and got herself and Sam a drink from the fridge.
Sitting back down Megan continued.
"OK, then we start on the spouses and the kids. Well Jimmy's wife is Melissa she is a hairdresser, and they have three kids, James Jnr, JJ who is 18, Jeff is 16 and Lucy is 14."
"I'm never going to remember any of these names." Sam sighed.
"Nana will make everyone wear name tags so don't worry about it. I know it is sad but she is planning on having a quite a few family members there that no body has seen for a while so everyone will have to suffer the humiliation, she even said Pop was going to wear one. And it is his birthday party."
Both the women burst out laughing at the thought of the birthday boy not knowing anyone at his own party.
"Ok back on track. Tom is next, his wife is Caroline, and she is properly the only one you will have to watch. She can be a bit of a bitch. I don't think she ever liked me. She works with Tom as a teacher. They have two sons, who by the way are spoilt little shits. Anthony who is ten and don't you dare shorten it to Tony cause he will have a hissy fit and sulk. His younger brother Bradley is 8, he isn't as bad at Anthony but not far behind. Mike's wife is really nice, Katrina she works for a Senator or something in Washington, and they're the ones that are coming here this arvo. Their son Rory is five, he is absolutely adorable."
She wasn't worried about meeting Lizzie cause in her own world Megan and her Aunt were close, being only a few years apart in age. At thirty, her Aunt Elizabeth was only four years older then her. She was what you would call a change of life baby for her parents.
She even got along with Mike and his wife Katrina really well, and their son Rory at five was only a few years older then Johnny.
Hearing a car horn in the driveway signaled that Jack had arrived back in one piece. Both the women got up and went out on to the front porch to greet the new arrivals.
Lizzie jumped out of the backseat with a toddler wrapped around her like a quilt, and took in the beautiful view from the side of the cabin.
She looked up to the porch and saw two women standing there.
One about her height with short blonde hair, defiantly military Lizzie thought to herself. The other woman must have been Megan.
"God, girl, I hope I look that good after three kids." Lizzie said in way of greeting. "Before you say a word Megan, I'm assuming." Getting a nod Lizzie continued.
"Before you say any thing, lets get this straight. I don't like any of my niece's or nephew's calling me Aunty Lizzie. The fact that you are only four years younger than me makes me want to emphasize the fact that you can refer to me as Elizabeth or if you must Lizzie, but I can't guarantee that I will answer to the last one."
"Deal." Megan said as she walked down the stairs in Lizzie's direction.
"I see you have met my beautiful daughter, Auntie Lizzie." Jack said as he pulled the bags out of the boot of the car, having heard the previous conversation.
Dumping the bags on the ground near the steps, Jack motioned for Sam to come down and join them.
"Lizzie, this is Samantha Carter. Sam this is my baby sister Lizzie and her boyfriend Peter." Jack added as he noticed the man who seemed very quiet taking the bags to the top of the stairs.
"Nice to meet you. Jack has told me nothing about you, I hate to admit. But all I can say is it is about time Jack." Lizzie said as she put the squirming toddler down on the ground.
"About time for what?" Jack asked as he laced his arm around Sam's waist.
"It's about time you got laid." Lizzie said with a huge smile across her face. Sam's mouth dropped open not knowing how to react. Jack followed suit.
"I can't believe you just said that. I might pretend to be a grown up sometimes but I swear if one more person starts talking about my fathers sex life I'm going to have to throw up." Megan got out in between fits of laughter at the sight of her father and Sam.
Walking over to his sister's side, who impressively held her ground, Jack hissed in her direction. "You are so going to cop it tomorrow sister dear. Just remember who is the only one who isn't married with 2.4 kids. The relatives are going to eat you alive." He finished his statement with an evil laugh.
"Hey your not married either." Lizzie stated in her defense.
"Yeah but living in sin is much more acceptable at my age." Jack said as he staunched up the stairs into the cabin.
"You old git." Lizzie threw over her shoulder as she picked up her bag and followed him in.
-------------
Everybody sat outside that night waiting for Jack and Mike to finish cooking the meat on the BBQ.
Mike and Katrina had arrived a few hours before and were joining in to the mini reunion.
Daniel was talking excitedly to Lizzie about their mutual interest in archaeology, his being his job, and hers being a hobby.
Megan, Katrina and Sam were chatting and keeping an eye on Rory and Johnny play nearby.
Peter was remaining rather quiet, but it was understandable, in this family you had to be loud to get a word in edge ways.
After dinner had been served the women went into the house with the kids, while the men had a few beers outside and talked about sports.
Megan and Lizzie went to check up on the twins who were asleep in their port a cot in her's and Daniel's room.
After they had quietly shut the door, Lizzie motioned for Megan to follow her into her room.
"Take a seat Megan." Lizzie said as she patted the bed that she had jumped up onto.
"So how are you going with all of this?" Lizzie asked.
"I'm loving every minute of it." Megan answered honestly.
"So tell me about yourself. I want to know everything. Tell me all about Daniel, he seems so nice and he seems to love those boys of yours as if they were his own."
Megan quietly chuckled in response and then told Lizzie everything she could about herself, that wasn't a matter of national security.
--------
The next morning they all arrived at their destination squished into three cars, Jack, Sam, Lizzie, Peter and Johnny into one.
Megan, Daniel and the twins into another car and Mike, Katrina and Rory in their own car.
Elisa had made them promise that they would arrive early so they could all help set up.
She came running out the door as the first car pulled up and grabbed each of the occupants in a giant bear hug.
Firstly Mike and his family and then she waited as all the others piled out of their rides. And hugged each one as they came through the gate.
Stopping momentarily to be introduced to Daniel, Sam and Peter.
A hectic morning at the O'Neill place followed in preparation for the first guests who were to arrive just after lunch.
Daniel, Peter, Jack and his brothers set up a marquee in the huge back yard and set up tables and chairs as well as setting aside an area for a dance floor and the band that had been hired.
When the catering people rolled up to start the spit roasts off the men all helped them unload their equipment.
"If I didn't know better I would say that they are trying to hurry up and finish all of the work so they can all sit down and have a beer." Elisa said while looking out the kitchen window at the boys hurrying around the yard.
"Mum you do know better, and you know that is exactly what they are planning." Lizzie said from her place at the kitchen table.
Megan and Sam had stuck pretty close together, neither one wanting to face the thousands of questions getting thrown their way alone.
Megan had been introduced to all the familiar people as they had arrived that morning.
Firstly her Uncle's and their families, they had all made her feel so welcome. Each of her Uncle's dotting on Johnny and the twins when they met them.
Her younger cousin Lucy it seems had taken over the responsibility of keeping an eye on Rory and Johnny.
Both Megan and Katrina were happy to hand over the responsibility for the day looking forward to a small break from two adventurous boys.
All the women were sitting around the kitchen catching up on everything and anything, and taking turns nursing the babies.
All up there was Megan, Sam, Lizzie, Elisa and Katrina sitting around the table in the kitchen.
Lucy was outside keeping the boys away from all the commotion of setting up. Melissa and Caroline were up stairs having showers so they could get ready for the party.
The other boys, JJ, Jeff, Anthony and Bradley were wandering in and out of the house trying to find any way possible to avoid the work in the yard.
Three hours later everybody was finally ready except for the twins. Megan and Daniel were in her grandparent's room upstairs trying to get them dressed while they squirmed almost in time to the band downstairs.
"I love you Daniel Jackson." Megan said as they finally finished.
"I love you too Megan, very much." Daniel replied as he gave his fiance a quick kiss on the lips, before he opened the door to the chaos outside the room.
Taking one baby each they joined their free hands and made their way downstairs.
Chapter Nineteen
A few hours later.
Megan was on her way up the stairs to check on the twins, who were having their afternoon nap, when she heard someone talking from the room they were in.
She stopped and listened just outside the door to listen to what was being said.
"Just look at these boys, aren't they gorgeous Caroline?" Megan recognized the voice as Lizzie's.
"What ever you think Lizzie. I personally think there is something suspicious about everything to do with them and their mother." Caroline replied.
"What are you on about?" Lizzie asked of her sister in law.
"Well, just think about this. The girl Megan, she barely lost her husband before she snagged another one. Who she has now saddled with three kids, who aren't even his! And to top it all off, Jack is acting strange." Caroline concluded.
"Well, Jack is acting strange because he is happy. He is in love and he has a family again. And to make a comment on your other suggestions that my niece is a slut, would just bring me down to your level Caroline." Lizzie finished all further comment.
Megan ducked into one of the other bedrooms when she heard angry footsteps heading out of the room.
Looking through a crack in the door, Megan watched as her would be Aunt stomped down the hallway like a sulking child.
When the coast was clear she headed over to the room to find Lizzie nursing a restless Nick.
"Hey, you sure told her." Megan said with a smile on her face.
"Oh god, you didn't hear it did you?" Lizzie whispered trying not to wake Lachie.
"Yep. Afraid so."
"Don't let it get to you Megan, she is just a cranky old bitch who has nothing better to do with her time then bag on other people. She did the same thing to Katrina when her and Mike got married. She has always hated me for the sole reason that one I'm younger then her. And two, that she knows I'm more beautiful." They both burst out laughing at her sarcastic tone on the last comment.
"I won't let it get to me I promise. I've had worse ribbing from motorists during peak hour. So, since we have woken my beautiful boys up. How about you give me a hand to take them down stairs to the rest of the party?"
"Deal."
---------
Once back downstairs, Megan noticed the foul looks she was getting from Caroline on the other side of the marquee.
As soon as she walked through the tent flap, Katrina came up to her and held her arms out for Lachie.
"I can see by the looks you are getting from a certain ice queen over there, that you put her in her place Lizzie." Katrina said as she took the baby.
"Oh that was nothing. Megan just be warned that won't be the end of it, you will have at least another few rounds at Camp Caroline before she is done. You might want to warn Sam as well, she was eyeing her off a while ago." Lizzie replied.
Katrina, Lizzie and Megan all went to sit down near Sam.
Megan gave Daniel a quick kiss on the lips. "Sweetie, you go play with the boys. It's time for some girl talk." Megan told him in the most bimbo sounding voice that she could muster.
"Yes dear." Was the only reply she received from her dutiful husband, along with an eye roll in her direction.
Once Daniel left they all sat there in comfortable silence as they surveyed the scene around them.
Almost everyone was here apparently.
The younger boys, JJ and Jeff were trying to convince all the older men to join in on a game of baseball. Finally succeeding in getting enough people for two teams the men all headed through the back gate into the local park that backed up to yard.
Daniel, Jack and all of his brothers were heading to the fence to join in the game.
All of the people left were congregating into small groups around the yard.
The silent spell was broken when Melissa came and passed around some drinks.
With Caroline having just gone inside the coast was clear.
Lizzie knew that Melissa and Caroline were not the best of mates either, and knowing that decided to delve into a conversation about their mutual enemy.
"So Melissa, do you want to kick Caroline's arse today, or is it just me?" Lizzie asked innocently.
"Me? Never. I would never do such a thing. I'm too classy for that, I'm the type of broad that hire's someone to do their arse kicking for them." Melissa replied. "That way you don't break any nails." She added, and promptly burst out laughing quickly followed by everyone else in the group.
Once everyone had gotten them selves into some semblance of control, Sam asked the next question.
"Forgive, me I'm lost. What happened up stairs that I don't know about."
Sam seemed slightly protective of Megan, Lizzie noted as she answered.
"Ah let me see, it might have had something to do with ear bashing she received up stairs from me after she made some comments about my big brother and his daughter."
"Don't worry Sam it isn't anything to worry about, just a little jealousy." Megan added.
"Your not wrong, Megan. That woman is seriously nuts sometimes. I hate to bag on my own brother." Lizzie said with mock emotion in her voice. "Well, sometimes." She added.
"Either way he has really bad taste in women. I felt so sorry for Jack when Tom started dating Caroline." Melissa added.
"What do you mean?" Megan asked.
"Well the first time that Caroline met the family was at some reunion thing or another. When she was introduced to Jack, she just went ga ga over him. At the time he was married to Sara and Charlie was just a kid." Lizzie stopped then, not knowing if she had said too much. Not knowing if her brother had told his daughter or his new girlfriend about his past.
Realizing why Lizzie paused, Megan said, "its ok, Lizzie, we know all about Sara and Charlie."
