Christmas morning came a lot sooner than Jack had hoped for. He felt like his head had only just hit the pillow, and the sun had barely peeked over the horizon when his bed moved up and down on it's own volition.
"He came! He came! Colonel Jack, Santa came!"
Cracking one eye open revealed the world was upside down. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes and cracking the other one showed that it wasn't the world, merely one blond haired, blue-eyed little girl leaning over from behind him. She squealed in laughter as he mock growled and rolled over, taking her with him before releasing her to scramble away lest he grab again. His new position revealed a grinning Daniel standing in the doorway. Jack wondered where Teal'c was, not seeing the older boy standing behind the other.
"It's too early to be up, you should all go back to bed," Jack told them in a pretend serious tone making no move to leave his cozy bed.
Daniel just shook his head, still grinning. "You should see all the presents, please can we open them? Please?" he said, his eyes shining with excitement.
"Yeah, please?" Sam begged tugging on his arm, which he'd flung over his face to fake sleep. A moment later Daniel joined her tugging on his other arm, his usual quiet and shy exterior put aside in the face of Sam's usual exuberance and his own anticipation.
With another mock growl, he launched into a sitting position on the side of the bed neatly grabbing a child under each arm and rumpling their hair. Both kids squealed in surprise and laughter, squirming to free themselves. After a moment, he let them both go and Sam leapt on his back in retaliation while Daniel made a face at him as he straightened his hair and glasses. Both kids now sported rosy cheeks, and their bed heads were even more rumpled thanks to Jack's surprise finger combing.
"Last one downstairs gets to clean the litterbox," Jack told them, standing up. With nearly identical yelps, the two kids launched themselves towards the door, Jack not really sure who got there first. He heard their sock clad feet thump down the stairs as he forced himself into motion, allowing a leisurely stretch before heading for the bathroom. "Don't start 'til I get down there!" he shouted in the direction of the retreating footsteps.
A few minutes later, and properly equipped with the camera, Jack made his way downstairs, detouring by the kitchen to start up the coffee maker. As predicted, Daniel and Sam were both under the tree (in Sam's case literally) as they chattered over the various packages, speculating over what might be in them. Billie helped by stalking the ribbons, much to their delight. Neither child noticed his entrance, and he snapped off a quick picture. Lowering the camera, he took a moment to look around the room before announcing his presence and frowned when he noticed Teal'c seated quietly on the couch, watching his younger companions with a pensive expression on his face. Deciding he needed to deal with Teal'c first before letting the kids loose, he sank onto the sofa next to the boy with an exaggerated groan and stretched so that his free arm draped the back of the sofa behind Teal'c.
"Why don't you take a look under the tree Teal'c, I'm sure there must be something under there for you," he suggested.
Overhearing the conversation, Sam and Daniel paused in their sorting and studying to look in their direction. Daniel grinned disarmingly, holding a box he'd just had up to his ear. "Yeah Teal'c, there's lots of stuff here for you too," he tempted. Sam nodded in silent agreement.
Teal'c was quiet a moment, his brow creased in thought. "I do not deserve any gifts or rewards Colonel O'Neill, for I have failed you," he said seriously, looking up and meeting his gaze. Sam and Daniel fell silent, some of their joy giving way to worry. Neither of them wanted Teal'c to feel sad or left out after all.
"Oh?" Jack said mildly, knowing what the problem likely was, but also knowing that brushing the boy off wouldn't help. Letting Teal'c speak at his own pace and in his own way helped him show the boy he took his concerns seriously. "In what way?" Jack prompted gently.
"I was unable to stay awake, and because of that, someone was able to enter our home unchallenged in the night," Teal'c hung his head, as if in shame.
"But that's the way it's supposed to happen," said Daniel, a tinge of exasperation in his voice. He'd been trying hard for weeks to convince Teal'c that Santa Claus was ok, and not an intruder.
"Yeah, Santa's a good guy," Sam backed up. Sam had tried helping too, but simply couldn't grasp the concept that someone would thing that Santa was anything but good. After all, he brought presents, and that was a good thing right?
Teal'c merely shook his head. "Then why does he not come to the door and announce his presence? Why must he move secretly in the night?"
Both kids frowned, unable to come up with an explanation. Jack frowned too; desperately racking his brain and wishing he'd simply chased Teal'c to bed, though he knew that would likely not have helped. Teal'c simply couldn't trust someone would behave as Santa Claus was said to act. And Jack had to admit that the boy had a point. Heck, an awful lot of the stories and songs made good old Santa sound like a stalker. Knowing what someone was doing every hour of every day was not very endearing to gain someone's trust. Thinking that, Jack was suddenly reminded of a way to explain it so that Teal'c might understand, putting it in terms the boy could relate to.
"Teal'c, do you remember how when you first met me, I trusted you, and you trusted me?" Jack asked.
Looking momentarily confused, the boy's brow furrowed, and he was still a moment before slowly nodding. Jack noted he had Daniel and Sam's attention too. "Well, that's the same way that I trust Santa," he told all of them.
Teal'c blinked, taking some time to absorb the information before speaking. "Then," he paused, forehead creasing, "Then you do not mind if Santa Claus enters your home while you sleep?"
Jack shook his head. "Nope. We have nothing to fear from him. In fact, he loves kids especially, and protects them. He only wants to make kids happy, which is why he brings gifts." Over by the tree, Daniel was nodding in agreement. Sam was watching with a mix of curiosity and mild revelation. Obviously she didn't know much more about Santa except that he brought presents every year to all the good children. Daniel stood up with a wrapped gift in his hands as Teal'c continued to appear like he was thinking deeply about the information he'd just learned.
