Ring, ring.
Sam crossed the kitchen to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?"
"Sam! Can we go to the mall?" Cassie Frasier's excited voice answered.
Sam shook her head, glad Cassie couldn't see the exasperated smile on her face. "Didn't you just go last weekend?"
Cassie sighed loudly over the phone. "Yes, but now I need a new swimsuit. And you do too," she pointed out.
Sam's eyes narrowed. "For what?" she asked. She liked her swimsuit.
"Duh! For Jack's party tonight!" Sam could be really dumb sometimes. For an astrophysicist, that is.
It was Sam's turn to sigh. "Cassie, I like my swimsuit just fine," she answered. Nevermind that it was originally red and had faded to a dark pink.
"Sam, that thing is older than I am!"
Sam pulled away from the phone with a look of shock on her face. Goodness, it really was older than Cassie, wasn't it?
Sam sighed, knowing she had been beaten. "Fine, Cassie."
"Great!" Cassie shrieked. "I'll pick you up in twenty minutes!" She hung up before Sam could protest.
Oh God, she thought. Cassie driving… This was going to be a very long day.
Cassie was not that bad of a driver. But that still did not prevent Sam from clutching the door handle tightly every time Cassie made a turn. Cassie just rolled her eyes and continued singing along with the radio.
Before Sam realized it, they were parked outside of Cheyenne Mountain. "Cassie, what are we doing here?"
Cassie shifted into park. "Picking up Teal'c."
"Cassie! I'm not swimsuit shopping with Teal'c!"
Cassie threw Sam a look. "He needs one too, you know."
Sam thought about that for a second. What did Jaffa usually wear when they went swimming? Upon further reflection, she realized that she did not want to know.
Teal'c opened the passenger side door, wearing his trusty black beanie. "I must apologize MajorCarter, but I cannot fit in the backseat of CassandraFrasier's car."
Sam got out, wondering if Teal'c was even going to be able to sit in the front seat. Cassie did have a pretty small car.
The trip into Colorado Springs did not take as long as Sam thought it would. Thank God, she thought. I don't think I could handle any more of Cassie behind the wheel.
The three of them walked into the large department store that Cassie had parked outside of. Cassie practically ran to the swimsuit department, while Sam and Teal'c lagged behind.
"Alright, T," Cassie said, taking charge of the situation. "What size are you?"
"I do not know the answer to your question, CassandraFrasier," Teal'c replied matter of factly. "I have never been swimsuit shopping before."
Cassie frowned for a second. "We'll try some double-XLs."
Cassie frantically rummaged through the rack, picking out at least 5 suits for Teal'c and thrusting them into his hands. Sam had to snicker at the assortment Cassie had picked out for him. There was a pair of red ones with a white hibiscus print on them, a bright yellow pair, and several other multicolored ones. Cassie playing dress up with a Jaffa was highly entertaining.
Teal'c managed to look as resigned as he could and trudged off towards the dressing rooms. A thought occurred to Sam. "Uh, T?" He turned around slowly. "Leave your shirt on."
Teal'c understood and simply nodded before turning back towards the dressing room.
Sam turned to look at Cassie beside her, but Cassie was already rustling through the women's racks. She pulled out a black string bikini. "Try this one on, Sam!"
Like hell I will, Sam thought. She decided to ignore Cassie and pick through the racks on her own. After awhile, she found a simple black tankini in her size. She decided to hit the dressing room while Cassie was distracted by Teal'c.
Changing quickly, she tried on the black suit. It looked good enough on her. Glad that she had managed to get her shopping taken care of quickly, she started to change when she heard a clink and saw that Cassie had hung about three suits over the top of her door. Sam glared at them. "I already found one Cassie!"
"Let me see."
Sam begrudgingly pulled the top back over her head and opened the door. Cassie stood there with at least ten suits in her own arms. She shook her head at Sam.
"What?"
"Sam, you are a beautiful woman! You look like you're going to a funeral," Cassie exclaimed.
"In a swimsuit?"
Cassie just glared at her.
"I'm not a teenager, Cassie! I'm old!"
Cassie snorted. "You sound like Jack."
Sam blushed furiously at the comparison. Hoping Cassie would not notice, she shut the door and grabbed the suits to change into them.
Sam studied herself in the mirror. She would not deny that she was in excellent shape, but she just felt so naked wearing the suits Cassie picked out for her. She peeked her head out the door to see Cassie in front of the triple mirrors wearing a cute lavender bikini. Cassie noticed her reflection and turned around. "Well?" she asked.
"Cassie, they're cute, but I'm really not comfortable in them," Sam said with a grimace.
Cassie motioned for her to open the door and Sam obliged, looking shy. Sam stood there in the black string bikini from earlier. "Sam! You look great!" Cassie shrieked.
Sam shook her head, but Cassie grabbed her hand and starting dragging her out of the locker room. "T, come see this!"
Ok, now Cassie was taking things too far. Sam started struggling, but without the traction from wearing shoes, she was not making much headway. Just inside the hall to the dressing rooms, she finally slipped and fell right on her rear.
Sam let out an "Ouch!" and then looked up at the large Jaffa looking down at her. She swore he was smirking. She tried to sit up quickly but not before Cassie asked, "Doesn't she look great?"
Oh Lord. She was going to die, right here in the store. To her surprise, Teal'c replied, "From my study of the Tau'ri, I believe that MajorCarter is wearing her swimsuit properly."
Sam could not help but snicker despite her situation. Teal'c had such a way of diffusing a situation with one of his… Teal'cisms…
"However,' Teal'c continued. "I do not believe her uniform is befitting a warrior of MajorCarter's caliber."
The smirk dropped off of Sam's face and she glared at Teal'c, and then at Cassie, who was absolutely beside herself in giggles. She stood up and stalked back to the changing room. Cassie glared at Teal'c. "Nice one, T."
"I merely meant that there was no place to effectively conceal or carry a weapon, CassandraFrasier."
Cassie sighed and shook her head. "Men," she muttered as she made her way back to her own changing room.
Grabbing the black tankini, Sam made a beeline for the cashier's desk. Cassie followed soon behind her with the lavender bikini she had just had on. The cashier was ringing up Sam when her cell phone suddenly rang. She handed Cassie some cash and asked her to take care of it while she walked away to answer the phone.
"Daniel?" she asked. "What's up?"
"Hey Sam," Daniel greeted her, somewhat distractedly. "I got really into translating those ruins from P3X-428 and I'm running behind. Could you stop and pick up the drinks for tonight?"
Sam smiled. Daniel could never tear himself away from work. "No problem, Daniel. I was going to anyway."
"Thanks a bunch, Sam. I'm gonna pick up Janet so that we don't have too many cars at Jack's, so tell Cassie not to worry about stopping at home." Hanging up, she turned back towards Cassie and Teal'c, who were carrying their bags.
"Ready to go?" Sam asked. With nods from Cassie and Teal'c, they made their way back to the car.