Author: MegTDJ
Category: Missing scene; fluff, leaning towards drama
Rating: PG
Pairing: Daniel/Janet friendship
Spoilers: Singularity
Summary: Missing scene for Singularity; Janet hadn't realized how much Daniel could relate to Cassandra's situation. 4 in the Love Comes Softly series.
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1, its universe and its characters are not mine. The story itself is, however, so please don't archive without my permission.
Familiarity
Janet was wrestling with her stepladder when the doorbell rang.
"Oh God, they can't be here already!" she mumbled to herself, wiping her hands on the seat of her pants and craning her head around the bedroom door to get a look at the hall clock. It was only nine thirty. They weren't supposed to arrive until well after noon. She hadn't even started painting yet, for God's sake, let alone finished.
"Coming!" she yelled as it rang a second time. She jogged down the stairs and flung the front door open wide. "I'm sorry, I wasn't ex... oh." She stopped mid-sentence when she saw that it wasn't who she'd thought it was at all. "Dr. Jackson. What are you doing here?"
"Did I come at a bad time?"
Janet felt terrible when she saw how guilty he looked. She must have sounded so rude. "No! Not at all," she said, flashing him a bright smile. "I just... didn't expect... um... what can I do for you?"
He shoved his hands into his pockets and shuffled his feet nervously. "I just heard that Cassandra was coming home this afternoon, and I wondered if you needed any help getting the place ready, or have any errands you need someone to run, or... anything."
Janet finally relaxed for the first time that week and gave him another dazzling smile. "That's very kind of you, Dr. Jackson. Thank you. Come on in."
He stepped inside as she swung the door open wider, and he took a quick look around at as much of the house as he could see. "You have a lovely home," he said.
"Thank you. Would you like something to drink? Coffee?"
"Sure."
"I've got a pot ready, so just come on through to the kitchen," she said, leading the way.
Daniel followed at her heels like a lost puppy. It didn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that he was feeling rather uncomfortable. "So, what exactly do you need help with?" he asked as she poured him a cup of coffee and handed it to him.
"Well, how much do you know about painting?" Janet asked tentatively.
"Only a little," Daniel said. "Are you painting her new room?"
Janet made a wry face. "I was trying to," she said. "I can't seem to get the stepladder set up properly, though, and there's no way I can do without it."
"Want me to take a look at it?" he asked.
"If you wouldn't mind, please," Janet said. What a relief it was to hear him say those words.
Just a few minutes later, the two of them were hard at work. Daniel somehow managed to figure out the ladder, and he offered to paint the top half of the walls while Janet worked more comfortably on the bottom half. Thankfully, he didn't make any height jokes, or Janet would have been forced to splash paint on his glasses.
As it was, though, he was quite helpful and polite, and very careful in his work. They exchanged small talk at first, but soon started conversing about more in depth topics as well as fun, trivial ones that made them both laugh. She could feel the leftover tension that had been hanging in the air between them since Hathor slowly begin to dissipate as the minutes went by.
"May I ask why you chose today to paint this room?" Daniel asked after a few minutes.
Janet groaned. "I didn't," she said. "This was just the only day I had free. I thought if I could work quickly enough..." She sighed and looked around at the three blank walls that hadn't even been touched with the pale blue paint yet. "It isn't going to be dry in time, is it?"
"To have the furniture and everything moved in and ready for when she walks through the door? No," Daniel replied. "But if you're okay with leaving it until later tonight..."
Janet nodded as she chewed thoughtfully on her lip. "I think I'll have to," she said. "I just wanted it to look nice and... together for when Cassie arrived, you know?"
Daniel looked down at her sympathetically. "She'll still love it."
Janet returned his gaze with an appreciative smile. "I sure hope so."
"You'll make a great mom, you know," Daniel said as he came down the ladder and moved it a few inches across the floor. "You have that natural... momness about you."
Janet laughed. "'Momness'?"
"You know... that... something," Daniel said, floundering with his hands as well as his words as he tried to find a way to explain himself. "Whatever it is that moms have that makes them... you know..."
"Momish?" Janet offered.
"Okay, now you're just mocking me," Daniel said, holding back a smile as he climbed up the ladder again and got back to work. "I was only trying to give you a compliment."
"By pretty much telling me I remind you of your mother?" Janet teased.
Daniel's face seemed to fall then, and he was silent for a long moment. Janet began to fear that she'd offended him in some way, but then he said quietly, "You do remind me of my mother a little, but... in a good way. The way you laugh, and... the way you touch people."
Janet felt strangely flattered by this, but she still felt it was a bit weird that a grown man was likening her to his mother. "I certainly hope you're not calling me an old woman, Dr. Jackson," she said.
