In Time: A Mother's Work
Title: A Mother's Work
Summary: Sam’s daily struggles as a wife, mother, and part-time astrophysicist.
Timeframe: AU
Characters/Pairings: Established Sam/Jack, Other Character
Genre: General, Drama, Family
Rating: PG
A Mother’s Work
Today was Sam’s lab work day. That meant she got to spend some quality time with her partially-neglected ’doohickeys’, alone in her lab, with no pesky science colleagues bothering her or getting in her way. Teal’c and Daniel were currently babysitting little Shawny, and Jack was… Wait a minute, where was Jack?
When she thought about it for a minute, Sam realized she hadn’t seen him since they arrived at the mountain early that morning. It was nearly five in the evening now. That was strange. Unless he was off-world, Jack usually popped by several times to bother Sam while she was working.
Allowing herself a break to get a snack (blue Jell-O?), check up on her son, and find her husband, Sam set her experiments aside and wandered down the hall towards the recreation room on the same level. That’s where Daniel and Teal’c had last been seen with Shawny.
As she walked into the rec room, Shawny immediately toddled over to her with an enthusiastic “Mama!”, his Mommy-radar always seeming to alert him to her presence.
“Hello my sweet boy,” she greeted her son cheerfully, kneeling down and brushing back his fair brown hair. Sam pulled him into her arms, propping the two-year-old on her right hip and looking over his uncles. “Has he been good?”
“Of course,” Daniel told her sincerely. As far as he was concerned, Shawny was the most well-behaved, quiet and easy-going toddler he had ever met. “We played with Building Blocks and watched a Bob the Builder video after his post-dinner nap.”
Teal’c even smiled. “Shawn O’Neill was most pleased with his animal crackers as an evening snack as well.”
Sam giggled softly and kissed her son soundly on the cheek multiple times, causing him to squeal briefly with laughter. “I’m almost done with my lab work. Just taking a short break. Do you guys mind keeping an eye on him just a bit longer?”
“It would be our pleasure, Major Doctor O’Neill.” Teal’c bowed his head slightly, hands clasped behind his back and a minute smile spreading across his face.
Daniel nodded in response and held out his arms as Sam handed her son back over to him. The little boy cuddled into his arms quickly after a brief moment of reluctant separation from his mother.
On her way out the door again, Sam grasped the doorframe and looked back at Teal’c and Daniel. “Hey guys, have you seen Jack around? He hasn’t stopped to bother me all day.”
Daniel didn’t look surprised. “I heard General Hammond warning him about lots of overdue paperwork and mission reports. He’s been bogged down in his office all day.”
Sam’s eyebrows rose. “Wow, did he manage to find it okay? Maybe he got lost on the way there,” she joked, getting a laugh from Daniel and a concerned look from Teal’c. “I’m joking,” she clarified for the Jaffa. “I’m fairly certain he knows where his office is.”
Without giving Teal’c a moment to process the information, Sam left, waving goodbye to her son.
-
Opening the door to Jack’s office, Sam stuck her head inside and nearly laughed out loud when she saw her husband slumped at the desk with his head in his arms, breathing deeply in sleep. Shaking her head, Sam stepped inside the room and quietly closed the door behind her.
As she got closer, Sam noticed that he was lying on several sheets of paperwork spread all over the desk. Unable to hide her giggles this time, Sam reached out and gently jostled Jack’s arm.
“Jack.” He didn’t budge. She smiled and rolled her eyes. “Jack,” she said, laughing, “Wake up.”
This time he groaned, but still didn’t bother getting up. Wow, she thought, He must have really been working on this stuff all day.
Figuring a better tactic was in order, Sam used her best command voice and barked, “Colonel O’Neill!”
Jack’s head shot up in a flash and he sat at attention, a Post-It note stuck to his left cheek. “I’m almost finished with your reports sir,” he muttered, voice raspy with sleep and eyes shifting blearily until he managed to focus on his wife. “Sam.” Jack rubbed his hands over his face, dislodging the Post-It and mumbling, “What time is it?”
“About seventeen-hundred.” Sam answered, studying her husband with a surprising amount of scrutiny. She suddenly noticed his eyes were red and bloodshot with dark circles underneath, and he looked rather pale. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Sure.” Jack sent her a crooked grin, leaning back in his desk chair sluggishly. He scratched the back of his head and heaved a sigh. “This paperwork is killing me though.”
