Author's Note: I want to thank everyone who has put my story on alerts or favorited it and left reviews. I appreciate it very much. For those people who disagree with the scene of Indy spanking Mutt, I can only say that there was a warning put on the summary for a reason. I know very well that it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea and everyone has their own ideas of what Indiana Jones would or would not do.

The nineteen fifties in the United States were not a time of parents being thier children's friends. That crap didn't start until the hippies of the sixties started having kids. In the fifties, parents laid down the law; the kids obeyed them. I thought that it was stretching believability to have Indy negotiating with Mutt about the rules later on. Even today there are areas of the US where school districts still paddle students as old as high school so having a parent spank a teen wasn't so far out of line.

That said, this chapter has coarse language and some references to violence but no spanking. There may be others later; I don't know yet.

Doctor Jones worked until well after three trying to open the lamp whose lid was locked securely in place. It appeared that the indentation worked as a lock but even after looking through the things the girl was carrying in her bag, he found nothing of the right size and diameter and markings that would help. In his frustration, he'd even tried rubbing and saying 'Open Sesame' and immediately felt stupid.

"Well, what in the hell did you expect, Jones? This isn't some Bugs Bunny cartoon," he said to himself, causing his sleeping son to grunt unintelligibly. He ran his hands through his hair as he looked over at Mutt. Though he'd hoped Mutt would get bored quickly, Indy had given up trying to get the boy to bed when it was obvious that no amount of threatening or cajoling would work while his father had his friend's belongings.

He translated the inscription around the outside of the indent.

"That a man should receive half his wishes, he doubles his worries," Indy read. "That's for damn sure."

Mutt started. "What is it, Dad?" he mumbled.

"What it is, Young man, is very late," Indy said. "There's not going to be much more I can do tonight unless Susan has the key to this lamp. Go to bed, Kid."

"What about her bag?" Mutt asked groggily.

"I'll put it back, Son," he said, stopping outside of the guest room door. He had no idea how he was going to get the girl to stay where she was once she was awake short of tying her to the bed. Quietly he opened the door and allowed the light from the hall to fall onto the bed where she lay restless in her sleep. Placing the lamp and bag on the dresser, he moved closer to check on her. Her face was bathed in sweat and she mumbled incoherently. He noticed the purplish bruises he'd put on her throat and wondered if he wasn't actually psychotic, as his son had suggested.

He went into the bathroom and got a cool cloth to wipe her face and the girl's eyes fluttered open as he did. She pulled away, falling out of the bed scooting herself to a far corner of the room, her blue eyes wide with fear.

"Please don't kill me," she croaked.

"Look, Kid. I'm not going to hurt you," Indy said, knowing it sounded hollow and stupid. He forced himself to stay calm as he approached only a few steps at a time. "Right now, you need to get back into bed. You're a sick girl."

"Just let me go. I swear I won't tell anyone," she said, looking as if she were trying to find an escape route. "Please, I don't want to die."

"Susan, I am not going to kill you," he said, forcing his voice to remain low and soothing, though he really felt neither at the moment. He knelt next to her, grabbing her by the arms and trying to haul her back to bed. "I wish I hadn't hurt you. I'm sorry, Kid. If I could take it back, I would."

Indy stopped and turned as he heard a hissing coming from the dresser. The lamp erupted with a blue wispy flame from the end. He moved over to the dresser and picked up the lamp. For the briefest of moments thought that he'd seen a face within the flame but it flickered out just as quickly as it had flared.

"Did you see that?" he asked Susan, only to find that she was lying in bed looking as if she'd never moved. He went to the bedside; she was still fevered and sweating but the bruises on her throat were gone.

"Doctor Jones?" she said blinking a few times and tears brimming in her eyes. She pushed the covers away from her body and trying to steady herself on her feet. "I am so sorry that I caused so much trouble for you and Mrs. Jones and Mutt."

"No, stay in bed," Indy said gently, helping her to lie back down and wrapping the blankets around her. "I know you didn't mean any harm. I'm going to try to get a telegram to your father in China so he'll come back, but until then, I want you to stay here, if you're not scared of me."

