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Story Notes: In Demand 24: Season: Future

Spoilers: CotG, Woo, – general knowledge through season 7 and the previous parts of this series.

Sequel: Part 24 of the In Demand series (The final part!!!)

Previous parts are:

In Demand, Momentum, Epidemic, See Jack Run, Classified, Prelude, Discoveries, Under Surveillance, T-Ball, Homerun, Good Things, Tell Her, Bad Days, Batteries, Bliss, Where You Lead, Phone Bills, Just Another Sunday, Prodigal Son, In the Pilot's Seat, Killing Time, Care Package and Blue Skies

Author's Notes: I made it – I have to admit I had my doubts, but here it is! The end!


February, 2028



Even when I was very young on some level I realized that my family was not ordinary. Oh, I have a Mom and a Dad, two older sisters and a twin brother, a grandfather and various uncles, aunts and cousins like any normal family. It is the individuals themselves that are far from ordinary. First of all while it is not terribly unusual in a town with a large military presence to have two parents who are officers, having both a Mom and a Dad who are Generals is downright unheard of. Dad was already a General when I was born. Mom was promoted to that rank right after my brother Danny and I turned four. Dad was a two star when he finally 'retired' 7 years ago, although I use the term retired loosely. He still is very active consulting and training. Mom was promoted to a two star not long after that. All bets are that she will surpass Dad's rank, although she talks more and more about retiring next year at age 60 instead of waiting until she's 65. Dad just smiles and nods when she brings up the subject. She would be bored in a week.

My mother is brilliant. Dad's no dummy either no matter how much he pretends to be. Needless to say my siblings and I are no slouches in the brains department. Janet, who is five years older the me, graduated from MIT at age 20 and is currently finishing up her masters. She plans to expand on some of Mom's past work as the basis for her thesis when she goes for her PHD at University of Chicago. Georgia, my other sister is at the Airforce Academy following in Mom and Dad's footsteps. Well, mostly Dad's as she is his clone. Sarcastic and irreverent, I can't count the number of times my mother has gone to Dad complaining about the mischief that 'his daughter' has gotten into. Then there is my twin bother Daniel, who has already been accepted at no less than six major universities for pre-med. He announced at age 10 he wanted to be a doctor, and has never looked back. Mom had tears in her eyes that day, and it was the first time we heard the full story of my sister Janet's namesake.

As for me? I've known since I was sixteen that all I had to do to get an appointment to the Academy was ask. I've spent a lot of time debating the issue over the past two years, Mom and Dad have never pushed, and both have been very forthcoming about the good and the bad aspects of a military life. I have to admit that although I tend to be more of a scholar I have enough of the daredevil in me to find the idea of the Air Force appealing. Mom says that because I am a perfect blending of her and Dad. Dad smiled at that and reminded her that she flew F-16's and rode a motorcycle, and hadn't been above a bit of an adrenaline rush herself. That had gotten my curiosity peaked. It was hard to see my Mom as a wild women, but over the years I have seen flashes of it, especially when she's whipping everyone's butt's at pool. I probably shouldn't be surprised since I know now what my parents used to do for a living.

When I was eight, like all young boys, I thought my Dad was a hero. I loved looking at all of his medals. It never really occurred to me that Mom had quite a few, too, and that they didn't give them out for scientific achievement. Then the Stargate was made public and suddenly Janey, Georgia, Danny and I saw our parents in a whole new light. They both were truly heroes. It was hard to reconcile the incredible stories with the loving people that I've always known. Mom and Dad quickly whisked the four of us off to the cabin in Minnesota, where we spent a week fishing, hiking and talking. They let us ask any questions we wanted to, and by the end of the week we knew a lot about Uncle Teal'c and the Jaffa, Grandpa Jacob and the Tok'Ra, the Goa'uld and the Asguard. It was a week none of us will ever forget.

Boy were the four of us popular when we got back to school. Even Janet, who at thirteen was a braniac without the advantage of being the beauty she is now, was instantly one of the 'cool' kids. Mom and Dad worked hard to keep us grounded, and eventually life settled down again. It was easy to forget that some of my family weren't human, especially Cassie whom we had always looked up to like a big sister. What I didn't realize was that even I wasn't totally human.

