Party time!

Enjoy!

M.

Chapter 85

Saturday, December 29, 2012

It was a while before they had been left alone. The caterers were ready to serve anywhere from ten to a hundred people. The tables were set. Despite the snow, the outside was almost as cozy as the inside. Sam had decided that everything looked ready enough, but it was Parker, the one that pulled her to her room, so she would finally get ready.

The doorbell chimed as she was finishing her light make-up. She applied the last touches and grabbed a pair of earrings. She nodded to Parker that she was getting the door. Clasping her earrings, she opened the door wide enough. A smile like Parker hadn't seen in a long time blossomed on Sam's lips.

"Jnerd!" She greeted.

"Grand Empress!" He let out a whistle. "Hot damn, you are looking hotter by the day," he grinned charmingly.

"Don't mind him. I'm pretty sure he's told you all about how he wants to set me up with someone, hasn't he?" Sam said to the woman in his arms.

"Oh, yeah. You must be Sam, right?"

"You must be Erin. Please come in."

"Uncle Jordan!" Parker greeted him. He was the only other adult that was somewhat a constant in her life, after their first meeting not so long ago.

"P! You're looking taller. I bet you're smarter too. I'm telling ya, Erin. This girl will have both of us out of business before she turns eighteen."

They were moving towards the back when the doorbell went off again. Sam took a deep breath. "Why is she worried?" Jordan asked to P, who simply shrugged as an answer.

Janet, Teal'c, and Cassie were waiting on the other side. Something that seemed to lift some weight off of Sam's shoulders.

"Guys, this is Jordan and his girlfriend Erin. Jordan is the one that helped me with the companies." Sam said. They looked at him, wondering what exactly that meant in the grand scheme of things.

"Hi, I'm…"

"Doctor Janet Fraiser. Lt. Colonel too," Jordan grinned, offering his hand. "You must be Teal'c Murray, a contractor for the USAF."

"I'm Cassie."

"Yes, Cassandra Fraiser. MD., We spoke on the phone when she was knocked out," He said, nodding towards Sam. Then he leaned in conspiratorially. "We were surprised when you retired from the USAF after finishing your degree," Jordan whispered. Sam blushed.

"He helped me… A lot." Sam grimaced.

"Don't let her fool you. I was always light-years behind her. I mean, I've known her since what? 2001?" Sam nodded in agreement. "God, I didn't know about Parker until three years ago. Sometimes I wonder how she managed all that while having a kid to care for too." Sam's eyes widened as the trio turned to look at her. Thankfully, the doorbell allowed her to get out of an explanation she didn't want to give.

"I'm sorry," Jordan mouthed, noticing he had let his mouth run. She nodded dismissively.

Sam blinked several times once she got the door opened. She truly didn't expect the crew on the other side. It was all the techs she'd worked closely with back in the days. The ones she truly didn't expect to show up due to the blatant disregard of the regulations that it would be. But here they were, showing her they trusted she wouldn't throw the book at them.

"Vala said we could come?" Walter smiled.

"Yes, of course. Come in. There's food, drinks, and places to sit outside." The techs that came alone moved to the back while Walter shuffled his weight awkwardly from one foot to the other. The woman in his arms looking at Sam with something akin to hope.

"Congratulations, ma'am." She said.

"Thanks." Back in the day, Sam would've known what to ask to make some small talk. Now, she just grinned awkwardly. The woman then elbowed Walter for him to react.

"Ah, yeah. Congratulations ma'am." Walter added. "This is my wife, Savannah."

"Nice to meet you."

"Oh, no, the pleasure is all mine. Walter talked about you so much back then, that I was jealous of you. I guess I should still be jealous."

"Not at all, Walter's a good man. I'm the one who should be jealous." Sam offered politely. "Please, enjoy yourselves." She said. Sam felt Janet's eyes on her. "What?" she asked the moment they were alone.

"I'm trying to understand you. I don't think I'll ever will." Janet stated.

"What's there to understand?" Sam wondered.

"That you never told the guy that worked for you and with you to get you back that you had a daughter. That you never mentioned Parker to us. You don't really talk about her like other mothers do. Yet, Jordan speaks of you in the same way we used to. Then, I just heard you being… Well…" she waved at her. "You… In front of a complete stranger. I guess… You, the one who was my best friend, is hiding somewhere in there. Somewhere that so far, despite both our efforts, I could not reach. It's… puzzling."

"I don't know what you want me to say, Janet," Sam sighed. Janet flinched as she noticed the walls being quickly raised. "I've changed. Haven't we all?"

"Yeah, I guess we have," Janet gave her a sad albeit knowing smile. The door chimed in then. "Want me to get that for you?"

"That'd be awesome, thanks. I need some water." Sam said, although what she needed was some space.

By the time Vala and Daniel showed up, an hour after the original invite. Her house was almost too full. The crowd included two sets of parents of Parker's best friends, who were mingling together. Sam didn't worry about Jordan. She knew that guy had enough experience talking to anyone. She didn't worry about the conversation that people from the SGC would have. Since they too had a lot of experience keeping work at work.