"Ok, well um, when Caroline met Jack she was practically drooling over him. We've established that. Either way I don't think she ever got over the fact that he told her flat that he didn't want anything to do with her other than a sister in law when she propositioned him one night. Needless to say that any woman that has any type of relationship with Jack better be aware of the acid tongue that woman possesses."
"Do you mean that she hit on him, while she was going out with his brother?" Megan asked.
"Yep. I never said she had any taste. One O'Neill brother is bad enough but two, yuck." Lizzie answered. "I don't know whether to be insulted or just hurt you Lizzie." Jack said as he crept around the corner and stood behind his sister.
"Busted." Lizzie replied before holding up Nick towards his grandfather.
"You wouldn't hurt the woman holding your grandson would you?" Lizzie asked of her brother with the sweetest smile she could muster.
Ignoring her attempt at humor Jack rolled his eyes in the direction of his two ladies and motioned for Sam to follow him.
"Ill be back in a few minutes." Sam said over her shoulder as she took Jack's hand followed him out of the marquee.
"Don't forget the condoms!" Lizzie sang low enough so only the people around her could hear.
"Oh god, Lizzie that was charming." Melissa said as she gently punched Lizzie in the arm.
---------
Jack walked through the house and out on to the front lawn. There weren't too many people out the front yard. Almost everyone had congregated in the backyard and the park.
Pulling Sam behind him he took her over to the porch swing at the edge of the veranda. Sitting down he pulled her down next to him.
"Was Lizzie just telling you about Caroline?" He asked.
"Yep, she had a few words to say to Lizzie upstairs earlier about Megan and the boys." Sam said as she cuddled up to him.
"What the hell did the conniving little bitch say?"
"Nothing serious, don't worry about it. Lizzie fixed the problem. Now Caroline wont even come near us. This is such a beautiful day." Sam added trying to change the subject.
"It is isn't it, and I know exactly what you're trying to do Samantha. Changing the subject isn't going to stop me from ripping Caroline a new arsehole. It might delay it, but not stop it." Jack added for clarification.
"Stop it, you cranky old man. I think Megan had proved for once and for all that she can take care of herself. Ill keep and eye on things and if they escalate I'll let you know. Deal?" She asked.
"Deal." He agreed.
They sat out on the porch, quietly for a few minutes enjoying each other's company.
"Do you think your family likes me?" Sam asked.
"Well did my mother throw you out of the house at any stage today?"
"Nope."
"Well there you go. You're loved." Jack said as he took her face in his hands.
"Have I told you today how beautiful you look?" He asked sincerely.
"I don't believe you have Jack." Sam replied as she put her arms around his back and pulled him in for a kiss.
"I can't believe you are necking on the porch like teenagers, get a room." Lizzie said as she burst through the door chasing Rory, who was winning this game of tag.
Jack and Sam sprung apart as Lizzie and Lucy started chasing Rory around the side of the house where Jack and Sam were sitting.
Jack reacted quickly enough to grab the five year old around the waist as he ran past. Lizzie and Lucy stopped dead in their tracks.
"Who's winning?" Jack asked as he stood with the boy squirming happily in his arms.
"Rory is." Lucy exclaimed.
Before any further comment could be made, Jack made a mad dash around the side of the house with Rory still in his arms.
Lizzie and Lucy were slow to react, but eventually took off after Jack in hot pursuit.
Sam shook her head as she stood up, and went back into the house.
On her way to the back door, she bumped into Caroline who was coming out of the kitchen.
"Sorry, Caroline." Sam said as she made a move to go past the woman in her way.
"No problem, Sam. Is it?"
"Yep that's it." Sam answered noticing that Caroline wasn't moving out of the way.
"So how long have you and Jack known each other?" She asked Sam.
"About five years or so. We work together in the Air Force." Sam added.
"So are you in the air force or just a civilian like Daniel is?" Caroline asked.
"I'm a Major in the air force on the same team as Jack." Sam thought if she kept the answers short the interrogation would finish sooner rather than later.
"I heard Lizzie say that you were a scientist or something, that's why I thought that you were civilian." Caroline explained herself.
"I am a scientist as well, Astrophysicist actually." Sam said with pride in her voice, there take that bitch, Sam thought to herself.
"That's very nice. I still can't fathom why Jack would want anything to do with a scientist. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed, if you know what I mean." Caroline whispered the last part, in a mocking tone.
"Actually he understands my work better than most people would. And besides I'm really good in bed." Sam said smugly as she pushed her way past Caroline who was stunned by the admission.
Sam walked out into the back yard to go and find Megan, she had to tell her what just happened.
----------
Daniel came back into the yard to find, Johnny asleep in his mother's arms.
"Hey how you going out there?" Megan asked as Daniel took a seat next to her.
"Not too bad, I haven't broken any bones yet, which is always a good thing. Where are the twins?" Daniel asked as he surveyed the back yard.
"I think Melissa has Lachie and Katrina has Nick. Over there." She pointed them out to Daniel who was searching the back yard.
"How are you going with all of this?" Daniel asked Megan as he gently brushed some of her hair out of her face.
"Honestly Daniel, I'm having a ball. Everybody is almost the same as I remember them. What about you?" She asked.
"Not to bad at all, your uncle's all seem really nice. Do you want anything to drink?" Daniel asked.
"Yes thanks, just a soft drink of some description would be nice."
Daniel gave Megan a quick kiss on the lips as he got up to find some refreshments.
Heading over to the makeshift bar Daniel noticed Jack sitting quietly by himself surveying the backyard.
He grabbed some drinks and promptly returned to Megan to deposit hers.
He hastily made an exit when he realized that he had interrupted her gossiping with Sam about something. So Daniel made his way back to where Jack was sitting.
"What you doing?" Daniel asked as he took a seat next to the older man.
"Nothing much, you?" Jack asked in return.
"Staying away from the gossiping women in our life." Daniel said with a snigger.
"What are they on about now?" Jack asked in mock exasperation.
"Damned if I know and I wasn't willing to take my life in my hands to stick around to find out."
"Good choice. So you enjoying yourself at Camp O'Neill, Danny boy?"
"Absolutely. You?"
"Yep, it's always good to catch up with the family. I haven't seen them that much lately. Since Charlie I think I might have seen them all together like this twice, once at the funeral and once about two years back. The only one that I have ever kept constant contact with it Lizzie, and that's only because she leaves like 300 messages on the answering machine until I ring her back. Subtly runs in the family." Jack stated at Daniel's obviously bemused expression.
They sat there in relative silence until Johnny, who had obviously untangled himself from his mother, came bounding around the corner of the marquee in search of his father.
Seeing his father Johnny made a beeline for where he was sitting.
"Daddy, where'd you go?" Johnny said as he stood in front of his father with his hands on his hips.
"I've been here with Granddad. Where have you been?" Daniel asked him back.
Pointing back towards his mother, Johnny noticed that a few people were watching him and he became all shy. Leaning into his father's legs he reached up and pulled him self up on to his dad's lap.
"So Johnny how does it feel to be two years old today?" Jack asked as he leaned over to where the boy was hiding his face in his father's shirt.
Jack received a giggle as a response.
"How many times do I have to tell you people, no giggling!" Jack said as he reached over and started tickling his grandson. Daniel joined in and soon Johnny was a squirming mess of giggles in his father's lap.
Megan came around the corner upon hearing Johnny laughing his little head off, to see two grown men tackling a two year old in a tickling contest. Johnny was screaming his head off in hysterics, thinking it was the best game in the world.
Johnny caught sight of Megan out of the corner of his eye and tried to reach out for her to rescue him.
"Mummy!" He cried out in between fits of laughter.
"Don't look at me little man, it's your fight." Megan said as she looked on with amusement.
"Dad, grow up." Megan added when she noticed the feral smile playing on her father's lips when he noticed she was within arms reach.
Johnny finally escaped their grasp and ran to the safety behind his mother's legs.
"You know sometimes I think that I have and extra two sons, instead of a father and a husband." Megan said trying her hardest not to laugh at the looks on the men's faces.
Daniel and Jack looked at each other in a silent communication and both turned to Megan at the same time and said in unison, "Sorry Mum."
"Smart arses." Megan said as she turned hearing one of the twins cry.
"Leave the poor girl alone you boys." Jonathan Snr said as he walked up to Megan and placed his arm around her waste.
"Honestly Megan, I don't know how you put up with my son. He is trying at the best of times. And it appears that he has been a bad influence on your future husband over there." He continued with a smirk on his face.
"Pop all I can say is that I wish I could lock them in little cage's occasionally. Give both myself and Sam some peace and quiet every now and then." Megan replied while poking her tongue out in a mature manner at the two men in question.
"Megan bring your fianc` along, I have something I want to talk to you about." Jonathan Snr said as he reached down to pick up his great grandson.
Daniel got up and took the hand that Megan extended towards him and they both followed the older man into the house and up the stairs.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Megan and Daniel followed her grandfather through the living room and in to his study.
He took a seat behind the desk with Johnny still in his lap and he motioned for Daniel and Megan to take a seat.
"Now, I understand you two are getting married. Have you set a date yet?" He asked while making faces at Johnny.
"Pop, we have the invitations in the car, we weren't going to give them to anyone until tomorrow. Today is your's and Johnny's day." Megan replied enjoying the scene in front of her.
"Just tell me what date you picked, that's not encroaching on our day, is it Johnny?" Jonathan Snr asked his great grandson.
"Nope." Was all he got in response from the toddler.
"It's in about two months, on the 12th of October. We were undecided on where the ceremony was going to take place, considering that everyone is everywhere. But we found this beautiful little bed and breakfast just outside of the Springs. We booked the whole place out, so there is plenty of room for everyone." Megan answered.
"So how big are we talking, how many people?"
"I think at last count there is 52 people invited, Mr O'Neill." Daniel replied.
"First off, Daniel. Please call me Jonathan. I feel old enough already. And secondly, I want to help you two out with some money towards the wedding."
"Jonathan, that really isn't necessary. Jack is helping a bit and we are able to afford the rest. It isn't going to be a big ceremony. We are keeping it small so we can put some more money into the house we just bought." Daniel insisted.
"Nonsense. It's not everyday that a man's grand-daughter gets married."
"Pop this is the second wedding for both of us. We didn't want anything big. We both have other priorities. Don't stress about it pop, honestly. We appreciate it really but we honestly don't need any help, everything is covered at the moment."
"Ok but, I do want to do something for the boys at least. I have an education fund put aside for each of my grandchildren and since you obviously don't need it Megan. Let me do it for your children. It's not much but it will help them when they want to go to collage."
Megan and Daniel looked at each other and realised that he wasn't going to let them go with out doing something for the children. Daniel nodded his consent at Megan to accept.
Getting up Megan went to her grandfather's side and kneeled down beside him.
She pulled Johnny out of his lap and pushed him towards Daniel.
"Thank you Pop. We appreciate it. I know the boys will thank you when they are old enough as well." Megan reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"You two have made an old man very happy." Jonathan Snr said as he watched his future Grandson in law play with his great grandson.
"Megan can you take Johnny outside, I want to have a talk to Daniel."
Megan looked at Daniel and he nodded that it was ok. She picked her son up and walked out of the room closing the door behind her quietly and went to find her father.
"So Daniel tell me about yourself? I understand that you work with my son."
"Yes sir, I work with Jack. I've known him for about six or seven years now. I work with him as a civilian consultant, on a classified project in Cheyenne Mountain."
"Jack told me that you are an archaeologist." Jonathan prompted the younger man.
"Yes, I've travelled all over the world on digs, and I'm also a Doctor of languages."
"How many languages do you speak?" Jonathan asked, sincerely interested.
"Twenty three at last count, most of them are ancient dialects, not much call for them now days."
Daniel was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Come!" Jonathan announced loudly, clearly frustrated at the disturbance.
Jack came into the room, shut the door behind him and pulled up the seat that was previously occupied by his daughter.
Megan had grabbed him outside and told him that his father was interrogating Daniel. Jack knew what his old man was like and decided to intervene before Daniel came out of the study a blithering mess.
"So, dad. How are you enjoying your party? You know the one outside."
"I'm having a ball, Jack. You?"
"Fantastic time dad. So are you finished interrogating Daniel yet or can I stick around for the finale?" Jack asked with a smirk on his face.
