.
Chapter 94
The day James and Grace returned to Colorado Springs, Jack met them at the airport. When he saw them, he grinned. Grace looked around and waved to Jack then she and James walked over to him
"Dad."
"Hi, ya kiddo." They hugged, and then he shook James's hand.
"How was your honeymoon?"
"It was fantastic; James here can be full of surprises."
"Oh where did you two go?"
"Take a guess Dad." Jack thought about it as they walked over to the baggage claim carousel.
"Hawaii?"
"Nope, try again."
"Paris?" Grace laughed.
"Nope, Ireland." Jack looked at them.
"You went to Ireland?"
"Yep. We had a great time, met a lot of people there." They retrieved their bags and started walking towards the exit.
"They were trying to be friendly at one pub we went to until a woman asked where we are from; I said we are from Colorado Springs. She asked why we picked her pub to drop in... I told her that it was the name of the pub that caught James' eye."
"Oh, what did she say to that?"
"I introduced myself as Grace Samantha Carter O'Neill with two 'L's Dixon," Grace said smiling.
"The look on the woman's face when Grace said 'O'Neill with two 'L's' was priceless," James said.
"She looked at me and said, "You're joking!" I showed her my Air Force ID then she looked at me and then she passed it back, turned, and walked quickly out of the bar."
"Why did she do that?"
"We didn't know at first. Then she returned with some guy whose name was John O'Neill. We talked and they gave us free beer."
"That was good of him."
"Yeah, he got out his family tree book and said he had distant relatives in the U.S." So I ask where."
"He said according to his research: Chicago. I told him that you were born there and told him Granddad's name and when he was born... it's the same one from his family tree."
"Ok, so he's related to us."
"Yes, as it turns out, his great, great, great-grandfather's brother is your great, great, grandfather who came to the U.S in the early 1800s."
"So I guess you filled him in more about us?"
"Yep and the women who we first met is his wife."
"Really?"
"Yep, we all talked and we told them that we are on our honeymoon and the date we got married." Grace laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"John and his wife, Josephine, also got married on St. Pat's Day, 43 years ago," James said.
"Now that is very interesting."
"It is." When they reached Jack's SUV, he unlocked it and helped them put their bags in then they got in with Grace in the front.
"So how are things at the SGC?"
"Same old, same old... Felger almost blew up the lab the other day."
"Oh no who saved his ass again?"
"Sam did. She went to see him about a report and when things went crazy in there. She had a go at him for what he tried to do."
"What did he try to do?"
"Not sure, you know what Sam's like with technobabble... all I understood was something to do with naquadah and naquadria and an acid of some sort." Grace thought about it.
"Oh no."
"What?"
"If it's the acid I think it is, put that with the naquadah and naquadria that would be bad, very bad."
"How bad?" James asked from the back seat. Grace turned to him.
"The nuclear bombs that were dropped on Japan at the end of world war two…,"
"Yes?"
"Grace, what are you saying?" Jack asked.
"Put those bombs together, multiply times ten, depends on how much he was using…,"
"Luckily, it was underground, Grace."
"Dad, the Stargate is underground, and made of naquadah. If there was an explosion of any magnitude... everyone on Earth might as well kiss their asses goodbye. Everything would be dead within hours."
"But the complex would cave in."
"Dad, how many emergency exits are there and don't forget where the Ancient ship goes up and down to get to the gate."
"That's not good."
"No it's not. Mom deserves a medal for saving Earth once again." Jack grinned.
"You're right about that and thanks for explaining it to me so I could understand. With Sam, I try to get her to explain, but you know your mother." Grace laughed.
"Yes I do, Dad." She turned and looked out the window.
"Dad, where are we going?"
"Trust me," he said grinning. Grace looked at him.
"Dad, I know that grin. Where are you taking us and what have you been doing while James and I were away on our honeymoon?" Jack did not say a thing. Grace watched him for ten minutes not saying a word.
"Grace, in the glove department are two blindfolds; get them out, pass one to James and put them on."
"Dad."
"Trust me." Grace got out the blindfolds and passed one to James.
"Dad, why do we have to wear them?"
"I know you, you would peek." Grace shook her head then put her mask on just as James did. Jack drove for few more minutes.
"Are we there yet?" Grace asked making Jack grin.
"Yes we are." Jack pulled the car over and stopped.
He got out just as Dave, Donna, and Sam got out of Dave's SUV. Jack helped both James and Grace out of his SUV.
"Can I take my mask off?"
"No, Grace, not yet." Once they both were on the sidewalk, he stood there grinning.
"Dad, I know you're grinning, come on you..."
"Yes, you can take them off."
"It's about..." Grace said as she and James took off their blindfolds. They both stood there in shock when they saw the house with a sign 'Welcome Home, James & Grace'.
"Oh my..." Grace said in shock then she turned to give Jack a hug.
"Thank you, Dad...Mom," when she saw Sam. She gave her a hug, then she gave Donna and Dave hugs. James did the same.
"Is this house...?" James asked.
"Yours? Yes it is, Son. As you know, your mom and I gave each of your bothers and sisters ten thousand dollars toward a house for a wedding present. Since you and Grace said no wedding presents..."
"Dave and I talked. We bought this place three months ago and with some help we got it fixed up," Jack said.
"Help what help?" Grace asked.
"Remember when your teams were off-world at the same time three months ago?"
