So this probably won't be finished by Christmas Day... but the twelve days of Christmas in actuality does extend to January 6th, so hopefully it will be done by then.
"Silent night! Holy night!"
Vala mouthed the words as the group around her sang. Caroling was a bit hard to do when you didn't know the songs. She supposed she was lucky that Colonel Mitchell had at least thought to bring printed copies of the lyrics.
This caroling was a bit... surprising. Vala had never seen people going door-to-door like this, but from her own experience, she didn't think she would be too keen on opening her front door to a group of random strangers - too much potential for trouble.
But so far, each door had been opened, and the inhabitants of each house were quite welcoming. They seemed to enjoy listening to people cheerfully sing about the holiday season.
The group finished singing, and the people at the door were thanking them for it. Vala looked over at Daniel, who smiled at the people in the house before looking down at her.
"We'll have to teach you the songs for next year," he whispered, lips curving in sympathetic amusement.
Vala rather liked that look on his face. "That would be nice," she replied, giving him a small smile of her own.
His eyes crinkled as his smile grew. I suppose the "holiday cheer" Samantha talked about is getting to him, Vala thought. She wished for a moment that it would stay. She liked how open he was this evening.
The door to the house closed, and Colonel Mitchell looked over at the two of them. "Alright, gang!" he announced. "One more house on this block, and then back to my place for cocoa!"
The Colonel had heard about Vala's lessons in Christmas and its traditions earlier that day, and had eagerly decided to help out. His choice in activity surprised Vala almost as much as his singing voice had. He actually sang quite well.
They began moving over to the next house with the rest of the group - a few other employees of the SGC and some of their families. Vala had been surprised to see Master Sergeant Siler among them, with his lovely wife and their four children in tow. He looked so much more at ease than he normally did, although, she supposed, that did make sense. He was finally out of the danger zone that was his place of employment. According to Daniel and Sam, he suffered injuries on the job at an alarming frequency.
The Colonel, who it seemed had automatically assumed control of the whole group, called out, "What song shall we sing at the next house?"
"'Jingle Bells!'" Siler's youngest child, a boy of about seven or eight, called out.
"Or 'Let it Snow!'" a young girl belonging to another team member at the SGC exclaimed.
"It'd be nice if it would snow," Siler's oldest daughter, a blonde teenager who Vala had rather taken a liking to, sighed. "It's been so dry we may not have a white Christmas this year."
The Colonel raised an eyebrow, "Does that mean... we'll have a blue Christmas?"
The teenager giggled as Colonel Mitchell began a dramatic impersonation of some man singing about a blue Christmas. Vala laughed in amusement at his uncharacteristically goofy mood.
Daniel rolled his eyes and leaned over to Vala. "He's trying to impersonate Elvis Presley," he explained, drawing a mock wounded expression from the Colonel and another giggle from the teenage girl. "What?!? I'll play the song for you later, Vala, and you can see just how bad he is at it."
"Ha ha," he responded before winking at the young girl who'd requested a song. "Maybe we will sing "Let it Snow!' See if we can work up some snow for Christmas."
The little girl grinned, and Vala smiled at her excitement.
They had reached the last house at this point. As they made their way up the steps to the front door, Daniel absentmindedly placed a guiding hand on Vala's lower back. She sucked in a breath, hoping he didn't notice the involuntary reaction. He didn't seem to, but Vala was a bit unnerved at how comfortable he had suddenly become with her. He's so close. And although she had been even closer to other men, this particular one had gotten under her skin in a way the others just hadn't quite managed.
Siler knocked on the door of this house, and the apparent matriarch of the family within opened it.
Their little group began singing about snow, and Vala shivered as a cold wind kicked up. Maybe we are going to conjure up some snow, she thought with a giggle before said giggle was strangled by her shock at Daniel's wrapping an arm around her. His hold on her was firm and warm as he continued singing. She knew he must be holding her only because she had shivered, but he was stirring up a fire in her that, she was aware, he wasn't even thinking about just then. He was so casual about it. How could he be?
The song over, the matriarch wished them a merry Christmas, and their group walked away from the door. Daniel released Vala, much to her displeasure, and the two followed Colonel Mitchell as he began leading the rest of their party back to where they had parked. He turned to Vala and Daniel last as they reached their own vehicles.
"Well, Vala," he asked. "What did you think?"
She shrugged, but smiled. "It was nice - though it would have been nicer if it were a bit warmer!"
"Ah, come on," the Colonel chided. "That's part of the whole experience!" He grinned. "The hot cocoa we're about to have will help. We'll head on over to my place now, and pop in a good Christmas movie."
Vala's eyes widened, but, having heard about the disastrous movie marathon, the Colonel quickly raised his hands to dispel her fears. "Don't worry! This will be a good Christmas movie."
As it turned out, it was a good movie - a lovely little one called White Christmas. Thoroughly warmed by both the cocoa and the film, Vala was loath to leave as it grew late.
"Well, I'll see you two on Christmas Day, for sure," the Colonel said as he escorted them to the door. "Tomorrow I may try to bribe a lady friend of mine to help wrap my Christmas presents for you."
Daniel rolled his eyes while Vala's eyes widened at the prospect of a present. "I don't suppose you'd want to just give them to us early..." she trailed off as she gave him a wheedling look.
The Colonel shook his head, crossing his arms firmly as Daniel and Vala stepped through the now open door. "Nope. Those presents wait till Christmas Day, Vala."
Vala slumped but gave him a small laugh anyway. The Colonel smiled. "It'll be here before you know it. And I can't wait to see what you picked out for me for Christmas!" he said with a wink as he shut the door.
Vala looked at Daniel, slightly panicked as she realized: "I haven't gotten anything!" she whispered in as high of a pitch as she could at that volume.
Daniel gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry," he said, looking as if he might regret what he was about to say. "I'm taking you Christmas shopping tomorrow."
"Ooh!" Vala breathed out, suddenly excited. I hope we're going to that mall again.
He smiled. "I'll probably regret this," he admitted, "but it might be fun."