Chapter 16

Jacob sat in front of the TV in the living room, his eyes glazing over as the 11 o’clock news began. He was hardly paying any attention to it, as he kept wondering what his little girl and her “boyfriend” were up to. He’d had a nice chat with Daniel while Sam did the dishes, and his suspicions about the younger man were confirmed: he was a sweet, polite, intelligent, and caring man who really loved his daughter. Daniel had told him a bit about what he did for a living, and, more importantly, how he and Sam first met. Jacob thought it was an amusing anecdote.

Now he sat, facing the television, but barely seeing or hearing that which was being broadcast. He thought about how long Sam and Daniel were gone, and his eyes widened when he realized it had been at least a few hours. A bit of fear welled up inside him, but he bit it back when he reminded himself of what a decent young man Daniel was, and he knew that his daughter was in good hands.

He needn’t have agonized over it a second longer as he heard the sound of a doorknob twisting. Jacob shifted in the recliner and turned his head toward the front door as it opened and the pair entered. He bit back an amused grin when he took in their appearance. Sam’s lipstick looked like it had been put on by Picasso, her hair was a bit disheveled, and her clothes were slightly rumpled. Daniel was blotting at his mouth with a napkin, apparently having got some of Sam’s lipstick on him during their little escapade. His hair was also a bit disheveled and flopping over his eyes. Jacob chuckled inwardly and wondered when the last time he had gotten his hair cut was. To complete Daniel’s untidy image, the first three buttons of his light gray dress shirt were unbuttoned, and the collar was all askew.

Jacob couldn’t hold back any longer and grinned widely. Daniel took notice and immediately stuffed the tissue in his pants pocket, blushing faintly. Sam coughed quietly and blushed as well.

“Well, you two have been gone long enough,” Jacob addressed them wryly.

Sam rolled her eyes and smirked. “You noticed.”

Jacob nodded, slightly amused at his daughter’s reaction. “I did. See this?” he asked as he pointed to the television screen. “It’s the 11 o’clock news. Shame on you both,” he teased.

Sam’s blush deepened. “Come on, Dad, we’re not in high school,” she scoffed.

“Oh, really?” Jacob chuckled. “Well, from the way you two were acting when you came in here, blushing like schoolchildren, you could have fooled me.”

Sam snorted and rolled her eyes. She glanced at Daniel and noticed that he was suddenly acting very shy and embarrassed; he wrapped his arms around himself protectively and seemed to take a keen interest in the wall-to-wall carpeting.

Jacob sensed his uneasiness and chuckled softly. “I’m sorry, Daniel, I’m just teasing.”

Daniel kept his eyes on the floor and the corners of his mouth drew up slightly.

“Honest,” Jacob insisted gently. “I trust you with my daughter. I know she loves you, and I’m glad she made the right decision.”

Daniel’s head shot up at that assertion and he stared at Jacob thoughtfully.

“Thank you, General Carter,” he said softly as he nodded.

Jacob looked back at Daniel and a smile slowly spread across his face. It turned into a grin as he took in their disheveled appearance once again.

Daniel picked up on it and began to chuckle sheepishly. “I can’t imagine that it’s easy for you to trust me after we come in here, looking like this,” he said ruefully as he pushed his hair back and out of his face.

Jacob shook his head dismissively. “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad she’s gotten comfortable with someone she truly loves. And believe me, there were times when your mom and I came back from long walks out at night in even worse condition,” he chuckled sentimentally, addressing Sam.

Sam managed a slight smile and a quiet snicker. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and accidentally knocked into one of the end tables, sending a letter in an envelope sailing to the floor. She felt Daniel’s eyes on her and her cheeks flushed as she bent over to pick it up.

She took one look at it and a little smile grew on her face when she realized it was the touching letter that Kelly had written to her.

“What’s that?” Jacob questioned.

“Oh, uh … nothing,” Sam said sheepishly, clearing her throat. “Just something from one of my students.”

