The song ‘All the Way’ is performed by Lonestar, no
infringement intended.
AUTHORS NOTES: A huge thanks to my two beta gal's, Kes and Jenn!
DEDICATION: To Madi, who's constant feedback inspires me to keep writing.
~~o0o~~
After making love well into the early hours of the morning, Jack wasn’t surprised that he’d slept so late. He was, however, surprised that Sam wasn’t by his side when he woke. For a fleeting moment, he was terrified that she’d changed her mind. Then logic kicked in and he realised that she had probably just gotten sick of laying there. She wasn’t the kind of person who could stay in bed all day, unless of course she was occupied at the time.
With a groan, Jack dragged himself out of bed and pulled on a pair of boxers. He then wandered down the stairs and walked into the kitchen. Sam was staring out the window while she waited for the percolator to finish. He walked up behind her and slipped his arms around her waist, kissing her nape. “So,” he began, grasping her hand and looking at the ring sparkling on her finger. “Are we gonna tell everyone or are we gonna wait for them to figure it out?”
“What’s the fun in telling?” She replied, turning in his arms to give him a good morning kiss.
“You have a devious mind, Major,” Jack told her when they’d pulled apart.
“I learnt from the best, Colonel,” she replied cheekily. “You want coffee?”
He nodded. “God, yes. I think you wore the batteries a bit low last night.”
Sam sighed dramatically. “Well, if you can’t handle the pace, maybe I should find some young, energetic...”
“Hey! Now is that anyway for an engaged woman to talk?”
Sam blanched visibly at his words, her eyes going wide.
“Angel, what?” He asked, concerned by her sudden mood change.
She shook her head, turning to make coffee. “Nothing.”
“It wasn’t nothing. Tell me what upset you?”
She turned back to face him, but her eyes wouldn’t meet his. “Jonas used to tell me that when we were engaged. It was just one of the many lines he used to try and control me. ‘You’re my fiancé and I will not have you doing that,’ and of course my personal favourite, ‘engaged women shouldn’t go out with their friends. Do you wanna be labelled a slut?’” She turned back to finish the coffee, feeling Jack walk up behind her. He turned her to face him and, placing a finger under her chin, made her look into his eyes.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just joking. Sam, your strength and your independence are two of the things I love most about you. I would never try to take them away.”
Sam managed a small smile. “I know that, Jack. It’s just that... my time with Jonas was a nightmare that I can’t forget. I made a bad call and, believe me, I paid for it.”
“Do you think you made a bad call this time?” He asked, suddenly feeling very unsure of himself.
She reached up and caressed his cheek. “No, I don’t. I know you love me and that you’d never do anything to hurt me. I never felt pressured into saying yes. I *wanted* to. There’s a huge difference.”
Jack wrapped his arms around her and crushed her to his chest. They stayed that way for several minutes, just enjoying the closeness. Jack was the one to break the silence. “I have a confession to make.”
Sam’s head snapped up, but she relaxed again when she saw his almost shy smile. “What?”
“Remember when you couldn’t find your mom’s rings the other day?” “Yeah.”
“Well, they weren’t lost. I needed them to estimate the size of your engagement ring.” He looked like a little boy who’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Sam laughed, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I forgive you.”
“You do?” He asked, surprised.
“Of course I do. Look at what I got for it.” She grinned, making her ring sparkle in front of him.
Jack laughed and gave her another kiss. “Come on. We better get ready for work or we’ll be late.”
“Aww, can’t I have the day off, Sir? I just got engaged.”
“Sorry, Major. No rest for the wicked. Go on, get your beautiful butt into the shower and I’ll make breakfast.”
She snapped off a smart salute. “Sir, yes, Sir!” With a grin, she turned and hurried out of the kitchen before he could retaliate.
Jack just shook his head with a chuckle and started on breakfast.
*****
They drove into the base car park just over an hour later. Sam was a little reluctant to wear her ring to work at first. Although there relationship was allowed, she was a little unsure how this latest development would be taken by the General. That was until Jack told her that the General not only knew that he was going to propose, but he also had an invested interest in her saying yes before Christmas. Sam had almost choked on her breakfast when she heard that General Hammond and her father had been betting on her love life.
They travelled down into the bowels of the mountain quietly. Sam was constantly glancing at her ring, much to Jack’s amusement. “Do you think it’s going to disappear on you?” He asked with a chuckle.
She swatted his arm. “Don’t tease me!” She said with mock indignant.
Jack just laughed and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. “I’ve gotta go and see the General. See you later.” The doors opened and they both walked out, Jack heading in one direction while Sam went in the other.
