Daniel awoke within a minute of Annika disappearing from his embrace. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he automatically checked in with her. He felt her drowsy response beneath his heart. It made him sigh in relief. There was little sign of the grief that had overwhelmed her yesterday. In its place was a happy contentedness, a bit of excitement (he assumed correctly that was because they were coming home today,) and a touch of embarrassment. He crawled out of the tent, waved ‘Good Morning’ to Teal’c and started rummaging around for the packets of coffee, and tea for Teal’c, in his kit. By the time Daniel had boiled some water the others had roused themselves and accepted the tin mugs of steaming brew gratefully.

"Why didn’t you wake me for my watch?"

Jack shrugged. "Some things are more important."

"Thanks." He included all of them in the statement.

"Is everything okay?" Sam asked taking a sip.

Daniel nodded. "Annika had a vision she wasn’t prepared for. It threw her for a loop."

"For whom was Annika Murdoch grieving?"

Daniel raised an eyebrow at the Jaffa’s perception.

"Tears of that nature only occur when someone greatly loved has ceased to live."

"Her dad," Daniel answered. "With her abilities growing so strong she’s having visions from things she thought were ‘safe’."

"Damn," Jack frowned. "That’s gotta be hard. If I were her I’d be walking around in body sock so I didn’t touch nuthin’."

A snort of laughter escaped from Sam at that visual image, then she sobered. "I don’t know how she does it. I couldn’t cope having the visions that she has."

"Annika Murdoch is indeed a remarkable woman. We are fortunate that she chose her residence adjacent to Daniel Jackson’s."

Daniel grinned. "Couldn’t agree with you more."

"Okay, kids," Jack rose, finishing the last of his coffee. "Let’s break camp and get back to make our team complete."

They packed away their gear with efficiency that was second nature after hundreds of missions and within half an hour had resumed their trek to the Stargate. Though the urgency of the previous day had gone, they still kept up a brisk pace. When they stepped through the Stargate they arrived five hours ahead of schedule.

"Welcome back, SG-1." General Hammond’s voice rang out over the loud speaker.

Jack gave a sloppy salute. "Good to be home, sir."

"Ah…General," Daniel’s eyes scanned the control room above. "Is Annika there?"

Before he could answer the blast doors slid open and Annika sheepishly entered. "Hi, guys. Sorry to cause so much trouble."

Jack waved her concern away. "I should thank you, those feasts always give me the worst heartburn."

"My…ah…appearance wailing like a banshee didn’t screw up the negotiations, did it?" She twisted her hands nervously.

Sam shrugged out of her pack and handed it to the sergeant waiting to take it down to supply for unpacking and restocking. "Actually it helped," she smiled reassuringly. "The Norettens were touched by our concern for you. It further convinced them that accepting our offer of friendship was the right decision."

Daniel passed over his own pack then reached out to Annika. She immediately stepped into his embrace. "How are you doing?" he murmured so only she could hear.

"I’m okay now," she whispered back and sent a rush of her emotions through their bond to prove it.

He gave her a light kiss. "The Norettens want to meet you, you know."

They all started moving down the corridor to the briefing room. Daniel kept one arm draped around Annika’s shoulders.

"They do?" she asked surprised.

"Indeed," Teal’c confirmed. "They were most interested to meet someone who is both spirit and flesh."

"Speaking of flesh," Annika wrinkled her nose. "Perhaps you should detour to the showers unless you want General Hammond to be overcome by your…uh…fragrance."

"A bit ripe, are we?" Jack took a sniff off his underarm and immediately regretted it.

Daniel grinned. "We’re calling it ‘Essence of Skunk’. Think it’ll be a hit?"

"Sure, I believe the NID is always looking for a new bio weapon."

After showers, post mission briefing and medical checks they were all given a days down time before having to report back in. On the way home Daniel and Annika grabbed a late lunch, stopped to pick out a tree in preparation for the next day, then spent the afternoon as they always did after missions that kept them apart. In other words they never left the bedroom. When they had eased the need for each other, (twice,) the setting sun found them lazily sprawled beneath the sheets.

"General Hammond is very sweet not to get angry at my sudden appearances." Annika was happily nestled in the crook of her lover’s arm.

A smile twisted Daniel’s lips. "Sweet…Don’t let anyone else hear you say that. It’ll ruin his hard-nosed reputation."

She giggled. "He’s just a big teddy bear."

