Thank you for all the reviews so far – they have been very encouraging! I hope you all continue to enjoy Jack's attempts to raise his brother, and Daniel's cuteness g .

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Part 11 - First Day at Day-Care

Tuesday, 25th November

The next morning, Jack woke at 0630 and was mildly surprised not to find Daniel in bed with him. That was good though, he reminded himself; he didn't want Daniel to get into the habit of sleeping in his bed.

Since he was wide awake - years of military training - he went to the bathroom and had a shower before finally going to check on Daniel.

The little boy was sprawled on his back, still sleeping soundly. Thoth was loosely tucked under Daniel's right arm and held against the small body.

Jack watched Daniel sleep for a minute, thinking about how peaceful the kid looked, and then shook his head to snap out of it; he had to get ready for work and his brother off to day-care. "Daniel, wake up."

There was no movement from the sleeping child. "Daniel!" Jack said more loudly.

This time Daniel stirred, and his eyelids fluttered as consciousness beckoned. "Daddy?" he mumbled, still half-asleep.

"Not exactly," Jack replied, feeling a prick in his conscience; he really needed to tell Daniel about his parents soon. "Come on, rise and shine."

Daniel half-opened his eyes and stared up at his brother. "Sleeping," he protested.

"Well, you've got to get up because I have to go to work," Jack informed him in a firm voice.

"No day-care," Daniel said mutinously, pulling to cover up over his head.

Jack impatiently pulled the cover down again. "Yes, day-care, and I'm not going to argue with you about this." He got Daniel's slippers and dressing gown, and by the time he got back to the bed, the little boy was hiding again. "If I have to get you out of there, you'll get a smack," Jack threatened.

Slowly, with a pout of his face, Daniel reappeared from under the covers. "I don't wanna go."

"Well, there's no alternative," Jack told him, helping Daniel put the dressing gown on and then the slippers. When Daniel made no move to leave the bed, Jack picked him up and carried him to the kitchen. There, he sat Daniel in a chair before getting two bowls of Fruit Loops for their breakfast.

Daniel contemplated the cereal for a minute, wanting to protest Jack's meanness, but he decided that he was too hungry to do that. Plus, he didn't want to get Jack mad at him, even though he really didn't want to go to the centre. So he ate his breakfast quietly, his legs swinging most of the time. Then, when he had finished, he went off to the bathroom without being prompted.

Jack followed a few minutes later after putting the dishes in the sink. Remembering what Daniel had said about the clothes, he chose an outfit for his brother to wear. There was no way Daniel was going to be fashionable given the options but Jack hoped that his choices would help Daniel avoid being picked on.

When Daniel came in, still subdued, Jack crouched down in front of him. "Hey, kiddo."

"Hey," Daniel echoed, lifting his eyes briefly to Jack's before looking at the floor again.

"You really don't want to go today, do you?" Jack queried, kind of at a loss at how to deal with this. He didn't want Daniel to throw a tantrum or anything that was going to make him late for work, so he figured that talking was probably the best solution. And if that didn't work, he would just pick Daniel up and carry him.

"No," Daniel replied in a small voice. He was scared about going to a new place on his own without someone he trusted to look after him. He looked up at Jack, a pleading expression on his face. "Can I stay with you? I promise I'll be good and not get in the way and I won't get lost and--"

"Daniel, you can't come to work with me," Jack stated firmly but not unkindly. "It's a military base; they don't like children being there. Remember, we already discussed this."

Big blue eyes filled with tears as Daniel's face crumpled. "I want my Mommy," he said as he started to cry; he knew she would let him go to work with her.

Jack groaned as the tears fell; what should he do now? Maybe... "Uh, well, you know Mommy would be very proud of you if you went to day-care. She would think you're very brave," he added, hoping that was the right thing to say.

Daniel sniffed loudly a couple of times and then looked at Jack, not quite sure whether to believe him. "Really?"

"Yeah, really," Jack confirmed.

Daniel considered that; he did want his mommy to be proud of him. "You'll tell her I was brave?" he asked for extra confirmation.

"I promise," Jack lied without hesitation. "Now you'd better get ready or we'll be late."

"Okay," Daniel agreed, still sniffling.

Relieved that the crisis was averted, Jack left the bedroom to continue getting ready.

Some time later, when Daniel was putting on his sneakers, Jack noticed the furry bundle lying on the floor nearby. Remembering what the day-care worker had said about toys, Jack said, "Daniel, you can't take Thoth with you."

"Why not?" Daniel never went anywhere without his teddy bear.

"Because there's plenty of toys for you to play with at the centre," Jack replied, bobbing down to tie his brother's shoelaces.

"But I want to take Thoth," Daniel protested, reaching out for the toy and hugging it to his chest.

