Another stargateland challenge - I wrote nine drabbles for their multimedia bingo. They're all John/Cam, rated PG at the highest, general fluff and silly sweetness. With my thanks to race_the_ace for giving me the topic for my author's choice.




Question:
"I've got a question," Cam asks as he leans back against the counter. John raises an eyebrow and continues to chop, easy strokes of the knife going through the fruit in front of him. "Why is it that my mother shared her world-famous apple pie recipe with you, but she won't share it with me?"

"She likes me better," John says immediately, picking up the perfectly even slices and arranging them on top of the pie crust. He shakes a spoonful of some sort of spice mixture over the layer, then grabs a fresh apple and begins to peel it. "Does it really bother you that much?"

Cam considers the question, the pie-in-the-making, his partner looking relaxed and loose in their kitchen, and smiles as he steals a slice of apple. "I guess not."


Outdoors:
John laughs as Cam trips over yet another root sticking out of the ground. "Thought you were raised on a farm, country boy," he teases as he makes a show out of stepping over the root.

"Never had nothing so nice to look at growing up," Cam replies, laying the drawl on nice and thick, and John laughs again as he leans down to lend Cam a hand.

"What," he asks with a smile, "you didn't have trees in Kansas?"

"We had trees," Cam agrees, tugging on John's offered hand until John tumbles forward and lands mostly on Cam's chest. "Didn't have you, though."


Family:
Cam's family makes John feel slightly nervous. For one, there are roughly four hundred of them, or so it seems, and Cam knows each by name. John can't keep them all straight; he's mostly given up trying, because they mostly don't expect him to remember.

This part of the family experience, though, this he loves - Cam's brother Cole's newborn, Lacie, tucked safely into the crook of John's arm, looking up at him with bright blue Mitchell eyes as she curls a tiny hand around John's finger with surprising strength. Cam's pressed right against his side, cooing softly at Lacie, brushing his fingers against her incredibly soft skin and ridiculously small feet.

Yeah, this is something John could get used to.


Night:
John loves stargazing - he always has, ever since he was a kid. He'd known all the constellations back on Earth, and had spent more than a few nights on the Mitchell farm during the summer lying back in the fields, tracing lines between the stars to illustrate them all for Cam.

It's different here in Pegasus; the stars are in different places, have different configurations, and there's nothing here he can recognize. It doesn't stop Cam, though, from wandering out onto John's balcony on his first night there and peering up. "What's that one?" he asks, pointing to the sky.

"I don't know," John tells him.

Cam smiles. "Let's make up our own names, then."


Groovy:
It's the sound of laughter more than anything else that lets Cam know that he's not going to find what he was expecting to when he gets home.

Sure enough, he peeks around the corner to find John swaying in the living room, two small blonde heads peeking up over his shoulders. Laurie and Lindsey are giggling as John twirls them around, and for the first time, Cam hears the music playing in the background.

Dancing. John's dancing in the living room with Cam’s brother's kids.

"Got here a little early," Cole says from just behind him, and damn him for being one of the only people on this planet or any other who's always able to sneak up on Cam. "John offered to watch the girls while Lena and I unpacked our things."

Cam can't help the smile on his face as he looks back at John, who's laughing and singing along to the song as he spins the girls around again. "Just kicking down the cobblestones, looking for fun and feeling groovy…"

"Simon and Garfunkel, John?" Cam asks as he steps into the room, easily plucking Laurie from John's grasp and tossing her into the air.

"Good dancing music," John replies, smiling as Cam leans in to kiss him hello. "How was your day?"

"You know," Cam says thoughtfully as he turns Laurie in a sweeping circle, "I think it just got a whole lot better."


Opposite:
"Day," John hears Cam say.

"Night!" the twins chorus.

"Hmm, you're smarter than I thought," comes Cam's voice, that gentle teasing tone that adults use with kids sometimes. "Here's a hard one. Up."

One of the girls giggles as the other shouts. "That's easy, Uncle Cam! Down!"

Lindsey and Laurie are three, and for whatever reason, they're obsessed with opposites. John's learned that this is a favorite game of theirs. He makes his way down the hall and looks inside the kitchen, where Cam's sitting across the table from the girls. "You'll never get this one," he assures them. "Dark."

"Light!" Laurie shouts, while Lindsey keeps giggling. "These are easy, Uncle Cam!"

"Give us a hard one!" Lindsey adds.

Cam pretends to frown, but John can see the smile tugging at his lips. "What's the opposite of…" he starts slowly, and the girls lean in as he drags out the pause. "Uncle Cam?"

Laurie sits back in her chair, face puckered up, but Lindsey giggles. "Uncle John, silly," she says, and Laurie nods and laughs as Cam meets John's gaze.

"You think Uncle John and I are opposites?" Cam's not faking the surprise in his voice.

"Don't worry, Uncle Cam," Lindsey replies, reaching out to pat his hand with her own. "Opposites go together, like dark and light, up and down, Uncle Cam and Uncle John."

There's really no arguing with that.


Sweet:
John pulls a tray of cookies from the oven and lifts the corner of the nearest one with his spatula. The bottom is lightly browned, perfectly crispy, and John slides the tray onto the stovetop with a satisfied nod.

The sugar cookies are good. John remembers them well from when he was a kid; his mom had made them every Christmas, sweet and crunchy and perfect, and he'd casually asked Dave if he knew the recipe the last time they'd spoken. It had turned up in his email a few days later, and he's finally getting the chance to try it out.

It's nice to have holiday traditions, John thinks as he looks around at the frankly ridiculous amounts of garland and tinsel and lights that Cam had insisted were absolutely necessary. He's just glad he can add something of his own to this life they're making together.


Smile:
Cam's smile is wide and pleased as he walks into the house, shaking the snow from his hair. "Gonna have a white Christmas," he beams.

"Great," John replies. "Shovelling on Christmas Day. Awesome holiday."

"Come on," Cam laughs, leaning down to press his chilled nose against John's cheek. "You ever have a white Christmas?"

"We spent our holidays bouncing around from vacation spot to vacation spot," John tells him. "Dave and I tried decorating a palm tree once. It just wasn't the same."

"White Christmas," Cam says with an almost dreamy smile as he sits beside John and tosses an arm over his shoulder, "is the best, John. Looks like magic outside, and we get to stay in, cocoa and warm socks and that leftover casserole and pie that Momma sent us home with. Just you and me."

"Huh," John allows, tilting his head to rest on Cam's shoulder. "Okay. I can get on board with that."


Author's Choice (Giraffes):
"They're so tall," Laurie whispers, amazed, and Cam chuckles as he sets her on his shoulders. Lindsey's already up on John's shoulders, hands fisted in his hair, and Cam can see John wincing every time she tugs, but he doesn't say anything. "Those are the rafts, Uncle Cam, right?"

"Giraffes," Cam corrects, pointing into the enclosure. "See the baby ones down there?"

Laurie giggles as she turns to her sister, and Cam swivels to keep her balanced. "Lindsey, look, twin rafts like twin us!"

"Giraffes," Cam hears John correct, and he just smiles and shakes his head. It's their first trip to the zoo; let them have their fun.

They end up bringing home two very tired little girls and two small stuffed giraffes, which the girls have named Uncle Cam and Uncle John.