Chapter 5 - Sounds Like a Plan
It's funny how conversations can take unexpected turns after you've made love first thing in the morning. Although Sam and Jack had yet to do the same things often enough to consider themselves getting into a routine, the way they fell in with each others plans or moods was unexpected.
"If I hadn't come here," said Sam as she lay where she'd collapsed onto his chest, "what were you planning to do?"
"Can't remember. So long ago." he mumbled in reply, as the tips of his fingers ran gently up and down her spine. He loved watching the goose bumps appear across her shoulders when he stroked her just *there*, between her shoulder blades.
"Seriously, what was it?" she persisted.
"Well, you see, there's two ladies appeared in my life just lately who've caused major upsets in the O'Neill strategy." He smiled as she looked up sharply at him. "You're the second. The first is standing watching us, waiting to be let out."
Sam laughed, threw the covers back and got out of bed to let Sam 2 out. It was Jack's turn to smile as his fantasy-come-true walked away naked across the room. "Wipe that grin off your face, Colonel!" she said without turning round. He heard her opening the door and then the dog's excited barking as she rushed off to the lake shore. Moments later Sam scampered back in, jumping on him and forcing him to lie down as she drew the covers back round her shoulders. He wasn't objecting.
"Now, you were about to explain." she said, staring down at him, her hands pressing down on his chest.
"Well, first off I was planning to take a trip round the world, trace the family roots in Ireland, stuff like that. Then before I realised it had happened, the trollop and I were an item and there was no way I could leave her in kennels while I went off for weeks or months." His hands had absent- mindedly begun to wander as he was speaking, and now Sam wasn't objecting either.
"And?" she said, starting to wriggle about.
"And then I decided that I'd spend the winter here in the cabin while I figured out where I was going to live in the future. Been preparing for it for a few months now - cut down extra firewood, finished all the repairs and treated the wood."
"Sounds like a plan, then."
"So where will you be while I'm here? I mean, this isn't your kind of thing, is it?"
"'Tis now." she replied, leaning down to kiss him. "Just for one winter, anyway. Then we can find a place of our own."
"Sweet!" was his last word before they resumed the process of making up for their lost years.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
A while later they lay side by side again, and Jack took his turn with the question.
"What were you planning to do before you came up here?" he asked.
"That's the thing. I didn't know what I wanted to do." said Sam. She had been wondering if she should talk to him about her relationship with Pete, and suddenly decided that it would always be hanging over them if she didn't bring it out into the open now.
"I was obsessed with Pete at the start, and while everything in the SGC was going great, it was nice being with him on downtimes. But when I broke down and left the Air Force, I knew deep down that the prospect of being with him full-time wasn't what I wanted. And he was kind, and helped me, but he wanted me to go live with him in Denver while he carried on with his job. That's when I realised I didn't love him. Not really."
"Two things happened that caused me to come here." she continued. She knew Jack was on tenterhooks with her every word, and she wanted so much to allay his inevitable fears. "Quite by chance I heard about your affair last year with a divorcee. She mentioned your need for pain-killers and I found out about the police questioning you about your *drug habit*. Well, I also found out that Pete had instigated your interrogation by asking a favour to the local PD. He said he was worried about you bugging me when you found out about me leaving the Air Force."
"Nice of him." mused Jack.
"I was furious with him. I accused him of being a control freak and meddling in my private affairs. He flipped and said he wasn't going to let you upset me while I was recovering. He said I'd never stopped talking about you the whole time we'd been together and he was damned sure you weren't going to threaten *our* future together. I accused him of being jealous, and he said he was fed up of being compared to you." She paused for a few moments. "I wasn't even aware I'd mentioned you so much, Jack."
"What was the other thing?" asked Jack.
"Daniel." she replied. "He made me see where I had been, and where I should go. He's the reason I came here. We've never had a friend like him, have we?"
"No, we haven't. They broke the mould."
Sam was silent some more, not knowing what to say next. She felt Jack's embrace tighten and his quiet voice brought her floods of relief.
"What's done is done, Sam. I never held it against you for taking up with someone while we couldn't do anything about it in the SGC. It hurt like hell, but in the mess that my life's been, it was only one more factor. All I know is, my life began again a few days ago, and I'm not going back. But are you sure that I can give you enough, Sam? All I've got is what you see. You've got to be sure that you'll be happy with that."
"You idiot!" she laughed, sighing at the same time. "I'll let you know in thirty or forty years time."
They lay together for a little while longer, before the familiar sound of barking to be let back in signalled the need to rise.
If a dog could visibly express surprise, Sam 2 would have done so when her two humans, naked as the day they were born, flung open the door and ran squealing and shouting along the jetty and jumped into the lake. 'If they think I'm going to follow them, they can think again.' she probably thought, but dogs are inscrutable that way.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
It's funny how conversations can take unexpected turns after you've made love first thing in the morning. Although Sam and Jack had yet to do the same things often enough to consider themselves getting into a routine, the way they fell in with each others plans or moods was unexpected.
