A/N: Last chapter of this series, although it's possible I'll do a future story way down the road somewhere, but probably not anytime in the near future. I've been absolutely overwhelmed by your responses to this series. Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. This series has many younger viewers, which I'm using as my excuse for not putting in any steamy bedroom scenes... although the truth is I just can't write the silly things without laughing hysterically. It's a talent I do not possess, although I do think this is my mushiest, shippiest chapter I've ever written in any story. Anyway, enjoy!
Ch 9: Ending
Sam couldn't believe it. He actually wanted to play Monopoly! He was rummaging around in a closet for it now, and Teal'c and Daniel were arguing over who got to be banker and who got to be real estate broker.
"Daniel Jackson, when last we played this game, you and O'Neill nearly came to blows over your error in banking. I will be banker."
"It wasn't my error, Teal'c, Jack was trying to cheat!"
"Children," Sam interrupted, fully aware that one of the 'children' she was addressing was actually well over a hundred years old.
At the moment, she really didn't care. After Maggie's interruption, she would have expected Jack to be rushing through the rest of their 'party.' Apparently now he wanted to not only mess with Daniel, but with her as well.
She had to admit (to herself – she'd never admit it to him or anyone else out loud) that she was enjoying the new, or rather rediscovered, atmosphere around them now. For so long things had been out of balance, or something. They had been teetering back and forth between too comfortable and too uncomfortable for a long time, but now it felt like things were back to normal, or what passed for normal between them at any rate.
So, if Jack suddenly wanted to prolong the rest of tonight as long as possible, she was more than willing to try to beat him at his own game. At this point, she figured it didn't really matter who won anyway. Well, as long as it wasn't Daniel, who was still whining about being banker.
"Teal'c," Sam said with a sigh. "Let's just let Daniel be the banker since it is his birthday."
"Very well," Teal'c agreed as Jack came back into the room with the worn box.
"I think we might be missing a few pieces. I hope nobody wanted to be the thimble," he said as he set the box down on the coffee table and turned to Sam, who was still sitting in the chair halfway across the room.
"You going to phone in your turns from over there?" he asked.
"Maybe, if you had let me bring my phone." She got out of the comfortable chair somewhat reluctantly and brought her blanket with her as she joined everyone else. Teal'c set up the board while Daniel divided up the money and Jack started sorting out the property cards.
"I'm the race car," Sam said quickly as she settled herself on the floor between the coffee table and the sofa, so that she could lean against the back of the sofa comfortably. Daniel and Teal'c had taken throw pillows and were sitting on other sides of the board and table, Daniel directly across from her. Jack was behind her, on the couch. It would probably kill his knees to sit on the floor.
"Why do you get to be the race car?" he demanded. "It's my game."
"My birthday," she countered easily.
"I wish to be the top hat," Teal'c said quickly.
Sam thought about pointing out that nobody was likely to fight Teal'c over the top hat, which for some reason she had always considered to be a forlorn little piece, but then decided not to. It was oddly appropriate for him; the man did have an interest in strange hats, after all, as he often had to wear them to cover up his Apophis mark.
"And Daniel's the puppy," Sam said matter-of-factly, setting the little dog piece and the race car on 'Go.'
"Daniel, you dog," Jack said.
Daniel blinked at both of them. "Why am I the dog?"
"You're not the dog, you're the puppy," Sam tried to explain. Clearly neither man understood what she was saying. They both looked at her, then at each other, and finally shrugged.
"There's nothing good left for me to be!" Jack objected, rifling through the remaining pieces.
"Why don't you be the boat?" Daniel asked.
"Lost the boat years ago," Jack muttered.
"You could be the iron," Sam suggested 'helpfully.'
He narrowed his eyes at her and said, "You wait." He got up and disappeared into his bedroom.
Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c looked at each other and shrugged. Teal'c went into the kitchen and came back with a ginger ale and a big bag of pickle flavored chips. Daniel passed everyone their money. Jack returned and, with unnecessary pride and force, plopped a little plastic figure down next to the top hat: Bart Simpson on a skateboard.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Jack felt stupid. Monopoly had seemed like such a good idea at the time... apparently the years had blurred his memory of the game, as he didn't remember it being quite so... boring. He felt his plan had backfired somewhat. Everyone else seemed to be enjoying the game.
