It was nearing ten o' clock by the time they arrived at the Carter's home. Brightly colored Christmas lights were strung along the eaves of the modest stucco home. Framed in the front window was a gaily decorated Christmas tree, white lights sparkling like tiny stars in the darkness. The front door was festooned with an enormous evergreen wreath, festively trimmed with red velvet bows.The porch light turned on as Sam cut the engine to the rental.

"Well, we're here." Sam said unnecessarily as she pulled her keys from the ignition and grabbed her purse. The party clambered out of the car, gathering assorted luggage as they went. The front door to the house opened to reveal Sam's brother, Mark, a warm welcoming smile on his face.

"There you are," he called as he came down the front steps of the house. "The kids insisted on waiting up to see you." He wrapped his sister in an enormous bear hug. Sam returned the embrace kissing her brother affectionately on the cheek. "There was such a line at the rental counter, I thought we were going to be there all night." Mark smiled at his father and patted his shoulder, "I'm glad you made it, Dad." Those simple words conveyed just how much Mark and Jacob's relationship had grown over the past four years. Jacob's devotion to his military career had frequently kept him away from home during Sam and Mark's childhood. Although a demanding profession with necessary periods of absence from home, Jacob had been a workaholic as well, and his frequent absences had led to a rift between him and his children that had only recently begun to heal. Father and son locked eyes for a moment, the unspoken words of gratitude and forgiveness hanging in the air between them.

The excited squeals of, "Aunt Sam! Grandpa Jacob!" broke the moment as two bundles of energy tore out the front of the house. From the doorway a brunette thirty-something woman shrugged her shoulders and smiled indulgently, her expression saying 'I held them off as long as I could.'. She came down the steps at a more stately pace than demonstrated by the children.

"Hello, Allison," Sam called from behind a squirming six year old that was intent on hugging the last breath of air out of her. She called a greeting in returned and then looked right past her at the third member of the party.

Daniel was leaning against the side of the car hands in the pockets of his khakis. Not wanting to intrude on the family reunion he had hung back, content to observe. He knew that relations in the Carter family had not always been as warm as they apparently were now. However, it was obvious that there was now genuine affection on all sides, even if they chose to demonstrate it differently. Jacob had crouched down so that he was eye to eye with his four year old grandson. He had hugged him tightly initially, although the child had since squirmed free in order to introduce Grandpa to his stuffed teddy bear. Jacob was listening to him solemnly as the child explained Cocoa's dietary preferences which seemed to center on chocolate. Sam had scooped her niece up in her arms, her pink princess nightgown floating around the two of them in the breeze. The little girl was eagerly relating a story involving her cat while Sam absently tucked a few errant curls back into the child's ponytail. The simple gesture reminded him of when they had found Cassandra, and how he had thought then what a wonderful mother Sam would make.

An unfamiliar voice interrupted his thoughts, "You must be Daniel." Instinctively Daniel straightened up, and pulled his hands out of his pockets. He turned to face the owner of the voice, an uncertain smile on his face, "And you must be Allison." He extended his hand to her switching gears into 'peaceful explorer' mode, "Thank you for having me on such short notice."

"Oh, Daniel, I'm so sorry! Where are my manners?" Sam exclaimed as she rushed over to him. "Daniel, this is my sister-in-law, Allison," the two smiled and nodded at each other "This," she said indicating the little girl, who had tucked her head shyly against Sam's shoulder "is my niece, Emily."

"Hello, your Highness," Daniel intoned gravely, half bowing to her. This elicited a giggle from her and a shy smile.

"That's my nephew, Austin," she said tilting her head in the direction of the teddy bear wielding toddler. "And this is my brother, Mark." Mark stepped over as he was introduced to take the hand that Daniel had proffered. The two of them assessed each other for a moment, as they gripped each other's hand in a firm handshake.

Mark wasn't sure what he had expected when Allison told him that Sam would be bringing a 'friend' with her for the holidays. The last 'friend' his sister had brought home had turned out to be her fiancee Jonas Hanson. What he had seen hadn't impressed him. In fact, it had widened the rift between the two of them. At the time he had suspected that Jonas was abusive of her, but she had denied everything. Sam might be an Air Force Officer, but she was still his little sister. He had tried talking to her, and maybe he had gotten a bit overbearing. He could admit that now. The three of them had gotten into a heated argument that resulted in Sam storming out. They had never talked about it since. It was one of those forbidden topics that they studiously avoided. He had been relieved when he found out, much later, that she had broken it off with him. Since Jonas, it looked like Sam had chosen her career over a family life. Whenever he questioned her about having someone special in her life , maybe starting a family of her own, she'd always been dismissive. Her current job took her away from home often, she claimed, which made dating difficult. He wasn't quite sure why she needed to travel so much for 'Deep Space Radar Telemetry' but having grown up in a military household, he knew better than to ask.. He gave this new 'friend' an appraising glance: tall, good-looking, well dressed, probably not military judging by the way he slouched, he remembered Allison mentioning he had a PhD.. 'A possibility that bears watching,' he thought to himself.

