Daniel returned the next morning on bicycle from taking his eldest children to school. Despite the stormy situation between him and Sam that didn't show much sign of abating any time soon, he beamed proudly at the thought of his children's academic achievements as he put his bike away under the stairs.
Peeking into the lounge, and then the kitchen, he finally saw Sam in the backyard, kneeling in the grass as she tended to a flower bed while Claire, Jake and Grace coloured in pictures as Greg and Dani wiggled around in their portable cots at Sam's side. He took a moment to reflect as he watched Sam in particular, hearing her hum in his head, and he sighed. He didn't know what to do. Why was she still so angry with him?
He cocked his head in thought as he suddenly realised that perhaps she wasn't just angry with him – she was angry at herself too... perhaps for some perceived weakness or maybe because she regretted something.
Sighing once again, he steeled himself as he left the kitchen through the back door, hoping that things weren't going to get a lot messier.
Sam looked up from her work briefly, looking down again with a pained look on her face. He glanced around the garden at the many changes to it since he had last looked at it properly – many months ago now – and he kneeled at her side, saying with a friendly smile,
"I like what you've done with the yard."
She shrugged, now even sadder that he was just resorting to being friends, her eyes all the while on a rose carnation bush that she had been pruning. "Thanks. Thought I might as well get caught up with the things I said I was going to do." she glanced at him sideways. "Was going to have roses but, you know, with our little squadron, there'd be tears before the day is out."
"Hmm." he smiled despite suddenly feeling tense around his wife. "And our original terrible twosome are going to be in Junior High next year. Wow. They're only seven."
She grinned despite her own pain. "Oh yeah. That bit of news actually managed to scare Jack." she chuckled. "And it shocked me to say the least... I mean, we knew they're bright... all our children are... but they're way beyond our expectations already. The school reckons that they'll be ready for college in a few years at least. Jack's got them playing hockey..."
He looked at her in disbelief. "Dear God, no."
She nodded, amused at his reaction. "Yep... and they're on the school's soccer team too. It's good for them though... balances them out." They exchanged a perturbed glance on hearing Jake utter an expletive behind them, and Sam turned around and snapped,
"Jacob Christopher Carter-Jackson, what have I told you about your language?"
Their fair-haired son pouted and then said as he picked up a crayon. "So'ee, Mommy."
"That's better."
She turned back to her work with a sigh. "He picked that up from Francis during pool time. Cam's still trying to figure out just where he picked that word up from. Suspect number one is Jack at the moment... and a close second is mini-Jack..." she paused, looking sadder. "I miss him."
Daniel asked, idle suspicions from the previous night surfacing, "He went?"
She nodded. "Not long after you." she laughed softly. "Turns out he did have a girlfriend after all. You'll never guess."
He, intrigued, asked, "Cassie?"
She cringed. "Eww. No. She's..." she grinned. "... she got engaged."
He smiled nostalgically, remembering the young girl SG-1 had brought to Earth from Hanka seventeen years previously, and whom they each had bonded with. "That's great news. I had a good feeling about Simon." he idly fiddled with a leaf, and asked, "Who's mini-Jack's girlfriend?"
She smiled cryptically. "The commanding officer of SG-2."
He stared at her in surprise. "Major Hailey?"
She chuckled. "Surprising, huh? It isn't if you think about it... they're quite well suited."
"I can't believe he never told me. Well. He did say he was seeing someone but from what I surmised, it wasn't all too serious."
"Oh... you should have seen the kiss at the airport." she laughed at the memory, the laughter fading into a wistful smile as she thought of their friend who was now the Coach of a Canadian hockey team. "We've seen him on ESPN during Vancouver Giants games... I recorded them all." She began to hum as she continued her work.
He watched her work for a long moment, and then he said, swallowing as his mouth suddenly became dry, "Sam. I only did what I did because I thought that that was what you wanted. The Doctor never did anything to hurt you... unlike what I did. I did a lot of things."
He watched as she put her secateurs down as her head lowered, and he continued, reaching out to gently smooth her cheek, "... a lot of things that I wish I'd never done. But you know what? I've learnt a lot being with the Doctor. I've hopefully become a better person... and I know that I'm better than the Doctor. I understand now. And, ok..." he shrugged and sighed. "... while I'm still pissed when you hug him or talk to him so intimately, I've developed enough as a person to know that he isn't out to 'steal' you and that you don't return his feelings."
