Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Sg1 or any of it's characters, I post this strictly for entertainment purposes.

Chapter 11

Daniel fidgeted nervously. For the life of him he couldn't understand why he was so uptight. It wasn't like he hadn't done this before, he just hadn't done this with Sam. Somehow, thinking like that didn't help at all, but only made the butterflies in his stomach flutter all the more.

He blew into hand to test his breath, satisfied that he wouldn't make Sam fall over with it when he kissed her. Then he mussed with his hair and straightened his bow tie before shaking his hands and arms out, hoping that it would relieve some of the tension he had built up inside. Daniel had a near photographic memory, but for some reason, he struggled to ensure that he had memorized all that he had wanted to say to her that day.

Thinking back on the past year and a half since he and Sam found themselves back on Earth, he couldn't help but be amazed at all that had transpired in that time. Together with the IOA Daniel and Sam had been instrumental in developing a plan to reveal the Stargate program to the general public, one that included international leaders uniting and disclosing it together over a live satellite broadcast announced across the globe.

While initially, the IOA had been disappointed that Sam had decided to resign from Atlantis, she had been correct in her reasoning that they would need an expert on gate technology and had found her to be an invaluable asset to their disclosure plans. It took more than nine months of planning, but finally, the day came when the Stargate would be revealed to the world.

Daniel and Sam stood in attendance with the President and several other world leaders as they made the announcement over the world-wide broadcast. While many aspects of the gate were still held in secret, such as its exact location and the number of close calls Earth had managed to escape from over the years, it caused an international stir. Daniel and Sam had found themselves the focus of days and weeks of questions from journalists as the story was covered across the planet and they toured from country to country, informing the masses of what knowledge they could share with them, themselves becoming somewhat of celebrities in the process.

However, even with the greatest discovery of humankind at the forefront of public knowledge, and the existence of aliens revealed to humans for the first time, the furor that the disclosure initially caused died down after a few months and while it was still a topic that many news outlets continued to cover, it was no longer the sensation of the day. People's interests began to wane and returned to their everyday lives, celebrity gossip and how best to manage their retirement funds.

He had been relieved that the chaos that could have ensued from such a disclosure had never occurred, but most of all he was most pleased that he and Sam's personal relationship over that year also blossomed and grew with each day. Traveling the Earth together, they took in the wonders that their own planet had to offer, something they hadn't much cause or time for over the years since their joined the SGC. He especially had enjoyed showing Sam Egypt, his first home and love. They toured Giza and the Valley of the Kings on camel back, also taking a few days to travel the lengths of the Nile. Daniel excitedly took her to the many places he had dug personally at during his younger days as a fledgling archaeologist and as the long hot days turned into cool nights, their passions were raised and Daniel knew without a doubt that he wanted to spend the rest of his life as Sam's husband.

It was on that trip, during a full moon with the stars shining down upon them and the cool night desert air swirling about them, that Daniel had found himself on one knee asking Sam for her hand in marriage. The moonlight sparkled in her eyes as she wept and flung herself into his arms, repeatedly accepting his offer. With the pyramids silhouetted in the distance the lovers kissed and Daniel slipped the diamond ring he had agonized over for days over onto her finger, his irrational fears that she might find some reason not to say yes relieved.

Now here he was, six months after proposing, a nervous wreck. This is what he wanted wasn't it? Of course it was. It had really only been the last few weeks as the date for the wedding neared that he had grown increasingly apprehensive. Considering the fact that his last two marriages had ended in tragedy, he had steadily become irrationally anxious about Sam. His greatest fear was that something might happen to her to take him away from him, logically that he shouldn't be so worried, but it did little to alleviate his nervousness.

A knock sounded at the door and Daniel was snapped out of his thoughts to see Mitchell walk into the dressing room clad in his dress uniform.

"Hey, you ready yet?" Mitchell asked. Daniel took a deep breath, blew it out through puffed cheeks and wiped his sweaty hands down the side of his pants.

"Yeah, I guess so." Seeing Daniel's nervousness, Cam smiled and clasped his shoulder.

"Deep breaths, buddy. Don't worry, only the whole world is watching as the famous duo that revealed the existence of the Stargate gets married, not to mention that if you try to make a run for it now, there's hundreds of cameras and reporters outside waiting to record your every move, so no pressure."

"Gee, Mitchell, thanks for the pep talk."

"As your best man, that's what I'm here for."

