John Doe

Chapter Twenty Nine

Disclaimer: Not mine yet, but I'm working on it... maybe when pigs fly.

A/N: Just in time for Valentines Day...

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Sam ate as quickly as she possibly could, without letting on to the fact that she was trying to hurry along their dinner. It wasn't something she would readily admit, but she was really curious about what his plan was and the wait was killing her. He, however, didn't seem phased by her curiosity and ate dinner at his normal speed, if not then a little slower. It seemed to her that he knew about how anxious she was to know and was doing everything within his power to slow things down, just to get to her.

Eventually, though, they had to leave. Lomeli's was a popular restaurant, if not for it's food then for it's location, and there was no sense in making other couples wait any longer than they had to. Besides, he had other things in mind for the rest of the evening. So, a little after an hour after they arrived he paid the bill and they returned to his truck- without a word from him.

As he drove she looked around suspiciously, as if trying to figure out where they were headed. Which, it didn't actually take her long to come to a conclusion, but it wasn't because she was just that smart, but because she knew where the roads that he was taking lead. And, even though she probably wouldn't have admitted so, it confused her.

When they pulled in front of their destination she looked over at him with a mixture of incredulousness and disappointment. He just grinned at her and shut down the truck. Leaning over the center seat he kissed her reassuringly, "Come on, Sam... let's go."

"But, Jack," she replied, glancing at their location once more, "why here?"

"Don't worry about it," he grabbed his keys from the ignition, opened his door and stepped out on the street. She took her seatbelt off in time for him to open the door and help her onto the road, then lead her down the sidewalk, and around to the side of the house- their house. After gently shoving her up the ladder he followed, a wide spread grin on his face.

A sharp, surprised gasp filled in the air and his grin stretched further across his face, that was what he had been anticipating. He pushed her further, since she had stopped walking up the ladder, and continued to follow her the last few steps up it. When he reached the top she was standing in the middle of the deck, awestruck. He walked up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin where her shoulder and neck connected. "Surprise."

She turned around in his arms and smiled, "What is all of this?"

He glanced around the deck, where there had been chairs the night before a picnic blanket laid lazily, dimly lit candles cluttered the area, and a bottle of wine was on ice. The telescope was pushed to the edge of the deck and pointed in a different direction than it normally was, which she had yet to notice in her shock. "This," he explained, looking around once more, "is my plan."

Sam smiled and kissed him deeply. "It's wonderful. Thank you."

Leading her over to the blanket he set her down, then joined her. "The night's not over yet."

"So, this is what your plan was?"

He nodded, "Was it worth the wait?"

A smile spread across her face, "You bet'cha."

He laughed, "I'm glad... Do you want some wine?"

"Yeah," she glanced around the deck once more. "How are the candles still burning?"

A grin manifested on his face as he poured her a glass of wine, "I was waiting for you to figure that out. Daniel came by, oh about ten minutes ago and lit them for me."

"Really?" she questioned. "He knew about this?"

Jack nodded, "He had originally wanted to return from 308 last night... but I talked him into staying a day longer. Of course, you know Danny, so he bugged me forever about it until I told him."

"Oh?" she asked, "And what did you tell him?"

He shrugged, "That I wanted to surprise you."

"Not that this isn't a wonderful surprise," she said, taking a sip of her wine. "But... what's the occasion."

He shrugged, "No occasion. I just wanted to do something special for you."

She grinned and leaned over, kissing his gently. "Well... it's wonderful. Thank you."

He laughed in response, "You said that already."

She smiled sheepishly, "That's because I meant it."

He reached out and pulled her into his arms, kissing the nape of her neck. "I love you."

She brought her arms around his and leaned back into his embrace, sighing in content. "I love you, too."

"I don't deserve you," he said nonchalant. "You're too good for me, you know."

She turned to look at him, "Jack- you are the strongest, bravest, and although you don't normally show it one of the smartest men that I have ever known. You have a way of making me laugh, even when I don't want to, would do anything for one of your team, and have on more than one occasion. You don't give yourself enough credit, I'm no better than you are."

He gave her a small smile and kissed her gently. "You see... anybody else would have just agreed with me. But, not you. You're such a good person that you can't even admit that your better than others to yourself."

"I never said that," she told him with a smile. "I'd like to think I'm a better person than Kinsey or Agent Woosley..."

Jack grinned, "Babe, Maybourne is a better person than Kinsey and Woosley and he was found guilty of treason."

Sam couldn't help herself and a bubble of laughter escaped her throat. "You see..." she told him, "here we are having a serious conversation and you make me laugh."

"That's just because I love it when you laugh," he replied, kissing her gently.

She sighed and turned back around in his arms, and he tightened his embrace as she looked up at the stars. "It's a beautiful night..."

He mumbled a response, and kissed the nape of her neck again. "I know that you've said before we haven't gone to many of those stars up there... but how many have we actually been to?"

A shrug of her shoulders was her reply. "Maybe ten... fifteen- and those you probably couldn't see from here. I could find one with the telescope, probably."

"Maybe later," he told her, resting his chin on her shoulder with a sigh.

Sam had no objections- she could stay in his arms like that all night, if that's what he wanted.

XXXX

"Jack," she asked, after nearly fifteen minutes of silence. "You said there was more to the surprise..."

"I did," he replied with a nod.

"Well..." she turned in his arms, "what else is there?"

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips, "Let me up and I'll show you."

So she did just that, leaning forward and allowing him to stand, then pull her to her feet. He lead her to the telescope, looked through it for a second, then pressed a few buttons on the side of it. Since he had bought a new one that could be programmed to a certain point the telescope shifted and turned to the right. He looked through it again and then when he was content he had found what he was looking for pulled an envelope out of his jacket and handed it to her.

