FOUR DAYS OF CELESTINO – IV. Day Four by Betty Bokor
Sam/Daniel. Daniel and Sam share a Saint Patrick's weekend.
Spoilers: All seasons, including 9 and 10.
Disclaimer: The Stargate original characters belong to MGM/Showtime, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. This was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt at copyright infringement has been made.

Day Four

Chapter 1

Sam woke up nestled against Daniel's body. The warmth of his skin felt utterly pleasurable behind her back. She was not sure whether he was awake or not, but she did not feel like moving. They had not said more than a few words while they were making love –almost all night long– and all those words had been strictly related to what they were physically experiencing. Most of the time they had guided each other through their exploration with looks and soft touches. They had kept all the lights around the bed on and they had enjoyed the visual journey as much as the tactile one.

They had tried as many experiences as they had dared propose to each other without saying a word. She was certain she now possessed a comprehensive knowledge of the art of lovemaking, far broader than she ever thought it could be and still not complete. She should have known Daniel would have incorporated practices from the different cultures he had studied throughout his life. He was always willing to try their food and go native; this was just one more aspect of it.

The only thing that scared her was that this could have been an 'one only' experience. What would she do if when they finally talked about it, Daniel decided that had been the beginning and the end of it?

Daniel's arm stretching over her shoulder toward the nightstand startled her. "Do you want your glasses?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

"Sorry," he said. "I thought you were still sleeping. It's late and the voice mail light is flashing. We probably missed something else."

"Oh," Sam said and stretched herself to press the button. Two messages were announced and they both expected to hear the voice of the front desk clerk as she pressed the next bottom.

"Good morning, campers!" was the first sentence of the message and Sam and Daniel almost sat up in surprise at Jack's voice. "I hope this nice morning finds the two of you still in bed together, as in together in bed, you know what I mean. And if you don't know what I mean, it'd say this is the right time for me to simply say, Oh, for crying out loud!" Jack took a second as he was recording to reorder his thoughts and then asked more softly, "What are you kids waiting for now? Are you nuts? As my old friend Chas once said, Wake up and smell the coffee, Daniel! Even I know how much you two love each other. Why is it taking so long for two geniuses to figure it out? D'uh! I'm just saying, 'cause now that I'm far from both of you, I can see things more clearly. That's why I thought you needed a little time away on your own. I'm sure you've figured me out by now, so-"

The message was interrupted and Sam and Daniel remained immobile for a few seconds. Then Sam pressed the button again and they listened attentively.

"Crap! This thing doesn't have much space. Never mind. Okay! Back to the ranch. I really hope I'm not mistaken and you already have it figured it out. I had a little talk with Landry yesterday and the team is not needed back until Tuesday afternoon. You have until checkout time at 11:00 on Tuesday morning. No need to thank me. Anytime, yeah, sure, you betcha. Listen; call me when you have a minute. The suspense is killing me."

As the message finished, Daniel chuckled and then sighed. "Well, that's one conversation that will go very differently than I thought."

"What do you mean?" Sam said as she grabbed the sheet to turn around and look at Daniel.

"I thought this," he said signaling both of them with his hand, "would be very hard to explain to Jack, but it looks like I was wrong. Pass me the phone and we'll try calling him again. Maybe this time he'll answer."

"Wait!" Sam said. "We haven't talked about this ourselves."

Daniel slid a little bit lower under the covers to be able to hug Sam and he brought her up to him with his arms. "I know I usually use many words to explain myself, but this time I think I've told you everything I feel for you with my body, Sam. It all came from my soul. I may be mistaken, but I felt you were trying to say the same. There are times when no words are needed and last night was one of those times for me."

He pressed his forehead against hers and kissed her nose. She could feel his heart beating fast against her chest and the level of excitement rose quickly through her body.

He lifted a hand and caressed her jaw gently. She moved her lips towards his hand and kissed it. "I only want to say how much I love you, Daniel," she whispered as she grazed the length of his thigh with her knuckles.

Daniel raised his leg over hers and locked it behind her thigh so that she could feel his whole body responding to her touch as they kissed. He then embraced her more tightly and whispered back, "I love you, too, Sam. I love you, too."

Sam lightly stroked his hip with her fingertips and then lowered her head to kiss his chest. He drew in a sharp breath and arched back in pleasure.

