My Best Friends Wedding
Part Three
Spoilers: If it's been on the television it's happened in this story.
Disclaimer: Like in Part I and Part II, I have no claim over the show and the characters (my story has no original characters so I don't even have those. The title of this story comes from the movie "My Best Friends Wedding" I don't own that either.
Authors Note: I am fairly sure that this will be the last chapter. But then again I thought Part II would be the last chapter, too! And I had intended the story to be a one-shot at first.... So, anyway.... Thanks for all the reviews!
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Jack had some trouble maneuvering his way through the church... again. It was a fairly big church, much bigger than the small Baptist church he had gone to as a child. Then again, a small town in Minnesota doesn't really have the same amount of people as a large city like Colorado Springs did. Nonetheless, he roamed the halls for a good five minutes before finally finding the sanctuary, thus finding Cassie and Daniel.
They both looked up at him expectantly when he walked through the door, but neither said a word. He ignored their questioning looks and sat down on a pew next to Cassie, yawning slightly and closing his eyes as if to sleep. Although he knew neither would buy that he was actually going to sleep he did know it would annoy them not knowing what was going on.
All in all, the silence lasted two minutes. Cassie, who was almost 21 and still acting like a gossiping teenager, couldn't take being left out anymore and gently shoved her "uncle" Jack. "Come on, Jack... did you really think you would get away without telling us?"
He shrugged. "Yeah, I kind of did." It was a lie- but they didn't need to know that.
"Are you forgetting whose daughter I am, Jack? My mother had a knack for getting the truth out of you... and I am already starting my med school training... just wait until I'm your doctor."
Jack made a face, "She left the big needles to you, didn't she?"
Cassie laughed, "And the orders to use them if necessary."
He looked up at the ceiling and mouthed 'Why me?' jokingly. Cassie shoved him again, less gentle this time and called out to him.
"I'm gonna go crazy if you don't tell me, you know."
He did. That was exactly why he had delayed in telling her. "I know." he smiled. "If you're looking for gloating you've come to the wrong place."
Daniel looked at him suspiciously, "Do you have something worth gloating about?"
"Maybe," he shrugged. "Maybe not."
"Jonathan O'Neill!" Cassie called out, "Spill."
"Fine," he agreed, "fine. I'll tell."
She grinned in triumph, "Go ahead."
"She's canceling the wedding." he told them, leaning back in the pew.
Cassie gasped, "Why?"
"Why?" Jack repeated, feigning offense. "Why do you think?"
"Well yeah, that... of course. I mean, what made her decide?"
He looked around the room, "These ceilings are really high...."
"Jack!"
"We kissed."
"You kissed?" Daniel asked. "Whose idea was that?"
"Sam's actually." He said, "Some kind of strategical move- ask her. It made no sense to me."
"But you weren't complaining." Daniel said, understanding his friend did know why Sam had orchestrated the kiss, but he just didn't want them to know all the details.
"Nope," he replied nonchalant. "Not really."
"What's she doing now?" It was Cassie who asked, the young woman wanted to see her friend and gush over the situation.
"She's calling Pete... canceling the wedding." he explained. "Why don't you wait to talk to her until she comes out here? And, when you do, don't do that girly gossip stuff. She's confused right now, she needs to think and feel like the decision she's making is her choice and not just what everybody else wants her to do."
"We just want her to do whatever is going to make her happy," Cassie told him, "no matter what that may be."
"She's still trying to figure out what that is though, hon. And she doesn't need to be rushed, I have no problem with waiting until she's ready."
Daniel nodded and turned to Cassie, "Since there's not going to be a wedding there's no reason for us to stay around, huh? How about you and I go get something to eat...."
Cassie didn't need further convincing. She understood that Daniel wasn't any more hungry than she was, but he wanted to give Sam and Jack some time alone, and she wasn't about to argue with that. "I am hungry." she lied as she stood up from the pew and gave Jack a peck on the cheek. "Call me later, please."
"I will." Jack promised, "Go and have fun."
She nodded and the two of them left the sanctuary, leaving Jack alone in the fairly large room. There was that vulnerable feeling again- God, he hated that. He glanced around the church, it looked like all he had to do was wait.
