8.
Daniel and Teal'c pulled up outside the new house and Mark walked the two doors to his own new home, the O'Neill house made a lot more sense now, but still, how the hell was he going to explain 11 month old octuplets to his wife and kids? They had all seen Sam only 6 months ago and she had not said a word, added to that if they had been born naturally Sam would have been engaged to Pete when it happened, and Jane was a friend of Pete, almost as much as he was! CRAP this was going to be difficult. He rang Sams phone, standing on his drive.
"Sam, how much can I tell Jane about the kids?"
"How much do you think she needs to know? Usually the spouses don't know a hell of a lot they are used to not knowing before they come here, being AF wives or husbands. We told Mari Wells and Carol Dixon that they were the result of some technology I was exposed to, that we had developed, they know nothing about offworld travel, or at least no more than they will work out from the occasional nightmare their husbands go through" she said it so casually, the job was that dangerous that nightmares were an occupational hazard! Damn he didn't think he had EVER had a nightmare about HIS job!
Mark took a deep breath and told Sam he would work it out, and went inside.
"Jane! I'm home!" he shouted, but there was no answer, he went into the living room, the TV was playing some afternoon drivel to itself, there was no sign of Jane anywhere. He went up to their bedroom and she was there laid on the bed fast asleep, Mark smiled to himself and covered her up with the counterpane and went back downstairs. There was a knock at the front door, he opened it to find Carol Dixon on the step.
"I was wondering, do you want me to bring the kids home? As I have to go to get mine anyway, saves us both driving to exactly the same places" Mark accepted gratefully, he wasn't even sure he knew where the schools were! This way Jane could have another hour or so sleep, he hoped it would help. This moving on top of the stress before it, wasn't good for her, she was run down. Mark sat at the table in his new office and put the print out down. He had been told that it had to be locked up when he left, luckily there was a safe in the room, so he could do that when he needed to.
An hour later the kids barrelled into the house, it sounded like they were trying to knock the plaster off the walls! Jane came downstairs, and honestly Mark couldn't tell she had had a lot of extra sleep, she still had bags under her eyes. He kissed her and sat her on the sofa and went to make a coffee.
When he returned he heard all about the new schools, Tom was actually very pleased with his by the sounds. Then it was his turn!
He explained the children using the same story Sam had told him, that she was exposed to something that had made her extra fertile and that unfortunately due to an accident she had ended up pregnant to Jack. He winced as he said it, Jane jumped as he knew she would
"How do you have an accident that gets you pregnant?" she said scornfully
"Look I don't know all the details, just that Sam and Jack have octuplets, the house at the end of the road is for the family and we have NOT to talk about it!"
"Why not? It would make a great story, not to mention the fact that this new thing would be a blessing to infertile couples everywhere. Mark was quick to squash that, Sam had not been infertile (he didn't know that for sure, he was just guessing) he knew Jane, and except for the way she felt the last month or so she would have had a massive enthusiasm for details, her being tired had some benefit after all.
"Anyway, you will all be getting to see the children on Saturday, but Friday after school you have to go to the base and have a physical first, the babies have not been off the base yet and they don't want them exposed to any diseases as yet." The kids nodded, happy to comply but Jane wasn't so keen, she didn't see why she should be checked before meeting her nephews and nieces, and she wasn't stupid, she knew something was going on. Not surprising, the cover stories were very weak.
Sam and Jack returned on Wednesday, Sam looking a lot better than when she left, she immediately tackled Teal'c for her stone when she got back and then said goodbye and went back into the room. Jack gave everyone a small salute and headed for the nursery, SG13 was going 'offworld' with Teal'c and Daniel, Dixon stated he wanted to go too as General O'Neill was on base, but Jack refused, saying it was his day off and he was spending it with the kids. Mark saw a USAF General in full sulk mode the rest of the day!
Friday morning Sam and Jack were both in the infirmary when Mark spotted something in the programme that controlled power flow that he could improve on, he called his sister to the control room and they discussed it for a while, he showing her his idea. She agreed with him and at last he started to feel like he had something to contribute to the job! He was just about to get himself a coffee to celebrate when the alarm sounded and Walter gave his usual message. "UNAUTHORIZED OFFWORLD ACTIVATION" Dixon ran down the stairs and Sam sat next to Mark, Walter said "It's SG13 sir, code red, coming in hot" Dixon picked a phone off the wall and said:
"Medical team and security to the gate room" the side door opened and soldiers poured into the room, fully armed and pointing their weapons at the gate. Jack arrived within seconds and told them the doc was in the corridor waiting. First through the event horizon was Balinksy, he was dragging Wells, who looked to be covered in blood. Next came Teal'c carrying Daniel over his shoulder, last and firing as he came Bosworth walked backwards through the ring. Sam slammed her hand on the palm scanner and just as the large metal iris was closing a blast came through the wormhole and lifted Bosworth off his feet, slamming him into the wall under the observation window.
The medical team rushed in, Daniel was put on one bed, Wells on another, but the doctor went straight to Bosworth. He stood back until he could see the people above him and shook his head. It was the first time Mark had ever seen someone die, and he felt sick! He rushed from the room, glad that no one was following him, straight to the toilets that were just up the corridor, where he lost his last few meals, and tried to throw up his toenails.
When he eventually returned to the control room it was only staffed by Walter, he was told everyone else went to the infirmary to see the condition of the team. Mark asked Walter how many people had died since the 'gate had been operational and was shocked to hear it was over 100! And his sister went through that thing?! And her husband allowed her to?!
Once again Mark realised, he would never understand the military mind. And he also realised, he didn't WANT to.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Mark picked Jane and the kids up after school and brought them to the base, he had been going to cancel but was told that they HAD to be screened before meeting the children. He was pleased when the small medic room in NORAD was used rather than the infirmary, as he did not want to explain to his family why two people who they had met only the other day were badly injured and that one more was dead. Daniel and Wells would make a full recovery, Wells only had concussion and a split scalp, Daniel had been shot 3 times, once in the leg, twice in the shoulder, and would be out of action a lot longer. Jack volunteered to go tell Marci but Dixon told him he would do it. She was used to him having injuries like this, and Dixon was always the one to notify her, if Jack turned up she would think he was dead.
The doctor gave everyone a thorough check-up and took blood, then he asked to see Jane privately, Mark was going to object when Jane told him it was OK, she came back in less than 5 minutes, she explained 'womens things' and Mark didn't enquire further.
Tomorrow they would all see the children!
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