Prompt 8 – First Christmas at the Cabin
"Jack," Sam called from the front door," Where are you?"
"Up in the attic," Jack called back, his voice echoing through the cabin.
Sam kicked the door shut behind her and toed her boots off. She kept her jacket on though, it was cold in Minnesota at this time of year, and the cabin hadn't had a chance to warm up yet since they'd only arrived a few hours ago.
"What you doing?" Sam asked, climbing the stairs and joining Jack, "It's freezing up here."
"Yeah sorry about that," Jack said, glancing up at Sam from the box he was in the process of going through, "The fires so it should start warming up in here soon."
"Mmmhmm." Sam hummed as she tucked her hands into her armpits to keep warm. She looked around the attic. This wasn't her first visit to the cabin, in fact, she and Jack had come here a few times in the months since their first visit, but it was the first time she'd been in this part of the cabin. "So are you going to tell me what's going on?" Sam asked Jack again.
"Come look," Jack invited, holding his hand out behind him for Sam to take.
She placed her hand in his and then knelt beside him." Oh wow," she breathed as she saw what was in the box he'd been looking through.
Jack turned his head to look at her, a soft smile on his face as he watched her eyes move over the various Christmas ornaments and decorations that were in the box. There was a soft look on her face, one he hadn't seen before. He closed the small gap between them and kissed her on the cheek. Sam turned her head slightly, still smiling, and pecked him on the lips.
"So I was thinking." Jack said, turning his attention back to the box, "We get all this downstairs and then get it all set up."
Sam nodded eagerly. "That sounds like a perfect plan Jack."
"Great." Jack said, pushing himself away from the box and rocking upright, "In that case, you grab this box and I'll grab some of the other boxes."
"How many boxes are there Jack?" Sam asked as she got back to her feet.
"A few," Jack admitted.
"Why so many?" Sam asked as she grabbed the box and headed down the stairs," Ever since I've known you you've always done Christmas in the Springs. Having so many decorations here doesn't make sense."
Jack stayed silent as he grabbed some boxes and followed after Sam. Once they reached the cabin's main room, where the fire was burning away merrily Sam was pleased to see, they put the boxes down and Sam looked at Jack expectantly.
"When Charlie was little," Jack started to say," We used to do Christmas here rather than in the Springs." He paused for a second. "Provided I was stateside of course," he continued, his tone taking on a slightly bitter tone.
"Sorry," Sam said in a low voice," I didn't even think... "She trailed off, not sure what to say.
"It's fine," Jack assured her quickly. He glanced at the fire and moved to throw some more logs on." Let's go get the rest of the boxes, yeah?"
Sam nodded and the pair quickly made a few more trips up into the attic.
Once all the boxes were down by the fire Jack disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes before reappearing with two glasses of hot cider. He offered one of the glasses to Sam and she took it with a smile. She held it up to her mouth and held it there for a moment, letting the smell and the heat wash over her before taking a sip.
"So where do you want to start?" Sam asked Jack once she'd swallowed the hot liquid.
"Well since the tree is an artificial one," Jack started, pointing at one of the boxes, "How about we start by putting that together and then go from there?"
Sam nodded in agreement and put her glass on the mantlepiece and went to the box, Jack quickly joining her.
They spent an enjoyable few hours going through all the boxes and setting up Jack's large collection of Christmas decorations.
The amount surprised Sam. Over the years Jack had never seemed to enjoy Christmas as much as the amount of decorations would lead someone to believe. Not that Sam thought Jack disliked the holiday, she knew he enjoyed it, especially when he spent it with Cassie and the team, but this side to him she hadn't seen before. The way he smiled and laughed as they messed around with tinsel, throwing it around each other's necks and pulling the other person closer to kiss them was totally different to how Sam had ever seen him before.
With some of the ornaments, he'd get a sad look on his face for a fraction of a second before he'd smile again. Sam debated with herself the first few times to whether or not she should ask him about it, and then decided she would, they were closer now than they ever had been before but Sam still knew so little about Jack and his past.
The next time it happened Sam quietly asked Jack about it and after a moment spent staring at the item in his hands he began to tell her a story.
After that Jack would tell her a story for nearly all the ornaments as they pulled them from the box.
