Hey! Sorry for the wait, hopefully, you didn't become too used to me posting that fast. ?. Anyhow.
Enjoy!
M.
Thirty-Three
She had managed to talk Teal'c and Cam to start setting things for them to eat outside, it was a beautiful warm night, and it seemed like the perfect excuse to use the backyard table. But that had left Vala free to roam. And of course, one can walk around a house just long enough before it gets annoying. And Vala had been in her home before, and thus, it wasn't excessively surprising when the alien had found her way to the kitchen in where Sam was still hiding.
"You are about to run out of excuses," Vala pointed jumping over the counter to sit.
"Excuse me?" Sam asked stopping her task of cutting a cucumber.
"There are only enough vegetables that you can possibly peel and cut before you have to face the music,"Vala grinned, "I like that phrase, face the music… it's very, hmm, human."
"I have no idea what you are talking about, Vala," Sam pointed with an amused frown.
"Well, dear, if you don't know then I must explain because it seems to me that you are better at pretending than you were before. Sadly, the only one who falls for your deceives is you." Sam frowned. "You are hiding here, Sam. We all noticed it, if you are uncomfortable around us, you just have to let us know, and we will leave. It's not a big deal."
"I'm not. You are my friends, and it's customary for us to invite you over," She explained with a shrug, Vala snorted.
"Customary? That's what you are going for? Okay, then if we don't bother you. Why are you hiding here?"
"I'm not hiding, I'm…" She trailed raising the bowl of salad.
"Making a salad, I know," Vala added. "This salad must be called Hiding under a rock then because it certainly is what you are doing." Sam glared at her, "Okay, not hiding," she raised her hands in surrender. "Very well then, since you are not hiding and you are just making a salad, you won't mind the chatter, right? Like we used to because it's customary among friends," she trailed with a smug grin.
"Vala…I…"
"You are worried and upset; you are not feeling quite yourself, you don't know for sure if Jack is feeling quite himself yet. You hate the way you look and hate the way you feel in your own body. Hey, you can't stop me when I'm not close." She stopped talking and started to assess her friend again.
"How?" Sam asked after placing her knife down when her hands trembled a bit too much to allow her to make another cut.
"You've forgotten I was taken over? I know how it feels to go back after a while, it's not easy and it's definitively not pleasant," she grinned mischievously, "except some parts of returning, of course. Sex was … great."
"Vala!"
"What? Don't tell me you haven't yet?" She asked in dismay
"No, I mean…"
"Sam, you used to tell me everything. So what if the guys are out there? They can't hear us, and from my position, I can see them in the back. Spill it!" She added eagerly.
"You are right. It is great," Sam blushed, she wasn't a prude, but she was always a bit shy on the sharing her intimacy.
"I knew it! Tell me more."
"Well, it's great. We are exploring ourselves again… we are finding what we like and what we don't. Although I feel Jack is scared I'm going to break," she chewed her lower lip.
"He probably is, but you are tough. Even if you are way too skinny right now. But that will change, and you will back to your own weight before you know it."
"I hope so."
"I know so." She jumped down and grabbed a carrot, munching on it. "I feel I must warn you, tough. I won't last forever. At some point, you will have to get yourselves out of bed and talk."
"I know, Vala."
"That's good, that means you have talked. Even if that means you only touched the surface of it," she smiled. "I know I couldn't bring myself to talk about some stuff. I do hope you can." Vala mulled over her own thoughts for a while, "What about your daughter? How did he take it?"
"Better than anyone could expect, I guess," Sam shrugged.
"He didn't take it well, then."
"No, I mean. I can see Jack loves Naysa. He's, hmm, afraid maybe? I mean, I would be. A kid entered his life, and he has to adapt, and he didn't have a chance to prepare himself for it."
"Well, you always told me he was fantastic with kids. You shouldn't worry about it."
"I … I'm not worried actually. At least not by how he and Naysa will get along." She frowned. "I do have my doubts on how she will fit around our Earth lives. And how I will fit when I have to return to active duty. I know I'm not the first mother in the USAF, but…"
"You still worry about the things that might happen," Vala finished, then she bit her carrot again. "You know, it's quite dumb to worry by things that are months away of happening. By the time you have to go back, you will have things figured out, and you will be different. There's no point in stressing about things you might not need to change because you have changed already without noticing." Sam looked at her with widened eyes.
