Sam and her boys, 8b: Family emergency, PG13, Sam/Jack/Siler
Back to Chapter 8a: Training
or to Chapter 1 for info
To read it all the chapters on one page, click here
Summary: Siler learns another lesson in family (august - 3 months PB)
Chapter 8b: Family emergency (PG13)
Siler swore as sparks flew up in front of his face, "Turn it off!!" What the hell was wrong with the damned power supply?? This was the second module it had literally blown up in his face!
"Sergeant! Phone."
He banged his shoulder with a grunt as he hurriedly shifted out of the greasy, dusty and cramped mainframe's enclosure, creaking himself up to grab the phone the airman had left unhooked for him, "Siler here, how can I help you?"
"Outside call, sergeant, transferring it." He heard the click as the line switched and then unsteady breaths, as though the person on the other end had been.. crying??
"Siler? Where's Jack?"
He blinked, tensing in worry at the tear-choked voice, "Cassie??" He hurriedly turned away from the room, hunching to mumble into his chest, "He had to go to Washington. Are you okay?" It was patently obvious she wasn't; but on the other hand, it wasn't really his place to pry if she didn't want to tell him. No matter how hard it would be to keep working without knowing-
"..No."
The pitiful sniff that followed that cracked word made his shoulders tighten another notch, just-born instincts making the decision for him. He looked around, planning what orders to leave and who he had to get permission from, "Where are you?"
"At the house."
He nodded, trying to sound reassuring, "I'll be there in less than forty minutes, okay?"
She sniffed again, just about making his heart clench, "..'K."
####
Hank looked up when the sergeant walked in, straightening when he saw him looking worried and in a hurry, "Sergeant?"
"Sir," the man came to attention rather than starting a rapid explanation, making Hank wonder what was up *now*, "Sir, I.. have a family emergency. Is it alright if I.."
The general waved the obviously worried sergeant away, relaxing that his base wasn't wasn't about to blow up, "Of course, of course. Nothing serious I hope?"
"I don't know yet, sir."
"Go. Go take care of your family." He returned the man's salute casually, watching him jog away and not surprised when Walter walked in a second later. ".. Did *you* know he had a family?"
The sergeant shrugged, looking very curious, "No, sir. Hasn't changed his next-of-kin that I know of..."
####
Siler hurried into the house, letting the door slam behind him. He was about to call out when he saw the young woman hugging a cushion on the couch, surrounded in used tissues. For a second he just about panicked at the unfamiliar scene; but he was a trained soldier who'd faced so many terrifying things he should be immune to fear, right?
He caught himself with a wince and hurried forward. "Cassie? Sweetheart," sweeping a spot clear of junk, he pulled her into his arms, feeling her wrap herself around his neck and sob into his dirty shoulder, "What's wrong?"
"I'm.. I think I'm pregnant."
####
When Jack walked through the door and stared at the two of them in surprise, Siler shifted Cassie's sleeping body gently over on the couch and took the older man to the kitchen.
"What's going on??" Jack whispered, worried about his tear-stained little girl but automatically responding to Siler's relaxed posture with diminished alarm; whatever was up was under control. A good sergeant was worth his weight in gold, even at home.
Siler grinned wryly, feeling strange at being in the middle of such family drama and keeping his voice low too, "Luckily, I have permission to brief you. She said she assumed you were aware of her boyfriend?"
Jack glared reflexively, nodding, "Yeah. Do I finally get to beat him up?"
Siler shook his head, taking a precautionary restraining grip on the other man's shoulder "No. But she thinks she's pregnant*don't*shout." He tensed, knowing there was going to be an explosion.
"WHAT??"
Siler grabbed the other shoulder, staring his friend down, "I'm pretty sure you're supposed to keep pregnant women calm, Jack. Settle down before you wake her up."
Jack breathed quickly through clenched teeth, *really* wanting to find his daughter's lover and KILL him slowly. He knew damned well no one was going to let him, but the daydream helped keep him from taking his fury out on the wrong man. He finally nodded, "She needs to get to the SGC and get tested properly."