Sam smiled briefly with understanding. She hated paperwork as much as he did, but instead of procrastinating until General Hammond ordered her to do it, she liked to get it over with as soon as possible. “Jack, why don’t you pick up Shawny and go home. I’ll be done in a couple hours.”
He sighed. “Can‘t, I gotta finish this. Almost there.”
Blinking at the amount of papers all over his desk, Sam snorted skeptically. “Right.”
When Jack leaned his head back for a moment and closed his eyes, Sam swiftly went around his desk and pressed her hand to his forehead. She frowned when he pulled away and rose an eyebrow at her. “Babe, you’ve got a fever.”
“I’m okay,” Jack insisted.
Sam gave him a look. It was probably just the bad cold that had been going around, but she knew how much he hated being sick. He was in denial. “Jack, go home.”
He started to protest. “Sam, Hammond’s gonna have my ass if this stuff’s not sitting in his in-box by tomorrow morning.”
She wasn’t going for it. Firmly shaking her head, Sam planted her hands on her hips. Her protective wife/mother side came forward as she firmly said, “You’re sick, he’ll understand.”
Not quite ready to give in, Jack mustered up one more argument. “What about Shawny? I don’t want him getting sick. Maybe I should just stay here tonight.”
Sam knew just how to dissuade him from that idea. “Shawny will be fine, he already had a cold so I think he‘ll be okay as long as you don‘t get too close to him. He can come home with me. And if you plan on staying here tonight, I’ll just give Janet a call and you can spend the night in the infirmary.”
He glared, narrowed his eyes, and frowned, but gave no further argument. “Fine,” he grumped, dragging himself to his feet. “I’ll go home.”
“Good.” Sam smiled triumphantly and brushed back his hair before give him a quick peck on the cheek. “Have a hot shower, take some Tylenol, and get in bed. I’ll heat you up some chicken broth when I get home, okay?”
“Yes ma’am.” Jack sent his wife a tired, goofy grin and slinked out of the office, making sure to grab his truck keys on the way.
-
By seven o’clock, Shawny was asleep on the bed in her quarters while Sam finished looking over her lab results on her laptop. She was hopeful that he wouldn’t wake as she carried him out to the car. His track record was pretty good in that respect, and Sam didn’t think she’d have any problems.
Quickly and quietly shutting down her computer and putting all her work away, Sam gathered her sleeping son into her arms carefully, then locked the room and left. Shawny immediately adjusted to his new position without waking, curling into her and resting his head on her shoulder with a thumb stuck in his mouth.
Shawny was still sucking on his thumb and drooling in his car seat when Sam pulled into the driveway. She drew him in her arms without waking him, and quietly went into the house.
Only a few lights had been left on as Sam navigated her way into Shawny’s bedroom. He woke briefly as she changed him into his airplane pajamas and put him to bed, but quickly went back to sleep after she gave him a kiss on the forehead and handed him his favorite stuffed bear to cuddle with. Whispering goodnight and turning on the night-light, Sam left her son’s room and headed into the kitchen to put some broth on the stove before checking on Jack.
Her husband’s loud, congested snoring reminded Sam of an electric can opener as she opened the door to their bedroom and silently crossed the room to the bed. Jack was buried under a pile of blankets, the can opener noises muffled beneath all those covers. Sam smiled and sat gingerly on the edge of the bed. She reached out to the bear-like lump and patted it softly in the middle where she assumed either his back, shoulder, or chest was, depending how he was lying down. “Jack? Honey?”
The can opener shut off and the bear wiggled slightly.
Shaking her head, Sam bent over him and peeled back layers of blankets until she found his bristly silver-topped head. Kissing the top of his head affectionately, she whispered, “I want you to get up and drink some chicken broth.” She pulled more blankets away and he shivered. “Come on Jack.”
“Mmmrrph…” Jack revealed an unfocused, bloodshot eye, then slowly opened the other one and reluctantly forced himself into a sitting position. He was like a zombie rising from the grave.
When Jack swung his legs over the side of the bed, Sam noticed that he was only wearing his boxers. She sighed. “Babe, you’d be a lot warmer if you put some clothes on.”
He blinked at her, confused, then scratched the back of his head and looked down at himself as if just realizing that he wasn‘t dressed. “I was hot before,” he mumbled, remembering. Then he got off the bed to lumber towards the dresser in search of clothes.
She rose an eyebrow and followed him. “So why were you just under a pile of blankets?”
