After Jack left and Sam had calmed Nick down from feeling left out from the trip to go see Daniel, she wasn't sure what to do with the kids. She really wanted to go make sure Jonas was alright – she kept imagining him passed out somewhere because of his injury – but didn't really feel up to taking all the kids on a walk. Usually, when it was just her and Jack and Nick at this time of day, they would read books together. She knew Elsie would enjoy it, but she wasn't sure if the twins would sit still. It was worth a shot.
She herded them upstairs into Nick's room and let them each pick out some books before going back down to get comfy on the couch. There was a brief moment of confusion and potential argument when the three boys all handed their books to her first, and then scrambled to crowd in her lap. With some careful maneuvering, Sam ended up with Nick and Kaden on her lap, and Joseph cuddled between her and Elsie on her left. It was rather difficult to hold the books so that Sam could see the words and all the kids could see the pictures, but they managed.
To Sam's surprise, all four kids sat through the entire stack of books they had brought down, and when they finished those, they remained quiet and relaxed. In fact, Sam realized, the twins were both sound asleep, and Nick and Elsie were looking rather drowsy themselves. They had had an eventful day and late night the night before, but she really hadn't expected any of them to take a nap. Not that she was complaining.
When she closed the last book, Nick and Elsie stirred, looking up at her. Nick turned in her lap and looped his arms around her neck, nuzzling her shoulder. "I'm sweepy, Mommy."
That was a pretty rare thing for the little guy to admit, Sam thought with a smile. "Do you want to go lay down in your bed?"
He shook his head. "I want to stay here."
Sam put the book down and wrapped an arm around him. "Let's go put Kaden and Joseph in their bed and then maybe we can get some more books."
Nick reluctantly climbed off her lap with a yawn and started upstairs, presumably for more books. Elsie had hopped off the couch and was trying to lift Joseph into her arms.
Sam smiled at her attempts. "It's okay, Elsie, I'll get him. You can go with Nick and pick out more books, if you want."
Elsie let her brother slump back onto the couch, giving his head a quick kiss before following Nick upstairs, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Sam decided it would be best to only take one sleeping twin at a time and stood with Kaden in her arms, leaving Joseph asleep on the couch. She passed Nick's room on the way to the guest room, and glanced in to see that Nick and Elsie had become distracted with Nick's box of Legos, and were busily construction something, their heads bent close over their project.
She put Kaden down and returned with Joseph, laying the little boys side by side, marveling at how identical they were and also feeling a little proud she had learned to keep them apart.
As she headed back downstairs to do some work on her laptop when she heard the front door open. She hurried downstairs, hoping it was Jonas. She sighed with relief when she reached the door and found him standing next to it, looking a little embarrassed.
"Sam-"
"Jonas! Are you okay?" she asked hurrying over and glancing toward his wound which was still wrapped in bandages.
"I'm . . . sorry about . . . that. I just-"
She interrupted him. "It's fine, Jonas. I can't really say I know how you feel right now, but I do understand that this has been difficult."
He sighed heavily, but also managed a half-smile. "Thank you."
She smiled back. "You want something to eat?"
Jack felt his stomach growl and looked up at the clock. He blinked and looked again. That couldn't be right. There was no way he had been involved in discussions with Hank and other officers involved with the Kelowna situation for four hours. He checked his watch; it read 5:37, just like the clock.
Hank noticed him looking from his place at the head of the conference table and wrapped up his current sentence. "I think we've done enough for today, gentlemen. We'll reconvene with Colonel Mitchell and Mr. Quinn tomorrow morning."
As they all stood, Jack moved to speak to Hank. "I wasn't starting to look impatient or anything, was I?" he asked, smirking a little.
The other general chuckled. "Oh no, not at all, Jack," he replied with equal sarcasm. "I was just looking for an excuse to get out of here myself. I've been on this damn base for four straight days now, and I'm more than ready to go home."
Jack smiled and clapped his friend on the shoulder. "See you tomorrow, Hank."
With that, he headed down to Daniel's isolation room, surprised that Vala had not yet come to find him to take the kids home. He opened the door to the sound of crying, and hurried forward. Vala was sitting next to Daniel's bed with Sophie, the source of the crying, in her lap. Ethan was standing in front of them, a very sulky expression on his face as Vala spoke to him. She looked up as Jack came in and a clear look of relief swept across her face.
