“When Jack came in to see Megan, he called Enki,” Michael said. “Enki forced Jack to ‘reach’ for Megan. What was that about?”
“Did he put his hand on Megan and concentrate?” Daniel asked, glancing at Sam. Michael nodded. “You’ll need to ask Jack, I’m sorry; it’s one of those top-secret things and I don’t have permission to discuss it.”
“Can I ask one more thing?” Michael asked, feeling devoid of anything. Everything seemed to be top-secret lately.
“Sure.”
“I’d like to christen my new granddaughter. Do you think Jack will argue about it?”
“Jack has a very large heart,” Daniel said. “I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”
Michael put the photo into a box. “Jack isn’t the only one with a large heart, Daniel.”
That Sunday, the entire family stood in church for Olivia’s christening. The service for her mother and great-grandfather would take place in the afternoon with the memorial in the evening. They would be buried on Monday. Jack wasn’t sure how to help Nate who was also in deep mourning, so he handed Olivia to him and sent him and Cassandra to the front of the chapel. Michael said the prayers and blessings and poured water on the baby’s head. Olivia wasn’t happy about the shock of the cold water and made her feelings known. After services, Nate put his arms around Jack and hugged him hard, whispering a thank you in his ear.
They waited in chambers while the church was cleared of the morning christening service and prepared for funeral services. Jack’s SF had the neighborhood surrounded on the assumption that if Andrew was going to show up, it would be for the funeral. A few men stood politely at the back of the church during services, guns hidden inside jackets. Adults were spread out, keeping the children between them. Jack and Michael both spoke and Katie read a poem that her mom had written. The church was filled with parishioners from both Michael’s and Megan’s congregations. Megan’s priest, Father Andrew, conducted most of the service. When it came time to go up to the coffins, none of the children were forced to go. Davy was on Jack’s hip, thumb in his mouth, as they walked slowly up. Tom’s coffin was closed, but Megan’s was open.
“You don’t need to be afraid,” Jack whispered to Davy. He reached out and touched Megan’s hair. “Do you want to kiss mommy and say good-bye?”
Davy shook his head and turned away. Jack patted him and handed him off to Michael before putting his mouth to Megan’s forehead. He took Olivia from Sam.
“She’s here, Megs,” Jack said, holding the baby for her mother to see. She had stayed in the NICU for another few days, but her lungs were fine, and the doctors reluctantly decreed it was safe to take her home. “She’s safe and healthy. You do good work, honey, she looks just like you. She will be loved, Megs, and so will Katie, Matthew, and Davy. I love you, honey.” He lowered Olivia, touching the tiny bow mouth to the cold lips. Katie and Matthew were both white-faced and brave in their silent tears as they bent and kissed Megan’s cheek.
As they were walking back down the aisle, Davy turned and ran back to the front of the church. Michael lifted him up and Davy put his mouth to his mother’s cheek.
“I love you, Mommy.”
A combination police and military escort led the way back to Maggie’s house. The press were on the job, but were kept away by chilly military SF. The children were exhausted so they were put to bed when they got home. Olivia was content in her sling across anyone’s chest, but she seemed to be more relaxed on Jack’s chest. He hated funerals. He hated family funerals most of all, and this was one funeral he wished he wasn’t participating in. Sam was close by, keeping watch on him as she took over as lady of the house and kept things moving. Maggie certainly wasn’t up to the job and was grateful to let Sam take the lead.
Nick snuck in and made his way to Sam. He bent and whispered. She nodded and he left.
Jack was running on fumes by the time everyone left in the evening. His mother had long since gone to bed, and Sam and Daniel were feeding the kids, so Jack and Michael cleaned up. At one point, Jack dropped the bag he was carrying and put his arms around his brother.
The burial and the next several days went by in a blur. Jack was on automatic as he took care of the details while Michael dealt with Megan’s house. Nick had cornered Andrew and delivered him to cousin Joey at the station. Andrew didn’t care that Megan was dead, it was her own fault; if she had obeyed him, he would have been the one driving and this wouldn’t have happened. Jack’s lawyers got together with Andrew’s lawyers and papers were signed handing over guardianship of the older children and the adoption of Olivia to Jack. Jack was once more a father.
