Author's note: I had intended for the first one to be a one-shot, a glimpse into the other might have beens. However, with a such a positive response and all your kind words, I have continued it. Thank you, again.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sam?" Daniel called, as he opened her front door with the spare key. Sam's car was in the driveway and all the lights were on, but she hadn't answered the doorbell. "You home?" Propping the door open with his foot he picked up the assortment of the bags on the door step.

"Daniel?" came the muffled answering reply. "Sorry, I just got out of the shower."

"Don't worry, I let myself in," he shut the door behind him and shrugged out of his coat and hung it on the rack behind the door. Daniel headed into the kitchen and started unloading the bags onto the table. Quickly he sorted out the covered tin foil containers, putting the two that contained dessert into the fridge, and emptying the other ones that contained the salad and entrees onto actual plates. He set about putting everything onto the table before rummaging to find a corkscrew.

"Wow, actual china?" Sam said with mock surprise as she walked into the kitchen. She had changed into a pair of jeans and a v-necked t-shirt. Her hair was still damp from the shower.

"I figured since you asked for wine we'd air the china out. When's the last time you used it?"

Sam looked thoughtful, "Um, Thanksgiving?" she walked over to a drawer and pulled the corkscrew.

"That's what I thought. I'm not sure I've even gotten around to buying dishes again." Daniel eased the cork out of the wine bottle.

"Daniel, " Sam laughed. "It's been over two years." He looked at her with a completely innocent expression.

"Most everything I eat at home comes with its own box, bowl, container, et cetera." He handed the opened bottle of wine to Sam and dug two glasses out of the cabinet. Looking at the layer of dust he decided to rinse them off at the sink.

Sam took the bottle to the small table and smiled when she saw 'real food' instead of pizza or quickie take out. "I got you the chicken teriyaki rice bowl," Daniel said joining her at the table. "I wasn't about to figure out what wine went with Meat Lover's supreme pizza so I went to Applebee's."

"It looks great. Though after the food on base and the Prometheus, anything is an improvement." Sam poured out the wine and handed Daniel his glass.

"It was an interesting few days," Daniel said staring philosophically at the glass of wine. "A multitudes of could have beens, what ifs, and shadows of our pasts."

"Martouf,"

"Janet,"

"Here's to infinite possibilities," Daniel said and raised his glass. Sam reached out with her own and touched them together in toast.

"To possibilities," Sam studied Daniel over the rim of her glass. He had a thoughtful look in his eye and was regarding her with a curious expression over the rim of his own glass.

"Who was the most surprising person you met?" Sam asked as she started in on her salad.

"I'm not sure that's a fair question in this circumstance," Daniel answered. "When I saw Janet I was shocked. Speechless even. I saw her die and there she was. Nothing can prepare you for that. Yet she had traveled before with us on SG-1. So her being there, in that respect, wasn't surprising. It was the fact that she was gone in our reality that was. Martouf on the other hand, was a surprise on both fronts. He also died in our reality but he was never part of our project." Daniel drained another mouthful from his glass.

"Sarah Gardiner surprised me," Sam said thoughtfully. "In our reality she wanted nothing to do with the SGC after she was parted from Osiris."

"She was never taken as a host in her reality. Steven Raynor was. Apparently she was brought into the project after our little trip to Egypt. After what she had seen, they didn't have too much of a choice. Sarah joined my, or my alternate self's, archaeological team and later a field unit."

"So you talked to her too, then."

Daniel nodded silently as he chewed. "She stopped by my office to 'make sure I was okay.' We got to talking. Seems her and Mitchell are an item." He took another bite of dinner and chewed thoughtfully. "Sarah asked me where the pictures of my kids were. Thought that was kind of odd."

"Is is hard to believe that in parallel realities we would have a family?" Sam glanced over at Daniel, watching his response, yet not quite meeting his eyes.

Daniel refilled his wine glass and then Sam's before leaning back in his chair. "No," he said slowly. "I always assumed that one day I'd have a family of my own," he shrugged. "Just hasn't happened in this reality."