"Jack, I know Megan is your daughter and I cannot claim to have known her for as long, but there is something about that young woman. She makes me feel extremely protective of her and the boys. I only wanted to find out this young man's intentions towards her." Jonathan stated as he got up and poured the three of them a drink from the crystal decanter on the side table.
"Jonathan all I can say is that every intention I have towards your grand-daughter is completely honourable. I fell in love with her the moment I met her and I plan on never letting anything bad happen to her again." Daniel said.
"Satisfied dad, or should we start the Chinese water torture?" Jack asked smugly.
"Thank you Daniel, I appreciate your candour. And you appear to be an honourable man. I also hope that you love those boys as your own, because Johnny seems to dote on you."
"I do. I never thought that I would ever have a family and now Megan has given me a chance to be a father. I can never repay her for that." Daniel said while he sipped his drink.
Another knock at the door interrupted Jonathan before he could ask anything else.
"Daniel can you come and help me with the twins please, I can't find Sam." Megan said when she popped her head through the door.
"Excuse me." Was all Daniel said as he gratefully got up and left the room.
"Jack, ill give you credit, that was very well orchestrated."
"I don't know what your talking about dad." Jack feigned innocence.
"The convenient little plan to rip Daniel from my tempered grasp. I only wanted to see if he was worthy of joining the O'Neill's. Nothing wrong with that is there." Jonathan replied.
"Dad, what do you want to know about Daniel and ill tell you? I have known him for a lot of years. Shit, we even lived together for a while after Sara left me."
"I don't know I was just curious. Megan said before that it was the second marriage for both of them. What happened to his wife?"
"She died a few years ago. I knew her. She was a lovely woman."
"Have you met his parents?" Jonathan asked while he got another drink for himself and Jack.
"No, they died when he was young. He moved around quite a few foster homes until he finished school. I have met his grandfather, but he is on an archaeological dig at the moment, we can't get in contact with him to tell him what is going on."
"That's a shame. He seems to have made quite a life for himself, despite a bad beginning. The only thing that I really want to know, is if you trust him with your daughter?" Jonathan asked.
"I do. Very much. He is the best thing that has happened to her for a long time and vice versa. They belong together. I'm not going to stand in their way." Jack replied sipping on his drink.
"Well on to another subject, who is that lovely lady that you bought with you today. What's the deal between you two?"
"Sam is the best thing in my life apart from Megan and the boys. We have known each other for almost as long as I have known Daniel. She is the reason that I retired from active duty."
"She was in your team wasn't she? Well that makes things complicated."
"We denied our feeling for a very long time. And Megan made us open our eyes to the possibility that we might not be here tomorrow and to go for it."
"Well I can't say I approve of you dating an officer under your command. But she does seem like a very nice woman, and she has some balls standing up to Caroline like she did before. They didn't realise I was in here and heard the whole thing."
"What did Caroline say?" Jack asked, slightly worried, not having heard about it before.
"Well Caroline made some smart arse remark about Sam being a scientist, and saying that you weren't bright enough to want anything to do with an egg head. And then Sam came back with a whammy, saying that you were smarter then you let on and that she was fantastic in bed. Personally I thought it was a classic comeback to a classic bitch." Jonathan said with pride in his voice for his son's girlfriend.
"Well, that did take some balls. I think I have to go and remind my Major who wears the pants in this relationship." Jack said with an amused tone as he got up out of the chair and headed for the door.
"Definitely her." Jonathan said under his breath as his son shut the door on his way out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
One month later.
Jack was waiting by the phone as was usual these days. Sam and the rest of SG1 minus him of course was an hour over due for their check in.
Jack knew from personal experience that an hour was nothing, it could be something as simple as it taking them longer than expected to hike back to the gate. But he always worried now that he wasn't with his team any more.
He knew that Sam was a more than capable leader. Hell he had known that for years. But it was the waiting that got to him.
He was sitting in his office trying to keep him self busy with the latest reports on the new trainee's. They all seemed to be progressing well, he thought to himself. The foothold situations that they were staging to weed out the personnel that wouldn't handle more stressful situations, seemed to be the best training device to date.
They had only finished one 24 hours ago, and it had proved successful.
The Lt that Sam had saddled him with when he took over the personnel training was proving her weight in gold.
Lt Hailey. She was bright, took orders well and most importantly understood his sense of humour.
It also helped the fact that she still looked like she was sixteen and just a graduate herself, even though she had been with the stargate program for almost a year now. Her young looks helped her join in with the new recruits and work from the inside.
A knock at the door woke him up out of his thoughts just as they had started to drift back to Sam.
"Come." He hollered.
"Nice to see you too Dad." Megan said as she came in the room pushing a double pram with two babies in it and a toddler who rushed in the room.
"Sorry sweetheart." Jack said as he stood and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
Just as he sat down Johnny launched himself into his grandfathers lap, going straight for the draw on the desk that he knew held lollies and other assorted goodies.
"Don't I even get a hello?" Jack said with mock hurt in his voice to the boy on his lap.
Johnny reached up and gave Jack a kiss on the cheek, then continued on his search for goodies.
"What are you doing here? I didn't think you had a check up until tomorrow, so you could pick Daniel up when they get back." Jack asked.
"I came to take Janet shopping. She has the afternoon off, and I was bored sitting at home. But she isn't ready yet. So I thought I would come and bug you for a while."
"Good to know I'm only here to fill in time." Jack said with a smart arse grin on his face.
"So are you still coming over for dinner tonite?" Megan asked ignoring his previous comment.
"I suppose so. What you cooking?"
"What do you want? Your choice."
"I don't know surprise me. So what are you shopping for this afternoon?"
"Johnny needs some more clothes he has grown out of the summer ones that he has and I need to get all three of them some winter clothes. Do you want me to pick something up for you?" Megan asked as she leaned over the pram to clean the faces of the two boys in it.
"Yes you can actually. I have this thing on Lay-away, in at the shopping centre, could you pick it up for me. But I swear to god if either you or Janet mention a word of it ill shoot you both." Jack said as he rummaged through his wallet looking for the receipt.
"Why, what is it?" Megan asked as she took the receipt from her father.
Focusing on the receipt in front of her, Megan looked at the store name so she would know where to go. Looking up at her father as the name registered, she saw the happiest smile she had seen in a long time spread across his face.
"Benson's Jewellers. They are the most expensive jewellers in town. Is this what I think it is Dad?"
"Yep I bought it a couple of weeks ago. I was going to ask you to see it before I proposed any way."
Soon Jack had not only his grandson in his lap but his daughter wrapped around his neck hugging him.
"This is great dad, I'm so happy for you. Have you asked her yet or have you just bought the ring?"
"Just the ring. Your fine with this aren't you?" Jack asked as he unwrapped her grasp of his neck.
"Hell yes. Why wouldn't I be? I think it is great, you two belong together."
Just then the klaxons started ringing warning of a gate activation. Jack got up and told Megan to wait in the office with the children, while he went to see if it was SG1.
Arriving in the control room that overlooked the stargate, Jack looked around and found General Hammond standing behind Simmons's, who was at the computer.
"Know who it is yet sir?" Jack asked as he came up behind the General.
"No Colonel." The General replied.
The wormhole was established and the iris still closed, waiting for confirmation on who had established it.
"I have an audio signal coming through sir's." Simmons said as his fingers flew over the keyboard, as a voice crackled to life over the speakers.
"Can anyone hear me? Is any one there?" Came a muffled voice that sounded panicked.
"That's Jonas." Jack said as he sat down in front of the mike, not waiting for the General's permission.
"Jonas, its Jack can you hear me? What's wrong?"
"Jack, thank god, we have been trying for over an hour to get the gate to work. Sam and Teal'c are injured we need to come through but we don't have the IDC, the local's stole it along with everything else. The MALP is still here but I'm not sure if the camera works."
"Stay put we will just check it out, how badly are they hurt Jonas?" General Hammond replied.
"Teal'c will be fine, just superficial injuries. Sam is a little more worse off. You might want to get Janet there to meet us." Jonas said hesitating on the last part.
"Sir I have visual. No unfriendlies, just SG1." Simmons said over the noise of the machines in front of him.
"Medical team to the gate room, I repeat medical team to the gate room." The General said in to the loud speaker.
"Open the iris." He said to Simmons as he and Jack went down to the gate room.
Upon hearing the call for a medical team to the gate room, Megan left the twins asleep in their pram and Johnny playing with some toys and went into the adjoining conference room that over looked the stargate.
She watched the iris open as her father and the General walked into the room, closely followed by Janet and her medical team.
Moments later, four figures practically fell through the wormhole. Daniel had Sam in his arms walking down the ramp and Jonas the newest member of SG1 had Teal'c leaning on him as he followed Daniel.
Sam's normally blonde hair had a blood red tinge to it and her face looked like a big bruise. Just metres before the gurney that Daniel was heading to with Sam, he fell to his knees.
Jack rushed past the medical team to his side in an instant followed by Janet.
When Jack took Sam from Daniel's arms he noticed the amount of blood covering the younger man. Thinking it was all Sam's, Jack took her and put her on the gurney.
Janet obviously thinking the same, turned on her heel to take in Sam's injuries.
Teal'c was helped onto another gurney just as Sam was rushed through the huge steel doors to the infirmary.
Megan watching down from the observation window, stood there with a dumbfounded look on her face watching the scene unfold. It took her a few moments to register that Daniel wasn't getting up. She watched Sam get hurried out of the room with Janet.
Her father was hot on Janet's heels following along with Jonas and Teal'c on the second gurney.
"Can you please keep an eye on my children in Colonel O'Neill's office?" Megan said to the ever-present guard in the room as she turned to head down the stairs.
"Yes Mamm." Was all she heard as she headed down the stairs two at a time.
Reaching the stargate level, she rounded the corner through the steel doors so fast she almost took out one of the SF's as they were leaving the room.
"Daniel, what's wrong?" Megan said as she slid to her knees in front of him.
Daniel looked into her eyes but he wasn't really focusing on her. Megan raised her hands to cup his face, when she felt a presence behind her.
Looking over her shoulder she saw the General was still in the room and was hovering over her with a worried look on his face.
"What happened son? Are you hurt?" The general asked as he went down on to one bended knee beside Megan.
Daniel's gaze shifted from Megan to the General, but he still didn't say a word.
Suddenly his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the side.
Landing heavily on the ramp his glasses clattered off as Megan reached over to him.
She pulled open his jacket and realised that all the blood wasn't Sam's.
He had been beaten.
His under shirt was in shreds, it looked like he had been whipped.
Megan gently slapped his face trying to rouse him, as the General called for two of the SF's to carry him to the infirmary.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
It was pure adrenaline that drove the exhausted doctor from one patient to the next. First, triage them. Decide which ones can wait and then which ones can't. Secondly treat the worst then move on to the less injured. And thirdly, forget that these people are her friends and focus on their injuries and not on their names.
Sam was on the top of the list. She appeared to be loosing a lot of blood, her face was severely battered and she was going to need explorative surgery to find out where the internal bleeding was coming from.
Teal'c was next he was beaten as well but he wasn't as bad off as Sam. Her nurses were cleaning him up at the moment and she would see to him soon.
Jonas looked to only have a couple of bruises on him, and a black eye. Nothing that couldn't wait awhile until she was finished with the other two.
Just as she was about to join the other Doctor in the operating room to start on Sam, a rush of people came in through the outer doors.
There were two SF's carrying Daniel into the room. Taking charge of the chaotic scene, Janet pointed them towards the closest bed.
Kicking everyone out of the room except her nurses, Janet went to work looking over Daniel.
Jack pushed Megan out of the room.
"We can't do anything in there except get under Janet's feet. Megan look at me, what's wrong with Daniel?" Jack questioned once he had a hold of Megan's shoulders.
She was still staring over his shoulder into the infirmary. He gave her a short shake, and turned her away from the door before she seemed to snap out of it.
"Um, he had a lot of blood on him and I went down to the gate room, when he wouldn't get up. He wouldn't answer me, he just looked at me blankly and then he fainted I think. George and I looked him over and dad it looks like they beat him pretty bad too, it looked like they have whipped him. His shirt was in shreds. Oh god dad there was so much blood, and Sam's as well."
Jack grabbed her into a fierce hug as she burst into tears. He felt like doing the same.
He noticed the General standing to the side slightly with a bewildered Jonas. The General's blues were now stained with red, to match Megan and him self.
