-- Chapter Two --
Sam walked toward her car in the SGC parking lot, angry. Angry at herself for not turning off her cell phone during the briefing. Angry at her father for not being able to take a hint and stay quiet about her missed meeting with Pete. Angry at Pete for calling her with a flower ‘emergency’ while she was at work. Angry at Daniel for not coming back. Her step faltered. Yet. Angry at Daniel for not coming back yet.
She really needed to talk to Daniel. She needed her best friend back.
As she drove home, she called Pete. He was very excited that she had managed to get away from work and said he’d meet her at her place.
They drove through the streets of Colorado Springs. Sam stared blindly out the window, lost in her thoughts.
Pete dragged her out of her silence with talk about the caterer. He was obviously frustrated that she hadn’t been able to make the meeting with the florist. Sam didn’t really blame him for being upset, but she still couldn’t believe he had called her at the base about it.
It might be different if he didn’t know how important her job was. But Pete knew that the fate of the galaxy could be in her hands at any given time. Literally. She wished he could understand that their wedding plans didn’t exactly fit into her top-ten list of priorities every minute of every day.
But the galaxy was safe again. And he deserved her attention. Her residual anger at him began to fade as they talked.
As hard as she tried though, she found her mind wandering away from the conversation again. He noticed her distraction and called her on it. Why was she doing this to him? Pete was a good guy. He was trying so hard to make this work. Sam pushed her concerns to the back of her mind and tried to concentrate on being here with Pete.
They talked a bit about the meeting with her father, and then Pete asked, “Did I tell you I also have a surprise for you?”
“No, what is it?” Sam asked.
He turned to her and opened his mouth but closed it before he said anything. “Tricky!”
She grinned.
“You’ll see,” he said.
Sam smiled, leaning back in her seat. Talking about her father reminded her of his odd behaviour over the last few days. Her smile faded. She had a feeling something was wrong. That there was something he wasn’t telling her. Maybe it had to do with Pete. She wished her dad was willing to talk about it.
“And I’ve lost you again.”
“Sorry.” Sam winced. “I guess I have a lot on my mind.”
“Want to talk about it?”
She just sighed and stared out her window again.
“Sam, are you okay?”
She should at least try to explain why she was so distracted. Her head rolled on the headrest so she could look at him. “A friend of mine is missing.”
Pete glanced at her for a moment before turning his attention back to the road. “As in ‘missing in action’?”
“Yeah.”
He reached over and took her hand in his, squeezing it tightly. Sam wished she could explain everything. She wanted to tell Pete that it was her fault Daniel had been taken in the first place. That it was her fault he was probably dead. But she had always had trouble talking to Pete about Daniel. She didn’t really know why. Still, Pete’s sympathy was sincere, and she appreciated it.
She took a deep breath and forced a smile. “So, what’s this surprise again?”
“You’ll see. We’re almost there.” Pete grinned. “Close your eyes.”
Sam laughed. This was one of Pete’s favourite games. He seemed to love taking her places as a surprise. And it never failed to make her laugh. She closed her eyes.
“They closed?”
“Yup.”
“Good.”
“Can I open them now?”
“Nope.”
“How about now?”
Pete laughed. “Not yet. Be patient.”
Eventually, the car stopped, and Sam climbed out of the car, her eyes still closed. She felt the softness of grass under her shoes. “Can I open them now?”
“Almost.”
She closed her door.
Pete took her hand and placed his other hand on her back. He guided her a few steps forward. “Okay. Now.”
Sam opened her eyes and looked around, confused. Whose house was this? Why had Pete brought her here? What was the surprise?
“What do you think?”
“Uh.” She looked to her right and saw the For Sale sign in the yard. Oh God. Had he brought her here to look at this house? He had never told her that he was looking at houses. “Well, uh...”
“Speechless, huh?”
“Yeah.”
Pete laughed in apparent delight. “Isn’t it great?” He let go of her hand to gesture at the house excitedly. His hand still on her back, he led her forward, across the front yard. “Remember our first night together? You described the house you always wanted?”
