Daughter of My Heart, Chapter Twenty-Two
[Set just after Rite of Passage]
Sam desperately wanted a glass of wine. Instead, she was stuck drinking soda, listening to music she didn't understand, and trying very hard to supervise a house full of teenagers while also respecting their need for privacy.
A new wave of raucous laughter erupted from the living room, the volume of noise doubling as the teens shouted to be heard over one another, and their music.
The doorbell rang, signaling the arrival of pizza. Sam answered quickly, handing the driver a wad of cash before carrying the five extra large pizzas into the fray.
She'd barely set foot into the room when the teens were upon her, grabbing boxes and arguing loudly over who got how much of which pizza. Only two of the kids stayed out of the melee, and Sam's heart fell to her feet when she realized who they were. Cassie and Dominic, curled into the sofa, whispering and giggling quietly to themselves.
Forget the glass. She'd need the whole bottle.
Escaping back to the relative safety of the kitchen, she silently cursed Daniel and Janet for talking her into letting Cassie have the party in the first place. And then again, for not being able to make it to back her up.
Not that she disagreed with what they'd done to save Cassandra. She was actually fairly impressed with Daniel's display of marksmanship during the whole exchange (not to mention his devotion to their daughter). She'd even saved the surveillance footage to her hard drive just for a pick-me-up on bad days. But fact of the matter was, Hammond could have had both their asses for their shared lapse, and though he'd been lenient giving them two-weeks' brig time, it still meant that she had to go through this latest ordeal entirely on her own.
She glanced at the clock. Seven pm. Four more hours to go.
Oh, God. She was never going to make it.
Jack reached for his phone, smirking when he saw the SOS signal. " 'C'mon, Teal'c. Cater needs backup," he said, grabbing his coat.
Teal'c frowned. "Is Major Carter not attending the celebration of her daughter's birth, O'Neill?," he asked, confused.
Jack's smirk widened. "Oh yeah. You'll understand when we get there."
Teal'c shot one last longing look at the TV screen before Jack grabbed the remote and shut it off. Star Wars could wait. It'd been forever since he'd been invited to a decent pizza party.
Sam opened the door, relief flooding her when she saw her teammates standing on the other side.
"Oh, thank God," she muttered by way of greeting.
"Things getting a little too rowdy for you, Carter?," Jack asked, stepping inside.
"Not at all, Sir," she said through clenched teeth, forcing a smile. "Everyone's having a great time."
Teal'c peered curiously into the noisy living room, immediately retreating back toward the door.
"Any pizza left?," Jack asked.
"No," Teal'c replied, disappointment evident in his voice.
"Hmm. All right. Carter, you and Teal'c go find us a deck of cards. I'll order us some more pizza."
Sam's brows knit together, and she opened her mouth to speak.
"Ah!," Jack interrupted. "The kids are doing fine. A little food and some distraction, and you might start to enjoy yourself too."
"I don't..."
"I'll make it an order if I have to," Jack warned lightly. Sam sighed in defeat.
Forty-five minutes later, two more extra-large pizza's showed up at the door. Jack hurried over to pay, quickly carrying the steaming hot food past the mass of teens toward their smaller party at the back of the house.
"Too bad Daniel and the Doc couldn't make it," Jack said, shaking his head. "This party is great!"
Sam snorted. "I'm almost beginning to wonder if they staged the whole thing just to get out of doing this."
"I do not believe that either Daniel Jackson or Doctor Fraiser are capable of such deception," Teal'c observed calmly.
Jack grinned. "You never know, T. Danny-boy has shown an amazing ability to shock and awe of late. Though if you're really worried about the fun he's missing out on, you could always volunteer him to chaperone Cassie's first school dance," he suggested, a wicked twinkle in his eye.
"I might just do that," Sam grumbled good-naturedly.
"Would it not be more prudent to have Daniel Jackson chaperone young Cassandra on her outings with her prospective mate?," Teal'c asked.
Sam chocked on her pizza, coughing loudly.
"Easy there, Carter," Jack said, thumping her on the back. "And the word is 'date', Teal'c. As in, 'Wouldn't it be more prudent for Daniel to chaperone her on her dates?' Also, the answer is 'No'. You never send a dad on a date, it's just asking for trouble."