"Megan where are the kids? Did you leave them in my office?"
All Megan could do was nod against his chest.
"Don't worry about it Megan, ill go and get them. The Doc said all this was mainly superficial." Jonas said as he pointed to his own injuries.
Jack nodded his thanks to the younger man as he passed them on the way to get the children.
The General followed Jonas after laying a hand on Megan's back and one on Jack's shoulder. He knew he couldn't say anything to make it better. The best thing he could do was to find out from Jonas what had happened.
Jack finally got Megan to calm down enough to sit her down in one of the seats that stood in the hall. He knelt down in front of her and laid both his hands on hers.
"Megan. Look at me."
When she finally looked up he continued.
"Megan, they will be fine. I've seen them worse of than this." He half lied. "Hell I've been worse than this. Pull yourself together, Jonas won't be long with the boys, and we have to put on a brave face for them. Ill go and give Cassie's school a ring and tell them that I am sending an airman over to pick her and Caitlin up. They can give you a break from the boys until we find out what's going on. Ok." He said as he stood to go into Janet's office and use her phone.
The only reply he got was a nod. Figuring that she would be ok for a few minutes he left her in the hall with her head in her hands, on the verge of breaking into fresh tears.
A few moments later Janet burst out of the infirmary doors, looking for someone.
"Megan you can come in for a few minutes if you want. I'm just waiting for the other operating room to be ready. He asked for you."
Megan got out of her seat and through those doors so fast she almost left skid marks.
As she walked past Teal'c, she noticed that he was still awake. She laid her hand on his arm as she walked past his bed. He smiled in appreciation.
She rounded the curtain to the area where Janet had pointed her.
Lying in the bed was a small man. Curled up as much as he could manage in the pain that he was in.
"Sweetie, what happened?" She said in a hushed, worried voice as she leaned down to his level on the bed.
She brushed a few stray hairs out of his face and left her hand on his cheek, feeling how clammy his skin was.
"Megan, I love you so much. Don't cry, ill be fine." He said as he mimicked her actions with his own hand on her face.
He noticed that he had left a streak of blood on her face. Realising that he could do little about it he pulled his hand away.
The nurse interrupted them to change the dressing on his chest wounds.
Megan turned away as the nurse lifted up the sheet, to reveal blood soaked dressings.
It only took the nurse a few moments and she left them with just the humming and beeping of the machines.
"Megan, make sure General Hammond doesn't send any one back there at least till we can tell him what happened properly. Promise me."
"Ok, what ever you want. Why did they do this to you Daniel?"
"I was protecting Sam. She was in the same cell as me."
Before he could finish telling her what happened, Janet pulled the curtain aside and was followed by a few orderlies, who started preparing the gurney for transport to another room.
Before Janet could take him, Megan bent over and gave him a kiss on the forehead as she told him that she loved him.
With a new determination behind her, Megan set off to find out what had happened. Her first stop, Teal'c. If he was still awake.
"Teal'c what happened to you all?" Megan asked as she heard the outer door open.
Jack came in and stood behind his daughter silently asking the same question of his injured friend.
"They were friendly enough to start with but both Major Carter and I thought that something was not right O'Neill. We were getting ready to return early when something stunned us. Similar to the Gould stun grenades." He paused a few minutes as General Hammond and Jonas entered the infirmary obviously on the same mission as Jack and Megan.
The general turned to Megan and quietly told her that his secretary was looking after the boys for a while.
"Continue son." The General told Teal'c.
"When we awoke, we were in cells. Jonas and I in one. Major Carter and Daniel Jackson were in one across the hall. The guards came to take away Major Carter, she was still unconscious at this time. Daniel Jackson wouldn't let them near her, he fought bravely Megan O'Neill. They took them both instead."
Jonas sat on the edge of the bed next to Teal'c, and continued the story.
"They were gone for a long time, they had taken all of our equipment so there was no telling how long had passed by the time they threw them both back into the cell. Even though Daniel was obviously injured he still tried to keep them away from Sam. They took her eventually and bought her back in the state she is in now. She never really regained consciousness that we know of."
"Then they took Teal'c, then when they tried to take me. Teal'c wasn't as beaten down as they thought. When they threw him back in the cell with me, he turned on them and we got the upper hand. We got the keys to the other cell and ran like hell. Thank the gods we didn't face to much resistance once we were out of the compound. But I do recommend that we change all of the codes on the iris just in case they figger out how to use the IDC's." Jonas finished.
"Already taken care of Jonas." General Hammond replied having had it taken care of when he went with Jonas a few minutes before.
Cassie and Caitlin eventually arrived and where taken straight to the infirmary. They found Jack and Megan sitting on the seats in the hallway outside.
"What happened Jack? Is mum ok?" Cassie asked more than slightly panicked.
"Your mum is fine sweetie. There was a problem off world and SG1 were hurt, your mum is helping them right now." Jack said as he stood and dismissed the SF who had bought the girls down from the surface.
"Jack stop talking to me like I'm two years old. What's wrong?" Cassie exclaimed as she took the seat he just vacated next to Megan.
"Fine, Cassandra. Sam and Daniel are both in surgery, they appear to have been tortured, but we're not sure what exactly happened yet or how they are. They went into the operating room about a half hour ago. Teal'c was injured as well, but he is holding up a lot better than the other two, and Jonas just got punched a few times. Happy." Jack said as he started pacing.
"Yes." Cassie said as she folded her arms in front of her and looked like she was about to burst into tears.
"Look, you too stop it. Don't upset Caitlin or I will smack the both of you over the back of the head. Dad stop pacing your making my neck hurt watching you. Caitlin come here honey." Megan said as she motioned for the younger girl to come over and sit on her lap.
"Will they be alright Auntie Megan?" Caitlin asked in a quiet whisper.
"Your mother is looking after them, so I don't doubt it one bit." Megan surprised her self with how confident she sounded. She was actually scared beyond belief.
After awhile Jonas exited the infirmary in a new clean shirt and what looked like some sutures on his cheek.
"The nurse let me loose, I don't suppose you have heard anything yet?" He asked as he entered the hall.
"Nope, nothing yet. Jonas, can you take the girls to get something to eat? It's past there dinner time." Jack asked.
"I'll come with you, I have to go and get the boys. I didn't realise what the time was." Megan said as her and the girls stood.
"Come and get me if you hear anything. I wont be long." Megan said to her father as she passed him. She received a nod as a reply and left with the others.
"Your Colonel O'Neill?" A man asked from the door to the infirmary.
Jack lifted his head and nodded.
"I'm Dr Fields, sir. I've just operated on Major Carter. Mr Teal'c said that you would like to be informed on her condition." The man introduced himself.
"Yes thank you DR." Jack said as he followed the younger man through the doors to Teal'c's bedside.
"Ok well here is the basics. We did an internal examination to discover where the bleeding was coming from. Her spleen had been ruptured due to a blunt force trauma. She also had several broken ribs, one of which had punctured a lunge. She is out of the woods for the moment, and doesn't appear to have any infection on the open wounds that she had received. Her jaw was dislocated and has been fixed, and she suffered a lot of bruising. I have had to put her on anti-coagulant medication to stop any blood clots from forming from the excessive bruising. Apart from that she should be fine." The doctor finished with pride of a job done right.
"Dr, can I see her?" Jack asked.
"Not just yet Colonel, she is still in recovery. Give it an hour and you can go in and see her." The doctor finished as he went to turn away and back to his other patients, but a hand grabbed his arm.
"Doc, can I speak to you privately for a moment." Jack asked.
Once the were on the other side of the room away from prying ears, Jack closed in on the Doctor and asked quietly. "Was there any other internal injuries? Did they hurt her in any other way?"
It took the doctor a few moments to comprehend what Jack was suggesting.
"No, Colonel, there was no sign of rape or attempted rape. She will be fine, given some time."
Jack breathed a sigh of relief as the Doctor walked away.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Megan found the boys in the General's office. She had left Jonas and the girls at the elevator to go in search of her by now hungry children.
"George thank you for keeping an eye on them. I know this isn't a crche. I think I need a nanny, do you think there is one, with enough clearance?" Megan joked trying to lighten the mood.
"I doubt it very much. But don't worry about the boys, they are in good hands." George said while bouncing Johnny on his knee.
"The twins got a little restless about half an hour ago, but they calmed down as soon as I gave them their bottles. They are fed and burped and on they're way to sleep at this very moment." He continued while he looked over the desk into the twin pram.
Megan picked Nick up to give him a cuddle and noticed that something hadn't been done.
"George, can you keep an eye on Johnny for a few more minutes? I need to go and change some nappies. Ill go into dad's office." Megan quickly left with the boys across the conference room to her father's office.
* * *
After about ten minutes Megan returned to her former CO's office with two clean boys.
"Megan, Jack rang while you were gone. Major Carter has come out of surgery. She had some internal bleeding and other damage but it appears to have all been fixed. She is in recovery at the moment, she looks like she is going to be fine."
"That's fantastic. Did he say anything about Daniel yet?" Megan asked, fear written all over her face.
"No, dear. I'm sorry. He is still waiting. They let him in with Teal'c while he's waiting to see Major Carter. Take the boys down to see him that should cheer him up a bit. I'm sure that Dr Jackson is going to want to see them when he comes out of surgery." George added as he let Johnny slide of his leg.
Megan just nodded and picked Johnny up and rested him on her hip and pushed the pram to the elevator.
While they were waiting for the elevator to stop at the right floor, Johnny laid his head on his mothers shoulder and started fiddling with her hair. He always did that when he knew something was wrong. It was his way of cheering his mother up.
It worked slightly as Megan gave the boy a hug and kissed him on the cheek.
"Johnny, we are going to see grand-dad. He is a bit upset cause Auntie Sam was in an accident and she got hurt. So you make sure you give him a hug and a kiss when you see him. Ok." Megan asked of her son.
The boy nodded into her shoulder as the elevator arrived.
* * *
Arriving at the infirmary floor, Megan went straight in the double doors.
She found Jack sitting beside Teal'cs bed. He looked ten years older sitting there.
Johnny squirmed his way out of her arms and walked quietly over to him. He rested his hand on his grandfather's knee and waited for the older man to pay him some attention.
Jack looked up from the place on the wall that he had been staring at and put his hand over the toddlers. A smile crept on to his face as Johnny climbed into his lap and hugged him.
It touched Megan's heart to see her son and her father have such a close relationship.
"George told me about Sam. I'm so glad she's all right. Have you heard anything about Daniel yet?"
"No Megan O'Neill, we have not." Teal'c answered as Dr. Field entered the room.
"Colonel O'Neill. You can come in and see her now, she is starting to wake up." He said as he approached Jack.
Jack put Johnny up beside Teal'c on his bed as he stood up. "Doc, this is my daughter. She is Dr Jackson's fiance, have you heard any word about his condition yet?" He asked as he took Megan's hand in his own.
"Not as of yet, I'll go and check on him right now. I'll be back in a few moments." He said as he walked towards the other operating room.
Jack was hovering between checking on Sam and staying with Megan until she heard some news.
"Dad, go and check on her. Ill be fine. I'll stay with Teal'c until the doctor comes back. Go." She told him not trying to appear like she was about to cry again.
He kissed her on the cheek and looked over towards Teal'c, relaying some silent message that those two had perfected years ago and then went to the recovery room.
Megan took his seat beside the bed and watched Nick and Lachie sleep as Johnny played quietly with his Uncle Teal'c.
Eventually the Doctor came back into the room as Megan stood to meet him.
"Miss O'Neill, I just checked with Dr Fraiser as to the condition of your fiance. He had lost a lot of blood, it appears that he has been whipped across the back and chest using some sort of leather strap. He has a few cuts on his head and hands, but they are mainly superficial. The reason that it is taking so long is because of the stiches. He needs a lot. He is going to be in a lot of pain when he wakes up. But the main thing is that he appears to have no internal injuries, and he should make a full recovery just with a few scars."
"Thank you doctor." Megan said as she slumped back into her chair.
Teal'c lent over from his bed and placed a hand on her shoulder. He knew she didn't need words right now. He knew she needed a shoulder to cry on to let all the worry ebb away.
She leaned her head forward on to the bed, next to his chest and cried while he rubbed small circles on her back.
