Pulling up to park his car near the front door of the house, Daniel got out, taking from the boot a bag in each hand as he turned to see Vala standing with the car door open, her back to him, her eyes looking at the house.

"Very nice. I didn't know that Colonel's earned that much money. Is it very hard to become a Colonel?"

"I think I'm little old to be joining the military, if that's what you're hinting at," said Daniel, moving closer to Vala.

"I wasn't thinking of you. I'll have you know I'm perfectly capable of earning my own money."

"You want to join the military? You do know that you'd have to start at the bottom, you'd have to take orders, you can't argue with your superiors, you have to be quiet. Somehow I don't think it's quite you."

"Mm, maybe you're right. The uniforms are kind of boring."

"Ah, yes. The fashion. I should have known that would be your reason for not joining the military." Daniel struggled not to smile, trust Vala to worry about how she would look, he thought.

Bending over to get something from the back seat of the car, Vala pulled herself upright and faced Daniel. "I'll have you know that I look good in everything, even military green, but I draw the line at having to wear my hair short. I like having long hair."

"Fair enough." Daniel leaned over to whisper in Vala's ear, "I like your hair long too," giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Vala stood there watching him, a smile on her face, following him, knocking on the front door.

"Jackson. Vala. Merry Christmas."

Cameron stood in the doorway, a red Santa hat perched on an angle on his head, a big smile on his face. Looking at Vala, he took in the Christmas tree hair clip that was in her hair and the red poinsettia pot plant that she held. Leaning over to her, holding a piece of mistletoe above his head, he planted a kiss on her cheek. "So what's with the shrubbery?"

"It's for you and Anna," said Vala, holding out the plant to him, a big smile on her face, "It's a house warming gift."

"Cool. Thanks guys." Looking at Daniel who was standing next to Vala, a bag in each hand, Cameron moved opening the door even wider "Come on in. I'll show you where to put your bags"

Putting the bags in front of Cameron, Daniel began to take out the rest of the bags, building a pile between him and the house. Cameron stood there for a few seconds, watching the pile of bags grow. "How many bags did you bring?"

"Don't ask," said Daniel, giving Cameron a look and a nod towards Vala.

"You've brought enough stuff to stay for a... year." Cameron looked at Vala as he said this, knowing she was the culprit and not that surprised, after all this was the woman who took a hairdryer with her on missions, still it was a lot of bags.

Flashing him a big smile Vala answered, "Well of course, Roomie."

"Roomie?"

"I'm moving in. You did invite me, remember?"

'For Christmas. Not to stay permanently," Cameron said the words very clearly and slowly, keeping his voice calm.

Vala glanced down at the ground, doing her best to look disappointed and hurt. "Oh... and I was so looking forward our menage a trois."

"Excuse me?" The disbelief in Cameron's voice and on his face was hard to miss

"That is the correct term? For three people..."

"Vala!"

Vala turned around at the sound of Daniel's voice, seeing his glare she flashed him a smile before turning back to Cameron. "Sorry. I promise we're just staying for the holiday, like you asked. Still I could be persuaded...," she said, giving him a wink as she walked inside.

Cameron stood there staring into the distance, the surprise still on his face.

Daniel came over to him carrying a bag in each hand and handed them to Cameron. "Don't worry she's only joking," he said as he turned back to the pile of bags, "I think..."

*S***S*

"Is this for us?" said Anna, noticing the pot plant that Vala was holding.

Vala gave a big grin. "It is."

"It's a house warming gift," said Cameron who was still standing by the front doorway, a bag in each hand, pulling himself together as the disbelief faded from his face and pushing Vala's comments from his mind.

"It's lovely. Thank you Vala, Daniel."

Anna gave them both a smile, turning from Vala to Daniel who was now standing near Cameron, a bag in each hand also. Moving over to Cam to take one of the bags she gave him a smile before she turned back to Vala. "And what were you all just talking about now?"

Deciding that this could be fun Vala explained, "Oh, I just mentioned that I had been looking forward to our menage a trois, but Mitchell doesn't seem that keen."

"A menage a trois?" Anna wondered if perhaps Vala didn't really know what a menage a trois was in regards to Earth customs. "Vala, a menage a trois might be a bit different to what you think it is."

"Oh? So what is a menage a trois on Earth then?" Vala managed to keep a straight face and looked at Anna with curiosity putting on her best innocent expression.

"Well it's..." Anna looked from Vala to Cameron and Daniel, their expressions amused and curious as to how she was going to explain this. Taking a breath Anna decided to stick with the academic meaning. "Well trois means three, like in a triangle. And menage a trois means eternal triangle. So..."

"Oh, it is different then. Because I thought menage a trois meant three people having sex. Together. As in Mitchell, you and I..."

"That's okay I get the picture." Anna felt the blush sweep up face. She wished, as she had in the past, that she didn't blush so easily but it unfortunately it was just one of those curses of being a red head.

With her free hand Vala touched Anna's shoulder, slowly moving her hand along the shoulder, neck and face, softly caressing, talking in seductive way "You and me. You know you're an attractive woman. And I'm an alien. I'm sure we could... learn a lot... from each other. Mitchell could watch..."

"Watching?" Anna failed to keep the surprise out of her voice, a rare moment of being caught off guard.

"Well, yes."

"Vala cut it out," interceded Cameron, coming to his wife's rescue.

Vala paused, her hand on Anna's face, caressing with her thumb on the end of Anna's chin. Giving Anna a wink and a gentle slap on the behind Vala turned away. "Maybe later," she said, giving the guys a cheeky wink and smile, before she sauntered forward going up the stairs.

Anna stood where she was, unable to move from the spot she was in. Vala had... had caressed her! she thought, as she, Cameron and Daniel all watched Vala go up the stairs, their faces showing complete amazement.

*S***S*