They spent the day sitting by the fire, Sam learning about Jack through the short stories. Some of the ornaments were from when he was a child that he'd kept over the years, and Sam got to hear all sorts of stories about a very young Jack, running wild in Chicago and Minnesota without a care in the world. Sam had shared some of her own childhood stories and they'd laughed along together.
The other ornaments were from when he was married to Sara, and later after Charlie had been born. Those stories were harder for Jack to share, Sam could see that, but share he did and with each story, it got easier for him.
By the time all the boxes were empty and the decorations were up night had fallen. The main lights in the cabin were off, the illumination in the room being provided by the flickering of the fire and the twinkle of the fairy lights that they'd wrapped around the tree and pinned to the ceiling beams.
The two of them sat side by side, Sam's arm wrapped around Jack's waist and her head resting on his shoulder while Jack's arm was wrapped around Sam's shoulder pulling her close, staring into the fire.
"It's beautiful," Sam whispered as she looked at the tree, "Thank you for sharing this with me."
"You're very welcome," Jack whispered back, pressing a kiss into her head.
They stayed silent for a moment, just watching the Christmas lights flash slowly.
"I have something for you," Jack then said quietly.
"It's not Christmas yet."
Jack laughed quietly. "Wait here," he told her, his voice still quiet, as he pulled his arm away from her shoulders and extricated himself from hers.
Sam watched his retreating back for a moment before turning her attention back to the tree lights.
She jumped slightly a few minutes later when Jack returned and sat down beside her.
"With all the lights in your lab I'm surprised you find the free so distracting," he teased.
Sam shrugged as she turned to face Jack. Jack gazed at her, drinking in the sight of her in the soft light of the fire, the twinkling of the tree lights behind her creating something close to a halo.
"I love you," Jack told her softly, "And I'm so glad you agreed to come with me to the cabin for our first Christmas as a couple."
"I wouldn't have missed it," Sam replied honestly, "I waited long enough to come up here the first time that I wasn't going to turn down another chance." She reached out and placed a hand on Jack's knee. "It's here that we finally admitted our feelings for each other," Sam continued, "So it only seems right to spend our first Christmas together here."
Jack beamed at her and placed his hand over hers.
"So this is tacky and sappy," he then said, offering Sam the parcel he'd gone and gotten, "But I'm pretty sure you'll get the meaning behind it."
Sam had a questioning look on her face but she smiled at him as she took the box from him. Jack held his breath as she carefully undid the bow and then pulled the lid off the box. He let out the breath in a whoosh as Sam looked up from the open box and gave him a million-watt smile.
"It's perfect," she breathed, "Oh Jack, I love it."
She pulled the ornament out of the box and held it up to examine it properly. It was a simple blue bauble with the words Our First Christmas written in gold on one side and then the single word Always written on the other.
Having gone through all the boxes of decorations with Jack, Sam knew that he liked to mark important life events with Christmas decorations and that this decoration was his way of saying that she was now a big part of his life, on a permanent basis.
Still smiling at him she got to her feet and headed for the tree. Jack pulled himself up and joined her, wrapping an arm around her waist as they walked.
They stopped in front of the tree and Sam held the ornament up, trying to decide where to put it. Her eyes darted around the tree, looking for the best spot. Using the hand that wasn't currently resting on her hip, Jack took a firm but gentle grip of her wrist and gently moved her hand up until the ornament was near the top of the tree. He gave Sam's waist a squeeze and dropped his hand from her wrist.
"Right there," he whispered in her ear.
Sam smiled and carefully hung the loop of gold material that came out of the top of the ornament over an empty branch just to the side of where Jack had guided her hand.
Once it was secure she let go and turned to face Jack, her arms going up and wrapping around his neck.
"I love you," she said, kissing him softly, "And I love my early present. Thank you."
Jack kissed her back. "Merry Christmas Sam," he said in a low voice, "Our first Christmas together."
" And the first of many," Sam said, smiling and kissing him again.
"Indeed," Jack said, copying both Teal'c's inflection and eyebrow raise.
Sam started laughing and Jack joined her as the two made their way towards the kitchen to make something to eat.
Behind them, twinkling in the Christmas lights, Sam's new ornament, a sign of their new beginning together, swayed slightly back and forth.