Jack, Michael, Nate, and Maggie flew to Arlington and buried Tom. Jack asked Sam and Daniel to stay and take care of the kids for a couple of days. It didn’t seem to occur to Maggie that she was surrounded by some of the most powerful men in the world, nor that it was the Secretary General of the United States that handed her the folded flag from her husband’s coffin. Jack was surprised to see Maynard and Vidrine at the funeral; he knew that the heavy-duty guard was more for his safety, than for paying honor to an old war veteran.
Once they were back in Minnesota, Daniel and Stacy drove a van filled with the kids’ stuff to Colorado, and Jack and Sam got school and medical records together. Jack tried to convince his mother to move to Colorado, but she wasn’t ready to leave the house she and Tom had raised their sons in. Michael promised to stay with her for a while and keep an eye on her. Jack was still worried about her; she was over eighty and her husband of sixty-three years was suddenly gone. O’Neills and McCallisters tended to be long in the tooth, though, so she had a few more years in her.
By the time Jack and Sam got home with the children, Daniel, Paul, and Nate had the bedrooms fixed up. They had a door cut into the boys’ room to make the bathroom a dual access. Although Davy didn’t want to be cut off from Matthew in their bedroom, the guys understood the needs of a fourteen year old, so they compromised; they got four -four foot bookshelves and semi-separated the room, two shelves back to back, giving the boys a sense of privacy and a place to store things, while still being able to see each other. Daniel had found a couple of magazines while boxing up Matthew’s room; he didn’t say anything, just boxed them up with the rest of Matthew’s stuff. He did add a small box of condoms to the boy’s bedside table, along with a note about proper disposal and a reminder about small children. Katie was low on her own supplies, so Daniel added those to her dresser, along with a box of condoms. He didn’t think either of them was currently active, but they were teenagers and no matter what the adults said, the teens would be following their hormones.
A section of their dressing room was cleared and made into a temporary nursery. They had found a crib and baby supplies while clearing out Megan’s house, and brought everything down. Paul looked at the sketches Jack had been doing on the house and began calling contractors. A house suddenly filled with four children and one baby was going to explode if they couldn’t spread out.
“This is more than you bargained for,” Paul said quietly.
“I love him, Paul,” Daniel said. “We will adapt.”
Nate went around and checked locks on doors and windows, and had Nick install better security on the gun cabinet in Jack’s office. Once Nick understood Nate’s place in the world, he didn’t question the orders from the teenager. Nate puttered, doing anything to keep himself occupied. Daniel didn’t try and stop him.
The children were subdued when everyone arrived. It was expected that Katie and Matthew would be angry and Davy confused. The baby was fussy over all the action and she was put into her crib right away for quiet time. The older kids were told they could re-arrange their rooms, if they wanted to. Paul left the family to get themselves together. Nate followed him out even though he knew he could stay.
When all the kids settled into their rooms, Jack collapsed onto the couch. He was cried out, his face pale, exhausted.
“Are you able to eat something?
” Daniel asked Jack. “There’s chicken salad in the fridge.”
Jack shook his head. “Do we need to renegotiate anything?” he asked after a moment. Daniel sat on the couch, pushing Jack’s hip over.
“No, we don’t,” he said. “We didn’t use the words, but this is for better or worse. It WILL get better. I promise.” Jack pulled him down.
More than once their bed was crowded with children by the time the adults woke up in the mornings that week. At Daniel’s suggestion, Jack called Dr. Edmonds and convinced the good doctor to come over for a house-call for the whole family. Since the children knew nothing of Nate’s peculiar place in all of it, he went to Edmonds’ office with Jack for a private meeting. It came out that although the children were certainly upset about the deaths of the mother and great-grandfather, they were equally disturbed that their father didn’t want them, which accounted for a death in and of itself, as well as a major personal rejection. What would make them feel better about that, the doctor asked?
“I wish Uncle Jack was our Daddy,” Davy said around the thumb.
“But you’ll be living with Uncle Jack and he’ll be taking care of you,” Dr. Edmonds reminded him.