Jack found some grey sweats and a black thermal shirt and got dressed before answering her. “Then I got cold and didn’t feel like getting outta bed.”
A smile spread across her face and she looked at him for a moment before turning and heading back to the kitchen. She turned off the burner that was heating Jack’s promised chicken broth while making herself a cup of tea.
When Jack came out in his sweats, thermal, and a blue and brown flannel robe, Sam was pouring the broth into a large coffee mug. She handed it to him and then wrapped an arm around his waist, grabbing her own mug off the counter with her free hand.
“Couch?”
“Yeah.” Jack nodded and allowed her to lead him down to the living room.
Snuggled together on the sofa, Sam took a sip of her tea and then leaned into Jack’s shoulder. It was quiet, the only sounds were the soft slurping noises her husband made as he slowly drank the hot chicken broth, the warm mug cradled in his hands. Inhaling deeply, she could smell the soap on him, mingled with a scent that was purely Jack. She always loved the way he smelled, especially after he’d just taken a shower.
It took Sam by surprise when Jack started to pull away from her. She cocked her head and eyed him strangely. “What’s the matter?”
“I don’t want you to get sick,” he said quietly. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”
Sam shook her head and looked at him, lightly grasping his wrist reassuringly. “Jack, I’ll be fine. I hardly ever get sick, you know that. I think it has to do with the naquadah in my blood.”
He just lifted his eyebrows and blinked at her. Right now he’d rather not have to listen to a long scientific explanation as to why the naquadah in his wife’s blood protected her from easily contracting a cold. Jack sighed and just went with it. He leaned back into the sofa once more and continued to sip at his broth.
Within minutes Jack’s mug was empty, sitting on the coffee table, and he was slumped into Sam’s side, fast asleep as she played with his hair. It was nearly nine o’clock, and she was feeling tired, almost asleep herself.
Sam’s eyes had just started to close when she heard Shawny’s cry. Trying not to wake Jack, she wiggled away from him carefully and guided his upper body down onto the cushions so that he was lying down.
Leaving Jack asleep on the couch for the moment, Sam hurried into their son’s bedroom.
Shawny sat up in bed, clutching his teddy bear close to his chest. There were tears in his round blue eyes.
Quickly crossing the room to get to her son, Sam sat beside him on the child-sized bed. Shawny immediately curled up against her and she put an arm around his small form. “Did you have a scary dream sweetie?”
Shawny nodded against her leg and mumbled, “I s’eep wif you an’ Daddy?”
Sam stroked his silky hair soothingly. “No sweetie, not tonight. Daddy’s sick.”
Sniffling, the two-year-old let out a loud, shaky breath and squeezed his stuffed bear tighter. “Why?”
Smiling patiently, she rubbed her son’s back. “Because he caught a cold.”
Shawny tilted his head and blinked at her inquisitively, rubbing at his eyes. “How he does that?”
Knowing very well that if Sam got into a scientific explanation about how a person caught a cold it would put the two-year-old to sleep, she proceeded. “Well, you see honey, there are these things we call germs…”
Two minutes into her detailed response, Shawny was deeply asleep, thumb stuck in his mouth and teddy bear tucked under his chin. She tucked him back into bed with a kiss on his forehead and quietly left the room.
Finding Jack awake again, sitting on the couch and rubbing at the back of his neck, Sam went over to him and lightly put her hand on his shoulder. “Hey babe, you wanna get back in bed?”
Blinking at his wife drowsily, Jack gave a slow nod and then sluggishly rose to his feet with her help.
“Did you take some Tylenol when you got home like I told you?”
He tilted his head sideways and quirked a smile. “Yes ma’am.”
Sam shook her head and gave Jack’s backside a gentle swat. “Keep it in line Airman.”
He shot her a smirk and continued on to their bedroom. Still feeling pretty lousy, Jack hated how eager he was to get back in bed and just sleep. God, he was exhausted. And he still felt like crap. His head ached and dammit, he was hot again.
Sam had left his side to turn off all the lights in the house and lock the doors. Jack was sprawled across the bed, staring at the ceiling when she came into the room, his robe and thermal shirt tossed to the floor.
Kneeling on the bed and reaching toward him, Sam touched Jack’s forehead. He was still pretty feverish. She didn’t even need to get the thermometer to check. Leaving him again, she went into their adjoined bathroom and came back shortly with a wet washcloth. “Hot?” she asked, already knowing the answer. He obviously didn’t have his shirt off because he had the chills at the moment.
