Chapter 6 – Daddy Daycare

Jack looked over at Daniel, exasperation written all over his features. "Refresh my memory; just why did we agree to do this?" he asked as he held his squirming daughter in one arm while he tried to put her shirt on with the other. He had spent the last few minutes chasing her down in order to get her changed, for the little girl had been wearing more lunch than she had eaten and was in dire need of a change of clothing.

Daniel momentarily stopped his pacing, Katie Rose still screaming at the top of her lungs. He continued to jostle her up and down, one hand splayed across her back, the other cradling her head against his chest while he tried to sooth the distraught child. He furrowed his brow in thought before answering. "Um, because our wives asked us to?" he tried lamely. "And we both know they can be very convincing when they want to be."

Snorting in disbelief, Jack finally accomplished his task and released Grace, who scampered away to join her brother on the other side of the living room, where he was running toy cars around the base of the brick fireplace. "Well, next time our wives ask us to watch the kids for an entire Saturday so they can shop, remind me to check the weather forecast first. And then maybe shot myself before agreeing."

Daniel grimaced as he looked out the window; the warm April weather of the past week had turned unseasonably cold and rainy just a few days ago, making it necessary to keep the children indoors; all day. JJ and Grace were filled with energy; energy that Jack was having a hard time dispelling. Hence the screaming infant, who had been knocked into by two and a half year old Grace. The little girl had been trying to escape her father's clutches, and the aforementioned shirt, when she tripped over the blanket on the floor and bumped into the baby.

Originally, when Janet and Sam had decided to have a "Ladies Day Out", Jack hadn't thought anything of it. He had in fact been all for it, as both women had been putting in long hours at work and at home. Besides, he'd taken care of the children many times alone, and for long periods of time. Only, he'd always seemed to have an outlet ready for their energy. But this time, with Daniel and Katie thrown into the mix, it wasn't as easy. Katie was on a rather strict schedule and Daniel didn't want to deviate from it. So there was no trip to the McDonald's play land or the indoor playground located downtown. Their earlier plans had included a long sojourn to the nearby park, but that had been nixed due to the inclement weather.

And so, Jack and Daniel had to make due with two very active toddlers and one fussy four-month old. They had tried playdough, building a fort, baking pre-made cookies, even racing remote control cars on the kitchen linoleum. All had entertained the children for a while, but weren't quite enough to rid the children of their excess energy. And Katie, who was used to a quieter environment at her house, let the two men know of her displeasure at all the noise and chaos of the O'Neill household.

"When are they getting home again?" Daniel asked as he resumed his pacing.

Jack looked at his watch. "Not for another 4 hours, 37 minutes and 45 seconds. At least it's shorter than one of those damned time loops," he added, brushing a hand across his face wearily.

Daniel groaned, "God, I hope we survive," he muttered, before quietly consoling his daughter, "There, there, Katie. It's OK. Gracie didn't mean to hurt you."

At the mention of her name, Grace looked up, a guilty expression on her face. She loved her little cousin and wouldn't intentionally hurt her for the world... though her brother was a different matter entirely. And although she had already apologized for her part in the accident, Grace toddled back over and looked up at the crying baby. "Me sowwy, Katie Wose," she stated, her lower lip trembling.

Daniel looked down at the little girl and let a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. "It's all right, Grace. I know it was an accident. Katie will be fine in a few minutes," he hastened to assure her.

Grace cocked her head to the side in thought, then said, " Mommy tisses my owies. Me tiss Katie Wose?"

His smile widening, Daniel bent down to her level. "Now why didn't I think of that? Yes Grace, you may give Katie a kiss." Bending gingerly forward, Grace puckered her lips and landed a soft, if not sloppy, kiss on Katie's head. Surprisingly, the baby's cries softened as she blinked into the eyes of the slightly older girl.

Grace smiled back. "All bever now!" she exclaimed, then scampered back to her brother, her duty here complete.

Jack looked after his daughter, a smile of amusement taking the place of the earlier frustration. Daniel rose to his feet, and rocked his daughter gently, relieved that the intense wailing seemed to be abating. He sank into the rocker-recliner and rocked Katie at a more sedate pace, heaving a sigh of relief.

Turning back from his children and looking at Daniel, Jack sighed, "Maybe we'll have a little peace and quiet for a while now." He sank into the couch cushions, leaned his head back in exhaustion and closed his eyes.