"I know you do, but I think he'll be safer here," Jack responded firmly.

"But--"

"No 'buts'," Jack ordered. He tied the second set of laces and then looked at Daniel, who was busy pouting. "You want Thoth to be safe, don't you?"

Daniel nodded solemnly as a thumb slowly made its way into his mouth.

"Well, then he should stay here," Jack tried to make his brother see reason. "Besides, if you take Thoth today, then the wolf will get lonely."

"Denahi's brave like me," Daniel pointed out, one arm still firmly around his teddy bear.

"I know he is. But he's not going to have anyone to talk to all day," Jack said, not quite believing he was giving the toys sentience to win this semi-argument. Oy, the things he had to do to kept one kid reasonably happy!

Daniel thought about that. He didn't want to leave Thoth home but Jack did have a point. "Okay," he agreed reluctantly, and headed off to his room. He put Thoth on the bed near the bookshelf and then went back out to Jack, muttering to himself.

Jack heard the muttering and listened hard to work out the words: 'I will be brave, I will be brave.' Placing a sympathetic hand on Daniel's head, he said, "Come on, kiddo, let's go." He helped Daniel put his new coat on, and then handed his brother the 'Nemo' backpack with lunch and snacks in it. And finally, Daniel was ready to set off on his big adventure.

At the centre, Jack led a nervous Daniel into the building where they were met by Alice, the woman who had showed them around the previous day. Jack gave her a list of Daniel's allergies and the morning snack, and then crouched down in front of his little brother. "I have to go now so you be good and behave, okay?"

Daniel nodded. "I'm brave," he said, wanting Jack to be proud of him too.

"I know you are," Jack stated, ruffling Daniel's hair. "Now I should be back around sixteen hundred hours, uh, I mean four o'clock," he corrected himself, remembering that Daniel wouldn't have a clue about military time.

"Okay," Daniel replied.

"Good boy." Jack smiled at his little brother. "Have fun, and I'll see you soon." He stood up and left the centre, looking back once and waving.

Daniel waved back, fighting the urge to run after Jack. He was a big boy; he could do this.

"Come on, Daniel, let's put your backpack with the others," Alice said, holding her hand out for the little boy to take.

Quietly, Daniel held her hand and let her lead him over to the wall of coat hooks. The hooks were at child height, and only a few were presently filled.

"This is yours," Alice said, showing him a hook that had the name 'Daniel' above it. "Just put your backpack here, and then we'll get you settled in."

Daniel obeyed, putting his 'Nemo' backpack on the hook. Then, when she asked him what he wanted to do, Daniel replied, "Read." He didn't want to socialise with the other children yet, not until the strangeness of this new place wore off.

"Are you sure you don't want to play outside?" Alice asked.

Daniel nodded; he wanted to read.

"Okay." Alice helped Daniel with his coat and hung it up over the backpack. Then, deciding that the quiet room might be the best place to ease Daniel in, she led him there. Inside was a girl about Daniel's age, colouring at one of the tables. "Cassie, this is Daniel. Can you show him where everything is?"

Cassie looked up, her long wavy brown hair framing her face. "Hi, Daniel. You like colouring?"

"I don't know," Daniel admitted.

"Try it," she said, beckoning him over. When Daniel shyly approached, she put a colouring book in front of the nearest chair and generously gave him half of her crayons. "Come on, it's fun!"

Daniel sat down in the indicated chair and looked at the book in front of him. It was just like the colouring book he had refused yesterday except it had a few words down the bottom of the pages. One picture was of a lion, the other of someone called Tarzan.

When Cassie saw his hesitation, she said, "Just pick one and colour it in. See?" She showed him the one she was currently doing - a multi-coloured bear.

Deciding that maybe this wouldn't be so bad, Daniel picked out an orange-brown crayon and started colouring the lion in.

"I'm four," Cassie announced as she coloured. "How old are you?"

"Four," Daniel replied.

"Do you have a brother or sister?" Cassie asked next; she was a naturally curious child.

Daniel nodded, his tongue slightly poking out between his lips as he concentrated on colouring in without going outside the lines. "Jack's my brother. He's much bigger than me," he said proudly.

"I don't have any," Cassie informed him. "I'm 'dopted."

"What's 'dopted?" Daniel asked, unfamiliar with the word.

"It means my mommy and daddy aren't my real mommy and daddy, and my birth mommy couldn't keep me so she gave me to my mommy and daddy," Cassie explained in one breath. "'Cept my daddy doesn't live with us anymore."

"Why not?" Daniel thought it was sad that Cassie didn't have a daddy living with her.

Cassie shrugged. "Don't know. Mommy just says that they weren't 'patible anymore."

