Chapter 36

It took Sam, Caity and Jack the rest of the day to get back to Colorado Springs, as Jack showed them one of his favourite places, even though it meant an almost two hour detour. On the way there, they stopped to get enough food to last the day and Caity was more than excited that her camping adventure wasn't over just yet. She kept on constantly talking about things she experienced at camp, which more than once brought a true smile on Sam's face.

They reached Jack's destination just about lunch-time and after a little snack Jack convinced both Sam and Caity – well, mostly Caity, who then looked with that much hope at her mom that Sam could hardly resist – to walk a bit before actually having their real lunch. In the end, Sam was glad to have agreed to the walk, even though she was too tired to really care in the beginning.

Because one minute they were walking on an, admittedly, nice and quiet path through the woods when Jack suddenly led them on an almost overgrown path off the main route and 5 minutes later their path opened to a beautiful clearing. A clearing, one could easily describe as pretty romantic, down to the little pond on the clearing's left side.

Caity squealed with delight when she stepped out of the woods and discovered the little pond. Once again, Sam couldn't help but smile at her daughter's pure joy of life. This, of course, was just what Jack had intended and once again Caity proved to be the best medicine for her mom.

After they had lunch, the day finally caught up with Caity and she moved over to sit on Sam's lap, where she wiggled around a bit until she was comfortable enough and then she closed her eyes and fell asleep almost immediately. Smiling, Sam watched her for a while before her eyes started to drop too. Without thinking, she let her head drop onto Jack's shoulder, falling asleep too and making Jack one of the happiest men on Earth.

When Sam awoke an hour later, Caity was still fast asleep, snuggled close to her chest. After watching her for a couple of minutes, Sam turned her head and found herself looking into the very much awake eyes of one Jack O'Neill – and Sam was lost. The brown eyes watching her had so much obvious love in them that Sam was simply overwhelmed, yet she couldn't break the contact and look away.

Sam didn't know how much time she spent just starring into Jack's eyes, when he finally moved his head towards her, kissing her softly – and yet in no way innocently - on the lips. Although, if she was honest with herself, she did enjoy the kisses they shared so far, this time her whole body was on fire within seconds – and in that one moment in time she was scared by her own reaction. This kiss contained so much promise of things to come – and her body obviously thought so too – yet Sam couldn't help herself and draw back from him. Not that she could move that much, Caity was still sleeping peacefully in her lap after all, but it was enough to break the kiss.

Afraid of Jack's reaction, Sam couldn't get herself to look at him so she just watched her daughter sleep. Of course, Jack rarely did what anyone expected him to do. So Sam shouldn't have been too surprised to feel him gently touch her chin, tilting her head upwards so she was looking at him – and yet she was.

Jack couldn't help but be surprised by his own actions.

Yes, he enjoyed those kisses they shared today. Yes, he enjoyed holding Sam at night, giving her comfort when she so desperately needed it.

But now he was basically running into unknown territory, having nothing but his feelings to guide him – and yet he had never been more sure about what he had – no – what he wanted to do.

Because he enjoyed those kisses they shared today. Because he enjoyed holding Sam at night, giving her the comfort she so desperately needed.

So when Sam looked up at him after he had savoured the weight of her head on his shoulder and the sight of her finally relaxed features as she slept peacefully as well as the sight of Caity comfortably snuggled against her, the only logical thing for him to do was to kiss her.

Well, not just kiss her but really opening up and showing her his feelings through the kiss without holding anything back.

Something he had never done before. Ever.

Not even with Sara had he been able to do that, although he was opening up to her more than he did to anyone else. But with Sam, once he had finally admitted his feelings to himself, it just came naturally and both his body and soul hummed with happiness.

Of course, he'd never admit the latter part to anyone – well, apart from Sam – it just sounded way too mushy and the people at the SGC wouldn't definitely have a field day if they'd ever guessed his train of thoughts at this moment.