"That's…" She trailed
"I know, I should write one of those auto help books and become a best-selling author. I'm pretty good with advice, right?" Vala grinned, and the bell interrupted whatever Sam was about to say, "Want me to get it?"
"It's probably Jack and Daniel or Amelia and her husband. So, yes, that will be great."
"Whoever it is," Vala added from the kitchen door, "your hiding time has run out, Sam. Get out of here and enjoy the night."
"I will," she nodded and grabbed the knife again.
"Amelia, right? They are in the back," she heard as she finished and placed the cucumbers in the bowl. Grabbing it, she walked outdoors and greeted the newcomers.
"Amelia! I'm glad you made it," she told her, "this must be your husband."
"Hi, I'm Joe."
"Sam, my husband is the one who makes your wife live impossible."
"Oh, nothing like that ma'am. General O'Neill is a good boss."
"Jack can be a pretty good boss, but he can also be a grumpy man. Trust me; I've known the man for a long time."
"And you still married him," Vala pointed from behind. "I already introduced them to the rest of the gang."
"I'm yet to meet the General," Joe doubted, "Sam." He added as he wasn't given any other name to call her.
"Ah, Jack went to the store to get some unfrozen meat. He should be here any moment now," she smiled.
"How long is a long while?" Joe asked curiously, receiving an elbow to the stomach from his wife.
"Don't worry Amelia; we wouldn't have invited you and not expect questions from your husband. It's only natural. We've met in 97."
"Wow, that's a long time."
"I guess it is. How about you two?"
"Amelia is my high school sweetheart. We went our separated ways for a couple of years, and we ended up here. We visited the same bakery for a whole year before finally colliding with each other, and we've been together since."
"Meat is here!" Jack announce then from the back deck.
"Jack!" Sam called over, and he quickly joined her. "Jack this is Joe, Amelia's husband."
"Amelia," he saluted her first, "Nice to meet you, I've heard a few things about you, Joe."
"I must say I heard some things about you too, Sir."
"Ah, I hope nothing about how grumpy I am when my wife is lost," he added making Amelia blush. "And please, you are at my home, you both must call me Jack."
"Okay, Si..Jack." General O'Neill squinted at Amelia before looking at Sam.
"What is it with my name that's so complicated to say?"
"It's a matter of usage, sir," Sam grinned.
"Yeah, it took you a while," He pointed making Joe frown with that, "I recall that you managed to remember to call me by the name when you got angry at me."
"I couldn't quite scream at my superior officer, could I?"
"You are…?"
"USAF, Colonel Carter," she grinned. "I thought you would know."
"Ah, no. Amelia only mentioned that your wife was lost. I guess I must cut back the amount of police tv that I watch," he chuckled. "Ah, I assumed you were abducted by some group who wanted to use you to exchange something with the General. Amelia never said you were one officer too."
"Yeah, she's one of our best officers. And I can stay here and tell you all about her but then we would never eat and that woman over there, she wants meat pronto." He excused himself to start cooking.
IT was a couple of hours later when jokes had been told, beverages drank, and the food was eaten that they began to call the cabs that would take them to the different places they were going. Sam found herself feeling secure at the door on the arms of her husband as she waved goodbye to her visitors and friends.
He kissed her temple, and she melted against his body, the moment he closed the door, and they were alone in the now empty house.
"That was fun," she smiled.
"It was," he whispered back. "We should do it again sometime."
"Yeah," she yawned, making him chuckle.
"Come on, Colonel Carter, let's put you to bed." He added, moving them towards the stairs and turning the lights off behind them. "I can believe Naysa didn't wake with all the noise we made," he whispered when they checked their daughter.
"She sleeps like a log, I told you." She smiled. "I need a proper shower," she added as they walked towards the room.
"If I recall correctly, there are things I need to finish, Mrs. O'Neill," he whispered against her neck as he trapped her between their now closed door and him. She smirked at him.
"Then finish them, Mr. O'Neill."
"I'll do it gladly, ma'am." He added and captured her lips.