The doorbell went off once more. Yet, she couldn't think of anyone else who could get to her party at that point. She thought it could be the neighbors wondering about the noise. Then she snorted at her silliness. She'd made sure to buy out the two houses on each side and tore them down. So, unless it was the one in front of them. She shook her head and opened the door.

"Jack…" she whispered. Her heart skipping a beat.

"Happy birthday," he whispered back. Placing a kiss on her cheek.

"I thought you weren't coming."

"I told you I'd try." He shrugged. "May I come in?"

"Yes. Of course." She shook her head, noticing she was blocking him from entering.

"My parents send you birthday greetings," Jack said. He kept to himself the other words they'd said about how he should bring her back home for the New Year's. Along with all the messages and calls he had got from his siblings about some more graphic things they should do for her birthday. Except for Shannon, who had just laughed and told him. 'Don't do anything I wouldn't, and you know my limits are very low.'

As he shook his head while he was getting rid of his coat, he spotted Parker Carter watching them closely from the side. The giggling girls beside her sounded like they were around her age. He frowned, somehow she looked older than he remembered. Shaking his head, he remembered Shannon's last advice and his own desire to fix his relationship with Sam.

"Hi, Parker." Jack greeted.

"Sir General Jack," P grinned. "I thought we wouldn't see you here tonight."

"I wouldn't miss this for anything," Jack said. Sam almost melted on the spot, from the truth she heard in his words. "How are you tonight, Miss Parker?"

"Excellent!"

"Are you having another pajama party after this?" He wondered.

"No, not this time. It's my mom's birthday! We have traditions." Parker grinned. Jack was blinded by what he knew was a Carter smile. That for Sam looked so much like Jack's. "Mom said it was okay to get some friends over for the party." P shrugged.

"That's very nice of her," Jack said. Sam's heartbeat went wild at the sweet exchange. She could almost imagine Parker accepting Jack as her father and Jack taking over his role. Spending the rest of their lives as the family they were. Parker giggled and disappeared, leaving them alone by the entrance.

"Everyone is outside," Sam said. Clearing her throat and bringing herself out of her wishful thinking.

"I'm not here to see everyone." Jack pointed out in a husky voice. Sam blushed again. "Are you ready to face them?"

"Kinda, I can't avoid them forever, right?" She grimaced.

"Right. Walk with me?" Jack grinned. Without a doubt, Sam did.

Jordan found his way to the group they were in faster than Sam thought possible. Although, it wasn't surprising for her. "General O'Neill!" He greeted Jack as if he'd known him from all his life. Jack frowned.

"Mr. Craig," Jack said a bit coldly.

"So, you know each other?" Janet asked, confused.

"We met during the trials," Jack explained.

"And a bit before that too," Jordan nodded. "I kinda ended up at Cheyenne once. We met then, but I was young and stupid… I'm still stupid if you must know." His girlfriend giggled.

"Nice shindig, Carter. A lot more fancier than I expected." Jack said to change subjects as he looked around.

"Yes. We had to throw it all together in a bit of a rush. After Vala confirmed she'd invited quite a few people."

"I told you people would come," Vala shrugged, but beamed at them.

Sam didn't know how, but twenty minutes later, she became the center spot. As people cheered a happy birthday and a cake made its appearance in front of her. She'd never felt so comfortable and ill at ease at the same time. So, after that, she had to make an escape.

Walking into the house, she excused herself for a bathroom break. She splashed some cold water on her face. While trying not to mess up her not so fancy makeup. She chuckled. Sam was sure no one else considered mascara, liner, and lipstick a makeup, but it was that and a light shade on her cheeks. She checked that everything had remained intact before she started her way back out.

Siler was in her living room looking anxious. "Siler? Everything okay?" She asked. The man blushed.

"Ma'am." He said, extending his closed hand. Taking a deep breath, he opened it and showed her a key. Sam frowned in confusion. "This is yours."

"I'm sure I would notice if I'd lost a key, Siler," Sam said.

"Maybe you forgot all about it, ma'am. I haven't. It's time for your Indian to get back to its rightful owner." He said, giving her a small smile.

"Wait, you're giving me a bike for my birthday?" Sam asked. Touched and confused at the same time.

"I'm returning it, ma'am. I was honored when I found out you entrusted it to me. I took good care of it, just like I know you would. It's parked at the SGC. I didn't know if you would have space to keep it here." He shrugged. "Maybe we can figure out how to get her here, once the weather isn't so bad."

"Siler… That bike… It's yours." She said. He shook his head no.

"It's yours, ma'am. Even if it was mine for a few years. I'm sure the papers have been canceled out or something like that once you weren't dead anymore." He shrugged. "As I've said, I took good care of it, and now it should be back to you. Happy birthday, ma'am."

"I truly don't get it, Siler. Why are you giving me my old bike for my birthday?"

