Chapter 11 - Visitors
"You guys been here long?"
Sam looked over at her husband and shook her head before turning to the agent who was holding the door open for them. "Ignore him and thank you."
"I was just wondering," Jack told her as he began to lead her into the house. As soon as they turned towards the living room Jack smiled. "Agent Price! So nice to see you again! By the way congratulations on your engagement!" He looked over at Sam and raised his eyebrows in pride for remembering this time.
"Thank you sir," she told him with a smile of her own. "Congratulations to you both."
"Thanks Andrea."
"Jack! We've been waiting for hours!" Daniel called out as he stepped out from the kitchen and into the living room to greet two of his closest friends. "Hell, Agent Price called me this morning to ask how they could get into your house!"
Jack laughed, "Turn the door knob!"
"Seriously, Jack, a general in the U.S. Air Force should at least lock his door and invest in a good watch! Congratulations Jack and Sam."
Jack and Sam walked up to the President and First Lady and greeted them with warm hugs.
"Why bother! And besides, the reason we're late is because we enjoyed a little too much Champaign in the suite. Thanks for the bottle Cathy," O'Neill told her as he leaned in to kiss her cheek in appreciation.
Cathy waved it off, "We're sorry we couldn't be there for the wedding, Daniel tells me that it was beautiful."
"It was ma'am," Sam said with a glowing smile as she remembered the evening.
"Sam?"
"Yes, ma'am?"
"How many times have I told you? When are you going to call me Cathy? I'd like to think that we're friends now!"
Sam chuckled, "We are ma'am… But, you're married to the President and-"
"Don't give me that. He's lucky to be married to me! The same way Jack over there is lucky to be married to you!" Cathy teased. "And you guys do owe me for pointing out your feelings to Jack," she tried.
Sam looked down, "And we are eternally grateful to you for that."
"See I've already meddled in your personal lives, that should put us on a first name basis."
Sam chuckled. She then got a bright idea as she saw her father, Teal'c, and Cassie enter. "I'll tell you what, ma'am. When Teal'c starts calling me 'Sam', I'll start calling you 'Cathy'."
Cathy smiled as she considered the easy plan, "That's it? Piece of cake." She then went off to go reason with the tall Jaffa.
Jack leaned over, "How long do you think she'll try to convince Teal'c?"
"Of what?" Jack Ryan asked as he leaned in as well.
"Of calling me Sam," Sam stated bluntly.
"It can't be that hard, besides, when Cathy gets an idea in her mind, she won't stop."
Jack O'Neill and Sam Carter looked at one another and smiled. Sam explained the situation to him, "Sir, Daniel and I have tried for over eleven years to get him to just call us by our first names. He still addresses me with rank and last name, and Daniel is always Daniel Jackson."
Ryan's eyebrow perked up, "Really?"
Jack and Sam nodded their heads.
"Sam, how's that husband of yours treating you so far?" Jacob asked as he and Cassie walked up to the trio.
"Just fine, Dad," she told him as she hugged him.
Jacob then turned to Jack O'Neill, who with a goofy smile on his face and arms outstretched called out, "Dad! And now it's really true!"
Jacob sighed, "Yes it is… Morning Jack." Jacob tried not to smile at the goofy general in front of him, but he couldn't help himself as he hugged his son-in-law in greeting.
"Cassie, Dad," Jack said with much enjoyment, "This is Jack Ryan. Jack, this is my father in law, Jacob Carter, and our god daughter, Cassandra Frasier."
Greetings were exchanged.
Jack Ryan leaned in close to Jacob, "So you're a…"
Everyone in the group smiled at the President's attempt at discretion. "It's okay, I know," Cassie revealed to the President.
He looked over at her in shock, "You know? What?"
She smirked, "I'm not from around here."
Jack Ryan analyzed the young woman in front of him.
Sam took it upon herself to explain, "She knows about the Stargate program."
"Really?" his gaze darted between the two women.
Cassie nodded her head, "When I'm said I'm not from around here, I really meant it."
Realization dawned on the President's face, "So you mean you're from…?" he raised his hand and pointed up.
"From Canada?" she asked sweetly.
Sam and Jack laughed at the long running joke.
"No. I'm from another planet. They found me on another planet and saved my life," she quickly summed up.
"Wow!"
"So you've been here since…?"
"Since I was about twelve."
"So how do you like it here?"
Cassie smiled, "I'm just like any other college senior, Mr. President."
"Really? What are you studying?"
"Physics, but I'm pre-med."
"You should talk to my wife, she's a physician you know?"
Cassie looked over to the petite woman who was engaged in a conversation with Teal'c. "I didn't know that."
"Let me introduce you. Cathy!"
Cathy briefly looked over at her husband, and motioned to him that she needed a few more moments.
"Are you applying for next fall?"
"Yes."
"And she has the audacity to apply to schools all over the country!" Jack added. "Does she want to go to UC-Boulder? Of course not!"
