The first drops of a cold October rain began to fall on the windshield just after Sam set off for home. "Figures," she muttered as she flicked on the wipers, peering into the darkness with a frown on her face. "The perfect end to a perfect day."

Not many people knew that one of the things that Sam hated to do was drive at night in the rain – a rare anomaly for a woman who once flew fighter planes in the Gulf War with nary a thought. She’d hated it ever since she was fifteen and her mother had been killed in a car accident. Granted, it hadn’t been dark, but it had been raining, and that had been one of the contributing factors to the accident. She’d never got behind the wheel of a car at night - or even been a passenger in a car – at night since without mentally crossing her fingers and sending up a quick prayer to whoever might be listening.

Thus, this was not her favourite way to end the day, happy as she was to be going home. It had been one of those days where absolutely nothing had gone right for her, and the harder she worked, the further away from her goal she seemed to get. She’d spent all her time that day working on the new design for the particle accelerator, trying to get it to operate as efficiently as possible, and Jack had spent most of his time coming into her, hassling her, wanting to know when it was going to be finished. He’d stopped after she’d threatened to throw the thing at him and see how it worked then.

It had been far from an idle threat and he knew it.

She’d put in another hour after that before finally admitting defeat. All she wanted to do right now was crawl into bed and sleep for a month, preferably with no dreams, no nightmares, and no reminders of a certain military facility.

A little comfort wasn’t too much to ask for, was it?

She pulled into the driveway with a sigh of relief, and ran up to the porch, looking out again at the rain as she did so. If anything, it was even heavier now than it had been when she left the mountain, and it didn’t show any signs of letting up any time soon. Shaking her hair, sending droplets of water flying all over the place, she let herself in the front door.

"You’re home."

She smiled, already feeling more relaxed. "Master of the obvious statement," she chided gently, hanging up her jacket before wandering over to the comfortable couch.

"Sorry." He was contrite, knowing from her appearance that she wasn’t in the best of moods. At times like this, he’d learned to keep his head down, say as little as possible, and follow her lead. "Rough day?"

Sam collapsed beside him, relaxing as his arms went around her. "Don’t ask."

"OK." He waited patiently.

She didn’t let him down. "There’s just always some reason to feel not good enough, you know? I hate the way he makes me feel like that." Her voice rose in frustration. "I’m putting enough pressure on myself trying to get that particle accelerator to work," she continued. "I’ve been working on it for weeks. Does he really think that I need him chasing me up?"

"That’s Jack."

She looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. "Are you taking his side Daniel?"

Daniel chuckled, knowing far better than that. "Not at all. All I’m saying is that Jack is Jack, and that’s the way he is, and he’s never going to change. Now, you can either accept that or..." Still smiling, he began trailing kisses down her neck in between his words. "…. You can complain about it all night and drive us both crazy."

Sam turned towards him, a smile now accompanying the raised eyebrow. "So I take it you have other plans for me?"

"Oh, I think I can come up with something…" Letting his voice trail off, he let his lips meet hers, loving how her lips felt under his, turned up in a smile, loving how her body felt in his arms.

When they pulled away from each other, she settled comfortably in the crook of his arm. "Well, you’re half right…."

"Only half?" There may or may not have been a pout on his face.

"Well, much as I need some distraction…" She trailed her fingers idly up and down his arm, "…All I really want to do right now is go upstairs, and fall asleep in my husband’s arms."

He took her by the hand and pulled her up. "I think that can be arranged."

They’d barely made it to the top of the stairs when there came the unmistakable sound of a door being opened. Their gazes met and they shook their heads, realising what had happened. They were proved right as a small blonde figure in pyjamas, rubbing her eyes and carrying her favourite stuffed rabbit, came towards them. "You woke me up," she said indignantly.

Smiling softly, Sam scooped her daughter up in her arms. "I’m sorry baby. I was just coming in to kiss you goodnight."

An adorable pout twisted the girl’s face. "Daddy gave me broccoli for dinner and he made me eat it all."

Sam bit back a laugh, aligning her face into suitable disgust as she turned to Daniel. "Oh, mean Daddy."

"I told her it was Mommy who did the shopping last." If he was going down, he was taking her with him.

Sam was about to say something, but was stopped by a plaintive question. "Can I sleep in your bed tonight?"

The adults exchanged a glance, knowing that one of their hard and fast rules was that she slept in her own bed, never theirs. Sam had long suspected that it was a rule Daniel broke on a regular basis when she wasn’t there, but she turned a blind eye to it. "You know that’s not allowed," she reminded her daughter, attempting a serious face, hating to say no to her.

"Oh please?" The word was long and drawn-out and Sam could feel her resolve weakening.

