John Doe
Chapter Forty Eight
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One more day. Sam awoke with a jolt, the thought entering her mind just as a foot kicked against her stomach. Wincing in pain, she looked around the room, not surprised to find that he was no longer there. No doubt, he had waken much earlier and left her in bed to sleep. She was a bit surprised, however, that the babies were only becoming active now, at 1000 hours. Rubbing her swollen stomach to sooth whoever was up and active, she climbed out of the bed and headed down the hall, the smell of bacon becoming clearer and clearer with each step. Thankfully, she had gotten past the nausea stage of her pregnancy and the smell of breakfast wasn't going to send her running back down the hall to the bathroom.
Sure enough, he was in the kitchen, standing before the stove, looking rather disheveled. Maybe he had only just waken up, too. His hair was sticking up at all ends and all he was wearing were his boxer shorts and a plain white shirt. "Good morning, camper..." she said sleepily, as she sat down at the kitchen table.
He glanced over at her with a smile, "Morning. I didn't wake you, did I?"
"No, your son or daughter did," she assured him, still rubbing her stomach. "Today is beat-up mommy day, I guess..."
"I'm sorry, babe," he told her, flipping the bacon over. "Will bacon and eggs make it any better?"
She nodded, "I think it just might."
They were silent for a few seconds, both realizing that it would be their last morning together as a non-married couple. That night, Sam would be whisked away by Cassandra, who had taken interest in the rules of a wedding and simply would not allow the bride and groom to see each other before the big day. They decided to humor the girl and go along with her plan, although neither one really cared about the superstitions.
"Only a day left, eh?" he questioned, turning off the stove and putting the cooked bacon onto a plate with a napkin on it.
Sam took in a deep breath, "Yeah... it's exciting, huh?"
He nodded, "Extremely." A suspicious look passed through his eyes, "You're not going to pull a Julia Roberts on me, are you?"
Laughing slightly, she shook her head, "You think I can run faster than you, with these two slowing me down?"
"Good point..." he replied, his eyes twinkling with humor. "Hey, you want orange juice or milk?"
"I can get it myself, Jack," she informed him, making a move to get out of her chair.
"I'm sure that you can," he replied, putting a hand up in a universal gesture for her to stop what she was doing, "but today I am going to do it for you. Alright?"
"If you must," she told him, sitting back down, with a sigh. Sure, he was going to be her husband in a day, and the father of her developing twins, but she still didn't like being babied because of her condition. Then again, he was only showing her how much he loved her, so it didn't bother as much as it would have if it had been anyone else. "And I want orange juice."
Nodding, he went to the fridge and pulled out the Tropicana container, along with milk for his coffee. Sam sighed at the smell of the caffeine and vaguely wished she could have a cup, even a soda. A sharp kick to her abdomen took her out of her thoughts, and she agreed that the reason was well worth it. While she was brooding over her lack of coffee and soda, he brought her breakfast to her, then sat down in the chair beside her with his own plate. "It's not Emril, but it will do..."
She smiled softly and nodded, what he didn't admit was, when it came to certain dishes, he was a very good cook. A whole lot better than she was, as it were. They ate breakfast in a relative silence. Words weren't necessarily needed between the two, most of the time. And it was nice to just be able to sit in the silence, given the nature of their work. Silence was a good thing... normally.
Halfway through the meal, the telephone came to life, cutting through the silence with a shrill ring. Jack sighed, pushing his chair back and grabbing the phone from it's spot on the kitchen counter. "O'Neill," he greeted, thinking that soon, he wouldn't really be able to respond with that, at least on the phone. Soon, there would be two O'Neill's, and then shortly after that, four.
The formality of her greeting didn't matter, though, because the person at the end would know his voice without him having to clarify. Daniel Jackson didn't even introduce himself over the phone, and instead launched into his question, "So what time do Teal'c and I need to be at your house tonight?" he asked, sounding as if he had been up all night, kept so by cup after cup of coffee. Which, Jack knew, was probably the case.
"Um... Cassie is picking Sam up at 2000 or so, I think. So, that's probably a good time..." he looked over at his wife-to-be and she nodded, confirming that 8 o'clock was, indeed, the time the young woman would be there. "Yeah, 2000 is good."
