New Year's Resolution

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=120 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="01078642egerdp.jpg"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=428 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="00f64643.jpg"> <div> <B>New Year's Resolution</B></div> <div>  <A NAME="new_year_s_resolution"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <div> Jack paced back and forth between his kitchen and dining room.  The clock on the wall showed only five minutes had passed since the last time he'd checked.</div> <bR> <div> This feeling was different, strange.  His guts were in knots, he felt anxious . . . maybe a little giddy.  Usually this feeling only came over him when he was about to take a new plane for a test flight.  In this case, one very annoying, stubborn  - and flirtatious - archeologist/linguist was the cause.  He checked his watch again.</div> <bR> <div> This was getting ridiculous.  Sara hadn't gotten him this wound up when they were first dating, so what was the deal here?  He hadn't felt like this since . . . well, since he'd invited Peggy Hunsacker to the 8th grade Valentine's Day dance.  Slapping his hands to his face and rubbing briskly, Jack forced himself to calm down.  With a deep breath, he walked toward the back of the house and the stairs leading down to the utility/laundry room.  He'd double check the beer supply for the night's party, make sure he had everything ready in the way of snacks, and maybe, he thought, he could dig up that table cloth he'd put away a few years back . . .</div> <bR> <div> When the doorbell rang, Jack was actually surprised.  He looked at his watch and smiled.  Right on time.</div> <bR> <div> He strode to the front door and yanked it open to find Daniel standing with his arms full of bags.</div> <bR> <div> "Take the red one," came the grunt from behind several paper sacks.</div> <bR> <div> Jack pried the twine handle from Daniel's over-burdened fingers then eased a few of the parcels into his own arms.  "You leave anything for the rest of Colorado Springs to drink tonight?"</div> <bR> <div> "I don't think so," Daniel said as he hurried into Jack's kitchen.  He dumped the items and scampered down the hall.  "I have <I>gotta</I> pee."</div> <bR> <div> Jack began unpacking the bottles of liquor Daniel had brought with him, having to read some of them carefully to even understand what they were.  He held one bottle up and looked through it as he heard Daniel walk into the kitchen.  "It's green."</div> <bR> <div> "Yes it is," Daniel said.  Handing over several other bottles he gave a small, fake smile.  "And there's red and blue and orange."</div> <bR> <div> "My father always told me, never drink alcohol that's not clear, yellow or brown.  That way lies danger."</div> <bR> <div> "Yeah," Daniel said with a wistful smile.  He waggled his eyebrows.  "I used to make extra money in college by bartending at night."</div> <bR> <div> "You did?" Jack asked.  "I didn't know that."</div> <bR> <div> "I did all sorts of things in college you don't know about," Daniel said mysteriously.</div> <bR> <div> Jack grinned back playfully.  "You'll have to update me."</div> <bR> <div> The doorbell rang again and Jack sighed.  He'd hoped that he'd have a chance for some close, personal time with Daniel.  Their attempts at a 'first kiss' had been thwarted so far and it looked as though the universe was still conspiring against them.  Jack walked to the door and opened it to the visitor.</div> <bR> <div> "You Jack O'Neill?" came the thick Brooklyn accent.</div> <bR> <div> "Yep," was the curt answer.</div> <bR> <div> "Jones Catering.  I got a load of barbecue for ya."</div> <bR> <div> "Ah," Jack said.  "Come on in."</div> <bR> <div> "Yo, Vinnie!  This way."</div> <bR> <div> Jack raised an eyebrow and watched the two burly men work quickly, unloading trays of food into the kitchen.  They set up warming pans on the tables that had been put out, arranged the cold foods in the refrigerator and wheeled in a box of champagne.  Jack signed for the items and handed over the check in payment.</div> <bR> <div> "Yo, yous got a driver's license, mistah?" asked Vinnie as he wiped the sweat from his brow and clicked a pen rapidly.</div> <bR> <div> "Driver's license?  I'm a Colonel in the United States Air Force fer cryin' out loud."</div> <bR> <div> "I still gotta see some ID," Vinnie said as he watched his partner carry out the empty boxes.  He turned a bored gaze back toward Jack.</div> <bR> <div> "I don't believe this," Jack muttered as he walked into the kitchen.  Snickering drew his attention to the far counter.  "You . . . hush," Jack said, swatting Daniel on the back.</div> <bR> <div> Daniel put his hands up in surrender and turned back to what he was doing.  Jack grabbed his wallet and just as he headed back to the living room heard a muttered 'but I'm a Colonel,' in a slightly whiny voice.</div> <bR> <div> "I will deal with you later," he threatened.</div> <bR> <div> "Yeah, promises promises," Daniel chuckled.</div> <bR> <div> "Real nice place ya got here, Mister O'Neill," commented Vinnie as he wrote down the identification information on the check.</div> <bR> <div> "Colonel," Jack corrected.</div> <bR> <div> "Yeh, whatevah.  Yous have a good night.  Happy New Year and all that."  Vinnie handed Jack back his driver's license and Air Force ID then lumbered outside.