It was late, long after midnight, when Sam and Teal`c left back to the SGC. They both had things to do tomorrow, while the rest of their team could enjoy another couple of days of downtime. It was snowing heavily outside, the whiteness giving a light glowing touch to everything.
Glowing...

Jack shifted on his feet, leaning more comfortably onto the wall, his eyes admiring the sight through the large window. He could hear his favourite archaeologist prepairing another round of drinks - coffee this time - kitchenware tinkling in the background of utter stillness. His hand unconsciously fingered the thin parcel, gift-wrapped, ribbon and all. His thoughts remembered the last year`s Christmas; the despair, the sorrow, the feelings of abandonment and lonliness deep inside his soul, feelings that he managed to dispell the first time his hands touched the firm, alive and positively solid body of Daniel Jackson - no more than seven months ago. He also remembered the silent vow he made to himself while tightly holding his friend in a long overdue embrace, a vow to not let things go unsaid. Not again. No longer. Because time could be too short for believing there would be a chance to talk tomorrow.

So here he was. His guts clenching with nervousness he had`t felt since the day Charlie`s been born.
They say a picture tells more than a thousand words.
Well, he hoped a few carefully written words could say a thousand words too. The words he wasn`t sure his mouth could put right, even if he tried.
And he did try.
Really, he did.

"Y`wanna eat something? There`s some cake left...and some meat and potatoes...?", Daniel shouted from the kitchen over the loud clangs and clongs, indicating his attempt to get his CO`s kitchen into some resemblence of order. Jack smiled, enjoying the normalcy of the moment. "Nah, I`m full...Those hazelnut cookies Carter brought did me in...! Just coffee for me, thanks!", he shouted back, discovering it wasn`t really necessary since Daniel had entered the living room, setting two steaming cups onto the low table, along with milk and sugar. The tantalizing smell of real, turkish coffee - Dr.J. certainly had many rare and highly appreciated  skills - filled the room, drawing Jack slowly towards the source of wonderfull aroma. "Besides, it`s three in the morning - if I eat anything more, I`ll be out of it for the next few days, flat on my back...and I don`t think my bathroom`s scale would find that highly amusing", he quipped, settling down onto the sofa, next to his friend who was busy with sweetening his coffee.
"Well, then we`ll just stick to this wonder-recipe of mine...guarantied to keep you fit and able!...officially confirmed by a genuine PhD!", Daniel laughed, then even more so, seeing the good-natured smirk on the older man`s face.
"Right, you`d know that, Coffe-boy..." He was rewarded with the flawless eyes-rolling/pouting show, perfected over the years of hard training.
"Ugh, not another stupid nickname...please! I think the list`s long enough!"

They laughed and sipped at their drinks, and Jack heard Daniel saying something else and himself answering, but the image in his mind`s eye was of Daniel`s head resting on his shoulder,  Spacemonkey leaving his mouth before he could think about it, the laughter and relief of the moment, just a couple of weeks after their first Christmas together, a long, long time ago...

He shook his head, a small smile on his face as he tried to get back to the reality. He heard Daniel calling his name, his face close, not really concerned, realizing his friend was dealing with a flashback, though not an ugly one. Yeah....he knew what those were like himself...too often to count...

Jack shifted in his seat somewhat uncomfortably, a sheepish smile curving his lips. "Sorry...Just...drifted away for a bit..."
Daniel patted his right arm, placing his cup onto the table, sincere understanding visible in his eyes and movements. "S`okay..." He looked up, his demanour casual. He knew Jack too well. "...If you need to talk...", he left the sentence unfinished, his meaning clear. I`m here for you if you need me.

Tell him!
Choking on a sudden lump in his throat, Jack shrugged. "Thanks...but it`s nothing, really..."
Do it! Now!
He could do this...but his heart was pounding and his palms were all sweaty...Ah, damn! Why was this so difficult to do?

"Well, then-...", Daniel`s sentence was cut off abruptly when his eyes fell on a thin, nicely wrapped package appearing in Jack`s hand, apparently from the sofa on his left. His wide blue eyes held a silent question, seeing the sudden unease in Jack`s face.

