A/N: I really appreciate all of your congratulations, and your enthusiasm for this story and series. I'm getting it all organized, tweaked, and posted just as fast as I can!
Quinndolyn: Thanks, I love Cassie too. She's so much fun to write, so I've ended up using her a lot more than I ever planned in this series. If you like Cassie, you'll probably really enjoy what I've (roughly) planned for BT8. As far as Evie's story goes, I'm not sure if she's going to have them have one or two. Or possibly more, she's crazy enough to do it, so who knows?
Ch 3: Pets and Carrots
Sam was just finishing up with Daniel's photo album when the doorbell rang. That was odd, she thought as she got up stiffly, most of the muscles in her body protesting loudly at the way she had been treating them lately. The only people who ever rang the bell were those delivering something... surely her CO hadn't sent her something really embarrassing, like a singing strip-o-gram... he might, under normal circumstances, but surely today he wouldn't dare...
The bell rang again. Jerking back to the present, Sam looked through the peephole and solved the mystery. It was her CO after all, but his arms were full of various bags, which explained why he'd only been able to spare a finger to ring the bell rather than his customary knock.
She opened the door and was promptly knocked to the ground by sixty-four pounds of overexcited Golden Retriever. "Maggie!" Sam objected, laughing and spluttering as the dog licked her face. Apparently Maggie liked the salty residue of tears.
Jack set his things down as quickly as possible so he could grab his dog's collar and pull her off Sam. She was usually a very well-behaved dog, but sometimes Magnet's excitement got the better of her, and it had been over two weeks since she had been over at Carter's house.
"Sorry," Jack apologized, hauling his 2IC to her feet. "She was going nuts in the truck once she saw which direction we were going."
"It's okay," Sam insisted, smoothing her clothes and tucking her hair back into place somewhat.
"Well... that wasn't exactly the greeting I had planned," he said quickly with a sheepish smile. "Hi," he added.
"Hi," Sam said, glancing at all the stuff he had brought in with him before turning her attention back to Maggie, who was still bounding around her, her long wagging tail thumping against Sam's knees every few seconds.
"I know, it looks like a home invasion, doesn't it," Jack said, shifting nervously on his feet as he saw her notice the various bags he'd brought in. "I would have called first but... well... I thought you might ask me to leave you alone and... I didn't want to do that to you on your birthday..." He paused, trying to gauge her reaction, and continued. "Besides, Maggie here is great at making people smile, aren't you?" he asked his dog, ruffling her hair.
"It's fine, sir. I'm glad you're here. Both of you," Sam said quietly.
Jack saw Quarks streaking into the room from behind Sam, then saw the minute his dog became aware of the cat's presence, and just managed to pull Sam out of the way by her elbows in time to keep her from being bowled over for a second time.
"Thanks," she said with a laugh as they watched the dog and cat immediately start play-wrestling each other around the living room. Maggie crashed into the coffee table, sending it scooting towards the sofa.
"Magnet!" Jack called, frustrated. This was not exactly the way he had planned the evening to start.
"It's okay, sir," Sam said, laughing. "They're not going to hurt anything. Still, maybe I'll let them run off some energy in the backyard for a little while."
"Is that safe for Quarks?"
"He won't go anywhere as long as Maggie's out there with him," she assured him, going through the kitchen to let them out the back. "Maggie, come on!"
The dog and cat both came when she called, running outside. Sam flipped on the light and shut the door, and turned around to find her CO setting three of the bags he had brought in with him on the kitchen table. "I figured you haven't eaten much today," he said.
"I had breakfast brought to me by a very cute little delivery boy," Sam answered with a smile, nodding at the balloon that was still tied to the cupboard. "Thank you."
"No idea what you're talking about," he replied with a grin.
"Yeah, I guess it must have been some other Colonel... with a strange affinity for Winnie-the-Pooh."
"You looked it up on the Internet, didn't you?" he asked.
"Of course."
"I had a feeling you would. And I also have a feeling that if I looked in your refrigerator I'd find most of that scone still sitting in there."
"Maybe," Sam admitted.
"Right. Lunch?"
"I... got busy."
"As I suspected. So, I wasn't sure what you'd be in the mood for, but I figured you can just eat the rest with Dad when he gets here. So Chinese, Boston Market, or bar-be-cue?" he asked, peering into the bags. He didn't point out that the Boston Market wasmeant to be 'comfort food,' and the other options in case she wanted to pretend today was just a regular day.
"Did you get mashed potatoes?" Sam asked.
"Yup. And those weird carrots," Jack added, leaving the Boston Market bag on the counter and taking the other bags to the fridge. He patted himself on the back as he slid the Starbucks bag to one side to make room for the rest of the food. There were thousands of things about his 2IC he figured he would never really get, but in lots of other ways, he knew her very well.
"The carrots aren't weird, sir..." Sam said, because that's what she always said.
"Vegetables aren't supposed to be that sweet," he insisted, grabbing two plates and pulling open the silverware drawer. It was a familiar debate.
