Chapter 2
Sam drove her car into the parking space at the Mountain and turned off the motor. Her left hand gripped the top of the steering wheel and the early morning sunlight caught the sparkle of her engagement ring. Staring at the ring, she wondered if she really wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.
She thought back to her parents' marriage and how happy they had been. Even though her Dad was away from home a lot, neither of her parents had strayed from their marriage vows; they had too much love and respect for each other to destroy what they had together. Whenever her Dad would return home after being away on assignment for the Air Force, her parents' faces would light up and they would hold each other in a warm embrace. She and Mark often teased them that they acted like teenagers and she would often see how affectionate they could be with each other. They would sit close together in the swing on their patio in the evening hours, her Mom's head on her Dad's shoulder as they held hands and caught up with the events of their lives while he had been away. They'd had disagreements as all couples do but they were always eager to work out their differences.
Tears moistened her eyes as she remembered the day her Mom died and the look of devastation on her Dad's face as he told Mark and herself that their Mom would not be coming home. Her Dad had thrown himself into his work and had never been quite the same since her death.
When she had taken a short vacation with him after SG-1 had rescued him from Netu, she asked him why he had never remarried. His response had been "because your Mother is the only woman I ever truly loved. She was my life and no one else will ever take her place."
Sam sighed as she stared out the window, realizing she wanted that kind of marriage and commitment, but could she have that with Pete?
After the hallucination of her Dad while she had been injured on the Prometheus, she had thought he was trying to tell her to let go of Jack and move on to someone within her reach. But now she knew that her mind had been trying to tell her to go after what she wanted, to not be so caught up with her job that she would miss out on the one thing that could make her truly happy.
She longed to share her life with someone; to have someone to come home to and wake up with. She wanted to be missed when she was away. In the last few years she'd had a persistent yearning to have a child.
The wedding day would be here very soon but the one thing that had been foremost in her mind these past few days was Jack. Her thoughts returned to the zatarc test, wishing they had not left their feelings in that room but had openly discussed them.
The day in her lab when she had shown Jack the ring, she was hoping that he would stop her, tell her not to marry Pete and that all this waiting for the past several years would be well worth the wait. But instead of telling her he still cared for her, to hold on a little longer and that one day they would be together, he had more or less encouraged her to have a life without him. The conversation had left her confused. Thinking that Jack no longer cared about her, and after hesitating for two weeks to give Pete an answer to his proposal, she had finally accepted.
She clasped her hands tightly in her lap and closed her eyes for a few moments as she tried not to cry.
------
Later that morning, Sam sat in her lab staring at her computer but her thoughts were elsewhere.
Teal'c came through the door and stopped. Finally realizing he was there, she looked up at him and grinned.
"Hi, Teal'c."
Teal'c nodded and sat down on a stool beside her. "May I speak freely?"
"Certainly."
"I usually do not interfere in the personal lives of my friends, but just this once I would like to make an exception and give you my observations."
Sam turned toward him so they were face to face. "Okay."
"Over the many years that SG-1 has been together, I have observed that you and O'Neill have a very special bond. I have also watched him closely since you have become engaged to Pete Shanahan. O'Neill looks at you with great sadness in his eyes."
Sam squirmed a little in her chair.
"I believe he loves you very deeply and I think you love him as well. I understand the reasoning of the Air Force regulations, but there should come a time when one, or both of you, steps away from these rules to find your happiness."
Sam clasped her hands in her lap and looked at the floor as Teal'c stood and walked away.
------
Daniel leaned against the doorframe of Sam's lab and watched as she stared at the wall while turning a pencil over and over between her fingers. He cleared his throat and Sam quickly turned to see who it was and she forced a smile.
"Hi, Daniel."
He walked up beside her, reached into his pocket and pulled out a penny. Taking her hand, he placed the penny in her palm.
Sam grinned and rubbed the coin with her finger tip.
She attempted to smile. "I'm afraid my thoughts aren't on my work."
"I guess not since you're getting married tomorrow. I didn't think you'd be here today. Don't most brides have a lot to do on the day before their wedding?"
Sam stared at the coin. "I guess I . . ."
Daniel waited for her to say more but she didn't.
"May I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"I don't want to upset you but are you sure this is what you really want? I mean, are you sure that Pete is the man you want to marry?"
Sam looked at him for a moment. "I . . . yes, he is. Why?"
"Because Teal'c and I have noticed that you don't seem very happy. Most brides are happy and smiling and eager to get on with it. But you just seem sad and preoccupied, like your heart isn't really into this."
"I've just been busy, Daniel, and I'm tired. That's all."
Daniel took her hand in his. "Sam, as you know, Jack left a few days ago."
"Yeah, so?"
"Your getting married to Pete is killing him."
Sam pulled her hand away from his as her eyes grew big. "How do you know that?"
"Because I know Jack. He loves you so much, Sam, and he can't stand to be here, not even as your friend."
Tears filled Sam's eyes and she took a step back. "I can't stop the wedding . . . I can't hurt Pete."
Daniel put his hand on her arm. "Yes, you can stop the wedding. You're not being fair to Pete, Jack or yourself if you're in love with Jack."
"Why do you think I'm in love with Jack?"
"Aren't you?"
Sam's heart was racing as tears started down her cheeks. "I . . . I'm sorry, Daniel. I have to go."
She quickly logged off her computer.
"Sam, can't we please discuss this?"
She opened a drawer of her desk and picked up her purse. "I'm sorry. I really have to go."
Daniel watched as she hurried out the door. He sat down on a stool, hung his head and whispered to himself "please don't marry Pete, Sam. You're going to regret it."
