Spelling mistakes are intentional, by the way!
Sammie was bored. Daddy had promised her ice cream after his meeting, but that was … she looked at her new watch … two hours ago!
She looked at the woman who'd been assigned to look after her while Daddy was with his boss and saw that the woman was busy chatting and giggling with one of Daddy's officers.
She pulled a face. Boys were icky; she was never gonna be like that woman.
She got out of her chair and sidled quickly out of the office. Maybe she could find something fun to do somewhere else.
Sammie looked down the corridor. It looked exactly the same as the ones she'd gone through the last half hour.
She wasn't going to cry.
She was a big girl now, and big girls didn't cry.
She closed her eyes and chanted 'Eeny, meeny, miny, mo', then headed left.
Back to her daddy's office.
Except this wasn't her daddy's office.
She didn't know what a 'commissary' was, but knew that it wasn't daddy's office.
She opened the door and saw lots of tables and chairs, with a counter at the far end and food.
Oh.
Her little tummy growled at that point, and she put her hand to it. Maybe she could go have something to eat.
She walked in and collided with a pair of blue-clad legs.
She looked up.
And up.
And up.
Into a pair of deep brown eyes.
And Sammie lost her five year old heart almost instantly.
John felt something collide into his legs as he strolled out of the commissary and looked down.
To see a tiny little bubble-curled blonde gazing up at him with wide blue eyes. He felt his lips stretch into a wide smile – it might go against the smart-ass hard-ass USAF cadet image he tried to cultivate, but John was an absolute sucker for kids.
Kids and dogs were his favorite people.
"Hey, kid; bit lost, are ya?" he asked, pushing a hand through his already untidy hair. His hair had always had a mind of its own, but the chicks didn't seem to mind.
Her bottom lip came out in a pout, then she pushed her fists into her eyes, evidently fighting back tears. "Yeah," she said. "Hungry, too."
"Well, let's get you something to eat, then we'll go find your folks, huh?" He extended his hand to the tiny blonde.
The little girl nodded easily, then tucked her chubby hand into John's as they went to the counter. Had to be a base brat – was too comfortable with John's uniform to be civilian. "What's your name?" she asked.
"John; what's yours?"
"Sammie."
"You gonna tell me your last name?"
"Oooh, Jell-O!" The little girl examined the various bowls of dessert with a concentration he'd never thought the stuff could merit. Then her face fell. "They don't gots green."
"Nope," John said. "Hey, what about blue?"
"Blue?" Sammie's nose wrinkled as she processed this. "Looks weird."
"No." He picked up the faceted glass bowl and held it up to the light. "See? It's pretty. It makes different colors when you hold it to the light."
"Yeah; ref'action!" The little girl was obviously enchanted.
Christ; a pint-sized genius. What the hell were they teaching them in kindergarten nowadays? "That's right; refraction," John said. He handed the bowl to the girl, grabbed a plate of cake for himself and a fork and spoon. "You're very smart."
She beamed at him, holding her bowl of Jell-O carefully – almost reverentially – as they made their way to an unoccupied table. "Mommy and Daddy say so, too," she said immodestly. "Are you smart, John?"
John coughed around his first bite of cake, aware that he was dangerously close to flunking physics right now. No physics, no graduation. No graduation, no commission. "I'm smart at some things," he temporized. "Nobody's good at everything."
Sammie reached over and patted his hand. "You gots brown eyes," she said. "Like chocolate cake."
What was this kid; the champion of non sequiturs? "And you've got blue eyes," he said. "Like your Jell-O."
Sammie giggled. "Your eyes are nicer than mine," she said, patting his hand again. "You're like a handsome prince."
That little hussy.
"Are you flirting with me, Sammie?" he asked lightly, washing down his bite of cake with some water.
Her nose wrinkled. "Daddy's sec'tary does that," she said. "She's stupid. Boys are gross … and they gots cooties."
He pouted, causing the girl to giggle. "That's mean, Sammie," he said.
She giggled again.
"And no giggling, young lady!"
She aimed a sloppy salute at him. "Yes, sir!"
Then she dug cautiously into the Jell-O, putting the tiniest speck into her mouth and chewing reluctantly.
"Oh; this is yummy!" she exclaimed, clearly in five-year-old-genius heaven.
"I knew you'd like it," John said, finishing off his cake and debating the merits of getting another piece. He might not have much in common with his family, but they all had a deep abiding love for cake.
"Sammie; what did I say to you about staying with Lieutenant Masters?"
A tall officer stood over the little girl, and John felt himself shrivel inside. Crap; a Major!
Sammie smiled sweetly up at the officer. "Hi, Daddy!" she said brightly, batting her big blue eyes shamelessly at him. "This is John; he found me when I got losted."
John scrambled upward and saluted. "Sir!" he said properly.
"At ease, Cadet," the Major replied. He turned back to his errant daughter, who was wolfing down her Jell-O. "Sammie; I'm waiting," he said sternly.
Sammie giggled again, and John wondered how anyone could be stern with the adorable infant. Between the giggles, the big blue eyes and the golden curls, he would have been completely screwed had she been his daughter. "Sorry, Daddy," she said penitently. "I gots bored, and I went to find you. But then I got losted."
"We'll talk about this at home," the Major said, then turned back to John. "Thank you for looking after her, Cadet …".
"O'Neill, sir. John O'Neill."
"Cadet O'Neill."
He watched as Sammie wrapped her little arms around her father in a tight hug, and leaned over to ruffle her curls. "Look after yourself, Sammie," he said.
The tiny blonde crooked her finger, indicating that he should bend down. He folded his lanky frame and she wrapped her arms around his neck in an oxygen-depriving hug, then favored him with a huge sloppy kiss on the cheek. "Love you, John O'Neill," she said earnestly, then gave another giggle.
"Sure you do, kid," he said sarcastically, his eyes pleading with her father to get him out of this.
No such luck. Apparently Sammie's father liked to torture his subordinates.
"I do. And I'm gonna marry you when I'm growed up," Sammie insisted. "Boys are yucky, but you're not like other boys."
"Come on, Sammie; it's time to go home," the Major said, a rather large grin on his face.
Yeah, Major; bail me out now that I'm surrounded by my fellow cadets!, John groused as Charlie and Lou snickered uncontrollably.
"Bye-bye, my John," Sammie said sweetly, blowing him a kiss.
And then the little hussy was gone.
And John looked at Charlie and Lou, who were still snickering.
"My John, huh?" Lou laughed, then punched John in the arm. "Should Karen be worried?"
"Yeah, John," Charlie said. "Christ; I know you like the blue-eyed blondes, but ain't that one just a bit too young?"
Crap.
Looked like it was time to pound on his best friends again.
Present Day
Sam absorbed the last mouthful of blue Jell-O, then looked at her new wedding ring. "Why the hell d'you like that stuff so much?" Jack asked, sliding his arms around her waist.
Sam grinned at the memory. "Oh, it takes me back to a time when I was losted," she said, then leaned into her equally new husband for a kiss.
THE END