The next morning Shawn woke up feeling rested and about as good as he'd felt in the last few days – better even. He didn't know why he felt so good, but he did, and that was really all that mattered, he supposed. Maybe just because all the worries about who he was going to live with on his summer vacations and who was going to be his guardians and all that were taken care of. Maybe just because he'd had a good night sleep. Who knew?

He came out of the bedroom and was swarmed by Jaffer and Jack (the dog) who literally knocked him over in their eagerness to say good morning, and Shawn was swamped under them, unable to dodge two tongues and unlimited slobber.

"Dogs! Breakfast!"

That made them move, quick enough. They thundered down the hall, leaving Shawn to drag himself back to his feet and he grinned when he saw Sam standing at the end of the hall watching him.

"I bet Ian and River don't do that to you in the morning…"

He shook his head, still smiling, although he lost the smile when he thought about Ian.

"Did we hear anything from Daniel or Teal'c?" He asked, taking a hand towel from her and wiping his face clear of dog drool.

Sam nodded.

"They found Ian last night. They're on the way home."

"Is he okay?"

She shrugged.

"Jack spoke to Daniel, who told him Ian's 'a mess'. But he's healthy and whole, and as long as that's the case, we can work on the rest."

"What about Kinsey?"

She shrugged again.

"I don't know, Shawn. We'll have to-"

"Hey! Are you guys going to come eat?"

They turned and saw Jack standing by the kitchen entrance, and Sam looked at Shawn.

"Oh, yeah. I was supposed to be coming to tell you that breakfast is ready."

Now that they mentioned it, the house did smell great. Like sausages and something hot cooking – pancakes or waffles, Shawn wasn't sure which.

"It's hot and ready now," Jack said, walking over and brandishing his spatula like a sword. Or maybe like a little dagger. "And if I end up feeding it to the dogs, you're going to end up with cereal."

"We're coming."

Jack smiled, and ran a hand along Shawn's shoulder when the cadet walked past to head for the table, which was already set.

"Did Sam tell you Daniel and Teal'c found Ian?"

He nodded.

"Good. They're on their way back, and should be here sometime late this afternoon or early evening – depending on how many stops they have to make, or what kind of weather they run into."

Jack held Sam's chair for her, and brushed a kiss against her cheek as she sat down, and then turned his attention back to Shawn, who didn't need a kiss or his chair pulled out for him, and he sat down quickly.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm okay, Jack. More worried about Ian than anything, really…"

Jack nodded, and from the look in his expression, Shawn knew Jack was worried about Ian, too. But he didn't say anything, yet. Instead, he vanished into the kitchen and returned with a couple of platters; one with waffles, and one with sausages and fried eggs. He set them down and told them to dig in, and then went back into the kitchen for a carton of juice. Only then did he sit down and join them.

"I'm going to kill him when I see him…"

Shawn looked at Jack, who was dishing waffles onto his plate.

"Ian?"

"Yup."

He could tell Jack didn't mean it, but he understood completely.

"I just want him back…"

Jack nodded, losing his annoyed look and starting in on his breakfast.

"Me, too."

OOOOOO

After they ate Shawn and Sam stayed at the house because Shawn's grandparents were supposed to come by before they left for home, but Jack had a few things he needed to take care of. He offered to take the dogs with him, but Sam told him she and Shawn could handle them just fine for a couple of hours – it wasn't like they weren't perfect angels, after all. Besides, she knew where Jack was going, and he didn't need to be distracted by having Jaffer and Jack both with him.

Randy and Mae arrived just after Shawn and Sam finished the breakfast dishes (Jack cooked so he didn't feel at all guilty about leaving that particular chore for them) and they sat and had a cup of coffee while they made sure there wasn't anything Shawn needed from them before they left. He assured them again and again that he was going to be fine, and that if he needed anything, they'd be right up there on the top of the list of people he called.

There were hugs and tears all around as they said their goodbyes – their plane was leaving at noon and they had to get some other visits out of the way before they left – but it wasn't too bad, and Shawn was able to smile as he waved goodbye to them from the driveway where he, Sam and the dogs had come out to watch them drive off.

Sam wrapped an arm around his waist, giving him a partial hug.

"Why don't we get bundled up and take the dogs for a walk?"

That would give them exercise and give Shawn something to do besides sit around the house.

"Are you supposed to be walking?"

She rolled her eyes.

"I could sit in a wagon and you could pull me…"

When he gave her a look that said he was actually considering that, she cuffed him on the shoulder.

"I am not an invalid, young man. Walking is good exercise – for me and the baby. You walk Jack, I'll walk Jaffer."

Jaffer would never tug on the leash with Sam on the other end. He'd pull Jack all over the place sometimes, if they were in a playful mood, but he never put Sam in any situation she couldn't handle.

Shawn nodded, and they went inside to get Jaffer's leash and one of the extra ones hanging on the Wall to use for Jack.

OOOOOOOOOO

By the time Jack returned home, Shawn and Sam had already eaten lunch and were sitting at the dining room table with the chess set in front of them. She was trying to explain to Shawn the odd set of rules for chess that Jack and Ian had invented over Thanksgiving break, and although she couldn't remember all the various rules, they were having fun experimenting with it. She doubted even Jack could remember all the rules they'd made up – since there had been so many.

Jaffer and Jack bolted to the door to say hello, and Jack spent several minutes scratching, rubbing and wrestling with both labs before he finally pulled away long enough to come over and sit down at the table.

"Who's winning?"

They both shrugged. Since they'd lost track of which ones were the Buddhist pawns, they kept adding all their men back to the board when they were captured, so things had been a stalemate pretty much from the beginning.

"I think Shawn is, but I'm not positive." Sam said. "Did you see River?"

Jack nodded, and Shawn looked over. He hadn't known that Jack was going to the academy.

"I told him that Shawn here will be back as soon as he's ready, and that Ian's been found healthy and whole and not to worry."

"I can go back, Jack," Shawn said. "I'm ready…"

Jack nodded. He and Sam had discussed that, and they thought it would be good for Shawn to be back at school, and with River, who was so cheerful that it was bound to rub off on the boy. Besides, Shawn and River were pretty close. They'd had a lot of time to get to know each other the month that Ian was away from school recovering from his injuries, and Jack figured that if anything was bugging him that he didn't want to talk to Jack about, he'd be willing to take it to River, who was sensible enough that he could help him through it.

"I'll take you back in the morning, then."

"With Ian?"

Jack hesitated.

"We'll see what happens."