Daniel was getting a little drunk, as they had all switched back to beer when the game began over an hour ago. Sam was making race car noises every time she moved her piece, which led Daniel to make little dog noises when he moved his.
Daniel's dog noises made Jack's real dog lift her head up and look at them all derisively. Yes, Jack was positive that was the exact term for the expression on Maggie's face.
At least there weren't any top hat noises for Teal'c to make.
Jack was just bored out of his mind. He wanted to be eating cake, and he wanted to be kissing Carter. He didn't really care in which order at this point. He was about a minute and a half from some serious sulking.
"Jack, it's your turn." He took the dice Sam was holding out to him and frowned down at the top of her head. She was sitting on the floor next to him, the left side of her body just lightly brushing against his leg. It was absolutely nothing, but it was really pissing him off. If she would get a little closer or a little farther away from him he would be a lot better off, but she hadn't moved an inch in either direction since the game began and it was maddening. And deliberate too. He didn't have to be able to see her face to know that.
He leaned over the coffee table and rolled the dice so that they intentionally crashed into Daniel's neat little row of houses. "Jack!" Daniel objected.
Jack gave him an innocent, "Oops."
"Do you have to do that every time?" Daniel whined as he straightened out his houses
Yes, as a matter of fact I do, Jack thought. That was the only fun part to this game... although maybe he could make it a little more fun with a little more effort...
He skated Bart across the proper number of spaces, crashing through Teal'c's hotels and knocking Sam's car completely off the board and onto the floor before screeching to a halt on one of her railroads.
"Very mature," Sam muttered as she retrieved her car from under the table and Teal'c fixed his hotels without comment, but with a look that warned Jack he'd better not try anything like that again, or he was liable to wake up and find Bart had been mysteriously decapitated during the night.
"Well, looks like you owe me $200. Again," Sam informed him.
"I'll get you another beer and we'll call it even," he offered.
"Hmm... okay, add the pretzels and it's a deal."
"Pleasure doing business with you," Jack said quickly, going to the kitchen grinning as he heard Daniel start to complain.
"That's cheating, Jack, you can't do that!"
"House rules, Daniel! Look it up!"
When Jack returned with the pretzels and two fresh beers, Daniel was reading the rules with a frown.
"Daniel, I'm sorry, but he's right. You can personalize the rules."
"You have to agree to the rules though, it says it right here!"
"I did agree," Sam pointed out.
"But..."
"Do the rules not also state that a transaction is over when the next person takes his or her turn?" Teal'c interrupted.
"Yup," Jack said.
"Good." Teal'c picked up the dice and rolled.
Daniel muttered, "Traitor."
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
After that, Jack found the game much more enjoyable. It was quite interesting trying to wheedle his way out of paying for stuff, and seeing what he could get everyone else to offer him. The game quickly degenerated until they were eventually playing more by a 'rules, we don't need no stinkin' rules' philosophy than anything else.
The highlight of the game, in Jack's opinion at least, was when Daniel was seized by an ill-timed and painful foot cramp and handed over Boardwalk and Park Place in desperation when Sam demanded them in exchange for a quick foot rub and a banana. When she came back into the living room with the banana, she looked confused.
"Jack... why is there a pineapple in your refrigerator?"
"Um... so the bananas won't be lonely?" he replied with a shrug.
Daniel started giggling, and promptly rolled over flat on his back on the floor, still laughing and grabbing his side. "Ah! My appendix!"
"Daniel, you had your appendix out years ago," Jack reminded him calmly.
"Oh... yeah. Good point."
"And it was on the other side of your body to begin with anyway," Sam added, tossing the banana to him as Teal'c pulled Daniel back up into a sitting position.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Jack and Sam were in intense negotiations. Jack was holding onto the dice so that nobody could go until they finished. "Okay..." Sam tried. "I'll give you the utilities and the railroads, and you give me the purples and the last Oreo."
"I want your orange."
"You don't have any oranges!"
"I know, I want to trade it to Teal'c."
"I'll give you my 'Get out of jail free' card."
"Please... don't waste my time," he scoffed at the petty offering as he broke the cookie he was holding hostage in half and started inching it towards his mouth. "You want the cookie you're going to have to offer more than a get out of jail free card," he said unnecessarily.
"I can't give you the orange... but I'll give you the utilities, railroads, and a free stay on the next thing you land on."
