They met at a popular eatery in Denver where Cassie spied the ring as soon as she saw Sam, but waited to ask "Jack or Mac?" as she saw trouble enter the establishment just behind them. She whispered one word." Pete". Sam nodded understanding and the bizarre conversation shift "when is the big day?"
"We don't know yet. We know where it will be and you're on the short guest list Mark and family, Mac's son and family, obviously. General Hammond will give me away per dad's request. Obviously, the Hayes family, and we both want Landry, Daniel, and Murray." Sam used the civilian moniker for Teal'c since they were in public.
"Shangri-La?" Cassie queried, and threw Sam for a second, then remembered the old name for Camp David.
"Yes. She'll perform the ceremony." Sam was intentionally vague because she was about to be interrupted. Pete Shanahan was with his current work partner, who looked barely old enough to be in law enforcement in Sam's opinion, came to their table as they'd ordered to go and were waiting for their order.
Elissa Danko didn't have any inkling there was a history between her mentor and the blonde at the table. She saw the ring on Carter's finger, and offered congratulations.
Sam wanted them to leave and gave Pete information, knowing now Pete would check out what she said to him. "I met my fiancé through General O'Neill. Pete, you remember my former CO. Mac, that's my fiancé, years ago, used to be with the Phoenix Foundation. Mac's retired now, he lives in DC near his family. You might recognize his name, Doctor A MacGyver."
"I've heard about him, didn't he used to be with DXS?" Elisa was smarter than she appeared as the DXS hadn't been existence since the fall of the Berlin Wall, you had to connected to be aware of the former counter-intelligence agency. She received a nod in confirmation from Sam. Elissa noted Pete relaxed when Sam had said the name of MacGyver.
"We're going to have a small family wedding, Mark and his family, Sam and his family and a few very close friends. Sam is Mac's son, he has three kids of his own." She grinned I'll be an instant grandmother. We don't have a date set; since you know how erratic my schedule gets."
"Well, I hope the two of you are very happy together, he's a really lucky guy." Pete Shanahan could be a nice guy when he kept away from stalking. Their number called, as the order was ready the two officers left the restaurant. Just as Pete and his partner left, the waiter delivered their order so they could continue their conversation.
"Jack told me how Mac was brought out of retirement so that you two are of equal rank. So Sam, he has his eagles and his stars, just how does he keep track of who he's supposed to salute?" Cassie asked a question she'd been meaning to ask her honorary uncle.
"Easy," Sam grinned, "unless the situation warrants it, he's General O'Neill. Besides, like I said Mac's retired."
Cassie changed the subject to weddings. "When I was a girl, the mother of the bride made the dress, when I came here I figured Janet would. I really don't know if I want to continue that tradition." Her smiled dimmed as she talked about Janet.
"That's a neat tradition, like wearing your mother's dress, I wanted to do that as a kid, but I'm several inches taller than she was." Sam confessed.
Cassie decided she'd wait to give a suggestion as they decided to forego shopping for the evening. When they finished supper the mall they'd planned to go to was closed for the day.
On Saturday, they found the perfect dress for Cassie, what was a bonus, she could use for other special occasions. Sam had been to enough weddings she'd long ago decided that any attendant of hers would have a dress that could be worn to other events. Sam wasn't able to find the 'perfect' dress. She knew she might be able to find one in DC, on Sunday.
After Jack revealed the truth to Sam, he let her know that Cassie knew. Thus, Cassie was often a smokescreen for the pair. Sam would occasionally 'leave' for DC from Cassie's, made possible because after a bad roommate experience, Cassie had wanted to try to live alone. Sam and Jack agreed with a few stipulations they helped her find a place. She decided not to date anyone for the school year, wanting to concentrate on her studies, this also helped the subterfuge.
If, in an emergency, Sam were needed back in Colorado, she was just a phone call away. Whenever Sam left for DC Cassie made sure she kept a phone with her at all times, Sam and Jack did likewise. This had come in handy a few times when Sam had to return to the SGC in a hurry.
Back in early October Sam and Shaun had planned to go away for the weekend, their first time away since Jim's birth. Their good friends the Marshall's were to watch the children. As luck would have it, the Marshall's had a sudden family emergency. Kellie called Jack less than ten minutes after Sam and Shaun had departed. Sam had already arrived from Denver, where she was supposedly spending the weekend with Cassie. By the time she arrived in DC, their romantic weekend had ended before it began. When Sam returned to Denver, she told Cassie how the weekend had not gone.
"They're not going to have their weekend ruined, how hard can watching three kids be?" Jack said as he grabbed the keys on the way out the door. He said this, just as I beamed in."
"He didn't actually believe that" Cassie laughed, but the look on Sam's face told her that's what happened.
"Jim chose Friday night to have a tooth come in; so we didn't sleep a wink. Saturday night both Catie and Harry had nightmares. I swear, we'd just about get back to sleep when one of them woke us up." Sam had needed a pot of coffee to be awake the next day, which was ironic considering how often she'd spend most of a night working on a project at SGC and not bat an eyelash the next day.