"I hear there's a bride in here." Mark chuckled as he knocked on the door.
Sam turned from where Cassie and Vala were talking about her hair and makeup. She grinned as she stood and walked over to him. "Mark!"
He hugged her tightly. "Hi, sis."
"I'm so glad you could come," she admitted as she pulled away.
"I wouldn't miss this for the world." He said, soberly.
She managed a grateful smile as he let go of her. "Besides, I had a package to deliver."
"What kind of package?"
He opened the door to reveal his wife, carrying a carefully wrapped gown in her hands, and Sam's jaw dropped. She looked over at Mark in surprise. "Mom's wedding dress. H-how did you get it?"
"Dad left it with us just before he died." He admitted. "Thought you'd want to use it someday, but wasn't sure you'd have space or brain for it with your job."
Sam managed a watery smile as she opened the garment bag and pulled out the satin and lace gown. "I'm not sure it will fit..."
"Hey...try it. You never know." Her sister-in-law, Cindy, encouraged.
Sam inhaled before she nodded. "Okay."
"I'll see how Jack's going," Mark said, stepping out of the room as the women prepared to dress Sam in the heirloom.
Sam waved softly as she inhaled nervously. She really hoped it would fit...
-
Jack stood, nervously rubbing his hands, in the cleared living room as Daniel stood beside him in his tuxedo.
"Relax, Jack. I doubt she's going to change her mind this late in the game..."
Jack inhaled and looked at Daniel. "You're right. She'll be here."
"Indeed." Teal'c agreed from Daniel's other side.
Footsteps could be heard on the wooden floor, and Jack turned to see Cindy slipping into one of the metal folding chairs with a small smile.
"She was helping Sam..." Jack murmured.
"So, she'll probably be out soon," Daniel chuckled.
He inhaled. "Hope so..."
Daniel smiled in amusement as Sam's niece, twenty-one-year-old Katie, started the music on the small iPod.
Pachelbel's Canon in D softly floated over the surround sound speakers, which Jack and Sam had put in only a few days before, and Jack turned to watch for his bride.
Cassie, dressed in a simple, yet elegant, sapphire-colored dress, stepped graciously down the aisle. She offered Jack a supportive smile as she took her place on the opposite side, revealing Vala.
Daniel's jaw dropped as he looked at the gown that Vala had donned for the occasion. Also in a sapphire hue, her gown hugged her curves in an elegant manner that was far more tasteful than he was used to. Like Cassie before her, she held a small white rose bouquet in her hands. She offered Daniel a small, serene smile as she took her place.
Sam stood beside Mark at the back of the room, dressed in her mother's wedding gown. The lace bodice which came to an end underneath her bustline in an empire waist and met a satin skirt which fell simply to the floor and gathered in a simple small train in the back. A thin veil and flower comb in her simple updo rounded out the look.
Jack could hardly breathe as he watched her brother escorted her down the aisle. She gave him a gentle smile as she joined him at the front of the room.
"You look..." He murmured, almost speechless, as he let his eyes scan her again.
She blushed lightly. "Thank you. So do you."
Katie stopped the music as the priest, Father Donovan, cleared his throat. "We are gathered here today..."
Sam inhaled as she looked over at the man to whom she was pledging her life. She'd tried many times to make this commitment, and she'd failed almost that many times. The fact that she was standing here. Beside him. That had to mean that she'd finally made the right choice.
Her eyes moistened as she gave him a gentle smile as he squeezed her hand and looked over at her.
Love you, she mouthed.
Me too, he mouthed as he "raised" her a grin.
"Face each other and join hands, please," Father Donovan said, looking at Jack and Sam.
They nodded as they did as they'd been told.
"Jack, repeat after me. I, Jack O'Neill..."
"I, Jack O'Neill..."
"Take thee, Samantha Carter..."
"Take thee, Samantha Carter..."
"To be my lawfully wedded wife..."
He looked up into her eyes, and she could see the sincerity in them. "To be my lawfully wedded wife..."
This moment had been worth the decade or so that they'd spent waiting for it.
"Now, Samantha, repeat after me." Father Donovan said, looking over at her. "I, Samantha Carter..."
She inhaled, looking at Jack with a sober eye. "I, Samantha Carter..."
"Take thee, Jack O'Neill..."
"Take thee, Jack O'Neill..."
"To be my lawfully wedded husband."
She choked on her emotion for a moment before she managed to continue. "To be my lawfully wedded husband."
"For better, for worse..."
Flashes of their work together found themselves to the surface of her mind. How many times he'd saved her life. The time that she'd watched his face after he'd told Hammond to close the iris on the humans who had instigated genocide on their world.
"For better, for worse..."
"For richer, for poorer..."
"For richer, for poorer..."
"In sickness and in health..."
She swallowed as she remembered praying that he'd wake up after some illness or injury. And every time that she'd awoken from one of her own to find him sitting beside her bed. "In sickness and in health."
"For as long as we both shall live."
"For as long as we both shall live." She whispered as the tears she'd long anticipated moistened her eyes.
"The rings..." Father Donovan prompted.
Daniel and Vala both stepped forward, offering the rings to the bride and groom who turned back to one another.
"Jack, place the ring on Samantha's finger and repeat after me: With this ring, I, thee, wed."
Jack took her hand in his. His hands were always so soft and gentle despite the outward signs of their callousness. Just like him. "With this ring," he murmured as he slipped the wedding band onto her left ring finger. "I, thee, wed."
