To you all : sorry for the delay, real life can be surprising some times !
Take care and enjoy this new chapter ;) Please review ;)
Chapter 51 – Denver
"Then you wished all the best to the newlyweds and said it was now my turn. Let me think, my speech was something like... 'As you all very well know, I haven't the skill in making speeches my date for the evening displays, and I am definitely much less romantic than she is, but there is one thing I do know: our work in the Mountain gave us all the opportunity for a second chance; we wouldn't be here today to talk about it if Daniel hadn't unveiled one of its mysteries a few years ago, thereby offering us all redemption, and some secrecy too. This... 'Gate gifted us with new kith and kin, and also allowed for some of us to find Love. Here's to happiness, ours!' The newlyweds then opened the night's festivities with their first dance," Jack finished.
"I think I'm starting to remember now."
"Do you remember we were the first ones to join Daniel and Janet on the dance floor? So many whispers floating around too, but Hammond was smiling anyway, he already knew we were involved by then. For the next dance, I asked Janet and Daniel asked you, then I think you actually danced with every single SGC officer before you came back to me."
"Well I guess it was to keep our cover, right?"
"Of course, but it's still not easy to see you in someone else's arms, even just the time of a dance. Especially since you were gorgeous!"
"I seem to remember some kind of fight?" Sam pondered, as her memories of the evening slowly resurfaced.
"Yeah, Janet's ex-husband made an appearance. He hadn't been invited, of course, but he gatecrashed the reception. He started stirring trouble, but you, Teal'c and I frogmarched him out of the banquet hall. He'd been a violent husband to Janet, nobody had wanted to see him there at all in any case. Teal'c and I had to restrain him when he made to manhandle you; thankfully the security guards intervened and we managed to go back to the reception after they took care of him."
"Yes, I remember now. We partied all night long, didn't we?"
"We did, we came home at dawn. I was worn out, but we'd had such a good time that no one wanted it to end. I brought you home, and we made love."
Sam blushed.
"It was a beautiful wedding, a marvellous day and I had the most stunning date by my side!" Jack said as he bestowed a light kiss upon his wife's hand.
"Flattery will get you everywhere!" Sam laughed.
"Come on, go get ready, we have a date tonight!" Jack smiled.
Jack took his wife out for the evening in Denver, hoping they wouldn't see any of their colleagues, and they picked an intimate little French restaurant where they asked for the coziest table.
"This necklace looks beautiful on you," Jack said as he looked at his wife's collarbone where the pendant rested.
"Thanks! Too bad the safe is so heavy, we could have taken it with us too!" Sam said, laughing at her own joke.
"Our little Carter's into jokes now? That means you're much better then!" Jack smiled.
"When I think about it, it's been over nine years we've been addressing each other by our ranks... it's just ridiculous! And no one's the wiser either..."
"I still had to save your butt a few times, you did call me 'Jack' once or twice."
"Yeah, I remember, but still! There are others who use your first name, and not all of them are colonels either," Sam pouted.
"You know it's for our own good, my love. People are already making things up, just imagine what it would be like if I'd let you call me by my first name and be more familiar," Jack apologetically said.
"Just because I'm a woman?"
"Yes, and a very beautiful one too!" Jack said with a tender look for his wife.
"There's just one thing: quite a few among the SGC personnel imagine we're having an affair, and the others seem to think we'd never breach the frat regs; they all agree however that I'm sort of 'your woman' anyways?..."
"Yeah, I gotta say it's kinda twisted, but hey... Do you remember the grand theatrical entrance you made on the day you joined the SGC?" Jack asked with a smile.
Sam nodded as she sipped her pop and Jack continued.
"Ferretti and Kowalski realized straight away I was rather, let's say, taken with you; they do know me quite well after all, it wasn't too hard for them. A little while after we became SG1, a few of the guys were talking about you in the locker room while I was having a shower, they didn't know I was there. The guys jumped in and defended you straight away, I was really proud; they did add something that I think really made an impact, and it's been a well-known fact among all since then. They said they 'strongly recommend[ed] not to chat up Colonel O'Neill's 2iC' because even if nothing would ever happen between us we were very close, and if someone would disrespect you, it was the same as disrespecting me," Jack explained.
"I'm kind of like an out-of-their-league icon then; I've been under the protection of Colonel O'Neill from the beginning."
"You're not okay with that? Would you rather all the guys hit on you?"
"Of course not! I'm perfectly fine with that, I understand now. I just eventually ended up thinking I wasn't pretty enough for all this flirting thing."
"Oh, believe me, there's plenty of them who dream they could even just talk to you, but they know the only ones who can come close are SG1 and your other colleagues. You know, I'm even thinking of writing something about that in the booklet, you know, the 'SGC 101' we give the new guys!"
Sam laughed.
"What? It's true! The only ones who cross the line are the wet-behind-the-ears guys like Wallace! Did you see though, we've just gotta say the magic word and they run like hell!"
"The magic word?"
"Carter!"
"There's that, or maybe they're scared of my Dad!"
"Mmh, that's right, I must admit Dad keeps everyone on their toes!" Jack laughed too.
