disclaimer same as beginning. stargate is not mine. damn it.
egads! double digits! I'm finishing up the last two chapters, then they're off to Mira to look over.
Thanks so much for the reviews, both happy and sad. This has been a great first posting, I'll definitely do more.

The next morning she called Charles without a second thought and took the assignment. She had been wrong, she couldn't stay here. She took half a bath before feeling restless and deciding that she needed to run instead. Without thinking she made her way into the General's neighborhood.She arrived just in time to see him arguing with the Kerry woman in full view of the neighborhood. She stopped for a moment confused by the sight, before he caught her eye, prompting her to run again. Two hours later she realized she had pushed herself too far and that she was going to be sore for the next two days. Which was perfect, of course, those days being the dress rehearsal and the actual wedding. The warm shower was not helping, so the last resort, tea, was brought out. Six cups later and no positive effect, she hoped she could be somewhat agreeable at the bachelorette party.

She changed into less than formal apparel and allowed her couch to surround her as she opened the precious book. His brother, Jimmy, had been stationed with him and had taken all the photos. It had been sheer luck that she had any memories of her wedding day. Slowly she turned through the two years, until her fingertips rested on the last page. Sam hadn't noticed, and she wasn't about to point out the hidden subtlety in the last picture. It was taken two days before he was shot. The two of them were standing on a hilltop, with the wind attacking them from every angle. They had asked a tourist to take the photo, and had turned to smile at the kind woman. Just before she took the photo, his hands slid down to her belly and he had kissed her. The combined expression of delight and shock was evident on her face, as it was on his. They had just learned she was pregnant a day before; she was almost three months. She had miscarried two days after he was shot. The doctors had said the stress her body was under caused it.

A knock on the door reminded her of her plans for the evening, so she shut the little book and placed it back on the table. The four familiar faces greeted her, and they all piled into the SUV. The bar had a good environment to kick back and tell tales. Sam had somehow found out about her clearance, so stories of their exploits grew as the beer bottles piled. Sam, the resident pool shark, took off with Daniel and Teal'c (not Murray) as her latest victims. She was sure they would have figured it out by now that betting money with Sam on pool could lead to only one thing- heartache.

That left her and the general alone again. This time she was happy about it, she could bother him over the Kerry business. He watched his two friends getting slaughtered by Sam, before turning over to look at her.

"You make it a practice to argue in the streets?"

"No, not normally."

If he thought he was going to be able to leave it at that, he was kidding himself. He looked over at her as she anxiously awaited his next words.

"But I suppose you want to know what the fight was about." Good perceptive man. "We broke up."

Interesting. Glancing over at Sam, she wondered as to the reason. Not that it wasn't terribly obvious.

"I guess I'm just not ready for a relationship yet."

Her head turned back quickly to look at him. His face was serious. Well that was ridiculous.

"But if there's the right person involved.." She hinted at him again, wishing for at least a small bit of hope in this annoyingly tragic situation.

"Well that's different." He paused, looking her dead in the eye. "Isn't it."

Yes, she supposed it was. As she watched Sam do a shameless victory lap around the table, she felt very old. She turned back to smile at the general and they went out to join Sam in her excitement.

The hangover she had the next morning hurt like nothing else. She vaguely remembered Teal'c dancing and some form of karaoke, but it could have been a booze inspired dream. Remembering some involvement of her own, she began to hope it was a dream and not reality. She stretched and yawned before looking out the window to see the sun on the wrong side of the house. What the hell? Her cell phone chimed into the chaos claiming she had missed over thirty calls. The thing wasn't even on silent mode. Looking to the clock on the side, she sprung out of bed. It was less than an hour until the dress rehearsal. How unprofessional of her.

She rolled into her comfortable clothes, not caring what anyone would think. A lot of that going on lately. Anyway it was Sam, Sam who knew she loved her old clothes more than anything. She would understand. Clipping her curls into the high ponytail, she bounded to her car. After dropping by a coffee shop to get some tea, she arrived at the church to orchestrate the madness.

After talking to the pastor, checking with the music group and showing everyone around the area so they would know where to go tomorrow, she sat down in the church. Ready to dish out her next surprise to Sam. She pulled her aside and asked Sam what she thought of the décor. There really wasn't any, well not compared to what was coming in tonight.

"It's great." Sam said, forcing a smile.

"Well, I know it's not as much as I normally do. But there wasn't much cash to work with."

Sam nodded and continued to smile at her friend before squeezing her into a hug.

"I'm sure you did your best."

Ah, so unaware, not that poor Sam would know to be aware of anything. She'd never pulled a prank on Sam in her life, since she had a serious reputation to keep. Or maybe she was serious back then, and Brian had taught her better. Sam broke off the embrace and went back to take her position. She managed to smiled as Pete as the men took their positions, before turning to ask the family members present to take their seats.

Once the music started up, she instructed the youngest blonde how to walk up the aisle. The next girl watched her younger sister carefully and needed little instruction. The third girl followed and she paused to allow a space for her to walk in the music. The double doors opened and Sam and wheelchair bound Jacob went down the aisle. The wheelchair was only for the rehearsal, as it would take all of Jacob's strength to make it down walking once. She walked them through where they would be standing and then took her place at Sam's side, allowing the Pastor to take over.

Once his part of the service was over, she instructed the couple to pause a moment after they kissed for photographs. Then it was walking back down the aisle. She would exit with Pete's buddy, a bowler hat topped Teal'c with the eldest blonde, the general with the middle and a giddy Daniel with the youngest. Pulling the last two aside, she let them in on a bit of the secret. They promised to not tell and went off to the waiting dinner.

This was her chance to change into something a bit more suitable. She went back to her house and changed into a more appropriate outfit. The rehearsal dinner felt a bit like the last supper to her. Pete was in full on drool mode and his family's fawning wasn't much better. Sam was slightly above the spectacle, but was also happy being the center of attention.

Daniel came over to amuse her and to ask if there were any more surprises, which she assured him there were. After a bit more laughter and revelry, she excused herself. She said that she was tired and needed to rest for the big day. The real reason was far more insidious.

She flipped her pumps off as she entered the church to see to the waiting staff. They all appeared to be thrilled to be in on this little scheme. So without further adieu, she put them to work. Six and a half-hours later at nearly three in the morning, the transformation was almost complete. A cheer broke out amongst the workers and she thanked them all for a job well done.