Siler nodded, glad to see the man thinking clearly and pulling him into a half-hesitant hug. The afternoon had been just a little stressful; Siler was *not* used to comforting young women. Or grown women for that matter. But Sam and Jack really had made Cassie feel like a daughter and he'd done what he could to listen and comfort. Hoping he at least wasn't screwing things up worse. He sighed, thumping his head on Jack's shoulder, feeling him hug him back and glad to get some support and comfort of his own, "We're going to wish Sam was here, aren't we?"
Cassie smiled at the scene from the doorway, seeing Jack wince in agreement and bend his head against Siler's.
"It's OK guys, I just want to be held a bit; I can handle the rest." Ignoring the way they sprang apart, flustered, she walked over to her father and snuggled into the arms he opened for her; grabbing Siler's shirtfront before he could escape and tugging him into holding her too before dropping her head on Jack's shoulder.
Then she tilted her head up, wrinkling her no-longer-clogged nose with a frown, "Why do I smell burnt hair??"
Siler swallowed his grin when Jack rolled his eyes, exaggerating for their amusement, "Siler probably tried to electrocute himself again."
"Heyyy!" Siler complained but he didn't say anything else as Jack ran a careful hand through his hair. He couldn't believe he was getting used to fussing... From *General O'Neill*, of all people. Though he really should have known, after all those years catching him sneaking in to watch over his injured team members in the infirmary, trying to stare them well as they slept.
"I don't suppose you went to the infirmary?"
"I'm fine."
Jack muttered in response to the blithe reassurance, looking put-upon, "If I believed every time you and Carter said you were 'fine', you'd both be dead." He found the singed section of hair and gently touched the scalp underneath, turning the sergeant's head so he could see, unaware of the wink the man gave Cassie, "Doesn't look like it reached the skin." He smoothed the hair back absently before bringing his hand back to hold a mistily smiling Cassie. Some days she really loved watching Jack take care of people.
Then she frowned up at Siler as he straightened, arms loosely around her, "You're not in trouble for coming home to me are you?"
"Nah. Landry seemed fine with my needing the time off," he winced, "Walter answered the phone though.. knowing him, he almost certainly recognized your voice..." he shrugged, his hand stroking jerkily up and down her arm, "But don't worry about it sweetheart."
She nodded, trusting that he was more than capable; unaware of the fond grin Jack threw him over her head for taking care of his little girl. She sighed, cuddling back into her father, "I wish you could come to the SGC with us."
####
The next morning, Siler found a requisition for maintenance to one of the infirmary scanners and picked the menial job for himself, taking his time and chatting up the nurses until he heard the surface checkpoint call down about visitors. A few extra tweaks and cleans to the temperamental machine and he got up to go as Cassie sat herself on a bed, Jack standing by her as a nurse took her vitals.
It was nothing at all for the fidgeting general to just *happen* to stop him so they could chat over old times. And if Siler happened to call her 'Miss Cass' a few times, well, he was known for being a little odd, and it made the nervous young woman giggle; which made the nurse smile approvingly.
He managed to hang around until the doc came back, then stopped to tie his boot laces within hearing of the drawn curtain, smiling before he could stop himself when he heard Cass sound awed and happy at the test results. He made himself get serious before he stood up. Catching Jack's choked-up voice congratulating her, he decided he needed to make a stop before he went to revisit Lee's generator.
####
"-So you'll be back in a week, colonel?"
Listening patiently, Walter made a mental note to get the general a snack; that tone was getting short.
"Yes sir," hearing Colonel Carter's voice break up again, he frowned with annoyance, tweaking the audio filter again, trying to make up for the interference still showing up on the Phoenix's telsystem. "We're about a day behind schedule but I have high hopes that we can make it up as soon as the engine cooling is fixed."
"Alright, well, if there's anything else..?"
Walter lifted a hand quickly, "Actually sir, Siler requested a moment to pick the colonel's brains if it was possible."
Landry's brows rose in curiosity, "Oh?"
"Something about Doctor Lee's generator I think."
"Umph. That man destroys more generators.."
"Yes sir. Permission?"
The general was already walking away when he waved a hand in vague disavowal of care so Walter shrugged, rerouted the call and paged the sergeant.
####
"Sergeant Siler, call on three."
"Thanks Walter." Clicking off the radio, Siler distractedly reached over to the phone besides the surveillance-room computer. "Sergeant Siler speaking."
"Siler?"