</div> <bR> <div> "Cretins," Jack muttered as he closed the door behind the men.</div> <bR> <div> "I've got more stuff out in the car," Daniel said.  "Give me a hand bringing it in."</div> <bR> <div> "It says so right here, see?" Jack said, showing Daniel his ID.  "Colonel.  That should be good for a little respect, don't you think?"</div> <bR> <div> "Yes, Jack," Daniel said as he pulled his coat back over his arms.  "You're a big, bad Colonel in the United States Air Force.  Now help me bring in the food."</div> <bR> <div> "Now wait a second," Jack said, stilling Daniel's hurried movements with an easy grasp on his forearm.  "There's something I've kinda been wanting to do."</div> <bR> <div> Daniel's grin was slow and sexy.  "Oh?  And what would that be?"</div> <bR> <div> Jack took a step into Daniel's personal space and reveled in the heat he felt coming from the other man.  "I was hoping maybe we could . . ."</div> <bR> <div> <I>bang bang bang</I></div> <bR> <div> "Uncle Jack, open the door!  My arms are gonna fall off!"</div> <bR> <div> "Dammit," Jack hissed.</div> <bR> <div> Daniel patted the side of Jack's face.  "We'll get to it . . . eventually."  Reaching around Jack he yanked open the door and caught the casserole pans just as they started to slip from Cassie's grasp.</div> <bR> <div> "Thanks, Daniel," Cassie laughed.  "Mom's famous lasagne was nearly all over Uncle Jack's front door."  She stood up on tip-toes to give him a kiss on the cheek and did the same to Jack as she breezed into the house.</div> <bR> <div> "You found her recipe?" Daniel asked as he carried the large serving pans into the kitchen.</div> <bR> <div> "Yeah, I was going through some stuff before Christmas and found a box full of them.  I decided to give it a try.  Thought she'd like that we'd be having it for New Years."  She turned and gave both men a smile that was blessedly devoid of pain.  "I miss her like crazy, but she's still here with us, ya know?"</div> <bR> <div> Jack ran his hand down Cassie's long, auburn hair and smiled.  "Yeah, we know."</div> <bR> <div> "You going somewhere, Daniel?" Cassie asked as she turned on the oven.</div> <bR> <div> "Just out to the car to get the rest of the stuff."</div> <bR> <div> "I'll help ya," she smiled.</div> <bR> <div> "She'll help me," Daniel said to Jack.  "And she's not even a <I>Colonel.</I>"</div> <bR> <div> "Oh, shut the hell up," Jack grumbled.</div> <bR> <div> "What?" Cassie smiled, glad she was present during one of 'those' moments between the two men.</div> <bR> <div> "Come on, I'll tell you outside," Daniel chuckled.</div> <bR> <div> While Cassie and Daniel hauled in the rest of the food, Jack began setting up the bar area.  He grabbed the bags of ice from the downstairs freezer and then grunted in frustration as he realized he'd forgotten to bring in the large metal tubs he'd gotten especially for this occasion.  Stepping carefully around the two people in the kitchen, he walked out the back door toward the tool shed.</div> <bR> <div> As he stood surveying the inside of the building, vowing to himself that he was going to clean it out first thing next spring, he felt a firm shove between his shoulder blades.  Reflex made him turn around with his fists raised, but when he saw Daniel tugging the shed door shut, he dropped them.  "What are you doing?"</div> <bR> <div> "Trying to finish what we started before Cassie showed up."  Daniel stalked toward Jack.  "You mind?"</div> <bR> <div> "Well hell no," Jack grinned.</div> <bR> <div> Just as Daniel stepped close to Jack, the door was yanked open and a smiling Sam Carter greeted them.  "Hey Daniel . . . Colonel.  Can I get a hand with the extra chairs?"</div> <bR> <div> Daniel dropped his head and rubbed his eyes underneath his glasses.  "Hey Sam.  Sure."</div> <bR> <div> "Carter," Jack nodded with a small smile.</div> <bR> <div> "We'll, uh . . ." Daniel said, his finger waggling between them.  "Later."</div> <bR> <div> "Right.  Later."  Jack heaved a disappointed sigh and yanked the tubs off the floor.</div> <bR> <div> The rest of the afternoon's preparations went quickly and by the time all the food and snacks were laid out, the guests had begun arriving.  Football was being watched in the tv room, games were being played in the living room, and libations were flowing freely.  Jack wondered if maybe he should have bought more toilet paper.</div> <bR> <div> Laughter filled the air, conversations were loud and light-hearted and together Jack and Daniel acted as hosts for everyone in the house.  People worked their way through the pans of lasagne, the seafood platters, the barbecue, and later in the evening Jack began cooking the prime rib and honey ham.  Garbage, paper plates, plastic cups and food wrappings were quickly disposed of as Daniel did his duty as trash man, keeping the mess around the home to a minimum.</div> <bR> <div> Jack watched him mingle, working the rooms with easy grace.  More than once Daniel caught his gaze and returned it, both men reddening slightly before turning away.</div> <bR> <div> Jack had never wanted to kiss anyone so badly in his life.  It was New Years and he wanted it to happen at midnight, just as the clock ticked from one year to the next.  He berated himself as a sappy romantic and went back to carving the prime rib for those assembled at his house.</div> <bR> <div> As Daniel made a swing through the kitchen, he stopped to look in the fridge.  "How are we holding out for food?  