58
"O'Neill"
"Hi Jack, where are you?"
"At your place, talking to the rest of the family."
"Oh, I'm just leaving the base and I'm going to stop and pick up the turkeys for tomorrow."
"Ok, don't forget the cranberry sauce," he said smiling.
"I won't Jack; what is the family doing?"
"Playing pool and darts. I've already shown them the rest of the house."
"Thanks, I've got dad with me and he is driving."
"Great, I'm going to make spaghetti Bolognese for dinner."
"Sounds great; did you get everything else for tomorrow?"
"Yep, see you when you arrive."
"Ok, see you in an hour" and then they both hung up.
"Jack, can I have a drink please?" Brian asked.
"Sure, let's see what we have here." He walked around the wet bar and bent over to see what there was in the twin beer fridge with the glass doors.
"Ok, what can you have?"
"They can have sodas if there are any" Laura said.
"Ok what about the rest of you; we have beer, wine, sodas, OJ, and water."
After they said what they would like, he got their drinks sorted out and passed them out and then he headed into the kitchen and started getting dinner stated. Mark came into the kitchen about an hour later and sat down at the breakfast bar, watching Jack work around in the kitchen.
"Jack, is there anything going on between you and Sam?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because the last time I saw Sam was at Karen's birthday party and I could see and tell that she was tired by happy when she arrived."
"Well, your sister is a workaholic and she forgets all about time. Most of the time I have to almost drag her away from her lab so she can rest and eat and other times she works all night."
"So, is there anything going on between you two?"
"What happen if I say there is? What would you say besides it's against regulations."
"You know I don't like the Air Force and I want my sister to have a normal life."
"Mark, do you want your sister to have a normal life or be happy?"
By that time, Jacob and Sam walked through the door and heard Jack and Mark talking; they silently listened.
"Both; that is why I introduced her to Pete."
"Big mistake there."
"I know that now but all I want for her is to be happy."
"Even if it's with me?"
"You're what… ten, twelve years older than her? I don't think Dad would like that very much."
"Why; because of that nut case Hanson and with what he did to her?"
"Yes; how did you know about him?"
"He worked on the base for a few months until he was killed. Sam told me about him and what he was like. Sam knows I'm not like that and I've seen enough shit to last a life time."
"Black ops?"
"Yeah, I was a prisoner for four months in Iraq and it took me months to recover. Hell, I still have the odd nightmare but I don't let it take over my life, Sam makes sure of that."
"Have you ever hit a women Jack?"
"Nope, if I hit a woman like Sam, she would beat the crap out of me." this made Jacob and Sam smile.
"Well, she knows how to take care of herself."
"True; I've seen her in action, she has this 'don't mess with me' look. A few years ago, I saw her take down a guy who was the leader of a small village. He wanted her as his wife, even through he already had five and he wanted the rest of my team killed."
"What happened then, if this is true?"
"Most of it is true. Anyway Sam told him that she would fight him; if she won, we all go free along with the women who were being held against their will. If he won she would stay and the rest of us die. So as you can see, she beat the crap out of this guy. We managed to place the women in another village far, far away where, the last I heard, they are all happy."
"Wow, ever since Sam was small she could take care of herself."
"Like father, like daughter" Mark laughed.
"Yeah, so if there is some thing going on between you and Sam, well I would like to get to know you better first. As for Dad, I don't know how he will feel about it."
"I'll tell you how your dad feels about it Mark. You are just like him and all he wants is for Sam to be happy and if I hurt her I'll be in deep shit, not just with him but from all of our friends. The worst one is Janet, her and those damn needles. She is lethal with them, trust me. If she puts one of her needles in my ass I won't be able to sit down for a week" Mark laughed.
"Sam told me about you and needles."
"Yes and I know that Sam and Dad are here; they been listing in."
"What?" he turned around and stood up to see them walk into the kitchen.