Ch 3: The Gang's All Here
Sam and Daniel were due to meet everyone in the lobby of their hotel Friday evening, which also happened to be their birthday. They had decided it would be funny to embarrass Jack by meeting them dressed head to toe in Disney souvenirs. They had also already purchased several gifts for everyone.
So it was that when Jack O'Neill, bags slung over each shoulder, led the rest of his crew into the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge, he was met with the site of his scientists, grinning ear to ear and waving everyone over. Daniel was wearing a Toy Story tee-shirt, Carter's shirt had some fairy thing... he squinted and read the script below the picture. Tinkerbell? What in the hell was a Tinkerbell? And both of them were sporting the traditional Mickey Mouse club ears, each with their names airbrushed on. They looked incredibly cute, in a slightly ridiculous 'thirty-something adults regressed to small children' sort of way.
Even Cassie, who had been even more moody than usual the whole trip so far, laughed and bounced over to them, smiling, and threw her arms around both of them.
Teal'c was wearing a plain knit cap to cover his Apophis symbol, and when he saw Sam and Daniel's mouse hats, he said quietly to Jack, "Will I be required to wear one of those as well, O'Neill?"
Jack laughed, picturing that, and said, "I doubt they make them big enough for you, T."
Janet, next to him, said, "I wouldn't be too sure about that, Colonel," as they all went to meet Daniel and Sam, who were already telling Cassie about what they had been up to.
"Well, looks like you kids have been having fun," Jack commented, smiling at them both.
"Yes, sir!" Carter said brightly. "And we already have picked out some things we think each of you will want to see, and don't worry, sir, we already did Epcot by ourselves so you won't have to go to any science or history exhibits and..."
"Carter!" he barked, but he was smiling. "How about you let us get checked in first. And Doc, maybe you should do a drug test on those two," he added over his shoulder as he headed to the counter.
Janet shook her head. The man really appeared to think he had them all fooled. Sure, he acted grumpy and all, but he was the one who had organized all of this, and it hadn't been easy to get Hammond to let them all go, even for the weekend.
After everyone got settled in their rooms (Cassie and Janet were across the hall, whereas Jack and Teal'c were right next door,) everyone crowded into Sam and Daniel's room, which was looking quite cluttered after five days of using it to dump their things off and grab some sleep.
Daniel and Sam, still wearing their mouse ears, were huddled over a bag of things with their backs to everyone. Jack looked to Janet for an explanation, but she just shrugged, happy to see how relaxed two of the SGC's most over-worked people had become.
"Okay, since you guys don't have as long here as we have, we did some souvenir shopping for you all," Daniel said.
"First, we got everyone hats..." Sam began, passing Minnie Mouse ears to Janet and Cassie with their names on them.
Both women thanked them and obediently put their hats on. Jack eyed the bag warily. Daniel and Sam exchanged looks and laughed. "We didn't think we'd get you into one of those, Colonel, so we got you this one instead," Sam said, handing him a baseball cap.
It was dark grey, almost black, and said "Grumpy" on the front. On the back there was a tiny embroidered Grumpy dwarf in the middle. "It was Daniel's idea!" Sam said defensively as Jack looked back and forth between the two of them and Cassie and Janet laughed.
"Hey! You're the one who pointed it out in the first place!" Daniel countered.
"Only because you wanted to get him that big one with the floppy ears!" Sam reminded.
"Okay, kids, don't make me call time-out," Jack interrupted, putting the hat on and shaping it with his hands. "Thank you. Both."
"So, Teal'c, we got this one for you," Sam said, handing him a hat that was modeled after the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. It was bright purple and nearly two feet tall.
"What, he doesn't stick out in a crowd enough already?" Jack asked as Teal'c swapped it for the hat he had been wearing already.
"Thank you," Teal'c said politely.
"Yeah. Oh, Cassie, we got you a stuffy too..." Sam said quickly, digging into the bag and pulling out a Piglet. "I know you're really too old for them, but..."
"I still like them," Cassie assured her. "Thanks."
"Well, okay, since tonight is officially your birthday, everyone go get cleaned up and changed for dinner, because we have reservations at eight!" Jack said suddenly, surprising everyone.
"Where?" Janet asked him as they all dispersed.
"Disney World," he replied vaguely, shooing her out the door.
"Very informative," they heard Janet say sarcastically as Jack shut the door, leaving them alone to get dressed for dinner.
An hour later Daniel answered the loud knocking on the door. It was Teal'c and Jack, both dressed smartly for dinner. Teal'c was wearing a black beret, black trousers, and a bright red silk shirt. Daniel stared at him, his mouth hanging open, as they walked past him and made themselves comfortable.
"Daniel, what do you think of Teal'c's duds?" Jack asked with a smirk, knowing it would put Daniel in an awkward position.
"Very... very um, very nice, Teal'c," Daniel said, giving him two thumbs up. Teal'c smiled and tilted his head slightly, leaning against the dresser. Jack, who was out of Teal'c's line of vision, since he had immediately made himself comfortable by stretching out on top of the closest bed, crossing his ankles and leaning against the headboard with his linked fingers cradling the back of his head, gave Daniel the 'o-kay' sign and winked dramatically.
"Carter, what's taking so long?" he suddenly barked at the closed bathroom door.
"I'll be ready in a minute, sir!" Sam called.
"Jack," Daniel said with a long-suffering sigh.
"What, Daniel?"
