Okay... you all convinced me...here's Chapter six, and thanks to all who asked for more. You made my day. Smile!
Jack and Sam slipped into his house quietly through the front door, not wanting to wake anyone. The first thing they heard was the sound of sobbing coming from Kelly's room. Jack and Sam exchanged an alarmed look.
"Kelly?" Jack whispered loudly as he tapped on her closed door. "Kelly, open up."
The young girl opened her door after a moment, still sniffling. Her blonde hair looked like a fuzzy halo around her teary face. Jack put an arm around her and coaxed her out to the living room couch, where he sat her down between himself and Sam.
"What's wrong?" he asked with trepidation. Kelly cried about as often as Carter. Which was almost never.
"I got a.. Cminush inmy...andnowits..." Kelly gushed incoherently, the tears flowing anew. Jack looked lost.
"You got a C minus?" Sam exclaimed, very coherently, her eyes wide with shock. "On what?"
Jack gave Sam an incredulous look. He hadn't understood a word that Kelly had said.
"My paper, there," she pointed at the coffee table where a slightly crumpled writing assignment lay.
"Kelly, it's not the end of the world. You passed, didn't you? You can still pull up your final grade, right?" Jack consoled.
"You got a C minus?" Sam repeated, dumbfounded.
"Sam!" Jack warned her. Geesh, who could even believe these Carters.
"If I don't get all A's I'll lose my scholarship," Kelly wailed.
"Lose your scholarship!" Sam echoed, aghast.
Jack rolled his eyes.
"Okay, stop right there, both of you. First of all, Kelly, you won't lose your scholarship if you don't get all A's. You just have to keep a 3.0 average. I read the letter from your dean last week, you know. And secondly, even if you do go below a 3.0, they just put your on academic probation for a semester. And thirdly, there's no way I'm letting you drop out of the university. Whether you have a scholarship or not."
Kelly stopped crying and looked at him quizzically.
"I think I can speak for your aunt when I say that the two of us will take care of you while you're in school, Kell, whatever you need. You don't have to do this alone."
"I love you, General sir!" Kelly gushed, crying from joy now and throwing her arms around him in a stranglehold.
"I love you too, Kelly. And as far as I'm concerned, from here on out, you're a part of this family."
Kelly pulled back, unable to conceal an ear to ear grin.
"What family would that be?" She squeaked.
"The General and Colonel O'Neill family." Sam said dreamily, lovingly wrapping her arms around Jack from behind him.
"What! Woo hoo! Omigosh! I knew it!" Kelly screeched and bounced between them with uncontrolled exuberance. "When's the wedding?"
"Uh," Jack coughed, "We just got engaged about an hour ago. We'll have to get back to you."
"You just got...I knew it! Way to go, General O'Neill!" Kelly was beside herself.
"Uncle Jack," a sleepy voice mumbled in the hallway behind them. Maddie, disturbed by the commotion, stood at the threshold of the living room, looking adorable in her footed sleepers and clutching a floppy-eared stuffed bunny.
"Come here," he replied, holding out both arms to her. She shuffled sleepily into his arms and nestled against him with a contented sigh. Jack's eyes closed too as they cuddled together.
Kelly and Sam exchanged a very female look.
"Awww," they exclaimed in unison, unable to resist the sweet tableau in front of them.
Later, after a contented Kelly and a sleepy Maddie had finally retired for the night, Sam got her chance to cuddle with her General. Sitting together on the couch as close as they could possibly be, Sam caught Jack's eyes with her own.
"Happy?" She whispered.
"Very."
"That was a wonderful thing to say to Kelly, Jack. She was blown away."
"Aw, you Carters are just irrestistable, that's all."
"So, when is the wedding, Sam?"
"When are you officially retired?"
"In two weeks."
"So, a wedding in say, three weeks?"
"Anxious, are we?"
"Completely."
"Good answer."
Three weeks suddenly felt like an eternity.