"S- Colonel!" It was times like this, when he had to consciously control his reactions to the sound of Sam's voice, that he was forced to realize just how much his life was changing. Taking stock of the people around him, Siler kept his voice even, knowing that dropping it would immediately arouse suspicion, "Colonel, was.. trying to fix something.. not sure how. Thought you dealt with something similar, years ago... Something to do with a call to a home function?.. Had to do with one of Miss Fraiser's misadventures?" Damn. He should have found a way to send a coded data stream instead; coming up with bullshit was *not* his strong point.
"The home function? Err.. yes, of course," he could almost hear her frowning in concentration, trying to guess what he'd meant, "Tricky code, that. Err.. there's a unit in the top left drawer of the desk I've been using in Lee's lab. Retina scan access, you're already coded in. Hook it up and it might help."
Wondering if she'd really understood what he was trying to say, Siler settled for nodding seriously, "Thank you ma'am. I'll try that. Hopefully it'll fix everything."
####
When the phone rang just as he threw the shepherd's pie in the oven, Siler grabbed the handset automatically, walking back to the counter with it on his ear. They were out of potatoes *and* onion all of a.. "O'Neill residence."
"Siler? What's going on??"
He winced at the strained worry in Sam's tone, looking up gratefully at the newest spacephone adaptor he'd found in her desk and installed on the base unit for the house, "Nothing's wrong, sorry, should have found a way to tell you that earlier. Just hang on a sec," he covered the mouthpiece to shout to the living room, "Sam's on the phone!" He heard footsteps hurrying over and uncovered the phone, "Cassie just really needs to talk to you. And here she is." He handed the young woman the receiver with a pat on the shoulder, watching her walk to the living room and hoping he was concealing his worry better than Jack had been doing.
"Cassie? What's wrong?"
Cassie sighed, hunching into the corner of the couch, "Not.. 'wrong'. I'm.. pregnant." She wasn't surprised at the silence that that blunt announcement caused on the other end, imagining Sam sitting in her quarters with her mouth open and eyes blinking in shock.
"Pregnant. Are you okay?" Cassie sighed in relief at the hesitant mothering. At the lack of accusation or- Starting to feel once again as warm and cared for as she had with the boys holding her, she straightened, breathing more easily at the confirmation of the support she suddenly really needed. She could feel the future opening up now, could let herself actually acknowledge what was happening, was about to happen...
"Yeah, I'm fine. A little.. freaked. We really did use condoms every t-time."
"I know. Accidents happen Cassie. It's going to be OK. Have you told him yet?"
"No. I.. I needed to-"
"Be sure?"
"..Yeah. And.. I needed you guys to be OK with it."
Sam laughed a little raggedly in her ear, for a moment almost drowned out by the static on the line, "How are the boys taking it? Siler's work-mask seemed intact over audio.."
Cassie smiled softly, remembering, "He was great. Jack was in Washington when I got here and Siler actually came home to take care of me.."
"He's a good man."
"Yeah," she giggled, "You should have seen them jump apart when I walked into the kitchen and they were hugging though."
"Cassie!" The reproof would have had more effect if Sam weren't giggling right along with her. "..Are you.. okay with that too?"
Remembering her first shock, all those weeks ago, Cassie didn't hesitate now, "I'm fine, Sam. I don't suppose it'll make much difference, but you can tell them that..."
"Probably not. Even Siler's aware that it's not the most accepted thing."
Cassie snickered at the wry humour in the colonel's tone, "El-oh-el! 'Even Siler' really didn't sound good, Sam!"
Her mother groaned, "**Please** don't say that Cassie. Writing it is fine, but if we're talking you can *actually* 'laugh'!"
Cassie giggled, "Sorry. Slipped out."
"As for Siler... it's.. the honest truth. He's not one to pretend to be anything but himself."
Cassie's grin softened, "Sam, it's OK. I like him. He's a good uncle."
"..Uncle??"
"Ummhumm."
She could almost hear the sappy smile through the light years when her mom finally replied softly, "...I love you, Cassie."
"Love you too."
####
When she heard the cell ring, Cassie looked up from her book with a frown. She spotted the forgotten item among other male pocket inhabitants and picked it up quickly, answering as she hurried to the master bedroom, "Just a moment please." It wasn't like Jack to forget his phone, even now that he was supposed to be retired, but she knew her news had thrown him a bit loopy so it wasn't *that* shocking. She knocked quickly at the door, carefully covering the mic, "Guys? Cell phone!"
