Jack nestled up against Sam's back, as she washed a salad bowl in the kitchen sink. His chin rested on her shoulder as he lightly kissed her neck. Sam smiled and leaned even more into him.
"Sam… you don't have to clean that now. The boys have volunteered to do the dishes tonight."
"Yeah right, volunteered. Besides I need that for the noodle salad later on."
"C'mere", he wrapped his arms more tightly around her and she laid her hands on the arm encircling her shoulders from behind.
"You also don't have to hide in the kitchen the whole day. It's my birthday, you know. I can decide whatever I want today. And I declare it the 'wives-out-of-the-kitchen-day'."
"I'm not hiding in the kitchen!" Sam mock declared.
"Yeahsureyabetcha." He nuzzled her neck again.
"I'll have you know that we Carters don't hide from anything." She half-heartedly added. The things this man did to her… wonderful.
"Yeah? How about anyone? ….. My mother perhaps?" A non-committal grunt was his only answer as Sam made her way over to the counter and hauled herself up to sit next to the fridge. Jack came to stand between her knees.
"Is it really that bad?"
"Is it really that obvious? Jack, your mother hates me!" He placed his hands either side of her head so she had to look him in the eye. "Sam. My mother doesn't hate you."
"Does too." She pouted.
"Arrgh… Sam. She may seem a bit distant", Sam heaved an exasperated sigh, "which she is not. And she will love you once you two get to know each other better."
His wife leaned her head on his shoulder while he moved is hands to rub her back.
"Funny, you know. Sara always said my Mum would loathe her, too." Sam's head shut up and she raised her eyebrows. Did you have to mention your ex-wife? He shot her a pleading look in return. She IS the mother of my dead child, to which Sam laid her head back down on his shoulder.
"Does it really matter so much?"
Sam shrugged. "I guess not."
"Sam, look at me", he tilted her chin with his right hand, the other one on her hip. "Everybody loves you. As soon as people get to know you, they can't help but like you. And once you so much as smile at them, they fall in love with you. You see all these people out there?" he indicated to the window, "that's only part of the Sam-Carter-fan club."
Sam couldn't help but smile embarrassedly. "There's a fan club?"
"Yep. Everybody's in it. Even some girls from the base." She swatted his arm at this. "Siler is chairman and I think Rothman is treasurer. Only Felger, well, he got kicked out, 'cause, you know, he got a bit obsessive." Sam chuckled.
"And you?" She laid her hands around is neck, drawing him nearer.
"Me? Well, I got kicked out too, y'know, cause I had some exceptional advantages and unequal deeper insight at some point."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Now you see what I had to compete to all these years."
"Poor boy." Their lips were mere millimetres apart.
"Are you trying to be cute?"
Sam cracked a grin. "Does it work?"
"Kind of." Their lips met softly and Jack's arms circled her waist, leaning in to her, savouring the feel of her lips. But he couldn't start anything he couldn't finish now. Shame.
"I'm sorry, by the way." He retreated his head a bit to take a better look at her. And to regain control of other parts of his body.
"What for?"
"That I couldn't un-invite my Mum, once she had invited herself to my birthday party."
"Jack, she is your mother. Don't you dare!" Sam exclaimed.
"Yeah, but I knew what problems this would cause. I'm sorry, okay."
Sam's one hand played with his collar, the second busied itself with the hair at the nape of his neck.
She smiled mischievously at him. "How sorry?"
"My my, Mrs O'Neill, you're insatiable." He attached his lips to her neck once more.
"Say that again."
"What? That you're insatiable…?" He grinned at her.
"Nooo…"
"Mrs O'Neill…" He huskily muttered before he kissed her again, more passionately and both tried to get as close as possible to each other. This time he didn't care if the whole world witnessed.
Except somebody did seem to care.
"Eew, get a room you two!" They broke apart regretfully. Jack with a twinkle in his eyes and Sam with a glow on her face. They both turned around, but kept their arms around each other. Cassie just shrugged her head.
"You two are worse than teenagers."
"Says the girl who spent hours on the front porch with her boyfriends." Jack countered.
"It wouldn't have had to be the front porch, if you hadn't scared all of them to death." The older man chuckled at that fond memory. "Yeah, well… let's not dwell."
Cassie helped herself to some beer in the fridge. "You want one?" Both adults nodded.
