Absolutely

By: Lionchilde

CATEGORY: Alternate Universe

WARNINGS: None

AUTOR’S NOTES: Written for sg_challenges. Yay! I've finally figured out the timeline on these. If Nicky's 8 and Manda's 10, that means this takes place like 16 years after s9. Well, technically, after Beachhead, since that's when it goes AU.

AUTHOR’S WEBSITE:

http://so-out-of-ideas.livejournal.com/

"Do you know what I like best about Christmas trees?" Vala asked in a conspiratorial tone. Her voice was low, barely reaching Daniel's ears as he stumbled, still half asleep, off the stairs. Stifling a yawn, he leaned his shoulder against the doorframe and smiled, slightly surprised at his own contentment.

Vala, naturally, had taken his comfortable robe off the bedroom door when she got up, leaving him with the threadbare old one. He'd given up suggesting that she wear her own bathrobe, knowing what the response would be, and just started keeping a second. Their son in his blue Scooby Doo pajamas made her the perfect accomplice, and Daniel restrained the urge to go in, quietly watching to see what the pair were up to now.

This would be Nicky's eighth Christmas, which Daniel had been anticipating with a fair amount of dread. He'd gotten through Manda's eighth Christmas two years ago without anyone but Vala guessing how difficult it had been, but their was something about Nicky's relationship with her that made him expect this time to be worse. Even on ordinary days, he sometimes felt his breath catch as he watched the two of them together.

They were both on their hands and knees on the floor, rearranging the tracks to the train set that Daniel had just spent most of Christmas Eve putting together. Their dark heads bent over it, almost touching, and she had to move quickly back to avoid being bonked as he paused to look speculatively at the softly glowing tree.

"They have presents under them?" he asked.

Vala shook her head and reached out to slowly pull a strand of tinsel off the nearest branch. She held it between their faces and blew lightly, eliciting a giggle from the boy as it tickled his nose. "It's how they shimmer," she winked. "Like diamonds. Always remember that a girl loves diamonds, Nicky."

Daniel covered his face with his hand, shaking his head, but managed to check the sigh that would have given his presence away. Of all the aspects of Vala's personality that he did not want to see in their children, her materialism was probably the biggest. Nicky, fortunately, seemed unaffected, and crawled off to lay a loop of track around the Nativity scene. He stopped again a few moments later, this time examining first the infant Christ and then the Wise Men.

"Is it true, Mom?" he asked, more curious than skeptical as he slowly looked up to indicate the star atop the tree. "How they followed a star to find the baby?"

Daniel bit his lip. Hammond and Landry had somehow always believed it. Even Mitchell did. What was it he'd said?

Look, just because we know there’s some beings on a higher plane of existence than ourselves does not mean there’s not an order of Being higher than them.

But after all he'd seen, all he found it possible to believe, Daniel had to admit he wasn't sure. In fact, he probably hadn't been since the accident. For him, here were too many holes in that story--one of the biggest being the rift in his life that he had never been more conscious of than on his eighth Christmas.

Somewhere in there, you gotta fill in the blanks with a little faith.

"Absolutely," Vala replied without hesitation.

** The End **

Feedback to: lionchilde@msn.com

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