“Mm-hm.” Jack nodded tiredly, throwing his forearm across his eyes and breathing harshly.
Sam folded the damp cloth and gingerly placed it over his forehead. She got off the bed one last time to change into her nightclothes, then turned off the lights and crawled under the covers that her husband was lying on top of.
She was only asleep for an hour when her husband’s movements roused her. The mattress bounced and sagged a few times before she felt his weight leave it completely. Opening her eyes and blinking, Sam groggily propped herself up on an elbow. “Jack? Babe, what are you doing?” It was too dark to see, but she could hear him moving around the room.
Jack was swiping his foot along the floor, trying to find where he’d left his shirt. A bone-deep shiver shook him suddenly and his teeth chattered. “I’m cold and I can’t find my damn shirt,” he mumbled, sounding half-asleep.
Sam smiled slightly and pulled the covers back on the other side of the bed. “It’s okay Jack, just come back to bed. I’ll keep you warm,” she promised, missing his warmth herself.
Heaving a sigh and breathing as deeply as he could through a blocked nose, Jack complied slowly and crawled beneath the blankets that he found his wife to be holding open for him. He laid on his back and felt her crawl into his side.
Jack relaxed as her body heat slowly warmed him. He felt her go limp against him, her breathing evening out as she fell asleep. He closed his eyes and slowly followed her.
-
Sam got up fairly early the next morning and carefully crept out of bed, trying hard not to disturb her slumbering, and loudly snoring, husband. The blanket was pushed down to his waist, and since he didn’t appear to be cold, she didn’t cover him back up, not wanting to make him uncomfortable if he was hot.
For a moment she briefly considered checking his temperature, but decided against it. She didn’t want to chance waking him up if she stuck a thermometer in his ear or even if she pressed her hand against his forehead.
Going down the hall to their son’s room, Sam peered inside to find Shawny still deeply asleep. He normally woke early, so she figured he would be awake soon. She just hoped he wasn’t going to run into their bedroom and wake Daddy up.
In the kitchen, Sam put a pot of coffee on right away and started to make breakfast. She decided that today was a scrambled eggs and toast day; something quick, simple, and easy on Jack’s stomach.
By the time the eggs were all done and the last of the toast had popped in the toaster, Shawny was awake. She quickly took him to his training potty, then got the two-year-old settled in his highchair next to the table.
“Is Daddy come eat wif us?” Shawny asked innocently when Sam clicked the tray table on his highchair in place and put his plastic dish in front of him.
She smiled lovingly at her son and smoothed back his soft hair. “No, sweetie. Daddy has to stay in bed and eat because he’s still sick.”
Shawny tilted his head and seemed to consider that for a moment, then stuck a finger in his scrambled eggs as he said, “Ohhh.”
After getting a tray ready for Jack, Sam bent over her son, kissing his cheek and telling him she was bringing food to Daddy and he was to finish his breakfast.
While she was walking into the bedroom, carefully carrying the breakfast tray, Jack was slowly making his way out of the bathroom and shuffling back toward the bed. Sam smiled warmly at him as he settled back in bed comfortably, sitting up against the headboard with pillows at his back. “Morning.” She carefully laid the tray over his lap and sat next to him. “Feel any better?”
Jack blinked drowsily down at the tray as if just noticing it, then rubbed his head with one hand and nodded with a raspy, “A little, yeah.”
Sam reached out to touch his forehead when he took a sip of his juice, and decided he was still warm. “You still have a fever.” She bent forward to kiss his slightly-stubbly cheek and brushed back his damp hair.
Shrugging, Jack picked apart his toast and then quirked a wry smile. “You made me breakfast in bed,” he said with a hint of amusement in his tone, voice still hoarse.
She nodded, smiling at him. “Yep. You owe me.”
Chuckling softly, Jack looked at his wife affectionately. “I love you Sam.”
“Love you too.” She leaned forward to kiss him again, then winced as a scream from Shawny made her jerk back. Sam sighed as their son began crying out for her.
“You better go,” Jack told her softly.
Sam sighed, then nodded with a smile as she got off the bed. Sauntering to the door, she turned and tilted her head, looking back at her husband. “I guess it's true what they say."
"What's that?" he asked, a piece of toast half way to his mouth.
She smiled and shrugged. "A mother's work is never done."
