Breakfast was slightly more subdued than usual, but Sam ate well, even if she didn't pack away as much as usual. The boys more than made up for her lack of appetite, striving to out perform each other in the usual pancake stack contest, their antics making the little girl giggle and laugh, at one point, even snorting on her orange juice which resulted in a round of teasing from all the males, although Teal'c wasn't sure why orange juice coming out someone's nose was so funny.
When breakfast was done, Jack sent them out to watch Saturday morning cartoons, and cleaned up the kitchen, joining them a little while later. Sam immediately curled up next to him, and he tucked his arm around her, and Daniel moved in on his other side a few minutes later. Teal'c took a few minutes longer, but Jack eventually felt the solid presence of the boy's back leaning against his legs and smiled.
An hour later, the bright midday sun was shining, promising an unseasonably warm October day, and Daniel looked at him hopefully. "Colonel Jack, can we go outside and ride our bikes? Please?"
Two more hopeful faces looked up at him, but Jack looked at Sam, who had been unnaturally quiet this morning. "Why don't you guys ride your skates and scooters and things today? I just don't think Sam should be on a bike yet." He rubbed Sam's back and gave her a hug to take the edge off the restriction, but she still looked downcast at any limitation to her normal activity. She knew it was getting colder, and warm days like this would soon be over, meaning no more bikes.
"Awww, please Colonel Jack?" Her eyes pleaded, and her voice held the slightest hint of a whine, but this time, it was as a kid begging for something, and had nothing to do with the night before. Still, Jack held firm. He'd rather she not go riding until Janet checked her out later.
"I'm sorry Sam, maybe later ok? Now I've got some things to do outside, so you guys go get your things." Sam sighed, and trudged off to the garage, following Teal'c and Danny, who didn't seem to care whether they got to ride bikes or scooters or whatever. Of course, they could ride whatever they wanted to, it was only her that wasn't allowed to ride her bike. It just wasn't fair.
Jack watched her go and shook his head, hoping she'd shake herself out of it once she got into the sun. She normally loved roller-skating and was probably just being difficult because he told her she couldn't have her bike today. He followed the kids out to the garage and grabbed his gloves and a rake, a few tools and things, intending to set about raking, cleaning the gutters and pruning today, and generally getting the yard ready for winter while being nearby to keep an eye on the kids while they played.
The kids zoomed up and down the street on their various wheeled contraptions, and seemed to be relaxing and enjoying themselves, and Jack gradually relaxed too. The physical exertion and sunshine was good for them, and for him too. A few other neighborhood kids had also shown up, these were on bikes, and they stopped and talked to his group. He didn't interfere, as they seemed to be doing ok.
Later, he noticed that Danny and Teal'c had traded their scooter and skateboard in for their own bikes, although Sam was still on her skates. She seemed distinctly unhappy though, and Jack watched her skating up and down the driveway, watching the two boys with the new kids as he carried a particularly large bundle of branches towards the back yard. He decided to go over to her and try and cheer her up a little bit on his next pass around to the front yard, as soon as he dropped off his load, but the next door neighbor came out as soon as he dropped the bundle of branches and called him over, asking for help with his mower engine.
By the time Jack finished helping the neighbor, more than fifteen minutes had passed, and when he went back out to the front yard, remembering his intention to find Sam, he didn't see her. Looking up and down the street, he started to worry when he didn't immediately spot her. For that matter, he didn't see Danny, Teal'c, or any of the other neighborhood kids that had been there not long before. Looking both ways up and down the street, worry starting to grow, Jack wondered where he should start to look first, because he had no idea which way they would have gone.
AsLongAsWeGotEachOther,WeCanTakeAnythingThatComesOurWayIt had taken a while for Sam to shake off her bad mood. She still thought it was really unfair that she couldn't ride her bike, but since Danny and Teal'c were playing on their skateboard and scooter, she didn't mind so much anymore. And it was nice outside, the sun was warm, and she was skating really, really fast, even though her head still hurt a little bit, and she still felt a little bit yucky. Right now, the three of them were having races down the driveway to see whether a skateboard, scooter, or roller skates were faster.
It was all going great until the other kids had showed up. They were older than she was, three boys, around Teal'c and Danny's ages, all riding bikes. They stopped nearby, and talked among themselves for a minute before one of the boys approached them. "Hey, you new here?"