"Another description I suggest never reaches outside ears." His fingers traced the soft curve of her hip. "Hammond understands there are certain things you can’t control."

"It’s so embarrassing," she groused.

"But also very endearing," Daniel placed a tender kiss on her lips. "I wouldn’t have you any other way."

"Have I mentioned how much I love you?" she sighed, enjoying the delectable taste of him.

He grinned, letting his hands roam over her supple body. "Not in the last five minutes."

"Well, I love you, Daniel Jackson." She punctuated each word with a kiss. "With every fiber of my being, with every breath that I take."

"And you Annika Murdoch, make my soul take flight, every moment with you is a lifetime of joy, every moment apart an eternity in hell." His blue eyes shone with the depth of his emotions. "Love you, My Angel."

Their next kiss dissolved coherent thought and they surrendered to the ever present fire deliciously tormenting their bodies.

When they eventually made their way downstairs in search of food, Daniel noticed the mountain of moving boxes lining the lounge wall with Christmas paraphernalia spilling out. How in the world he missed it until now he never knew.

"Are they all Christmas decorations?" He sounded bemused. For the life of him he couldn’t figure out where they were going to put all of it. There was enough to decorate the entire SGC, he was sure of it.

Annika gave him an innocent look. "There are a few more in the study."

Daniel’s eyes almost popped out of his head.

She continued conversationally, "The outside stuff is still packed away in the garage but with only a week to go, I figured there was no point dragging them out for only a few days. By the time we got it all up it would be time to take it down again." Annika hid a smile at Daniel’s stunned mullet impression. "I did warn you I went all out at Christmas."

He nodded a little dazed. "I know…I just didn’t expect…"

"Mount Kringle of Yuletide cheer?"

Another nod.

"Come on," She tugged him into the kitchen. "After you eat something it won’t seem so daunting."

"How’d you figure that?" Though his feet followed Annika, his eyes never left the pile of boxes.

"I’m a believer in Christmas miracles."

She set about heating up the casserole she’d prepared that morning in the microwave, while Daniel hunted around for the flatware and cutlery. When he felt a steadily growing excitement through their bond he openly watched her. Annika was practically bouncing around the room as she measured out coffee grounds, flicked on the percolator and spooned sugar into two mugs. Sitting down to eat, Daniel couldn’t fail to see that she had positioned herself in full view of the trove of decorations.

He caught a longing look directed over his shoulder and he nearly choked on his coffee. "I can’t believe I’ve been replaced by tinsel."

Her face turned pink and she lowered her eyes.

Daniel nudged her chin up. "You’re itching to get started tonight, aren’t you?"

Annika shook her head in denial. "You’re tired, I can wait until tomorrow."

Their bond said otherwise.

"Not that tired. I had a good night sleep last night."

Her eyes lit up at his response. "Really?"

"Really," he nodded. "You’re not worried about having visions?"

Annika shook her head. "No. Now that I know to expect them, I’m kinda wondering what else I’ll see." She reached for his hand across the table and gave it a light squeeze. "What we’ll see."

He returned her grip and his thumb caressed the smaller hand encasing his. "Okay."

"We can decorate here tonight," she became animated, speaking in between mouthfuls of food. "Then in the morning we can do your place."

"My place?" Daniel shook his head. "I don’t really have any decorations to put up."

She gestured with her fork to the lounge. "There’ll be plenty left over from here that we can use."

"It’s not really necessary."

Annika looked crestfallen. "But I’ve never had two homes to decorate before."

Violet eyes pleaded with him and he couldn’t deny her. "Okay, we’ll do both if you like."

She beamed at him and Daniel laughed. "You’re just like a little kid." He drained the last of his coffee. "Am I going to have to sedate you on Christmas Eve to get you to go to sleep?"

"I’m sure you can think of a better way to get me into bed than that," she teased, her eyes darkening with desire.

Daniel found it highly amusing to feel the duel going on inside of her. She really, really wanted to make love to him again, and she really, really wanted to get her hands on those decorations. He compromised, hauling her onto his lap and spent a good few minutes, thoroughly kissing her until she was breathless. Then he led the way into the lounge. "Okay, you’re the expert, where do we begin?"

"First things first," Annika turned on the stereo and inserted a couple of Christmas CDs. "Now that the mood is set, the fun stuff can start."

