Stargate Princess - In Nevada you have to get a marriage licence before you get married and my research led me to the fact that you have to go to the Regional Justice Centre to apply for one. Apparently there's no need to wait and you don't need to take a blood test (- why the heck would you?) and everything else I put in there is true to the best of my knowledge. If there are any mistakes you must forgive me, I'm English and I have never been to Nevada (unless flying over it on the way to San Jose counts!)

Liketoread - Thanks for the tip about the Fahrenheit issue. As I said, I'm English and of the post-metric generation; I never quite figured out the whole conversion thing!

So, on with the show!

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Cassie sat in her bedroom flicking through her e-mails when her cell phone rang. She wasn't expecting a phone all but she figured it was probably Jenny, her flatmate, to tell her that she was staying at Andy's place again. She was pleasantly surprised when she checked the caller ID to find that it was Daniel.

"Hi, Danny!" She exclaimed before he had the chance to speak.

"Hi, Cass! How did you know it was me?"

Cassie rolled her eyes.

"It's a new invention called "caller ID"!"

"Oh, right, of course. Hey listen Cassie, are you free tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure am! Are you guys coming to visit or something?"

"Actually we're already here." Daniel paused and alarm bells began to ring in Cassie's head.

"Daniel? What's going on? What are you doing in Las Vegas?"

"There's something I need to tell you…actually it might be better coming from Sam."

Before Cassie could protest, Daniel removed the phone from his ear, appeared to have a brief disagreement with someone on the other end before the line went silent for a few seconds.

"Hello? Cassie?"

"Sam! Would you please tell me what's going on?"

"Cassie, I really think I should tell you this in person. Can you meet us at Hudson Ranch at 1000 tomorrow morning?"

"Sam, you're freaking me out here. Is something wrong?"

"No! No, everyone's fine. Great, even. Trust me? Oh and come in a semi-formal dress!"

SG-1 were getting stranger by the minute.

"OK, sure. But as I soon as I arrive you tell me what's going on. Deal?"

"Yasureyabetcha! See you tomorrow, Cass. Sweet dreams!"

…………………………………………………………………

At precisely 0959 Cassie rushed up the steps into the ranch's lobby. Struggling to navigate the steep steps in her long, flowing dress and high heels, the FedEx man took pity on her and held the door open. Cassie hurriedly thanked him before stumbling through the door to find Daniel and Teal'c already waiting by the desk.

"Here's Miss Carter's parcel, as requested." The receptionist said as she handed the package to Daniel.

"Thank you, Ma'am. Cassie!" He exclaimed as she appeared at his side.

"Daniel!" She enthused in a half-mocking tone. "OK, I'm here so what gives?"

Daniel handed the parcel to her and motioned towards the elevator.

"Sam's room's third to the left on the top floor. She's expecting you."

Cassie glared before walking slowly towards the elevator, half expecting Jack to jump out and surprise her. It didn't happen. Cassie knocked on the door of Sam's room and checked the return address on the parcel. Mark Carter, San Diego. Before Cassie had time to wonder what on Earth Mark could possibly be sending Sam in the mail, the door swung open and Cassie was greeted by a grinning Lt. Colonel.

"Cassie! Hi! Come in." Cassie entered the room to find two suitcases stowed neatly in one corner of the room and a leather jacket slung over the back of the sofa that looked suspiciously familiar yet she couldn't place it.

"Daniel wanted me to give you this. You feel like letting me in on the surprise?"

Sam took the parcel, set it to one side and motioned for Cassie to join her on the bed.

"Cassie, I didn't want to tell you this over the phone but … I'm getting married. Today."

Cassie gaped like a fish. She couldn't believe it. After a few moments of processing what she had just been told, Cassie exploded.

"Are you serious? Oh my God, I can't believe this!" Sam looked hurt. "Of all the dumb… what on Earth are you thinking? I thought Shanahan was history! So much for following your heart!"

Sam began to smile as she realised why Cassie was so mad.

"Cassie, honey, I am!" Cassie was about to interrupt when she was halted by a knock on the door.

"Sam, I know I'm not supposed to see you before the wedding, bad luck and all that stuff, but I've forgotten my hat!" and with that, the door opened and in stepped Jack O'Neill with one hand across his eyes so as not to see his bride before the ceremony. He froze when he noticed that Sam wasn't alone.

"Hi, Cassie! Long time, no see! How's college?"

For once in her life Cassie was speechless. Sam grinned.

"It's ok, Jack, come in. I was just explaining to Cassie here why this wedding isn't quite the stupid idea she seems to think it is!"

Jack looked shocked and then offended.

"No, it's not like that, Jack! I thought she had changed her mind about marrying P-, urm, jumped to the wrong conclusions, that's all! Wow, you guys, this is … great. Beyond great, amazing even! Congratulations!" Cassie flung herself at Sam and then at Jack before calming down a little and smoothing her dress down. Jack picked his hat up from the chair beside the door and motioned outside.

"OK then, well I'll just be leaving you two ladies to get ready." And with that he was gone.

"Cassie, I wanted to ask you something. Will you be my maid of honour?"

Cassie's jaw dropped.

"How could you even ask me that? Of course I will! Hell, I've only been waiting for this day for, like, EVER!" Cassie sat back down. "OK, Sam, I want details but for now you have a wedding to get ready for!" She glanced around the room. "Urm, Sam, where's your dress?"

"It's in that parcel you brought up. Mark FedExed it to me yesterday."

"Well, let's see it! I assume it was your mother's dress, the satin one!"