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She wasn't sure how long she had been on the phone, but it had to have been over an hour. Her conversation with Pete had been anything but pleasant, which she had expected from the get-go. Of course he would be pissed off at her, it was their wedding day and she was calling to say that she couldn't marry him because she had feelings-strong feelings- for another man. He was thankful, though, that she had figured this out before they got married. Nonetheless, it was over. He would call everybody he had invited to the wedding and let them know and vice-versa.
After she hung up with him she began to call those who would have sat on the brides side of the church at 6. She kept the explanations down to a minimum. She was sorry for the inconvenience but there would be no wedding that day, in fact there would be no wedding at all. All of them asked why it was over, but she simply told them that she would explain it to them in person and goodbye.
Nevertheless, when she found her way into the sanctuary he was asleep and she couldn't help but smile. He stirred at the noise that she made by opening the door and looked up at her with a tired grin and all of her uncertainties about breaking things off with Pete melted away. She couldn't say for sure if the way she felt for him could be defined as "love" but whatever those feelings were they were very strong- maybe even stronger than the way she felt for Pete.
"Hey." he greeted sleepily, rubbing his hands over his face to wake up. "What time is it?"
She glanced down at her watch, "It's just after 1530."
He nodded, "Did you... ah... talk to him?"
"I did," she walked across the sanctuary and sat down on the pew next to him. "It's over."
"For good?" he asked, trying not to sound excited about the fact she had just broken up with her fiancé.
"For good." she confirmed. "He said that if I even had to question our relationship there was no future for us. He was right... we never really had a future together. We were fooling ourselves to think we could."
"I'm sorry." he told her, looking down at his hands.
"No you're not." a smile spread across her face. "This was what you wanted to begin with." Not that she minded. It was what she had always wanted, too.
"I never wanted you to be hurt, Sam. I know that you had strong feelings for Pete, I just wanted to let you know that I was here too." he looked up at her. "I only wanted you to do what would make you happy."
She leaned over slightly, bumping his shoulder with hers. "I did. You make me happy."
He smiled, "Lucky me." Sighing he slipped an arm around her waist, hoping that the move didn't come too soon and wouldn't make her uncomfortable. "So what now?"
With a sigh of her own she relaxed into his embrace, not sure how to answer his question. "We take things one day at a time.... But, if there's going to be anything between us, Jack, we've got to inform the Air Force and figure out what we're going to do about our working positions. Any sort of relationship would be against regulations."
"I don't care what I have to do, Sam. I'd get on my knees and beg the president if I had to. I don't want to wait anymore.... I want to be able to love you without worrying about the consequences."
A lump formed in her throat. Love. "Do you?" she asked, "Love me?" He had said it before, but she wanted to know for sure.
There was a slight pause before he answered her, "I do, Sam. More than I've ever loved anybody." She could tell he was struggling with his next question, whether he should ask it or not. In the end he must have decided he should ask it. "Do you love me?"
The lump in her throat rose again. "The truth- I'm not sure." All the air in his lungs retailiated and escaped from his body, leaving him struggiling to keep his composure. He wasn't sure why he was having such a reaction to what she had said, he had known ahead of time she was confused about the way she felt. He had been stupid to even ask her.
"But," she continued, allowing him to breath again. "I'd like to figure that out."
He didn't have any objections to that.
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Five months later:
There was a knock at his door, "General?"
"Come in," he called out, setting his pen down on his desk. The door opened slightly and a blonde head pushed it's way into the crack, making sure that it was truly alright to enter the room.
"It's already after 1900 hours, sir." she explained, stepping into the room.
He looked down at his watch and a curse escaped his lips. "Shit, Sam... I'm sorry. I forgot."
"Don't worry about it," she told him. "I called an hour ago... our reservations are changed for 2030. We only have an hour though, so do you think you could tear yourself away from your paperwork?"
A smile stretched across his face, "I'm sure I could with a bit of persuading."
"Oh?" she asked, walking across the room and sitting on the edge of his desk. "What kind of persuading would that be?"
"A bit of physical contact might work...."
Her left eyebrow crawled up her forehead and she left her spot on the desk and settling on his lap she gently brushed her lips over his and then pulled back, teasingly. "Did it work?"
"Not sure yet... maybe if you try again?"
She smiled and leaned forward, catching his lips with hers in a more passionate kiss. When she pulled away he attempted to kiss her again but she wouldn't allow it. "Uh-uh, we've got to change into civilian clothes and then head to the restaurant."
"Are you sure we can't skip dinner?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist. "It's only our three month anniversary... I'm sure we could find something to eat at my place."
