Ronon always got to dinner before anyone else. If he waited until McKay got there to start eating he'd lose some of his food before the end of the meal. Food was one of the few things Rodney was truly fearless about.
The Doc sat down next, and he noticed something was wrong right away because she didn't even say hello, just sat and began picking at her food. Then she started breathing real deeply. Whenever McKay did that Sheppard always said he was upset about something.
"What's wrong?" he finally asked and watched her jump as if she didn't even know he was there.
"What?" she asked.
"You're…breathing strange," he said, "What's wrong?"
The Doc shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, its just…next week is Christmas."
He frowned, "It's what?"
"Christmas," she repeated, "Its, uh, holiday on Earth. You put up a big tree, buy lots of presents, and then have a big meal. It's…nice and it's my first year away from home. I guess I'm just sad not to have Christmas this year." She shrugged and looked down at her food, "I'll get over it."
He nodded, tried to put it aside, but the image of Jennifer Keller's sad face wouldn't leave his mind.
&&&&&&
"What's Christmas?" he asked Sheppard the next day after they'd finished their daily run.
"What? Where did you hear that word?" John asked.
"Around. Some people were talking about it the other day. What is it anyway?"
"Its, uh, well a holiday on Earth. Some people celebrate it on December 25th. It supposed to celebrate the birth of Christ."
"So why doesn't anyone celebrate it here?"
Sheppard paused as if it never occurred to him, "Well…I don't know. I guess we've been so busy trying not to get killed that we forgot all about Christmas. Maybe we should do something about that."
Ronon shrugged, "Whatever."
&&&&&&
Four days before Christmas Colonel Carter suspended all off world missions, decorations were put up all over Atlantis, a giant tree was in the dining hall, Christmas movies were watched all over and general merriment were had by all.
On Christmas Day everyone gathered together for a huge meal and a very happy Doctor Keller sat next to Teyla telling her all about Christmas at home.
"And then we'd drink eggnog and watch Rudolph. I'm so glad that the Colonel decided to do Christmas this way."
"Yes," Teyla said, smiling, "It is nice to have a celebration. I am glad that Ronon mentioned it to John, though I'm still not sure how he knew about it."
"Ronon? Ronon talked about Christmas?" Jennifer said, incredulously.
"Yes, John told me Ronon heard some people talking about it and asked him. Then John decided that it would be nice to have Christmas around here."
Jen stared at her friend, mouth open until Teyla finally put her hand on her arm and asked, "Is something wrong?"
"No," she said, standing up, "I just need to…see someone."
&&&&&&
It took her nearly twenty minutes to find Ronon, who had retreated to one of the balconies.
"Holidays too much for you?" she asked as she approached him.
He wasn't surprised or started to see her, of course not, he just turned slightly and smiled, "It's nice, just a little loud. McKay had too much eggnog and decided he would sing."
She giggled and moved towards him, leaning against the balcony, "I heard…well I heard that you were the one that got this whole thing started…Christmas on Atlantis and all."
He shrugged, "Just mentioned it to Sheppard. Didn't really do much."
"Is it, well….because of what I said?" she asked, hoping she didn't end up looking like an egotistical loser.
"I don't like it when you frown," he said, reaching up to brush her upturned mouth, "Your smiles are much better."
Her smile widened as her blush deepened, "You know there is one Christmas tradition I didn't tell you about?"
"What?" he asked.
She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a tiny twig of vegetation, "Mistletoe," she said, holding it over her head before reaching up and kissing him.
He smiled, reaching out to grab her waist and pulled her close, "I could get used to this holiday thing," he said, as he kissed her again.