"It's nice to meet you," he said aloud, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

"Likewise," Daniel replied, sensing that he had just passed some sort of test.

After a half an hour of excited chatter, the kids had been coerced into bed with the promise of a full day of excitement. Sam had gone into the kitchen with Allison to make some tea for the adults while the men hauled the luggage into the house. In short order the tea kettle was warming on the stove, Sam was setting out the mugs, and Allison was busy emptying a cupboard full of tea.

"Wow, that's quite a variety you have." Sam commented picking up a box marked 'Apple Medley' and reading the back.

"What can I say, I'm a tea junkie," she shrugged a little and handed Sam another box.

"That's for Mark. Darjeeling for Jacob.. What does Daniel drink?"

"Earl Grey," Sam answered absently rummaging through the growing pile of boxes on the counter. Her eyes were focused into the living room where the three men had just entered. Mark was talking about something she couldn't quite make out to Jacob. Daniel was trailing behind, slowly looking around the room. Ever the explorer he was taking in his surrounds, determining from the 'artifacts' what type of people the 'natives' were. With a smile he stopped to examine the family pictures displayed on the wall, celebrating the family's milestones. The almost obligatory wedding photo, pictures of the children, first of Emily alone, later Emily and Austin together. Moving on he paused at the fireplace to examine a series of figurines and vases placed there. He paused after a moment his eyebrows raising and he pushed up his glasses to study a particular piece. Mark noted his interested and made a permissive gesture. Daniel gently picked up the vase that had caught his eyes, holding it carefully before turning it over slowly, his lips moving as he translated the text. It was a scene she had seen a hundred times one she most likely would never grow tired of. She smiled fondly at him, although he was too focused to notice anything but the artifact in his hand.

"Sam!" She jumped at the sound of her name dropping the box she had been holding. "What? I'm sorry." Sam turned her back to the living room and faced her sister in law.

"They'll be fine. Mark doesn't bite." Allison smiled knowingly,

"What would you like in your tea? Or should I just bring everything with us?"

"Let's just bring it with us." Sam busied herself with loading up the tea tray with all of the necessary accouterments. Her eyes immediately turned back to Daniel who had pushed his glasses up on top of his head to get a better look at the vase. Mark had moved over next to him and was showing him another piece from his collection.

"Soooo," her sister-in-law drawled in an overly casual fashion, "How long have you known each other?"

"Seven years," she sighed a bit. 'Longest meaningful relationship I've ever had with one man,' she thought to herself.

"Seven years! Why have we never met him before?" Sam glanced back into the living room where her brother and Daniel had obviously hit it off. A book had been pulled out of somewhere and the two were obviously in the midst of a lively discussion. Jacob had settled into a chair and was watching the two with an indulgent smile.

"I have no idea," she replied, inadvertently borrowing one of her friends favorite lines. Shaking her head she picked up the tray and headed into the living room moving to set out the dishes on the coffee table. Allison trailed behind her a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Sam!" Daniel called excitedly, motioning with his hand for her to come over, "This is amazing," his eyes were lit up in excitement as he showed her the vase that had initially caught his attention.

"Aztec?" she stated, a slight raising of her voice at the end the only indication that she wasn't a hundred percent certain. Daniel smiled at her as he nodded his assent, much like a teacher would to a star pupil. It was a beautiful piece, relatively undamaged by the passage of time, the amber and russet tones pleasing to the eye. The surface was deeply incised with a snake motif and an abstract pattern along the top and bottom. "This is their water goddess, isn't it?" she asked tracing the central figure with her finger.

Mark looked at his sister and glanced up from the book in surprise. "When did you learn so much about Mesoamerica?"

She shrugged a bit and turned back to the vase as if to indicate it was no big deal, "I've picked up a lot of things since I met Daniel." The pattern along the bottom caught her attention and she examined it more closely, "I've seen this somewhere before."

