It had been a week since Tomas and Neala left and Ashling still hadn't brought up the possibility of a pregnancy to Daniel. She stood at the table stripping meat from the bone of the latest deer Daniel had killed, preparing the meat to be dried for winter.

Daniel was pacing around the small cottage, totally at a loss for something to do.

Ashling gripped her knife harder and followed his progress with her eyes. "Daniel, if you circle this table one more time, I'm going to… Well, I don't know what I'm going to do, but please, please stop pacing."

Daniel stopped. He glared at his wife and, knowing that he was being unreasonable but unable, or unwilling, to stop himself, he just let lose almost two months of frustration.

"What the hell am I supposed to do? There's nothing on this god-forsaken planet for me. Nothing I have worked for my entire life is here. None of my friends are here. I have virtually no chance of ever going home again. I'm stuck out in the wilderness with absolutely nothing! No work! No friends! No challenge to keep me going!" If it hadn't been pitch dark outside, he would have been out there punching trees or something – anything to work off some of the frustration he was feeling. "I can't live like this much longer and stay sane."

Ashling calmly set down the knife and wiped her hands clean. Turning slowly toward her husband, she set her fists on her hips and faced him, head on.

"Look here, Daniel Jackson, you've no right to take out your anger me. I didn't land you on this planet. I didn't separate you from your work or your friends. All I've done is to provide you with a home, a possibility of a family and a body for you to use whenever you want." She moved toward him, shaking a finger in his face, her voice rising slightly in volume. "And don't you be expecting a warm body tonight in your bed if you keep this up, husband, because you'll be sleeping elsewhere."

Ashling stood nose to nose with the shocked man, fire in her grey eyes, challenging him to continue yelling at her.

Daniel met her glare with one of his own. He raised his finger, prepared to verbally retaliate, when the spirit when out of him and he slumped, defeated.

"Oh, god. Ashling, I'm so sorry. None of this is your fault. You've been wonderful and I've learned so much from you about your world, but I'm so frustrated. I have no control over my life at all. There's not one thing I've done in the past two months that has been my choice." He turned from her, removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes closed fighting for self control. He put his glasses back on and turned to go out the door.

"Daniel," her voice had lost its fire and was soft and warm. "Don't isolate yourself from me. Don't leave now. I know our marriage wasn't one either of us would have chosen, but it's all we have." She reached out and laid her hand on his arm.

He looked down at the hand she had placed on his arm and saw her claddaugh, the ring he had used to promise that their two hands would hold but one heart. He hadn't done anything to keep that promise. He still felt as though they were two strangers who shared a bed. This was his fault. She had opened her heart to him and he had ignored it, turned away from her, wallowing in his own misfortunes. He closed his eyes, frowned and sighed deeply.

She stood waiting. She knew that the future of her marriage depended upon what he did in the next few seconds. Either he would open up to her and let her share his burdens or he would close himself off and they would remain two people, each alone in the marriage.

Daniel knew that if he chose not to share his past with her, that his greatest fear would be realized; his fear of being alone. His decision.

He opened his eyes and looked up, as if searching for courage from the heavens. His eyes glistened with unshed tears of sorrow, of frustration, and of longing.

She yearned to pull him to her and kiss away his sorrows, but she knew that physical closeness was not what he needed right now. He needed to accept her on a much deeper level; soul-to-soul.

Daniel pulled his glasses off and swiped the back of his hand across his eyes. He set the glasses down on the table and, chewing on his lower lip, pulled Ashling down onto one of the chairs while he sat in the other.

She sighed with relief, knowing that he'd made the choice to open himself to her.

"I was born in a place called Egypt…" Daniel spent the next hour telling her about his life. Sharing his disappointments and triumphs. His loves and losses. She sat still for the whole time, not daring to utter a word or move a muscle for fear of snapping the fragile thread that had begun to weave their souls together.

Nearing the end, Daniel closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "God, I can't believe I'm going to do this. I'm going to share something with you that I've never shared with anyone else before. Not Jack, Sam, Teal'c, or even, especially not, Sha're. You know that she and I were married for a year and had no children during that time. That was because I did everything I could to prevent a pregnancy. I stayed away from her each month when she was most likely to become pregnant. I'd go off exploring for about 10 days each month."

Ashling just nodded, hoping he'd explain why. If he could tell her why he didn't want a child with his first wife, then he would add many strands to the delicate web binding their souls together.

"There were a couple of reasons I didn't a baby. First, I wasn't sure I would be a good father. I'm very selfish, Ashling. I've always put my work above my relationships and I knew that if we had a baby I'd either have to stop that or become a father in name only. Second, I was terrified of losing Sha're in childbirth. There were no modern doctors or hospitals if a serious problem arose."

He closed his eyes, as if he couldn't tell her the rest if he couldn't see her watching him. "Finally, I knew that if I had a family, I'd never be able to go home again. I couldn't leave a child of mine and I couldn't imagine bringing Sha're back to my world. Part of why I loved her was the connection with her world she gave to me."

Daniel leaned forward for the first since he'd begun talking and took her hand. "So you see, you've had the misfortune to be married to a very selfish man. A man who has a hard time putting others first. I hope you can eventually get past all that stuff and still want to keep me around."

"If God sends you down a stony path, may he give you sturdy shoes." Ashling knew this would bring him out of his self pity.

