Thirty minutes later, Jack had successfully sprung Ferretti from the infirmary after promising the doctor that he would keep an eye on him. The two men had grabbed their dress uniforms and an extra change of clothes for Ferretti from their lockers before meeting Sam to ride the elevator to the surface. Despite Ferretti's insistent questioning, neither Sam nor Jack would say anything other than "Shut-up Ferretti," which seemed to frustrate the man currently in the wheel chair.

Once Ferretti was settled in the back of Jack's truck, Jack drove towards his house, soon to be their house.

"So Jack," Ferretti asked for what had to be the hundredth time, "I'm guessing that we aren't staying at your house, so WHERE ARE WE GOING?"

Jack chuckled and looked at Sam who was trying to hide the smile on her face. Realizing that they were at his house, Jack and Sam got out, leaving Ferretti alone in the back seat. "We're going into the house," Sam stated as she opened her door, "And you're staying right here. We won't be long."

Less than five minutes later, Jack and Sam returned from what Ferretti knew was Jack's house with bags in hand. They threw them in the back with Ferretti before hoping into the truck once more.

"Will you tell me where we're going now?" Ferretti asked once more.

"Denver," Sam answered, still not wanting to offer anything else up-besides teasing Ferretti was fun!

"Why are we going to Denver?" Ferretti asked.

"To get on a plane," Jack explained like he would to a simple minded child, "And that is all we're telling you, so quit asking!"

"Or we'll leave you on the side of the road," Sam added.

That comment seemed to shut Ferretti up, as Sam and Jack enjoyed a comfortable silence the rest of the way to the airport.

----

Even their flight to Las Vegas was uneventful. Ferretti had finally drifting off to sleep after no one would answer his questions about why they were going to Las Vegas. The plane landed, and because they hadn't checked any luggage, Sam, Jack, and Ferretti quickly found their way to their hotel.

Jack went to the front desk and checked in, returning with 3 sets of room keys instead of 2.

"Jack," Sam stated, "I figured that there would be some room sharing after tonight."

"There will be," Jack insisted.

"Then why did you get three rooms?" Ferretti asked.

"That is for me to know and for you two to find out," Jack claimed with a knowing smile. "Just trust me."

"I do," Sam said and blushed, realizing the importance of those words.

Jack and Sam got lost in each other's eyes to the point that Ferretti cleared his throat. "Uh guys," he said interrupting their moment, "Is there a reason that we had to come all the way to Las Vegas this weekend?"

"Sure is," Jack said as he slipped his arm around Sam's waist while they waited for the elevator, "We're getting married."

Ferretti's jaw hit the floor as he starred at the couple in front of him. This possibility had crossed his mind when he had finally been let in on their destination, but he had dismissed it. Jack was too reserved and Sam was too independent for them to have advanced from the 'just friends' status at Christmas to getting married in a little more than six months.

"Congratulations," he finally managed to spit out. "But what am I doing here?" he sputtered.

Jack looked at him like he was crazy. "I thought that was obvious, but since you're confused, I'll spell it out for you," Jack offered. "I want you to be my best man."

Ferretti was frozen as Sam and Jack stepped out of the elevator, on their floor.

Sam turned around as if only now realizing that Ferretti wasn't with them. "Ferretti?" she prodded him, which startled him out of his thoughts.

"Oh? Sorry," he said, "I just thought that Jack said you two were getting married and he wanted me to be his best man."

"I did," Jack said, shaking his head at the man's disbelief.

"Okay," Ferretti said, still in disbelief. "Are you sure? I mean, it's not like you don't have other friends who deserve it more than me. Heck, Kawalsky is going to kill me when he finds out that you asked me and not him."

Jack stopped where he was, removed his arm from around Sam's shoulder, and handed her the bag with his dress blues in it. "If there was any way that I could have both of you here, I would have two best men," Jack insisted. "The two of you are part of the reason that I was able to find my way back here and meet Sam. There is no one else that I can picture standing beside me."

"Wow. I'm honored to do it Jack. I guess I'm just surprised that you think so highly of me," Ferretti stated.

Jack wrapped Ferretti up in a hug. When he pulled back, he said, "If there is anything that this experience has taught me, it's that good friends are hard to come but, and you are one of those friends."