Even though he felt Sam drawing back from his kiss he wasn't too worried because he had felt her initial response, as for a second her body had hummed alongside his own before he could literally feel the confusion radiating off of her. And he understood. So instead of being disappointed of her response – or lack thereof - he gently tilted her head upwards so she had no choice but to look at him and smiled that special smile that he reserved just for her.

"Shh, everything is going to be fine," he whispered, his eyes never leaving hers. After gently kissing her forehead he guided Sam's head back on his shoulder, wrapped his arm around her before continuing quietly, "I know it's the last thing you probably want to deal with right now, but I'll always be there for you and Caity. And when – or if – you are ready for more, then we'll go from there. Okay?"

It took a while, but Sam finally relaxed against Jack and slowly nodded. It was another few minutes before Sam finally whispered, "When – not if."

Jack wasn't aware that he was actually holding the proverbial breath until he heard those words from Sam. Then, grinning like the cat that ate the canary, Jack kissed the top of Sam's head before once again relaxing against the tree they were leaning against.

It was another few minutes – minutes of comfortable silence, filled with thoughts of a hopefully happy future – until either of them started to talk again.

"So..." Jack started quietly – he didn't want to wake Caity after all – yet being unable to resist to kiss the top of Sam's had again.

"So..." she whispered, and though Jack couldn't see her face, he could hear the smile in her voice.

"What about Dixon?" Jack questioned.

"Yeah, he got those ideas into Caity's head," Sam answered.

"I think he had a camera too," Jack added thoughtfully.

"What!?" Sam shouted – well, as much as you can shout while actually whispering – and lifted her head off its comfortable resting place to look straight at Jack.

"Yep, I think he filmed everything," Jack replied, amused.

"Bastard."

Chuckling at Sam's response, Jack couldn't help himself but kiss her again. And again. Well, she was looking straight at him, that lips practically asking to be kissed and – to be fair – he was only human after all.

"Well, I think we are safe. For now," Jack finally answered, being pretty sure that after his talk with Dave earlier this day he would at least keep the recording to himself until Sam was less vulnerable. Jack knew he could trust Dave in that respect

"Oh... good," Sam managed to reply eventually. Damn, Jack's kisses got more and more distracting and her mind seemed to need longer and longer to come back to reality – and they hadn't even reached the 'let's get our tongues involved'-stage yet!

"Sam?" Jack asked, clearly amused by her obvious distraction.

"Hmpf!" came the mumbled reply before Sam got comfortable on his shoulder again. At least that way Jack couldn't confuse her with more kisses. And she didn't even want to start thinking about his fingers lazily and probably unconsciously drawing little patterns on her bare arm. BAH!

"So? Any idea what to do with Dixon?" Jack asked again, smiling.

"Hm, I could complain to Janet how he compromised my pure, innocent daughter and persuade her to get the big needles for his next physical," Sam started.

"Nice! But he might be able to bribe her with the recording," Jack added thoughtfully.

"Right. Damn. I hadn't thought of that," Sam replied. "You think you could get him some missions with Felger?"

"Sneaky! I always knew I lo- liked you for a reason!" Jack answered, barely catching himself. Trying to cover it up, he continued, "How about Ne'tu?"

"Not bad. Unfortunately, the Tok'ra blew it up, remember?" Sam asked, truly getting into the spirit of finding a way to get back at Dave Dixon.

"Well, there's bound to be a New Ne'tu out there, somewhere!" Jack replied in mock-seriousness.

"Probably," Sam replied, chuckling. "Unfortunately, we are probably the ones to find it... ," Sam added with a sigh.

"How about Daniel, T and I find it and you come to our rescue?" Jack replied only half-jokingly. "Deal?"

"Deal." Sam replied, touched by his concern for her when only a few weeks ago she would more likely be somewhat offended by it. But so much had change since that call about the death of Aaron and Susan that it almost seemed to be a life-time ago.

"So, we stick with a few missions with Felger, then?" Jack asked to lighten the mood again.

"Yep, unless we can think of something else," Sam replied.

"So... do you really regret his interference?" Jack asked casually, though he didn't feel all that casual right now.