* * *
Jack walked into the brightly lit room and surveyed the surroundings. A tiny figure occupied the bed with bright white sheets, surrounded by beeping and humming machines.
He moved closer to the prone figure on the bed and almost couldn't recognise her. Her hair was still tinged with blood, and her face had swollen out of proportion. Her hands were bandaged up and part of each arm had bandages wrapped up them.
Her eyes were fluttering open and closed as he got closer. He pulled the chair beside the bed and placed his arm on a bare part of skin on her arm.
She turned her head towards him slightly and revealed how wide spread the bruising on her face was. It stretched down her neck under her hospital gown.
"Sam, can you hear me?" Jack asked in an almost whisper.
She nodded her head slightly and tried to lick her lips through her partially wired jaw.
"Don't try and talk. The new doc said that he had to wire your jaw shut, cause some one apparently used your face as a punching bag."
"You scared me Sam. I definitely don't like this stay at home thing I'm keeping fit from all the pacing. I don't think I have to make another trip to the gym for a long time." He said trying to lighten the mood.
Sam tried to smile, but could only grimace as her mouth caught on one of the parts of the mouth brace.
Jack sat there in silence for a few minutes while she nodded off back to sleep. He whispered in her ear that he loved her and went back out of the room to find Megan and see what news the doc had on Daniel.
He entered the outer infirmary to find Megan with her head in her arms on the side of Teal'cs bed, with him comforting her.
The worst came to his mind. Shit something has happened to Daniel.
"Megan, what did the doc say? Is Daniel alright?" He asked as he approached the bed.
"I believe Megan O'Neill is crying tears of joy, O'Neill. Doctor Fields said that he was going to have scars and the reason it is taking so long is the stitching that he needs. He was whipped, and Doctor Fraiser is repairing the damage now." Teal'c said in a hushed tone as to not disturb Megan.
Jack knelt down beside his daughter and gently pushed her back slightly so she wasn't leaning on the bed anymore.
"Megan, it's ok. Daniel will be fine and Sam is fine." He said as he gathered her up in his arms and slowly rocked her back and forward until she calmed down.
* * * Eventually Megan was allowed in to see Daniel. She left the boys with Jonas, Cassie and Caitlin in the hall as she prepared her self to see him all bandaged up.
Jack offered to come in with her for moral support as he put it, but she knew she had to do this herself. She had been so scared, next to no body got a second chance at happiness like she had been given. And it had almost been lost to her again.
As she opened the door she heard the usual hum of the infirmary machines and the beeps of the heart monitor that was attached to the figure laying deathly still in the bed in the middle of the room.
She slowly walked up to the bed and moved the seat quietly so she could be closer to him. When she sat down she took his hand in her own and noticed that the nurses had cleaned him up rather well. You couldn't see a trace of blood on his hands from where he had held Sam.
She stopped her self before she thought of it anymore. That image would now always be in her nightmares, Daniel kneeling down on the ramp in front of an open stargate with a limp Sam in his arms and their blood dripping together on to the floor.
Shaking her head slightly to get rid of the image, Megan almost didn't feel the hand she was holding move slightly.
Staying still for a moment and looking at the bruised face before her she waited for another movement.
The doctor had told her that he wouldn't wake up for at least an hour, so she was surprised when she felt his fingers clench around her own.
"Daniel, can you hear me?" Megan leaned forward and spoke quietly.
He responded by opening his eyes slightly and grimacing at the bright lights then squeezing her hand again.
Megan lifted his hand to her cheek and rested it there while his eyes slowly adjusted to the light.
"Hey. How's everyone else?" He asked after a few moments, while rubbing his thumb across her smooth skin.
"They are all fine, Sam and you are the worst off, but you'll both make it. Janet said that you just needed a lot of stitching and that you were going to be in a lot of pain. She also said not to fight the pain, if it is too much she will give you something stronger."
"You worry too much Megan. What are you doing here anyway?" He asked after taking a sip of the water that Megan offered him.
"I think I have every right to worry too much. This is you we are talking about, after all your not known for your immunity from danger. Quite the opposite I would say. And I was here to go shopping with Janet after she finished work. I was waiting in dad's office when you guys arrived. Daniel I'm so glad you're all right. You really scared me."
"I know and I'm sorry, but payback is a bitch isn't it. I believe that you scared me a little while ago." He said trying to lighten the mood.
"Well then we're even. No more infirmary visits for a while for either of us. Ok." Megan said, glad that he was feeling well enough to joke around a bit.
"Agreed. After all, we do have a wedding to go to in a month." He added.
Chapter twenty-four
He hurt all over. He had never felt physical pain like this before.
He closed his eyes as the faceless man raised his arm, only to bring it crashing down on his back with some sort of leather strap.
It sank into his flesh and then was once again ripped from his back as the man raised his arm again and again.
Daniel looked up. The only thing that kept him aware of what was happening was the face of the woman strapped to the wall in front of him.
It was a woman he knew well. She kept her bruised and bloodied eyes looking at his. As if breaking the eye contact they had would break the last bit of strength they felt.
Sam slowly watched as he was hit again and again and again. She flinched every time the sound of splitting flesh reached her ears. But she kept her eyes focused on his, kept silently urging him to hold on.
The man stopped his assault on Daniel's back finally.
A few minutes passed before he came into Daniel's view. He staunted over to Sam, and ran his fingers down her bruised cheek. She mustered enough strength to spit in his face as he did it again.
He raised his hand and slapped her hard. She held back the scream as best she could.
Daniel called out in a hoarse whisper trying to gain the man's attention.
All of a sudden he awoke.
Megan was shaking him.
"Daniel. Wake up. You're having a bad dream, you almost knocked me out." She called to him quietly.
It took him a few seconds to realise that he was safe at home, in bed. He looked around to make sure that he wasn't dreaming and found Megan staring at him worryingly from her side of the bed.
"I'm ok. I'm sorry I didn't know what was happening. I'm just going to go downstairs and get something to drink." He mumbled as he got out of the bed and stumbled towards the door.
Megan knew from experience that he didn't want her to follow him. She had followed him for the first two nights that he was home only to find him slumped over a cup of coffee staring at the bench top. He didn't want to talk yet. When he did, he would. But she knew that she couldn't push the point.
When she heard him padding around downstairs, she quietly got out of bed and went to check that his screaming hadn't disturbed the children then returned to bed.
He automatically put the kettle on when he reached the kitchen and pulled all the makings of a cup of coffee out of the cupboards.
Looking out the kitchen window through the backyard he noticed the kitchen light on at Jack's house. He knew that it was Sam. The two of them seemed to be having bad dreams at the same time.
The first few times that it had happened, Megan had followed him downstairs and even sat with him while he drank his coffee. He never talked and she never forced the issue. She knew enough about what he was going through to know he didn't want to talk yet. And at the moment he didn't want to talk to her about any of it. He wanted to shield her from that horrible side of the universe.
She knew that he was trying to protect her, however much she had already seen out there. So she never pushed the point.
For five nights now, he had gotten into a routine. After Megan woke him from his dreams, he came downstairs and made a coffee. He then waited out on his deck for the gate between the two houses to open and for Sam in her pyjama's to join him on the lounge chair on the deck.
She always had a coffee in her hands and she always walked through the yard quietly, ascended the steps with out a sound and sat beside him silently.
They often sat there until the sun started peaking though the trees to the east. Then she would return the way she had come and he would return back inside and have a shower, waiting for the rest of the house to rise.
He was almost back to normal during the days. He played with his sons, even enjoyed spending every spare minute he could with his family. But he was always distant in some way. His eyes would wander to a tree or the ground and he would stare at it as if being overcome by a memory of what happened on his last trip through the stargate.
But something was different when Sam met him at their chair. She sat beside him as normal, but she leaned against him, rested her head on his shoulder and started to cry.
Momentarily shocked at the different turn of events it took Daniel a few moments to react.
He placed his coffee on the table in front of them, and took hers out of her hand before she spilled it on herself.
Daniel wrapped his arm around his best friend and slowly rocked her, silently urged her to tell him what was wrong.
After a while he pulled her face out of his shoulder so he could see her eyes.
Jacob had come though the gate a few days after they had returned with the Tokra healing device, and had slowly started healing the injuries on both of them. She was still a little bruised around the face and he still had loud angry scars on his back from where the whip has met his skin.
He held her face in his hand until she opened her eyes and looked at him.
He saw all the hurt that had been bottled up in side for the last two weeks, ever since they had gotten back. Janet had tried to get both of them to talk, even suggesting they go and see one of the quack's with a high enough security level to talk openly.
Both had declined, not wanting to talk to anyone about it as of yet.
After a while Sam calmed down, and pulled her self together enough to finish her almost cold coffee.
They still didn't speak, both knowing that all they needed at the moment was each other's company, not words.
When the sun started rising, bringing the voice of the birds with it, they both slowly got up and returned to there respective houses to prepare for the day ahead.
----------
After having showered and dressed quietly, Daniel was walking past Johnny's room on his way downstairs when he heard the boy stirring.
Daniel entered the room and sat on the bed next to the waking toddler.
"Good morning." Daniel said as the young boys eyes focused on his father.
Johnny just happily squirmed in the quilt happy to see his father home. He liked it when his dad didn't go away for trips.
Daniel helped his son out of bed and helped get him dressed. When he was ready to face the outside world he took him downstairs. He was about to start making some breakfast for them both when the intercom sounded.
They had installed an intercom between the two houses, it saved on phone calls when they were only next door to each other.
"Grandad to Johnny, you up yet little man." Came Jack's voice out of the machine.
Johnny ran over to the machine, and having been taught how to use it pressed the right button to talk and answered his grandfather.
"Yep."
"Your mum and dad up yet?" Came Jack's crackely voice.
Before Johnny could answer Daniel placed his hand on the machine and spoke. "Yes Jack, I'm up. What's wrong?"
"Nothing Daniel, I just wanted to see if my Grandson would like to join Sam and me for pancakes."
Before Daniel could say a word Johnny was already heading for the back door, turning to see if his father gave him permission before he actually opened the door.
"Off you go." Daniel said to the boy as he practically burst through the door.
"He's on his way."
Daniel moved to the kitchen window, so he could watch Johnny safely go from one yard to the other.
He heard movement upstairs and expected to see Megan any minute. The twins were still in bed, they tended to sleep in for another hour or so, depending when there last feed was.
After a few minutes Megan came down the stairs and headed for the kitchen to find a steaming cup of tea waiting for her on the table.
Daniel had his back to the door when she walked in, he was still looking out into the backyard.
Megan walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his stomach and leaned her cheek against his back. He turned in her embrace to face her and returned the intimate gesture.
They stood like that for a few moments enjoying each others company and the quite of an almost empty house.
"Where's Johnny? He wasn't in his room." Megan asked quietly still leaning on his chest.
"Your father invited him for pancakes. He couldn't move fast enough. Little chubby legs going at top speed thru the backyard." Daniel joked.
"Well how about we see if Dad can look after the other little terrors when they wake up and we spend the day together?" Megan asked hoping that he was keen on the idea.
They hadn't spent much time alone since he and the team had returned from there last mission. They were all on restricted duties until after the wedding in two weeks. He had been home for week and had barley had a decent conversation with her in that time.
"Sounds like a good idea to me." He replied much to her relief.
Chapter twenty-five
They had taken the boys to her father's house after he agreed to baby sit for the day, and were now on there way to Denver, to spend the day in the city.
They had left fairly early and arrived well before lunch. Megan had told him on the drive over that it was his day, what ever he wanted to do, they would.
After finding a park in the busy city centre, Daniel got out and opened the door for his fiance.
"I think we should just wander thru the shops for a while, if you like." He said as he locked the car.
Megan nodded, took his hand and followed his lead towards the shops.
After an hour or so of mindless chatter and aimless wandering, they had bought a few things for the house and ran them back to the car, and were now looking for somewhere to have lunch.
They took a seat at a popular eatery and ordered off of the menu, while they waited for there lunch Daniel started talking seriously.
"Megan, I want to explain why I have been so distant the last few weeks."
"You don't have to tell me, I understand if you don't want to talk about it. I know what it's like to be tortured too, it is definitely something I wish I never had to go thru." Megan said as she took his hands in her own over the table.
"No I need to tell you. You deserve to know the truth." He said as he lowered his head, as if ashamed of what he was about to say.
