Setting: Post S8, Sam/Jack established.

Summary: Jack prepares Christmas dinner at his cabin, but snow gets in the way. Fortunately he has other distractions in the form of some very special Christmas presents.

A/N: Sorry if you're waiting on another chapter of Opis Dei – it's coming soon, I swear! I just had a sudden urge to write a fluffy Sam/Jack Christmas ficlet (like a lot of other people, I guess), so enjoy!

Edit: I didn't mean naquadah. I meant trinium.

The inches-thick blanket of glittering snow had settled in what seemed like a matter of minutes while Jack had been prepping the turkey, and he'd glanced out of the window to see its sudden appearance and swear. Unfogging the window in the living room of his cabin, he peered out onto the drive. Fortunately it wasn't all that icy yet.
He glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece. They should be here any minute, provided they hadn't been held up by the snow earlier.
As if on cue, the ancient phone in the kitchen started ringing. He'd been forced to dig it out of the back of the spare room closet after Sam had noticed the phone line jack behind the fridge on their last fishing trip. He still had no idea what she was doing behind the fridge... Probably looking for phone lines. he thought, as he made his way over to the still-ringing phone.

"Hello?"

"Jack? It's Daniel."

"I figured." Only SG-1 and a handful of others actually had this number, and Daniel was the only one with any reason to call.

"We're lost. The snow blocked one of the roads up here, so we took a detour and now we're stuck in the middle of nowhere." Jack could hear the irritation rising in Daniel's voice. "Teal'c thinks he knows where we are on the map, but it'll take a few hours to get back on course."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that."

Daniel let out a snort that crackled down the line, making Jack chuckle. "Sure you are."

"I can't think what you mean by that... Okay, Danny-boy. I'll see you in a few hours."

"Alright Jack."

"Oh, and Daniel?"

"Yes?" Hissed the archaeologist.

"Why don't you let Teal'c drive for a bit?"

"Goodbye, Jack."

He dumped the phone unceremoniously back into its cradle, and switched the oven off. The plan had been to open presents before lunch, but it seemed as if their Christmas dinner would be during the evening. No matter, it gave him the morning free.

"Hey."

Or rather, it gave them the morning free.
Sam came through the doorway from which she'd spoken and leant against the counter across from him. "Did Daniel get lost in the snow?"

"Does it count as lost if Teal'c knows where they are?"

"To Daniel it might." She smiled, a little sleepily.

"So, what was so important that it couldn't wait until after Christmas?" She'd been propped up in bed on her laptop for the last few hours, banishing him good-humouredly but firmly when he came in to offer coffee or a distraction.

"Gate malfunction. SG-11 had trouble dialling in last night, and the techs didn't find anything in the diagnostic tests."

"So they pitched it to you on Christmas morning?" He poured her a coffee and moved over to stand next to her. She took it, wrapping both hands around it gratefully.

"Mmhmm." She blew on the coffee, then sipped carefully, before looking up at Jack with an amused smile. "Cinnamon?"

He shrugged, but his deep brown eyes twinkled a little as he watched her lean into his shoulder.
They stood in comfortable silence for a minute, before...

"So, we have to wait to open presents?" Her tone was disappointed, more suited to a little kid's reaction than hers. He chuckled.

"Didn't think you liked presents that much, Carter." He felt the vibrations ripple through his shoulder as she laughed, then tipped her head up to look at him with those huge blue eyes of hers.

"Actually, I was kinda looking forward to seeing you open yours, sir." The emphasis on his title served as a reprimand for his calling her Carter. Not that she minded all that much in some situations, but it was nice to just be Sam for the most part.

"Oh, really?" He tipped his head down to brush his lips against her cheek. "Well, maybe we could open a few..." He trailed off into kissing her jawline and neck, smiling softly when he felt her giggle and pull away.

"Just the ones we have for each other?" He dragged his eyes up to meet hers again.

"That could work." He said, a little less lasciviously. "So, what'd you get me?"

She shook her head, grinning, and took his hand to lead him out of the kitchen and through the living room, past the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree, under which sat his present to her. He stopped, pulling her back so she bumped lightly into him as she spun round.

"Jack, I left your present in the bedroom."

"Sure you did. But as much as I approve of your plan to lure me into bed with promises of Christmas gifts - you have my full support there, I assure you - I actually want to give you your gift first."

She sighed, chuckling.

"I don't get a choice, do I?"

"Nope. Now si'down." He said, as he rummaged at the base of the tree. She sat on the leather love-seat closest and watched him pull out a tiny box wrapped in gold paper. "Aha! Merry Christmas, Sam." He straightened up - slowly and carefully, she noticed - and handed it to her, sitting down next to her and draping an arm around her waist while he watched. Intrigued, she all but tore off the clumsily-wrapped paper to reveal a plain jewellery box.

"Jack...?" She looked at him, a little nervous.

"Relax. It's not what you think." He kissed the back of her neck. "Just open it, will you?"

She lifted the lid to reveal a small heart-shaped charm. It was about half an inch in diameter, and looked like it was just plain silver, but when she lifted it out it felt lighter than it should. Tilting it in the wintry light from the windows, she saw it was actually made of two different hearts: the inner one with a less obvious shine and of a slightly duller colour than the hollow silver heart it had been slotted into.

"Is that... Jack, is that trinium in the centre?" She asked, still turning it over in her fingers.

"Yep. I'll be honest, I had Syler's help making it. Who knew he could do jewellery?"

"That's incredible."

"What can I say? I guess he's got a hidden talent."

She looked at him pointedly, and he smiled in mock innocence. "Oh, you meant the gift? Well, it's just something to remind you of me when you're off on missions. See? It has that little clippy thing so you can attach it to your dog tags-"

He was silenced by her turning to kiss him full on the lips. After forever, she pulled away.

"Jack, it's... Amazing." She got to her feet and carefully clipped it onto her dog tags, letting them fall over her light blue sweater. "Particularly the fact that you even managed to get hold of some trinium."

He rose to stand in front of her, looking happily at the charm resting on her chest. "Ah, well, friends in high places." His eyes shifted upwards, lingering on her lips before meeting her eyes. "Do I get my 'present' now?"

She giggled. "I really have got a present for you."

"So you say. Personally, I've thought of something else we can do before I unwrap it." His hand dropped to her waist, then sought out her fingers to clasp in his.

"Oh really?" She murmured, so close to him now that he could feel her breath on his neck.

"Mmhmm." Her eyes were wide, expectant, and he'd never been so glad to not see Daniel and Teal'c as he was now.

"Do you feel like filling me in on this plan of yours?" Sam said, as she pressed lightly against him, one hand casually tracing patterns in the small of his back. He grinned, and whispered in her ear before he claimed her lips once more; "Merry Christmas, Sam."

...

A/N: Reviews make me happy, and who doesn't want to make people happy at Christmas, right? Let me know if you think I should extend this (into smut!)