"Oh, alright. What about dinner? Order out... Chinese or Pizza?"
"Don't worry about it," he replied. "I'll have something here before you get over."
"Okay. Well..." the man paused. "That's all..."
"I'll see you later, Danny," Jack told him. Before the doctor could hang up the phone, he interrupted, "Daniel..."
"Yeah, Jack?"
"Get some sleep..."
There was a pause, almost as if the man was shocked by the statement. "...I will..."
"Now, Danny. Get some sleep now."
"Yeah, right on it." he hung up the phone and Jack chuckled to himself, hanging up as well and going back to his chair.
"I really wish you weren't leaving me tonight," he told her with a sigh, as he sat back down. "Danny and T are going to end up driving me nuts one day."
"What about Cassie? She's more worried about this wedding than I am."
"Why would she be worried?" he questioned, taking a bite of eggs. "You tell her something you've not told me?"
Sam rolled her eyes with a smile, knowing he was just teasing her. "She's planned a great deal of the ceremony and party with me, so she's just worried that things might not go like they are supposed to. You know, the kinds of things that I am supposed to be stressing over."
"You're not are you?" he asked, concerned. "Stress is bad for the twins."
"I'm fine, Jack. I've never been more confident in my life."
"Good."
"The only thing I am worried about is having all of those off-world humans and humanoid aliens there, and some earth human getting suspicious about it..." she confessed. "But Teal'c has that covered, right?"
"Yup, How to Act Like a Human 101 is going on at 1800 hours tonight, right after everybody arrives."
She grinned, "Well, then my worries are taken care of."
He nodded. "Good."
About that time, a cold, wet nose pressed against Sam's knee. She jerked back, startled by the animal's presence, then laughed slightly at herself. Jack threw her a confused look and she pushed her chair back to expose the dog, as she begged for a piece of bacon from Sam's plate. A sucker for the crystal blue of Pandora's eyes, the bacon was given up without much effort on her part. Satisfied with herself, 'Dora ran off to eat her earnings in silence.
"You're a push-over," Jack observed.
"I am not," she informed him with a smile, "I just love my dog."
"Um hmm," he muttered, disbelieving. Then, much quieter, he mumbled "push over," although he knew she would hear it. She gave him a dirty look and kicked him under the chair, feeling proud of herself when he winced slightly. "I forgot," he groaned, rubbing his sore shin, "you're pregnant... always right."
Sam shrugged her shoulders and took a bite of her eggs, smiling to herself. Maybe she was a push over, but at least she wasn't the only one in the soon-to-be O'Neill household.
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The rest of the day was spent getting their things ready for the next afternoon. Sam got out her dress and shoes, in order to take them with her to Cassie's dorm room, in order to take it with her to the church the next morning, and then she got out his tux and shoes, so he wouldn't miss something when she was gone. Daniel and Teal'c would be arriving around the same time as Cassie, to help him through the night alone, and Sam suspected, throw him a impromptu bachelor's party.
She was going to have to have a talk with Daniel and Teal'c before she left...
Having already forbid Cassie from making any sort of party plans, Sam wasn't too worried about what the girl might have up her sleeve. Besides, she was pregnant, and what kind of partying can a pregnant woman do? She couldn't drink or dance, really, and the only man she wanted to see strip was her husband-to-be, and well, she could have that just about any time she wanted. The girl had promised she wouldn't have anything planned, and the night would be spent watching romance movies, eating ice-cream, and obsessing over the events ahead.
They were finally finished with running around the house and getting everything in order for the day ahead, watching the forecast for the next day (something Jonas would be proud of), when the door opened and in walked Cassandra. The twenty-one year old smiled at them and set her bag down on the coffee table, before plopping down on the sofa next to Jack.
"Hi-ya," she greeted. "You two all ready for the big day?"
"Yes Cassie, we're ready," Jack replied, sighing because he had to wait five more minutes before local on the 8's finally came on. "What about you?"
She let out a deep breath and nodded, "About as ready as I will ever be."
"You're not the one getting married, why are you so nervous?"
"Because you're the one's getting married," she replied. "I am very excited about this and Lord knows we've all waited long enough for this day to actually come, so it's something fairly big and very important. I just don't want anything to go wrong, at all. It should be perfect. After nearly a decade of waiting, I think perfection is something you guys deserve."