"The next hotel I land on?"
"What? That's absurd!"
Jack stuck half the cookie into his mouth and started chewing it loudly. The look on Sam's face was priceless. You'd think he just ripped the head off a baby deer or something. "Maybe I'll trade the last half to Teal'c for Pennsylvania, since you won't give me your orange so I can trade with him."
"You wouldn't," she challenged hesitantly. "And now it's just half a cookie anyway."
"Ah, but it's half of the last cookie, which makes it a valuable commodity. Besides, you're welcome to come after the other half if you want." He waggled his eyebrows and, in a very juvenile fashion, stuck out his partially-chewed cookie-covered tongue.
Daniel made a barfing sound so realistic that Sam actually had to glance over at him to make sure he was okay.
"Okay, give me the purples and the Oreo in your hand and I'll give you the orange," she offered.
"Really?"
"Just the orange, no railroads and utilities."
"Hmm... what about the free stay on a property?"
"Fine, the next one you land on."
"Okay, deal."
Both of them quickly moved to start gathering the items they'd bartered. Sam quickly popped the cookie into her mouth and promptly choked on it as Daniel said, "Why don't you guys get married?"
Eyes watering, Sam managed to turn her head to the side to avoid spraying the board with Oreo flecks as she coughed. "Jesus Daniel what the hell?" Jack demanded, whacking her on the back.
"I'm okay," she gasped, trying to get him to stop.
"Colonel Carter, drink this," Teal'c said, quickly pressing a bottle of water into her hand. She drank it quickly and glanced up at Jack, who was looking flushed and glaring at Daniel.
"Sorry, Sam I didn't mean to make you choke," Daniel apologized sincerely.
"Well what the hell were you trying to do?" Jack asked sharply.
"I just thought... it just occurred to me that if Sam can't be court-martialed this week, and you guys got married, after the fact it would be discrimination and against the law for the Air Force to fire one of you from the SGC just for being married. They'd have to figure out a way to work around the other rules or you could sue them."
"Daniel, you are the weirdest drunk I've ever met," Sam said, trying to change the subject. "The last thing you said before that was that the Monopoly guy looked like the love child of Mr. Peanut and Mrs. Paul the fish stick lady, and now you come up with that?"
"Well... I'm right though aren't I?" he persisted.
"I don't know, maybe," Sam said wearily. "But that's not the point."
"I'm not that drunk," Daniel added as an afterthought.
"You're that annoying," Sam countered.
"Kids!" Jack interrupted. Sam was sitting up on her knees and looked about ready to hurt Daniel.
Sam looked at him sharply, surprised he wasn't just as irked as she was, and he quickly decided it would be much smarter to take her side and let Teal'c be the voice of reason. "Actually, you do have a point," he said quickly. "Daniel is annoying."
Sam smirked at Daniel, who turned to Teal'c for help. Teal'c was pretending to do kel-no-reem, although everybody knew he didn't even need to do it anymore.
"It was just a suggestion," Daniel muttered.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Daniel wasn't really all that drunk. Maybe a little, but mostly he was just tired from the long drive to the cabin and irritated that Jack and Sam were messing with him just as much as he was messing with them. He felt like he wasn't living up to his obligation to Cassie, somehow. Plus, he really liked pushing their buttons – for years they had been such easy targets. Now they were getting less shy around each other, which meant they were presenting a more united front against Daniel.
Daniel also wasn't so drunk that he was missing all the weird little glances and the even longer gazes flying back and forth between them all day and all night. He knew Teal'c was catching it all as well, but Teal'c was a lot better at pretending that he didn't really care one way or the other.
Jack, predictably, was the first to get fed up with Monopoly, although it had been his idea to play in the first place. He was running out of creative solutions to paying for things, and his cash supply was rapidly dwindling. Apparently Jack finally decided to just throw in the towel because when it was his turn he waved a couple of real estate cards in the air enticingly and said, "First person to kiss me gets all my winnings."
Daniel rolled his eyes. Nobody moved. "Aw, come on!" Jack exclaimed.
Daniel looked at Teal'c as if to say, 'you do it.' Teal'c scowled. Sam was really overdoing it a bit though, Daniel thought. Surely she didn't think any of the three men in the living room were buying her 'I have zero interest in kissing the General' act. The way those two had been looking at each other all night, it was all Daniel could do to keep from screaming, "GET A ROOM ALREADY!"
