Hello, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter. But hey! At least is fluffy… I think.
Enjoy!
M.
Home
"Holy Hannah!" Sam said as she finally picked her phone up to find 23 missed calls from Kate, she pressed the call back button and only had to wait for the first beep until her sister in law picked the phone. "Kate! What's going on?"
"Sam… I was just wondering if you are in the country again?"
"And you needed 23 attempted calls just to ask me that?" Sam chuckled, Jac frowned. "Yes, we are back in the country as we discussed when I told you we were getting back a few hours ago. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, I was just worried," Kate laughed nervously.
"Kate, it was a safe trip, there was nothing to be worried about," Sam tried to calm her sister in law. "We landed in DC, and we are headed home now."
"Hi, Auntie Kate!" Jac shouted.
"You are not taking the metro back home," Kate affirmed.
"Why not?" Sam frowned.
"Sam, you can more than pay for a damned cab. Just pay for a cab…" Kate groaned, Sam laughed.
"It is not the price is the wait, it takes longer with all the damned traffic."
"Yeah, well. It is not like you need the extra time. And still, you got your luggage on, and you are two female, you are practically screaming rob me."
"You are exaggerating a bit, don't you think?"
"Ugh, woman, just call a cab and get home in it. Or better, just use the company car that should be waiting for you at the strip."
"Okay, okay... you win, geez. And please tell me you didn't organize a surprise party for us." Sam rolled her eyes; it was the only reason she could come up to why Kate was so unnerved.
"Surprise party?" Jac's eyes lighted up in a way Sam hadn't seen since the day before they left Minnesota and a family life behind. Not even when she swam with dolphins on their short trip to Cancun, she shook her head no and was pained to see the disappointed look in her girl.
"I know you better than that, Sam. Although, I'm quite sure Jac would've loved it."
"You should've had and just let me know in advance," Sam grimaced. "Okay, we are in the car, want to talk with your niece?"
"Yep, pass it."
"Auntie?" Jac said, and Kate's heart broke a little.
"Hey, babe. I haven't told your mom yet, but she got it."
"She got it?"
"Yes, she got the spot for Sami. You are going to the same grade, so you'll be able to share the same room and all if you need to stay in. However, Sami needs to pass the interview."
"That's so cool! And she'll do that with closed eyes, you know she is a charmer," she grinned.
"Yeah, that she is. Oh, Jac," Kate cleared her throat making Jac frown. "I need you to promise me something, Jac," Kate added after a while.
"What?"
"Whatever happens when you get home, promise you will support your mom."
"What do you mean?"
"Promise this, Jac. You know whatever she does, it is with your wellbeing on her mind."
"Okay, I promise. But why?"
"Oh, you'll know soon. I'll talk to you guys later."
"What was that about?" Sam asked, and Jac shrugged.
"We got the spot for Sami if she passes the interview," Sam squinted making Jac sigh, "and she made me promise I would behave." Sam knew something was off, but since Jac's smile had reached her eyes, she let it go for now. "As if I don't behave," she rolled her eyes making Sam chuckle. Sooner than Sam thought possible, the driver was parking in front of their DC house.
"Home," Sam mumbled before she turned to grab the suitcases.
Sam sighed, despite that building being her home since the moment it was finished, she always hated the fact that it would be dark and cold whenever she got home after traveling, and unless Jac remained behind it would rarely feel welcoming. She hoped that all the mystery about getting a drive home had to do with Kate going the extra length and asking someone to go into it and made it home-y before they reached it. When the heat reached them, she smiled.
"Oh, Kate," she mumbled shaking her head. "Come, Jac." She said entering the room and stopping dead in her tracks when she saw Sami standing midway in the stairs that led to the upper part of the house.
"What are you doing here?" Jac asked grinning brightly. As if they were looking an oasis and dying of thirst, they started walking towards Sami.
"Well, it didn't take long for us to discover that we couldn't go on living like this," Sami grinned walking down the stairs one step at the time.
"We?" Sam asked confused.
"Yes, Sammie… we," Jack said appearing behind them coming from the kitchen. Sam gasped before she turned around and faced him. "We got a bit delayed," he shrugged. "You know, work can be a pain."
"So I've heard," she frowned as he walked closer to her taking the remains of self-control she possessed with every step he took.
"Well, some missions can't be helped, but I can't go through another one of those without knowing that I will come to a warm home to find my family," he whispered searching her eyes.
"And what? You want me to tell you that everything will be fine and that after all this time we will manage to fix our situation and every piece of the damned life puzzle will fall into place? And then I will cry, embrace you and wait for you to kiss me senseless while you promise things we could never achieve? And we will grow old like we first planned and watch our daughters get married while we hold onto each other remembering how it was for us and how it still is?"
"No, Sam," He said caressing her cheek before he moved a fake strand of hair behind her ear more like an excuse to do it than for real. "I want us to find a way to fight the circumstances together, so we can raise our two beautiful daughters together as they came to the world. I want you to trust not in you or me but us, and that will be what we need to find a way to make the pieces fit. And I'm offering to be here when you finally decide to bring your walls down and let me in fully. Like I am willing to let you in, now, when my walls are all down for you; only for you as always," He caressed her cheek softly, "Sam, what I'm saying is that you won't need to be strong alone anymore."