-The End-
Summary: Sam’s daily struggles as a wife, mother, and part-time astrophysicist.
Timeframe: AU
Characters/Pairings: Established Sam/Jack, Other Character
Genre: General, Drama, Family
Rating: PG
A Mother’s Work
Today was Sam’s lab work day. That meant she got to spend some quality time with her partially-neglected ’doohickeys’, alone in her lab, with no pesky science colleagues bothering her or getting in her way. Teal’c and Daniel were currently babysitting little Shawny, and Jack was… Wait a minute, where was Jack?
When she thought about it for a minute, Sam realized she hadn’t seen him since they arrived at the mountain early that morning. It was nearly five in the evening now. That was strange. Unless he was off-world, Jack usually popped by several times to bother Sam while she was working.
Allowing herself a break to get a snack (blue Jell-O?), check up on her son, and find her husband, Sam set her experiments aside and wandered down the hall towards the recreation room on the same level. That’s where Daniel and Teal’c had last been seen with Shawny.
As she walked into the rec room, Shawny immediately toddled over to her with an enthusiastic “Mama!”, his Mommy-radar always seeming to alert him to her presence.
“Hello my sweet boy,” she greeted her son cheerfully, kneeling down and brushing back his fair brown hair. Sam pulled him into her arms, propping the two-year-old on her right hip and looking over his uncles. “Has he been good?”
“Of course,” Daniel told her sincerely. As far as he was concerned, Shawny was the most well-behaved, quiet and easy-going toddler he had ever met. “We played with Building Blocks and watched a Bob the Builder video after his post-dinner nap.”
Teal’c even smiled. “Shawn O’Neill was most pleased with his animal crackers as an evening snack as well.”
Sam giggled softly and kissed her son soundly on the cheek multiple times, causing him to squeal briefly with laughter. “I’m almost done with my lab work. Just taking a short break. Do you guys mind keeping an eye on him just a bit longer?”
“It would be our pleasure, Major Doctor O’Neill.” Teal’c bowed his head slightly, hands clasped behind his back and a minute smile spreading across his face.
Daniel nodded in response and held out his arms as Sam handed her son back over to him. The little boy cuddled into his arms quickly after a brief moment of reluctant separation from his mother.
On her way out the door again, Sam grasped the doorframe and looked back at Teal’c and Daniel. “Hey guys, have you seen Jack around? He hasn’t stopped to bother me all day.”
Daniel didn’t look surprised. “I heard General Hammond warning him about lots of overdue paperwork and mission reports. He’s been bogged down in his office all day.”
Sam’s eyebrows rose. “Wow, did he manage to find it okay? Maybe he got lost on the way there,” she joked, getting a laugh from Daniel and a concerned look from Teal’c. “I’m joking,” she clarified for the Jaffa. “I’m fairly certain he knows where his office is.”
Without giving Teal’c a moment to process the information, Sam left, waving goodbye to her son.
-
Opening the door to Jack’s office, Sam stuck her head inside and nearly laughed out loud when she saw her husband slumped at the desk with his head in his arms, breathing deeply in sleep. Shaking her head, Sam stepped inside the room and quietly closed the door behind her.
As she got closer, Sam noticed that he was lying on several sheets of paperwork spread all over the desk. Unable to hide her giggles this time, Sam reached out and gently jostled Jack’s arm.
“Jack.” He didn’t budge. She smiled and rolled her eyes. “Jack,” she said, laughing, “Wake up.”
This time he groaned, but still didn’t bother getting up. Wow, she thought, He must have really been working on this stuff all day.
Figuring a better tactic was in order, Sam used her best command voice and barked, “Colonel O’Neill!”
Jack’s head shot up in a flash and he sat at attention, a Post-It note stuck to his left cheek. “I’m almost finished with your reports sir,” he muttered, voice raspy with sleep and eyes shifting blearily until he managed to focus on his wife. “Sam.” Jack rubbed his hands over his face, dislodging the Post-It and mumbling, “What time is it?”
“About seventeen-hundred.” Sam answered, studying her husband with a surprising amount of scrutiny. She suddenly noticed his eyes were red and bloodshot with dark circles underneath, and he looked rather pale. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Sure.” Jack sent her a crooked grin, leaning back in his desk chair sluggishly. He scratched the back of his head and heaved a sigh. “This paperwork is killing me though.”
