Spoilers: AU, but there are many sticking similarities between seasons 1 through 3 of SG-1.

Pairings: Sam/Jack

AN: Well, this is another cliché fic, with my own personal twist. With that in mind, it is without a doubt AU.

Chapter 1

Sam might have only known her teammates for a short time, but there was no way she could out rightly lie to them, especially the Colonel.

"I have a daughter," she admitted slowly in response to the Colonel's question if she had any children.

"Really?" he asked, sounding surprised. "I have a son myself," he admitted proudly.

"Married?" Sam questioned, curious about the family she didn't realize the man had.

"Never," Jack responded.

"Me neither."

The discussion of their family differences or maybe it was similarities ended there, because a Lieutenant came to get the Major.

oooooooooooooooooooooo

"Sir," Sam said as she came to attention for the General.

"Major," the General greeted her. "There was something you wanted to discuss with me?"

"Yes sir. You know about my relationship with Jonas Hanson?" she asked hesitantly and received a nod in response.

"And why we split up?"

"I heard rumors," Hammond admitted.

Sam though about what she was going to say before she continued. "I ended my engagement before I found out I was pregnant and considering why we separated, I thought it best not to inform Jonas. I transferred here and had Jennifer. My dad retired and is currently taking care of her. When Jonas arrived at the SGC, we put the plans on hold for Dad to move out here with her, now that he's dead…" Sam trailed off.

"You can put those plans into motion once more," Hammond finished for her.

"Yes sir," Sam agreed with him.

"Take some time off," Hammond instructed, "Get your family settled."

Sam smiled in thanks and then paused.

"Is there something else Major?"

"I'm not sure I want to continue going through the gate as part of SG-1," she admitted, "I don't want to leave my daughter without a mother."

"Have you talked this over with your teammates?" he asked, "Because I can't imagine them letting you go that easily."

"No sir, you're the first I've told."

"Sam," the man sighed, "I'm not sure what your career aspirations are, but you should be sure about leaving SG-1 before you do it," Hammond cautioned. "Talk it over with Colonel O'Neill too. He has a son and is also a single parent, from what I understand, he might be able to offer some suggestions," Hammond said in a softer tone.

oooooooooooooooooooooo

Twenty minutes later, Colonel O'Neill repeated the trek that Sam had made earlier, coming to an end in Hammond's office.

"Colonel O'Neill," Hammond began, "How are things working out between you and Major Carter?"

"Fine sir."

"No reason that she might be thinking of leaving the team?"

"No sir!" Jack assured him.

"Good."

"Did Carter say something to you?" Jack asked.

"Nothing specific son…"

"Is it about her daughter?" Jack guessed, thinking about the new piece of information he had learned about his teammate.

"What do you know about Sam's daughter?" Hammond quickly asked.

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "I just found out today that she has one," Jack explained. "Couldn't even tell you her name."

Hammond looked at the younger officer curiously.

"Guess I'll pay her a visit," Jack finished, "Can't have members of my team not knowing each other's family."

oooooooooooooooooooooo

Jack had to weasel the address for Sam Carter out of the new tech sergeant before he left, so he was running a few minutes late picking Charlie up at school, not that anyone could tell by the amount of enthusiasm Charlie showed.

'You would think that I've been gone for weeks instead of a couple of days,' Jack thought as he gathered his son in a hug, before dumping him in the backseat of the pick-up.

Charlie buckled himself in and asked, "So what are we doing this weekend Dad?"

"I thought about having a BBQ and inviting my team over. That sound good to you buddy?"

"Does that mean I get to meet Sam and Teal'c and see Daniel again?" the boy asked excitedly.

"Yousurebetchya."

oooooooooooooooooooooo

The BBQ ended up being on Sunday because it took Jack that long to get a hold of everyone.

Daniel and Teal'c showed up first, allowing Daniel to engage Charlie in a discussion about how school was going. Teal'c remained the strong and silent observer, waiting until the time came that he could ask questions about the Americanisms that he didn't understand.

Jack was almost convinced Sam wasn't coming when she staggered into the backyard with a little girl that looked just Sam in her arms and a bag thrown over her shoulder.

"I was starting to think you weren't coming," Jack claimed as he reached out, trying to take the girl from her. His attempts was met with resistance as the child threw her arms around Sam's neck and refused to let go.

"Sorry sir," Sam said as she handed the bag over.

"Don't worry about it. I've been there too," Jack insisted as he smiled at the girl trying to appear as non-threatening as possible.

Sam sat down in an empty chair and tried to move her daughter away from her neck, but ended up giving in to the child's desire not to let go.

"She's being more clingy than normal," Sam said.

"That's too bad," Jack claimed, injecting a sad tone to his voice, "Charlie was looking for someone to go play in the SANDBOX with him. Guess he'll have to go play all by himself now."

"O'Neill, what is this sandbox?" Teal'c asked as the girl's head slowly turned and she searched around the backyard for the aforementioned sandbox.

"You've never played in a sandbox?" Charlie asked incredulously.

"I have not."

"Come on then, let me show you how to make a sand castle," Charlie cried as he got up and grabbed the larger man's as if to drag him to the sandbox by force.

"Would you like to join us Major Carter?" Teal'c asked.

