Colours Of Love

Chapter 14 - Always

"Whatcha thinkin' about?"

Sam turned to smile at him, welcoming the interruption to her thoughts as Jack sat down beside her. She continued to clutch the silver locket attached to the chain around her neck, her eyes betraying her distraction from the television that was on in front of her. Jack handed her a coffee in her favourite mug, setting his on the coffee table before leaning back on the sofa's deep cushions.

"I was wondering what pictures I could put in my locket." She answered, placing her own mug next to his and then moving into his arms, laying her head on his shoulder.

"There's some pretty impressive mug-shots of Danny and Teal'c around here somewhere." Jack assured her, using the hand around her shoulders to stroke her hair as she laughed against him.

"What about Jasper?"

He gave her one of his unimpressed looks despite his grin. "You're supposed to say what about me, Major."

"Why would I want a picture of me in my locket?" Sam feigned confusion, earning a second unimpressed glare which she grinned at.

The doorbell sounding saved her from replying. She jumped up, guessing it would be Daniel and Teal'c on their promised visit for her birthday. Jasper beat her to the door, barking excitedly. Sam opened the door, receiving a hug from Daniel before he moved into the hallway, followed by Teal'c, who was hidden behind a huge bouquet of orange and red flowers.

"Teal'c, thank you." She exclaimed, taking the arrangement he offered and hugging him. "They're beautiful."

"I wish you well on this occasion, Samantha Carter." Teal'c replied, gracing her with a rare smile.

Sam ushered her team mates into the front room, leaving them with Jack and a still-excited Labrador, whilst she poured two more mugs of coffee from the pot Jack had made. When she neared the door to the front room she heard the hushed voices of all three men, which abruptly stopped as she entered the room.

"Very subtle, guys."

Three very innocent sets of eyes turned their gaze on her. She rolled her eyes in response, wondering if it was to do with Jack's big secret for her birthday.

"Didn't I tell you she was getting paranoid?" Jack asked the other men in mock exasperation.

"Can't imagine who's rubbed off on her." Daniel commented sarcastically from where he sat on the armchair opposite, taking a sip from his mug as he frowned, feigning a puzzled expression.

Sam laughed brightly, catching Jack's humorous scowl at his best friend. "Sarcasm is not your colour, space monkey."

"Pick your battles, Daniel." Sam warned with a smile as the archaeologist looked ready to retort, resting a hand on Jack's thigh in an attempt to pacify him.

Jasper had taken a liking to Teal'c, jumping up on his hind legs to place his paws at Teal'c's knees. Having received no attention from the Jaffa, the Labrador moved on to the other newcomer, Daniel patted Jasper's head absently as he continued to make conversation.

It wasn't long before Teal'c mysteriously hinted to Daniel that they should be leaving. The doctor then explained hurriedly that they were going to drop in on Cassie and that she was hoping to see Sam as well. Jack made his excuses, all of which Sam saw straight through, but decided against pushing the topic due to her suspicions of covert teamwork going on behind her back. After spending a lot of the morning trying to pry clues out of Jack, she'd decided whatever had been planned, she'd go along with.

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An hour later, Teal'c dropped her off outside her house, having left Daniel with Cassie and her friends at the college. Apparently both Daniel and Teal'c had research to do, although neither had been able to decipher the topic of such research when she'd asked. Sam smiled to herself, holding the gifts from her friends in one hand as she found her house keys from her bag with the other. She waved goodbye to Teal'c as he drove past, wondering if she'd finally get to know what Jack had been planning.

The aroma of candles and lavender incense burning greeted her as Sam opened the door. Stepping into the hallway, she set her keys and gifts on the table, slipping her denim jacket from her shoulders.

"Jack?" She called out to the silent house. Moving towards the lounge room, Sam found the lavender fragrance stronger. The blinds had been pulled closed; shutting out the summer afternoon sunlight, the soft glow of various scented candles was the only light dancing around the room. Above the fireplace and atop the wooden surfaces in the room, Jack had arranged her birthday cards so they stood in lines. The bouquet of colourful flowers Teal'c had given her stood in the centre of the coffee table. Turning to the door, she called out to Jack again, only to be met with a resounding silence.

