A/N: Thanks for the continued attention to this story - I'll keep doing the same as long as you guys do. In answer to some of the 'I hope I see this...' reviews, don't worry, most of the things you've asked for will show up in the next few chapters.

Ch 7

That night, they decided Jack and Sam would both stay in the VIP room with Danny. Teal'c told them all goodnight and retired to his own quarters, and Jack cleverly brought Daniel to Dr. Fraiser to 'say goodnight,' conveniently when he needed another new diaper.

Janet gave him a look that said her patience was wearing thin on this matter, hugged and kissed Daniel goodnight, and gave him back to Jack, who flew him, Superman-style, out of the infirmary and back to the VIP suite, where Sam had already dressed for bed in their absence and was sitting in one of the chairs reading something.

She looked up in surprise when they entered. Danny had such an infectious laugh, and she was trying very hard not to be too touched by the way her CO obviously enjoyed interacting with him. He had gotten over the whole 'it's Daniel' thing fairly quickly, it seemed, and was now in his element. In many ways a two year old boy was the perfect audience for Colonel O'Neill… and Sam couldn't help but enjoy being an audience to that. It was nice to see the two of them getting along so well, and see the Colonel actually smiling, laughing, and having fun for a change.

The 'flight' over, Jack dropped Daniel on the couch carefully and sat down next to him, grabbing the remote. "You're not working, are you?" he called suspiciously as he flipped through the channels.

"Not really," Sam said evasively.

"Uh-huh. Danny, go make sure Carter knows it's play-time," Jack ordered.

"Huh?" the little boy asked, looking at them both, then round the room for a mysterious third person called 'Carter.'

"Sam," Jack corrected. "Go make her put her work away." He set the boy on his feet and pointed him at her.

Danny obediently ran over to her and started patting her insistently on the knee. "That is so cheap, sir," Sam argued, determinedly not looking at the little boy. She held the folder in her lap in front of his face and kept reading, although at this point she honestly had no idea what the words she was reading were actually saying.

Danny giggled and asked, "Peek-boo?"

"One second," she tried, refusing to look at him just yet. She was almost to a stopping point…

That was no problem, he could work with that. Danny hugged her legs, the only part of her he could completely see, and folded himself over, laying his head in her lap. "Sam pway pwease," he said in a truly pathetic voice that made her instantly toss the folder aside and pull him up into her lap.

"That's just not fair," she complained half-heartedly. Her CO looked way too smug. "Okay, what do you want to play, Danny?" she asked him.

Danny, however, realized that he was actually quite tired. It had been a very busy and interesting day for him, after all. "Wead," he said carefully.

"Weed? What is… oh, read. Yeah, okay."

Jack stretched out on the couch and watched TV while Sam read the books to Danny. He'd already heard them twice that day, but didn't seem to mind. He snuggled into her, sucking his thumb, and started fighting hard to stay awake. When she finished the books, he said, "Pway hide-see?"

Jack twisted on the couch to look at them and realized he had guessed right. He remembered the 'keep busy so you don't fall asleep' tactic from when Charlie was little. "No more playing, Danny, we're sleepy," he called.

"I not sweepy," Danny said stubbornly. "Hungwy."

"I don't think we've got anything in here for you. I can go to the commissary and…" Sam started.

"He's just stalling, Carter, he ate a ton of food at supper."

"Hungwy," he insisted, scowling at Jack. "And firsty," he added for good measure.

"I'll just go get him something just in case, okay? We need some more water and stuff for him anyway."

"All right, but I bet you he's asleep or almost when you get back and he won't want it."

"All right, it's a bet, Colonel. Loser changes the next diaper," Sam said with a smile, getting to her feet with Danny.

"What? I didn't agree to…" Jack started objecting.

"Afraid your little theory is crap, sir?"

"Watch it, Major," he warned, although it wasn't very threatening as he was grinning while he spoke. "Okay, you're on. Now, give me the child. You'll see."

Sam deliberately plopped Danny right on top of Jack and said, "We'll see. Sir."

"Sam?" Danny called as she headed for the door.

"I'm coming right back," she promised. "Wait up for me, okay Danny?"

"Kay, Sam!"

"Talk about not playing fair!" Jack called after her. When they were alone, he looked up at Danny, who was sitting on Jack's chest and looking sleepy, but like he knew he was going to get away with something. "That's what you think, pal," Jack told him, turning up the volume on the TV. "Look. Your favorite show. The Simpsons!"