*****
Jack whistled as he walked towards the General’s office, feeling like the happiest man alive. He thought back to the conversation he’d had with Hammond several days earlier. He’d gone to the man, seeking his approval not only as their commanding officer, but as Sam’s surrogate father. He hadn’t wanted to wait until he could ask Jacob and thought that Hammond would be the next best thing. The General had been pleased and had told Jack that he could guarantee that Jacob would approve. That was when Jack had been informed of the bet between the two Generals. After a moment of surprise, Jack had burst out laughing.
Knocking on the open door, Jack walked into Hammond’s office. “Good morning, General.”
Hammond looked up, a grin spreading over the older man’s face as he took in his 2IC’s mood. “Colonel. You look like a man with good news.”
“Well, Sir, you’ll be happy to know that General Carter owes you fifty dollars.”
Hammond laughed, getting out of his chair and offering Jack his hand. “Congratulation, son. I know you’ll both be very happy.”
“Thank you, sir. And I want to thank you for all that you’ve done for us. We owe you a lot.”
The General shook his head. “No you don’t. Jack, you and Sam are like children to me. Father’s will do anything for their children.”
Jack nodded. “Well, thanks anyway, Sir. We really appreciate it.”
Hammond patted him on the back. “You’re welcome. Now, go on. Go and get your fiancé and take the day off. We’ll organise a party or something for the two of you and I’ll let you know when it is.”
“Yes, sir,” Jack replied with a grin before hurrying out the door. He had a pretty good idea as to where he’d find Sam right now.
*****
Sam walked into Janet’s office, seeing her best friend sitting at her desk, staring off into space. “Good morning, Janet,” she said brightly, making Janet jump slightly.
“Hey. What happened to you last night?” Janet returned with a smile.
“Jack took me out to dinner. Why?”
“Oh, no reason. I just thought you guys might have come to O’Malley’s. It ended up being just Daniel and I.”
Sam grinned. “Really? And?”
“And what?” Janet asked, trying and failing to look innocent.
“Did anything happen that you wanna tell me about?”
Janet blushed. “Well, we had a nice night. He bought me dinner and we danced a bit... and he kissed me goodnight.”
Sam was surprised. She knew that Janet liked Daniel, despite her constant attempts to deny it, but she wasn’t sure how Daniel felt for her. “A peck on the cheek kiss, or a real kiss?” She asked.
Janet laughed. “What is this, an interrogation?”
Sam smiled. “Yes, now tell me!”
“It was a real kiss.” She sighed. “Only problem was he kinda ran away after it.”’
“He ran away?”
“Well, he left very quickly anyway. I don’t know if we’re ready to take things any further. I don’t think he’s really over Shar’e.”
“Have you talked to him today?”
Janet shook her head, giving Sam a sheepish smile. “I’ve been hiding out here.”
“You know what I’m gonna say, don’t you?”
“Yeah. I have to talk to him.”
“Exactly.” Sam grinned.
Janet watched as her friend poured herself a cup of coffee. A glint of gold caught her eye, her eyebrows rising as realisation dawned. “Sam!” She almost shouted. “What’s that on your finger?!” She rushed over to her and picked up her left hand. “Is that what I think it is?!”
“As long as you think it’s an engagement ring, then yeah it is,” Sam replied with a huge smile.
“Oh my god! I can’t believe he finally asked you! Why didn’t you tell me?!” She pulled her into a hug. “Congratulations!”
Daniel walked in at that moment, stopping dead at the sight of the two women hugging. “Hey, what’s going on?”
“Sam and Jack are engaged!” Janet shouted.
Daniel hurried to his friend, taking her in his arms. “I’m so glad you said yes!”
Sam pulled back and looked at him. “You knew?”
“And you didn’t tell me?!” Janet continued, a threatening glint in her eyes.
Daniel looked between the two women, hands held up in surrender. “He made me promise not to tell a soul. He threatened to leave me behind on our next mission if I breathed a word.”
Both women laughed and the three of them were soon ensconced in a group hug.
“Hey, is this a private party, or can anyone join in?” A masculine voice asked from the door.
Sam smiled and held out her hand. “I suppose we should let you join in,” she said to her fiancé.
He took her hand and allowed his friends to congratulate him, all the while watching his bride-to-be as the happiness radiated from her.
“We have to have a party!” Daniel suddenly shouted, startling everyone.
“A party? No Daniel, we don’t need a party,” Sam replied, shaking her head.
“Of course you do, Sam. You *have* to have an engagement party!” Janet agreed.
“Actually the General said something about organising a party,” Jack told them. He looked at Sam. “He also said that we could have the day off.”
“Great!” She returned. “Lets get out of here then.”
Janet and Daniel looked at each other and moved to block their path. “Not so fast, you two,” Janet commanded. “We want details before you go anywhere. Now, have you set a date?”
Sam laughed. “Janet! He only proposed last night! Give us a chance!”
