Alison woke slowly the next morning and stretched. The luxurious sateen sheets were warm, and the soft mattress hugged her frame. She opened her eyes and grinned at the floor-to-ceiling windows. Her room faced east, and the sun had risen some time ago. However, still being on US time had thrown all of their systems for a loop. Last night, the team had shared a sumptuous dinner prepared by a gourmet chef and spent more time laughing than Alison remembered. Teyla had asked about Christmas traditions and then proposed a shopping trip for the group. The guys hadn't been too keen on the idea of spending the day shopping, so it was decided that the men would ski while the women shopped. Ironically, Carson suggested the idea.

Thinking about him now made her smile widen. She sat up and, after dressing, slipped onto the balcony through a French door. The cold air cut right through the warmest coat she'd brought, and she realized she needed to get some better clothing for her time here. It was totally different from her home, and she loved the scenery.

"Och, good morning!" Carson's surprised voice made her whirl on her heel. Alison grinned as he stood in the door of his own room.

"I'm assuming the shared balcony was Sheppard's idea?"

"Aye," he said with a grin. Moving to her side, he pulled her into his arms. "You're tremblin', love. Are ye cold?"

"Yes." Alison rubbed her face in his chest, savoring the warmth of his body. "South-central New Mexico doesn't prepare you for this!"

He agreed with a chuckle and led her into his room. It didn't have a fireplace like hers, and the ceilings were of a more reasonable height rather than the vaulted ceilings. It did have a separate bathroom, however, and the bed design was the same. The two terrycloth robes had been stacked on a chair near the flat screen television, and Carson reached for the watch he'd not yet put on. "Perhaps you should think about getting something a bit warmer while you're shoppin' today."

"Good idea." She eyed him. "You're going skiing?"

"Aye." The warmth in his voice spoke of fond memories. "When I was a lad, my mum and da' would take us skiing at Aviemore in the winter."

"Sounds fabulous."

"Och, it was." He shook his head. "Now that I think about it, Colonel Sheppard knew exactly what he was doin' by bringin' us here. There are plenty of amazing views for Major Lorne to paint, skiing for me, snowboarding for him and Ronon, activities for the ladies."

Alison nodded and allowed him to escort her out of his room. She'd always thought she'd feel a bit more embarrassment over their relationship—especially surrounded by military people—but everyone, including Dusty, seemed to take it in stride.

Downstairs, Sheppard was helping himself to the breakfast buffet spread out on the kitchen counter. Ronon sat at the glass-and-wood dining table, stuffing bacon, eggs, and toast into his mouth. Teldy, who insisted on being called Anne, had joined the Satedan, looking completely at home in a black long-sleeved button down blouse and jeans. The major had let her hair down, and it swirled around her shoulders in a look that was distinctly feminine but still tough. Laughter from the stairs pulled Alison's attention from the sight, and she saw Chuck and Dusty appear. Atlantis's gate tech was ruffling Dusty's ponytail, and she tried to keep his hands off of her while still grinning suggestively.

Sheppard grinned at everyone. "Morning!"

Carson returned the greeting and handed a plate to Alison. She mused that he seemed quite at home in this environment and decided to take her cues from him. Then, she caught sight of Dusty. The sergeant had straightened, and all signs of her flirting with Chuck disappeared.

Sheppard also saw the change. "Mehra."

"Sir?"

"Relax." Sheppard carried his plate to the table and set it down beside Ronon with a warning glare at the Satedan. He clearly didn't trust Ronon when leaving his plate at the table. When he turned back to face Dusty, Ronon snuck a piece of bacon from the plate and gave Alison a smirk. Sheppard never noticed as he frowned at Dusty. "The entire point of this trip is to relax, to forget about our jobs for a few days."

Dusty allowed her posture to slip marginally. "Yes, Sir."

Meanwhile, Ronon slipped another piece of bacon from the colonel's plate, and Alison realized he was doing it to get a rise out of Sheppard.

The colonel frowned. "Mehra."

"Sir."

"The name's John." He sat down and stared at his plate, seeing the empty spot that had been filled with bacon a moment ago. "You know, Big Guy, I am teaching you to snowboard today. You might want to remember that."

"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Ronon asked as he sat back in his chair.

Alison shared a grin with Carson as he held her chair for her to sit down next to Anne. She shook her head, already loving the family environment that had developed and looked around. A Christmas tree had been added to the room overnight, its white lights sparkling with elegant decorations. Only a few boxes were under it, but she intended to add to that after the morning's shopping trip.

The rest of the group eventually joined them, Teyla being the only one to appear without an escort. Lorne fixed a plate for both himself and Amanda, and Alison grinned at the signs of intimacy between them. She caught Carson's amused expression and realized that they would hopefully share something similar one day. Conversation flowed, with the men talking to one another about their plans for the slopes. Carson showed his knowledge of the sport when he began asking questions about which slopes they planned to use, difficulty level, types of skis, and other technical information. The group was surprised until he explained that he'd been skiing for years.

