O'Neill Cabin
Silver Creek, MN
December 20, 1999

Sam got out of the bathroom and picked a sweater from Jack's wardrobe. There was something comforting about wearing his clothes. Most of her own weren't soft from wear yet and they smelled like stores, one of the few things she hadn't missed during her time off-world. Jack's clothes, on the other hand, were comfy and best of all, smelled like him. Homey and safe.

Dropping her towel, she put on the underwear, top and thermal leggings she'd laid out earlier and slipped the extra-large USAF sweater over her head. The sweater was warm, soft and reached mid-thigh. She took the towel back to the bathroom and hung it out to dry, before going back to the bed and slipping on a pair of woolly socks.

Jack had taken her and Ife into town earlier that day to get supplies. Afterwards, Ife had gone down for a nap and the two of them had talked some more about everything. Telling him the truth about Ife's paternity had been strangely liberating for her, but it didn't come without its own issues. Fortunately, Jack seemed willing to talk and he genuinely tried to be understanding about it, which was more than she could have hoped for.

She tidied up the bedroom before checking the kitchen. Jack had told her to go enjoy a shower while he made dinner and it looked like there was a roast in the oven. Impressed, she headed for the living room to inquire how long it would be before supper was ready. There, she found Jack stretched out over the sofa, his poor feet hanging over the edge and Ife was snuggled up on his chest.

Both of them napping.

Smiling, she retrieved an afghan and walked over to the soda to cover the pair. She leaned over to tuck them in and was surprised to find Jack watching her, his dark gaze intent. "Oh," she said softly, "I thought you were asleep."

"Hey," he whispered, before looking down at a sleeping Ife and smiling. "Guess we nodded off."

"Guess so."

Jack shifted on the sofa and, wrapping one arm securely around Ife, got up into a sitting position and pulled a book from under the afghan with his free hand. "We were reading."

Sam smiled as their daughter simply clutched his shirt in response to the change in position and continued sleeping. The book he showed was one she hadn't seen before. "New book?"

"It was Charlie's, I found it in his, um," he cleared his throat, a pained expression on his face. "In the spare bedroom."

"Oh."

He shrugged as if to dismiss what it meant and turned to place his feet on the coffee table and make room for her on the sofa. "So, um, dinner won't be ready for about two hours. Take a seat, let's watch some TV. Maybe there's a Christmas movie on or something."

Sam let him change the subject and sat down at the spot he indicated, slipping under the blanket, tucking her feet under her and moving the blanket around until it covered both of them. "You want to watch a Christmas movie."

"Ife's never seen one."

"Ife's asleep," she pointed out, glancing at the toddler against his chest.

He had a boyish grin on his face when he looked at her, "She might wake up. Tis the season, Sam."

She rolled her eyes, before giving in. It had been years since she'd taken the time to watch one, never mind actually celebrating Christmas. "Fine. Let's see if there's a Christmas movie on."

"Cool."

"What are you doing?"

Jack shifted and one of his hands started fumbling for something underneath the blanket, making her jerk her feet away when he brushed past them. "Searching for the remote," he muttered. Making a satisfied noise, he pulled back and showed the device to her. Then, he looked at her curiously. "Are your feet ticklish?"

Biting her lip, she shook her head. They weren't, not really. She'd never been particularly ticklish and her feet even less so. But his touch had been unexpected and lately his closeness and physical contact with him had made her body hum with a pleasant buzz. "No," she said softly, "too many calluses on the soles of my feet."

"Then what's with the," he made a vague gesture at her feet, "wiggling? Or is it just the soles of your feet that aren't ticklish?"

Heat shot through her body when he slowly dragged a finger over her instep, despite the thick woolly socks separating his finger from her skin. She'd never been very vain but considering the state of her feet after her time off-world, she was grateful for the socks. Shyly, she shifted to tuck her feet under herself on her other side. "I thought we were going to watch a movie."

Jack cleared his throat and glanced away, nodding slowly. "Right."

It didn't take him long to find a Christmas movie and soon they were quietly watching the television. After the first commercial break, he slipped his arm around her shoulders and gently nudged her closer without looking away from the TV.

There was no harm in leaning against him and Sam let out a sigh of contentment as the heat of his body seeped into hers. She laid her cheek on his shoulder and smiled when she realized they would have looked like a regular family to an outsider, with the two of them snuggled up while Ife slept in Jack's lap.

