See part 0 for notes/disclaimer/summary
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If she was honest with herself the knowledge that she was running out of time had been growing for several years. It definitely had been a factor in her letting her relationship with Pete go as far as she had, and it had been a huge part of why she had finally broke things off. If she was going to do this, she realized that Pete was not the right person to do it with.
But it had taken Vala's return and the events leading up to it to give her the kick in the butt that she needed. That and turning thirty-nine had made her realize that it was now or never. She just wasn't sure which. And of course there had been the whole battle with the Ori to get through before she could even find a spare second to think about the issue.
Like any other problem there were a lot of variables. She may have waited too long already. Jack might not be interested. But the real question was what she wanted. Because all the other factors couldn't be resolved until she had a firm understanding of the base issue.
Did she want to take the fork in road that currently was looming in front of her? Did she continue on as before and give up on any chance of ever having children, or did she make some drastic changes and try to have a baby? The thought alternately excited her and scared her to death.
Once the whole battle with Ori and the cleanup afterwards had been completed, she requested leave, and that was how she'd ended up in the lovely beach house just south of San Diego. Well it hadn't been that straight forward. The beach house had been Plan C. Her first instinct had been to fly to Washington to be with Jack. After all it had been three weeks since they had seen each other and she missed him terribly. However a phone call to his office had quickly made her realize that for the next few days at least Jack was going to be tied up in meetings with the Joint Chiefs and representatives of the allied nations involved in the program.
She'd then figured she'd head off to the cabin and let Jack join her there when he could. But a quick check of the weather forecast for Minnesota had shown nothing but rain and cool temperatures for the next five days and she was not in the mood to be cooped up that long.
The beach house had been a stroke of luck. She'd gotten an e-mail from an old Academy friend who was going to be back at their alma mater giving a lecture. They had arraigned to meet for lunch. Sam had mentioned needing to get away for a few days and Marie had offered up her place just north of San Diego. Sam had been hesitant to take her up on the offer at first but it was ideal, and eventually she'd given in and accepted. Jack could come to California for the week-end as easily as he could anywhere else, and she might be able to get a quick visit in to see her brother and his family depending on the their schedules. So she headed to the beach and spent a couple of days settling in and working on relaxing and getting caught up on her sleep so that she could make some decisions about her life.
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In Washington, Jack was worried. First of all he couldn't ever remember Sam voluntarily taking vacation. Then there was the fact that she had wanted to get away from Colorado Springs, but hadn't gone to the cabin. The combination caused warning bells to go off. Oh she given a lame excuse about the weather, but he had a feeling it was more than that, and the possibilities that came to mind were not good.
He knew he was over-thinking the whole situation still he was worried enough that he had his secretary rearrange his schedule so he could fly to California a day early. He needed to see for himself exactly what was going on with Sam, and he thought perhaps a surprise attack might help him to find out the truth a lot faster than if she was prepared for him.
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Sam could see why her friend had fallen in love with this place. Although it was in a row of beach houses the way it was situated on a curve in the coastline meant that it was set at a slightly different angle from the houses on either side, so when she was sitting on the deck it seemed like she had the beach to herself. Marie had told her that the deck was secluded enough to sunbath nude and Sam could see her point, although she hadn't gotten up the nerve to try it herself. The solitude of her first two days on the beach had accomplished a lot. For one she'd slept better that she had in months. The waves crashing right outside were rhythmic and soothing, and lulled her into a deep dreamless sleep without fail. She'd also developed a light golden tan, and she swore her hair was two shades lighter. Plus all of the fresh air had given her an appetite that she usually lacked.
Unfortunately the one thing that she hadn't accomplished was coming to any decisions. She only hoped that she had some clue as to what she wanted by the time Jack showed up or she figured she was going to seriously freak him out wanting to 'Talk'. He really hated that four-letter word.
Little did she know that even as she settled down on the patio to have lunch on Thursday Jack O'Neill was already boarding a plane in D.C. on his way to do just that.
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TBC