Jack and River weren't the only two in the kitchen, of course. Not when the caterers had taken over the kitchen for their uses in creating food for the party. There were people going in and out all the time – under the careful watch of the Secret Service – and to stay out of their way POTUS and River had shunted themselves to a somewhat quiet corner of the kitchen, where Ian and Jessica found them after only a few moments of looking. Although Jessica in all honesty hadn't been looking all that hard. River spotted them as soon as they walked in the door, and he smiled cheerfully, causing Jack to look over as well.

"Where on Earth did you find that stinky thing?"

Ian looked down at Jessica, who had started grinning at River as soon as she'd recognized him.

"Well, technically, we found-"

"I was talking to her, Ian," Jack said, reaching over and taking the baby from him. She looked up at him, and POTUS planted a kiss on her forehead, tenderly. "Hey baby… Wanna sneak away and share a piece of cake?"

"Where did you get cake before we sing Happy Birthday?" Ian asked.

"Pfft, I'm the president of the free world, Ian. I can get cake."

"Does Sam know?"

"No. And if you tell her I'll tell your mom that you want to go on tour with her next time she goes…"

Ian snorted, amused, and looked over at River.

"Why isn't your mother here? I know she was invited."

"Because it's the middle of the competition surfing season, Ian, and as much as she wanted to come, she's in Hawaii with my dad right now."

"I thought they retired."

"They did, but now they promote – and that makes it even harder to get away when things are busy."

"Invite her and your dad to Atlantis, River," Jack suggested. "Things are slow enough there right now that you could take a break, right? And it would be exotic – even for people used to all the far away places they see every day."

"Can I do that?" River asked, dubious. "It's-"

"If they come in with a regular gate activation it wouldn't cost anything more than sending in replacements, and they can leave the same way," Ian said, shrugging. "I don't see why not. Especially if Jack talks to Hunt about it to grease the ways a bit…"

"I can do that," Jack told him. "Figure out when they can come, and let me know what you need. Right now, we're going to find some cake."

He wandered off without further ado, Jessica still in his arms and obviously no intention of giving her up any time soon. River looked at Ian and the New Yorker shrugged.

"There ya go. Bring the folks to you. Why not?"

"I'll talk to them about it…"

"Good." Since there wasn't anything else to discuss – at least not at that particular moment – he closed that particular train of conversation and slapped River on his shoulder. "Let's go find Shawn and see what he's doing."

OOOOOOOOOO

"Please, daddy?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"And you won't be scared?"

"No. Carter said he'd come with me."

Shawn looked down at his daughter and then over to the placid pony, who looked back at him, lazily, as if aware of his scrutiny. She wasn't that big, but compared to Dotty, she was a giant, but the little girl was undaunted and looked up at her father hopefully.

"Oh, let her ride, Adams," Ian said walking over with River. "She's going to do it at camp, eventually, right?"

"Not yet, though…"

Ian scooped Dotty up in his arms before Shawn could make a decision and with his free hand waved Carter and Michael both over from where they had been waiting by the pony ride area. The twins came running over, looking up at him, expectantly.

"Dotty wants to go riding. Tell Shawn it's not scary, will you?"

"It's not scary," Carter told Shawn. "We've done it a lot."

"You have horses on Atlantis?" Shawn asked.

Michael grinned and shook his head.

"Grandma took us."

"They learned at the same place I did when I was a kid," Ian told him, turning Dotty upside down and making the little girl giggle. It was a lot better than the fear that had been in her eyes the day before, and as far as Ian was concerned the more things that could make her smile and forget about that scary day the better. "And they were about her age."

"They have helmets," Michael added, helpfully.

"See?" Ian set Dotty down and gave her a playful swat on the rear. "Go show your dad how safe it is."

She took off like she was shot out of a cannon before her daddy could say no, and the twins grinned over at Shawn.

"We'll watch her. Honest."

They took off after her and Shawn shook his head, much to Ian and the others' amusement.

"She doesn't have very good balance, Ian."

"Then she falls off."

"It's not that simple," Shawn growled, looking and sounding a lot like Jack just then. "She's a little girl."

"She's tough," Ian said, shrugging. "And I know that yesterday freaked you out, but you still have to let her live."

"But-"

"He's right, Shawn," River told him. "You start being ultra-protective now and she's going to suffer for it later."

Shawn watched silently as one of the wranglers put a helmet on Dotty's head and tightened it, tapping her on the head with his hand and saying something that he couldn't hear but that made his little girl giggle. He then put her up into the pony's saddle and made sure her feet were in the stirrups.

"What do I do next time, Ian?" Shawn asked, softly, not turning away from watching as the pony started moving at a slow walk and Dotty squealed with delight. "What happens if they come after me here at home where there's no Guardian program to save the day?"

"There isn't going to be a next time," Ian told him, just as softly, even though there wasn't anyone around but the three of them. "We're going to take the initiative on this one, Adams."

"You have a plan, yet?"

"Almost." He shrugged, and slapped Shawn on the shoulder, shaking the gloomy mood that had suddenly popped up amongst them. "For now, though, I'm going to enjoy the fact that my kids can ride and I don't have to worry about them falling on their heads."

Shawn frowned again.

"Thanks."

"What are friends for?"