"Yes," Grace said.
"I made an announcement for volunteers to help fix up the house, some of the personnel who had time off helped with the labor and every one put money together to get professionals in to do the rest. The money that was left over was to buy new furniture that you both love," Sam said.
"As a surprise wedding present," Donna said.
"Go on, go, and take a look." Grace ran up to the house and tried to open the door. She turned to see Sam holding the keys.
She handed them to James. "Care to carry your wife over the threshold?" Sam asked.
"Too right I will." He walked up to the house with Sam and the others following,
"Come on, James."
"Hang on, Grace" When he reached the door, he unlocked and opened it. Grace was just about to walk in when James lifted her into his arms.
"James!" she squealed.
"Hey, it's tradition, you know!" He walked inside carrying Grace.
"Now you can put me down."
"Ok." He put her feet on the floor, and then he held on to her hand. She turned to him.
"Together," Grace smiled.
"Something I'll have to get used to."
"Yep." They walked in and looked around each room.
"Oh wow, I love it!" Grace said as she looked around the living room. They checked out the rest of the first floor.
Then they check out the next two levels. When they were on the second floor and saw double doors that had heart-shaped engraving on the doors, they opened them and entered the room beyond. They recognized it as the master bedroom.
"Oh wow, I love it," Grace said.
They checked out what was behind every door. Once they finished checking the rest of the house, they opened the French doors to a "Surprise!"
All their friends and family from the SGC were there. Jack stood behind Grace. She turned to him.
"Welcome home and house warming party in one."
"I've should have known. Thanks Dad." She hugged him tightly, and then turned to everyone who was there.
"On behalf of Grace and myself, thank you for the surprise wedding gift, we love it," James said.
"I love what you all have done to the house, Mom, Dad, Donna, Dave, thank you... thank you all of you and since this is a party, I hope there's cake." Everyone laugh as they clapped then the music started.
James and Grace walked down and hugged or shook hands with their guests.
"Grace is so much like you, Jack," Dave said grinning.
"Don't I know it?"
"Oh she like you alright, Jack," Sam said as she noticed Grace heading to the barbeques. They walked down to talk to the people who were there.
An hour later, Jack passed Grace the keys to his SUV. "You and James might as well go and get your bags and go to the store for some food."
"Thanks Dad... where's the closest store?"
"Go straight ahead, turn right five streets down, and then turn right again after three streets. You will see the grocery store."
"Thanks, Dad," she gave him a kiss on the check before going to get James. Dave walked over to Jack.
"Where James and Grace going?"
"Getting their bags from my car and getting some food for their place."
"Good idea, everyone seems to be enjoying themselves."
"Yep, they sure are. Did you know that they went to Ireland for their honeymoon?" Jack asked.
"No I didn't, how did you know?"
"They told me on the way here from the airport."
"Ah, by the look on their faces, they enjoyed the trip."
"Yes they did. So what is it like living in a house with no kids?"
"Peaceful. Donna and I are able to spend more time together, without any interruptions."
"I know what you mean. We only have the twins left. It's going to feel strange when they go off to school."
"Yeah, 'til they drop by with the grandkids." Jack groaned.
"Don't remind me. I'm wondering when Grace and James are going to start a family."
"When they are good and ready. Colleen, our eldest, she was conceived on our honeymoon."
"Same with Charlie and Grace, although we did have it planned."
"We didn't. We were going to wait until Donna graduated teaching school before having kids. She ended up taking a year off before she went to teachers training college."
"You two were what, eighteen when you got married?"
"Yeah. I had just joined the Marines. It was after basic training when we got married... we eloped her parents didn't want her to marry a loser like me and to give up her dream."
"What was her dream?" Dave smiled.
"Teaching. I paid for her tuition, books, everything."
"Good on ya, and you got some reward for it... five more kids later," Jack said with a smirk making Dave laugh.
"You're right about the reward part. We're still just as much in love today as we were twenty eight years ago."
"Twenty eight... Gee, Sam and I have been married for twenty three years, although for you, there was four years age gap between colleen and Kim" Jack said.
"Yeah, then fourteen months later the twins, fifteen months later Robert, then a year later James. After we had James we both agreed: no more."
"So how did you two...?" Jack waved his hand around.
"I got a vasectomy done and Donna got her tubes cut... what about you Jack?"
"Sam hemorrhaged when she had the twins, she had to have a hysterectomy... they removed her uterus... it was hard on Sam afterward."
"Well, she sure doesn't show it now."
"No. She got in her mind that I wouldn't love her since part of her was gone...I showed her that I love her still and since then things have been great."
"That's good. I don't how I would handle it if Donna had to go through what Sam did."
"Just love her and be there for her even if she hates you."
"I know she was like that at every birth of our children."
"Well there you go. What about your family?"
"They disowned me after I told them that Donna and I were married."
"By any chance is your father a Marine?"
"Yeah, I think he's retired now, why?"
"Adam Dixon, is that his name? Does he have odd colored eyes: one green, one blue?"
"Yes, how did you know?"
"He works at the Pentagon, he's a Major General."
"Really? I thought he retired when he turned sixty-five."
"I'll give Hank a call later and see if he's still there."
"OK." They talked for another few minutes, and then a couple of SGC personnel walked over and joined them.
Author's Notes: Feed back yes please.
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 ]