Sam arrived at the O'Neill house at 0730 hours. "Sir?" She asked as she entered when there was no answer to her knock.
"Carter!" He greeted, running around the kitchen with a plate in one hand as he tried to make breakfast.
"Need another couple of hands, sir?" She asked with a smile.
"Why do you call him siwuh?" Suzie asked, walking into the kitchen in her nightgown and slippers.
"It's a sign of respect." Sam said, eyeing Jack.
"Why?"
"Because he's my commanding officer."
"What's a comm- comn-comma…?"
"Commanding officer? It's something that shouldn't have to come home after work." Jack said, smiling.
"Sir?"
"It's Jack."
"Sir?" She asked, somewhat concerned.
"Aw, come on, Carter…we've already established this."
She smiled. "As long as you remember that it's Sam...not Carter."
He shrugged. "Okay...Sam."
"Johnny, I'm hungry." Suzie said, interrupting their little moment.
Jack looked at the burnt pancakes on the griddle. "Uh…sorry, sweetheart. It'll be a little while yet."
"You know, I could cook breakfast while you pack."
He looked at her. "I don't need to pack. Did that last night."
"All right. Then, Suzie's all packed?"
Jack's eyes widened. "Crap! I forgot that."
Sam smiled. "I've got a guest room, so you don't need to worry about bedding or sheets. Just clothes."
Jack turned to go, but stopped. "You know, Carter, it might just be easier for you to stay here. I've got a guest room. All Suzie's stuff is here."
"But what about Cassie?" Sam asked.
"One of you can take my bed. I'll even change the sheets for ya."
"Please, Sam. Stay at home wif me!" Her little eyes were wide and she reminded Sam of the Precious Moments figurines with the tear-shaped eyes.
She gave a sigh of resignation. "All right. We'll stay here."
"Might as well keep my truck. The Air Force is picking me up in…" he looked at his watch. "Half an hour!" He said, running to shower and get dressed.
"Men." Sam said, shaking her head in amusement.
"Men." Suzie agreed, mimicking Sam.
--
Sam walked into Suzie's bedroom while Jack was dressing. Boxes were lining the stale white walls. A queen-sized bed sat in the corner with clean sheets, but it was obvious that this was a bachelor's home.
She tried to get Suzie dressed, but found hand-me-downs that were one or two sizes too big for her, as opposed to the cute outfits that she had worn previously. Granted, she had grown since they had met a couple of months ago, but…
"Sir?" Sam said, walking out of Suzie's room.
"Ah, ah, ah." He returned, walking out of his room, dressed in his dress blues. She had to keep from gawking. He was downright hot in those dress blues. Down girl, she thought.
"Okay…Jack."
"Yes?"
"Do you mind if we do something with Suzie's room while you're gone?"
"Like what?"
"Well, for starters, she needs a smaller bed."
Jack nodded. "True."
"And those boxes have got to move."
"Cleared a space for them downstairs."
"And white walls?"
"What's wrong with 'em?"
She raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with them? Nothing. If you're renting your house to a bunch of complete strangers."
"Fine. If you want to decorate the room, knock yourself out." He reached into his pocket. "Here's my credit card." He turned to get his overnight bag as the Air Force car pulled up.
"Jack?"
'Yeah?"
"She's going to need a new wardrobe."
"What?"
"Cassie's going to insist."
He saw Suzie dressed in a t-shirt that was too big for her and she was tripping over the oversized jeans. He smiled. "Anything for my little girl," He said, bending down. "Come and give me a hug!"
She ran as fast as her little legs could carry her, arms outstretched. She tripped into his arms, and he caught her. She gave him a big hug and kissed him on the cheek. "Bye, Daddy."
As he stood up, Sam could see his misty eyes. "Bye, Suzie."
He turned to Sam. "Thanks again."
She smiled. "Don't mention it."
Then, he placed his hat on his head and walked toward the suburban parked outside his house.
"Wave bye-bye!" She insisted, her hands reaching toward Sam. She smiled and picked up the four-year-old, who waved toward Jack, intermittently blowing kisses in his direction.
"Cute kid." The airman driving the car said.
"Yeah." Jack said, returning both the waves and the kisses.
"You and your wife sure are lucky!"
Jack turned. "Oh, she's not…I mean…" The airman looked thoroughly confused. "Yes. Yes, we are."
--
Sam fed Suzie her breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, while trying to figure out the plan for the day. "So, we need to stop by my house, and then…"
"Why do we need to stop by youw house?"
"Why? Because I don't have my clothes and things here."
"Oh."
"And we need to call Daniel and Teal'c to see if they can help. I already know Cassie will jump at the chance."
"With what?"
"With your room. We're going to get you a new bed and we're going to make your room all pretty."
Her eyes lit up with excitement. "With hosies?'
