Author's Note: TitusVorenus - no, but that would've made a way better story...
o0o
Chapter Two
"So," Daniel broke the awkward silence that had befallen, "we got married, huh?" he asked lightly, wanting to get rid of some of the tension from the situation and to see her smile. Vala looked so worried and sad; in fact, she almost looked devastated and the sight of seeing her emotions so exposed and her so vulnerable did strange things to him. He almost never got to see this side of her.
It worked. Without a thought, Vala let out a small chuckle and smiled fondly at him. "We did," she confirmed.
He gestured to the house. "And apparently got busy," he quipped, still a little rattled at the thought of being a father. Then there was the fact that he completely forgot all about them, so what kind of father was he? "Didn't waste any time, did we?"
"Oh, believe me, it wasn't intentional," she corrected, "They were both a surprise, a happy one, but nevertheless, a surprise. Theon was a honeymoon baby, as Cam likes to call it."
"Wow, we really didn't waste any time," he repeated, baffled. His expression changed and he became more somber. "Theon?" he questioned her softly, testing the name on his tongue, hoping it would evoke a memory or even an emotion, but no dice.
Vala smiled sadly at having to explain the reasoning for their son's name. "After my grandfather, my mother's father."
Daniel frowned. "I've never heard you mention him," he said.
"That you know of, that you remember," she corrected gently, "And Isla was n –"
"Named after my favorite foster mom," he interrupted, "The one who had me the longest and actually raised and cared for me."
Vala's head bobbed. "I owe her a lot," she told him, "She did an amazing job with such a stubborn pre-teen that turned out to one of the best adults I've ever met. I wish she could've seen the man you've become."
Daniel's brows furrowed. "I told you about her?"
She scoffed lightly. "Of course you did," she replied, "We're married, we tell each other almost everything. I know all about your childhood, your time in foster care, your time with Isla, her fight with cancer before she died while you were getting your doctorate."
He couldn't help but be surprised. He never told people about his time in foster care – he didn't even think he had told Sam, Jack, or Teal'c and they had been his family for ten years now. But he had told Vala, his wife apparently. Damn, he really must love her, that would be the only way he could ever imagine himself telling her all that. "Vala, when did this happen?" he asked, motioning between the two of them, "When did we happen? 'Cause the last thing I remember is us yelling at each other and I can't see how we got here."
"You were yelling, I, on the other hand, was too busy trying not to cry in front of you and left the room as quickly as possible," she corrected.
His heart squeezed. "I made you cry?" he asked remorsefully.
Vala stepped forward and took his hand. "Daniel, don't worry about it; I've long forgiven you."
Daniel stared at her in amazement. "How can you be that forgiving?" he asked, "How the hell did you forgive me? How did we move past that to create this?" he waved his hand all around them.
"It wasn't easy, if that's what you're wondering," she replied vaguely.
"But how?" he continued to insist.
Vala hesitated and released his hand. "I don't know if I should tell you," she confessed meekly, "I want to wait and see what Carolyn says after she examines you."
Daniel's eyes narrowed a fraction. "Why?" he said tersely.
"Because I shouldn't have to tell you about our marriage and life!" she snapped, "It should be something you remember on your own. It should be something that you should've never forgotten in the first place."
He gaped at her briefly. "It's not like I wanted to forget my life. I didn't ask for this."
She sighed and lowered her head into her hands, her fingers rubbing her temple. "I know and I'm sorry," she apologized wearily and removed her hands. "I know this isn't easy for you, but it isn't for me either. Do you know what it's like staring at the one person you love the most and they don't feel the same, like they don't recognize you?"
Daniel softened. "Vala, it's not like we don't know each other," he pointed out, "I know and have known you for years now."
"No, you know Vala Mal Doran," she contradicted, "you don't know Vala Jackson; you don't know the woman I've become since I openly admitted that I love you."
The stricken expression on her face was doing things to him. He couldn't get over how open she was being with her emotions and speaking without hesitation; she didn't try to hide anything from him. "But I want to," he told her, "I want to know her 'cause she sounds amazing. I will remember, Vala."
She looked at him sadly. "I wish I was as sure as you."
"Vala – "
"Yo, Princess!" Cameron Mitchell's voice sounded as the man approached from the house, carrying Isla with him, "What's goin' on? Sunshine looks alright to me."
Before she could answer, Carolyn followed Cameron out of the house. "Holy crap!" Daniel exclaimed softly, openly staring at the doctor, "Carolyn, you're – "
"If you say fat, I will hurt you!" the woman threatened, only a few feet from him and Vala.
"I was going to say 'pregnant.'" he defended himself, still bewildered at the woman's state.
Mitchell sent him a funny look. "Jackson, you've known about the baby," he reminded him, "you two agreed to be Cameron Junior's godparents."
"For the last time, we are not naming him Cameron!" Carolyn snapped.
"Wait, you're the father?" Daniel asked incredulously, pointing to Cam, and then he saw the rings, "Are you two married?"
The couple looked at for a moment before shifting to Vala. "He isn't doing a bit, is he?" Mitchell asked warily.
"I wish," she mumbled forlornly and sighed, crossing her arms, "He's seems to have lost the last four years of his memory."
"Has he sustained any head trauma or otherwise?" Carolyn Mitchell asked, stepping into doctor mode and stood directly in front of him and began to perform a standard neurological eval, "Follow my finger," she ordered as she moved her pointer finger for him to follow.
"Not that I'm aware of," Vala answered Carolyn, "He took the kids outside to play with the soccer ball and ten minutes later, Theon runs in, saying that Daniel fell and was hurt. I didn't see any signs of head injuries or otherwise, but I'm not a doctor."