He grimaced as he looked away from her. "You were only with him in an alternate future because the first time, I didn't descend... and then the second, I pushed you away." he blinked back tears as he remembered watching her older self die. "And... despite all that, you still loved me." he shook his head and then gazed at her again as she finally met his gaze, tears in her eyes. "I wish for all the world that I could take back all those months that have passed... we've wasted and have lost so much time already... I just want to be with you, Sam... for the rest of my life..." he chuckled humourlessly. "... or several lives. I just hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me for whatever I appear to have done that's got you angrier at me than before."
She sniffed as she began to cry quietly, and he, teary-eyed too, wiped her tears away. She finally looked up at him again. "Daniel... I..." she sighed. "I'm angry at you because of how you misunderstood things... how you hurt me... how you were so willing to change things. I'm angry at myself mostly though. I could have tried harder with you. But then I just think that maybe we did need that time apart... to think things over. We've just... never really had time for ourselves with the last five of our babies being so close together... we never had that time to heal or patch things up when we had a rift or a falling out... or when the post-natal stuff got to either of us."
He finally found the courage to hug her, and she rested her head against his shoulder, whispering as she clung onto him, "Daniel... I'm just all mixed up right now, and I hate it. I want things to go back to more or less how they were."
When they let each other go, she smiled at him as he dried her tears once again, and she asked, "What would you do if the Doctor came back and tried to persuade me to go along with him?"
He exhaled thoughtfully as he dropped his gaze from hers. "Well... it depends what he wanted. I mean, if it was because the fate of the universe depended on it and he needed your powers... I wouldn't have a problem, but if it's because he's lonely and just wants another chance at you... I'd kill him."
He finally met her gaze once again, and she, satisfied by his answer, kissed him. He gazed at her in surprise for all of a second before cupping her jaw and returning her kiss right before Claire and Jake simultaneously called in disgust,
"Eww!"
Daniel and Sam exchanged an amused glance, the former remarking with a smirk as Sam laughed, "You'll change your mind about that when you're older."
Sam reached for his hands and looked at him hopefully. "We're ok, aren't we?"
Daniel shrugged as he gave her hands a squeeze. "Well... it depends."
"Depends on what?"
'Whether you want me to spend another night in front of the couch.'
She raised an eyebrow at him challengingly. "I never said you had to."
'Well, you know... you decided you wanted to sleep on the couch... and I've been gone for six months. I really wanted to sleep with my wife.'
'You wouldn't have woken up this morning with all your limbs intact, believe me.' She sighed. 'I think we needed some space to think and work things out.'
He looked at her sceptically. 'And you have?'
She shrugged, looking doubtful. 'I hope so... because I don't want to be aching tomorrow morning again.' she winced as she massaged her neck, which still ached from spending the previous night on the couch, and he said, concerned,
"Sam, turn around."
As Sam turned to face away from him, he glanced in the baby twins' cots to check on them, seeing that they were now asleep. He smiled slightly at that, before moving his wife to sit in between his legs as he massaged her shoulders and neck. She closed her eyes and eventually leaned back in his arms, resting her head against his chest. She gazed up at him from that position, saying with a now contented smile,
"I love you."
He smiled back, feeling much happier and lighter. He kissed her forehead. "I know. And I love you."
She closed her eyes, still smiling contentedly as he held her. "I can feel it... you are more confident and sure of yourself." she then frowned as she picked up more from his mind, and she opened her eyes, looking up at him in worry. "Daniel. We need to talk later."
He kissed her again, his smile gone as he remembered his travels with the Doctor. "I know... I've been saving up all the stories that I want to tell you... about Daleks and Sontarans... and everything that I've seen. I missed you out there. It wasn't the same as going through the 'gate with my family."
She smiled happily at his name for SG-1, and she said, "You know... when the terrifying trio here are older... we could finally go on our honeymoon."
His smile disappeared as he remembered a few things, and he kissed her lips, which were upside-down from his perspective. He sighed. "I'm sorry for missing our anniversary. Happy Anniversary, honey."
She got up to hug him, whispering as she held onto him, her head against his, "Thanks. You too." she smiled as she gazed at him, holding his face in her hands as she smoothed his jaw. "Thanks for coming back before my birthday though."