Author's note: This chapter is a little transitional, so it might not be all that interesting. Just a warning.

...........................

Carter and Gina offered to stick around and help Jack clean up the mess Jaffer and he had made in the house, but Jack declined the offer. He told them he had a better chance of getting Jaffer bathed and the mess cleaned up if the two of them weren't there to distract the black lab. Not to mention Jack, himself. Sam smiled and agreed that he was probably right, and the two left only about fifteen minutes after they'd arrived, heading for a busy day of shopping.

"Don't have dinner, Jack," Sam told him, kissing him softly, and smudging the artwork she'd left on his chest and belly. "We'll eat there."

"Are you crazy?" He asked, smiling. "Ruin a chance to make myself sick eating a hundred corndogs and a pound of cotton candy? No way."

He smiled at Gina, but didn't pull her into a hug, no matter how tempted he was to. She was dry, and he wasn't, and he supposed he could wait. Even though the girl was incredibly huggable.

"I'll see you ladies later."

"Wear more clothes Jack," Gina told him, grinning, as he walked with them down the sidewalk and to Sam's car, still soaked, but in good company since Jaffer was walking right beside him, and he was dripping more water than Jack was.

"I will," he promised. He kissed Sam once more, and then opened the door for Gina while Carter went around to the driver's side.

"Bye Jack."

"Bye, honey."

He waited until they'd driven away, and then looked down at Jaffer, who looked up at him, waiting to see what they were going to do now.

"Well... I believe the score is Jaffer 1, Jack nothing." He said, reaching down and taking hold of the soapy black muzzle, and shaking it gently. "I think it's time we go see if I can even up the score somehow."

Jack took off back to the house at a sprint, and with an excited woof Jaffer chased after him, his tail wagging happily. He was pretty sure he'd still be ahead by the end of the morning.

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By the time 4:00 came around, the house was dry and clean once more and Jack and Jaffer were both looking far more their normal selves. Once they'd finished their soapy water wrestling in the bathroom, Jack had sent Jaffer out into the backyard to dry in the sun and he'd taken an extra long shower, needing the extra time to get the smell of dog shampoo out of his hair. Then he'd spent about an hour grooming Jaffer until the fuzziness from his bath was gone and the black fur was smooth and shiny once more. Even better, since he no longer smelled of wet dog.

Another hour had been spent cleaning the mess, but Jack didn't mind. The fun was worth the extra work, and mopping the floor by sliding a couple of towels along it with his foot was hardly a daunting task.

Then he and Jaffer had grabbed a quick bite to eat. Despite what he'd told Sam, Jack really didn't want to make himself sick by eating a bunch of greasy fair food without something a little more substantial in his belly first. Besides, he and the black lab hadn't had lunch. They'd been too busy goofing off.

They had sandwiches, because sandwiches are just the easiest things in the world to make, and they weren't messy, which is always a consideration when you're sharing your meal with a dog. Besides, Jack had already cleaned the bathroom, the hallway and the entranceway; he didn't want to have to clean the kitchen too.

By the time Sam and Gina showed up, Jack was wearing jeans and a button down shirt, and was flopped down on the deck drinking a cup of coffee and watching Jaffer chase his shadow around the back yard.

...................

"We should have invited Shawn," Sam said softly as Jack opened the truck door at exactly 4:05 and moved to the side so Gina and Jaffer could scramble up into the club cab.

"He's with James and Dotty, visiting James' mother," Jack said. "Otherwise I would have." Shawn got along fairly well with Gina, and the two would have had no problem having a good time on a day out with Sam and Jack. "Next time we'll take him."

She smiled and got into the truck, looking back to make sure Gina had already buckled her seatbelt. The girl was ready; one hand pressed against the back of Jack's seat, the other hand buried in Jaffer's freshly washed fur.

"Ready?" Jack asked, redundantly, as he got behind the wheel.

Gina nodded excitedly, and he smiled. It was so hard to be anything but enthusiastic when he had her nearby.

"Do you have to have her back home by any particular time?" He asked Sam.

"She's spending the night, so we can stay out as late as we want."

"Isn't that great, Jack?" Gina asked from behind him.

"That is great."

Really, it was.

..................

One of the best things about being in the Military was that Jack could take Jaffer pretty much anywhere he wanted to go. The black lab was so well trained that he'd easily pass for a service dog, which was how Jack usually managed to bring him along with him to places that normally a dog wouldn't be allowed. The carnival was no exception. If everyone took their dogs to the carnival with them, it'd end up in chaos, dogs running around being chased by people, or even worse, chasing other people or starting fights with other dogs. But Jaffer was well trained, and Jack had his leash in the truck, so when they got to the gate at the fair grounds, he had the black lab at perfect heel next to him on his leash, and flashed his Military ID at the ticket taker, telling him that he was a guard dog, and could be trusted to not cause trouble.

Which was only partially true.

The ticket taker shrugged. As far as he was concerned, the more well trained dogs the better, because dogs patrolling the grounds with handlers, ready to chase down any would-be trouble makers was one of the best deterrents there was when it came to keeping people from actually causing trouble. Especially when the dogs were big like the black lab on the leash was. Who was going to pick a fight when someone was nearby with a dog like that?

He took their tickets, reminded Jack to keep Jaffer on his leash, and waved them through the gate and into the bustle of what had to be one of the biggest carnivals Jack had ever been to.