"Wow!" said a voice behind Jack, "Did you feed my daughter that line when you asked her to marry you?"

Those words caused Jack and Sam to spin around to see retired Major General Jacob Carter standing there.

"Dad," Jack says to break the silence.

"Jack," the man acknowledged.

Now, all the eyes are on Sam, waiting to see what her reaction will be. Sam steps forward to pull her father into a hug, tears filling her eyes.

"I'm still mad at you," she blurts out, resulting in laughter from all those present. "But," she says as she pulls away, "I'm so glad that you are here."

Sam can hear Jack's sigh of relief from behind her, as if he's relieved that she won't be mad at him for inviting Jacob.

"I'm not sorry," Jacob says, "But there was no way I would miss this."

Sam turns around and glares at Jack. "Anymore surprises you want to tell me about?"

Jack actually looks scared. He has one more surprise for Sam, but he doesn't want to start off this marriage by spending the night on the couch! So, in typical guy fashion he lies. "No."

Sam raises an eyebrow in a fashion that reminds Jack of his new alien friend. "Are you sure?" she asks in a tone that Jack knows that she knows he's lying to her.

"Yes. No. Maybe," Jack stutters out, much to the enjoyment of the two men watching the exchange.

Sam takes a step towards Jack, who is already backed up against wall, so he has no where to run. "Well which is it?" she asks, the evil glint returning to her eyes.

Jacob took pity on the man who was shooting him a 'help me' look. "Actually, I brought the other surprise-your mother's wedding dress," he explained.

Sam's eyes lit up and she turned to look at her father again, only to see the look of hope in his eyes. "That is, if you want to wear it," Jacob quickly added.

"I'd be honored," Sam finally manages to say after opening and closing her mouth several times, especially considering she had planned to get married in her dress blues.

Jacob's face shows a full fledge grin as he reaches out to hug his daughter once more.

----

An hour later, Sam had taken a luxurious bath and was actually feeling human again when Sam heard a knock at the door. She looked at the clock, and knew that she was running a little behind. "Coming," she called as she gathered the last of what she needed and piled the rest so that Jack and Ferretti could move it to their room.

She threw open her door, expecting to see her father, and instead found the one person that she last expected and suddenly everything made sense. Jack's guarded response about more surprises, the reason he had brought Ferretti along despite Sam not brining a friend.

There in full dress blues stood Major Cameron Mitchell with a large smirk on his face as he watched one of his best friends drop everything in her hands to tackle him in a hug. What followed involved laughter and tears on the part of both parties, although Cam would deny that he shed any tears until his dying day, Sam was sure.

Eventually, Cam managed to get Sam out of the hotel and into a cab for the short ride to the place where the ceremony will be held. Sam was grateful for the good weather, and was starting to get nervous as the sun began to drop lower and lower into the horizon. Jack had done the majority of planning for the wedding ceremony, something that would have worried most women, but for Sam it was reassuring.

Jack wasn't all about flowers or big flashy things. He liked the plain and simple stuff, much like Sam. So she figured that whatever he had picked would be perfect. Honestly, Sam didn't care if they were getting married in BDU's in the middle of the gateroom. She was getting married to Jack O'Neill-the man she was convinced would take at least a year of dating to even think about marriage, let alone pop the question. After all, he had admitted that it took him three years of dating Sara to pop the question, so Sam had been convinced she would have to wait quite a while, which she had been willing to do.

But he had asked after only six months of real dating, and then Sam had expected him to want a long engagement. And again, Jack had surprised her by agreeing to a small wedding in Las Vegas, even when they really hadn't worked out any details of their life together. Jack had loved Colorado Springs and Sam had worked in D.C. Sam didn't really like D.C., but it wasn't like she had a choice, so she was hoping that Jack wouldn't mind the move. Now, that didn't matter. They would both be living in Jack's house in Colorado Springs, and Sam couldn't be happier.

Suddenly it dawned on Sam that she had no clue where they were going. Jack hadn't told her where the wedding was at, only that it was going to be outside! "Uh Cam? You do know where we're going right?" she asked.

"Jack told me," Cam stated as it suddenly dawned on him that Sam didn't know. "You mean you have no idea where you're getting married at?"

