A/N: Wow, I didn't mean for the last chapter to come off as sad as it did! I'm trying to transition a bit from the random comedy of things like slumber parties to next year without Daniel, because that one's obviously going to be sadder than most. Anyway, here's the last part of this one, and it's definitely the shippiest thing I've ever written. I don't think it's sad, at least I hope it's not. Feedback will be especially cherished on this chapter, as I'm stepping out of my element a bit on this one, and the ending might be a bit... yeah. Let's just see, shall we...

Ch 7: The Big Finish

Jack, Sam, and Daniel said goodbye to the two Generals, who were among the last guests to leave. Jack was surprised when Jacob shook his hand and gave him a genuine smile. He'd always got along very well with Jacob in the field, but in casual situations they had always mainly tried to avoid each other, particularly after the little incident after Sam's party two years ago...

And as Jack's eyes had been drawn to the man's daughter all night long like magnets, Jack was pretty sure Jacob would have noticed at some point and was probably not too happy with him at the moment. Jacob, however, shook his hand, smiled, told him it was a great party, thanked him, and moved on, hugging Sam tightly as he told her goodbye as well.

The Generals left, then the remaining few guests left, and everyone started cleaning up, the late hour finally catching them all up. Jack suppressed a loud yawn as he started collecting random plates and cups in a large bag with Teal'c. "Carter! Daniel!" he suddenly called. "Knock off the cleaning, it's your party!"

Daniel didn't need telling twice. He said goodnight to everyone, thanked Jack sincerely, and disappeared up the stairs. Carter, however, was still in the kitchen with Janet, probably putting away the leftover food, he figured.

When he and Teal'c finished gathering the rubbish, he went into the kitchen and sure enough, the two women were packaging all the food and putting it in the fridge. "Hey, I know you heard me," Jack objected, taking a container of food out of his 2IC's hands.

Janet said, "I'm going to go get my things," and left them alone.

"No reason for me not to help," Sam said absently, shutting the fridge and turning to him. She caught him yawning and smiled. "Tired?"

"Yeah, it's hard keeping up with you kids."

"I'm sure. I need your truck. I'm going to take Janet over to my place," she told him quietly.

"Now?" he asked, confused. He was tired, but still. He wasn't about to let her get away without finishing that kiss they had almost started on his deck.

"Yes, sir, but I'm just taking her over there to spend the night. You know how Janet gets, she can't drive, and I don't want to leave Cassie alone at my house all night."

"You're coming back?" he asked, hoping he sounded more casual than pathetic but not willing to bet on it.

"Yeah. I'll bring Maggie home too."

"Okay," he agreed with an easy grin.

She shook her head, trying hard not to smile at him but failing. He looked way too comfortable and smug at the moment, even though he did look ready to fall asleep. "Think you'll still be awake when I get back?" she asked lightly.

"I'd say it's a definite possibility," he said as Janet came back into the kitchen.

"Great party, sir," Janet said as she pulled her coat on. She did the buttons up crooked, looked down at herself, and frowned. Jack had to laugh at her. Drunk Janet was so very different from Doc Janet.

"Thanks, doc. Thanks for all your help."

"Of course. See you Monday."

He waved, winking at Sam as she shepherded Janet out the door.

After they left, Jack and Teal'c moved all the furniture back where it belonged, which drained Jack completely of the little energy he had left. "Teal'c, next year if you hear me planning something this big, feel free to shoot me on the spot. In fact, please do."

"I thought the party was most enjoyable, O'Neill. You should be proud."

"Yeah. Well, next year, we're going to McDonald's. Our little scientists can each take a turn on the slide, get their free ice cream cones, and that's it," he said, collapsing into a corner of the couch and propping his legs up on the coffee table.

Teal'c shook his head minutely. O'Neill's sarcasm was usually a waste of good energy, in Teal'c's opinion. "If you do not need any more help, O'Neill, I will check on Daniel Jackson and join him in the guest room to begin my kel-no-reem."

"Sure, T, sweet dreams, er... sweet...kel-no-reeming," Jack said, stretching dramatically and sinking back into the couch cushions. "Thanks for all the help buddy."

"Enjoy the remainder of your evening, O'Neill," Teal'c said as he headed up the stairs.

Jack spent about half a second wondering if Teal'c had meant that to sound suggestive or not before nodding off to sleep.

Sam let herself and Maggie back into the Colonel's house. The puppy, who was tired as well, immediately took herself off to bed in Jack's room as soon as Sam let her off the leash. Most of the lights in the house were off, but the deck lights and the kitchen lights were still on, filtering into the living room enough so that the first thing she noticed was that the furniture had all been put back into place.

