THE HERE AND NOW
CHAPTER 5
"Now"
" GREETINGS "
She was determined to befriend them, she didn't want it to be awkward between them, especially since she was now looking at the General from across the room and she hated it to have to avoid or avert her gaze from him. Not only that, but being in a school parent teacher night was weird enough without having to deal with the General.
She frowned at herself. Why was it difficult? He used to be one of her best friends and something maybe even more, but now it was as if they were complete strangers. He was with his daughter looking at the work she had done and she was with her son so everything should be all right. And yet she felt weird around him. She hated that.
"Parents, please take a seat, we will begin shortly. For the children, they can show the school to their mom or dad, depending on who wants to stay."
Sam frowned. This was nothing like the school in Denver and Pete was not present. She frowned and began to feel like a fish out of water. She glanced at the General who smiled towards the direction of one of the teachers. He probably knew them since the woman seemed to be delighted with the man. She smirked. General O'Neill could still pull of his charm.
"For single parents the children can wait in the play area, and then they can show you around."
Sam took a deep breath. Yeah, this was good. She saw Jack walk out of the room, while April hung from his arm laughing at something he had said. She followed him and smiled at her son who was a bit nervous and uncomfortable with the whole parent teacher night.
"Mom, why can't I stay with you?"
"April get back here!"
"Mom, it's that girl."
She turned towards the jungle gym where the red headed girl was already up and dangling from the monkey bars with a very annoyed General trying to get her down. She smiled at the sight and heard her son laughing beside her at the sight of the man and the little girl struggling with one another.
"They seem to be having fun. You want to join them?"
"Huh?"
"Come on, I'm sure we can make friends with them."
She saw the hesitation in her son's eyes and smiled at him reassuringly. Aron was not the most popular boy at school. Being smart and shy was not good a combination, but she wanted to help him get out of his shell and what better way to do it than by introducing him to the General. She remembered how Daniel used to be and how he had changed just by hanging out with Jack.
"Hey dad, look it's the kid I punched."
"April…"
"Sorry dad."
Jack turned towards them and smiled at Sam. He could see she was nervous and hesitant. He wanted to frown, it was uncomfortable, but what could he do? He was determined to not be a jerk and as they got closer he smiled and extended his hand as if to greet her for the first time. She was taken aback, but accepted his hand and shook it.
"Hey Carter."
"Hello... ah we came to see if Aron can join in."
"April?"
"He isn't going to pull my hair is he?"
"No, I'm sorry I did that."
"Ok let's go to the swings!"
April jumped off the monkey bars and rushed towards the swings. Aron looked up at his mom who nodded and he ran towards April to join her on the swings, leaving Sam and Jack alone with one another. Like always he just put his hands in his pockets and looked at his daughter and Sam's kid playing.
"We have fifteen minutes right?"
"Yeah I think so."
It was awkward they couldn't deny that, but he was not turning her away. She was about to talk when he suddenly walked past her and headed towards the kids who were discussing something. She (who?) stopped (what?) and Sam watched as he knelt in front of the two kids.
"What's up guys?"
"He doesn't know how to swing…"
"Ok then bud, jump into the swing and I'll teach you."
"Yeah dad is the best!"
She was taken aback by the way Aron reacted to Jack. He jumped into the swing and began to do what Jack was telling him. Minutes later he was getting the hang of it and was laughing. She smiled and closed her eyes. Aron needed a dad and even tough Pete was not a bad father, he was to busy with work. But it seemed that Jack was always there for April. She wondered how he did that, being General of the SGC and still being with April.
Her thoughts however were interrupted when Aron rushed towards her. She smiled and knelt down towards him.
"Mom did you see how high I went!"
"Yeah I didn't know you could do that…"
"Mr. Jack showed me and April said I could be with her in the play room while you and her dad are in the conference."
"Yeah?"
"Can he?"
She looked at the red headed girl who smiled and was holding on to Jack's hand swinging from it. She was a care free kind of kid, she could tell that. She wished Aron was more laid back and wouldn't act so grown up. He needed to be a kid. She smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, sure."
" COOL! Let's go!"
She grabbed Aron's hand and pulled him towards the class room with the play room area. Sam smiled and Jack signaled her to follow him towards the parent teacher night at school. It was not as boring as she had fist expect it to be. The teacher was friendly and congratulated her on a very intelligent boy she had. After receiving a bumper sticker for her car, she saw the teacher walking towards Jack.
"Mr. O'Neill…"
"Hey teach… so how's April doing?"
"She is a surprisingly intelligent girl but…"
"Too high spirited?"
"I'm worried about her attitude. She is reclusive and doesn't socialize much with other girls."
"That's all?"