Sam ducked her head. "No," she admitted as a small amount of blush lit her cheeks.

Cam chuckled. "If you trust him enough to let him plan your wedding, you must really love him."

Sam locked her eyes with Cam. "I never thought I would find a man who cares this much about me," she affirmed. "He's perfect for me."

Cam just smiled, knowing in that moment there was no way he was going to ever talk his 'almost sister' out of marrying Jack. He just hoped that this time he wouldn't have to pick up the pieces left behind like he had after Jonas.

"You're placing an awful lot of trust in the man," Cam commented.

"I figure that he can handle it," Sam claimed as she thought about the scene Jack created in his backyard not that long ago. Turning the topic away from the upcoming wedding, Sam asked the one question she knew would distract Cam, "So, what's happening with you since we last talked?"

----

Cam, despite being a guy had no objections to being the one left holding Sam's hand as she applied make-up, messed with her hair, and put on jewelry, including the bracelet that her mother had given her.

"For a guy," Sam thought, "He's being extremely patient." And she told Cam so right before she kicked him out so she could put on her wedding dress.

Cam just smiled and shook his head. "I'm just glad that you want me here," he claimed as he softly shut the door and went in search of the missing bouquet of flowers as Sam had requested.

In the meantime, Sam carefully unwrapped her mother's wedding dress and put it on. A knock on the door interrupted Sam's musings as she called her father into the room. "How's Jack?" Sam asked.

"Nervous. Convinced that you're going to realize at any moment that he's not good enough," Jacob admitted as he starred in wonder at his daughter who looked so much like her mother. "You're sure this is what you want?" he asked.

Sam didn't even have to think about it. "Yes."

"Any doubts?"

This time Sam did pause to think. "About getting married? No," she stated. "About being married? A whole bunch," she admitted.

Jacob smiled at the worried expression that appeared on his daughter's face. "Your mom thought the same way," he claimed. "She was so worried that she was going to mess things up, but I didn't notice. Until the day I came home to find her crying in the kitchen because she had burnt the meatloaf." Jacob chuckled at the memory. "After that, things went pretty well. You'll be fine Sam, Jack is a wonderful man. And the two of you are perfect for each other. You ready?"

Sam just nodded, afraid that if she spoke she would shed the tears she was trying so hard to keep from spilling over.

----

The sun was just beginning to sink over the horizon as and the sight that it was producing was amazing to say the least. The shades of pinks, oranges, and reds mixed together to form a spectacular sight.

A sight that was only enhanced by the vision Jack saw walking towards him. On the arm of Jacob Carter, who was in his dress uniform, was the most beautiful woman Jack had ever seen. Samantha Carter was wearing a dress that only enhanced her natural beauty. The cream colored gown was ballroom style in that about a foot of material drug on the ground behind Sam while the rest of the dress clung to her every curve. It hung almost off her shoulders and had sleeves that ended just shy of her elbows. In the middle was an artfully tied bow, that Jack thought completed the dress.

But the dress had nothing on the woman in it. In her hands was an arrangement of red and white roses, which just seemed to complement the colors that the sunset had turned her hair. The closer that Sam came, the more Jack could see that she seemed to be glowing. Jack had never seen such a large smile on her face as the one that currently seemed to fill her entire face. When Jacob and Sam finally came to a stop in front of Jack, he could see that her eyes sparkled in the fading light, matched perfectly by the necklace with a small blue stone around her neck.

Only Ferretti noticed that Jack had moved at all since Sam had come into view, and that he probably wouldn't have remembered to breathe if Ferretti hadn't elbowed him, something which hadn't even gotten a reaction from Jack.

----

As Sam walked towards Jack, she had to remind herself to breathe and keep walking, especially when she saw the scenery. Jack was standing under a terrace that had obviously had roses growing on it, but also was wrapped in white lights. The sunset and the lights created a beautiful picture as both sets of light reflected off of the water.

Jack looked… Sam just couldn't come up with a word to describe him that seemed good enough. Cute, handsome, heck, even perfect didn't seem to do him justice. And the dazed grin on the man's face only increased the man's attractiveness.

Before Sam knew it though, her father had given her a kiss and given Jack her hand.

