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"…You keep lyin' when you oughta be truthin'
You keep losing when you oughta not bet
You keep samin' when you oughta be a'changin'
What's right is right but you ain't been right yet
These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you…"
"These Boots Are Made for Walking" 
performed by Nancy Sinatra

Chapter 1

She sat in the waiting room of the hospital, the sounds and smells of the institution burned forever into her memory. She shifted her weight against the chair, tried to get comfortable. She looked around, noticed the Time Magazine sitting on one of the empty chairs. It was already four months old. Oh well. She picked it up, looked at the picture of the three men and two women on the front.

"Earth Salutes the Heroes of the SGC, a Special Salute to SG-1," proclaimed the title. Three men were squatting in the front, all of them holding some sort of gun in their hands. One was a large black man, he had a funny gold tattoo on his forehead. She had heard about his kind on the news, but couldn’t remember what he was called. The man in the middle was older, gray hair, a good-looking man. The other man was younger, with dark blonde hair and glasses, dreamy, as Sheryl would say. The two women standing behind them, also holding the same kind of guns in their hands, were both blonde. The one with the short hair was tall, pretty, looked like she had blue eyes. The other one wasn’t as tall, had such long blonde hair, green eyes, was very slender...good heavens, it's her!

The woman sat back to read the article. A brief biography was given of each of the ‘team members’. She shared the same last name as the young blonde man. The article said they had been married for six years now, and that they had a daughter. Emily Rose. That figured. Give that old battleaxe a namesake, when she was the one who had taken that little tramp in! According to the article, this group of people had been protecting Earth for years from the Goa’uld, whatever they were. Bunch of poppycock. That’s what it was. She wasn’t the only one who thought so, either. Sheryl had told her that there were several groups who had formed to protest the massive propaganda campaign that had overtaken the entire planet. Stargates! Going to other planets…aliens good and bad…pshaw! Whoever heard of such nonsense?

She looked again at the picture of the blonde man, holding the baby, his arm around…her. Still looked like a whore. Probably still acted like one. She tossed the magazine aside. Looked like the Little Slut had managed to land on her feet, again.

She picked up another magazine, a more recent one. This one talked about the visits that family members were making to those who now lived on other planets. Now that family looked real nice. She didn’t think they would lie about going through that Stargate to…where? Beta. What silly name. They had visited their son and daughter-in-law and grandchildren.

She glanced over at the picture on the front of the Time Magazine again, picked it back up, went back to the biography on that young blonde man. Ph.D. in archaeology, doctorates in linguistics and anthropology as well. Probably made a bucket load of money. That thought prodded the back of her mind...

"Mrs. Webster, you can come back in now," a nurse said, standing at the door of the waiting room.

The woman heaved her considerable bulk out of the chair and waddled down the hall behind the skinny nurse. Probably a whore, she thought, watching how the woman walked. She followed the nurse into a dimly lit room.

He was lying there, his skin gray and pasty looking, tubes and monitors attached everywhere, it seemed. Another heart attack. Bad this time.

She looked around at all of the equipment, noticed that the room was private. This is going to cost a pretty penny, she complained to herself. The article prodded at her mind again. A thought began to form, take shape. She smiled bitterly. That little whore owed her. It was only right. She’d call Sheryl as soon as she got home. Sheryl would know how to get things started. She dropped onto a nearby chair with a groan. Yes, indeed. Her daughter would know exactly how to get in contact with that dirty little slut.

The young woman pushed blonde hair from her round face. She couldn’t believe what her mother had told her. But here it was. Seven websites about them. Seven! All of them dedicated to these ‘heroes’. She stared at the picture. Figures that she would still be so damned skinny, even after having a baby. Must be from all that screwing around she did. Or maybe she had that AIDS disease. No, she looked too healthy. She looked…happy.

Hmm…more pictures. Click…click…click. Here, a close up of her and that absolutely dreamy guy. According to this, that dreamboat was married to…oh no. It just wasn’t fair! First she managed to meet and marry Kenny. What a looker he was! And so sweet too! Then, bitch that she was, she left him. Now she was married to…Dr. Daniel Jackson. Doctor? Is there no justice in this life?

