No whumping yet folks. Just a whimsical bit in honor of the upcoming holiday. Hey - if anyone has some good Thanksgiving recipes I'd love to have them - I collect recipes. Hope you enjoy. More adventure to come soon.

She awoke to pots banging and doors closing. Wondering, for a second, what was going on, she quickly remembered that she was at a cabin with her team. It seemed quite dark so she figured it must still be early. That was why, when she looked at her watch on the nightstand, she was surprised to see it was almost 10:00 a.m.

She was sure something must be wrong with her watch – she never slept in that late. Kneeling up on the bed she pulled the curtain over the small window and looked out – into a snowy, stormy world.

That's why it's dark she realized. It was storming out. But stil, she couldn't believe she'd slept so long. Although, to be fair to herself, she'd had a long day yesterday – working until noon then driving through a snowstorm and finally staying up playing games with the guys.

She smiled as she thought about the last evening. She, Teal'c and Daniel had agreed to Jack's suggestions to play poker, more because they wanted to help him forget any bad memories 'Frank' had brought up than because they really wanted to play. However, it had turned out to be a fun evening after all.

Jack had pulled out some popcorn and made a big batch over the old gas stove. He'd drenched it in butter and salt and they'd pigged out. Teal'c had polished off an incredible amount! It seems that Jaffa have a real affinity for buttered popcorn.

They'd also downed a number of beers although none of them had had too much. In fact, they'd switched to cocoa after a while. Then there were the games. They'd started out with poker then, as they grew sillier (okay, a tiny bit drunk) and more tired they'd moved to 'Liar'. They'd finished up the evening with a roaring game of charades after Daniel had tried to explain it to Teal'c and Jack had suggested they just do it rather than explain it.

It had been difficult for the alien at first. He didn't know many of the cultural or popular allusions so had a hard time guessing. When they got to movies and TV shows, however, he cleaned up! It seems he spent much of his downtime at the mountain watching television.

She laughed to herself, thinking about Teal'c trying to act out 'bugs bunny'. The picture would stay in her mind for a long time!

It was a sound of another pot banging that brought her back to the present. What in heck was going on, she wondered? Pulling on her warm robe and slippers she headed out to the living area so see who – or what – was making all that noise.

"Sir!" she exclaimed in surprise. The last thing she had expected was to see her Commanding Officer in the kitchen – cooking? He had the small counter covered with food, utensils and dishes. It looked like a major production in process.

"Mornin' Carter. Have a good sleep?"

"Yes Sir. I can't believe I slept in so late."

"Ah, it's the fresh mountain air. It'll do it to you every time."

"Yeah, that and the 3 beers and staying up till 3:00 a.m."

"Hey, you're young. You should be able to handle that."

"Well, I haven't really done too much of it since my college days. And anyway Colonel, you were up before me."

He grinned and looked at her – onion in hand.

"That's because I have lots of experience Carter. I had years of training in getting up after a wild night."

"Well, I don't know if I'd call it 'wild' Sir, although it was fun."

"What! You don't think seeing Teal'c bounce across the floor pretending to have bunny ears wasn't wild?"

"I grant you that Sir – it was pretty wild", she grinned back at her CO "Uh, speaking of Teal'c – where is he and where's Daniel?"

"Teal'c came out a while ago and saw me cooking. He then turned tail and claimed he

had to 'Kel'noreem' some more. I think he was just afraid to chop onions. Coward! Daniel's still sleeping. I think he had one and a half beers – so he'll probably have a hang-over."

"So what are you cooking Sir? It looks like quite a production."

"Captain, I'm shocked! What day is today?"

"Uh – Thursday Sir."

"Yes, of course it's Thursday – but what Thursday?"

"Oh – let me see. It's …. Why it's Thanksgiving", she said with surprise.

"Captain – I really think you spend way too much time under the Mountain. Now tell me, what do people usually do on Thanksgiving?"

"Well, I'd usually spend the day reading or doing experiments in my garage. My father would sometimes order pizza for supper."

He just stood looking at her blankly for a moment. Shaking his head he put down the knife he was holding and walked over to his Captain.

"Sam – Thanksgiving is a day for eating Turkey and all the trimmings. I like pizza as much as the next guy – in fact, probably better than the next guy – but you have to have turkey today." Shaking his head he took her hand and pulled her to the kitchen.

"Now, part of enjoying the day is also cooking the dinner. So, you can help me prepare it."

"Uh Sir?"

"Yes Carter."

"We don't have a turkey."

"Hah!" he exclaimed, walking to the refrigerator. "Yes we do. I brought one with us", opening the door he showed her the large turkey taking up most of the space in the small refrigerator.

"You brought a turkey Sir?"

"Yup – and all the trimmings. But I need your help to get everything going (especially since Teal'c whimped out – traitor!).

