The next day, the volcano was stiff and hard, and Jack helped Teal'c use spray glue all over it so that the boy could put the colored green and brown sand they'd bought on the mountain's slopes to give it a textured look and feel. Jack encouraged Teal'c to paint in trees, streams, even a railroad, while he pulled out paper, cardboard, and modeling clay and put himself, Sam, and Daniel to work making small buildings and people for towns and farms to put in the pathway of the lava flows. As the objects were completed, Teal'c placed each one carefully on the model, much to the delight of his younger siblings, especially Sam, who's items sometimes weren't completely identifiable as what they were supposed to be. That was until Daniel suggested she make haystacks, and Jack told her it was the most beautiful haystack he'd ever seen. After that, the model had quite a few haystacks, in traditional yellow, but also blue, green, purple, and fluorescent pink.
Finally, the model was done. "Colonel O'Neill, how do I simulate an eruption?" Teal'c surveyed his model critically, pleased with the results. His family had helped him make it, and he was sure it would be the best model in the class.
"Ah, now that's the easy part." Jack stood up and went to the cupboard, withdrawing several Tupperware containers. Going to another cabinet, he pulled out a small yellow box of baking soda, and poured some into one of the containers and closed the lid. Next he pulled out some vinegar, and added a measure to a second container, and then put in a few drops of red food coloring before he closed the lid on that one. "Here, when it's time, just put the powder in, then put the vinegar in, and it will come out looking like lava."
Teal'c nodded, placing the two containers with the model, but Daniel and Sam looked disappointed. "Shouldn't we test it?" Daniel asked hopefully.
Jack laughed and ruffled Daniel's hair. "Sorry Daniel that will ruin Teal'c's model before he can show it to Mr. Lee. But I'm sure Teal'c can give us a demonstration when he brings it home, right T?" Teal'c smiled and nodded and the two younger kids cheered considerably. Seeing it a second time wasn't quite as good but they understood.
Looking at the kids, Jack grinned. Time for the next project! "Ok you kids, time for my project!" He picked up the model and moved it carefully out of the way, then set his bag down in its place, removing the things from it as the kids watched him curiously. He grinned. He'd read the instructions the night before, and the kits were easy and quick. The molds and plaster casts both set up in minutes, making the results nearly instant, which was a good thing, particularly in Sam's case, since he'd learned it was hard to keep the little girl's interest for long! He wondered how as a grown woman she could stay focused for hours on one thing, but as a child she could barely stay on one task for five minutes.
He put some of the powder for the mold into a ziplock bag and added the right amount of water, making the stuff inside turn pink and thick. He kneaded it together for a minute like the directions had called for, wrinkling his nose at the sweet smell the concoction gave off. The kids watched in fascination as he dumped the stuff into a tray. He surveyed the group of victims, and decided to get the most difficult out of the way first. "Okay Sam, c'mere, you first."
Reaching out, he grabbed the little girl's good hand, and pulled her forward when she hesitated. "C'mon, we're doing something really cool, we just need to put your hand in this stuff." He kept his voice light and cheerful as she resisted slightly, not wanting to put her hand somewhere she didn't know it was going (unless of course it was a pond full of slime, but that was different) but Jack was bigger, and he of course won.
"Eww!" Sam's face was all scrunched up, and she tried to tug out of his grasp.
"Hold still, or we'll have to do it again, besides, when you're done, you can help do Daniel's." The promise was enough to make her hold still, but the grossed out look didn't leave her face as she peeked down at her hand, trying to get her free hand around to poke at it. Fortunately though, the cast prevented her from reaching it. Jack grinned at her face, it was priceless, and he wished he could let go of her long enough to reach the camera that was on the table behind them, from taking pictures of the volcano project earlier.
Just then, the camera flashed, and Jack turned at the sound of young male giggling to find Daniel wielding the camera. He grinned at the boy, and Daniel snapped another picture. Sam remained oblivious, still fascinated with what was going on with her hand. Jack sent Daniel a mock glare, which only made the boy giggle again.
Jack touched the paste encasing the little girl's hand, and decided it had hardened enough, and set to peeling it off of Sam's hand. "Cool!" she said. Cool indeed, though Jack, as he placed the mold in the raised dish and mixed up a batch of the quickset plaster.
Several minutes later, a perfect cast of Sam's small right hand sat on the table. "Cool!" chimed all three children. Jack couldn't agree more. Before long, they had one for Daniel and one for Teal'c. While the plaster set, Jack fixed the kids lunch, then went ahead and made a second one of Sam's for her Dad. He didn't know when they'd see Jacob again, but he thought the older Carter would appreciate having a memento too. Thinking about it, he also had a few drawings and things he could put together, as well as start a photo album, which he could just keep adding to until the saw the man again. In fact, he'd seen a memory book that had binder rings, which gave Jack the idea of just doing things on pages and turning over the pages for Jacob whenever Jacob could come. He could get Sam to help, and they could keep a color copy of the book at the SGC in case Jacob lost his.
Jack tried to think about what it must be like for Jacob, to have turned over his only daughter to be raised, again, by someone else, when he probably would have wanted that position for himself despite everything. He simply couldn't imagine being able to do that for his own son, and his respect for the man rose up a notch higher. He was glad that Jacob trusted him with Sam, and hadn't raised a fuss or insisted that Sam be fostered with someone else, someone with two parents.
When the kids finished eating, he had them paint their hand models, grinning at the results. Sam had approached hers like her older self approached a scientific dilemma, her brow furrowed with concentration. She had carefully selected her tools, and chosen her paints. In the end, each finger was a different color, and the hand was rainbow striped. She had painted the base blue and gotten Daniel to help her put stars on it.
Daniel had decided that his needed to be a solid color and made the hand one solid blue, and the base black, and solemnly placed his name and date across the bottom.
Teal'c had gone for the lifelike approach, and had mixed paints together until he'd gotten the right skin tone, and spent quite a bit of time painting in the small lines and fingernails. Jack was fairly impressed with the result, especially when he painted the base gold.
After each child had pronounced their work of art finished, Jack carefully carried each creation over to the fireplace mantle and set them just so on it, in a place of pride. The kids grinned, and he had to work to fight back a tear, blaming it on congestion. These kids were a special gift, and while everyday he missed their adult counterparts, he was thankful for everyday he got to spend with them.
A/N: Sorry for the slow update, but there's a reason for it! The next chapter is extra special!