Sam watched as Rob and Linda rounded up the children - minus Billy - and got them to pick out some of the drinks and desserts that had been set out on the table on the deck by the Vogels while Ricardo and Teresa were manning the grill. Mrs Vogel was sitting on the lounger on the deck minus her jacket, which had been slung over the back of another chair.

"I should probably go over there and offer to pay for the drycleaner," Sam said with an audible sigh.

"Why? The woman walked into the middle of the water balloon fight all on her own."

She gave her husband a look. "Jack..."

"I told her on the phone she'd be better off not wearing anything fancy," he protested, in a bit of a whiny voice.

"And now her expensive jacket is ruined."

"It wasn't even our kid that threw the damn balloon!"

Sam sighed again and gestured at the table where Sage was sitting. "Our daughter is, however, friends with Billy. We might not have any problems with her friends or their parents but I wouldn't be surprised if this would be yet another reason for Eleanor to keep her son away from Sage."

Jack grimaced as he looked from the girl to the woman on the deck. "You want us to play nice for the sake of the kids?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I seem to recall you telling me something along those lines a while back for when it came to dealing with the school and the other parents."

"Yeah, but she just..."

Sam could tell he really didn't like Eleanor Vogel from the way he was searching for words - and not finding them. She wasn't too fond of the woman herself but Billy was a great friend to Sage and even his father, William, wasn't that bad despite first impressions. Reaching out she linked her fingers with Jack's and gave his hand a little squeeze. "C'mon, what happened to the General O'Neill who could even play nice with boring senators and the bigwigs in DC?"

"He retired!" Jack cried. "Precisely because he was tired of having to play nice with a bunch of idiots."

"Do it for Sage."

"Ooh, that's low, Carter."

She smiled at him, knowing he wouldn't be able to resist. "Whatever works."

"Fine... maybe I should make the offer then," Jack said with a deep sigh. "She probably thinks I'm the bad guy anyway after today, considering she didn't think too highly of me to begin with." He winced and looked at her apologetically. "Threatening to throw you in the pool probably didn't do me any favors either, especially with your dress... Oy, I'll get you a new one if the jello doesn't come out, promise."

"It'll be fine."

He disentangled his fingers from her grip and wrapped his arm around her. "It was stupid; I was just fooling around and never intended to actually throw you in. Not with your pretty dress on, anyway."

"I know," Sam smiled as she leaned into him. He smelled like jello and baby soap and his chest was a bit sticky against her cheek but she didn't mind. "I was just playing along."

"Didn't think the kids would give me a push..."

"Underestimating the enemy, not expecting their movements and getting overpowered by two children," she summed up. "Maybe you're get-"

Jack let out a deep sigh and hung his head. "I'm getting old."

Sam snorted, rolling her eyes. "I was going to say you're getting out of practice."

"Oh." He grinned sheepishly and squeezed her waist before gesturing at Sage, who was coming their way. "Let's see what the munchkin wants."

With a few skips she reached them, her sandy blond hair slicked down with green jello and a fluffy pink towel wrapped around her body. "Where's Billy? Is his mom and dad going to punish him?"

"It's up to his parents if they are going to punish him," Sam corrected her.

"His mom is a meanie," Sage continued. "She got mad 'cos of the balloon but she knew we were playing and-"

Jack squatted to be on the same level as their daughter and interrupted her. "What have mommy and I taught you about calling people names?"

"I'm not allowed to," she said dejectedly. "But she is mean and boring and you don't like her too!"

"Either. I don't like her either," he corrected.

"Not liking someone doesn't mean you can call them names or be rude to them, Sage," Sam admonished.

Putting an arm around her small shoulders Jack pulled their daughter against his side. "It doesn't matter if she's boring or not; Billy knew his mom didn't want to play and he still threw a balloon at her, knowing she wouldn't be happy about it."

"But you did so too with Mommy!"

Sam noticed him wince as he realized the bad example he'd set for the kids and decided to come to his rescue. "That's different, sweetie. Daddy and I were both playing and teasing each other and he never intended to actually throw me in the jello."

"When you're grown up and married you're both equals, like your mom and me. But until then you have to listen to your parents, no matter how boring they are; Billy knew his mom didn't want to play but he still did it anyway. That's not very nice," Jack added. "But you're right in that I shouldn't have teased Mommy when she said 'no' and I've already apologized to her over it and for her dress being ruined by the jello."

"I'm sorry too, we shouldn't push you," Sage apologized after receiving a pointed look from her dad.