The animation did interest the little guy, and although Jack knew that it wasn't really an appropriate show for such a little kid, well… it was Daniel. He wouldn't be like this forever, and it was definitely the only thing on at this time of night that could remotely hold his interest. Plus even though it was Daniel, how much of it could he really be taking in beyond the bright animation and funny voices?

"Lay down, kid," Jack instructed, moving around until Danny was trapped between the back of the sofa and Jack, who still lay flat on his back. Danny lay stretched out beside him but mostly on top of him. He could see the television but getting out of that spot would take a lot more effort than he had. He squirmed for a few minutes but soon lay still, content to watch TV, cuddle, and suck his thumb.

Jack kept looking down at him hopefully. By the time Sam came back, his eyes were only halfway open and the pace of thumb-sucking had slowed considerably.

She looked down at them both, stopping at the foot of the couch with a banana in one hand and two bottles of water in the other, and smiled automatically at the sight of both of them lying there watching The Simpsons. Then she realized she'd just lost a bet and scowled, meeting the smug and smirking face of her CO.

"Danny, aren't you hungry?" she tried hopefully.

He mumbled something unintelligible but didn't even move.

"Thirsty?"

"Give it up, Carter. You're on diaper duty," Jack said happily.

She put the things she had brought away and spotted the camera Teal'c had been using. She snapped a picture of them on the couch and got a challenging look for it. "I'd be careful if I were you, Carter. You might start something," he warned.

"I'll take my chances, sir. Besides, you can't get up at the moment."

"I'll bide my time," he insisted.

She rolled her eyes and went back to the chair she'd been in earlier, but the TV show was way too distracting for her to keep reading. By the time it was over, Danny was asleep.

"I guess he's sleeping in that playpen thing?" Sam asked, nodding over at the collapsible crib/playpen Teal'c and Jack had set up earlier in the day. It was next to the bed.

"Yeah. He's kind of old for it but since we're on the base and all it's probably safer if we kind of… know where he is. Plus it's more comfortable than the floor, and I'd be kind of worried about him falling off the bed."

"Yeah, me too," Sam agreed. "Do you want me to, you know, move him?"

Jack looked down at the mop of ruffled, supersoft baby hair nestled into his chest and said, "He's okay. For a while. He might wake up if we move him too soon."

"Right," Sam said quietly, smiling to herself.

When Jack started to doze off as well, he figured they should all settle in for the night. Sam carefully peeled Daniel away from him. He squirmed but settled into her sleepily, barely waking. She lowered him into the makeshift crib and fussed with the blanket she settled over him for a moment, satisfied when he curled over onto his side and found his thumb again.

"I am so gonna tease him about that thumb sucking thing," Jack said quietly, going over to the wardrobe to get himself a blanket and pillow.

"I think we'll be okay if you want to go back to your own quarters, sir," Sam said uncomfortably. "You really don't need to stay on the couch…"

"Trying to get rid of me, Carter?" he asked mildly.

"No, sir." Actually, she liked having him there a lot more than she was supposed to. They tended to feel everything a lot more than they were supposed to, but that wasn't really the point. She felt like by his continued presence he was saying she needed him there. Needed help. Like she couldn't take care of one little kid by herself.

She knew it was stupid - he probably didn't mean it like that, maybe even didn't think that, although it could very well be true whether he believed it or not. It was more the suggestion that there might be something she couldn't handle by herself that was making her suddenly want to prove that she could make it through one night alone in a room with a two-year old.

"Good, cuz it's not going to work anyway. Hammond ordered us both in here tonight. If you've got a problem with it take it up with him tomorrow. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." She was actually relieved that he had practically made it an order. It was safer all around that way, although it didn't make her feel 100 percent better. It did help. "Good night."

"Night, Carter." He squeezed her shoulder briefly and went back over to the couch. She waited until he was settled and then got into bed, leaned over, and flipped out the light.

An hour later, she was dozing, not deeply asleep yet, when Danny started stirring. He whimpered, "Sam?" and sounded so scared that she flipped on the light and leaned over the pack-and-play quickly.

"Hey. Did you get scared?" she guessed, figuring he hadn't recognized his surroundings.

Danny nodded. She stroked his hair and said, "You're okay. I'm right over there, and the Colonel… Jack… is on the couch. Go back to sleep, okay?"

"Nooo… I'm scaawed."