Jacob nodded. “Ah.”

Daniel gave Sam a nice smile and headed over to one of the dining room chairs to reclaim his suit jacket.

“I should really be going now,” he said regrettably as he pulled it on.

Sam’s smile faded and she nodded slightly.

“Wow, 11:30 – is that the time already?” Jacob asked.

“Uh … yeah, it is,” Sam remarked, a bit flustered.

Jacob edged up off his chair and made his way over to Daniel, smiling kindly.

“Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Daniel,” he said as he shook the younger man’s hand. “I know I said it before, but I want to tell you in front of Sam: this relationship has my blessing. It means everything to me to see my little girl happy, especially when it’s with a sweet young man like you.”

Daniel stared at him thoughtfully, appearing very touched by Jacob’s words. “Thanks, General Carter. That … that really means a lot,” he said.

They didn’t notice the brilliant smile on Sam’s face as she looked on and fought to hold back tears.

Jacob’s smile grew. “I’m off-duty now. You can call me Jacob.”

Daniel blushed faintly and grinned. “Okay, Jacob – thanks, I really appreciate that.”

“Anytime, Son,” Jacob returned. “Actually, do you mind if I call you Danny?”

Daniel appeared a bit surprised, and then chuckled sheepishly. “Ah … no, no I don’t mind at all.”

“Okay, then, Danny,” Jacob chuckled. “I’ll be heading back out to D.C. early Monday, so I don’t know when I’ll see you again. The next time I have some leave coming up, I’ll make sure to pay a visit. I trust you’ll take good care of my daughter.”

Sam blushed madly. “Dad, it’s not as if we’re newlyweds!” she said, taken aback.

Daniel felt a small ounce of disappointment well up within him, but it waned when he realized that Sam was absolutely right; they’d just entered into a committed relationship. He didn’t know if they’d go as far as marriage ... yet, anyway. Of course, he loved her so much that it wasn’t entirely out of the question, but it certainly wasn’t something about which they’d given any thought.

Jacob presented them with a disarming smile. “You’re right, I’m sorry, I’m jumping the gun.”

Daniel gave him a slight shrug, and shook his hand once again.

“I’ll walk you to your car Daniel, to … um …” Sam trailed off as she looked at her father and blushed. She cleared her throat before continuing. “… Say goodbye.”

Daniel nodded and dug his car keys out of his pocket as Sam led him to the front door and outside.

“Your dad is a really nice guy, Sam. You’re lucky to have him,” Daniel said sincerely as they headed down her front walk.

“Thanks,” Sam smiled.

“He called me ‘Danny’ … I couldn’t get over that,” Daniel said thoughtfully.

“Why?” Sam said curiously.

“It’s …” Daniel stopped abruptly.

Sam’s eyes begged him to continue.

“It’s just silly,” Daniel said sheepishly as he shook his head. “My mom used to call me that.” He lowered his head and averted his eyes.

“Daniel, that’s not silly,” Sam said softly. She could tell that he was a little distressed.

He lifted his head and looked at her with the most beautiful pair of blue eyes.

“Do you really miss your parents, Daniel?” she asked carefully, trying not to pry.

Daniel gazed at her for a moment and then nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I do,” he replied, averting his eyes.

Sam looked at him sadly.

“Especially my mom – I mean, she was a good mother to me. She had some objections to my going into teaching, but in the end, she realized it was what I wanted to do, and she at least accepted it. My dad was another story,” he finished grimly.

“I’m sorry,” she said after a beat.

“It’s not your fault,” he said quietly. “We just don’t see eye to eye very often. He just about wrote me out of his life.”

Sam’s brow knitted in confusion. “What? Why?”

Daniel’s head shot back up to look at her and she felt instant pity when she caught his deep blush.

“I’m sorry, Daniel, I guess it’s really none of my business,” she said apologetically.