"You sure Theon didn't hit him with the baseball?" Cam half joked.
"Wan dada!" Isla exclaimed, reminding the others of her presence.
Vala sighed and took her from Cam. "Not unless Daniel gave the ball to him, which he wouldn't."
"I thought Theon wasn't allowed to play with it anymore after the whole car window incident?" Carolyn interjected, checking Daniel's pupillary reaction with the light pen she always carried.
Cam frowned. "I thought it was after the living room window incident?"
"Ours or the neighbors?" Vala inquired.
Cam's eyes widened. "I forgot about the neighbors!"
Daniel looked between all three of them. "Just how many windows has my son broken?" he asked in disbelief and squeezed Carolyn's hands at her command.
Vala smiled assuredly at him. "Just those three," she responded, "but more than enough reason to take it away."
"Wan dada!" Isla insisted again but was ignored.
"Baseball or not, it doesn't appear to be trauma induced since I can't find anything wrong with him," Carolyn informed them, "but I'll need to get him back to the SGC to do a more thorough work up. People don't just have spontaneous amnesia."
"Dada!" Isla screeched before diving out of Vala's arms towards Daniel's.
Surprised by her daughter's actions, Vala fumbled and was unable to catch her. Fortunately, Daniel's reflexes were faster, and he caught the little girl. "Whoa there, little miss," he said and shifted her further up in his arms. "Let's not do that again, okay?" he told the child gently.
"Isla Georgianna Jackson!" Vala chastised, "Never do that again, understand me? You could've been hurt."
"Hey, she's okay," Daniel said softly.
Vala eyed him. "I know that, Daniel, but it could've easily gone the other way," she told him and advanced towards him with the intent of relieving him of the toddler, "I can take her back."
Daniel's hold on his daughter tightened and he pulled back from Vala. "I got her," he assured her, not wanting to release the child for some reason. She was his daughter after all.
He shifted her so they were eye level and he realized that she had his eyes, more than that, she looked like him. He hadn't noticed when he first saw her, but he did now and she was the female equivalent of him in child form. A long forgotten emotion bubbled up within him as he took in the child he helped create, but then he remembered he had no knowledge of doing so, had no memories of her being born or her life up 'til now, and it was the same with his son. Oh my gods, he had children, and for some horrible reason, he couldn't remember a single thing about them.
Isla got tired at staring at him and shifted so she could use him as a pillow, her face burrowing into his neck. At her movements, Daniel felt a lump form in his throat, and he glanced at Carolyn. "What the hell is going on and why can't I remember my children?"
"I don't know," Carolyn said calmly, "but I'm going to take you to the SGC so we can find out what's causing this and fix it. Like I said, spontaneous amnesia doesn't happen, at least not without a cause, and we'll find what's wrong with you."
Daniel nodded and tightened his grip on his daughter, rubbing her back as she slowly fell asleep. "Okay."
o0o
"There's nothing wrong with you," Carolyn growled, clearly frustrated, and slapped down her file, "You're perfectly healthy."
Daniel raised his eyebrows. "Most doctors would be happy that their patient is in perfect health," he noted.
"Most doctors don't have a patient presenting with unexplained amnesia," Carolyn retorted, "There is literally no physical reason for it."
"Psychologically?" Vala questioned, grasping at straws.
Carolyn shook her head. "Not that I can tell."
"Have I been around any alien technology recently?" Daniel asked.
"You haven't been off world in weeks," Vala replied, sighing as she rubbed her head, "nor have you been working with any. You've been behind on several obscure dialects translations for Atlantis and have been working on those."
Carolyn straightened. "Has he been to the city?"
Daniel frowned. "Not likely," he answered for himself, "I wouldn't go all the way to Pegasus to translate some obscure dialect." Both women stared at him. "What?" he asked, looking between the two.
"I'd forgotten Atlantis wasn't here at that time," Vala muttered to herself.
"Here?" Daniel inquired, "What does that mean? Is Atlantis in the Milky Way? How?"
"Oh boy, you got a lot to catch up on," a new voice interjected.
Three heads swerved to the newcomer.
"Sam!" Daniel exclaimed, getting up from the infirmary bed to hug her, "Good to see you."
Sam hugged him back. "Good to see you too, Daniel," she replied in kind, "I've missed you all."
Daniel pulled away with a frown. "Missed us?" he asked, "Where've you been?"
Sam ignored him for the moment and hugged Vala. "You weren't kidding," she told Vala quietly.
Vala crushed her friend in a tight hug. "Thank you for coming so quickly, Samantha."
"Of course," Sam pulled away slightly, "I'm just glad the Hammond was close and that I didn't have to push the engines too hard."
"The Hammond? What's the Hammond?" Daniel asked, getting more confused by the second, "Do we have another ship?"
Sam eyed Daniel briefly before focusing on Vala. "Don't worry, we'll figure out what's wrong with him," she promised.
"Thank you," Vala whispered.
"Will someone please tell me if and why Atlantis is in our galaxy!" Daniel snapped, "And what the Hammond is and why it's named after General Hammond? Did he retire?"
Vala winced and shared a look with Sam. "He's going to lose his ever-loving mind," she warned, "and we haven't even mentioned Destiny yet."
"What the hell is Destiny?"
"Might as well enjoy this part at least," Sam quipped.
"Indeed."
o0o
Author's Note: Poor Danny boy...
This story doesn't really have a point, plot, or whatever, just a nice small fluff piece for the most part, but still let me know your thoughts on it.