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Sam stood at her kitchen sink with her hands in warm, soapy water as she gently washed the delicate flower vase. Jack had sent her two dozen red roses exactly two weeks ago today. She had paid extra attention to the flowers, changing the water every day and even tried talking to them, the way she did her plants. The flowers had hung on as long as they could, but started dropping petals a few days ago and when she had gotten up this morning and looked at the remaining few, she knew it was time to throw away what was left of them. She had slowly pulled the stems from the vase and put them in the trash. Now here she was with soap suds on her hands, staring into the water, thinking about how sweet Jack had been to send her the flowers. Finding out that Jack had a romantic side had not come as a surprise, she had suspected all along. She rinsed off the vase and carefully sat it upside down on a towel to drain.

A smile came to her face as she remembered their simple wedding with only Cassie, Daniel, Teal'c, General Hammond and General Landry in attendance. They had only had two very short days for a honeymoon before he had to be in D.C. to take over his new position.

Tears came to her eyes as she realized how much she missed him. He had been gone several weeks and they had not seen each other since he had taken over his new job. They had talked on the phone, a lot, but she wanted to see him in person.

Jack had told her just two days ago that he didn't know when he would get to come back to the Springs and she was so busy at the Mountain, she couldn't get away to see him either.

Sam let out a sigh and realized it was going to be one of those nights where she spent it in front of the TV with a pint of Ben & Jerry's, watching some sappy movie and feeling really sorry for herself.

She carefully dried off the vase until it sparkled when she held it up to the light. She opened the cabinet door, sat the vase on the shelf and just as she closed the door, she thought she heard a sound outside. She stood still and listened, then heard someone putting a key in the door. Her heart started to beat faster and just as she took a step toward the door, it swung open and there stood her handsome gray haired General. They stared at each other for just a moment. Jack dropped his luggage and Sam ran to him and threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

Jack hugged her back, lifting her off the floor, then setting her back on her feet. They stood there embracing for several moments.

"You're here" she said as she didn't even try to suppress the tears.

"Yes, honey, I'm here. I thought I'd surprise you" Jack said as he rubbed her back soothingly. Neither one attempted to move, just enjoying the moment. They stood in silence.

"Sam, you can let go now" he said but didn't attempt to remove his arms from her either.

"I'm not through hugging" she said as she sniffed and kept her face buried in his neck.

"Okay" Jack said. A few more minutes passed.

"Sam, this is very nice and I've missed you like crazy, but I'm really tired. Do you think we could sit down on the sofa?"

Sam didn't answer but started to walk backwards, still with her arms around him. She wasn't about to let go. They shuffled along, almost falling twice, until they reached the edge of the sofa. Jack sat down and Sam sat on his lap. As soon as she sat down, she once again wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck.

"Do you think I might could get a look at your beautiful face sometime tonight?" he asked with a grin.

"I'm not through hugging" Sam repeated once again with a little more boldness in her voice.

Jack really was tired but he understood how she felt. It was so good to have her in his arms. Together at long last.

After a few more minutes, Jack asked "is this hugging session going to end sometime this year?"

"You don't want me to hug you?" Sam asked in a muffled voice against his neck.

Jack stifled a chuckle. "Yes, baby, this is really nice but my legs are getting numb."

"Oh, I'm sorry" Sam said as she slid off his lap to sit next to him and looked at him as she wiped the tears from her face.

"So, miss me?" he asked with a grin as he finally got to look into her blue eyes.

"What gave you that idea?" she said with a smile.

THE END