“Don’t be silly, Sam. We’re in a serious relationship now. I’ve met your dad, so it’s only fair that I tell you about my parents. I mean, I told you a bit about them when we first met, but I didn’t really go into detail.”

“You said that they were disappointed that you were only going to teach and that you weren’t spending all your time out in the field,” Sam said, remembering what Daniel had told her back then.

“Yeah, something like that,” Daniel replied. “Kind of ironic how they spend a lot of their time in museums now, giving talks about this and that, and I’m spending a lot of time out in the field on digs with my students.” He finished his statement with a short, bitter laugh.

“That’s not right,” Sam said quietly.

Daniel shrugged, as if it was something he’d come to terms with ages ago.

“Daniel, you miss them,” Sam insisted.

“I miss my mom,” Daniel corrected. “Even though she still had reservations about my chosen career path, she at least accepted it.”

“Do you ever try to call her?” Sam asked.

“I tried a few times, when I was in Chicago and not long after I started teaching here. I could never get her on the phone. For all I know, Dad would hear my answering machine messages and erase them. Or, maybe they just didn’t care, and decided to cut off all contact with me.”

He felt Sam put her arm around him and pull him into a hug.

“Daniel, I’m so sorry,” she said. “I wish I could help reunite you with them – talk some sense into them to mend this rift between you.”

Daniel straightened up and pulled out of their hug. “Please, Sam, you don’t have to. I wouldn’t want you to go to all that trouble just for nothing.”

“Just for nothing?” She repeated incredulously. “But, Daniel, it’s your fami-“

He cut her off when he held his index finger up to her lips. “Please. I don’t want to burden you with this. And if you don’t think it could ever be a burden, just wait and see – you’ll change your mind, I guarantee it.”

Sam looked at Daniel, frustrated in wanting to help, but not being allowed to have the chance. She didn’t want him to be angry with her at all, though, so she figured she’d better not go any further.

“Okay,” she conceded softly.

Daniel’s agitated expression melted and he gave her a faint smile. “I’m sorry, I know you want to help, but I really don’t think it will do any good,” he said.

Sam nodded.

“What is that?” he asked curiously as his eyes drifted down to the envelope she was still holding.

“Oh … um … it’s a letter from one of my students. She just received her Masters degree and will be heading out to Stanford to work on her PhD. She wrote and thanked me for all I’ve done for her. It was quite a surprise and it was one of the nicest, sweetest things anyone has ever done for me.” She fought back tears as she handed the letter to Daniel.

Daniel removed the letter from the envelope and read it. A smile spread across his face when he neared the end.

“That is really sweet of her,” he said as he handed the letter back to her. “It’s a great feeling when you can make a difference in someone’s life like that … isn’t it.”

She studied his face and then managed a faint smile. “Yeah,” she answered softly, nodding.

Daniel’s smile grew. “I guess I better get going,” he said after a pause.

Sam’s smile faded and she nodded.

“It was nice meeting your father. He’s a good guy,” Daniel continued.

Sam’s smile returned. “Thanks.”

Daniel nodded before a thought suddenly came to him. “Will you be home this weekend?”

“Uh … yeah, I should be. Dad will be here until early Monday morning, so I guess we’ll be doing some father-daughter things, but I should be home in the evenings.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Daniel said, a bit flustered as he’d almost forgotten that Jacob was staying the weekend. “Can I call you tomorrow evening?”

“Sure,” Sam nodded, her smile growing.

“Great,” Daniel replied. He reached out and kissed her softly on the lips before engulfing her in one final embrace before he got into his car and drove away.

Sam was beaming as she walked slowly back up her front walk and into the house where her father had moved to the couch and was now flipping channels with the remote.

He heard the door close gently and he turned his head to catch sight of his daughter, blushing ever so slightly with a sheepish smile on her face.

“Well, that was a long ‘goodbye,’” Jacob said as he grinned knowingly at Sam.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she shot back at him with a smirk on her face.