Sam smiled briefly with understanding. She hated paperwork as much as he did, but instead of procrastinating until General Hammond ordered her to do it, she liked to get it over with as soon as possible. “Jack, why don’t you pick up Shawny and go home. I’ll be done in a couple hours.”
He sighed. “Can‘t, I gotta finish this. Almost there.”
Blinking at the amount of papers all over his desk, Sam snorted skeptically. “Right.”
When Jack leaned his head back for a moment and closed his eyes, Sam swiftly went around his desk and pressed her hand to his forehead. She frowned when he pulled away and rose an eyebrow at her. “Babe, you’ve got a fever.”
“I’m okay,” Jack insisted.
Sam gave him a look. It was probably just the bad cold that had been going around, but she knew how much he hated being sick. He was in denial. “Jack, go home.”
He started to protest. “Sam, Hammond’s gonna have my ass if this stuff’s not sitting in his in-box by tomorrow morning.”
She wasn’t going for it. Firmly shaking her head, Sam planted her hands on her hips. Her protective wife/mother side came forward as she firmly said, “You’re sick, he’ll understand.”
Not quite ready to give in, Jack mustered up one more argument. “What about Shawny? I don’t want him getting sick. Maybe I should just stay here tonight.”
Sam knew just how to dissuade him from that idea. “Shawny will be fine, he already had a cold so I think he‘ll be okay as long as you don‘t get too close to him. He can come home with me. And if you plan on staying here tonight, I’ll just give Janet a call and you can spend the night in the infirmary.”
He glared, narrowed his eyes, and frowned, but gave no further argument. “Fine,” he grumped, dragging himself to his feet. “I’ll go home.”
“Good.” Sam smiled triumphantly and brushed back his hair before give him a quick peck on the cheek. “Have a hot shower, take some Tylenol, and get in bed. I’ll heat you up some chicken broth when I get home, okay?”
“Yes ma’am.” Jack sent his wife a tired, goofy grin and slinked out of the office, making sure to grab his truck keys on the way.
-
By seven o’clock, Shawny was asleep on the bed in her quarters while Sam finished looking over her lab results on her laptop. She was hopeful that he wouldn’t wake as she carried him out to the car. His track record was pretty good in that respect, and Sam didn’t think she’d have any problems.
Quickly and quietly shutting down her computer and putting all her work away, Sam gathered her sleeping son into her arms carefully, then locked the room and left. Shawny immediately adjusted to his new position without waking, curling into her and resting his head on her shoulder with a thumb stuck in his mouth.
Shawny was still sucking on his thumb and drooling in his car seat when Sam pulled into the driveway. She drew him in her arms without waking him, and quietly went into the house.
Only a few lights had been left on as Sam navigated her way into Shawny’s bedroom. He woke briefly as she changed him into his airplane pajamas and put him to bed, but quickly went back to sleep after she gave him a kiss on the forehead and handed him his favorite stuffed bear to cuddle with. Whispering goodnight and turning on the night-light, Sam left her son’s room and headed into the kitchen to put some broth on the stove before checking on Jack.
Her husband’s loud, congested snoring reminded Sam of an electric can opener as she opened the door to their bedroom and silently crossed the room to the bed. Jack was buried under a pile of blankets, the can opener noises muffled beneath all those covers. Sam smiled and sat gingerly on the edge of the bed. She reached out to the bear-like lump and patted it softly in the middle where she assumed either his back, shoulder, or chest was, depending how he was lying down. “Jack? Honey?”
The can opener shut off and the bear wiggled slightly.
Shaking her head, Sam bent over him and peeled back layers of blankets until she found his bristly silver-topped head. Kissing the top of his head affectionately, she whispered, “I want you to get up and drink some chicken broth.” She pulled more blankets away and he shivered. “Come on Jack.”
“Mmmrrph…” Jack revealed an unfocused, bloodshot eye, then slowly opened the other one and reluctantly forced himself into a sitting position. He was like a zombie rising from the grave.
When Jack swung his legs over the side of the bed, Sam noticed that he was only wearing his boxers. She sighed. “Babe, you’d be a lot warmer if you put some clothes on.”
He blinked at her, confused, then scratched the back of his head and looked down at himself as if just realizing that he wasn‘t dressed. “I was hot before,” he mumbled, remembering. Then he got off the bed to lumber towards the dresser in search of clothes.
She rose an eyebrow and followed him. “So why were you just under a pile of blankets?”
