AN: This got much longer than I intended, but hey, it's Friday, right? Please let me know if you like it!

Chapter Eleven

Let me assure you, it's been a long time since I squealed with delight about anything. But I do. I can't resist. He's just so damn cute. The squeal is followed by giggling - so much giggling that I have tears in my eyes and can barely breathe. Everyone else in the room is having pretty much the same reaction. This proves it: Jack is officially the cutest kid ever.

We trail, snickering, up the stairs after General Hammond. I reach for Jack to lift him, but he's still mad over the meeting. He pouts at me. Adorable as all hell, I tell you.

"Come on, John. I promise it won't be long."

His eyes are narrowed and his expression looks very much like his older self. As much as I like little Jack, I miss big Jack. "Cross your heart?"

I grin. That's so not something big Jack would say. I'm pretty sure little Jack could conquer the world with his charm. "Absolutely."

He regards me for a long moment. "Ok." But rather than reaching for me to carry him, he starts up the stairs on his own.

It should be said that the steps are so high on him that they nearly reach his knees. He doesn't have the strength to climb that high with one leg, so he has to lean forward and pull himself with his arms. Then he stands up, triumphant in his achievement. One step down, way too many to go. He repeats the whole process on the next step, attempting each it and failing before he uses his arms again.

Four steps later, General Hammond appears on the landing. "Major? Today please."

I look up with a pained smile. "He can do it himself, sir. We are coming."

"Do you think you could hurry it along?"

With a quiet sigh, I reach for Jack. I get him about an inch above the ground before he starts wailing. "I can do it myself!"

The general doesn't look impressed. So I set Jack down and look him straight in the eye. "I know you can do it yourself, but it's much faster if I carry you and the sooner we get upstairs the sooner we can go play."

Jack considers his options carefully, but in the end, in typical Jack fashion, outright obstinacy wins out. "I said I can do it myself."

I don't particularly like the notion of upsetting either Jack or Hammond, but Jack probably can handle the stairs alone and General Hammond could, if I were to push him, refuse to let us leave the base tonight. "All right, John. Knock yourself out." I walk past him, taking the steps two at a time. I sit down at the conference table, closing my eyes and rubbing my temples in the hopes the throbbing headache will ease up. I probably shouldn't have run up the stairs like that.

General Hammond shuffles some reports. "I'll make this quick. I know we're all desperate to have this day be over with."

"SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!"

I guess Jack just noticed that I'm out of his line of sight. I glance at the general for no particular reason. I don't care what he says, I'm not about to have Jack screaming my name again and not do something about it again. Hammond looks tired. Between losing Jack and shrinking Jack and the alien attack, I think we've all had about as much as we can take. I go back to the stairs and lean over the railing. His wail stops as soon as he sees me.

"Do you want to come up here with me?" I watch as he nods, tears wet on his chubby cheeks. "Then you'll have to let me carry you." He nods again, stretching his arms up to me. I descend and re-ascend the steps slowly this time to ward off a worse headache. Jack's pathetic foray into independence is quashed and he snuggled back into my arms. I listen to his soft breathing as he sucks his thumb. I don't think I've ever been so content. I love the way this feels.

And then suddenly, Daniel, Teal'c and General Hammond are getting up from the table. I look around, confused as to the point of the meeting or lack thereof. I can see General Hammond through the glass - he's already back in his office, putting his coat on. Teal'c is gone by the time I look back. Daniel is smirking.

"Have a nice nap?"

There's the blush again. It's been a whole hour since I blushed; I was starting to forget what it felt like to be perpetually embarrassed. I've never fallen asleep in a meeting no matter how tired or bored I was. "You're kidding."

Daniel shakes his head. I know I'm not going to enjoy whatever has him grinning. "You looked so content and snuggly with Jack there. I guess you have to settle for what you can get, right?"

I glance at Hammond's office to make sure he's long gone. My face has turned an even deeper shade of red. I can't come up with a good retort. I'm still half asleep. "I'll blame that crack on the head injury, Daniel." My voice holds a warning tone - it's bad enough if he wants to tease me in private, but he needs to watch it when we're on the base.