"Colonel, I really don't think I'm the right person for this. I've never done a turkey before. Maybe Daniel would be better."

"Nope, no way – you're not getting out of it that easy Captain. You are going to stay here and learn how to do a Thanksgiving Dinner – it's the American way. You are an officer in the Air Force – you really can't not do this."

"So, this is an order Sir? This is part of being an officer?" she was having trouble keeping the grin off her face.

"An order Captain? –No, of course not – I couldn't order you to do that – that wouldn't be proper. However, if you don't help – I could always dump you in a snow drift!" he smirked.

"Sir!, she squaked. "That would be – that would be really mean!"

"Yup – but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."

"And that's make me cook!"

"Hey, you'll thank me for it someday Carter. When you have a passel of kiddies around your ankles all clamoring for turkey you'll look back and say 'Colonel O'Neill was one of the best Commanding Officers I ever had. He was the one who taught me to cook Thanksgiving Dinner!"

"Yes Sir – I'm sure it'll happen just like that one day. Okay, so if I have to help you'll have to tell me what to do."

"Hey Captain – that's something I'm already good at." He laughed at her.

"Yes Sir, you certainly are."

So, the Colonel proceeded to teach her how to make Turkey dinner. It turned out he had been in the process of preparing the stuffing. He told her the ingredients and watched as she mixed up the fragrant breadcrumbs with onions and spices and (lots!) of butter. He then got the turkey out of the fridge and rinsed it off.

"Okay Captain, go to it."

"Go to what Sir?"

"Stuff it!'

"What?"

"Stuff the turkey."

"But, I don't know how." She looked down at the very large, very pale, very dead looking bird. How did one go about stuffing a turkey?

"Captain – you're an honest to goodness genius and you can't figure it out."

She turned and looked at him, her eyes narrowed. Oooooh! She could see what he was doing. He was going to stand there and watch to see if she made a fool of herself. Okay O'Neill – I'll show you that a Carter is up to the task!

Stepping over to the sink, where the (dead!) turkey resided she gingerly reached in and touched it. Yech! She pulled her hand back quickly – it felt really gross. She could see the Colonel from the corner of her eye – smirking at her. Fine – I'll show you Colonel!

She reached in again and grabbed the damn thing. It almost slipped out of her grasp but she managed to hold on to it. Looking at it carefully she finally saw the cavity where the head must have, at one time, resided. Opening it slightly she looked inside. Ooooh, she didn't think she was going to want to eat any stuffing if this is where it went!

Holding the cavity open she turned to the bowl but realized it was too far away to reach.

"Uh Colonel?"

"Yes Captain?"

"Can you pass me the stuffing?"

"Why certainly Sam." He casually reached over and handed her the bowl. The problem was, that as soon as she took it with one hand she lost her grip on the turkey and it fell, with a sickening 'plop' back into the sink.

"Damn!" She set the bowl down and again lifted the turkey. How the hell was she going to do this with only two hands! You needed at least three.

"Need some help Carter?" he said in a saccharin sweet voice.

"No Sir. I can handle this just fine." Looking at it from a scientific perspective, she was determined to figure this out. She finally reached for a pot, sitting on the counter, which she jammed in to the sink. It forced the turkey to stand upright. She then took a spoonful of the stuffing and tried to carefully fill the cavity. Of course, most of it landed in the sink rather than in the bird!

"Crap! How the hell does one stuff a stupid bird?", she cried. Looking at her CO she added a lame, "Sir?"

"Carter, a little hint. Don't use a spoon."

"Not use a spoon? But what should I use then – my hands?" she laughed. When he didn't say anything she looked at him. "Really? I'm supposed to stuff the turkey with my hands? That's gross!"

"It's the best way Carter", he laughed. "I can't believe you've fought in wars, killed aliens and tended wounded soldiers and you find a turkey 'gross'. He obviously found this very funny!

"Fine! I'll do it." With a determined look she grabbed a handful of the gooey stuff and proceeded to fill the cold, slimy bird. Okay, she thought, this felt as bad as it looked.

After a couple of minutes the cavity was filled and she looked in triumph at her CO – or at least in as much triumph as you could with grease covered hands while in your pajamas.

"There – finished Sir!"

"Uh, you've got to tie it up."

"Tie it up? Why, is it going to escape?"

"Funny Captain! No, but the stuffing might. You have to attach the skin over the cavity so the stuff doesn't all fall out."

She sighed. This was a lot of work. She realized why her father always ordered pizza! She did have memories of earlier Thanksgivings, however, when her mother had been alive. They had always had turkey dinner but she didn't really want to think about that right now. It brought back too many bittersweet memories.

Fortunately, the Colonel showed her how to 'truss' the turkey, using little metal skewers and string. Wow, he'd really come prepared. What was even more surprising was how he knew what to do. This was something she never would have expected from him.

