A/N: I'm really sorry it took so long to update. Long story short, my family and I moved like halfway across the country. So I've been really busy lately. New school, watching my little brothers so my parents can get stuff done, etc. Anyway, it's just taking longer than I thought it would to finish. I'm going to put up two chapters today though. Also, only one reviewer caught something I did on purpose in the last chapter, so good job to you! It will be explained in the next chapter.

Ch 13

Kids dressed in fresh pajamas, faces, hands, and teeth all cleaned, Jack tucked them into the bed in the guest room, flipping on the lamp on the nightstand and turning off the overhead light. "Now I'm just down the hall if you need anything in the night," he reminded them. "Sam, if you wake up, please don't have a party in my bathroom." He ruffled her hair to show he was just teasing.

"Can you read to us?" Daniel asked hopefully, glancing around the new room somewhat nervously.

Jack nodded and chuckled when Daniel instantly reached under his pillow and pulled out one of their new books.

The kids fell asleep after ten minutes of reading, obviously tired from their long day of playing. Jack put the book away carefully and looked at the sweet little sleeping faces of his friends. He carefully tugged the glasses off of Daniel's face, used to doing it over the years when Daniel fell asleep in the field or his lab or the infirmary with them on. It was trickier with Sam this time - she had stubbornly refused to take off the sunglasses for most of the day. On the few occasions she'd removed them they'd been hanging from her neck by the straps Jack used to keep them on off-world.

He carefully pulled the large frames off, lifted her head gently to remove the cord from around her neck, and slid a pillow in place under her head. He left both pairs of glasses on the nightstand and left the room quietly, shutting the door carefully. As he went to the kitchen and started the daunting task of cleaning up the mess the well-intentioned kids had made when looking for the rice for his knee, he wondered if he should have picked up a baby monitor at the store earlier. He knew they weren't babies, but still… what if they needed something in the night? Or got up and started doing crazy stuff again? Or…

He shook his head. He was being ridiculous. They were four - if they needed something, they'd come find him, just as he'd instructed.

He stifled a yawn and started cleaning up the kitchen.

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"Daniel! Daniel, wake up, I'm scared!" Sam whispered loudly, shaking the little boy's shoulder. Daniel groaned and rolled over, but didn't wake.

Sam looked around the new room and bit her lip. It wasn't scary in the day, or at bedtime when everyone else was awake… and she would never admit it if Daniel was awake… but she was kind of scared now. Just a little.

Remembering what the Colonel had told her about finding him if she woke up, she stared at the door as her eyes adjusted to the dark. It looked so far. And the bed was a bed with space under it. She didn't like beds with space under them.

"Daniel?" she asked again hopefully, but Daniel wasn't waking up apparently. She took a deep breath and threw the covers back, took a leap off the bed as far away as she could get from the bed, and ran for the door.

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Jack woke with a start as something hit the foot of his bed with a soft thwump. He sat up quickly against his headboard and flipped on the bedside lamp, squinting in the light as Sam scrambled up the middle of the bed and burrowed in between his pillows.

"Uh, hi," he said.

She looked scared and was trying not to breathe hard.

"H-hi," she offered, obviously trying to look casual.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she said quickly.

"Daniel sleeping?"

"Yes, sir."

He rolled his eyes. "Forcryinoutloud, Carter," he muttered. "What's wrong, couldn't sleep?"

She shook her head and didn't say anything for a few moments, then offered, "It's very dark in there."

"I'm sorry. We'll get you a night light tomorrow if you want. I thought you weren't scared of the dark?"

"I'm not," she insisted.

"O….kay… so what…" He yawned into the back of his hand and then scrubbed his face, trying to wake up. "Did you have a bad dream?"

She shook her head. Then she took a deep breath and said, "You know my Dad, right?"

"Yeah."

"So you know my big brother, Mark?"

"Uh, I've heard about him a little. I haven't met him though."

She fiddled with his duvet for a few minutes and then said quietly, "He's a meanie stinker poo-head BM."

Jack laughed. He'd definitely have to remember that one and whip it out next time they were all on some planet meeting some creepy new native.

"What did he…. What exactly are you talking about?"

"He hides under my bed and grabs my ankles to scare me."

"Oh," Jack said, realizing she was trying to tell him, without admitting it outright, she was scared there was something under the bed. "Okay. Well, that's really mean. I'll be sure to tell your dad about that next time I see him."