“Can’t he adopt me, too?” Davy asked. It took a while for Davy to understand that Uncle Jack was adopting Olivia because she was a baby and their mother asked him to, and that Uncle Jack would be her Daddy.
“I don’t want to be a Carmichael,” Katie said, sticking her chin out in a familiar, stubborn gesture. “Dad doesn’t want us, he doesn’t love us, so I don’t want his name.” Matthew agreed. Edmonds looked at Jack who was nonplussed.
“All three of you want me to adopt you?” Jack asked. Katie was snuggled under his arm and nodded against his chest. The boys agreed. After looking at Sam and Daniel, Jack agreed to call his lawyer in the morning.
By dinner, Davy was calling Jack Daddy. He felt as though he should be arguing about it but couldn’t come up with a good reason, and even if he did come up with a reason, Davy wouldn’t understand it. Andrew ran out on the kids and had no problem with Jack taking them. He didn’t want his children. Jack was afraid that not allowing the “Daddy” would give Davy the same message of rejection.
After the paperwork was on its way through the court system, Jack relaxed in a warm bath with a naked baby against his chest. Sam came in to brush her teeth. She would be going back to work in the morning, much to her own irritation, but Jack agreed with Dr. Edmonds that they all needed to get settled back into their routines and give the children structure. “She alright?” Sam asked.
Jack nodded. “Sometimes it’s easier than filling the sink and trying not to get wet while the baby is getting wet.” He used his hand to gently wash her down with the baby soap, and massaged the tiny feet and toes. He pressed his mouth to the top of the fuzzy, bald head as she gripped his finger in a tiny fist.
“In a matter of months, you’ve gone from lover and husband, to the father of four,” she commented. “Five, if you count step-father. How are you dealing?”
“I feel like the Brady Bunch,” he said. “It’s no wonder that man was gay.”
She tapped her tooth brush on his head.
“I think the more important question is, how are you dealing?” Jack asked, trickling water over Olivia’s head and rinsing the baby soap off her head. His mind was numb, random thoughts and images popping in and out.
“I’m scared, to be honest,” Sam said, sitting on the side of the tub and touching Olivia’s head with a finger. “I’m not sure I can be a mother; I was just getting used to Stacy. And I’m not trying to put off any responsibility, but I really think we need a nanny. It’s one thing to send Stacy to Nate or someone else for a few hours, it’s another thing to find someone to take four kids and a newborn if all three of us happen to be out for a few days.”
“I hadn’t considered that; you’re right,” Jack said with a nod. “Where do we find a nanny to pass THIS security clearance?”
“England,” Davis said the next day when Jack asked him. He made a few phone calls and got the name of an agency that provided nannies to the Royals. Jack considered giving Paul a raise.
The kids were settled into school along with the prerequisite IDs and emergency contact numbers. M’Net showed up and said he would be honored if they would allow him to assist in Olivia’s care until they found a proper caretaker. Jack and Daniel looked at each other, shrugged, and showed M’Net how to care for a human baby. T’Keet was awed by the tiny thing and had to be instructed on claws and playtime. Much to her disappointment, human babies weren’t up to running around with Sua cubs until almost two-years-old. A ten-year-old boy was, though, and Jack was glad to hear Davy running and laughing in the yard with T’Keet. A visiting, well-intentioned neighbor almost dropped the brownie pan when M’Net answered the door.
They found a contractor who seemed capable of creating an addition to the house and keeping it in the style of the rest of the house. Jack added to the plans by putting in a porch and hot-tub. Sam decided she wanted a fireplace, and Daniel added a nanny’s room on the other side of the house along the library wall. He didn’t want anything for himself, the hot-tub and fireplace were plenty to keep him happy.
“There are little people running around calling me Daddy again,” Jack told him. Stacy had surprised him with a “Dad” earlier in the evening.
“Jack, you were born to be a father,” Daniel told him, glancing at him from over his glasses. “I don’t think you realize how much you light up when you’re around kids. Go kill all the Goa’uld you want, it’s the kids who have taken you prisoner.”
