A/N: I've set each Valentine's Day where it would have fallen among the air dates of the episodes. For example, Stargate SG-1 originally aired in July of 1997, so SG-1's first Valentine's Day as a team would have been February 14, 1998. I've included episode tags where appropriate.

One chapter will be posted each day from February 3-February 14.

Fun Fact: The episode Solitudes aired on February 6, 1998, placing Jack and Sam's first Valentine's Day eight days after the events of that episode.

1st Valentine's Day – February 14, 1998

Jack stared down at the small present in his hands. He was way more nervous than he should be. It was simply a small, inexpensive heart pendant. No big deal, right? Except that he was standing outside his new 2IC's lab, holding it in a small blue box with a light blue bow that matched the color of her eyes.

It was the bow that had first caught his eye. On a shopping trip to the local big box store for socks. That's when he saw it. Sitting atop a pyramid of black and gold boxes on a clearance table in the jewelry department. He hadn't even looked inside the box, just plucked it off the top and added it to his purchase.

Because it was okay to give your 2IC a gift on Valentine's Day, wasn't it? There wasn't a rule that said, 'no gifts allowed.' Okay, there was, but it applied to large purchases, not the 14.99 pendant that just happened to be inside said blue box. The one that he picked up on a whim.

He'd even picked up gifts for his other two teammates. Daniel had loved the socks and Teal'c had eyed his box of chocolate truffles warily before taking his first piece. He couldn't even be accused of any impropriety because he was treating all team members the same. Heck, that heart-shaped box of chocolates had been double the cost of the pendant! So, there was no reason at all that he shouldn't give Samantha Carter a Valentine's gift.

He told himself that his hesitation was just due to his fatigue. After all, he had made it all the way to Sam's lab without his crutches. He used one hand for balance while the other hand hid in his pants pocket, reassuring himself that the little box was still there. He took a deep breath and moved closer to the door when --

"Sir!" Sam jerked to a halt, almost running into her CO as she was about to step outside her lab.

"Carter!" Jack reached out with his free hand to steady her while maintaining his own balance.

"Sorry, sir," Sam said, flustered. "I didn't see you."

"Erm, my fault," Jack grumbled, knowing he'd been loitering outside of her lab. "Here, happy Valentine's Day," he thrust the small blue box into her hands.

"What's this?" Sam looked at what he'd given her, then up into his eyes. Her blue eyes were wide with surprise.

"It's a gift, Carter," he couldn't help but tease her. "For Valentine's," he emphasized the last word.

"Oh, sir," she breathed out when she opened the box, revealing the delicate gold heart.

The tip of her tongue darted out, nervously moistening her lips, and doing things to Jack's insides that he really should shut down.

"I bought Danny socks. Got Teal'c a candy-filled heart," he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I just thought—"

"I love it," she looked up again, gifting him with one of her megawatt smiles.

"Yes, well," he nodded, "you deserve it. You all do," he quickly added. "Okay," he nodded again, adorably uncomfortable, then turned to leave.

"Sir, wait!" Sam waited for him to remain there and then darted back into her lab. She emerged a few seconds later and handed him an exceptionally large homemade red heart-shaped card. "It's from Cassie," she explained. "Well, and me, I guess. We made Valentine's Day cards for her classmates when I watched her for Janet last week. She wanted to make one for each of us, too. I was on glitter duty."

Jack carefully opened the glitter-covered, construction paper card to reveal haphazardly cut-out hearts along with a stick-figure drawing of the team. A hand-drawn heart was positioned over the figures that wore a baseball cap and blonde hair.

"I know it's not much," she said softly, at his silence.

"It's perfect," his voice was raspy with emotion. He hadn't received a handmade card since—well, it had been a long time. "Thank you," he said after clearing his throat.

"You should see the one we made Daniel," Sam snickered, completely unaware of the effect the simple card was having on her CO. "He got bunnies."

"Bunnies?" Jack's lips twitched.

"Teal'c got pink unicorns."

Jack barked out a laugh at that, imagining the stoic Jaffa opening a card filled with pink unicorns.

"Happy Valentine's Day, sir," Sam smiled warmly at him, clasping the pendant against her heart.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Carter."