Four Days Later
"These are beautiful flowers, dad. Thanks!" Tyler says, grabbing them out of his father's hands and running off.
Sam grabs her coat. "Dad, can you make sure that those go into water before too long?" she asks her father. He nods.
"Those were for you," Jack explains, nodding after the flowers.
"I figured. You can't really blame him. Most of the time, when you walk through that door, you do have something for the kid. This is what you get for spoiling your kid rotten." she says with a grin, "He's right, they're beautiful."
He puts her hand on her back as he guides her to the car. All the parts of them in contact feel like they are on fire, in the most amazing way.
As soon as Jack puts the key into the ignition, opera music comes on. "Ah… you can change the station to whatever you want."
"You like opera music?" she asks tilting her head at him.
He shrugs.
"That's so sweet!" he says.
"I've got a tip for you Carter; Colonels don't like to be called 'sweet'."
"Huh, noted. I've got a tip for you… girls like it when you learn their first name," she teases back.
"I know your name, Samantha, I just prefer Carter," he responds.
"Well, don't, because I share that name with my father, and your son. And when you say my name, I want there to be no doubt that you're only thinking of me," She says.
"Trust me, they don't enter my mind when I look at you," he says with a grin.
She fidgets so softly that most people probably wouldn't have even picked up on it, but Jack notices. "What?"
"It's just… if we didn't have a kid, would we still be here right now?" Sam asks.
"Oh, God, Sammy, yes. I love that kid with all of my heart. And let me assure you I would be in his life no matter what. But this, tonight, it's not about Tyler."
Sam smiles, "Ditto."
Jack gently reaches over and touches her arm. He runs a hand down his arm. He traces the lines on her palm again. She's on the other side of him now, so it's the other hand. This hand is different. The life line is shorter, but only by a bit. The love line is just as deep, but longer, and it has a break in the middle.
He holds her hand in his, and turns to her to share a quick smile.
"I've missed the way you always have to tickle my hand before you can hold it," she whispers.
"I've missed the way…" but the thoughts all jumble over each other in his head.
Sam resists the urge to tease him. She knows this relationship is too new for that. "Hey, it's ok," she says, giving his hand a squeeze.
"I missed the way you don't care if I share less than you. I missed the way you bite the edge of your lips whenever you get confused, which is much more likely to happen in a conversation than a physics problem. I missed the way you giggle whenever I flirt. And I missed the way you look at me. I just missed you, Samantha."
Sam feels like her chest is going to explode, "Jack," is the only response she can get out.
"You look really nice," he says after a few seconds of silence.
"You do, too," Sam says. And Jack does look nice in dress clothes. But it's nothing like he looked in his Class As. Or in her all-time favorite outfit for him; tight jeans, white t-shirt, and a leather jacket.
"Hey, in Iraq, you said you had a motorcycle," Jack says.
"Yeah… I sold it when I was pregnant," she says.
"Why?" he asks.
"Because mothers don't go around riding motorcycles," she says.
"Not going to lie, that's a little disappointing," he says, giving her a quick glance.
"Jack?" she pauses, "Did you have anything to do with my getting command of SG-2?"
"I mentioned you be good for it before Charlie got it, but that's it, Carter. I wouldn't ever… influence you career because of personal things."
"I appreciate that," she says in an almost-whisper.
Jack has pulled up in front of a fancy restaurant. A really fancy restaurant. "Jack," Sam says, gasping his breath into her mouth.
He turns to her, grinning at the sound.
"This place is really nice."
"Yeah," he says slowly.
"I just never pictured…" she says, stopping quickly when she realizes that she is bound to offend him.
"What, did you think I was going to take you to the SGC mess hall?" he asks.
"Not exactly. It's just… we never really dated, did we?" she asks, stunned.
"Ah… and you were going to skip this date," he reminds her, opening up the door. He walks around the car, and holds his hand up to her when she steps down. But in the time that he was out of the car, Sam has begun to panic.
"I've never really done this," she quickly confesses.
"Sammy, if you'd rather leave and go spend time with our kid, or watch the stars on my roof, or hell, have dinner at the freaking officer mess, that's fine. But they have dancing in there, and I know how you love to dance," he says, holding his hand out for her.
She takes it with a smile. As soon as she's out of the truck, she leans forward to capture his mouth in a kiss. It's the first time that they've kissed in four years, but their lips remember each other. It's a few minutes before they pull away. He runs a hand slowly over her face, "Sammy."
"Let's go eat, and dance."
-0-0-0-
The slow walk to the front porch finally ends. They kiss gently, and then Jack takes a step back.
Sam grabs onto his lapels, "Where are you going, flyboy?" she whispers.
"Home," Jack says.
"Come in," Sam says.
"Just because we decided that we were going to have sex, doesn't mean we have to do it on our first date," he says.
