The final chapter is here. Hope you enjoy. Thanks for all the encouragement.

Chapter 7

The day had gone remarkably well following the incident at the parade. The O'Neills had watched the parade and had then met up with the rest of SG-1 and Dr Lam to be taken to the White House to attend the President's afternoon party.

Vala was in her element. After the debacle almost seven years ago when she'd visited the Senate Committee and insulted the Chairman, she'd been allowed very few visits to the capital city and she especially hadn't been allowed to interact with members of the government. So today she'd spent a lovely afternoon walking through many of the rooms in the Residence, making mental notes on which artefacts she'd like the President to give her as an acknowledgement of the contribution she'd made to the defeat of the Ori, amongst her other accomplishments. Unfortunately, when she mentioned this to Daniel and Jack she was quickly shouted down.

"Darling, I very much like the painting in the Lincoln room. Do you think the President will be sad to part with it?"

To begin with Daniel and Jack were bemused by the woman in front of them. "Huh?" was Jack's only reply and Daniel just looked at her. "Vala, what are you talking about?"

"The landscape painting, Daniel!"

"Yes, that part I understood, but why will the President be sad?" He began to take his glasses off, worrying about what his beloved was up to this time.

"Well, he promised me a gift. I chose the painting," she said so matter-of-factly that the two men could only look at each other and sigh.

"Uh, Vala, coming here was the present he promised," Jack started to explain, having realised that Vala was remembering the announcement from the President that had brought them all here.

"Here? For a day out and free food? No, he promised a gift that I would treasure forever!" Her raised voice was beginning to cause a few people to look at her. Sam and Grace were coming over to see what the problem was.

"For most people on the base this is something they will treasure forever," Daniel said, revealing the feelings of many people from the SGC who were in the room.

"Well, I don't accept that, Daniel. I expected proper treasure, not just memories." She stomped her foot, reminding them all of the kids at their worst.

Grace ran up to her favourite auntie, wanting to help her. "Auntie Vala, come see. Me and Jake have found treasure. C'mon." Grace pulled Vala away from the adults to the back of the room where the rest of the children were. There on the table were piles of gold coins, more than could be counted. They were highly decorated on one side with intricate designs and on the other they were emblazoned with the Presidential crest. Vala reached out and touched them reverently.

"See? Lots of treasure! Mr President said we could have much as we want." Grace gestured by waving her hands around and picked one up to hand it to her aunt. She passed others to her parents and Uncle Daniel.

"Uh, Gracie, this isn't treasure," Sam said quietly as she found the edge of the gold wrapper.

"It's even better, Mommy!" She quickly fiddled with the edge of one piece. "See? You can even eat this. It's amazing chocolate." She popped a piece into her mouth and broke her aunt's fascination with the treasure in front of her.

Sam smiled at her daughter's antics and then looked around for Jake. Having lost then found him so easily that afternoon she was still anxious to have him in view. As she turned around she began to worry at not being able to see him. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the pristine white table cloth on which Grace's treasure was piled twitch a little. Then a little foot shot out from beneath the table. Sam knelt down and took a look, the sight that met her putting a huge smile on her face. Jake was sitting next to the President's son with a massive pile of chocolate coins between them. Jake's face had chocolate all over it, although he wasn't nearly as covered as the other boy, who looked like he'd washed his face in melted chocolate. Sam coughed and got Jake's attention then indicated with her finger for him to come towards her.

As she stood her attention was taken back to Vala, who was now peeling back the gold covering and savouring the flavour of the rich chocolate.

"You know, Grace, you're absolutely right. It is even better," Vala said, grabbing a few of the pieces and putting them in her small bag. She smiled at Grace and took her hand; it was almost time to head back to the hotel and they needed to change before the evening's entertainment.

Vala swirled and addressed Daniel, who was standing with Jack, Sam and Jake. "Next time we save this world, Darling, I will expect a better present than a day out. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Daddy, Grace expects treasure, too!" The little girl nodded her head at her father and then looked up at Vala. The two grinned at each other and then, with a swish of their hair, the two left the room, making for the cars that had been ordered for the SG-1 party.

Sam took Jake by the hand and went to get Dan, who'd been put down for a nap in the Presidential nursery, while Jack found Cam, Carolyn and Teal'c. They were in the SUV and moving onto Pennsylvania Avenue before Jack remembered he'd forgotten to get officially dismissed by the President. Oh well, never mind.

After a quick snack in the hotel they all got ready to head back to The Mall for the evening's entertainment. Well, not all of them; Anne Dixon and Marci Wells had agreed to stay behind with all the children who weren't able to stay awake, so Dan was remaining with them. Sam was unsure whether Jake would be able to stay awake for the concert and fireworks but there was no way he was going to stay at the hotel.

SG-1 plus the Dixons, Simon Wells his eldest daughter Janet, Feretti and Reynolds started walking back to The Mall. Feretti had Jake on his back while Jack had Grace. Dixon's second youngest - number 5 - was the same age as Grace and was riding on her dad's back. Sam, Daniel, Teal'c and Simon had rugs in rucksacks and folded chairs on their backs, while Vala had a bag of drinks. The other kids meandered along beside the group.

The Mall area was teeming with people who were all dressed casually and waiting for the entertainment to start. The SGC group made their way through the security check points and walked up to the small hill around the Washington Monument. They found a space to set up their chairs in view of the large concert stage and with a perfect view down to the Lincoln Memorial and the site of the fireworks. The weather was stunning and the music was great. However, Grace was getting bored again. She asked to use the portable toilets several times just to amuse herself, much to the annoyance of whichever adult she asked. The Dixon clan were racing each other around the monument but eventually sat back down on the rugs to drink the drinks that Vala had carried down. She'd flatly refused to take them back up the hill to the hotel again.

The main event was finally ready to begin. People began to stand so they could get a good view and then the first bang was heard. Jake immediately leaped up into Teal'c's large arms and jumped every time there was a loud bang. Grace was so excited! She stood between Jack's legs and let out a small scream every time the fireworks went off. It had been a long time since any of the adults had been in DC for this event and they were all amazed at the sound and feel of the fireworks, which felt as if they were bouncing off their chests. The sight was spectacular to say the least. The colours were so bright and coming one on top of the other, and the music was still playing, although from where they were standing it was hard to hear anything over the noise of the fireworks. As the display continued there were gasps every so often from the people around them.

Jack leaned over to Sam and whispered – shouted - in her ear. "You know, Carter, when you've seen a sun explode, this is really all a bit amateurish."

Sam looked at him, smiled brightly, then slugged him in the stomach. Well, it would be hard for him to hear any response she made.

"Daddy, stop being silly! We is here to watch!" Grace shouted from below.

As the noise and colours continued Jack rested one hand on Grace's head and took Sam's hand with the other and squeezed it. He was relishing the time he was spending with his family.

Over a bit, Daniel took Vala's hand as her face lit up with glee as she watched the spectacle. She snuggled under his arm as they heard the national anthem playing in the distance. As the display came to its dramatic conclusion and the sound died down she tilted her head and looked at him. "Daniel, I want to marry you, but I need to see if we can have children first. Can you wait for me?"

He turned to look at her, surprised at the unexpected conversation.

"Forever," he whispered and kissed her. "I'll wait forever."

AN: Ok before you all go crazy at the ending it just kind of came from nowhere. I have planned another few stories in this series and if the muse hits it will follow this story. Thanks for reading, it has been fun to think about summer when it is so cold outside.