Standing in the middle of the forest with a fresh cut tree, it started to snow.

"You know, if they don't stop kissing and come up for air soon, there will be no wedding." Jack leaned down to whisper into Sam's ear.

"I fondly remember there was a lot of kissing involved after you proposed to me." She teased him.

"Yeah, I remember that. And much more." and he added a little louder "Oh for crying out loud, would you two stop so we can finally congratulate you!"

He wondered if it was possible that Ben just blushed at this moment, but his thoughts were interrupted by Cassie's giggle. The newly engaged turned around and Jack and Sam came to congratulate them. Sam hugged Ben as strong as possible with little Janet in between and Jack stepped forward to kiss Cassie on her cheek. His arms went around her in a fatherly hug.

"Congratulations Cassie! You've got yourself a great partner."

"Thanks Dad, this means a lot to me." But there was no time to talk more as Sam made her way over to hug Cassie as well.

Jack walked over to Ben, giving him a similar hug.

"So, welcome to the family, I think! Good job, she really didn't expect it."

"Thank you, Jack! Your approval means a lot to me. And I promise to watch out for her and try everything within my power to make her happy every single day!"

"That's all I want for her." and a little louder for everyone to hear, he said "Why don't we pack the tree and get home? So you girls can decorate it and us boys can go grocery shopping. Unless you want to stay with your fiancé, Ben!? I would understand, and I'm fairly capable of grocery shopping on my own."

Ben's gaze linked with Cassie's and they both smiled.

"No, I think we're good. We can put the lights in the tree together and leave the girls with the decoration. They're better with this anyway."

He knew Cassie was looking forward to spending some time with Sam, and doing this together was a perfect opportunity.

They agreed to place the tree on the left side of the room, across the fireplace. So that they don't have to worry if they want to start a fire. The men put the lights in the tree and headed to the store.

Cassie was cuddling Janet while Sam searched for the Christmas boxes in the garage. The sight she was greeted with as she returned warmed her heart.

Cassie was lying on the couch, Janet carefully put to sleep on her chest. Carefully not to wake her up Sam sat down at the end of Cassie's feet.

"You totally didn't expect it, hm?" She asked her.

"You knew?" Cassie replied a bit shocked.

"Yes. I mean, I knew that he planned to propose, but not that he'd do it today. He talked to Jack yesterday and asked for his blessing. Jack told me when he came to bed yesterday. I think your boyfriend quite impressed him. He likes him, that much I can tell."

"Wow, I knew that Ben is fond of traditions, but I never expected him to ask Dad."

"But you really want this, right? You didn't say 'yes' just because he asked, but because you want to marry him, right?"

Cassie tried to sit up a bit straighter, as much as possible with a sleeping baby on your chest, to look Sam in the eyes.

"Of course I want to marry him. I really love him, I can't imagine my life without him. Please, don't worry. I would have said 'no' if I'd felt like that."

"Good!" Sam replied "I just wanted to make sure that's what you really want."

"Sam?"

"Yes, Cassie?"

"Would you like to be my maid of honor?"

"I'd love to, Cass. You sure you don't want any of your girlfriends to do this?"

"Sam, when I got here first you were the one to carry me down in that bunker and stayed with me, when it was Janet that adopted me I was a bit sad, but she was an amazing Mom, I couldn't have wished for a better one. I thought I wouldn't get to see you again, but you stayed in my life as well. As much as Janet thought about you as an aunt to me, in truth you were more like a big sister. I could tell you and discuss everything with you. And when Janet died, you were the one to jump right in and take over her job. I always felt safe with you and with you and Jack, and now little Janet it feels like a real family. The whole package. I want no one else beside me but you, because you are a constant in my life."

Sam couldn't hide her tears and didn't want to. She was sure her mixed up hormones added to her reaction, but she was overwhelmed by the young woman's declaration. Tears openly streamed down her face and she got up to sit as close to Cassie as possible, despite the close space and the sleeping Janet. She hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'd be honored to stand beside you and be your maid of honor. I promise to try everything to ever be there for you when you need me. I'll always be by your side. I love you so much, honey!"

"I love you too, Sam. Thank you."

They needed a moment after this emotional conversation, but Cassie decided it was time to decorate the tree, otherwise the boys would be back and they hadn't even lifted a finger.

"Do you think there's a safe way for me to get up and keep Janet sleeping? "

Sam smiled and reached for her daughter.

"Let me take her. As soon as she's asleep nothing could wake her. Thankfully she sleeps like a stone."

She put her in the crib and joined Cassie at the tree.

I took the men nearly two hours before they made it back home. Both cursing while they carried everything inside.