------
Jacob walked into the living room of Sam's house on the morning of her wedding day to see her staring at a picture of SG-1. He watched as she gently ran her finger over the picture.
"You miss him don't you?"
Sam jumped and turned around. "Dad, you scared me."
"Sorry. Answer the question please."
"I hope he shows up for the wedding. He's my friend and I would like to have him here."
"I'm not sure if he'll show up or not, honey. You broke his heart."
Sam's eyes grew wide. "What?"
He took a step closer to her. "I said you broke his heart and he's hurting. That's why he isn't coming to your wedding."
Sam set down the picture and started to wring her hands. "Dad, I can't . . ."
Jacob put his hands on her shoulders. "Yes, you can, Sam. You can still call off this wedding and marry the man that you really love."
"I really love Pete."
"Do you?"
Tears came to Sam's eyes. "I thought . . . I mean . . ."
"You're having big doubts, sweetheart. That's no way to start a marriage. If you have even an inkling of doubt about this wedding, then don't go through with it. No one will think less of you. It's better to end this now than realize later that you made a mistake and end up divorced, don't you think? This is a commitment that's supposed to be for the rest of your life."
"Jack and I can't be together, Dad."
"Yes, you can."
Sam raised her voice. "When? Another five or ten years from now when Jack finally retires or, for some reason, I leave the SGC? I want someone to share my life with now, not years from now, and I want a baby! I'm not getting any younger! Pete can give me all these things! I don't want to wait any longer, Dad!"
Jacob stared at her, his heart breaking for his daughter.
Sam straightened her shoulders and sniffed back the tears. "I need to take a shower before I go to the church."
She quickly walked past him into her bedroom and slammed the door.
Jacob shook his head, turned around and stared out the window.
Sam closed the door to her bathroom, undressed and got into the shower. She turned on the water and leaned her forehead against the tile and tried to let the warm water soothe her fragile emotions. She thought about what Teal'c, Daniel and her Dad had told her. "If Jack really loves me, then where is he?" she whispered.
She finished her shower, stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel. Running a comb through her hair, she suddenly stopped and stared at herself in the mirror. She began to hyperventilate as she sat down on the side of the tub and stared at the floor. 'I can't back out now' she said to herself as she put her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands as she tried to breathe slowly.
------
Jacob arrived at the church and got out of his car as another pulled up beside him. Daniel, Teal'c and General Hammond exited the car.
Jacob shook George's hand. "George, glad you could make it."
"I'm not so sure I should be here, Jacob, that any of us should be here."
"I agree. I don't approve of this wedding any more than you do."
"Did you try talking to her?" Daniel asked.
Jacob nodded his head. "Just this morning but I don't think it did any good."
The men walked into the church.
Daniel glanced at the men. "I think I'll go check on Sam." He quickly walked down the hall and heard laughter coming from one of the rooms so he knocked. Pete answered the door and grinned.
"Dr. Jackson, glad you could make it."
Daniel tried to smile. "Hi, Pete. I was looking for Sam."
"Last door on the right."
Daniel hurried to the room. Just as he started to knock, Cassie opened the door. She glanced at Sam, then closed the door behind her.
"She's nervous, Daniel. Please say something to her."
"I already tried."
"Try again. I need to get something out of my car. I'll be right back."
Daniel knocked.
"Come in."
Daniel opened the door and smiled as he gave Sam a gentle hug. "You look lovely, Sam."
"Thanks."
"Excited?"
"Excited and nervous."
"Sam, there's still time . . ."
Sam held up her hands. "Daniel, I know what you're going to say but I'm getting married in ten minutes. Don't you think if Jack really loved me he would be here?"
"Not necessarily. You know how Jack is when it comes to expressing his feelings. He would want you to be happy and even though he loves you, maybe this is his way of letting you find your happiness, even if it is with Pete."
Tears filled Sam's eyes. "Jack hasn't said anything to me since the zatarc test to let me know he still cares."
"Yes, I know he should have said something to you sooner. But don't you realize that he left because he knows it would tear him apart if he had to watch the woman he loves marry someone else?"
Sam crossed her arms, looked out the window and tried not to cry.
Daniel knew the conversation was over. "Okay. It's your decision. I better go." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, opened the door and walked out.
Cassie was waiting in the hall.
"Well?"
"She's going through with it."
"This isn't right, Daniel, it just isn't right."
"I know, honey, but we've done everything we can."
"Mom always knew that Jack and Sam love each other. I wish Mom were still alive, she'd talk some sense into her."
Daniel nodded his head. "Yes, she would have."
Daniel gave Cassie a hug and turned to leave.
Jacob looked at his watch. 'I guess Jack isn't going to show up' he thought. He knocked on the door and Cassie answered. He turned to see Sam in her dress and a smile came to his face.
"You look beautiful, honey. I wish your Mother could have been here today."
"Me too, Dad."
Cassie picked up her bouquet. "I'll wait for you in the hall."
"It's almost time, sweetheart."
"I know. Any last words of wisdom?" Sam asked with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"It isn't too late to back out."
Sam stared at her father for a moment. "Yes it is, Dad?"
Sam opened the door and walked out into the hall as Jacob followed.
The music began and Cassie walked slowly to the front to see a grinning Pete.
Jacob and Sam stood at the back of the church. Sam took hold of her Dad's arm as they started down the aisle. They arrived at the front and Jacob placed Sam's hand in Pete's. Jacob gave Sam a gentle kiss on the cheek before taking his seat.
Everyone sat down and the minister spoke for a few minutes. He then told Sam and Pete to face each other and join hands. Sam handed Cassie her bouquet and took Pete's hands in hers. Just as the minister was about to tell Pete to recite his vows, a voice rang out from the back of the church.
"Sam!"
TBC
