Ch 3: The forest for the trees

Jack hadn't been surprised to find he missed Daniel and Teal'c. However, he was surprised that he found himself missing Daniel's meddling. Because he needed advice, and Daniel was good at listening, and not shy about offering advice. And Teal'c was good at it too, just in a less annoying way. He tried to imagine what they would say if they were there.

"Hey, guys, I know I'm a big loser and I spent all day yesterday helping Carter clean house and all, but I'd like to go over there again today and can't think of a good reason..." he tried to the empty room.

Daniel, he figured, would probably tell him to do what he wanted, as long as he was honest with himself and with Sam. Teal'c would probably just tilt his head and say something like "If you did not know the answer to the question already, O'Neill, you would not ask."

Still. She wanted to leave it in the room, and he had agreed to it. The only problem with that was that he wasn't sure exactly what that meant. Was it still okay to hang out outside of work, just as friends? Not that they usually did that without Daniel and Teal'c, but still... they had done it yesterday and nothing had happened.

Well, not nothing. He had loved seeing her all relaxed and excited about Christmas. But she didn't need to know about that. He got an idea. Grinning and touching his fingertips like Mr. Burns, he said, "Exxxxcellent," to the empty room, got up, and headed out the door.

Carter answered the unexpected knock on her door and was surprised to see her CO standing there, supporting a big Christmas tree. "Hey, Carter. Got a delivery."

"Sir, you didn't need to do this," she said in surprise, stepping aside and holding the door open.

"Well, I realized it must be hard for you to bring home a tree in that little car of yours, at least without getting it all scratched up. So since I've got the truck and all, I just thought it might save you some trouble," he said with a shrug.

"Well, thank you, sir. It's a beautiful tree. I'll go grab the stand from the garage," she said, squeezing his arm lightly as she walked past him.

He smiled until he realized he was grinning like a dork at an empty room and waited until she came back. "We usually put it up over here," she said, taking the stand over to a corner of the living room.

"All right." He carried the tree over to the corner and set it in the stand.

"Just hold it straight for a second, please, sir..." Carter said, dropping to the floor and wriggling underneath the tree to secure it in place. Jack couldn't help taking the opportunity to observe the view as she worked. He looked away quickly when she wriggled back out and got to her feet.

"What?" she asked self-consciously, brushing pine needles off her sweater.

"I was just thinking we spent so long cleaning up and now I've got pine needles all over your living room," he said quickly.

"Oh that's okay. I'll just run the vacuum again later. Would you like a cup of coffee, sir?"

"Sounds good. And... you don't have to keep calling me 'sir' when we're not at work, you know."

"Okay, Colonel."

Well, it wasn't Jack, but it was better. He followed her into the kitchen. "So... what are you doing today?"

"Well, now that I don't have to spend part of it wrestling a tree... I just have to do a bunch of grocery shopping."

"You're going to cook?" he asked, wincing as soon as he had said it and realized how it sounded. Like he didn't believe it was possible and was concerned she might set fire to her house.

"Well... not by myself," she admitted. "My sister and sisters-in-law are way better at it than I am, so they're going to be doing most of it. I've just got this long list of stuff to get."

"Oh. I didn't mean you couldn't..."

She could tell he felt bad about what he had said, so she laughed and shrugged. "It's no secret I can't cook, Colonel. No need to feel bad about it. You should hear the jokes Cassie and Janet make..."

"I've heard a few," he admitted. They shared a smile.

"So, that's really all. It's going to take a while though. Oh, and decorate the tree of course."

"Yeah."

"You're welcome to help me if you like. I mean, just bringing it and setting it up was more than enough but... if you wanted to... you could."

"Well... I'm not really one for holiday tradition, but it doesn't seem right to decorate a tree by yourself," he said, hoping to sound casual.

She smiled and got up. "Good. I'll go get the lights."

Ten minutes later, Jack was losing his patience. "Ohfercryinoutloud, just put em on, Carter!"

"Sir, this is a very delicate procedure. They have to be evenly dispersed..."

"No they don't. It's a Christmas tree."

"I just want it to look good."

"It's a Christmas tree. It will."

"Okay then, why don't you do that half and I'll do this one," she suggested with a hint of a challenge in her eyes.

"All right," he agreed, grabbing his own strand of lights.

Thirty minutes later, he was completely finished with his half of the tree. "Done!" he declared, coming over to look at hers. She was just finishing with the lights. He rolled his eyes.

She glared at him, but they were clearly both amused by the situation and just putting on an act. "Let's see it then," she said, trying to step around him.

He put a hand on each shoulder and stopped her. "Not till you're done. We'll light it up and then you can see."

"All right. Then you can't look at my side either."

"Carter. There's nothing ON your side," he pointed out.

"Well... all right then."

He sat down on the couch and watched her begin. "Oh Carter," he called after ten minutes.

"Yes, Colonel?"

"What exactly are you DOING?"

"Sorting the ornaments," she admitted. At least she had the decency to look sheepish about it, he thought. "I... I like to ah... see how many of each kind there are first, so I can figure out how far to spread similar ones apart from each other," she explained.

He couldn't contain an amused laugh. "Of course you do," he said around a full-blown grin.

Half an hour later, she was finally finished. Her side of the tree was completely symmetrical. All the ornaments formed a perfect pattern. "There," she said, stepping back in satisfaction. She turned to him and said, "Now I get to see your side."

"Uh... you're probably going to hate it," he suddenly realized. "It's okay. You can change it if you want."

"Colonel," she said in surprise.

"No, I don't care. Your tree should look how you want it to look."

"And I'm sure it does. Now let me see it."

"What about the angel?"

"Oh yeah!" She dragged her coffee table over and before he could offer her a hand had climbed on top of it and was positioning the angel. "Is it straight?" she called over her shoulder.

Realizing she was probably talking about the angel and not her ass, he dragged his eyes up to the top of the tree and said, "Basically."

"Sir," she said pointedly.

"Okay, okay. It's not perfect. It's tilted to the left a little bit."

She adjusted it until he called, "There, stop!"

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's perfect. Come look."

She climbed off the table, dragged it back, and turned to survey the tree. "It is. Thanks."

"Yeah. Light it up." She nodded and edged around to the back of the tree, plugging it in.

They surveyed the tree critically. It was perfectly obvious who had decorated which side. Hers was immaculate. His looked very... haphazard.

"Do you hate it?" he asked, realizing he actually cared about whether or not she liked his stupid half of a tree. What the hell is wrong with me? he thought to himself.

"No, I don't hate it," she said quietly. He turned to look at her and she was smiling at the tree, a slightly dazzled look in her eyes. When she caught him looking at her, she blushed a little and said, "Christmas. It ah..."

"Does strange things to you?" he guessed.

"Yes, sir."

"Well, I'll leave you to the strangeness then, Carter. Once again, have a great time with your family."

"Thanks for your help, sir. And the tree."

She walked him to the door, once again surprising him by hugging him quickly. This time he was a little more prepared for it though and was able to hug her back for a second. "Anytime, Carter. And if you need anymore help, you know where to find me."

"Thanks, Colonel. Merry Christmas."