Sorry for the long wait everyone – amid a variety of excuses, my muse and I couldn't agree on whether Sam should be in this part. I eventually won, and Sam is in here (for all those who were waiting for her next appearance). I hope this satisfies in some way :) Thank you all for waiting patiently.

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Part 36 - More Bits and Pieces

Thursday, 11th December

Daniel was bright and early the next morning to see if it had snowed again. He clambered onto the chest, then parted the curtains and peered out the window. Nose and hands pressed against the window as he looked at the green grass with disappointment. Why hadn't it snowed? The window was cold which meant it was cold outside which meant it was supposed to snow because it only snowed when it was cold. Indignant, Daniel climbed down, put on his monkey slippers and robe, and ran into his brother's room. "Jack, wake up!" he called from a safe distance.

Jack woke with a start and it took a few seconds to realise that it was Daniel who had woken him. "Daniel?" What on earth was the kid doing up so early? Was something wrong?

"There's no snow! Make it snow, Jack," Daniel ordered with all the authority he could muster - which wasn't much - as he approached the bed.

Oy. Jack relaxed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Daniel, don't scare me like that. I thought something bad had happened."

"But there's no snow!" Daniel thought that was something bad.

"Danny," Jack said as he sat up and lifted the kid onto his lap, "that could have waited until I was awake. If there's an emergency like the house being on fire or if you had an accident, then you can come and wake me up."

Daniel's bottom lip trembled at Jack's words. "But-but what if I have a bad dream?" If he wasn't allowed to wake Jack up for that, who would comfort him and tell him not to be scared?

"That's okay too," Jack told him. He stroked Daniel's back comfortingly. "But things like snow can wait a little longer because that's not scary, is it?"

Daniel thought about that for a few seconds and then shook his head. "So I should only wake you if I'm scared?"

"Or if you're hurt or accidentally wet the bed," Jack added, hoping that Daniel now understood what constituted an emergency. "Okay?"

"Okay," Daniel agreed unenthusiastically. His parents had let him wake them up every morning, and he had enjoyed snuggling with them in the big bed. He liked doing that with Jack too except they hadn't had too many chances to do that yet.

Seeing that he had kind of spoiled the mood, Jack added, "Or sometimes if it's really exciting, like Christmas or your birthday, then you can wake me up." That ought to keep Daniel happy. "Now, what's this about no snow?"

Daniel perked up a little at the exception to the new rule and the fact that Jack had remembered why he had come into the bedroom in the first place. "It's cold outside 'cos the window's really cold but there's no snow. Why isn't there any snow?"

Jack sighed; why did Daniel always have to ask hard questions before breakfast? "You know, that's an excellent question to ask your teachers at day-care," he stalled.

"Don't you know? Daddy always knows everything," Daniel stated proudly, "and you're lots older than me so you've got to know lots too."

How could he argue with that logic? Although he could argue about the 'lots older' part. "Alright. For the moment, let's just say that it's got to get even colder than it is now before it snows, okay? As for the technical reason, we can look that up on the internet before dinner."

"Okay." Daniel was happy with that. "Can we have breakfast now? My tummy's hungry."

"Why not?" Jack replied, glancing at the clock. It was only about ten minutes before he would have got up anyway.

Jack saw Daniel to day-care and was just about to leave when Alice caught up with him.

"Excuse me, Captain O'Neill, but I just need to talk to you about the nativity play next week," she said.

"Sure," Jack replied, puzzled.

"As you know, Daniel is one of the wise men." When Jack nodded, Alice continued, "Well, he is going to need a costume and for various reasons, we always ask the parents to make their child's costume."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "You want me to make Daniel's costume?" No way! There was just no way he was going to be able to pull that off.

"That's right." Alice hid a grin at Jack's reaction. "Although I'm sure that if you ask around, some of the mothers will be glad to help you out," she suggested, thinking of all the single mothers in the group.

That sounded like a good solution to Jack. He didn't think that he should ask Janet though. "Any suggestions as to who?"

"As Daniel is good friends with Robert, it may be worth asking Mrs. Rothman," Alice stated. "She usually picks Robert around four o'clock so you could ask her then."