Taking a deep breath, Sam admitted quietly, "No, I'm not."

"Neither am I," Jack added just as quietly. "But we'll still stick with our plan, right?"

"Ya sure ya betcha!" Sam answered grinning.

"Hey, that's my line! And your absolutely right, no one obtains blackmail material on SG-1 without having to deal with the consequences," Jack exclaimed mischievously, grinning just as widely as Sam.

"Yep," Sam confirmed, moving slightly to get even more comfortable.

"So he's at least safe of becoming Goa'uld breakfast for the time being," Jack stated.

"Only if he behaves. But if those pictures get around the SGC he'll wish he could go and fight a whole Goa'uld army on his own!" Sam replied growling.

"I like your line of thinking!" Jack replied chuckling, but praying he'll never find himself at the receiving end of Sam's wrath.

"What's a 'gul'?" A sleepy voice suddenly interrupted Jack's train of thought and causing Sam to sit up straight. How was she going to explain to Caity that she wasn't supposed to hear that?

Gently getting Sam to relax again, guiding her head back to his shoulder, Jack looked directly at Caity who hadn't really moved since waking up though her eyes were open now, thinking of the best way to approach this.

"Okay, Caity. Now I'm going to tell you a secret which you can't tell anyone. It's just between you, your mom and me. Okay?" Jack started conspiratorially.

"Uh huh!" Caity replied, nodding enthusiastically. A secret just between her, her mom and her Uncle Jack! That was really cool!

"Well, you know how people give nicknames to other people or even things?" Jack asked.

"Like you and Uncle Jake calling me munchkin?" Caity replied.

"Exactly! And sometimes we give stuff other names so sneaky people don't know what we are talking about, right?" Seeing Caity nod, Jack continued, "You see, I really, really don't like snakes and there are a lot of other people who don't like them either and someone came up with this name-"

"Gul?" Caity asked enthusiastically.

"Yep, 'gul'. So now we can say that we don't like snakes without hurting the feelings of those who actually like them," Jack finished, clearly proud of his explanation which wasn't too far from the truth either – Goa'uld were pretty much snake-like after all. "But remember, you can't tell anyone this name because it's a secret to most people, okay?"

"Okay!" Caity replied, finally getting up from her mommy's lap, stretching herself – causing Sam and Jack to smile - before asking Sam using her best puppy-dog eye impression, "Can I have a look at the pond please?"

"Yes, but don't get wet, okay?" Sam managed to reply, still too flabbergasted by Jack's explanation to say anything else.

"What?" Jack asked amused, finding himself at the receiving end of Sam's scrutinising glance. "I do hate snakes, well, since we met the Goa'uld anyway..."

Shaking her head at him, Sam slowly started to smile. Leaning forward she gave him a quick kiss – which left him slightly stunned for once – thanking him for his explanation. They spent the next 20 minutes in silence, comfortably leaning against each other and contend to watch Caity discover their surroundings.

Sam and Jack might have chosen to stay silent, but Caity wasn't someone to investigate in silence. She talked to flowers, butterflies, the fishes in the pond – although she actually managed to stay dry, mostly – and everything else interesting that came across her path. And more than once did her behaviour bring a smile to both her mother's and Jack's face.

But when Caity was sitting cross-legged on the ground for a longer period of time, her back towards the two adults watching her, talking quietly to something both couldn't identify, Sam and Jack decided to investigate. Getting up quietly, both moved forward to where Caity was sitting until they were close enough to hear what Caity was saying.

"You know Fred, you've got a really nice home. Don't worry about Uncle Jack though, he might not like you but I don't mind being your friend. You know what's funny? Tammie says her daddy doesn't like snakes too. But I think they are just afraid of you and your friends. Grown-ups can be pretty weird like that, huh?"

After that Sam couldn't stop herself but laughing out loud.

"Mommy, look! Isn't Fred neat?" Caity asked, turning around after she heard her mommy laughing, pointing at the little snake in front of her.