"No, no, of course not," he was quick to reply. "My mother never actually got old. She couldn't have been any older than you when she died."
Janet's heart melted at this matter-of-fact announcement. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she said. "You couldn't have been very old when it happened, then."
"No, I was eight," he said, not pausing even for a second with his painting. "My parents were both killed in a... freak museum accident." He glanced down at her. "Ironic, huh?"
Janet could tell that he was covering up for some pretty intense feelings by making light of it, but she didn't want to pry. She turned her eyes back onto her work and just let him talk.
"I guess that's why I feel so bad for Cassie," he continued. "I know what it's like to lose everybody who cares about you in the blink of an eye. It's happened to me twice now. You can learn to live again afterwards, but... you never really get over it."
Janet found herself looking up at him again as he spoke, her heart breaking at his words. "I hope you're not implying that you lost everyone who cares about you when you lost your wife," Janet said softly.
"Well, I lost my second family," Daniel said, still moving his roller up and down on the wall without hesitation. "Sha're and the Abydonians mean everything to me, and just like that... they were gone."
"There are a lot of people here on Earth who care about you, Daniel," Janet said before she had a chance to second-guess the words.
Daniel's arm froze, and he looked down at her with an odd look on his face. Janet could have sworn she saw tears in his eyes. "I know," he said. "I think you guys are quickly turning into my third family. Which makes me a little afraid..." His voice broke off mid-thought, as though he suddenly realized what he was saying. He quickly turned back to his painting.
"Afraid you'll lose this family, too?" Janet finished for him.
Daniel shrugged. "That seems to be the way it goes," he said.
"Don't let that keep you from allowing yourself to get close to people, Daniel. It isn't worth that."
"I know." He sighed and lowered his paint roller. "I think this wall is done," he said, climbing back down the ladder. "I'm just gonna take a quick bathroom break, and then I'll start on another one."
"Okay." Janet watched him go, hoping she hadn't somehow crossed a line and upset him.
It was almost twelve thirty before the painting was done. Daniel helped Janet move some of the furniture into the little room, but things like bookshelves and picture frames would have to wait until later on when the paint was dry.
They were both ravenous by then, so Janet prepared them some sandwiches. They sat on the stools at one end of the kitchen counter to eat, and soon they were again immersed in casual, friendly conversation. Janet found herself enjoying their one-on-one time more than she could ever have imagined, and just his presence there stilled her nerves as they waited for Cassie to arrive.
Janet still couldn't believe that she was really doing this. Adopting a twelve-year-old girl... was she nuts? Did she even know the first thing about raising a teenager?
Daniel seemed to sense whenever her thoughts were turning towards worry, and he would say something to lighten the mood and make her relax and smile again. She honestly didn't know how she would have made it through the wait without him.
Finally the doorbell rang, and suddenly Janet felt panic starting to creep over her. She didn't move from her stool, but glanced over at Daniel as if for confirmation that someone really was at the door.
Daniel stared back at her with a half-amused, half-concerned look on his face. "Are you going to get that?" he asked.
Janet finally snapped herself back to reality when she realized how silly she must look. "Yes, of course," she said, hurrying to her feet and through to the front hall. She took a deep breath, smoothed her clothes and hair nervously, and opened the door.
"Hey, Janet," Sam greeted her, as she gave Cassandra a gentle nudge into the house.
"Hey!" Janet said brightly. "Welcome home, Cassandra. Come in, everyone."
Cassandra, Sam, and the officer who had been assigned with making sure Cassandra got the proper care filed into the house one by one. Janet blanked on the officer's name for a moment, but then she saw Daniel's hand stretching out from somewhere behind her, and his voice said right in her ear, "Captain Peters, good to see you again."
The woman smiled and shook his hand.
Janet turned to give Daniel a grateful look, and when she met his gaze he nodded and smiled. Something in his eyes told her he'd noticed her pause and figured out for himself that she'd forgotten the woman's name. She was very impressed and unbelievably grateful.
"Um... your room isn't quite ready yet," Janet said to Cassandra, "but we can still show it to you, if you like?"
"Okay."
"It's this way," Janet said, gesturing towards the stairs. "Daniel and I have been working on it all day, but the paint isn't quite dry yet."
"Does Daniel live here, too?" Cassandra asked as they started to climb the stairs.
Janet's jaw dropped in surprise. She hadn't even thought about the way it must have looked to Cassandra, with Daniel being there when she arrived.
"No, I live in my own apartment a few blocks away," Daniel said, not even sounding fazed by the question. "I just came over to help for a few hours."
Cassandra seemed to accept this answer with no question, so Janet found she could breathe again.
