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Life Begins at Thirty-Six
Warnings: A little angst. A little cheesy!
Author's Notes: Written on July 8th - Daniel's birthday! Thanks to Mel, (who has agreed to take the blame if y'all hate this so send flames to her!) and all the SD Rebs. And Daniel, for being yummy.
Feedback: Yes please! Feed me back!
/Wow, another year. These things come around so quickly these days./
Daniel was sitting on his sofa, cup of coffee in hand, muted television showing the same documentary on Ancient Egypt that he'd seen last month, and Bon Jovi's album, Crossroads, floating out from the stereo. His birthday dinner, lasagne for one, had to be zapped for another three minutes before reaching that cardboard-esque texture associated with most TV dinners. He didn't even notice the texture anymore.
He was thirty-six years old. He had a great job, and some of the best friends anyone could ever have. He'd had a beautiful wife, and although she was no longer alive, he cherished the year they'd had together on Abydos. His grandfather, Nick, was living thousands of light-years away with giant aliens of mist. His parents had died many years ago. The woman he loved was unreachable.
When did he start thinking so negatively?
When he realised that, on his thirty-sixth birthday, he was still alone.
He didn't mean literally. Since joining the SGC his birthday was usually spent at O'Malleys with the rest of SG-1, General Hammond and Janet Fraiser, but this year they'd just gotten back from three weeks stuck in a Goa'uld "pleasure-palace" and Daniel figured that everyone had either forgotten, or they'd just had enough of each other. He didn't mind which - after three weeks of coming down from a narcotic-like addiction whilst living in each others pockets, he was rather glad of the privacy.
SG-1 were his best friends, his family, and of course he loved them all. But friendship, no matter how deep, couldn't really replace having that one special person in your life. Although that one special person was in his life, just not in the way he wanted her. And that was the killer. If anybody had heard him saying that the woman he loved was unreachable, they would have thought he was talking about Sha'uri.
They would have thought wrong.
He did love Sha'uri, but he'd lost her a long time ago. The person who had claimed his heart now was always nearby, frequently by his side. So near yet so far.
The beep from the microwave was drowned by the knock on the door.
Daniel opened the door to a Chinese take-out, a bottle of champagne and a smiling, gift-bearing best friend.
"Hey Daniel."
"Sam! Come in!" Daniel took the offered take-out and then shut the door behind Sam. She put the bottle down and held the present out to Daniel.
"Happy Birthday Daniel!" In turn, Daniel put down the take-out and took the present in amazement. He looked down at it, then stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Sam in a tight hug, which she returned immediately.
"Thank you, Sam." She chuckled lightly.
"You don't even know what it is yet!" Daniel suddenly realised what he was doing and stepped back, slightly embarrassed.
"Sorry, I was just, er, surprised. Come through." As he led the way to the kitchen, Sam continued to talk.
"I brought your favourite - Chinese. Hope you haven't eaten!" The comment brought Daniel's attention to the smell of the lasagne that was wafting through the apartment and he answered with a definite 'no'. He decided to set the dining room table for once, and left Sam to sort the food out.
When Sam started to bring the food through, Daniel saw her visibly catch her breath in the doorway. All he'd done was light some candles, which had stood in the middle of the table forever, and grab the small vase of artificial flowers from the mantle, but Sam seemed to like the effect. A large smile filled her face and Daniel responded in kind.
"Take a seat. I'll grab the rest," he said as he walked past her and back to the kitchen. He paused in the middle of the kitchen and took a deep breath. Sam had looked stunning in the flickering candlelight. She was wearing a knee-length black skirt and a deep-blue blouse that accentuated her eyes. He took another deep breath and told himself to remember that Sam was his friend and colleague. He grasped onto that thought like a lifeline, fearing that without it he was going to do something stupid. Like actually tell her how he really felt about her. He grabbed the champagne from the fridge and the remaining dishes from the table, and headed back to the dining room.
Despite managing to spray champagne all over himself, prompting a change in shirt, Daniel had managed to maintain a comfortable conversation with Sam throughout dinner, talking about anything from work to the latest news. When Daniel came back from finding some ice cream for dessert he found the forgotten present on the table waiting for him.
"What is it?" he asked jokingly.
"You'll have to open it to find out" Sam answered in a sing-song tone. Then she became serious for a moment. "I hope you like it, Daniel."
Daniel was sure he'd like it. He picked up the rectangular package to test its weight. He'd thought it was a book but it was too heavy. He put it back on the table and gently set to work on the wrapping paper, eventually revealing a box. He opened the box, pulled away the shredded tissue and froze as he saw what the present was.
It was a silver picture frame, engraved on the top with "Family". It held a picture of himself, Jack, Sam and Teal'c in a group hug from the party that was held after his rescue from the Unas on 888. SG-1, his family.
"Read the back." At Sam's gentle prompt he turned the frame over. On the back there was a message: 'Happy 36th Birthday Spacemonkey! Love Jack, Sam and Teal'c.'
"Daniel, I don't want you to think that any of us forgot your birthday. It's just, with that whole thing with the light, we weren't sure whether a party tonight would be a good idea. So, I thought a quiet night in would be better, and we wanted you to have the present today, but we thought the night out could wait......" Daniel was overwhelmed with the picture frame and Sam's mini-speech. He looked at Sam, who was still talking, and realised how lucky he was. He stood up, went over to her and pulled her up into a tight hug. Sam just stopped talking and hugged him back. They stood like that for what seemed like a long time, but it would never be long enough for Daniel. Too soon, he felt Sam pull back a little until their eyes were locked. He didn't know what was going on but he knew he couldn't break that gaze. In the end, it wasn't him who broke it, but he was too surprised to dwell on that.
Sam kissed him.
He could feel her hand on the back of his head and the other one cupping the nape of his neck. He could feel the softness of her blouse under his hands on her back. He could feel her soft lips against his. The combined sensations caused him to freeze for a few seconds while he processed them. Then he kissed her back. He ran his tongue over her lips in a request for entrance that was granted immediately and he felt her pull his head closer as he explored her mouth, deepening the kiss.
Neither of them knew how long had passed when they finally broke apart but as they did, Sam pulled Daniel into another hug.
"I've wanted to do that for ages" she whispered into his ear.
"You have?" Daniel couldn't have sounded more surprised. "I thought, er, Jack..."
"Everything that went on between the Colonel and me was a mistake, not that anything actually went on." Sam pulled back so she could meet Daniel's eyes. "I was transferring. After, well, after Sha'uri, I felt guilty for loving you so I transferred those feelings to Jack, creating a massive screw-up all round. I'm sorry." She'd lost Daniel at 'loving you'.
"You love me?" Apparently Daniel could sound more surprised. Sam smiled.
"I love you with all my heart. And when you died, again, three weeks ago, I knew I couldn't hide it anymore."
"You hid it very well. I had no idea, or maybe..." Sam had a sudden feeling of dread. Maybe it was too late. Maybe he didn't feel the same. She had to ask.
"Maybe...?"
"Maybe I would have told you sooner. God Sam, I love you too, more than anything." He ran his hand through her hair and she closed her eyes at the touch. Her smile was radiant and Daniel lowered his lips to hers for another kiss.
Daniel recalled the moment earlier when he had sat on his sofa feeling sorry for himself. Now, three hours later, he knew that he was never alone. He had the best family he could wish for, and the woman he loved in his arms. It had taken him this long to realise that they were always there for him, not just for birthdays, or on missions, or in grief. They were constants in an ever-changing Universe. Life begins at fifty? Not for Daniel. For him, life would begin again right now, at thirty-six.
~~~
End
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