He was momentarily worried when he felt Sam tremble in his arms until he realized she had buried her face in his shoulder to hide her laughter.

"Carter, it's not funny," he admonished.

"No, but I was just thinking that it's a good thing he doesn't know what you were doing to me this morning," she chuckled before raising her head to look at her father.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jack pale a bit at the thought and heard him mumble, "I'm a dead man."

Then he too straightened and faced down Jacob Carter. "Sir, your daughter has done me the honor of agreeing to marry me. I hope we have your blessing," he informed the irate man.

Jacob opened his mouth as if to say something, but no sound came out. Blessing? They wanted his blessing? The man hadn't even had the decency to ask for his permission and now he wanted his blessing.

'To be fair Jacob, you have not exactly been around to ask, and Samantha is old enough to not need your permission to proceed with her life,' Selmac quietly pointed out.

Still, Jacob wanted to know how come he hadn't known about this?

'Because you did not want to see. It has been obvious to anyone who looked closely for many years Jacob,' the amused voice in his head told him. 'Take a look at your daughter and see how happy she is.'

Jacob looked over at Sam and saw that sure enough she was glowing. His anger deflated as quickly as it had blossomed. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her looking like that, and if Jack O'Neill had done this then he could only approve. Still, he wasn't about to let Jack off scot-free.

"You want my blessing?" he bellowed, satisfied by the look on Jack's face that he had shaken the younger man up a bit. Then seeing the look of concern on Sam's face he relented quickly. "Of course you have my blessing," he suddenly agreed causing Jack to blink in surprise and Sam to move into his arms for a hug. "Sorry, Jack. I just couldn't resist, and you did kind of surprise me," Jacob admitted. "But if this makes Sam happy, then that's good enough for me. Congratulations," Jacob said kissing Sam's cheek and giving Jack a nod.

"Thanks, Dad," Sam smiled.

Now that the drama of the moment was over Cassie could no longer contain her excitement. "When did this happen? Let me see that ring! When is the wedding? Do I get to be a bridesmaid?" all came rushing out in a torrent.

"Whoa!" Jack cautioned. "Your head is going to fly off there missy! We got engaged this morning, and I told Sam that the wedding could be whenever and wherever she wants, but we haven't really had time to discuss it yet," Jack told her.

"And of course you can be a bridesmaid. But I have to warn you, I don't want a lot of fuss. I'm thinking quick trip to Vegas," Sam confessed.

Several voices protested at that, and to Sam's surprise one of them was Jack's. She looked at him to see if he was serious.

Jack shrugged. "A small wedding sounds great, but Vegas just doesn't seem like a real wedding," he confided.

Sam smiled her consent. She wasn't really surprised. Deep down Jack was a bit of an old fashioned guy. It was one of the things she loved about him. She had certainly been touched by his song selection for their first real dance together.

"Ok, a small family gathering then. We'll let you know when. It's not going to be a long engagement but I do want a chance to actually date the man before I marry him," Sam quipped.

"Fair enough," Jacob agreed with a chuckle. "Just so you know, I'm paying for the entire thing, so money is no object."

"Dad, you don't need to," Sam protested.

"But I want to kiddo. The only other thing I insist on is that your brother and his family be invited," Jacob requested.

"Of course. Actually, Mark knows all about Jack," Sam revealed.

"He does?" Jack asked in surprise.

Sam nodded. "He's dying to meet you, and make sure you're good enough for his little sister," she teased.

"Sure, " Jack agreed, although deep inside he wasn't too thrilled about having to face another Carter male. Then he looked around the room and realized it wasn't just the Carter's he needed to worry about. There were at least a dozen men in this room who would lay down their lives for Sam Carter. Each would also make his life a living hell if he ever hurt her. Of course he'd be the first in line to kick his ass if he ever did anything so stupid.

He watched her now accepting the congratulations of her friends and co-workers. Daniel and Teal'c had both wrapped her in hugs and were now turning their attention to him.

"Well, you sure didn't wait long," Daniel complained. "I had two weeks in the pool. I figured it would take that long for you to work up your courage to just ask her out."

"Are you kidding, Daniel? I wasn't about to risk letting her get away after eight years," Jack declared.

"You are a wise man, O'Neill," Teal'c approved with a nod.

Both Sam and Jack spent the rest of evening accepting the best wishes of those present, including the Joint Chiefs and the President. After a bit Jacob finally managed to get Sam alone for a few minutes.

"So. How about telling your old man just how long this had been going on," he urged her with a raised eyebrow.

"That's a complicated answer, Dad. How long have I been attracted to Jack? Since I walked into that briefing room eight years ago. How long have I loved him? It kind of snuck up on me but at least five years. I've known he had feelings for me for at least four, probably more. When he decided for sure to retire about six months ago he told me and we started to talk," she admitted. Jacob looked skeptical. "Don't give me that look, that's all we did. When Teal'c got married a few months ago the talking got more serious and we started discussing marriage and kids," she confessed.

