Chapter 13 – Do You Believe In Happy Endings?
Samantha walked to her desk and braced for the barrage of questions. Danny didn't disappoint by bouncing over and saying, "Well look who is back, everyone! If it's not our Lone Ranger agent. You sure are looking rested and rather smug, I might add." She grinned at her friend and said sweetly, "Shove it, Taylor," and hugged his neck while looking over his shoulder to see Viv smiling and Martin staring stone-faced.
As they all sat around the conference table, Danny asked, "So did your training come in handy? Were you able to find our errant but fearless leader?" "Is he OK?" Viv asked with a little more concern in her voice. After telling them she was able to find Jack (leaving out 85 percent of the details) and he was finishing up a discussion with Van Doren, she was finally able to catch Martin's eye. Being ever observant, Danny and Vivian gave them some space and busied themselves with paperwork at their desks.
Giving him a small smile, Samantha told him, "Look, Martin, please believe me when I say I never meant to hurt you. You are kind and gentle and a very good man. You are going to make some woman out there so happy one day….but we both know I'm not that woman. I need to thank you for making me finally get a hold of my feelings and quit running from them." Then she opened her arms and said, "Friendship hug?" Martin slowly took his hands out of his pockets and returned her hug, telling her he would never use his knowledge of Jack and her against them in any way. She squeezed his arm for a thank you. Martin then went to the breakroom and brought back the leftover cake from the morning birthday celebration for Tricia over in HR.
As they all sat around the conference table eating Italian Crème cake and chatting about whatever came to mind, Jack came walking around the corner to a chorus of "what the!" and "holy cow!" and "look at you!" when they all saw his silky dark beard and moustache. Danny couldn't resist popping up, grinning like a Cheshire cat and reaching out to touch Jack's cheek. Jack promptly grabbed his hand and said, "Don't push it, Taylor," while smiling at his young agent.
Danny sat back down next to Samantha and couldn't resist saying, "Geez, sister, are you having an allergic reaction or something? You have this new rash on your neck and cheeks." Then without missing a beat he said, "Nice beard, Jack. Is it rough?" Samantha blushed immediately and punched Danny as hard as she could. Jack turned a bit crimson himself, but cleared his throat and said in a fake bravado, "That is number two already, Agent Taylor, and I've only been back five minutes. Care to see what happens with number three?"
They spent the rest of the day working cold cases and finalizing reports. Vivian, Danny and even Martin each took a moment during the day to stop by Jack's office to welcome him back. Jack was able to sneak a wink at Samantha as she went to the file room and she was able to blow him a kiss. She loved the way he caught the kiss and pressed it to his heart.
Because his desk was piled very high with backlogged paperwork, Jack worked several hours later than his staff. Finally, he lost the battle of keeping thoughts of his woman out of his head, so he packed up and headed home. After dinner, Samantha settled in to watch her favorite show CSI: Vegas. Jack teased her, saying he refused to watch it with her because all she did was swoon over Grissom and it hurt his feelings. Instead, he gave her a peck on the cheek and said he was going to jump in the shower.
Samantha lost track of time because Grissom was in almost every scene, but she finally realized Jack had been gone quite long. She called out, "Hey, honey, are you going to come snuggle with me for awhile?" "I'll be there in a bit," he called back and soon came to sit next to her wearing only boxers.
Waiting for a commercial break, Samantha finally looked over for a kiss and let out a screech. Jack had shaved off most of the beard, leaving a Van Dyke look that was incredibly handsome and sexy. He grinned sheepishly and said, "What do you think? A little more conservative for work?" His answer came in the form of her climbing into his lap while covering all the freshly shaved area with little kisses and nibbles. When she finally locked onto his lips, he said, muffled by her mouth, "I'll take that as a yes." Of course, her answer also led to some sweet lovemaking before they drifted off to sleep with her spooned up close to his chest.
The next day at work, the witty and charming Danny couldn't resist commenting that, "Samantha's rash seemed to be better and oh, look! Jack shaved some of his beard off," earning him another pop from her and a glare from him.
And so, time went by and the team continued to work flawlessly together. Jack accepted a promotion in another division, allowing them to finally take the veil off their relationship. And it was just in time too, because Samantha made him cry one evening soon after, telling him she was carrying their child. Their quiet wedding was followed by the birth of their beautiful dark-haired baby boy and, as they say in the movies, they lived happily ever after.
The End