Chapter 49 by Natters

A/N: Another short one I'm afraid everybody. But by special request from Vid Z, here is the ladies POV of chapter 49. Enjoy.

Sam's POV

Most people get toasters or plates and silverware for wedding presents, but not us. No. We get trips to Minnesota on Asgard ships. Three weeks downtime for a honeymoon. Three Yo-yo's. A rubix cube. A game boy. A box of Simpson's DVD's. One 'doo-hickey' that I've wanted to get my hands on for months from the science staff upstairs, but have never had the time. A new electron microscope. And the occasional box of the obligatory naughty underwear.

After the third box, I decided to just laugh with everyone else.

As I stand here in Jack's arms, getting ready to cut our cake, I feel a shiver race up my spine. His breath tickles my neck as he leans over my shoulder, earning us several wolf-whistles and cat calls.

We cut the cake, amid the flashing of a dozen cameras, and Jack manoeuvres the first piece onto a plate. He releases me and we each take a small piece and hold it out to the other. I debate the wisdom of smashing his piece into his face for a second and see the answering challenge in his eyes.

"We never did get that arm-wrestling in Jack." I whisper softly for his ears alone.

"Carter. You do know it's an offence to smash cake into a superior officers face right?" He answers, projecting his voice so it can be heard across the Gate room.

"Yes sir." I reply as I carefully hold it to his lips. We each gingerly take a bite without incident and then put the cake down, much to the disappointment of our audience. But then Jack wipes his fingers clean on my neck, and raises an eyebrow in question. "You'd better clean me up sir. I'll never pass muster with icing on my neck." I whisper breathlessly.

I hear Janet laughing as he obeys my order, and the rest of the group cheers and claps.

"There Carter. All clean. Who's for cake?" He asks as he steps back and continues passing out the cake, strategically placing the table between him and our guests. I go and sit down next to my father, taking him some cake, and sink into my chair gratefully. Damn but that man can kiss.

I take a deep breath and raise hesitant eyes to face my Dad. I smile shakily, still off-balance and pass him his cake. He's grinning at me and I laugh.

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Janet's POV

Sam's laughing at something her father said and I catch Daniel's eye. It takes him a few seconds to catch my meaning, but he goes up to replace Jack's position at the cake. I debate the wisdom of giving him a sharp knife for a moment, but Teal'c is already there, taking the knife from the Colonel, who fidgets for a moment before going to join his bride and father-in-law.

Within a few moments Teal'c and my Daniel have a system set up. Daniel gets the plate, Teal'c cuts the cake and puts the slice onto the plate, and Daniel passes it to the next guest.

Cassie looks over at me, gesturing towards the unlikely pair, before laughing again.

I move over to sit on the other side of General Carter, distracting him, and catch Sam's subtle nod of thanks as she relaxes in the embrace of her Colonel. His hands run up and down her covered arms, a gesture of comfort more than one meant to arouse, and she leans her head onto his shoulder with a contented grin.

For an instant I'm jealous. Jealous of the closeness they share. They exchange a single look and know what the other is thinking. Maybe it's the three days of being 'under the influence' that has caused this understanding. Or the five years working side by side.

I wish Daniel was so easy to read.

I thought that as we'd been lovers before the N'Tinevale, it would make it easier for us than them. Turns out it's made us… awkward.

Bumping into the feelings of another person is… disorientating. In the few minutes of real alone time we've had since we got back, he was too busy thinking about an artefact to notice that I had my hair done for the wedding. All he caught was my frustration and he snapped back at me when I said hello.

Annie didn't think we were handling it so well either. She wants to see us both again. In a joint session. Alright, so she wants to see Sam and Jack too, when they get back from their honeymoon, but she was quite clear that they were both dealing with their empathy, well enough that they could work together.

Ever since the N'Tinevale I've been feeling… not like myself. In body or in mind. The buzz of Daniel's brain in the background isn't helping me admittedly. As a Doctor, I know my body. I know when something is wrong with it. And even though I can't put my finger on it… some thing is definitely out of synch.

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