“Yeah, Janet. Besides, they haven’t told us *how* he proposed yet!” Daniel piped in.
Sam shook her head at the eagerness of her friends. They were almost more excited then she was. ‘Okay, not possible,’ she thought to herself. She shared a warm smile with her fiancé before they started answering all of their friends’ questions.
*****
“I didn’t think they’d ever let us go,” Jack said as they walked into their house.
Sam laughed. “I know. Poor Daniel’s gonna be in trouble though.”
“Why?” He asked as he led her up the stairs.
“Janet found out that you told Daniel yesterday. She wasn’t impressed that he didn’t tell her.”
He laughed. “I can’t believe he kept that mouth of his shut!”
Sam smiled. “I think he had other things on his mind.”
Jack raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”
“Daniel and Janet went out together last night.”
“Really? Out as in friend’s? Or out as in a date?”
“Well, it ended up as a date. He kissed her goodnight.”
“Serious? Wow.”
Sam looked at him closely. “Why do you sound so surprised? Have you talked to Daniel?”
“Uhh... hey, look! There’s a ring on your finger! How’d that get there?” He asked, picking up her hand.
“Jack! Don’t try and change the subject.”
He took her in his arms. “Listen. We’ve just been given the day off after you agreed to marry me. I think we should leave Janet and Daniel to figure things out for themselves and enjoy our first day as an engaged couple.”
Sam grinned. “Did you have anything in particular in mind?”
Jack threaded his fingers in her hair, giving her a long, sensual kiss. “I’m sure we can think of something.”
*****
Much later, Sam and Jack laid snuggled together in bed, just enjoying the closeness as they listened to the radio. “Do you think we should pick a date so we can tell everyone at the party?” Sam asked, kissing his naked chest.
“Well, we won’t really know a date until we book the church... you do want to get married in a church, don’t you?”
“I think so. Do you?”
“Yeah, I do. Anyway, we can’t really tell them ‘til then.”
“We could pick a month, couldn’t we?”
Jack ran a hand down her back, pleased at the excitement he could hear in her voice. “We could. So, when are you free, Miss Carter?”
She thought for a moment. “May next year? It should be nice weather by then.”
“What? Don’t you want the snow?” He teased.
“If it never snowed again, it’d be too soon.”
Jack laughed. “I can live with May. That should be plenty of time to organise it.”
“God,” Sam said, suddenly realising the task in front of her. “There’s so much to organise.”
“We could always elope in Vegas,” he suggested.
Sam raised herself up on an elbow so she could look at him better. “Is that what you want?”
He smiled and reached up to run a hand through her hair. “I want you to have the wedding you dreamed of, Sam. If that’s just us, a couple of witnesses and a minister, then that’s fine. If you want a big wedding with all the trimmings, then that’s what we’ll have.”
She smiled and leant down to kiss him. “I have to confess, I’ve always wanted to have a traditional wedding.”
Jack grinned. “Traditional it is, then.”
He pulled her head down for another kiss but the phone rang before their lips could meet. With a groan, Jack reached over to his bedside table and picked up the shrilling phone. “Hello?”
“Colonel O’Neill? This is General Hammond.”
“Yes, sir?” Jack asked, his heart sinking. Surely he wasn’t going to call them in today. Couldn’t the bad guys take one day off?
His fears were dismissed as the General continued. “Just wanted to let you know that there will be a gathering in the commissary at 1900 hours this evening. As it’s in yours and Major Carter’s honour, I hope you will both attend.”
“Of course we’ll be there, sir. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“I’ll see you both later then.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
Jack hung the phone up and rolled over to look at Sam. “There’s a party in our honour at the base tonight.”
“What time are they having it?” She asked.
“1900 hours.”
“Mmm, sounds good,” Sam replied as she stretched. She looked at the clock, noticing it was already close to five. “I need a shower.” She got up and headed to their en suite. Reaching the door, she looked over her shoulder at Jack, who was watching her from the bed. “Are you gonna join me?”
He didn’t need a second invitation as he rose from the bed and hurried to join her.
*****
By the time Jack and Sam arrived at the base, the party had already started. They walked into the commissary and were immediately crowded by their colleagues and friends. Congratulations were handed out and glasses of champagne were placed in their hands before they’d even managed to fully enter the room. Major Ferretti turned down the music and grabbed the microphone. “Ladies, gentlemen and those others, known only as marines. Would you all give a loud welcome to Mr and Mrs O’Neill-to-be!”
The revellers yelled and cheered, a few “hooyah’s” thrown in by the marines for good measure.
Ferretti turned the music back up and the party resumed. Sam smiled at Jack as she was dragged off in one direction by Janet, while he was dragged in the opposite direction by Daniel. She turned to her friend and followed her to a corner of the room. “Did you talk to Daniel?” She asked as soon as they were out of earshot.
