Epilogue:

"Colonel," Sam smiled discreetly, as she stepped onto the elevator.

"Carter," he returned, looking decidedly indiscreet and even leaning over for an audible sniff of her hair as she took her place beside him.

"Coffee," Daniel muttered, taking his leave of the pair of them to head down the hallway instead of getting onto the elevator.

As the doors closed the need for discretion disappeared, especially given that today was the day. They were on their way to talk to Hammond together. Jack was requesting his separation, and they both felt good about it. There had been a lot of uncomfortable conversation about whether or not he would resent her and if he would get bored after retirement, but those conversations weren't at the front of her mind right now.

Mindlessly, her lightness manifested in a faint hum and her grin broadened.

"Humming?" he asked knowingly.

"I am?" she asked, looking somewhat bashful at being caught.

"You are," he smirked.

"Sorry." But she wasn't sorry. Not really. It felt good to be happy for a change, as long as he was happy too. He looked happy, but one more check-in couldn't hurt before they told Hammond.

"What's his name?" Jack asked, and Sam took his teasing bait, turning to face him.

"Now why—" but her sass was interrupted.

"Humming," he persisted, taunting her with a rogue grin and a raised brow that had long since healed from his hockey injury.

"Jonathan." She turned away, facing the closed doors again.

"The proper name? I'll just assume that I'm in trouble."

"Aren't you always? But you probably don't need to worry since I'd say things are already pretty serious."

"Look, Carter, I don't mind being in trouble. I'm just happy you're happy about something other than... quarks." Jack twisted his hand, and seemed to ponder how he had pulled that word out of his ass. "Not bad with the quarks, eh?" he asked, still grinning when he looked down at her.

"Excellent, Sir."

The numbers ticked up, and it was only ten more floors until it was time to face the rest of their lives. Sam rubbed her palms on her BDUs, the nerves suddenly hitting her.

"You're absolutely sure you want to do this?" she asked, needing to hear it from him one more time.

Jack's fingers laced through hers and squeezed. Since their pretend foray into married life, they had been careful to keep their hands to themselves, but today was a special occasion.

"Positive," he leaned over and whispered.

"Am I allowed to kiss you again after today?" she asked.

"No way. Not until it's official. Your dad will find out. I just know it."

The elevator doors slid wide, shining a white light on the indiscretion of their clasped hands. Instinct had Sam pulling away, knowing that an airman could round that corner at any moment, but Jack held firm a moment longer, holding the doors open with his other hand.

"Are you sure?" he asked, demanding her attention.

"So sure," she smiled up at him. "You're right. It's nice to be happy about something other than quarks."

"Yes, it is, Major," he looked softly at her as if he not only loved her but as if he were proud of her. "Let's go do some paperwork."

It was the first time Jacob had been with both of his kids on Easter in years, he noted as he raised his hand to knock on Mark's door, and since his talk with George, he had been looking forward to it even more. There were loud voices bleeding through the windows from somewhere inside, and Jacob waited longer than normal. Knocking again, he waited a few more seconds before the door opened. Jack stood on the other side, obviously surprised, but not unhappy to see him.

"Jacob, fancy meeting you here."

"I could say the same to you. Anything I should know about before I talk to the others?" Jacob asked looking past Jack's shoulder to his family.

"I assume you talked to Hammond on your way in?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I did. I heard you're the proud owner of your last DD214."

"I'm sorry we couldn't tell you. We tried to 'call' you a few times, but we kept getting your answering service."

"I heard that too." Jacob appreciated that Jack had the good sense to try to apologize for keeping him out of the loop, but they had done enough waiting. He was pleased that he wasn't a reason that they had waited longer.

"I love her, Jacob," Jack assured him in a move so lacking in humor that Jacob nearly didn't recognize him.

"I know you do, son."

"Not yet, technically," Jack corrected. "The wedding is next month, if you can make it. Mark doesn't know. He thinks it's just a party thing for family, but it'll be the real deal, assuming you're okay with that... Sir."

"I think you know I am."

"Yeah, but... never hurts to ask."

"So, it's safe to assume you took that fishing trip?" Jacob asked with crossed arms and precocious grin.

"No, but somehow, I knew you'd ask," Jack answered waving an accusing finger at him. "December isn't really a great month for fishing. We're saving it for the honeymoon."

"That's what I like to hear. Even if it is a lie."

"We've given up the lying thing," Jack confessed. "We've gone cold turkey."

"Probably for the best. Neither one of you were very good at it."

AN: Thanks so much for reading! I don't usually go quite so AU with my stories, but this one seemed to work out that way. Hopefully you enjoyed this little break from reality and from canon reality. More works available by me for Startgate and Sam/Jack on Archive of our Own if you care to find me there.