For Mon Fogel (SamnJackAlways)

Happy Birthday, dearest! Have yourself a shippy day!

Jack walked down the stairs of their suburbia home and towards the kitchen, where Sam was busy running her long scissors through a roll of wrapping paper.

"You ready?" He asked.

"Hey, baby," Sam said looking over her shoulder.

Jack snuggled up behind her and nuzzled her neck. He heard a distinct and slight catch in her breathing and saw her put down her cup of tea. He loved that he had that certain effect on her, even now after some of the initial heat from their romance had passed.

"Are you ready?" Sam asked him, adding pressure to his embrace with her back. Jack huffed and sighed.

"Yeah," he said, leaning away from her and placing his hands in his jean pockets. Carter was wrapping something on the kitchen counter, meticulously folding, cutting, and taping. "Why do I have to go to this anyway? It sounds girly… and not fun."

"Jack, you're going," Sam mumbled while holding the rubber end of the scissors in her mouth.

"Carter, you look ridiculous," Jack gently maneuvered the knife away from her lips and placed them on the counter.

Sam ignored him. "It's Cassie and you love her."

"She knows I love her," Jack said, putting his hand on the package to hold the paper in place while Sam tore off a tiny sliver of tape. "I think she's doing this shindig 'couple's style' just to annoy me."

Sam smiled. "No, it's the new trend these days. Couple's wedding showers, couple's baby showers…"

"I don't like it," Jack stated.

"Well, I don't like showers of any kind, especially of the baby variety, but this is Cassie. I'm excited about this, Jack!" Sam looked him in the eye before returning her eyes to her task. "Plus, you should just be thankful we didn't have to organize and throw the party ourselves."

Jack nodded. "Yes, thank God for small miracles. And I wouldn't exactly say you don't like showers of any kind, Mrs. O'Neill," Jack said arching his eyebrows and smirking. He saw her duck her head and smile amusedly.

"What are you wrapping now, anyway?" He looked at the package, then, at the massive pile of gifts next to her.

"I'm not sure what this is, actually," Sam said, looking quizzically at the gift in front of her. "I think it's a special attachment for her breast-pump."

"Eeww, Carter… TMI!" Jack backed away from the gift as if burned.

Sam looked up at him with a grin. "TMI? Since when do you know what TMI means?"

"Oh, please. Have you met Teal'c? I had to introduce him to TMI his first few weeks on Earth. He used to share way too much with the guys in the locker room. Anyhow… why do we have to give Cassie something that has to do with her, um…"

"Breasts?"

"Ack! Forget I even asked!" Jack started to back away, but Sam grabbed his arm while laughing.

"Oh, come on! I wanted to get her the things that people may not actually buy. She registered for it so I assume she needs it. Her friends will get her all the cutesy stuff… I wanted to go for practical," Sam explained, looking at her pile of essential baby items.

Jack sighed again. "And we have to watch her and Schmuck open these awkward gifts in front of other people?"

This time, Sam stopped what she was doing to give Jack a pointed look. "Yes, and he's not a schmuck. His name is Damian and he's—"

"I know, I know… he's the guy Cassie is shacking it up with."

Sam just shrugged. "Yeah, pretty much. Besides, it's not 'shacking it up' these days. It's just what people do now. Some get married, some don't. Cass and Damian have been together for 4 years and they're good together, Jack."

Jack leaned back on the counter and picked up the next package in the wrapping lineup. It was some sort of camera and Jack started to tinker with it. "In my day people got married… especially if they were having a kid! It's just not right."

"Well, it's a different world now, General. Cassie and Damian are happy. He makes her happy," Sam said, a peaceful look upon her face.

Jack stopped his fidgeting and pursed his lips. "Is the kid gonna call me 'Grandpa'?"

Sam laughed audibly. "Do you want her to call you 'Grandpa'?"

"I don't know. What's it gonna call you?" Jack asked.

"She, Jack. 'It' is a girl and her name will be Margaret."

"Okay… what's Margaret gonna call you?"

"Maggie," Sam said.

Jack looked confused. "What? She's gonna call you 'Maggie'?"

