Jack pulled onto base, his thoughts still pensive as he parked and made his way through security and down the various levels of the mountain. As he walked down the corridor, turning the last bend towards the children's room, happy shouts pulled him from self introspection just in time to prevent being bowled over by a green and black blur. He caught the enthusiastic bundle midair, spinning her in a circle and making her shout in glee, before pulling her in tight for a hug. She returned it with gusto.
"Colonel Jack! Colonel Jack! Your back! Is it time to go to your house yet?" Her legs slipped around his waist like a monkey's and her arms around his neck as he shifted her to his hip, freeing a hand to ruffle Danny's hair and pull the boy in for a quick one-armed hug when he grinned shyly at Sam's antics.
"Oh, I don't know Sam, that all depends on what you've done with Doctor Janet. Did you tie her up and stuff her in a closet somewhere?" Sam giggled as Jack slung an arm around Teal'c's shoulder and led the kids down the hall towards their room. The kids were adorable in their SGC "uniforms".
"Tie me up I hardly think so. Run me ragged, definitely." Janet stood up from where she'd just retrieved a discarded sock that had somehow migrated under the bed, and tucked it into the duffle sitting on top of the bed. "There, they're all yours. Take them and go."
Jack raised his eyebrows, as Sam wiggled in his arms. Letting her down, she ran across the room, and tugged on Janet's hand until the woman leaned down. Then she threw her arms around the startled woman and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you Doctor Janet. I love you." Sam turned and ran back to Jack, grabbing his hand. "Can we go to your house now?"
Janet was blinking in shock, taken in by the little charmer. Jack had to bite back his laugh. Daniel shyly approached the doctor, giving her a gentle hug too, mumbling his own thank you. Even Teal'c gave Janet a hug, bowing his head in thanks.
"Get your bags guys, lets go. Thanks Janet." Jack grinned as Janet stared in surprise as the kids snapped to, grabbing their bags and filing out of the room. Still charmed, she just shook her head.
"Anytime."
Jack led his new charges out of the mountain, this time towards home, hopefully temporarily, though for how long he had no idea. The kids chattered excitedly, and Jack took the opportunity to start drilling them on his name, address, and phone number in case they got lost or separated for some reason. He'd work on getting them used to the neighborhood later.
Daniel had no trouble with the unfamiliar address; he seemed to have a system. Teal'c took a little longer, not used to such methods of distinguishing landmarks. Surprisingly, Sam was slightly more problematic. Although she picked up on the phone number right off the bat, she grew frustrated when the others got the address and she could only remember the number. She kept mixing the place words up with other places, no doubt places she'd been in the past. He'd have to check her father's record, and see how many times she'd moved by the time she was seven. He knew from experience that military families could move quite frequently. He called a halt to the impromptu lesson when she and Daniel started arguing about the name of the state, and Danny called her a stupid baby and she started to cry. He felt her feet kicking into the back of his seat in her frustration. It amazed him that one-minute they were looking out for each other, and the next minute they were squabbling like, well like children.
"Hey, look, we're almost there, see, there's the park, it's practically just down the street from where my house is." He started to point out landmarks to distract them from the argument, and the kicks in the back of his seat lessened.
And then they were pulling up outside his house, and the kids where all standing around him quietly, staring at the house like they'd never seen one. He unlocked the door, grabbed Sam, propelled Daniel in and trusted Teal'c to follow. They stopped in the living room uncertain.
"You want to see your rooms?" They nodded, so he led them up the stairs and down the hall. Teal'c and Daniel's room was first, so he opened the door, grinning as the boys immediately recognized the things they'd picked out. He was only mildly surprised when they didn't go in, choosing to follow him to where Sam's room was. The two boys nodded in satisfaction as Sam let out a shout of glee, before they headed back down the hall to check out their own room. Jack left them to their explorations, calling out, "Come back downstairs when you're done seeing your rooms, and I'll show you the rest of the house."
Jack kept busy in the kitchen, making some soup and sandwiches, and he could hear the occasional thump of excited feet as one or more children made trips back and forth between the two bedrooms. They were obviously planning, comparing and consulting again. He really wished he knew what to make of it.
Eventually, the thump of footsteps could be heard on the stairs, and all three kids appeared in the kitchen, lured in by the smell of food. He took the soup off the backburner and divided it into four bowls, placing the plate of sandwiches on the table. The kids took seats, diving in, and babbling excitedly about the things they'd found in their rooms.
"So, I take it you like your new rooms?" The kids all nodded, grinning.
"Good, we'll have to make some sort of thank you card for all the people at the SGC that brought in all that stuff for you all. And for Major Ferretti and the Marines on SG-3. Think we can come up with something?" The kids all nodded again. Jack added craft supplies to his mental shopping list.
After they had finished eating, Jack took them around the house, making sure he went over with them what to do in case of a fire or emergency. By the time he was done, they knew not only where his bedroom, the bathroom and other major rooms of the house where, but knew where the phone was, how to use it, and how to get out of the house if they had to and where to meet at so he could find them.
Finally, he took them to the garage, saving the best for last. It was too bad they'd gotten home so late, since it was too dark to ride them. But still the looks on their faces were priceless as they saw the brand new bikes. Teal'c looked dubious about the prospect of actually riding one, but in the face of the younger two children's enthusiasm he promised to give in a try. Jack promised to let them ride if the weather was good tomorrow.
The kids trooped back to their rooms, playing with their new toys, and unpacking their things they'd had at base, including the things they'd newly bought. Eventually though, they could barely keep their eyes open and Jack announced it was time for bed. There were sleepy protests, but they went to bed. Before going to bed himself half an hour later, he checked in on them. Smiling tenderly, he adjusted a cover here, smoothed back a strand of hair there, gently laid his hand on another sleeping figure, before retreating from the room, leaving each door cracked, his own door cracked open as well. He left the hallway light on for good measure.
A/N: Oh dear. I not only have people reading my author's notes, but my reviews as well! (lol sekkii) Although I should know better after Nine Lives, when you start talking about your pets, people start talking about their pets, and you start getting all kind of interesting stories! So yep, if you haven't looked at the reviews, check them out around the chapter where my cats got suicidal/homicidal/stupid/possessed/whatever.
Well, I can't say this isn't fun. Cos it is. And I hope ya'll are still enjoying the actual story, and aren't just coming back to see what's in my author's notes! Because I can't always guarantee there will be something interesting or exciting happening. Though I suppose I could always mention what I had for breakfast.
Deathstreet… Nope, no ideas on a chapter count. Definitely gonna be a novel length though. For those asking if they'll ever get big again, well, you'll have to wait, but yeah, probably. But just think of all the adventures on the way! I definitely have a few things I want to do with the kids first though, and the actions gonna pick up a bit in the next few chapters, but for the most part this one's gonna be a feel good story. But I think I have enough different things happening that it won't be dull.