Sam nodded, "She's got a point, Jack..."
"Of course I do." Cassie said with a smile. "Are the two of you not nervous at all?"
"A little," Jack said. "But that's because I'm the one getting married. You're the maid-of-honor, you shouldn't be nervous."
Cassie shrugged and looked over at Sam, "Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, but I'm waiting on Daniel and Teal'c to get here before we leave. I have something that I need to talk to them about." She shrugged her shoulder and looked at the clock, "They should be here any minute now, so it won't take too long. You don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not," Cassie assured her. "I am kind of early, anyway." She glanced around the room, "Where's Pandora?"
"Last time I saw her she was asleep on the bed," Jack replied. "Just call for her and she'll come running."
"'Dora!" Cassie called out, "come here, girl!"
The jingle of a dog collar came from the hallway and then she came bounding towards the living room, jumping up on the couch and into Cassandra's lap. "Hey 'Dora," the girl greeted, petting her lovingly. "How are you doing?"
Pandora barked happily, her tail thumping against the couch.
"I'll take that as a 'good'."
Another bark, and a wet tongue against Cassie's cheek told her she was right on the mark.
"Oh, it's on!" Jack said, and the three other turned their heads towards the TV. "Beautiful," Jack said, "it's not going to be cloudy tomorrow. Now can I turn it to The Simpsons?"
Sam rolled her eyes, but nodded anyway. Just then, the doorbell rang, and before anybody could call out for the people at the other end to enter, Daniel and Teal'c walked into the house. "Honey, we're home!" Daniel called out, and Pandora jumped off of the couch to greet him.
"Traitor," Cassie mumbled. "He's got allergies, you know!"
Daniel laughed and bent down to pet the dog, "I have a prescription that fixes that, you know?"
"Yeah, yeah. I know."
"Good afternoon, Colonel Carter and O'Neill," Teal'c greeted, sitting down on the recliner.
"Hey, T," Jack greeted, his undivided attention on the TV.
Sam smiled, "Hi, Teal'c. You ready for tomorrow?"
"I am, Colonel Carter. I have brought my suit with me."
"Have you ever been in a wedding before? Besides your own, of course."
"Indeed I have, although it was much different than your's and O'Neill's will be."
"Oh?" she questioned. "How?"
He tilted his head slightly, "You would not want to know."
Knowing some of the different things they did on Chulak, Sam didn't doubt that statement. "Oh, okay."
Daniel entered the living room, Pandora at his heels. "Not that I'm not glad to see you, Sam, but what are you still doing here? I figured Cassie would have pulled you away by now..."
"I tried, she had to talk to you."
"Me?" he questioned. "Why?"
Sam sighed and got off of the couch, "Teal'c, would you join Daniel and me in the kitchen?"
"Indeed, I would." the large Jaffa got up from his chair and left the room, as did the two doctors. Jack didn't seem to notice an of it.
When the three where all in the kitchen, Sam turned to Daniel, "No parties, no girls, and absolutely no alcohol. The last, and I mean last, thing that I need tomorrow is a drunk fiancé. I swear to go, Daniel, if he has so much as one beer, I will get Anise drunk and tell her that you have a thing for her."
All of the color drained from his face and he coughed, "Um..."
"Not one beer."
"Sam, I mean, this is Jack we're talking about... he has at least one beer a night..."
"Not anymore he doesn't. I'm being serious here, Daniel. I will not have my wedding ruined because he's had one too many." She turned to Teal'c, "If he gets up to get one, you take it away from him, OK?"
"Indeed, Colonel Carter, I will make sure he does not consume any alcoholic beverages."
"Daniel, either."
"Indeed."
"Sam!"
She turned back to Daniel with a smile, "Yes, Daniel?"
He scowled, "Never mind..."
"Good. I'll see both of you in the morning. And I expect none of you to have hangovers."
Daniel grumbled something incoherent and Sam turned to leave the room, "And no girls." she called out as she left.
Sighing when she was gone, he turned to Teal'c and frowned. "There goes the bachelor party."
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A/N: Ah! They're getting married in the next chapter! I am so not ready to write this! Oh well... I'll just have to think really hard about what's gonna happen!
Let me know what'cha think about it!