"Like I told your dad; I forgive you."

Jack nodded and straightened up, wincing at his popping knees. "Me too, munchkin. Just no more pushing me in the future, we could have hurt ourselves. I'm an old man, you know."

"You're not old, Daddy!"

"See, that's why I love you," he teased her, tapping her on the nose. "Now, if you ladies will excuse me I shall apologize to Mrs Vogel for the chain of events as well and offer to pay for the drycleaner. Then I'll go see how Billy and Mr Vogel are doing inside the house."

Sam watched him saunter off and grabbed Sage's hand. "Let's get ourselves some jello. It's your birthday party after all so we can start with dessert!"

"Yay!"

William nearly collided with O'Neill when he was about to step through the sliding doors onto the deck. He stepped aside and let the host pass with a small smile and turned to follow Billy, who'd just gone back outside five minutes ago, when the other man gave him a questioning look.

"Billy just ran past me on my way in; is everything okay?"

"Yes, I had a talk with my son and he's all right now. I told him to join the other children... oh and there's some gelatin on the sofa now. I tried-"

O'Neill shrugged and made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "That's okay. I'll clean it up. Just wanted to see if Billy was okay, the other kids were missing him. I already talked to your wife and told her the jello should come out of her jacket and I offered to pay for the drycleaner or, if it doesn't come out, a new jacket."

"I don't think that will be necessary," he said. He was impressed by their generous offer, having witnessed what happened and knowing O'Neill, his family or any of the other children weren't involved with the incident; it had just been Billy and Eleanor. The latter who had overreacted at their son's wish for her to join in the fun, although Billy really should have known better by now. "It was an unfortunate misunderstanding and Eleanor has plenty of other jackets to wear."

"Yeah, she mentioned something about being more than capable of paying for it herself."

William made a mental note to continue the short conversation he'd had with Eleanor about manners and making a scene once they were in the privacy of their own home. She might think the O'Neills were beneath them but that was no reason to forego her own manners and accept or graciously reject a generous offer, which the O'Neills weren't even obliged to make. There was also a good chance on future interaction with this family considering Billy had befriended young Sage and they were going to the same school as well. Personally William thought he might actually prefer the rather unconventional yet entertaining and interesting O'Neill family to some of the others in their social circles. "In any case I appreciate the offer."

"Yeah sure you betcha," O'Neill said, before moving further into the living room. "Want a drink? Beer, wine or maybe something stronger?"

"I probably shouldn't; I still have to drive tonight."

"Oh, I thought Billy mentioned something about a driver. My mistake." The man went into the kitchen and rummaged about in the refrigerator.

William debated whether to have a drink; if he was at the club he wouldn't even think about it but for some reason he felt different now. Perhaps because it was a children's event. Maybe because he was still thinking of driving by the club afterwards. He was sure the others would enjoy his story about today's party over a drink or two. It had been quite a while since he'd had a beer of some kind but it would probably go well with the summer heat and wouldn't affect him as much as something stronger, like his usual at the club. "Oh very well, one beer won't hurt."

"Excellent," O'Neill's muffled voice sounded.

"You weren't entirely mistaken; Billy and Eleanor were brought here by the driver but I used my own car to visit the club tonight," he shared.

The man came towards him, several beers in hand and a frown on his face. "The club?" He handed him a bottle and seemed to realize something. "Oh, you play golf or something?"

"Yes, a lot of business with clients and partners is done during a friendly game of golf. Do you play?"

To his surprise O'Neill nodded with a small smile as they went back outside. "Yeah, a bit. Haven't played in a while though. Not since we moved here, I think."

"Are you any good?"

"I have my moments."

William frowned, wondering what he meant by that as they stood on the deck. From here they could overlook most of the yard, with the one wooden and three plastic picnic tables in the center. All the children, including Billy, seemed to be enjoying jello desserts, despite not having had a single scrap of dinner yet. Even O'Neill's wife, Sam, was eagerly tucking into one of the blue variants. "Perhaps you can join me and some of the others from the school for a game one day." He wasn't quite sure why he had suggested it but one of the few things that had become clear to him during his short talk with his son was how much the boy seemed to care about the O'Neills and William had found himself intrigued as well.

Jack smirked as he set the beers down on the table reserved for the adults. Everyone but Eleanor got one and he kept one for himself and took another for Sam, who was sitting at the children's table with Sage in her lap with both of them tucking into their jello. Turning back to William he shrugged. "Who knows, maybe one day I can. If you'll excuse me, I promised Sam I'd get her a beer." With that he descended the steps and walked over to his family.