"Oh! But I do…" she bit her lower lip, her blue eyes filling with unshed tears.
"No, Sam," he whispered stepping so close to her that they were almost one. "Look around and see all you have managed to achieve by yourself, and then try and deny that you wouldn't give all of this away just to look at them smiling like they do when they are together when we are a family." Sam nodded, unable to articulate any word. "Then you don't need to be strong alone, I'll be here with you, and we will raise them as we should've had. And we will watch them grow, and when they are ready to leave the house, we still have each other. We will always have each other as it should've been before, whatcha say?" he grinned almost against her lips leaving enough room to allow her to choose.
'He always allowed me to choose,' she thought.
"Will you grow old with me, Sammie?" he asked in the most vulnerable tone she had ever listened him use. Sam searched his eyes, he was as bare to her as he could be, and she knew without a shade of a doubt that she didn't want to see that fear in his eyes ever again, not if she was the one causing it. She lowered her eyes again, frowning. Sam wondered if it was worth it. If the controlled environment she kept herself in the years since she walked away from their house for good; when she watched him wait for her at the door wanting him to follow her, while he watched her go waiting for her to change her mind and stay, wasn't safer than the risk she was currently considering. She wondered if surviving wasn't enough anymore and if living a full life besides him was what she needed now, what she always had needed.
And it seemed ages passed as she looked up at him until her lips finally caressed his, and her eyes closed. Living life with him, no matter the pain and mess it could cause every now and then was far more worth it than surviving without having him or both her girls by her side.
While her hands found a way to his hair and his a way to bring her closer as they deepened the kiss lost for good to the real world, they both knew that walls down and all of them together was the right choice even if they were too blind, too young, too practical and too hard on themselves before.
The girls laughed before Jac took Sami's hand and pulled her to the top floor and the tv room to allow the adults to have some time together; giggling at how completely oblivious they were to their surroundings now that they finally had each other.
"I so want to be in love!" they both whispered giving their parents one last look before disappearing upstairs.
Jack and Sam came apart after a while when they finally found that breathing was a necessity. Resting their foreheads together before they looked around remembering that their daughters had just witnessed a heated kiss that had left them panting and wanting for more.
"Holy Hannah," Sam said unable to keep the smile from forming as she hid her face in the crook of Jack's neck. "We forgot about the girls." Jack chuckled.
"Oh well, they need to get used to it because I'm going to kiss you senseless every time I can, after all, we have ten years of missed kisses to fill."
"Missed kisses, huh?" she grinned, her lips were swollen, and he took pride in being the responsible for it. He placed a soft kiss on red lips.
"Yes, plenty of them. Should we find the girls?"
"I guess we should. We also should discuss the whole solving things, Jack."
"We'll have the rest of our lives to do that, Sam. I'm just glad you agree, I'm quite a sure kidnapping you would still be illegal no matter how valid everything supposedly is in love and war."
"As if you would kidnap me," she grinned linking their hands and leading the way to the tv room.
"As a matter of fact, I should call your godfather. He and your father are in standby about taking you and the kids to some backwater planet; your brother and sister in law were quite happy to help with packing your things, and Janet said she had no issues filling all the certificates needed for it to work. Daniel even picked the planet." He said making her laugh as they stopped by the threshold. He leaned against the doorframe and brought Sam almost flattening her against him.
"Oh, wait," she frowned looking at him in the eyes, while her hand felt his heartbeat. "You are serious!"
"Yes, Sam. That's how much I love you and how much people want you to be happy, even if the only one who doesn't think you deserve it is you," he added before he planted a soft kiss on her lips. The girls giggled.
"What are you two on about?" Jac asked looking at them unable to hide the smile out of her face when seeing them so cozy in each other's arms.
"Well, I was thinking…" Sam said looking at the girls. "That we never got our camping done."
"Yes, if I recall correctly, someone escaped our family camp." Jack chuckled.
"Oh shush," she rolled her eyes, "whatcha say Jack? Are your old bones up for a camping trip?" she wriggled her eyebrows. Jack grinned mischievously.
"Oh, you'll see what my old bones are up for tonight," he whispered against her ear making her chuckle in delight. "So, we leave in the morning?" he asked loudly, his question was received with a cheer from both girls.
"So, you better go repack, Jac. And we better find something for dinner."
"Or we can go out for dinner," he wriggled his eyebrows.
"You are going all the way out, huh?"
"Only the best for my girls," he winked, before placing a kiss on the tip of her nose. They ushered the girls out of the tv room, and Jack followed them downstairs to the rooms taking his and Sami's carry on with him.
"Oh, and Jack?" Sam called from the top of the stairs with a tone too severe for the happiness that flooded the house.
"Yes?" He answered with a frown that disappeared as quickly as Sam's mischievous smile appeared.
"I can hardly wait for tonight," she winked before she took a step down.
"Yes, ma'am." He grinned. He stopped behind her after leaving Sami's carry on at Jac's room and looked at Sam not quite knowing where to go. Sam smiled and nodded towards the other side.
"Come," she said as she opened the door, "this is our room." Feeling something akin to pride in those words.
'Our room,' he relished in the implied significance before he kicked the door closed behind him and with a feral movement had her pinned against the closest wall.
"I believe we need a bath, Mrs. O'Neill," he added against her lips, and all could do was giggle happily between kissed as they tumbled their way to the bath.