"Jack, this is far from our first date, and it's been four years," Sam blurts. Then she blushes, "I mean for me, at least."
"It's been four years," he assures her, and she smiles at this.
"I've missed it," Sam says.
"Me?" he asks confused.
"That too, but… you in certain contexts," she says, blushing.
Jack pulls open the screen door.
"Me, too."
-0-0-0-
The bed seems enormous. Before, they had shared a small cot. Now, a queen sized bed seems expansive. Jack scoots over, invading Sam's side of the bed. Her fingers reach across the expanse, and begin to explore the familiar territory.
Suddenly they withdraw. "Sorry," Sam says, shocked at her own actions. She can't do this. Last time… he left. What if he does it again? This time it won't only be her that gets hurt. I will be her son, as well. "I ask you to come up here, and then change my mind. I'm sorry… I don't mean to be a tease."
"It's ok. Just… what happened?" Jack asks.
Sam doesn't say anything for a few seconds.
"Sammy?" he asks, touching her face.
"I… started to worry that you were going to…." Sam says.
"Wham, bam, thank you ma'am?" he asks.
She nods, laughing at how ridiculous it was.
"C'mere," he says, pulling her close. She's snuggled against his chest in the same way that they slept all the nights in the desert.
"Jack, you have to go home, before we fall asleep," Sam mutters after a few minutes.
"Ok, how exactly would my leaving after we decided we're not having sex get rid of your fears?" he asks.
"Jack, our son is in the house. My father is in the house. I wasn't exactly planning on having you stay for breakfast," Sam says.
He reaches over to her alarm clock, "What time does dad get up?"
Sam giggles at him calling her father dad. "Jack, you don't have to stay."
"He's former military, so he probably gets up early. But five o'clock? Is that early enough?" Jack says.
"You seriously want to hold me all night, and then sneak out in the wee hours of the morning?" she asks.
"Yeah, I do," he says snuggling back into bed next to her.
Her body finds all the places in his body where they fit together. She waits for the feeling of peace to come over her again, like it did back in the war.
But the truth is, you can still believe in peace when you have seen war or when your mother has been taken from you. But after you have seen your baby lying in a hospital bed, bruised and broken, heard him scream in pain and fear, then you can't really believe in peace anymore.
Early the Next Morning
"Sammy… sweetie, I'm leaving now," he says kissing her forehead.
She smiles up at him.
"I hated to wake you, but I figured that if I didn't…" he says, not sure how to put the thought into words.
"I'm glad you did," she says, smiling up at him.
"I'm not leaving you, Sammy; I'm just leaving," he says.
"You're coming over this afternoon for Ty?" she asks.
"For my family," he gently corrects, "Yeah."
Jack walks down the hallway as quietly as he can. The bathroom door opens.
Jacob has a bemused smile on his face, "Jack," he says with the tone of voice you use when meeting a colleague in the hallway. Not a man sneaking out of your daughter's room in the wee hours of the morning.
"Sir, I can explain…" Jack says.
"Jack, I don't need details."
"Nothing happened," Jack says quickly.
"Jack, you don't have to sneak out of her room because of me," Jacob says with eyebrows raised.
"Ty," Jack says softly.
"Ok, I just didn't want to be the reason," Jacob says, smiling at the younger man.
The Next Day
"Love you, bud," Jack says, kissing his son's forehead the next night.
Sam leans forward and gives him a light kiss on the cheek. They are almost out of the door when Tyler says, "There is a monster under the bed."
"Really!" Jack exclaims diving to the floor, and scurrying under the bed with the speed of a black ops officer. "Where, son? Where?"
Tyler sticks his head under the bed, and points. Jack throws wild punches under the bed in that direction, causing Tyler to erupt into giggles.
"Did I get him?" he asks, turning back to Tyler.
"Yeah, can't you see him?" Tyler asks.
"No, there wouldn't be any monsters if adults could see them. Only kids can see them. So, if they come back, you just call them in, or fight them off yourself."
"But monsters are too scary, dad," Tyler complains.
"Oh, no, if they were really scary, they would take on adults, wouldn't they? But they are such chickens that they only deal with children. And you… you could beat up a monster, easy. But if you don't want to, call us in, and we can," Jack says, scooting out from under the bed.
"Thanks, Daddy," Tyler says.
Jack ruffles his son's hair on the way out of the room. Sam closes the door behind them, and takes Jack's hand. She pulls Jack into her room.
"Your dad saw me yesterday morning," Jack tells her. They haven't been alone since then.
"What did he say to you?" she asks. concerned.
"Ah… just shy of a blessing, Carter," he says.
"Really?" she asks.
"Yeah. So what time does the kid wake up? Can I sleep in a bit more tomorrow morning?" Jack asks, turning to the alarm.
"It's already set."