Author's Note: I like Sam too much to ruin her first Thanksgiving dinner with injuries or a food fight, so none of that during dinner – sorry! Afterwards, though...? We'll see.

OOOOOOO

"Now I know why the government has a deficit," Jack said an hour later, as he pushed his empty plate away. "From feeding Ian."

The rest of the people at the table all smiled, but Ian didn't even blink.

"I thought it was health care for you, Colonel."

Cassie snorted, almost spraying Ian with her milk, but saving it at the last second – which he appreciated.

It was true that Ian had eaten fairly well, though. As Sam watched in amazement (and proud gratification, since she'd done most of the cooking) the cadet and Teal'c had managed to barrel their way through everything on the table. Teal'c was and always had been a big eater – look at the size of him, after all – but Ian had matched him helping for helping and bite for bite, and the cadet was hardly a heavy weight. There was plenty of food, and the others didn't go hungry by any means – Daniel had long since surreptitiously loosened his belt – but they'd all watched in various stages of shock as Ian cleared his plate for the forth time.

Of course, he hadn't had much of anything to eat that day, aside from some meat and cheese and some toast. That was hardly what he was used to – and Sam's dinner was the first home-cooked meal he'd had in months. There was no way he was going to miss it, and no way he'd be embarrassed about enjoying it.

"I don't get a meal like this every day," Ian said, tossing Sam a smile to tell her quite plainly that he was impressed with her cooking. "It was great."

"If you ate like that every day, you'd never fit into your clothes," Janet told him with a smile of her own. She didn't have boys, and had never actually seen a young man's appetite at work before – she was impressed.

Ian smiled, and leaned back in his chair with a sigh.

"Full?" Sam asked.

"Satisfied," he corrected her. "Full implies there's no more room..."

"Ready for dessert?" She challenged.

"No." The answer was immediate, and Sam wasn't the only one around the table to grin.

"Did you hear the latest on Senator – excuse me, Vice President-elect – Kinsey, Jack?" Nathan asked, leaning back as well. Maggie Brooks was a wonderful cook, but there just wasn't anything better than a Thanksgiving meal to make a man eat more than he should.

"There's been a lot about him in the news," Jack answered, blandly, his warm brown eyes suddenly a little guarded – not everyone in the room knew about what had happened between O'Neill and Kinsey – and Dotty and a few others – and Nathan should know that. "Which story are you talking about?"

"The one where no one can seem to find the car he wrecked..."

"Someone probably stole it," Daniel said.

"Who'd want a wrecked car?" Cassie asked.

Sam shrugged.

"Who would want a piece of Elvis' shirt?" She asked. "There are all sorts of people out there who collect all sorts of things like that. If you get famous enough, someone will want something of yours."

"Hey, I have a handkerchief of Elvis'," Janet said, defensively. "He threw it at me..."

"Who's Elvis?" Ian asked.

Janet tossed her napkin at him, well aware that he was making a sly remark about her own age, now. Ian caught it, and showed it to Cassie, holding it close against his chest in mock exhilaration.

"Look! A piece of history!" He put his hand to his forehead, pretending to swoon, while Cassie giggled.

"Now she just needs to get famous."

"I hear the tabloids calling now," Janet said, dryly. "Something about Janet Fraiser – the woman who murdered the two smart-assed kids who were making fun of her..."

Ian laughed, and neatly folded her napkin before handing it back to her.

"Just for that, Cassandra and I will clear the plates and get the next round of coffee," he said, standing up.

Cassie stood up as well, not minding that she'd been volunteered into service. She didn't mind helping out – not when it meant being with Ian – and besides, by clearing the table they'd probably get out of actually doing the dishes. Not to mention she loved the way he said her name – she couldn't believe he thought he was an asshole – and really couldn't believe he didn't have a girlfriend. He seemed nice enough to her.

"There are plastic storage dishes for the leftovers," Sam told them, more than willing to allow them to do the work for a while. While the day hadn't been all that hard thanks to all the help she'd had, she was ready to sit back and enjoy the fact that their first Thanksgiving meal had gone very well.

"Yes, Ma'am."

Clearing the dishes wasn't really all that hard, and since the others were stacking their dishes to make it even easier, it didn't take long. Ian found the plastic containers Sam had mentioned, and Cassie started bringing him the leftovers one dish at a time so he could take care of them – which was a lot easier than each of them going from the table to the kitchen.

Daniel came into the kitchen before they were done, though, and took the coffee.

"I'll take care of this, guys," he told them.

Meaning, he wanted coffee now and didn't want to wait. Ian didn't know Daniel all that well, but Cassie did, and she explained it to him before he could be offended or worried that someone thought he wasn't working fast enough. Ian nodded and flipped a slice of ham to Bubba, who was standing just at the edge of the kitchen tile, with his paws just barely on the carpet of the dining room. Jaffer and Jack weren't so well mannered. Both of them were underfoot, begging shamelessly for their share of the scraps with sad, mournful expressions that plainly said they weren't fed anywhere near as often as they should have been.

"Why's he standing back there?" Cassie asked, looking at Bubba, who neatly caught the slice of ham and gobbled it down.

"He's not allowed in the kitchen," Ian explained. "Mom tripped over him once when he was a puppy, and made the rule – and held him to it." Ian smiled, his eyes soft as he tossed another slice of ham to the lab while Cassie gave Jack and Jaffer pieces as well to keep them from rioting. "He gets as close as he can, though, you'll notice."

She nodded.

"He's really pretty."

Ian's smile grew, and he preened just a little with pride – Bubba was his baby, after all.

"Thanks, Cassandra. He's-"

There was a knock on the door just then, and whatever Ian was going to say about Bubba was cut off when all three dogs forgot all about the food in the kitchen and went scrambling for the front door.

"I got it," Jack called – before Ian or Cassie could offer.

He got up and walked to the door, calling Jaffer to heel while Teal'c did the same with Jack. Ian came out of the kitchen to control Bubba just as Jack opened the door, and Jack grabbed Bubba's collar with a quick, experienced hand to keep the dog from going out the door.

Ian smiled; coming through the door were Shawn, River and a girl he didn't know – probably Shawn's girlfriend, Gina – who had just reached down and picked up a big fluffy bundle of black that was squirming and wriggling excitedly, looking down at the labs happily.

"Hi, Jack," Shawn said, pushing his way through the dogs. "Did we miss dinner?"