The girl shook her head. "I've known you since I was a kid, why would I be afraid of you?"

"I thought that after the way I treated you last night…" Indy began.

"You had a right to be mad," Susan replied. "I woulda been if it was my kid. You were right, you know. It's just a cheap lamp. I should've just let them have it."

"You did the right thing. Those guys would make no good of it," Indy said, placing a hand on her forehead. "I'm going to get you something for this fever."

"Are you okay, Doctor Jones?" Susan asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Kid. Just try to get some more sleep," he said. "Just stay covered."

Indy went into the bathroom and found nothing but Mutt's pomade and shaving cream. Of course he wouldn't have anything useful lying around. He then tiptoed into the master bath, trying not to wake his wife as he looked for the aspirin, dropping the bottle and creating a racket.

"Jones?" she said looking over to the bathroom. "Are you all right?"

"Looking for some aspirin for Susan; she's running a fever," Indy said.

Marion got out of bed and went into the bathroom with him. "There's Tylenol on the top shelf. I'll take them to her. I've a little more experience with sick kids than you have."

"Marion, did I choke her last night?" he asked her.

"Of course you didn't," Marion said. "Have you lost your mind?"

"I don't know, Honey. Maybe," he said, knowing for certain that he hadn't imagined it or been hallucinating. "It must have been a bad dream."

"You've been working all night," Marion said, taking the pills and water from Indy. "Lie down and get some sleep. I'll take these to Susan to help her rest more comfortably."

Indy lay on the bed and kicked off his shoes. Knowing what he did of the legend, he figured that he must have triggered the lamp when he wished to have handled what happened with Susan differently. He sat up and went back to the guest room and grabbed the lamp, knocking on it.

"You in there, come on out," he demanded as Marion and Susan looked at him as if he were insane. "I know you're in there."

Marion walked over to her husband and took the lamp out of his hand. "Honey, you've been working too hard. Come to bed," she said, turning out the light.

"You don't understand," Indy said looking excited. "That lamp granted a wish."

"Good night, Susan," Marion said closing the door.

"Good night, Mrs. Jones," she said, rolling over to her good side to rest.

Marion took a moment to stop and check on Mutt, pulling his covers up over him. In some ways he was so young that Indy's heart ached with regret that he hadn't been there for the boy as a small child. He wondered what life would have been like if he'd raised Mutt alongside Marion; been there for his first steps, his first words, when he learnt to ride a bicycle. He waited until his wife closed the door again and took her hands in his.

"You don't understand, Honey. That is THE lamp from the Aladdin tale. The name's been altered over the years. It was originally Al Jhadin but it's easy to see the connection," Indy said, excitedly. "I'll be damned if it didn't change something that happened last night. Do you know what this means?"

"Yes, it means you're delusional," Marion said. "You've been working all night. Get some sleep so that we can figure out how to get that girl the antibiotics she needs without alerting everyone under the sun where she is."

"Anything we wanted, Sweetheart," Indy said. "I could go back and make right what I did wrong all those years ago."

"What?" Marion asked. "Honey, you're losing it."

Indy grumbled at her since she was using the same tone with him that she did with Mutt when he was being stubborn and petulant. "I did not imagine it, Marion," he said, letting his wife massage his neck and get him to lie back.

"I know you didn't, Dear," Marion said softly. "Just relax and close your eyes. You can't solve anything when you're tired. You can try again to get the lamp sorted out in the morning."

Indy started to say something but was quieted by exhaustion and didn't even realize that he was even asleep until he woke with the sun shining through a slit in the curtains of the bedroom. He stretched and sat up, trying to fully recall the events of the previous evening.

Everything was clear to him but if it had been a dream; Mutt and Susan might have already run off. He threw on his trousers and charged down the stairs to the kitchen where Marion and the two teens were sitting and having breakfast. Susan still looked pale and unwell, but they were there. He noticed she was wearing one of Mutt's dress shirts as the one she'd worn the night before was destroyed.

