Colorado Springs doesn't get much snow in December, but as Jack eases his truck into Sam's driveway, he thinks they might be in for a white Christmas. Tiny flakes started drifting lazily toward Earth about halfway between his house and hers, and while they aren't sticking or accumulating yet, Jack thinks it's only a matter of time. He can smell it in the air, and there's that oddly specific snap of cold wind he only notices when there's going to be snow. 'There's gonna be weather,' he remembers his father saying, and smiles as he puts the truck in park.

He hops down from the truck cab and considers his dual purposes today. Christmas is in three days, Sam's birthday not long behind it. In their infinite wisdom, Daniel and Doc Frasier have decided to host a surprise party for Sam tonight. Jack suspects there is more than a little Cassie influence involved, too. He tends to think Sam will hate a surprise party (he certainly would). If he has to guess, she'll politely play along and be gracious for as long as it takes until she can leave without hurting any feelings.

Still, they had conscripted him to the duty of distracting her for the day and then delivering her to the party on time. Their cover excuse is last minute shopping for Christmas day supplies, which Jack thinks is stupid, but it was easier to acquiesce than to listen to Daniel's whining coupled with Cassie's big sad eyes. Oy.

He taps his knuckles lightly against her door and is immediately greeted by the bright eyes and smile of his target. "Hello, Sir!" she says, pulling the door open. "Come on in; I just gotta put my shoes on and grab the list Janet gave me." She doesn't see his eyes roll at the mention of the list.

"Take your time, Carter."

"There's coffee on the counter, if you want. It should still be hot," she calls from her bedroom. He shrugs and steps into the kitchen where he finds two travel mugs and an indeed still hot french press filled with coffee. He fills both mugs and covers them with their lids.

"I thought we could grab an early lunch to start before we go about our merry elf errands?" he says as Sam pads back into the living room and shrugs into her coat. She takes the offered mug of coffee with a smile.

"Sounds great, Sir."

They chat happily on the drive to a local cafe they both favor and slide into a corner booth. Jack watches Sam pretend to read the menu as if she won't order the same mixed greens salad with grilled chicken she always does. The tip of her nose is pink from the wind outside, cheeks gently flushed; it's very fetching. He smiles when she catches him watching her and only offers a shrug.

"Sir?" She's grinning back now, putting her menu down on the table and unwrapping her long striped scarf to place it next to her. "Something on your mind?"

"Almost never."

"That's not true."

"Your nose is pink," he says, tapping the tip of his own nose for effect. "And it's very cute."

Sam almost drops the water glass in her hand and looks at him over the edge. "Sir?"

"You look like a Who from Whoville. It's a great look, very seasonal; I like it." He gives her his most charming grin and shrugs again.

The server comes to take their orders; he gets a sandwich and she gets the usual salad. The awkward silliness of their previous conversation has dissipated, and Jack frowns slightly as he recalls his mission today. He fidgets with the wrapped silverware and nods along as she reads from a list of items they're supposed to pick up.

"What aren't you telling me, Sir?" she asks.

"Hmm?" Sam smiles sweetly and slides the list across to him. His fingers brush hers as he picks it up. He gives it a cursory glance and shrugs. "What about it?"

"This list is absurd. We already have all of this stuff in at least one of our homes, and some of this shit is just wacky. Why do we need a home air hockey table?"

"Air hockey is cool?"

"But we don't suddenly need it for Christmas, Sir. This list is more like a treasure hunt designed to keep people busy."

"Carter, are you accusing me of something?" His voice is low, as he pushes a couple french fries around on his plate and adjusts the position of his water glass.

Sam sighs and leans forward; she reaches to pluck a fry from his plate and smiles at his mock indignation. "Not you, necessarily," she says, punctuating her words by pointing the fry at him before slipping it into her mouth. She watches Jack as he stares back at her; his eyes are warm and dark against the brightness of the large diner window and the promise of a cold winter day outside. "Sir," she says, eyes dropping only a second before meeting his again, "I'm not an idiot."

"I would never say-"

Her fingers wrap around his against his and tug them from his water glass. "I know. I'm just saying, Sir, and maybe I'm wrong to even worry about this, but just to put it out there… I'm not the kind of person who would enjoy, um, any type of surprise." She squeezes his hand softly and sends a silent plea with her eyes.

"Yeah, I didn't think so, Carter."

"They're really doing that?"

"Yeah." He rubs his thumb along hers and gives her a genuine smile filled with affection, friendship, sadness-all kinds of feelings he can't hold back as he thinks about the many reasons they both wouldn't enjoy a surprise party. It's hard to explain to some friends, even some Air Force friends, that you just don't drop that kind of moment on a combat veteran. "Wanna talk about it?"

"I've never liked surprises, Sir. Nothing good has ever happened to me that included a surprise." He nods and squeezes her hand. "It's just… I guess it started with my mom dying, and then the Gulf didn't really help."

"No, I guess it wouldn't."

"Yeah."

Her shoulders slump and he feels his chest tighten at the sight of her. There is a sorrow lurking in her eyes that never quite disappears, but it's much clearer just now. He knows it from his own eyes in the mirror, and he wishes he could drive it away for her (for both of them). "Carter, listen, I'm sorry it got this far. I should have made a stronger effort to stop them, but I selfishly did not want to listen to Daniel and Cassie, and-"

She's laughing now as she pulls her hand away to wave off his concern. "No, please, Sir. Pain stick torture is less painful than those two when they whine." Now they're both laughing, momentary melancholy set aside for another day. "So your job is to run me all over town and then show up at this shindig tonight, suspecting nothing?"

"Yeah; they chose me for my history with stealth operations. Oops." She giggles and his heart flutters.

"So how about we ditch this bullshit list… except for the air hockey table? We'll grab that, set it up at your place and have fun, then go be good soldiers tonight and I'll pretend to be surprised so we don't have to hear about it later?"

Jack clutches his heart dramatically and positively beams at her. "Major Carter, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to seduce me."

Sam grins back at him and winks. "Sir, you'll know when I'm trying to seduce you." She pushes herself up from the table and stalks toward the restroom leaving Jack, mouth wide open, staring after her in shock. The server brings him the check and he drops his card into her hand, brain still sparking like an overworked engine.

They spend the day laughing and enjoying the simple comfort of each other's company. The snow picks up so that when it is time for them to head toward her party, it's more than a dusting on the ground and the falling flakes are picking up momentum rather than losing it. They stand on his front porch watching the snowfall. Jack doesn't know what possesses him to do this, but he turns to wrap Sam in his arms and pull her tightly against himself. She curls into him without question.

"I'm sorry about tonight, Carter. And all the other surprises," he says softly into her ear.

"Me too, Sir." She squeezes his jacket into her hands and, for the first time in many years, feels comforted against the dull but never gone hurt she's been carrying around since she was a teenager that was only made worse in combat. "Thank you." She risks everything she knows in the whole world to reach up and plant a tiny kiss on Jack's cheek. "I know you understand, and I appreciate you."

Jack sighs into her shoulder and smiles. He knows he needs to get out of this moment gracefully, so as much as he doesn't want to, he tugs her hand and leads her to the truck. "Let's go pretend again, Carter."

She follows easily and they make it to the party. No one is the wiser that Sam knew what to expect. Jack watches her and feels sure she's fine, that being prepared averted any emotional discomfort that might otherwise have been a problem.