As if on cue, Ife yawned and pushed against Jack's chest in what was probably an attempt to get more comfortable. He made sure she didn't fall off his lap with his free arm around her, but started shifting in his seat.

"Want me to take her?"

"No, it's fine," he said.

Sam stroked Ife's hair as the girl rubbed her cheek against his sweater, before looking up into Jack's dark eyes. "Are you sure? She must be getting heavy now."

He snorted and shook his head, "Trust me, she doesn't weigh that much. I'm good, Sam."

"Okay." She heard the words he left unsaid as he nuzzled Ife's hair; he'd already missed out on so much with her. Sam hadn't failed to notice how he'd gotten even more involved with Ife after she told him the truth. He obviously thought he had a lot of catching up to do, playing with Ife, holding her, reading to her, tucking her in, having breakfast with her before Sam was even up… Sam knew why he did it and wouldn't do anything to keep him from being a father to their daughter, but she was starting to feel left out herself. The only time she got to spend with Ife was in bed or when she took her with her in the shower.

"Unless you want her?" He asked, as if reading her mind.

Sam patted his hand where it rested on Ife's back and smiled at him. They looked so at ease together that she couldn't bring herself to take the girl from his arms. "No, she looks comfortable with you. You're a good dad, Jack."

A haunted expression flashed over his face before he turned away, focusing on Ife and watching her sleep. When he glanced up again, the corner of his mouth lifted upwards but the look in his eyes still spoke of his insecurity, "Yeah?"

His vulnerability got to her and she squeezed his hand, snuggling closer to him. "The best."

Jack didn't say anything, merely tightening his arm around her.

At some point, she must have nodded off because when she opened her eyes the TV was muted and Jack looked down at her, eyes twinkling with mirth.

"Hey there, sleepyhead."

She tried to blink the sleep away and sat up, wincing at a crick in her neck. "Where's Ife?"

"Look who's awake, munchkin?" Jack called out, looking beyond her.

"Momma!"

Sam smiled at Ife who'd been playing with blocks in her little corner on the other side of the room. "Hey sweetie."

Jack chuckled when their daughter came running and climbed her lap, nearly pulling the blanket off them. He waited until Ife had snuggled into Sam before raising a brow. "Are you wearing my USAF sweater? Or is that yours?"

"All my stuff is gone," she reminded him, fighting a blush.

"Your brother didn't keep anything of yours that he got from your dad?"

Sam frowned and shook her head a little. "No. Mark said Dad had apparently been rather sentimental about it and kept all of my things boxed up."

"You were his daughter," Jack said softly.

"I know, it's just not like Dad to be so sentimental. He's military through and through. Anyway, Mark donated everything to charity." She glanced up at him from under her lashes, "Sorry about stealing your clothes. They're just more comfortable than the ones I bought."

He waved away the apology with a dismissive sound. Then, he gave her a onceover and tugged on her sleeve, "Looks better on you anyway." Smirking, he got up and headed for the kitchen. "Gonna check on the roast."

Sam rolled her eyes at his predictable comment and instead focused on Ife, asking her about the Christmas movie and her blocks.

Jack returned a few minutes later and watched her as they chatted. He didn't speak until Ife had decided she'd had enough and toddled off to her toys. "Have you thought about what you're going to do when your leave is up?"

"Not yet," she admitted, biting her lip. It wouldn't be much longer until her medical leave was up and she'd be deemed physically fit for duty, albeit light. The past couple of weeks she'd gained more weight, felt stronger and the nightmares had lessened as well – and aside from a few bad reactions to the food they'd had up here, she'd managed to eat more too. She was pretty sure General Hammond would pull some strings if she wasn't ready yet or maybe she could take some of the leave she'd accumulated while off-world considering the Air Force's cover story about her ordeal as they'd called it.

"That day will come soon, Sam."

He was right of course, but she had no idea what she wanted. She hadn't returned to the SGC since the quarantine and the thought of doing so made her stomach turn. There was more to the Air Force than the SGC. She was well aware of that fact, but after learning about the stargate she'd changed her whole career path to get to it – and go through it – instead of focusing on NASA. And what had it brought her? Ife was the only good thing to have come of it and she probably still would have been born if Sam had remained on Earth. She, Ife and Jack could have been a family from the start, if she'd had the guts to find Jack after finding out about the pregnancy…

Jack sat down next to her, reclaiming his spot on the sofa. "I'm not saying you have to make a decision right now, but I think it's a good idea to think about what you want. Hammond and the brass are more than willing to accommodate you in some capacity at the SGC or maybe the Xenophysics Department if you want. But there are other options too. Both in and outside of the Air Force."