Just as everyone finished eating, Sheppard produced a crystal bowl with little slips of paper inside. "I've written down names. We're doing a team Christmas, which means we're doing presents. Everyone gets a name to buy a gift for." It was such a Sheppard move that everyone laughed.

The crystal bowl passed from hand to hand, and Alison chose a name before glancing at the piece of paper. Chuck Campbell. She eyed Dusty and wondered if she should enlist the Marine's help in purchasing something for a man she knew absolutely nothing about. A glance at Carson showed him looking quite confident with his selection, and she sighed. She'd likely get no help from him.

Breakfast ended with laughter and jumbled plans for the day. The women headed for the garage, where a driver waited to take them down the mountain to a nearby village. Before she slipped outside, Carson pulled Alison to the side and pulled her into his arms. "Enjoy yourself today, love." He smiled.

She grinned. "I will. Be safe."

He put his hands on her shoulders. "I've been skiing since I was a lad. I'll be fine."

In spite of Anne arriving just at that moment, Alison stood on tiptoe to press a kiss to his lips. He returned it momentarily and then waved as she climbed into their ride to the village. Teyla watched the passing scenery with interest, but Dusty smirked at her as she unwrapped a piece of bubble gum. Alison glared. "Oh, like you wouldn't do the same to Chuck."

Anne snickered. "No. If it were Chuck, she'd still be back there after having dragged his butt upstairs!"

Alison laughed along with Amanda.

In the village, they stopped at a clothing store long enough for Alison to purchase a warm jacket and boots. Then, they strolled the shops, looking for anything that interested them. Not surprisingly, Dusty was drawn to the knife shop, and Teyla joined her. With a longsuffering sigh, Amanda and Alison followed them while Anne slipped into the coffee house next door. Normally, Alison would have been tempted to join her team leader, but having worked in her mother's coffee shop for the last several weeks made places like that lose their appeal.

Knives were everywhere. Teyla merely browsed while Dusty asked the proprietor question after question. Finally, she stopped at a case containing several high quality daggers. Dusty asked to see one, weighing it in her hands.

"That is sgian-dubh," the proprietor said with heavily-accented English.

Dusty blinked. "What?"

"Scottish knife." The man's words brought Alison's head around, and she moved to Dusty's side as the guy pointed out the various differences. He explained that Scotsmen wore them in the top of their hose and that it was part of their traditional costume. Dusty nudged Alison with an elbow but didn't need to say anything.

Alison looked over the selection. There were only a few there, but one caught her eye. "Can I see that one, please?"

The proprietor lifted a blade from the black velvet. It had a warm wooden hilt—which the proprietor called bog wood—and was set with yellowy-brown colored stones. Celtic designs had been acid etched into the blade, and the scabbard was black leather with silver accents. Alison stared at it carefully, her mind whirling as she thought about what she'd wanted to get Carson for Christmas. It wasn't much, primarily because she'd drawn a blank. She wanted something different, something that wasn't tied to his life's work as a doctor. A smile crept across her face, and she met the proprietor's eyes. "I'll take it."

"Wait." Dusty held up a hand to stop Alison from reaching for her wallet. She picked up the small knife, also testing its weight as she looked around. Her gum popped as she thought, and she suddenly flipped the knife so that she held the blade.

"Dusty, I don't think it's meant. . . ." Alison's voice trailed off as Dusty threw the knife. The proprietor ducked instinctively, and Teyla whirled at the sound. The knife stuck in the corkboard behind the register, wiggling a bit from the force. Alison blinked. ". . .to be thrown. I'll take it."

The proprietor nodded while giving Dusty a wary glance. The Marine merely blew a bubble and went back to shopping.

Though the blade had a very high price, Alison gladly paid it, thankful she'd thought to bring extra cash from her saving's account. It really didn't matter, she realized. Although he couldn't return home, she would give Carson something of his homeland. It would mean more to him than just about anything.

The girls finished their shopping trip shortly after lunch and headed back to the chateau. Watching the place come into view as they rounded the curves in the mountain was breathtaking, and Alison grinned. A private set of ski slopes was behind the chateau, and she saw several dark figures flying down the side of the mountain.

After storing her purchases in her room, Alison headed out the back door. She glanced up in time to see Sheppard and Ronon expertly snowboard down one slope. Lorne was somewhere behind, and Carson criss-crossed his way down another, more advanced slope. She grinned at the sight of the man she loved smiling at her as he came to a halt with snow flying. Shoving her hands into the pockets of her new coat, she stepped over to him as he pulled his sunglasses from his face.

"Have a good time, love?" he asked as he released his feet from the skis.

