A strong pungent smell wafted throughout the kitchen of the house, its odour filling the adjacent lounge room as the current occupant resided on the sofa. Retired Colonel O'Neill, a woman yes and a very slim elderly, but still very attractive woman was reading her novel when her senses picked up on the rather offending smell.
She slammed her book shut and struggled to get of the comfy resting place in search of her husband of nineteen years.
"Jack, what on earth are you cooking?" She yelled as she made her way up the steps and into the dining room.
Her nerves were high strung as the day was fought with fear and tension. Samantha O'Neill was not in the mood for her husband's antics today and although normally she wouldn't mind him cooking for them she could tell by all the noise coming from the kitchen, she would have an enormous mess to clean up afterwards.
She immediately heard him drop the utensil he was using to stir the omelette he was making in the iron cast pan. Flinching, she suddenly regretted raising her voice at him. It wasn't his fault she was upset and she didn't want to start up the previous argument they shared the week before.
Jack O'Neill bent down and picked up the spatular that he dropped on the floor, part of the omelette was also splattered on the hardwood surface. Upon placing it on the bench he gave her a frustrated stare.
"I WAS cooking dinner for crying out loud!" He raised his voice back to her.
She jumped at the sharp tone in his voice and she stood back and just kept looking at him. Jack noticed her body language and immediately relaxed his manner. God he didn't want to upset her. He knew what today meant for her and perhaps this was not a good time to instigate a war.
He began to walk over to her sullen form, He could see she was on the verge of tears. Her body shaking as she tried desperately not to break down in front of him. Even after years of battle together, she still looked up to him and cared deeply about his view of her as a strong, consummate woman.
As soon as he softly placed his hand to caress her cheek she crumbled. He was always so gentle and selfless when it came to her feelings. He would get sick to his stomach at the thought of ever upsetting her.
"This isn't about any omelette Sam" He gently whispered in her ear as he pulled her into a warm, comforting embrace.
She cried out louder, her tears spilling onto his woollen jumper as her body shuddered with uncontrollable sobs. He gently rubbed the small of her back to sooth her while she released all her pent up tension.
"I know its just that…. they" she couldn't continue as her crying quickly over whelmed her.
Jack pulled out of the hug, a beaming smile spread across his face. She looked up at him though her read swollen eyes. No matter how much she wanted to be angry at him, as soon as she saw that smile her world melted away. Sniffing and wiping away her tears she looked into his deep dark brown eyes. He was still so very handsome and when he was cheering her up he was so adorable. Hot even.
"Sam, I know" Was all he said as he placed a kiss upon her lips.
Jack was just as nervous as his wife and it wasn't anything to do with burning eggs mixed with beer. It had nothing to do with nearly every bowl in the kitchen being used and dirtied or their dinner now lying on the floor. It was about their children.
He took her hand in his and gently guided her to the dining room table, pulling out a chair for her to sit down.
It seemed like hours before she finally spoke again. Needing time to sort out her emotions as it was easy these days to get riled up over such little things.
"I didn't think it would be so hard" she whispered into the air.
Of all the things she prepared for in her life, never would she imagine her children growing up and leaving her. When they were young she knew they would grow up and develop lives of their own, but its hard to imagine this fact after you clothe them, feed them and love them day in and day out for nineteen years.
They were still her precious babies in her eyes and after it took eight years of fighting the very career she loved in order to have them, she wasn't going to let them just walk away.
Jack just looked at her with adoring eyes, slowly letting out a breath as he went back into the kitchen.
"Sam we discussed this. You know I didn't like it either, given what we went through, what we know, but it's what they want. We need to be strong for them, because god knows it's a hell of a tough road they've got ahead of em". He explained while he grabbed the mop out of the kitchen pantry.
"Come on, lets have some dinner and we can talk about ringing the barracks in the morning." He smiled back at her as he began mopping up their spoiled dinner.
Sam got off the chair and pushed it back under the table. As she made her way to the lounge room, she was just about to sit down when she heard a loud thud, followed by a rather strained cuss word.
Turning around she quickly ran back into the room and saw him lying straight on his back, his face bright read and scrunched up in embarrassment.
She couldn't help it, she burst out laughing at the sight, this only made Jack relax further into the gooey mess on the floor.
"It's not funny Sam, It hurt and at my age I could have broken one of the last few undamaged bones I have left" He gasped and began to chuckle.
She bent down to give him a hand up as he leant on the bench for more support. Still laughing and smiling brightly.
"No giggling Sa..man...tha" He rolled of his tongue.
TBC
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