"I know," she said, sighing. "I think I'd rather focus on this," she made a vague gesture, "all right now. Maybe after the holidays."

"Okay, I can work with that." He smiled at her, before turning pensive again. "What about your brother? Have you decided whether you want to take him up on his invitation?"

It took her a moment to realize he meant Mark's offer to spend Christmas with his family. "I don't think I'm ready to fly to San Diego yet and it's probably too last minute for them to come to Colorado Springs. I probably should have called him, though."

He shrugged, squeezing her knee. "I'm sure he'll understand."

"When were you planning on going back?"

"Actually, I thought maybe we could spend Christmas here."

Sam nodded slowly, trying to recall what he'd told her about the holidays a few weeks ago. "And your team and the Fraisers?"

Jack cleared his throat awkwardly before speaking, "Well, actually, um… I thought it could just be the three of us. Daniel wanted to go to Abydos anyway and Teal'c said he'd go spend time with his wife and son. The Doc always hosts a Christmas bash for the SGC staff but she won't mind us not showing up."

"I guess we could," she said softly. The idea appealed to her far more than it probably should, but she knew she wasn't ready to leave the comfort of the cabin yet and it was Ife's first real Christmas, after all. What better way to spend it than just the three of them, closed off from most of the outside world.

"Yeah?"

Smiling, she wondered if there were any Christmas decorations in the cabin. A tree wouldn't be hard to find, but some lights and ornaments would be nice. "Sure, we can stay. Besides, you did mention introducing me to Mary and Joe."

"I did," he said, chuckling. "Think you're up for having dinner with them? I'd have to check but I'm pretty sure they'd make time to meet you and Ife."

"I'd like that." Spending time with strangers wasn't her idea of fun but these people obviously meant a lot to Jack and it couldn't be worse than the Thanksgiving dinner, right?

O'Neill Cabin
Silver Creek, MN
December 25, 1999

The sight of a Christmas tree was one Jack hadn't expected to see in his cabin, except in old photographs. But there it was, all seven feet of it. After Charlie died, the appeal of the holiday had been lost on him. Sure, he'd celebrated it the past few years with his teammates or at Fraiser's Christmas party, but up until yesterday he hadn't gone out to get his own tree.

He stretched out his legs from his place on the rug and admired Sam's handiwork. The decision to stay at the cabin for the holiday had been made pretty late, but they'd decided to make it a proper Christmas – tree and all.

"The tree looks good," he said, when she reentered the living room with Ife on her hip.

Sam flashed him a proud smile, before putting their daughter on her feet. "The decorations you still had here came in handy, as well as the spare ones Mary and Joe gave us."

Last night, they'd had dinner with Mary and Joe and they'd immediately handed them a box of ornaments and lights after hearing of their change of plans. "Would have been a bare tree without them."

"Pretty." Ife stood in front of the tree, just a foot or so away from Jack and reaching for the lights with her little hands.

"You like that, munchkin?" He knew she did, her oohing and awing earlier when they turned on the lights was the reason he was sitting on the floor. She'd been fascinated by the sight and promptly sat down in front of the tree, so Jack had pulled some pillows from the sofa to make them more comfortable and joined his daughter.

Ife nodded solemnly, not taking her eyes off the tree. "Shiny."

Sam crossed the room and sat down next to him. Her smile had turned into one of warmth and love as she watched their little girl. "She really likes that tree."

"All kids do," Jack said, before she'd start blaming herself for not having gotten Ife a Christmas tree before. "Wouldn't be surprised if she falls asleep under it tonight."

"Hmm, you're cold," Sam said, touching his hand where it rested on her knee. "Did you go outside?"

He nodded and retrieved the wrapped package he'd gotten from the truck. "I got you this… I know we said no presents-"

"Because we didn't have time to go shopping," she finished for him, eyeing the box he held out.

"Yeah," he said. "But I bought this earlier it was still in the truck's glove compartment."

Sam's face lit up when she took the box, weighing it in her hands before finding the tape that held its wrapping together. "What is it?"

He chuckled, "You've got to unwrap it to find out."

A small frown appeared on her forehead when she uncovered the plain black box. She gasped when she opened it and saw the contents. After exchanging a disbelieving glance with him, she retrieved the ornament he'd ordered.

