Jack and Sam: Shipmas 2020

Decorating

It was that time of year again. Time to decorate. Except this year was different.

"Hey, where did you put those old boxes of christmas decorations I brought?" Sam asked. Jack leaned outwards from the couch so he could see her.

"Uh, I think up in the closet. Maybe...they might've gotten lost. Who knows around this place!"

Sam smiled. "Okay, I'll check."

"Why do you need em?"

Sam turned back around and raised an eyebrow. "Did you forget what month it is?"

Jack thought on it a minute. "December?" There was a pause when he finally clicked it into place. "Oh, that. Christmas. Yeah, I kind of forgot."

"Now that you've remembered, ready to help decorate?"

Jack smiled and jumped up from the couch. He went over, and plucked out the box of Christmas decorations Sam had asked for. "There you go."

"And what about yours? We both should use both of our decorations since it's our first Christmas together."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Sam, I've known you for eight years."

She laughed a little. "Yeah but this year is different."

"It is? How?" He pretended to look confused.

Sam leaned over and kissed him. "That's why."

"Oh, right." He blinked several times. "Well, I haven't officially decorated since I was young."

Sam laughed. "And how long has that been?"

"Close to ten years."

"Well there's nothing wrong with an old man decorating, is there?" Sam teased. She carried the box over to the coffee table in the living room and started sorting through it.

"What's this?" Jack asked. He leaned over her and fingered a strangely shaped object. Sam grabbed it from him.

"It was an airplane ornament I made when I was five. It reminds me that even then, I dreamed of traveling far away."

"In that case we keep it then." Jack smiled and gently placed it back down.

Sam started looking around. Jack placed a hand on her shoulder. "What are you thinking?" He asked quietly.

"Where we're going to put the tree."

"A tree too. I don't suppose you have one of those in there." He pointed down at the box.

"No," Sam confirmed. "We'll have to get one."

"Ah," Jack said. "Right now?"

"Not yet. Let's start with the lights." Sam pulled out a box of Christmas lights and smiled. Jack gave her a look, then he started helping her put them up.

"What about the kitchen?" He asked a little while later. Sam tilted her head from the ladder she was on.

"What about the kitcken?"

"Lights. Are we putting them here? Like on the oven and fridge and stuff."

Sam laughed and shook her head. "Uh, no we don't have to. If you want, you can get the other ladder and string them across the top of the wall."

"Anything for you dear." He smiled and dashed off into the garage to get the spare ladder. Sam was smiling and having a great time. Why hadn't she gotten together with Jack sooner? It was one of the best decisions of her life, and she knew it.

♥️🎄♥️

Jack plopped himself down onto the couch, gently placing his head in Sam's lap. "The lights are up. And they will stay up for who knows how long."

Sam smiled down at him and gently caressed his face. "Good job Jack," she said.

The two stayed where they were for a while longer. "Now what?" Jack asked. Surely Sam wasn't done decorating. Not yet.

She smiled and leaned a little closer to him. "The tree." Jack sunk his head back down.

"Right now?"

"It's got to get up some time. Besides, I'm only on break for two more days," Sam said.

"Fine." Jack sat back up on the couch. "Real or fake?"

"Whatever you want," she told him.

"Okay then." Jack got up and put his coat on. "Come on."

"We're leaving right now?" Sam asked. That was fast.

"You wanted a tree, did you not?"