His respite was short lived. "OW! Daddy, Grace hitted me!" JJ cried from across the room, holding his arm with one hand and glaring at his little sister menacingly.

"Oh, for crying out loud," Jack muttered as he got back on his feet and went over to his children in two longs strides. "Grace?" he loomed over the tiny child, a frown of displeasure on his face.

Grace looked way up to meet his gaze, then hastily down at the ground. "Me want the red car," she said softly.

"And did you ask your brother nicely for the red car?"

"No!" JJ shouted back. "She just taked it, then hitted me! She's naughty, daddy." The four year old declared, still glaring at his sister.

Jack looked down at JJ. "I was asking Grace, JJ. Let her answer for herself." Turning back to the little girl, he waited for her reply.

After a moment's hesitation, Grace shook her head in answer to her father's previous question.

Sighing, Jack said, "You know we don't hit in this house, Grace Aeryn. Tell your brother you're sorry, then go and sit on the chair. You're going to take a time-out."

Grace muttered a soft, "Sowwy," to her brother before shuffling off to the dining room chair that was known as the "Time-out Chair." Jack followed her over and lifted her up, as she was too small to get up on her own. Scrunching down on his knees, he placed his hands on her legs. "We have talked about this several times before. You are not to hit your brother, young lady. Do you understand?"

"Yes, suw," she replied with downcast eyes. Daniel grinned at her reply… it seemed that even in his own home, Jack was still "Sir" on some occasions.

"You will sit here for two minutes and think about what you did," Jack got to his feet, wincing as his knees cracked and walked back over to the couch, facing a grinning Daniel with a scowl. He ignored the petulant, "Me no wike time-outs," uttered from his youngest child, followed by the sound of her little feet kicking against the chair legs.

"I wouldn't be grinning, Space Monkey. Another few years and you'll be dealing with unruly children and time-outs as well," Jack said as he once again ran a hand tiredly across his face.

Daniel chuckled quietly, "Yeah, but how can you discipline her Jack? She's so darn cute!"

"And that's exactly why we have to discipline her, Danny boy. Don't want her thinking she can do whatever she wants, then just bat her brown eyes at me to get out of trouble."

"Like Sam does?" Daniel asked with a grin, more relaxed now that his own daughter had finally quieted down.

Jack narrowed his eyes. "Watch it, Danny. I am so not in the mood."

Daniel wisely backed off. Standing carefully from the chair, he said, "I'll think I'll go warm up a bottle for Katie. It's about time she ate. With any luck, she'll go down for a nap...and maybe sleep for the next four hours," he added hopefully. Taking a wide berth around Jack, Daniel made his way to the kitchen, throwing a wink Grace's way as he passed her.

After the requisite two minutes were up, Jack allowed Grace to get off the chair, but quickly called both her and JJ over to him. While Grace had sat, thumping her feet against the chair, Jack had gotten an idea as to how to wear off some of their excess energy.

Giving his sister a wide berth and still clutching his arm, trying to garner some sympathy, JJ walked around the coffee table and came to sit beside his father on the couch. Jack bent and lifted Grace onto his lap, biting back the smile that threatened upon seeing her lower lip stuck out in a pout at her recent incarceration. He circled JJ with the arm and got ready to begin.

"OK you too. We need to have a little talk." He waited for both children to give him their full attention. Knowing it wouldn't last for long, Jack got on with it. "Look, I know daddy talked about going to the park while mommy was out, but it's too cold and rainy."

Grace leaned into his chest and sighed. "Me want mommy," she said sadly.

Jack hugged her close while he muttered under his breath, "Yeah, me too." Shaking himself, he continued. "But Mommy is out with Auntie Janet and you two are here with Uncle Danny, Katie and Daddy. Now, Daddy has an idea for how we can have some fun and get some of the wiggles out, but you have to do something while Daddy gets ready. Can you do that?"

Both children nodded eagerly, their curiosity piqued at what their father had in mind. Jack smiled at their eager faces, sure his plan was going to work out fine. "Ok then. Daddy's going to go down in the basement for a few minutes. I want you two to stay up here and color in your coloring books until I come get you, OK? Uncle Danny will keep an eye on you while he feeds Katie Rose."

"O'tay, daddy," Grace smiled up at him. Jack kissed her on the nose before putting her on the floor, where she scampered over to the coffee table and picked up her coloring book and got to work.

Jack looked over at JJ, who still sat on the end of the couch, a look of curiosity on his face. "What you do, Daddy?" he questioned, his head cocked at an angle.

