Chapter Twenty-Seven
They stayed at the park for over two hours. Daniel and Vala didn't have the heart to yank Elam away from the new friends he had acquired; as it was, they had already been given a few phone numbers to set up playdates. But it started to get late and they still had some unpacking to do before the team showed up for dinner. It would be the last team/family dinner they would have for a while since Sam was due to leave Monday morning for Atlantis.
The whole transfer was happening fast, too fast for some, but it made sense – Atlantis needed a leader. Sam had accepted the position Monday morning and was immediately given a week to get her affairs in order before she was to take charge of the expedition. So tonight served as a housewarming for the Jackson/Mal Doran family and a going away party of sorts for Sam. If they didn't leave now, they wouldn't have enough time to finish unpacking the rest of the boxes they had before the others got there.
"Hey, we should go," Daniel said, being the first one to voice it.
Vala signed. "I know," she reluctantly admitted, standing up, "I'll get him and you pack up our things."
"Deal," he agreed, not wanting to be the one to pull their son away from the joy that was his first time at a park and playing with other children.
It was harder than she thought it would be, pulling Elam away from his new friend, but after exchanging phone numbers with the boy's mother, Vala was finally able to pull Elam away with the promise of a future playdate.
"Did you have fun?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
Elam, ever so much like his father, began to babble about incessantly about the last few hours at the park. He mostly recounted stuff they knew, so as bad as it was, she only half listened once they met up with Daniel. She grabbed the hand sanitizer he held out and quickly squirted some on Elam's hands; the kid didn't even seem to notice and just rubbed them in as he continued to talk.
"Really? That's so cool," Daniel responded to something Elam said while handing Vala her phone. "You got a few messages."
"What, in the one whole minute I was gone?" she quipped and looked at her phone. "It's Sam," she informed him.
"Anything wrong?" Daniel asked as he began to lead Elam to the car.
Vala shouldered her purse and followed while still reading the text messages on her phone. "No, we've just been texting back forth since we got here," she replied, "She wanted to know about his first time at the park," she told him and sent a message to Sam, saying that they were heading home for the day and that they would see each other in a few hours at dinner.
Daniel unlocked the car before lifting Elam into his booster seat and making sure the seatbelt was safely secured around him and buckled. He noticed the sad look on Elam's face and gave him a small smile. "We can see if we can come back tomorrow," he promised, "and once the house is all set up, we can see about having your friend over, okay?"
"Okay," Elam agreed to his compromise.
Daniel shut the door and made his way over to the driver's side. "Why don't you tell mama about your friend?" he suggested and shot Vala an apologetic look, "What was his name again?"
"Ben," Elam supplied.
"I'd love to hear about your friend Ben," Vala said sincerely.
It launched him into chatting about his new friend Ben for the five minute trip home, but the parents didn't mind; it was his first friend after all.
When they pulled onto their street, they spotted some very familiar cars. "I thought we had agreed to 1700 hours?" Vala said but it came out as more of a question.
"I thought we did as well," Daniel said as he pulled into the driveway.
"Check your phone," Vala suggested, "Maybe they sent a text, explaining why they are two hours early."
Daniel slipped his phone from his pocket. "Nope, no missed called, voicemails, or messages."
Vala sighed. "How much do you wanna bet this was Cameron's idea?"
"Nothing because I'd lose that wager," he smiled at her.
She unbuckled. "Well, at least we get more free labor," she said and opened the door, "If they're gonna show up unannounced, the least they could do is help finish the rest of the unpacking."
Daniel followed her out of the car and helped Elam out. "Sounds reasonable."
"Can I play outside?" Elam asked once they were out of the car and headed inside.
Vala chuckled. "You've just spent the last two hours outside," she pointed out and he only gave her a blank stare, "Yes, you can play outside, but you'll need to put on more sunscreen."
Elam frowned. "I don't like sunscreen," he pouted.
"While that may," Daniel interjected, "you still need to use it."
"Okay," he mumbled.
Daniel and Vala shared a small smile before Vala opened the door.
"We're here!" she hollered, alerting the others to their presence, but received nothing in return.
As they walked further into the house, they saw no signs of the others. "Where do you think they are?" Daniel asked.
Vala shrugged and knelt in front of Elam, slathering more sunscreen on his face and arms. "Who knows," she remarked, "They're such odd people."