Captain Peters stayed for about an hour while Cassandra got settled in, but Sam and Daniel stayed for a while afterwards to make sure everything was going alright. She really appreciated their company, as she was still feeling a little nervous about her new "motherhood" role.
The new dog had been left out in the car at first, but soon came inside and started sniffing around his new abode. Janet wasn't sure she liked the name Colonel O'Neill had given him - Leroy - but Cassandra seemed to like it, so Leroy it was. It was strange to have an animal around, but Janet felt it was just another one of those things she'd have to get used to now.
Sam and Daniel stayed for dinner, but Sam left soon after, having to get back to work at the SGC. Janet half expected Daniel to go with her, but he stuck around to finish Cassandra's room now that the paint was dry. He left the two of them alone downstairs to do some mother/daughter bonding while he finished all the work on the room himself.
Janet could hardly believe the overwhelming support she was receiving from her new friends.
Cassandra seemed a little overwhelmed by everything, too, but she answered the questions Janet asked her very politely and seemed to be growing more comfortable there with each passing moment. By the time Daniel came back downstairs, she had changed into her pajamas and was fast asleep on the couch while Janet was doing the dishes.
"Do you want me to take her to bed?" Daniel asked.
Janet smiled. He was so eager to help that he seemed almost excited anytime there was something he could do. Far be it from her to stand in his way. "That would be great," she said. "I'll be up to tuck her in in a minute."
She watched as Daniel carefully lifted the girl into his arms, keeping his movements slow and smooth so he didn't jar her awake, and then carried her up the stairs. The sight was so homey and nice that it brought tears to her eyes. She almost wished she had a man to share this new responsibility with her.
After a minute or so, she tiptoed up the stairs to join them. The smell of the paint was still in the air, but they'd left the upstairs windows open for most of the day, so it wasn't unbearable. It would probably be completely gone within twenty-four hours.
Her first glimpse of the completed room almost took her breath away. Daniel had done a beautiful job putting all the finishing touches together, even adding a couple of trinkets to the shelves that he must have brought himself. The room looked better than she'd hoped it would, and that made her feel guilty that she'd expected to have to rearrange some things after he'd gone.
She saw right away upon entering the room that Cassandra was already tucked into the bed as snug as a bug. Daniel was sitting on the edge beside her, smoothing the girl's hair back from her forehead.
Janet came up beside him and rested her hand on his shoulder. "Do you think she feels at home here?" she asked.
Daniel looked up at her and smiled. "I don't see how she couldn't," he said. "She knows we all care about her."
"The room looks beautiful," Janet said, casting another long gaze around her. "Thank you so much for the help."
Daniel shrugged. "Anything for her," he said. "She's a great kid." He leaned forward and kissed Cassandra's cheek, and then rose to his feet. "I should go," he whispered. "I'll drop by tomorrow afternoon to see how things are going."
Janet followed him to the door of the room and then took his arm. "I honestly can't thank you enough for all your help today, Daniel," she said earnestly. "I feel like I owe you something huge for this."
Daniel chuckled. "If you want to look at it that way, consider us even after everything you've done for me," he said. Then he grew serious and added, "I just... wanted to be a part of this. You know?"
Janet nodded in understanding. She did know. Not only was he a man longing for a family and a place to belong, but he also saw something of himself in this little girl. He wanted to make sure she didn't have to go through life alone, as he had at her age. "Well, I would love for her to have you as a sort of father figure," Janet said, hoping her wording didn't scare him away. "I'm sure Colonel O'Neill will be around a lot, but somehow I get the impression that he wants to be more of a playmate for her than a serious role model."
Daniel rolled his eyes and smiled. "Jack is more the crazy-uncle-that-nobody-ever-talks-about type," he said. "I feel as though I should stick around if only to show her that not all Earth men are that immature."
Janet grinned and glanced over her shoulder at the sleeping girl. "I can see that she loves you, Daniel," she said, turning back to face him. "I'm really glad you plan on sticking around."
That seemed to have made Daniel's day, judging from the way his face lit up. "Thank you," he said. Then after glancing over at Cassandra one last time, he said goodnight and showed himself out.
Janet spent the next half hour standing in the doorway of the room, watching her brand new daughter sleep. She'd known her time at the SGC was going to be quite an adventure, but she hadn't realized until that moment just how much it was going to change her life.
She knew that one day soon, all of this was going to seem like ordinary, everyday stuff, but for the moment she was feeling rather overwhelmed by it all. Still, she knew that if ever things became too much for her to handle, she now had a handful of wonderful friends she could call who would help her any way they could. Because of that, she knew she would make it through just fine.