Sam made her way up the stairs, spotting the flickering light of candles coming from their bedroom. It crossed her mind fleetingly that Jasper wasn't around either, not greeting her at the door as she'd grown accustomed to over the past week.

"Jack?" She called a third time, pushing the bedroom door open. A dozen pale pink roses stood on the pine chest of drawers opposite their bed, a blue envelope propped up against the crystal vase that held the flowers. As Sam neared, the surprised smile on her face softened as she made out her name in a familiar scrawl on the envelope. Tearing the thin paper open, she found a birthday card and second envelope.

'Happy Birthday, babe,

Jasper and I decided you deserved something special to celebrate this year. I know we decided to go up to the cabin this weekend but we hope you'll enjoy this more.

Love,

Jack xxx

Curiously she opened the second envelope to find two first-class tickets to New York City. Sam stared at the tickets for a good few minutes before her brain kicked in again, an excited grin spreading on her face. She spotted the departure times as fours hours from now, so Jack had to be around somewhere.

"Jack? Where are you?"

She kept calling out, moving from room to room upstairs, before descending to the lower floor. Sam passed the dining room, its door slightly ajar, in favour of the kitchen, which was fully closed. Feeling like she had as a child on Christmas morning, she clasped her hand around the kitchen door handle, sliding it open gradually. The sight that met her eyes made her smile widen again; more roses, candles and incense had been placed around the room. She spied Jasper asleep in his basket in the corner, the young dog obviously very comfortable in his relatively new home not to be bothered by the strong scent of lavender. A set of helium filled balloons rested against the ceiling, their ribbons dangling down into a second set of roses on the kitchen table, these ones a dark red colour.

Sam jumped as a pair of arms slipped around her waist from behind, lips descending to her neck in gentle kisses.

"Enjoy the treasure hunt?" Jack's voice breathed next to her ear as he turned her around to face him. She thanked him with an intense kiss to his mouth as she wrapped her arms around him, breaking away with a bright smile. "I'll take that as a yes."

"It's too much, Jack. You're spoiling me."

Jack grinned at her, pressing a gentle kiss to her nose. "You need to be spoiled once in a while."

"How long have you had this planned?" Sam asked as she ran her fingers over his hair, his hands finding their favourite spot at her waist beneath the coloured tank top she wore.

"That's need to know only, Carter."

"You got everything set up in an hour."

"Even managed to send Jasper to sleep."

"Aromatherapy for dogs." She added, kissing him again before pulling away. "I should pack for the weekend- "

"Wait," Jack caught her hand, turning her to face the roses and balloons adorning the kitchen table. "You notice anything different about the ribbons?"

Sam threw him a puzzled smile over her shoulder before turning to study the ribbons. She felt Jack's hands on her shoulders as, sure enough, she spotted a single silver ribbon amongst the gold. Pulling gently, the end of the ribbon emerged from the roses, along with a ring attached.

"I was hoping this weekend could be a double celebration." Jack explained sincerely, capturing her eyes with his.

"Is that a proposal?" She teased him, a gentle smile adorning her face.

"Is that a yes?"

Sam grinned at Jack's hopeful expression, freeing the ring from the loose knot of the ribbon. "I suppose it is."

Accepting her new fianc's happy kiss, she admired the ring again, realising what she'd mistaken as silver was actually white-gold. The words 'Yours forever, Jack' warmed her heart as they had the first time she'd read them, slipping the ring on to the third finger of her left hand and hugging Jack to her.

"I can't believe it," Sam smiled, staring at her ring where her hands were clasped behind Jack's neck, the full extent of what this meant for them settling over her.

This was it.

They were going to be together.

Always.

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That's it!

After much consideration I've decided on 'So They Say' as the title for the sequal – but knowing me I might change it! Thank you so much for all the reviews and I'll get writing the sequal ASAP.