Jacob looked surprised. "Kids?"

"Yeah, if I can have them. If not we might adopt," Sam said.

Jacob shook his head. "We never do talk anymore do we. I didn't know you wanted kids," he said sadly.

"Not just for the sake of having kids, no. But a family with Jack? That I really want," Sam told him.

Jacob studied his daughter for a moment. There was something so different about her but it was hard to put his finger on what it was. It wasn't just that she was happy. It was Selmac that whispered the answer to him.

'She's complete. She has found her soul mate. Look at Jack O'Neill. You can see the same change in him. Neither of them has a part of their very being that is lost anymore,' she told him.

Jacob snorted internally. 'That's pretty sappy Selmac.'

Even as he thought this he saw Jack catch Sam's eyes across the room, and was amazed at the feelings that passed between them. Damn it, Selmac was right. He'd never hear the end of this one. Already he could feel the Tok'ra radiating an air of smugness.

'Ok, it's true. It's still sappy,' he complained even as he gave his full attention back to his daughter.

"I'm happy for you kiddo. Jack's a good man," he told her reaching out to pull her into a hug.

Sam was a bit surprised at his reaction, but she wasn't going to question it. Instead she hugged back a bit more tightly than usual and just said, "Thank you. That means the world to me."

"Selmac agrees," he whispered.

Sam leaned back to kiss his cheek. "That's for him."

"Now I'll let you go back and mingle. I don't suppose you will be coming home with me to your place tonight, will you?" he asked hopefully.

Sam blushed, and shook her head no. She loved her father dearly, but there was no way she was not going home with Jack tonight.

"Actually you can help me out there. Cassie and I rode here together. I was wondering if you could share a ride back to my place with her to make sure she gets home safely," Sam requested.

"Sure. Will I see you tomorrow?" he asked.

Jack walked up just then and answered for her. "Of course you will. Why don't we bring over a late breakfast in the morning? We'll stop and get bagels and all of the fixings and then the four of us can spend some time together," he suggested.

Sam threw him a grateful look, and agreed. "That's a great idea."

"Sounds good," Jacob approved. "Now scoot you two, there are a lot of people still waiting to congratulate you."



By the time they got back home to Jack's it was the wee hours of the morning and both of them were too exhausted to do anything more than undress, crawl into bed together and fall asleep spooned together. Still, waking up in each other's arms the next morning was wonderful, and the hour spent after that incredible. By the time they reached Sam's house at 10:00 with breakfast they both were looking extremely relaxed and content, which they took some ribbing for.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me you two were engaged," Cassie complained.

"We never would have gotten to the party last night if I had," Sam pointed out.

"True. So when is the wedding going to be?" the teen wanted to know. "My summer internship came through, so I will only be home for a week at the end of school and two weeks before we start back up again," she informed them.

"Ah, well, as long as it fits into your schedule," Jack said with a twinkle in his eye. "Cass, Sam said she wanted a chance to date first. Give her some breathing space," Jack instructed.

Sam was actually thrilled to hear about the summer internship. She knew Cass was really excited about the opportunity. Besides, as much as she wanted to move in immediately with Jack she hadn't wanted Cassie to be on her own all summer. Now she wouldn't be feeling like she was neglecting her as she and Jack spent more time together. And an end of the summer wedding sounded about right. She walked over to the calendar and flipped it to August.

"How about August 18th?" she asked.

"Are you sure Sam? That's only three months away," Jack pointed out.

"Getting cold feet?" she teased.

"Not a chance," he assured her. "I just don't want to rush you," he explained.

"I really do want a small wedding. Something with just our close friends and family, maybe in your backyard," Sam told them. "I won't need much time to plan."

"No I meant I don't want to rush you into marriage," Jack clarified.

Sam turned and looked at him with her hands on her hips. "Eight years isn't exactly rushing," she reminded him.

Jacob watched in amusement as Jack's smiled at the scolding. "I stand corrected," the newly retired General quipped. "August 18th sounds great. The weather in Minnesota should be perfect for a honeymoon that time of year."

Sam's eyes widened in disbelief. "Jack O'Neill we are not going fishing on our honeymoon," she protested, causing her fianc's grin to grow bigger.

As she realized he had been winding her up she gave him a small punch in the arm. "That was cruel," she complained. But her eyes were laughing.

"We can go wherever you want, Sam, as long as you promise not to bring any work along," Jack assured her.

At that moment Jacob quietly admitted to Selmac that the two were perfect for each other.

'I told you so,' the Tok'Ra gloated.