Here it is. This is the last chapter. I'm sorry it's taken a long time to write. I always struggle with how to end my stories. I prefer shorter stories or one shots, but this one was fun to write.

Jack's meeting with the brass ended at noon. He now had plenty of time to go shopping for something very important. He wished he had one of his friends to help him make the right decision, but he knew that this would be a much better place to find the perfect ring than in Colorado Springs. He spent hours hopping from one ring shop to the next. It was nearly closing time for most stores when he finally found the right one. He hoped he guessed her ring size correctly. It shouldn't be too difficult to have it sized if it wasn't right.

Jack got to the hotel after 9, checked on his pilot, and went to his room to call Sam. He secretly hoped the machine would pick up, but it didn't.

"Hello?"

"Hey!"

"S…Jack!" She caught herself before finishing his honorific.

Jack loved the sound of his name coming from her mouth, even through the phone. "Whatcha doin?"

"I'm just reading an article on space radar. It seems they've actually made some progress to improve the distance."

"Sounds fascinating!"

"Yeah, well, it's something." The sarcasm leached through the phone.

"Do you think they've stolen any of our tech?" He asked.

"It's hard to tell. I think they would have been able to make a bigger leap than what this seems to indicate. Maybe they're just holding back so they didn't look as crazy as they have in the past."

"Oh, you're talking about how the aliens must have had a hand in our advancement to our first space program."

She giggled. "You still believe humans were able to make those advancements on their own?"

He knew she was just teasing him. "Of course I do! I've met a lot of smart people. One in particular crosses my mind and she didn't have any alien influence when she figured out a bunch of sciency stuff!"

"Don't let Daniel hear you say that."

"Daniel has a point with some of the claims from civilizations knowing about spaceships, but I doubt any activity has happened in a very long time! Earth has been untouched for centuries." They had had this discussion before. The whole group has been over the theories of ancient aliens too many times to count, especially for Jack.

"So, where are you?"

"I'm still in D.C. I'll leave first thing in the morning, though."

"How did everything go?"

"Surprisingly well, but I don't want to get into it right now. I want to save it for when I get back."

"Fair enough."

"Is it dark there, yet?"

"Not totally. Why?"

"I was just wondering if you could see any stars. I've got my hotel room window open and I can't help but look to the sky right now."

"There are a few stars right now."

"Can you see Jupiter?"

"Um, I'll try." She was impressed that he could point out many stars with his naked eye. She had known this about him since she first met him. He could even find Earth from Abydos. Sam had to walk around to the other side of the house and pull open her curtains. "I can barely make it out. It's still a little light out, but I'm sure that's it. Why Jupiter?"

"Because that's my favorite."

"Really? What's so special about Jupiter?"

"I happened to be floating to my death towards Jupiter when I realized something."

She remembered that all too vividly. Sam was never so scared of losing Jack. They were almost too late. "Hmm. And what would that be?"

"Oh, just that I was madly in love with you." His voice was low and sultry.

She gasped. "What?"

"I knew that I had feelings for you for quite some time before that, but I didn't know just how deep they ran until I was floating out there with Teal'C. Whenever I see Jupiter, I think of you, Sam."

"Jack, I don't know what to say!" In spite of herself, his declaration made her cry. It was the most romantic thing she'd ever heard.

"Don't worry! I'll be home tomorrow and I'm sure you'll have something figured out by then." He could hear her smile through the phone. "I love you, Sam."

"I love you, Jack."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"I can't wait," she said.

They hung up. Jack knew he was going to have a difficult time sleeping tonight.

"Wooohooo! This is amazing, Sir!"

Jack laughed knowing the exhilarating feeling that comes from your first time out of the atmosphere. He'd never aspired to be an astronaut, but it was pretty amazing. "I had to pull a lot of strings to make this happen, you know. It turns out they don't like joy rides. I guess it makes the other countries jittery." Few of the X pilots had actually been allowed to go this altitude. "How about a quick trip around the moon?"

