Once he had showered, Ian really didn't have much choice but to come out of the bathroom wearing just his jeans. He hadn't walked in with anything more than that and hadn't thought to stop and get a shirt from his bag before he'd gone into the bathroom. (Besides, that would have meant touching things, and Sam had told him not to). So, wearing jeans and carrying his shoes and socks, he left the bathroom and headed for 'his' room, closing the door behind him loudly enough that they'd know he was out of the bathroom in case Jack wanted to shower – and he was sure Sam was going to make him.

He looked around the room, setting his sneakers down on the bed and walking over to the table that ran along the wall. Most of the contraptions that were neatly stacked along its length were completely alien to him – and knowing the nature of Sam's work (and now he did - somwhat) he realized some of them might actually be from another planet. Of course, it was pretty unlikely that she was allowed to bring anything top secret – or dangerous – off the base, which meant this stuff was interesting and probably wouldn't blow up if he were to take a look.

He reached for the nearest thing; a small box that was about the size of a Zippo and seemed to have a blinking light somewhere inside it that made it glow just a little.

"Ian?"

The knock on the door caused him to jerk his hand back, guiltily, and he walked over and opened it, knowing from the call that it was going to be Sam on the other side.

She smiled when he opened the door, wondering why he had a slightly guilty look on his face. Probably because he'd messed up the table with the pomegranate, she decided – although she hoped he didn't think she cared about a small mess like that. She was used to messes. Look who she lived with.

"How's the hand?" She asked, looking at his wrist.

He held it up – but the cut was pretty small and had been cleaned thoroughly in the shower.

"It's fine, Major."

"Sam," she told him.

"Sam."

"You get three choices," she said. "You can stay here and do whatever you want. You can stay here and help Jack clean up the back yard when he gets out of the shower, or you can come with me to pick up Cassandra Fraiser, and get a tour of the neighborhood on the way."

"I should help Colonel O'Neill clean up the back yard," he told her, thinking it would be a way to make good on them letting him stay with them.

"His name is Jack," Sam reminded him with a gentle smile, "and he doesn't need help."

"Yes I do!"

Ian saw Jack walk past the door with a clean towel in hand, obviously on his way to the shower. Sam smiled.

"If you stay, he won't get it done... you and he'll just end up playing with Jaffer in the back yard – which you can do when we get back if you want. I, on the other hand, will be bringing a lot of food from Janet's house and some of it will undoubtedly be very heavy..." She trailed off, giving him a pointed look, and Ian smiled, realizing she was very good at getting her way.

"In that case, I'd better come with you and do all the heavy lifting."

"Yes, you should." She looked at his state of dress. "But you should probably get some more clothes on, first."

"Yes, Ma'am."

She ignored the ma'am, and told him she'd be out in the living room waiting, and Ian pulled his bag out from under the bed and grabbed a shirt. Another plain white t-shirt – he really didn't have a lot of decorative clothing to wear. Then he grabbed his leather jacket, and headed for the living room.

OOOOOOOO

"So who's Cassandra Fraiser?" He asked her about ten minutes later as they were getting into her car – a very sporty looking convertible which Ian had to admit he almost liked better than Jack's truck.

"Janet's daughter," Sam told him. "Adopted daughter, really, but she's been with her so long there's no difference."

He nodded, and Sam continued as she pulled out of the driveway.

"She's coming over now, and Janet will be over in a couple of hours to help get some cooking and baking done for tomorrow. I've never hosted so many people before for a meal – especially a big meal like Thanksgiving – so I decided I'd need all the help I could get."

"I'll help."

Sam looked over at him.

"Do you know how to cook?"

"What's your definition of cooking?"

She laughed.

"Can you boil water?"

"Yes."

"Can you make coffee?"

"Yes."

"Can you make toast?"

"Yes."

Sam was beginning to feel a little hope, here.

"Can you toss a salad?"

"Anywhere you want it."

She wondered if he meant that as a joke, but decided he didn't actually know what tossing a salad meant, and knew right away she wouldn't let him have that job.

"Do you happen to know anything about turkeys?"

"I've hunted them a few times."

"Cooked any?"

He shook his head.

"I can open cans..."

Sam smiled, "We'll make you the official can and bottle opener, then, until we find a better job for you."

"Fair enough."

As they drove through the area that Jack and Sam lived in, Sam pointed out a few places she thought he might want to know about. There was a corner store three blocks from the house, and a park that Jack and Jaffer – and every now and then Sam – would frequent when they walked the big lab. There was a school that had a running track (Sam used it far more often than Jack did), and she pointed out Jaffer's vet's office, because they passed it and it never hurt to know where his vet was when it came to Jaffer.

"You're more than welcomed to come and go as you want to, Ian," Sam told him. "We're glad to have you with us, but we don't want you to think you have to stay in the house every minute – and you're not to try and do all the work around the house to make up for us letting you stay, okay?"

Could she read minds, Ian wondered.

"But I'll do some things," he told her. "I'm not used to just sitting around and being waited on..."

She smiled.

"You'll be waiting a long time if you're waiting for that. But I thought I'd let you know what we expected of you, since I wasn't sure if jack had or not when he picked you up."

He nodded.

"So, what's expected of me?"

"I just told you. You're to come and go as you please, and not feel like you need to be the house servant to pay your way."

"That's it?" He asked. "No house rules?"

"You don't smoke, do you?"

He shook his head.

"Drink?"

"I'm not old enough."

"No wild parties – but since you don't have a lot of friends here in town – and we know all of them – that probably won't be a problem..."

He smiled.

"Aside from that, just have fun. And maybe you can be a distraction for Cassie – who will undoubtedly not be looking forward to spending the day in the kitchen with me and Janet."

"Can do."