I'm back! I'm seriously going to try and finish this story, and I do have a general idea of how to do that, the problem, of course, is in the details. BUT, here's a bit more of what's going on in Cordelia's world... Thanks so much for everyone who reviewed! Without you, I would have never even gotten this far.


Cordelia poked at the brown mush on her plate. It was the remains of the chili they'd had last night, and even then it had been only slightly more appetizing. Maybe it was Sam calling to say she'd be bringing pizza over later, Cordelia thought hopefully.
"Cassie!"
The exclamation caught 'Delia off guard.
Where had she heard or seen that name before?
"Yeah, that's right. When did you last talk to him? ….Of course...Really? Congratulations, Cass!"
From the sound of the conversation, whoever Cassie was, Daniel was certainly glad to hear from her...

"Yes, she's here. Of course…." He covered the phone with his hand and turned to face her. "Cassie says 'hi,'"

"Um, hi." Delia replied in bewilderment.

"Listen, Cassie, can you call back later? I have to do a grocery run pretty soon here, but if I'm out you can leave a message with Cordelia…okay; I'll put it on my calendar….You, too. Bye." He hung up the phone and leaned against the counter. "I'm sure you're wondering who that was," Daniel began.

Cordelia couldn't help herself. "Well, you're just a master of observation, aren't you?"

"Curious and snarky, what do you know, you really are my offspring. That was Cassandra Frasier. She's only a few years older than you actually, so you two will probably get along. She's the daughter of an old friend." He explained. "She was calling to let me know she'll be in town soon. She just finished her final semester at college, done with the first round of pre-med."

"She's studying to be a doctor?"

"Yes. Her mom was also a doctor, and Cassie decided to follow in her footsteps."

Cordelia caught the past tense reference to Cassie's mom, and felt a pang of sympathy. "That's cool. I could never do that much school. Leia though about it for awhile, but decided even the big paychecks weren't worth it."

"It's not about the money for her. Cassie just wants to honor her mom's memory in the best way she can, by carrying on the work she did. Janet saved a lot of lives while at the S-, at the base."

"Mmm." Mumbled Delia. She'd caught Daniel's almost-slip of the tongue and was too preoccupied in trying to figure out what he had been going to say to answer properly.

"So, hopefully by the time she gets in we'll have some food to offer her besides left-overs."

"Great." Cordelia turned back to the food, or what passed for food, on her plate. "Hey Daniel, can we get some Mac and Cheese?"

"Sure. Here, make a list of what you want." He handed her a pad of paper and a pencil, and went to grab his jacket and his wallet. "I am not getting beer, so don't even ask!" He called back.

"What do you take me for?" She hollered out of the kitchen. As she wrote down a list of foods easily cooked in a microwave, Cordelia mused that never in her fantasies of normal family life had she imagined this scenario. Then again, there was a lot she hadn't considered, for instance, getting to know all the family friends and relations on her dad's side of the family. Despite her concerns about meeting new people, Cordelia was excited about getting a chance to meet someone around her own age. So far, her life in Colorado consisted of Daniel and his friends, phone calls to Mel and Leia back home, and the occasional chat with the pizza delivery boy or girl. Maybe I can convince Daniel to let me go out with Cassie to a movie or something. I'm seriously going stir crazy.

Cordelia's injuries were healing well, and the last check-up by Dr. Lam had gone smoothly, and no complications had come up with the concussion or broken collar bone. In fact, everything was going swimmingly, and Daniel had promised that we would keep an eye open for a part time job for her so she'd have something to occupy her time before she started school again. School was still the ultimate plan, but it Cordelia had decided that it wouldn't hurt anyone if she waited a year or so before working out the details of her schooling options.

'Delia's stomach burbled, bringing her back to the here and now. Definitely need to get some jerky... she decided, finishing up her part of the grocery list. "Okay! I'm done with the list. Did Cassie say what day she was coming?"

Daniel came in and took the list, glancing over it briefly. "Ice cream, granola bars, Mountain Dew? I can't promise I'll get all this, 'Delia. You know, there's this thing called "protein," maybe you've heard of it."

"I wrote down jerky too, that's protein!" Delia protested. "And you didn't answer my question."

"Um, she said something about Monday or Tuesday, but she also promised to call back." Daniel looked at the list once more and shook his head. "Okay, next time we make the list together. I'll be back in about an hour."

"'Kay." She got up slowly and made her way back to the living room, walking him to the door. "Don't forget the frozen chicken nuggets. They're really good for when you don't have time to cook!"

Daniel gave a bright, false smile and a wave as he headed out the door. "I can't believe anyone actually eats those cardboard things…" She heard him mutter.