"Truth is, I was going to return it sooner. I haven't found the right moment until now," he shrugged. "Sorry, if I'm blunt, but you can be as scary as General O'Neill if you want to be, ma'am." Sam chuckled at that.

"I can be that bad, huh?"

"Well, you've gone through plenty. I think there's still some part of the woman we knew somewhere underneath it all. Maybe sometime soon you might trust in us enough to let those parts of her out again," he shrugged. "When you do, you won't be so scary anymore. Please, take it."

"Siler… I can't." Sam shook her head and closed his hand around the key again. He fought it and managed to place the key in her hand, closing his hand over hers.

"Ma'am. You might now have an idea of what I felt when you decided to leave it to me."

She felt surprised, thankful, and an overwhelming unworthiness.

"Siler, wait!" He stopped. "Did you feel unworthy of it?" He frowned.

"No, ma'am. I felt proud that you would entrust me with something so valuable to you." She walked to him and placed the key in his pocket.

"Then you deserve it more than I do. Though I would love to take a ride on it when the weather gets nice." She said. As she patted his shoulder, leaving him dumbfounded in her living room.

Jack, who had been witness to the exchange, smiled. Maybe there was some hope after all.

Another half an hour passed by. Even though there was still food and booze left, people started to leave. Jordan and his girlfriend left, too. Sam knew he'd call her in the morning, just to see how it had gone with 'General piece of hunk'.

Soon, it was just SG-1, Cassie and Jack. Sam had excused herself for a moment, to get Parker upstairs to get ready for bed.

"She looked a bit more like her old self tonight, didn't she?" Cassie asked. As they all followed her with their gaze.

"I guess not everything's lost," Janet said.

"Indeed, it's not." Teal'c agreed.

"She asked for her retirement," Jack announced out of the blue.

"What?!"

"It seems she wanted to be let out by the beginning of the year," Jack sighed. "They didn't give it to her."

"How do you know?" Janet asked with a frown.

"Hayes," Jack shrugged. "He told me they'd already lost too many years of her career to have her resigning her commission now. That even if they aren't letting her quit, I should try to convince her not to. Something about telling her that retirement isn't a good idea after all. "

"Well, you do have some experience with retirement." Daniel grinned.

"Does she know you know?" Cassie wondered.

"I don't think so. I guess I'll have to tell her at some point."

"Do you know when it happened?" Daniel asked. His brain wheels turning quickly as he thought back to what he had seen.

"At the end of November," Jack said. "I don't know any dates. Her file doesn't go through my office." He shrugged.

"The end of November, you say?" Jack nodded. He didn't know Daniel had seen her having lunch with a man around that time. That the man had entered her house, and how his hand had hovered on the lower part of her back.

"What's wrong?"

"Huh, nothing," Daniel said. Pushing his glasses up and looking up towards the place where the door was opening. Sam was just walking back outside.

"Sam! I hope you had a wonderful evening. But, I… Vala and I have to go."

"We have to go?" Vala asked.

"Yeah. You know there's that thing, you know, that I have in the morning."

"Right… That thing. Daniel, if you want to have sex, all you have to do is say so. We're all adults here after all." Vala grinned mischievously, making Daniel blush.

"Do you need help to pick up this mess?" Janet asked.

"No, there's a cleaning crew coming tomorrow morning. They'll also pick up the heathers and the tent. I'm fine if you all want to go now."

She walked them to the front door. Where they all quickly made their way out, leaving only Jack behind. He grinned.

"They never were good at this kind of set-ups… Were they?" Sam asked, a small smile on her face.

"No," he searched her hands and gave them a small squeeze. "I hope you had a great birthday, Sam," He said. Placing a kiss on the corner of her mouth. "Good night."

"Good night," she whispered back as she let him go. She watched him drive off before she closed the door. She didn't know for sure how long she remained against the door. Soon she shook her head, needing to check on Parker.

"Hey, mom. Are we ready to sleep?" She asked. Already comfortably taking over half of Sam's bed.

"Almost. I'll be back soon. I need to clean some stuff that's out there. I just needed a jacket so I can turn off all those heaters."

"Cool. I'll be here." Parker grinned. "Huh, Mom?"

"Yes, P?"

"Did you have a nice time?"

"Yes. It was a long time since the last time I had a birthday party."

"Since before I was born?" P asked. Sam walked to the bed.

"P… It's not your fault," She said, caressing her face softly. "It never was your fault."

"Are you sure about it?" Parker questioned, chewing her lip.

"Yes. Now, I'll be back soon. Don't wait for me up, if you want to sleep already."

"You are kidding, right?" She grinned as Sam placed a kiss on her forehead and walked towards the door. "Mom, you want some help?"

"No, keep the bed warm for me, will ya?"

"Yeah, sure, you betcha!" Sam stopped dead in her tracks when she heard that coming from Parker's mouth. There was nothing she could say or ask that wouldn't attract too much attention if she questioned about where she'd picked that up from. So, she simply let it go.