Author's Note: please read "Eye of the storm" before this one and all disclaimers apply.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Like Minds

Jack watched as Zale stumbled over to his hands and knees and started moving towards where Jack and Zada were waiting for him. Zada had easily started crawling and was now waiting for her brother to play catch up. They were always there for each other; Jack could see the protection instincts in them even now. She clapped her little hands at Zale's movements and Jack's excited motions. When Zale finally got the hang of the idea then he moved forward with much better momentum but was still fumbling around a little bit but he made it to Jack who scooped him up and cuddled the baby boy.

"Daddy Daniel is going to be so sorry he missed this but I bet you guys can do it again for him and he'll never need to know the difference."

Each baby was sitting on a leg as Jack sat on the floor and they were smiling up at him and he looked into Zale's baby blue eyes and thought to what Sam had told him earlier, that she and Teal'c were thinking of getting pregnant within the next couple months and he wondered what it would be like to have another son or another daughter who had Daniel's beautiful expressive blue eyes and if he wanted to go for it again.

He'd come from a big Irish family and he wanted nothing more than a big family, always had but with the death of Charlie, Jack believed that hope was dead and buried with his son but this world and Daniel rejuvenated the old Colonel in ways he never thought were possible.

Maybe when the twins were a little older they would contact their surrogate mothers and see what they had to say about this idea. He didn't know what Daniel would think about this and if they each had one more child, they would have four all together and he didn't want them to be so overwhelmed that they lost each other in the process.

Jack shook himself out of the thought process because right now it was just spinning round and around. He would just need to be honest with Daniel about his wishes and let them decide together what they would do. For now though he had the twins to feed and then they could go out in the backyard on the porch swing Adrian had recently helped to install and they could enjoy some sunshine which was where Taj was currently located.

Time passed at a leisurely pace for the O'Neill-Jackson house until Daniel came through the front door, with Adrian in tow. The young man stepped through the living room and called out for the twins. Daniel smiled at the boy's enthusiasm, Adrian truly loved their children and Daniel couldn't ask for a better friend to them.

Daniel went into the kitchen to get some coffee before he followed the sounds of the twins' laughter into the backyard where Jack had the twins playing on the warm grass and Adrian was sitting with them, talking to them about his day. Daniel moved over to the porch swing and settled in next to Jack and handed the Colonel his cup to share the brew before taking it back after Jack took a few sips. Jack hummed in appreciation then leaned over and kissed Daniel's head. "How was your day love?"

"Good as usual, no chaos so it was very nice."

"Do we need to discuss what you and Adrian talked about this morning?" Jack asked.

Daniel sighed but he knew that there was nothing he could honestly hide from Jack, "Adrian do you mind staying with them for a few? Jack and I should talk about something."

Adrian nodded but Daniel could clearly see the tension in his shoulders and the fear in his eyes. Daniel shook his head minutely, trying to tell his young friend that Jack would understand.

They walked inside and Daniel retold what Adrian told him that early morning, Jack did not enjoy the conversation.

"Why are you letting him be alone with our kids?" Jack demanded as he raced for the back door. Daniel rushed and jerked his spouse back before he leapt at their scared friend who was still in close proximity with their babies. "Dammit Danny, he could be feeding on them! They would be an easy buffet to him."

"No Jack, he told me that he can't even feel the magic within them, the Awakened Magis inside our children have well and truly decided to leave them alone. He stays here with us so much because without magic, we do not tempt him."

"What happens when the powers within our children do come out? What then? Will he use them to survive with the excuse that he wasn't prepared to deal with the cravings? You can't seriously be okay with this Danny, those are our babies."

Daniel gripped Jack's shoulders and shook him, "Watch him with them for just a minute before you go out there and kick him it! Realize that he loves our children and would never do anything to hurt them."

Jack did look out the window and watched as Adrian, who was turned away from the window. They watched as the young man settled onto his back with Zale held gently above him, flying as if he was an airplane. Daniel smiled as he watched Adrian and Zada who was lying across his chest. The baby girl was giggling as Adrian made funny noises and floated each child in turn around above him. They watched for a couple minutes before Jack turned away from the window and slid to the floor. "Again with the magic, this world has no end of the crazy."

Daniel sighed and slipped down to kneel next to Jack, he reached out and tucked a finger under his chin and tilted Jack's face to him. "And how will we handle each crazy thing?"

Jack smiled a weak smile, "Together?"

"Forever right?" Daniel responded.

"Together forever," Jack returned, no question just a statement.

They would not separate Adrian from their children, not only that. They discussed his position in their lives, allowing him to say he would be a godfather to them. Teal'c and Sam were also guardians if anything was to happen to Daniel and Jack both but he needed to desperately to know they were his to love and protect even in some small way.

When they told him, Adrian stumbled over to them quickly to hug each man in turn, arms tightly wrapped around their shoulders. Jack still worried about the boy being with the babies but as the hours turned into days and so on, the Colonel had to accept that Adrian really only wanted to be with them and to play with their children and to protect them when he was needed.