"I'm not rolling until somebody lets me off the hook here," Jack threatened, holding onto the dice tightly. "This game gets old, fast."
"Colonel Carter, I would be most grateful if you would acquiesce to O'Neill's odd request so that we may continue with the game."
Daniel made a mental note to limit Teal'c's access to 'Pirates of the Caribbean.'
Rolling her eyes dramatically and looking very put-upon, Sam sighed and said, "All right," and pecked him on the cheek with roughly the enthusiasm of a little kid at a family reunion full of cheek-pinching older relatives once and twice removed.
"Very well, Colonel, I bequeath all of my earthly Monopoly possessions to you," Jack said, handing her two crumpled handfuls of Monopoly money and properties.
"Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically as he stretched out along the couch on his back. Apparently staring at the ceiling with his hands folded behind his head was a more productive use of Jack's time than the game was.
Daniel sighed, figuring that it wouldn't take long for him to start bugging them all, trying to get them to quit the game as well.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Sam guessed Jack would only be able to be still and quiet on the couch for about three more minutes. To his credit, he actually made it about three minutes and forty seconds before he started skating his little Bart toy along the couch cushions experimentally. No doubt he had expected everyone to give up on the game when he did, but at this point it was a matter of principle. She wasn't about to let Daniel win Monopoly any more than she was going to let Jack win the other game they were still playing with Daniel.
And Teal'c... well, she probably should have guessed that Jaffa stubbornness translated to the world of Milton Bradley as well.
Behind her, on the couch, Jack yawned loudly, stretched, made a show of looking at his watch, and yawned again. Daniel and Teal'c completely ignored him but she couldn't help but glance back at him sympathetically.
Until, of course, he leaned over her and set Bart carefully on top of Teal'c's head. "Huh. The hair's good for something after all," he commented.
"O'Neill." Teal'c had, after eight years, found even one more way to say 'O'Neill.' This one clearly meant, 'get your stupid toy off my head this instant or die.'
"Sorry, T," Jack said quickly, removing the figurine.
"Would you like to borrow my book?" Sam asked sweetly.
"I'm not that bored. But ask me again in four hours when you guys are still playing this game, or better yet, don't even ask. Just take the book and knock me unconscious with it."
"Oh, please, can I?" Daniel asked promptly.
"Hey!" Jack objected.
"Actually, why wait four hours? Sam, where's your book?"
"Oh shut up Daniel," Jack muttered, getting up and going into the kitchen.
"He does know it was his idea to play this game, right?" Daniel asked Teal'c and Sam as soon as Jack was out of the room.
"Indeed," Teal'c responded.
Getting to her feet, Sam headed down the hallway towards the bathroom calling, "Oh yeah. He definitely knows."
Daniel rolled the dice and said to Teal'c, "Bet you five bucks when she comes back she sits next to him on the couch."
"Monopoly dollars or regular dollars?" Teal'c asked.
"Regular."
"I will pass. That would be a foolish wager on my behalf."
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Sam came back into the living room and sat down on the couch next to Jack, thanking him for the drink he handed her and asking Daniel and Teal'c whose turn it was next.
"What?" she asked self-consciously as Teal'c and Daniel exchanged a look and Daniel worked very hard to keep from laughing.
"Nothing," Daniel said into the back of his hand.
Sam looked at Jack for an explanation, but he was clearly just as puzzled as she was. He shrugged and settled himself more comfortably into the couch.
"I believe it is your turn, Colonel Carter," Teal'c said.
She rolled the dice quickly. Truthfully, she was getting really tired of the game too, but she didn't want to give Daniel the satisfaction of winning. Or Jack for that matter, even though he'd already quit Monopoly. He'd wanted to drag the evening out, after all. He was just getting what he'd asked for.
She finished her turn and leaned back into the couch. And Jack's arm, which he had stretched over the back of the couch – his fingers collided clumsily with her shoulder. "Sorry, Sam, I wasn't expecting you to lean back so fast," he said lightly, moving his arm.
Riiiight. "No problem," she answered just as lightly.
He did it again the next time she had to lean forward to roll the dice. This time he didn't bother apologizing or moving his arm, instead curling his hand around her shoulder. She shot him a quick look with a raised eyebrow. He just shrugged and squeezed her shoulder, a challenging glint in his eye.