'Horsies? Of course. What else?"
"Flowehs."
Sam smiled. Jack would be raising a little girl who was interested in all of the frills of femininity. She wondered for a moment if he was exactly sure of what he was getting himself into.
"Well, let's see what we can do."
--
"Well…do you like this color?" Sam asked, holding up a baby pink shade of paint.
She shook her head. "I'm bowd."
Sam was starting to get tired of the declarations of Suzie's boredom every five minutes. "Just a little bit longer."
"But you said that a long time ago!"
"Suzie, if we can just choose the kind of paint that you want, we'll go home, okay?"
"I'm hungwy."
Sam gritted her teeth for a moment before returning a smile to the four-year-old. "So, do you like green, pink, purple, blue…"
"Gween."
"Okay." Sam pointed to a pastel shade of green. "Is this better?"
"Uh-huh."
Sam breathed a visible sigh of relief. "We'll take this color."
The man at the counter turned back to her. "It's a special mix. How many cans do you want?"
Sam closed one eye in concentration. "Uh…let's get two. Just in case."
"All right. Two cans of light forest. Do you want any wallpaper with that?"
Sam took a deep breath. "I think we'll take care of that later."
"Okay."
They paid for the paint and waited for it to be mixed. Then, they went back into Jack's truck. Sam started the engine and looked at the clock. They'd been in that store for a whole hour, and she was ready for a nap.
"All right. Time for lunch and naps!"
--
"Daniel! Teal'c! Thanks for coming!" Sam said, opening the door.
"So…moving in?" Daniel asked, looking at the boxes that Sam had moved out of Suzie's room and into the hallway.
"Funny." She said with a somewhat embarrassed smile. "No. These are just some boxes that Jack had in Suzie's room."
"Jack?" Daniel asked.
"It was confusing Suzie. So, when we're not on the base, we're using first names."
"Where is young Suzie O'Neill?"
"Asleep. I didn't realize that kids have such short attention spans."
She drew blank looks from both Daniel and Teal'c. "We were running some errands. I had to grab a few things from home, we called you, and then we started shopping. Except that after an hour at the paint store, she finally chose a color after telling me no less than five times that she was bored."
"Nevertheless, you were successful in procuring the necessary materials for our task of decoration, did you not?"
She shook her head. "I only managed to get paint. We'll have to go back for a wall-paper trim."
"Perhaps we can simply find and hang pictures of the equines Suzie O'Neill wishes to see." Teal'c suggested. "I have brought with me an adequate sample of such photographs."
He pulled out a 16-month wall calendar that featured sixteen beautiful pictures of wild and tame horses.
"Teal'c! This is perfect!"
"And here's one with pictures of various famous gardens around the world." Daniel said, handing her another calendar.
"She may also enjoy these photographs and oil paintings of many of your dancers of ballet."
Sam looked at the guys in disbelief. "You guys have spent a lot of time researching this stuff, haven't you?"
"Teal'c's new hobby is home décor. He watches Trading Spaces, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the Home and Garden channel…the list is endless."
"You're joking."
"Nope."
"Daniel Jackson is not attempting to be humorous at this time. I merely brought the decorative wall-hangings as an inexpensive alternative to traditional decorating techniques."
Sam smiled. "Thanks, Teal'c. But before we start trying to paint and decorate the room, let's move these boxes to their new home. Suzie's still sleeping in the room. When she wakes up, we'll break out the paint."
"Woohoo!" Daniel said, rather unenthusiastically.
"Let's go." Sam said, chuckling.
--
"Well, that's the last box. Let's go see what's going on with the Suzie front." Sam said, dusting off her hands.
"She is awake, Colonel Carter." Teal'c replied.
"How do you know that?"
"Hi, Sam!" The four-year-old said, walking down the stairs, her hand firmly gripping the railing.
"Suzie!"
"Shall we not break out the paint at this point?" Teal'c asked.
"Um, I was thinking that we could wait until Cassie comes to paint. Then, she can watch Suzie while we paint."
"Don't worry about it. Teal'c and I will paint. You and Suzie can go and shop for her new bed or her clothes or something."
Sam shrugged. "Okay."
"It may also be wise to purchase some bedroom accessories such as a dresser, a bookshelf, and some similar equipment."
"And T-O-Y-S." Daniel said, cryptically.
She raised an eyebrow. "We'll see."
"We going?"
"Yep. To choose a new bed!"
"Yeah!"
"Oh, and then, we'll look at the pictures Uncle Daniel and Uncle Teal'c brought over to put in your room."
Her eyes widened and she ran over to the men, throwing her arms around their knees. "Fank you!"
They smiled. "You're welcome."
She turned to Sam. "Daddy's going to be so suhpised."
"Yes, he is." Sam said with a smile.