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He Said, She Said
Chapter 3
It was Halloween, and the Jacksons and O’Neills were going Trick-or-Treating. Casey was getting Emily into her costume, explaining as best she could about what they were going to be doing. Sam and Jack arrived with thirteen-month-old Evelyn in tow, who was wearing an angel costume, complete with wings.
"Oh, too cute," Casey exclaimed, when she saw the tot in Jack’s arms.
"Isn’t it just the adorable?" Sam smiled. "Mrs. Peterson made it." She looked down at Emily, who was bouncing over the floor, pretending to be the bunny rabbit she was dressed as. "Oh, Case, that is the cutest! Emmie, are you a bunny rabbit?"
Emily looked up at her Auntie Sam and smiled. "Bunny wabbit. I ‘an wiggle my nose!" She reached up with her thumb and index finger and moved her nose from side to side.
Sam laughed. "Just like a real bunny rabbit, sweetie."
Daniel picked his daughter up. "Ready to go, Princess?"
"Go, Daddee!" Emily nodded.
Casey handed the orange plastic jack-o-lantern to Emily, then followed her friends and Husband out the door. She looked up at the two moons, only one of them full this night, and sighed happily. Gamma, or at least the area where Hope was built, was temperate, the temperatures never dropped much below fifty-five degrees. She had a denim jacket over her tee shirt, and she had made sure that Emily had pajamas on under her costume. Jack and Daniel were walking ahead of the two women, their daughters in their arms, talking quietly, laughing together.
"I never thought I’d see Daniel happy again," Sam mused quietly, watching her friend nuzzling his daughter’s cheek. "I’m glad you came into his life, Casey."
"Thanks. I’m glad too…but for more selfish reasons. He’s the best thing that ever happened to me," Casey replied.
"He says the same thing about you."
"I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jack happier…or you, either."
Sam smiled. "I never thought I could be this happy. When Jack and I finally…got together, I thought, ‘this is it, it doesn’t get any better’. Then Evvie was born."
"I know exactly what you mean, girlfriend. It just doesn’t get any better than this. We’re really lucky."
"I know. So, Kyle called this morning with our reservation confirmation numbers. He said that Duncan and Tessa are coming along."
"Yeah, I talked Duncan into it. Tessa started again this month."
"Oh, crap," Sam said sympathetically.
"Exactly. I told Duncan that I think they’re both way too stressed out over the whole thing. Maybe getting away for a few days will help. Maybe they’ll both relax a little bit."
"Here’s hoping. So how are things going in the Jackson household?" Sam asked. They stopped to watch Jack and Daniel carry the girls to the first door. Emily leaned over and pushed the doorbell. When Donna Taylor answered, she made over the angel and the bunny. They could hear Emily saying "twicker tweat," heard her giggle when her pumpkin had a big homemade cookie put into it. Everyone seemed to know everyone else in Hope, and there was no fear of tainted or dangerous treats being given to the town’s children on this Halloween night.
"Thank you," Emily said plainly, just before Daniel turned to walk back down the sidewalk.
"To answer your question," Casey said as they fell into step behind the men again, "it’s going great. Daniel is doing a lot of work at home, he has fewer distractions to deal with. If you call Emily running in and out of the den less of a distraction. He seems to be getting quite a bit accomplished, I’m actually caught up on housework and laundry, believe it or not. It’s been great, we eat dinner together every night, have snuggle time with Emily every night. It’s…it’s exactly what we’ve needed."
Sam nodded. "I’m glad. We’re working shorter hours lately, too. It does feel good to be home before midnight, to eat dinner together, to have time to be with Evvie before she goes to bed. I think we’ve all needed this. All those missions were so… intense," she said.
"I’ll say. If I never see another Goa’uld as long as I live, it won’t break my heart," Casey declared. They had reached the next house, and again Emily rang the doorbell. Susan Thompson waved to the two women as they stood at the end of the driveway watching. "You know, I’m wishing we had moved here long ago. I love this town," Casey admitted softly.
"Isn’t it the greatest? Jack and I talked about it, and we think that the Immortals are what make it so special. Not just because we’re Immortal, but because we…they know what the important things in life are. It’s a peaceful, happy town. That only comes because the people who live here are happy."