It only took a few seconds for Jack to open the door, frowning grumpily and holding his pants in place awkwardly. As she handed him the cell though, he swore, cutting himself off as he covered the mic and stepped back to the rumpled bed with a hiss, "Shit! It's yours." Cassie winced, hoping Jack's voice hadn't been recognized -or *hers*!-, staying in the doorway to find out if something was wrong as Siler sat up with the blanket pooling at his waist and cleared his throat to answer formally.
"Sergeant Siler, sir. ... Yes sir, of course sir, shouldn't take more than forty minutes sir. Yes sir." She *just* turned around in time to avoid seeing a lot more than she wanted as he pretty much jumped out of bed, throwing the phone on the comforter and rattling off quickly, "SG-13's having MALP problems, gotta- oops, *sorry* Cass!!"
Cassie laughed at the sudden mortified tone as he no doubt looked up from dressing and noticed her still in the room, "That's alright Siler, I have good reflexes. I'm the one who's sorry, I didn't even think that it might not be Jack's." She jumped as he suddenly appeared besides her, barely halting his quick jog out to drop a kiss on her forehead.
"I'll see you later!"
She watched him hurry away bemusedly, sure the BDUs weren't fitting him right. When Jack came to stand besides her, his pants fastened and an old BDU shirt of his own on, she looked at him and blinked, making the connection, "He's wearing one of your old uniforms, isn't he?"
Jack shrugged, smirking, "He does it pretty often. Throws his jumpsuit on as soon as he get to the mountain. Less obvious on him than on Sam, anyway. Also less obvious than showing up wearing the filthy uniform he had on earlier. Have to remind him to bring them back though, the JJO stitched in the tag could be a mite hard to explain."
Cassie nodded, remembering lazy Saturdays early in their relationship when she'd seen Sam dive into his uniforms for comfort clothes. She could understand; there was something about a loose shirt and knowing it belonged to your man that was just.. very weirdly comforting. She grinned, wondering if Siler got the same feeling. She'd have to ask. Or not; Jack was the one who needed teasing, Siler was too nice...
On to Chapter 8c: Little moments like that
or to Chapter 1 for info
To read it all the chapters on one page, click here
Summary: Siler learns another lesson in family (august - 3 months PB)
Chapter 8b: Family emergency (PG13)
Siler swore as sparks flew up in front of his face, "Turn it off!!" What the hell was wrong with the damned power supply?? This was the second module it had literally blown up in his face!
"Sergeant! Phone."
He banged his shoulder with a grunt as he hurriedly shifted out of the greasy, dusty and cramped mainframe's enclosure, creaking himself up to grab the phone the airman had left unhooked for him, "Siler here, how can I help you?"
"Outside call, sergeant, transferring it." He heard the click as the line switched and then unsteady breaths, as though the person on the other end had been.. crying??
"Siler? Where's Jack?"
He blinked, tensing in worry at the tear-choked voice, "Cassie??" He hurriedly turned away from the room, hunching to mumble into his chest, "He had to go to Washington. Are you okay?" It was patently obvious she wasn't; but on the other hand, it wasn't really his place to pry if she didn't want to tell him. No matter how hard it would be to keep working without knowing-
"..No."
The pitiful sniff that followed that cracked word made his shoulders tighten another notch, just-born instincts making the decision for him. He looked around, planning what orders to leave and who he had to get permission from, "Where are you?"
"At the house."
He nodded, trying to sound reassuring, "I'll be there in less than forty minutes, okay?"
She sniffed again, just about making his heart clench, "..'K."
####
Hank looked up when the sergeant walked in, straightening when he saw him looking worried and in a hurry, "Sergeant?"
"Sir," the man came to attention rather than starting a rapid explanation, making Hank wonder what was up *now*, "Sir, I.. have a family emergency. Is it alright if I.."
The general waved the obviously worried sergeant away, relaxing that his base wasn't wasn't about to blow up, "Of course, of course. Nothing serious I hope?"
"I don't know yet, sir."
"Go. Go take care of your family." He returned the man's salute casually, watching him jog away and not surprised when Walter walked in a second later. ".. Did *you* know he had a family?"