The second thing she noticed made her stop and smile. Jack was sprawled out in a corner of the couch, one arm on the arm rest, the other stretched over the back of the couch. His legs were propped up on the coffee table. He was still dressed but he'd lost his shoes, which prompted Sam to step out of her painful shoes again immediately as well.

His head was lolled back against the couch cushions, his mouth open slightly. He was almost snoring, but not quite. The sight of him so out of it in the middle of a living room that still showed signs of having been host to the elaborate party he'd just thrown for her and Daniel was strangely more exciting all of a sudden than the feel of him dancing with her earlier.

Well, okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration, she thought as she shrugged out of her coat and dropped it on a chair as she walked over to him. But it was still pretty damn hot. She stopped in front of him, expecting him to wake up, but he didn't. She leaned over him, looking at him carefully. He still didn't wake up. The perfect opportunity to give him an openly affectionate, completely unguarded smile and take her time looking at him.

He looked comfortable and peaceful, but not comfortable enough for her to leave him there all night without getting her birthday kiss. She figured he probably wouldn't be too happy with her in the morning if she didn't wake him up for it either, judging by the looks he'd been giving her all night, and all the things he had said and... done. She smiled again and quickly relived her favorite memories of the night. Her mind flashed back to this time last year, to the intensity of the kiss they'd shared on his roof after they had sort of talked about why they had to follow their 'one kiss per year' rule.

Tonight was a perfect example of why that rule was so important. Just the knowledge that it was coming had made it almost impossible to avoid, even in a house full of people, not only people they worked with but the leader of the base and her own father as well. As much as she might have liked there to be more talking between them about their impossibly strange relationship, she also knew that the rules they had were barely working as it was, and she knew that acknowledging that fact out loud would cause the whole system to completely fall apart.

Well, she had never been accused of being normal. She didn't need a normal relationship. She did, however, desperately need to kiss the man who was currently asleep on the couch in front of her.

She took a deep breath and settled herself sideways across his lap, slipping an arm around his shoulders when he woke up, obviously confused, his arms going around her automatically. "Hi," she offered simply.

"You're back," he said happily, grinning as she leaned in and kissed him.

Well, that certainly seemed to wake him up quickly, she couldn't help but think as he immediately started kissing her back with a hungry desperation that was overwhelming. Maybe it was because her dress was backless, so there was more skin exposed now, but for some reason this year she was noticing his hands a lot more than she ever remembered being aware of before. Then again, she was pretty sure she would have remembered if he'd ever slid a hand up the back of her thigh and curled his hand around her ass before.

That hand seemed perfectly content where it was, but the other one was running all along her bare back and arm one second and tangling in her hair the next, and he wouldn't stop the relentless way he was kissing her long enough for her to kiss him back properly, but honestly, she wasn't sure if she'd be capable of it at the moment anyway.

"I will retrieve your water, Daniel Jackson, return to your bed immediately."

Okay, that was Teal'c,Sam realized dimly.

Sam and Jack both froze, as though that might somehow make their definitely compromising position look okay. As they heard Teal'c coming into the living room, Sam moved to dive for the opposite side of the couch but Jack held her firmly in place. Teal'c would already know what they had been doing but he'd just as soon not give the man a look at the most obvious evidence.

He quickly slipped his hands to more neutral territory around Sam's waist and she removed her fingers from his hair and her other hand from... when the hell had it got down the neck of his sweater? Okay, that was beyond embarrassing.

Teal'c walked past them, nodding his head at them calmly, and went into the kitchen. They looked at each other, mouths open in shock at the entire situation. What the hell were they supposed to do now?

Teal'c returned with a bottle of water and probably would have keptwalking and never mentioned the incident to either of them ever again, if Sam hadn't called out, "Teal'c this isn't what it looks like!"

Teal'c stopped, gave them both a small smile, and took pleasure in slowly looking them both over, enjoying how nervous and uncomfortable it clearly made both of them. Still with a small smile on his face, he said calmly, "Major Carter, it merely looks as if you and O'Neill are continuing your annual birthday tradition. I must take this water to Daniel Jackson now, or he will come looking for it himself. Good night."

He tipped his head at both of them and went back upstairs without a word. They watched him go, both stunned.

"How long do you think he..." Sam finally started.

"Who knows," Jack said, suddenly laughing. "That guy knows everything."

"Apparently," Sam agreed, laughing nervously and looking down, suddenly finding the hand still pressed against his chest very interesting. Jack's thumb, seemingly by itself, started stroking her arm.

"Um," she started after a few seconds of awkward silence.

"We were interrupted," Jack pointed out.

"Definitely," she agreed.

"So... technically that kiss didn't really get a chance to... finish, did it?" he asked.

"No, it didn't," she agreed.

"Good answer," he said quickly, curling his hand around her neck and guiding her lips back down to his.

The end.

A/N: Birthday Traditions 6 is next: 2364937