Jack found some grey sweats and a black thermal shirt and got dressed before answering her. “Then I got cold and didn’t feel like getting outta bed.”
A smile spread across her face and she looked at him for a moment before turning and heading back to the kitchen. She turned off the burner that was heating Jack’s promised chicken broth while making herself a cup of tea.
When Jack came out in his sweats, thermal, and a blue and brown flannel robe, Sam was pouring the broth into a large coffee mug. She handed it to him and then wrapped an arm around his waist, grabbing her own mug off the counter with her free hand.
“Couch?”
“Yeah.” Jack nodded and allowed her to lead him down to the living room.
Snuggled together on the sofa, Sam took a sip of her tea and then leaned into Jack’s shoulder. It was quiet, the only sounds were the soft slurping noises her husband made as he slowly drank the hot chicken broth, the warm mug cradled in his hands. Inhaling deeply, she could smell the soap on him, mingled with a scent that was purely Jack. She always loved the way he smelled, especially after he’d just taken a shower.
It took Sam by surprise when Jack started to pull away from her. She cocked her head and eyed him strangely. “What’s the matter?”
“I don’t want you to get sick,” he said quietly. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”
Sam shook her head and looked at him, lightly grasping his wrist reassuringly. “Jack, I’ll be fine. I hardly ever get sick, you know that. I think it has to do with the naquadah in my blood.”
He just lifted his eyebrows and blinked at her. Right now he’d rather not have to listen to a long scientific explanation as to why the naquadah in his wife’s blood protected her from easily contracting a cold. Jack sighed and just went with it. He leaned back into the sofa once more and continued to sip at his broth.
Within minutes Jack’s mug was empty, sitting on the coffee table, and he was slumped into Sam’s side, fast asleep as she played with his hair. It was nearly nine o’clock, and she was feeling tired, almost asleep herself.
Sam’s eyes had just started to close when she heard Shawny’s cry. Trying not to wake Jack, she wiggled away from him carefully and guided his upper body down onto the cushions so that he was lying down.
Leaving Jack asleep on the couch for the moment, Sam hurried into their son’s bedroom.
Shawny sat up in bed, clutching his teddy bear close to his chest. There were tears in his round blue eyes.
Quickly crossing the room to get to her son, Sam sat beside him on the child-sized bed. Shawny immediately curled up against her and she put an arm around his small form. “Did you have a scary dream sweetie?”
Shawny nodded against her leg and mumbled, “I s’eep wif you an’ Daddy?”
Sam stroked his silky hair soothingly. “No sweetie, not tonight. Daddy’s sick.”
Sniffling, the two-year-old let out a loud, shaky breath and squeezed his stuffed bear tighter. “Why?”
Smiling patiently, she rubbed her son’s back. “Because he caught a cold.”
Shawny tilted his head and blinked at her inquisitively, rubbing at his eyes. “How he does that?”
Knowing very well that if Sam got into a scientific explanation about how a person caught a cold it would put the two-year-old to sleep, she proceeded. “Well, you see honey, there are these things we call germs…”
Two minutes into her detailed response, Shawny was deeply asleep, thumb stuck in his mouth and teddy bear tucked under his chin. She tucked him back into bed with a kiss on his forehead and quietly left the room.
Finding Jack awake again, sitting on the couch and rubbing at the back of his neck, Sam went over to him and lightly put her hand on his shoulder. “Hey babe, you wanna get back in bed?”
Blinking at his wife drowsily, Jack gave a slow nod and then sluggishly rose to his feet with her help.
“Did you take some Tylenol when you got home like I told you?”
He tilted his head sideways and quirked a smile. “Yes ma’am.”
Sam shook her head and gave Jack’s backside a gentle swat. “Keep it in line Airman.”
He shot her a smirk and continued on to their bedroom. Still feeling pretty lousy, Jack hated how eager he was to get back in bed and just sleep. God, he was exhausted. And he still felt like crap. His head ached and dammit, he was hot again.
Sam had left his side to turn off all the lights in the house and lock the doors. Jack was sprawled across the bed, staring at the ceiling when she came into the room, his robe and thermal shirt tossed to the floor.
Kneeling on the bed and reaching toward him, Sam touched Jack’s forehead. He was still pretty feverish. She didn’t even need to get the thermometer to check. Leaving him again, she went into their adjoined bathroom and came back shortly with a wet washcloth. “Hot?” she asked, already knowing the answer. He obviously didn’t have his shirt off because he had the chills at the moment.