The sergeant shrugged, looking very curious, "No, sir. Hasn't changed his next-of-kin that I know of..."
####
Siler hurried into the house, letting the door slam behind him. He was about to call out when he saw the young woman hugging a cushion on the couch, surrounded in used tissues. For a second he just about panicked at the unfamiliar scene; but he was a trained soldier who'd faced so many terrifying things he should be immune to fear, right?
He caught himself with a wince and hurried forward. "Cassie? Sweetheart," sweeping a spot clear of junk, he pulled her into his arms, feeling her wrap herself around his neck and sob into his dirty shoulder, "What's wrong?"
"I'm.. I think I'm pregnant."
####
When Jack walked through the door and stared at the two of them in surprise, Siler shifted Cassie's sleeping body gently over on the couch and took the older man to the kitchen.
"What's going on??" Jack whispered, worried about his tear-stained little girl but automatically responding to Siler's relaxed posture with diminished alarm; whatever was up was under control. A good sergeant was worth his weight in gold, even at home.
Siler grinned wryly, feeling strange at being in the middle of such family drama and keeping his voice low too, "Luckily, I have permission to brief you. She said she assumed you were aware of her boyfriend?"
Jack glared reflexively, nodding, "Yeah. Do I finally get to beat him up?"
Siler shook his head, taking a precautionary restraining grip on the other man's shoulder "No. But she thinks she's pregnant*don't*shout." He tensed, knowing there was going to be an explosion.
"WHAT??"
Siler grabbed the other shoulder, staring his friend down, "I'm pretty sure you're supposed to keep pregnant women calm, Jack. Settle down before you wake her up."
Jack breathed quickly through clenched teeth, *really* wanting to find his daughter's lover and KILL him slowly. He knew damned well no one was going to let him, but the daydream helped keep him from taking his fury out on the wrong man. He finally nodded, "She needs to get to the SGC and get tested properly."
Siler nodded, glad to see the man thinking clearly and pulling him into a half-hesitant hug. The afternoon had been just a little stressful; Siler was *not* used to comforting young women. Or grown women for that matter. But Sam and Jack really had made Cassie feel like a daughter and he'd done what he could to listen and comfort. Hoping he at least wasn't screwing things up worse. He sighed, thumping his head on Jack's shoulder, feeling him hug him back and glad to get some support and comfort of his own, "We're going to wish Sam was here, aren't we?"
Cassie smiled at the scene from the doorway, seeing Jack wince in agreement and bend his head against Siler's.
"It's OK guys, I just want to be held a bit; I can handle the rest." Ignoring the way they sprang apart, flustered, she walked over to her father and snuggled into the arms he opened for her; grabbing Siler's shirtfront before he could escape and tugging him into holding her too before dropping her head on Jack's shoulder.
Then she tilted her head up, wrinkling her no-longer-clogged nose with a frown, "Why do I smell burnt hair??"
Siler swallowed his grin when Jack rolled his eyes, exaggerating for their amusement, "Siler probably tried to electrocute himself again."
"Heyyy!" Siler complained but he didn't say anything else as Jack ran a careful hand through his hair. He couldn't believe he was getting used to fussing... From *General O'Neill*, of all people. Though he really should have known, after all those years catching him sneaking in to watch over his injured team members in the infirmary, trying to stare them well as they slept.
"I don't suppose you went to the infirmary?"
"I'm fine."
Jack muttered in response to the blithe reassurance, looking put-upon, "If I believed every time you and Carter said you were 'fine', you'd both be dead." He found the singed section of hair and gently touched the scalp underneath, turning the sergeant's head so he could see, unaware of the wink the man gave Cassie, "Doesn't look like it reached the skin." He smoothed the hair back absently before bringing his hand back to hold a mistily smiling Cassie. Some days she really loved watching Jack take care of people.
Then she frowned up at Siler as he straightened, arms loosely around her, "You're not in trouble for coming home to me are you?"
"Nah. Landry seemed fine with my needing the time off," he winced, "Walter answered the phone though.. knowing him, he almost certainly recognized your voice..." he shrugged, his hand stroking jerkily up and down her arm, "But don't worry about it sweetheart."
She nodded, trusting that he was more than capable; unaware of the fond grin Jack threw him over her head for taking care of his little girl. She sighed, cuddling back into her father, "I wish you could come to the SGC with us."
