"Knock knock!" Jack called, leaning against Sam’s open lab door. Sam looked up from her computer and smiled at her C.O. She knew why he was here, but she wanted to see him beg first.
Jack wandered casually into her lab and started fiddling with one of her projects. "So anyways," He said, "Have I ever told you what a great Major you *really* are?"
He cast a grin in her direction and started to play around with another model on the bench.
Sam shook her head no, trying to hide a smile behind her hand. "No, but I do recall your saying that you were a Man of Few Words."
He grinned at the memory and accidentally broke the model he’d been playing with. He placed the model back on the table and shoved his hands into his pockets, hoping that she hadn’t noticed.
"Well, actually I am a man of few words, but today I’m turning over a new leaf. By the way, did you know that you’re extremely talented, beautiful, intelligent…"
"Spit it out Jack, what do you want?"
"Okay, okay, you got me." He grinned and gave her a sorrowful look.
The Major rolled her eyes, ‘here we go…’ she thought.
Jack took a step closer to her desk, "Well…remember how I hurt myself last week?"
Sam snorted, "You mean how you electrocuted yourself by sticking a screwdriver into your VCR without turning the power off…which resulted in the mass explosion of your other appliances?"
He cringed, raising his hands in his defence. "What? The lines were faulty and…"
He stopped when he saw she wasn’t buying it. "Okay, well you know how your Dad and I are taking the guys out fishing this weekend?"
Sam nodded, it had been her father’s idea, he’d arranged with Hammond that Daniel, Jack and Teal’c got four days down-time so that he could so them a great fishing spot in the valley. Besides, it was also a good reason to show Teal’c one of the finer aspects of Earth’s culture.
Sam had been invited to come, but she declined, claiming there was important work for her at the lab.
"Well, the guys are delivering all the new appliances and an electrician is coming ‘round to replace all the wires in my house, and I didn’t mean to, but…"
He started rocking back and forth on his heels and Sam couldn’t help but smile, "You forgot you were going away this weekend and you need someone to house-sit."
Jack looked relieved and Sam grinned, "That’s where I come in."
Jack was looking at his feet in embarrassment, feeling guilty that he had to ask her to do this for him, but she was the only one here that could, and besides, she already had the keys to his house. "Could you, please? I mean, I really hate to do this to you, Sam, but I don’t know who else to ask, like…"
Sam felt her heart go mushy at the desperate tone of his voice. She patted his shoulder to reassure him, beside’s it’d only be for four days. "Sure, I don’t mind."
His face soared with joy and relief as he reached out to hug her. She tried not to laugh as he realised what he was doing. "I’ll bring my stuff over tonight just before you leave."
"Thankyou so, so much Sam. I owe you Big Time." He grinned eagerly and pulled out his wallet. "I’ll leave you my card, just in case, and if you want to buy yourself something nice, my cell and pager number." Sam held a finger to his lips as he started to babble.
"I already have your numbers, and I don’t need to buy myself anything." She smiled and nudged him out of her lab. "Go get ready, dad’s going to be here any minute and you know what he’s like."
Jack grinned and handed her his card anyway. "Thankyou! I promise I’ll make it up to you!" He dashed off, leaving a bemused Sam to chuckle silently.
She looked at her watch, only five minutes before her dad would arrive. She pocketed Jack’s credit card and turned back to her computer. Perhaps she would buy something for herself and for Jack too, God only knew that the man was in desperate need of fresh groceries.
~*~
Sam waved goodbye as Jack pulled out of the driveway with her Dad, Teal’c and Daniel. She stood out front until she could no longer see the Land Rover and went back inside. The electrician was due tomorrow at Eight, but knowing electrician’s he’d probably arrive somewhere around Eleven. The other appliances were due to arrive at midday and then after that she’d have the weekend to herself.
Sam looked around the quiet house. It was different from her own, her place was small and crowded, filled with boxes and stuff they had brought back through the ‘Gate, Files from the Pentagon and other whatnot.
