It was only going to be a brief visit Janet knew as she opened the front door to the Carter/O'Neill residence because there were already a few injuries that needed treating at Stargate Command. All of the injured people that managed to escape to the Beta Site had now made it back to Earth and most were relatively stable. Under normal circumstances, Janet would not have left her patients in such a way, however, there would be no new patients arriving from the Alpha Site until the Stargate had been lifted back up. Therefore she had some time and Janet felt that she owed it to her friend and her God-daughter to pop in. The longer that it took to locate Sam, the lower the odds of her survival became. It worried Janet.
"Mom, honestly, it's not that big a deal." Cassie complained as she followed her mother into the house. The teenager knew nothing about the extent of the problems at the base and Janet was not about to tell her.
"Well, I think it is."
"Deferring isn't a crime. Plenty of kids take a year out, travel, find themselves…"
"Party?"
Stopping still right in front of her, preventing Janet from searching further into the house, Cassie crossed her arms in a hormonal strop. "I want to see the world, Mom. Does that not make sense to you?" Lowering her voice, she continued, "It may have only been my home for a few years, but I still want to see it."
"Can we discuss this later, please?" Janet moved past her daughter and moved through the living room towards the kitchen. Daniella's routine was not known to her, but it was lunchtime.
"You mean, can you tell me what I have to do?"
Turning and glaring, Janet hissed, "Your education is important. You need it."
"And I'll do it. A year after everyone else." Janet heard a noise in the kitchen and shushed her daughter before creeping towards the doorway and poking her head around very slightly. The noise was simply Sasha speaking to Daniella, but something made Janet remain hidden.
"It's okay," the nanny comforted as Daniella whimpered slightly. "I know things don't seem right, do they?" Janet watched as Sasha picked up the toddler, some of her grumbling stopping. "You know who I am, don't you?" Stroking the child's hair, Sasha then kissed her on top of her head. "I'll always keep you safe, Dani, always. She'll be gone soon and then everything will be how it should be. I promise." Janet glanced at Cassie to see the teenager absorbed in looking at the books on the bookshelf. She was too bright to waste her future and Janet worried that she would for some hormonally driven reason.
"Did you hear that?" she hissed at the teenager.
Shrugging, Cassie got a book down from the shelf. It was clearly one of Sam's textbooks. "Do you reckon I can borrow this?"
"Hello?" Sasha called out and Janet immediately moved out into the open doorway. "Janet? I… I never heard you come in."
A forced sweet smile formed on Janet's face. "Just popped in to say hi and check in on my God-daughter."
Without any fear, worry or apprehension, Sasha handed Daniella straight over to Janet and the toddler giggled. "She likes you."
There was something niggling at Janet about what she had overheard and she wished desperately that Sam or the colonel would return soon so she could voice her concerns. At the girl, she said, "Mommy and Daddy might be away a bit longer than they planned, honey." Daniella nodded as if she understood completely and accepted her parents' inability to come home as the normal. "They will be home, though." She said it as much for Sasha as for Daniella.
"We can cope for a few days, can't we?" Sasha asked as she began moving around the kitchen and tidying up. "Daddy'll be home soon enough."
"And Mommy," Janet added and Sasha nodded, avoiding looking her way.