"Okay there! All done. I've just stuffed my first turkey."

"Ah sorry Carter – not quite done."

"What do you mean? It's all stuffed."

"Mmmm – no it's not."

"No? But where else can you stuff it?" She looked at the bird and it seemed to be as stuffed as it could get.

"Turn it over Carter."

"Turn it over? But that would be the …! Colonel!"

"No", he laughed, "it's not called the "Colonel" although I must say I've been compared to it a number of times!"

"Are you telling me I have to stuff the turkey's … ah …. hind end?"

"Hind end?" he laughed hard at this. "I gotta say, that's the first I've ever heard it called that – but yes Captain, you have to stuff the turkey's 'hind end'. Come on – go for it!"

Giving him a glare that had been known to slay System Lords she reached in and turned the carcass over. Yes, just like he'd said – there was another space just waiting to be filled. Grabbing another handful of the bread mixture she proceeded to fill that damn thing to the limit. She was gonna make sure this was the most 'stuffed' turkey ever.

"Take it easy Captain, the poor thing never did anything to you!" When he looked at her, and saw the glower she was giving him he winced.

"Uh – I guess you're not thinking of the turkey right now, are you?"

"No Sir."

"I don't suppose I should ask who you are thinking about when you're jamming that stuff up it's 'hind end'?"

"No Sir."

"Yup. Didn't think so. Why don't you let me truss this up and get it in the oven? Then I'll get you to help with the sweet potatoes."

"I don't have to stuff anything with them do I Sir?"

"No Carter – no more 'stuffing' I promise."

As he put the turkey in the roaster and then fitted it into the oven he noticed that his 2IC was furiously washing her greasy hands in the sink. He couldn't keep himself from grinning as he pictured her forcefully stuffing the turkey. It would be a picture forever etched in his mind.

"Something funny Sir?"

Uh oh, his Captain was a little ticked off!

"No Carter, not at all. I'm just enjoyin' the day. Come on, you can peel the sweet potatoes. You do know how to peel don't you?"

"Yes, Sir, I know how to peel."

"Good. While you do that I'll get the pies going."

"Pies Colonel? You know how to bake pies?"

"Yup – Sara taught me a long time ago. We'd always prepare Thanksgiving Dinner together." The thought always brought a feeling of sadness to him – those were great times! The last couple of years Charlie had helped him, making it even more fun. One of the reasons he'd conned his team into coming with him this weekend was he really didn't want to be alone on the holiday. It was a family time and sitting alone watching TV would have been much too painful.

Sam glanced over at him as he said this and caught the expression on his face. Oh God, this must be hard for him, she thought. She had learned about his son and his divorce and knew that holidays must be the hardest thing to deal with. From being slightly irritated at her CO she realized that his kidding around and getting her to help was probably his way of trying to deal with the memories. All she could do was help – not just with the meal – but with taking his mind off things.

"So, what kind of pie Colonel?"

It took a moment for him to answer, so lost was he in his thoughts.

"Huh?" he looked at her.

"What kind of pies are you making?"

"Oh – lemon meringue and coconut cream pie."

She just stared at him for a moment. She didn't want to say anything but those seemed odd choices for Thanksgiving. It was then that she saw the slight gleam in his eye.

"Oh good Sir – those are my favorite. I was worried and thought you were going to say pumpkin or something." There! Back at ya O'Neill!

He looked a little panicked at this.

"Uh well – don't you like pumpkin?"

"Oh, it's okay I guess – but so predictable. Now, no one would ever think of having coconut cream pie for Thanksgiving. That shows a real level of innovation and creativity." Hah! Get out of this one Colonel!

But O'Neill wasn't born yesterday. His Captain almost had him for a moment there but her expression was just a little off. Think you can beat the master do you Carter!

"Yup – that's what I've always said. Thanksgiving calls for creativity! That's why I don't want to sit around and do the same old stuff most people do today – like sit around and talk and play games. Nope – today is a day for something different."

"Like what Sir?" she asked, a little worried now.

"Well, with all this food I thought we'd go for a hike. There's a great ten mile hike around the lake. It'll be great fun. A great way to spend time while the turkey's roasting."

She looked up at her CO – God, there was nothing she'd rather do less than go on a ten mile hike – especially in a storm.

"Isn't the weather too bad out?"

"No Captain – what's a little weather? We've dealt with worse."

"Yes, but not on a holiday." How could she get them out of this?

"I'd be fine just sitting around and resting Sir. I don't need to be 'creative' today – really!"

"Really – no 'creativity', no 'doing things differently?"

"No Sir – the same old is just fine with me."

"Oh good. Then in that case you won't mind that we're having pumpkin pie."

Silence.