Thinking to himself how much he looked like his mother right now, Jack lovingly ruffled the little boy's hair before standing up. "Just you wait little man. You'll see. Now, you two be good until I come get you. If there's any fighting," he paused and looked at both of them sternly for just a moment, "There will be no surprise. Understand?"

"Yes, daddy," two innocent voices chimed in. Jack waited until JJ was also engaged in coloring before he left the room and corralled Daniel in the kitchen. Telling him of his plan, Jack headed out into the rain to gather what he needed and left Daniel to watch the children.

Twenty minutes later, Jack led two extremely excited youngsters and one curious archaeologist into the basement. Katie had finished her bottle and was now sleeping peacefully in Grace's crib. The shouts of surprised glee from his children as they entered the large room reassured Jack that the effort had been well worth it. For down in the basement, Jack had created an indoor playground of his own. Blocking off the area his wife used for tinkering on machines and her motorcycle, Jack had fashioned the ideal space for his children to burn off energy in.

Their Little Tykes slide stood in one corner, piles of pillows at its base to catch the children. Jack had brought in their tricycles as well and made a make-shift track around the outer edge of the large room, its carpeted surface ensuring that the children wouldn't be injured if they fell. In another corner of the room sat JJ's small basketball hoop, a ball on the floor and ready for him. JJ let out another shout of glee and raced over to it, throwing the ball haphazardly and not caring in the least that it didn't go into the hoop.

Grace raced off to the middle of the room, where one of her baby strollers sat, baby doll already strapped in place. Chattering up a storm that no one else quite understood, Grace took her baby on a walk around the track her father had set up.

Daniel looked on with a grin of amusement. "And I always thought Sam was the ingenious one in the family."

Jack stood with arms crossed, a smug smile on his face. "I do have my moments, Danny." Then he left his friend to play a bit of hoops with his son while Daniel walked over to engage Grace in some imaginative play.

The children raced around the track on their trikes, slid down the slide, and played ball for a good hour before they began to tire out. Feeling very pleased with himself and how he had turned the long day into a successful afternoon, Jack led the children upstairs. They stopped in the kitchen for a quick snack of juice and Cheerios before heading to their rooms for afternoon naps.

While JJ didn't usually take naps anymore, he was expected to rest quietly in his room for at least a half hour, looking at books or playing quietly with his Legos. Today, he was more than willing to lie in his bed with his favorite book about stars, pleasantly tired out from the afternoon's activities. Within fifteen minutes, the little boy was fast asleep.

Katie had gotten up from her brief nap a short time ago, and so Grace's crib was available for the toddler. Like her brother, she didn't fuss about being laid down and fell asleep promptly.

Jack returned to the living room and fell into an exhausted heap on the couch. "God, I'm beat. Where do they get their energy?" he asked Daniel, who was lying on the floor on his side. Katie lay reclined in her infant seat by Daniel, her tiny fingers grasping at the toys suspended above her.

Daniel looked up and smirked. "Not you, that's for sure!" He ducked as a pillow was tossed his way. He grabbed the wayward pillow and tucked it under his head, bending his right elbow in support as he looked up at Jack.

"Maybe you're getting too old for this Jack. I mean really, most guys your age are sitting around in a rocking chair, not playing basketball in the basement."

Jack lifted up the other pillow, intent at tossing it at Daniel, thought better of it, and tucked it under his own head. "I can run circles around you, Space Monkey, and you know it. Give me an hour and we'll see who acts more like an old man." Then resolutely turning his back on the younger man, Jack dropped off to sleep on the couch. Daniel grinned and returned his attention to his own daughter, muttering quietly under his breath about how Katie's ancient Uncle Jack needed his naps.

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Sam and Janet came into the house through the back door, their arms laden with packages. Sam set hers on the kitchen table and frowned as she looked around the room; there were dirty dishes stacked on the counter, a few half-empty bottles sitting next to the dishes, a cup of juice that had tipped and left a sticky mess by the sink, and a box of Cheerios on the table, toppled over and spilling half its contents. On the refrigerator door, she saw a few globs of cookie dough sticking to its surface.

Sighing, she looked at Janet. "I guess it was too much to expect the place would be somewhat picked up, huh?"

Janet laughed as she too set down her packages, carefully avoiding another leftover blob of cookie dough, and surveyed the room. "Well, as long as the children are in one piece, I think we ought to be thankful." Then she too frowned as she took in the total silence of the house. Looking at her watch, she said, "Do JJ and Grace usually nap this late?"

