A Gift Of The Amazons 1

Prologue

by John O'Connor

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/asj/john/amazons01.php
Summary: Samantha Carter has a lot to learn about housework

Prologue: Life in Suburbia

"Samantha!"

The shout came down the stairs into the family room where Sam Carter was watching "Star Trek II" with her friend.

"Uh-oh. What'd you do now, Sam?"

Shrugging, Sam replied, "I dunno. But when she says my whole name I know I'm probably in trouble... And it's getting to the best part too."

She looked longingly at the screen as Kirk blindly dueled with Khan in the Mutara Nebula. Her gaze was torn away with the next shout from upstairs.

"Samantha Carter! Get up here right now!"

"Guess I better go," Sam said as she stood up. "Mom sounds pretty mad."

Her friend smiled at her in commiseration. "If I hear things breaking, I'll sneak out the back and call the police..." she joked.

"Coming Mother," Sam yelled as she charged up the stairs.

Going through the kitchen, she saw the door to the laundry room was open. 'Oh no, the laundry!' Sam thought.

As she looked into the small room, she smiled timidly and said, "Yes, Mom? Need me?"

Standing there holding a large wad of fluff, the irate woman said, "Look at this!"

Alarmed, Sam asked, "Was that one of your sweaters?"

"No! It's lint from the trap. Did it ever occur to you to clean the lint trap in the dryer once in a while?"

"What lint trap?"

The woman rolled her eyes and said, "How did you survive before me?"

"I used a dry cleaners," Sam said.

Janet Fraiser shook her head and sighed, "You have no domestic ability at all, do you?"

Sam smiled, "Well, some..." She wrapped her arms around Janet and brushed her lips to the other woman's.

"That's not what I'm talking about!" Janet said. "Stop that! I'm angry! You can't get out of this by... Oh Sam..."

An hour later, they were curled up in the large bed they shared. Sam nuzzled the woman in her arms and said, "Are you still mad at me?"

Janet smiled contentedly, "No. But I guess we can add laundry to the list of things you can't do..."

"I want to help out around here though," Sam said.

"Well, you've pretty much taken over the outdoor work like shoveling the snow, the Christmas lights, that kind of thing. You can do all the yard and mechanical stuff. How's that?"

Sam nodded, "Sounds fine. Can we get a riding mower?"

Janet sighed, "God, you're lazy when you're off duty!"

"Am not!" Sam started to tickle Janet, a sure-fire way to win any argument.

"Stop! I have to get dinner ready..." Janet protested weakly. "...guess we'll have to eat a little later than normal." Janet punctuated that statement with a passionate kiss.

Still later, they were pulling their clothes back on, Janet tried to look sternly at Sam and said, "By the way, don't call me mother!"

"Yes, Mom," Sam said as she ducked out of the bedroom. She heard a tennis shoe thump the door as she pulled it closed behind her.

At dinner Janet asked Cassie, "Hey, hon? Could you help out with the laundry again?"

"Sure! Sam couldn't cut it, huh?" Cassie peaked at her friend out of the corner of her eye.

"Watch it, Short Stuff! I know where you sleep..." Sam threatened.

"So was it as bad as the dishwasher?"

~~~

Two weeks earlier...

Janet walked into the kitchen from the garage with an armload of groceries. She was pleased to hear the dishwasher running.

She dropped the bags when she saw the kitchen. There was foam everywhere. It was flowing out of the sides of the dishwasher and across the floor. It was like a Mount Vesuvius of foam.

"Sam!" Janet yelled.

Sam came into the kitchen, "What's up? OH MY GOD!!! What happened?"

"Sam," Janet said in a low monotone, "what detergent did you use?"

Sam heard the hint of menace in Janet's voice and said, "The Sunlight. In the bottle under the sink..."

"That's for the sink! The powder is for the machine!"

"I never knew Sunlight made a regular dish soap..." Sam stopped at the look in Janet's eyes. "Um, maybe I should get some towels..."

"Yeah, maybe," Janet replied.

Cassie came in and burst out laughing. "Wow! What happened?"

"Cassandra, go to your room! Now!" Janet said.

Cass passed Sam as the blonde returned with an armload of towels and gave her a "what'd I do?" look.

"Wait, Cass. I'm sorry." Cassie turned and looked at Janet. "I'm not mad at you. Could you help the helpless please?"

Sam looked up from the suds surrounding her and stopped whatever it was she was going to say. 'Helpless. I can give her helpless...' she thought instead.

~~~

"Well, was it?" Cass asked.

Janet had a small smile on her face and a distant look in her eye. "Wha...? Huh? Oh. No, it wasn't as bad. I was just stuck with a dryer full of clothes that were still wet..."

"Hey, I told you...Miss Swan did all my laundry. She charged by the pound..."

Janet rolled her eyes. Cassie looked at Sam and asked, "You don't know how to do laundry?"

Sam shook her head, "No, after Mom died, Dad started taking everything to the laundry. We ate out a lot too so I don't know how to cook too much."

"I'll say," Cassie said, remembering Sam's attempt at a casserole. That quickly turned into a pizza night.

"Hey!" Sam said in a mock-wounded voice. "Just for that you have to help me in the yard whenever it warms up.

"It was so much easier in my apartment. Just had a woman come in once every few weeks to clean and the snow and lawn was taken care of by someone else..." Sam looked into the distance as she muttered.

"Oh, c'mon Sam, you know you love it here!" Cassie declared.

Sam gave her a big grin and winked at Janet, "You got that right, small fry!"

"Stop calling me that! I'm almost taller than you..."

Janet was laughing as she went to answer the phone.

"Fraiser here," she said.

"Doctor, is Major Carter there?"

Janet recognized the voice of George Hammond, their CO. She unconsciously stood a little straighter and said, "Yes sir. She moved in last month..."

"Of course," Hammond replied. "I meant is she there now?"

"Yes sir. Let me get her for you."

"That won't be necessary Doctor. Just tell her to be in my office at 0800 tomorrow. You too," Hammond said.

"Yes sir. Is there a problem?" Janet felt a niggle of worry. What if Hammond had some hint of the relationship the two women shared?

"No. No problem, but I do need you both here first thing tomorrow. Good night, Doctor," Hammond said.

"Good night, sir," Janet said as she hung up.

'Not a problem. Then what is it?' Janet thought as she returned to the dining room.

"Hey, was that for me?" Cassie asked, like any teenager thinking all calls should be for her.

"No, not for you, Miss Popularity. Sam, the general wants us both in his office at eight o'clock tomorrow. Didn't say why though," Janet explained.

"Well, I was kind of tired of lounging around all day..."

"Destroying appliances," Cassie finished with a snicker.

"Watch it!" Sam said warningly but smiling. "And I didn't destroy anything."

Next: The Mission