She started searching for the article about the families visiting their children and grandchildren on those other planets. What a load of crap. They were probably just hidden away somewhere, doing whatever nasty, terrible things the military was guilty of doing. But still…

She wrote down the phone number that was listed at the end of the article. If this was true, it would be interesting. She would be the absolute envy of every single person in this trailer court if she were to go through that Stargate to a different planet. None of her neighbors would ever be able visit another planet. Yes, she would be the envy of them all. She picked up the phone. "Mama? We need to talk…"

A  A  A  A  A  A

The yard and the house were full of family and friends. It was Emily’s first birthday, and it was being celebrated with all the love and enthusiasm that came from this special group of people.

The little guest of honor toddled to where her beloved Daddy stood, talking to Jack, Duncan and Teal'c. "Daddee! Wup!" She held her arms outstretched.

"Up, Princess, up," Daniel corrected lovingly.

"Wup!"

He picked her up and nuzzled her cheek, making her laugh. He snuggled her into his embrace, went back to his conversation.

Casey watched from where she sat with Sam, Tessa and Carlotta. "She has that man trained," she giggled. Her companions laughed and agreed with her. She looked up when her parents walked through the gate. "Mom, Dad! I was beginning to worry that you weren’t coming," she said, standing to her feet and hugging them both tightly.

"Miss our granddaughter’s birthday party? Not likely!" Erin huffed, her smile as bright as her daughter’s.

"Where is my granddaughter, anyway?" Aaron asked, looking around.

"Where else would she be? With her Daddy," Casey smiled.

"She certainly dotes on her Daddy, doesn’t she?" Erin smiled.

"As much as he dotes on her, " Casey replied. "Well, now that you’re here, we can cut the cake. I made a little one for her, we’re going to let her just dig into it. Let me get them over here." She looked over at where Daniel was standing. "Hey, Stud Muffin! Haul that fine butt of yours over here, and bring your daughter." Her eyes twinkled with mirth and love and happiness.

Laughter filled the air as Daniel made his way to the deck, Emily still in his arms. He was smiling, and his cheeks were only slightly pink. She could call him whatever she wanted, just as long as she continued to call him to her side, he thought, as he walked past the grinning men from SG-6. And if she thought he had a ‘fine butt’, well, he wasn’t going to argue. If she was happy, by his side, and loved him, that was all that mattered to him.

Everyone gathered around the table as Casey brought out a miniature cake with a single candle in the middle of it. She lit the candle while Daniel sat down and held Emily close to the cake.

"Happy Birthday, Baby," Casey said softly, caressing the fine blonde hair on the little girl’s head.

"Happy Birthday, Princess," Daniel said just as softly. "Okay, remember how we practiced blowing out the candle?"

Emily looked from Daniel to the cake and back again. She jabbered a bit, then nodded. "Pweddy!"

Tessa started the group singing, and Daniel helped his daughter blow out the candle. When Emily was seated in her highchair, Casey put the cake on the tray. "Dig in, Emmie," she said.

Emily looked at the cake, touched it with one little finger. "Pweddy!" Her announcement was met with laughter.

"Yes it is, Baby. Here…" Casey took a bit of the frosting on her finger, let the baby taste it.

The little finger went into the cake, then into her mouth. She grinned up at Casey, then put her finger back in the cake. The finger was offered first to her Daddy, who licked the cake off, then was offered to her Mommy, who did the same.

With a squeal of absolute delight, the little girl began to pull the cake into pieces, putting them in her mouth, smiling broadly at everyone she looked at. More laughter surrounded her. Anyone who wandered near enough was offered a morsel from the tiny fingers. Those she called Aunt and Uncle, and her beloved Meemaw and Peepaw, as she called her grandparents, were more than willing to accept the gift.

Casey cut and began to serve the large sheet cake she had baked. Daniel scooped ice cream onto each plate beside the cake. When everyone was served, they sat down together on a bench beside the large French door that led into the dining room.

"I can’t believe a year has gone by already," Casey said softly.

"Sometimes it seems a lot longer," Daniel replied in kind. "We’ve been through a lot this year."

She leaned against him. "And came out stronger than ever. You're my heart’s desire, you know that, don’t you?"

He looked at her, his blue eyes shining with love. "Yeah, I do. Just as you're everything I could ever dream of." He leaned over and kissed her lightly.

"Love you, Daniel," she whispered.

"Love you, too, Casey," he replied.

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