The next morning, Janet Fraiser arrived before the kids woke up. Jack was already showered and dressed, waiting for her. She'd agreed the night before to keep an eye on them today, it being her day off, and he'd done so many babysitting stints in the past on short notice for her that she felt she owed it to him. "Thanks Janet, you have no idea what this means to me."
"No problem, besides, I probably owe you this much at least, for all the times you watched Cassie for me. And at least I have the entire base for backup." Janet smiled.
Jack grinned in reply, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Look, I got the kids a few games and books yesterday, let me just go and get them, so it will help you keep them occupied. They got Lego sets too, but I didn't think I should let them play with them until tomorrow since we're moving. They've probably got other stuff in the things people brought in, but I haven't had time to sort through it yet."
He found what he was looking for in the truck, and on impulse, grabbed the three sets of "uniforms", and brought the things down for the kids just as Daniel and Teal'c were stirring. He'd also stopped off at the commissary for breakfast, this time bringing muffins and fruit. "I brought them a change of clothes for today. Sam's hard to wake up," he warned Janet, as he set the bag of toys down on a chair and the tray on the table. "You boys be good, and do what Doctor Janet says, I need to go get the house ready for us to move ok?" The boys nodded, and Jack left, humming, a little bounce in his step.
His first stop was his own house, to offload the purchases from the day before. He did a quick survey of the two bedrooms, and climbed to the attic deciding there was room for the extra bed if he stored it on its side and disassembled the frame, leaving plenty of space for the furniture they wouldn't need. Since the day was still early, he set about cleaning the house. Since he wasn't home much and lived alone, it wasn't very messy, so he mostly just had to dust and vacuum, paying special attention to the kids' rooms. He remembered Daniel's allergies and made a mental note to buy one of those HEPA filter things for the air. The vacuum actually had one, he'd bought it not long after SG-1 had been made a team and team nights at his place had become a regular occurrence.
Next he checked the fridge and the pantry, deciding it was in sad state for a house soon to be filled with children. Beer, ketchup, and cereal were unfortunately not the stuff for healthy growing bodies. So back into the borrowed SUV he went to the grocery store to stock up. Soon, he had a full cart, and was headed back home.
Groceries stowed, he headed out to a nearby mattress supplier, and picked out a decent twin sized mattress, buying two for Teal'c and Danny's bunk beds. He was pleased when they said they could deliver that day. He stopped at a hardware store on the way back and bought the air purifier.
Pulling up again outside his house, he was surprised to see a military humvee parked at the curb. He got out, and five men piled out of the vehicle. "Ferretti! What are you doing here?"
Lou grinned. "We heard you had some furniture that needed moving, the Marines and me, thought we'd give you a hand."
"Yeah, especially since we scared them so badly the other day, it was the least we could do, sir," one of the Marines chimed in grinning, and Jack recognized him as Henderson, and the others as the group in the infirmary from the day of the power failure.
Jack blinked, then grinned, waving them inside after unlocking the door. "I'd love it, I wasn't looking forward to hauling that stuff up that attic ladder by myself! But why the Hummer?"
Lou's grin grew even wider. "Well, we sorted out that pile of stuff, and brought it over for you, figuring as the kids would be here soon."
Now Jack's mouth opened in shock. "You guys, you did that?"
Slapping Jack on the back, Lou smiled in sympathy. "Hey man, I can't imagine what it must be like. It's one thing to lose your team, but this, man, I thought I'd seen it all, going through that ring. I don't know if I could do what you're doing buddy. I just want you to know, all of us, we're here if you need us."
Swallowing hard, Jack had to blink several times, as Lou's words hit close to home. "Thanks," he managed to choke out.
"Ok, enough of that, where's the beer O'Neill?" called out one of the Marines, and everyone laughed, the mood lightened.