"I did." She smiled as he leaned in to claim a slow kiss. When he pulled back, she chuckled. "You're cold!"

"Aye." He glanced up. "I'm going to give it a go once more, an' then I think I'll be comin' inside."

She touched his arm. "Take your time, Carson. This trip is as much for you as it is for me."

"I know." He nodded. "But that doesn't mean I can't spend time with you, either."

Happy with life in general, Alison headed back inside to warm herself by the fire. She then slipped into her room to wrap the last of her gifts and put them under the Christmas tree. Coming to the Swiss Alps, while unexpected, felt like the best thing she could have done in her life.

oOo

Carson wasn't quite sure exactly what happened. One second, he was flying down the slopes with the cold Alpine wind in his face. The next, he was sliding head-first into a tree trunk. His right wrist sent sharp pain up his arm, but he could move his fingers easily. It indicated a sprain as opposed to a broken bone. His skis were still on his feet, and he sat up. Nausea swamped him immediately, and he blinked away the pain in his head. Fairly certain he was concussed, he looked to see who had hit him.

Ronon lay a short distance away, breathing heavily as if in pain. The Satedan was conscious, however, and trying to push himself to a seated position.

"Don't move, lad," Carson said softly. He crawled to Ronon's side, using his teeth to tug his gloves from his hands. He ran his hands over Ronon's upper arms and shoulders, stopping when the Satedan cried out. He moved the big man's jacket back to examine a spot on his shoulder. "Okay, lad, you'll be fine. I think ye've managed to fracture your clavicle, but we'll wait until we're inside to figure it out.

Sheppard joined them as Carson began removing Ronon's snowboard from his feet. "Doc? You okay?"

Carson glanced up, wincing at the brightness of the sunshine. "Aye. A bit concussed, but otherwise fine. We didn't happen to bring any medical gear with us, did we?"

"No, but I can probably get some beamed over." Sheppard dropped to his knees next to Ronon. "I told you not to try that stunt."

"When have I ever listened to you, Sheppard?" Ronon asked with a bite in his voice. Carson knew the Satedan wasn't angry at anyone and likely in a great deal of pain.

Lorne, as inexperienced at skiing as Ronon was at snowboarding, finally joined them. Sheppard gave him quick instructions on getting Carson back to the chateau and glared at Ronon. A quick check told Carson he could stand, though his head pounded. He rotated his wrist, using his left hand to perform a quick check. It hurt badly, but the swelling wasn't too severe. Instead of following Sheppard's instructions, he told Lorne to help the colonel get Ronon to his feet and back to the chateau. Then, he oversaw their efforts to get there.

Alison was kneeling in front of the Christmas tree, clearly having put some gifts beneath it, when they tumbled through the door. Ronon's eyes were squeezed shut in pain, but he hadn't made a sound. Carson quickly directed Lorne and Sheppard to get the big guy to the couch while turning to Alison. "I need ye to get Amanda, love."

She nodded with wide eyes. "Are you okay, Carson?"

"Aye, just a wee bit of a concussion an' hurt wrist." He smiled. "I'll be fine."

Though worried, she accepted him at his word and scurried upstairs. Carson eased Ronon's jacket from his shoulders to get a better look at the injury. Turning to Sheppard, he said, "Colonel, would you have a hand-held scanner and a medical kit sent from Atlantis? Ideally, he'll be in a sling but it won't interrupt the vacation too badly. Though," he continued with a glance at Ronon, "I don't know how much more snowboardin' you'll be doing."

Sheppard quickly pulled out a radio and contacted the SGC. A short, low conversation ensued, and Carson put a hand on Ronon's shoulder. "Just hang in there, lad. I'll have some morphine for ye in no time."

"I'm sorry, Doc," Ronon said through gritted teeth.

Carson smiled. "Don't give it another thought." He turned as Amanda appeared. "From wha' I can tell, he's got a fracture in his left clavicle, and. . . ."

Amanda put a hand on his shoulder. "I've got it, Carson." She gave him a gentle smile. "You need to take care of yourself."

Realizing she was right, he stepped back and allowed her to examine Ronon. Alison put a hand on his arm and led him to another chair. Kneeling in front of him, she met his eyes. "How are you?"

"Oh, head's throbbin' a wee bit. It's nothing serious, love. Just a mild concussion." He frowned. "An' I think I sprained my wrist. Considerin' that I was skiin', I'm lucky it wasn't much more than that."

Alison nodded her agreement as a bright light flashed behind her. A medical kit, complete with scanner, materialized from an Asgaard beam. Alison stopped him from getting to his feet with a firm hand on his shoulder. "What do you need?"

Carson sighed, frustrated he couldn't just get up and get things for himself. "Some Tylenol an' an Ace bandage to wrap my wrist."