After quickly looking around to see if anyone was eavesdropping, or close enough to hear anything. Daniel slowly lowered his head not wanting to make eye contact with Megan.
"It was horrible. When they first took Sam and I into "the chamber" as they called it they pinned Sam up against a wall, and tied her down. I tried to fight them a bit but they outnumbered me. Eventually they got me on the table and laid me on my stomach."
He paused while the waitress put their food down in front of them.
He took a couple of bites and motioned for Megan to do the same.
After a few moments he continued, still not making eye contact with Megan.
"They left the room for a while. I'm not sure how long they were gone, but I must have dosed off. I was woken up by a bucket of cold water being tossed over my head. They did the same thing to Sam, I heard her gasp as she finally came to. She was pinned to the wall directly in front of me. They started on me first. They would ask me a question, simple ones to start with. Where do you come from etc.? Then they wanted to know other details like why the weapons that we had with us no longer worked."
He took a sip of water to calm his nerves, and then continued.
"The leader had used the guns until the ammunition ran out. Needless to say I wasn't about to tell them how to reload it. So they started whipping me across the back. They only did it once for every question I didn't answer to their satisfaction to start with. After a while and I don't know how many times they lashed me, they seemed to get bored with asking questions and just started to whip me for the hell of it."
"I must have passed out. I don't remember much more. When I woke up I could see Sam going through what they had done to me. A question followed by a fist. They just used their fists on her thank god. Next thing I knew we were being dragged back through the halls and dumped in our cell. I woke up when Jonas and Teal'c freed us. You know the rest."
Megan didn't know what to say, she knew there was parts of the story that he was leaving out to protect her. But she knew that he would open up to her about the rest of it in his own time.
She grabbed his hand over the table and turned it palm up.
Kissing his palm she looked him straight in the eye and with as much feeling in her voice as she could muster, and told him that she loved him.
Nothing more was said on the subject until they got in the car to go home.
Before Daniel could start the car, Megan turned to him and made him look at her.
"Daniel, I know how hard it was to tell me that. I know you want to protect me from the big bad world out there. But I need you to talk to me about this stuff. I hope to god that this never happens again, but in your line of work you never know. I just want you to know that you can talk to me about anything. Look what happened to dad, after Charlie. If I hadn't made him open up, god knows what he would have done. If you need time to sort things out in your own head or if you want to speak to a specialist go ahead, take as much time as you want. Ill be here waiting for you."
"Megan there is nothing in the world or universe for that matter that would stop me from marrying you in two weeks time. I love you with all my heart and soul. I would do anything for you or for our boys. I'm sorry I have been so distant with you, but I get retrospective when stuff like this happens. I know in the grand scheme of thing it is rather insignificant but seeing one of my best friends being attacked and not being able to do a damn thing about it was worse than any beating they could have given me. That is what has made me so so ...... I don't know."
"I love you too Daniel."
Daniel leaned across the car and gave Megan a passionate kiss. One that she wouldn't forget anytime soon. Signalling that that part of the conversation was over.
"What do you say to picking up something for dinner tonite for Jack, Sam and us?" Daniel asked in a seemingly better mood for talking about it.
"Sounds good. Ill ring Dad up and see what they want, and see if the little terrors are behaving." Megan answered as she watched the man she loved bottle up the part of the discussion that he had left out.
Arriving home with a load full of takeaway food from the ribs place down the road, Megan and Daniel headed thru the kitchen into the backyard and into her fathers yard.
Sam was sitting on the deck feeding Nick his bottle, and rocking Lachie in his rocker with her foot.
Jack was in the backyard with Johnny trying to show him how to cast a fishing line, with a small fishing rod he had bought the boy.
Johnny was so engrossed in what he was doing the he didn't even realise his parents had returned until they stood on the deck with Sam.
Once he realised that they had dinner with them he couldn't get to them fast enough.
"Hungry are we little man?" Megan asked her son as he went straight to one of the bags sitting on the table.
Johnny turned to his mother and with a perfect imitation of his grandfather put his hands on his hips and drawled out the word "Starving".
"This is so not a good idea to be leaving the two of them alone ever again." Daniel said motioning towards Jack and Johnny.
After dinner was finished Megan started clearing away the plates and took Johnny inside to get him cleaned up.
She was in the kitchen with a handful of wet wipes when her father walked in the door.
"Ribs proberly isn't a good idea for him anymore." Jack said with a chuckle in his voice looking at the mess that his grandson had created. He had sauce all over his face and clothes and even had it in his hair.
"What are you talking about him?" Megan said as she mopped a wet wipe over his face and showed it to him stained in the same sauce.
"You know it scares me how much he is like you sometimes. I knew he was going to be a terror when he was born. He had your eyes. When he was born he didn't even cry, he was too busy looking around at everything, you could almost see him plotting my demise from the first moment he realised I was his mum." Megan said while she unsuccessfully tried to get the sauce out of the toddler's hair.
"Thanks, I think. I think that the only way you're ever going to get him clean is to put him in a bath. Ill do you a deal, sweetheart. You clean up the dishes, and ill give him a bath." Jack said obviously not realising how much of a challenge it is to get Johnny in the bath.
"Deal." Megan said as she handed her charge over to her father, and turned to the pile of dishes already on the sink.
Heading out to the deck to get the remaining dishes she whispered the word "sucker" under her breath,
Sam and Daniel were clearing up the remaining mess as she opened the sliding screen door to the deck.
"Put them down you two, ill do it." Megan said as she started taking things out of Sam's hands.
After a few protests, Megan took the rest of the mess to the kitchen, leaving Daniel and Sam alone with two sleeping babies.
"Sam, I talked to Megan today while we where out. I told her just about everything. I think you should talk to someone. Me, Jack or even Megan. You need to get it out in the open. I feel a bit better because of it."
"I don't know what to say, that I was so weak that I couldn't protect my team from capture or that I couldn't stop them beating you to a bloody pulp. I must be the worst leader that has ever graced the halls of the SGC."
Daniel got up from his seat and walked the short distance to where she sat. He kneeled down beside her and took her hands in his, urging her to look at him.
"Sam you have to understand, that you couldn't do anything about it. I know control is very precious to you, but this is something that would have been out of anybodies control. I know what you're thinking. You think that if Jack was still in charge it never would have happened. And that is bull. It would have happened if General Sherman was in charge. You did the absolute best in a horrible situation that you could. I know you stopped them from whipping me again, after their initial attack had subsided."
She looked at him with surprise in her eyes. "I thought you were unconscious."
"Nope, I vaguely remember them telling you when they walked back in the room that they were going to use me to get you to tell them what they wanted to know. I also remember what you promised them if they left me alone." Daniel said as he saw the shame in her eyes.
"You can't tell Jack, you have to promise me you didn't tell Megan." She stammered out as she stood up and backed away from him.
"I haven't told Megan and I don't intend to tell Jack. That is up to you when and if you feel like talking to him. But I will tell you now Sam if you ever do anything so stupid as to offer yourself over me getting a bit of a beating again. Ill hurt you. I could never live with myself knowing that I was the cause of so much pain to one of my best friends." Daniel revealed as he slowly moved towards her.
"Daniel, you have so much more to live for than I do. You have children, a woman who you are about to marry and you are priceless to the SGC program. That's why I did it. I couldn't come back and tell Megan that she had lost you again. That's why I did it."
Sam let Daniel embrace her in a hug as she started sobbing, she put her head on his shoulder and let out all the frustration that she had been feeling at being a failure and getting her friends into trouble.
"Sam you have Jack. That is more than enough to come back to. He loves you so much, you can only guess to its extent. I'm not the geeky little brother you used to think of me as anymore. Hell I'm almost your sort of son in law." He said with a small laugh.
"You don't have to protect me. I know it's your job. But don't you ever think that your life is any less more important than anybody else's. We are so lucky that just as the guard was about to take you up on your offer, his boss walked in and sent us back to our cell. I could never have lived knowing that I was the cause of so much pain and humiliation to you. Do you understand?"
She nodded into his chest not trusting her self to talk at the moment.
Daniel kissed her on the top of her head as he heard the screen door open.
"Your not planning on stealing my girl, are you Dr Jackson?" Jack said as he led Johnny out on to the deck.
"Of course I am, Jack. I'm planning on starting a harem." Daniel answered with a smile in his voice.
"Thank you." Sam stated as she slowly pulled away from her friend and looked over to the man she adored with all her heart.
Megan came outside then and noticed the redness of Sam's eyes. She took Daniels lead and gathered up the children to go home. Stopping briefly to give her father a kiss on the cheek and quickly hug her best friend.
As they entered their own kitchen, Megan and Daniel put the twins down on the bench in their rockers.
Megan turned to Daniel and embraced him in a huge hug.
"You heard, didn't you?' Daniel asked as he rested his chin on her head.
Megan just simply nodded.
"Do you see know why I felt so helpless?"
Megan nodded into his chest again.
"Daniel I can't say that if I was in Sam's position, that I would have done anything different. But I know where you are coming from. I hope she talks to Dad about it. They both need to get it out in the open."
With that, Megan leaned up and gave Daniel a quick kiss on the cheek. Then she picked up one of the rockers and herded Johnny up the stairs to his room to get him ready for bed. Daniel followed with the other rocker a few moments later feeling that the weight of the world had been lifted off of his shoulders for the moment.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Two weeks later.
Jack knocked on the door of his daughter's room at the Bed and Breakfast that they were staying at. All of a sudden he jumped back as the door flew open and revealed a scene of almost utter chaos.
Taking a tentative step into the large room, Jack surveyed his surroundings.
To his left was his sister Lizzie and two of his sister in laws Caroline and Katrina who flew in a few days ago.
To his right his mother and his daughter sat getting their hair done by his other sister in law Melissa, and directly in front of him stood the most beautiful woman in his life, Samantha Carter soon to be O'Neill if he had anything to do with it.
He still stood, largely unnoticed until three teenage girls in identical dresses came up from behind him and gave him a hug. Careful not to get make up on his suit Cassie, Caitlin and his neice Lucy each gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Now see, I'm the luckiest man in the entire universe at the moment, surrounded by a bevy of beautiful woman." He announced over the chatter.
"Dad, how are the boys?" Megan asked as she stood up, hair apparently finished.
"Well let me see, Johnny is running in circles after my father gave him some red cordial. Teal'c is still trying to figure out how to do up a tie and your husband to be is trying to show him. It's quite funny actually. I just ducked over to see how you ladies are doing."
"Well, Sam, Janet, Nanna and I all have to get dressed and then that is about it I suppose. Don't you go too far Dad, the photographer will be here in about half an hour." Megan told him while waggling a finger in his direction.
"You got this wife thing down pat sweetheart." Jack said as he ducked the flying pillows being thrown at his head, by several of the women in his family.
Making a hasty retreat Jack headed outside for a few moments of peace before his daughters wedding.
Sitting down outside in one of the gazebo's on the grounds Jack thought of how this young woman, his daughter had changed his life.
He was now a proud father and grandfather. He was going to propose to the love of his life in the next few weeks. And he and his family were close again. They hadn't been this close since before Charlie died.
He never in his life thought that he would ever have gotten to walk his daughter down the aisle. He was one of the happiest people alive at this very moment.
He checked his watch and noted that he had just enough time to have a chat to Daniel before he had to head up to Megan's room. He stopped by his room to check on the boys and found everybody to be calm and collected. Johnny was even dressed and ready to go.
Pulling Daniel aside Jack took him out on to the patio.
"Jack, are we going to have that `if you hurt my daughter, I'll kill you' talk?" Daniel asked while Jack fiddled with the younger man's tie trying to get it straight.
"Yes we are Danny boy, because that is my daughter up there that you are about to marry. Now don't go rolling your eyes at me. Stand still or it won't be straight." Jack said referring to the tie.
"Jack I promise with all my heart that I will take care of Megan and the children. I love them all so much it hurts some times. I want to spend the rest of my life making them happy. Is that satisfactory?" Daniel asked as he stood back to look at the man who was his best friend, his surrogate big brother and soon to be father in law.
"Daniel, I just want you to remember that Megan and those kids are my whole life, apart from Sam. I want you to become apart of that too. I know that sometime today you will be thinking about your parents, I wish they were here too Daniel." Jack paused when Daniel lowered his head and started shuffling his feet.
Jack took Daniel by the arm and led him to the two seats in the shade on the patio. Sitting down side by side Jack continued with his hand on Daniel's back.
