It had been waiting at her lab desk the morning they'd left. A small box wrapped in pink paper with an attached card. The envelope had been hand-addressed simply "Carter" so even if she hadn't recognized the handwriting, she would have known who it was from.

She'd been in a foul mood since waking up that morning and realizing she really had spent the night in her quarters at the SGC and had canceled her flight to Minnesota at the last minute the night before. SG-1 had been suddenly recalled from what was supposed to have been the start of a week's leave. The Prior's incursions into the Milky Way were becoming more frequent, so there was no other team available to send to P3X-J11 when the inhabitants requested assistance after one such visit.

Which meant rather than being where she ought to have been – celebrating her first anniversary with her feet propped up next to her husband's on a cooler full of beer out on their pier – she was stuck at the SGC preparing for departure.

But the package had brought a smile to her face, and she had suddenly understood the looks which had passed between Daniel and Teal'c at breakfast. The fact that Daniel must have already had the present made her feel absurdly better, as did the note when she'd opened it: "Sam – gave this to Daniel (she'd gotten the culprit correct, at any rate) just in case… Anyway, open this if you're not back in time. I'll be here waiting. Always. – Jack"

Which was why she was smiling as she tucked the package into her ruck, and as she joined the rest of her team in the Gateroom, and as they started up the ramp. Because Jack understood, and while certainly disappointed was not truly upset, leaving her free to do her duty and her job which, if she were honest, she really did love. And she didn't have to feel guilty about that, either.

Now, though, 24 hours later, her smile was a distant memory.

She had hoped – though she should have known better - that it would be a short mission. But the natives had been unsure about evacuating to another planet via the Stargate, and SG-1 had spent the last day unsuccessfully trying to convince them that accepting Origin or death were the only other alternatives. Which was why, on her first anniversary, Sam found herself offworld a billion light-years from Jack sitting near her sleeping teammates pulling her turn on watch.

Things were, fortunately, still quiet, so when Cam relieved her, rather than go straight back to her sleeping bag, she headed off away from the others. Finding a spot in a relatively secluded corner where she could have some measure of privacy but still be available if necessary, she sat down and pulled the small package out of the cargo pocket at her right thigh.

Moments later, the crumpled remains of the pink wrapping paper were stuffed back in her pocket and she was slitting open the plain brown box the paper had concealed. She slid out the contents of the box. The faint moonlight revealed a dark MP3 player lying in the palm of her hand. She couldn't help smiling at the attached Post-It note. "Play Me" it read in Jack's barely legible scrawl.

As if she needed to be told. After tucking the box back in her pocket, she stuck the attached earbuds into her ears, fiddled with the player for a second to make sure the volume wasn't too loud, and pushed play.

Jack's voice filled her ears. Typically Jack, the hesitancy in his voice as he'd recorded his message told more than the words themselves the depth of his emotions:

"Hi, Sam… Happy Anniversary… wherever you are. Cause – you know – if you're listening to this, then you're not here..." She could clearly hear his long intake of breath followed by a rustling of paper before he continued, "Look, I'm staring at this stupid speech I wrote to give you … but it's crap. I know I should be upset you might miss our anniversary, but I ain't gonna pretend I am. I mean – who'd have thought a few years ago we'd even be having an anniversary? So, get your job done and get back home. You'll always know where to find me. I love you, and you know I miss you….. Happy Anniversary, Sam."

Despite her best efforts, she had tears in her eyes when he finished speaking. But only when Yo-Yo Ma's cello music started playing in her ear, and she could almost feel Jack sitting there next to her in the near darkness, did they flow silently down her cheeks. She wiped them away, stood up, and made her way back to her sleeping bag where, if the music which continued to play into her ears caused any more tears, they were lost in the folds of her blanket.

-o-o-o-

He must have been half-dozing in the warm sunlight, because the first warning he had that he was no longer alone was when she cleared her throat behind him. He twisted to look over his shoulder, startled that anyone could sneak up on him yet oddly proud she could.

She was standing at the edge of the pier, the afternoon sunlight turning her hair to spun gold around her face. The blue of his old Air Force Academy sweatshirt she wore set off her eyes, which were already bright as she looked at him. She caught her lower lip between her teeth, bringing her smile under control before speaking. "Hi, Jack. Look what I got."

She held up the object he only now realized she was holding. A cake. He couldn't help his own smile broadening. Only one thing could make him overlook cake and – thank God – he was looking at it. "Mhmmm… Cake…" He gave his best Homer impression as he got up from his lawn chair and stepped towards her.

Sam giggled, and since her unsuppressed laughter was the most wonderful sound in the world, Jack couldn't help but join in. He reached her and, carefully so as not to end up with frosting all over his shirt, leaned forwards to kiss her above the cake. They separated the barest fraction of an inch and he murmured against her lips, "Let's get this cake inside where we can do this right."

Her eyes gazed into his for a moment, blue turning nearly to black as she reacted to him. Then, she blinked once, slowly, and when her eyes reopened, their sparkle was back. Winking at him, she did a quick about-face and took off towards the cabin. A few steps away she called back over her shoulder with a smile that she knew he was powerless to resist, "Coming, sir?"

Laughing again, hoping she'd never stop surprising him, Jack muttered under his breath, "You betcha!" before rushing to catch up to the remarkable woman he'd somehow gotten to marry him.

Long hours later, the cake remaining uneaten, they lay together in a tangle of sheets and limbs. Suddenly, Sam's fingers paused in their lazy play through his hair. She chuckled as she spoke, clearly surprised at having forgotten earlier. "Happy Anniversary, Jack." Then, more seriously, "I never thought I could be this happy."

Lifting his head up from where it rested on his favorite pillow, he looked up at her. Jack couldn't have agreed more. It had been the happiest year of his life, too. "Me too, Sam. Happy Anniversary" And, with that, words were no longer necessary or possible as their lips met in a kiss which promised a lifetime of happiness to come.