"Captain?"

Silence.

"Uh Carter? Sam? Pumpkin?" Whoops – had he gone too far? Was she angry?

"I was just thinking about stuffing that... turkey ...Sir!" she refused to look at him.

"Uh yeah – turkey! Okay. So, how're the potatoes coming?"

"Fine, they're all done. What's next? I can help with the pies if you'd like. I do know how to bake."

"Great. I never like making the crust. I'm sorry about the pies Sam", he said, truly sorry if he'd offended her.

She gave him a big grin (God – she's beautiful, he thought, feeling quite stunned).

"That's okay Sir. It was quite funny really." She continued to smile at him and he realized, that she had, in fact 'got him'. He'd thought she was upset when, in fact, she'd enjoyed the whole thing. Man, he was in trouble. This was definitely a woman after his own heart!

For the next little while they worked quietly beside each other. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence at all. In fact, they worked well together. It shouldn't be a surprise, really. They worked extremely well in the field and had come to trust and rely on each other in dangerous situations. The fact that they worked well in a more mundane setting was simply a continuation of that.

When everything was as prepared as it could be to this point (they'd have to wait until much later to actually cook the rest) both of them collapsed on the sofa in the small living room.

"Geesh. I never knew how much work a turkey dinner was. No wonder my Dad never attempted it."

"Yeah – it's a lot of work – but worth it in the end. The nice part of it is that we'll make Daniel and Teal'c do all the cleaning up since they didn't help with the preparation."

"Good idea. I can hardly wait to see Teal'c in a little frilly apron. I wonder if Jaffa can get 'dish pan hands' or does the larval goa'uld prevent that?"

"Now I gotta say, Carter, that's something that's never crossed my mind. It's something we can ask him though. Hey, Daniel – you're finally risen from the dead." He turned and looked toward the younger man who stumbled out of his room looking like he'd just gone twenty rounds with Ra.

"Morning", he grunted, heading directly to the kitchen. "Coffee?"

"It's on the stove Daniel. It's from this morning but should still be okay. There's cream in the fridge.

"Hmmmmm", he grunted again. Daniel in the morning, 'pre-coffee' was always a site to behold. He poured himself a cup and drank it down quickly. He then poured another cup and moved into the living room where he sat in the big, stuffed armchair.

"Have a good sleep?" Jack asked.

"Yeah – what time is it?"

"It's 12:00 - time for lunch."

'Lunch? I haven't had breakfast yet."

"Okay, so have breakfast then. No one's stopping you."

"What is there?"

"The usual – cereal, toast, eggs, bacon. You can make some pancakes if you want. I brought all the fixings."

"Wow Sir, you really came prepared."

"Hey one of the best things about going to the mountains in the winter is having good food. I get sick of MRE's and pizza. So, I brought good stuff."

"Hey, what smells Jack?" Daniel just realized that something was smelling quite good. He looked over at the kitchen and noticed, for the first time, the mess of dishes.

"Whatchya makin'?" he asked.

"Jack is making Turkey Dinner, Daniel – for Thanksgiving."

"Really Jack? I didn't know you could cook."

"Lot's you don't know about me Daniel."

"Yeah – that I know! But turkey dinner – wow!"

"Hey, it wasn't just me. Sam helped."

"She did?" he looked over at his colleague in wonderment. "I didn't know Sam could cook either."

"I can't. The Colonel taught me."

"Yes, and she's a natural Daniel. You should see her stuff a turkey's hind end!"

"Sir!" she choked, glaring at him.

"You stuffed what?"

"Jack taught me to stuff a turkey. Did you know you have to stuff both ends Daniel?"

"Uh no – can't say as I did."

"You two are incredible. I've never met two smarter people who are more clueless! Next year I'm leaving the whole thing to you Carter and Daniel can help! Well, I for one am going to get dressed and go out and see what's going on. Go fix yourself some breakfast or lunch or whatever Daniel. Carter – thanks for your help. That was fun!"

"Yes Sir, it was", she smiled at her CO as he walked towards his room. She meant it. It had been great fun. In fact, she didn't remember having such a great time since – God, she couldn't remember when. Who woulda thought? Jack O'Neill was a man of many surprises.

After Jack had left Daniel just stared at her for a moment.

"What?" she said, looking at him crossly.

"Nothing." He answered

"Then what are you staring at?"

"Uh – just can't get over the picture of you and Jack cooking together. It seems very – domestic."

"We were just two teammates having some down time. Nothing to worry about Daniel!"

"Hey, I wasn't worried. I think it's kind of nice. By the way, are we having pumpkin pie by any chance? It's my favorite."

He looked over at Sam and was surprised by the soft look on her face. She was thinking about something that obviously pleased her.

"Yeah", she answered softly, "we're having pumpkin pie."