A/N – Over 200 reviews, that's a new record for me! I'd like to thank everyone for their support, comments and appreciation. It really makes writing worthwhile :) I apologize for the lateness of this, but I just graduated from high school and I'm sure you can all appreciate how crazy things get around that time…

On another note, I don't generally do too well with writing weddings, but I know people would feel cheated if I didn't have this in here, so here's my best attempt. I'm afraid I underdid myself however, and this chapter just turned into more of a bridge between the first and second parts of the story. Oh well.

Chapter 13

The day couldn't have been more perfect. As Jack stood at the front of it all, nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot, he marveled at how everything seemed more like a scene from a movie than real life; the sun was shining, birds were singing, and the air was just warm enough to be pleasant rather than too hot. Jack himself was in a daze and no amount of reassurance from Kowalski would change that. It was just that he couldn't believe that he was suddenly here, again, except this time he knew deep down that it was going to work out.

Then the music started, interrupting his thoughts. His eyes were immediately drawn to the end of the aisle, because there was Jacob, actually wearing a suit and beaming proudly and…Sam. Sam looking so radiantly gorgeous that if anyone asked Jack to describe how she looked all he'd be able to do would be demonstrate the look of slack jawed, wide eyed wonder he had on his face when she began walking towards him.

Jack had to force himself to actually listen to everything being said. His eyes were on Sam the whole time and each little smile she gave him made his heart skip a beat. Again he wondered how he'd gotten here, how everything had worked out so well.

Then came the "I do's" and suddenly he was pulling her into his arms and kissing her and then there was a chaotic mass rush to congratulate them. Somehow they all managed to get to the pavilion where dinner was being served, and Sam had to practically lead Jack over to their table and make him sit down.

"See? You're still alive," she said, looping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. "And now you're all mine."

Jack grinned at her and returned the kiss.

He was glad, ultimately, that they'd splurged a bit with the caterer as the food was superb. He was glad too that they hadn't ended up inviting too many people because it gave everything a more intimate and friendlier atmosphere.

After the final plates were cleared away and the DJ was set up, Jacob came over to swoop Sam away for the father-daughter dance and Jack wandered over to where his friends were standing along the side. A moment later Charlie appeared at his side, apparently having been able to pull himself away from the couple other kids his age.

"Hey, kiddo," Jack said, ruffling his son's hair.

Charlie grinned up at his father. "Hey. You look really out of it."

"I feel really out of it," Jack said, still following Sam and Jacob with his eyes. He noticed that other couples were joining them; Daniel had pulled Janet out onto the floor, and even Kowalski seemed to have enchanted one of Sam's cousins into dancing with him. "You'll understand when you get married."

"Ugh, whatever."

"Hey, why don't you see if Cassie would want to dance with you?" Jack nudged his son with his elbow, grinning.

"What?!" Charlie gave him a horrified look. "Dad! I don't dance! And especially not with girls."

"Suit yourself, you don't know what you're missing," Jack said, shrugging. The song ended so he headed over to Sam and Jacob. "Mind if I steal my wife back, Dad?"

Jacob rolled his eyes. "You just take care of her, Jack, you hear me?" he leaned in, speaking in a hushed tone. "I've got the whole tok'ra fleet to back me up, so watch it."

"Don't worry! Sheesh." Jack folded Sam close to his side, then gave her an exasperated look. "How many more people can I expect to threaten me?"

"Oh, I don't know," Sam slid her arms around his waist as the next song started. "Probably about half a galaxy."

"Only half?" Jack raised his eyebrows.

Sam just smiled and pressed closer to him.

"This is beyond perfect," Jack said. He was standing before a huge picture window that overlooked a spectacular vista of the mountains. Said window was in a room at a swanky resort hotel which Jacob had booked for them as a present. "The only thing that could make it better would be if there was a nice lake for fishing."

Sam, who had just come out of the bedroom after changing, scoffed. "Fishing? Excuse me?!"