"I do wish they were here as well Daniel. But we both know that's not possible. I know you didn't grow up in the best environment and I honestly wish I could have done something to change that. God you know I suck at this feelings stuff."
"Jack it's ok you don't have to say anything else. I get the point I think." Daniel said while he looked out over the garden where he was to be married in less then an hour.
"No I want to finish. I'll just spit it out. OK. I have come to think of you as more than a best friend. You have that whole kid brother thing going for you but that's just even more confusing. IwantyoutoknowthatlatelyIhavebeenthinkingofyoumoreasason." Jack spat the last bit out at a rate of knots.
"What?" Daniel asked looking at the man sitting next to him.
"I want you to know that lately I have been thinking of you more as a son." Jack said more slowly.
"Jack. I don't know what to say. Thank you, I think is a good answer." Daniel stood and leaned against the banister.
"Jack, I just want you to know that I feel the same way too, sort of. I know what you mean. You are one of the best friends that I have ever had. Honestly. The geeky kid with the glasses and the shaggy hair didn't have many friends growing up, hell even when I grew up I found it hard to keep friends for any longer than it took to say `I believe the Pyramids were made by aliens'. As you can properly tell that never went down that well."
"Understandable. But I want you to realise that after today you are officially family. The O'Neill clan is a big one, and I think you fit right in." Jack said as he pulled Daniel into a sideways hug.
"I know you will look after Megan. I wouldn't trust her happiness to anyone else space monkey. Now I have to high tail it up to you fianc's room, apparently I'm needed for some photos. Go back inside and sit back and relax."
Daniel nodded as he followed Jack back into the room.
Watching Jack leave the room, Daniel went to check on Johnny.
----
Jack once again knocked on the door of his daughter's room and automatically stood back as the door flew open for the second time in and hour.
Putting his hand over his eyes as he walked into the room Jack called out, "everyone decent?"
He received a kiss on the cheek as a reply and opened his eyes to find the love of his life standing beside him.
"Jack, wait till you see Megan. She looks beautiful. Did you bring Johnny up?"
"Nope, I forgot. I'll go grab him. I'll be back in a second." With that Jack rushed out of the room in search of his grandson.
He arrived back a few minutes later with Johnny and his father in tow.
"Were back." He called out as he entered the room.
His breath was taken away as soon as he opened the door. In front of him was a vision of beauty. Sam was right. Megan looked gorgeous. She was wearing an ice blue coloured gown, which was fitted around the top. With tiny little straps with crystals on them that matched the ones on the front of the bodice. The skirt was full with a three or four foot train built into the skirt.
Her hair was up off her shoulders, showing off her neck and she looked absolutely radiant.
"Wow." Was all Jack could mutter as he was ushered into the room by Cassie and Caitlyn.
Johnny went to run to his mother but was caught by the back of his jacket by his grandfather before he could smear anything over the dress.
"So I guess its photo time." Jack finally managed to spit out.
------
It took half an hour for all the bride's family photos to be completed.
Jack then headed downstairs with the photographer with Johnny and the twins to have their photos taken with Daniel.
Once that was all complete, the groom and his attendants headed down to meet and greet the guests who were arriving for the ceremony.
Jack was taking the position of best man beside Daniel but he was also the father of the bride so he was giving his daughter away.
So once again Jack and Johnny who was the ring bearer for the day headed upstairs to escort Megan down the aisle.
Jack didn't realise that he would be this nervous. Arriving at his daughter's door, he realised that he had butterflies in his stomach.
Once everyone was organised and only the bridal party remained in the room they got into order and headed down the stairs to the garden.
Lucy and Johnny were up front, they were then followed by Caitlin, Cassie, Janet and Sam who was the maid of honour. Jack and Megan walked slowly behind the bridesmaids, Jack whispering in Megan's ear just as the exited the building.
"You are the best thing that has ever happened in my life, Megan. I want you to be happy."
Megan stopped short of going down the last few steps onto the lawn and reached up and gave her father a kiss on the cheek.
"Ditto." Was all the reply he got before the music started.
-----
Jack walked his daughter down the aisle to the song Eternal Flame by the Bangles.
He watched Daniel's reaction to seeing Megan as she came towards him. He looked almost ready to keel over. There was a space next to him that Jack was to fill after he had finished his fatherly duties. Then there was Teal'c who stood like a statue with almost a grin on his face. Beside him was one of the newest members to the SGC, Jonas Quinn. Ever since he had become friendly with the doc he had joined their close knit group. Then on the end was his nephew Rory, who was Caitlin's partner in the bridal group.
"Who gives their blessing for this woman to marry this man?" The celebrant asked to commence the ceremony.
"I do." Jack answered after giving Megan's hand a tight squeeze.
Jack quickly took his place next to Daniel and waited for the celebrant to continue.
----------------
"I know pronounce you Husband and Wife. Daniel, you may kiss your beautiful bride." The celebrant announced at the end of the ceremony to cheers of joy from the guests.
Megan looked deeply into Daniel's eyes as he lifted her veil. He never looked more handsom than at the very moment. The joy that filled his eyes lit up his face until it looked like his smile would explode.
"I love you." He whispered for her ears only as he leaned in and gave her a passionate kiss.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
"It is my pleasure to introduce the Bridal Party. First we have Lucy and Johnny."
"Caitlyn and Rory."
"Cassie and Jonas"
"Janet and Teal'c"
"Sam and Jack."
General George Hammond paused after each pair for applause, then paused as he waited for Sam and Jack to take their place behind the Bridal table.
Then he continued. "Now if everyone can please be standing it is my honour to introduce for the first time Dr and Mrs Daniel and Megan Jackson."
The whole room erupted into applause as Dr and Mrs Jackson entered the room with their arms linked.
After dinner was served, Megan wandered away from the table to go and find her Aunt Lizzie, who was at the moment looking after the twins.
She walked out the side door to the lounge area then over to the window after being told that Lizzie had gone in that direction. Looking out to the gardens, she could only see her father and Sam dancing under a tree covered in fairy lights.
All of a sudden her father looked in her direction and gave her a wink. She was about to go out the door to see if they had seen Lizzie when her father dropped to his good knee, and pulled a little box out of his jacket pocket.
Megan's hand when straight to her mouth, she knew it was coming but was shocked he was actually doing it right now. A huge smile came over her face as she turned away to let them have their moment in privacy.
---------------------------------------
Sam wasn't surprised when Jack asked her to join him outside. It had been a very long day, and he looked agitated ever since they finished their meals.
She thought the noise of the DJ was getting to him, she had to admit that she would personally hurt the man if he played another doof doof song. The only ones that wanted to listen to that ear bashing music were Jack's nephews, the ones who kept requesting them.
He took her by the hand when they walked out the door and led her under a huge tree. It was beautiful, the whole thing was covered in fairy lights. With no other lights around it was like a little oasis in the middle of a dark desert.
Jack pulled her to him as he leant against the trunk of the tree when the sounds of the next song came from inside. It was a slow song, one of her favourites. Barbara Stiesland and Bryan Adams, I finally found some one.
As they swayed to the slow beat he kissed her on the neck, eliciting a moan of pleasure from her.
As the first chorus started he looked over to the reception hall and winked as someone. She was about to turn to see who he was looking at when he surprised her by dropping to one knee.
"Jack what are you doing?" She stammered.
He reached up and put his finger to her mouth to quieten her.
"Samantha ever since you came into my life all those years age I have had something to hope for. To dream for. I knew the day that I met you that you were my angel. With your help, whether you knew it or not, you helped me crawl out of a horrible period of my life. You gave me hope that their was sunshine at the end of the agonising night." He paused for a moment to pull out his hankerchief for Sam, as she started sniffling.
"You gave me something to dream for. You. I knew you would always be there for me, good or bad. I knew that you could save me from myself if I ever sunk as low as I was before I met you. When Megan came into my life, I realised that I needed you as more than a friend. I needed you as my wife. I love you Samantha and I want to ask you if you are willing to throw your life away on an old grandfather like me." He said as he tried to lighten the mood a bit.
He had never been good at opening his feelings up to other people, he had spent many years training not to let any emotion show. And it felt so good to tell the woman that he loved exactly how he felt.
"I, I um, don't know what to say Jack. Wow." Sam muttered as she pulled him up from on his knee's.
Once he was standing in front of her again, she pushed her body against his and cradled his face in her hands.
"Jack I love you with all my heart, I am more than willing to spend the rest of my life with an old man like you."
She pulled him to her and kissed him passionately as he slipped the ring on her finger.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
"Hello Mrs Jackson." Daniel crooned in Megan's ear as he walked up behind her.
He slipped his arms around her waist and kissed her on the neck as he pulled her to him.
"Why Daniel, it seems that the romantic feeling of this beautiful night has rubbed of on some people." Megan whispered as she turned in his arms to face him.
"What do you mean?" He asked as he took a small step backwards.
Megan leaned in and told him in a hushed voice what she had witnessed outside.
"Wow, who'd have thought he would have the guts to do it. Good on him. I'm glad he finally pulled his finger out, they belong together. Just like we belong together."
They were leaning in for a kiss when they were tackled around the knees by an over excited toddler.
"Johnny, what are you doing?" Daniel asked as he picked him up.
"Hiding." He answered as he reached out to his mother.
"I'm not touching you until you clean your face, young man." Megan informed him jokingly.
Caitlyn came running up behind Daniel, which started Johnny squealing with delight.
"I found you, Johnny. I told you that you couldn't hide from me." She whispered to the boy as she reached out to tickle him.
Megan stoped the onslaught of tickles by grabbing Caitlyn around the waist and giving her a sideways hug.
"Are you having a good time sweetheart?" Megan asked.
"I'm having a ball. You have so many cousins. They are everywhere. Lizzie got us all playing hide and seek."
"Did she now?" Megan said as Lizzie came over to them.
"Yes she did. I figured the best way to tire out kids that have had way too much red cordial is to run them ragged. Plus if I have to look after Johnny tonite I want him to sleep." Lizzie said as she took Johnny from Daniel.
"Daddy was hiding me." He informed the small group.
"Not very well, obviously." Megan added.
Cailtyn took the opportunity to tag Johnny on the arm and bolt. Johnny couldn't squirm out of Lizzie's arms fast enough to chase her.
Daniel gave Megan a quick peck on the cheek and told her that he was going to go and check on the babies, who were being passed from person to person for cuddles.
"I am so happy for you Megan, he is the sweetest man. He seems to love those boys like they were his own. Johnny seems so comfortable calling him daddy." Lizzie said to Megan as she took her to sit down.
"I know I'm lucky. He has been a rock of support since I found Dad. I never pictured that this would happen when I first met Daniel. I'm still overwhelmed with how all of dad's family, you guys have taken me in. I never had a big family, it was always just my mum and me. I'm so glad I found dad." Megan sincerely added.
"I'm damn lucky that you found me, Megan." Jack told her as he leaned over the back of her chair. "Without you I never would have made a fool of myself in the garden like I just did."
"What are you on about Jack?" Lizzie asked as she and Megan both stood up to take in the smiles on both Jack and Sam's faces.
"It's up to Megan if she wants us to tell, it is her night after all. And we don't want to intrude on it, do we Jack?" Sam said as she took Jack's hand in hers.
Before anyone could say anything, Lizzie spotted the ring on Sam's left hand. "Oh my god. You didn't did you?" She asked Jack with a huge smile on her face.
Both he and Sam nodded.
"This has got to be a first for the entire universe. A man asks his daughters best friend to marry him on the day his daughter got married to his best friend. This has to be unique, no body else could be as twisted as this family." Lizzie almost bellowed as she grabbed her big brother in a back breaking hug.
"Let me be the first to welcome you to the family Sam, we are a screwy bunch, some of us brighter than others. But we are a happy bunch, you don't know what you are getting into." Lizzie said as she hugged.
"Jack you do realise that by marrying this woman you have effectively raised the O'Neill collective IQ several points. Well done. Although I might add that not all of us needed a boost." Lizzie joked with her brother.
"Why is it that you look at me when you make that statement? I will have you know that I am rather switched on when it comes to all of Sam's doohickie and such. I just pretend I don't know what she is on about because it makes me look adorable. Like a puppy dog." Jack stated matter of factly.
"Yes dad you keep telling yourself that." Megan said as she patted her father on the arm.
