John Doe

Chapter Forty

Disclaimer: Nah, not mine.

A/N: Wow, when I started this story I didn't expect to make it to 40 chapters and still have more to go (which was made obvious by me saying that it would probably be over soon around chapter 25!) This story is now 15 chapters longer than my previously longest story... I can't believe it's been going for so long!

XXXX

Sam sighed as her bare feet sunk into the warm sand, missing the feeling immensely. The best thing about having a brother who lived in California, right along the coast line, was the easy access to the beach. They had only driven two minutes before Mark parked on the side of the road, telling everybody to get out, from here on out they would be walking. The shore was already visible, so Sam knew it wouldn't be much walking, and she grabbed her bag and beach towel and climbing out of the Suburban.

They had walked for less than a minute before the road turned into sand, whereupon Sam slipped off her flip-flops and walked bare-footed across the beach, headed for a less crowded area close to the water. While the guys were setting up the chairs and umbrellas the girls pulled off the clothing that was over their bathing suits, and immediately headed for the ocean. Lizzie was wearing a bright pink one-piece, her mother was wearing a black one-piece, and Sam was wearing a blue maternity bathing suit which was a tankini, and just slightly showed the bulge of her stomach.

She stepped just slightly into the ocean, allowing the water to lap around her ankles for a moment before she went further into the water. When she was as far into the water so that it came to her knees, a pair of strong, comforting arms wrapped around her stomach and the lips that belonged to them began to lightly press against her neck, causing her to shiver. "Jack," she groaned, "don't..." A smile appeared on her face as she imagined him pouting, so to save herself from his infamous puppy-dog eyes. There was no resisting when it came to those, at least for her, so her best defense was to steer clear.

"But Saaammm..." he wined, kissing her neck once more, slightly higher than the previous times, "why?"

"Because we're in a public place, that's why," she finally forced herself to turn around, bracing herself for the puppy dog eyes. "Not to mention the fact that my brother and father are currently watching you like a hawk, scowling something fierce."

"Really?" Jack questioned, turning around to look at the shore. As he was facing the opposite way Sam dashed off, towards her sister-in-law, and away from any chance of being drawn in by the puppy dog eyes. When Jack realized that she had tricked him (although, he was fairly sure he saw Mark and Jake staring at him looking mildly protective) he chased after her. "No fair, you cheated!"

"All's fair in love and war," she called over her shoulder as she entered the waist-deep water where Traice was standing.

"Don't go any further into the water Sam," he asked, standing next to her and pulling her into an embrace once more, "I don't like you being this far out."

"Jack, I'm not a china doll, I won't break..." she reminded him, a bit annoyed that it was more than three months and everybody was still treating her as if she was fragile cargo, but then again, the more time that passed and the more developed the babies got, the more protective they would be. She would just have to start to get used to it– or at the very least, learn to ignore it. "But, if it worries you that much, I will go no further."

"Good," he replied, before kissing her once again on the neck. Sam gave up protesting, and allowed him to display his affection, and really, why would she argue? One of the babies responded to the feel of their fathers hand above them on their mothers stomach, kicking or punching hard against the weight. "Ouch..." Jack said, noticing as Sam winced. "That bad?"

She shook her head, rubbing the spot where the growing baby had made it's presence even more known than before, "They're just excited to be at the beach..."

Jack was sure that it hurt worse than she was letting on, but she obviously wanted to have her chance to soak up the sun go uninterrupted, and this was the last and only full day she had to spend with her brother. The three would be leaving the next afternoon, and while that still gave her until 1900 hours to spend time with her family, she would still be using some of the time to get ready to leave and waiting at the airport. Besides, the weather was beautiful and the breeze was perfect, nobody in their right mind would want to leave the beach that day for anything.

After they waded in the water for nearly fifteen minutes Sam, Jack, Tracie and Lizzie headed back to the shore where Mark, Jacob, and Josh were laying. Sam and Jack laid out on their extra large beach towel, Sam on her back and Jack on his stomach, looking over at her and watching her sunbathe. "Has the baby stopped kicking?" he questioned, resting his hand on her swollen stomach for a brief second.

"Yeah, at least for now..." she sighed, peaking at him through one barely open eye. "Don't jinx me, alright?"

He grinned, "I'll do my best."

Sam smiled at him, nodding slightly before going back to her tanning. Not long later she turned around to lay on her stomach, resting her cheek on the blanket and looking over at her fiancé, "I was thinking a light blue for the bridesmaids dresses, what do you think?"

Jack just shrugged his shoulders and had the grace to not look completely lost, "They're your bridesmaids."

"Ooh..." Tracie said, from Jack's right, "we're talking about the wedding, are we?"

"Jack and I were, yes," Sam said with a grin, "would you like to join the conversation?"

"I would," she informed her. "What about the bridesmaids?"

"Light blue for the dresses?" Sam questioned.

"What kind of light blue... like sky blue?"

"Yeah."

"I like," Tracie assured her. "What kind of dresses are they going to be, have you decided yet?"

"They're just regular spaghetti strapped, flowing dresses. You know, the top is tight and then the train spreads out kind of. I have a picture, somewhere in my bag... I'll show you when we get back to the house. The dress in the picture is light green though, and I will not have green in my wedding."

"I think green would be very nice." Jack informed her.

"Lime?"

He shrugged.

"Which is exactly why I'm doing most of the planning," she said with a grin. "You are a hopeless cause."

"All men are, Sam," Tracie said solemnly, "you learn to get used to it."