"Beer and old Chinese food doesn't exactly appeal to me when I could be going to Fellini's."
He groaned, Italian was her favorite- no way he could convince her to break their reservations. "Fine... but only if I can gave another kiss."
"A wish easily granted." she leaned forward, but instead of kissing him on the lips like he expected she aimed a bit higher and kissed his nose. "There, now let's go." she pulled out of his embrace and off of his lap, headed for the door that lead to his office. When he didn't follow she turned around and gave him a look, "You coming?"
He grumbled something about the wrong kind of kiss and got up from his chair, grabbing his jacket from the back of it. "Yeah, yeah. Let's go."
In the hallway they held hands- which wasn't uncommon. Ever since Jack had gone to the president with a request to change the frat-regs for those who worked at the SGC (security measures, the single employee's had a hard time with relationships due to long hours and the level of secrecy required to work there) the two had made their feelings for each other known. That had been four and a half months prior... although the two hadn't started to officially date until three months prior. Both had agreed that to jump into a relationship right away could ruin their chances at having something special, so for two months after she broke up with Pete they spent time together getting to know each other. What their favorite color was, what type of food they preferred, things of that nature.
It had been strange at first, for years she had been required to hide her feelings for him and all of a sudden she was allowed to let others know about it. It took some getting used to, and she still was uncomfortable with being romantic in front of people, but she had to problem holding his hand or allowing him to snake his arm around her stomach as they walked. It was... nice to have that attention, it hadn't been the same with Pete. In fact, nothing had. Whenever she kissed Jack it took her breath away- she wasn't sure if that had even happened with Pete. The first night she was with Jack was incredible, with Pete it was good, yes... but she didn't still shiver at the thought of it like she did with Jack. It hadn't even taken her a month after they started "dating" to realize that she was in love with him- and that she always had been.
They arrived at the restaurant just in time for their reservations and were seated at a table by the window that looked out on the mountains. The waiter came by and they ordered their meals along with white wine and then the man went off to the kitchen leaving the two alone- sort of- once more.
"So," Jack asked, taking a sip of his water, "three months."
"Yeah," she replied. "Doesn't feel like that long, does it?"
"Not even close," he smiled and reached over the table to take her hand into his own. "I love you, Sam."
It wasn't the first time he had said so, but it still took her breath away. "I love you, too."
Halfway though the meal she excused herself to the bathroom, but only after giving Jack a quick kiss. He knew how much public display of affection embarrassed her and he had started making it a point to require a fee of one kiss whenever she had to leave him. It wasn't something she was particularly fond of when she was around people, but she figured it was a small price to pay. And, she really didn't have as much disdain for it as she would like Jack to think- but it gave her more reasons to kiss him so she didn't mind.
After using the restroom she started on her way back to the table, but a familiar face walking towards her stopped her dead in her tracks. It was Pete.
She was tempted to turn and run straight for the bathrooms once more. After she ended their engagement she had only seen him once, the day after, and since then she had done her best with forgetting about him completely. The truth was, on some level, she still had feelings for him. Granted, her feelings for Jack had long since surpassed those for Pete, but there was no denying that she had loved the man at one time and he would always have a part of her life. It was awkward to see him again- which was only made more awkward by the fact she was here on her three-month anniversary date with the man she had left him for.
"Sam?" he asked as he got closer, although he had known from a hundred feet back that it was her. "Hi."
Pushing the lump in her throat back down she forced a smile, "Hi, Pete. What are you doing here?"
"I'm here on a date." he told her with a bit of hesitance.
"Really? That's good." she was surprised by the lack of feeling she had after hearing that he was dating again.
"What about you?" he seemed more interested in why she was there than she was in why he was.
"It's Jack's and my three month anniversary," she explained.
He nodded, "Right... how are things between you two?"
"They're going great. What about you? Anything serious?"
"Maybe," he sighed. "I'm not sure yet. It's only the fifth date."
"Well, I hope things go well." which was the truth. She did want him to be happy- he deserved that much after what she had done to him.
"Yeah... me too." He looked down at his shoes momentarily before looking back up and locking eyes with her, "Can I ask you something, Sam?"
"Sure," she said, wondering what he would possibly have to ask permission to ask. "What is it?"
"Are you happy?" a simple question, but oh so complicated.
She smiled, looking over his shoulder in the direction of the table Jack was sitting at. She could only see the back of his head but a rush of emotion hit her- "I am." God, it was disgusting how happy she was.