"If I hadn't come here," said Sam as she lay where she'd collapsed onto his chest, "what were you planning to do?"
"Can't remember. So long ago." he mumbled in reply, as the tips of his fingers ran gently up and down her spine. He loved watching the goose bumps appear across her shoulders when he stroked her just *there*, between her shoulder blades.
"Seriously, what was it?" she persisted.
"Well, you see, there's two ladies appeared in my life just lately who've caused major upsets in the O'Neill strategy." He smiled as she looked up sharply at him. "You're the second. The first is standing watching us, waiting to be let out."
Sam laughed, threw the covers back and got out of bed to let Sam 2 out. It was Jack's turn to smile as his fantasy-come-true walked away naked across the room. "Wipe that grin off your face, Colonel!" she said without turning round. He heard her opening the door and then the dog's excited barking as she rushed off to the lake shore. Moments later Sam scampered back in, jumping on him and forcing him to lie down as she drew the covers back round her shoulders. He wasn't objecting.
"Now, you were about to explain." she said, staring down at him, her hands pressing down on his chest.
"Well, first off I was planning to take a trip round the world, trace the family roots in Ireland, stuff like that. Then before I realised it had happened, the trollop and I were an item and there was no way I could leave her in kennels while I went off for weeks or months." His hands had absent- mindedly begun to wander as he was speaking, and now Sam wasn't objecting either.
"And?" she said, starting to wriggle about.
"And then I decided that I'd spend the winter here in the cabin while I figured out where I was going to live in the future. Been preparing for it for a few months now - cut down extra firewood, finished all the repairs and treated the wood."
"Sounds like a plan, then."
"So where will you be while I'm here? I mean, this isn't your kind of thing, is it?"
"'Tis now." she replied, leaning down to kiss him. "Just for one winter, anyway. Then we can find a place of our own."
"Sweet!" was his last word before they resumed the process of making up for their lost years.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
A while later they lay side by side again, and Jack took his turn with the question.
"What were you planning to do before you came up here?" he asked.
"That's the thing. I didn't know what I wanted to do." said Sam. She had been wondering if she should talk to him about her relationship with Pete, and suddenly decided that it would always be hanging over them if she didn't bring it out into the open now.
"I was obsessed with Pete at the start, and while everything in the SGC was going great, it was nice being with him on downtimes. But when I broke down and left the Air Force, I knew deep down that the prospect of being with him full-time wasn't what I wanted. And he was kind, and helped me, but he wanted me to go live with him in Denver while he carried on with his job. That's when I realised I didn't love him. Not really."
"Two things happened that caused me to come here." she continued. She knew Jack was on tenterhooks with her every word, and she wanted so much to allay his inevitable fears. "Quite by chance I heard about your affair last year with a divorcee. She mentioned your need for pain-killers and I found out about the police questioning you about your *drug habit*. Well, I also found out that Pete had instigated your interrogation by asking a favour to the local PD. He said he was worried about you bugging me when you found out about me leaving the Air Force."
"Nice of him." mused Jack.
"I was furious with him. I accused him of being a control freak and meddling in my private affairs. He flipped and said he wasn't going to let you upset me while I was recovering. He said I'd never stopped talking about you the whole time we'd been together and he was damned sure you weren't going to threaten *our* future together. I accused him of being jealous, and he said he was fed up of being compared to you." She paused for a few moments. "I wasn't even aware I'd mentioned you so much, Jack."
"What was the other thing?" asked Jack.
"Daniel." she replied. "He made me see where I had been, and where I should go. He's the reason I came here. We've never had a friend like him, have we?"
"No, we haven't. They broke the mould."
Sam was silent some more, not knowing what to say next. She felt Jack's embrace tighten and his quiet voice brought her floods of relief.
"What's done is done, Sam. I never held it against you for taking up with someone while we couldn't do anything about it in the SGC. It hurt like hell, but in the mess that my life's been, it was only one more factor. All I know is, my life began again a few days ago, and I'm not going back. But are you sure that I can give you enough, Sam? All I've got is what you see. You've got to be sure that you'll be happy with that."
"You idiot!" she laughed, sighing at the same time. "I'll let you know in thirty or forty years time."
They lay together for a little while longer, before the familiar sound of barking to be let back in signalled the need to rise.
If a dog could visibly express surprise, Sam 2 would have done so when her two humans, naked as the day they were born, flung open the door and ran squealing and shouting along the jetty and jumped into the lake. 'If they think I'm going to follow them, they can think again.' she probably thought, but dogs are inscrutable that way.
XXXXXXXXXXXX