She smiled as she dropped down onto the couch to plan her day. Jack’s house sure did need a proper cleaning, a real one, not a trademark O’Neill ‘let’s shove it under the couch and be done with it.’ She sighed, ‘God I’m a sad person’, she thought, ‘I get four days off and all I can think of is cleaning someone else’s house?’ "Woah, slow down, I’m a party animal."
~*~
"Hello?" Sam asked, wiping the sleep away from her eyes.
"Sam?"
"Oh hey Sir. How’s the trip going?"
She smiled at his groan and the sound of Daniel retching in the background. Go figure, Daniel also got motion sickness.
"Just peachy. Listen, how’s everything going down there?"
"Fine. I had a raging party as soon as you left complete with loonies who smashed up all your furniture."
His laugh came over the line and she chuckled.
"Good to hear you’re enjoying yourself at my expense Major." There was the sound of muffled talking as Jack spoke to someone on the other end. "Hey Sam, your Dad wants to talk to you."
Dad? Hmm, those two must really be getting on well. Her fathers’ voice came onto the line. "Sam? How’s my little girl? Killed anyone yet?" Sam rolled her eyes; he said that every time she spoke to him on the phone.
"Six down, two to go, Dad." She joked. Her Dad laughed and she jumped when she heard his Goa’uld Selmac speak.
"Hello Samantha. I hope you are well. Your father has been having a very good time with the boys. Especially with Jack, they bond like old comrades."
"Gossiping like old wives huh?"
"That’s enough out of you, Selmac." She heard her Dad say, "Listen Sammie, we have to go. Look after yourself honey, and stay out of trouble."
Some things never changed, Sam thought with a groan. "Tell the guys I hope they have fun and tell Jack that his house might still be intact when he gets home, but his credit card will not be so lucky."
She heard her Dad relay her message to the guys and then Jack’s voice saying. ‘For crying out loud!’
"Drive carefully Dad, don’t torture Danny too much with your terrible jokes."
Her Dad laughed and she heard him repeat her sentence to the guys. Jack came back on the phone, laughter in his voice. "I like your Dad’s jokes Sam, good material, I should ask if I can borrow some…"
"You’re just saying that ‘cos he’s standing behind you."
"You kill me, Sam. Anyway, have fun. I know we will! And remember if anything, anything at all happens, I’m only a phone call away." There was a pause, "Are you sure you’re going to be okay by yourself? I mean the neighbours will be home tomorrow, and I have…"
"Sir…Jack!" Sam interrupted. "I’ll be fine! Now go your keeping everybody waiting. Oh, and Jack, try and look after Daniel, he’s not as tough as he looks." Daniel complained in the background and she smiled.
"Promise you’ll go easy on him?"
"Pinkie Promise." He assured her and they said their goodbyes and hung up.
Sam smiled to herself as she set the phone back down. She loved how after one phone call with him, she felt like she could walk on water. Plus he had called her more times than he had in the past year. There was a knock at the door and she went to answer it.
"Hi, I’m the electrician."
~*~
"And Ma’am, next time your husband decides that there’s something wrong with the VCR, tell him to call us first, before he goes poking around and electrocuting himself, okay?"
"I sure will." She replied, paying him and sending him on his way.
Sam leant against the door happily. She’d told the electrician numerous times that Jack wasn’t her husband, but he had only winked and said that he knew a couple when he saw one, which was odd, since Jack wasn’t actually there…
~*~
Retying the bandanna around her head, she continued the task of pulling all the crap out from under the couch.
She wrinkled her nose at the pungent stench of mouldy pizza in a box and threw it into the trashcan. For a man that was rarely at home, he sure could make a mess.
"Hey that’s mine!" She complained, dragging her hockey vest out from between the sofa cushions. She remembered the day they had a hockey night at his place and everyone got drunk, Makepeace had spilt beer all over her vest and she’d had to borrow one of Jack’s shirts for the night.
She placed the stinking vest onto the washing pile with a grimace and went back to her task.
After twenty more minutes of finding trinkets, mouldy food, stinking clothes, remotes, beepers, keys, photo’s and for some reason her model of the Stargate with four of the Chevrons missing, a knock came at the door.