“I mean, with the way you two were going on out there, I was surprised that you didn’t convince him to stay overnight,” he replied with a twinkle in his eye.

Sam’s face turned bright crimson. “Dad, I …” she began, taken aback. “ … I … you know I wouldn’t do that. Sure, Daniel and I are very good friends, and we’ve just begun a serious relationship, but we’re not at that stage … yet …” she trailed off awkwardly.

Jacob raised his eyebrows. “Yet?” he repeated curiously. “Are you saying it may eventually come to that?”

“I … I don’t know,” she finished, still blushing madly and in disbelief that she was having this conversation with her father, rather than with one of her girlfriends. She lowered her head and began fidgeting nervously with her hands.

“Well, if it did, I certainly wouldn’t be opposed to it,” Jacob blurted out.

With that, Sam’s head flew up and she looked at her father incredulously. Did he just say what she thought he said?

“Dad?” she nearly choked out. “Wh-what are you saying?” she said quietly.

Jacob shot her an apologetic smile, thinking that she probably got the wrong idea. “All I’m saying is that, if you and Daniel were to become even more romantically involved than you seem to be now, to the point of marriage, I wouldn’t mind.”

Sam couldn’t say a word; a part of her was happy that her father had taken to Daniel so well, and gave his blessing to their relationship, but a part of her was stunned that he actually mentioned the idea of marriage. It only proved to her how he admired Daniel, and that he thought Daniel was the right one for her. As she stared at her father, she thought she might cry.

Jacob’s smile broadened. “As I said before, this relationship has my blessing. All I want is for you to be happy, Sam, and from what I’ve seen, Daniel makes you happy. He’s a kind, caring, considerate young man, and you two couldn’t be more perfect for each other. I’m glad that you’ve finally recognized it.”

Tears stung Sam’s eyes as she made her way up to him and threw her arms around his neck.

“Thanks, Dad,” she said into his shoulder, her voice wavering.

Jacob held her and patted her back. He tried to fight back tears as well; happy that his daughter finally found someone she genuinely loved who genuinely loved her back. Granted, she had made some mistakes, but deep down he never doubted her, and was now as happy for her as a proud father could be.

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Sam hummed happily to herself as she entered the mailroom and headed for her mailbox. It was now Monday morning. She’d had a nice weekend with her father – going out to dinner, going out for a drive to do some sight-seeing, and just sitting around, talking. He’d left earlier that morning, around 5:30 AM to be exact, as he was getting an early flight back to Washington. As they said their goodbyes, he promised he would call her as often as he could. He wasn’t sure when he’d have any other leave coming up, but he jokingly told her that he hoped she and Daniel would be married the next time he saw her.

Daniel had called Saturday night, luckily while Jacob was in the shower. He’d reiterated how nice it was to meet her father, and he shyly admitted that he was glad Jacob had approved of him, and had given his blessing to their relationship. Sam grinned as she thought back to her conversation with him on the phone, not to mention the time they’d spent that Friday. She unconsciously began humming louder as she went through the pile of uninteresting mail that was found in her box.

Elizabeth Newcomb raised an eyebrow as she entered the mailroom and bore witness to Sam’s more-cheerful-than-usual demeanor.

“Hey, Sam,” she said with a slight note of suspicion in her voice. “Have a good weekend?”

Sam immediately stopped humming and turned quickly around to see Elizabeth looking at her curiously. “Why?”

“Oh, nothing, just that you seem to be in an awfully good mood,” the other woman smirked.

Sam grinned. “Yeah, I guess you could say that,” she conceded.

Elizabeth forced a smile. “Well, that’s good to hear. You know, we missed you at the reception on Friday.”

“Really?” Sam asked curiously. “I was there … for a little while … but, I had to leave and head over to Anthropology since a friend of mine in that department asked me to come by.” Her cheeks suddenly flushed as she finished her statement.

“A friend, huh?” Elizabeth asked conspiratorially. “Why didn’t you ever tell us about this, Sam?”

