Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings are property of their lawful owners. This story is written for entertainment purposes only and no profit is made. No copyright infringement intended.

A/N: Thank you for the wonderful reviews! I can't believe you're still following this story after all this time! You have no idea how much your support means to me.

I'm always so scared I'll hurt someone's feelings, writing about a sad, serious subject I know nothing about. But your reviews make me think maybe I'm doing something right after all. So thank you. :)

This chapter is bit different in style, lots of dialogue. This is usually what my sketches look like. I write the dialogue first and then start to write the emotions around it but this time it refused to grow to the next level. It might be lacking in the dept a little but it has a sort of lightness in it that I thought this story could use at this point.

Chapter 11

They slept late the next morning and didn't bother getting up even after they woke up. Neither of them had the energy for serious conversation and mostly they just held each other in silence, both needing the wordless reassurance.

Birds were singing outside and if Sam listened very carefully, she could hear the water hitting the dock in gentle waves. It was a beautiful place, very peaceful. In a way it reminded her of the camping site. Biggest exception was that the cabin already had a history, a history that she would be a part of from now on.

"Hungry?" Jack finally whispered, when the sun was high in the sky and the alarm clock on the nightstand indicated it was way into the afternoon already.

"A little," Sam admitted.

"Wanna go to the town? Eat out?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?" she asked, trying to understand the hesitant tone of his voice.

"What if I am?"

"Well either way, the answer is yes. As long as I don't need to dress up."

"I don't think any place in this town requires dressing up at two o'clock in the afternoon."

"Good," Sam mumbled and nuzzled his shoulder a little. "I like this town."

"Look..." Jack whispered after a moment when neither of them had moved from their positions. "I don't mean that I don't want to talk but can we just..."

"Take a day off from the bad things?" Sam finished the sentence for him.

"Yeah. But not if it feels like pretending, I don't ever want you to pretend you're OK just for my sake."

"Just because everything isn't alright doesn't mean I can't concentrate on the good things for a day," Sam said. "To be honest I don't have the energy for serious conversations right now."

"I'd hate to get into a fight because we're exhausted."

"Exactly." Sam kissed his shoulder before she rolled away from him. "So... Lunch date, fishing, maybe couple of beers on the dock..."

"I knew there was a reason why I love you."

She smiled at him. It wasn't one of her big grins but it was honest and it told him he had made the right choice. They would have a better conversation tomorrow, after some resting.

They showered, got dressed and drove the ten miles to the town. It was a small town, basically just one street that was lined with stores and restaurants. The lunch really felt like a date with all the flirty smiles and little touches. Jack shared fun stories about his childhood summers at the cabin and Sam told about some of her and her brother's adventures from when they were younger.

After lunch they strolled around the town, bought couple things they forgot the previous day, had a coffee, and a tea, in the tiny café that was almost hidden between two huge warehouses, sat a while in the park...

Everyone knew Jack and they all liked him which also meant they were very curious about Sam. She got to show off her engagement ring plenty of times. Whenever they were asked about the wedding, they simply answered soon. When the town priest offered to wed them the next day they kindly declined.

"Not that soon," Jack said quickly. "We've been thinking more like..." he left the sentence hanging, looking at Sam expectantly, waiting for her to finish it.

"November." To an outsider she probably sounded very confident but Jack heard the slight questioning intonation of the word.

"Yes, November," Jack agreed.

Couple more curious people later they had set the date at the last Saturday of November. They also made it very clear that they were having a small wedding in Colorado with just a couple of closest friends. However, the word soon spread that they would spend the honeymoon at the cabin.

"Now that was fun," Sam sighed as she slumped on Jack's couch a few hours later.

"Really? Or are you just being sarcastic?" Jack sat down next to her and offered a can of diet coke before he opened his own drink.

"No beer?" Sam asked, surprised to see he had a soda can, too.

"Nah, saving it for the fishing. You want some?"

"No, I'm good. And I really had fun."

"It doesn't bother you that strangers forced us to set a wedding date? We can change it if you want."

"No. We would have decided it at some point anyway. And now, if the weather is horrible, we can just blame the lady who runs the bookstore." She took a sip of her soda and then flashed a wide smile at Jack. "Does it bother you?" she finally asked.

"Nope. I don't really care when the wedding is as long as you're there."

"And as long as there's cake," Sam said with a teasing smile.

"Of course. It wouldn't be a wedding without cake."

Sam chuckled and closed her eyes, relaxing against the back of the couch.

"Wanna go fishing?" Jack asked when they had sipped their drinks in silence for a moment.

"Isn't it bit late for that?" It was half past seven already and the air outside was getting colder.

"It's never too late for fishing, Sam." The tone of his voice made Sam think he meant more than just catching the fish with that statement.

"Is that lake of yours any good for swimming?"

"Sure."

"Great," Sam placed the almost empty can on the coffee table and got up. "You can fish while I swim."

"Not exactly a safe combination, Carter. I'd hate to pull the hook from your thigh." Jack raised his eyebrows when Sam walked towards their bedroom. Coming from a genius, it was ridiculously stupid idea.

"Just take the hook off. It's not like you're gonna catch anything anyway," she called over her shoulder.

Jack was about to argue but then he realized there were more important things to consider than what she thought about the quantity fish in his lake. "Wait! Bikini or swimsuit!" he called after his fiancee.

"Bikini!" Sam answered from the bedroom.

"It's a deal!" Jack called and got up to remove the hook from his fishing rod.

A lot later they were sitting on the couch, staring into the fire and trying to warm up. Sam was sitting sideways on Jack's lap, curled against his chest, still shaking slightly. Jack had goosebumps all over him but he tried his best to ignore them, wrapping the blanket tighter around them.

