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It's been a long time since Jack had any kids underfoot to plan Christmas for. While he always got Cassie a present, it had been up to Janet to actually play Santa. He'd barely been home for Charlie's Christmases but the few times he had been, it'd been wonderful.

And now he gets to play Santa for his own kids, though he doesn't know them that well yet. He and Carter had decided to give them things that were mostly edible and homemade since she'd told him everything store-bought would disappear after the New Year. It would be hard on a kid to lose their toys and Jack agreed.

Still, there's plenty to set up and lay beneath the tree and he's still stuck under there when he hears footsteps behind him. Uh oh. He hopes it isn't William and he tries to carefully back out, hitting his head on a lower branch in the attempt.

"Uh, buddy? Are you out of bed?"

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"Beer? Yeah, a beer would be great." Sam's been avoiding alcohol and caffeine while nursing Janet, but it'll be several hours before Janet's hungry again and it will be fine, from everything she's read. She tries not to wince at Jack's creaky knees as he gets up. She has a few creaks of her own these days.

Jack ends up dawdling a little when he gets the beer and ducks into a shop when he catches a glimpse of some nice, sparkly jewelry. The beautiful thing about New York is that things are open around the clock and this store has extra, extended hours for the holidays. With it being Christmas Eve, he guesses there's a lot of last-minute gift buying going on.

He buys a little pendant with options for birthstones and they have a couple on display (most are custom made). One of the display ones has a sapphire and an emerald on it, perfect for his two kids, and he gets it in a little flat gift box with a deep blue bow. Not exactly Christmas, but he likes it all the same.

He's quiet when he comes back in, not wanting to wake the kids, and waves a little at Carter.

"I come bearing festive beverages and presents. And uh, myself. Which is also festive."

While Jack's out, Sam rattles around the apartment for a bit, straightening things that are already straightened, checking on children that are still asleep, rearranging ornaments on the tree. By the time he comes back, she's sitting on the couch with a book she isn't actually reading. "Presents? I thought we had everything for the kids already." She can't imagine what they could get for either of them that they didn't already have.

"Not for the kids," Jack says, drawing the little box out and placing it in her lap. He pulls out two of the beers and goes to put the rest in the fridge before coming back to sit next to her. Not too close...that'd be awkward, but close enough to be friendly.

"You can open it if you want."

"For me?" Sam is excited enough at the idea of a present, she forgets to be awkward for a minute. "You didn't have to go and do that." She doesn't immediately open the present, but runs her fingers along the blue ribbon bow.

"Carter. The point is that I wanted to, not that I had to. If it's...too much, I understand. But I thought you might like it."

Jack is suddenly kind of nervous about this whole thing and wonders if he should have gotten the necklace for her after all.

"I'm sure I will." It's the sort of flat box that jewelry comes in, but not the cube-shaped sort of box that would hold a ring; that's the only thing she can immediately think of that would fall under the heading of 'too much'. But she doesn't expect what she finds when she opens it: a simple silver pendant with two small gemstones, an emerald and a sapphire. Janet and William's birthstones, she thinks, as she looks at it. It's a plain setting, nothing fussy, something she probably would have picked out for herself if she'd thought about it. Jack obviously put some thought into it.

"It's beautiful."

Jack sighs a little in relief. "Got a little worried there," he admits, "Because you know. Jewelry, pressure, all that. But I thought you might like something pretty."

He's rambling and he needs to stop so he covers it by drinking from his beer.

"No, it's not--I mean, it's really thoughtful, with the kids' birthstones." It doesn't feel like pressure; it just feels sentimental. She touches the little sapphire and emerald and thinks about the other baby they should have had, and how if he had been born she might not have Janet, and it's a thought she doesn't like. Maybe she'll tell Jack about that one day, but not tonight, because Christmas Eve doesn't seem like the time for that conversation.

Instead, she lifts the necklace from the box and opens the clasp to put it on. It's been a while since she's worn jewelry other than her wedding ring, and she has a little trouble getting the clasp to fasten.

"Want me to put it on you?"

