Chapter 16

"You know you can't hold him forever, right?"

Daniel snapped out of whatever daydream he'd been in when Janet spoke, and looked up at her as she leaned over the back of the rocking chair. "I know," he said with a smile. "He'll get a little too heavy when he's a teenager."

Janet smiled and kissed Daniel's temple. It was so good to hear him anticipating a long future for Ben. "He really seems to be improving," she said. "He's getting some healthy colour in his face."

Daniel nodded and kissed Ben's forehead as he slept. "He's sleeping more peacefully now, too," he said. "A few hours ago he seemed to be in pain."

Janet reached out to stroke Ben's hair, but stopped when he squirmed and turned his head to the side. The last thing she wanted to do was wake him.

"Dr. Jackson?"

They both looked up as General Hammond entered the room, and Janet was confused by the meaningful look he gave Daniel. "What is it?" she asked.

Daniel sat forward in his chair and lifted Ben to his shoulder as he started to stand. "Could you take him for a few minutes?" he asked. "Chloe's asleep, right?"

"Yes, but..." Her sentence was cut short as Daniel handed her the sleeping child. She took him and gently laid him against her shoulder, trying not to jostle him awake while also trying not to get tangled up in his IV lines. "Where are you going?" she asked as Daniel moved for the door.

"I just have to go to another briefing," Daniel said. "I'll be as quick as I can."

Janet didn't even bother trying to protest, as Daniel and Hammond vanished in a matter of seconds. She wasn't sure what kind of briefing would require Hammond to come and fetch Daniel himself like that, but she figured Daniel would tell her later if it was anything important.

It occurred to her as she sat down with Ben in her arms that aside from the babies, there was no one else in the room. Sam had taken Cassie home earlier, and Dr. Warner was attending to other matters, so until one of the nurses came to check on them, she was alone with the children.

Her children. For the first time, as she looked down at Ben's thin little face, she felt that he was hers.

She didn't know why it had taken her so long to feel anything maternal towards him. After all, Cassie wasn't her daughter by blood, but she'd had no trouble taking her as her own. For some reason, it felt different with Ben. At first he'd been a reminder of all the horrible things that had been done to her husband, and then he'd been a means to help her daughter. Now... now he was just a helpless little boy who needed a mother's care.

"You look so much like your daddy," she whispered as she dropped a kiss on his cheek. She sighed, tears coming to her eyes as she thought about all the pain and fear this child had already experienced in his short life. "We are going to take such good care of you," she said. "Nobody will ever, ever hurt you again."

Janet felt a stab of guilt as she said those words, knowing she'd been the cause of a small amount of that hurt. She knew she'd have to live with that guilt for the rest of her life, but the knowledge that both of the children had come through this alive lifted a considerable weight from her shoulders. If Ben hadn't survived...

She banished that thought from her mind and cradled Ben even closer against her chest. He had survived. He was part of their family now. There was no sense in worrying about what could have happened when everything was just fine.

"It's all in the past now," she said as she stroked his hair. So much like Daniel...

He grunted a moment later and started to stretch his limbs as his eyes flickered open. Janet braced herself, knowing he would probably cry at finding himself in the arms of a stranger.

But he didn't cry. He yawned and looked up at her with heavy-lidded eyes for a moment, and then fell back to sleep.

Janet smiled and relaxed again. Yes, everything was just fine.

Daniel returned a few minutes later looking nervous and agitated. He didn't say a word as he came over to her and held out his arms for Ben.

Janet gently passed the baby over to him and stood up to let him sit down in the chair again. "What happened?" she asked.

Daniel sighed heavily and waited until he and Ben were settled before he spoke. "It's... the NID," he said. "They're upset that they couldn't get their hands on Syun before he left."

Janet nodded in understanding and rubbed Daniel's shoulder sympathetically. "It doesn't really surprise me," she said.

Daniel gave his head a quick shake and looked up to give her a small smile. "How was he?" he asked.

"He woke up for a second, but just yawned and went back to sleep," she said, squatting down beside them.

Daniel chuckled. "He must be feeling a lot better then," he said. He met Janet's gaze and their eyes locked as they smiled lovingly at each other.

Janet sighed and replied with two words that fit the situation in so many ways - "Much better."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Daniel grinned when he pulled into the driveway saw the banner hanging over the front porch of the house - "Welcome Home Chloe and Ben!"

Janet looked over at him and laughed. "I wonder whose idea that was?" she said.

"Either Sam's or Cassie's," Daniel said as he unbuckled his seatbelt. "My money's on Cassie."

"Never would have thought that would happen," Janet said as she opened her door and stepped out of the car.

Daniel nodded in agreement. Cassie had changed a lot over the past few days.

