A strange beeping was the first sound to greet Sha're's ears when she finally became aware of her surroundings again. She had never heard a sound such as this before, and it frightened her. Her eyes flew open, but all she could see was a bright, white light.
"Danyel!" she cried.
"Shh, it's okay. I'm right here."
Sha're turned her head to see her husband sitting beside her.
He leaned forward to stroke her hair and smiled softly. "You're on Earth, in the SGC. You passed out, and it scared the life out of me. The doctors here are taking good care of you."
"Earth?" Sha're repeated in disbelief. Surely Daniel had not taken her from her home without even asking her first? He always spoke to her before making decisions, whether they were big or small. How could he have done this? "Why did you bring me here?"
"I'm sorry, Sha're, but I had to," he replied sadly. "Jack was going to drag me through the gate with or without you, and I couldn't leave you behind. Especially not when you're in this condition."
Panic swept over her like sand in a windstorm. She sat up and struggled to get out from under the blankets that were pulled up to her chest. "I must return home," she said. "Father will be worried. I must return to him."
Daniel held her down with his hands on her shoulders. "You can't, Sha're," he said, his voice taking on a firm tone. "I told the boys to bury the Stargate so that no one else could come through."
Sha're could not believe what she was hearing. "You did what?" she whispered, feeling rage well up inside of her. "How could you? You have cut me off from my home... my family? How could you be so cruel?"
"Forgive me, Sha're, but I think you would also have found it cruel of me if I'd abandoned you and our child while you were lying unconscious on the floor of our tent. It was an impossible decision to make, but I couldn't just leave you there. You're safer here, and we're still together. That's what really matters, isn't it?"
She looked up at him in silence for a long moment, scarcely able to believe what he was saying to her. "What of Skaara?" she finally asked. "Where have they taken him?"
Daniel sighed. "We don't know. We're hoping that one of the men from Earth saw the symbols they used, but right now he's unconscious." He looked down at his hands and added in a sorrowful voice, "I'm so sorry, Sha're. This is all my fault. I should never have..."
"Danyel," she said, holding her hand to his face to silence him. "Please stop."
He turned his tear-filled eyes back onto her face at her quiet words. She could never stay angry with him for long when he looked at her with those sad blue eyes. She held her arms out to him, and he gathered her into a loving embrace.
"I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair. "I'm so sorry."
Her baby moved inside of her, and she clung to her husband for dear life. It seemed that they were all she had left. "What is going to happen?" she asked through her tears.
"I don't know," Daniel said. "We'll find Skaara somehow, I promise. But the doctor said there's something wrong with you... your blood pressure dropped suddenly, and that's why you fainted. He says whatever's wrong could be dangerous for both you and the baby, so you have to stay in bed for a while."
Sha're did not like the sound of that, but she pulled away from Daniel to look into his eyes again. "Is the baby well?" she asked anxiously, dropping one hand to stroke her belly.
"Yes, the baby's fine," Daniel assured her, laying his hand over hers. "You just have to rest in order to keep it that way, okay?"
Sha're nodded, though she only partly understood what he was telling her. "And you?" she asked.
"I'll be staying right here with you until you and the baby are safe and well," he said, smiling sadly and stroking her cheek.
"No," she said in as firm a tone as she dared use with her husband. "You must find Skaara."
Daniel blinked. "I can't just..."
"You must," she insisted. "If he has been taken, and that injured man knows where, then you must go there and bring him back to us. Please, Husband."
Daniel sat down on the edge of her bed, took her face in his hands, and leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Okay," he said. "I'll see what I can do, but I'll have to ask General Hammond for permission first, and to be honest, I'm not exactly his favourite person right now."
"Thank you," Sha're said, feeling much better just at hearing those words coming from his mouth.
"I'm staying here until you fall asleep, though," he said, taking hold of her hand. "Just close your eyes and relax, okay?"
Sha're forced a smile and obeyed, closing her eyes and trying to free her body and mind of the anxiety that was threatening to overwhelm her. After a minute or two, with Daniel gently holding her hand and her baby softly stirring in her belly, she began to drift off to sleep.
Her last conscious thought was the realization that life was going to be very different from now on, but that as long as Daniel was beside her, it was nothing she could not handle.
Daniel stared down at the papers in his hands with an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the names Sha're El Kasuf and Daniel Melburn Jackson. For some reason it seemed strange to see them written out next to each other like that. But there they were - legally married in the United States of America. The last step in making it look like Sha're had actually been born and raised on Earth.
The cover story was that he had met her while he was off on an extended dig somewhere in Egypt, and thankfully Sha're had memorized the fabricated tale of their relationship right off the bat. She was being so brave, so patient, and so understanding, yet all the time she had such a look of pain in her eyes that it was making Daniel feel horrible for putting her in this position in the first place.
They hadn't bothered with a ceremony of any kind, because after the weeklong festivities of their first wedding, they didn't feel the need for another. They'd simply signed the papers and that was it. Just like that, Sha're was a United States citizen. It was all very surreal.