The next few hours were a whirlwind of activity. One by one the boxes were emptied and the house was transformed into a Christmas Grotto. They dodged between the puppies that ran around their feet, inspecting all the glittery trinkets and playing with scraps of tinsel. Not one room was left untouched. Even the bathrooms had towels and curtains swapped over with prints of mistletoe and holy, and everyday soap dishes and dispensers were replaced with ones of a festive cheer. Each room had its own theme, which matched the color scheme of her home, except for the Christmas tree itself. That symbol of Yuletide spirit was a free for all that included all the colors of the rainbow, with a mix of decorations accumulated over the course of her life. Ornaments, lovingly handmade by Annika when she was a child, hung proudly next to the more delicate baubles of glass amidst the tinsel and flashing lights.

Annika received about a dozen visions from different items and she willingly shared them with Daniel. There were a few wobbly moments, but Annika found talking about the memories eased the ache in the part of her heart that still mourned for her dad. Daniel soaked up the scenes like a sponge. He’d almost forgotten how Christmas should be. One particular image showed a young Annika with an older girl with dark hair. Both were seated on the floor with a large bowl between them. Fingers and faces were covered in chocolate cake mix, which they scooped from sides of the dish. They were having a very serious discussion about how reindeer could fly. Annika suggested Santa needed to go on a diet otherwise the reindeer wouldn’t be able to lift him in the sleigh and their presents wouldn’t be delivered.

Daniel laughed at the total innocence of the scene. "You were a cute kid. Who’s the other girl?"

Annika shrugged, adjusting the garland of greenery wrapped around the banister. "Lana. My sister."

"You have a sister?" Daniel tried to keep his voice casual. If Annika was finally opening up about her family he didn’t want to push, well not too much. He hardly knew anything about her past and he desperately wanted to know what her life had been like before they met, the good, the bad and everything in between.

She nodded and her fingers fiddled with a bow that really didn’t need fluffing up. "She’s three years older than me."

"I take it you’re not very close."

"No." Her voice was barely audible. "Not anymore."

He remained silent, waiting for her to continue. A mixture of sadness and anger seeped through their bond.

She sighed. "There was a…falling out…Lana…uh…sided with my mother. I haven’t spoken to either of them for five years." The anger increased for a second, then she gave herself a little shake and it disappeared. "Can we not talk about this now? I don’t want to spoil this night with things that can’t be changed."

"Okay." Daniel bent down to pick up a wreath from the last box, trying to hide a stab of disappointment. Seemed like he wasn’t going to learn anymore about His Angel’s past tonight. "Where does this go?"

He jumped when he felt Annika’s soft touch on his arm.

"I know it hurts you that I’m not as…open…as you regarding my life before us." Her violet eyes locked with his. "It’s not that I want to keep anything from you, I want you to know everything. It’s just some things like that fight I can’t handle thinking, let alone talking about. I tend to treat my past like my visions, it happened, it’s over, I move on."

Daniel heard the pain in her voice, saw the pleading in her eyes for him to understand. He softly caressed her cheek. "I’m a patient man. Whenever you find the words, I’ll be here."

She hugged him tightly. "Thank you."

Tonight wasn’t supposed to be an intense emotional session. It was meant to be fun and full of Christmas cheer. Daniel searched for a way to restore the previously playful mood of the evening. His gaze fell on the last item in the box and he grinned. "Okay, I know I just said I can wait," he began dramatically. "But there is one thing that I simply have to know, right here and now."

Annika saw the sudden gleam in his eye and she warily nodded. "Alright. What?"

He plucked the decoration out of the box. "Strictly from an anthropological point of view I’m dying from curiosity as to why you have Santa Claus copulating with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer."

"What?" Annika tried to grab the decoration out of his hand but his arms were longer and he kept it out of her reach.

"That’s what it looks like to me," he continued innocently, waving it about. "Look, Santa’s bending over the back of good old Rudy, getting a firm grip…"

"That is not what he’s doing," Annika objected with a gurgle of laughter. "He’s reaching for the reins."

Daniel pretended to examine the ornament. "Nope, not seeing it."

"You have a perverted mind, Doctor Jackson." She finally managed to get hold of the bauble. "I was five when I made that. I assure you Santa is only reaching for the reins." She looked at it but for the first time she did so through an adult’s eyes, (not to mention with Daniel’s ‘interpretation’ fresh in her mind). "Oh, Gods! That is what it looks like." She erupted into a fit of giggles. All of a sudden she cut of in mid squeak and Daniel watched her expression become horrified even though her mouth kept twitching into a grin.

"What?"