When it became obvious that Jack needed help in coming forward with... whatever it was...Daniel decided to push a little.
"Another gift?...I thought Santa left hours ago!", he said teasingly, drawing a wry smile in return.
And a chuckle.
Now, that was better.
"Yeah...well...this is something...well...personal...", Jack said, his vague words causing a slight anxiety in Daniel. When O`Neill was personally vague, it was definitely a millenium-event-kind-of-thing.
For, Jack, anyway.

"Ahhh, well...-", Daniel begun, not really certain what to say, when he was cut off. Again.
"Danny, listen..."
Oh, oh. Danny and a serious tone. A really mega-thing, then.
A slight nod and wide-opened blue eyes told him he had all the attention he needed.
A long sigh escaped his lips. "I`m no good at this..." A pause. Daniel patienly waited in silence, giving his silent support.

Jack opted for a roundabout way. "Y`know how you write things in your diary, things that are easier to write than say...?"
"Yeah..." A slightly puzzled frown appeared on Daniel`s forehead.
"Well, I`m no good at...saying...you know that...but that doesn`t mean I don`t care or feel...I just really suck at linguistics..." That drew another smile from Daniel, but he remained silent, opting for another nod.

Jack inhaled deeply, then slowly handed the gift to Daniel who took it gently, sensing it was something important, very, very important to the older man. Jack was still having a firm hold on it, though.
"The last year was...well...let`s just say it was an eye opener...for me...it`s not that I`ve discovered something I hadn`t known already...but I realized that time was short...could be too damn short and I regretted not telling you...how I felt...when I still could...And now that I have the second chance...I don`t intend to blow it. Not again."
Jack shifted on the sofa again, clearly slightly unconfortable, but not as much as Daniel would expect after hearing those words.
"And I know that`s one of the reasons you left when-...", Jack swallowed, and Daniel lowered his gaze.
He knew what particular event his friend was referring to.
 "...because you didn`t know-...because I was too damn proud-assed to tell you what was important...So. Here. " Jack indicated the pacage with a nod, finally handing it to Daniel the whole way, who fingered it carefully. "It`s just...symbolic..." Jack actually smiled; a small, wistfull smile. "...too late for the real act, I suppose..."
Then the sober, serious expression was back, and he looked into Daniel`s eyes with such sincere intensity that the younger man had to force himself not to flinch away. "...but it says how I feel...how I felt for the last several years...I know you know that...but I have to tell you, somehow...and this is the easiest way I could think of..."
He sat slightly back, giving Daniel some room. "Go on, open it..."

Daniel was - nervous, even slightly anxious - his hands were steady though as he carefully unwrapped the gift, first the ribbon, then the glinting paper, aware of Jack`s eyes on him the whole time. His actions revealed an envelope, obviously containing paper. He cast an inquiring look in Jack`s direction and got only a nudging nod in return. Opening the envelope he pulled out a stack of papers, clad in a dark-blue official-looking folder with no inscription. His breath caught in his throat when he recognized the papers it contained.
The adoption papers. The forms, all filled in dark blue ink, telling him a happy story of one Daniel Jackson being adopted - if only symbolically - by a certain Jack O`Neill whose signature was at the bottom of every form, just as it would have been on official documents.

Time stopped until a small portion of Daniel's brain reminded him to breathe. There was a wet smudge on the paper, and then another, and with some suprise Daniel noted that tears were running freely down his face, wetting the precious gift. A quiet sob escaped his lips as he dropped it onto the table while throwing off glasses and threw himself into the warm embrace, finally letting go when he felt a gentle kiss on the top of his head and heard the words - oh, those words! - he`d given up on hearing ever since his parents left this world.

Jack was watching while Daniel was unwrapping the package, noting his confusion and nervousness, nodding at him to continue, to look inside the envelope.
Inside his heart.
He saw the confusion turning into stunned disbelief as the eyes noted the titles and names, as the mind quickly followed, realizing the meaning of it all. He saw the quiver of the lover lip, and the silent tears falling onto the papers, shaking the younger man out of the shock. And before he could move he had an armfull of a sobbing child, giving into the tears of relief two decades too late. He held this precious gift as firmly as he could, burrowing his face into his shoulder and planted a kiss onto the hair tickling his cheek.
"I`ll keep you. You`re safe now. Welcome home, Danny."

THE END