"Whoa, you're not supposed to eat this one," he said, grabbing a cup of red jello from Jeremiah. "Your mom told me you were allergic to strawberry. This one is strawberry flavored and has strawberries in it. Go get yourself another one from the fridge; one that isn't red!" He called after the boy, who immediately dashed off into the kitchen. "I'll just finish this one," Jack muttered under his breath, eyeing the barely touched jello.

"Are you stooping to stealing from children?" Sam asked with a twinkle in her eye as he reached her.

He rolled his eyes mockingly and handed her the jello after pressing a kiss to her temple. "There you go. The kid's allergic to strawberries and from all the flavors he picks the only dessert with actual strawberries in it, for crying out loud!"

"Daddy, I want a kiss too! It's my birthday," Sage needlessly reminded him.

"Okay," he bent down and gave her a peck on her cheek. "It would have been a whole other story if you'd asked to have a beer too, though."

She giggled and leaned back against her mom. "Beer is yucky!"

"That's right; beer, cigarettes and other alcohol are all yucky. Don't worry, munchkin, I'll never let you have any of them," Jack said. "No dating or kissing boys either."

Sam snorted and put her now empty jello cup aside. "Not in the foreseeable future anyway. I do want grandkids eventually, though."

"Aw, c'mon," he cajoled her. "Cassie can give us grandkids; I was too late to prevent her from dating boys. Let's keep this one innocent, eh?"

"With both of them chances of us becoming grandparents are much higher."

Jack grimaced, looking between his wife and daughter. "She's turning seven this week, I don't want to think about her dating or grandkids just yet, okay?"

"You started it," Sam reminded him sweetly.

"All right, then I'm changing the subject here. Who wants food, kids?" He turned away from his giggling wife and daughter and started taking orders, which were rather easy to remember when one offered hot dogs and burgers to a bunch of kids. "I'll go see what our chef has made so far," Jack said before dashing back up to the deck to check on Ricardo's progress.

"First few burgers and hot dogs are almost ready, Jack."

"Excellent," he nodded, slapping the man on his back. "I think it would be best to feed the kids first and then, once they're too full to move we can enjoy our own meals. Unless someone is famished?" The adults all shook their heads, some of them were eating jello or salad while others were just nursing their drinks.

William beckoned him over to the other side of the deck with his beer and resumed their conversation from earlier when he joined him. "Why haven't you joined the club yet? I imagine you have plenty of spare time now that you're retired and you said you liked golf..."

"Oh you'd be surprised with how busy things can get," Jack replied. "I manage to entertain myself with working out, tinkering around in the garage or a couple of other hobbies when Sage is at school and I've completed all the household chores."

"Hard to imagine a formidable man like yourself to take care of the household on his own. What about your wife?"

He shrugged and set down his beer on the railing to scoop up some jello. "Sam works fulltime and after years of working my ass off the role of stay-at-home dad suits me just fine."

"She's a scientist?"

"Theoretical astrophysicist but she's also quite adept at engineering, computer programming and other science-y things. Oh and she's really good at blowing stuff up too or shooting bad guys," Jack said with a proud smirk. "These days though she's usually too busy running the base to play with her doohickeys."

William frowned, seemingly confused as his eyes darted back to the woman in question, who was chatting and laughing with the children. "She's military as well?"

"She's a brigadier general in the Air Force and base commander at Cheyenne Mountain."

"Quite impressive. What do they do up there?"

Jack shrugged again as he munched on a strawberry. "Deep space radar telemetry..." He trailed off at the incomprehension on the man's face and grinned. "Let's just say she's got her hands full with a bunch of classified stuff."

"There aren't a lot of children of soldiers at our school and if I'm not mistaken Sage only joined us this year. She wasn't at our kindergarten, was she?"

"No, we moved here at the end of last summer when Sam was reassigned. Sage had just finished up kindergarten at a different private school so it was a bit tricky but risk assessments had been made already and it was determined public school wasn't secure enough with both the positions and ranks of my wife and I."

William's eyebrows shot up and he looked intrigued. "Does that happen a lot, moving because of reassignments? Where were you living prior to settling in Colorado Springs?"

"Actually, we were pretty fortunate to have been stationed right here for the better part of a decade before I was promoted and reassigned to Washington DC. Sam joined me there later on a different project at the Pentagon and now we're back here," Jack said. Most of the information he was sharing would be accessible online anyway. Just not the part about Homeworld Command, Atlantis or battle cruisers.