The big bad general highly doubted that, and went into his office to deal with some of the email Davis had sent through to him. It seemed that every leader in the world had sent condolences. His staff responded politely to most of them, with the remainder, some for the sake of politics, others for their sincerity, sent on to Jack to handle as he saw fit. Flowers by the truck load were sent to his home, the SGC, and HomeSec. After the staff had their pick of whatever came, the rest were sent to hospitals, rest homes, and local cemeteries. None made their way into their home, considering Daniel’s allergies. Candy and food baskets were sent to soup kitchens. Jack finally had Davis call the news stations, local and national, and ask that all gifts, while sentiment appreciated, be stopped. They had no more room. If people would like, they can send donations to the organizations of their choice. Campaigns against drunk driving were hit with windfalls.
Stacy’s birthday was a week after Jack’s. It would be a bitter-sweet fifty-five for him, not having his father or Megan present. He wanted a quiet day, not big party; he didn’t think he could handle a party. He didn’t want a party at all, but Dr Edmonds said to get routines back to normal. They had a small dinner with just the household and Nate and Cassie. Nate had changed his official birthday to the day Loki sent him to take Jack’s place. A few days before Stacy’s birthday, Jack took her out for a date, just the two of them. Daniel took her out for her actual birthday, their first together, and returned home for cake and ice cream and presents. A few of the neighborhood children were surprised by the presence of alien children for a kids’ party, but the SGC kids were not. Katie and Matthew were a little moody, which the adults over-looked and told them that they could go to a movie or something, if they didn’t want to participate in the party. It was understandable that they weren’t in a party mood. Jack had to party, they did not.
They had the nanny’s room built first, needing to get a nanny in place before too much longer; none of the adults could remember the last full night’s sleep, and this time it wasn’t caused by one of them trying to jump the other. Hardly a night went by when one of them wasn’t up tending to a weepy child.
Once word got out that there was building going on at the house, there were a lot of people who seemed to have extra lumber and bricks lying around and brought it all over in an offering. There were also quite a few SGC personnel who apparently didn’t have anyt
hing better to do on their days off than to stop by, claim boredom, and offer to lend a hand by picking up a hammer or whatever else needed to be done. The big, bad, military men also took turns on bottle and diaper duty for a tiny baby girl who only had to blink and the men would melt. Anunnaki showed up, telling Jack that if they could build an entire civilization, they could certainly build an extension onto a house. The contractor Jack hired wasn’t sure how to handle alien workers, and the union was up in arms, but Jack declared the building onto his house to be a military issue, so keep their unions to themselves. The contractor was impressed at how hard the alien and military crew actually worked and listened to direction.
Jack was feeling guilty. “I told him I hated him, Danny,” he confessed, lying across the bed, listening to industry downstairs. It was eating him up inside, the way he spoke to the old man when they had gone to the hospital. He didn’t normally allow himself to feel guilt over actions he deemed necessary, but he wasn’t sure being mean to an old man had been necessary.
“Jack, he knows you were lashing out in grief,” Daniel told him. “Just go talk with him.”
Just to get out of the noise and chaos, Jack requested to be beamed up. He was escorted to Enki’s lab where something industrious was going on in large, clear tanks. Some were filled with fog, some rained, some snowed, and others had what looked like embryos of something growing in them.
Enki wouldn’t hear about apologies, having dismissed Jack’s lashing out.
“I’ve lost children, Jack, I understand,” Enki told him. “Ninurta isn’t the only child I fathered.
“What I don’t understand is what you’re trying to do with this sensing thing,” Jack said.
“Jack, you have had the knowledge of the Ancients downloaded into your brain twice. The Asgard did what they could by shutting off all those new connections, but the human brain is a tricky thing. I should know, I’m the one who set your neural net. The brain has many back-up systems; even someone with amnesia doesn’t truly forget anything, the information is simply shut off. You wouldn’t be sitting here talking, if the Asgard removed the entire physical repository in your brain. With an amnesiac or someone with certain kinds of brain damage, access can be had by building a new path around the pot-hole. The Asgard gave you amnesia. All that information from the Ancients is still in there, the door is only closed for safety. Like your gun cabinet. With the correct key, it can be unlocked. This particular gun cabinet is bursting at the seams, though, and you need to expand it.”
The Anunnaki Unification, Book 2: A Staraget SG-1 Fan Fiction Story Page 8