Near midday Daniel finally grabbed the phone and tried calling Jack's cell. When he answered, Daniel felt at a loss of words.

"Jack?" he asked in spite of knowing who was on the other side of the line.

"Daniel?" Jack asked in his sarcastic mode.

"Hey, Jack."

"Hey to you, Daniel. Anything special to tell me?"

"Kind of. Sam and I-"

"Ah, sweet, Sam is there."

"Yes, Sam is here."

"Close to you."

"Yes, close to me."

"Very close to you or just medium?"

"Jaaack," Daniel warned.

"Fine, peachy. I'll have to leave it to my imagination."

"Jack, this is serious. We wanted to tell you that you were right."

"Ha! I knew it!"

"Jack," Daniel warned again. "This is very important for us."

"Ya think?"

"Are you going to be this way all day?"

"Nah, that's okay. I'm just happy that you had to recognize I was right, you know."

Daniel chuckled and then said, "I know."

"So, what'cha doing now? Anything cool?"

"Nothing. Just resting."

"Ah, resting. That's a good sign that you need to rest."

"Yesterday we went biking and hiking, kayaking and rafting, Jack."

"Oh, there's not a chance in hell you'll sell that one to me, Spacemonkey. More importantly, it doesn't matter."

"So, are you okay with this?"

"It's a little weird, but yeah, I'm fine. Now we need a big an' honking party to celebrate."

"I don't know about that, Jack. We haven't even discussed what comes next."

"Oy..."

"What?"

"It's just that if you two have to discuss it, it will take forever."

Daniel laughed. "I promise it won't. I'll call you when we go back to the base."

"Okay. Give a kiss to Carter from me."

"I will."

"Sure you will."

"Jack."

"Okay, okay. Also thank Walter when you see him."

"Walter? What does he have to do with any of this?"

"Do you think I'm capable of making all those arrangements, including spa appointments?"

"It did seem a bit out of character, but why Walter? What does he know?"

"Walter knows everything, believe me. He helped me with all this last weekend."

"Are you ready to go to the pool?" Sam asked as she came out of the bathroom.

"The pool? You're going swimming together, Danny-boy?" Jack asked as he heard her.

"Yes, Jack, we're going to the hotel swimming pool. Why?"

"You should do it in the training pool at the base."

"Why?"

"People would see you there together."

"And?"

"It would make it easier to collect my winnings on the bet."

"What bet?"

"Nothing important."

"Jaaack!"

"Just remember one thing next time you go to the pool-"

"What?"

"Ours is bigger."

Daniel hung up the phone trying to decide if he had just had a conversation with one of his best friends or with a three-year old child, but he knew that without Jack's intervention he probably would have never discovered how he really felt about Sam. Jack had been right. They had needed a time out, away from the daily worries at the SGC, in a place where they were anonymous and where they could relax while still being together.

After a good swim in the pool, Daniel and Sam walked quietly around town for a short while, holding hands most of the time as if they were a couple of teenagers who had just fallen in love. They both knew they would not be able to behave that way in Colorado Springs, though probably Jack had already arranged for the SGC to accept their new relationship.

Before dinner they went by the spa to receive their last treatment, a full body hot stone massage. Sam stayed longer and got a moisturizing buttermilk and honey wrap, but Daniel vehemently refused to get one. When she went back up to their room, she found him leaning over the ironing board with an iron in his hand.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I thought we could have dinner at the restaurant downstairs. My suit is in pretty bad shape. Jack said I should bring one, but he didn't explain for what, and when he didn't meet us here, I just left the suit in the bag.

Sam remembered that Jack had asked her to bring a 'nice evening gown' too, but she had hung hers in the closet as soon as they checked in. She helped Daniel finish his suit and then they changed clothes and went back down.

Jill's Restaurant was as striking as the rest of the hotel, decorated in stunning blond onyx and mahogany. Daniel asked for a table on the terrace from where the view was breathtaking. Soon after the sunset the whole terrace was illuminated with candles and the atmosphere turned intimate. The dinner, served with champagne, was as delicious as they expected. After a sumptuous dessert, they went back to their room.

Daniel put a CD in the alarm clock-radio-CD player on the nightstand and prepared some tea.

"I wish there had been some event in the ballroom. It looked perfect for a romantic evening," he said as he sat on the sofa by Sam's side.