"Seriously?"

"You bet! I kinda like looking at it, too." Jack flew toward the moon but slowed down as they took the slingshot around it. Neither of them spoke while they took in the majesty of their own celestial body. Jack got just close enough for them to see the first moon-landing module. The Eagle had changed a bit after years of being there. The flag that was placed there was now bleached white by the sun, but it didn't diminish the feeling of pride for their country or for all the men and women who made this possible.

A few hours later they were back on Earth. "General, I'll never be able to tell you how thrilled I am for this opportunity! Thank you!"

"You're welcome. Just make sure you don't tell anyone. We had permission, but I bet it would make more than one person upset if word got out. Thank you for your time. Maybe I'll ask for you if I ever need a ride again." Jack walked away and let him finish his post flight checks. He pulled out his cell phone. "Walter, is SG1 still around?" It had taken Walter a few times to know which SG1 the General was referring to. There was still an SG1 team that went on the most important missions, but pretty much everyone held the original SG1 team in the highest respect. They were still talked about, especially all their missions. Out of all the Stargate teams SG1 is the only team to have all it's original members still alive. Even Daniel's many attempts to become something besides mortal didn't stop him from coming home eventually.

"Yes, Sir, but Teal'C is scheduled to return to Chulac in 30 minutes."

"Good, ask Teal'C to wait a couple hours, please. And call in Daniel and Colonel Carter. In fact, don't let anyone leave. Have all SG teams in the gate room in an hour."

"Yes, Sir. What about the teams currently off-world?"

"Leave them be, I guess. Are any scheduled to make contact or return in an hour?"

"Just one, sir. SG13 is scheduled to check in at 1130."

"See if you can contact them now. I'm on my way."

"Yes, General."

He didn't bother changing from his flight suit until he walked into his private quarters in Cheyenne Mountain. He checked and double-checked his uniform to make sure it was perfect. It wasn't something he did every time even though he should. His phone rang just as he finished buffing his shoes.

"Everyone is waiting for you in the gate room, sir."

"Thank you, Walter. I'll be right there."

"Attention!" someone yelled. Immediately everyone stood at perfect attention. It was a formality. Someone clearly knew something was up. They didn't have to do this simply because Jack walked in. They'd spend all day popping up and down and that was just inefficient. If Jack had it his way none of them would ever salute him, but even Jack knew that he had to keep up appearances. You never knew when someone would drop by unannounced.

Jack stopped half way up the ramp and stood in front of the Stargate with its Iris closed. The room was full to capacity. In the years since the program started they had grown from 9 teams to 25. Some had more than 4 members but those were mostly research teams with minimal escorts. It just so happened that only a quarter of their teams were off world at the moment.

"At ease." He took a deep breath and located Sam standing next to Daniel and Teal'C. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming in. I don't want to alarm anyone. Nothing is the matter. I just thought you'd all like to be here when I made my next announcement. Colonel Carter, could you come here, please?"

Showing the confusion on her face she made her way through the crowd and stood next to him.

"I need to explain a few things first. My team and I recently returned from a very important mission. We were able to secure access to an enormous amount naquadah, enough to make our lives a lot easier for a very long time. Soon our teams will begin missions to set up the necessary equipment in order to have long-term facilities for extraction." He paused and glanced over to Sam. "It won't take long before you hear what I'm about to tell you. I feel it's only necessary to clear the air before it becomes common knowledge and bad rumors. I was ordered to make sure this mission was successful. The people we encountered had an unusual custom that Colonel Carter and I had to endure in order to fulfill this mission. Before I go on, however, let it be known that none of you are ever authorized to participate in that custom for any reason! If anyone going to this world is even asked to do it all alliances are off and we will eliminate any obstacles in the way of acquiring the naquadah. Is this clear?"

"Yes, Sir!" the room boomed.