"Scared? Of the dark?"

He nodded and scrambled to his feet, trying to climb out of the playpen to her. She leaned over, hugging him, but tried to lay him back on his back. He did not appreciate it. He started crying.

"Y'ok?" Jack called from the couch.

"He's scared. And he doesn't like the crib."

"Hey, I don't blame him."

"Saaaam," Danny cried, trying to climb out again. She picked him up and he muffled his sobs in her shirt, just as he had earlier that morning. It had been an extremely long day, Sam realized suddenly.

She rubbed his back comfortingly and his crying subsided into occasional whimpers. She swayed on the spot for a few minutes and said, "I thought babies this big slept all night."

"Yeah, they usually do, but it looks like nobody mentioned that to Danny boy. Want me to…"

"I can do it," she said quickly, belatedly realizing she had not only just been rather short with her CO, she had interrupted him as well. They were both so sleepy and tired that she knew he wouldn't take offence, if he even registered it.

"Kay. Lemme know."

"Yes, sir," she said, sounding somewhat guilty. Daniel stilled in her arms and she continued to sway on the spot with him for a few minutes, then tried to lay him back down.

"Nooooooooo…" he clung to her shirt and started gearing up for another fit.

"Okay. You don't like that thing. Where do you want to sleep?"

"Stay wiff you. I'm scawed."

"You can't sleep in the bed with me, Danny, you might fall off in the night and get hurt," she tried to explain.

"No. I won't."

"Not on purpose, I know, but…" she looked at the bed and sighed. "Here, want me to read you that book about the duck again?"

"Kay," he agreed immediately, knowing he'd have to be taken out of the crib for that. She fetched the book and sat on the side of the bed, holding him again, and read the book yet one more time. He fell asleep while she was reading it.

She kept talking so the absence of her voice wouldn't wake him up while she moved him, and successfully got him back in the portable crib. She covered him with his blanket again and watched hopefully. He didn't stir. Feeling oddly proud of herself for such a relatively small task, she flipped the lamp back off and got back in bed.

Fifteen minutes later…

"Saaaaaaaaam!"

When the soft snoring from the couch didn't even falter, she got up again quickly, hoping she could get to Daniel without waking her CO up - no need for him to know just how much trouble she was having getting one little boy to stay asleep.

"Danny… we can't do this all night," she said quietly. "I'm sure you sleep alone, don't you?"

"But I scawed! I need you!"

She looked at the bed and sighed. "Okay. I'll leave the light on so you can see me, but I've got to put you down for a bit to work this out, okay?"

"Kay." He stood in the crib, peering over the edge, and watched hopefully.

Jack awoke to the sounds of furniture being moved. Granted, his 2IC was obviously trying to do it as quietly as possible, although that still didn't answer the question of why she felt… he glanced at his watch… 01.16 hours was the best time to try her hand at redecorating the VIP room.

"Carter, what the hell?" he croaked, sitting up with a groan and peering over the back of the couch at her.

Startled, she exclaimed, "Sir! Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you… but I thought if I pushed the bed into the corner and kept myself between Daniel and the other side, it would be okay. He won't stay in the crib."

"And you didn't wake me up to help why?" he asked as he got up and joined her. She had the box spring separated from the headboard so that the bed would be easier to move, and had already moved everything else out of the way.

Danny was supervising. He offered a, "Hi Dack" without removing his thumb from his mouth.

"You're a troublemaker, you know that? I don't tell you that often enough," Jack told the boy, who merely nodded solemnly, blinking slowly in the dimly lighted room.

Jack complained loudly as he and Sam tugged and pulled the bed up against the wall. Sam didn't bother answering most of the complaints that he was getting way too old to wake up in the middle of the night and drag furniture across the room. He could have pretended to remain sleeping, after all, if he wasn't willing to actually help. He just liked to be gruff about things - she knew he'd actually be much more upset if he woke up in the morning to find she had done everything by herself while he slept.

Once they were done, Jack turned to Daniel and said, "You better not peep after this kid."

He was all the way back on the couch, under his own blanket, and Danny was now trapped in the bed between Sam and a wall (with pillows up against it in case he rolled into it) before Danny innocently said, "Peep."

Sam had to laugh, and she was so exhausted after the long, strange day that once she started, she couldn't stop the distinctly un-Major-like giggles she knew her CO had disapproved of even when she had been a Captain.

"What's so funny, Carter?"

"Some things just never change, sir."