"We're all odd," Daniel retorted, "I think it's why we mesh so well."
"If so say so," she said warily, finishing rubbing in the last of the sunscreen, "All right, young man, you're good to go."
"Play with me?" Elam asked.
Vala sighed. "I'd love to, but daddy and I need to finishing unpacking the rest of our stuff before dinner."
"Go," Daniel told her and smiled at them, "I'll get started; you guys go have fun."
"You sure?" she asked and he nodded. She focused back on her son. "Okay, fifteen minutes and then I'm coming back in to help your father."
Elam bounced as he let out a cheer of excitement and grabbed her hand. "Let's go, mama!"
"Don't wear her out too much, buddy!" Daniel called after them. He had only untapped a box before he heard Vala call for him. He abandoned the box and headed for the backyard. Once the glass sliding doors were in view, he understood why she had called him and why their friends weren't in the house, despite their cars in the front. "You've got to be kidding me."
"What part of no more toys did they not understand?" Vala asked wearily.
"Can that even be defined as a toy?" he wondered as they stared at the wooden swing set their friends had half put together – complete with a little fort, slide, and miniature climbing wall.
Elam was already in front of the thing, having bolted when he first saw it, and was staring at it in awe. Vala smiled at his expression and excitement. "Gods, he's so spoiled," she sighed, "Hopefully it won't affect his behavior negatively."
"We won't let it," Daniel declared, "But let's look on the bright side – it's not an indoor toy taking up even more space."
"There is that."
"Time to go berate the adults?" he asked.
"Let's do it," she said determinedly.
They linked hands and walked forward together.
"One of you mind telling us what's going on?" Daniel asked once they were in front of the group, causing everyone else to go quiet.
"I'd say it's fairly obvious, Daniel," Jack spoke up.
"It was my idea," Sam blurted out and she smiled sheepishly, "I know much Elam loves to be outside and since I'm leaving in two days, I wanted to do this. I'm going to miss birthdays and Christmases so I'm perfectly justified in doing so."
"Please, we all know you're still gonna get him gifts, no matter what galaxy you're in," Vala stated, "so please don't buy anymore gifts for him or the baby because you feel guilty."
"I'll try not to," she promised but didn't look convincing, "Anyway, it was meant to be finished before you got home but they delivered it later than promised."
Vala tilted her head. "Is that why you kept texting me at the park?"
Sam shot her a guilty look. "That's not the only reason," she admitted, "I really did wanna know about his first time at the park, but also needed to know when you'd be back."
"Unbelievable," Vala muttered.
"Okay, just finish building the dang thing," Daniel butted in, "and make sure Elam stays out of harm's way."
"What, you're not gonna help us finish it?" Mitchell asked.
Daniel held up his hands and backed away. "Oh no!" he said, "This was your guys' bright idea so you can finish it. Vala and I are going to finish unpacking the rest of the boxes inside."
"Awe, come on, spacemonkey," Jack grumbled.
"Nope!" Daniel didn't budge and continued to the house, "No more toys, guys! No more!"
"What about the baby?" Sam asked.
"We'll make a registry!" he responded before entering the house with Vala.
"Think they'll actually listen?" Vala asked as she walked to the box Daniel had abandoned earlier.
"Probably not," he replied, "but they mean well, I guess."
Vala hummed but didn't say anything further.
They worked in relative silence, only speaking when deciding where to put certain things, but as she was putting away stacks of movies, Vala's eyes landed on a particular movie, one about weddings and such, and it reminded her of something.
"Daniel?" she asked and continued putting away the movies, organizing them as she went.
"Yeah?" he asked as he attempted at hooking up the TV.
"Why didn't you correct Olivia earlier?" she asked, "Why did you stop me from correcting her?"
"Who?"
"The woman from the park," she specified, "she was sitting next to us."
"Oh, her," he stopped what he was doing and went over to her, "Correct her about what?"
"She called me your wife and you my husband," she reminded him, "Why did you stop me from correcting her?"
He shrugged. "I don't know," he said nonchalantly, sitting behind her, "I guess I just didn't want to get into it."
Vala could tell he wasn't telling the truth or at least the whole truth. "It's never bothered you before," she pointed out, "Well, it's never bothered you to correct them, but it always bugged you when people thought we were married or romantically involved."
