"Okay, sport, there are a few other things you need to know," Sam heard from the depths of her unconsciousness. "Number one, your mom is always right. Even when it seems like she's wrong, she's right. And don't ever ask her the question "how". She'll launch into a two-hour lecture on the subject, and you're gonna regret asking...I speak from experience..."
"Jack?" Sam asked, opening one of her eyes as she tried to avoid allowing the morning light into her eyes.
"Hey," he said, brightly, from where he was leaning over her belly.
"What are you doing?"
"Preparing the little guy for his arrival."
"That's not for another several months," she said, perplexed by his idiosyncratic behavior.
"Yeah, but you get alone time with the little guy...gotta take it when I can get it."
She laughed softly as she rolled over slightly, burying her face into his pillow. "You're insane."
"Thank you," he said with a grin as he hopped out of bed.
"How can you have so much energy?" She asked with a groan.
"Dunno." He said with a laugh. "Maybe it was sleeping next to the most beautiful woman in the world."
"You're going to start that up again?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh, yeah," he said as he leaned in and kissed her quickly. "Now...we should have room service any minute..."
"You already called room service?" She asked, sitting up as she looked over at the clock. "It's six in the morning!"
"Well, I wasn't sure when Jun...the little guy was gonna want breakfast, so I ordered some eggs, toast, oatmeal...pretty much anything you could want for breakfast."
"Bacon," she announced as her stomach growled.
"Except that." He said, his face falling.
"It's okay," she laughed softly. "We'll just make another order..."
"Ah, the magic of facilitated laziness," Jack said, cheekily.
"We are on the closest thing to a vacation as we're going to get these days," Sam chuckled. "And if I'm not mistaken, my standing orders seem to be "take it easy"."
"Actually, they're "don't die", but how do you keep that order?"
"Take it easy," she repeated.
"Exactly."
"Which is why I'm wondering why I'm awake at six A.M. when, though I know it happens rarely, I'd rather be sleeping in."
"Because of..."
There was a knock at the door. "Room service."
Jack grinned at how impeccable his timing had been. "That."
Sam shook her head with a smile as he answered the door. "Thanks," she heard him say. "But I'll take it from here."
"Don't forget the bacon!" Sam called.
There was a brief pause. "I'll be right back, sir."
"Thank you," Jack said before he closed the door and pushed the cart into the room. "And...breakfast is served," he said with a flourish.
Sam smiled as she held the sheet over her body. "Tell me something, Jack."
"Anything." He said, looking up from the breakfast platter.
"How is it that you managed to get me naked last night, and stay that way this morning, but you managed to remain fully dressed?"
He grinned. "Someone had to get breakfast."
"Well, I'm not coming to you," she said, cheekily, "So, you can bring that here."
"I don't know," he said, looking at her for a moment before he turned his eye back to the platter. "It's an awfully long walk, and I could have such a good view."
"Jack!" She cried, good-naturedly, as she reached for the pillow beside her and threw it at him.
He ducked with a grin. "Your mama can't teach you to throw, sport," he teased. "She couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if she wanted to."
Knowing that his words were in absolute jest, she opened her mouth as she tried to keep from laughing loudly. "And who did you have shoot that bean bag thing? You know...the thin piece of rope from a rather far distance?"
She could see the mischief on his face long before she heard his words. "Well, there's a first time for everything."
"Is that so, General?" She asked as the fire of determination he'd first seen in her eyes seventeen years ago came back to them. "May I remind you who still holds the family record for Frisbee throwing?"
"You may," he said, finally bringing the platter to the bed. "But I'll hazard a guess that it's the most amazing woman I've ever had the privilege of knowing."
She blushed softly. "You know, you don't have to keep saying things like that..."
"I know I don't, but I want to." He said, sitting beside her on the bed. She reached for a piece of fruit in the fruit cup as he leaned in and kissed her tenderly. "I love you, Mrs. O'Neill," he said, fervently looking into her eyes as he pulled away.
"I love you too, Jack," she whispered as she leaned in for another kiss.
"Room service!" Came the voice from outside the door as a loud knock could be heard.
"D'oh!" Jack sighed, allowing his head to dangle for a moment before he pulled away. "Hold that thought."
"Anything...for bacon." She winked.
"Maybe if we'd been able to go to a hospital..."
"That's why I decided to go into medicine. So many people die because there aren't enough doctors."
"Cassie, I...there was an ambush on the last mission...Colonel O'Neill's being treated for a staff weapon wound and...and y-your mom...."
"Doctor Fraiser isn't my real mother. She died! When Nirrti poisoned my village."
"It's okay to miss your mom. It doesn't mean you love your birth parents or Sam and my dad any less."