She jumped up, hearing the door open and footsteps walking through the house. "Hello? Jack?"
A blonde woman wandered into the room where she was cleaning and looked at her curiously.
"Who are you?" Sam asked, getting to her feet, Jack hadn’t mentioned anyone coming today…unless he had a girlfriend she didn’t know about…
"I’m Sara, who are you?"
Sam adopted a defensive posture and looked Sara over, "Sam Carter…why are you here?"
Sara gasped, "You’re Sam!?" A brilliant smile covered her features. "Sam as in Jack’s fiancee Sam?"
Sam blinked in shock as the woman hugged and congratulated her. Huh? She thought, fiancee? "What?" She watched confused as the woman did an impromptu Happy Dance.
"I can’t believe I’ve finally gotten to meet you! Jack has told me so much about you." She took a look at Sam’s worried face and calmed down, pulling her over to sit on the sofa.
"Ah, sorry, I get carried away sometimes." She grinned and continued. "I’m Jack’s ex-wife. Yeah, I know it’s scary, but when Jack told me he was engaged, I was so happy for him. He’s been so miserable since Charlie, I don’t blame him, but I felt bad that I had gotten on with my life and now I’m happily married to someone else…" She paused as Sam stared at her in confusion, wondering what drug she’d been taking. "…But this is fantastic! He sounded so ecstatic when he told me everything about you and they day you met, and how he loved you, but couldn’t express his feelings because your were under his command. I’m so glad he got over his fears and asked you to marry him! So, when’s the wedding?"
‘Woah’, Sam thought. ‘Slow down!’ She took a couple of seconds to find her voice and smiled. ‘I might as well play along.’ "Ah, well we haven’t decided yet. You know how Jack is." She cringed inwardly at her slightly more than white lie.
Sara didn’t seem to notice, instead she opened the bag she was carrying and flopped some bridal magazines onto the coffee table. Sam gasped and looked at Sara to make sure horns weren’t growing out of her ears.
Once again the woman didn’t notice, she was too busy talking at a mile a minute and Sam couldn’t help but notice the pregnant bulge under the woman’s’ dress.
So that’s why Jack had made this up. He wanted to make Sara think he wasn’t as desperate and lonely as he was. He wanted her to be happy and told her that he was engaged. ‘But why me?’ She thought. ‘What makes me so special?’
"Look I know that you might feel a little rushed, Jack told me you were shocked when he asked you, but a wedding in spring would be fantastic! Think about it, the beginning of something, I mean Jack told me all about that Marty guy you used to be engaged to, but broke it off because you were in love with Jack." She smiled and glanced at her hand.
"Where’s your ring!? Don’t tell me Jack didn’t bother to get you a ring?"
Sam shook her head in a daze. "Um, actually he did, it’s ah…getting resized at the jewellers, it was a little small." She breathed a sigh of relief when Sara nodded and began flipping through the magazines. She was about to ask Sam about which dress she liked when the phone rang. Sam thanked her lucky stars and ran to get it.
~*~
"Sam?" It was Daniel.
"Hey? How’s everything going?"
"Great!" She said enthusiastically. "Look Danny, can you put Jack on the phone please?"
"Ooh! Problems already?" He teased.
"Something like that…"
Daniel laughed, and handed the phone to Jack.
"Sam is everything okay?" He asked worriedly.
"Oh everything’s fine *sweetheart* How are you?"
There was a pause from Jack’s end. His voice sounded worried, "Sam? Are you sure you’re okay?"
"Sure love, everything’s great! In fact, Sara’s here to keep me company and help me choose a wedding gown. Sweetheart, what do you think about a wedding in the spring?"
Jack made a strangled noise, "Oh no. Sam I’m sorry! You weren’t supposed to find out! Look, I’ll come home and sort everything out. I’m really sorry about this…" He started an explanation of how these things came to pass.
"Jack don’t worry," She said after a few minutes of letting him squirm, "Look, it’s okay. I’ll see you on Sunday night. I don’t mind. I’ll just play along okay? Enjoy the rest of your trip!"