"Fred?" Jack asked incredulously.

"You don't need to be afraid, Uncle Jack. Fred won't hurt you, see?" Caity said seriously, before gently lifting the snake of the ground.

"Whoa!" Jack exclaimed. Ever since the Goa'uld he really didn't like snakes. And that this one was small and therefore looking even more like one of the snake-heads didn't help either.

"But Fred doesn't hurt anyone! See, we've seen one just like Fred on the nature walk in Camp and Rebecca said they are probably more afraid of us then we of them. But you've gotta be careful cause some of Fred's cousins can make you really sick!" Caity explained, all the while letting the snake crawl along her arm.

"That is right," Sam started. "The little one here won't hurt anyone, still, you shouldn't just pick up any snake you find."

"Why not? I'm really careful with it, see? I won't hurt it," Caity replied.

"I know sweety, but the next one you find might not be nice like Fred but able to make you sick. And no one wants that, right?" Sam said firmly but gently.

"Okay mommy," Caity answered seriously.

"Good," Sam said relieved. Seeing her daughter thoughtfully looking at the snake, she continued, "What is it, Caity?"

Looking at Fred in her hand once more, Caity looked questioningly at Sam. "Mommy, can I take Fred home with me? I promise I'll really watch out for her and talk to her and feed her. Please?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Sam replied.

"Maybe I can give it to Tammie for her birthday? Cause she really likes snakes too!" Caity asked pleadingly.

Remembering what Caity said about Tammie's dad, Jack was just about to agree that this might be a good idea – even if it was just to get back at Dixon, when Sam intervened.

"Sorry Caity. What about Fred's family and friends? Don't you think they'll miss her when we just take Fred away? And won't Fred miss them as well?" Sam asked gently.

Damn. Looks like he wouldn't get that little revenge on Dixon anytime soon. Though he'll definitely remember this little info about Dixon's dislike of snakes for later references.

"S'pose," Caity quietly admitted, kneeling down to put the snake back down.

Sitting down next to her, Sam gently rubbed her daughter shoulders and was soon joined by Jack, sitting on Caity's others side.

"Bye Fred," Caity said as she released her newfound friend, a lonely tear running down her cheek.

Removing the tear with his thumb, Jack replied sincerely, "That was a very brave thing to do, Caity. Your Mom and I are very proud of you."

"Does that mean I can have some more cake now?" Caity asked sniffling.

"Well, you'll have to ask your mommy first," Jack replied laughing, ruffling Caity's hair. Seeing Sam smiling as well, he continued, albeit whispering into Caity's ear, "But if she says no we'll simply tickle her until she agrees, okay?"

"Yay!" Caity exclaimed happily before jumping up and running back to the food they brought with them.

The rest of the day went in a blur and far too soon they had to pack up and get back to Colorado Springs. The closer they came to the car, the more withdrawn Sam became as the last days events came back to hit her full force. Seeing her distress, Jack put his arm around her waist during the last few hundred meters and didn't even try to prevent her from sitting in the back of the car once again.

As soon as they reached Sam's house, Caity insisted that Jack should come and have dinner with them. Seeing the state Sam was in, Jack didn't resist and insisted on Caity spending time with Sam while he made them dinner.

Dinner itself was a relatively quiet occasion as – despite her midday nap – all the excitement once again caught up with Caity and she became more tired by the minute. Therefore, Sam didn't have any trouble of getting her ready for bed afterwards, although Caity insisted on Jack reading the good-night story in the living room while she was comfortably snuggled against her mother's chest.

Once Jack was finished, he offered to take Caity to bed as Sam couldn't possibly get up without waking Caity but Sam wasn't ready yet. Understanding her need to be close to Caity, Jack went to clean up the kitchen and to give Sam the privacy she needed and yet being there for her if necessary.

"You okay?" Jack asked quietly when he finally came back into the living room.

"I will be," Sam replied just as quietly.

"Good. Do you want me to take her?"