"Maybe this will help," Daniel passed the book he was looking at over to reveal a full color photo of a circular mosaic. In the center was displayed the same water goddess rendering as well as many other images she couldn't quite decipher. The caption by the picture said it was found recently in the ruins of a temple in Teotihuacan. Suddenly she remembered standing on the same mosaic in a room full of children. It had been in the gateroom on Merrin's planet. Unfortunately when Daniel had finished excavating the mosaic, large portions of it had been damaged, and he had never fully translated the story it was trying to tell. Daniel, who had been watching her closely nodded when he saw the light of understanding in her eyes.

"A colleague of mine is writing a book on the influence of Teotihuacan on the Mesoamerican cultures during the classical period. The vase was a gift from him after we completed this book, depicting the art of the 'City of the Gods'." He took the vase back from Sam and returned it to its place on the mantlepiece.

"It's a beautiful piece," Daniel observed as he accepted a cup of tea and found a seat on the edge of the loveseat. Sam sat down next to him also accepting a cup. Mark joined his wife on the couch before turning himself back to the topic.

"There is a lot of debate about whether or not the Mayans were directly influenced by Teotihuacan. I came across an article recently referring to some early studies of pottery that indicate an sharing of technologies in the early classical period."

"Mayer's work," Daniel commented as he stirred sugar into his tea. "There are references to excavations in the Yucatan and as far east as Palanque if I'm not mistaken."

The two launched themselves back into the topic at hand and it appeared it would be a lengthy discussion. Sam shook her head. She was used to Daniel's impassioned discussions regarding culture and traditions, as well as her brother's borderline obsessions with topics. It was odd to see just how well the two fed off of each other. Who would have though that her brother's role as archivist at the University of San Diego would have made for such a discussion?

Allison turned to Sam with a similar look of indulgent resignation on her face, "You know how he is when he gets like this." Glancing across the coffee table she noticed that Jacob was dozing in his chair, the tea cup precariously perched in his hand. Gently she placed her hand on her husband's knee, and indicated Jacob's sleeping form.

"Maybe we better continue this discussion tomorrow," Mark said sheepishly. He reached over and touched his dad gently on the shoulder. The retired general opened his eyes, instantly alert. "Sorry, Dad."

"No, it's fine," Jacob said waving his hand dismissively. "It was just a long trip to get here."

"Where were you this time, Dad?" Mark was amazed at how much his father managed to travel as a consultant for the Air Force.

"Moscow," he answered without missing a beat. "I had a meeting with President Mikhailov." Jacob rose out of his chair. "So where are we bunking?"

"Well, I put Austin in with his sister. That frees up the bunk beds in his room. And there is a day bed in the guest room that pulls out into a full. I wasn't quite certain. . ." she hesitated for a moment and looked slightly embarrassed. The unspoken question of 'are you sleeping together hung?' in the air. Jacob looked on curiously as Sam turned a bright shade of pink and Daniel studied the wallpaper.

"How did I end up here?" Daniel asked as he tried to curl his six foot frame into the twin sized top bunk. He sat up to rearrange the pillows and smacked his head against the ceiling.

"Because I'm old, and shouldn't be scrambling up ladders. Arthritis, you know." Jacob grinned as he slipped into the bottom bunk. He plopped his head square in the center of the pillow and pulled the blankets up. Daniel mumbled something about keeping up appearances as he rubbed at his forehead with one hand while fighting the bright blue 'Finding Nemo' blanket with the other. The two men were silent for a few moments, the rustling of the covers the only sound as they attempted to get comfortable in their respective bunks.

"How did you end up here, Danny?"

"I thought we agreed on arthritis," he mumbled sleepily.

"San Diego, not the bunk beds."

"Sam asked, I said yes."

"Interesting."

"I don't think Sam liked the idea of me being alone for the holidays."

"Last Christmas was tough for her."

"Why do you say that?" Daniel finally arranged the covers to his satisfaction and watched the shadows on the ceiling.

"Sam loves the holidays. When she was a kid she would know the exact number of days left before Christmas as far out as July. She'd be dragging the decorations out of the attic on Thanksgiving night, since it was officially the Christmas season then. Last year when I came back for the holidays, there wasn't a decoration in sight. She never put up her tree."

Daniel frowned as he listened, "Christmas Eve I show up, expecting your usual SG-1 sleepover, and she's all alone sitting on the couch in this over-sized sweater. She said Jack and Teal'c had decided to go up to the cabin a day early."

"That doesn't sound like Jack. He's still determined to successfully deep-fry a turkey for us."

"She confessed later that she had told him to go, that she wasn't up to the holidays that year."

"Why?"

"Maybe you should ask her."