Day 11 - I'll Be Home For Christmas
By Mickey

Status: Completed 12/21/2008

Word Count: 581

Author's Notes: I didn't even try to wrangle this one down to 100 words.

"Staring out the window isn't going to bring the colonel back any faster," Sam said to her friend.

Daniel sighed. "I know, Sam. It's just . . . it's Christmas Eve. Jack should be here with us, not God knows where doing . . . whatever it is they have him doing."

"I know, Daniel, but that's the nature of the military. You know how it works by now. You take the good with the bad."

Daniel didn't look convinced, though she knew he understood it all very well.

"O'Neill promised he would be home for Christmas. He will not break his promise."

Sam wished she could share his conviction. The colonel had left the night before. Not long after they'd gone back inside, leaving Daniel to fix the snowman he'd demolished, the colonel had received a phone call. All he would say is that he was needed on a top-secret, one man only mission. He'd gone into his bedroom, emerging several minutes later in his BDU's. He'd told them to stay at his place, promised he'd be home for Christmas then had rushed out the door. She checked her watch, he'd been gone for over twenty-four hours and there was only six hours left before mid-night.

"Yeah, I know, but still. . . ." He left the sentence hanging and shrugged his shoulders, a sad-little-boy look on his face.

Sam gave him a small smile, "Yeah, I know."

"Major Carter, is it not tradition to listen to Christmas music and bake cookies on this night."

Sam could have kissed him for that; she knew exactly what he was doing. "Well, when I was a kid we used to listen to music and decorate the tree. Seeing as how the colonel's tree is already decorated, I think baking cookies is a great idea. Besides, I think I remember the colonel saying something about that once."

Daniel, Sam noticed, seemed to perk up a bit. "Yeah, that's right, he did. His grandma used to come over and the two of them spent the whole day baking while his parents finished their Christmas shopping." He paused then added, "Hey! I'll bet Jack has all the stuff we'll need, why don't we make some Christmas cookies right now? This way, they'll be ready by the time he gets home.

Sam and Teal'c agreed and the three friends set about their task. Several hours later, several dozen cookies (chocolate chip, peanut butter and sugar cookies cut into Christmas shapes), brightly decorated with red, green and blue sprinkles were sorted onto plates and placed on the kitchen table. By the time they'd finished cleaning the kitchen, they were tired, but in much better spirits.

Sam had sat on the couch with a book. A short time later, she had started to nod off when a loud sound startled her awake. She looked up to see a figure limping into the room. Sam quickly switched on the light. She stared at the dirty, battered and bruised figure in shock.

"Sam, what was that noise?"

Sam turned to see Daniel coming out of the spare room rubbing his eyes. Teal'c, towel wrapped tightly around his waist, was right behind Daniel. She smiled broadly, but said nothing, merely pointed to the person standing in the doorway. Her smile widened at the sheer delight she saw on his face. Even Teal'c smiled. An actual honest-to-God, ear-to-ear smile.

Sam glanced at her watch. The pale green glow showed that it was eleven fifty-eight. He'd kept his promise.

"Merry Christmas, Campers!"

TBC