When the cottage was finished, there were in fact two cottages that had been rehabilitated. The first and largest possessed an all purpose room on the main level and a loft for sleeping. Jack, with permission of the overseer, gave it to the one of the families with children, actually a four year old girl and one on the way. The second cottage, with the same common room with a hearth but no loft, was to be for Jack and Sam. The buzz the rehab cottages caused, encouraged the overseer to allow Jack to continue with this project. The morale of the workers was at an all time high as well as their productivity.
As all of the members of Villa Fecunda gathered around and inspected the finished work they told Sam and Jack of the customs of their people. Leda smiled, knowing it was also the wedding ceremony of the poor and common folk.
At the urging of the others Jack lifted Sam up in his arms and carried her over the threshold to the new home. Once inside he sat her on the bed and happily showed her the tiny cottage. It was not as though she had never seen it before, in fact she had helped with the plan for shoring up the structure and the internal design. It had been a collaborative project. It was late and getting dark so he lit two of the tiny oil lamps which gave a soft twinkling glow to the room. He stopped talking to just gaze at her, to enjoy her happiness. "This is for you." Meaning the cottage and the bed and all his hard work. And then grabbing a blanket he laid on the floor.
"No." was all she said.
"No?" Thinking it wasn't good enough, he popped up, "No?"
"No, for us." And she drew him toward her into the bed.
"It's not that I don't want to, God knows." And he lay back down and slept on the floor. The man had carried her in but it was the General, the commanding officer that lay down and slept on the floor.
The Colonel lay on the bed to sleep but it was the woman, whose eyes filled, who understood yet felt embarrassed by his rejection of her offer.
Lying awake, Sam calculated how much it would cost to buy their freedom and start their search for the Stargate if no one had found them by then. She was happy with their new accommodations but bizarrely felt immediately confined and restricted. She felt so ungrateful to have the cozy cottage to themselves yet immediately want more. She wanted the freedom to do what she wanted, in more ways than one. How could you love and hate something in the same breath; service, honor and duty be damned. She wasn't willing to wait until the end of time.