"Nicola…" The word was a warning, and the pout was back.

"Come on Sam…" She turned as Daniel spoke behind her. "Just this once can’t hurt…." Sam looked from one set of blue eyes to the other, reflecting once again that she couldn’t say no to two pairs of eyes like that. Trying had got her into more trouble than she cared to remember.

"OK then." She was rewarded by a smile from Daniel and a fierce hug from Nicola. She buried her head in her daughter’s blonde hair for a moment, letting the last vestiges of the tension of the day slip away from her.

The three of them were safely tucked up in bed, Nicola resting happily in the middle when Daniel reached over and put off the light. "I’m not sleepy," Nicola announced.

"Well, it’s way past your bedtime Missy, I suggest you get sleepy." Sam ruffled her hair in the darkness, the tone of her voice taking any sting out of her words.

Nicola hadn’t listened to Sam when she’d told her that she couldn’t sleep in their bed, and she didn’t listen to her now. She had other considerations on her mind. "Will you tell me a story Daddy?"

"OK, but just a short one."

In the darkness, Sam grinned, knowing that he couldn’t see her. Four years old and she’s got him wrapped around her little finger.

"What kind of story do you want?" Daniel continued.

"A true story."

"A true story, ok then. Once upon a time, there was a beautiful warrior named Samantha…"

They could almost see the smile on Nicola’s face. "I like this one…."

"Who’s telling this story?" Daniel tickled his daughter before responding, enjoying her shrieks of laughter. "Samantha was a warrior of great skill and cunning, able to manoeuvre complicated flying machines with the greatest of ease. She was also beautiful, with eyes as blue as the bluest sky, and hair the colour of sunshine. Not only was she beautiful, but she was also clever…. one of the finest scientists in the kingdom. It was her warrior’s skill and her intelligence that involved her in the biggest adventure of her life…."

"What about Daniel?"

"That’s a very good question," Sam spoke up, not even making an effort to hide the smile in her voice.

"Ah yes, Daniel. Well, Daniel was a scholar…. quite an intelligent chap, having devoted his life to learning and languages… he was tall and skinny, with glasses and floppy hair, and he was made fun of by all his friends for his ideas…."

"That’s not what Daniel was like! Tell him Mommy!"

What could Sam do but oblige? "Daniel was a man of great learning and knowledge, which he used to help his friends, and shared with them whenever he could. He was kind and compassionate and loyal, putting the needs of his friends ahead of his own needs. He was sweet and funny, making the warrior Samantha laugh when she was sad, and backing her up when she disagreed with their leader. He had eyes that sparkled when he laughed, eyes that gave away his every thought….and he was totally unaware of the effect that he had on the princesses of the kingdom."

"That’s more like it."

Satisfied that their audience was happy, Daniel took back up the tale again. "The warrior Samantha and the scholar Daniel, due to their accomplishments, were chosen to take part in the study of a great and ancient artefact, which allowed people to travel great distances in the blink of an eye. They, and a team of scientists figured out how to work the device, and it was decided that a team should use it and see where they went to."

"But in a decision that some disagreed with, the warrior Samantha was not chosen to go with them, and she had to stay behind," Sam put in.

"That’s not fair!"

"Samantha agreed with you." Daniel rode over the indignation of his daughter. "But she could do nothing about it. When Daniel and the others got to the other side, they found a people much like their own, but who spoke a different language which he had to work hard to figure out. Daniel befriended the people there, and even married one of them, the princess Sha’re."

"I don’t like her!" In the darkness, both Daniel and Sam could imagine Nicola’s lower lip sticking out.

"Now sweetheart, that’s not nice." Samantha stuck up for the storyteller. "Let your dad finish."

"Sorry Daddy."

"But there were evil al-"

"Daniel!"

"Sorry….evil men, who wished to stop Daniel and his friends from using the device, and they attacked them. But Daniel and the princess Sha’re organised the people of the village to rebel against these men and saved Daniel’s friends. There was great celebration and feasting, and when his friends went back home, Daniel decided to stay. He lived there for a year while Samantha and her friends studied the device, trying to find out how it worked. After a year, the bad men who Daniel and his friends had defeated tried to attack his old home, and Daniel’s friends, including the great warrior O’Neill and Samantha, went to find Daniel, hoping he could help them."

"Samantha had heard a lot about this Daniel," Sam continued. "But she’d never met him. When she did, she was struck by how handsome and intelligent he was, and she fell in love with him at first sight. But he was deeply in love with the princess Sha’re."