"Jeez, Dad, put a shirt on!" Mutt moaned, throwing a shirt from the clean laundry basket his father's way.

"You're here," Indy said, buttoning up, happy that the kids were still there and neither looked unhappy to see him. "You didn't take off."

"Uh… no," Mutt replied, rolling his eyes. "I'm gonna go and get Sue's stuff after breakfast though."

"Don't mind your father, Honey," Marion said, setting a platter of pancakes on the table. "He was working on that lamp until almost four."

"Where is the lamp, Susan?" Indy asked. "There's something I need to check."

"Not at the breakfast table," Marion scolded, giving Indy a light smack on the head with her oven mitt. "We eat like civilized people; then you can piddle around with the lamp."

"Mom, that's not fair. You've spent more than one breakfast buried in a book or the newspaper," Mutt said, unconsciously defending his father. The comment earned Mutt an equal smack from his mother with the mitt that did nothing but amuse the two Jones men.

Susan smiled to herself at the casual easiness of their exchanges; something to which she had little exposure. Mutt motioned for Susan to hand him the lamp which he in turn passed to his father underneath the table. He looked over the lamp and motioned to the indentation to Susan silently asking if she had the key. She shrugged. Everyone stopped what they were doing and Indy put the lamp on his lap as Marion turned and sat down with the bacon.

"Eat up, everyone," Marion said, "and don't think that I don't know you're hiding that lamp, Doctor Jones."

"I don't know what you mean, dear," Indy said as he tried to give her an innocent look but failed miserably.

"I don't know how you expect him to mind the rules when you don't," Marion sighed, causing Mutt to chuckle underneath his breath, which earned him a small smack on the arm from his father which caused Marion to give Indy a smack. After a round of smacks, the Jones family settled down to their breakfast.

"Susan, I need to know where your father's last letter came from. I can send a telegram to a colleague in Beijing and have him make some inquiries," Indy said as they ate.

"Last I knew he was excavating near the boarder of China and Vietnam," Susan replied, pulling out her maps. "He started in Hong Kong and traveled into China's mainland and through the countryside."

"Dad, last night you said that the lamp was from the tale of Aladdin, right? I thought that the story came from the Middle East," Mutt said.

"The story came from there but it's set somewhere in and around China," Indy replied. "As these sorts of tales do, they tend to travel a bit, making their true origins difficult to ascertain. However, I would say with this little trinket has proved itself a little more precise."

"How do you figure that?" Mutt asked. "It's just a lamp."

Indy placed the table on the lamp. "It's more than that, Son, believe me. Susan, where's the key that fits the indentation?"

"There might be something in the other things my father sent, I'm not certain though. They're back where I was staying," Susan admitted, setting her fork aside.

"You mentioned that last night," he said. "You mentioned a camper somewhere in the woods past Riverview Park? Why on earth didn't you stay with someone?"

"I didn't want to quit school and there's no one to stay with," Susan said, shrugging. "I work hard at the diner; almost thirty hours a week. I can take care of myself. Besides, it's not like I was expecting to get caught up in some sort of international conspiracy."

"No one plans that sort of thing," Marion said, gently. "They just happen that way, particularly around the Joneses."

Indy chuckled. "It's true enough," he said. "Do you think that I'll be able to find your hideaway out there reasonably? Or do I need a compass and a search party?"

"It's fairly out of the way in the woods between the airfield and Riverview Park. It's about half a mile west when you get to the old shantytown near the river on the left hand path. There used to be a road that went down there, but it's blocked now from downed trees and things."

"What were you going to do when it gets cold?" Marion asked as Susan shrugged in reply. "Honestly, if I didn't know better, I'd think you and my son were separated at birth. Of course, I can blame his father for that particular fault."

"He gets some of it from you," Indy defended. He squeezed Marion's hand. "I think we'd both better go so that we make sure to get all of her things."

"Susan, you should go back to bed," Marion said. "You're still looking pale. Are you hurting?"

The girl shook her head. "No, not really, I'm just a bit warm."

Marion laid a cool hand on Susan's forehead. "More than just a bit warm, I'd say. Off to bed with you. Jones, you better stay here in case those feds decide to come back. I'll get Susan's things."

