Epilogue

"I can't believe you convinced Teal'c to be Santa…"

Jack smiled, looking over at Sam. She was curled up on his sofa, with her feet tucked under her, watching as he built up the fire in the fireplace. With a heavy snow starting to fall outside, it was an almost magical moment, and one made all the more special because she was sharing it with him.

"I think he felt sorry for Daniel…" Jack told her, standing up and wiping his hands off on his pants.

"I do, too."

Not only had Daniel been forced to leave an entire cuneiform alphabet behind – with barely enough of it copied to scratch the surface – but he'd also managed to break his collarbone when he'd crashed through the Stargate on the way home.

"Aw, there's no reason to."

"What do you mean?" she asked as he handed her a glass of wine. "He looked pretty disappointed."

Jack sat down beside her.

"Look at the bright side, though. Now he knows there's a whole lot more of those cuneiform things out there for him to look for. It's an archeologist's dream to have something to look for, right?"

Sam shook her head, smiling.

"Did you mention that to him?"

"Yeah. He wasn't impressed."

"I bet."

"Well, he can't say I didn't try…"

She chuckled, and set down her wineglass. They'd had a wonderful dinner – made by Jack, incredibly enough – and they'd had wine, then, as well. She didn't want to get drunk that night. Not only because she wanted to be able to enjoy herself, but because she didn't want to deal with a hangover on Christmas.

"Uh huh."

She was glad she'd missed that particular conversation – although she could clearly see what Daniel's expression had probably been. She reached out and touched his side, sliding her hand along his shirt.

"How's the side?"

"Never better." He put his hand on the nape of her neck, gently inviting her to curl up against him, and she did so gingerly, unwilling to hurt him even if he did say he was okay. She'd seen the bruise, after all. "How's the shoulder?"

"Fine."

He smiled to hear her use his favorite phrase, and she rested her cheek against his shoulder, watching the fire and just enjoying being with him in such a tranquil moment.

"This is nice…"

"Worth taking the beating coming back through the gate instead of waiting for a better time?"

"Definitely."

She looked over at him, her head never leaving his shoulder.

"You seemed to be having a good time…" it was more of a question than anything.

"They were good hosts."

"But…?"

"But I wanted to be here…"

Like she hadn't been able to tell?

"There are worse places to spend Christmas…"

"But I had plans…"

She smiled.

"Plans that couldn't wait?"

"Not these. It's Christmas Eve, Sam…"

"You didn't need to worry, though. General Hammond told us he'd already conscripted people to pass out the presents if-"

"Not that." Jack said, interrupting her.

"But-"

His hand slid along her neck, interrupting her again, and she closed her eyes in response to the shivers that ran along her spine at the gentle touch. His free hand, however, went into his pocket and a moment later he poked her side, silently telling her to open her eyes.

When she did, she saw that he held a box in his hand. An open box that held a sparkling ring nestled in green and red silk. Her breath caught somewhere between her lungs and her throat, and her heart started hammering so hard she wouldn't have been surprised if Jamal had been able to hear it.

Jack smiled to see her so thunderstruck. Sam Carter was hard to surprise most of the time.

"Breathe, Sam…"

She looked at him, and found his expressive eyes filled with amusement and love.

"That… that's a ring."

"Yes."

"For… for me?"

His smile broadened.

"No. It's for Teal'c. I thought I'd run it by you first, though, to see if you thought he'd like it."

"Jack…"

"Of course for you, Sam." Now there was no amusement in his expression. Only love. And something else that was so powerful she couldn't even begin to understand it. "There are probably a million reasons for you to be with someone else. Someone smarter. Less annoying. More patient. Better looking…" he trailed off, and shook his head. "But I love you. More than anyone else ever could. Marry me."

She hesitated. She had to. Not because she didn't love him – because she did. But there were rules about this kind of thing. Regulations. A million roadblocks to them being happy together. And she realized that he'd already decided that no matter what was thrown up in front of them it didn't matter to him. Otherwise he'd never have asked. Would never have gotten such a gorgeous ring. The ring itself proved to her that he was willing to find a way around – or over – every obstacle and regulation. And she knew – she'd always known, really – that he was worth the effort of finding that way. Just like he'd obviously already decided as well.

Sam smiled, and reached for the ring, her eyes stinging with emotion and her heart filled with happiness and love.

"Of course I will. I love you."

The End!

Hah! So a Christmas story and a romance. One where no one dies, no one gets too beat up (except maybe Daniel) and a happy ending. Told you I could do it! I hope you liked it.