Janet nodded. “We decided to just take it one step at a time. Get to know each other a bit better before we jump into anything.” She grinned at Sam. “You see, some of us have a little more self control then others I know.”
“Ha, ha. I think Jack and I waiting four years shows tremendous self control.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Janet returned with a laugh. “Come on, I’m hungry,” she said as she led her friend over to the food table.
They stood there for a few minutes, nibbling on hors d’oeuvres while they spoke to a few of the other female officers. Sam noticed the General heading in their direction, smiling at her. “Major Carter? May I have the honour of this dance?” He asked as he reached her.
Sam smiled and took his offered hand. “I’d love to, Sir.” She allowed him to pull her into a very correct ballroom stance and followed him around the makeshift dance floor as he led her in a slightly faster than normal waltz. She had to admit that he was a very good dancer.
She smiled at the man that she considered her surrogate father and he returned the smile before speaking. “I haven’t really had a chance to talk to you since Jack proposed. I wanted to let you know that I’m really happy for you both. I have to admit, I was a little concerned when you both first told me about your relationship. I wasn’t sure if either of you could keep your objectivity in the field. I realise now that I should never have doubted the integrity of either of you.”
“Thank you, Sir. That means a lot to me. Thank you for giving us the chance.”
They danced a little longer, until Jack walked up and tapped his senior officer on the shoulder. “Excuse me, General? Do you mind if I cut in?”
Hammond smiled and gave him Sam’s hand. “Thank you for the dance, Major.”
“You’re welcome, Sir,” she returned, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.
The song ended as Jack pulled Sam into his arms and DJ Ferretti grabbed the microphone. “This song’s dedicated to the SGC’s first engaged couple. Thanks for letting me win the bet, guys!”
Sam and Jack looked at each other, before Jack turned to the other people in the room. “Okay. Who here *didn’t* have a bet going on when we’d get engaged?”
Everyone laughed as the lone hand of Lieutenant Simmons went up.
“Shut up and dance to your song, Jack!” Ferretti ordered as the song started playing.
Jack recognised the tune almost immediately. He had to admit, he’d never been a fan of country music, but ever since Sam had moved in, he’d had little choice but to listen to it. It was growing on him. He couldn’t claim to be a fan yet, but he was sure if Sam had her way, he would be eventually. Now all he had to do was get her to like opera. He looked at the woman in his arms, seeing the small smile as she too recognised what song was playing. Jack knew that she loved this one and it was an appropriate song for their engagement party. He wrapped his arms around her waist a little tighter and just listened to the words as they swayed together.
Hey we're walking through this together
And I'm holding on to you
Nothing can separate
This little twist of fate
You're the one my heart belongs to
Nothing's quite as sweet as the journey
So let's go around the world
Takin' in everything
No matter what life brings
We're gonna be chasing forever
All the way
To the end
Of my life, and back again
Everyday
I'll be here
Loving you, all through the years
And it’s true
There's so much freedom in knowing
How sure we are that we're going
All the way
People ask me, think ya’ll can make it
And I tell them honestly
This ain't no fleeting thing
We're not imagining
This is it, we know it's meant to be
Cause I love you, love you completely
I've never felt like this
I don't want nothing but
Something this passionate
Cause the only way I know how to love is
All the way
To the end
Of my life, and back again
Everyday
I'll be here
Loving you, all through the years
And it’s true
There's so much freedom in knowing
How sure we are that we're going
All the way
Ooh, all the way
There's so much freedom in knowing
How sure we are that we're going
All the way
Their lips met as the song finished and a cheer went up around the room. They pulled apart quickly, Sam blushing at the attention, while Jack just looked smug. Everyone’s focus was diverted when General Hammond took the microphone and asked for their attention. “While Colonel O’Neill and Major Carter are on the... well I suppose you can call it a dance floor, I’d like to take this opportunity to say a few words. I’ll never forget the first time these two met. Sam was so excited about finally getting a spot on the program and Jack was... well Jack. As soon as they saw each other, the sparks started flying and I knew life was going to get a whole lot more interesting. None of us could believe that it took the two of them so long to finally see what we had all seen from the start, but I guess that just shows how stubborn they both are. A pretty good match, really.”
Everybody laughed at the General’s words. “But they’ve finally seen that their happiness lies together and I just know that they’re going to make each other happy for the rest of their lives.” He smiled at the two of them. “So, if you’d all raise your glasses, I’d like to propose a toast.” He waited a few seconds so that everyone could get their glasses. “To Jack and Sam. We wish you all the happiness in the universe together.”
Everyone rose their glasses. “To Jack and Sam!” They chorused. Glasses clinked as everybody toasted the newly engaged couple.