"My mommy and daddy are archaeol'gists," Daniel shared. "They had to go on a long trip so Jack's looking after me." He swapped to a brown crayon to do the lion's mane.

"Cool!" Cassie exclaimed, wishing she had a big brother too. Or maybe a big sister, she didn't mind which.

The door opened then and a dark-haired boy with glasses entered the room. A woman Daniel hadn't seen before followed him in and then sat in an adult-sized chair in the corner of the room to supervise. "Hi, Cassie!" the boy called, running over to the table.

"Hi, Robert!" Cassie made room for her friend at the table. "This is Daniel."

"Hi, Daniel!" Robert sat down at the table and picked up a colouring book.

"Robert's daddy is a sign-tist at Chey'nne Mountain," Cassie continued. "My mommy's a doctor. What's Jack?"

"Who's Jack?" Robert queried.

"Daniel's big brother," Cassie explained authoritatively.

Having asked Jack all about his job, Daniel was able to explain that his brother was in the Air Force and flew planes. The other two were very impressed by that and wanted to know if Daniel had been flying with him. Daniel had to say no, he hadn't been staying with Jack that long yet.

They coloured for some time, chatting away about nothing in particular, until Cassie decided that it was time for another activity. Not taking no for an answer, she led the boys out to the playground. Daniel stood back and just observed for a while until he was confident enough to try things for himself. Going down the slide made his tummy feel funny but he enjoyed it so he did it over and over again. Soon, he was laughing along with the others.

The swings were equally as fun, he discovered, and the three had a competition to see who could swing the highest.

They had progressed to the sandpit, where Daniel was teaching his new friends how to 'ex-ki-vate arty-facts', when more children arrived, Adam among them.

When Adam saw Daniel playing with Robert, whom he didn't like, he immediately went over to the sandpit and took up an aggressive stance. "Whatcha doing here?"

"Go away, Adam," Cassie said, sick of the bully always being mean. "We were here first."

Adam ignored her and glared at Daniel. "Well, baby?"

Daniel bristled at the insult. "I'm not a baby," he denied indignantly.

"Only babies hide behind their daddy," Adam continued meanly.

Daniel stood and put his hands on his hips, glaring at the bully. "I wasn't hiding. And Jack's not my daddy, he's my brother."

"Is not," Adam argued.

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

The sound of a bell interrupted the argument before it could end in blows. Cassie grabbed Daniel's hand and, with Robert following, went over to where children were lining up to go inside.

The four-year-old group had an hour of singing and games before morning snack time, and then they were allowed to play outside again for half an hour. Before lunch, they did painting, which Daniel enjoyed immensely.

It wasn't until Daniel and his friends were playing outside after lunch that Adam tried to pick a fight again, his own friends in tow.

"How come your brother was shopping with you?" he asked aggressively.

"Cos," Daniel replied shortly.

"Don't your parents want you?" Adam said, aiming to hurt.

"Course they want me!" Daniel shot back. "But they had to go on a long trip where children can't go."

"That just means that they don't want you," Adam insulted him.

"They do too!" Daniel was very secure in this knowledge, even though his parents hadn't told him that they were leaving. "You're just jealous," he accused; his daddy had always said mean people were that way because they were jealous and unhappy.

"Am not!" Adam denied, stung by the accusation in front of his friends. He lashed out and pushed Daniel to the ground.

Surprised more than hurt, Daniel stared up at his attacker with wide eyes; no-one had deliberately done that to him before.

"Adam!" Alice had seen the incident and came striding over to the group.

"He was being mean!" Adam immediately tried to put the blame on Daniel.

"He was not!" Cassie defended Daniel, hands on hips and green eyes glaring at Adam. "You're the mean one."

Alice knew from experience and observation that Cassie was the one telling the truth. She crouched down in front of Daniel and helped him to stand up. "Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Uh-huh." He had a sore bottom but other than that, he was fine.

"Good. Can you tell me what happened?"

Daniel nodded and told Alice what Adam had said; Cassie and Robert added bits to the narrative. Afterwards, Alice took Adam to the time-out room, and Adam's friends went to play elsewhere.

The incident was soon forgotten by Daniel as he continued to play with his friends. They went back to the quiet room for a while; Daniel read silently as the other two coloured. Then, when they got curious, Daniel read to them, showing them the easy words.

The afternoon snack came next, and then the children tried their hand at clay sculptures, wearing aprons to ensure they didn't get their clothes too dirty.

Children started being picked up by parents after three o'clock - fortunately for Daniel, Adam was one of those that left. Soon only a handful of children remained and they had to play indoors as it had started to rain. But there was plenty of things to do, and Daniel didn't even watch the clock to see when Jack was coming to fetch him.