Sam gave a narrow eyed look at the innocent looking object sitting in her workspace. Innocent like a hidden landmine. The problem, she decided, was not that Jack had a little faith in her abilities but that he had too much faith.
She picked up the flat-bladed tool and hesitated. The task before her was… it was beyond flying an asteroid through the Earth. Beyond blowing up a sun. What if she ruined it? What if she—
"Sam?"
She looked up to see Jack giving her a puzzled look from the kitchen doorway.
"You done icing Gracie's birthday cake yet?"
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#2 Busted – Rated K"Jack, what are you reading?"
Jack jerked his head up. Sam was leaning over their sofa and peering at his book. Crap. He was so busted. As nonchalant as possible he closed the book, cover down. He coughed to clear his throat, "Nothing."
"If it's nothing," she teased, "why are hiding it from me?"
"I'm not, you just, surprised me. Didn't hear you come in."
"Jack."
He felt his face get warm. "Okay, okay." He turned the book over, showing the cover. "Wormhole X-treme!: Conquering Divide" and "Based on the hit television series developed by Martin Lloyd" was proudly proclaimed.
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#3 To Oz – Rated K"'…and they all followed him through the portal into the streets of the Emerald City.'" Jack read aloud the chapter ending and looked down at the little girl that slept against him.
He closed the children's book, took off his reading glasses, and set both aside. With gentle hands he laid her into her bed, folded up the pink and purple covers around her, and tucked her 'Toto' in with her.
He pressed a goodnight kiss on her forehead and when he straightened up he saw Sam at their daughter's bedroom door, watching with a soft smile curving her lips.
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#4 It's Complicated – Rated KSam lay back and let her bed bear the weight of her cast. It was her first broken leg and she hadn't had it for more than a few days and she was already itchy and twitchy. Now she really got Jack's complaining about his broken leg eight years ago after Antarctica.
Thoughts of Jack made her recall the conversation she'd had with Keller in the Genii mine. Her 'seeing-anyone' answer had been a lie wrapped in truth. She'd gotten good at those about her and Jack.
Their love had never been complicated, just achieving the freedom to express it.
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#5 Seeking Solace – Rated K"Come here."
Sam was blinded by tears but those two small words were a blazing beacon of comfort and with a sob she turned into the strong arms that reached for her. Her arms wrapped tightly around him in turn and her face tucked into his neck where her tears wet the collar of his shirt.
No more words were said as they stood together and breathed together. All there was for Sam was his arms cradling her close, the strength of his body holding her up, and the heartbeat beneath her ear as she received her solace in Jack.
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#6 A Moment in Time – Rated KSam sat on her beach towel, dug her toes into the hot sand, and breathed deep of the scent of the beach: water and heat and sunscreen. In the lake two people laughed and splashed water on each other.
A laugh turned into a joyous shriek as Jack swooped up their daughter into his arms and spun her around in the air. Water droplets arched out from the force of the spin and as their faces spun past her, she saw their unbridled joy in each other and their play and a moment in time was captured in her heart.
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#7 Triumph – Rated KJack fell beneath his two attackers. He gasped for breath and twisted away but it was in vain. He had no weapons but his hands to hold them off and in the face of them, decades of experience fighting bloody battles failed him.
He was forced to do what he had sworn to them he'd never do—he stopped fighting. "Uncle!"
"Yeah!" his daughter stooped tickling him and crowed triumphantly. "We won Mommy!"
He sprawled on the cabin floor, caught his breath, and smiled up at her grinning face and the smiling face of Sam just over their daughter's shoulder.
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#8 Irregular Orbit – Rated KOverhead the night revealed the star-studded universe and Jack leaned back from his telescope. He reached over Teal'c's legs to get to the cooler as the observation platform was crowded with his teammates, all bundled up against the night chill.
As he grabbed a beer he caught more of the astronomy lesson Carter was giving Daniel.
"So it has an irregular orbit?" Daniel asked.
"Eccentric," Jack corrected. "There are only irregular galaxies and satellites."
Daniel gave him a blank look but the approving smile Carter gave him was like a shooting star, brilliant and bright and uplifting of the spirit.
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#9 Never Again – Rated KJack scanned the faces partying at his cabin but didn't see the one he wanted. Sensing where Sam might go, he slipped around to the deck. There she was in her white gown, leaning against the ribbon festooned railing.
"Hey," he said quietly.
She looked at him and smiled brilliantly. "Hey."
The breeze blew a strand of hair across her face and she tucked it back behind her ear and the new wedding ring on her hand glittered in the sun.
His heart swelled at the sight. That ring meant never again would he have to say she wasn't his.
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#10 Obsession – Rated KSam was aware throughout the day as she spoke, laughed, and smiled with family and friends of the weight of the wedding band now worn on her finger. She couldn't help obsessively touching it either, whether a rub from her thumb beneath or the fingers of her other hand reading the shape of the stones on top.
It was not an obtrusive weight, like a shackle, but a like warm hug that was as golden as it was. And each touch was an anchor in reality that she almost couldn't believe had finally come true—she and Jack were married.
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