At the sound of a soft sigh coming from across the room, Daniel looked up to see that Sha're was curled up on their brand new couch, fast asleep. He smiled softly, placed the documents in the cupboard with the other papers and miscellaneous objects he had just unpacked, and rose to his feet.
He had to step over a lot of empty boxes as he made his way over to her, but he was careful not to make a sound. When he reached her side, he knelt down and just drank in the sight of her. She was wearing a denim dress with a bulky cardigan over top, and although she had been complaining earlier of being cold, her cheeks were glowing a warm red as she peacefully slept. She had taken to using conditioner in her hair, so it was now a lot flatter against her head and was much straighter than it had been on Abydos. All of these factors made her look just as American as the next woman, yet every time he looked at her, he still saw his beautiful desert rose.
As much as it pained him to see the changes in her, he was glad that they were starting to settle into their life together on Earth at last. Sha're had been confined to the base for the first few weeks, and Daniel had been worried sick about her and the baby during all of the attempted Goa'uld attacks and his first off-world missions. After that, Jack had taken them in while they'd looked for just the right house to suit their needs as a growing family.
Now here they were. This small, three-bedroom bungalow seemed to fit them like a glove. Not so big that Sha're would feel overwhelmed by it after living in a small tent all her life, but not so small that they would be tripping over each other once the baby was crawling around, either. It was also fairly close to the base, and wasn't far away from Jack and Sam's places as well. Best of all, it was located in a very nice, family-friendly neighbourhood, and there was a tiny park just down the street. Perfect.
Too bad neither of them felt they could handle staying there for long.
The fact was, even though neither of them said it aloud, they were both longing for home. Abydos was home to them, not Earth. The people there were their family, not anyone here. They were lonely even though they were together. Homesickness had taken its hold on their hearts, and it didn't feel as though it would ever let them go.
Daniel had told Sha're that he'd instructed the boys to dig the gate up for one day in exactly one year, but both of them knew there was only a slim chance that they'd be able to return then. At least, there was only a slim chance that they would both be able to return and live there together again. The thought of that made their hearts so heavy that it was almost impossible for them to enjoy the time they were spending together now.
It certainly didn't help that it was the dead of winter. Sha're had never known such cold weather, and had never even heard of snow, let alone seen it fall. Right away Daniel could tell that she was definitely not a winter person. "Is it always so cold here, Husband?" she had asked as she huddled up against him on their first night off the base.
"Only for a few months of the year," Daniel had replied. "It never gets quite as hot as Abydos, but the summers here are quite pleasant."
"When will summer come?"
Daniel didn't have the heart to tell her it was still months away, so he had simply said, "Soon," and left it at that.
The first thing she had done upon entering their new home was figure out how to work the thermostat. She was a quick learner, and within minutes the house had been toasty warm. Still, Daniel now felt he should err on the side of caution, so he took a blanket from one of the boxes nearby and gently draped it over his sleeping wife.
She shifted position slightly and gave another sigh, but she didn't wake up. Daniel smiled and smoothed her long hair back from where it had fallen over her face. She was so beautiful it almost hurt him to look at her sometimes.
A sudden knock at the door broke the silence, and Daniel froze, watching Sha're anxiously to see if it had disturbed her. When he was content that she was still fast asleep, he got to his feet and carefully crossed the obstacle course that was his new living room to peek out of the window.
When he saw who was standing there, he grinned and opened the door wide. "Catherine!" he exclaimed, opening his arms to the elderly woman who was standing on his porch beaming at him.
She laughed. "Daniel!" she said as she gave him a brief, affectionate hug. "Colonel O'Neill called me and told me you had come back. I'm so glad he did! I've missed you."
Daniel blinked at her in surprise. Not only had he not been expecting to see her again anytime soon, he also hadn't thought she would actually have missed him while he was on Abydos. "Uh... please, come in," he said, finally remembering his manners. "It's freezing out there."
"Who is there, Danyel?"
Catherine gave Daniel a sly look as she stepped inside. "I could ask the same question," she said.
Daniel laughed and helped her out of her coat. "Come on, I'll introduce you," he said. He threw her coat over one of the boxes and led her over to the couch.
Sha're was still lying there under the blanket, but she was now wide-awake. When Daniel came into her line of sight with a strange woman by his side, she sat up and smiled shyly at her.
"Catherine, this is my wife, Sha're. Sha're, this is Catherine Langford, the woman who first introduced me to the Stargate program."
Sha're's jaw dropped at this introduction, and she struggled to her feet despite her bulging belly. "You were the one who brought Danyel to me?" she asked in awe.
Catherine glanced at Daniel and then back at Sha're. "Yes, I guess you could say that," she said. "And you're the one who stole Daniel's heart and made him want to abandon all of us poor Earth folk," she added with a wink in Daniel's direction.