"C'mon Teal'c. It's Ok." Daniel smiled at the older boy as he placed the package in the other boy's lap. Teal'c frowned down at the gift, before glancing first at Daniel, then at Jack. Jack merely nodded.
Teal'c gazed back down at his lap, then back at the younger boy standing in front of him. A slow smile broke out on his face. "Very well," he said, to cheers by the other two kids. Daniel quickly pulled Teal'c over to the tree to join them, and very soon, the kids were absorbed in digging among the gifts and tearing off the wrapping paper, much to Billie's delight and the kids' amusement.
It didn't seem long before the gifts were all opened and the kids had immersed themselves in exploring their new things after helping to straighten up and getting dressed for the day. Jack stood in the doorway from the kitchen, surveying the group with a pleased smile.
Teal'c sat in front of the TV, a game controller in his hand as he intently played one of the new games he'd received for the resurrected X-box. Jack had looked for games that not only looked interesting with nice graphic, but also had engaging storylines with problems to solve or that relied on keen strategy. Jack thought he'd made good choices judging by the focus of the boy's concentration. He'd bought some games for the other two, but Teal'c was the one that had shown the most interest in the game console, likely since he'd never had anything like it while Sam and Daniel had no doubt been exposed to such things, at least on a less technologically advanced level. So far, Sam had shown more interest in how the thing worked than in any of the games, and Daniel was more interested in books or games with real live people rather than pitting his skills against a computer simulation.
Daniel and Sam sat not far away from Teal'c, over near the window. The two younger children had their heads together and were leaning over what looked like the fossil kit Daniel had received. Nearby, the chemistry kit sat open. He'd noticed his two budding scientists looking over one or the other's gifts together more than once already, so gave their arrangement little thought.
Moving his gaze along, Jack spotted Billie's tail poking out from under a stray piece of gift-wrap. The lack of movement indicated that the cat was asleep. Jack suppressed a relieved sigh before raking his gaze over the rest of the room, finally settling on the surprise gift he'd received from the kids.
He'd known from the lump in the garage that the gift was a large one, but had managed to restrain himself from peeking. And so he'd been suitably surprised when the kids had wheeled the thing in and uncovered it.
As a whole, it didn't look all that impressive, but knowing the limited access to things the children had compared to their adult versions made it all that much more special. The fact that they'd "customized" it made it even more so. Jack grinned, knowing the big ugly brown recliner would no doubt become his favorite chair, whether or not it matched the rest of the furniture.
After all, how many men had a recliner with a built in remote, cup holder, and a heat massaging seat cover to soothe their back while they watched TV?
Now if only he could figure out how they'd managed not only to obtain it, but how they'd snuck it into the garage in the first place. The kids had been too excited to give him a straightforward answer, although he'd managed to get out of them that they'd raised money doing odd jobs, saving their ice cream money from lunch, and by collecting cans and things from neighbors. Daniel and Teal'c it seemed had done most of the legwork and obtained the various items to improve the recliner, while Sam had determined how best to integrate the new additions. He was more than impressed with what they'd accomplished.
He also had a feeling that either Janet or Cassie had something to do with it. Likely the doctor and the teen had helped the kids get what they needed. Both Janet and Cassie had babysat for the kids on more than one occasion when he'd had to stay late at the base, providing ample opportunity for one or both to drive the kids around where needed, or offer suggestions. He'd invited both over for dinner later and could get the details from them then if he wanted.
Speaking of… Leaving the kids to amuse themselves, Jack turned back to the kitchen, quickly becoming absorbed in dinner preparations. The guests would be arriving shortly.
An indeterminate period of time later, as Jack was in the midst of preparing one of the side dishes, he became aware that the murmur of childish voices had underwent a change in pitch, and exclamations of excitement or alarm became apparent. Jack had already dropped the utensils he held and was on the way to the door when he heard Daniel shout, "Colonel Jack, come quick!" An acrid tang of chemicals reached his nose and the sound of Sam coughing reached his ears. Jack was already moving in their direction before the kids were in view.
A cloud of smoke near where he'd last seen Sam and Daniel caught his eye as soon as he entered the room, his eyes stinging almost immediately. Ignoring his discomfort, Jack quickly located the kids, spying Teal'c by the sofa and heading in the direction of the front door, and Sam and Daniel not far from the source of the smoke. Both children were now coughing. Deciding those two were in the most danger, he crossed the room in two strides, grabbing a child with each hand and hauling them back before giving them a push toward the kitchen and the back door.
He turned around to do the same with Teal'c just in time to witness the curtains catch fire.
A/N: Ok, an evil cliffie, I know. But you know what? I don't care heehee! You know why? Because I'm done. Yep, done. Wrote the rest of the story last night, so aside from some major editing it's complete! (wow, and last night it wouldn't let me post and I'm rereading this note going, I'm done, really? when did I do that lol I've been working on this story more than a year lol, so it's hard even for me to believe its done!) And for the curious, we topped out at 67 chapters, plus an epilogue, pushing 132,000 words (not including author's notes). So this one surpasses Nine Lives, which only had 68 chapters including the epilogue and post-ep addition, and 110,000+ words including author's notes. I have to say, a month or two ago, I sat down intending to read the fic start to finish (a trick that sometimes helps jog loose writer's block for me). A week later, I still wasn't even halfway. Who knew I could write so much… stuff. So hats off to those of you who joined late and read the thing from the beginning.
At any rate, I'm hoping to get a chapter out every couple days until the end. Hopefully you all will stick through just a bit longer. And there will be a few more cliffies, so it will go out in style lol.
Oh, and didn't get too many responses on what to get the kids for Christmas, and they all more or less said the same thing that did reply, which I'd already decided to give them, as you'll see in this and the next chapter lol. Have fun!