As he and Janet opened the back doors of the car to take the babies out of their car seats, the front door of the house opened and Jack, Sam, Teal'c, and Cassie poured out of the house and down the front steps. They all shouted their greetings until Daniel playfully motioned for them to cut it out. "You'll wake them!" he hissed.

"Sorry!" Jack yelled. "We'll be quiet now."

Daniel caught Janet's eye as they both leaned into the car, and made an exasperated face.

She laughed and started removing Chloe's seat. "They mean well," she said.

Daniel rolled his eyes, but had to agree. It was just Jack's way of showing he cared.

As soon as Daniel started working to get Ben out of the car, the boy woke up and started crying. Daniel spoke to him soothingly as he unbuckled the seat, but his cries only became more frantic with each passing moment.

He looked over at Janet to see that she'd already freed Chloe's seat and was carrying it out of the car with Chloe still fast asleep inside. He sighed. He just couldn't do it... he couldn't leave Ben tied into his seat when he was crying like that.

His fingers were shaking with urgency as he unclasped the last of the buckles and lifted the boy out. "It's okay," he whispered into Ben's ear as he held him to his shoulder. "Daddy's got you now."

"Is everything okay?" Sam asked as she approached the car.

"Yeah, it's fine," Daniel said, grabbing the seat in his free hand and kicking the car door closed. "I think he just doesn't like being strapped into that thing."

Ben's cries had ceased by the time they all entered the house, so Daniel was free to look around at the display before him. He couldn't believe all the stuff that was crammed into his living room. There was an extra crib, playpen, baby swing, high chair, rocking chair, boxes of diapers, baby food, toys... and that was just what Daniel could see from the entryway.

"What... have you guys done?" he said in surprise.

"We figured you'd need two of everything now, so... we got you two of everything," Jack said, looking mighty proud of himself.

"Oh my gosh, there are so many clothes in here!" Janet exclaimed as she opened a little chest of drawers. She passed Chloe over to Cassie so she could start leafing through them. She laughed as she pulled out a tiny pair of air force BDU's. "Who bought this!"

Daniel looked at Jack, but Jack and Sam were staring at Teal'c with amused looks on their faces.

Teal'c lifted his chin with as much dignity as he could muster. "I believe the son of a warrior is never too young to follow in the footsteps of his father," he said.

Daniel had never been so touched by anything in his life. "Thanks, Teal'c," he said.

Sam laughed. "Admit it, Teal'c, you just thought they were cute."

Teal'c pretended to ignore her, and bowed his head slightly to Daniel before walking calmly across the room.

The others snickered behind his back, but Daniel just beamed. He hadn't felt this good in months.

"Come over here, Mom," Cassie said, leading Janet over to the far side of the living room. "We bought two of these, one for Chloe and one for Ben."

Janet picked up a little carousel from the coffee table and flipped a switch on its side. It started to turn while playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow in soft, fairy-like chimes. "They're beautiful," she said. "I know they'll love them."

"Guys," Daniel said a minute later as he found yet another riding toy behind a chair, "I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but... where the hell are we going to put all this stuff?"

"I'm sure we'll find somewhere," Janet said, taking Chloe back from Cassie as the baby started to fuss. "We can fit some of it into the nursery, some in our bedroom, and some of it can stay down here. The things we can't use yet can be packed away until they're needed."

"You make it sound so simple," Daniel said with a laugh.

"Hey, you didn't think we were just gonna dump this stuff on you and leave, did you?" Jack said indignantly. "We're gonna help you move it around. Just sit your ass down and tell us where everything goes."

Daniel felt almost like a king as he and Janet sat there for the next hour ordering the others around. Pretty soon, the house looked like it had always had baby furniture and toys scattered in amongst the rest of their things. Daniel wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Once everything was in place, Jack, Sam, and Teal'c said their goodbyes and left to allow the new family some time together. Cassie helped Daniel feed Ben as Janet fed Chloe, and then they put the babies down for a nap in their respective cribs. Daniel wasn't sure how, but both cribs had been crammed into the nursery without making it seem too crowded. It just looked... right.

"This is really going to work, isn't it?" he said as they left the room and closed the door behind them, hardly believing everything could fall into place so easily.

"Of course it is," Janet said. "We're going to make it work." She wrapped her arm around Daniel's waist and her other arm around Cassie's, and drew them all together in a group hug.

It lasted about ten seconds before Cassie groaned, "Mooom," and squirmed away.

Daniel laughed and let Cassie go, wrapping both arms tightly around his wife. It all really did seem too good to be true, but he had every intention of enjoying his happiness while it lasted.

Memories of that place couldn't have been farther from his mind as he spent the afternoon laughing and talking with his wife and daughter. For the first time since his abduction, he felt as though he could finally move on - that those aliens no longer had possession of him. He'd finally had the chance to fight back, and he'd won. They could never touch him or his son again.

Not even in his dreams.

The End