"What's this?" she asked, taking the envelope from him.

"Open it," he replied with a grin.

She threw him an incredulous as she opened the white envelope, then pulled out the certificate that was inside it. Her jaw dropped as she read it, Be it known that the star herein designated in the scientifically renowned SOA star catalog as 072233 Pegasus as residing within the boundaries of the constellation Pegasus "The Winged Horse" is hereby named in honor as SAMANTHA ELIZABETH O'NEILL. The astronomically verified position is Right Ascension 22h 19m 40.53s, Declination +31" 06' 55.5", Type AO, Magnitude 9.2, Distance unknown.

It wasn't until after she had read the entire thing twice that she noticed the name on the certificate. Samantha Elizabeth O'Neill. Not Carter. All the oxygen in her body fled and she struggled for her composure. "Jack..." she all but whispered, still looking down at the paper. "It says Samantha O'Neill."

"Oh, that," he replied, she could hear the smile in her voice. But, for some reason she couldn't pull her eyes off of those large, bold letters forming her name. "Just wishful thinking."

She looked up to ask him what that meant when she felt the familiar sensation of all the air in her body escaping, he was down on one knee, a ring box in his right hand, grinning.

"Jack...?"

The grin on his face spread further, "Samantha Elizabeth Carter- would you make me the luckiest man in the universe, and be my wife?"

Her head flew to her mouth and she struggled for air. She glanced down at the certificate, then at the ring in his hand, then finally at him. A hopeful, but confident, look was dancing in his deep, brown eyes and the smile that she had fallen in love with the first time she saw it stretched across his face. Feeling tears gathering behind her eyes she nodded, not yet trusting her voice, and pulled him up to her, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Of course I will," she said finally, pulling and kissing him gently. "I love you so much."

He smiled and took the ring out of the box, then slipped it on her ring finger. She looked down at it with a bright smile. It was traditional gold, three square-cut diamonds in a row, the center one larger than the other two. "It's beautiful," she breathed.

"Cassie helped me pick it out," he told her with a smile. "She said you mentioned once that you liked the square cut stones best..."

"She was right," Sam told him. "But... this is perfect."

He pulled her back into his arms and whispered how much he loved her in her ear, sending chills down her spine, then kissed her deeply. They moved back to the blanket and sat down, where he kissed her again. After a few minutes a happy barking stole their attention and Sam reluctantly moved from her spot and peered over the edge of the deck, just in time to see three dark forms shooing Pandora away. She would have been alarmed if it wasn't for the distinct bulky form that she easily recognized as Teal'c. However, they had yet to notice that she had noticed them.

"Jack," she whispered, "come here."

He sighed and followed her to the edge of the deck, then looked out to the backyard and noticed the three culprits. Pandora ran happily around then, barking loudly, wanting to play. A smaller, less bulky form that she figured was Daniel pushed her away gently. "Shh!" he scolded, throwing a stick for her to chase and looking back up at the deck with a pair of bincoulars. Then he realized they were caught. "Shit," she heard him whisper.

"What?" a female voice asked, not having the binoculars with which to see.

"They see us," he whispered back.

"Oh," she replied, then stood up. "Hi!"

"Cassie!" Daniel scolded under his breath, although Jack and Sam could both hear him.

"What?" she asked, "you said they see us. Why hide?"

Teal'c stepped out from behind the trees and nodded, "Greetings O'Neill and Colonel Carter."

"Hi, Teal'c." Sam called, "Hold on a second, we're on our way down."

They walked to the ladder where they stole a quick kiss before going down it. When they reached the bottom their three friends were waiting for them with large smiles– with the exception of Teal'c whom had an amused expression on his face.

"So?" Cassie asked with a smile.

"So... what?" Jack asked a scowl, a bit perturbed that they had interrupted his plan.

"Did you ask her?" Daniel asked.

"What do you think?" he questioned. "You were watching us, anyway."

He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, about that... It was Teal'c's idea."

"Indeed, it was Cassandra Fraiser and DanielJackson who devised this plan, O'Neill."

Jack sighed, "Yeah... I know."

By then Cassie had grabbed Sam's hand and studied the ring. "It looks even more beautiful on your finger!" she exclaimed.

"So... congratulations are in order." Daniel speculated with a grin.

Jack nodded.

"Congratulations."

"Yeah, thanks." the scowl still hadn't left his face. This was an invasion of privacy, anyway. "Was there something you wanted?"

"Jack," Sam called out with a laugh. "Don't look so mad..."

The scowl disappeared from his face, "Fine. Would you like to come in," he suggested.

Daniel knew better than to except that offer. "Nah... we'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Suit yourself," Jack said, not about to argue with his decision. "Bye."

Cassie hugged Sam once more, then Daniel did, and Teal'c nodded with a slight smile. Then the three of them piled into Daniel's CR-V and they drove off.

"What did I say about all of your plans not working out?" Sam asked with an amused grin.

"You don't think my plan worked?" he asked, pulling her back into his arms.

She kissed him deeply, "I dunno... it's not over yet, is it?"

He grinned and pulled her inside the house with him, "Not hardly."

XXXX

A/N: So... that was the plan. Let me know what'cha think.

Happy Valentines Day.

Oh, the star's location came from a website's "example" of what the certificate to buy a star looks like. I always thought that it was really sweet, so... Anyway... I'm not sure how much longer it's got. Maybe just one more chapter, maybe two or three. That all depends on my muse (and your reviews- maybe)