"Thanks, I'll do that." Anything so he didn't have to do the costume himself. Jack hurriedly left the day-care centre before Alice could tell him to make something else, although he could do carpentry. Sewing, however - no.

When he caught up with Ferretti, Jack got another indication that this wasn't going to be the best of days. "Sorry, Jack," Lou stated, "but I can't look after Daniel tonight. Mike, my brother-in-law, broke his leg last night in a car accident and will be in hospital for a couple of days. Mom's got the kids now but she can't take them overnight so I've got to look after them. I'm really sorry, Jack."

"That's okay, Lou, you've got no choice," Jack forgave him easily. But now he was left with the dilemma of what to do with Daniel tonight while he was out with Sara. "Do you know of anyone else who might be able to sit?"

Lou was about to say 'no' when he thought back a few days to when he had seen Lieutenant Carter mooning over Jack. This could be his chance to do a little bit of matchmaking - or mischief, whichever the case may be. "What about Carter? You know, the blonde scientist? Maybe she would be happy to look after Daniel."

"Carter?" For the second time that morning, Jack raised his eyebrows. He hadn't missed the doe-eyes the lieutenant frequently made at him; the woman had a serious crush. "You want me to ask someone who's interested in me if she could babysit my brother while I go on a date with someone else?" Was Lou nuts?

"Why not? It's a chance to get on your good side, and she'll think that if she does a good job with Daniel, then she'll be in with a chance with you," Lou stated logically, kind of knowing how women think about such matters. "And she's a genius, so she'll get along great with Daniel."

"Lou--" Jack didn't think this was a good idea.

"Look, you don't even have to ask her," Lou continued. "Leave it to me - I can arrange it so she'll suggest it herself. Then you'll be able to see whether she's worth dating by whether she can deal with Daniel."

Jack sighed; he wasn't comfortable with this but he desperately needed a babysitter for tonight. It was worth a try.

At the end of lunchtime in the commissary, Sam Carter finally arrived to eat something. She had been working hard on her projects for little gain because no-one had yet worked out what the symbols on the stone ring meant, and therefore, had not got it to work.

To her surprise and pleasure, Jack O'Neill was still eating with one of his friends - Ferretti, Sam thought it was. She collected some food, put it on her tray, and then headed to a table nearby where she could surreptitiously listen in on Jack's conversation. There were a few good-looking men at the base but Jack was the one she wanted the most. However, she couldn't approach him since she was of lesser rank and, as she had been told, a geek. But that didn't stop her from working out various ways to intercept him in the hopes of getting a date.

"So, I'm sorry Jack, but I can't sit Daniel tonight," Ferretti was saying.

"Great," Jack groaned in frustration. "Where am I supposed to get a sitter for tonight then?"

Sam's eyes lit up; this was her chance. Okay, so it wasn't a date with Jack but it was the next best thing - going to his house and making friends with his little brother. She didn't have any idea how to look after a child but she was sure that she could get a few pointers from Janet later today. Sam turned in her seat and said, "Uh, excuse me, Captain, I couldn't help overhearing that you need a sitter tonight."

Jack ignored the look Lou sent him and replied, "That's right." He couldn't believe that a genius was falling for this. "Do you have any experience?"

"Sure. I have a niece." Which was perfectly true - Sam just hadn't babysat her because she and her brother Mark weren't talking at the moment.

"Then come around tonight, 1830 hours," Jack said, then gave her the address.

"No problem." Sam waited until Jack and Ferretti had gone before grinning so hard, her fact hurt. Step one had been achieved. Now all she had to do was get through the evening.

Outside the commissary, Lou started laughing. "See, I told you she would do it," he said to Jack, who wasn't amused.

"Yeah, but how is she going to react when she thinks it through?" Jack wanted to know, feeling somewhat guilty. He didn't like to lead women on if he wasn't going to follow through, and while he was dating Sara, he was pretty sure that he wouldn't have time - or possibly, the inclination - to date anyone else.

"Jack, relax." Lou slapped him on the back. "Everything will be fine."

Somehow, Jack wasn't so sure.

Mrs. Gina Rothman, an average-looking woman with the same black hair as her son, was waiting for Jack when he arrived at day-care later. Robert and Daniel were over in the corner of the room building a pyramid out of blocks, and Jack was about to go over to them when he was approached.