Well, okay, she thought to herself. This would certainly be more interesting than Monopoly. She wasn't entirely sure if he was trying to get her to quit the board game, give in and demand some space, or get Daniel to say something. Maybe it was all three. She supposed it didn't really matter. And she wasn't going to let him win whatever new little game he was starting up, anymore than she was going to let Daniel win Monopoly.
The board game gave her lots of legitimate reasons to move around, as anytime she needed to look at one of her property cards or take her turn she had to scoot to the edge of the cushions and lean forward. She shifted a little bit closer to him each time she slid back, until there wasn't any space left between them and she had to come up with something different. That was a bit harder, because they were both trying to be as 'accidental' as possible.
"Oh brother," Daniel muttered.
"Did you say something, Daniel?" Jack asked.
"Who me? Nope. Nothing," Daniel said quickly. He glanced over at the couch again and added wickedly, "They say hearing is the first thing to go, you know, Jack."
"I thought that was memory."
"Still," Daniel said vaguely.
"Maybe the people who say hearing is first forgot about the memory part," Sam suggested.
"Or maybe the people who say memory is first couldn't hear the ones talking about hearing," Daniel countered.
"Maybe you should shut up and finish your damn game," Jack interrupted.
"I concur with O'Neill," Teal'c added.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Sam was completely out of options to discreetly get Jack back for everything he was doing. He definitely had the advantage because he wasn't still playing Monopoly. And Teal'c and Daniel were used to him not being able to keep his hands still, so it was a little bit more natural for him to suddenly be fiddling with the sleeves of her sweater and whatnot. She was already sitting as close to him as possible without climbing in his lap (which probably would have made Daniel's eyes just pop right out of his head.)
The only thing left she could do was act like she was ignoring him, which she had been working hard at for the past ten minutes. Since he had got bored with his original game, Monopoly, and quit, but she was still sticking with it, she figured she could do the same thing now, and just wait until he got bored or gave up. Theoretically, it was a good idea. Practically was another matter entirely.
For the past several minutes, every time she leaned forward his hand slid a little bit further up her back and stayed there for a while, fingers lightly tracing the new area as if he wanted to be sure he could draw someone a map later, in case they asked. It was maddening, to say the least. Her attempt to make him be still by leaning back and squashing his fingers between the cushion and her back had just made him dig his fingers in more firmly, so she was out of options. Well, she supposed she could move, but that would just be stupid.
Daniel was fidgeting more than she was. He looked like he was trying to decide if he should leap across the table and slap Jack's hand away, or give them both high fives. Teal'c was pretending not to notice anything at all.
"Daniel, you're going to lose eventually. At this point it's almost a statistical fact. It's just a matter of time," Sam objected with a heavy sigh as Daniel started, once again, mortgaging properties to pay for landing on one of her yellows.
"Almost a statistical fact, Sam. What's your rush anyway, it's not like you've got something better to do," he said, giving her his 'I'm just a clueless but adorable archaeologist' look.
Teal'c almost smiled.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Jack had always had a thing for necks. Especially Carter's. With the short hair and all, he couldn't remember a time when he hadn't been particularly drawn to it, as strange as that might sound to Daniel or Teal'c. So by the time he had maneuvered his way up to the neckline of her sweater, he hesitated, running his thumb absently along the fabric at her collar with the sort of anticipatory pause most men probably reserved for more intimate thresholds like bra clasps and pantylines.
She leaned forward to take the multicolored money Teal'c was paying her, which made his hand slip back down along her spine. That broke him out of his suddenly thoughtful daze and when she leaned back again he curled his hand around her neck, his face deliberately blank when she turned to look at him. He refused to look back at her, even though it wasn't really playing fair – for the last several minutes that had been her only real counterattack.
She got goosebumps when he started letting his fingers play lightly with the soft skin on her neck, the little bump at the top of her spine, and the collar of her shirt, but she didn't move away or try to make him stop. He wasn't stupid – he fully expected her to get revenge for his little game sometime in the near future, but hopefully it would be as much fun as this was. Way better than Monopoly, at any rate.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
"Okay, will the birthday boy and girl please report to the kitchen for rations!" Jack called loudly. The Monopoly game had finally ended when Daniel was eliminated and Teal'c and Sam called it a draw. Sam and Daniel were putting the game away in the living room, while Jack and Teal'c had gone into the kitchen to get the cake ready.
