Jack felt her soft lips on his.
He stirred, knowing he only had a few seconds before she left the bed, and threw his arms around her shoulders, trapping her in his embrace.
"'time is it?" he mumbled.
"05:30."
"God it's early!... Stay a little longer?" he moaned.
She sighed.
"Jack, I've got a briefing with the SG team leaders at 09:00 and before hand I have to meet with Daniel, Teal'c, and Cobburn to discuss our next mission!"
"You can stay for another 15 minutes, T' and Dannyboy will understand..."
She chuckled.
"Jack, you're impossible! On the contrary to a certain general O'Neill I know..."
"Retired!" he interrupted groaning.
"My point, exactly!... I am still in active service, still have missions to go on, and still have a CO to report to!" she said playfully, poking his ribs to make him loosen his embrace.
He let go of her and sighed.
"All right, Colonel Carter. I'll go and prepare breakfast while you hit the shower..."
She gave him a quick peck on the lips as she grabbed her robe and went to the bathroom.
Jack rubbed his face with his palms, threw the bed linens aside, and got up, heading to the kitchen.
They had breakfast together, listening to the radio, and having small talk. Jack watched Sam with a twinkle in his eyes.
"What?" she asked after a moment.
"Nothing." He replied smiling.
"Jack O'Neill, I've never seen you watch something with that look on your face if it meant nothing... Last time you did it, you had just kissed me in a time loop!" she said playfully, raising her eyebrows.
He sighed, breaking eye contact.
"The way you take your breakfast..."
"So?"
"Just this: the way you take your breakfast. First you pour coffee into your mug, add precisely two drops of sugar, then you add milk... Then you take two toasts, put butter on 'em both, and slice them in the diagonal... Every morning the same ritual."
She looked at him amused.
"You're writing an essay on breakfast habits?" she joked.
"No." he said, leaning his head into his hand smiling tenderly, drowning in her eyes. "I'm just happy to be the lucky bastard sharing breakfast with you every morning."
She beamed broadly.
"Who knew Jack O'Neill could be so romantic?"
"I love you, Sam."
She took his free hand, and squeezed it.
"I love you, Jack."
He grinned, bent over the small table and kissed her.
"I gotta go now." She said softly as his lips left hers.
"No mission today? I should expect to see you home for dinner?"
"Unless there's some major emergency... When's your next consulting visit anyway?"
"Oh you know, they always call me last minute, or when a certain Colonel Carter doesn't report on schedule..." he winked, tugging at her sleeve.
She swatted his hand gently, then hopped down her stool.
"See you in the evening, then... If you go to the drugstore, there's a list of things that are close to missing on the fridge..." she said, halfway to the door.
"Okay..."
"Oh, and Mrs. Johnson asked me if you could go check her plumbing, she said she heard weird noises." She continued, putting her boots on.
"Oh for crying out loud! How many times will I have to tell her I am NOT a plumber!"
"Well, I wasn't the one bragging about how I redesigned the entire plumbing of my cabin in Minnesota!" she said laughing, grabbing her BDU jacket.
"Me and my big mouth..." he grumbled. "You know that's your fault, Carter! Before you I was perfectly happy with Mrs. Johnson NOT talking to me! And then you came along and started playing the nice neighbor with her and suddenly my retirement didn't seem so appealing anymore!" he cried as she reached for her keys.
"Oooo I'm ashamed to be the one responsible for that! Maybe you would prefer her to warm up your bed!" she said, opening the entrance door on her way out.
His only response was to send a bagel her way, which ended on the door as she closed it hurriedly in a fit of laughter catching a glimpse of his offended look.
"This will not go unpunished, Carter!" he shouted playfully from the deck as her car passed it.
She smiled broadly, waving evasively, and then she was gone.
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Jack was mowing the lawn when he noticed her car going up the driveway. Surprised he checked his watch and stopped what he was doing to go greet her.
"You're home early!" he said before kissing her lightly.
"Surprise, surprise!... I just wanted to make sure you hadn't decided to try my suggestion about Mrs. Johnson..." she replied with a wink.
"Well, you missed her by five minutes!" he played along.
She poked his ribs, causing him to chuckle and tighten his embrace. He kissed her forehead before resuming sexily.
"The only woman I want warming up my bed has gold instead of hair, sapphire instead of eyes, and brains that outclass more brains than I can imagine, along with the sexiest body I've ever seen!" He muttered against her lips, tightening his embrace, before giving her a deep loving kiss. "You haven't replied to my question..." he said as his lips left hers.
"What question?"
"Why are you home so early?"
"I don't remember you asking that question!" she said with her tongue in the cheek, her eyes twinkling.
"For crying out loud, Carter!"
She chuckled, bumping her forehead against his chest before letting go of him.
"The briefing was shorter than scheduled, and I really didn't want to hang out in my lab forever afterwards. So I did a little paperwork and decided to head home."
"Mmmm, good thinking!" he said smiling, before kissing her once more. "You know I was not joking when I said you missed Mrs. Johnson by five. She came to bring me one of her sinful apple pies."
"... In exchange for fixing her plumbing?"
"Nope... 'gave her a good plumber's number for that..."
"What then?"
"... Bodily exercise..." he said cocking his eyebrows suggestively with a twinkle in the eyes.
She swatted his forearms.
"She asked me to trim her hedge, and I also took out an old stump from the back of her garden." He said.
"Turning into a gardener, are you?"
"Yeah. See what all those years of military training have done to me! Look, it's a beautiful afternoon, why don't you go to the deck, sit back and relax, while I warm up the pie, and then I'll bring a piece to you."
"Mmmm, that would be nice, thanks." She said leaning her cheek against his chest, closing her eyes in contentment.
They remained tenderly hugging a short moment, then Jack went back inside the house while she went to sit on the wooden chairs of the deck, leaning back and closing her eyes blissfully.
A familiar step on the wooden deck made her smile. She started speaking, her eyes still closed, until she felt his shadow dimming the light in front of her.
"Already? That was fa..." her voice caught in her throat as she finally opened her eyes. "... Jack!" she stood up sharply, almost sending her chair tumbling back behind her.
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