"I'll see you later. I'm going to try to get some work done before Janet catches me." With that, he leaves.

I look at Jack who's once again staring at me. "I think we might actually get to the having fun now."

Jack looks at me in all seriousness, popping his thumb out of his mouth long enough to answer me. "Finally."

It's so Jack that I have to laugh. I guess the attitude is as much a part of him as his attachment to me. I take advantage of his current age as the perfect excuse. "I love you."

He grins as he leans forward to kiss my cheek. "I love you too."

"You'd better." I tickle him as we head for the elevator. I'm getting off this base before anyone catches me. We get all the way to the car before I realize I can't drive around with a three year old loose in the car. I remember Jack's truck had a child seat in it, so I have to go back in. I'm sure his keys are in his locker. I'm sure he'll probably want to know how I know his locker combination at some point, but I'll have to deal with that later. As I dig out his keys, I notice the clothes tossed in the bottom. They're the ones I wore when I was shrunk. They're still all muddy, but I seriously consider putting them on Jack.

In the end, I just can't bring myself to dress him in a pink t-shirt and jeans with pink flower appliqués. That would be wrong. Hell, I'm still burned up over the fact that someone put me - the biggest tomboy of all time - in them.

So I have to find another solution. Solutions are my thing anyway. I think it over while I strap Jack in the car seat and dodge the odd looks from the boys at the gate. I'm going to have to buy him some clothes. And I should probably buy him something decent to eat at well since that cake isn't going to hold either of us for much longer. I pull into the first shopping center I see with a department store. I find my way to the kids department easily enough, but that's where I stop. I actually have no clue what size to buy. I don't want to be too obvious about it for fear that someone will wonder if I kidnapped Jack or someone will notice that he's only wearing a t-shirt. I stare at rack after rack of choices with what I'm sure is an absolutely baffled expression. My headache is getting worse at the sheer volume of choices before me.

"He's three and a half, isn't he?" I look up startled at the salesgirl. She looks about three and a half herself.

"Yeah."

"My son's his age. He's just growing like a weed!"

She has a son? Do her parents know? I think I'm getting old because I can't believe this girl is old enough to have a baby - or a job really. But I see a gold ring on her finger and shake my head in amazement. Maybe I've been locked in that mountain too long. I glance at Jack and then back at the girl. "The stuff he was wearing this morning doesn't exactly fit anymore." Entirely true. I'd pat myself on the back if my arms weren't full of three year old.

"There are some great sets over here. They're a little long, but they've got elastic in the waist so he can grow into them. And they also have a stain resis-"

I tune out as I follow Miss Perky to the rack. "Great. I'll take one."

"Trains or bikes?" Miss Perky lifts up two outfits; one features a train on the shirt and the other has a motorcycle.

I grin at Jack. "Bike." I pull out my wallet to signal that I'm not interested in shopping anymore.

Miss Perky leads me to the register, yapping happily about how we should get the boys together sometime to play. I don't imagine I'd be interested even if I did have a kid. I smile at her in as close to a friendly smile as I can while her chatter grates on my nerves.

"We're running late, so I've got to run. It was so nice talking to you." I don't give her a chance to say anything else. I grab the bag and run. I don't even stop when Jack spots a giant stuffed dog and starts asking if he can have it.

I take Jack back to the car long enough for him to put on his new clothes. Then we hit the grocery store for Fruit Loops and milk. It's got vitamins in it, so it's healthy enough for now, and since I can't cook, it's probably the best he's going to get in my care. Jack's getting anxious because he's still not seeing the fun in running errands, except for some toy cars that he spots which I won't stop long enough to buy. I'm doing my best race walking to get back to the car so we can actually get to the park before it's too dark to play and I have to take him back to the base.

"Puppy!" His shriek is so loud that I stop dead in my tracks.

That did not help my headache one iota. I turn to look in the direction of Jack's pointed finger, unable to resist anything that has him so excited. He's bouncing in my arms, reaching with both hands for the puppies in the pet store window. Oh, I should have seen this coming. But since I have no children, I couldn't possibly have been expected to foresee the danger in passing a pet store. Of course, the pet store is closer than the park and, by the looks of it, more fun.