"Today people!" Jack added.
Sam and Daniel looked at each other, rolled their eyes, and went into the kitchen, where Jack immediately slapped their birthday hats on their heads. Jack and Teal'c started singing 'Happy Birthday' to them as soon as they entered the room.
As they finished their song (at slightly different times due to Jack's tendency to drag out random notes whenever he saw fit), Sam and Daniel leaned over the cake and blew out the candles, which Teal'c had picked up at the last minute. It was the same flavor as always but not decorated. Jack started cutting large pieces of cake for everyone while Teal'c started pouring coffee.
Daniel resisted the urge to make barfing sounds as he watched the way Jack and Sam kept glancing at each other and smiling down at their respective plates of cake. Everyone was standing around the kitchen, tired of sitting after the long game of Monopoly. Sam was leaning back against the counter near the sink, Jack standing a foot and a half away. Maggie was between them, eyeing their plates hopefully. At least now there was a somewhat normal amount of space between the two of them and Jack was keeping his hands to himself.
"It is very late at night, O'Neill," Teal'c said unexpectedly after everyone had been eating their cake in silence for a few minutes.
"Um… yeah, it is, T," Jack agreed cautiously. Teal'c never talked just for the sake of talking.
"And you still intend to awake us at dawn for fishing?" Teal'c pressed.
Sam covered a laugh by sticking a big mouthful of cake in her mouth and tried to look sympathetic around all the cake.
Daniel cleared his throat and glanced at Jack, who could not have looked more offended if Teal'c had insulted his mother. "He ah… has a good point," Daniel contributed.
Jack mumbled something and helped himself to another piece of cake. Sam rubbed his arm sympathetically and said, "I'll go fishing with you, Jack." Daniel swallowed a mouthful of coffee down the wrong pipe, because something happened then that Daniel never thought possible: Jack O'Neill blushed.
Sam looked at him quickly. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," Daniel croaked, making a mental note to call Cassie later, even though he would certainly wake her up, and update her on everything that had happened so far.
He smiled evilly as thinking about Cassie gave him another idea.
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Sam turned to the sink and started rinsing the icing off of her plate. Jack crowded next to her and did the same, nudging her shoulder. She risked glancing at him and quickly turned her attention back to the dishes. With the smug half-smile on his face she could practically hear him chanting 'I'm gonna kiss you, I'm gonna kiss you."
She had almost forgotten Daniel and Teal'c were standing there with them until Daniel suddenly said, "Geez, why don't you guys just get it over with already?"
Dropped plates clattered noisily into the sink as Jack and Sam turned around to face him quickly. "What?" he asked, looking particularly peevish. "It's not like we don't all know about your little secret tradition."
If Sam was shocked at the sudden 'bring everything out into the open' attitude Daniel seemed to have adopted, it was nothing to how surprised she was when Jack shrugged and said, "Daniel, when you're right, you're right."
Sam babbled incoherently for a moment, which greatly amused Jack, who challenged, "Problem, Carter?"
"No," she said defiantly, crossing her arms stubbornly and shooting a quick glare at Daniel, who looked mildly alarmed that they had taken up his little challenge.
"All right then."
Sam barely had time to glance nervously at Teal'c and Daniel before Jack had demanded her undivided attention by cradling her face between both of his hands, thumbs caressing her cheeks gently.
"Uh, hi."
She laughed and replied, "Hi."
"Happy Birthday."
"Thanks." She must have looked a little bit nervous because his expression changed, letting her know he was going to be on good behavior. She tilted her head back slightly as he began lowering his towards hers, their eyes locked. Sam was vaguely aware of Daniel saying something but wasn't paying attention. She thought Teal'c maybe told him to shut up, but wasn't sure.
Finally, Jack's lips pressed into hers, firm, moist, and warm. They stood, frozen and fused together for several long moments in a kiss full of affection but appropriate for all audiences, even Jaffa warriors and nosey archaeologists. Then she felt his lips curl up into a smile against hers and inhaled sharply as she realized what he was about to do a second before he did it. The kiss that was soft and tender one second was hard and demanding in the next, and Daniel and Teal'c were completely forgotten.