####
The next morning, Siler found a requisition for maintenance to one of the infirmary scanners and picked the menial job for himself, taking his time and chatting up the nurses until he heard the surface checkpoint call down about visitors. A few extra tweaks and cleans to the temperamental machine and he got up to go as Cassie sat herself on a bed, Jack standing by her as a nurse took her vitals.
It was nothing at all for the fidgeting general to just *happen* to stop him so they could chat over old times. And if Siler happened to call her 'Miss Cass' a few times, well, he was known for being a little odd, and it made the nervous young woman giggle; which made the nurse smile approvingly.
He managed to hang around until the doc came back, then stopped to tie his boot laces within hearing of the drawn curtain, smiling before he could stop himself when he heard Cass sound awed and happy at the test results. He made himself get serious before he stood up. Catching Jack's choked-up voice congratulating her, he decided he needed to make a stop before he went to revisit Lee's generator.
####
"-So you'll be back in a week, colonel?"
Listening patiently, Walter made a mental note to get the general a snack; that tone was getting short.
"Yes sir," hearing Colonel Carter's voice break up again, he frowned with annoyance, tweaking the audio filter again, trying to make up for the interference still showing up on the Phoenix's telsystem. "We're about a day behind schedule but I have high hopes that we can make it up as soon as the engine cooling is fixed."
"Alright, well, if there's anything else..?"
Walter lifted a hand quickly, "Actually sir, Siler requested a moment to pick the colonel's brains if it was possible."
Landry's brows rose in curiosity, "Oh?"
"Something about Doctor Lee's generator I think."
"Umph. That man destroys more generators.."
"Yes sir. Permission?"
The general was already walking away when he waved a hand in vague disavowal of care so Walter shrugged, rerouted the call and paged the sergeant.
####
"Sergeant Siler, call on three."
"Thanks Walter." Clicking off the radio, Siler distractedly reached over to the phone besides the surveillance-room computer. "Sergeant Siler speaking."
"Siler?"
"S- Colonel!" It was times like this, when he had to consciously control his reactions to the sound of Sam's voice, that he was forced to realize just how much his life was changing. Taking stock of the people around him, Siler kept his voice even, knowing that dropping it would immediately arouse suspicion, "Colonel, was.. trying to fix something.. not sure how. Thought you dealt with something similar, years ago... Something to do with a call to a home function?.. Had to do with one of Miss Fraiser's misadventures?" Damn. He should have found a way to send a coded data stream instead; coming up with bullshit was *not* his strong point.
"The home function? Err.. yes, of course," he could almost hear her frowning in concentration, trying to guess what he'd meant, "Tricky code, that. Err.. there's a unit in the top left drawer of the desk I've been using in Lee's lab. Retina scan access, you're already coded in. Hook it up and it might help."
Wondering if she'd really understood what he was trying to say, Siler settled for nodding seriously, "Thank you ma'am. I'll try that. Hopefully it'll fix everything."
####
When the phone rang just as he threw the shepherd's pie in the oven, Siler grabbed the handset automatically, walking back to the counter with it on his ear. They were out of potatoes *and* onion all of a.. "O'Neill residence."
"Siler? What's going on??"
He winced at the strained worry in Sam's tone, looking up gratefully at the newest spacephone adaptor he'd found in her desk and installed on the base unit for the house, "Nothing's wrong, sorry, should have found a way to tell you that earlier. Just hang on a sec," he covered the mouthpiece to shout to the living room, "Sam's on the phone!" He heard footsteps hurrying over and uncovered the phone, "Cassie just really needs to talk to you. And here she is." He handed the young woman the receiver with a pat on the shoulder, watching her walk to the living room and hoping he was concealing his worry better than Jack had been doing.
"Cassie? What's wrong?"
Cassie sighed, hunching into the corner of the couch, "Not.. 'wrong'. I'm.. pregnant." She wasn't surprised at the silence that that blunt announcement caused on the other end, imagining Sam sitting in her quarters with her mouth open and eyes blinking in shock.
"Pregnant. Are you okay?" Cassie sighed in relief at the hesitant mothering. At the lack of accusation or- Starting to feel once again as warm and cared for as she had with the boys holding her, she straightened, breathing more easily at the confirmation of the support she suddenly really needed. She could feel the future opening up now, could let herself actually acknowledge what was happening, was about to happen...