He started to protest, but she interrupted. "Not another word Jack. I mean it. Go on, have fun. I’ll see you later."
He muttered his apologies and promised to make it up to her and then hung up.
Sam turned back to Sara. "Men!" She said with a grin. "They always assume the worst will happen if they’re not around to protect you."
Sara laughed and they spent the rest of the afternoon discussing all of Jack’s good and bad habits. Sam was in stitches as Sara told her about Jack’s numerous attempts at handymanship.
After an offer to have dinner with Sara and her husband, Sam smiled and turned it down, saying that she and Jack would come visit some other time. Sara smiled and made her promise that if she ever had problems with Jack that she would be there to help her through it. By the time the woman had left, Sam felt like she had just made a good friend.
~*~
Sam sighed and stretched out on the couch. It was growing dark in the house, and she hadn't bothered to turn on any lights. She leant over and turned on a lamp, bathing the room with a warm amber glow. With a smile, Sam picked up one of the Bridal Magazines and flipped through it, scrunching up her nose at one of the dresses.
'Yuck, Jack would hate that one,' She thought, and turned the page again. For not the first time since Sarah had left, Sam found herself caught up in her make-believe world of Sam and Jack. Her own fantasy life that consisted mainly of her CO and weddings in Spring..
It had been fun so far, imagining herself as a bride in a flowing white dress. She switched on the stereo with the remote control and went to the kitchen in search of food. In a rampant bout of silliness, she asked herself a question out loud; "Now then, what shall we have to eat Mrs. Sam O'Neill?"
She grinned at her own antics and pulled out a beer, still pondering idly about a wedding in spring. In her sleep - drugged mind she thought about how wonderful her wedding would be, the sweet scent of blossoming plants would drift through the air as she and her Colonel proclaimed their love and loyalty to one-another under a cloudless blue sky…etcetera, etcetera, etcetera….
Sam, lost in the haze of her daydreaming, started to slide off the bench where she had been perched and hit the floor with a dull thud. "Owww…" She mumbled, running tired hands through her short blonde hair. "Perhaps I should get some sleep, I'm becoming delirious."
The Major left the kitchen and climbed the flight of stairs up to Jacks' room and threw herself down onto the firm mattress. She watched the shadows from the streetlights dance across the ceiling with detached wonder until her eyes rolled back in her head and she could watch no more.
With a groan, Sam rolled over onto her stomach and off the bed. "Oh Jesus, not again." She muttered as she picked herself up off the floor. "I must be more tired than I thought." Something under the bed caught her eye and she crawled forward to retrieve it. A small jewellery box covered in velvet. Curious, she picked it up and snapped open the lid; her eyes went wide as they took in the beauty of the ring inside.
It was silver, two hands clutching a diamond- shaped heart. She picked it out of the box in child - like wonder and slipped it onto her finger.
"It's beautiful…" She murmured, twisting her hand so that the precious gem sparkled in the lamplight.
The sound of tyres screeching down the street and into the driveway made her break from her reverie. 'Uh-oh , he's home…' She thought, 'but it's not Sunday…But if it wasn't Jack, then who was it?'
Sam stood up and went to the bedroom window. She sighed in relief as she saw Sarah's familiar blonde head bobbing towards the front door.
Sam ran down the stairs and opened the door to greet the woman, who immediately enveloped her in a suffocating hug.
Sarah stepped back to let a tall man stand in the doorway, "This is my husband Michael," She said by way of introduction.
Sam shook Michaels' hand, "Pleased to meet you Michael."
Sarah held out a large casserole dish with a grin. "Well, I know you didn't want to join us for dinner, but we couldn't let you eat alone, so I cooked this up for you! It's a casserole, my mothers' recipe."
"Uh, thanks Sarah," Sam said, taking the dish and placing it on the kitchen bench. "You really shouldn't have."
Sarah rolled her eyes and waved off Sam's complaint. "Now, now Sam, Jack told me that you were a workaholic, so I figured that you'd have no time to make yourself food, and now it's here so stop complaining and eat up!"