"I never thought about it, but I think you’re right. Most of the Immortals here have lived hundreds of years. Lived under the fear of that damned ‘game’. To actually have a ‘normal’ life is something most of them only dreamed about. And thanks to Oma and the little miracle of our pregnancies, and the resulting fertility serum that the doctors came up with, they can have the families that they never thought they’d have," Casey said.
"Did you hear the latest stats? There are fourteen Immortal kids here now, Emily is the oldest, and Dan and Sara Olmitz just had a baby boy."
"That is so cool! Gina told me that she’s pregnant, and that Robert is deliriously happy about it." She frowned slightly. "I just hope that Tessa gets pregnant soon. She and Duncan both want a baby so badly."
"It'll happen. I think you’re right, I think they both need to relax."
Casey giggled. "According to my calculations, by the time we get to Langara, she should be at her most fertile. With luck, they’ll relax enough for it to happen." The team wasn’t able to get permission to go to Langara until nearly the end of the month. They would spend four days in Kelowna City, then return two days before Thanksgiving.
After obligatory stops at the Desala’s, the MacLeod’s, the de Valicourt’s, Oma’s, and Carlotta Sanchez’s, where Teal'c answered the door, the group headed back home. Emily was asleep against Daniel’s shoulder by the time they said goodnight to Sam and Jack and made their way up the street to their little house.
Casey carefully pulled off the bunny costume, noted that the rubberized feet would need stain remover to get them clean, Emily had insisted on walking…hopping actually…several times. She tossed it into the hamper, made sure that Emily was covered up, and went out to the living room.
Daniel had turned on the TV, found a show on the History Channel that he had been wanting to see.
She went into the kitchen and made a fresh pot of coffee. She emptied the contents of Emily’s bucket, and began to sort the candy and cookies into piles. They had agreed that she could have the cookies, but not all of the candy. It seemed that most of the residents of the small town were more interested in making homemade treats for the dozens of little spooks, goblins, witches, and superheroes…and angels and bunny rabbits…that had roamed the streets that night. The pile of cookies was much larger than that of the candy. There were even two popcorn balls. Casey was going to make sure she got one of those!
When the coffeemaker finally signaled that the coffee was ready, she filled two mugs, put sugar and milk in one, and carried them both to the living room.
"Thanks, babe," Daniel said, taking the mug she handed him. He was sitting with his legs stretched out. He grinned, lifted his legs so that she could sit beside him, then put them over her lap. She put her feet on the coffee table. They watched the program in companionable silence.
The anniversary clock on the top of the entertainment stand began to chime. It was midnight.
"The bewitching hour," Casey said softly.
"You have me bewitched twenty-four/seven/three sixty-five," Daniel replied, reaching out and tracing her jaw with one finger.
She smiled. "Three seventy-two here, love. I don’t know about you, but all that walking and fresh air has left me tired."
"Let’s go to bed, babe. I have to be on the base early in the morning."
"Did you tell Mom when we stopped there?"
"Yep." He stood up, helped her to her feet. "So, are you bored yet?"
"Bored?"
"Yeah, bored. It’s been a month and a half since you’ve been on a mission. You don’t even go to the base every day. I was just wondering if you were bored."
She shook her head. "Nope. I love every minute of being together, of being home like this. No worries, no fears, just…us… together."
He put his arm around her slender shoulders, pulled her close. "Good."
"Are you bored?" She took his mug, put it and hers into the sink.
He laughed. "With all the stuff I still have to wade through, and the stuff I want to have a closer look at? No way. I could handle doing this same thing for a long time."
They were in the bedroom now, pulling off their clothes, climbing into bed. She settled with her head on his shoulder, her arm around his waist.
"I could handle living like this for a very long time myself. I think Sam and Jack are feeling the same way," she said softly. "But…"
"But what, Angel?"
"It won’t last. Something will come up, and we’ll all feel it…that adrenaline rush, that need to be in the middle of whatever it is that’s going on."
"With luck, nothing will come up for awhile that none of the other teams can’t handle," he replied quietly.
"With lots of luck," she said. She yawned.
"Sleep now, Angel," he said, kissing her forehead.
"Love you," she whispered.
"Love you, too, Angel."
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