Stargate SG1 Fan Fiction ❯ The Secret Life of a Major General ❯ Chapter 42 ( Chapter 42 )

Chapter 42

Backyard, O’Neill’s Residence, Alexandria, VA
July 2, 2005
Afternoon

The adults had gathered in the backyard of Jack’s house some time ago. The kids in the house and the twins down for their nap, and Mark gratefully accepting a beer from his sister’s fiancé as the man joined him at the picnic table. Mark had to agree with Sam’s earlier remark about Daniel—Dr Jackson really—talking his ear off once he had mistakenly gotten the man going on languages; one of his own interests being the study of undeciphered scripts, like Linear A on Crete or the Indus script in India.

Not that what Daniel had to say wasn’t interesting, but it was a little over his head once the man started talking about logographics, logophonetics, syllabics, consonantal alphabets, syllabic alphabets, segmental alphabets, boustrophedon, and more.

“Thank you,” Mark muttered aside to Jack as Daniel and Jonas once again got involved in a spirited debate about some Latin derivative—or was Latin a derivative of it?—he forgot which, or never had it clear in the first place.

“You’re welcome.” Jack said wryly as he gestured at the two men arguing so passionately a few feet from them. “You looked like you could use a rescue.”

“Are they always like this?”

Jack considered the question as Mark took a drink of his beer. “Well, they didn’t really work together as Jonas was on base when Daniel had… taken a year leave. But yeah, they were both like this in the field. Too enthused about some dead words.”

“You’re not a bit interested?” Mark inquired.

Jack lifted his shoulders in a shrug. In life, maybe a little bit, that he would never admit to anyone. Least of all with Daniel a few feet away. But in the field? No way. Not a chance.

“So, Sam’s mentioned a few times that you transferred just a few months ago. But she didn’t actually say what you do?”

“A department of Homeland Security,” Jack lied. Well technically, DHS—which comprised of all military and civilian agencies involved in national security—was one of his departments that was thankfully managed fully by another group. As far as the public and most of the planet was concerned the department’s overarching authority, Homeworld Security did not exist. So when talking with those without clearance they fudged the truth and said HWS was one of DHS departments.

“Ah…” Mark knew better to ask more questions after a response like that. He was not a military brat for nothing. He gestured to the people in the backyard. “Is this it—people and place—for the ceremony tomorrow?”

“Basically,” Jack said with a nod, “Hammond and the Justice of Peace will be joining us and that’s it.”

“That’s all? Notice too short?”

Jack lifted his shoulders in another shrug. The small guest numbers was a combination of short notice and no one they had really consider close enough to invite.

Mark did not pursue the question when he saw Jack’s reluctance to answer.

“Uncle Jack,” Cassie bounded out of the house and over to the small group of men gathered around the picnic table. “Sam wants your help with the twins.”

“They’re awake?” Jack turned from his floundering conversation with Mark.

The redheaded young woman nodded. “Less than two minutes ago.”

“Thanks Cass,” Jack said affectionately as he headed towards the house.

“You’re welcome,” Cassie called after his retreating back before plopping down on the picnic table beside Mark.

“Are Ryan and Amy done with the Wii?” Mark inquired.

Cassie shook her head. “I decided that after they whomped me at bowling for the third time, the two can fight out the championship game themselves.” Cassie folded her arms on top the picnic table and leaned against them and looked at him with a crafty look on her face. “So, you’re Sam’s brother.”

“Yes…” Mark said cautiously.

“And brothers are supposed to know all sorts of interesting stories about their sisters…”

Mark relaxed and half-grinned with amusement as he realised where the young woman was attempting to lead their conversation. “Right.”

“So?” Cassie said happily as she leaned in. “Do tell.”

Chuckling Mark decided to oblige and launched into a story about his sister and her attempts to fix the hallway clock, never realising that it did not keep time because as soon as she had fix it, he would set it to the wrong time again. And what happened when she had caught onto what he had been doing and fixed all the clocks in his room to a different time and nothing but begging and bribery had had her set them right again.

Tyler on her hip Sam descended the staircase to the main floor. At the bottom step, she set her son down and he was only too happy to scamper into the living room after catching sight of his new best friend, her nephew Ryan.

Emily’s shrieks of glee had her turning her head around to see Jack finish lowering his daughter by her ankles to the floor. The voices in the living room soon distracted the brown-eyed little girl and she followed in her brother’s footsteps, which left them alone for the moment.

Sam shook her head at Jack as he came up behind her. “I don’t know why she likes that so much,” Sam remarked as she turned back to watching the children.

Giving a shrug, Jack stepped up behind and wrapped his arms around her waist. Sam linked her hands with his and folded her arms over his as she snuggled back against his chest.

“I don’t think she’s so strange from her mother,” Jack remarked softly into her ear. “What with her love of crazy flying.”

Sam snorted and elbowed him in the ribs gently. “I’m not the only crazy flyer in this family.”

Jack’s chuckle was a rumble against her back before he spoke, the change of topic clear in his tone of voice. “Sorry if I interrupted you and Mark in the kitchen earlier. But they were insistent on getting their apple juice.”

“No, it’s okay,” Sam said with a shake of her head as she gave his hands linked around her waist a reassuring squeeze. “Well I don’t think everything is done with, but we did definitely clear the air.”

“That’s good.”

“Yes. And Jack, about what I heard with Daniel…”

“Shh,” Jack sensually nuzzled her neck. “We’ll talk about it more later but know this Sam, I do love you and believe you love me. It’s just taken me a bit to trust my belief again.”

Sam melted back more against Jack, her emotions aglow with the reassurance from him. She was content where she was, feeling his chest rise and fall against her back, as they stood in front of the staircase and watched the twelve, ten, and two-year-olds playing in the living room.

This had not been something she had expected with Jack. Wanted, but not expected. The easy physical touching—it was something she knew neither one of them would be able to do in public—but in the privacy of what was to be their home they had fallen into it very easily. Both of them craving the comfort and reassuring nature of just being able to reach out and touch the other person whenever they wanted to, after years of not being able to touch even in friendship.

The two Carter men who had been about to enter the house stopped outside the glass doors on the patio. They had a clear side view of the two affianced people wrapped back to chest in a touching embrace as they obviously watched something beyond the men’s line of sight.

Mark felt more of his reservations melt away. He had been truthful to Sam in the kitchen with their discussion, but he had not really felt comfortable about the relationship between his sister and the much older man. But now, seeing them as this… he had never seen Sam like that with Pete.

Seeing them standing like that reminded both men of doing the same thing with their own wives. And neither could any longer say even in the privacy of their own minds that this relationship would not really, truly, make Sam happy.