AN: Whoo, exams are over - for now. And it's almost Christmas. Time for another special.

(I'll be dealing with "The Siege" later on, since I'm still waiting to watch Part III, won't take too long, I

hope.)

xxxxx

"What the...?"

A handmade envelope, checked red-green and decorated with paper mistletoes suddenly slid out of the heap, right into Rodney's lap.

Giggling he snatched the slip of paper inside, eyeing it curiously for a moment. As expected there was another of Carson's mediocre naive drawings on it: this time it was a huge reindeer, pulling a much too small sleigh. But that was nothing compared to the written part:

Dear Mum,

Merry Christmas to you and everyone else at home.

I'm really happy to tell you that I've already unpacked the decoration stuff you gave me. And, well, put together with the Christmas items my staff brought in infirmary now looks very much like Christmas. Dr Biro seems to find it all kind of romantic, by the way.

Unfortunately the decoration doesn't make everyone that happy. Rodney even seems a tad scared of it; for every time he gets near the mistletoe he practically throws himself out of its way. Probably he's afraid someone would smooch him.

I don't have that kind of problem; as CMO I can choose who's allowed to kiss me in my infirmary and who bloody well isn't.

I'd also like to thank you for giving me this great gingerbread baking mix. Teyla and Dr Zelenka assisted me in making a wee house out of it.

I found this really nice, especially of our Czech engineer who had been busy all day fixing together an animated Christmas tree for our rec room out of a video recorder and some metal parts.

But there's one wee problem: The gingerbread house make me so bloody hungry when I look at it, since I have no other Christmas munchies to nibble at. I wished I had some brown cookies and shortbread to make myself a smidgen happier.

For my luck Teyla and Rodney (him of all people! I have no fair idea what in hell made him do it) are currently in the kitchen preparing a big load of almond chocolate cookies for all of us.

So much about our Christmas. How about yours? I hope you're not too lonely, enjoying yourself by the fireside. But be so good and take care of your cholesterol level, hear?

Lots of Love, Carson

P.S.: I hope you like the envelope I've made for you, it wasn't easy. ;-)

xxxxx

Rodney snorted. At least now he knew why Dr Biro had eyed him in such a craving way, as he had neared that frigging mistletoe.

xxxxx

Carson shook the diary. Had that just been gingerbread crumbs! Eagerly he flipped the pages to find the spot where they had come from.

There it was, holding just the Christmas laments he had expected from Rodney:

Dear Diary,

A used ZedPM is no decoration for a Christmas tree, especially not when it's my personal paperweight; painting crooked stars on it with a marker doesn't change that!

I mean, what would Sheppard say if I made Easter eggs out of his stupid football collection?

Why the hell does Christmas always make people so ridiculously creative?

Sheppard's ingenious fit of creativity is still nothing compared to what Dr Kusanagi did to me: She placed this stupid mistletoe over the lab entrance. And of course I ran into her right there and she demanded from me to kiss her, wah, I wished she'd run into Kavanough instead of me.

Where the toe is now? Well, I've hung it up over Kavanough's door (just in case...).

That's not all! The Highlander has found a way to scare the willies out of my poor self: The whole infirmary is full of Christmas decoration.

Candles, crystal balls, stars, a big advent wreath hanging from the ceiling, a ridiculous gingerbread house on Carson's desk and a MISTLETOE in the aisle.

At least I've managed to jump out of its way till now. But honestly: Who would deliberately smooch Dr Biro? I definitely don't. I'm not so sure about Carson, though... (Let's better not think about it!)

You're asking if Zelenka has been creative, too? Oh yes, the human screwdriver has been alone with his tool box five minutes too long and has somehow screwed together a Christmas tree.

Note to Myself: Cynically ask Sheppard if he misses something. (I don't think he'll ever get back his chopper models and his personal VCR in one piece, though.)

Well, enough creative news for now. I have to go, Teyla has talked me into showing her how to make real Christmas cookies. Me of all people, I feel like I've lost a bet! Actually I did lose one, though...

Best wishes and Merry Xmas, Rodney

P.S.: There's only one good thing about Christmas: the munchies!

xxxxx

Munchies? Carson's stomach growled, they'd be the right thing just now. Frowning he pondered where he had put the remnants of the gingerbread house and wondered what he could do to get Rodney back into the kitchen to make him some more of those delicious Christmas cookies. Maybe another wee bet could do the job...

xxxxx

Oh, now that's interesting. So you're practically a kilt insider, no? I still have to laugh when the picture of the quick turn gets into my head.

Know what? I don't think the Highland rockers in my grade have no good idea how to iron their kilts properly.

(I'm planning to get myself a nice Tam O'Shanter by the way - I want to keep competitive ;-) .)

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!

Love, Baalsgirl