AN: Late night emails!

From: "Mer"
Date: December 1 12:49 AM
Subject: RE: Life, updates, Christmas

Jeannie

I think I'm allowed a little slack in my political savvy, I'm quite literally as expatriated as is possible at the moment. But that's good to hear. (I'll remind you however that I do wear a Canadian flag on my clothing on a nearly daily basis, so who's more patriotic now?)

The rope burn story is actually quite a good one, and I'll save the details for Christmas but suffice it to say that I sacrificed my hands to save the lives of one of our medical staff, as well as Sam Carter, fairly single-handedly (if you'll pardon the wordplay) delivering them from a dusty death at the bottom of a crevasse.

Rocks, really? You might want to discourage that behavior early on, because from experience I will tell you that geologists are among the dullest people I am forced to work with here. Seriously, more boring than anthropologists, and I do not make that statement lightly.

Of course I am being nice, when am I not nice? Anyway he's fine. You don't really understand how we men deal with these sorts of things Jeannie. It's not like he's looking for a shoulder to cry on.

I'm not lying, what are you talking about?

Dr. Rodney McKay, PhD.

From "Mer"
Date: December 1 3:14 AM
Subject: Katie

Jeannie I messed it up. I really did, I don't know what happened. Ok but you had to go putting the idea in my head! Things were fine, better than fine! As miraculous as you think it was, Katie really liked me. And I liked her…

Then you had to go talking about marriage and, and how I had to jump on this rare opportunity, you completely threw me.

Don't laugh at me Jeannie or god help me I will take the Prius back.

I bought a ring. It was nice too, it had a huge diamond on the front and everything. And I was going to propose at lunch, we were so close, I think she would have even said yes.

But some stupid glitch in the security code interrupted us. I think Zelenka was messing with my modifications to the automated quarantine systems, because it went completely haywire and locked us in the greenhouse, WITH NO COMPUTERS OR RADIOS. NO COMPUTER. Naturally I was a little flustered but held it together for her sake. Of course I knew it was just a glitch, but still the concern did enter my head that we had been exposed to some sort of pathogen and then when the self destruct sequence started going off well, it was difficult to see the point of proposing at that stage.

I think she was a little upset at me. See, she found the ring, and well…

I told her that I needed some time for me, to figure some things out. Which, I've been told recently, is not something girls like to hear.

I don't know what I did wrong, really, but I messed something up. She's not talking to me. She's transferring back…home. Why did you ever ask me if I was going to marry her? It ruined everything.

Do you think I should sell the ring or keep it? Would Maddie want it for Christmas? It's conflict free and it's kind of a rock.