"That's the last of them," The photographer said, already putting the lens cap on his very expensive camera. The man was a pro when it came to taking pictures – only the best was acceptable when it came to a wedding that was so interesting to the President of the United States, after all – and he'd been dealing with kids and dogs for a long time, and he had to admit that the kids he was taking pictures of where by far the easiest he'd ever had to deal with. Hell, even the dogs had behaved well, and that was almost unheard of. Of course, he'd never heard of having a dog in a wedding, anyways – although that black lab was by far the most gorgeous creature the photographer had ever seen.

"Thanks," Jack said, breathing a sigh of relief as he reached up and loosened his tie. He waved the kids off, telling them to go get something to drink – but not to get into trouble – and then turned to the adults. Hammond, Jacob and Sam were already breaking off from the main group, and Jack frowned.

"Hey, where ya going?"

"To get something to drink."

"You're supposed to be getting ready to dance with me."

Sam smiled and walked over to him.

"Let me get a drink, first." She told him. "You don't want me to faint from thirst in your arms, do you?"

"Well... no."

"Besides, that dress was heavy. I'll be right back." She turned back to her dad and Hammond, but Jack reached out and gently caught her arm and pulled her back into his arms, much to the pleased amusement of all those watching. This was a side of him that didn't come out very often!

"Don't make me wait long, Sam," he whispered, pressing his lips against her ear in a way that made Sam shiver slightly. "I have a special song for us to dance to."

She smiled and kissed him lightly.

"I'll be right back."

.............

Shawn was the epitome of cool at that moment. He caught a quick glance of himself in the big mirror that ran the length of one of the walls, and smiled, thinking that with the tuxedo on he looked a lot like James Bond. He couldn't help but pose, just for a second, wondering how much different – and better – he'd look in Air Force dress blues. A uniform was even cooler than a tux, especially if you wanted to impress a girl. And Shawn very much wanted to impress a girl just then.

The girl in question chose that moment to walk by, and she couldn't help but see the pose. She laughed, and Shawn flushed a brilliant red.

"What are you doing?" Gina asked.

"Um... checking my tie." God, he wished he was anywhere but there! How could he have let her catch him doing that? "I thought it was crooked."

Gina reached over and tugged on it lightly. Shawn was a well grown fourteen, and Gina was still fairly small for her age, so they were about the same height despite the year difference in their ages.

"It looks fine, Shawn."

He blushed again, and Gina thought at that moment Shawn looked a lot like Jack. Especially around the eyes. Of course, she heard that when you spend a lot of time with someone, you tended to look a little like them, so maybe that was it.

"Thanks." Shawn cast about for something to say that was at least a little better than that – anything to get her to forget catching him posing. "Um... you want something to drink?"

"Sure."

They walked towards the table.

"Are you nervous about going away to school?" Gina asked him.

Shawn shook his head, trying to look nonchalant.

"I'm excited, mostly."

"The kids will all be a lot older though, right?"

He nodded. "My roommate is almost nineteen."

"You already know who your roommate is?"

"Yeah, his name's River Hayden."

"River?"

Shawn shrugged.

"I'll bet he got teased a lot when he was a kid."

"Yeah." Shawn smiled. "I won't be teasing him. He'd probably beat me up if I do."

Gina smiled. She doubted Shawn would ever tease anyone like that. He was pretty sweet.

"What does he look like? Do you know?"

Shawn nodded. "He sent me a letter, telling me about himself and it had a picture. I'm not sure if he's really all that happy about having me for a roommate or not – since I'm a lot younger than he is – but he seemed nice enough."

"I'm sure he'll like you. Everyone likes you."

Shawn blushed again, and tried to find something to say to that that wasn't going to make him sound boastful or stupid.

"I have the letter. Do you want to see it?"

"Here?"

"It's in my mom's car. I can go get it."

Gina smiled. "I'd like to see what your roommate looks like."

"I'll be right back."

"Can I come with you?"

Shawn blushed again.

"Sure."

They headed away from the table and for the main entrance, and no sooner stepped out into the hall before they crashed into three running men and went down in a tangle.