----

The ceremony flew by and before anyone really knew it, the minister was saying "I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." As the last bit of sunlight disappeared, Jack dipped Sam and kissed her in a way that left no questions about how much he cared about her. After they finally parted for air and righted themselves, Sam and Jack exchanged hugs with the three men present and headed for the restaurant where they would have a nice, low-key dinner together at a semi-fancy restaurant before Sam and Jack would depart for the evening.

The five of them were seated around a circular table, Jacob, in between Cam and Ferretti, while each of the men sat next to their friends, which left Sam and Jack free to sit next to each other. Thankfully, the conversation avoided any difficult topic, instead keeping to the lighthearted memories of Sam and Jack's antics that left everyone smiling and laughing, with an occasional blush.

Eventually though, Sam noticed Cam's occasional glances at his watch. "Cam," she asked, "Somewhere you need to be?"

Cam looked slightly guilty. "Yeah, I only had a 24 hour pass, and my plane leaves in a couple of hours. I was hoping for a dance with the bride but, I figured that her father and husband probably deserved a dance first," he hinted with a small glance at the dance floor.

Jack turned to Cam and asked, "Did she pay you to do this or just blackmail you?"

Cam wasn't quite sure how to respond, but Sam just playful swatted her new husband and grabbed his hand, making it plain that her intent was to pull him onto the dance floor.

"You are a dead man," Jack promised as he glared at Cam, following his new wife to the dance floor.

Despite Jack's protests, he was reluctant to allow Jacob to cut in when he approached the couple after a song.

Ferretti was smiling when Jack took Jacob's seat between the two Majors. "She has you so whipped Jack," Ferretti said like he was stating the obvious.

The laughter coming from Cam was all Jack needed to know that the other man agreed with that statement.

"Well Ferretti if you had a woman like Sam, you'd be whipped too," Jack insisted as slapped the man on the back.

Cam looked out at the dance floor and noticed that Jacob had disappeared, so he stood up. "Thank you for letting me be here," he said to Jack, "Take care of her."

"I will," Jack promised as he gave the younger man a hug.

Cam walked out to the dance floor and took Sam into his arms in the way only a brother would. "Did Jacob leave already?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sam said in a tone that declared there would be no more discussion on the matter.

"I hope Jack know how lucky he is," Cam stated.

"I'm the lucky one," Sam claimed.

"You're both lucky. It's obvious that you have something special and I only hope that I can find someone like that out there for me," Cam said wistfully.

"There is," Sam assured him as she gave him a kiss on the cheek, "You'll just have to be patient."

"I'm anything but patient though, that's why I fly F-16's," Cam claimed as he hugged Sam as close to him as he could get.

"Be safe," Sam said, the only good-bye she could give her oldest and best friend.

"Always am," Cam promised as he turned on his heels and left the room as quickly as possible.

Jack quickly approached and pulled Sam into his arms for another slow song.

"We forgot to tell Dad something," Sam began.

"What?" Jack asked, totally clueless as to what the problem could be.

"That you got pulled out of retirement," Sam explained.

"Oh. I'm guessing he's not happy about it, huh?"

"Not really."

"What do you think about it?" Jack asked, almost scared of the answer Sam could give him.

Sam moved her head from Jack's chest so that she could look into his eyes. "I'm okay with it, especially because we'll be stationed at the same place, for now at least. If I was still in Washington it might be more of a problem, but considering what we're doing, neither of us can really afford to do anything different."

They danced in silence for a while until Jack asked the question that had been bothering him for a while. "When did you find out that I led that mission?"

"Not until Hammond had me recalled to the mountain. That was the first time I was actually permitted to see the most classified version of the mission report. Every other time, the only thing I got to see was the blacked-out version where they omitted your names," Sam replied.

"Huh. So are we going to be okay with this whole working together thing?"

"It will be different," Sam admitted, "But we've managed to do okay so far."

Jack smiled and kissed the top of her head before taking Sam's hand in his own and pulling her towards the elevator and their waiting hotel room. Sam smiled hesitantly, but let Jack lead her anyways, trusting him just like she always had.

----

Author's Note: The dress described, along with the location of the wedding were based off of real places. Special thanks to ALIMOO1971 for all her help! Only one more chapter to go, and it's more of an epilogue that covers a long stretch of time!