They started in on the boys' room, since that one needed all the furniture carried out of it and hauled into the attic. The men grunted and complained good-naturedly, but they had the bed wrestled up there, the furniture soon beside it. Next they tackled the extra furniture in Sam's new room, while one of the men ran the vacuum again in the boys' room, since moving the furniture had uncovered and disturbed more dust. Jack removed the curtains from both rooms while another man set about putting the new bedding in the washing machine. The rest of the men started to carry in the stuff from the Hummer. Jack couldn't help but smile at the sight of the big burly Marines doing homely tasks. He'd once seen a sign that said, "Ladies, marry a military man. He can cook, clean, make a bed, and wash his own clothes." At that moment he couldn't agree more.
As the men carried the boxes and bags in, Jack noticed that they'd all been neatly labeled with each child's name. Just as they'd carried in the last box, the delivery truck from the furniture store pulled up. As soon as the deliverymen left, the group of Marines and two Air Force officers fell on the furniture, puzzling over the assembly instructions. Fortunately, there weren't too many pieces, and all the furniture was soon put together and in the proper places.
Jack stood back, surveying Sam's room. The desk was adorable, and so was the little dresser. Lou appeared as if summoned, his arms loaded with the sheets and comforter and matching curtains, and the two men applied themselves to the bed and window. Standing back in the doorway, they surveyed their handiwork, and nodded in satisfaction. The bed set and desk were a perfect compliment to each other. The small desk lamp and throw pillows he'd bought without Sam noticing looked great. Jack suddenly remembered something. "Wait!" He ran down the stairs, rooting through the bags, coming back to the room with the package of glow in the dark stars and a step stool. Before long, they had the ceiling covered. "Now it's perfect." Lou nodded in agreement.
The doorbell rang, signaling the arrival of the boy's mattresses, and they rounded in on Teal'c and Danny's room as the men were finishing putting the two beds together. The beds were dressed with military precision, although Jack thought the military corners were a little over the top, still he wouldn't complain, and he doubted the kids would care. Nor would they notice whether or not you could bounce a quarter on the bed. The curtains were hung and Jack was glad he'd bought them, because they added color to the room, which had been fine before when it was a guest room, but now that it would be a kids' room, it should be bright and cheerful, and the curtains helped. Again, he was glad he'd added the touches of a floor lamp, pillows, and this time a little rug.
They took a break for a late lunch, ordering take out and joked around, some teasing Jack about his new guardianship and an end to his bachelorhood, but they sensed it was a sensitive topic, so mostly they talked about safe subjects, like sports, work, and other things.
Finished eating, they turned their attention to the boxes and bags the team had brought over with them, and Jack was surprised by the sheer volume and organization of things. They decided to do one room at a time so Jack could see what had been donated.
There were a lot of clothes for each child. Lou explained that he'd gotten the sizes from the new things he'd just bought. "Those new recruits of yours are a little on the small size you know Jack. They seem to be wearing children's clothes in fact." Jack frowned a moment before he realized Ferretti was referring to the mock uniforms he'd bought the day before. He laughed, and the rest joined in.
The rest of the stuff proved to be toys. There were a few new things, but most of it was used, though everything was in good shape. "We sorted out everything that was junk and got rid of it, though there wasn't much of that. People must have figured SG-1 would need pretty tough stuff." There was more laughter at Lou's statement.
Jack found a few electronic toys, including a remote control car, which he thought Sam would probably love, and Ferretti had obviously agreed with his thought, because it was in a box with her name on it. He also found a space shuttle model and an astronaut figure in there, as well as an assortment of puzzles and interesting looking games. "I couldn't find her a Major Matt Mason." Lou said apologetically.
He grinned, remembering. "Oh well, they probably don't make them anymore. Maybe she didn't have one yet. She told Cassie yesterday she wants to be an astronaut."
"It's weird, seeing them like this, like a little piece of history." Jack nodded at Ferretti's statement.
In the end, they had brought so many things for the kids, that Jack ran back to the Target and bought three large plastic storage bins in colors to coordinate with the bedroom sets for them to put all the toys in. He returned just as the men were unloading a last few things from the Hummer. "Hey, guys, what's that? I thought you'd brought in everything?"