"What's going on, kids?" Jack asked, noticing that Daniel was asleep. If he could sleep through the racket Sophie was making, he must be on some pretty good drugs.
"Can you please take these children somewhere else?" Vala said, her voice shaky with barely contained emotions.
Jack lifted Sophie off her lap and drew Ethan close with one arm. "When was the last time you ate or slept, Vala?"
She rubbed her face, and he saw a glimmer of tears in her eyes. "I . . . I don't even know. I can't . . ." She trailed off and covered her face with her hand.
"How about we all go out and grab something to eat?" he suggested gently.
She shook her head and looked up at Daniel. "I don't want to leave him."
"He'll be fine for half-an-hour. It's you I'm worried about at the moment," he said.
"No, Jack. I'm not leaving him." He saw that spark of stubbornness in her eyes he recognized well by now and decided to drop the issue.
"Fine, just me and the kids. I'm having them send something for you from the commissary, though."
She hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. "Thank you, Jack."
He laid a hand on her shoulder briefly before heading out with the kids. They were halfway down the hall when Ethan had to run back for his book, and Sophie continued to cry as they made their way through the base, though Jack suspected it had more to do with being removed from her parents than whatever trouble Ethan had caused previously. Ethan reached up to grab Jack's hand in silence, even though the halls were not nearly as busy as they had been when they'd first arrived.
Jack stopped at the commissary and asked one of the people behind the counter if they would make sure Vala got something to eat, and headed out of the base, eager to get the kids out of the mountain and into the fresh air. He had a feeling they needed it just as much as he did.
They finally reached the car, and Jack sat Sophie, still crying, on the hood of the car and bent down a little so his face was level with hers. Letting go of Ethan's hand he cupped her small face in both his palms. "You're okay, baby. What are you crying about?"
She sniffed, her small body shaking with repressed sobs. "E-Ethan . . . p-pushed me, a-and I hit my h-head!" The explanation taken care of, she began to cry again in earnest.
"I'm sure he didn't mean to, Sophie," he said, still holding her face in his hands. He looked toward Ethan to get a confirmation of his statement, but the boy was scowling at the pavement and didn't look up. Jack sighed and lifted Sophie back into his arms. "Dinner's up to you guys. If you stop being cranky, we can go somewhere fun, if not, we'll just go home."
Sophie looked up. "McDonald's?"
"Are you done crying?" She nodded, sniffing and gulping down sobs. "McDonald's okay with you, Ethan?"
He shrugged, his hands deep in his pockets. "Yeah."
"Off to see the wizard, then," Jack said with a sigh, unlocking the car. He helped Sophie get buckled and then followed Ethan around to the other side of the car, stopping him before he got in. "You okay, buddy?"
Ethan shrugged again, still not looking up from the ground.
Jack put a finger under his chin and lifted his head. "Something you want to talk about?"
Ethan shook his head, but Jack saw his eyes fill with tears. He decided it might not be a time for words and drew the boy into a hug. He rubbed Ethan's back gently and felt his arms tighten around his waist. "Everything's going to be okay, pal. I promise."
Ethan held on for a few more minutes before pulling away, wiping his eyes. "Dad looked really bad, Uncle Jack," he said looking up, his eyes filled with worry. "And Mom was all . . . weird."
Jack put his hands on the boy's shoulders. "She's worried about your dad just like you, buddy. It's gonna be tough for a while, but I promise it'll get better. Have I ever lied to you?"
A faint smile graced Ethan's face. "Well . . . yeah. All the time, actually."
Jack grinned and ruffled his hair. "That's called teasing, little man. I don't lie."
Ethan's smile grew wider. "Whatever you say, Uncle Jack."
Jack swatted at his head playfully. "Get in the car, kid."
Their drive to McDonald's was remarkably quiet besides the occasional sniff from Sophie. Both kids were understandably subdued, and sleepy as well. Sophie was nearly asleep by the time they got there, but their Happy Meals seemed to perk them up, and they were back to their normal squabbling by the time they were on the way home. As he pulled into the driveway, all Jack wanted to do was go to bed, but he knew he still had to help put the kids to bed and then brief Jonas on everything that had been discussed at the SGC.
He got the kids out of the car and opened the front door into chaos. His living room had been taken over by sheets and chairs that had presumably once been a fort. Elsie was sitting on the floor giggling uncontrollably, one of the twins was wrapped from head to toe in a sheet and bumping into things, laughing, and Jonas . . . Jonas was chasing the other twin on hands and knees. The little boy was laughing and squealing as his dad chased him making threatening growling sounds.