"And what if the feds go after you?" Indy asked. "No, we're best to stick together."

"I'll be fine," Marion argued. "The kids need an adult here."

Mutt turned to Susan while his parents continued to argue. "So you said that the road was filled with downed trees now, but do you think my bike could get in?"

"Maybe but you'd have to be really careful," Susan replied. "It's a dirt road, so you might have a lot of dust kicked up."

"What about you, Marion?" Indy asked. "If they decide to go after you, you'd be on your own."

"Jones, you're being ridiculous," Marion shot back.

Mutt shook his head and went back to his discussion with Susan. "How much stuff do you have?"

"Not much; just one suitcase of clothes and the chest. It's not very big, about the size of a breadbox," she said. "Mom sold everything else with the house."

"I could take some rope and tie it all to the back. I suppose it'd take about an hour or so," Mutt said. "Don't worry, I won't mess with anything; just bring it back for you."

"It's too dangerous, Mutt," Susan said, trying to get the attention of the entire Jones family. "It's too dangerous for anyone to go."

The girl rested her head in her hands. "I wish I'd never even…" she began but was stopped by Indy clamping his hand over her mouth.

"Don't finish that thought, Susan," he ordered. "We'll figure out how to fix things but don't wish for anything that will change what's going on now."

"Dad, I have the best chance of getting there and back without trouble," Mutt said. "My bike can get places that their car can't."

"He's right," Marion said. "I'm not happy about it, but he's right."

Indy gave his son a very appraising look. "No, I don't like it. What if you let me use your motorcycle?"

Mutt cocked an eyebrow at his father. "You're kidding, right? If you had to start pulling any hard turns, you could break a hip or something."

"I am not that old, Junior," Indy scowled at his son.

"He's right about something though, Honey," Marion said. "He'll be good at maneuvering away from any obstacles, and he's very safe."

"Have you ever ridden with him, Marion?" Indy asked before relenting. He walked his son out to the garage where they saw the black sedan sitting and pointedly not watching them just as a good tail did. "All right, but if it starts looking dangerous; I want you to come home. Don't risk your neck too much. I'll go make nice with the feds."

"I won't, Pops," Mutt replied.

Indy stepped out to the sedan and knocked on the window. "I hate to bother you while you're working, but if you could pull back from the garage. My son's heading out to Sunday school and my wife and I will want to head out to church shortly. Thanks that would be great."

The driver turned over the ignition and drove down the alley, looking annoyed as Indy gave them a smile and wave as they went.

Mutt threw the bike into gear and screeched out of the garage as the tail car waited for him at the corner. Since most families were headed to church, there were a number of cars on the road through which Mutt could weave through, frustrating his pursuers in their jobs. They kept on his tail as he entered the centre sqauare where he led them on a chase circling the town hall half a dozen times before he tore past the Catholic cathedral which was solid with traffic as he jumped the curb and rode down the sidewalk. Mutt flipped the feds the bird before taking off on the chase once again.

"Wahoo!" Mutt yelled in victory, speeding away and heading out of town, alone. It wasn't long before Mutt was at the back of the airfield and headed down the old dirt road as he dodged logs and rocks and the occasional squirrel along the way.

The camper was an old wood piece of crap but it had to have been better than nothing. Looking around, he was kind of glad that his folks demanded Susan stay at their house until her dad got back. He knew that his dad would get a hold of her dad. It seemed like Indiana Jones had friends all over the world to talk to. Mutt shook the thoughts from his head. Since when was he such a square anyway? Of course, being a square was better than having his old man cracking on him all the time.

It didn't take long before Mutt found Susan's suitcase and the small chest she'd told him about. He picked up everything and situated it on his bike securely before heading back to home. He got no further than the rear of the airfield when he noticed the black sedan heading up the road.

"Shit," he muttered ducking back into the woods until the car passed by and he could make his way back. Mutt took off at top speed back toward town and didn't stop until he was pulling into his own driveway.