Sam looked at her own watch and frowned; it was almost 4:30 in the afternoon. If Jack put the children down at their usual naptime, they would have been sleeping for over 2 hours…something they never did and she didn't want them to do...otherwise they'd be up all night! "No, they don't. I think we'd better go see what's up." Sam led the way into the living room. She rounded the sofa and looked at the scene before her, more than a bit puzzled.

Jack lay sleeping on the couch, his face turned into the back of the couch, mouth open and snoring softly. Daniel lay on the floor, also fast asleep. One hand was tucked under a pillow, the other resting on Katie's leg. Katie too was asleep, her mouth making soft sucking noises while she slept. Scattered around the floor were a myriad of the children's toys. It looked for all the world as if Grace and JJ had emptied the entire contents of their toy boxes on the living room floor.

Sam raised questioning eyebrows to Janet before turning back to her husband. Reaching out, she gently shook his shoulder. "Jack? Jack – wake up!"

Jack startled awake, looking up at her with surprise before he ran his hand across his face in confusion. He rolled over to face her, eyes still bleary with sleep. "What're you doing home already?" he asked looking past her to Janet, who was now moving to wake her own husband.

"What do you mean, already? It's 1630." She frowned as he sat up, wiping the sleep from his eyes and giving a big yawn. "Where are JJ and Grace?"

"Sleeping," he answered succinctly.

Sam crossed her arms in front of her and stared at him, waiting for him to fully wake up. "And what time did they go down, Jack?"

Jack looked at her in confusion before consulting his watch. As the dawning light of understanding struck, he turned a panicked gaze to her. "Oh shit! I've been asleep for two hours!" Glaring at Daniel, who was now sitting up and dazedly looking around, Jack shouted, "Why did you let me sleep so long?"

Daniel blinked back in answer. "Uh, I kind of fell asleep too, Jack," he answered lamely.

Jack narrowed his eyes menacingly, shot to his feet and started to push past Sam, who followed in his wake; both of their parental alarms sounding quite loudly. Janet stopped him with a question. "What's wrong with JJ and Grace sleeping for two hours on a rainy afternoon?" she asked, looking back and forth between the pair of them as she cradled her now waking daughter in her arms.

Jack stopped, then looked at Sam, waiting for her to explain. "They never sleep this long, Janet. Neither one of them naps for more than an hour anymore. So, if they haven't been sleeping for the last two hours…"

Janet blanched. "They've been unsupervised for the last hour." She turned and glared at Daniel, who looked suitably guilty.

Jack spun toward the bedrooms, Sam on his heels. They reached JJ's room first and Jack flung the door open, expecting to find his son drawing on the walls, jumping on the bed…something. But the room was empty. He exchanged looks with Sam, then led the way to Grace's room.

As he neared her door, he heard Grace laugh with delight over something, then JJ shush her quickly. Steeling himself and throwing Sam a cautionary look, Jack slowly opened the door.

He was met by a cloud of white; fine, white powder with a distinctive scent wafted over both of them as he opened the door wider. Coughing, Jack waved his hand in front of him trying to clear the air, momentarily panicked at the thought that the white cloud might be smoke. But no, that wasn't the scent of smoke. It was the scent of …baby powder?

Stepping more fully into the room, he heard Sam's indrawn breath and quick coughs to clear her own lungs. When her spasm of coughing subsided, she looked at her children in shock. "Oh, my," was all she said as she took in the sight before her.

Two little faces innocently looked up at their parents from their spot on the floor by the changing table; two little absolutely white faces. They were covered from head to toe with baby powder, their eyes marking the only dark space on their entire faces. They looked like minstrels of old; white pasty faces marked by large, expressive eyes.

Grace grinned up at her mother, the smile causing small cracks to appear in the fine powder covering her face. Glad to see her home and ready to share her newfound discovery, Grace called out happily, "Hi Mommy! Me and JJ make cwoud!"

"I…I see that Gracie," Sam answered, her voice still full of shock as she uselessly waved at the powder surrounding her. "Uhm, exactly how did you and JJ make a cloud?"

"Katie Wose's powdoor!" she exclaimed with pride, shaking the offending container before squeezing it and releasing yet another puff of white smoke into the air. Puffs of the fine white powder billowed throughout the room and settled on every inch of surface available.