Do I need to make a run for anything?"</div> <bR> <div> "No, I think we're okay.  Getting down to the point in the night where we're gonna start with the lighter stuff here soon."  Jack pointed to the layered trays of finger sandwiches delivered earlier in the day.  "I've got some more stuff downstairs, too.  Stuff we can heat up in the oven and put out."</div> <bR> <div> "You get buffalo wings?" Daniel asked as he grabbed some garbage sacks to do another pass around the house.</div> <bR> <div> "Of course," Jack said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.  "We need to call a cab for anyone yet?"</div> <bR> <div> "No, not yet.  Seems everyone's got a designated driver so far.  Oh, what about soda?"</div> <bR> <div> Jack looked out at the tubs of ice.  "We could use some more of that.  I've more cases in the laundry room."</div> <bR> <div> "I'll bring some up," Daniel said as he walked off.</div> <bR> <div> Jack announced that the next course was ready and as people lined up to get their food, he made his way quietly down to the laundry room where he saw Daniel getting ready to lift a stack of soda boxes and bring them upstairs.</div> <bR> <div> "Need a hand with that?" Jack asked softly.</div> <bR> <div> Daniel turned and smiled.  "There's a house full of people up there.  I don't think this would be a good time."</div> <bR> <div> "It's just one kiss," Jack said, his eyes sparkling.  "Who'd . . ."</div> <bR> <div> "Sir, there you are," came Colonel Reynold's voice from the doorway.  "I came down to see if you needed help with anything."</div> <bR> <div> Daniel tried not to laugh at the pained look on Jack's face.  "You mind taking some of these up?" he asked, hefting a few of the boxes in the man's direction.</div> <bR> <div> "Oh, great," Reynold's smiled.  "We were about out of Pepsi upstairs."  He gave a shrug.  "I'm driving for my guys tonight."</div> <bR> <div> With a quiet snicker, Daniel followed the man upstairs.</div> <bR> <div> "I hate my life," Jack muttered as he grabbed some boxes for himself and trudged back up to the kitchen.</div> <bR> <div> As the last of the football games ended and the New Year's entertainment shows began, Jack began to wonder if he would ever get a quiet moment alone with Daniel.  The partiers looked nowhere close to going home and Jack's hopes for his New Year's kiss began to fade as the clock edged closer and closer to midnight.</div> <bR> <div> At around five minutes to twelve, Jack could see people beginning to pair off, or at least stand close to the people they hoped to kiss at the stroke of midnight.  With a shake of his head, he gathered up the bags of garbage he'd collected and headed outside to the trash cans which were already overflowing.  He worked on getting the refuse out of the path of his truck's wheels, then the sound of the countdown from inside the house echoed into the night.  Ten seconds left.</div> <bR> <div> Jack groaned as he saw that one of the bags had split open and litter was scattered back along one outside wall of the house due to the investigation of a neighborhood dog or cat.  He grabbed a rake from inside the garage and began to tidy up.</div> <bR> <div> The countdown continued inside.</div> <bR> <div> Three....</div> <bR> <div> It was the rib bones that the animal wanted, obviously.</div> <bR> <div> Two...</div> <bR> <div> He'd probably have to double sack these bags to keep the animals out.</div> <bR> <div> One...</div> <bR> <div> He was spun around, pushed against the wall and his mouth covered with strong, full lips.</div> <bR> <div> "Happy New Year," Daniel breathed before licking along Jack's lower lip, asking entrance.</div> <bR> <div> Jack gladly complied.  It was gonna be one hell of a happy year if this was how it was going to start.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> ~ tcb ~</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="mailto:claforce@plotexpo.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:claforce@plotexpo.com"><U>Give the author's ego a marshmallow . . . please feed the bear.</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3_sg1_slash.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stargate SG1 Slash Fiction"><U>Back to Fic List</U></A>     <A HREF="id2_directory.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Directory Listing"><U>Back to Directory</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=120 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="01178643.jpg"> <bR> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=52 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="00f64643.jpg"> <div> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="161" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 45 ><NOBR><div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="39" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="29"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Plotexpo.com"><U><IMG SRC="0181d270.jpg" border=0 width="29" height="39" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="15"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="45" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="15" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Christmas Wish"><U><IMG SRC="017271d0.jpg" border=0 width="39" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="All is Calm"><U><IMG SRC="016271d0.jpg" border=0 width="39" height="29" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>