"Everything go all right?" Indy asked, as he privately took inventory of his son and made sure that he wasn't hurt. He grabbed the boy and checked him over, turning his face back and forth and looking over his limbs.

"I'm fine, Pops," Mutt replied. "I had to burn rubber to shake the fuzz first but it was no sweat. They'll be back soon unless they got lost on that long lonely dirt road."

"Well, no need to worry about it now," Indy said. "Let's get this stuff inside and see if we can get that lamp to work again."

"Again?" Mutt asked. "Did something happen while I wasn't here?"

"It did something last night, Kiddo," Indy said, holding the door open for his son.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Mutt asked. "Then we could have all seen."

"Wasn't much to see, Mutt. Besides, it's better this way," Indy replied. "Susan's resting upstairs. That fever still hasn't come down. Perhaps you can take her personal belongings up to her."

Mutt took Susan's suitcase up to the guest room and knocked for admittance. Once Susan told him to enter, he opened the door and peeked in. "I have your clothes and stuff. How're you feeling?"

"Thanks, Mutt," Susan said as he set her case on the dresser. She was holding onto the lamp that was at the center of all the problems. "You really didn't have to put yourself in so much danger.

"I didn't mind," Mutt said. "Besides, if you're going to be staying here, you'll need your stuff."

"I know your dad's worried about something happening to you and your mom," Susan said. "You're really lucky that they care about you so much."

"I'm sure your folks care about you too," Mutt said.

Susan shrugged. "I guess."

Mutt took the girl's hand in his and pulled her closer to him. "What aren't you telling, Sue?" he asked.

"I'm just used to relying on myself," Susan replied, her eyes cast downward. "I managed okay until this stupid lamp came. I was just getting my life settled; at least a little bit. If I believed in such nonsense, I'd say it was cursed."

"You don't believe that really," Mutt said. "It's just bad timing."

"I'd just as happily throw it into the river and be done with it if…" Susan trailed off. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so ungrateful. Your folks have been so nice and I'm busy griping."

"Seems to me you have some right to gripe," Indy said from the doorway as he carried in the chest. "I was hoping to have a look at the lamp again and possibly look through some of the things your father sent to see if he possibly sent the key."

"I've got some arrowhead, some little jade sculptures, and a scroll that my dad said is my name written in Chinese, some small coins…," Susan said, opening the chest. "I don't really see anything that looks like a proper key."

"Let's try some of those coins," Indy said.

From the downstairs, they heard the doorbell ringing and Indy looked out to see not only their federal observers from earlier but the local police cruiser as well.

"Ah, shit," Mutt said. "I'm not sure we're going to put 'em off again."

"I wish there was a way to get them to stop looking for me," Susan said.

The lamp began to smoke and a flame erupted from the tip. She set the lamp on the bedside table and backed away. Once the smoke and dust settled, they saw a diminutive creature standing six inches high with pink skin and blue hair that looked as if it were made of flames, dusting off and looking most irritated as she coughed.

"All right, just who are you water bags and why do you keep bothering me?" she demanded in a squeaky voice as they stared at her.

Indy bent down to look at the little creature and said, "Who are you?"

"I asked first!" she sniffed, indignantly.

Indy would have laughed if it hadn't been so beyond belief. "I'm Doctor Henry Jones and my son, also named Henry. The young lady is Susan March. We're in a bit of a jam here if you don't mind. Those fellows are downstairs are after you and your lamp and they're not above hurting the kids to get it."

"They can go get their own houses!" the little djinni declared her blue hair flaring up in flames. "You may call me Xanae. Why would those men harm the younglings?"

"Because they think the girl's father has sent her something very powerful. They've already tried to shoot her once," Indy said.

"Would you like me to disguise your younglings?" she asked.

"Yes!" Indy said decidedly.

They watched as the tiny djinn began to smolder and finally exploded. When the smoke cleared, Indy noticed that he was looking down at Mutt and Susan, who looked all of about three years old.

"What did you do?" Indy asked, as the two now very small children looked up at him confused and both looked as if tears were on the horizon.

