Who: Jack, Sam, and Six What: Exploring Alaska When: July 18 Where: Hubbard Glacier Rating: low
Jack had never been on a cruise unless you counted a handful of work-related events that could have been maybe considered a space cruise.. Or something. He was looking forward to the time off with Sam and Six. Sure, his work at the marina was not exactly hard labour and he could take as much time off as he wanted, really, but this felt different. Plus this was a free change of scenery.
He had to figure that Six had never done this sort of thing at all and so despite the whole ‘ice everywhere’ thing that was still a little triggering for their near-death experience in Antarctica, he decided to try and make the most of it with his family.
They were currently on a smaller boat. This boat was meant to show them icebergs and hopefully whales, though that was less guaranteed. He stood next to Sam as he watched Six look out at the water. It was a different view from this much smaller boat than the cruise ship. “How you doing?” He ask Sam quietly as he continued to watch their daughter.
–
The sun was shining and the temperatures were well above freezing and yet Sam felt like she couldn’t quite get warm so she was wearing an oversized hoodie that said “Alaska” with her jeans and t-shirt as they cruised on a smaller boat, hoping to see some whales. Being surrounded by ice definitely brought back unpleasant memories of being trapped in a cave with Jack in Antarctica, but she was putting on a brave face and trying to make sure Six had a good time on the trip.
“I’m good,” she said, glancing at Jack and knowing his thoughts were likely similar to her own. She leaned against him, partly for warmth, mostly for comfort, and thought she spotted something moving in the water. “Did you see that?” she asked, her voice louder this time so Six would hear her. “Was that a whale?”
*
Six had never been on a cruise ship before, although this wasn't the first time she'd been on waters. She'd been in the Maw, which was more under the surface, and it was where she'd seen children being captured and eaten and other horrors. Luckily, the cruise ship didn't remind her too much of that and she was fine. In fact, so far she'd been quite itching to explore and see as much as she could.
She wasn't paying any attention to Sam and Jack, mostly focusing on trying to catch a glimpse of a whale. Nothing was happening and she was starting to get bored when she saw something out of the corner of her eye and saw something huge come up and spray water. "Yep," she nodded. "At least I think so."
–
Jack, like most parents of a small child, was really hoping that Sx could see some cool things. If not a whale, then many seals or something like that. He knew her life back home was terrible so he always wanted her experiences to be the exact opposite. Sometimes he definitely over-compensated, but he felt like he couldn’t be blamed.
“The question now is which one do you think it is?” Or hope it was. “Orca? Humpback?” They were in a big enough boat that Jack wasn’t too concerned if they got close to an actual whale, though orcas were known to be aggressive sometimes. He really didn’t want to have to jump into the ocean and fight an orca for his family… though he would if he had to.
–
“Did you learn about the different types of whales in your junior ranger session the other day?” Sam asked. They hadn’t really gotten into the details, though Six seemed to have enjoyed the experience, which pleased Sam since there was nothing more that she and Jack wanted than to give Six the childhood she should have had.
She moved to lean on the railing, hoping to catch a glimpse of something fun.
*
Six hadn't been too sure about the junior ranger session, but she ended up finding it interesting. Now that she didn't have to worry about surviving to the next day, she had more time to develop interests and hobbies. One of the things she found was that she liked animals and learning about them.
"I did," she nodded then turned to Jack. "I think it was an orca. It was black and white and a bit smaller than a humpback." She glanced back to the waters and pointed. "There's another one over there."
–
Jack smiled. He did a lot more genuine smiling now and Six was able to make him smile the most. Sam did too, of course, but Jack always had a thing for kids. It was also why Six got spoiled at any chance he could get.
He moved up next to her and looked out at where she pointed. He put up his hand to his face as if to help zero him on the spot. He didn’t see anything, but then he saw a spurt of water shoot out into the air. This time it was noticeably closer. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a whale in real life.” And he’d seen a lot of things.
–
Watching Jack interact with Six always made Sam smile. He was so good with kids and it broke her heart that he’d not only lost his son, but spent years blaming himself for it. She also couldn’t help but think about the glimpse she’d gotten of another possible life for them, one that included a little girl named Grace. Unfortunately, she was pretty sure she was too old to get pregnant now. Luckily, they had Six.
“I haven’t either,” she said. “Though I had one named after me.”
*
"Me neither." Perhaps she had been near a whale before unknowingly. Probably while she was on the ship that was heading towards the Maw. But since she'd been in the lower levels stuck in a cage, she didn't have the chance to actually see anything. At least now she could and she was glad for it, even if she didn't smile much. However, she did keep looking out and trying to spot as many whales as she could.
She glanced over at Sam. "Really?"
–
It took Jack a second to remember what she was talking about and then it hit him. When it did, he smiled. This was definitely one of those stories Sam deserved to tell. "All I've had named after me was a spaceship and then we blew it up."
–
Sam laughed. “Okay, but we had good reason to do that,” she reminded Jack.
“And, yes. A… friend of mine was trapped in a ship underwater and there was a whale that kept swimming around him and he decided to name it Sam and think of it as me being there to protect him,” she explained to Six. That wasn’t entirely accurate, but it was a good enough explanation without getting into Rodney and his issues.
*
"Oh," Six nodded as she listened to the story. "I think I would've done the same." If she'd been there, she would've named the whale Sam or Jack to make herself feel better and less alone.
"I wish I had a spaceship named after me." That would be cool.
–
He wondered if McKay would be delightfully surprised to be called a friend. He smiled a little. While he found McKay utterly annoying, it lessened a little now that he was officially with Carter. Not that he thought McKay had a chance in hell with Sam.
His expression softened at her admission about naming a whale. Had she asked for anything following that, Six would have gotten it. Twelve ponies and a cow? You betcha. Thankfully Six hadn’t figured out all of Jack’s tells yet to manipulate him… he gave it until puberty.
“You stick with us, and you just might. Daniel’s had a ship named after him too so you and Sam are basically next in line.” He smiled.
–
If a ship from home ever showed up here, there was no doubt in Sam’s mind that Jack would immediately rename it after Six. She also recognized his look and knew that once Six figured out what a softie he was, they were doomed. It would be like Cassie all over again.
Of course, Sam wouldn’t begrudge him spoiling her. She deserved it and it was who Jack was. “Oh, I think there’s another one,” she said, pointing to their right where she thought she spied another whale.
*
Six might one day want a pony and a cow and a whale and any other animal she could think of. She knew it wasn't possible, though. She was young but she'd seen too much to not be realistic about things. She had nowhere to keep a whale and there were some animals that were too dangerous to keep as pets.
"Cool." A tiny smile appeared on her face at the idea of having a spaceship named after her. Not many kids could say that.
When Sam pointed out there was another whale, she leaned over to look.