The weather on P6C-445 was perfect, as if the universe was blessing the union of these two souls personally. Most of the women from Hak'tyl were present. It hadn't taken long for the younger of the rebel Jaffa to gather the courage to strike up conversations with the female warriors. Jack couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. This could be interesting. He was surprised to see several little girls also wandering around. Sam saw his confusion and explained.

"When Moloc was defeated Ishta and the others tried to find the parents of the youngest girls to see if they could reunite them with their families. There were several that could not be placed with blood relatives. They are still trying to find homes for these girls," she told him sadly.

"Too bad we can't just take them all back to Earth to be adopted," Jack mused.

Sam nodded her agreement. Some small part of her wished that she was able to adopt one of them herself. But she was currently in no better position to do so then when Cassie had come into her life. Still, it was seven years later, and while at that time she had not felt any big rush to start a family now her biological clock was most definitely ticking. She shot a glance over at Jack. It wasn't something they had discussed, and she couldn't help but wonder if he ever thought about having another child.

She would have been surprised to find that Jack's thoughts were running along a similar path. One of the reasons he had finally decided that it was time to retire was to open up the possibility of starting another family before he was too old to even consider it. Not that he wasn't reaching that stage rapidly. He wondered if Sam ever thought of having children. He knew having to take almost a year out from her career to have a child was asking a lot. It would have to be something she really wanted. Maybe adoption would be an alternative. Then he kicked himself mentally. He was getting so far ahead of himself here.

They each stood quietly wrapped in their own thoughts as they witnessed Teal'c and Ishta take their vows. The wedding ceremony was not that different from an Earth celebration, but then Teal'c had admitted that they had changed some of the more traditional vows that referenced the woman as belonging to her husband and obeying him in all things. They had also removed all references to any god. Instead they pledged their love and support to each other, and vowed to treat each other with respect and compassion. It was everything a ceremony bonding two souls together for life should be, and Sam couldn't help the few tears of happiness for her friend that fell.

Afterwards, the food and something similar to ale flowed freely. Jack was amused to see that as the evening wore on a little girl of about three had attached herself to Carter. Currently the two were sitting off to one side of the tent and the child had crawled up into Sam's lap to better reach the table where she was making a mess of a fruit filled pastry. Jack looked around to see that Daniel was busy talking to Sarah and no one else seemed to being paying much attention so he wandered over to where Sam sat.

"You've made a new fiend," he commented with a grin.

She looked up and flashed him one of her blinding smiles in return. "Yes, Sir. This is An'ya"

The child looked up at him warily. "It's very nice to meet you An'ya. I'm Jack," he said softly.

Those innocent brown eyes stared at him as if she could see into his very soul. She obviously saw no threat lurking there, as she suddenly raised her arms in the universal signal for 'up'. Jack obliged with a grin, happily ignoring the sticky fingers and face to pick her up. Unable to resist the sudden urge he swung her around until she was giggling helplessly. Sam drank in the sight and filed it away with her other favorite Jack moments. He caught her gaze and the sadness and longing in it surprised him. Maybe his previous line of thinking hadn't been that far off base after all.

One of the female warriors came to take An'ya off to bed and Jack watched as Sam looked after the two quietly.

"What are you thinking about, Carter," he asked.

She shook her head. "Things that can't be, Sir," she acknowledged sadly.

"They could. In another three months they could," he suggested looking down at where the toe of his boot was scuffing a line in the dirt.

When he finally looked up she was staring at him with eyes that looked slightly hopeful, and yet he could still see sadness lurking there.

"I don't know if I can have children," she finally admitted. "But I'd like to try."

He hadn't even thought of that. He'd always just figured she wasn't one of those women that needed to have a child to be complete. The thought that she might not be able to have kids had never occurred to him, but recalling everything she had been through in the last eight years he wasn't surprised that there were doubts.

"Hey there are plenty of An'yas out there if you can't," he encouraged her. "Or even if you can," he added.

She hesitated but then figured she'd never get as good an opening again. "What about you, Sir. Can you see yourself being a father again?" she asked.

"That's the game plan," he replied. When he saw her look of confusion he continued, raising a finger for each point. "It's a five point plan. Retire, take Carter fishing, seduce Carter, convince Carter to marry me, have a dozen kids with Carter. Although that last point is negotiable. Two is my minimum though."

As he had ticked off the items that made up his plan he had nervously watched as her eyes had widened until the light form a nearby torch had made them positively glow. Then he was relieved to see a smile start to tug at the corners of her mouth.

"As usual, a well thought out plan, Sir. Is there a plan B?" she teased.

"Do I need one?" he asked suddenly worried again.

"No, I think that plan should work. Although we definitely need to talk over point five. Also, it might be beneficial for the overall success of the plan if you work on point four ahead of time. Then once point one is accomplished you can move rapidly through the other steps. Oh. And you should move point three up so that it is second on the list," she suggested.

Jack had been desperately trying to keep up. "So, convince Carter to marry me, retire, seduce Carter, take Carter fishing, have two or more kids with Carter?" he inquired. "Or am I supposed to seduce you before I retire. That might be risky."

"Immediately after will be fine. Of course somewhere in there you actually have to marry Carter," she insisted.

"Whenever and wherever Carter wants," he assured her.

Now her smile was full blown. "That's good, then Carter's father won't have to hurt you," she pointed out with a chuckle.

Jack groaned. "Believe me, he will want to anyway," he assured her.

The two fell into a comfortable silence. Finally Jack realized that the reception was starting to break up.

"So, should we go wish the newlyweds a happy honeymoon and then I can walk you to the Stargate?" he asked.

"That sounds good, Sir," Sam agreed.

They waited patiently for Ishta and Teal'c to be free and then walked over to say goodnight. The couple would be honeymooning for a week on a lovely planet named Cerona that SG1 had discovered several years before and then they would return to Earth where they would spend another week getting Ishta more accustomed to life there before both returned to their responsibilities.

After Sam had hugged each of them and Jack had kissed Ishta on the cheek and slapped Teal'c on the back, the two officers headed for the Stargate. Daniel and Sarah had left already, so they had the peaceful moonlit path all to themselves. Just before they stepped out of the shadows of the trees to cross over to the DHD Jack put a hand on Sam's arm to stop her.

"Carter, can I ask you something?" he inquired.

"Sure," she nodded.

"Are we engaged?" he asked anxiously.

Sam couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped before she decided to put him out of his misery. She leaned in and placed a brief soft kiss on the lips that she had coveted for so very long, a kiss that was full of promise, but lasted nowhere near long enough for Jack's liking.

As she leaned back she set his heart humming with one simple phrase. "You betcha."