"Alright." Sam smiled grudgingly and sat down. Sarah retrieved palates from the cupboard and set them out on the table. The young woman let out an excited scream as she sad down.
"Oh! Your ring!! It's fabulous! Michael, come see what Jack picked out!"
The tall man swayed over to the table and looked at the ring with a faint smile. "Wow…jeez, my ring looks pretty lame compared to this stunner."
Sarah kissed her husband on the nose, "Oh Honey, don't say that! My ring's just fine! I just wanted you to see how nice Sam's was."
Carter averted her eyes as the couple kissed again. Darn, no wonder Jack was so desperate to make up his story.
Sam excused herself and went to the fridge for a beer. Just as she was about to open it, Sarah jumped out and pulled it from her hands.
"What are you doing! You shouldn't drink while you're pregnant!" She scolded.
Sam looked at the other woman in confusion. "Ah…pregnant? I'm not…" What had else had Jack said???
Sarah covered her mouth in embarrassment and grinned. "Oh, sorry, Jack told me you were trying and I just assumed…ah hell, just ignore me, my mouth carries me away sometimes."
They both chuckled and Sarah handed the beer back. Sam took a long swig and leant back against the fridge door.
"So what else has Jack told you?" She asked, wondering what other stories the Colonel had made for this little universe.
The other woman smiled enigmatically, " Only that he loves you dearly and that he can't believe how lucky he is to have you as a future wife."
Sam raised her eyebrows as she stifled a yawn. "Sorry," She apologised, I guess all that cleaning wore me out."
Sarah laughed and took her husbands' hand. "I guess we'd better let you get some rest then okay? I'll talk to you again soon, hey, maybe I'll even help you pick out a dress if you like."
Sam nodded and showed them to the door, realising sadly tit was never really going to happen. "Sure, I'll look forward to it. Thanks for dinner by the way, I appreciate it."
She sighed in relief as the door closed after them. The diamond ring glinted in the light and she went too pull it off.
"Hmm…" She grunted as it stuck on her knuckle. She tugged again, but only managed to hurt herself. "Oww." She complained, rubbing her hand.
Sam turned on the tap at the sink and poured detergent over her hand, tugging at the ring in the hope that it would come off.
"Come on." She muttered, willing the circle of metal to slide off easily.
The sound of a key turning in the lock made her jump. "Oh crap…please, come off damn you!"
"Sam?"
The Major gasped as she heard Jack walking through the doorway. Oooh shit. Daniel could be heard complaining that he was about to be sick as she made a mad dash for the bedroom, diving under the covers and pretending to be asleep.
"Maybe she's gone out." Sam heard her father say. 'Oh please, go away.' She thought to herself, hoping sincerely that they wouldn't come to the bedroom.
There were footsteps as Jack showed Daniel to the bathroom. "No, the lights are still on." Jack replied, climbing the stairs.
Sam tried to even out her breathing as she realised that Jack was coming to the bedroom. The door creaked open, casting a sliver of light her way.
"Sam are you…oh…" Jacks' voice quieted when he saw her sleeping soundly on the bed.
"Is she…" Her fathers' voice said.
"Shhhh." Jack hissed, whispered, "She's asleep."
Sam heard her father chuckle softly, "Guess you were right about her being a wild - child, she's outta control."
"Pretty much…" Jack replied.
Sam felt her shoes being pulled off. "She looks so innocent and cute." Her father said as he removed her socks. "I haven't seen her like this since she was but a babe."
She tried not to stiffen as Jack lifted her up so that he could put her under the blankets. "Don't let her hear that, or she'll beat us up." He joked, laying her down gently between the sheets.
Sam nearly had a coronary as her father grasped the hand with the ring. "Hey, that's new." He said.
She rolled over to cover her hand and continued to breathe evenly.
Jacob looked at Jack to see him smiling. "What? Did you give it to her?" He asked curiously.
Jack scratched his head, "Ah, sorta…" He said with a rueful smile, "Yeah. Sam and my credit card have a tight - knit relationship."
