A/N: First, and most importantly, a massive thank you to wackyjacqs and agrainne24 for their encouragement, positivity and amazing joint beta work. A certain very important detail (and subsequently, the title!) came from the romantic mind of agrainne24 and for that I'm extremely grateful.
(as I'm sure Sam and Jack would be!)

As this is my first attempt at writing, I needed a lot of hand holding and these girls, not only held my hands, but skipped along with me whilst we giggled uncontrollably. Without the encouraging words from them, this story would never have left my head and for that, I'm truly grateful.

Also, these characters are not mine. I'm just taking them out to play…

Chapter 1

"If life is a river, and your heart is a boat,
and just like a water baby, baby born to float."

"We have to attend WHAT?" Daniel Jackson shouted at no one in particular. Sam smiled to herself at his totally inappropriate yet predictable reaction. It was after all, only a dinner held in their honor. General O'Neill had given her a heads up when he'd arrived unannounced at her lab earlier that day with a turkey and Swiss sandwich, a glass of blue Jell-O and a bottle of room temperature water.

"You know Carter," he said between mouthfuls of chocolate fudge cake, "there will apparently be dancing."

He raised his eyebrows at her and hummed something akin to a song and rocked himself from side to side, laughing.

Sam looked up. "Em…I don't dance, Sir."

"Everyone dances, Carter," he said.

"Nope, not me, Sir, sorry to disappoint. I mean…you know what I mean…" she said, a light flush suddenly appearing on her cheeks before she looked away at a very interesting speck on the wall to the right of the General.

"We shall see," Jack whispered.

"Danny Boy, we all have to go, can't have a dinner in our honor without us actually attending now, can they?"

"But Jack, I have those artifacts SG-12 brought back from P3C-428 to examine and it's taking longer than expected. Did you know that I think the smaller of the round pieces is...?"

"Daniel, shhhh," Jack said and hushed the excited archeologists.

"Jack, I'd really rather stay here and finish my work, it'll be boring," Daniel replied. "Military shindigs generally are."

"Now see Danny, that's where you're wrong. There's dinner; there's dancing and plenty of booze! If I'm lucky there might even be cake," he said, winking at Sam.

"Teal'c doesn't dance," Daniel said, trying a different angle.

"On the contrary, Daniel Jackson, I am quite skilled at dancing," Teal'c stated, his expression remaining neutral.

Everyone suddenly looked at Teal'c and Jack clapped his hands together. "It's settled. Dress code is Black Tie, this Saturday, 2000 hours. Danny Boy, you get Teal'c; Carter, I'll swing by for you about 1930 hours."

Chapter 2

"And if life is a wild wind that blows way on high

And your heart is Amelia dying to fly..."

Sam stood in her bedroom and looked in the full-length mirror that hung on her wall. Her hair was perfect, having been at the salon for over an hour. She tilted her head slightly to the right and the small diamond barrette shone. Her make-up was, well, different! Her crystal blue eyes were smoky and defined, and as unaccustomed as she was to seeing herself like this, she rather liked it. Her fingers and toes were expertly painted ruby red and her mother's diamond bracelet sparkled on her wrist.

She stepped back; taking a sip from the glass of Merlot she held in her hand and looked at the dress that hung on the back of her bedroom door. She had contemplated wearing her dress blues but had decided upon reflection that as she rarely got to dress up, she was going to make the effort tonight.

She wasn't sure exactly how she had ended up with this particular dress though. It was completely different to what she had originally planned on buying and although she'd loved it in the store; she was now having major second thoughts!

It was floor length and black with a plunging neckline and a deep V cut into the back. The straps were thin and delicate and a strand of black stones hung off each shoulder. The detail that drew her eye, however, was the very high and very revealing split on the right side.

Sam drank the last of the ruby red liquid in her glass, let out the breath she had been inadvertently holding and reached for the dress. It's now or never, she thought as she lifted the dress carefully over her head. She let the dress fall over the curves of her body and stepped into her black strappy heels.

Chapter 3

"Heaven knows no frontiers,

And I've seen heaven in your eyes"

General Jack O'Neill stepped out of the black car, which was now parked outside Sam Carter's house. He adjusted his hat, straightened his Dress uniform and walked up the path, a slight spring in his step. He knocked gently on the door, stood for a few seconds and then saw the silhouette of his 2IC walking towards him. The door opened and there in front of him stood the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid his eyes on.

"Sir…I'm sorry, I'm just running a little behind. Can you give me five minutes?" Sam said looking slightly flustered.

Jack stood stock-still and stared, open mouthed at Samantha Carter. His eyes travelled from her sparkling blue eyes all the way down to her toes and back up again, lingering for a moment on the plunging neckline of her dress. He had, for some reason, expected her to be 'Soldier Sam' and be in her Dress Blues, but here she was; a vision in black. Thoughts, which he generally pushed deep down, suddenly fluttered to the surface and he smiled at her.

"Em…Sir? Are you okay?" Sam asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"I'm...em...yes Carter, I'm fine," he stammered.

Sam giggled. "Come in Sir, I'll just be a few minutes."

Jack turned and waved at the driver, held up five fingers and stepped inside, removing his hat and tucking it neatly under his arm. " I just have to grab my purse and earrings, I'll be right back," Sam said. "Make yourself at home. There's Merlot open or beers in the fridge."

She turned and walked off towards her bedroom humming to herself and Jack groaned audibly when he saw that the back of her dress exposed the bare expanse of porcelain skin of her back.

Sam kept walking, pretending not to hear but smiled to herself. Yep, good choice in the dress, Sam! She thought.

When Sam reappeared, Jack was sitting on a bar stool in the kitchen peeling the label from the near empty beer bottle in front of him.

"Ready Sir," she called and Jack, caught up in his own thoughts, jumped slightly. He turned, and a slow smile formed on his face. "Carter, you look... amazing," he said.

"Why, thank you kind Sir," Sam replied, bending in a mock curtsy.

"Let's get going. The guys will be wondering where we are," Jack said, not sounding the least bit worried about "the guys".