He nodded again, "Of course you are... have a nice dinner."
"You too." she said goodbye and went back over to where Jack was waiting at the table. "You're never going to guess who I just ran into...."
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Sixteen months later:
"Mrs. O'Neill...." Sam vaguely heard the gentle voice call out to her but she ignored it. She was way too exhausted to deal with anybody who wasn't Jack at the moment. And whoever it was calling out to her definitely was not her husband.
"Mrs. O'Neill...." there it was again. It was a woman, that was for sure. Her voice was soft and soothing. If the woman continued to call out to her like that it would only help her fall asleep quicker. Again, she ignored the voice and tried to get some more rest.
"Fine, Mrs. O'Neill. If you'd rather sleep than see the twins tha–"
Twins? Was she talking about her twins? The one's she had just spent twenty painful hours in labor delivering? Those twins? Sam's eyes snapped open and she found herself staring into the face of her OBGYN doctor, Andrea Taylor. "Where are they?" she demanded, her eyes darting around the room.
The woman smiled at her, "Your husband and the nurse went to get them just a minute ago. I figured I should wake you up... seeing as you are their mother."
"I'd better be," she stated, still feeling the effects of whatever drug they had given her to help her sleep. "All that work I did."
Andrea grinned, "Have you decided on names yet? I know you were waiting to see what the sex of the twins were... but I didn't know if you had anything in mind."
"I'll wait until Jack gets here to even start thinking about it." she said sleepily. "He'll probably want to name both of them after him."
"Only one of them is a boy, Sam." Andrea pointed out- figuring that Sam was still a bit out of it due to the medication.
She sighed, "Yeah, I know."
The door to the room she was in opened and Jack stepped inside, carrying a pink bundle in his arms, behind him was a nurse carrying an identical bundle, except it was blue. Jack smiled when he saw that Sam was awake and he walked over to the bed and sat down in the chair next to it, "Hi, honey."
"Hey, is that...?"
He nodded, handing the little girl over to her. "This is your daughter... otherwise known as A baby."
"Because she was born first," Sam replied, taking the fragile child into her arms carefully. She was so red still, even after 8 hours, but God was she beautiful. There was a mass of dark brown hair on the top of her head and bright blue eyes identical to her own looked at her with a knowing curiosity. "Hi sweetheart..." she greeted, "I'm your momma."
By that time the nurse had handed over the little boy to his father and Jack was holding his son with the same care that Sam was holding her daughter. Like his sister, the younger of the twins had dark brown hair and bright blue eyes, but that was liable to change over the next couple of weeks. Babies rarely ever stayed the same as when they were newborn, he knew that from experience. He gently caressed the baby's head, playing with the thick hair the child had earned for being two-weeks past his due date. "They have your sense of time," Sam had said a week prior. Which was true, late was something he normally was.
"Can I see baby B?" Sam asked, smiling at the strange way of identifying her son.
"Only if I can see my little princess again." he negotiated. She agreed and they switched, allowing Sam to really see her son for the first time. She had only been able to glance at him quickly before the nurses whisked him away to be cleaned and checked on. Then again Sam hadn't exactly had the energy to pay much attention at that time, she was still feeling the effects of the drugs they had given her and the exhaustion from twenty hours of labor had started to get to her.
"He's so beautiful," she breathed. "My beautiful baby boy."
Jack smiled down at his daughter, she had promptly fallen asleep in his arms- not that he minded. As he gently rocked back in forth to keep her sleeping he watched Sam and his son, she was a natural mother. After a few minutes Sam looked over at him and gave him a tired grin.
"So what are we going to name them?"
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20 months later:
"Janet Grace O'Neill, come here!" Sam called out from her position on the couch. She would have followed the toddler down the hall but her hands were full at the moment. Thankfully Jake had requested to go with his daddy to the store and Sam only had to deal with one toddler- and not to mention the 3 month old baby boy who was busy having lunch.
Janet (Grace as everybody called her) toddled back down the hallway towards her mother, she knew when mom used that voice she was in trouble. "Momma play?" The little girl tried to look as innocent as she could- she wasn't stupid, she knew her mother could resist the pouty face.