The kids were all laughing so hard that no one had heard Jack and Sophie and Ethan come in, so Jack walked forward, a smile growing on his face.
"Hey, guys," he said casually.
Jonas froze mid-crawl and looked up at him. To Jack's surprise, Elsie and the twins all jumped up and hugged him, Elsie chattering away, the twins still giggling. He ruffled their hair gently and turned his attention back to Jonas who was on his feet now, looking decidedly embarrassed.
"Um . . ." Jonas reached up to scratch the back of his head, and rested the other one on Elsie's head, who had run back to him. "Jack, I'm sorry. I-"
Jack stepped forward and clapped him on the uninjured arm. "Forget it, Jonas. We were both outta line, so . . . let's call it even, huh?"
Jonas nodded, and smiled. "Thanks, Jack."
"So," Jack said loudly, looking around the room. "Are my wife and kid buried in here somewhere?"
Jonas shook his head. "There was a little mishap. Nickolas-"
"Daddy!"
The small bundle of energy hit Jack's knees with the force of a train and he struggled to stay standing. "Hey there, buddy," he said, recovering and swinging his little boy up to his hip. Jack could see he'd been crying, his face was all red and a nasty bruise seemed to be forming on his temple. "What happened, little man?"
Sam followed their son at a more sedate pace and gave Jack a quick kiss. "He fell off the couch into a chair."
Nick nodded solemnly. "It hurted."
Jack chuckled and kissed the bruise gently. "Too much playing, huh?"
Nick gave him a funny look, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion. "Nuh uh. I need more pwaying, Daddy."
Jack laughed out loud and kissed the little boy again. "Sounds like a plan to me. Have you guys already eaten?"
Sam nodded, stroking Sophie's hair; the little girl had her arms wrapped around Sam's leg. "How was Daniel?"
Ethan moved close enough to Jack to bump his leg, and Jack knew he didn't appreciate the reminder about his dad's condition. He laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. "He was really happy to see the kids." He glanced down at Sophie and Ethan. "He's doing better but . . . it might be a while before he's back to normal."
Sam smiled sadly, lifting Sophie into her arms for a cuddle. "He'll be fine," she said brightly, trying to give the kids as much assurance as possible. "Hey guys, let's show Ethan and Sophie how we built the fort!"
Elsie, the twins, and Nick all started shouting in excitement at once, and Nick squirmed to be let down to join his cousins in the reconstruction of the fort. Jonas jumped in to help, since as soon as one kid got a sheet positioned, another kid would step on it and bring it down. It was an amusing spectacle, and Ethan and Sophie soon went over and started helping as well.
Sam moved over to Jack and wrapped an arm around his waist. "Did you and Jonas make up?"
"Yes, ma'am. When did he come back?"
She smiled up at him. "About as soon as you left."
Jack shrugged. "At least you weren't alone with that crew all day," he said, looking on in amusement as Elsie tried to referee an impromptu game of tug-of-war the twins had initiated with one of the sheets.
Sam chuckled and snuggled closer to him. "I'm going to miss them, Jack," she said quietly.
He hugged her. "Me too. Speaking of which, we have a lot to talk about as soon as the kids are in bed."
She looked up, a faint look of alarm on her face. "What happened?"
"Nothing we didn't expect. I think they'll be able to go home," he said, glancing at the Quinn family. "But not anytime soon."
He could see the questions in her eyes, but she decided to drop it for the moment, and Jack knew she sensed his apprehension about talking about it in front of the kids.
"Well," he said, heading for the kitchen. "I'm thinking we're gonna need more chairs if we want a truly awesome fort."
"You have a problem with ours?" Sam said, her hands going to her hips.
He grinned cheekily at her. "Of course not. More kids should equal more chairs though, right?"
She shook her head and smiled at him. "I see you've been practicing your math."
Jack just caught Ethan's snort of laughter, even though the boy tried to hide it. "That's it, little man," he said, advancing toward the eight-year-old. "You're gonna pay for that one."
Ethan ducked behind the couch with a giggle, and Jack chased him, inspiring the other kids to do some running around of their own, collapsing the near-finished fort. Jonas threw his hands up and joined the chasing. Sam watched the two father's chase the kids around, praying no one would get hurt, and making sure to get lots of pictures.