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One rainy September morning, Daniel walked out to his mailbox and found a birthday card from Jack. His eyebrows rose as he slipped it out of the envelope, but an appreciative smile curved his lips as he read the belated birthday wish. What surprised him wasn't the fact that he had received a card in September when Jack knew fully well that his birthday was July 8th. What surprised him was that Jack had bothered sending a card at all. To begin with, Jack was simply not the kind to send cards. Add to that the fact that they were best friends, and the chance of a birthday card from him ever appearing in Daniel's mailbox seemed about as slim as the likelihood of ever getting Teal'c to drink milk.
It wasn't that Jack didn't care about Daniel's birthday.
Nor was it that he couldn't remember it. The simple fact was, that for
Jack and Daniel, friendship did not mean remembering to send birthday
cards. It didn't even mean remembering birthdays, although they usually
did. Best friends were the people who pulled the book out of a guy's
hands when he'd been holed up reading for a week and a half; the ones
who told a guy to stop being an ass; or pointed out the broccoli stem
which was stuck in his teeth before anyone else could see it and laugh.
Birthday cards were sent by those who had to tell a person that they
remembered; best friends were the ones who didn't have to remember,
even if they did. Most of the time.