"Are you sure about this?" Daniels's voice held an edge of worry, as he watched his younger foster sister putter about her room.
Sam just rolled her eyes, and ducked back into the closet, where she was carefully rearranging things. "Don't worry Danny, he'll never notice. And we can't keep him out there by the shed where we found him, it's too cold." It was nearing the end of November after all, and Sam's voice was decided as she made her pronouncement.
"I don't know," Daniel spoke again, his voice still hesitant and unsure.
Sam whirled around to face him, planting her small hands on her hips and making Daniel take a step back. "Look. You're the one who said we couldn't leave him out there, all by himself. What are you so worried about now?"
Daniel hesitated, scuffing one sneaker along the carpet before he shrugged. "I just don't want to get in trouble and not be allowed to keep him is all."
"We won't get in trouble. Colonel Jack will be so proud of us, he'll just have to let us keep him, you'll see," said Sam with the confidence that came with being seven.
Daniel frowned, perching on the edge of the bed and studying his lap, considering, but he looked up as Teal'c entered the room, softly closing the door behind him.
"Samantha, I have procured the box and other items you have requested. I was not seen," Teal'c said solemnly, holding the proffered items out.
Sam beamed and stood up from out of her closet. "Those are perfect Teal'c!" She quickly upended the box on her bed, while Daniel kept a wary eye on her closet. Sorting through the various objects, Sam soon had the box lined with the old soft blanket Teal'c had found, and then crumbled some cookies into a bowl. Next, she poured water from a bottle into the other bowl. She put both bowls into the closet.
Daniel looked at the food offering dubiously. "Are you sure he'll eat that?" He really didn't know much about pets and what they ate since he'd never had one, but he was fairly certain he'd never seen any of them eat cookies.
"I like cookies, don't you?" Sam demanded. Daniel nodded wordlessly, still looking skeptical. "Well," she said as if that proved her point, "Then of course he'll like them too." Sam headed back into the closet, and Daniel sent a sideways glance at Teal'c, but the older boy only shrugged helplessly. Teal'c had even less an idea than he did. It seemed they would have to defer to the younger girl in this matter, because Sam had the most experience out of all of them with pets since she'd once had a goldfish and the third grade classroom had a pair of hamsters.
Inside the closet, Sam could again be heard shifting things, but now she was talking to something. "It's ok little guy, I won't hurt you. See, here's your nice warm bed, and some yummy cookies and a nice drink." A soft squeaking noise was heard, and Sam replied to it. "No! Shhhh! You have to stay quiet or he'll hear you and you won't be able to stay. Now I'm just gonna tuck you in, and you be a good boy while I'm gone!"
"Should we not tell Colonel O'Neill about what we have found? Would he not assist us?" Teal'c asked when Sam reemerged from the closet, closing the door gently. Daniel looked at the older boy, startled. Teal'c had voiced his concerns exactly.
Sam frowned, and looked from one boy to the other, her forehead creased in thought. "We'll tell him Teal'c," she said finally, "Just not right away. We have to prove we can take care of him and that he won't be any trouble at all. Then he'll have to let us keep him!" Sam lifted her chin in determination.
Teal'c and Daniel shared a glance, Daniel sighing and shrugging reluctantly and Teal'c finally nodding. Daniel had rarely seen Sam so determined and sure about something before. It seemed Teal'c agreed. "Very well Samantha, we shall do what we can to aid you, and will speak nothing of it until such time as you deem it needed."
A wide grin broke out on the little girl's face. "We won't have any trouble at all, you'll see! C'mon, let's go pick out a name." With that, Sam left the room, Teal'c and Daniel following somewhat dubiously.
AsLongAsWeGotEachOther,WeCanTakeAnythingThatComesOurWayJack made his rounds of the kids' rooms before starting up the washer. The kids were downstairs doing their homework. While they were all fairly good about putting their dirty clothes into the hamper, they still had lapses. Sam a bit more so than the older boys. Teal'c seemed to be just as neat and tidy as the grown up that Jack knew, and sharing a room seemed to make Daniel that much more conscientious of his own neatness. Sam just tended to leave things wherever unless constantly reminded, quite a contrast from her organized adult self. He found it amusing to see her messy childish habits, but then again, she was only seven. Which meant it was his job to ensure all the clothes got washed, and he grumbled to himself about the increased number of loads he now did with the kids here. Not that he really minded.
Sweeping the boys' room with his gaze he quickly grabbed the shirt left draped over the back of the chair, and headed down the hall to Sam's room. He picked up the forgotten pajama bottoms and few other articles scattered here and there before spying a sock peeking out from under the bed. With a grimace, he bent his knees to peer under the bed for any more misplaced garments, his knee squeaking in protest. It wasn't until he straightened up with his prize in hand that he realized that the squeak hadn't come from his knee, but in fact from elsewhere.
Especially when it squeaked again and he wasn't moving.
Yep, definitely elsewhere, he decided, as the noise became more insistent, accompanied by a slight scratching sound. Jack placed the laundry basket on Sam's bed and took several quick strides to Sam's closet. He yanked the door open expecting to find a mouse or some other creature. Jack wasn't quite sure what he'd do with a mouse, his hands empty, but all he could think was he had to deal with it before it ran off and invited more of its mouse friends over. The last thing he was expecting was the vaguely rat shaped creature to come falling out of the closet.
Well, at least it was sorta rat shaped. If you had vision problems that is. And thought rats were orange and striped.
The decidedly non-rat creature sorted its legs and looked up at him, crying plaintively. Jack stared back, and it took the opportunity to start exploring… by climbing up his pant leg.
Dumbstruck, Jack reached down and unfastened the little cling-on, and held it up by the scruff of its neck, examining it at eye level.
The little beast stared back.
"What were you doing in there?" he asked, as if expecting an answer.
"Mew?" said the critter, starting to squirm a bit.
Jack sighed, and tucked the little thing in closer. The last thing he needed right now was a pet. Peeking into the closet confirmed his suspicions that the furball had had help getting into the closet. Wrinkling his nose, he also realized that no one had provided bathroom facilities for the poor thing. He frowned as he spied what looked like an untouched pile of cookie crumbs next to a bowl of water. With another sigh, he headed downstairs, the freeloader tucked under his arm.
This one should be interesting.
A/N: I hope everyone had a lovely holiday and a nice new years. Wow. I haven't updated since last year. :P Christmas was nice, and the cats even helped unwrap the gifts… although they unwrapped them a few days early! Sam's already lost all the new toys I bought the cats for Christmas. I fished a dozen or so balls and mousies out from under the hutch and stove, but they've all disappeared again. And we had to hide the Christmas centerpiece, because the little louts liked chewing on it. Cats.