It was raining. Hard. But she didn't care. She didn't care that the rain was streaming down her helmet and in her face, causing sudden times were she couldn't see. All she cared about was leaving everything behind and just following the road. Lost in her thoughts, Sam took an exit and turned left, not listening to the red light instructing her to stop. Luckily there wasn't anyone coming so she was able to keep on going. She drove threw the small town, when the chugging sound of her bike startled her out of her thoughts. She pulled it over to the side of the street and looked at the fuel gage. Below E. Over whelmed by the recent bad luck she's been having, she sat there. Repeating the one line that was tormenting her inside. She kept remembering over and over again.
'I care about her. A lot more than I'm supposed to.' Sam exhaled heavily and lent down and rested her head on her arms, flopped over the handlebars of her new Harley. Why was it tormenting her you're probably wondering? Because for the first time in Sam's life, ever since her mother's death, she was told one of the most important things in her life and she couldn't do anything about it. The one fact that she couldn't do anything for that matter boiled her insides. She sat up fast, letting a soft growl/ scoff escape her moth.
"I'm not going anywhere just sitting here." Sam said to herself as she hit the handlebars with a little more force than she ment to.
"Why don't you come inside, dear, you'll catch your death in this weather." Sam looked to her right and saw an elderly man walking down a walkway towards her. "The weather will end soon. At least that's what the weatherman said. But when have they ever been right?" The last part was kind of like a question to himself rather to Sam. With that, he turned and walked back into the building where he came from. She looked past the old man and saw a big cross above the doors to a small, country church.
"Why not?" Sam kicked down her kickstand and ran into the church. As she took her jacket off and gave it a good shake, an old woman walked up and took Sam's hand and shook it.
"Was Herman giving you a hard time out there? Well that man. Herman!" The old man wobbled over to the elderly woman.
"I really must be-" Sam started but the man interrupted her.
"Yes Martha?" The woman pulled Sam further inside the church.
"Were you giving this sweat heart trouble?" The old man shook his wrinkly, old face in no.
"Thank you but I really must be going. Can you tell me where the nearest gas station is?" Sam asked rather annoyed with the two people arguing before her.
"Nonsense dear you have to hear our granddaughter sing. She sings like an angle."
"Look it's been a long time since I've been in a church, I-"
"Shh. She's about to start." Sam shrugged trying to hold back the tears.
'This is the last place I want to be! Standing here between two old people listening to their tune deaf, country hick.' Sam angrily thought to herself.
"There she is, look!" listening to the insistence of the old woman, Sam glanced up at the girl holding the mike. Sam was surprised to see that instead of seeing an overweight, red headed freckly girl standing there like she suspected (no offense to all you red head freckly overweight girls, I'm just trying to make a point), was a girl with beautiful blonde, curly hair and blue eyes she could see from there. She wasn't overweight at all. To shock her more, was her voice when she started to sing.
"I, could live life alone,
And never fill the longings of my heart,
The healing warmth of someone's arms.
And I could live without dreams
And never know the thrill of what could be
With every star so far and out of reach.
I could live without many thins,
And I could carry on…"
Before she started on the chorus, Sam found her self sitting down on a chair not taking her eyes off of the singer.
"I couldn't face my life tomorrow
Without your hope in my heart I know
I can't live a day without you.
Oh, there's no night and there's no morning
Without you loving arms to hold me.
You're the heartbeat of all I do;
I can't live a day without you."
'Because I care about her. A lot more than I'm supposed to.' Sam felt tears well up in her eyes again. 'What kind of cruel punishment is this?' Sam thought not noticing that she was soon to find out.
"I could travel the world,
See all the wonders beautiful and new,
They'd only make me think of you.
And I could have all life offers
Riches that were far beyond compare
To grant my every wish without a care;
Oh I could do anything, oh yes,
But if you weren't in it all…
I couldn't face my life tomorrow
Without your hope in my heart I know
I can't live a day without you.
Oh, there's no night and there's no morning
Without you loving arms to hold me.
You're the heartbeat of all I do;
I can't live a day without you."
As she ended the song, Sam felt the tears now falling softly down her cheeks. She bolted out of the church and was now sobbing as she ran down the walkway. She hopped on the bike and sat there. She wiped the tears away and saw the sign for a gas station just up the road. Slowly, she walked her bike up the side of the road and into the gas station. As she was filling up her tank, a blue 4 door 4x4 drove up beside her. Only, as they pulled up, they drove threw a puddle which splashed Sam from head to toe. Standing there in shock, Sam shook out her hair and looked down at her once new, now wet and dirty jeans.