"Hello, I'm Gina Rothman, Robert's mother," she introduced herself. "I hear that you might need some help with Daniel's costume."

"Uh, yeah, you could say that." Jack thought that was an understatement. "I don't have a clue what to do," he continued, sensing he was safe in confessing that. "And I'm not that great at sewing."

Gina chuckled. "Most men that I know aren't either. You probably don't own a sewing machine then."

"Nope." That was something he had happily lived without since moving out of home. If something ripped too badly, then he either got rid of it or took it to Iris for her to fix.

"Well then, you'd better bring Daniel over to my house. Would this weekend suit you?" she asked.

"Daniel and I are going away for the weekend," Jack replied, remembering that he had to pack tonight so they could leave for the cabin straight after day-care tomorrow. "What about Monday?"

"That would be fine. Do you want me to take Daniel straight from here or will you drive him?"

"Uh..." Which would be better? Jack couldn't decide. "I'll let you know on Monday morning, if that's okay." By then, he would know whether Daniel was going to be tired and cranky after a weekend away.

Gina nodded. "That's fine." She got a pen and paper out of her purse, and scribbled on it for a minute before handing it to Jack. "That's our phone number and address. I'll pick out some material for Daniel's costume while I'm getting Robert's and then on Monday, I can just do the fitting and sewing."

"Sounds good," Jack agreed. He wouldn't even know where to start.

"Jack!" The little blonde whirlwind that went by the name of Daniel raced towards his big brother. "Guess what?" He lifted his arms towards Jack.

Obeying the hint, Jack picked the kid up and settled him onto one hip. "Santa Claus came early?"

"Noooo," Daniel said, giggling at Jack's inability to guess. "We practised the nativ-ty play today and I did real good, and I didn't forget my lines but Ellie, who's the angel, forgotted all the time and Miss Alice had to keep telling her what they were. I should've been the angel, Jack, 'cos I would 'member all the time."

"You would remember, would you?" Jack teased, tickling Daniel's stomach, causing the little boy to giggle again.

"Jaaack." Daniel squirmed in his brother's arms. "Let me down, I have to get my pack and my drawing 'cos we've got to go home and look up snow."

Jack put Daniel down and as he ran off, turned to see Gina's quizzical look. "He wants to know about everything," he explained.

"Ah." Gina smiled, knowing what that was like. "I'd better take Robert home. I'll see you on Monday."

"See you then," Jack agreed. He turned back just in time to see Daniel running towards him. "Hey, slow down, kiddo. There's no rush."

"Okay." Daniel slowed to a quick walk and held out his picture when he reached Jack. "We had to paint winter things so I painted snow but white didn't work so I painted the grass and left spots where the snow was."

Jack looked at the splotchy painting and hid a grin; Daniel's logic was flawless. Other kids his age probably would have picked a different colour for the snow but Daniel had to go for accuracy - although the grass looked like someone had splattered the paint everywhere. "It's very nice."

"And I painted me and you and Grandpa Nick playing in the snow," Daniel continued, pointing to the stick figures in turn. 'His' figure had a blue coat on while the other two were naked. "I forgotted what you and Grandpa Nick was wearing yesterday and then the teacher said we had to stop and do other things so I didn't get to paint your coats."

"That's fine," Jack assured him, holding onto the picture so that he could lead Daniel out to the car. He could tell Daniel was going to be talkative tonight.

At home, Jack put the painting up on the fridge while Daniel got changed into his checked shirt, and then he switched the computer on. The two of them spent fifteen minutes learning everything about snow, and Daniel was very satisfied at the end of that time, pleased to have learnt something new.

They spent some time getting everything packed for the trip to the cabin - with Daniel wanting to take everything and Jack putting half of the things back - and then they both sat down in front of the television and put 'Atlantis' on to watch. Daniel was soon enthralled with the adventure and didn't want to stop for dinner. Since it was a simple meal, and Jack wasn't eating anyway since he was going out later, he let Daniel eat in the living room as a special treat - and he made sure to emphasise that it wasn't going to happen every meal.