“Mm-hm.” Jack nodded tiredly, throwing his forearm across his eyes and breathing harshly.
Sam folded the damp cloth and gingerly placed it over his forehead. She got off the bed one last time to change into her nightclothes, then turned off the lights and crawled under the covers that her husband was lying on top of.
She was only asleep for an hour when her husband’s movements roused her. The mattress bounced and sagged a few times before she felt his weight leave it completely. Opening her eyes and blinking, Sam groggily propped herself up on an elbow. “Jack? Babe, what are you doing?” It was too dark to see, but she could hear him moving around the room.
Jack was swiping his foot along the floor, trying to find where he’d left his shirt. A bone-deep shiver shook him suddenly and his teeth chattered. “I’m cold and I can’t find my damn shirt,” he mumbled, sounding half-asleep.
Sam smiled slightly and pulled the covers back on the other side of the bed. “It’s okay Jack, just come back to bed. I’ll keep you warm,” she promised, missing his warmth herself.
Heaving a sigh and breathing as deeply as he could through a blocked nose, Jack complied slowly and crawled beneath the blankets that he found his wife to be holding open for him. He laid on his back and felt her crawl into his side.
Jack relaxed as her body heat slowly warmed him. He felt her go limp against him, her breathing evening out as she fell asleep. He closed his eyes and slowly followed her.
-
Sam got up fairly early the next morning and carefully crept out of bed, trying hard not to disturb her slumbering, and loudly snoring, husband. The blanket was pushed down to his waist, and since he didn’t appear to be cold, she didn’t cover him back up, not wanting to make him uncomfortable if he was hot.
For a moment she briefly considered checking his temperature, but decided against it. She didn’t want to chance waking him up if she stuck a thermometer in his ear or even if she pressed her hand against his forehead.
Going down the hall to their son’s room, Sam peered inside to find Shawny still deeply asleep. He normally woke early, so she figured he would be awake soon. She just hoped he wasn’t going to run into their bedroom and wake Daddy up.
In the kitchen, Sam put a pot of coffee on right away and started to make breakfast. She decided that today was a scrambled eggs and toast day; something quick, simple, and easy on Jack’s stomach.
By the time the eggs were all done and the last of the toast had popped in the toaster, Shawny was awake. She quickly took him to his training potty, then got the two-year-old settled in his highchair next to the table.
“Is Daddy come eat wif us?” Shawny asked innocently when Sam clicked the tray table on his highchair in place and put his plastic dish in front of him.
She smiled lovingly at her son and smoothed back his soft hair. “No, sweetie. Daddy has to stay in bed and eat because he’s still sick.”
Shawny tilted his head and seemed to consider that for a moment, then stuck a finger in his scrambled eggs as he said, “Ohhh.”
After getting a tray ready for Jack, Sam bent over her son, kissing his cheek and telling him she was bringing food to Daddy and he was to finish his breakfast.
While she was walking into the bedroom, carefully carrying the breakfast tray, Jack was slowly making his way out of the bathroom and shuffling back toward the bed. Sam smiled warmly at him as he settled back in bed comfortably, sitting up against the headboard with pillows at his back. “Morning.” She carefully laid the tray over his lap and sat next to him. “Feel any better?”
Jack blinked drowsily down at the tray as if just noticing it, then rubbed his head with one hand and nodded with a raspy, “A little, yeah.”
Sam reached out to touch his forehead when he took a sip of his juice, and decided he was still warm. “You still have a fever.” She bent forward to kiss his slightly-stubbly cheek and brushed back his damp hair.
Shrugging, Jack picked apart his toast and then quirked a wry smile. “You made me breakfast in bed,” he said with a hint of amusement in his tone, voice still hoarse.
She nodded, smiling at him. “Yep. You owe me.”
Chuckling softly, Jack looked at his wife affectionately. “I love you Sam.”
“Love you too.” She leaned forward to kiss him again, then winced as a scream from Shawny made her jerk back. Sam sighed as their son began crying out for her.
“You better go,” Jack told her softly.
Sam sighed, then nodded with a smile as she got off the bed. Sauntering to the door, she turned and tilted her head, looking back at her husband. “I guess it's true what they say."
"What's that?" he asked, a piece of toast half way to his mouth.
She smiled and shrugged. "A mother's work is never done."
-The End-