"They have to do that so people like you will still eat your vegetables."
"That amount of brown sugar totally negates the purpose of eating a carrot."
"Teal'c likes them," Sam said with a shrug, as if that settled the matter.
Jack started pulling out the various containers and filling up their plates while Sam quickly started making some tea.
"Speaking of the big guy," Jack said as he moved all the food over to the counter so the table was clear for them to sit and eat. "He wanted me to tell you 'Happy Birthday,' and to explain that he would have liked to be here to celebrate with you, but felt that you would have a better day if he stayed with Jonas instead."
"Teal'c said all that?"
"Yeah, well, I'm... interpreting a little. We were talking earlier," Jack admitted, glancing at her nervously to see if she was mad they were worried about her or not. "And we just thought... I mean we weren't going to leave you alone on your birthday, even if you did tell us to go once we showed up, but we thought you would... prefer it if we just left Jonas out of this rather than trying to explain everything to him. And we didn't think it would be right to ditch him at the base without an explanation either, so Teal'c is just hanging out there with him tonight, like usual, so the king of hair gel won't think anything is up."
"I like Jonas," Sam said quietly, filling two glasses with ice. "Although you're right, he could do with a little less hair gel. But... you're right. This just isn't something I'm comfortable sharing with him. And if he were here, I would be worried about him feeling guilty, so I'd be trying to act all cheerful... thanks, sir. I'll thank Teal'c too when I see him. Make sure he knows how much I appreciate it."
"Teal'c has been really overprotective of you all of a sudden," Jack commented casually, because it was something they could talk about other than Daniel. "What's up with that?"
She stiffened slightly, busying herself with the iced tea so she could collect herself. "I don't know, I suppose he had to do something with all that time he used to spend making sure Daniel stayed in one piece."
"That's what Jonas is for. This is different," Jack insisted. "I don't know what, but it's... different. More... fathery than Teal'c's ever been. With any of us. I'm not talking about in dangerous situations, I'm talking about when we're just hanging around the base and stuff. He's like... always in your lab now."
"I don't know, you'd have to ask Teal'c about that, sir. I hadn't really noticed... maybe he misses R'yac." Sam handed him a glass of tea and sat down with her own, looking down at her plate. "There's no way I'm going to be able to eat all of this."
"Try," Jack said with a shrug, dipping his roll into his gravy and transferring half of it to his mouth at once.
To get the subject off of Teal'c, before the Colonel connected the dots and realized Teal'c's extra-attentiveness strangely coincided with his disappearance with Maybourne, Sam asked, "So, tell me about the SGC Ultimate Boxing Championships."
Jack grinned after he had swallowed his roll and started talking.
He pretended not to notice that Sam spent most of the meal pushing the food around on her plate, only eating a little bit, something he remembered noticing her doing shortly after they met. On that occasion, she had been worried about Ferretti, who at that point still hadn't regained consciousness after the disaster on Abydos.
She was such a pro at the food-pushing tactic that he might not have picked up on it at all if it hadn't always reminded him of Charlie, who had been a very picky eater and always done the exact same thing. He remembered many prolonged nights at the dinner table, sitting there stuck between Sara and Charlie in a silent battle of wills over a spoonful of peas or a few pieces of broccoli. He had no doubt Jacob Carter had spent many similar evenings.
Still, it was the most he had seen her eat at one time in several weeks, so he didn't call her on it this time, merely paused a few times during his more-than-slightly exaggerated version of the impromptu tournament they had arranged in the gym yesterday afternoon to look at her pointedly until she took a bite out of guilt. Hey, sometimes you had to play hard-ball.
When it became apparent she wasn't going to eat anymore, he started clearing everything away, waving off her offers of assistance by saying it was her birthday. So while he cleaned up and put all the food away, Sam let the cat and dog in to give them their dinner.
Shortly after Magnet's arrival, when it had become apparent that she had developed a strangely intense bond to Quarks, Cassie had decided that if she was going to have to watch everyone's pets, they could all just stay at Sam's. It had quickly become too tiresome to try to remember to bring all the stuff Maggie needed for an extended stay at 'Hotel Carter,' so Sam now had an entire cupboard devoted to Maggie and Quarks. She pulled out Maggie's bowls, filled one with water, set them in their usual spot, and then measured the proper amount of dog food and poured it into the other bowl, picking up Quarks before he could inspect the contents for himself. He had once choked on a large kernel of dog food and it had been quite unpleasant.
She set her cat on the counter and started petting him to keep him patient while she started a can of cat food opening with the electric can opener.
"Carter, gross!" Jack objected as the can opened and the smell traveled around the room.
Sam ignored him, dumping the can into Quarks's bowl and leaving him to it while she went to wash her hands.
"Okay, let's go into the living room so I can give you your present while they finish eating."
Sam shrugged and followed him into the living room. She didn't really see why he was so bothered by the smell of her cat food - it smelt a lot better than some of the MREs she had seen him eat - especially the one labeled 'Ham'n Eggs.'
