I will update this story as soon as possible. Sorry, I´ve had a lot going on.

Chapter 11

Cassie tried to conceal her laughter as she watched Jack try to cradle Madison in one arm and cut and eat his steak with the other. It was a precarious balancing act that forced Jack into taking nearly two minutes to cut and eat one bite of his steak, which Daniel continually looked at in disgust and commented that it was far too rare.

"This is all your mom's fault," Jack complained to the sleeping baby, as he attempted to maneuver the fork to his mouth without shaking her.

"Poor, Jack," Janet said with a smirk.

"Yeah, you know I actually thought retirement would mean more fishing," Jack chuckled and kissed his daughter on the forehead.

"You want me to take her?" Cassandra offered, knowing his answer.

Jack shook his head and smiled. "Nah, I got it covered."

"Yeah, you'd be amazed how hard it is to translate when you've got twins screaming at the top of their lungs," Daniel said.

"That's what you get for bringing work home with you, Daniel," Janet said, giving him a loving pat on the back.

"Oh, and you're never guilty of that," Daniel said, leaning over to give her kiss on the cheek.

Jacob, seated between Jack and Daniel, was adeptly making a mess of ketchup and mustard on his plate and himself as Janet and Daniel marveled at the new stay-at-home Jack.

Cassandra sat silent, trying to steal glances at Jack without being caught, looking for subtle differences between him and Isaac as she kept an eye on the twins, one of each seated on each side of her.

The twins were only slightly less messy than Jacob, and Cassandra realized her preoccupation with Jack was putting her in danger as the twin's and their playful messiness began to encroach on her area of the table.

Jack muttered under his breath as his cell phone began to ring in his pocket. He dropped his fork on the plate as he fished for his phone.

"You will awaken Madison, O'Neill," Teal'c cautioned.

Jack sighed and nodded as he pulled his phone out. He flipped it open and Madison began to cry.

"I did warn you, O'Neill."

"O'Neill here," Jack said and began to gently rock Madison with his arm. "Oh, hi, Sam. I'm just having lunch with Teal'c and the Jackson clan. No, Maddie's ok. You just woke her up."

Janet quickly intervened and walked over to take the squalling baby from Jack. She quickly quieted down as Janet began to rock her and murmur in her ear.

"Yeah, she's fine now. Janet's a natural. All day I think she's been trying to show Daniel she wants a number three," Jack said with roguish grin towards Daniel, and bringing Janet to a deep red blush.

Cassandra shook her head in amusement and then saw Jack's face become suddenly very discomfited.

"Well, I don't recall exactly, Sam. Do you have any idea how many people I saw? It's hard to keep track of who I sent where," Jack said. "Ok, yeah, I might have recommended him. He's got the skill, and come on, Sam, you know I'd hate to be sitting around doing nothing. He made me feel guilty."

Cassandra could see Jack's discomfort was growing. Apparently Sam was none to happy with something, and Cassie was fairly certain she knew what. Well, at least she wasn't alone in her discomfort with this unexpected person showing up in her life.

"I think you're overreacting just a bit, Sam," Jack said with a groan. "It's just a few months and he'll be gone… to a galaxy far far away."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow and gave a slight grin.

"You betcha. I've got the utmost confidence. Just relax, Sam. Ok, love you too." Jack shut the phone and groaned.

"Little trouble there, Jack?" Daniel asked and took a sip of his beer.

"Oh, just Sam having to deal with some idiot," Jack said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"A galaxy far far away huh?" Cassandra asked and took a sip of her drank, watching Jack with raised eyebrows.

"Well, not too far," Jack replied, and returned to his steak, which he was now free to enjoy with Madison content in Janet's arms.