"This particular decoration was always given the best place on the tree, so everyone could see it." More giggles escaped. "I always wondered why visitors did a double take when they saw it."

Daniel’s chortle joined hers. "Then I suggest that we follow tradition and keep it front and center."

Annika started to object then thought better of it. "Tradition is tradition." She hung it at eye level.

They both stood back to admire her handiwork and then both burst into laughter.

"I can’t wait until Jack sees that," Daniel sniggered.

"What about Teal’c?" Annika gasped. "He’s probably going to think it’s another one of our odd Tau’ri rituals."

They packed away the empty boxes and moved the left over decorations into her office, ready to go next door in the morning. After fixing a final cup of coffee they settled down on the couch simply enjoying the fruits of their labor. Annika nestled up against him and Daniel wrapped his arm around her.

A deep sigh heaved from her chest and Daniel raised a questioning eyebrow.

"This is a perfect moment," she smiled. "Sitting in front of a Christmas tree with the man I love, sipping coffee."

Daniel smiled back, gently teasing. "Mustn’t forget the coffee."

"Nope, it’s a very important element, along with the twinkling lights."

They sat in contended silence, watching the slightly hypnotizing blinking of the fairy lights and listening to the Christmas songs quietly playing in the background. The CD changed and Dean Martin began softly crooning.

"This has always been one of my favorite Christmas songs."

"Mine too," Daniel admitted. "It’s a fun, simple song for lovers." He uncurled himself from the couch and tugged her to her feet. "Dance with me?"

"Love to."

He took a quick step and flicked off the main light then reset the song to the beginning. Pulling her into his embrace, he placed one hand snugly around her waist and the other entwined with her fingers cozily tucking it against the side of his chest. Annika rested her cheek on his shoulder, her face turned inward, and with only the glow of the flickering fairy lights, the couple danced.

As they moved to the music, Daniel began to softly sing along, his voice a gentle caress in her ear, a playful serenade to her soul.

"Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, since we’ve no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow." He placed a light kiss to the top of her head. "Man, it doesn’t show signs of stopping, and I’ve brought some corn for popping, the lights are turned way down low, let it snow, let it snow."

The next verse started and Annika joined her voice with his. "When we finally kiss goodnight, how I’ll hate going out in a storm, but if you really hold me tight, all the way home I’ll be warm."

She lifted her head and their eyes met in the twinkling darkness, both sets sparkling with pure happiness and unquestioning love.

"And the fire is slowly dying, and my dear we’re still goodbying, but as long as you love me so, let it snow, let it snow, and snow."

Their lips met and for a moment they lost themselves in the sweet taste of each other.

When they came up for air, still moving in time to the music, Annika grinned. "Never would I have guessed that this would be our first dance together."

"Does that make it ‘our’ song?" Daniel chuckled.

"Looks like it," she confirmed, then reconfirmed it with another kiss.

When Daniel felt an odd little excited bubble erupt beneath his heart he tilted his head back. "What was that?"

She buried her face in his neck, her words muffled on his skin.

"Say that again." Annika was delightfully cute when she was embarrassed.

This time he heard her whisper. "We have a song."

Daniel tightened his hold on her as a joyous ripple of his own rushed through him at the concept. "Never had an ‘our song’ before."

"Me either."

"We’ve started our own Christmas memories." She could hear the smile in his voice.

She grinned impishly. "I’ve thought of something else we could add to ‘our’ memories." Her hand traveled down his back and playfully cupped his butt, pulling him even closer to her. "I’ve always wanted to make love in front of a Christmas tree."

His eyes darkened with desire. "Sounds like a beautiful memory. I can’t wait to create it."

With gentle sweet kisses, which quickly became increasingly longer, deeper and more passionate, the two lovers started a different kind of dance, melding their bodies, hearts and souls. After their bodies had stopped trembling from their union, they lay spent in each other’s arms.

"I’m too relaxed to move," Annika murmured.

Daniel lifted her totally boneless hand and let it flop back down on his stomach. "I can see that. I’ll be back in a moment."

He ducked upstairs and grabbed their pillows and blankets from their bed, then spread them out on the lounge room floor. They crawled beneath the feather quilt and drowsily watched the lights flicker on and off.

"Another perfect moment," Annika whispered before her eyelids slid shut.

Daniel nuzzled closer, feeling her heart beat in time with his. "Another perfect memory." A blissful smile touched his lips as he too drifted off the sleep.