Lou shrugged, a grin coming back. "Ah, well, some of the guys at the base, well, we took up a collection you see, cos every kid needs a bike." The men stepped back, and Jack felt his eyes misting once again, because on the driveway stood three brand new bikes and helmets.
"Aw, jeeze, you guys really shouldn't have. I, I don't know what to say…"
"Just shut up Jack, and take good care of those kids ok? Call us, you need anything. Anything at all. I mean it buddy." Lou climbed into the Hummer and they drove off, leaving Jack staring at the bikes, shaking his head in amazement.
The largest one was black, with a matching helmet. The next largest was green, and the smallest was blue. Ferretti had been careful, he'd obviously known that Sam probably wasn't your typical little girl and into frilly and pink. The blue was a good choice.
With a stupid grin on his face, he took the bikes into the garage, and went inside, putting the toys into the plastic bins; happy to discover more Lego blocks in each box. He also found a pair of roller skates and pads in Sam's box, a skateboard and new pads in Teal'c's box, and a scooter also with new pads in Danny's box. He took these items out to the garage deciding that it would be better if outdoor toys were kept there. He soon added several balls, a Frisbee, a baseball bat, and a glove. He placed the toys by the bikes, so the kids would know which toys belonged to whom. He made a mental note to buy several more totes to collect the loose outdoor toys and protective gear.
Finally, he was satisfied that his house was ready to be a home to his former teammates, now to be his legal charges until such time as their situation was either reversed, or it was deemed irreversible. And although he sincerely hoped that the latter never happened, he mentally prepared himself for the possibility of becoming a father again. He wasn't completely adverse to the idea, but who could have ever imagined becoming a parent to three people you had once known as adults and called friends? Could he really expect himself, trust himself even, to raise them to adulthood again? Would they be the same people the second time around? There was no way they could be. Already, so many things about their lives had been changed that were part of their fundamental character, so who would they be when they grew up again?
Jack forced himself to stop thinking about it as he climbed behind the wheel of his borrowed vehicle. His current line of thought would get him nowhere. He couldn't worry about their futures, with any luck, one of their allies that had yet to contact them would figure out the problem, or the scientists working on the problem would have a breakthrough. Right now he had to worry about keeping them safe and protected until that moment. He knew he'd never forgive himself if something happened to one of them, but he knew that had been true when they were adults and members of his team. But somehow it seemed even more so now that they were so small and helpless.
A/N: BelovedOne: Sounds like you have a kitten there! Sammy was the runt of his litter, and still is, but he thinks he's the biggest cat. Wait until you get that little one home, won't be much you can do with kitten curiosity mode, except wait for them to grow out of it. My boys I've had nearly a year now, and I'm still waiting for them to grow out of it.
Nighshae. Nope, not haunted. Least, I hope not. Parents built this place about 23 years ago new on a vacant lot, and the most exciting thing we dug up was a bit of old pipe and some interesting rocks. Used to be old farmland long before it was developed, then purchased by the elderly neighbor that bought the plat and sold it to us. No skeletons, no Indian burial grounds, no bodies. I think he does it on purpose, the staring thing.
Unless the ghost followed me home from work. They say one of the newer buildings is haunted. Apparently, when they started excavating, they discovered a Potter's field, and construction was put on hold multiple times while they moved the bodies each time they unearthed another one. And they say the place is cursed because of it, a rumored death of a construction worker, problems with funding, they hung all the doors on backwards so they opened into the halls instead of into the patient rooms, vented the new beautiful OR with nitrous oxide, couldn't fill all the patient beds the first few months, the list goes on… Of course, it could just all be your usual construction nightmares. And some of these things are rumors and stories, but the truth is always somewhere in the middle isn't it?
Milly Molly Mandy: Will they get big again? Hmm. Do I have to? I like them small. Besides, it's only been a week! Maybe someday. I have lots I want to do with mini SG-1 first though! Lots of scraps and adventures! Will Jack have any hair left? Maybe.