Author's Note: Shadows-of-Realm emailed me today with a rather surprising and delightful find. For those of you who enjoy pairing music with stories, check out Demi Lovato's "For the Love of a Daughter." That fits Sarah MacKenzie perfectly. Also, the story is now complete-all thirty chapters of it-so there should be no delays in posting on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Enjoy! ~lg

oOo

After a long time, Carson stirred. The garden had remained quiet, the remnants of his family inside and saying their goodbyes. Ismay's outburst had destroyed his hopes of a peaceful reunion. He turned to where Sarah still held his hand. "I'm sorry, love."

She stared up at him, the scant light highlighting her face and bringing her beauty into sharp relief. "I understand."

"I know ye do." He shook his head, all the emotions still roaring through him and making him want to physically lash out. It had never been his way, and he'd always had his work to dive into, coming out only when he'd reacted and found the strength he needed. Now, it was different. He didn't have Atlantis or any of his friends. Save Sarah. "But ye shouldn't have witnessed that. Ismay is. . . ."

"She's your sister." Sarah cautiously placed her free hand on his chest, the pressure from it sending strange shivers straight through him. "She's worried for you, and that worry comes out as anger at times."

He sighed deeply. "I know." Then, unable to keep the emotions at bay, he felt his tears return. They escaped as he thought about everything. "It's just that. . . .Elizabeth was. . . .An' I cannae help feelin' like I. . . ." He couldn't finish any of the thoughts.

Sarah nodded as if she understood. She bit her lip ever so slightly as if debating something and then stepped into his arms.

In spite of his anger and raw pain, Carson blinked. More tears escaped then, but his mind was no longer focused on Ismay, the argument she'd caused with his family, or his plans to return to Atlantis. They all centered on Sarah, a woman who, in spite of her own hesitations about physical contact and relationships, had just wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. His arms went around her, and he sighed as she settled in his embrace. Although he was holding her, the comfort flowed in the opposite direction. Sarah clearly knew what he'd needed at this moment, and the simple act of having another person in his arms—a woman with whom he'd started to fall in love—helped soothe the emotions in a way few other things could. For him, it was better than going out with Kenneth and Calum and havin' a pint at the local pub—as those two no doubt would want to do the next day.

Finally, Carson couldn't ignore the burning in his right leg or the stiffness caused by his healing wounds any longer. He shifted ever so slightly, but it was enough to have Sarah looking up at him with concern. She frowned. "You need to sit down."

"Aye," he admitted ruefully. "Don't get me wrong, love. I'd stand here and hold ye all night if ye wanted me to, but. . . ."

"No, I understand!" She slipped out of his embrace, wrapping her arms around herself as if cold. "I'm sorry this evening ended so badly."

Carson reached for his cane and leaned on it with one hand while brushing her hair behind her ear with the other. He loved this shorter style, but he was sure he'd love any hair style she wore. "Thank you." Unsure of what else to say, he turned and slowly headed back into the house. He regretted storming out, but he'd also refused to listen to Ismay berate him for something she could not understand. He'd reached the door when he realized that Sarah hadn't followed him.

His mother was still in the kitchen, still putting things away and cleaning from the evening. Carson headed for her. "I'm sorry, Mum."

"Och, don't be silly!" Moira waved a hand at him, but her eyes held a hint of irritation. She stopped long enough to pin him in place. "I cannae say I disagree with Ismay, but I also see how important your work is to ye. An' I would be wrong ta deny ye that, even if I want ta keep ye closer ta home." Her brows lowered. "Just remember that Ismay doesnae have the advantage of hearin' ye and Sarah talk about work in vague tones. She hasn't seen the way your face lights up when ye mention your friends."

Carson nodded, surprised at his mother's acceptance. Age had done wonders for Moira, who had once been as volatile as her daughter. Then, he grinned. Perhaps it wasn't age but the seven children she fiercely loved. Either way, her acceptance of his decision—something that didn't come easily to her—helped calm his emotions a bit.

In the living room, Kenneth and Calum were quietly visiting. Catriona, Calum's two-year-old, lay on her father's chest, dozing in and out. Her mum had gone upstairs to settle their two older children, and Kenneth's lass had joined her. Limping to a recliner, Carson settled into the chair and breathed a sigh of relief as the burning in his leg eased. The physical therapy was difficult, but it would enable him to return to Atlantis much quicker.