"Oh, right." Jacob chuckled and their voices faded as they left the room.
Sam groaned. Oh Lord, she was gonna get it in the morning. Hopefully, this was all just one big weird dream…
_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_
Sam woke up from a light snooze an hour later and walked down to the lounge room to find Jack flipping through one of the bridal magazines.
"Hey," She whispered tiredly. Jack looked up with a smile. "Oh hi, sorry, didn't mean to wake you." He apologised.
Sam sighed and sunk down next to him while he moved the magazines to the floor. "How come you're home so early?" She asked.
"Danny boy was sick, and it was raining really heavily, so we decided to pack it up and come back."
He grinned and motioned to his now spotless house. "Sam, I can't even begin to thank you. I mean, you've been so great, I can't even think of a way to repay you."
Sam blushed and looked down, but he tilted her head back up to look into her eyes. "Really, I mean you stayed here, and you cleaned my house…which, mind you, hasn't been this clean since the day I moved in…" He smiled at her and waggled his eyebrows.
"…And then there was the whole *Sarah* incident…I don't even know where to start on that one!"
"Why?" Sam asked curiously, "Why did you tell her we were engaged *and* trying for a kid? She totally flipped when I had a beer."
Jack hung his head in shame, "I'm so sorry, it's just…I…darn it. I never meant for you to find out…I was…I dunno…it was stupid…I…"
"Hey," Sam said, patting his arm lightly, "Don't worry about it, I think I know why you did it anyway. Besides, it was kinda fun." She admitted, showing him the ring still stuck on her finger. "Sorry, ah…it got stuck." She said sheepishly.
To her surprise he curled her hand into a fist and pushed it gently back to her chest. When he spoke his voice was soft, causing a blush to rise on her cheeks.
"I was going to give it to you for your birthday ages ago, but I lost my nerve and never did."
She watched him as he looked down at his hands and then at the ring. For her birthday? Wow. Without a second thought she hugged him and he let out a sigh of relief. When she pulled back there was a gay smile evident on her features. "I love it!" She exclaimed.
"You do?" He asked with surprise.
She nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, it's the best present anyone has ever given me in a long time." She looked to the table with the wedding dress magazines. "I guess you found the dresses hen, hey?"
Jack nodded and pointed out a page with a post it note stuck to it. "Yeah, this one is quite nice…I mean…for a dress and stuff…ah, you know…okay I'm going to shut up now before I dig myself an even bigger hole."
Sam laughed and looked at the dress, "It's okay Sir. Um, now that you're back, did you want me to go?" She motioned to the door with her free hand and stood. Jack grabbed it and pulled her back down to the couch.
"No!" He said with a little too much enthusiasm, he shut his eyes, "I mean, no. It's too late to go driving home."
He looked at her with hopeful brown eyes and she grinned. "Oh, okay, sure." She yawned healthily, "Uh, you're probably beat and looking forward to your own bed, so I'll just crash here on the couch."
Before he could answer she'd already curled up on the other couch and said good night. He turned off the lights and started up the stairs; a slight feeling of guilt coming over him when he saw the Major cramped up on the couch.
He walked back down and picked her up, she was already half asleep with exhaustion. His heart leapt when she snuggled her face into his chest as he carried her to his bedroom and laid her between the covers.
Too lazy to sleep somewhere else, he lay down next to her and pulled her close, staring with wonder at his ring on her delicate finger.
Jacob was right, the best things in life really are free, he thought as he succumbed to the hazy world of happy dreams involving himself and his *very* desirable 2IC.
The End
By Nikki Lieutenant Sha'uri SG-11 Tok'ra 50340613 Join the Conversation! Chat at http://www.talkcity.com
Story Notes: E-mail: scc@surfct.com.au
Feedback: yes
Archive: NOT YET :)
Keywords: S/J UST
Sequel/Spoilers: none
Feedback: yes
Archive: NOT YET :)
Keywords: S/J UST
Sequel/Spoilers: none
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. Any original characters and plots are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended. ... [ read more ]