“Liz!” Sam exclaimed. “It’s not a big deal, okay? He’s just a friend – a colleague. Okay?”

Elizabeth smirked at Sam, seemingly unconvinced. Her eyes traveled down and she noticed Sam’s wrist adorned with her new gift.

“Wow, that’s pretty,” she said as she fingered the small gemstones. “Where did you get that?”

“It was a gift from a friend,” Sam answered tersely.

“Hmm, would this happen to be the same friend from Anthropology?” Elizabeth asked impishly.

Sam’s blush deepened and she sputtered, not wanting to entertain the possibility that one of her friends from work might actually be aware of her relationship with Daniel.

“Hey … remember that guy from Anthropology who gave the talk during that Open Night some weeks back? He wouldn’t happen to be your ‘friend,’ would he?” Elizabeth pressed, her tone revealing it was a question to which she already knew the answer.

“What makes you think that?” Sam asked innocently, though she wasn’t fooling anyone.

“Well, you did give him a very nice introduction there …”

“I talk about everyone that way!” Sam shot back defensively. “Uh … I mean … I don’t introduce people that often, but I don’t give anyone special treatment.”

“But do you sit and stare at them like a lovesick teenager as they’re talking, or practically run right up to them to get their attention after their talk is over, or talk intimately with them outside after everyone has gone?” Liz grinned.

Sam’s jaw dropped to the floor and her face was on fire. “You saw us?” she asked, her voice taking on an eerily quiet tone.

Liz sighed, now thinking that she said too much and was encroaching on Sam’s personal life. “I’d just said goodbye to Jeffrey and Bruce, and was heading for the parking lot when I saw you and … what was his name … Jackson, or something like that?”

“Jackson,” Sam confirmed, nodding and still blushing deeply. “Daniel Jackson.”

“Well, I saw you two talking and … I just stood there for a minute or two, just watching you both.” Now Elizabeth was blushing as well.

Sam’s eyes narrowed. “You heard us,” she said, her voice tightening.

“No, no, I didn’t!” Elizabeth insisted, shaking her head. I was too far away to hear anything that you said. I just saw you standing close to each other and talking, and that’s all. To be honest, I thought it was kind of sweet.”

Sam’s hardened façade melted, and her lips twitched upward into a faint smile. Elizabeth was quite possibly her best friend in the department, and the last thing she wanted to do was fight with her. Moreover, she realized that she didn’t have any reason to keep her relationship with Daniel a secret from anyone else, especially at the point it was now.

“Well, thanks,” she finally replied.

“So, I take it that bracelet was from him?”

“Yes, it was,” Sam smiled.

Elizabeth nodded. “Sounds like you guys are pretty serious.”

Sam shrugged. “Yeah, ‘pretty serious’ covers it pretty well … but that’s it, nothing more. I mean, we’ve only known each other for about a month and a half.”

Elizabeth’s eyebrows quickly shot up. “A month and a half? Well, you know, if the chemistry is there, the amount of time you’ve known each other doesn’t make much difference. Look at me and Bill – we were only dating for two months before we got married.”

Sam chuckled softly. “I guess you have a point.”

Elizabeth smiled and squeezed her arm. “You know I do. Listen, I have to run. I have a meeting with a prospective graduate student for the fall semester. Have a good one.”

“Thanks, Liz, same to you,” Sam nodded before the other woman left the room. She looked down at the pile of mail in her hands, dropped it on the table and sighed. Now one of her closest friends at work knew she was involved with Daniel. She hoped that Liz wouldn’t run around and tell her other colleagues about it, so that it would eventually spread to the rest of the campus including the Anthropology department, resulting in embarrassment for both her and Daniel.

What am I worried about? They’re bound to find out about it sooner or later, she thought to herself, especially as our relationship progresses into something more …

Her face cracked open in a large smile upon that last thought, before she gathered up her mail once again and made her way out of the room.


To Chapter 17

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