"How do you know about that?" Sam asked incredulously.

"I have my spies!" Cassie announced with a glint in her eye. Little did Sam know that she'd managed to weasel the whole thing, including the photograph, from the airwoman on duty whilst playing a game of cards. "Now, let's get this show on the road!"

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Jack stood nervously hopping from foot to foot in full dress blues underneath the rose-covered canopy. The sandy orange of the Nevada mountains loomed in the distance as the sound of distant horses cantering in their paddocks and the whoosh of flowing water echoed all around. In a few moments he was about to make his wedding vows for the second time in his life and he hoped to all the Gods out there that this time he wouldn't screw it up. Daniel appeared at his side dressed in his best suit and his arrival was signalled by a loud sneeze. Jack spun around, glad of the distraction from his own pessimistic thoughts.

"Oh for cryin' out loud, Daniel, we're in the middle of the desert and you're still sneezing! What could you possibly be allergic to out here?"

Daniel blew his nose.

"You mean, besides you?"

"Very funny, Spacemonkey!"

"It's the roses, I think."

Suddenly the string quartet began to play Mozart's wedding march and Jack looked up to see Sam begin to walk slowly down the aisle with Teal'c on her arm and Cassie trailing behind with a bunch of stephanotis. Sam wore her mother's wedding dress, a pair of white satin Mary Jane slippers and a veil adorned with tiny white satin roses along the band. In her hands Sam carried a small bouquet of white roses and stephanotis. Jack forgot everything else and just stared in awe at the woman he was about to marry as he contemplated for the millionth time that he was the luckiest man in the Universe at that moment. As Sam came to a halt beside him, Jack carefully reached up and lifted back her veil before taking her hand in his and giving it a quick squeeze.

"Last chance to back out!" he whispered, grinning.

"No chance, Jack O'Neill, you're stuck with me for the rest of my life!" Sam replied before turning to the ceremony conductor. She began to announce the service as Cassie began to sniffle and Teal'c silently passed her a tissue to dry her eyes. Even Daniel looked a little tearful behind his glasses.

"Jack?"

Jack stepped forward and took Sam's hands once again.

"Sam, you know that 'me', 'feelings' and 'talking' rarely belong in the same sentence but I just wanted to say that for the last eight years you've been my one constant through, well, everything. You're the first person I go to when I'm feeling low and I need cake or jell-O and you've always been there for me no matter what. And the fact that I'm about to say what I'm about to say is proof that you've changed me for the better in ways that I never thought anyone could. Samantha Carter, I love you and I would be honoured, not to mention ecstatic, if you would allow me to love you, honour you, hold you and comfort you until the day I die."

Tears began to well up in Sam's eyes but she held them back.

"Samantha?"

"Jack, I don't know what I've ever done to deserve you. I don't really fully understand how or why you love me the way you do but all I can say is that I'll spend the rest of my life being thankful for that. Jack O'Neill you are the most self-effacing, humble man I've ever known and yet you make me feel loved and you make me feel at home for the first time in my life since my mom died. I love you, Jack, for all the things you are but would never admit, for all the little ways you make my life better without even realising but mostly for loving me for who I am and not the person you'd like me to be. I can't think of anything I'd rather spend the rest of my life doing than being by your side."

"Jack, do you take Sam to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Jack grinned, briefly reminded of another conversation shortly before Daniel reappeared in which he'd uttered these same words:

"I do!"

"Sam, do you take Jack to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

……………………………………………………….

The reception consisted of the five friends, a huge chocolate cake and a tiny dance floor with a small four-piece acoustic-and-piano band in one corner of the room. After the cake was cut and thoroughly enjoyed, Daniel quietly approached the band and requested a song. As soon as the familiar chords filled the room, Jack took Sam's hand and led her across the floor. He placed a hand around her waist whilst gently grasping her other hand in his. Sam wrapped her free arm under Jack's and placed it on his back and they began to sway gently to the music.

"How do I love you? Well, let me see. I love you like a singer loves a harmony. Maybe, completely, wrapped up in you…"

They stayed swaying to the music until the last song at which point Jack announced that he was going to bed and was going to have an extremely long lie-in the next morning and he had better not be disturbed! Sam simply blushed and bid everyone a goodnight. When the sounds of a startled shriek filtered back into the room from the door the newlyweds had just exited, Daniel, Cassie and Teal'c peered around the frame to see the General carrying Sam in his arms and heading for the elevator. As soon as they were out of sight and hearing distance, Cassie collapsed into a chair and yelled triumphantly. Daniel jumped slightly and gave her questioning glance. Teal'c merely raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, come on, guys, don't tell me you're not as thrilled about this as I am!"

"Indeed Cassandra, I believe Daniel shared those exact sentiments when O'Neill proposed."

Cassie gaped.

"You guys were there? What happened? Did he get down on one knee in Sam's living room?"

"No, he, ah, proposed at the cabin on the veranda in front of the lake. At midnight."

"I knew it! Jack's a closet romantic after all! Sam's one helluva lucky woman!"

Daniel gave her a rather worried stare which Cassie didn't miss.

"Hey, he might be my surrogate father but even I can recognise a good catch when I see one! At last!"

"Yes, it has been too long a period of time in coming." Teal'c announced.

"Amen to that!" Daniel added as he took the last sip of his drink. "Now, what do you say we all leave these two here tomorrow and go out for the day?"

"Sure, I can show you guys around Las Vegas! 1000 in the lobby? Great! Goodnight, guys!" Cassie announced before disappearing out of the now silent room.

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