I lower Jack to the ground and watch as he presses his face to the glass. One of the puppies comes over to him and licks the window. Jack giggles and I open the door for him to dart in. I stand behind him as he stares mesmerized by the dogs. They are cute, but there's no chance in hell I can take care of a dog with my life.

After twenty minutes of Jack talking to the puppies, a pimple-faced teenage boy comes over. "Would you like to see one of them?"

I shake my head. "We're just looking around for now."

Jack turns on me, his eyes already filling with tears. "I wanna see puppy!"

I cannot deal with more tears. "Yeah, ok, can he pet one of them?"

The boy lifts one yipping, excited puppy out of the cage and sets it in front of Jack. Immediately, it jumps up, landing its front paws on Jack and knocking him to the floor. Jack starts howling and the puppy scampers off with the boy in tow.

Jack unsteadily climbs to his feet and runs back to me, hugging my knees and crying. Apparently, he wants to see another puppy. I spy a smaller cage against the far wall and coax Jack into looking at that one instead. Chihuahuas are not quite as frightening to children. Jack is enthralled. The other puppies were as big as him, but the Chihuahua puppy is small enough for Jack to hold, if I help him not squish the puppy's guts.

After another twenty minutes, I've about had it with the sights, sounds, and smells of the pet store. "Oh, John, time to go."

Jack looks up at me with a huge smile. "Kay." He starts toward the door with the miniature dog in his hands.

"John, the puppy has to stay here so someone can give him a good home."

Jack's face fills with horror. "No!"

"Yes." I know it's silly to think I can reason with baby Jack. I can barely reason with big Jack and that's only when he's in a good mood.

"Mine!"

"No."

He stomps his foot, the mere act of which causes him to lose his hold on the dog. Seeing its chance at freedom, the dog runs away. Jack turns back to me, somehow believing I had something to do with it. He draws in a deep breath and then opens his mouth and out comes that loudest, longest, sharpest scream I've ever heard in my life.

In that moment of deafening, blinding pain, I realize something very important. Jack is not my child. If he wants a dog, it's not in any way going to be my responsibility following this shrunken interlude. And Jack has, on many occasions, mentioned getting a dog.

I'm good at solutions, remember? And buying the dog will solve two problems - it will stop the screaming and it will help Jack make a decision he's been toying with for years. I smile at Jack. "Ok, let's get the dog."

Jack stops screaming with his mouth wide open. I don't think he was expecting my change of heart.

"Are you sure you want this one?" Cause really, I don't think a Chihuahua was what Jack had in mind. Jack nods. I don't think buying one of the Irish setter puppies that knocked him down would be a good idea, but I'm leery of this choice. "What about a nice beagle? I think you'd like a beagle." I could see Jack with a trusty beagle.

Nope. Jack wants the Chihuahua.

I squat down, grasp his shoulders and look him straight in the eye. "You just make sure you remember that you wanted a Chihuahua and there was nothing I could do to talk you out of it."

Jack grins. "Yay!"

Just as the salesboy returns with the escapee, I tell him that we're taking the dog. I tell him we need all the accoutrements that new dog owners need. As I'm filling out the paperwork to assure them that I'm over eighteen, I decide to nip any future problems relating to dog ownership in the bud and fill in Jack's name as the owner. The boy looks at the paperwork curiously.

"It's going to be his dog. That's ok, right?"

He nods. "I'll just need your signature on the parent line."

I look at Jack, who is sitting on the counter with a squeaky toy in his hands. "You have to take care of him, ok?"

Jack nods happily. "What's his name?"

"He's your dog, John. You have to name him."

The boy hands me all the paperwork and the bags. He offers the barking box containing one hyperactive Chihuahua to Jack. "Here's your puppy!"

Jack looks at the boy. "What's your name?"

The boy smiles and points at his nametag. "Pete."

Oh God. Not good.

Jack turns back to me. "I want to name him Pete."

Once again, I stare him straight in the eye. "You just remember that was your idea too."