AN: A bit of resolution for you... but not too much. A couple more chapters are coming. And please, if you don't like this story, feel free to stop reading at any time. Thanks!
Chapter Eighteen
She hadn't seen that one coming. In fact, with the delicacy of their new-found peace, she was afraid to give voice to the teasing. She decided it was different for him to flirt because she'd been the one to back away from him repeatedly. He hadn't changed his mind over and over again. He wasn't running hot and cold on her. He'd made his feelings clear and he'd stuck with them. She realized that it was her response that would determine what happened from there, that it had always been her response that decided the next move.
She smiled, too nervous to encourage anything intimate, but not wanting to rebuff his attempt to return them to where they had been. "You certainly deserve one after all this."
He smiled back as he finished with the bed and moved one piece of it across the hall. He came back a moment later and nodded at the desk. "If you don't mind, you might want to unhook the computer. I'm not so good with those things."
She nodded, mutely setting about detaching pieces from the CPU. Her theory was proven true; when she hadn't flirted back, he'd immediately shifted back to being serious. The problem with that was she had no idea how to give a back rub that didn't wind up being intimate. She knew he'd take a shower when he was done moving all the furniture and she decided she'd do some research then. Even if it didn't end with them in bed, she still knew she could give him the best back rub he'd ever gotten.
As soon as she finished with the computer and hauling the pieces into the other room, she helped Jack move the desk. It wasn't so big that they had to take it apart, but it still took both of them to move it. As she was reassembling the computer, Jack continued to move pieces of the bed.
"Did you ever look through that catalog?"
She looked up, having no idea what he was talking about. "What catalog?"
"The one from the baby store. Did you decide what you wanted to get?"
She shook her head. She'd been so angry at him when he'd given it to her that she didn't want to think about it. "I'd rather go to the store and pick things out. I like to see them first."
"We can do that tomorrow, if you want." There was uncertainty in his voice, as though he wasn't sure that he was invited.
She smiled. "You're just afraid I'll come home with baby fatigues."
He laughed out loud. "Among other things."
She was pleased with herself for making him laugh and made a mental note to see if his credit card was still in the hallway where she'd thrown it. "We're not buying anything with a princess motif."
"Aw, come on." He looked truly heartbroken.
"My parents put me in awful dresses my whole life and I'm not doing that to my child. I was never supposed to do anything but sit in a chair and make sure they didn't get dirty."
Jack stopped his work on reassembling the bed and looked at her incredulously. "You're kidding, right?" She shook her head. "That doesn't really sound like you."
"You've only known me seven years and you already know that. I was fourteen before my parents figured out that putting me in a dress wasn't going to stop me from climbing trees."
He chuckled. "How about we make a compromise? We buy her adorable little princess dresses, but we don't get mad at her if she gets them dirty."
"I guess I can live with that." She finished with the computer and stood up. "Are you sure you don't want me to help?"
His eyes twinkled. "I believe I've made my reasoning quite clear."
She couldn't help but blush at the way he smiled. "In that case, I'm going to go check on our little princess."
As soon as she checked that Cheyenne was still sleeping soundly, she opened up her laptop and googled back massages. She thought there was a problem when her computer thought about it for a long time. And then the page opened up, revealing over four million hits. She laughed at herself and her stupidity. Baby care, she thought, that was something she could look up on the internet; back rubs, however, were best researched at the book store.
She heard a thud and then a muffled curse from Jack. She leaned into the hallway to make sure she could hear him moving. "Watch your mouth in front of the princess." He only laughed in response. She really did want to help, but she suspected he'd chase her right out of the room.
She decided to call Daniel to check in. She hadn't talked to him in days, even though she knew that Jack had. Daniel amused her, hedging around the idea that she and Jack weren't getting along without actually saying it. He knew she would be mad that they'd been talking about her. He had no idea she already knew. She assured him that they were fine. He was quiet for a minute and when he spoke, Carter realized why he'd needed to gather the nerve.
"He said he proposed, Sam."
Her mouth fell open for a moment as she realized that Daniel really could be quite blunt when he needed to be. "Yes, he did, Daniel."
"And you said no."
"You should understand, Daniel, that he proposed in response to me saying I wanted to take it slow."
"Oh." More quiet where Carter could see Daniel making faces as he turned the idea over in his head. "Maybe he thought you wanted to take it slow because you weren't sure about him being serious."
"I wanted to take it slow because of precisely what happened when he proposed. We had a huge fight and didn't speak for a week and a half." She sat down on the couch, wondering why she hadn't called Janet. Men were impossible to talk to.
"Look, Sam, I'm sure you guys have things to work out and I respect that. I'm sure you've got issues about this too." He paused, letting Carter know he thought he'd said too much, and in so doing, revealed to her that he'd discussed it with Jack more than once. "I'm just going to say this and lay it out there for you. Jack can be difficult to comprehend, Sam, I know that, but you have to understand that he's thinking of you, of both of you. The proposal may have seemed spurious, but I don't think it was."