Nodding, Sam carefully let go of Caity, knowing she'd be safe in Jack's arms. Once Jack had her put in bed, Sam moved forward to tuck her daughter in, watching her for several minutes before she finally managed to leave the room.

"Hey, she's fine. Nothing is going to happen to her, okay?" Jack said gently once they were back in the living room.

"I know. It's just ..." Sam replied, sighing deeply.

"It's getting better, I promise," Jack tried to reassure her. And seeing her yawning for the second time since they left Caity's room he continued, "Why don't you go to bed as well. It's been a long day and an even longer week, huh?"

"I'm not tired," Sam protested, trying to stifle yet another yawn.

"Uh huh, and I really like snakes," Jack replied, remembering this afternoons episode fondly and receiving a small smile for his efforts.

"Well, maybe I am a little tired," Sam admitted.

"Okay, then I better leave you alone so you can go to bed and get some much needed sleep?" Jack asked. Seeing Sam's indecision mixed with something he identified as fear, he added, "Or I could sleep on your couch, in case you or Caity need something?"

"You wouldn't mind?" Sam asked, not looking at him to try to hide her relief at his offer.

"Of course not. I promised I'd help you through this and if that means a night – or more – on your couch I'll happily agree to that, okay?" Jack replied, rubbing Sam's arms slightly, causing her to finally look up at him again.

"Thanks," she simply replied, giving him a tiny smile that put him more at ease than anything else.

While Jack used the bathroom – he still had his overnight back from their night at the motel – Sam got him the things he'd need for the night. Once he was done, he came back to the living room, finding Sam staring out the window. Stepping behind her, he hugged her tightly, kissing the top of her head.

After they were standing like that for a few minutes, Jack finally spoke up, "Come on, it's time for bed. I've got the feeling Caity will be too excited to be back home to let you sleep in."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Sam replied, yawning once again, slowly moving away from him. When she reached the door, she turned around once more, "Good night. And thanks for everything."

"You're welcome, Sam. Now, have a good night and you know where to find me, right?" Jack replied.

Nodding, Sam turned and left for her bedroom.

Despite it having been a very long day indeed, Jack didn't feel that tired, so he decided to watch some TV. Settling comfortably on the couch, the TV turned on a hockey game re-run and its volume low enough as not to disturb anyone else, he let his mind drift to everything that happened that day and couldn't help but smile.

Yes, the interference of Dave Dixon might have been sneaky and all but he couldn't be more pleased with the outcome. For that, he'd be eternally thankful to Dixon. Of course, he wasn't going to tell him that. This would just be wrong. Nevertheless, today was one of the happiest days in his life.

Half an hour later he was still remembering the highlights of the day when he suddenly felt someone else watching him. And fair enough, when he looked up he found Sam standing in the entrance of the living room, looking sheepishly in his direction.

"Hey," Jack finally said, being the first to break the silence.

"Hey," was all Sam managed to reply.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked gently. "Can't sleep?"

"Uh huh."

"Wanna watch some TV?" Jack probed quietly, receiving only a shake of her head as reply. Switching the TV of, Jack got up and walked over to her. Seeing Sam rubbing her arms, he moved closer and continued just as gently, "You look cold, why don't you go back to bed?"

Jack was just wondering what else to say when Sam finally spoke up, though she talking so quietly that he could barely hear her.

"Come with me?"

A/N: So, how about that? LOL...I'm so sorry about the recent lack of updates, but I've been experiencing a serious bout of writer's block! But thanks to all your great reviews for the last chapter (which I have to admit to have read several times :)) I finally managed to beat it back, HAH! Hope you like the result of it... Unfortunately I won't be able to write in the next 2 weeks but after that there shouldn't be anything (but work) to interfere with it.

BTW, something completely unrelated – what do you consider as normal room temperature at home? Because my current flatmates have a rather strange concept of that (well, to me anyway) and I am actually considering buying myself some fingerless gloves (and I hate gloves) so my hands won't turn blue while using my laptop (okay, it's not that bad yet – my room has 14 degree centigrade - but you get the drift)...