Normally, he would have, but Jack isn't sure if that's crossing a line. Everything is strange between them now, knowing he used to be married to her and disappeared on her and now he's back. He doesn't want to do anything that could be construed as pressure.

A few more seconds of fiddling with it and she would probably get it on her own, but he's offered and it feels rude to tell him she'll do it herself. So she nods, shifting on the couch so that her back is to him, and holds the ends of the necklace so he can take them.

Jack fastens the clasp easily but he lingers for a few seconds, drawing his fingers down the back of her neck. Her skin is creamy and soft and he has to tamp down the overwhelming desire to kissher.

"There. Good to go."

When Jack's fingers brush the back of her neck, a little shiver skitters down Sam's spine. It is just a little touch, but it seems more intimate than the way they bump elbows or sit beside each other or any of the other kinds of accidental contact that come from sharing a living space. She shifts to face him again and touches the pendant, feeling the small birthstones beneath her fingertips. "Thank you."

"It looks good on you," Jack says, pleased with the choice and her reaction to it. He grins a little at her and cocks his head.

"So. You gonna outdo me in the presents department?"

"Well," she says, and laughs a little. "Your present isn't actually here yet because I couldn't figure out how to wrap it and it wouldn't fit in the apartment anyway." She'd put the envelope on a high shelf on the bookshelf so it wouldn't get accidentally drawn on or chewed on, and she gets it now and gives it to him. It's a silly Christmas card with a cartoon penguin playing hockey, and inside the card there's a glossy little brochure with pictures of his actual present. She thinks it will probably disappear when the island changes back, but on the off chance it doesn't, she wanted him to have something he could have a little fun with.

Jack opens the card, appreciating the little hockey-playing penguin and whistles lowly when he sees the boat. It's just a little rowboat, barely past dinghy status, but he appreciates the sentiment all the same.

"You got me a boat? And here I was thinking the jewelry was too much. Thanks, Carter. Really."

"I thought you might like it for fishing," Sam says. That is, if it sticks around after New York is gone. And if not, maybe they can work on building one.

"Well, yeah. I can catch a hell of a lot bigger with this baby." Jack wants, desperately, to kiss her both as a thank you for the boat and because she's Carter and he loves her, but he refrains. It's probably the worst idea in a whole list of potential bad ideas.

"Thanks, Carter. I would...shit. You know I want to kiss you, right?"

Or, well, he can also do that.

"I know," she says, because there are times, like now, when she feels the same, even though she doesn't know how she feels about anything else. There are times, like now, when she wants to kiss him more than anything, but doesn't know if she could do it without thinking of the other him, which doesn't seem fair to this him.

"It's just...you know, I want to thank you. Not that this is the only reason to kiss you but it's up there right this second," Jack admits. He traces his finger along the lip of his beer bottle.

"Sorry. Shouldn't have mentioned it."

"No," she says. "Don't be sorry." It's an impulse that makes her lean in and brush her lips against his--the need to see what it's like to kiss him, the need to know how she feels--and it's restrained, because she doesn't want to offer more than she's certain she can give. But in that moment, she just needs to kiss him.

Jack has never actually kissed Carter before outside of time loops and it's so unexpected now that he flounders a little with what to do. He finally settles on cupping her shoulders with his hands and letting the kiss deepen just a bit before pulling away.

"No mistletoe or anything? Just wanted to kiss me?"

"Just wanted to kiss you," she says softly. She's still thinking about how that felt--it felt like Jack, and also different, and she's not sure it didn't feel a little like cheating but it felt good, too, and she's still trying to reconcile those two things.

"It was...nice. Different than how I imagined it," Jack admits quietly. He doesn't necessarily think that's a bad thing.

"It's nice to have a basis in actual reality for something I've thought about as much as that."

"Maybe..." she says, about to suggest that they try it again--just to see--but she decides doing is better than suggesting, and she leans in to kiss him again, her palm cupping his cheek as her lips touch his. She's still holding back a little, because her confusion hasn't eased, but her need to kiss him hasn't yet been satisfied.