Sam sighed, her daughters bright, brown eyes would be the death of her one day. "In a bit, honey. Momma has to finish feeding JJ first." JJ was just a shortened version for Jack Jr, or Jonathan Jr. His birth certificate said Jonathan Michael Jr, just like his father, but Jack had expressed his disdain for the name and it had been decided that when the boy was older they would call him Jack- like his father. "Can you sit down and play with your baby doll until then?"
Grace squealed happily and sat down to play with the brand-new doll that her god-father Daniel had given her the day before. Which was something that he did often, not that Sam minded. It was one less toy she had to buy.
Ten minutes later after burping JJ and putting him down for his afternoon nap she picked up her daughter, "What is it you want to play, Grace?"
"Urgo!" the young girl said happily. "Play Urgo!"
"Alright... let's go play with Urgo." Urgo was their ten month old Retriever. Sam had picked out his name, with much debate from her husband. But in the end Sam won, Urgo was decided as the name for the dog, as opposed to Bob- Jack's inital pick.
Sam slid the door to the backyard open and the puppy came running up the yard and towards his two favorite girls. Jack had devoted hours to training the dog so it knew the proper way to act around the young children so Sam wasn't worried about setting Grace down to let her play with the large pup. "Be careful," she warned as she sat down on the patio. "I'll be right here."
"OK momma." Grace said as she started to run, Urgo chasing after her playfully. Chase was his favorite game, although he knew not to ever catch the children, but to let them catch him. Jack had done a great job in training him- he could already sit, stay, heal, shake, play dead, fetch, stand, and many other things as well as his skills around young children.
Not long after that Grace came running back to her mother, stretching out her arms in a classic 'hold me' pose. Only five minutes and the little girl was already exhausted, but then again she was only barely two. Sam picked her up, petted Urgo on the head and headed back inside.
Thankfully the little girls trip outside had worn her out, not fifteen minutes after coming inside Grace was sleeping peacefully on the couch. Sam pulled the little blonde girl into her arms and rocked her back and forth gently, running her hands through her thick, curly hair. Janet Grace had gotten most off her mothers features, light blonde hair, as well as her facial structures. But, where she was nearly completely like her mother in looks she was like her father in actions, and not to mention the fact that she had the same rich brown eyes that Sam loved about her husband. The young girl was already impatient and had a temper. But on a better note whenever she wasn't mad her face held the same bright smile that her father's normally did and her eyes always shown with the laughter that Sam had always loved about Grace's father.
Jacob Daniel was the polar opposite of his sister who was older than him by five minutes. His hair was the same rich brown that his father's once had been, although one thing he did share with his sister was his father's brown eyes. He was much like his mother in the sense that whenever a new object was placed in front of him he had to inspect it thoroughly, testing it to see what it did, touching it to see how it felt, even tasting every now and then- when he was feeling bold. It was a curiousity that Sam's father had informed her she had at Jake's age.
Since JJ was still so young it would be hard to decide who he got most of his features from. His hair was more of a dirty blonde than a brown and his eyes were the only ones that matched his mothers. Which made Jack happy- he often gushed about the beautiful blue of his son's eyes and how they were just like his mothers.
Grace had been sleeping around half an hour before Jack came through the door, carrying a sleeping Jake in his arms. Sam smiled up at him and motioned for Jack to take Jake into the room that he and his sister shared. She herself got up from the couch and carefully brought Grace to her room. After the two were tucked in Jack and Sam went back into the livingroom where they sat down on the couch.
"I'm too old for this." Jack said with a sigh, "I had to chase him all around the Wal-Mart."
"Grace went outside and played with Urgo for a bit...." Sam informed him, stretching out across the couch. "JJ fell asleep after I fed him, which was about an hour ago."
"So he'll be up in about an hour, and then the twins will wake up in about an hour and a half."
"One can only hope."
He leaned over and kissed her deeply, "What do you suppose we do until then?"
Sam groaned, "Learn from our children and take a nap?"
"Close..." he kissed her again, pulling her onto his lap and snaking his arm around her waist. "It does involve the bedroom... but not exactly sleep."
A smile appeared on her face. "Oh?" she asked, placing a line of kisses along his jaw. "How about you show me what you had in mind."
"Ma'am, yes Ma'am." he barked as he stood- Sam still in his arms- and headed off towards the only bedroom that was on the main floor of their two-story home.
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A/N: Alright. So I'm fairly certain that's the end, sorry if it sucks but I couldn't figure out where to stop it at! Anyway, thanks to all who have reviewed to this story. It was just a little bit of ship I wanted to get out :).