The two men included Carson in their conversation, but Catriona had other ideas. As soon as she heard her uncle's voice, her head popped up. She pushed away from Calum, arguing briefly until she pointed at Carson, and then sleepily tottered over to him. She was as precocious as any of his nieces and looked disturbingly like her father. Once at Carson's chair, she patted his leg and, when he explained that he couldn't pick her up, carefully crawled into his lap. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she laid over onto his shoulder and promptly drifted to sleep.

Carson smiled and listened to his brothers' conversation as he held his niece. Children had a wonderful healing virtue about them, and they often soothed troubled emotions quicker than just about anything else. Sarah's surprising embrace helped him calm, and Catriona completed the process. Content for the moment and at peace with his part in the family explosion, Carson held his niece and tried not to fall asleep with her.

oOo

After Carson went back inside, Sarah turned to stare at the stars. She found herself in a pensive mood, not sad but not thrilled. She knew the chaos that a family argument created. She'd had more than a few of them and had spilled out her latest chaos on Carson's shoulder the night she returned to the SGC. Thinking about that night and waking next to Carson the following day brought a smile to her face. A thrill went down her spine every time she thought about his sleep-warmed voice and the way his eyes had blinked happily but sleepily at her. She wanted to experience that again, though she certainly didn't want to go through the emotional breakdown to get there.

Carson had been close to one such breakdown tonight. Sarah knew it, and that was why she'd simply hugged him. The last month with her family and the last few days with Carson's had shown her what she'd missed by becoming so closed off from others. Not that she'd done so without reason. Her father's insistence that she measure up, no matter what she wanted, had ingrained the expectation that no one would accept her if she wasn't perfect. That hadn't hit for a few years, and she'd spent her first stint in university doing everything to discourage people from thinking she was rich. The right boyfriend who treated her without a shred of respect, the right look that resulted in multicolored hair, the right group of friends who went places and used chemicals that destroyed the body, and the right attitude of disrespect had ensured her father's lasting disapproval. Even now, as a grown woman with a stable career as a nurse for a classified military operation, she would never be more to him than a druggie who shared his name and received a portion of his fortune. She knew that, had he been able to do so without destroying his own image, he would have disinherited her a long time ago. But he'd been unable to do so because Katherine would have left him, and it would have shattered the perception that they were a perfect family.

Not really wanting to think about her family situation, Sarah turned back to the house. When Carson had stepped away from her to reach for his cane, she'd felt chilled. Almost as if her warmth came totally from him. It wasn't the first time it had happened, but knowing she'd initiated the hug meant a lot. It meant that he'd managed to get closer to her than any other person save BC.

Moira was finished cleaning the kitchen and had disappeared. Sarah looked around, her ears still ringing with Ismay's disapproval of both her and Carson. Truth be told, she understood Ismay on some level. But her sympathies fell with Carson and his decision to stay with the Atlantis Expedition. He was living in a totally different galaxy, doing research that would blow his sister's mind, and loving every minute of it. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell his family, and that created tension when the entire group got together.

Calum, Ismay's twin brother, caught her eye as she wandered into the living room. He held a finger to his lips in the universal sign to stay quiet and pointed at the recliner in the corner. Sarah turned and instantly smiled. Catriona, the one niece whose name she remembered, had crawled into Carson's lap and clearly fallen asleep on her uncle's shoulder. Carson had kicked back and now slept just as peacefully with his niece.

Sarah moved to join Calum in the living room. Sitting in a chair that faced both Calum and Carson, she grinned. "How long have they been that way?" she asked softly.

"Och, 'bout twenty minutes," Calum answered just as softly after a quick glance at the grandfather clock near the door. "She's been a wee bit ill these last few days, so I'm quite happy she's sleepin'."

Again, Sarah suppressed the urge to say, "Aye." Instead, she nodded. "Children are sometimes difficult when they're sick." She smiled as she thought back to her days in university—the second time. "When I was in university, getting my nurse's degree, I remember working in pediatrics. That was always my favorite because kids are so real. Of course, some of it was heartbreaking when you had a child who had an incurable disease. But, for the most part, they were wonderful to be around even when sick."

"Aye," Calum agreed. He eyed Sarah. "I'm verra sorry for that scene at the table."

Sarah waved a hand. "Don't mention it." Deciding to be real, she shrugged. "I've had my share of arguments at the dinner table. My father didn't agree with my career choices, and he tends to make it very obvious in how he treats me and my brother."

"Och, you have a brother?"

She smiled, hearing the interest. "Yes. Just one brother, Benjamin Cooper MacKenzie, Jr. I call him BC."