It was a delicate, clear bauble with Ife's name etched on it and some pretty filigree stuff inside. It had reminded him of how fragile yet tough Ife was. "I know they usually get kids those before their first birthday but-"

"It's perfect," Sam murmured, holding the ornament up in the light to admire it. "It's her first Christmas. Thank you, Jack."

He shrugged it off, "Think nothing of it."

She shot him a reproving look. "I really doubt they had baubles with the name Ife lying on the shelves."

"Well, no, but I figured she should have an ornament." He'd picked out the design himself, wanting something custom made rather than off the shelf.

"You bought this in Colorado Springs?" Sam asked after a moment of admiring the bauble.

"Yeah, why?"

A blinding smile appeared on her face before she hugged him, seemingly surprising herself because a second later she'd pulled back. "You got this for her before you knew she was yours."

Jack gently squeezed her hand, "I knew she was yours. That was all I needed to know."

"You have no idea how much that means to me."

"I figured she was gonna be a pretty important part of my life because of you." He wasn't very good at talking about feelings and to be honest, he had no idea of what he and Sam were, exactly, just that there was something he wanted to explore. Something that could become… more. "Father or not, I want both of you in my life, Sam."

She bit her lip and looked down at where she cradled the ornament in her hands. "I-I think… I want that, too."

Jack had figured out early on that touching her unexpectedly wasn't a good idea, so he slowly lifted his hand to her shoulder to wrap his arm around her and giving her the chance to move away – she didn't. "There's no rush. Whenever you're ready."

A comfortable silence descended upon them as she leaned into him, her cheek resting on his shoulder. Ife was lying under the Christmas tree a few feet away, tracing invisible patterns between the lights with her fingers.

He was just thinking it was a nice family moment when Ife dropped her hand and rolled to her feet, her brows knitted together as she looked at them.

"Hungry."

Jack made a face, reminded of when she'd tossed her cookies just an hour ago – and last night and a little after breakfast. He suspected some of the food or snacks they'd had at Mary and Joe's was responsible for her upset tummy, as she still couldn't handle every Earth food well. "Sam?"

She pressed her face against his shoulder, smothering a laugh. No doubt thinking the same thing and not in the mood to clean up vomit or bathing Ife again. "Give me a minute and then I'll feed her."

"Hear that, munchkin?" He asked after Sam got up and headed for the bedroom. "C'mere."

Ife toddled over with a smirk on her face. The resemblance to his own smirk was eerie and he briefly wondered why he hadn't noticed before. Had anyone else? "Wanna cuddle."

"One cuddle, coming right up," he said, before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her into his lap.

They sat like that for a few minutes until Sam came back into the room and headed straight for the tree. She found a spot to put up Ife's ornament and fiddled with it. When she stepped back to get a better look at it, he noticed there were two baubles; Ife's and Charlie's, the latter which had been in the box of old Christmas ornaments. "I hope you don't mind, but I felt like he should be included."

Jack didn't say anything but when she retook her spot next to him, he gently touched her forearm. "Thank you."

Ife was watching them with her big eyes and started crawling over to Sam's lap when she noticed the towel slung strategically over her shoulder. "Hungry."

"Impatient," Sam muttered as she adjusted her clothes to feed their daughter the old fashioned way. "I wonder who she gets that from?"

"Me too," Jack said, tearing his eyes from her uncovered breast. He caught her gaze and shrugged, smirking. "Think this'll help?"

She grimaced when Ife latched on but looked at him over the girl's head. "I've been weaning her off since we got back, but breastmilk is what her stomach is used to. It probably has the best chance of not coming up again, but there are no guarantees."

He watched them as Ife greedily suckled and Sam absentmindedly petted her hair, itching to get closer and share in their moment but refraining from doing so – he'd told her it was up to her, after all. He remembered how special being part of that bonding had felt when Sara had nursed Charlie and he wanted to experience it again, having lost out on so much time with his daughter already.

A hesitant hand just above his knee jerked him from his thoughts and he was surprised to find Sam initiating contact. He covered her hand with his and squeezed it before she could change her mind, trying to convey his feelings through his eyes as they found hers. There was a smile on her face that he wasn't sure how to interpret, but then she shifted, pulled his arm around her waist and leaned into his chest.

The position wasn't entirely comfortable but having her this close was enough for Jack. He tightened his arm around her, keeping her secure against his chest.

"This is nice," she said, softly.

Jack rested his chin on her shoulder, deciding against nuzzling her neck despite how inviting it looked – he didn't want to move too fast and scare her off. Besides, this way he could watch their daughter, too. "Best Christmas I've had in years."