Somewhere along the way Sam had managed to distract Jack enough to pull him into the lake, too. They had gotten a little carried away, swimming and splashing like kids. By the time they got out, they were freezing and looked like prunes.

Only now, after they'd used all the hot water for a long, shared shower and downed three cups of hot chocolate each, in front of the fire, they were slowly starting to feel warm again.

"I can feel you frowning, Sam," Jack whispered and planted a gently kiss on top of her head. "What are you thinking?"

"It can wait until tomorrow," Sam mumbled.

"No, it can't. It bothers you now so spill it."

Sam took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Do you want children? I know you said we could have another go at this family thing but do you really want it? And I don't want you to say you want whatever I want. I need an honest opinion."

"Yes."

"I don't want you to say yes because you wanted this child, the one we lost. I mean in general. Now that we can actually make a conscious decision about it instead of adapting to something that happened by accident, do you want children?"

"Yes."

"Jack," Sam sighed. "Be serious."

"I am!"

"Really? You wanted kids before we found out I was pregnant?"

"That's not what I said," Jack spoke softly.

"Then by all means, elaborate."

"Look..." Jack sighed. "After Charlie... I never really thought I would get kids again. Being father again wasn't very high on my priority list. But... I don't know. I guess... I guess I thought if you and I ever get together... Well, there might have been a few fantasies about having a family with you. But I never really believed I'd get to live those. But then you told me you're pregnant and I don't know... I guess it kinda... made sense all of a sudden." He shrugged a little and Sam.

"So you want kids but only with me?" Sam concluded.

"Yeah, that pretty much sums up my rambling," he mumbled.

Sam chuckled and snuggled a little closer.

"Sam?" Jack whispered when the silence stretched.

"Yeah?"

"How about you?"

"I never thought I'd want kids," she said, her tone heavy like she was confessing a crime. "I thought... I thought I would lose too much, I thought it wouldn't be worth it. But now... Now I can't imagine not wanting a family with you."

"But if it doesn't happen..."

"Then it doesn't happen," Sam said firmly. "Then we'll be happy, just the two of us. I'm not going to get obsessed about becoming a mother. And I don't think I can go through this many more times."

Jack nodded and they slipped into silence, both lost in their own thoughts.

"Beer is bit like coffee to me," Jack said softly after a while.

"Excuse me?" Sam asked, not really understanding what he could mean by that.

"You know? You and coffee? The night you left... I decided I wouldn't drink until you come back home. I wanted to be sharp in case you call or come back. And now... I feels weird to open a beer."

"Like it means stepping back to normal life and you're not quite ready for it?"

"Yeah," Jack sighed. It was a different thing because Sam gave up coffee for something happy and he gave up beer for something sad but none the less, getting back meant ending something he wasn't ready to end.

Somehow the discussion spiraled out of control from there and they just kept talking about everything. They both found themselves telling things they had never said out loud before.

They talked about the past but more than that they talked about the future, especially family. It was equally, if not more, emotionally draining than the previous night's talk and it had to be early morning already when they finally crawled into the bed.

"We're too old for this," were the first words Sam grunted the next morning, hiding her head under a pillow to block out the sunlight. She was usually up around the same time with the sun. Now they had gone to bed around that time. She didn't even want to know what time it was now.

"For what?" Jack asked, sounding way too awake for Sam's liking. His voice was coming from behind her and high enough that Sam suspected he was either sitting up on his side of the bed or standing next to it.

"Talking all night."

"But you have to admit it's easier," Jack said and Sam felt the mattress dip when he sat down. How did he get up so early? Did he sleep at all?

"Yeah, lowered defenses and all that," Sam agreed but didn't come out from under the pillow.

"Besides, it's better than getting drunk for the serious conversations," Jack kindly pointed out and tried to steal her pillow but she didn't let go.

"I know," Sam sighed.

"Come on." He leaned to kiss Sam's shoulder. "Time to get up."

She hummed softly at the contact. "Can't we just stay here?"

"Whole day in bed, huh?"

Sam could hear the smile in his voice and she was smiling under her pillow, too.

"I'm sure we can find something to entertain ourselves." She intentionally loaded her voice with flirt. "You could start by doing that again."

"You mean this?" he kissed her shoulder again.

"Uh-huh," Sam agreed and finally pulled her head from under the pillow. She turned around to look into Jack's eyes.

"What?" Jack asked when she didn't speak, only stared, with a weird little smile on her lips.

"Do you feel real yet?" she asked softly, hoping he still remembered the conversation they had in bed the night she came back.

Sam watched how is expression went from surprised to thoughtful to slightly optimistic.

"Yeah. Quite real," he replied with a little nod.

"You sure?" Sam asked and moved a little closer, her smile now definitely bordering flirty.

"Positive."

"I hope you mean it," she mumbled and leaned in to kiss him. It was a gentle kiss but this time it seemed to carry a promise of something more. "Because I'd hate to stop once we start," she spoke against his lips before she captured them with hers again. The second kiss was a little more heated but still more sweet than demanding, obviously leaving the decision to Jack.

"I'm sure that won't be a problem," he replied and gently pushed Sam onto her back, hovering over her with a grin on his face before he leaned to kiss her neck.

Sam let out a happy little sigh and turned her head to the side, giving him better access. She could see out the window now. The sun was shining and the trees were swaying in the wind. Birds were singing and when she finally managed to hear something over the beating of her own heart, it was water just outside the window, hitting the rocks. It sounded like the wind was picking up. She closed her eyes and cupped the back Jack's head with her right hand, gently playing with the short hairs in the nape of his neck.

Yeah, definitely real.

A/N: The next chapter is the "funeral" ceremony so that's a little sad again. That's why I felt this chapter was needed. :) Let me know what you think!