"I know that. I wasn't ready for it. It hasn't been an easy two weeks here, Daniel. I feel like my whole world turned upside down. I'm trying to hold on to anything I can, but everything keeps changing." As she spoke, she realized her words were going to go back to Jack. Not because Daniel would betray her confidence, but because he was trying to translate Jack to Sam and vice versa. She smiled, thinking they should keep him around to interpret.
"He loves you, Sam. Just remember that."
"I know that too, Daniel. Thanks." She hung up and took a deep breath. She was actually feeling a little better; time was exactly what she needed to get used to the changes. She closed her eyes and thought about making dinner.
But a brilliant flash of white light caused her eyes to pop back open. Cheyenne woke up instantly, screaming her displeasure. Thor stood before her, blinking uncertainly while he took in his surroundings.
"Jack!" She grabbed for Cheyenne, fearing that Thor was there to hurt her or steal her away.
Jack appeared a second later, instinct causing him to respond to the terrified shriek. He didn't see Thor right away. He only saw Carter looking at something in terror. "Carter?"
She darted past Thor to get to Jack's side. It was when Thor turned to watch her that Jack noticed him. Jack's arm reached out, pulling Carter and Cheyenne behind him. "You can't have her back."
Thor blinked again. "I offer my apology for disturbing you in your home. When I made the journey here, I expected to find you both at Stargate Command."
"What do you want?" Jack reached behind him, finding Carter's hand and grasping it. Thor had been a friend once, but neither trusted him any longer where their daughter was concerned.
"I came to apologize for my sudden departure. I have devoted my life to military pursuits and I was not aware of the level of upset the creation of your offspring would cause."
Jack relaxed the slightest bit, but kept Carter and Cheyenne behind him. "Saw the error of your ways, did you?"
"When I saw your reactions, I thought it prudent to give you time to digest the news. I also sought out additional knowledge in the area of human familial relations."
Jack turned toward Carter. "Huh?"
She leaned forward. "He looked up family in a human-to-Asgard dictionary."
"Oh, right, that's what I thought."
Thor stepped back, perhaps realizing that his presence was being viewed as a threat. "Actually, Major Carter, I consulted with my wife Sif. She is an expert in the area of human culture."
Jack was dumbfounded for a moment. "You're married? You have a wife?"
Thor nodded once. "I am. I do." His stoic face seemed to soften the slightest bit. "Many, many cloning generations ago, Sif had beautiful golden hair much like Major Carter's."
Jack peeked at Carter. "Is he hitting on you?" When Carter only bit back a smile in response, Jack returned to making sense of what Thor was saying. "But I thought you guys didn't - um -" He shook his head, finding his mind devoid of any polite euphemism for having sex. "What's the point?" A slap to the back of his head reminded him that the woman he'd proposed to two weeks earlier was behind him. "Ow. Sorry. I didn't mean it like that."
"Our marriage revolves around enjoying one another's company and companionship, much the way you and Major Carter do."
Jack covered his face with his hands. "Oy."
Carter dared to step out from behind Jack, deciding Thor posed no threat to Cheyenne. "You thought we were married, Thor?"
"I believed that the amount of personal concern you show for one another's safety and well-being indicated a level of intimacy the Asgard equates with a marriage union. I understand now that marriage in your culture is far more complicated."
Jack looked at Carter and shrugged. She smiled. "Kind of makes it a little easier to understand why he thought we wouldn't mind a baby, Jack."
"They still could have asked." Jack reached for Cheyenne and approached Thor, squatting down to Thor's level. "We named her Cheyenne."
Thor looked the child over, although Carter had the impression he was doing it more out of respect for Jack than interest in the baby. "This child has an impressive genetic structure. You should be proud."
"Well, we didn't really have much to do with it."
Carter approached them, not quite ready to forgive Thor for the callous way he'd considered destroying Cheyenne, but at the same time understanding he hadn't meant anything by it. "Or much say in the matter."
Thor nodded to her. "Your permission was not sought and the Asgard Council is endeavoring to find a suitable gift in exchange for continued friendship with your government. However, there was no genetic manipulation or modifications performed on the genetic samples. Your genes will combine naturally to form genetically advanced offspring."
Jack managed to land on his ass without dropping Cheyenne. "Wow."
Carter just stared, trying to make sense of the words without being full of herself. It was one thing to think they would produce better children than anyone else in the world; it was entirely different when the Asgard told her it was true. She sat down on the floor next to Jack. "Yeah, wow." She looked up at Thor. "As for that peace offering you're trying to think up, I have a list."
Thor nodded again. "I will return at a later date to discuss possibilities." And in typical Asgard fashion, Thor disappeared in another blinding flash.