"Sorry," Jack turned, walking over and reaching out to her. "I just meant….never mind…ignore me."

"I'd rather not." She draped her arms around his neck, placing a slow, burning kiss on his lips. "That's not why we're here, after all."

Jack swallowed thickly. "Of course not, now just as long as the galaxy doesn't need saving…"

"Well…"

"You did leave your cell phone at home, right?"

"Yes, Jack, I left my cell phone at home," Sam murmured, giving him a placating kiss on the lips.

The rest of the night went too fast for Jack. It was one of the most amazing nights of his life, and yet before he knew it the clock on the dresser was showing a ridiculously late hour, and Sam was asleep, curled at his side in the center of the huge king sized bed.

Jack sighed, folding one arm behind his head and curling the other around Sam. If he had known that he could feel like this again, maybe he wouldn't have spent so long sitting around feeling sorry for himself. And yet…No, he wasn't going to think about Sarah. This was hardly the time.

Jack opened his eyes, glancing around the sunlit bedroom and smirking contentedly to himself. Sam was still asleep next to him, and all was quiet, but a quick look at the clock told Jack that in approximately three minutes the alarm would go off, Sam would wake up, and their morning routine would start. They'd been married nearly two months now and already life had settled down into a comfortable and pleasant state.

Next to him Sam woke up, mumbling incoherently under her breath as she reached over to turn off the alarm which had not yet gone off, then rolling over to rest her head on Jack's chest.

"I said you shouldn't have stayed up so late last night," Jack said, running his fingers through her hair. " I told you it would make it hard to get up in the morning."

Sam propped herself up on one elbow to glare blearily at him. "Honey, I've stayed up far later than that with no problems getting up in the morning. Besides, I had that report to finish on the molecular stability of naquadah in the practical application of power generation."

Jack blinked at her silently for a few minutes then said, "That sounds sexy."

"Oh God."

"I'll go make some coffee and drag the kid out of bed," Jack said, leaning over to kiss her gently. "You take your time, I'll just be in the kitchen."

A short while later the three of them were all in the kitchen, Charlie standing at the counter and making his lunch while Jack and Sam sat at the table, sipping at their coffee.

"You gonna fight aliens today?" Charlie asked.

Sam laughed. "You know I'm not supposed to talk about missions."

"Awww…."

Chuckling quietly into his coffee cup, Jack shook his head. His life might be perfect right now, but it was perfect in a strange sort of way. Normal people would wish their wives luck at the office, but his was going off to another planet to chase around after aliens. Strange, yes, but totally awesome.

"Oh, I've got to run, guys," Sam said, glancing at her watch and leaping to her feet. "I'll see you later tonight." She leaned over to give Jack a kiss, then exchanged a quick hug with Charlie before hurrying out the door.

It was days like these when Sam began to realize just how hard it was to be part of a top secret military program and have a family. SG-1 had a mission that would take them nearly two days to complete, and it would be the first time since her marriage that Sam would have to spend the night off world. She found, much to her dismay, that it made her slightly homesick and homesickness, in turn, made her irritable.

"Hey, Carter, why the long face?" Kowalski demanded as the team sat around the campfire late in the evening. "You just found a whole room full of fancy little doohickeys to test. Cheer up a little!" When Sam continued to look sullenly into the flames he picked up a short stick and poked her in the arm.

"Sir." She scowled at him.

"Hey, I'm only sayin'…"

"Kowalski!" This was Daniel from across the fire, where he sat trying his best to down one of the MREs they'd brought along. "Just leave her alone, you're pissing her off."

"Indeed it would appear that Major Carter is quite prepared to attack you, Colonel Kowalski," Teal'c added smugly, if a Jaffa could be smug.

Kowalski pouted. "Hey! Who's the colonel around here anyway? I think I should be allowed to strongly suggest that my second in command be a little more cheerful."

"Sir, if you want me to cheer up then send me back home," Sam said, crumpling up her own empty MRE wrapper and tossing it into the flames.