"I see. You were working at the Pentagon as well before you retired?"

He nodded with a grimace, reminded of all the paperwork, politicians and being separated from Sam for long periods. "Yeah, flying a desk isn't really my style and I can't stand ass-kissing politicians so I finally retired, but at least I got enough practice in at the golf courses."

"Ah yes, it seems doing business over a game of golf is universal."

"Not really," Jack muttered under his breath. He'd seen a lot of several galaxies over the years but he'd never seen any of the aliens playing golf and he had a hard time imagining the Goa'uld System Lords having their summits on a golf course, let alone the human-form Replicators or the tiny Asgard. Heck, he'd been the one to introduce Teal'c to the game and that Jaffa had seen a lot of different cultures in his hundred and fifty plus years. He had some fond memories of those particular time loops, as a matter of fact. A record of several billion miles when playing golf through an open wormhole to Alaris, for one. "I actually broke the world record for longest drive once."

William appeared surprised, no doubt because he would know all the important records when it came to golf, which seemed to be his favorite pastime. "Oh?"

"I'd tell you about it but then I'd have to shoot you. The circumstances were classified unfortunately."

The sun was hanging much lower in the sky by the time everyone had had something to eat but it was still warm outside. Some of the kids had followed Sage's example and had draped a towel around their small frames while others were still sitting in their wet and sticky swimsuits. Sam had put her dress back on because she felt a bit exposed and had been getting cold now that most of the backyard was in the shade. The dress itself was completely dry after a few hours in the sun but there were still some dark smudges on it she was hoping would be removed in the laundry. Ah well, Jack had already promised to get her a new one if it wouldn't come out and the most important thing was that Sage and her friends had enjoyed the party. Her dress could easily be replaced.

It was getting late though. Or at least, later than they'd planned considering Sage still had to open the presents. Right now the children - and Jack - were eating cake, after all the jello snacks they'd had this afternoon, the jello desserts, hot dogs, burgers and other grilled meat and vegetables they'd eaten for dinner. Truth was they had almost forgotten the cake until Jack got them some more beer during his break from the grill and had insisted no child of his would have a birthday party without cake. To Sam's surprise most of the kids - and Jack - had actually welcomed the chocolate cake with white frosting and rainbow sprinkles! She had no idea how they managed to eat so much with their tiny bodies but apparently the day's activities had really worn them out, meaning they needed to refuel now.

Reaching for her beer Sam smiled at Jack, who caught her eye, and gestured at her watch. He seemed to understand her hint as he peered at the house, then the kids and last but not least the garage where Sage's presents were waiting for her. Suddenly he started eating his cake even faster making Sam chuckle, although she also felt guilty for making him feel like he had to hurry up. The kids were still eating too after all and a look around their table showed that Ricardo and Robert were still enjoying their steak too.

William Vogel was even standing at the grill, preparing a hot dog for Billy, who'd been a bit late to the table after running off and had been too upset to eat much. The boy had come around though about half an hour ago, talking quietly to his parents and appearing to apologize to Eleanor before offering her his hot dog. The woman had been confused at the concept much to everyone's amusement until William had explained it wasn't actually meat of a dog. She had still refused to eat it though, preferring her tofu burger and salad, and Billy had looked crestfallen until his father had asked if he could have it, saying something about how it reminded him of his college days. While it had been a great and somewhat unexpected gesture of William it also meant Billy had hardly eaten a thing and now that everyone was almost finished he was getting hungry.

"Do you think they'll be able to get up and move to the living room or should we start bringing the presents outside?" Sam jokingly asked her husband after seeing a bunch of the kids sag in their seats, with a few even lying down on the grass after stuffing themselves with food, jello and cake.

"Nah, they'll be good to go in a few minutes," Jack said confidently. "At least I think Sage will be fine... she's been talking about her presents for over a week now so if need be I'm sure she'll do all the running around to show the gifts she's received off to her friends and us."

She was about to reply when voices sounded on the side of the house and the kids started talking in response, with the black-haired girl slipping off her seat and running off to the fence. Before Sam could get up Jack gestured for her to remain seated while he went down the steps to take a look. He'd only walked a few feet from the deck when she could see the tension leave his frame and he smiled at the visitors. She could overhear him telling the newcomers to come in and join them, piquing her curiosity.

"Are you expecting anyone else, Sam?" Linda asked as she craned her neck to try to see who it was, but obviously failing.