"Me too. For a while with Pete. . ." she sighed. "I think I was in love with the idea of having a family, not with him. I would have had to give up too much." She frowned a little as she remembered Pete's expectations. Both of them had been caught up in their own dreams for the future, they never stopped to check and see if they were compatible. Pete had just assumed she was going to transfer to a desk job so she'd be home by five every night to make dinner. Among other things. "In Janet's reality, I'm on maternity leave," she said thoughtfully staring into her wine. Sam missed the faint blush stealing across Daniel's cheeks. "I hope I didn't marry Pete. " She paused again and sighed. "This is going to bother me. I really hope it wasn't Pete."

"It wasn't Pete," Daniel said quietly as he paid more attention than necessary to cutting his steak.

Sam stared at him for a moment. His face was bent so far over his plate she could only see his hair and the rims of his glasses. "Daniel? . . ." she asked slowly.

"Yes?" he didn't raise his head, still sawing away at the meat.

"You know." It was a statement of fact, not a question. Daniel glanced up at her his eyes bright with embarrassment. A distinctive red tint colored his face that was not the result of the wine he had imbibed.

"It came up in conversation with their Mitchell." Daniel poured himself a third glass of wine, "So," he said hurriedly, "you said that you wanted to show me something."

"Daniel. . .tell." Sam stared at him until he relented under the scrutiny.

"Let's just say its a safe bet that the baby has blue eyes and most likely blonde hair." He smiled awkwardly at her.

"I have blue eyes and blond hair, so that just means that the father has blue eyes and . . ." she trailed off as comprehension dawned. Sitting across the table from her was a man with blue eyes and hair that still managed to get blond highlights in the sun. If that wasn't enough to give it away there was the deep red flush that had settled across his face and the uncertain expression. Abruptly she stood up from the table and went into the living room.

"Sam?" Daniel called after her, worry evident in the tone of his voice. He jumped up from the table and followed after her. She was sitting on the couch flipping through a book. Sam smiled up at her friend and motioned for him to join her. Warily he sat down next to her, uncertain as to what to expect.

"I take it the baby would look something like one of these two children," she said handing him the picture that the alternate Daniel had handed her. He stared at it for a long moment, not saying anything, his expression unreadable.

"Where did you get this?" Daniel finally asked, still staring at the photo.

"Sarah's Daniel. Well her reality's Daniel. Apparently Sha're in their universe died when Apophis first came through the gate."

Daniel finally looked away from the picture and straight at Sam. "And I asked you to marry me so we could adopt Cassie."

"Why did you say that? Cassie could just be on that vacation with them, or maybe Janet died there, too."

"Because I thought about it briefly." He leaned back into her couch and removed his glasses rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "At that point they hadn't formally recognized my marriage to Sha're. It was a . . .possibility. We make hundreds of choices. . ." Carefully he rested the photo on his leg.

"Have you ever thought about it?" Sam asked staring down at the 'could have been' family photo. "What it would be like to have a family."

"To have a family, or our family?" Daniel asked studying her face.

"Our family, admit it our kids would be rather cute."

"Do I have to tell the truth?" Daniel grinned at her.

"Yes," she said, a smile spreading across her face. That question alone was an answer in and of itself.

"Yes," he said decisively and without hesitation. "You?" he tilted his head to one side in curiosity.

"Yes," Sam answered. She ducked her head down and blushed, "Usually late at night."

Daniel's grin widened at her response. Gently he lifted her chin so he was looking her straight in the eyes. "I think we find ourselves at one of those divergence points. 'A', I can say nothing, like I have been doing for the past seven years. I go home, we preserve the status quo." Daniel studied Sam's face for a long moment before continuing. "Or B, I can tell you that I'm tired of hiding my feelings for you, that I've loved you these past seven years and just been too stupid to do anything about it."

Sam scooted closer to Daniel on the couch so that their knees were touching. "I vote for B." She slipped her arm around his waist and tucked her head against his shoulder. Casually she draped her other arm across his stomach. Surprised at first by the intimate contact he made no move of his own, simply surprised that the arrangement could feel so natural. After the initial shock wore off he wrapped his own arm around her waist and ran his fingers through her hair with the other. For a few moments they sat there utterly comfortable in each others arms, no words necessary. Finally Daniel broke the silence. "Meeting you was fate," he said philosophically, playing absently with a blonde lock of hair, "becoming your friend was a choice." Gently he rested his chin against the top of her head and tightened both his arms around her. "But falling in love with you I had no control over." Sam leaned back in his arms so she could look up into his face. His deep blue eyes were bright, even in the dimness of the living room. Lovingly she reached up and stroked his cheek before curling her hand around the nape of his neck.