He remembered that? Sam felt a stab of guilt. She could barely recall the conversation. “I can’t believe this,” she said.
“The kitchen isn’t yellow, but we can paint. Come on. I’ll show you.” His hand left her back and her pace slowed. Pete continued forward, stepping around a flowerbed. Sam stopped in the middle of the front yard.
“And you’re not gonna believe the back yard! The dog’s gonna love it!” He headed toward the house, leaving Sam blinking at his back.
“Dog?”
Sam watched as Pete stood on the front porch, digging in his pocket for something. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. A house. This was huge. Getting married was huge. Why was the fact that she’d be sharing her entire life with Pete only now starting to sink in?
“Come on! You’ve got to see the inside!” Pete pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and opened the front door.
He had keys to the house. Alarmed, Sam glanced back over her shoulder at the sign in the yard. She relaxed as she confirmed that it said “For Sale”. The realtor must have loaned him a set of keys so that he could show her the house. Okay, this wasn’t bad. She could look at the house. She had to get used to the idea of living with Pete full time anyway. Little steps. She could do this.
She turned back to the house. It really was beautiful. It was sage green with a charcoal shingled roof. The paved driveway led to the garage on the left side of the house. A wooden bench in the front yard overlooked the sprawling beds of wildflowers. Hanging baskets of plants decorated the front porch. All of the windows had decorative panels across the top, and a stone pathway disappeared around the corner of the house, presumably leading to the back yard. The back yard that, apparently, the dog was going to love.
Pete disappeared inside. With a sigh, Sam walked up and looked through the door.
To the right, off the main entrance, was a room that, when furnished, could be a library. Empty bookshelves were set into the walls, and the large window overlooked the front yard.
“Okay, we’ll have cozy chairs in here for reading and chatting,” Pete said excitedly. “And you have to imagine this room full of plants. This house has so many windows! Your plants won’t know what to do with all the light!”
Sam stepped into the room, looking around. She glanced at her fiance warily. Her plants wouldn’t know what to do with someone around to water them regularly.
Taking her arm, Pete led her back through the entranceway and to the left, into the kitchen. Here, the windows overlooked the front porch. The walls were white, the cupboards a light-coloured wood.
He went up to a wall and knocked on it. “The realtor said that this isn’t a supporting wall, so I figure we can cut a hole in here to see through to the dining room. Maybe even set up some stools on the other side, so it’s like a breakfast bar.”
Dazed, Sam followed Pete through a doorway into the next room. It was an open-concept dining room and living area with a fireplace coming down from the centre of the ceiling. It was glassed-in on all sides, so when it was in use, the fire would be visible from every angle.
“I know it’s a little hard to imagine without furniture, but isn’t it perfect? You’ve got to see the bedrooms.”
As they walked through the living-dining area and down a small corridor, Sam tried not to think about how much thought Pete had clearly put into what they could do with the house if they decided to buy it. She hadn’t been able to relax into their relationship quite as much as he had, but she was trying. Sam was sure that she’d get there eventually. It’s just that lately, there were too many global or even galactic emergencies to deal with for her to be able to put much thought into something as insignificant as her personal life.
“There’s a full bathroom here.” Pete gestured at a doorway as they passed. “And an ensuite off the master bedroom, which is right here.”
Sam looked around the large bedroom in awe. It was about one and a half times the size of her current bedroom, and she thought that was pretty large. Pete showed her the adjoining bathroom and the huge walk-in closet.
“Pete,” she said, giving him her most convincing smile. “This is incredible.”
“I knew you’d like it.” He grinned broadly at her. “There’s a second bedroom across the hall. And space for what could be either a guest house or office over the garage.”
Sam wandered across the hall and leaned against the doorjamb to the smaller bedroom, trying to muster some of the enthusiasm Pete clearly had in spades. In her mind’s eye, the room was filled with child-sized furniture. There. That wasn’t so hard. She tried to imagine more of their life together, and a little girl with bouncing brown curls jumped onto the bed.