Cordelia made her way to the couch and picked up the one photo album she had convinced Daniel to dig up. He'd given in enough to get it out for her, but since not all the pictures were labeled and he hadn't sat down and gone through it with her, Cordelia still didn't really know who everyone was. She opened to a random page in the middle at looked at the smiling faces in the photographs. Flipping through slowly, she marveled at the different hairstyles Daniel and his friends had sported throughout the years. She had nearly laughed out loud the first time she saw a picture of Daniel with his long hair and large round glasses. He was such a goofy looking guy back then!

Lost in her thoughts, Delia examined each page of the photo album slowly. She wasn't sure precisely what she was looking for. She knew that there wouldn't be any pictures of her parents together, after all, Daniel had only gone with her mom for a short time, and they'd never reconnected after the breakup. Maybe she was just trying to get to know Daniel better. Even after living with him for nearly three weeks, there was so much about him she didn't know. What was his favorite color? How many languages did he actually speak? The phone rang, startling Delia out of her reverie. She watched the phone, listening to another two rings before getting up the nerve to answer it. This was where she lived, but it wasn't her home, not yet, and it felt weird to be answering the phone as if she had a right to. She had the bizarre urge to answer the phone like a secretary. "Daniel Jackson's house, how can I help you?" Instead she picked up the receiver with a cautious, "Hello?"

"Hi! Are you Cordelia?"

"Yeah…"

"I'm Cassandra Frasier. It's great to get to talk to you!"

Wondering what she could say to this woman, Cordelia's gaze wandered around the living room, taking in the TV and the stack of VHS tapes underneath it…and suddenly something clicked. "Oh! You're that Cassie!" She said in surprise.

The voice on the other end of the phone line sounded amused. "Yes, I expect I am. What's Daniel said about me?"

"No, it's not that, I mean, he didn't say anything bad about you." Cordelia stammered. "It's just…when I first got here I saw a home video labeled 'Cassie's 13th birthday' and I never got around to asking Daniel what it was."

Cassandra groaned. "Oh, please don't tell me he still has that!"

Cordelia grinned. "Well, he hasn't shown it, so I think you're safe."

"No, you don't understand. I'm adopted, I'm not sure if he mentioned that, and that was my first birthday party with my Mom here in Colorado. I was such a little punk! …Hey, is that the one with my dog on it?" Cassandra sighed. "He was a corgi and absolutely adorable. He died a few years later, and I was just devastated."

"I don't know. Do you want me to check?"

"I've got a better idea. How about when I come by next week we can watch it together?"

"Sounds good!" And it truly did. Cordelia couldn't wait to get a glimpse into Daniel's life apart from his work. "Do you think you could talk Daniel into letting me go out, too? I mean, I've still got some injuries from the car crash I was in, but I'm getting cabin fever over here."

"You bet." Cassandra's voice lowered. "Don't tell anyone I told you, but when it comes to any one of Daniel and his friends, they can't refuse me anything." Her voice went back to normal. "I blame it on the fact that none of them ever had children of their own, and pretty much watched over me as I grew up."

"Oh." Cordelia said, rather taken aback. When Daniel had said "friend of the family" she assumed it was just kind of a general thing, but Cassandra made it sound like a much closer relationship.

"Oh, no, Cordelia, I'm sorry!" Cassandra had noticed the quietness of the reply. "That was incredibly rude of me…I don't even know what to say!" She sounded genuinely upset. "I didn't even think…I am so sorry."

"No, please, it's okay. It's not anyone's fault but my mom's that Daniel never knew I existed until a month ago." And that didn't sound bitter at all! Cordelia railed at herself.

"What a way to make a first impression." Cassandra said dryly, with self-deprecating humor. "Cordelia, everything I've heard about you says you're a great girl, and I'm really looking forward to meeting you in person next week."

"Me, too." Cordelia sighed and shifted herself on the couch. "Daniel's out right now, but he should be back pretty soon. Do you want me to have him call you back?"

"Oh, no, that's okay. I'll be flying in Monday evening, so I was going to ask him to pick me up at the airport. I'll give you guys a call when I know what time we're landing."

"Okay, I'll let him know." Cordelia felt she should say something to alleviate the tension hanging in the air, but didn't know what. "Cassandra?" She tried.

"Please, call me Cassie."

"Cassie, what was your dog's name?" 'Delia asked, rather shyly. "My grandparents had a corgi named George, and he was a great dog."

'Delia heard the grin in Cassie's voice. "His name was Dog for the first couple of months, but then I named him after a television character, on the advice of Jack. Mom wasn't too happy about having a dog named Homer, but all the kids at school thought it was great."

"I'll bet!"

"Well, I hate to run off here, but I have some things to do before I visit, so I'll say goodbye now."

"That's fine. It was nice to talk to you, I'm glad you'll be coming down next week."

"Yep, I'll see you then. Bye Cordelia!"

"Bye!" 'Delia hung up the phone and stared at it in her hand for a moment. She was more interested to meet Cassie now than ever before. A corgi named Homer. I've got to tell Leia and Mel!

Cordelia dialed the phone, hoping her friends didn't have class...