"Wha.. What the hell does that mean?" Daniel brought his eyebrows together in confusion. He'd just bared his soul to this woman, told her things he'd never told anyone else, and she responded with nonsense? Who was she – the monk from Kheb?

"Daniel, your life has been filled with more difficulty and sorrow than the lives of twenty average men, but you're strong. You've come through those challenges and become an honorable, passionate, unselfish man."

Daniel's eyebrows rose and he blinked in disbelief.

"Yes! I said unselfish. Daniel, just how many men would have given up every hope and dream they had to protect a stranger? How many men would bind themselves to a strange woman for the rest of their lives and not expect anything in return? How many men would put their lives on the line for someone they love, let alone a stranger? Daniel, I've known many men - most leaders and fine, strong men they are – but I've never known a man to be willing to give everything he has and everything he is to help someone else the way you have."

She slid off the chair and knelt down in front of him. "You are the finest man I've ever met and I feel honored to be allowed to share a part of your life, Daniel Jackson."

Daniel sat, stunned. No one had ever done for him what she just did – accept him as he was. Even Sha're had tried to stop his wondering off to explore. Where had she been fifteen years ago? Oh, yeah, on another planet and only a young teenager at the time.

Ashling stood, grabbing both of Daniel's hands. "Now, husband, if you don't want to starve this winter, I have work to finish." She leaned over and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead, whispering into his ear. "I think I will let you warm my bed tonight."

Daniel grinned and his eyes crossed as he thought of the possibilities.

XXXXXXXXXX

Six weeks after their wedding, Ashling was sure she was pregnant, but still hadn't said anything to Daniel yet. After he'd confessed his reluctance to have a baby with Sha're, she wasn't at all sure how he would take the news that he was going to be a father after all. She watched him outside chopping wood for the coming winter, his muscles flexing enticingly under his bronzed skin. She was a lucky woman. Not only was her husband kind and intelligence, but he was wonderful to look at.

Daniel felt her eyes on his naked back and he turned to see desire flash across her face. He grinned and waved at her. She flushed with embarrassment at having been caught lusting after him. He laughed out loud at her and she threw the spoon she held in her hand at him, clipping his arm with it. He raised his eyebrows in astonishment, then grinned and began to stalk toward her. Her eyes widened in mock terror and she fled from the doorway toward the safety of the woods.

Grinning broadly now, Daniel dropped his ax and took off after her. She gathered her skirts up and ran as fast as she could, looking for a hiding place among the trees. She glanced behind her and saw that he hadn't yet come around the corner of the house. She leapt up high and caught a lower branch and swung herself up into the tree. She climbed up several branches and sat quietly, waiting.

Daniel came running around the cottage and headed for the woods, sure that she was leading him deeper into the trees. He had run for about a minute before he realized that he couldn't hear her running through the bed of dried autumn leaves that carpeted the ground. He stopped and listened, but didn't hear anything. Remembering the first time he'd seen her, he began scanning the trees until he saw the flash of her bright red skirt between the leaves.

"Damn. I lost her. Oh, well, I guess I'll go back to chopping wood." Daniel walked noisily back to the cottage and waited around the corner, just out of her eyesight.

Ashling sat in the tree for several minutes and couldn't believe that he would have given up that quickly. That did not seem like the Daniel she knew. However, she would never finish her work sitting up in the tree, so she climbed back down and dropped to the ground carefully, suddenly remembering that she was responsible for another life. She placed her hand protectively over her still flat abdomen and walked slowly back to the hut.

Daniel heard her drop from the tree and grinned. He flattened himself against the whitewashed rough stone wall and waited. She came around the corner, her head down and her hand cradling her unborn child. Daniel was punched in the gut with feelings of awe when he saw the beautiful woman, with flowing black hair, intelligent grey eyes and a graceful figure. All thoughts of playful revenge evaporated and he just stood watching her come toward him. She belongs to me. The child she carries is mine.

She lifted her head when she noticed Daniel waiting for her. Their eyes met briefly and then Daniel's eyes drifted down to where she held their unborn child. His eyes darkened with emotion and both stood frozen with uncertainty. His eyes came back up to meet hers and his eyebrows rose in silent question. She nodded once. He closed the space between them and stood inches from her. His eyes once again drifted downward as his hand reached forward to join hers to embrace the new life growing within her.

"You realize, I've known since before your aunt and uncle were here." The gentle tone of his voice took away any sting the words might have had.

"How could you? I've just become sure myself." She savored the warm caress of his hand over their child.

"You forget, I was married before and became familiar with the rhythms of a woman's body. I knew the time was past for your monthly flow. I also knew that your breasts had become tender and you tire more easily." Daniel removed his hand from hers and pulled her into a gentle embrace. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"At first I wasn't sure and didn't want to say anything, but after you told me how you didn't want children with Sha're, I was afraid to tell you." She held her face against his chest and her words were muffled.

"Oh, Ashling. I'm so sorry. That was ten years ago and I've changed so much since then. I've always held life to be precious, but the past couple of years I've realized how much I want to be a father and be a part of bringing life into existence. To nurture a child and help him – or her – grow into a wonderful adult." He leaned his cheek against the silk of her hair. "I can't wait to see our child."

A/N: This is the last chapter that I have written so far, so I'm not sure when the next will get posted. With the Holidays in full swing and family decending upon me from all over the Western US (I have 5 brothers and sisters and 13 nieces and nephews) time is short this week. So, I probably won't have the next chapter until next week some time after everyone's gone home.