"This is a vacation, maybe it would be nice if you didn't bark orders at her and call her 'Carter.'"
"Indeed," Teal'c agreed.
"Well, I'm starving."
"You know Sam will be ready way before Janet and Cassie though, so why rush her?" Daniel pressed.
Jack shrugged, picked up the phone, and called the Fraiser's room. "Doc! Ten minute warning!"
Sam came out of the bathroom dressed for dinner in a simple, long skirt and lightweight sweater. "I'm ready."
"Not quite," Jack called, holding out Sam and Daniel's birthday hats for them. They looked at each other and shrugged. He had made them wear them at O'Malley's, so they weren't surprised he wanted them to wear them at Disney World, where they might blend in a bit better, even at night.
Janet and Cassie passed their ten minute warning, so everyone trooped across the hall to prod them along. "Jack, where are we going?" Cassie asked as they headed down to the lobby. "I was looking at the brochures in the room, there are about a million restaurants here."
"Well, we're going to one of them. That everyone will like. I think."
Sam and Daniel looked at each other in surprise when he led the group towards the trolley that went to Epcot. "Sir, are you sure this is the right one?" Carter asked.
"Yup. Hop on."
Everyone spent the short ride ganging up on Jack, trying to guess which restaurant they were going to. He surprised them all as he led them to the Coral Reef Restaurant.
"Wow, this is so cool!" Cassie exclaimed as they went inside. The restaurant was effectively underwater. There were glass windows everywhere that allowed the guests to see all kinds of tropical fish swimming around them while they ate.
"It's like a bubble," Sam said happily as they sat down.
"This is indeed most interesting, O'Neill. Excellent choice."
"Thanks," Jack said as the waiter, whose nametag identified him as 'Clark,' passed menus around and told them about the specials.
"And I take it you two are our guests with birthdays this evening," the waiter said, smiling at Sam and Daniel's hats. "Is today your actual birthday, both of you?"
Sam and Daniel nodded and Daniel started to say something, but the waiter continued in the extremely happy tone all the waiters they had met all week had used. "Well, this is my second twin birthday party today, actually, although I'm betting you two won't be wanting bibs and booster seats."
Everyone laughed except for Teal'c and Jack. Jack restrained from rolling his eyes with great difficulty. Sam started to tell the waiter that they weren't twins but Daniel slung an arm around her shoulder and ruffled her hair before she could say anything other than, "Daniel, get off!"
While they joked around, Jack gave the waiter everyone's drink orders and got some appetizers. Cassie, who thought the waiter was rather cute, frowned at Jack when he ordered her a Shirley Temple without asking. "Actually, I'd rather just have a soda," she interrupted, smiling at the waiter. He nodded and returned the smile.
Jack looked at Cassie sternly. She had been in a bad mood off and on since they left for the airport, for whatever reason, and he wasn't about to have her mess up Sam and Daniel's birthday weekend by ditching them for some waiter. Jack had noticed that Cassie had barely spoken to Sam at all, and he had noticed Sam notice too.
"Sorry, I'm just a bit old for Shirley Temples now," Cassie said, smiling sweetly at Jack and finding herself incapable of resisting the urge to add an even sweeter, "Grampa."
"Cassie!" Janet scolded. Sam and Daniel, who had been wrestling with Sam's tiara (Sam was trying to get Daniel to wear it) looked over to see what everyone else was talking about.
Jack cleared his throat and smiled at the waiter. "Clark, are there any sharks in your aquarium, by any chance, because I'd like to donate some bait." Clark laughed and went to fetch their drinks.
While they admired the restaurant and argued amiably over which types of fish they were spotting, everyone ate and mostly listened to Sam and Daniel talk about everything they had been doing that week. After the delicious meal, several waiters brought out a big Mickey and Minnie mouse cake that Jack had to call ahead and arrange two days in advance. The waiters and everyone at the table sang Happy Birthday to Sam and Daniel, and everyone in the restaurant applauded loudly.
While everyone ate their cake, Cassie chatted with Clark a bit, and he told her there would be a spectacular fireworks display just outside in a little while. He told her how to get to a really good spot where they would be able to sit and see the whole show without being really crowded.
So everyone followed Cassie as she led them to the spot Clark had told her about after they left the restaurant. Sam and Daniel, Jack was starting to think, had been grinning for so long their faces must have stuck that way. As they walked down the street, which was crowded with people milling about waiting for the fireworks to start, they surrounded Jack and thanked him again for dinner and for arranging the vacation in the first place.
He shrugged and waved it away. "Those of us who've been at work all week are pretty beat though, kids."
"We don't have to stay long at the fireworks," Daniel said with a shrug. "They do them every night. But the ones at Epcot are different, right, Sam?"
"I think so," Sam agreed.
"No, we can stay as long as you guys want, but Teal'c was talking about getting up really early tomorrow. He's got a list of characters he wants to find."
"Are you serious, sir?" Sam asked, giggling as she glanced at Teal'c, who was a few steps ahead of them.
"Yeah, he and Cassie spent most of the trip reading a book about Disney World or something. He wants to find all seven dwarves, and Chip and Dale."
"We saw Chip and Dale," Daniel said, quickening his pace to catch up to Teal'c and tell him about seeing the chipmunks.
Sam was giving him one of those huge grins, and it was making Jack slightly nervous. "What?" he finally asked. "Do I have cake on my face or something?"
"No, sir. I'm just really, really glad we're all here."