"Oh, I get it." Kowalski rolled his eyes. "Little Miss Just-cause-my-reproductive-organs-are-on-the-inside-instead-of-the-outside is missing her dearly beloved Jack O'Neill."

Sam gave him a sarcastic sneer. "That's Mrs. Just-cause-my-reproductive-organs-are-on-the-inside-instead-of-the-outside, to you, sir."

"You know, Carter, if I was anyone else I'd probably take that as insubordination. So you'd better be glad you're my best friend's wife." He stood up, stretched, and grinned at the eye rolls he was getting. "Well, I think I'll be hitting the sack. Danny take first watch, I'll take second." With one last cheerful wave he vanished into one of the tents.

Across the slowly dying flames, Sam and Daniel exchanged a look, each slowly shaking their heads.

They were all very muddy and tired by the time they returned back to Earth, the second day on P7Y-942 having boasted of a rather powerful rainstorm. Hammond gave them a chance to shower, visit the infirmary, and then ordered them all up for what would undoubtedly be a very long and uninteresting debriefing.

Sam sat in her usual spot, half listening to Kowalski talk and half summarizing in her head the more interesting points of what she had discovered. She was so lost in her own bored stupor that she barely recognized the sound she heard as her own cell phone ringing, though when all eyes turned towards her she leapt up, shooting them all apologetic looks.

"How do I even get reception down here…" she muttered to herself while glancing down to see who was calling. Charlie. Great. She sighed and looked to Hammond. "Sir…I should probably take this. It could be an emergency." It better damn well be an emergency.

Hammond nodded. "Very well. You can step into my office to take it, if you need to, Major."

"Thank you, sir." Sam slipped around behind his chair and into his office before flipping open the phone. "Charlie, I am in the middle of a mission debriefing!"

"Yeah, Sam, I'm really sorry…" Charlie said. In the background Sam could hear what sounded like the rush of rain pouring down. "But, uhm…I'm kinda stranded and it would be really cool if you could pick me up 'specially because it's starting to storm."

"Well, where are you?"

"At that custard stand outside of town. You know, 'Scoops'. The new place."

Sam knew it. It was an outdoor custard and hamburger stand that had just opened up and was apparently quite a popular spot for kids Charlie's age to hang out. Taking a few deep breaths Sam leaned back against the edge of Hammond's desk. "And why can't your dad come pick you up?"

"Well, for one thing he'd be really pissed because I'm actually not supposed to be here right now," Charlie laughed nervously. "And I tried calling him anyway and he didn't answer. So look, I will seriously be in your debt forever if you come get me right now."

"Just hang on for a sec." Donning a particularly annoyed look, Sam stuck her head out into the briefing room and was relieved to see the others packing up. Daniel made a gesture towards her notes to show that he'd gone over them for her.

Hammond raised his eyebrows. "Major?"

"If it's alright, sir, I have to go." Sam gestured towards the phone. "Teenager."

"I understand, we're done here anyway," Hammond said, chuckling. "You're dismissed, Major."

Sam gave him a tight smile before stepping back into the office. "Ok, Charlie, I'll be there in two minutes."

"When we get home you're going to tell your dad where you were."

"Saaaammmm-!"

"Hey." She turned to give Charlie a stern look. "I didn't have to come pick you up. The least you can do in exchange is be honest with your dad. Besides, you were the one who decided to skip tutoring to go get ice cream."

Charlie sank lower in his seat, scowling. "I'm already soaked and my stupid Game Boy is probably water logged. Isn't that punishment enough?"

They pulled up to a stoplight and Sam pinched the bridge of her nose. She sighed heavily, thinking back to when she was his age. "I suppose I could talk to your dad about not grounding you for life over it…"

"You know you're the coolest stepmom ever, riiiiggghhht?" Charlie said in a sly tone, grinning at Sam.

"Don't push your luck." She flipped on the windshield wipers.

"I'll buy you a hamburger."

"I said I'd talk to your dad, alright?!" Sam shot him a glare. "Now just…be quite until we get home."