"Really?" she asked, "how long does that take?"

"I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out," the woman replied, laughing. "I still have to remind myself that Mark is male, and therefore extremely flawed, every now and then."

"Hey, why am I in this conversation?" Mark called from his seat by his father, "I've been over here minding my own business–"

"And listening to us talking," Sam added.

"– and all of a sudden, it's lets beat up on the male species... like you would be anywhere without us."

"True, if it wasn't for men, we'd go extinct– but, other than that," Sam looked over at Tracie, who winked at her, "I do admit that males are fun to look at, as well."

"Well, that makes me feel so much better. Men are good for reproducing and eye-candy."

"Exactly my point."

Sam laughed and reached out to take her fiance's hand, "Don't worry Jack, you're more than eye candy to me."

"How much more?" he questioned, a smiling tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Oh, I don't know," she replied, leaning over and brushing her lips across his, "much, much more..."

"And that would be approximately, what?"

"Well, for one... you're good for a laugh. You keep me warm at night and rub my feet sometimes, if I asked nicely enough." She grinned, "Some other things that I won't mention at the moment... but are very, very worth mentioning. Not to mention the fact that you're really good at talking your way out of a speeding ticket."

Jack snorted, ok... so he had gotten out of a ticket with her in the car once, that was a rare occasion, though. Most of the time he didn't get pulled over... "Anything else?"

She kissed him once again, "Oh, I don't know... I'm sure I can think of some thing, but I'm not sure anybody else would appreciate them."

A grin spread across his face, "I would, though."

Sam rolled her eyes, "I'm going to finish tanning," and with that she laid back down and relaxed under the warmth of the sun.

XXXX

They didn't leave the beach until it was almost the afternoon, at around 1500 hours. When they got back to Mark's house they either changed or showered, and by the time 1700 rolled around they piled back into the Suburban and headed for dinner at Red Lobster. Sam, who had never really been one for seafood, ended up getting a simple salad, while Jack got shrimp scampi and everyone else, other than Lizzie, got either shrimp or some sort of fish.

It was nearly 1945 when they got back to the house, and while it was still fairly early the younger ones had to get ready for bed soon and there would be no point in going out for half an hour before they had to be back home. So, they decided that they would order a movie off of Pay-Per-View. When the kids had been put to bed at 2030 the adults settled around the living room, after popping some pop corn, and began the movie, which ended up being some kind of cop drama.

Half way through the flick Sam began to nod off. With the twins taking up most of her energy she was starting to get tired earlier, and although she really didn't have any real reason to stay awake, she would have liked to spend some extra time with her brother. However, exhaustion was quickly taking over and when she could no longer keep her eyes open she leaned against ack and allowed sleep to come.

When she woke up next it was almost 2300 hours, and Jack was looking down at her with an amused grin, "Welcome back to the land of the living... you ready to head off to bed?"

Oh, was she ever. Sam nodded sleepily and Jack picked her up off of the couch, grunting at the strain it put on his weak knees. "Jack," she protested, "I can walk."

"And I can carry you."

"Your knees..."

"Will be just fine. It's only a few steps down the hallway."

She sighed and allowed him to carry her into the room, whereupon he laid her in the bed and tucked her in, "I'm going to go take a shower, and then I'll be back. Don't wait up for me if you're tired, alright?"

Sam frowned, "I won't."

"Sam..." she normally tried to stay awake until she could fall asleep cuddled next to him, and she looked too tired right now for her to do so tonight. "Promise me."

"I promise."

He leaned over and kissed her briefly, "I love you."

As he was pulling away she grabbed him and brought him back, crushing her lips to his in a more passionate embrace. "I love you, too," she sighed when she finally let him go. "Don't be too long."

Like hell he would. Now he was going to have to take an extremely cold shower. You're in your future brother-in-law's house, Jack... stop thinking those thoughts. There are children right across the hallway. Not to mention Jacob at the end of it. Cold shower... Shower, Sam in the shower... with him. Naked.

Aw, shit. Brother-in-law, children, father-in-law... all of them on the same hallway Jack.

She had done that on purpose, he decided as he got into the shower, flinching as the cold water hit his skin. A cold shower would mean he would take less time in the bathroom, the sooner he got out from under the water, the sooner he regained some heat. Of course she wasn't planning on doing anything... strenuous, she was tired and not to mention the fact that her father and brother were only a few feet away. Oh yeah, her kissing him like that had been strictly a strategy. Damn her and her brilliant mind. That wasn't nice.

When he climbed back into the bed, his hair damp from the shower, still slightly chilled, he told her so. "That was a dirty thing to do."

"What?" she questioned, feigning innocence. "Taking a shower?"

"Think a few seconds before that."

It was dark in the room but he plainly saw her grinning, "I have no clue what you are talking about."

"Uh huh," he replied, kissing her briefly. "You've got to make it up to me, as soon as we get home."

"Oh, I think I can do that." she replied, kissing him back. "Goodnight, Jack."

"Night Sam," he placed his hand on her stomach, "night kids... be good for your mother, alright? She's tired."

No response. No kicks, no punches, nothing. Sam didn't complain, the less movement at that time of night the better, as far as she was concerned. "Yeah, you hear that... your daddy, The General, said be nice."

"Exactly, Colonel. The General." He laughed and pulled her to him, allowing her to cuddle up close. "Sweet dreams."

"Oh," she told him with a devious grin that he had to strain to see in the darkness, "I hope not."