Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate SG-1.
Out of the Mouths of Babes
"Shit!" Jack screamed the expletive before he could stop himself.
"Jack!"
"Daddy!"
"Sorry." he mumbled around the finger in his mouth, cringing as he took in the stern faces of Daniel Jackson and four-year-old Anna O'Neill. He glanced over toward the other two children sitting on the floor, hoping they hadn't heard what he said. Thankfully the Jackson twins were entirely too engrossed in building their block tower to pay any attention to him. Sighing in relief, Jack went back to building his new entertainment centre, working in silence for a half-hour before his worst fear came to fruition.
"Thit!" came the squeaky voice of two-year-old Sammy Jackson. Jack, Daniel, and Anna all turned toward the kitchen in alarm, hoping Sam and Vala hadn't heard, then looked back to the children. Sammy's twin, Lily, looked between her brother and the fallen blocks for a moment before studying the reactions of the grown-ups, a familiar glint in her far-too-intelligent eyes. Without a word, the child pushed over her own tower.
"Thit! Thit! Thit!" she giggled and started rolling around the floor with her brother, laughing and swearing.
"Jack." Look what you did.
"Daniel." I said I was sorry.
"Jack." Put a stop to this before their mother walks in.
"Daniel?" How?
"Jack!" I don't care, just do it!
"Fine." Jack replied and walked over to the hyper toddlers, joining them on the floor. "Hey, mini-Jacksons. Over here."
The children stopped their game to stare at him for a moment before acquiescing, though Jack had a feeling they only did so to humour him. Or maybe to hear what new word he was going to teach them next. Either way, they climbed into his lap and looked up at him with innocence in their crystal blue eyes, but Jack could swear he saw a smirk sitting behind Lily's. And Daniel refused to believe she was exactly like her mother.
"Listen, you two. You can't say that word. It's naughty."
"Unca Jack say bad word?" Sammy asked guilelessly.
"Yeah, Uncle Jack said a bad word so don't repeat it. Especially not in front of your mommy." Jack shuddered at the thought of what Vala would do to him if she found out he'd taught her children that word. "Promise me you won't say it again."
Sammy turned to his sister, waiting to see her reaction before making his own decision. Lily tilted her head and stared at him with narrowed eyes, giving him the unsettling feeling she was taking his measure and finding him wanting. Way too much like her mother, that one.
"'Kay, we pwomise, Unca Jack." she said sweetly, kissing Jack's cheek and standing.
"Pwomise." Sammy agreed, joining his sister.
"C'mon, Sammy, I tirsty." Lily grabbed her brother's hand without waiting for an answer and flounced into the kitchen.
"See, Danny-boy? Nothin' to it."
Daniel raised a dubious brow but said nothing as he went back to work on the shelf. Jack glanced over toward Anna who was glaring at him with her own set of blue eyes. She merely shook her head and left the room, probably to make certain the twins kept their promise. Jack breathed a sigh of relief but, when he heard a glass break in the kitchen, he quickly stood to run.
"Jack O'Neill!" Vala's angry voice echoed through the house. "I am going to kill you!"
But the boys were already in the car, wondering if there were any out-of-the-way planets where they'd be safe from the alien's rage.
The End