Sam, Teal'c and Danny looked at each other. Teal'c spoke for the three of them. "We have arrived here just last week."
The other boy nodded, and seemed to think a minute, before glancing back at his companions. "You guys got bikes?" At their nods, he continued. "If you want, the three of us," and he gestured at his companions, "Were going up to the creek by the playground. You can come if you want to, but you'll have to ride your bikes, those things won't go there."
"But Sam can't ride her bike today, she's not allowed because she was sick yesterday," Daniel looked worried about not being able to include Sam.
The boy just shrugged, unconcerned. "Then she can't come, she's just a girl anyway, and girls don't like creeks."
"Hey! I wanna come! I do so like creeks! They have frogs in them, and frogs are cool." Sam protested, but the boy just ignored her as unimportant, and continued speaking.
"Anyway, meet us by the big tree, next to the slide, if you want to. The playground is just over that hill." The boy waved as he rejoined his friends, and the three kids went off on their bikes.
Sam glared after them. "Who wants to see a crummy old creek anyway, I hope they fall in and get covered in slime," she declared vehemently, kicking out with a skate at a small rock and nearly losing her balance in the process.
"I do," said Daniel wistfully looking after them, and then with a sudden determination and set to his jaw, he turned his scooter towards the garage. "I'm going with them, you can stay here if you want to Teal'c, but no one ever invited me anywhere before and I'm going with them and you can't stop me."
They followed Daniel into the garage, and watched him strip off his pads, leaving his helmet on. Teal'c frowned. "Should we not tell Colonel O'Neill where we are going Daniel?" Teal'c asked.
Daniel shook his head. "I don't want them to leave without me. Besides, it's just over the hill, and Colonel Jack showed us where the playground was, I won't get lost. I won't even stay long; he'll never even know I'm gone. I'll be back before he knows I'm not here. Promise." Danny climbed onto his bike, and glared at them defiantly.
Teal'c looked thoughtful, and then started to remove his own pads. "I believe I should accompany you Daniel." Daniel grinned.
"Hey, what about me?" Sam protested angrily, arms crossed.
"You stay here. We'll come back, maybe we'll bring you something," Daniel told her, and Sam looked like she was ready to protest that it wasn't the same, but the boys were ignoring her, walking their bikes out of the garage.
Staring after them, Sam thought furiously. It just wasn't fair. Why did she get stuck home, while they got to look at a creek, just because she couldn't ride her bike? What if she could? Briefly, she thought about asking Colonel Jack again, but realized that not only would he probably tell her no again, he'd want to know why she was asking. She'd only get the boys in trouble, and she wasn't ready to do that yet, even if they were going off and leaving her behind.
Feeling her skates under her feet, Sam looked over at her bike, and an idea occurred to her. What if she wasn't really riding it? You rode a bike by putting your feet on the pedals and pushing with them, and if she didn't do that, and kept her skates on, well she'd technically still be roller skating right? And Colonel Jack hadn't actually said she couldn't ride her bike anyway…
Mind made up, she grabbed her bike and skated beside it after Danny and Teal'c, discovering they hadn't gotten too far ahead fortunately.
"Hey wait up!" she called. The two boys turned around stared at her, then looked at each other.
Daniel spoke. "Sam, didn't Colonel Jack say you couldn't ride your bike yet?"
She caught up with them and glared defiantly. "He said maybe later. And I'm not riding it am I?"
The boys exchanged another look. Teal'c tried another approach. "Maybe is not an affirmative."
Sam's brow creased as she puzzled out Teal'c's meaning. "He didn't say no, either. I'm still coming with you."
Daniel looked hesitant and worried. "Sam, I don't know if this is such a good idea. Maybe we can go another time."
"What, are you chicken? It'll be fine. And I won't really be riding. See? My feet will be on the ground the whole time." She mounted the seat, demonstrating, one skated foot set to either side of the bike. "This will be so cool, you'll see."
"I do not believe this course of action to be wise Samantha," Teal'c said doubtfully.
Sam rolled her eyes. "You guys are such sissies. It's just over the hill, and we'll be back before Colonel Jack even misses us, just like you said Danny. C'mon, it'll be cool." She grinned.
Daniel sighed, and looked at Teal'c who raised an eyebrow. "Okay, fine," he decided, "You can come."