Mom had told us how she had once been a host to a Tok'Ra named Jolinar, and how the symbiote had died to save her life. She never mentioned the protein marker or the Naquada in her blood. When each of my sister's turned eighteen she had taken them off for what she called a bonding weekend. Just recently it was Daniel and my turns. She took us separately, Daniel first, then several weeks later she headed out with me. That was when I learned that I had trace amounts of Naquada in my blood.

I was stunned when she pulled out a ribbon device and showed me how it worked. Then she showed me the healing device and let the soft glow move over a small cut I had received doing yard work the week before. I was fascinated. I eagerly tried both devices but couldn't get either if them to work. Mom wasn't surprised. She said as twins Daniel and I had a lot less Naquada than my sisters had gotten, and Danny hadn't been able to make the devices work either. My sisters had only had limited success, Janet being able to make the healing device work, while Georgia had only gotten the ribbon device to activate.

Danny had been upset. As a doctor he could have really used the healing device. Mom told me the same thing she told him, to not be disappointed. This way we would never be faced with a situation where we would have to make a decision to use the devices. She quietly admitted that it had always upset her to do so, and that when she had failed, it had been even more distressful. If possible, my respect for my mother grew that day.

Looking back on my childhood, what's really interesting is that in spite of all of the extraordinary people surrounding me, my life was pretty normal. All four of us kids played sports, and for the most part Mom and Dad were there in the stands cheering. Often times Uncle Teal'c or Uncle Daniel would come too. They probably attended more of our school events than most of my friends working parents did. Dad once said that it was because they appreciated how quickly something could happen to take one of us away from them. It wasn't until recently that I understood how much loss they had suffered. Charlie, Grandma Marie, Aunt Janet, plus all the other friends and comrades they had lost over the years had made them cherish every family moment that they could.

I think that is why everyone gathered today is in such a joyful mood. Most of them have experienced loss in their lives, but are here today to celebrate life, with all of it's ups and downs, and the love and hard work that went into building this incredible family. Today is my parent's twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. The house if full. Even grandpa George is here, having been sprung from the retirement home by one of his granddaughters. He's been a bit depressed since a mild stroke put him in a wheelchair two months ago, but today he is laughing and joking and the twinkle is back in his eyes. He's surrounded by his own great-grandchildren, and several of his adopted SGC grandchildren, telling stories to go along with the pictures in the albums Cassie and my sisters put together for the event. Even I was mesmerized by some of the stories I hadn't heard before.

The party continued well into the evening. There are many toasts and anecdotes, from Grandpa George recounting the first meeting of my parents, to Teal'c revealing that my Dad resigned during a time loop so he could kiss Mom. Through it all my parents were inseparable, holding hands as they chatted and reminisced, happily surrounded by their family and friends.

Much later after all of the guests had departed and it was just our family left, my siblings and I were all getting ready to crash for the night when we realized that Mom and Dad had gone AWOL. We knew of course that they were up on deck with the telescope. Despite several additions and remodelings over the years as our family grew, Dad's telescope deck had survived and it had always been my parent's refuge when they needed a few quiet moments. I volunteered to go tell them goodnight. Careful to make plenty of noise, (it's almost impossible to sneak up on Mom and Dad, but it has happened and I'd prefer not to repeat that mistake), I climbed the ladder and found them snuggled together wrapped in a blanket on the lounger.

"We're heading to bed, and just wanted to say goodnight," I informed them with a smile.

"We'll see you all in the morning, Jake. Sunday morning pancakes sound good?" Dad replied.

"Youbetcha," I grinned, then turned and left them to their stargazing.

*****

Up on the deck Sam snuggled in closer to her husband's warm body. "Do you think he knew?" she whispered.

"Oh yeah," Jack chuckled.

"Really, how?" Sam inquired looking around.

"Well, my boxers hanging off the telescope were probably a dead give away. I told you not to fling them!" Jack teased.

Sam hid her laughter in his shoulder.

"No giggling, General", Jack ordered. "Now where were we?"

Sam slid her hand down his chest until she found what she was looking for. "Right about here, Sir," she answered as her husband growled and moved in to silence her with a kiss that after twenty-five years still made her toes curl.

Tomorrow the demands of family and planet would probably run them ragged. But for tonight they were free to be Sam and Jack, safe in each other's arms, at peace under the stars that had become their second home.



The total and complete end!




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