Chapter Twenty-Three: Swinging Back to Normal
Jack looked over at Daniel, keeping his slick fingers to himself even though he really wanted to touch Daniel's face. The younger man didn't appreciate lube on his face even if they were going to shower momentarily. He smiled as he spoke, "Well that took the edge off but later, my love, we are going all the way."
Daniel laughed, "You got a date big guy but maybe we could share a shower before the children start waking up and shouting for breakfast."
"I would love to take a hot shower with you, soap you up and rinse you off all the while I am going to keep on kissing you."
Daniel smiled and leaned close to start the kissing Jack now who was a willing participant. Then they climbed from the bed and walked into the adjoining room to check out the master bathroom which held a nice sized shower and a large tub that would work for wet and soapy lovemaking as well as bath time when they were in a hurry with only two bathtubs and one shower. For now though Jack twisted the knob which turned on the water flow from their shower before they climbed in and started soaping up and rinsing off and Jack kept his word, kissing bits of skin as well as Daniel's lips whenever he could.
Soon they were drying off and finding some jeans and socks as well shirts, white one with a checkered over shirt for Daniel while Jack stuck with a black one. "Did you talk to Zada last night?" Daniel asked Jack.
The retired General shrugged, "She wanted some alone time, that has to be normal when you have four siblings and constant contact with at least four other children."
"I guess but we need to make sure they are getting what they need from us especially after the kidnapping. Zada and Johnny seem to be the ones to worry about but Zale and the twins still haven't talked about it."
"Haven't really had a chance but we'll work through it like we did with the assault, one day at a time."
Daniel smiled at Jack and the older man's heart skipped a beat when he looked at the beautiful smile on that lovely face. As much as he loved Daniel in glasses, in a few weeks it would be nice to see Daniel's bright blue eyes and not have them obscured by his glasses. They cleaned up the bedding just about the time they heard the children stumbling down the stairs, searching out the kitchen. This house was patterned after Jack's house that they were living in for the past year so it was easy for them to find their way back while Daniel and Jack walked out of the bedroom and across the room towards the kitchen.
"Good morning babies," Daniel said quietly to all of them.
They smiled up at him in sleepy happiness and chorused, "Morning Daddy."
"Breakfast?" Daniel questioned and they all nodded with jaw cracking yawns before they sat down around the table.
Johnny looked around the room, scared almost and searching. Jack walked over to his youngest son and touched his shoulder, sending waves of comfort into the child through their skin contact, "What's the matter JJ?" Jack asked.
Johnny shook his head and looked to Zale who turned to him immediately, "He misses Greer. I think he didn't really understand that Greer was going to be home with his mother again."
Jack sighed, "Its okay Johnny, we can go see Greer later okay? Why aren't you talking in my mind? You haven't needed a translator for months."
Johnny shrugged and though he was calmer, his eyes were still darting around the room and his fingers tapping at the surface of the table. Jack looked over to see Daniel frowning at the two of them then he looked to Zale who had always seemed to know the answers when it came to his brother.
"Zale?" Jack asked.
"I do not understand but I think the mind speaking is tiring him out with other people. Maybe we will have to resort to the hand language for a while."
"Sign language," Daniel corrected and Zale shrugged. Daniel was fluent in sign language as was Greer since they had been practicing with Johnny's tutors constantly. Jack knew how to read and understand some of the signs and the kids were easy to speak to telepathically because they were all magical as opposed to Jack and Daniel. From what Jack remembered of this world, when there was magic in two individuals then whatever they were trying to accomplish such as building a bond or speaking into each other's minds, it was just easier. Jack understood the concept, but it did not mean he didn't feel left out sometimes and he knew Daniel felt the same occasionally but this was just one of the interesting side effects of magical children.
Jack stayed with Johnny and kept his arm around the boy's thin shoulders even while Daniel put together breakfast, Zada not even trying to help. Now that they weren't trying to escape scary world where the children were kidnapped it was easy to see how different they were acting. Jack understood now why Daniel was concerned about Zada wanting to be alone; it was surely only the first of changes they would have to deal with after the kidnapping. So Jack figured the best thing they could do was get their children back into some normal routine.
"You going to practice Latin again today?" he asked with false cheer.
Daniel nodded and immediately started their conversation in Latin, Jack could not even tell that they had only been speaking this language for a short time, all the children took to languages like their Daddy so it was all second nature to them and with the magic within some things were also easier to grasp.
So between Jack and Daniel, they did what they could to get back to a schedule. Akina and Greer, thank god, stopped by and set up a schedule for each of the children to start honing their abilities and Daniel was given and abbreviated teaching schedule to work with. Jack again reassured Akina that for now he was nothing more than a stay at home Papa and didn't need to get caught up in the physical drama that came from working closely with a magical Queen and she was more than welcome to ask his advice but he was not returning to the field.
All in all it was a first day back in their future home with their future friends and their magical children. Jack was sure the drama wouldn't wait long to start up again. Zale was still learning to deal with the Magis who caused harm sometimes and Johnny was still dealing with his inability to speak and all the children in between would be dealing with normal children stuff which Jack was ready for and all the magical crap he would rather do without but for now, everyone was safe and together and for now that was enough.
Author's note: This chapter is just letting you know that a big reason for the next book to start is indeed going to be the children each dealing with the kidnapping and some of them really just starting to deal with Daniel's assault (Zale and Johnny) and how Daniel and Jack are going to deal with it as well as the magical aspects of the problem. I am hoping to start the next story possibly after I get some of Cause to Live uploaded because it has been sorely neglected while I attempt to finish this story. Anyway keep reviewing and I love any ideas you guys might want to email/message about. Possibly milestones for the kids to go through or whatever, just don't want to say goodbye to this series and don't want to only pick it up ten years down the line in the Sparty Verse. I love you guys, thank you for the support and I promise this world is not coming to an end.