"What dates?," Sam managed hoarsely, glaring at the two of them. They exchanged a quick glance.
"Don't know if you noticed, Carter, but Cassie seems to really like the one young man...," Jack began.
"Dominic."
"Yes. Well, Cassie and Dominic seem to have really hit it off, and I wouldn't be surprised if she's asking to go out with him within, say, the next twenty-four hours."
"But we haven't even talked about dating yet!," Sam protested.
"If you want, Teal'c and I could shadow them with Zats...," he offered.
"You're enjoying this!," she accused.
Jack shrugged. "Maybe a little."
Sam glared at him.
"Have some pizza," he suggested innocently. "Then let's bring out the cake!"
Cassie was fairly certain that this was the best birthday she'd ever had.
You know, apart from the whole Goa'uld disease thing, and the bit about her dad and Janet being in the brig for misconduct and all.
But as much as that all sucked...her party had been great! All her friends had said so. And Dominic... Cassie blushed at the very thought of him. They'd spent the whole party together, dancing and talking and playing truth or dare with the rest of the group. He'd asked how she was doing, and seemed genuinely relieved when she told him she was much better.
He'd even kissed her again, the memory of which still made her lips tingle. In a non-lights-exploding sort of way.
He was so sweet, and so gorgeous! She really, really liked him.
She just hoped that her mom and dad wouldn't be too uptight to let her actually go out with him. Because if there was one thing Cassandra was pretty sure of, it was that he did want to go out with her. And she was more than ready to accept, if only her parents would agree.
She bit her bottom lip worriedly. She'd have to wait until her dad and Janet were out of the brig to talk to them. Her mom would never agree on her own. Her dad probably wouldn't, either, but Janet...Janet understood these things. Janet would help them see her point of view.
For now though, she would have to be content to lay awake all night, replaying every amazing moment of her birthday in her mind.
Especially that kiss!
Somehow, she'd survived. Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c had been the last to leave, staying long enough to help tidy up a bit before calling it a night. Cassie was already in bed, having said goodnight with a disconcertingly dreamy smile on her face about half an hour ago.
Sam opened a bottle of wine, pouring herself a small glass of the rich red fluid. She took a sip, setting the glass down and staring at it morosely.
Cassie had had a great time. Her friends too. It should be a night to celebrate, managing to keep that many teens happy for an entire evening. But something was missing.
Even with Teal'c and the Colonel there for moral support, Sam had felt oddly alone, a dull little island in a sea of festivity.
She swirled the liquid in her glass, watching the waves it made.
It really hadn't been the same without Janet and Daniel. They'd never missed a celebration before. Not a birthday or holiday, not even once. They'd always been a part of this family, vital to the whole. Cassie had accepted the circumstances, but for Sam...it felt like something huge was missing.
She took another sip, replacing the glass on the counter. It'd been a week since Cassie had fallen ill. A week since General Hammond had been forced by Air Force regulation to punish their actions, even though no one on base blamed them in the least for what they'd done. The two week brig sentence was really as lenient as the General could get, given the infraction. But she missed them like crazy. The number of times she'd picked up the phone to call one of them this week, only to realize a moment too late that they wouldn't be there... Or had gone to see one of them on-duty, extra coffee in hand just to say hi... And Friday dinner without them had just been wrong. No amount of Chinese food and girly movies could make up for missing out on that family time.
At one point she'd even entertained the thought of relieving the SF on duty outside their cells, just so should could be close to them. In the end, she'd thought better of it, but still... It was a little scary, just how entwined their lives had become. Four years ago, they'd barely known each other. Now Sam was struggling to get through two weeks without her best friend and...Daniel. She sighed.
Pathetic.
No, she revised. Not pathetic. Just...unexpected. She'd never needed anyone else to get by before. The realization that she genuinely depended on them, on their company and their insights and their shared connection with her daughter... it left her feeling more alone and vulnerable than she'd felt in a very long time.
Sam downed the rest of the wine in her glass, deciding to call it a night. One more week, and things would be back to normal. One more week, and she'd be able to breathe again without the deep ache of loss she now felt for her two friends.
Maybe they'd be released early, for good behaviour.