John Doe

Chapter Thirty Four

Disclaimer: I own Pandora (as well as Sierra, her mother, and Chloe, Sierra's owner) and besides them, I don't own anything else. Definitely not Papa John's (mentioned down further), either. Or, any movie written by Steven King... obviously.

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"Pandora!" Sam called as she stuck her head out the back door, "Come here girl!"

A streak of silver rushed to the sliding glass door, it's tail wagging happily. Her Sam was home! When she made it to where Sam was standing she jumped up, resting her paws on Sam's thighs and giving Sam her best 'I missed you' look. It worked, as always, and Sam gave the dog a loving hug before she ran her hands through her hair, scratching her skin because she knew that Pandora loved it when she did so. "Did you miss me, 'Dora?"

With a bark for her response Pandora's tail speed up in it's wagging. Of course she missed her! Jack was nice and all, but nobody could take Sam's place... Unless they had steak, of course. And even then it would be a hard choice.

Sam smiled at the Husky, "Are you hungry?"

Heck yes she was hungry. Another bark gave Sam her answer, so she pushed Pandora's paws away gently and turned to go back into the house, "Come on then, let's get you some lunch."

Like Pandora was going to argue with that? She happily followed her human into the house and waited by her silver dish. Sam filled it up for her and the dog started on it immediately. Giving 'Dora a affectionate slap on the side Sam left the kitchen, headed for the bedroom to find her fiancé.

He wasn't there, which she found a bit odd. When she had checked the living room he hadn't been there, either. She knew he was home, his truck was in the driveway and the people at the base had told her that he had left only an hour before she had returned. "Jack?" she called out, walking back down the hallway into the living room. He still wasn't there...

When she heard her voice Pandora abandoned her food, which was already more than halfway done, and met Sam in the living room. "Do you know where Jack is, 'Dora?"

Pandora wagged her tail. Nope, she had no clue where he was. But, if Sam wanted her to she would find him.

"Let's go find him, huh girl?"

Sure. She would help Sam. The blonde Colonel scratched the dog's head and then headed off towards the garage. Maybe he had gotten some kind of testosterone kick and wanted to work on something with his big tools. That happened from time to time.

When she neared the garage she heard the distinct sound of a hammer banging against a nail and winced at the resounding noise. 'Dora whined a bit, getting the short end of the stick since her hearing was much better than the humans, and Sam looked at her with sympathy. "Go on and finish your lunch, puppy. I've got it from her."

Another thing she wasn't going to argue with. Pandora barked her thanks then turned back and headed for the kitchen, and food.

Sam smiled as the dog retreated and reached out for the handle to the garage door, twisting it open. Sure enough he was working on something with his largest hammer, but what he was working on was what surprised her. It was a lightly colored wooden crib, one that could serve as a boy's bed or a girl's bed easily. She felt tears stinging in her eyes and blinked to hold them back, she had heard about becoming emotional when pregnant, but this was crazy! It was just a crib.

"Jack?" she called out, as loudly as she could, over the noise.

He stopped mid swing and turned to look at her, "Hey," he greeted. "When did you get home?"

"A few minutes ago," she replied, walking into the garage. "What are you working on?"

He turned back to the pile of wood and screws and nuts and bolts, "I figured the sooner we get ready for the baby, the better. It was going to be a surprise..." he frowned. "You're home early."

She nodded, "The people of P4Q-311 didn't want us there..."

A worried look danced in his eyes, "Is everybody alright? You weren't hurt, were you?"

"Oh, no," she reassured him. "It was nothing like that. They were just a bit primitive and weren't really ready for what we had to say, so they ordered us away. They had nothing to offer and wouldn't really be helpful in our battle against the Goa'uld, and they were well off and didn't need our help, so there was no use in upsetting them by staying." She shrugged her shoulders and headed for the door to the house, "I'm only two months along, you know? I still have seven more to go. There's plenty of time to do this later."

"You have something else in mind?" he asked, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"Actually," she explained, not phased by his look in the slightest. "The guys were planning on coming over... to watch movies and order pizza, stuff like that."

He scowled, but nodded all the same. "What time we're they planning on coming over?"

A grin spread across her face, "Not for- oh, three or four hours..."

"Really?" he asked. "And, what do you propose we do until then?"

She shrugged, "Looks to me like you're busy..."

"Like you said," he replied, taking a step closer to her. "We've got seven more months until the baby is born. The crib can wait another day."

Like she was going to argue with that?

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Daniel and Teal'c ended up arriving at a few minutes past 1700, pizza in hand. Which, was a good thing because Sam and Jack hadn't ordered anything yet, and both were hungry. Pandora met the two at the door with an excited bark, no doubt because she smelled the pepperoni, even though she knew she couldn't have it. Sam let them in, holding her back so she didn't jump Daniel, who was holding the Papa John's box.

"Did you guys bring movies, or are we going to pick from something here?" she asked as they walked past her into the house.

"We figured since we provided the food you would provide the entertainment." Daniel replied, taking the pizza into the kitchen and setting it on the counter. Much to Pandora's distress, since she couldn't reach the counters. She had been hoping he would have set it on the table, she could get on the table... just, not the counter. Darn.

"Alright, I'll find something." she headed for the entertainment center and opened the compartment which held the DVD's. After rummaging through their selection of movies she picked a large box out, "What about 'The Green Mile'?"

"Never seen it," Daniel called from the kitchen. Sam looked over at Teal'c, who shook his head. He had never seen it, either.

"Neither of you have ever watched 'The Green Mile'?"

"Indeed, we have not, Colonel Carter." Teal'c replied, causing Sam to sigh.

"Well, we'll just have to watch it then."

"Watch what?" Jack asked, coming from the garage and wiping the sawdust off his jeans.

