John Doe

Chapter Forty Nine

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"You are so getting married in the morning!" Cassie squealed, as she drove down the highway towards her dorm. "Are you not so excited?" She paused for a second, then made a face, "Or way nervous?" She glanced over at Sam, a smile spread across her face.

"Very excited, only a little nervous," she clarified, "keep your eyes on the road."

Cassie's eyes snapped back in front of her, just in time for her to see the red light ahead of them, and the cars slowing down. She pushed on her breaks, and Sam braced herself for the quick stop. Cassie proved to be a capable driver, though, and ended up not slamming on the breaks, and still managing not to hit the car ahead of her. Sam was relieved, and when the light turned green again, laid her hands over her stomach to sooth the now fully awake and moving around twins growing inside.

"I still can't believe you are getting married in the morning," Cassie prattled on, "and I'm your bridesmaid! How wild is that? I've never been to a wedding before, much less been a part of one. That's really sad isn't it? I mean, I know I've not exactly been here for that long, but it's been about 9 years now, hasn't it? You'd think I would have at least been invited to a wedding in almost a decade... it's actually kind of depressing, if you think about it. I mean–"

"Cassie," Sam interrupted, "I haven't been to a wedding in twelve years, and the first time I was in one to one, I was 24 years old, and it was my brothers. It's not depressing, it's very normal, and is it really such a big leap that you're my bridesmaid?"

The twenty one year old was silent for a moment, and then she shook her head, "I guess I'm just really excited... and nervous, about tomorrow. I'm sorry if I was rambling."

Sam grinned and laid a hand on the girls arm, "You don't have to apologize for behind excited, Cass. I'm just glad you're so excited about it. I mean, what kind of wedding would I have if my bridesmaid was walking around grumpy because she wanted to be anywhere but there?"

"A very sucky one, I guess..."

"Exactly. So, go ahead and be perky and effervescent, but wait until you're not driving to do so. Okay?"

She laughed slightly, "Yeah. I think I can manage."

"Good... so, how about we order pizza for dinner?"

XXXX

"Jack, where ya goin'?" Daniel asked, when the man got up from his seat and headed for the kitchen, during the middle of his The Simpsons Season 5 disk.

"To get a beer. Want one?"

Cursing under his breath, Daniel jumped up as quick as he could and ran ahead of Jack into the kitchen. O'Neill gave him a strange look when he ran past, but wasn't very surprised. It was Daniel, anyway, and he had done a lot stranger things in his life. But, when Jack walked into the kitchen, he was a bit floored. Daniel stood in front of the refrigerator, his arms folded across his chest, and a look on his face that plainly said he'd rather be anywhere but in that room at that moment. Which, was the most confusing part of the whole thing. If he didn't want to be there, then why was he there?

"Daniel...?" he questioned, giving him a 'what in the universe are you doing' look. The man sighed, but stood his ground, which still happened to be right in front of the fridge. Which was a bit annoying for Jack, seeing as the beer was actually in the fridge. "You wanna move there, Spacemonkey?"

He winced at the use of the nickname, but didn't move. "I'm sorry Jack, I promised Sam."

"You promised Sam that you would stand in front of our fridge?" he inquired, wondering why in the world he would have to make such a promise to his fiancée. "Dare I even ask why?"

"You don't wanna know," Daniel pointed out, shaking his head. "Trust me."

"Ooh... I think that you're wrong," Jack replied. "I do wanna know and at the moment, I'm questioning your sanity, so I think I'll pass on trusting you. At least until I'm sure you're not three fries short of a happy meal."

Sighing, he shook his head, "Okay. If you really wanna know..." pausing for a moment he thought of the best way to break it to Jack easy. "Samorderedmenottoletyouhavealcoholtonight."

"Teal'c!" Jack called, "get in here, Daniel's gone bonkers!"

A few moments later, the large Jaffa was standing next to Jack in the kitchen, a strangely amused look on his face. "I do not believe that Daniel Jackson has gone crazy, O'Neill. He is merely fulfilling a promise that he previously made to ColonelCarter."

"Ah man, not you, too." he groaned. "Alright, what in the world is this promise?" He looked pointedly at Daniel, "And say it slow enough that I can make out every word, okay Danny Boy?"

"Colonel Carter has ordered Daniel Jackson and myself to keep you from consuming any alcoholic beverages." Teal'c explained, not even blinking. "That is why Daniel Jackson is standing in front of your refrigerator."

Daniel shrunk back slightly when Jack growled, but the noise was only momentary, because as soon as the annoyed look that had unnerved him slightly passed through the General's eyes, it was replaced by a look of guilt. "Does she really think I would get drunk the night before our wedding?" he questioned, looking between Daniel and Teal'c, letting them know that either could give him an answer.

"I believe she was just being cautious, O'Neill," Teal'c informed him. "It is understandable that she be nervous about the wedding tomorrow morning. She does not wish for anything to go wrong."

"Yeah," he said, "I get that. But she still shouldn't have to force you guys to keep me from alcohol, for fear of me getting drunk." He leaned against the counters and sighed, "Do I drink that much?"

"...No..."

"Truthfully?"

"Well, if I was you I'd cut back a little," Daniel supplied. "But, I'm not you, so what do I know?"

"Enough to not go through a six pack every three days, probably," he sighed. "Maybe she's right. I should cut back on drinking a little, a lot, actually. It can't be good for the babies if they're around alcohol that frequently, can it? I mean, they'd be a bit too young to pick up the habit, but why do I drink so much beer, anyway? It's not like I drink enough to get drunk, it's just there so I grab one..."