When the movie was finished, Jack gave Daniel a quick bath and then started getting changed for his date with Sara. He had just finished dressing when the doorbell rang.

"Is that Lou? Is he going to make another Super-dooper chocolate milkshake?" Daniel asked eagerly, bouncing up and down on Jack's bed.

"Actually, no, it's not Lou," Jack said as he lifted Daniel into his arms and carried him out to the front door. "Lou couldn't come tonight so it's someone else." He opened the door and saw Lieutenant Carter standing there, a laptop bag in one hand, and her body language portraying how nervous she was feeling. "Hi."

"Hi." Sam smiled at Jack and then at the little boy in his arms. "You must be Daniel. I'm Sam."

Daniel frowned. "You're a girl." He wanted Lou because Lou was lots of fun. Grown-up girls weren't fun, except for his mommy and Grandma Iris and cousin Sophie.

"Yes, I am," Sam said, thrown by the comment but recovering quickly. Jack stood back to allow her to enter the house, which she promptly did.

"Do you know how to make Super-dooper chocolate milkshakes?" Daniel questioned next.

"Uh..." Sam didn't know how to answer that one.

"Daniel, be good," Jack gently scolded his little brother as he carried the kid into the kitchen. "Everyone does things differently so Sam might be able to make something else." He hoped that she could because if Daniel decided to be difficult, Sam would have a bad time of it. "How about you go work on your jigsaw?"

"Okay," Daniel agreed reluctantly; he wasn't at all sure about this. Besides, Sam reminded him of Sara, and although he thought the latter was okay, he didn't really know this woman yet.

"Sorry about that," Jack apologised when Daniel had left the kitchen. "He's always like that around new people."

"It's fine. We just have to get to know each other," Sam replied, hoping that was true.

"Yeah." Jack had a bad feeling about this. Taking a piece of paper off the fridge, he said, "Well, here is the list of his allergies. Don't let him eat or get near any of these. He's already eaten so he won't need anything else, although a drink of milk or juice or water is allowable. His bedtime is preferably 1930 hours but it may take awhile to get him there so try to make sure he's in bed by 2000 hours at the latest." He didn't want to deal with a cranky child tomorrow when they were going to the cabin.

"If he wants to call me to say goodnight, my cell phone number is also on the fridge," Jack continued. "He likes to be read to and make sure you do the voices, because he loves that. Any questions?"

"Um..." Sam was feeling a little out of her depth; give her quantum physics any day of the week! "No, I don't think so."

Jack nodded, hoping he was doing the right thing leaving Daniel with Carter. "Good. If you run out of ideas, tell him to get the Lego out or his alphabet book."

"Lego or alphabet book, right." That would come in handy because she didn't have a clue what to do with him in the first place.

Jack headed back into the living room where Daniel was diligently working on the jigsaw. He sat down on the couch next to his brother and lifted the little boy onto his lap. "I'm going to head out now so you be good for Sam, okay? Go to bed when she tells you to so that you're not tired for our trip tomorrow."

"Can't I come with you?" Daniel questioned, snuggling against Jack's chest.

"We've talked about this before," Jack gently reprimanded him, wishing that he had told Daniel about this sooner rather than have Carter listening in. "Besides, you'll have a good time with Sam. You can tell her all about Egypt and stuff, and show her how to build a pyramid."

Daniel contemplated this carefully, sneaking a look at this new lady. Maybe she would be okay. "Don't forget to wake me when you come home. Last time you almost forgotted."

"Ah, I didn't forget, you just didn't wake up properly," Jack pointed out. "But I'll try to make sure you know this time, okay?"

"Yeahsure, youbetcha," Daniel used his favourite new phrase.

Jack ruffled Daniel's hair and then set his brother down on the couch. Turning to Carter, he said, "I'll probably be home around 2300 hours. I hope you can fill in the time until then."

Sam nodded, smiling a little nervously; she didn't like the reminder that Jack was going on a date. "I brought some work to do." She had already thought that far ahead.

"Good." Jack leaned over and placed a kiss on the top of Daniel's head, then stood up. "Have fun, you two. I'll be back soon." He gathered up his keys and wallet, and headed out the door.

Daniel looked at Sam and she looked back. What were they going to do now?