Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!!!
Disclaimer: You all know the drill.
It was Daniel's fault.
Well, actually it was the Colonel's fault too, but there were rules about making her CO suffer. Daniel, now…he was free game. And it had been his idea to show Teal'c the wonders of Thanksgiving.
Really, showing an alien warrior how to give thanks and eat turkey was a clichéd situation right up there with…with "Take me to your leader". She thought the Colonel hated clichés. He had certainly said so often enough. But apparently he had been lying, because here they were sitting around the table at his house with ancient, heavy silverware she had had to polish for close to an hour because he was too busy showing off with the barbeque.
She did have to admit that if she hadn't been here, she would have been at home on the couch—she had been expressly forbidden from even entering her lab all today—probably with Chinese take-out. Watching reality shows on TV because she really wasn't sure what had happened to her remote and she was too lazy to get up to change the channel. Mark and his wife had invited her over, but their house was too far away—driving back would have been torture. Instead, she was here—sitting around a long oval table that had been covered with white linen that had been ironed. Daniel had done that, actually, and done it surprisingly well. When asked—skeptically, by the Colonel, who apparently regarded the ability to iron as an automatic degeneration of manhood—he had said that he had had plenty of practice with suits and last-minute lectures, and Sam had been just about to say something about the brownie points that would earn him with his wife before thinking of Shar'e and biting her tongue. She had also gotten the archaeologist to help her put the table together, because he wouldn't be any worse at it than she was and the Colonel was off impressing Teal'c—or trying to—by demonstrating how to cook a turkey. Which was sitting in front of them now, in the place of honor, with a surprising lack of char.
Teal'c was eyeing the food—mashed potatoes, ham, the turkey—with unabashed interest, and the Colonel forestalled any grabbing for it by holding out his hand like he was going to bodily restrain him if need be. Which was laughable—the Colonel was strong and agile for someone his age, not that she had been noticing, but him trying to stop Teal'c would be like a scooter trying to stop a Mack truck. "Not so fast, buddy. First we have to give thanks."
Teal'c raised his eyebrow, and Daniel hurried to explain before the Colonel could make a mess of it and ruin all the cultural significance the archaeologist was trying to impart. "We take turns saying what we're thankful for, like family or the food."
"Do you not give thanks at other times besides one day a year?" Teal'c asked, tilting his head a centimeter or so to the side.
"Of course we do—this is just a ceremonial gesture, a time when we can share with those around us—"
"Whoa, boy," the Colonel said, falsely chastising. "Let's save the cultural lecture for after the meal, okay? In fact, show the big boy how it's done."
"Fine," Daniel sighed. "Alright then, I'm thankful for the food on the table—which doesn't look as inedible as I was expecting—"
"Hey!" the Colonel protested, briefly.
"—for my job, and the Stargate, and the chance to experience other cultures. I'm thankful for the chance to find Shar'e, and the time I had with her—" the table was silent and solemn— "and I'm thankful for all of you," Daniel finished.
"I believe I understand," Teal'c said, breaking the silence—which was good, because Sam was getting the horrible feeling she was going to tear up, and if that happened she would never hear the end of it. "May I attempt this ritual next?"
"Go ahead," the Colonel said, expansively, and Teal'c nodded gravely. "I am thankful for the bounty before us. I am thankful for my wife and my son, and I am thankful that I am free of the false gods and helping to free my people." He looked around the table, meeting their eyes solemnly. "I am thankful that the people of the Taur'i have accepted me into their ranks."
"Very good, Teal'c" the Colonel said without preamble. "As for me…I give thanks for F-16s, fishing, whoever invented bikinis, the 'Gate and the people crazy enough to let me through it—no offense to Hammond, of course. And Teal'c getting us out of that prison on Chulak. And Genghis Khan. Spacemonkey. Carter and her technobabble."
"Very…touching, Jack," Daniel said wryly from across the table, and the Colonel grinned. "Inspired, if I say so myself." Then he looked over at her, and his eyes simultaneously sparkled and grew softer. "Carter?"
She inhaled a deep breath, then let it out. So many things she could say, little things…but the biggest of all? "I'm thankful for you. All of you." Suddenly embarrassed, she glanced down at the tablecloth, then back up to meet their eyes. They understood. All of them—they knew how much they meant to her, because she meant exactly the same to them.
"Amen to that," the Colonel said heartily, breaking the silence as he brandished a serving fork. "Teal'c? Turkey?"