Daniel grinned, but Sha're looked stricken. "I am sorry, I..."
"It's okay," Daniel said softly, touching her arm and giving her a reassuring smile. "She's just joking."
Sha're blushed and ducked her head, but she soon lifted it again and laughed. "I must get used to the American sense of humour, Danyel," she said. "Jack O'Neill is always saying things that confuse me as well."
"Well, actually he does that to everyone, so I don't think you need to worry about that," Daniel said, laughing along with her.
Sha're's hand went instinctively to her belly as she laughed, and Catherine's eyes were drawn to it as a result. "I see there will soon be another little Jackson in the world," she said warmly. "When are you due?"
"I believe the baby will come one month from now," Sha're answered, stroking the bulge tenderly.
"Yes, and until then you're supposed to be resting," Daniel chided, helping her back down onto the couch. Once she was settled, he covered her again with the blanket and plumped her cushions to make sure she was warm and comfortable.
"Sweet Danyel," she said, touching his face. "You fuss over me as though I were a queen."
"Aren't you?" he teased. He kissed her cheek and then turned back to Catherine. "Are you able to stay for dinner?" he asked. "I think someone made us some kind of casserole, and someone else baked an apple pie. To be honest, I think it's more than we'll be able to eat between the two of us."
"Three of us, Danyel."
Daniel grinned. "Yes, three," he agreed.
"I wouldn't mind that at all," Catherine said, "as long as you're offering. It'll give us a chance to catch up."
That was something that Daniel was all too willing to do. He chattered away about his adventures on Abydos while he cleared a spot on the table and hunted out the chairs from under all of the boxes and mess, and then the three of them conversed amiably all through dinner about anything and everything.
By the time they were all full, Catherine and Sha're were more or less the best of friends, and it made Daniel's heart glow with pride as he gazed at his wife's calm and joyful face. As much as he loved keeping Jack, Sam, and Teal'c's company, none of them seemed to bring out this side of Sha're. With them she was always a little reserved and shy, almost as though she thought of them more as Daniel's friends and not her own. He was glad she'd finally found another woman she felt she could talk to.
It was late by the time Catherine left, so Daniel had to help an exhausted Sha're into their brand new bed before she literally collapsed. Then he climbed in beside her and wrapped his arm around her while pulling the blankets up under her chin.
"I like her," she said as she began to drift off to sleep.
"Me, too," Daniel said, nestling his head into the crook of her neck.
"She is the reason we are here."
"Yes, she is."
Sha're was silent for so long then that Daniel thought she had fallen asleep. Soon, however, she spoke again. "She wore the Eye of Ra."
Daniel raised his head to look at her in surprise. "Yes," he said. "She was the one who gave it to me for good luck when I was going to Abydos. I asked Jack to give it back to her when he returned to Earth."
She smiled and reached up a hand to stroke the side of his face. "It did bring you luck. It brought us together."
Daniel smiled, remembering how Kasuf had told him that the misunderstanding that had led to Daniel and Sha're's marriage had begun when he had seen that very pendant. "That wasn't luck," he said. "It was fate."
He leaned down to kiss her, and she sighed contentedly into his mouth. When they parted, he laid his head back down on her pillow and ran his fingers through her hair.
"May I tell you something, Husband?" Sha're asked tentatively after a moment of silence.
"Of course," Daniel said. "You can tell me anything. You know that."
She took a deep breath. "I have been... afraid," she said. "I fear that you will be away from me so much that your heart will turn cold towards me... and that I must raise our child alone."
Daniel sat up and stared down at her, speechless. Had he been giving her the impression that he was growing cold towards her? How could she think he would just abandon her?
"I am sorry, Danyel," she said quickly. "I have upset you. I did not mean..."
"Sha're," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. How could you think that?"
"You are back with your people, and they are all so intelligent and strong just like you. I am just a simple girl next to them."
"No, you're not," Daniel argued. "If you were born and raised here and had the opportunities for education that all of these people had, you would be on a level with them intellectually, if not above them. You're smarter and stronger than any woman I know, Sha're. You knew how to read when none of the rest of your people could. You soak up knowledge like a sponge, and I..." He stopped talking when he realized that she was crying. "What's wrong?" he asked anxiously, laying his hand on her arm.
"You are too good to me, Husband," she said, trying to smile through her tears. "If you keep talking like that I will become proud."
Daniel laughed and kissed her forehead. "I love you, Sha're," he said. "Never doubt that, not even for a second. I know you miss your home and your family, but you're not in this alone, okay? I'm right here. I'll make sure that even when I'm at work there will be someone close by who can help you if you need it. Okay?"
She nodded and wiped her eyes. "I think this is what Dr. Warner called... hormones?"
Daniel grinned. "Probably. You're also tired. Get some sleep."
They settled back into their regular sleeping positions - Daniel's arm around her and Sha're's cheek resting on the top of his head - and soon they were both fast asleep.