Sam huffed. "No, you idiot. Cassie wants everybody to call the baby 'Maggie' for short and I want her to call me Sam, just like Cassie calls me Sam."

"Pshhh, Carter… there's no way that kid is calling you Sam. You'll have to be a 'Nana' for sure… or a 'Granny' or something."

Sam froze and turned around, slowly. "I am NOT old enough to be a 'Granny.' That's just wrong."

Jack bellowed. "How about 'Mimi?'"

Sam threw her tape roll at him. "Just stop, 'Grandpa.' That is not happening. I'll be 'Sam' to Maggie just like I've been 'Sam' to Cassie.

Jack came around and hugged her from behind. "You'll be a really good grandparent, you know that, right?"

He felt her stop her movements and take a few deep breaths. " Yeah. Cass will miss having Janet around, and probably even her mom from Hanka, but I'm hoping I can be here for her, even without any experience. I'm sure I can still change a diaper and hold a baby."

Jack turned her in his arms and moved his large hands up and down her back, then came up to thread his fingers through her hair. "I told you, I'll be around to show you girls' the ropes."

Sam smiled into his chest and rubbed her nose on his fleece shirt. "Cassie will love that."

Jack moved back to allow Sam some room to finish wrapping. She noticed the camera piece Jack had moved during his tinkering, and picked it up.

"Hope she likes this…" Sam commented, trying to fit the camera piece in a gift box with its other companions.

"What the hell is that, anyway?" He asked.

"Oh, I made her this."

"Of course you did. What is it?"

"Well," Sam shrugged, "she wanted a camera monitor in the baby's room so I did some research but all the available brands were horrible! The image is tiny and very blurry on all of them and most only display in black and white!"

"So you invented a special doohickey?" Jack picked it back up out of the box.

"Yeah. It's an actual digital camera, 1080p DH video stream, will portray the image in color, and has night vision for when the light is off… oh, she can also zoom in to see the baby's face."

Jack nodded and turned it around in his hands. "Where's the display come out?"

"I rigged it so that it wirelessly connects to their TV, so they'll get full picture. Or if they are watching something, then I wrote up instructions on setting up picture in picture. And if all that fails, I created an app for her phone – she can get visual and audio on there too…"

Jack's eyes were huge, impressed as always with his wife's brilliance. "And then if all that fails, they can of course check on the kid themselves, you know, the old fashioned way," he added sarcastically.

Sam rolled her eyes, grabbing the device and replacing it in the box.

He inched his way towards her. "Carter, is it made of naquadah?"

Sam laughed out loud. "No, darling, it's not made of naquadah. Just plain old materials that can be found on Earth."

"How extremely boring of you, Carter."

"Shut up," she bumped her hip against his and he bumped hers back.

"I love you," Jack whispered in her ear. "I love you for doing this for her."

Sam leaned her head into his and relished this moment. "I love you too," she whispered back. He moved his head and found her lips with his. He waited for her to fall into the moment, to brush her mouth against his, to breathe against him. She tasted like lemon and honey, and she all but purred when he snaked his cold hands under her winter sweater. A moment later, Jack pulled back slightly, evoking a grunted protest from Sam, her arms around his neck, her body wrapped up in his.

"We're gonna be late if you don't finish wrapping those," he murmured as he nibbled on her lower lip.

Her eyes still shut, Sam said in a throaty voice, "yeah… I don't want to be late. Cassie needs us there today."

"I can help you."

Sam righted her face and opened her eyes. "That would be great, thanks… give me a minute," Sam said, settling back into the crook of Jack's neck, inhaling deeply. Jack hugged her back, rocking slowly back and forth.

"Sam?"

"Yeah?" she asked near his ear.

"Can the kid just call me 'Jack' too?"

Jack felt Sam's body shaking with laughter.

"Yeah, honey. I think 'Jack' is a great name to use with Maggie."

Soon, they returned to their mission, working as a team where words were not necessary, wrapped up in each other and looking forward to their new adventure.

oooo

Thanks to iamdkscully and Kathie for the help with this piece. And happy birthday, Mon!