CHAPTER SIX

'Jack!' A loud Texas voice rang out through the chatter of the crowd. General Hammond made his way to the lone General O'Neill standing in a corner of the garden. Cringing, Jack turned to face the bald man. 'What are you doing here all alone?'

"Oh, you know', he shrugged. 'Just hanging out with my wonderful bottle of OJ.' George raised his eyebrows in a very Teal'c like way, at the offensive bottle of Orange Juice. 'Ah, ok-ay, you're either drunk on OJ, or just plain insane.' George had only seen the man drink Orange Juice once. Hammond took the half-empty (such an optimist) bottle from his hand. 'C'mon. Supper's being served and it's time for the speech-making.' Jack groaned. 'I'll be there in 5 minutes. Just let me finish my juice. Jack took the bottle back from him. General Hammond walked away and left Jack standing outside the recreation hall by himself. Jack opened up the bottle and took a 'swig.'

'Damnit O'Neill! Don't you dare start getting soft! You can do this!' He yelled at himself. Jack took a deep breath, remembering the encounter about a month ago at work.

She had said, 'I would be honoured if you would say a few words at my wedding reception, Sir. Is that okay?' Sure, I'd love to. And while you're at it, why not call Baal up and let him have a go at me. Being tortured by Baal couldn't possibly be worse then this. It would be a piece of cake, a walk in the park. I think I'd even enjoy it.

But he had agreed, he told her he would. And now here he was. The actual night, and it was time.

Jack sighed. It was time to go in. He walked into the building and dropped his 'not full' bottle into a nearby bin. (AN: I am feeling very nervous for him at the moment). He stopped and got a drink of water from the water cooler. He cupped his hands and filled them with water, splashing it on his face.

Now he was ready to give the speech. Well… in a sense. He walked into the crowded hall, very nicely decorated with light blue ribbons decorating the wall and light blue sashes tired around the seats. Sam and Pete were sitting at the back of the hall with the rest of the Bridal Party. He gave a short smile to the few people who said hello to him as he walked over the table. 'So… what's for dinner?' Yep, a typical O'Neill phrase. Dinner. Food. Good. Normal.

In 10 minutes all the guests had sat down, and prepared to tuck into the feast which were being brought onto the table, kept warm by aluminium foil wrapped around them. Obviously the financial providers, Jack didn't know which side, had no scruples in being lavish for the reception.

Jack took his seat next to Daniel and General Hammond, who sat next to Mark, who sat next to Jacob, who sat… next to Sam.

Both General Carter and General Hammond began pouring themselves glasses of red wine while the rest of the hall followed suit.

It was Pete's duty to start first. Jack tried to tune out after the first word. It was just the usual drabble about how they met, 'I love her' hope for the future, blah blah. Just the normal wedding crap, nothing he hadn't heard before. Hell, he was sure he had said something along the same line at his and Sarah's reception. Just in a not-so-mushy- Jack way. 'A toast to the future.'

Then Jacob stood up making a few fatherly cracks about the two of them, and how Mark had introduced them and how he never thought it would've turned out the way it did. 'A toast to my daughter and her husband…' It took a while, and a few refilling of the glasses, thank gosh for that, was Jack's only thought, but it seemed only to soon, that his turn came around. He stood up clearing his throat, sensing Daniel holding his breath in anticipation, and began to speak.

AN: mwahahar, poor Jack. Lot's of assignments, going on a camp for school and my sister's having a baby so the next chapter probably won't be out for a while, sorry about that. You'll just have to wait, so I hope you won't be disappointed with Jack's speech. JamSack

P.S Why OJ you ask? Well it just so happens that most of my older friends do not drink. So when they go to nightclubs they have OJ. I don't know why they don't just drink soft drink, cos in my opinion OJ only tasteds good in the morning. I think it's because they won't get paid out because it looks like Vodka or something, that's what my sister told me anyway.