She went to get the items while Amanda ran the scanner over Ronon's body. A few moments later, the other doctor turned. "You were right, Carson. He'll be in a sling for a few weeks, but he'll make a full recovery."

"Good to hear, lass," Carson said with a smile. He accepted the Tylenol Alison brought him and dry swallowed the tablets. Then, he shrugged out of his own heavy jacket to wrap his wrist.

The day had been tempered by the injuries, and the group settled in to enjoy a movie as the sun set. Ronon drifted to sleep as a result of the heavy doses of pain medication Amanda had given him, and Carson happily invited Alison to share the large chair he'd chosen for the day. By the time the evening meal was prepared, the nausea had tapered off enough to allow him to eat.

After dinner, he wearily climbed the stairs to his room. He hated that their vacation had been interrupted by injuries, but he was grateful to have his family so close around him. He slipped onto the balcony he shared with Alison and stared over the amazing scenery. A snowstorm was settling into the area, and it would soon be too cold to be outside. But, for now, he wanted the time to reflect on the day.

He hadn't felt this fulfilled in a long time. Not since moving to Esperanza. A glance down at his wrapped wrist reminded him of the concern he'd had for Ronon, as well as the trust his friends had placed in him. No, he reminded himself. They're family. That realization alone made him smile. He'd spent so much time grieving for the "loss" of his biological family that he had overlooked the family still in his life. Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla, McKay, Jennifer, Amanda, Lorne, Anne, Dusty, and Chuck had replaced his siblings. He didn't include Alison in that group because what he felt for her was nothing like what he felt for his siblings!

"Carson?" The object of his thoughts moved to his side.

He turned. "I'm just thinkin', love."

She nodded. "I'm really glad you're okay."

"Aye, me too." He shook his head. "I'm still a wee bit surprised I came away with only a sprained wrist. Most ski accidents include ACL injuries and surgery."

She winced. "Ronon was downstairs, fussing because it hurts."

Carson chuckled at that. "He always did hate to be in the infirmary." His voice turned wistful as he thought about his life. He missed this family atmosphere. He missed Atlantis.

Alison put a hand on his arm. "Carson, are you sure you're okay?"

He faced her. "I'm thinkin' about my decision to move to Esperanza." When her face fell, he nudged her chin up. "I'm not sorry I met your mum or reconnected with you. Nothin' could be further from the truth."

"Then what is it?"

"I'm questionin' my decision that I didn't belong in Atlantis." He let out a deep breath. "When I left, I thought it was because I needed to find my place, to figure out who I am outside of him. But, bein' here with the team has showed me that I am him. I have his friendships with these people, I have his motivations, his stubbornness, everything that made Carson Beckett who he was. I realize I'm different, that I have nearly two year's worth of memories that he didn't have, but that's not what's important. All this time, I struggled to accept that. But today, with Ronon, made me realize that I can never be separated from him."

Alison didn't comment, but merely waited.

"I'm sorry." Carson smiled at her. "I haven't taken time to truly think about all of this in a while, an' I'm just surprised my thoughts on it have changed so drastically."

"So, does this mean you'll be leaving Esperanza?"

Rather than giving her an answer, he decided to get her opinion. "What would you want?"

She blinked. "Me?"

He chuckled at her surprise. "Ali-love, you've got to realize that I've got more to my life now than just my work in Pegasus or my work in Esperanza. I know we haven't dated for long, but I know where my mind is headed. I cannae imagine life without ye, an' I don't want to. So, my future doesn't just include what I want. It's also got to include what you want."

To his surprise, tears formed in her eyes. "You really mean that? You would give up everything for me?"

Rather than answering, he leaned forward and kissed her. The kiss built, and she was the one to pull him close to her. For a long time, the balcony was silent as they explored this new dimension in their relationship. When he finally pulled back to get some air, she had buried her hands in his hair and now held his face near hers. "Carson, I don't know what to say!"

"Don't say anything, love," he said softly. "Tonight's not about decisions."

She smirked at him and leaned in for another kiss. He put a stop to things before either of them lost control completely, but the thought of sharing physical intimacy with her now meant more to him than it ever had. When they did cross that line, it wouldn't be due to emotions running high from an injury. He wanted Alison to know how much he loved her before they both did something they'd regret. Still, he was unable to resist capturing a final kiss before heading inside to his own room.

That night, he drifted to sleep thinking about that wonderfully breathless expression on her face and how she'd whispered his name just before he kissed her goodnight.

~TBC

Author's Note: As Carson says in this chapter, most skiing accidents include ACL injuries and surgery because of the way skis fit on a person's feet. It is incredibly rare for such minor injuries to happen to a person, but Carson's a naturally lucky guy. As for Ronon's injuries, most snowboarding accidents cause damage to a person's torso and upper body. As always, hope you enjoyed the chapter! ~lg