Jack swept his tongue across her lips, sucking them into his mouth and nipping at them in turn. She leaned into him further, wrapping her arms around him and eliminating the remaining space between their bodies. He shifted his hips slightly, the contact making her gasp into his mouth. He in turn laughed into hers, prompting her to do the same. Sam randomly thought that it should be illegal to feel so good, the thought occurring to her a split second before she started kissing him back with a sudden urgency that surprised even herself.
"Holy crap," Daniel finally managed to say. Teal'c turned to his teammate with an eyebrow raised. Daniel had been staring at Jack and Sam with his mouth wide open for several long moments, becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the show they were putting on but just as incapable of tearing his eyes away.
Teal'c gripped his shoulder tightly and said, "Perhaps we should retire for the evening, Daniel Jackson. Especially if O'Neill intends to awaken us at dawn. Come." He gave Daniel the nudge he needed to get his feet moving.
Once they were out of the kitchen and Daniel's head had cleared somewhat, he said, "Yeah, how much do you want to bet Jack lets us sleep as late as we want tomorrow?"
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
Jack and Sam pulled apart to breathe, pressing their foreheads together and breathing heavily. After a few seconds, Sam remembered Daniel and Teal'c. She mumbled, "Oh God," and turned to apologize to them, but they were gone. Even Maggie had left – they were completely alone in the kitchen and hopefully had been for some time.
Close to her ear, Jack quietly said, "Smart boys."
Her cheeks flushed and Sam said, "God, they're never going to let me live this down."
"Oh, come on, Teal'c's always kissing somebody in a much larger crowd, usually right in the middle of the gateroom. You know, I keep telling him how much it costs to keep that thing on but he doesn't care."
Sam laughed and said, "What about Daniel then?"
"You didn't see the security footage from his little Prometheus encounter with that alien chick?"
"Good point."
"You know what's weird?" Jack asked suddenly, smiling and not waiting for an answer. "This… isn't weird. Anymore."
She smiled back and nodded her agreement, going still as he carefully took the birthday tiara off of her head, trying not to pull her hair in the process. He leaned around her and set it on the counter next to the cake, still smiling, his eyes darting back to her lips and staying there.
"So. This'll be our first completely non-birthday sanctioned kiss, huh."
"Technically speaking, I guess," she agreed.
And then they brought their lips together in a new kiss that started all over again instead of just picking up where the last one had left off. It was long, moist, and open-mouthed, but not quite 'I'm-trying-to-crawl-inside-you' just yet. Sam moaned softly at the first slide of their tongues against each other, and he swallowed the sound up whole. His tongue stroked against hers slowly, and he was pretty sure his heart forgot to beat when he felt the tip of hers curl around his.
He splayed his fingers through her hair and tilted her head to the side to give himself better access to the unbelievable softness that was inside her mouth. He would have said that every year, their kiss had always been perfect. Maybe that was true, for those specific moments in time, when they knew full-well that they were dipping into very dangerous and murky waters, but this was so much better. No bittersweet aftertaste, just Sam, chocolate, and a little bit of coffee.
When he needed oxygen, he breathed in hard through his nose in long, ragged inhales, and when he found a new place he had yet to explore, he gave it the kind of thorough attention she gave to new alien doohickeys. When she abruptly broke off the kiss after what seemed like forever, he felt as if he was having a limb torn off for a few seconds, until he remembered he didn't have to wait another year to do that again anymore; he just had to let her catch her breath.
"I could definitely get used to all these new traditions," Sam finally said, brushing her lips against his as she spoke.
"Yeah, me too," Jack agreed. "But I'm thinking this is going to be less of a tradition and more like a… habit."
"Hmm. A habit, huh? What's the difference there?"
"Dunno. We can always ask Daniel."
"Kay," Sam agreed. "Tomorrow."
He nodded and brushed her mouth again with his quickly before saying, "I've always loved the way you think. Come on. I'll ask Daniel when I wake him up in the morning. And before you start trying to tell me we should all sleep away the best fishing hours again… just remember how important it is to keep up traditions. And habits."
Sam laughed and pressed her forehead to his shoulder briefly as they left the kitchen, flipping the lights off on their way out. "Far be it from me to alter any of your habits or traditions."
"You sure?" Jack asked, pulling her closer in a quick squeeze. "Because I'm not saying it would work or anything, but I'd be willing to let you try to convince me."
"Oh brother," Sam muttered.
The end.