Sam looked at her daughter's pleading eyes and then back at the Jaffa.

"Nah, I'm not too good at the whole building sand castle thing. I've always let this one do all the construction, maybe you should ask her," Sam suggested.

Everyone held their breath as the attention went to the little girl in Sam's lap.

Teal'c held out his hand and softened his voice.

"Do you wish to help me construct a sand castle…"

"Jennifer," Sam mouthed to the Jaffa.

"Jennifer Carter?" Teal'c finished.

If Jennifer Carter had been a Gou'ald her eyes would have flashed.

"My name not Jenniver. Me Jenny Carter," she insisted in a voice that probably would have been accompanied by the stamp of a foot had she been standing.

"I will endeavor to remember that Jenny Carter," Teal'c promised, as he once more extended his hand.

Jenny looked at her mom who nodded her head and smiled encouragingly, all while holding her breath. Tentatively, Jenny placed her hand in Teal'c's where it was engulfed by the man's larger hand. He gave it a small tug and Jenny slid from her mother's lap.

"Will she eat a hot dog?" Jack asked interrupting Sam as she watched her daughter 'help' Charlie show Teal'c how to build a sandcastle.

"If you can drag her away from the sandbox, sir," Sam responded.

"It's Jack," he responded, "When we're off duty, call me Jack."

"Okay, Jack."

"Hold on a second," Daniel interrupted, "Since when does Sam have a daughter?"

"She's three Daniel and I'll explain everything later," she promised.

"Promise?"

"Promise," Sam declared.

"Supper," Jack called.

Charlie quickly dropped his bucket and shovel and Teal'c followed suit, but Jenny seemed content to continue playing in the sandbox. Sam rose to go get her, but Jack placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Allow me," he said quietly.

"Hey Charlie," Jack said loudly.

"Yeah Dad?"

"Run inside and get the chocolate cake off the counter for me please," Jack requested.

With a flash, Jenny was out of the sandbox and onto the deck, looking for her mom. Sam put the girl on her knee and gave her a plate of food. She watched out of the corner of her eye as Jack sat down next to her, the chocolate cake sitting just a little to his left, just out of Jenny's reach.

Jenny studied the man, who for the most part ignored her, while she basically picked at her food. Every so often her glance would dart to the chocolate cake.

For once, Sam decided to let the girl be and let Jack handle the picky eater. After all, he had done pretty well so far.

Everyone but Jenny had cleaned their plates. Jack cut the cake and distributed a piece to everyone save Jenny.

Jenny noticed this and waited patiently for him to put apiece on her plate. When Jack didn't and instead sat down at the picnic table to eat his own large piece, Jenny let her feelings on the matter be known. She reached out and poked Jack in the arm until she gained his attention.

Before she knew what was happening, Jenny had been removed from her mother's lap and as now sitting between her mom and the strange man. She would have protested but now she was closer to the cake that she hadn't gotten a piece of!

She tried maneuvering her body to reach the cake, but found herself constrained by an arm.

"No," she screamed, "I want a piece of cake!"

"You can have the last piece of cake once you clean your plate," the strange man told her.

"No! I want cake," Jenny demanded.

"Finish your dinner," the voice suggested, "Or I'll eat that piece of cake."

The girl's eyes grew large as she looked back and forth between the piece of cake waiting for her and the half-eaten piece of cake on the man's plate. As if by magic, her own plate appeared in front of her and she dug in with gusto, keeping one eye on 'her' piece of cake at all times.

Every so often whenever Jack thought she wasn't looking, his fork would dart out like he was going to take a bit from 'her' cake only to detour back to his piece when her head would start to turn to look at him. Jack got so caught up in playing the 'game' that he totally missed that Jenny had finished her food and was eyeing his piece of cake.

Keeping a careful eye on Jack's reaction, she stuck her fork in his cake and took the last bite. Jack was so focused on the fact he finally hadn't gotten caught trying to eat 'her' cake that he totally missed Jenny's actions- until he went to eat the last bite of his piece of cake, which wasn't there anymore!

"Hey!" he exclaimed and started looking around for the culprit. Daniel, Teal'c, Sam, and Charlie managed to hide their amusement with looks of professed innocence, but Jenny broke out in giggles, her mouth still full of the stolen piece of cake.

"Why you little cake stealer," he growled as he reached oven and attacked the girl, tickling Jenny until she was gasping for breath.

When she could finally breathe again, she objected, "You stole my cake virst."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too times a thousand."

"Did not times a billion gazillion," Jack added.

"I win," Jenny declared with a triumphant smile. "A gazillion is not a real number, right Mommy?"

All eyes turned to Sam who smiled at her daughter, "Right."

Jack threw up his hands and admitted defeat, "All right, you win," he declared.

And then Jennifer Lynn Carter did something she had never done before. She climbed into Jack's lap and proceeded to eat her piece of cake. Even after she finished eating, she didn't move, which was another first for the young girl. It took encouragement from her mother and Charlie for her to leave her new seat and play on the swing set-tree house combination that was in another corner of the backyard.

The team cleared the dishes from the table and sat down again, watching the children play waiting for Sam to being her story.

oooooooooooooooooooooo