"People are crazy the last days before Christmas!" Jack muttered. "I'm just glad we got everything. No one can make me leave the house again until long after Christmas."

In the mood of teasing Jack, Sam said "You got more diapers, didn't you?" knowing fully well that they had enough to last them weeks. The look on Jack's face was priceless. Was it horror? Was it surprise? Was ist defeat? Or was it everything at once?

Sam felt bad and couldn't stand teasing him further.

"Don't worry, I've got that covered. We have enough of everything to last a few weeks."

"You got me there. Don't do this to me again. You know I'm not the youngest anymore. Please try to don't scare me to death."

"I promise that I'll try. So why don't you put everything away and come to have a look at the tree. Afterwards I'll start with dinner."

The women had done a great job. They didn't just embellish the tree. They also put a lot of Christmas stuff up around the house. Most of it Jack couldn't even name, nor did he want to. The house looked great. Cozy and warm.

Ben got up to help Sam cook dinner while Cassie snuggled up to Jack, who had placed Janet now on his chest.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay with this? I mean, really ok, not just saying it because you want me to be happy?"

"When have I ever done that?"

She just shot him a look, remembering clearly that he hadn't said a word about Pete because he assumed Sam was happy.

"Okay, okay, I got it. But that wasn't about you. Or even about Sam. This was me, messing up my life again... I haven't been that honest when it comes down to myself. I won't do this again. And I do like Ben. He's a great guy and I'm not blind. You both look so happy together. Honestly happy. And that's all I want for you. I'd say if I thought you would make a mistake. "

"That's good to know. So, then I can ask you to walk me down the aisle, huh? Would you? I mean, Dads do this for their daughter, right? Would you walk me?"

"I'd love to! I'm honored and I can't think of something I'd like more."

"Thank you. It means a lot to me." She said and was about to place her head on Jack's shoulder as the phone started ringing. "Stay, I'll go and get it." She told him, because he had that sleeping baby attached to him.

"Fraiser!" She greeted the caller. "Oh, hi Cam. Sam's cooking, but I can give you Jack. Wait a minute."

She walked back to give Jack the phone. He had heard her talking and knew exactly who was on the other end.

"Mitchell! Please don't tell me SG-1 has to go off world. We are looking forward to celebrating Christmas with you guys."

"Hello General. No, that's not the reason I'm calling."

"Good. And for God's sake stop calling me General. I'm retired and my name is Jack. What can I do for you?"

"I wondered if it was okay for me to bring someone with me tomorrow. I just wanted to check first."

"A girlfriend?"

"If you can call her that, yes I want to bring a girlfriend."

"Don't you think we could scare her away. I mean, Carter's family is going to be here, you guys, Cassie and her fiancé. Wouldn't that be a bit much for some stranger?"

"For a stranger maybe. So I guess I'm lucky that she knows most of you already. Did you say fiancé?"

"Don't change the subject. You'll find out soon enough. Now I'm confused, Cam."

"I would like to bring Carolyn along if that's okay with you all."

"The Doc.? Way to go, Cameron! Of course you can bring her. She's not going to run, she has to put up with us on a regular basis, so I'm sure she can handle a few more Carters."

"Thank you, Jack! See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

Cassie listened to the conversation but was only able to hear Jack's responses. So she tried putting the pieces together.

"Cam is bringing Carolyn for our Christmas dinner?"

"Who would have thought, huh?"

"Oh they are a beautiful couple for sure. And one person more won't make any difference."

"No. I'm going to tell Sam. Can I bring you something from the kitchen while I'm up?"

"Water would be great, thanks." She said and leaned back.

Sam and Ben were busy in the kitchen. She enjoyed cooking with him. Ben chopped the ingredients for the salad and Sam was peeling potatoes. The chicken was already in the oven.

"That's nice." She said to no one directly.

"We cooked together a lot. My family, that is. The oldest of us did this together on weekdays to have dinner ready when our parents got home from work. Once in a while we took one of the younger siblings to help us, to teach them how to cook."

"I can imagine that there must have been a lot of chaos with so many kids."

He laughed. "Yes it was. But I wouldn't treat it for anything in the world. As chaotic as it was, so lovely was it. We're all very close to each other. I don't want it to sound like our parents were never there for us. They were. The whole weekend belonged to the family. We tried to do as much together on the weekends as possible. I mean, once in a while some of us were out to meet friends, but if we wanted to we could always join our parents for activities. They had to work to make sure we could be properly fed, but I'm glad to say that I grew up in a very loving household."

"That's great! After my mom died my family practically fell apart. My Dad searched for the fault by himself, and it didn't help that my brother blamed him for her death. I tried to mediate between them but that didn't work. We moved from one base to the next. Later on my Dad and Mark made up and I'm glad that for the last few years they got along great. I can't imagine having so many siblings but I think putting up with my team is like having a bunch of brothers."