Teal'c and Daniel glanced at each other, wondering what brought on his little epiphany about drinking too much, and why Jack O'Neill was standing in his kitchen confessing it to them. Maybe the hormoines from Sam's pregnancy had somehow jumped from her body to his, and this was Jack the sap... They'd seen stranger things, that was for sure. "Um... Jack," Daniel said, "how about I get you a water and we go finish the show?"

"Huh?" O'Neill questioned, looking up at Daniel. "Oh, alright. A water. The Simpsons. Sounds good to me."

Still a bit puzzled and completely awe-struck the archeologist sighed, "How about I order some pizza?"

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Sam vaguely acknowledged that somebody was calling out her name softly, but she was tired and she could really care less, so she ignored the person and whatever they wanted. Besides, she had poked open one eye, and there had been no light streaming through the windows, so either it was Armageddon or it was still early morning, and her money was on the latter.

"Samantha..." the voice said again, quite exasperated, "come on you've gotta wake up." There was an annoying shoving being done to her shoulder, but again, it was still early so she ignored it. She had slept through a lot worse, so this would be no problem. "Sam come on you really have to get up, it's already six."

And Sam failed to see the point in that last statement. Yeah, it was six. That meant at least one more hour of sleep. Which meant that very rude person trying to wake her up needed to leave her alone and go back to bed. The nerve of a person to try and wake up a pregnant woman at 0600 hours, when it was her day off, no less. Now, if Sam could only remember why it was her day off, or what the important thing nagging at the back of her mind was, this would make a lot more sense. But, she was tired and her brain was still half-asleep, and she did good to even remember her name and the fact that she was with child.

"Fine," the person said finally, and Sam sighed, thinking that now she could go back to sleep. "I'll just call Jack and tell him that we're going to have to cancel the wedding because you're to lazy to get out of bed. No big deal."

The hell it wasn't a big deal. They couldn't cancel the wedding because... oh, right. She needed to wake up. "Mmm," she mumbled, "five more minutes."

"No," Cassie, which she now knew was the one who had been trying to wake her, said. "You need to get up right now, we have a lot of things to do, and there are only six hours until the wedding, seven and a half hours until the first reception, ten hours until the second reception at the SGC, and thirteen hours until you leave for the Bahamas."

Damnit, Sam thought as she sat up in the bed, raking her hand through her short, unruly hair. It was too early for this. Why hadn't they planned on having a late wedding? Not a noon wedding. Those were starting to suck. Big time, as Cassie would say. "Fine, fine, I'm awake. No need to cancel the wedding. I'm up."

"Good," the college student replied, "and it only took ten minutes. You need to get into the shower real quick so we can leave for the flower shop and pick up the dresses. We're meeting everybody at the church at ten in order to get ready, and that means by the time we get out of here, we'll have about three and a half hours to get everything picked up and ready."

"Why is it that you know more about my wedding than I do?" Sam questioned, throwing her legs over the side of the bed and sighing at the cold air that hit them. It was really too early for all of this.

Cassie smiled, and kissed her on the cheek, "Because I'm the bridesmaid, and it's my job."

XXXX

"General O'Neill if you do not wake up at this moment I will be forced to allow Daniel Jackson to use the pots and pans method." Teal'c told Jack, in one last attempt to wake him up without resorting to the Tauri traditions. "Very well," he sighed when Jack mumbled for him to go back to sleep, it was still dark outside. "Daniel Jackson, do as you must."

At first, the sound was unbearable and Teal'c almost had to cover his ears. Daniel took a wooden ladle and began to wack a large metal cooking pot with it, right above O'Neill's ear. It concerned him that the Tauri used such unconventional methods to wake one sleeping, but this was O'Neill, and O'Neill was nothing if not stubborn. Perhaps it was the only way. But, just in case, he had allowed Daniel Jackson to do it, instead of doing so himself.

The idea was successful, and O'Neill jolted forward at the first bang of the pot, cursing at the archeologist for being so loud. He looked around the room, a bit stunned, and highly irritated. "What the hell is going on?"

"You're late."

"Late?" he questioned, "For what?"

Teal'c imagined that the word one would use to describe O'Neill at that moment was 'dense'. "For your wedding, O'Neill."

That seemed to be the right words to say, because he jumped out of bed and started to tear off his clothes. "It's still dark outside," he said, whilst taking off his shirt, "how can it still be dark outside at noon?" He headed for his pants, and Daniel stopped him.

"Not late for the actual wedding, Jack. It's almost 6:45. You're let for the preparation."

He cursed again, and Teal'c wondered if all Tauri weddings began this way. "Should you not shower quickly, O'Neill?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "Yeah. I'll be out before 0700. I promise. Is there any coffee?"

"I'll get you a cup ready. We're leaving out here at seven, so you'd better be out there. I don't think Sam would be very fond of marrying Teal'c or me, and she'd probably kill us both if we got you there late, sober though you may be."

Jack gave him a look that clearly said he wasn't funny, and Daniel held his hands up in defense. "What's takin' you so long, man? Get into the shower." And with that, he turned and left the room, Teal'c at his heels, wondering how things were going on Sam and Cassie's end.

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A/N: Ok, so the wedding isn't in this chapter. It will probably be in the next. If not then the one after that. I really hadn't planned on this story getting anywhere near 50 chapters, and now it looks as if I am going to surpass that. Wow! I am amazed. I hope you liked this chapter. Let me know how I'm doing. As I have said before, I live for feedback, and it most cases, it makes me post quicker.