“Daddy, will you tell me a bedtime story?”
“Sure, sweetie, but just one. It’s late, and you need to get to sleep.”
The little girl squealed with excitement and patted the bed, giggling as her father gently tucked the covers around her and sat down.
“Mommy! Come on! Daddy’s going to tell me a story!”
Sam smiled broadly, taking a step into the room. The man laughed and turned around, his bright blue eyes twinkling with his happy grin. “Yeah, mommy. Come on!”
She stopped dead in the middle of the empty room, blinking.
“Well?”
Sam spun around at Pete’s voice. “It–it’s great.”
“You okay?” He looked concerned.
She forced a laugh. “Yeah, I guess it’s all just a little, um, overwhelming.”
“Alright.” He grinned. “Take your time, look around. I’ll be out front.”
Sam nodded, smiling tightly, her ability to appear enthusiastic about the house suddenly gone.
As soon as Pete left, she turned back to the room that had just invoked a troubling scene from her imagination. The man in her fantasy hadn’t been Pete; it had been Daniel. Sam squeezed her eyes closed, trying to force the image out of her mind. She’d been sure she had buried her feelings for him years ago.
Those feelings had briefly re-entered her mind when she had been given command of SG-1. She had even considered talking to General O’Neill about finding someone else to lead the team because of them. But she’d been seeing Pete at the time, so she’d forced those feelings aside, giving Pete her entire attention. It just made more sense. It was better for the team, which made it better for her. For everyone.
Sam opened her eyes, looking around the room once more. She wandered aimlessly through the house, trying to imagine living here with Pete. Outside a window, in the front yard, she saw him sitting on the wooden bench, one arm slung over its back. His face was tilted to the sun, a contented smile playing on his lips. He was a good man, and she did love him. Their relationship had never really moved slowly. But lately, it seemed to be picking up even more speed. Sam felt like she was being left behind.
He stood up as she came outside. “So? What do you think?” Pete took her hand, and they began walking back to his car.
“It’s beautiful, Pete.”
“I just knew you’d like it! I have one last surprise for today.”
“More?” Sam swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat.
“Yup. Close your eyes.”
“Okay...” Instead of the laughter that usually accompanied the game, Sam felt nervous.
She heard the car door open and close. A few seconds later, she felt Pete’s hand touch her back.
“Okay, open your eyes.”
Sam looked around. Pete was grinning broadly next to her. She looked at the car but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
“What?”
With his chin, he pointed over her shoulder.
Sam turned around and tensed as she realised that the ‘For Sale’ sign was now a ‘Sold’ sign. She looked at him, confused and more than a little afraid.
“I put a down payment on it this morning.”
“You what?”
“I knew you’d like it. It was exactly what you described.” He grinned and wrapped his arms around her. “Good surprise?”
All Sam could do was laugh weakly.
They climbed into the car and began driving back into the city.
Pete looked over at her and smiled. “Would you do me the honour of joining me for dinner tonight?”
“Oh. Um, I’m really not that hungry, Pete. And I’m kind of exhausted. I think I really need to just go home and get to bed early. I’m sorry.” Sam was having some serious second thoughts and really needed time alone to think. She needed to sort out her feelings and figure out what she really wanted.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just tired. It’s been a really long week.”
“Saving the world stuff?”
“Yeah.”
“Really?”
Sam looked at him for a moment. She gave him a tight smile and nodded.
“But everything’s okay now, right? I mean, except for your friend being MIA?”
“Yeah. Yeah, we stopped them.” And killed Daniel in the process. Sam stared blankly at the dashboard.
“Well, then. I’ll get you home so you can rest.” Pete glanced at her again, grinning. “I can’t believe I’m marrying a woman who saves the world on a regular basis. This is so cool!”
Sam leaned back against the headrest and closed her eyes. Right. Cool. Cool that she’d caused her best friend’s latest death. Cool that she still seemed to have feelings for him despite her best efforts. And very uncool to be thinking about either topic while sitting next to the man she had promised to marry.
To be continued...