"Crap, are you O.K?" A woman got out of the car and looked at Sam still standing there, tank near over flowage, and stunned look on her face. "I…am…so…sorry."
"Way to go Em!" This time a teenager got out of the passenger seat and was laughing and clapping at what her friend did.
"I hardly find this funny." Sam said rather disgusted as she slammed the gas pump down on its lever. The sound of Sam's voice made the teen stop laughing.
"Sorry." She cleared her throat. "You're not from around here are you?"
"No." Sam said rather flatly.
"Where you from?"
"You know, you're a rather curious kid aren't you?" Sam was really not enjoying the conversation at hand.
"First of all," Now the teen was getting angry. "My name is Laura and I'm not a kid."
"Sorry." Sam got on her bike and started it up but she stopped. She had no idea how to get back. 'I should have looked where I was going.' She was mentally kicking herself.
"Lost?" Em asked. Sam looked back.
"You wouldn't happen to know how to get back to Colorado Springs do ya?" Surprisingly, Em nodded.
"We're headed there if you need a lift." Sam looked at the two honest looking women and nodded. Laura Hopped out of the truck and helped Sam strap her bike to the back of the truck. As Em pulled out of the driveway, she pulled right back in. "Forgot the movie." She explained as she hopped out.
"What movie?" Sam leaned back and asked Laura.
"Love comes Softly." Laura replied in a dramatic tone.
"Never heard of it." Sam said sitting back up in her seat.
"Really? It's one of my favorite movies. It's about this woman who moves out west with her husband. Well, eventually the husband dies and she moves in with an other man just for the winter." Seeing that Sam wasn't really into it, she summed it up. "Basically it's about how love isn't always fireworks and lightning bolts, sometimes," Laura stopped and smiled. Sam on the other hand was near tears. "Sometimes love comes Softly."
3 hours later
Sam dropped the keys on the floor and slumped down on the coach. She couldn't believe what just happened.
"O.K," Sam said out loud. "First that song, then the movie. God why Jack?" Sam cried into her pillow and surrendered to the sleep that tugged at her eyelids.
Sam's dream
Sam finds herself walking in a huge cathedral church. She walks up the isle to the front where the girl that sang was standing.
"You're wondering what I'm doing here aren't you?" Sam shrugged and nodded at the same time not really caring. Then all of a sudden, Sam's earlier pray echoed threw the church. 'God why Jack?'
"What do you want?" Sam asked. The girl looked at her.
"To answer your question." She walked over to the front pew and sat down as Sam crossed her arms protectively a crossed herself. "Love, sees beyond all rank, rules, walls, barriers everything. Before anything, it sees a man, and a woman." Sam looked at her. "You know what you have to do."
Awake
The jolt of someone shaking her woke Sam up. "Carter wake up!" Sam's eyes flew open and found herself looking at Jack with Daniel and Teal'c in the background.
"You alright Sam?" Daniel asked with concern in his voice.
"Fine." She answered. "Little tired."
Base
"Sir?"
"Come on in Major." Gen. Hammond acknowledged Sam. "What can I do for you?" Sam slowly, to be sure that she didn't cry, walked over to his desk and let the light piece of paper slip from her fingers. He didn't even have to look at it. "You're resigning?"
"Yes Sir." She answered solemnly.
"What, did you like the country too much to leave it?" Sam let a soft laugh leave her lips."
"No Sir."
"Than what is it?" Sam looked at her. She didn't know what to say. She struggled to find the perfect speech to explain this decision to her CO. But she found that 3 words summed it up perfectly.
"Love comes Softly, Sir."
Epilogue
Sam made friends with the old couple that she met that one rainy night. And their granddaughter who's named turned out to be Samantha who sang the song 'Can't live a day Without you' at Sam and Jack's wedding, 3 years later. They eventually had 3 kids, Daniel, Sarah and Emily. Sam and Jack grew old together and were able to watch their kids have kids and Jack lived long enough to see their first great-grand child born. Daniel (Jack and Sam's son) had named his son Jack, who named his son Jack, after his great-grand father. Sam lived a full life with no regrets. She had all life could offer and as the song said, if he wasn't in it all, then she couldn't have lived a day.
O.K. Sorry about this but I had to get it off my chest. It probably lagged a bit but there are some points that I wanted to emphasize.
byby1845