"Not that I'm aware of," she replied, getting up. "Then again, Jack was the one who organized all this. If you'll excuse me I will be right back." With that she dashed off the deck, silently commending herself for donning her dress instead of greeting whoever it was in her bikini as she made her way over to where her husband was talking to two other men. They were both well dressed and wouldn't look out of place at a soiree hosted by the Vogels but their three-piece suits were a bit much for a children's party.

Jack was already making conversation with the two men and seemingly unaware of how out of place he suddenly looked dressed in just his zipped-off khakis. "Oh and this is my wife, Samantha Carter-O'Neill," he introduced her as she came up to his side, clearly having picked up on her own introduction to the Vogels earlier today. "Sam, this is Charlotte's dad and great grandfather."

"I'm Roy Lancaster," the younger one said, his hair just as dark as his daughter's. He looked to be in his early thirties, which surprised Sam considering Charlotte's age. "And this is my grandfather, Ro-"

"I can certainly introduce myself," the white-haired man interrupted. "Royston Charles."

"It's a pleasure to meet both of you," she replied, shaking their hands. The older man looked distinguished and rather fit for someone who had to be at least eighty, she mused. His name sounded familiar as well but she couldn't place it. "Charlotte is a great kid, too."

Royston looked from the child to them, his dark eyes twinkling as he took in their appearances. "Are you certain about that, young lady? You all look quite a mess and I wouldn't put it past my great granddaughter to be responsible for it!"

"It's okay, Grampa, we were just playing," Charlotte said before she could say anything. "Come look at what we did! It was the coolest, General Sam and General Jack played with us in the jello and on the slide!"

"That certainly sounds like fun, doesn't it Gramps?"

Royston huffed at his grandson and shooed him and Charlotte away. "Show your father, sweetheart. I'll be with you in a bit." Then he turned back to Jack and Sam. "Samantha, I was just telling your husband how much I respect the men - and women - protecting our country. If what my great granddaughter said is true then that extends to you as well."

"Oh, er, thank you, Mr Charles," she said. It was certainly quite a different attitude from what they had seen and heard from the other people involved with the school.

"My son RJ and his best friend Maxwell, Roy's father, were both killed serving their country..."

Jack cleared his throat and exchanged a glance with her. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's quite all right, it happened thirty years ago," he gestured with his cane at his grandson. "Maxwell never got to meet his boy and my daughter was suddenly a widow with child."

"A parent should never outlive their child," Jack said softly.

Royston nodded and took a few steps forward. "Indeed, it is unnatural. You hang onto this one, young lady; he sounds like a good man," he added, patting Sam on her arm.

"Yes Sir," she chuckled.

"Now, where is the birthday girl and what have you been doing to end up covered in slime, hm?"

Jack frowned but waited for the old man to fall in step with them. "It's not slime, it's jello."

"The parfait?"

"And soap and water," Sam added at his confusion.

To her surprise Royston started laughing, shaking his head in mirth when they stepped around to the deck and he saw the children, the pool and the slide. "Well, well, well... And here I was thinking the younger generations only cared about video games!"

"Hey Gramps, look who are here as well?" Roy called out from where he was standing on the deck next to the grill.

"William Vogel is that you?"

William grimaced and stepped away from the grill, trying to smooth his shirt and roll his sleeves down as inconspicuously as possible. "Royston. I had no idea you were going to be here."

"Charlotte and Roy had told me so many stories about this lovely couple I had to come see for myself," he replied with a smile. "I'm glad to see you're participating in today's festivities, son. To be honest I didn't think you'd have it in you to enjoy yourself the old-fashioned way."

"Mr Charles, would you like to sit and maybe have something to eat or drink?" Sam offered, trying to fill up the awkward silence that had just descended upon the man's words.

He looked at her and patted her arm again. "First I must congratulate your daughter with her birthday and please Samantha, call me Royston."

"Why don't you take a seat, Royston, while I hose the kids off," Jack offered with a grin. "They're all covered in soap and jello and they have to get cleaned up before we go inside for the presents anyway."

"Very well."

Sam watched as he walked up the steps and lowered himself in a free chair in front of his grandson. "Roy, take a seat." Then he looked around and spotted Eleanor and her jacket, which was still hanging over the back of her chair. "Eleanor! Well, I'll be damned! I would have never thought you would have the guts to let loose for once and God forbid, have some fun."

"Eh, of course, Royston," the woman stammered, clearly uncomfortable.

"Excellent," he nodded. "I must say I'm disappointed to see you are the only parents from the school here to have joined in with the O'Neills," Royston said as he looked around the table before making his introduction to the Jenkins and Martinezes.