FF_992224_308751475 3/10/2013
A/N: I hope you all enjoy this beginning to the next phase of my Sam Braddock story.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. Anyone or anything new - that's mine.
Toronto Police Strategic Response Unit Sniper Sam Braddock was nervous. He wasn't about to share that fact with his teammate and fiancée, Julianna "Jules" Callaghan, though. They were in his truck, heading towards a reunion of Sam's old JTF2 unit from Afghanistan. Sam just wasn't sure how his ex-teammates were going to react to seeing him again. He hadn't seen most of them since he left Afghanistan three and a half years ago. And that wasn't the high point of his military career. Not that he'd had a particularly great relationship with most of them before that, either. A lot of them resented him because he was the general's son.
"Relax, Sam," Sam shouldn't have been surprised that Jules knew how anxious he felt; in addition to being his girlfriend, she was his best friend. "Worst case scenario, we'll spend the afternoon with Pete and Justin and his family." She reached over and squeezed his hand. "That'll be fun, won't it?"
"Yeah," Sam smiled tightly, not completely reassured, "I really do enjoy Justin's kids." But he knew that some of his ex-teammates from JTF2 wouldn't be so easy to dismiss.
"Braddock," growled the tall brown-haired bear of a man standing at the entrance to the picnic area in the park. His eyes examined Sam, head to foot and back again before flicking to Jules just long enough to say, "Ma'am," and then returning to his wary observation of Sam. "I didn't think you'd actually show," he continued to Sam.
"Bryan," Sam acknowledged, tilting his head in response. His face was calm and composed with no hint of emotion showing. "Pete and Justin insisted," he replied to Bryan's comment. Taking Jules' hand in his he continued, "This is my fiancée, Jules Callaghan. Jules, Bryan Jamison."
As Bryan nodded again to Jules, he politely held his hand out to shake hers. After releasing her, he moved slightly to the side, giving Sam and Jules room to move past him. His eyes flicked to Sam's right shoulder before they began moving, and he asked, "How'd you break your collarbone?"
Sam shrugged his left shoulder, "An incident at work," was all he said.
Bryan just nodded silently in response, letting the couple move past him into the picnic area that was already teaming with people.
Before they'd taken more than twenty steps, Sam was hailed again; this time by two men standing together. One was a tall, skinny man, almost gangly, with a shock of bright red hair and green eyes. The other was shorter and more filled-out, with golden brown hair and brown eyes. It was the second man who called out good naturedly, "Hey, Braddock, long time, no see!"
"Hey, Frank," Sam responded, lips twisting in a very faint imitation of a smile. "How's it going?"
"I can't complain," Frank smirked.
His companion smacked him on the shoulder. "Yes, you can. You complain all the time," He grinned at Sam. "Braddock," he nodded his head in greeting. Turning his attention to Jules, he asked, "And who is this lovely lady?"
Sam smiled down at Jules. It was a real smile that actually reached his eyes. He was still smiling when he turned to the red-head and said, "This is my fiancée, Jules Callaghan." He stopped, startled, when he saw the red-head sigh and pull out a twenty, handing it to Frank. Then he started laughing – full-out belly laughing, struggling for breath, he was laughing so hard.
"Uh, Sam, what's up?" Jules asked, slightly concerned at Sam's extreme reaction.
It took Sam a few minutes to compose himself enough to respond. "I forgot about that bet," he said, his eyes still crinkling with mirth. He turned to Jules. "Sean Morrissey," he nodded at the red-head, "bet Frank Mueller," he nodded at the brunette, "that my face would crack if I ever really smiled." His eyes widened when the red-head sighed again and pulled out another twenty. "What's the second twenty for?" he asked.
"I bet that the world would end if you ever really laughed," Sean said morosely. "Wait a minute, you knew about that bet?" he gaped at Sam.
Sam laughed again. "Of course I did," he grinned, "why do you think I never smiled around you guys?"
"Not fair," Sean grumbled, grabbing at and missing the money in Frank's hand.
"Hey, I told you it was a sucker bet," Frank grinned. He quickly pocketed the money before Sean could make another attempt.
"Did you know Sam knew?" Sean frowned at Frank.
"Naw," Frank drawled. "I've just seen Sam smile before."
"Have not!" Sean exclaimed.
"Have, too!" Frank smirked back.
"That's enough, you two," a female voice interjected. A young blond woman approached, shaking her head. "I swear, you two act more immature than any of my kids."
Sam turned with a smile, "Sarah," he greeted.
"Sam," the blond returned his smile and gave him a quick one-armed hug. She turned to Jules. "And you must be Jules," she smiled brightly at the SRU officer. "It's great to finally meet you."
Jules smiled tentatively back, quickly examining the other woman. Her smile became less tentative when she realized the sincerity in Sarah's expression. "It's nice to meet you, too," she said softly. Then a quick smile flitted across her face. "I can't wait to meet your kids," she darted a glance at Sam. "I'm having a hard time picturing Sam babysitting." Her eyes gleamed with good humor.
Sam squirmed, a faint hint of red spreading across his face. But he was interrupted before he could respond by a high-pitched voice screaming, "Uncle Sammy! Hey, look, it's Uncle Sammy!" Before anyone could say anything else, three child-shaped projectiles impacted Sam's legs, nearly knocking him over. He'd had just enough time to brace himself before impact.
"Uncle Sammy!" the trio crooned in unison. Sam started laughing again. His good hand leaned down and started tickling the small bodies hugging his legs.
Shrieking laughs responded to the tickling. Sam staggered slightly, pulled off-balance by the wriggling bodies attached to his legs.
A/N: Please let me know if you enjoyed this chapter.