Sam swallowed as she did the same. "With this ring," she whispered, carefully. "I, thee, wed."
"By the power vested in me by the state of Minnesota," Father Donovan said with a grin. "I, now, pronounce you husband and wife." He looked down at his old friend. "You may now kiss the bride."
Jack grinned as he turned back to look at Sam, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her as tenderly as he knew how.
The small group erupted into applause as Sam and Jack pulled away from one another with wide grins which they turned to the ensembled friends and family.
"May I introduce Mr. and Mrs. Jack O'Neill to those assembled," Father Donovan finished with a satisfied smile.
"Well, General," Sam murmured as she looked back at him with a glistening smile. "We did it."
"Yes, Colonel," he said, looking back at her with a teasing chuckle. "I think we did."
Her eyes were dancing with joy and amusement, and he couldn't help it. He leaned in again for another kiss which she returned, affectionately.
Daniel led another cheer with a grin on his face.
They pulled away from one another, and Sam knew she was blushing from how warm her face had gotten. That won a grin from her new husband.
"Pictures!" Vala cried, reaching for the digital camera that she'd brought with her.
"Whaddaya say, Mrs. O'Neill?" Jack asked, looking at his new bride. "Pictures?"
She grinned. "I say...bring 'em on..."
He laughed as he wrapped his arms around her waist, and bent to kiss the crook of her neck.
"Jack!" She cried, blushing at the intimacy of the gesture in front of the room full of people as she tried, goodnaturedly, to pull away.
A flash went off, and Sam looked over in surprise at Vala, who shrugged. "It was just so...adorable."
Daniel looked over her shoulder at the image on the digital screen and nodded before looking up at the happy couple. "Yeah...that's a keeper..."
Sam looked over her own shoulder at her husband. "Well...I guess it's a keeper..."
"Like you," he murmured as he kissed her nose.
"And you," she whispered as she turned to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him again.
Another flash from the camera interrupted them, and Sam pulled away, blushing even more furiously, causing Jack to chortle at her expense.
"You're so cute when you get embarrassed." He grinned.
"Watch it, Mister..." She groused, playfully.
"Is that an order?" He winked.
She giggled. "Yep."
"Well in that case..." He chuckled. "Yes...ma'am."
-
Sam walked out of the master bedroom, having hung the fragile wedding gown back in its protective garment bag, dressed in jeans and a long sleeved shirt. Her hair was now pulled back into a ponytail, and she looked over at her husband, who had just closed the door to the cabin after Daniel, Vala, Cam and Teal'c, presumably.
"SG-1?" She asked, from where she stood.
He nodded, affirmatively, still dressed in his tuxedo, though his tie was undone and the top button of his shirt was unbuttoned. His suit jacket was also off - probably on the back of one of the chairs. "We're alone now...just you and me."
"There are worse things," she smiled. "But for now, I thought I'd start on cleaning the place up a bit..."
"Sa-am!" He whined in protest. "The wine glasses, the streamers, the rice...that can all wait 'til tomorrow."
She chuckled softly. "Just...an hour. And then, even if I'm in the middle of washing a dish, I'll leave it, and we can do it tomorrow."
"This is an actual hour, right?" He asked, studying her closely. "Not the night-long "hour" you ask for when you're working on some alien device..."
She grinned in appreciation as she reached for the egg timer and selected sixty minutes. "Sixty minutes. Starting now."
He sighed, theatrically. "All right..."
"It might not take as long if you help me," she said, looking over at him with an amused smile as she set the timer on the counter and began her work.
He walked over, retrieving a dish towel on his way. "Sounds like a plan."
The minutes passed quickly, though they didn't say much.
"This..." Sam finally murmured as she looked over at him after finishing the last glass. "This was perfect."
He turned a teasing eye to her. "I've always thought my glass drying was rather perfect, but...I'll humbly accept your praise."
She beamed, appreciatively, before she gently touched his arm. "No...the wedding..."
"I know." He said, more soberly.
"I was just relieved that my mother's dress fit," she said, breaking the mood for a moment.
"It looked lovely." Jack said, soberly. "I couldn't breathe when I saw you walking toward me."
"Really?" She asked, softly.
He nodded.
The timer rang, but Sam didn't react. "I think...it's time for bed..."
"I like that idea. It's been a long day, and...all of that..."
She chuckled softly, and he took the opportunity to loosen her hair from the elastic that bound it in the ponytail. With love and adoration in his eyes as he studied her features, now framed in her shoulder-length blond hair, he smiled. "There's my wife."
She looked at him, somewhat perplexed, as he revealed the elastic. "Colonel Carter has to wear her hair up because of regulations and all that, but my wife...my wife can let her hair down whenever she's with me."
Sam swallowed as she realized the hidden meaning behind his words.
He gently tugged at her hand, pulling her down the hallway. They paused, and Sam waited to see what he had planned. Jack grinned as he easily swept her off of her feet and into his arms. "It's not exactly a threshold, but it'll work..."
She laughed softly as he stepped into their bedroom. After kicking the door shut with his foot, he gently laid her on the bed. She looked up at him with soft eyes as he leaned over her, and he ran his fingers through her hair, now strewn against the comforter. "You're mine, Samantha Carter," he murmured, proudly.
"All yours," she affirmed as he leaned in to kiss her.
-
Happy New Year folks!