"I know you don't want a party, but is this okay?" Jack asked cautiously.
She shrugged. "I wasn't expecting you to come over, if that's what you mean... but I wasn't really surprised either."
"I just don't really know where the right balance is here, Carter," Jack admitted, looking suddenly self-conscious, which was unsettling to see on him.
"I don't either, sir," she said quietly, looking down at her hands.
"Okay, how about... if you don't want to go along with any of this mini, tiny, not even really there celebration... just speak up, okay?"
"Okay," she agreed, sitting down on the couch.
"Wait there, part of your present is still in the truck, I couldn't carry it..." Jack said suddenly, grabbing his keys and hurrying outside. Sam looked at the various gifts already on the table, wondering what on earth he had done this time. One was a gift bag, one looked like a shirt box, and one was a large box roughly the size of a naquada generator, although she was fairly certain that wasn't what it was.
He came back in holding something behind his back, edged around to the back of the couch, and set it down, warning, "No peeking back there, I couldn't wrap that one."
"That sounds like something that should concern me," Sam said lightly.
Jack gave her a 'who, me?' look and said, "Okay, this one first." He handed her the shirt box.
She unwrapped it, more than a little bit concerned. The last time her CO had given her clothes had been last year's birthday party, when he had picked out a dress from a Cassie-pre-approved selection. It was a beautiful dress, but it had caused many interesting problems. The only other time he had given her clothes had been the year he had thrown them a slumber party, and given Daniel and her matching PJs.
Swallowing hard as she pictured Daniel dancing around in his star and moon jammies with his top hat on, she froze. Jack waited patiently, sitting down on the edge of the coffee table so that he faced her and their knees almost touched.
"Carter?" he finally asked, touching her hand briefly. She looked up at him, unfocused. "We don't have to do this."
"I'm okay," she said quietly, her eyes finally focusing on him as she flashed a small smile. He nodded and watched her finish unwrapping the gift. "After last year I'm almost scared to open this," she said lightly, her smile getting a little bit bigger as she caught his eye.
"Just open it!"
"This better not be something I could get arrested for wearing out in public," she joked, trying to lighten the mood as she slid her nails under the side of the box.
"Carter," he half-growled, his fingers itching to rip the lid off the box himself.
She opened it and pulled out the item inside, holding it up uncertainly. He laughed at the expression on her face. Whatever she was expecting, it clearly wasn't a fishing vest. He wasn't even certain if she knew it was a fishing vest, but he had been expecting that. He had gotten the most ridiculous one he could find. The zipping, khaki thing had so many pockets that some of the pockets even had their own pockets.
He remembered her making pretty much the same face when she had opened Teal'c's gift years ago. Not knowing Jack was giving her a kitten, she had stared into Teal'c's box of cat toys with the same look of polite confusion she had now.
"Here, do this one next," Jack said with a laugh, handing her the gift bag. She pulled out a fishing hat, again the most ridiculous one he had been able to find. It even had a decorative fly hook on it. She rolled her eyes and he figured she got the joke now.
"Let's see then, put it on," he said, taking the hat from her and plopping it on her head. He adjusted it critically and smiled. "Perfect. There's something else in that bag too."
Eyeing him as though she hadn't quite figured out how to respond to this yet, she pulled out a book, reading the title aloud, "Freshwater fish of Minnesota."
"I know how you like to do your research," he said with a shrug, handing her the large box that was left, which was surprisingly light, she noticed as he set it on her lap. She unwrapped it. "Every fisherman... fisherwoman... every person who goes fishing should have their own tackle box," he insisted. She opened it, looking at all the strange lures and plastic worms and things that he had already put in there.
"You'll notice there's room for you to sneak a book in there as well, provided it's something small and not related to theoretical astrophysics," he pointed out.
Sam held up several packages of stickers that were inside the tackle box, raising a questioning eyebrow.
"Ah, yeah, those. Well, see, Cassie thought it would be funny to decorate your tackle box, make it look all cute and pretty and... girly. But I thought you might hurt me if we did that, so we left it up to you," he explained. She shook her head, laughing slightly. Jack ducked behind the couch quickly and brought out the last part of the gift, a fishing rod and reel with a bow tied around it.
He handed it to her and said, "There. Now you have all the equipment, and you are out of excuses for reasons not to come fishing with me!"
"Thank you, sir," she said, shifting the items still in her lap aside so she could lean over and give him a quick hug.
"Whenever you're ready, of course" he added, his tone getting serious while his expression remained the same.
"Thank you," she repeated. He nodded and cleared away all the wrapping paper while she moved all the gifts over to the chair nobody ever used for sitting. "Maggie's scratching the back door, I'm going to let her out," she called.
Jack watched her go and looked around the room a bit nervously. Things seemed to be going just fine so far, but he really had no idea what he was doing here, and was more than a little worried about screwing up.