Daniel gathered his courage together and took another deep breath before nodding to Cam and exiting the dressing room for his walk down the aisle.

OOOOO

Sam swiped at an errant tear from under her eye, being careful to not smear her mascara. Carolyn stood behind her, putting the finishing touches to her hair, tucking tiny branches of baby's breath into the curls piled on top of her head.

"Oh , don't cry Sam." Carolyn begged, putting her hands on her shoulders. "You're going to mess up your make-up. What's wrong?

"I'm fine." She sobbed, her tears falling freely now. "It's just.....I never imagined I would ever be this happy." She cried some more and Carolyn grabbed several tissues for her teary friend. "I'm sorry, I'm being a blubbering idiot. I guess this is all so surreal, you know. I'm actually marrying Daniel...today. I still can't believe it."

"Boy, were you like this for Jack, too?"

"Actually, I was a wreck then as well." She laughed a little, using the tissues to wipe the tears away and blow her nose. She cursed herself for being so emotional, especially since she really was making quite an awful mess of her make up.

"Aw- honey, it's alright. I cried the whole night before I married Cameron and the night afterwards too, but that's a different story."

Sam smiled, grateful to have a friend like Carolyn to be her matron of honor, over the last year they had become close, reminding her a lot of the friend she used to have in Janet. Carolyn turned her around and grabbed her compact, powdering her face and touching up the trails the tears had left in her foundation.

"There!" she took a step back and admired her work, smiling brightly. "You look so lovely. I can't wait to see Daniel's face when he gets a look at you."

"Thanks, Carolyn."

"Okay, now stand up. I want to make sure, you dress is secure, we wouldn't want the girls to pop out." Sam stood and Carolyn yanked up the top of her halter then went to her back and double checked to make sure all of the buttons of the gown were secure. "Well, you're good to go. Are you ready?" Sam smoothed over the front of her dress. It was a simple gown, no lace, bows or frills, just a sleek, form-fitting, strapless, off-white satin number that she felt suited her taste completely.

"Okay, I'm ready." Sam breathed in as deeply as she could considering the tightness of the dress and headed for the door, Carolyn trailing behind her.

In the hallway, she was met by her brother, Mark. He offered his elbow and she wrapped her arm around his with a smile.

"You look radiant, Sam."

"Thanks."

"This Daniel guy sure is one lucky fellow and he seems to be a good man."

"He is, more than you can ever know."

"As long as he makes you happy, then he's good in my book."

"Funny, you didn't say that about Jack when I married him."

"That's because he was a wiseass. But I was wrong about him, so maybe you shouldn't listen to me."

Sam chuckled at her brother as they neared the doors. A sudden wave of nerves hit her when he opened the doors to the sunny, flower lined garden where the ceremony was to take place. However, she calmed when she saw Daniel standing at the end of the aisle. The bridal march was struck up by a string quartet and Cherry blossoms released their petals like snow flurries in the light breeze as she took her first steps toward him. It was all as she had pictured it and more.

She trained her eyes on him and he smiled widely. Her heart fluttered madly as they drew closer to her future husband and when they reached the end of the aisle, her brother kissed her on the cheek and gave her away to Daniel. Stepping forward, Daniel took her hand in his, his eyes lighting up with heartfelt love. Sam couldn't have taken that smile off her face for anything, except at that moment, she heard a cell phone ring. Annoyed that someone would take a phone to her wedding, she sighed, dismissing it. That is until another phone ringed and then another and yet another.

Sam and Daniel looked at each other as a chorus of phones chimed in all different kinds of songs and ringtones. A stir from the audience caused her to turn her head towards the assembled people and see what was happening. A very worried looking Sgt. Harriman, who had been sitting in the front row and had also received a phone call, blanched and put down his phone, immediately running up to Mitchell and whispering in his ear.

"What?" he asked Harriman when Cam's head suddenly snapped up and he looked gravely at the pale Airman. Sam knew immediately that something was horribly wrong.

A rumble sounded in the distance and Sam held on tight to Daniel's hand as the sky darkened and the wind picked up, blowing the curls and flowers out of her hair.

"Oh My God!" She heard Daniel breath out beside her as he held her tighter against him. Looking into the sky as he was, she saw them and recognized what was disturbing everyone right off. She had seen this before, they were the ships they had encountered more than a decade ago. Blotting out the sun with their masses, were the alien vessels that had taken Vala.

Since I'm finally working on just this story now, I hope to be turning out chapters more often. Again, please let me know what you think of this story this far. :)