"I put a disguise on them, of course," Xanae replied. "The wicked water sacks aren't expecting little children so they should leave you alone now. Besides, I heard what you told the female last night. You want to go back and do things differently. Well, short of making him an infant, won't this do?"

Indy heard footsteps on the stairs and said to the children, "We're going to play pretend. Just call me daddy while the other men are here, okay?"

The door burst open and Marion was standing in front of the federal agents who pushed her in and with a quick pop, Xanae was no longer visible and the room looked closer to a nursery than a guest room.

The chief of police handed Indy a search warrant. "We're here to look for Susan March, Doctor Jones," he said. "Agent Collins here seems to think you're hiding her. Well, Collins? I don't see Miss March here."

"Mommy!" Mutt yelled dashing over to Marion and throwing his arms around her waist. "Mommy, what's goin' on?"

Marion instinctively picked up her little Mutt and didn't need to be told that the little boy was her son. She rocked him on her hip as she'd done countless times as a small boy.

Indy took Susan's hand and walked over next to his wife. "Make this quick!" Indy ordered. "I was about to put them down for a nap. She's sick and needs very little excitement."

"No nap!" Mutt argued. "I a big boy!"

"I wanna go home!" Susan whined.

"Well, thank you very much," Marion said to the officers, mimicking irritation very well. "Now I've got two cranky children and you're chasing ghosts. Would you mind doing your search and getting the hell out of here?"

"You said bad words, Mommy," Mutt said, putting his hand on Marion's mouth.

"Honey, don't put your hands on mommy's mouth," Marion said, pulling his hands down. Mutt settled himself with resting his head on her shoulder and popped his thumb into his mouth.

Collins picked up the lamp from one of the small beds. "I know she's here, Doctor, and I will find her," he sneered.

Susan grabbed the lamp from the man's hands. "Mine!" she said, smacking his hand. "Daddy gived it to me!"

"You little brat!" Collins yelled, raising his hand to the child. Indy grabbed the man's arm.

"Don't even think of it," Indy growled. He then turned his attention to the little girl. "You don't hit people! Say you're sorry and you're going to bed."

Susan shook her head before Indy gave her a severe look. "I wanna go home," she demanded, stomping a tiny foot.

"You are home. Now, say you're sorry right now or you're going to be in trouble," Indy said, keeping his voice even yet stern.

The tiny blonde's bottom lip quivered. "I'm sorry," she relented.

"Are you in the habit of giving small children valuable artifacts as toys, Doctor Jones?" Collins said.

"Stick to violating citizens' constitutional rights, Collins, since you sure as hell don't know your ass from your elbow when it comes to antiquities," Indy said.

"I go 'way now," Susan said, timidly, keeping her lamp and heading for the door. Marion took hold of the little girl's hand.

"No, Sweetie. You stay with me," Marion said rounding on Collins. "I want you out of my house. It's hard enough having toddlers but having one sick and you interrupting nap time is not acceptable. You're lucky my husband's more of a disciplinarian. I'd have let her bite you."

Marion huffed out of the room with Mutt on one hip and Susan clinging on her hand while still holding her lamp as Indy covered his grin with a hand. "Chief, surely you can see we have our hands well more than full."

"Agent Collins, what is it your lookin' for anyway?" the chief asked.

"We have reason to believe that Susan March is in possession of the lamp of Aladdin. The American government cannot allow such a powerful artifact to be in the possession of any private citizen; let alone a sixteen year old girl."

The police chief gave the man a hard look and tipped his hat to Indy. "I think we'll be leaving you to your family, Doctor Jones. I am sorry."

Indy followed the police back down the stairs as Collins defended his position. "Goodbye, Chief. I hope we won't have to go through this again anytime soon," he said.

As they left, Indy went into the living room where Marion was sitting on the couch with Mutt who was happily cuddled against his mother and Susan was hiding under the coffee table, holding the lamp.

"Well, that was interesting," Indy said sitting next to Marion. He held his arms open for Mutt, who looked at his mother. She nodded and Mutt crawled over to his father. Indy wrapped his arms around his son, relishing in the boy's acceptance.