With a feverish gasp at the thoughts swirling in her head for the first time in years, Cassandra sat up in bed. She rubbed at her forehead before grimacing at the light filtering in through the basement window. She sighed heavily before she stood. "You can do this, Cassandra," she murmured to herself. "You can get through another day..." She stopped for a moment. "Even with the demons in your past."
A peal of giggles caught her attention, and she looked toward the direction of her bedroom door. What was going on upstairs?
She quickly donned a robe, wrapping and tying it around herself as she made her way up the stairs. With each step, the voices grew louder as Charlie's tenor was constantly interrupted with Grace's giggles. She couldn't help but smile. They'd been meant to be brother and sister. They had slipped easily into the roles as if they'd been prepared to bridge the rift that had been caused by his twenty-year absence.
"Let's see, we've got bacon for eyebrows."
"And a mustache!" Grace insisted.
"And for a mustache," Charlie said, recognizing her authority. "We have blueberries for eyes."
"Like Mom's!"
"Exactly. Like your mom's," he said as Cassandra entered the kitchen to see him placing the berries down with a flourish.
"A dab of butter for a nose...and...marshmallows for teeth."
"The little baby ones!" Grace cried, waving a hand passionately as she tried to point to them over the breakfast bar.
"The little baby ones," he agreed, very meticulous in his creation. "And...for the piece de resistance..."
"CHOCOLATE CHIPS!" Grace yelled in her excitement.
Charlie chuckled before turning to shush her. "Cassandra's still..." His eyes fell on the young woman who managed a sheepish smile. "Well, she was asleep, I'm sure." He said with the signature O'Neill grin.
"Only until just barely," she said, nodding.
"Sorry about that," he said with a small shrug of his shoulders.
"It wasn't this," she said, shaking her head.
He nodded, not pressing the issue.
"So...chocolate chips are for..." She said, walking over to where he was adorning the whole wheat waffles that he and Grace had made for breakfast.
"Hair," he said, quickly sprinkling some of the dark morsels onto the top of the waffle with a flourish. Quickly grabbing the plate and whirling around to where Grace sat at the breakfast bar, he slid the plate in front of her. "Your made-to-order Mr. Waffle Face." He said, bowing with a false aire of superiority. "If it please you, miss, I would eat the bacon before I put syrup on it."
Grace giggled, covering her face with her hands in an attempt to hide the laughter.
"Aw, but bacon and syrup is so delicious!" Cassandra teased as she snagged a piece of bacon.
"You can do what you want to do with your own waffle," Charlie said, turning twinkling eyes to her.
She grinned as she took a bite of the bacon. "Nice to know I have your approval."
Charlie turned a mischievous smile to his younger sister. "Did you hear what I just heard? That she wants hers blended like a shake?"
Grace grinned with a mouthful of chocolate chips and waffle.
"All right, all right," Cassandra chuckled. "I'll be careful not to insult he who controls my breakfast."
"That's better," he sniffed, teasingly. "Now, what kind of face do you want?"
"Um...a chocolate chip, blueberry, marshmallow one with whipped cream, but no bacon or butter."
"For the girl who thinks that bacon and syrup is so delicious," he winked.
"I was being just a little bit facetious," she said, giving him a bit of a hard time.
"Yes, well...how was I to know?" He challenged teasingly again.
"You're supposed to read my mind," she said in mock seriousness. "Your other two siblings have psychic powers. Where are yous?"
"Oh ho..." He chuckled. "Ouch."
"Sorry," Cassandra said, apologetically. "That came out harsher than I expected. I didn't...didn't sleep too well last night."
"Sorry to hear that." He said, soberly.
The telephone rang, and Grace hurried to it. "Maybe it's Mom!"
"Probably is," Cassandra said, nodding. "She always tries to call first thing when she's not here in the morning."
"That's probably a comfort to Grace given her history."
Cassandra nodded, thoughtfully. "Yeah. I'm sure it is."
"Hi, Mom! We're making waffles!" Grace could be heard from the other room as she chattered away.
"So, didn't sleep well, huh?" Charlie asked, sympathetically. "Wanna talk about it?"
"Not really." She said, going through the motions of making coffee.
"Did I say something last night?"
"No," she said, shaking her head.
"Something bothered you enough to keep you up." He prodded, gently.
"No, but something obviously bothered you enough for you to leave in the middle of our conversation," she said, getting a little agitated.
"Something is bothering you," he said, triumphantly.
"Oh, are you kidding?" She asked, turning an annoyed look to him. "Would you stop pushing my buttons? Stop putting words in my mouth!"
"Look, Cassandra, I'm not very good at this," he said with a sigh. "And I'm more than a little confused right now..."
