"I've got to go away."

Eager to get indoors, Jennifer followed Sheppard inside. Unwrapping themselves in the entrance way and hanging up their winter gear, Jennifer inhaled the aroma.

"I forgive you for everything you said about my cooking. Where did he set up?"

"The dining room," John said, wandering into the room.

Jennifer followed him, wrapping her arms around herself to shake off the last of the cold as her body gave one last shudder from the temperature. Not paying attention, Jennifer slammed into his back for the second time in minutes. Craning her neck around his shoulder, she gasped.

"Ummm..." she began, taking in the scene in front of her. "Fancy."

"You don't think Lino assumed... that you and I..." John trailed off.

The lights were down as low as they could be set. Two tall candles, hand picked by the decorator, stood gleaming back at them. Lino took it upon himself to plate their dinners, using the fine china his decorator had picked, should John ever entertain company outside his casual friends splitting a six-pack and pizza. Low instrumental Christmas music could be heard coming from the speakers.

"Yeah," John sighed. "I take it my call to him to adjust the amount from 4 to 2 people... and mentioning it was you and to order your dessert preference may have sent him thinking in that direction."

"Holy smokes," she muttered. "No wonder he looked at me like that. The man has known me since I was a kid. He's totally planning the wedding."

Sighing, John sent her a smirk.

"We'll obviously use him as the caterer?"

Smacking John on the shoulder, she had to laugh, easing the awkwardness a bit.

"We can set him straight another time," John offered, indicating for her to sit in a chair he'd just pulled back slightly.

Jennifer sighed. "Yeah, but it'll crush him. The man is a terrible romantic. He tried setting me up for years with his nephew."

When they both sat down, each of them looked up for a moment.

John almost cursed the restaurant owner. Staring at her from across the table, it made his breath hitch for a moment. He had to close his eyes for a moment and take a breath.

"John?" she questioned innocently. "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head, covering up his moment with a cough.

"I'm not used to the cold air," he lied, indicating for her to lift the plate cover. "We should eat before it gets cold. Can I pour you some wine?"

She nodded, waiting as he uncorked the bottle and poured her half a glass.

Setting down the bottle, he settled on water himself. John figured the smart way to get through this was with a clear head.

"John?" Jennifer breathed, slowly chewing. "I don't ask for much do I?"

He waited, curious but almost fearful of what topic she was about to bring up.

"So if I was to ask you to get immediate security clearance on Lino, you'd do it for me, right? I know just the position he could fill."

"Sure," he joked along with her, relieved she didn't bring up a serious topic. "Piece of cake."

Jennifer grinned, continuing to enjoy every bit on her plate.

Finally feeling grounded, John settled himself and caught himself wrapped in conversation with her. The thing he noticed about her, even before their leave to Wisconsin, is they never lacked in the conversation area. It blew his mind, considering how different they were- their jobs, childhoods, and interests all were different. He loved that about her, which is why he was glad she still accepted his invite tonight despite Ronon and Teyla's departure.

Hearing the wind pick up as they finished, Jennifer set down her fork. Looking worried, she stood and went to the window.

"Yikes," she said, turning to him. "John, I'm worried it's not going to let up. I don't think the local news predicted this much snow. And with the wind blowing it over the roads, the plows won't keep up. Maybe I should go. I hate to ask, but-"

John didn't like the way she appeared worried, but also didn't want to cut the evening short.

"Why don't we give it a few more minutes?" he suggested. "Lino left dessert in the fridge."

Her apprehension instantly faded.

"Not his famous tiramisu mousse cup?"

"And," John said, "your second favorite of caramel cheesecake bites."

She groaned. "Not both? Seriously? I need to take a break first. I ate too much of the lasagna. Too bad we can't go for a walk."

John thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"I have a stock of snowsuits and winter gear in the mud room. The decorator was very thorough in furnishing the entire place with anything I could potentially need."

Agreeing to go out, they spent the next few minutes laughing as they tugged on snow pants and bundled up.

"When's the last time you built a snowman, John?"

Not wanting to give her an answer, he avoided her eyes.

"No way," she breathed out, walking closer to her. "You haven't. Ever."

"We snowmobiled in Aspen," he offered lamely.

"You," she decided, grabbing hold of his hand, "are building the biggest snowman of your life tonight. The walk can wait."

John laughed, following her out the door. He watched her as she instructed him how to make a snowball, eventually rolling it into a bigger ball. Following her lead, they each had a giant ball of snow over time and John carefully placed her smaller one on top of his own.

"Okay, you make the last one. I'm going to go in and round up some snowman gear," Jen announced, looking cold but excited at their progress.

"Wait, teach me again how to start off the snowball," he called over to her, reaching down.

Jennifer gave an exasperated sigh.

"It's easy," she huffed. "Just pack some snow together, then begin rolling it around until it gets bigger."

John quickly turned, giving her a mischievous look.

"Like this?" he launched the ball directly at her, laughing when it slammed against her shoulder.

"You're kidding me, right?" Jennifer growled. "I did NOT just fall for that lameness."

Reaching down to make another snowball, John quickly threw another at her stunned face. This time, it hit her in the shoulder.

"This is war," she cried out, finally moving to make her own ammunition.

She shrieked as he sent several more snowballs her way. Jennifer finally had enough to launch back at him, shrieking with laughter as one hit him square in the face.

"Ugh!" he complained, wiping his face ineffectively. "You play dirty, doctor."

"Dirty?" she grinned, standing with a wobble, and making her way to him while he was distracted. "You haven't seen nothing yet."

Jennifer pulled his hood away from his head and threw as much snow from her gloved hand as possible down his shirt.

Yelping, John twisted and grabbed her.

"Cold!" he yelled, laughing as she struggled to get away. He easily sent her down onto the ground, grinning from above her. Not wanting to be too mean, he picked up an armful of snow and sent it flying in the air above her. The snow fell into her face, making her laugh even harder as she tried to twist her body to get up.

Giving up himself, he laid next to her, letting the thick snowflakes hit his uncovered face. Glancing over, he saw her also mesmerized as she watched the snowflakes fall from the sky.

"Full confession," she breathed out. "I'm tired, frozen, and really not wanting to move right now. So if I fall asleep, it's up to you to get me inside."

"No problem," he sighed, enjoying the quiet night surrounding them.

After several more minutes, John was finally the first to make the move to stand up. He knelt down beside her, quickly helping her sit up and then pulling her to a standing position.

"Come on," he said, brushing off the snow from her hood and shoulders. "I know of a doctor who would be really ticked if we got pneumonia."

"Wait," she reminded him. "We need to finish our snowman."

The quickly worked together to make a head. John brought out an extra scarf, a college hockey hat, and Jennifer found a few dark rocks to push into the torso to serve as buttons and also for the eyes. Two uneven sticks made the creation complete as arms.

As they made their way into the cabin, both noticed how the weather continued in its intensity. The snow was easily at six inches deep and counting. And neither had heard a plow come by since she'd arrived at the cabin.

"Sorry," he said. "We probably should've left by now."

Jennifer looked as if she also didn't want to end the evening.

"Re-evaluate after dessert?" she suggested.

John nodded in agreement.