"MacKenzie? That's a good Scottish name."

Sensing that he wouldn't take offense, she mustered the best Scottish accent she could. "Aye, that it is." When he laughed softly, she shook her head. "You don't know how good that felt! I've been picking up more and more of the accent in the last few days."

"Well, lass, dunnae worry a bit about it. We'll understand."

"I'm glad." Her eyes drifted back to Carson. "He's needed the rest, too."

Calum nodded thoughtfully. "You work with him?"

"Yes." She sobered quickly. "I met him shortly after his accident." It was the cover story the SGC had concocted. Carson had been in the field since his group was short a medic, and he'd been caught in a grenade blast. "He was still in the coma when I arrived. But I was part of the team that helped treat him when he finally woke up and stabilized."

"I'm surprised the scarring isnae worse."

Sarah noted the subtle dig for information and buried a smile. These Becketts were smart people, and they'd obviously seen through a portion of the cover. "He was protected from the waist up," she said, spinning the rest of the cover story. "It's a miracle he survived even that."

"Aye," Calum agreed. He pinned Sarah with a pointed glance. "An' I know he's glad ye came wi' him."

She flushed and ironically noted that Carson was the only man to make her blush in years. "I'm glad I did, too. After my mother. . . ." She took a deep breath. Being this open with others was difficult. "I just needed time."

Calum leaned forward and patted her hand in a move eerily like Carson's and pushed to his feet. "I should get Catriona ta bed."

Sarah sat back and watched Carson's brother wake him by removing his daughter from her uncle's chest. The two men spoke quickly, and Sarah simply smiled. A thrill shot down her spine at the thickness in Carson's tone and she thought she could dream happily that night for having heard it again. Catriona immediately went to sleep on her father's shoulder while Carson rubbed his face. Calum bid goodnight to the two of them and went upstairs, leaving Sarah to stare at Carson while he worked to keep his eyes open.

He finally succeeded and grinned ruefully. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." She pushed to her feet. "Kids are wonderful for that."

"Aye, that they are." Carson slowly stood and took a moment to get his balance. Then, he faced Sarah, his blue eyes moving across her features. A smile caused his dimple to appear ever so slightly, and she enjoyed how he moved across the room to her.

Rather than letting him speak, she put a hand on his arm. "Get some rest, Carson."

"I think I might." He held her gaze a bit longer, as if trying to pass along a message without saying anything. "Thank you. For tonight."

Sarah nodded with a smile. "Of course." She stood and watched him limp into his bedroom, thinking that she didn't mind the halting gate or the cane he still used. He was even more attractive to her now than he was when confined to a hospital bed.

Shaking her head to clear it, she waited until he'd closed the door to his room before heading into the study. Carson's PT equipment was stacked neatly across one wall, but Sarah ignored it. She wanted to use the computer. Logging onto the internet, she signed into her email, clicked "Compose," inserted BC's address, and hesitated with her fingers on the keyboard. What did she tell her brother? Being here, with Carson's family, had put her in a mood to really consider her own family. While she had no desire to contact her father ever again, she didn't bear any ill will toward her brother. He'd been as trapped as she had, and he'd gone out of his way to be her comfort during those three weeks of caring for their mother.

Finally, she took a deep breath and started typing.

BC,

Yeah, I know it's weird to be hearing from me. But it's your wonderful sister.

I wanted to tell you that I didn't return to the base like I planned. I met up with a friend, and. . . .

She hesitated here. Did she tell her brother that this "friend" was a man? Or leave it vague? Deciding that she needed to truly trust her brother at some point, she kept typing.

. . .I met up with a friend, and he invited me to visit his family home in Scotland. Now, don't get ideas about our relationship. While there could be something there, we can't let it go that far. He's a doctor on the base I where I work, and he was severely injured recently. He asked me to come with him and take some time for myself. While I've been here, I've met his entire family—six siblings!—and managed to find myself loving his mother. It's weird. Moira doesn't try to replace Mum. She is just there.

I'll only be here for maybe another ten days. Unfortunately, that's when I have to return. But, for the next ten days, you can reach me and get a fairly immediate response via email. I'd love to hear from you. How you're doing. What your plans are for the future. If you're seeing anyone. We didn't really get a chance to talk about that kind of stuff when we were home.

So, don't hesitate. I know I've not exactly been the shining example of family support, but I really do care about what happens in your life. So, as much as is possible, let's not be strangers.

Your sister,
Sarah

With another deep breath, she hit "Send" before she could change her mind.

~TBC