"I'm very curious to meet them tomorrow. Cassandra had told me much about them. They're like family to her too."

"They are, most of us were present when we found her. I don't know how much Cassie has told you about the circumstances why she's here..."

"Not much, she only said she was adopted but the rest is classified."

"That's true. Let's just say we found and rescued her. And since then we're all quite attached to her."

Jack chose this moment to join them.

"That smells great already! Sorry to interrupt. Tomorrow we need room for one more guest, I told Cam that's okay. It is okay, right?"

"One guest more or less... Doesn't really matter. Cam is bringing someone?"

"It gets better..." he tried to let her guess.

"Better?"

"We do know her."

"Her? He's bringing a girlfriend?"

"Yeah, who did you think he's bringing?"

"Never mind. Who's he bringing?"

"The Doc!"

"The Doc? He's with Carolyn?"

"Apparently!"

"That's nothing I had expected, but I guess I'm off base for too long already. It's great, she's perfect for Cam." Sam answered, never stopped slicing the potatoes, putting them on the stove and continued to make the dressing while Ben was checking for the chicken.

Jack opened the fridge to get the water for Cassie and steal a piece of cucumber, all while balancing his daughter against his chest. That got him a slap in his hand from Sam.

"Get out and keep Cassie company. Dinner isn't ready until half an hour. You could let the dog out in the meantime."

He saluted with the hand that was not holding his baby, waving at Sam. He opened the backdoor so Lucky could rush outside.

During dinner they discussed the plan for tomorrow. Mark and the family would stop at the hotel first, coming over around noon. That would give them enough time to meet the latest addition to the family and bond with Janet. And SG-1 would come in the afternoon. Cassie offered to help in the kitchen, prepping dinner for the evening.

They turned in not long after dinner. As always Sam and Jack loved the time before they actually went to sleep. Talking over the day.

"Cassie asked me to walk her down the aisle." He stated, still proud of it.

"That means a lot to her. She asked me to be her maid of honor. We had an emotional talk as well. I'm so happy for her. After that debacle with her last boyfriend I'm so relieved that she found Ben."

"Me too. What are we going to do with Janet? We'll be pretty occupied at the wedding."

"She has all of the guys gladly looking after her. SG-1 can manage that. Did she say when they want to get married?"

"No, I just assumed it would be in summer. Enough time to plan everything."

"We'll have to sponsor them, you know. Yes, they work next to their studies and gain money, but I bet they don't have enough for a big wedding. She should be able to get what she wants for that day." Sam said.

Not sure how that comment was meant, Jack had to ask. "Do you regret not having had a big fancy wedding? We still can do it, if that's what you want."

"Oh no, Jack. No! We had a perfect wedding. Everyone dear to us was there. I don't need a big fancy wedding. I just thought that maybe Cassie would want to invite a few more people, and she shouldn't have to not invite someone who's important to her because of the lack of money."

"I'll make sure of that. When she came here and stayed with Janet I opened up a bank account for her. I regularly put money on it so she wouldn't have to worry about college. With Janet's death, sadly she has enough money to get her through college, but she shouldn't use the rest of it for the wedding."

"I didn't know that."

"No one does. I will do the same for Janet as soon as I have the chance to go to the bank."

"You're a good father, Jack O'Neill. I love you."

"Good thing I love you too, Mrs. O'Neill!"

Down in the basement Cassie and Ben were similarly cuddled up in bed, talking.

"Sam told me you asked Dad for his blessing?"

It was more a statement than a question, but it got Ben to talk about it.

"Yes, I wanted to do this right, Cassie. And if I hadn't gotten his approval I would have taken my time to convince them that I'm a good guy. And that they can trust me with this daughter. As much as I got to know about Jack, we're very similar in a lot of ways. Sometimes that can be difficult, but we got along great from the start."

"I'm glad that it's like this. I can't wait to officially make you a part of this family." She turned on her side and put her hand up to support her head while she was watching Ben. "Any idea when you want to do this?"

He smiled "When you ask me I'd say as soon as possible. But this is the only time I plan on doing it, so I would say this summer would be perfect. We have enough time to plan the wedding, we have vacation in summer and Sam shouldn't be that pregnant if they start trying for baby number two anytime soon."

That made Cassie laugh wholeheartedly. Only a man that grew up with his mother pregnant a lot of the time would think about something like this while planning his wedding.

"Summer it is! I can't wait to be your wife." She said, leaning down to kiss him with passion.

"Me neither. But I like the thought of calling you my fiancé."