"I'm not even going to ask how this happened," Marion said. "But I'm sorry I doubted you, Jones."

"The notion does stretch the imagination more than you'd expect," he replied. "It's nice to have him small though."

"It would be nicer if we were both twenty years younger," Marion joked.

"Come here, Susan," Indy said to the little blonde hiding under the table. Reluctantly, the child crawled out but refused to look up at Indy. He picked her up to sit next to him and Marion on the couch. She flinched as he picked her up to sit on the sofa between Marion and himself. She tucked into a ball and covered her head with her tiny arms.

"I'm sorry," she said, crying pitifully. "No hit me, please?"

Marion pulled the child onto her lap. "No, we aren't going to hit you, Susan," she said, stroking the girl's hair.

"My mommy!" Mutt yelled, trying to climb back over to Marion's lap. Indy held the boy firm. "She's my mommy!"

"Mutt, let mommy take care of the little girl," Indy said gently to his son. "Stay here with Dad."

"You my daddy?" little Mutt asked, taking stock of the man's face and touching his cheek with a chubby little hand. "Just mine?"

"Yes, I'm your daddy, Mutt," Indy said, remembering that the little boy on his lap didn't have the capacity to reason as he did normally. He would have to take great care. "For right now, though, you have to share with Susan. Her mommy and daddy are gone and she doesn't have anyone to take care of her."

"Are we going to be getting our sixteen year old son back anytime soon?" Marion asked.

"Depends on if Xanae comes out to undo this," Indy replied. "I dunno though. I kind of like him like this."

"Well, they do need a nap, and Susan's still unwell," Marion said. "You want to put them to bed and I'll call the doctor?"

"I'd rather keep them down here, but Mother knows best about these things," Indy joked, kissing his wife on the cheek. "I'll take them upstairs. Come on, Kids. It's naptime."

"Piggyback ride, Daddy," Mutt said, enthusiastically, wiggling to jump on Indy's back.

"All right, I'll give you a piggyback ride if you promise to lie in your bed and take a nap," Indy laughed.

"I promise, Daddy," Mutt said, laughing along with his father as they trotted up the stairs, Mutt calling out directions to go faster the whole way. Susan followed up the stairs, taking them one at a time as Marion found the phone book to telephone the doctor that Indy used when he was home.

Indy took Mutt into the guest room come nursery and dropped the little boy onto a bed as he laughed openly. "Will you be my daddy forever?" Mutt asked breathlessly.

"Yes, Son, I will," Indy said, pulling the covers over the little boy. "Nothing's ever going to change that. Now you promised to take a nap if I gave you a piggyback ride so I want you to close your eyes and lie quietly."

Mutt reached up and hugged his father, and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Night, night, Daddy."

Indy hadn't noticed that Susan had come in and climbed onto the other bed as he chatted with his son. As soon as he'd finished talking to his son and tucking him in, he moved over to the other bed. "Susan, may I have the lamp back for a little while?"

"Daddy gived it to me," the child repeated her earlier statement. "Where's Daddy?"

"Your dad's gone right now. I sent him a telegram, remember? Now please give me the lamp," Indy said. "I need to make it work. I'll give it back."

She shook her head. "I not a'pposed to show my toys Daddy gave me to nobody."

Indy felt a low growl escape his throat. "Okay, Kid. I know you're not feeling well but the only way to get it to work is to give it to me for a while."

She shook her head again. "Not gonna."

Indy tried to grab the lamp but her little knuckles were turning white trying to hold onto it. "Okay, Kid, keep the lamp and maybe after you've had a nap you'll want to share like a big kid."

Indy turned out the light and closed the door, leaving the two children to their rest. Mutt immediately opened his eyes and looked at the little girl across from him.

"You're a bad kid!" he declared. "You shoulda gave it to Daddy."

"I know," Susan replied, pulling the blanket over her head.

The answer didn't seem to please Mutt at all. How were you supposed to argue if the other person agreed? "Stupid girls," he grumbled, deciding that he'd take the lamp for his daddy when she went to sleep.