"That was before," he argued lightly, wrapping his arms around her.
"Before what?"
"Before us," he smiled into her neck, placing a small kiss there, "before I stopped being an idiot and acknowledged just how much I loved you."
"And just like that, you're okay with people believing we're married," she remarked, a smile blooming on her face. "I should've gotten knocked up by you ages ago," she teased.
"I also wanted to know," he confessed gingerly.
She pulled the arms holding her closer to her, not letting go. "Know what?" she asked, twisting her neck so she could see him.
"What it felt like," he murmured, "how it felt to pretend that you were my wife and not just my girlfriend."
Vala stilled.
"Don't freak out," he begged and moved so he was in front of her, "I'm not asking, at least not yet, and I won't until I know you're ready. I just was just trying to figure out if I was ready or not and when an opportunity presented itself at the park, I took it."
She took a deep breath before asking, "And?"
Daniel looked down for a second, suddenly a little bashful. "And I know now the second you're ready, I'm making you my wife," he said, completely serious, "I know it's only been six weeks since we started this, but it's been two years in the making, two years of fighting it, you, and my feelings for you.
"I also know that over the last six weeks, a lot has happened; a son, another baby on the way, Tomin, ending that gods-awful war, Adria, and moving. It's been a lot of change for you and I understand that it's been a bit much for you, so again, when you're ready, I'll be there, waiting with a ring."
"Daniel," she whispered, still somewhat dazed.
"You don't have to say anything," he told her and grabbed her hand to kiss, "and I'm sorry if that was too much; I just thought you should know where I stand. Life is too short and I'm not waiting a second longer than I have to."
Vala continued to stare at him in silence after he finished his speech.
"Vala?" he asked, a little concerned. Had that been too much?
He was surprised to say the least when she grabbed his face and slammed her mouth into his. By the time he got over his initial shock, she was pulling away.
"Ask me," she demanded.
"Ask you?" he repeated, still a little stunned from her abrupt kiss. Man, these hormones and mood swings were gonna be…interesting for the next few months.
"Yes, ask me," she reiterated, "You said you would the second I was ready. So, Ask. Me," she said the last two words slowly.
Daniel chuckled incredulously, shaking his head. "You sure?"
"More than sure," she promised, "I've loved you for so long, Daniel, how could I not be?"
He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips before standing. "Give me a minute," he said before left the room.
"Daniel?" she called after him, confused, but didn't move from her position on the floor.
"Just a sec!" he replied and reappeared less than a minute later and sat in front of her again.
She gave him a baffled look. "You go on about how you love me and can't wait to marry me but the second I tell you I'm ready, you rush off without explanation," she recapped, "What was so important that you left in the middle of this conversation for?"
"This," he held up a ring with his fingers and grabbed her left hand, "It was my grandmother's, Elsie Ballard, and I always thought I would give it to the woman I married, but with Sarah, it didn't feel right, and with Sha're, it was here on Earth while I was on Abydos. Even as I look at it now, it wouldn't have suited Sha're."
"Let me get this straight," she butted in, "your idea of proposing is mentioning all your serious exs?"
He rolled his eyes. "As I was saying, it was never right for them, it wasn't meant for them – it was meant for you," he declared, "It's sat in a box for decades just waiting for you, waiting for me to find you. It took a long time and me dying multiple times, but when I saw it when I was packing up my old place, I knew it was supposed to be yours all along."
Vala watched as he slipped in onto her finger and she smiled. "A perfect fit," she whispered.
"Vala Mal Doran, would you do me the honor of wearing this ring for the rest of our lives?" Daniel asked softly, "Would give me the honor of becoming my wife, the mother of my children –"
"I'm already the mother of your children," she couldn't help but interrupt.
"Shh!" he hushed and continued, "Would you consent to living the rest of our lives together, raising those children, and exploring what secrets our galaxy holds together? Would you make me the happiest man in the universe? Marry me, Vala."
"I would like nothing more than to become your wife, Dr. Daniel Jackson," she whispered before kissing him.
Which only lasted a few seconds before the heard a squeal of excitement.
"She said yes!" Sam shouted out to the backyard.
Chaos erupted but the newly engaged couple didn't care; nothing could ruin this moment.
o0o
Author's Note: Too soon? I mean, life is too short, so why waste any of it...