"I know exactly how you feel."

"You do?" his eyes widened in surprise.

"As foolish as it sounds, I think I've loved you from the start. I just didn't know I was 'in' love with you. There was no great epiphany, no fireworks, just one day I knew." Slowly she rubbed her fingers against the base of his neck. "There just never seemed to be the right time."

"I don't think there ever is the right time."

"Now is the right time to kiss me," Sam said playfully half-lowering her eyelids and pulling his head down to her.

With an invitation that bold it was impossible to say no. Teasingly he captured her lips with his own, savoring every moment of their first kiss. There was no urgency, no demands, just a simple need to express that which words cannot. Time became irrelevant as did any perception of the world around them. Too soon it ended and Sam found herself stretched out on the couch, Daniel half laying on her, half propped up on his arm. He was smiling down at her his eyes full of love. One hand lazily stroked her cheek before running across her swollen lips.

"Marry me, Sam." It was a statement more than a question.

"After one kiss?" she asked in bewilderment.

"You said yourself there is no right time for these things. We've already seen what the future could hold for us. . ." Sam looked up into his earnest expression, and realized that he was deadly serious. For the second time tonight she found herself at a cross-roads.

As proposals went, it wasn't the stuff dreams were based on, but it was from the heart. Jonas had done the expensive dinner, flowers, and the sunset proposal on Valentine's Day. Caught up in the moment she had shouted yes so loud people had stopped and stared. That had lasted six months. Pete had tried. A carnival might not be the most romantic of venues, but he had put thought into it. The ring had been nice, though she had rarely worn it. Still it had taken her over two weeks to accept. That had lasted five months. Then there was Daniel, rumpled from their shared kiss patiently waiting for her answer. It was spur of the moment, which made it all the more endearing.

"You're serious," she said slowly.

"I would never joke about this, Sam."

Sam reached up took his face in both of her hands, softly she kissed him before whispering, "I'd be honored." Daniel leaned down and kissed her thoroughly with all the fervor one would expect from a newly engaged man. When their lips parted he took her left hand and softly kissed the base of her ring finger.

"I didn't have the foresight to bring a ring with me, so that will have to do for now."

"We have to talk to the General," Sam said absently as she nibbled at Daniel's neck.

"We will, tomorrow. After I swing by the bank. "

"Planning to bribe him?"

"No," he dropped a kiss on her cheek with a laugh. "To pick up your ring."

"My ring?" she echoed absently. Whatever Daniel was doing with his hands was making it terribly hard to concentrate on the conversation.

"The one you were wearing in the picture. It's in my safe deposit box. It was my mother's."

"Oh," she said systematically undoing the buttons on Daniel's shirt.

"Sam, we have a 9 o'clock debrief tomorrow," the way he nuzzled against her neck indicated that this was a token protest at best.

"I only need about three hours of sleep," she rolled the two of them over so she was sitting on top of him.

"On second thought, sleep is highly overrated."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning if it appeared that half of SG-1 had not slept at all the previous night, people would have simply assumed they had spent the night working on some project or another. That wouldn't have accounted for the glow that seemed to surround them, or the fact that Daniel had returned to base in the same clothes he had left in. As they settled in for the briefing, if they seemed to be more in each others personal space than usual, no one noticed. Except the Jaffa who had been their team mate for these past nine years. Teal'c took one look at the new couple and swung an arm around each of their shoulders and proceeded to launch into a long and involved speech in the Jaffa dialect. His words, which were the most anyone could ever remember him saying at one time were fortunately not understood by four fifths of the occupants of the room. At least if the deep shade of red that Daniel turned by the end of the speech was any indication. Sam looked on in bemused confusion at his words catching only one in ten.

"Care to explain?" Landry asked shuffling the file folders on the conference table. Mitchell looked on with bald faced curiosity.

"I was offering them a blessing, as is tradition, on Chulak." Teal'c bowed his head slightly before seating himself at the table, his face impassive. Daniel and Sam quickly slid into their chairs as well, Sam opening the file folder on the table quickly to cover the distinctive glint of metal and gem fire on her left hand. Landry, already suspicious enough due to Teal'c unprecedented actions, caught the attempt at subterfuge. He rose from the table.

"Colonel, Doctor, could I see you in my office for a moment?"