Chapter 15: Questions
During the weekend that Sam visited, Jack spent more time talking about himself than ever before. The same went for Sam. Even after Sam left, both continued to grow closer to the other. Many a time Sam was mistaken for Charlie's mother. Neither Sam nor Jack bothered to correct it. They were glad to get together in December to celebrate Christmas as well as Jack's promotion to Lt. Colonel. Sam and Jack both thought about getting married, but they never really talked about it. Jack decided to ask Sam to marry him when she joined the O'Neills for Charlie's second birthday. As Charlie's birthday approached, Jack became more and more nervous. He hadn't told Charlie or any of his team. The only people he had talked to were his former CO, Tom Gavin, and Jacob Carter. Jack felt that he wanted Jacob to say it was all right for Jack to marry his daughter before he proposed. Tom had encouraged Jack to talk to Jacob as well. In turn, Jacob had been glad to hear Jack wanted to propose to Sam.
Sam was arriving by a civilian flight, so Jack was going to pick her up. As soon as Jack saw Sam walk into the terminal, all his nerves flew right out the window.
"Jack!" Sam cried as she came up and gave him a fierce hug.
"Hi Sam, you glad to see me?" Jack teased.
"You think?" Sam smiled at him after pulling away slightly.
"I think so, yeah," Jack returned the smile.
"Good," Sam whispered before kissing him.
"Where's Charlie?" Sam asked a moment later as they were heading toward baggage claim.
"Did you have to bring up Kawalsky?" Jack said in mock exasperation.
"Not that Charlie, your son," Sam replied.
"Oh, that Charlie, He's sleeping-" Jack told her.
"You left him home by himself?" Sam interrupted him.
"At your dad's house," Jack concluded.
"What's he doing there?" Sam queried as she grabbed her back from the carousel.
"Jacob wanted to see him and figured we might want a night off before the birthday bash tomorrow," Jack explained.
"Ah, well what are we going to do tonight?" Sam asked.
"I figured I'd cook you dinner and we'd watch a movie at my house," Jack suggested.
"Sounds great," Sam beamed.
"I thought so."
As Sam and Jack drove back to his house, they talked about what their days had been like in the last week. When they got to the house, Jack put dinner in the oven to finish while he and Sam set the table. During dinner, Sam and Jack talked about Charlie and bits and pieces of the news.
After dinner was over and the dishes were in the sink, Sam and Jack went into the family room to watch the movie. As the movie started, Sam snuggled into Jack's chest. Earlier, Sam had told Jack about smashing her had while decorating her apartment, and that it was still sore. Jack took her hand and rubbed it gently. While Jack was rubbing her hand, Sam was intently watching the movie. Jack reached into his pocket for the ring he had purchased. He continued to rub Sam's hand as he slid the ring onto her ring finger. Sam never noticed the presence of the ring on her finger.
The movie finished sometime later. Neither Sam nor Jack gave any hint of wanting to move.
"Sam, you still awake?" Jack asked.
"Barely, why?" Sam replied.
"Just wondering," Jack told her. He sat silently for a few moments. When he had the courage, he spoke again. "Marry me Sam?"
"What?" Sam twisted to look at Jack, "did you just-"
"Yeah," Jack confirmed. He had barely spoken when Sam kissed him. "Am I to take that as a yes?"
"Yeah sure you betcha!" Sam was beaming at Jack. He was smiling too. Sam kissed Jack again before turning back around and snuggling back into his chest. They continued to enjoy each other's presence for a while. When they finally got off of the couch, they returned to the kitchen to finish washing the dished from dinner. While they finished, Sam and Jack talked about what they wanted in a wedding. Both agreed small with family only was what they wanted.
When the dishes were clean and put away, Sam and Jack said their good nights. Jack when to his room and Sam to hers. During her recent visits, Sam had taken over Jack's guest room.