Jack and Sam stared at their children, incredulous at what the two innocent looking youngsters had done. Then they looked at each other, neither one quite knowing what to make of this and how to proceed. Drawing on walls was one thing…encasing a whole room in fine powder was quite another.

As Sam came to awareness and realized just who was responsible for this mess, she narrowed her eyes dangerously at her husband. Quickly, Jack held his hands up in a defensive posture. "I'll clean it up, dear. Don't worry." They both turned when they heard a gasp of surprise behind them.

Janet stood looking at the room, her hand covering her mouth in shock. "I'll buy you a new container of baby powder Doc. Heck, I'll buy you a whole case!" Jack added, taking in the astounded look on their friend's face.

"They…they did this…in an hour?" she asked in disbelief.

Daniel came up behind her. "Good God, it looks like a blizzard hit. Just think what it might have looked like had they been left alone longer!" When he was met with three icy glares, Daniel shrugged his shoulders. "What? I'm just saying…" He took Katie from Janet's arms, using the baby as protection against the glares still shooting his way.

"Katie Wose come see cwoud!" Grace crowed with delight upon seeing her aunt and uncle enter the room, her baby cousin in tow. She let go with another squeeze to the container, releasing a very small puff of powder.

JJ's face fell at the diminished display. "Cloud all gone," he stated sadly.

"I think the cloud is going to be here for a long time, little man," Jack said, coming further into the room now that some of the powder had settled. "For crying out loud, what were you thinking?" An edge of anger tinged his voice as he looked around the room; it would take him hours to clean this mess up…days even!

JJ looked up at his father, his brow furrowed. He could tell by the tone of voice that his father was none too pleased about their discovery. "Gracie and JJ maked a cloud, daddy," he said hesitantly.

Jack looked down into his son's upturned face and felt his anger begin to dissolve. Two little faces looked guiltily upwards, their eyes blinking against the white powder that escaped their hair and landed on their eyelashes. Biting his lip to hold back a smile, Jack looked helplessly toward Sam. She smiled faintly and shrugged her shoulders, as if to say, what are we going to do with them?

Looking back at his children, he was surprised when Grace stood up and came over to him. Sighing sadly, she said, "Grawcie take 'nother time-out?"

Sam let out a burst of laughter, then quickly covered her mouth when Jack sent a mock-glare her way. Bending down to the little girl he said, "No, Gracie. Not this time. You and JJ are going to take a bath, then help daddy clean the room." He looked up at Sam and added with a smile, "After Mommy gets the camera."

Grace sent a smile her mother's way, her little teeth gleaming against the white of her powdered face. Then she wrapped her arms around Jack's neck and said, "Gwacie help daddy clean up cwoud." JJ came and wrapped himself around Jack as well, causing Jack to cough at the powder that shot up his nose.

Still coughing, he weakly said, "Thank you, princess. I don't know what I'd do without your help." He rolled his eyes sarcastically as Sam, Daniel and Janet laughed, then Sam went to get the camera. They'd have another picture to add to their growing collection depicting the messes JJ and Grace seemed to get themselves into.

Six months later, when the first cold snap of the season caused Jack to turn the heat on, he was dismayed to find puffs of white coming out of the heat register on the floor of Grace's room. Grace of course, was thrilled beyond belief that a few remnants of her "cwoud" were still existing in her bedroom, long after that most memorable rainy day.


First of all, I want to thank everyone for their notes of congratulations on A Mother's Love winning a first place award in the Stargate Fanfiction awards...and to everyone who read, reviewed and/or voted for the story. Your words of support and enjoyment of my stories really makes the time I take to do this all worth while! I started writing on this site just to explore my creativity and do some practice writing...I have always dreamed about writing children's books one day. I am now working toward that goal...because of all of your kind words! Secondly, I am so glad that people are enjoying these Snapshots. This one is my favorite because the scene with the baby powder actually happened with two of my kids when they were little. I was taking night classes and hubby was supposed to be watching the kids...yeah right! We have the pictures to prove what happened...wish I could share them with you! My husband and I were like Jack and Sam...stunned, but it was too funny to be mad at them! Lastly, to Zats...I agree with you that there is too much time between new Snapshots. The chapters are longer than I normally write though, almost twice as long in some cases! Plus, being back to teaching and attending lots of meetings, I just don't have as much time as I'd like to write. On a happy note, I have the next 4 days off, so hope to get off another installment this weekend! Thanks so much for all of your support - I promise I won't have another long Author's Note again:)