"Yeah, I'm fine. A little.. freaked. We really did use condoms every t-time."
"I know. Accidents happen Cassie. It's going to be OK. Have you told him yet?"
"No. I.. I needed to-"
"Be sure?"
"..Yeah. And.. I needed you guys to be OK with it."
Sam laughed a little raggedly in her ear, for a moment almost drowned out by the static on the line, "How are the boys taking it? Siler's work-mask seemed intact over audio.."
Cassie smiled softly, remembering, "He was great. Jack was in Washington when I got here and Siler actually came home to take care of me.."
"He's a good man."
"Yeah," she giggled, "You should have seen them jump apart when I walked into the kitchen and they were hugging though."
"Cassie!" The reproof would have had more effect if Sam weren't giggling right along with her. "..Are you.. okay with that too?"
Remembering her first shock, all those weeks ago, Cassie didn't hesitate now, "I'm fine, Sam. I don't suppose it'll make much difference, but you can tell them that..."
"Probably not. Even Siler's aware that it's not the most accepted thing."
Cassie snickered at the wry humour in the colonel's tone, "El-oh-el! 'Even Siler' really didn't sound good, Sam!"
Her mother groaned, "**Please** don't say that Cassie. Writing it is fine, but if we're talking you can *actually* 'laugh'!"
Cassie giggled, "Sorry. Slipped out."
"As for Siler... it's.. the honest truth. He's not one to pretend to be anything but himself."
Cassie's grin softened, "Sam, it's OK. I like him. He's a good uncle."
"..Uncle??"
"Ummhumm."
She could almost hear the sappy smile through the light years when her mom finally replied softly, "...I love you, Cassie."
"Love you too."
####
When she heard the cell ring, Cassie looked up from her book with a frown. She spotted the forgotten item among other male pocket inhabitants and picked it up quickly, answering as she hurried to the master bedroom, "Just a moment please." It wasn't like Jack to forget his phone, even now that he was supposed to be retired, but she knew her news had thrown him a bit loopy so it wasn't *that* shocking. She knocked quickly at the door, carefully covering the mic, "Guys? Cell phone!"
It only took a few seconds for Jack to open the door, frowning grumpily and holding his pants in place awkwardly. As she handed him the cell though, he swore, cutting himself off as he covered the mic and stepped back to the rumpled bed with a hiss, "Shit! It's yours." Cassie winced, hoping Jack's voice hadn't been recognized -or *hers*!-, staying in the doorway to find out if something was wrong as Siler sat up with the blanket pooling at his waist and cleared his throat to answer formally.
"Sergeant Siler, sir. ... Yes sir, of course sir, shouldn't take more than forty minutes sir. Yes sir." She *just* turned around in time to avoid seeing a lot more than she wanted as he pretty much jumped out of bed, throwing the phone on the comforter and rattling off quickly, "SG-13's having MALP problems, gotta- oops, *sorry* Cass!!"
Cassie laughed at the sudden mortified tone as he no doubt looked up from dressing and noticed her still in the room, "That's alright Siler, I have good reflexes. I'm the one who's sorry, I didn't even think that it might not be Jack's." She jumped as he suddenly appeared besides her, barely halting his quick jog out to drop a kiss on her forehead.
"I'll see you later!"
She watched him hurry away bemusedly, sure the BDUs weren't fitting him right. When Jack came to stand besides her, his pants fastened and an old BDU shirt of his own on, she looked at him and blinked, making the connection, "He's wearing one of your old uniforms, isn't he?"
Jack shrugged, smirking, "He does it pretty often. Throws his jumpsuit on as soon as he get to the mountain. Less obvious on him than on Sam, anyway. Also less obvious than showing up wearing the filthy uniform he had on earlier. Have to remind him to bring them back though, the JJO stitched in the tag could be a mite hard to explain."
Cassie nodded, remembering lazy Saturdays early in their relationship when she'd seen Sam dive into his uniforms for comfort clothes. She could understand; there was something about a loose shirt and knowing it belonged to your man that was just.. very weirdly comforting. She grinned, wondering if Siler got the same feeling. She'd have to ask. Or not; Jack was the one who needed teasing, Siler was too nice...
On to Chapter 8c: Little moments like that