Sam smiled in relief, and followed the other two, who had to slow their speed for her. It was a bit awkward skating uphill on a bike, but somehow, she managed it. They crested the top of the low hill, and the park was immediately visible. "Look, there's the tree!" Sam said, pointing.
Daniel stood up in his seat, "I see them," he waved at three figures under a tree at the bottom of the hill. "Let's go," he told the others.
The hill was fun. It had just the right amount of incline for a bit of speed but not too fast to be overly dangerous. They laughed as they coasted down, and Sam reveled in the unusual feeling of having wheels under feet while riding on her bike. She felt like she was flying!
Just then, a white car pulled out from the side street ahead of them, and Teal'c and Danny stopped, knowing it was too close. Lacking hand brakes, Sam pressed her feet down instinctively; realizing too late that the wheels on her feet did nothing to stop her forward momentum. Behind her, she heard Danny and Teal'c shouting for her to stop, and wished she could. Too late, the driver of the car saw her coming and slammed on the brakes.
Eyes wide, Sam hurtled towards the stopped vehicle. "Help!" she cried, throwing her arms up in front of her head, just before her bike slammed into the front side of the car.
A/N: Yikes, but I've barely had time to sleep let alone breathe or go online this past week! What with my friend coming to visit and all, there were so many things that needed to get done. At any rate, I typed up this story about the vet visit several days ago but didn't have time to post the story until now, so here's our adventures at the vet, and I'll tell you about our adventures with my friend next! (of course with the cliffie I just left you, you probably don't need another tantilizer!
So the furbabies got their one-year check up at the vet Tuesday, and their rabies and distemper shots. Usually, when I would take them to the vet, I wouldn't have any problems. But this time, Dragon had to prove he could live up to his name I suppose. Normally a sweet, loving, sometimes overzealous and affectionate kitty, Dragon thinks he is the perfect lap cat and he's really just an oversized marshmallow despite his big tough exterior. That and he's huge, solidly built, all legs and just not very cuddly looking compared to his smaller, softer, and very cute older brother Sam that just screams "pick me up and cuddle me". Of course, Sam would rather run and hide under the furniture than be cuddled.
Anyway, I digress. Dragon, the stay puffed marshmallow, somehow developed an aversion to being put in the carrier and taken to the vet and being handled in any way. From the minute I put him in the carrier (and he usually just goes in the thing obliviously like it's something new to explore) he started growling and hissing. He quieted on the car ride, but laid down flat and had his ears back and generally looked pissed off the entire way. We get there and he's growling and hissing again as I unload him from the car. I try to sooth him, and explain to him how important it is that he see the vet and get his shots, but he just growled.
He growled at the receptionist. He growled at the dogs in the waiting room. He growled at the other pet owners that came to admire the kitty cats. We got called back, and he growled a little more. We decided to examine Sammy first, who had basically just cried his little heart out the entire trip and was still meowing that he didn't like the carrier and didn't like the vet and just wanted to go home please. Dragon growled some more. We let Sammy wander around the room to get comfortable while he waited for the vet after getting his vitals, and then started on Dragon.
At first he growled and hissed, and somehow let us take his temperature. Then, as the tech tried to get his weight, she moved his back leg onto the scale, and he slipped his front leg off. When she tried to put the front leg back on, he went insane, and started snapping and snarling and got away, running to hide in the corner. Then my oversized marshmallow of a cat transformed into a monster. When the tech tried to catch him, he snarled and snapped, hissed and growled. She went to get a towel to wrap him in and that just made him angrier. She finally gave up and went to get the vet, coming back equipped with a thick pair of rawhide gloves that went up past the elbow. Using those and the towel they chased poor Dragon around the room and finally caught him.
The vet had to use a Popsicle stick to look at Dragon's teeth, though he seemed inclined to show them off for us. He escaped in between his shots and had to be recaptured. He was so ill behaved, they had to weigh his carrier than put him in it to get the weight.
Dragon went back into the carrier, and it was Sammy's turn. Sammy protested with a whiney meow, but compared to his brother he was the world's best-behaved cat ever. Sammy was done in no time, I have $116 charged on the credit card for the visit, and tonight the boys barely lift their heads to acknowledge meal times they are so knocked out from their shots and eventful day. Now if only they could be this well behaved all the time as they are tonight.