Didn't
have to be
Author: wanderingsmith
Nov 2008
Summary: Reflection on friends and the years
Rating: PG13
Disclaimer: I ain't got no money, and nobody'd be daft enough to pay me
for this.
AN: listening to Brad Paisley - He
didn't have to be on the drive home from a holiday, I suddenly saw
this
Goto Chapter 2
Chapter one
Cassie rested, exhausted, sore and blinking back tears. Looking at
Jack, no longer the man in his prime that rescued her but still tall
and strong -her children's grandfather by any other name-; the only
father she remembered, playful or authoritative as needed. At the
brilliant, hesitantly loving woman held tight to his side, who had
become her third mother, just as dear and loving as the first; Teal'c,
the uncle that should be a grandfather, bulwark of unconditional
strength and loyalty. Daniel, and even Cameron and Vala, the older
friends -like her father, greying and more weathered than when she met
them-, always there for her, accomplices against authority or shoulders
to cry foul against her parents upon. And, always last somehow, Jonas,
in and out of her life, closer to her for always being a little apart
from everyone else. She'd tried to be for him as the others had been
for her; compensation for the rest of a world that was distant.
Not one of them related by blood, to her or each other, and yet they
had raised her, each in their own way; and she knew they would continue
the circle with Gabriel, come what may. Cassie looked down at the tiny
creature in her arms, utterly dependent on the mercy of others to
survive and thrive. His eyes closed now, mouth bowed as he slept,
unconcerned about the gathering in his honour, no doubt absorbing as
much of the safety the people in the room exuded as she had as a small
child.
Jack's sudden, heartfelt, laughter, for so long a never-heard sound,
brought her attention back up to the hospital room full of, for lack of
a better word, eccentrics -aliens, geniuses and disobedient soldiers?-
and she smiled in unavoidable response to the sound of happiness,
watching them *all* and aware of their shared joy. These were people
that had seen hardships and horror and whose smiles, let along their
laughter, were rare, precious things.
She hoped she proved worthy of their years of unconditional love and
support; prayed she could do half as well with her flesh and blood as
they had with a literal alien. Could build onto the foundation they had
fought to lay a family as solid and powerful as they had provided her.
Chapter two
He probably should feel old, Jack thought. With Cass' baby in the
crook of his right arm and his still so-much-younger Carter tucked
under his left. But all he felt was peace. Sitting on his well-used
couch, his knees extended and unstressed, his body warm from the fire a
few feet away and heated inside from a celebratory single malt.
Watching their friends -family- gathered, his ghosts were quiet,
sitting behind him and letting themselves be pacified -for now- by the
feeling in the air. Anyway, they were scared of Carter and stepped far
more lightly these days.
He couldn't rustle any sadness, even looking at Daniel, getting more
grey than brown, getting scruffier with every year; Vala's idea of
wifing had never included making him 'clean up'. She was content with
helping her eccentric professor interpret squiggles on tablets and
still as likely to dress in leathers as in pastel sweaters, regardless
of wrinkles, slowed joints and a few extra pounds.
Still as lively. She was gesturing at her husband where they stood next
to the bookcase with T'. The seemingly ageless Jaffa was changed too,
if barely; a very few lines, an illusion of grey in the pitch black
hair. These days, their combat training was with the descendant of the
Xbox -Carter's threats if he ever thought of anything else were only
there to save his pride from having to demur on his own-; he didn't
even want to *think* about trying to move fast enough to duck even T's
*slowest* punch. The big guy still fought the baddies of the moment of
course, and trained the next generation of warriors, both Tau'ri and
Jaffa. Not to mention grandfathering a couple of rugrats of his own
with the sometime company of his stubborn warrior-lady.
Jack smirked at the thought; he wondered what Carter would do to him if
he called her his warrior-lady when they went to bed tonight... His
family-watching ended with Cameron and Jonas, still the bachelors of
the gang. 'Young' Cam was getting long in the tooth these days, a lot
more settled with those heavy stars on his epaulets. Standing near the
end of the couch, talking with Cass and Jonas, Jack hoped the rumours
of a mysterious lady-love in his life were true; the boy certainly
looked a little more interested in the world lately. And in babies...
Unlike Jonas, still focused on helping his people rise from the ashes,
yearning to keep learning everything in existence; friend to all women,
in love with none. Not that he didn't love, Jack thought, noticing the
watchful eyes he kept on still-tired Cass. Her big brother today;
though Jack could think of days when she seemed the more mature one.
His focus zoomed back in as Samantha giggled softly. She was sitting
sideways, legs tucked under her and her cheek laid on his heart -an
old, well-practiced position-, one finger grasped by baby Gabe as she
wiggled it gently, testing his grip, challenging his mind to focus on
her and building muscles; the movement twin to that of her other hand,
slipped between two buttons of Jack's shirt and absently stroking back
and forth. He didn't notice the completely familiar swell of love in
him as he watched her grin goofily at the infant that was in effect
their grandchild. Asgards but he loved this woman!
The dimmed lights played in her hair, very pale these days, not fully
white like his had been for years, but as much a sign of time as the
creases at the corners of her lips. Time they'd spent together,
watching Cass, watching the new generation of world-savers, smiling at
each other and their friends; every wrinkle a medal to survival and
hard-earned joy. Her eyes still shined with enthusiasm and curiosity,
just as they had when their gazes first clashed across a meeting table,
but these days it was for quiet -safe!- research and writing, and she
was actually quite willing to take a day off to indulge him when he
wrangled a day away from *his* damned job that was *supposed* to be
*part-time* consultancy.
She looked up suddenly and met his happy grin as he thought of all
those stolen days, her eyes softening with love he still sometimes
found hard to believe. He bent his head and dropped a lingering kiss on
her forehead, the taste of her skin as familiar as her shape along his
body. She whispered, "I love you." As familiar as her breath in his
soul...
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