She was suprised she had said that out loud, as were the two individuals who were talking about April. She how ever was beside herself that she was eavesdropping on their conversation and had been caught red handed. Jack just raised an eyebrow and looked at her with a surprised look. As for the teacher she was a bit angrier.
"Please do not listen in on other peoples conversations Mrs. Shanahan."
This had been the first time she had been addressed as such. Her eyes widened and she turned towards Jack who was now looking at his desk, his eyes covered by the shadows of the room. Slowly he turned around to face the front of the room. She felt as if she had been caught doing something wrong, as if she had hurt him and she was worried. Her heart was telling her by an ache that would not go away.
"I-it's Carter."
"Excuse me?"
"It's Carter. I ...I didn't change my last name."
"Ah. Well Mrs. Carter please restrain yourself from listening in on other people's conversations."
That said, the teacher turned and began to talk to Jack O'Neill. She wanted him to turn around and face her. Why was so important of her to know that he was not hurt by the teacher's words. Had it hurt at all and if so, did he still care about her? She found herself out of breath and her heart rate increased. She wondered and more questions appeared.
Why was she feeling like this? Why did it hurt her to see him hurt? Why was it so important that he knew she was still Carter? She was married, had a child and was ...was happy, she told herself and repeated the mantra over and over. Yet this man she could not forget, this man, her feelings she couldn't deny, so burying them was the only option she had.
There was a time when she would never have felt uncomfortable with him around, but now she wanted to flee the room and just get out of that place. He was Jack O'Neill, there was nothing different about him and that was part of the problem. He was as she remembered him and as much as she tried, she could not help but feel attracted to him. Looking around the room, she noticed that other mothers shared her thoughts.
"That is all parents. I look forward to seeing you again. Don't forget to sign our petition for new library books."
Filing out of the room she was surprised to see him linger behind to talk with the teacher. Walking towards the play area, she smiled when she saw Aron and April painting something, talking without a care in the world. Taking a deep breath she walked towards them and taped Aron on the back.
"What you drawing?"
"Hey mom, look what we did."
The picture showed what Carter could only guess was April and Aron riding on the swings, a picture to commemorate their time together. She smiled at them and April smiled up at her and then continued to finish the picture.
"Mom can April come to play?"
"Not tonight sweetie. It's too late."
"Told you so."
Aron frowned and turned back to the painting and April laughed. It was fun to see tease people, even her dad did it. As they finished the picture Sam could see how opened Aron was with April and how well it seemed to take her teasing. Yeah, Aron definitely needed more friends like April to hang around with.
"You can come to my house. Dad has a huge back yard and a play area."
"A play area?"
"Aha he and Uncle Teal'c built it. Uncle Daniel tried but he hurt his toe."
She laughed at that. It seemed Daniel had not changed and it seemed that SGC didn't change and had still remained a close nit group. She wondered every day how they were and now it seemed that they had done ok. She hadn't expected them to fail or anything like that, but she had thought that perhaps her leaving was going to affect them somehow.
It hurt. She was alone, had friends but not friends that she could rely or depend on like she had with Daniel, Janet and Teal'c. She knew that she was never going to find friends like them anywhere else. They were one of a kind and up until now, she had not realized that she had lost them.
"Janet had to bench him but I think he was being just being lazy."
"Daddy!"
She smiled and rushed towards her dad who bent down and picked her up in his arms. April began to tell him and ask him if Aron could come to play with in her play area. Jack was hesitant; Sam could see that, but he glanced at her and Aron looked at her with a mix of emotions playing on his face.
"If Aron's mom says it's ok then yes."
"Please…"
"Yeah mom, can I?"
"Ah…we'll have to...ok yeah sure."
She was going to mention Pete but when the flash of disappointment crossed Aron's face and she changed her mind. He was the new kid in town, hard to make friends and maybe this was her way of catching up with old friends. Aron smiled and rushed towards April and Jack who smiled at the kid.
"So what time can I come over?"
"Aron we still need to see if he is available."
"Dad?"
"I'm available; how about this weekend?"
"Can I mom? Please!"
"Yeah sure we'll just have to ask Dad ok?"
"Ok."
Jack didn't wince, he didn't react, he didn't do anything and Sam noticed he was unbothered by her words and she wondered why, when just a few minutes ago she was sure he had been hurt by what the teacher said. Yet now it was as if he didn't care at all.
"Well give us a call then."
"Bye Aron... Ah Aron's Mom…"
"It's Sam."
"Sam? Oh is she the one Cassie doesn't like dad?"
"Ah we'll talk about it later... well see ya guys."
Jack O'Neill walked away and Sam stood frozen to the spot at April's words. It was an innocent question, but it was valid. Aron looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Who is Cassie?"
"J-just and old friend."
"Oh, okay."