"The Green Mile," Sam replied, opening the box and taking out the first disc.

"Hmm," he replied. "Never seen it."

Sam gave him an incredulous look, "You've haven't seen it, either? Good Lord, you guys don't get out enough. This is one of the best movies ever. Certainly the best of Steven King."

"I don't know, Sam," Daniel said, coming out of the kitchen with his plate of pizza in hand. "'The Storm of the Century' is kind of hard to beat."

"What?" Jack recoiled. "'The Stand' is by far his best work."

"We'll see what you two say when this is over, alright?" Sam said, seeing an argument forming before her eyes. "Until then, sit down and get ready for the movie to come on."

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"Don't put me in the dark, Boss," John Coffee begged. "I'sa 'fraid of the dark."

Sam sniffled quietly, looking around to make sure nobody could see her crying. Damn hormones. Damn movie. Jack's hand found it's way to her thigh reassuringly and she scowled to herself, he was supposed to be paying attention to the movie, not to her stupid off sync feelings. She sent him a small smile, telling him she was fine, and he turned back to the TV.

"Roll on two," Tom Hanks character said sadly.

Another sniff filled the room and Sam looked around, surprised. She hadn't done that- one of the guys must have. It was too dark to see anything, but it had been far enough away that she knew it hadn't been Jack, and it most definitely wasn't Teal'c, so that left Daniel. The big softy.

Fifteen or so minutes later the movie ended and Jack got up to turn the lights on and the DVD player off. Sam wiped her eyes off, getting rid of her stubborn tears, and sighed. That movie always got to her, hormones or no. That and Armageddon were the only movies she had ever cried while watching, but she had only cried the first time she saw Armageddon. Somehow, no matter how many times she had seen The Green Mile, a tear or two always rolled down her cheek, most of the time more than such.

"So?" she asked, looking around the room, smirking to herself when she noticed Daniel's own red eyes. "What did you all think?"

Teal'c nodded, "It was, indeed, a very interesting film."

"Yeah," Daniel agreed. "So... maybe there is a movie better than 'Storm of the Century'. At least by King, anyway."

She turned to Jack, "What about you?"

He took the second DVD out and put it back into it's box, "I'll admit, it was better than I thought it was going to be. But, I still say that 'The Stand' is better."

Sam snorted, he would- if only for the sake of a disagreement. "Well, I can't really comment on that, having never seen 'The Stand', myself."

Jack gasped in horror, "That's so wrong."

"We can watch it next time," Daniel said, picking up his plate and heading for the kitchen. "We'll have to start earlier, though, it's like 6 or more hours long."

"I think it's like 8," Jack mused. "I'm not sure."

"Well," Sam added, "if we don't have any missions next weekend that's what we'll do."

"Indeed, we do have a mission, Colonel Carter." Teal'c informed her, also getting up to bring his dishes to the kitchen. "To P3S-235."

"Oh," she had completely forgotten. Or, maybe she just hadn't gotten the memo. In her time as a Colonel she had found that memos didn't always find their way to your desk- Jack had had a bit of credence while he was the CO of SG-1, she guessed, because half the time Daniel or Teal'c had to tell her about when and where they were going on their next mission. "We can't do it the weekend after next, we have a mission to visit dad and the Tok'ra. But, I know we're not doing anything the weekend after that."

She would be in her second trimester then, and already had a scheduled appointment at her OB-GYN for an ultrasound. "We can do it that Sunday. If you guys don't mind the waiting."

Both shook their heads, it was fine with them. "We can invite Cassie, too." Daniel said. "It's her last weekend before going back to school."

"If she wants to come that's fine with us," Jack told him. "We'll call her tomorrow."

"Well," Daniel said, looking at his watch. "It's only ten o'clock now..."

"You guys can stay a bit longer if you want," Sam offered. "We don't have anything to do."

"Nah," Daniel said, grabbing his keys from the coffee table. "I was going to research some rubbings tomorrow, so I should get back home and get some sleep. Plus, I have to drop Teal'c off at the base."

That would get him home at around 2300 and knowing him he would start on his rubbings then, rather than waiting for morning. "We'll see you guys Monday."

They headed out the door, Pandora close behind them, begging to be petted one last time before they left. Daniel scratched her behind her ears before walking out the door, and Pandora waited by the entrance for him to come back.

"Get over here, you big baby," Jack called out to her. Her ears perked up and she came bounding towards the couch where he was sitting, jumping up on it and climbing halfway into his lap, her tongue assaulting him. "Bah," Jack groaned, pushing her back a bit. "Stop that mutt."

"Don't call her that," Sam said defensely, although she knew he was just playing. "She's not a mutt."

'Dora barked happily. Nope, she wasn't. Her bloodline was pure.

Sam smiled and gave her an affectionate hug, "It's time for you to go to bed, little miss."

Darn. Pandora was hoping she would forget about that. She barked happily once more and reached out to kiss Sam.

"That's not going to work," Sam told her, pulling back. "Come on, it's already past your bedtime."

Grr. Since when did dogs have bedtimes?

"Oh, stop being such a big baby. You can sleep in our room tonight," she told her as she smacked Pandora on the side lovingly.

Pandora's tail wagged in response, maybe going to bed wasn't such a bad thing.

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A/N: I know not much happened in this chapter, but it's just a filler between the last one and the next one. Let me know what you think, anyway. Besides, I think that every full blooded American (and Canadian, and European, and Australian, etc) should see The Green Mile... I, like Sam, think that it's the best Steven King has to offer (although, like Daniel I think The Storm of the Century is not far behind, then the Stand right after it). So, if you haven't seen it, rent it one day and watch it. You won't be disappointed, I swear!