"Then disaster struck." Daniel’s voice became sombre. "The evil men came back, and stole the princess, and her brother. Daniel was devastated, and vowed to find her. He went back home with Samantha and O’Neill and travelled far and wide searching for his lost love."

"They had many great adventures, and came back with many stories to tell. And in time, Samantha was able to forget her romantic feelings for Daniel, and he became one of her best friends."

"For two years, Daniel searched for Sha’re, grateful that he had friends like Samantha and O’Neill, and their new friend Teal’c, who they had met on their travels. There were times when Daniel despaired of ever finding Sha’re, but always, Samantha was there ready to listen to him and talk to him, and cheer him up if he was unhappy."

"Did they ever find Sha’re?"

"Yes, they did. But she had been hurt by the evil men, and made to do their bidding. Under their orders, she tried to kill Daniel, but she was killed by one of his friends."

"Was Daniel very sad?"

"He was devastated. But before she died, Sha’re was able to give him a message. She told him that he had to go on with his life, that he had to keep travelling through the device, and that she would always love him. It took a long time for Daniel to come to terms with her death, but he knew that he had his good friends there when he needed them." Daniel paused as Nicola yawned loudly. "Will I finish this tomorrow night?"

"No!" The answer was loud and immediate. "I want to hear the happy ending!"

"Alright then….well, Samantha was there to comfort Daniel through the pain of his wife’s death. And in time, he began to realise that he was falling in love with her. But he was afraid that he would never be worthy of the love of such a woman, and he kept silent."

"And Samantha, afraid that he still missed his wife, tried to forget that she was in love with him too, and watched as other women tried to get his attention."

"While Daniel watched as other men fell under Samantha’s spell, not interfering for fear of ruining any chance she had at happiness. He even kept quiet when it looked as if she were going to fall in love with the warrior O’Neill." There was a humorous edge to Daniel’s words.

"But while she cared for O’Neill, and he for her, her heart was forever Daniel’s," Sam refuted quietly.

There was silence for a second as the three reflected on the tale thus far. Nicole was the first one to speak. "Boy they were stupid."

Her parents erupted in laughter. "Out of the mouths of babes,." observed Daniel.

When Sam got her giggles under control, she went on with the story. "The warrior O’Neill eventually fell in love with someone else, a good friend of both Samantha and Daniel’s. Her name was Janet, and she was a medicine woman of great power. They got married, and since they both knew that Samantha and Daniel were in love, but wouldn’t admit it, they worked magic on the day of the ceremony."

"Using great skill, trickery, and bribery, they ensured that Samantha would catch the magical bouquet, which ensured that she would be the next woman to marry. Then, using the same spells, they ensured that Daniel caught the garter, which meant that he would be the next man to marry. When this happened, they ordered that Daniel and Samantha dance together, telling them that it was a tradition, but in reality, it was the final stage of their spell. They knew that if Daniel and Samantha danced with all this magic around them that they would admit their feelings and stay together forever."

"Did it work?"

"It sure did." Once again, Sam ruffled her daughter’s hair. "When Samantha danced with Daniel that night, she knew that she never wanted to leave him again."

"And he knew," Daniel’s hand found Sam’s in the darkness and he squeezed tightly, "When he was holding her, that she was the only woman that he would ever love."

"They danced together for the rest of the night," Sam recounted, "Long after everyone else had gone home. And the next day, it was like they’d been a couple for a hundred years."

"A year later, they got married. And a year after that, all their dreams came true when they had a little girl. She had blonde hair like her mother, and blue eyes like her father, and everyone said that she was a perfect mixture of both of them."

"What was her name?" From the sound of her voice, sleep was only an instant away.

"Her name was Nicola, silly," Daniel told her. "And they all lived happily ever after."

Nicola smiled, burrowing deeper under the covers. "I love that story," she mumbled.

Sam rested her chin on the top of Nicola’s head, stroking her hair gently. "I know Angel," she told her. "You go to sleep now."

"’Kay….love you Mommy…Daddy…."

They stayed silent until her breathing became deep and even. "I love that story too," Sam murmured quietly when she was sure she wouldn’t wake her.

"I know you do." Daniel moved closer to them, wrapping his arms around them both. "Are you ok?"

There was a look of deep contentment on Sam’s face as one hair moved through Nicola’s hair while the other ran up and down Daniel’s arm. "I’m fine Daniel."

She could sense his scepticism in the darkened room, knew how worried he’d been about her when she came home that day. "Are you sure? I don’t think that this is quite the evening you wanted…."

Sam closed her eyes, settling herself to join her daughter in slumber. "It was exactly what I needed," she told him, in a tone that brooked no argument. Lying there, with her arms around one angel, in the arms of another, she knew that she’d found all the comfort she needed.