Jack looked at Sam again. She gave him a weird smirk knowing what he was going to say and showing she knew it was a necessary evil. "Now, Colonel Carter was put in a dangerous situation while we were there. The only way to remove the danger was for me to "claim" her. We both knew our orders so we decided to engage in the ritual they demanded of us. In other words, we had to have sex in front of the entire village." He let the words register in their minds. They showed obvious looks of shock. Some of them even smiled. Jack was sure he saw a couple of elbows prodding a neighbor. "I have already spoken to Homeworld security about what happened. They are all in agreement that what we had to do was necessary." Jack heard Sam let out a breath of relief. "There will be no repercussions." He mostly said it for her benefit, but they all needed to know that their General and his friends were not going to be in any trouble.

"Lastly, I wanted everyone here to witness this." With some difficulty from his knee Jack knelt down on the ramp trying to avoid the uncomfortable surface. He looked up to Sam who was staring down at him surprised! He pulled the little box from his pocket. "Samantha Carter, will you make me the happiest man in the universe and be my wife?"

Sam covered her mouth with both hands trying to hide the fact that her mouth was hanging wide open. She looked into Jack's eyes and saw he was starting to tear up.

"Don't worry," he said, "they said it was ok."

Her eyes widened. "Yes!" was all she could say! Sam reached out and helped pull him up knowing he was uncomfortable. As soon as he was up he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her fiercely! The room erupted into cheers! It seemed to take a while for them to quiet down. They both pulled apart and turned to see everyone celebrating their happiness.

Jack took her hand and put the ring on her finger. They all exploded again! Jack couldn't help himself and kissed her once more. "I love you," he said.

"I love you. They really said it was ok?" Sam and Jack were holding each other. They both had to shout.

"Yes, well, actually we're technically already married. But I wanted to make it real. I want to do it right."

Sam couldn't believe what was happening. She finally had what had been forbidden for a long time. She kissed Jack again.

He smiled and said, "Cake for everyone in the commissary!" The room slowly started emptying out. Some came up and congratulated them. Daniel and Teal'C gave them both big hugs. They were the last to leave the gate room.

Finally the four of them sat around a table with empty plates. "I could have sworn I saw more than one person hand over wads of cash to someone," Jack said.

"I told you," Daniel said. "The pool has been going on for at least 6 years. Some people got big payouts today."

"What?" Sam asked embarrassed.

"Yeah, no one believed me. I knew nothing had happened yet. They thought I had been keeping your secret."

"I, too, tried to tell them that you had done nothing inappropriate," Teal'C chimed in.

"But Teal'C, you got the biggest payout of them all."

"I cannot help it if certain information mysteriously started spreading around."

"You fed their curiosities, didn't you?" Jack asked.

"I merely let them believe what they wanted. Do not worry, O'Neill, I will give you all the money for your wedding. Consider it my gift to you both." Teal'C stood up. "It is time for me to return to Chulac. Congratulations." With that he bowed and left the commissary.

"Well, I actually have some work to do. I'll see you guys later."

"Bye Daniel," Sam said. She watched him leave. "We're technically already married?"

"Yes, thanks to Daniel and Sha're. They recognized it as a ceremony and we're clear. They can't come after us. Hammond was our biggest supporter."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Well, now what?"

"Now, we plan a real wedding," he said taking her hand.

She was slightly uncomfortable. Not only was her boss holding her hand in public, but he'd been calling her Sam since his proposal. It would take some getting used to. "Is that what you want?"

"Actually, it is. Do you want one?"

"You know, I've started planning 2 weddings without any results. It's a struggle for me. I do feel a little burned out just thinking of it, but on the other hand I still want it."

"Are you sure? I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to do."

She looked into his eyes making sure he knew her answer was the truth. "Yes, Jack, I do. I don't know if you realize this, but with both Jonah and Pete I needed a long time to decide to marry them. I needed that time to convince myself that nothing better was going to happen. I've known I wanted to marry you for a long, long time. I want to be with you."

"Sam, if you keep talking like that I'm gonna have to drag you out of here."

She smiled. "Then what are you waiting for?"