Jack was about to make a comment but was interrupted by General Hammond.
"Can everyone please take there seats it is time for the speeches. And first up I believe that we have the groom, Daniel, to toast his wife and the bridesmaids." "For anyone out there that has married their best friend, you know how I feel. Megan lights up my day, she makes me want to get out of bed every morning because I never know how she will fascinate me that day. She has given me everything that I have always wanted. She has given me a family, a second chance at life with three beautiful sons. Just like their mother, I live for them. Megan looks stunning, as do her beautiful bridesmaids."
He paused while Jack shouted "Here here," from his seat.
"I know I speak for Megan when I say this, that we value the friendship of every body here. We thank you for your love and support and most of all we thank you for being her today with us to help us celebrate this momentous occasion."
AN; I just thought I would add the Family tree again for Jack's family so no one gets confused as this chapter had some members of Jack's immediate family in it. Thanks heaps.
Elisa (65) - Jonathan (70) Airforce Ret. -Jonathan 45 (Jack) Airforce -James 43 (Jimmy) Architect -Thomas 40 (Tom) Teacher -Michael 35 (Mike) F.B.I. Agent -Elizabeth 30 (Lizzie) Doctor in the Marines
Jack -Megan 26 Airforce ? Jonathan 2years old (Johnny) ? Lachlan 6 months old (Lachie) ? Nicholas 6 months old (Nick) -Charles (Dec.) Charlie
Jimmy - Melissa 40 Hairdresser -James Jnr. 18 (JJ) -Jeffrey 16 (Jeff) -Lucy 14
Tom - Caroline 35 Teacher -Anthony 10 -Brad 8
Mike - Katrina 30 Political Speech Writer. -Rory 5
Elizabeth not married.
Chapter Twenty nine
Daniel sat down to a round of applause coming from the room.
"That was beautiful Daniel." Megan commented as he leaned in for a quick kiss before the next speaker.
General Hammond stood again and took his place behind the microphone. "Now it is time to hear from the Best man who just happens to be the father of the bride. Jack O'Neill."
Jack quickly took the microphone from the General and took a deep breath before speaking.
"I think it is well known fact that I'm not particularly fond of public speaking but when it comes to my wonderful daughter, you cant shut me up as you are about to see. Megan came into my life not long ago and she turned my world upside down. I owe a hell of a lot to the woman who was married in front of you all today. She gave me a second chance at being a father, and bought into my life three little handfuls other wise know as grandsons.
She reunited me with my family with whom I had been sort of estranged. She opened my eyes to the chance of further happiness with some one that I have cared deeply for, for a very long time. And last but not least she makes my best friend smile like I have never seen him smile before." Jack paused for a moment as he looked over at Megan and gave her a sincere smile.
"Anyway enough gushing over Megan she will never let me live it down. So I suppose I better get on with my best man duties where I believe it is my turn to embarrass the groom. That I could do, blindfolded. Danny, Danny, Danny where shall I start. Let me see I could tell everyone how you got us thrown out of a local bar for passing out on the pool table after I might add only three drinks. You are definitely a cheap date, Danny boy. Let's see what else, ah yes the fact that you seem to have frequent flyer miles to the infirmary on base. Yes ladies and gentleman I have never known a man who can take only three steps on uneven ground before he falls and breaks a leg. There are quite a few other things I can tell everyone here but I am afraid that Teal'c has been teaching Daniel hand to hand combat since I retired and although I know I could still so kick his arse. I don't want to embarrass him in front of his new in-law's." Jack stated with a huge grin.
After a collective laugh from the crowd, Jack continued.
"I do want to add just one thing to my spiel. Daniel you have made my daughter happy, you have made her family complete. In turn I'm so happy for you for finding your soul mate. But just remember friend or no friend, you hurt my little girl ...." He let it hang for a moment.
"And ill sick Teal'c on you."
Jack walked back to his seat and gave the bride and groom a hug before he sat down.
The rest of the speeches followed rather quickly, Teal'c and Jonas read out fake telegrams that Jack had written for them. Sam also got up and said a quick toast to the bridal couple.
As everyone was finished getting the glasses topped by the waiters, George took the microphone up again.
"Everyone please stand and raise your glasses to toast Health, Wealth and Happiness to Daniel and Megan. Here here." George stated followed by a round of glasses clinking.
"Now, I would like to invite Megan and Daniel to take there places on the dance floor for there bridal waltz. This is the time to remember, by Billy Joel." George said as he signalled for the lights to be turned off and the fairy lights that covered the ceiling to be turned on.
Daniel caught Megan's hand and led her to the dance floor as the lights went out.
The breath caught in the back of Megan's throat when she looked up and saw the fairly lights.
"Surprise, I wanted you to dance under the stars with me." Daniel whispered in her ear as the first bars of the music started.
Megan didn't say anything, she just looked into his eyes and smiled.
`We walked on the beach beside that old hotel They're tearin' it down now, but it's just as well I haven't shown you everything a man can do So stay with me, baby I've got plans for you
This is the time to remember 'Cause it will not last forever These are the days to hold on to 'Cause we won't, although we'll want to This is the time, But time is gonna change You've given me the best of you But now I need the rest of you
Did you know that before you came into my life It was some kind of miracle that I survived Some day we will both look back And have to laugh We lived through a lifetime And the aftermath
This is the time to remember 'Cause it will not last forever These are the days to hold on to 'Cause we won't, although we want to This is the time, But time is gonna change I know we've got to move somehow But I don't want to lose you now
Sometimes it's so easy To let a day slip on by Without even seeing each other at all But this is the time you'll turn back to and so will I And those will be days you can never recall
And so we embrace again Behind the dunes This beach is so cold on winter afternoons But holding you close is like holding the summer sun I'm warm from the memory of days to come
This is the time to remember 'Cause it will not last forever These are the days to hold on to 'Cause we won't, although we'll want to This is the time, But time is gonna change You've given me the best of you But now I need the rest of you
Daniel grabbed Megan around the waist and dipped her as the song finished and kissed her passionately when she rose. Everyone applauded the beautiful waltz that they had just watched. "Now I would like to invite the bridal party and any one else that wishes to join the bridal couple on the dance floor for the next song." Well, it's a marvelous night for a moondance With the stars up above in your eyes A fantabulous night to make romance 'Neath the cover of October skies And all the leaves on the trees are falling To the sound of the breezes that blow And I'm trying to please to the calling Of your heart-strings that play soft and low And all the night's magic seems to whisper and hush And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush
Jack tapped Daniel on the back just before the chorus started to trade dancing partners. He turned to his daughter and asked "may I have the rest of this dance." As he pulled her away from her husband depositing the hand of his beautiful fiance in Daniels hand he whispered in her ear, "now if you spent as much time with your other father as you claim to have, you will know how to swing dance?" as he spun her out of his arms. He took the huge smile on her face as a yes and proceeded to wow the crowd with some rather good moves from both of them as the song continued.
Can I just have one a' more moondance with you, my love Can I just make some more romance with a-you, my love Well I wanna make love to you tonight I can't wait till the morning has come And I know now the time is just right And straight into my arms you will run And when you come my heart will be waiting To make sure you're never alone There and then all my dreams will come true, dear There and then I will make you my own And everytime I touch you, you just tremble inside And I know how much you want me that you can't hide
Can I just have one a' more moondance with you, my love Can I just make some more romance with a-you, my love
Well, it's a marvelous night for a moondance With the stars up above in your eyes A fantabulous night to make romance 'Neath the cover of October skies And all the leaves on the trees are falling To the sound of the breezes that blow And I'm trying to please to the calling Of your heart-strings that play soft and low And all the night's magic seems to whisper and hush And all the soft moonlight seems to shine in your blush
One more moondance with you in the moonlight Can't I just have one more dance with you my love
As the song came to a close everyone stopped to applaud the terrific dancing of father and daughter. "My knees aren't made for dancing any more." Jack said as he gave his daughter a hug. "Maybe not but I'm not complaining, that was great dad. I didn't realise that you knew how to dance like that. My other father taught me when I was a teenager. That was so much fun. You have a break then treat Sam to the same." Megan stated as she took pity on her father and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Jack well done, didn't know you had it in you." Daniel stated as he walked over to them. "Now if you don't mind I will be stealing my wife back and dancing the night away." He finished by taking Megan's hand and leading her back on to the dance floor. "Jack, that was fantastic. I never knew you could dance like that. I always knew you had the right moves but........" Sam said as she took a hold of Jack's hand. Jack pulled her into sideways hug and kissed her before she could finish the thought. Not realising that he had a set of very angry eyes boring a hole into his back at that same time.
Caroline sat at the table by herself, watching what was happening around her. Her husband Tom was up dancing with his mother and the boys were off chasing their cousins, much to her detriment. She had watched as everyone else had the little performance put on by Jack and Megan. She had also seen that all night that blonde bitch of Jack's had been hanging off of his arm. Sam. She didn't even like the name. Talk about boyish. Nobody called her Samantha, except Megan when she was teasing earlier today as they had been getting ready. Caroline had guessed that Jack and the bitch had gotten engaged outside earlier. She had seen Megan at the window and wondered what she was smiling at. After Megan had turned away and walked into the other room, she had gone over to the window to look for herself. Caroline had seen Jack get down on one knee and hand over a ring box. She couldn't believe he was that stupid to marry another bimbo. Sarah had been bad enough. "Caroline what are you looking at?" Katrina interrupted her thoughts. "Nothing. Just watching the dancing." Caroline lied. "Isn't it nice to see Jack so happy. After everything he has been through he really deserves some peace." Katrina stated knowing that it would piss Caroline off. She thoroughly enjoyed doing it, one of the many joys of her life as she often bragged to her other sister-in-laws. When she received nothing but a scowl from Caroline, Katrina got up to go anywhere else. "Honestly Caroline, I don't know why Tom puts up with you. Lusting after his brother like that. It is low, even for you." Katrina commented over her shoulder as she walked over to Lizzie to fill her in on what Caroline was up to. --------------------------------------------"You might just want to keep an eye on her. We don't want her making a scene, at least while Megan and Daniel are still here. Do you think we should tell Jack?" Katrina asked Lizzie while they stood over near the bar. "Tell him what, all she has done is stare at him all afternoon. I'm sure he has noticed, he isn't blind, but I think he is dutifully ignoring her. Anyway Sam has his attention at the moment." Lizzie pointed over to the darkened part of the reception hall behind the bridal table, where two lone figures were swaying to the music. "I wish I had that type of romance in my live again." Katrina complained good naturedly. "What are you to gabbing on about now?" Her husband said as he grabbed her around the waist and nuzzled her neck. "Just commenting on how nice it is to see Jack so happy." Katrina commented. "I think it is fantastic. And plus who is going to complain about the eye candy that he will be bringing to all the family events now." Mike said with a huge grin on his face ready to duck the coming blows from both the women. "Smart arse. I don't know how I survived with all you idiots as brothers. No I think I should say that I don't know how I am not a lesbian because of seeing how stupid men are." Lizzie laughed at him as he grabbed her soft punch in his hand and dragged her into a sideway hug on one side with Katrina on the other. "You both love me, I'm too adorable not to love. And you my dear are about to be swept off you feet by the love of your life to have a dance." He said as he turned to his wife. Katrina looked all around her and innocently turned to her husband, "Now who would that be?" Lizzie shook her head, as Mike dragged his wife out on to the dance floor. She kept an eye on Caroline from a distance just making sure that Jack wasn't disturbed tonight of all nights. She was just thinking that the rest of the night was going to be interesting when Daniel appeared in front of her, dragging her to the dance floor, stating simply that it was her turn for a dance.
A/N Thank you all so much for commenting on my other chapters and I would again appreciate as much feed back as humanly possible from everyone who reads this. The next chapter will be a few weeks away as I am going down to Brisbane to visit my family and be my sisters Matron of Honour when she walks down the Aisle on the 16th of April. For those of you who don't know I have just recently moved to North Queensland, (Australia). SO I apologise for the delays in writing the new chapters. Any one that knows what it is like to move and start a new job knows what I mean. Also I just want to let everyone know that the song used for the bridal waltz "This is the time to remember" by Billy Joel, was my wedding song boy I cant believe it was almost three years ago that I got married my self, how time flies. The second song, Moondance, the Michael Buble version is just a favourite of mine.
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