"I got that." She said as she began preparing her own waffle.
"Tell me what I did so I can fix it?" He pleaded. "You're important to my dad, and I don't want to ruin that."
"It wasn't you," she said, succinctly. "But if you keep this up, it will be you."
"Got it." He said, falling instantly quiet.
"Look," Cassandra murmured, turning back to him, apologetically. "Maybe it's what Grace said earlier...I mean, you know about us..."
"Getting married?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Been on my mind too."
She bit her lip. "It's probably a good thing that I have another semester of school," she murmured softly. "Otherwise, we might rush into something just so that we're not lonely anymore..."
Charlie nodded, solemnly. "You're probably right. We...I, at least, need to figure out what's going on in here first," he said, touching his temple, gently.
She nodded. "Me too. Even though I realized there at the end that I wasn't actually in love with Cameron the way I should have been, it still hurt to be rejected. And..." She sighed. "And I need to start being okay with being alone. I mean, my career path is difficult enough. I don't need to drag someone else through it."
"Everyone needs someone," he said with a shrug. "Whether you're a military officer or you're a dentist. I doubt anyone expects you to be a recluse."
Cassandra opened her mouth to speak as Grace hurried into the room. "Dad wants to talk to you."
Charlie accepted the phone, forcing a smile to his lips. "Hi, Dad. What is it?"
Cassandra slipped out of the kitchen as Charlie listened to his father. "Okay, Dad, I'll call her and let her know where to pick me up, and I'll be sure to make sure Grace has a good lunch before you come home at dinner time."
"Cassie?" Grace asked, reaching the young woman at the top of the stairs.
"Yeah?" She asked, turning from where she stood on the stairs.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For saying what I did about you and Charlie...I should have been quiet."
Cassandra managed a small smile. "It's okay."
"It was your graduation I saw," she clarified. "You and Charlie kissed and you wore a ring like Mom's."
Cassandra inhaled. "Great...any information on how it's going to turn out after the shot gun wedding?"
Grace shook her head. "I shouldn't have told you that either," she mumbled to herself as she shuffled off.
Cassandra closed her eyes. "Nope," she muttered under her breath.
It was nearly an hour before Charlie appeared at her room with a knock.
"What?"
"Uh, Grace is overwrought there in her room," he said, worriedly. "Do you know what happened?"
"I'll go talk to her," Cassie said, moving toward him.
"No, I...I can do that, I just...wanted to know why she's crying." He said, stopping her.
"And I can take care of it," Cassandra snapped as she pushed past him.
"What is your problem?" Charlie called after her, causing her to stop in her tracks.
"My problem?" She asked, looking back at him. "I'm minutes away from losing everything I've ever held together for the last ten years, and you are asking me what my problem is?"
He fell silent.
"My problem," she ranted. "Is that I've lost two mothers in my lifetime...and all that by the time I was eighteen years old. I am the sole survivor of a race that NO one besides a handful of VERY specific people know about, and I can't even discuss my past because I am not even from this planet. I had a boyfriend die in a car accident, I had a fiance return to his ex-wife, and now, I learn that I'm supposed to marry the long-lost son of the only father-figure I have in my life right now. And all before graduation in four months! I can't handle this anymore!"
"Cassandra," he murmured, soothingly, as he stepped toward her.
"Don't DO that!" She yelled. "You don't know me!"
"You're right," he said, stopping in his tracks. "I don't know you."
"Dammit," she sighed. "Would you just...stop agreeing with everything I say? It's getting annoying."
"I'm not agreeing with every..."
"I'm not ready to get married," she said, soberly. "And I don't think I'll be ready in four months."
"I'm not asking you to be," he returned. "I haven't even asked you to go on a date."
"But you were going to."
"I was thinking about it," he admitted. "Which is why I ran off last night. There's a part of me that's still married, Cassandra..."
"Yes, to Miss Perfect." She said, rolling her eyes. "Who can compete with that?"
Charlie stood still as tears wet his eyes. "I don't want to replace her," he whispered softly. "Nobody...could ever do that for me."
"Charlie," she sighed as she saw the depth of his pain.
"Just...deal with whatever you've got going on in your head," he said, shrugging her attempts at reconciliation away. "I'll take care of Grace. Probably even take her to lunch with me when I go to see my mother. Just...pack or whatever you're doing. We'll get out of your hair."
"Doctor Fraiser isn't my mother. She died! When Nirrti poisoned my village."
"Yes, to Miss Perfect...who can compete with that?"
"I am such a terrible person," she sobbed as she curled up in the privacy of her bedroom. "Such a terrible, spiteful, mean person."