Ryan smiled as he watched the interaction. He envisioned himself saying similar things in a few years when Sally started applying to colleges. "Yeah, what do your parents say about that?"
The smiles that had been on the groups' faces all disappeared.
As soon as he saw the change in demeanor of those around him, he instantly regretted what he had dredged up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" he began.
Cassie looked at him and sent him a soft smile, "It's okay. There's no way you could have known. I was the last survivor of my original planet… And my mom here died four years ago."
"I'm truly sorry for your loss."
"Jack," Cathy called out as she greeted the group. As she joined his side, she too could feel the tension in the small group. She looked awkwardly at those present before introducing herself, "Hi, I'm Cathy Ryan."
"Jacob Carter."
"Cassie Frasier."
"Cassie wants to be a doctor," her husband revealed as the reason why he had called her over.
"What field are you interested in?"
"Emergency medicine and internal medicine."
"Some pretty different fields there, you leaning one way or another?"
"I'm going to do both actually," Cassie told her confidently.
"What made you choose those fields?" Cathy inquired.
"It's the best preparation for working at the SGC… At least that's what my mom always said," she revealed with a gentle smile as she recalled the conversations she had had with her mother.
That's when it clicked in Cathy's mind. That's why the last name was familiar. Prior to her operation on Sam's eye, she had requested Sam's medical file to be prepared for any complication due to the naquada in her system. She had noticed that Dr. Janet Frasier had signed off on most of her file. When she had contacted the SGC's Dr. Brightman, she had asked to speak with Dr. Frasier. And that's when they had told her what had happened to the previous CMO, that she had died in the line of fire while saving someone's life off-world.
And this was her daughter.
She nodded slowly before asking her next question, "So where do you plan on applying to?"
"I'm actually doing interviews with some med schools now. Most of them are on the East Coast."
"Did you apply to Johns Hopkins?" Cathy asked with piqued interest.
"I have an interview there at the end of the week."
"What's your top choice?" she asked, not wanting to show her connections just yet.
"Hopkins actually."
Cathy smiled, "Really? Why?"
Cassie spoke with confidence in her decision, "They're consistently ranked in the top five best med schools, they have a low student to faculty ratio, the opportunity to do research, and I sort of have family in the area."
Jack Ryan did a double take, "You do?"
She smiled. "General Hammond," she explained. "Next to SG-1, he's one of the closest people to me."
Cathy nodded in understanding. She had heard about the close bond between the previous CMO and SG-1, and naturally it had carried over to her daughter.
"Do you want me to put in a good word for you?"
Cassie blinked, "Excuse me?"
Cathy looked at those around her before revealing her secret. "I work at Hopkins. I'm an ophthalmologist, and Dr. Ed Miller and I are old friends."
"You could put in a good word for me?" Cassie asked excitedly.
"Won't be a problem," Cathy assured her.
"I would really appreciate that!" She turned to the woman who had stepped in as a mother on numerous occasions. "Sam I have a shot!"
Sam chuckled at her friend, "Don't just count on her word. You still have to impress them in the interviews."
Jack O'Neill waved it off, "Of course she will! She learned all about diplomacy and tact and making good first impressions from me."
Everyone in the small group turned to look at him seriously. O'Neill raised an eyebrow in mock confusion. Silently, everyone turned away from him and went to go carry on their conversations.
"Hey!"
After several hours of exchanging stories and an enjoyable late brunch, the President pulled his wife aside.
"I'm glad you did changed the rules for them."
Jack sent her a soft smile, "Me too. They really were meant for each other."
"Yes they were," she agreed confidently. "They have a wonderful family."
"An interesting group, a family most definitely… Did you know that Cassie's from another planet?"
"What? Really? I thought she was the previous CMO's daughter."
He nodded, "Adopted daughter. SG-1 found her after everyone on her planet had been killed."
"That poor thing…" Cathy looked out towards the rest of the group and her gaze fell on the young woman who happily laughed at one of Jack O'Neill's comments. "My God… She's lost two mothers… Poor thing!"
Jack also watched her, "I don't know how, but she doesn't feel that way… She seems like an amazing woman."
"She deserves getting into Johns Hopkins… She's going to make an excellent doctor one day."
"How can you tell?" he looked at her.
Cathy thought of her response, "Despite everything she's been through, she wants to help people heal… She's very compassionate."
Wordlessly, they both agreed to rejoin the group in front of them.
"Sam, I do not believe that to be a wise course of action."
Silence fell across the room as most eyes in the room turned to look at the tall Jaffa in shock. He just looked back at them as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.
Sam blinked hard and then turned to the First Lady who was grinning widely at her.
She blinked again, "How did you…?"
Cathy smiled as she explained, "Never underestimate the powers of persuasion of a doctor."
Sam looked back at Teal'c and then back to the First Lady. She shook her head in amazement before smiling at the First Lady, "At least not yours… Cathy."
TBC
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