"We can have romance right here," she said with a big smile. "You know, Daniel, I don't have a clue about how we got here."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that if anyone had asked me a week ago if I was in love with you, I would have said 'Heck, no,' without any hesitation." She heard the way her words sounded as soon as she said them and she apologized. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I just didn't see it coming."

"Don't worry, Sam, I understand. I had no idea, either."

"You didn't either?"

"I think we're always too busy to reflect on things like this. After we came here and we became so isolated from work, it was easier to understand feelings that probably had been there, but we hadn't paid attention to before."

"Like what?"

"You won't laugh if I tell you?"

"Of course not."

"Well, on Friday I discovered I was jealous of whatever you and Jack had going on all these years. It bothered me that you missed him."

"We really didn't have anything going on, Daniel. We both believed in our job too much to ever have risked our positions in the Air force."

"From outside it seemed like something, Sam."

"It never got anywhere, seriously."

"I know, but would you have wanted it to go somewhere?"

"I'm not sure. It was a pleasant game, but I had trouble imagining anything after a few dates."

"Do you think it was just physical attraction?"

"I never thought I'd be discussing this with you, actually with anyone, but, now, you deserve the truth. Yeah, there was some attraction. I don't know where it came from, because I didn't like him at all when we first met. I suppose he fit the image I had of a good partner, like my dad had been for my mom until she died. The truth is my dad was hardly ever home and my mom always dealt with everything on her own. She left an abyss in Mark and me when she died. But, I suppose children always idealize their parents in some way."

"Not all children, but you're probably right. I know I've idealized mine a lot. They were always working, but at least they had me there with them all the time. I learned so much from them," Daniel added and then he kept quiet for a while.

"Besides," Sam broke the silence, "in those days, I had to take my mind off this cute little hero of mine."

"Sorry?" Daniel asked lost in the middle of her sentence.

"I was telling you what made me put my sights on Jack and I just added another reason."

"Who was your hero?"

"You! You were this beautiful cuddly creature that needed to be protected."

"Did you really believe that of me?"

"No, but I had this need to protect you. I knew you didn't need it. I just didn't want you to suffer. I'm sure Jack and Teal'c felt the same way. I think they still do."

"But I've tried to prove to them that I don't need to be protected."

"We know, Daniel, we've always known. We just like to do it."

"So if we were alone in an alley and we were attacked, you'd feel you have to defend yourself and protect me while you were at it?"

"I would trust you with my life." She leaned over him and kissed him softly. "We'd all trust you with our lives. Everybody knows that you're brave and strong, and that your strength comes from your inner fortitude." She kissed him again and then added, "And now that we're telling secrets, I have to confess. I had been having these thoughts about the two of us since Friday, too."

"What thoughts?"

"Kind of NC-17 thoughts," she smiled.

"Really?"

"I wouldn't make that up. Hadn't you?"

"Not really."

"Never?"

"Maybe it crossed my mind once in a while, but I hadn't put any thought into it."

"So what made you respond to me last night?" Sam asked, feeling suddenly scared.

"I thought I'd die if I didn't," he smiled. "I don't think I've ever desired anyone that much. It was a sudden and wondrous revelation."

Sam relaxed. "Do you think we've wasted much time not knowing what we felt for each other?"

"No. I think we were not ready before. It happened now and it was right. It was perfect. I'm not going to second-guess it. I'm going to enjoy it."

"Are you going to tell me what were you looking at inside your wallet?" Sam asked all of a sudden with a mischievous smile.

Daniel got the wallet out of his pocket and opened it. He took out a rumpled picture and gave it to her. "Cassie gave it to me last Christmas," he said.

Sam looked at it and saw herself standing by the side of Daniel while they tried to hang a star on top of the Christmas Tree. They were both smiling and San remembered how happy she had been that Daniel has spent the holidays with Cassie and her. Since Janet's death she had spend as much time as possible with the young woman and Daniel had always been there for them.

He got up and put the teacups on the table. He then offered his hand to Sam and she followed him. As they walked by the window, Sam noticed that it was snowing.

"Better," Daniel said with a smile as he enfolded her in his arms. "Now we have a good excuse to spend the day inside. We can order a good breakfast to the room and stay in bed late."

"Anything in particular to do while in bed?" Sam asked with a smile.

"I'm sure we can think of something."

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