"Then Mark will get in trouble?" she asked hopefully.

"Big time," Jack confirmed, privately thinking that if he ever met Mark, even as an adult, Jack would now have quite a few things to say to the man. Nobody traumatized his 2IC and got away with it - at any age!

"Okay," Sam agreed quietly. She looked around his room curiously for a few minutes.

Finally, Jack ventured, "Sam? You know Mark isn't here. There's nothing under your bed to grab you."

"I know," she insisted.

"You sure? I can get a flashlight and show you."

"Or we could just stay here," she suggested hopefully. "We could watch TV! Or play a game!"

He chuckled and handed her the remote. "All right, just for a little bit."

She settled into the pillows happily and turned on the television (she had quickly made herself an expert at all of his remote controls, which amazed the little girl), while Jack tried to stay awake long enough to make sure she didn't stop on something terrifying or inappropriate.

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Sam found her mom's favorite show - I Love Lucy - and stopped on it. They were old shows only in reruns but they were still funny. Watching it made her think of her mom and be happy so she set the remote down and watched, comforted by the unexpected spot of familiarity in a world that was very unfamiliar to her in every other way.

After a little while, Daniel came into the room rubbing his eyes sleepily. "What are we doing?" he asked.

"Watching Lucy," Sam said happily, pushing the covers back for him as he climbed into the bed as well.

Jack groaned and roused from his half-asleep state and said, "What's wrong, Daniel, did you have a bad dream?"

"I woke up and Sam was gone. I was scared," he admitted. "And I had to go to the bathroom."

"You went already before you got into my bed, didn't you?" Jack asked. Sam giggled.

"Yes," Daniel assured him.

"All right then," he grumbled goodnaturedly, turning over and closing his eyes. "Have fun, you two."

He dozed off, automatically putting himself in "off-world" mode. He was asleep, but the smallest noises and movements would rouse him, just in case.

Sam and Daniel watched tv quietly, snuggled under the covers. Daniel was hugging the stuffed dinosaur he'd picked out at the store. Sam eyed it enviously - she had left her unicorn in the other bedroom, because it had fallen off the bed and was dangerously close to the scary space underneath. She missed him, but not enough to brave going through the dark house all by herself! Daniel saw her eyeing his dinosaur and graciously settled him in between them, smiling at her. She grinned back and felt much better.

"You would be a way better brother than Mark," she told him. Daniel, an only child, positively beamed at the compliment.

They soon fell asleep with the television on, blonde heads on the same pillow, both snuggling the same toy between them, and slept soundly the rest of the night.

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That was how Jack found them in the morning. He chuckled to himself at the sight of them and grabbed his phone to take their picture without waking them. After a quick trip to the bathroom, he went into the kitchen to make breakfast. He decided to make French toast and some of the god-awful turkey bacon Fraiser was always trying to foist upon all of them. Some of it had made its way into his house when his team had gone grocery shopping for him after his knee surgery. He was pretty sure it was Carter's fault anyway, so if he could feed some of it to her now he would feel much better about its presence in his house.

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The kids showed up, both rumpled and adorably sleepy, right on cue as soon as breakfast was ready, drawn out of slumber by the smells wafting through the house from the kitchen.

"Good morning, campers," Jack greeted, turning with both hands full of plates to set them on the table, both kids attacked his legs in giant morning hugs, taking him by surprise. He couldn't do anything about it except try not to fall on them or dump bacon on their heads, as his hands were full.

"Hi Colonel!"

"Hi Colonel Jack, what are we doing today?" Daniel asked, hurrying over to the table and climbing up onto his chair carefully.

"Eat first," Jack said, setting the food down. "Then you guys can play inside while I shower, we'll all get ready, and go to the grocery store."

"Awww, man!" they groaned.

"We need food. You two are picky, but you're picky bottomless pits," he told them matter of factly.

"We can just have pizza every day," Sam suggested hopefully.

"We won't tell Dr. Janet," Daniel promised enthusiastically.

Jack laughed. "Interesting idea, but I don't think it's a very good one in the long run. Tell you what, we'll get some stuff at the grocery store and make our own pizzas one night. That'll be fun, huh?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Yeah… I guess," Daniel agreed as they dug into the breakfast Jack piled on both their plates.

Sam ate enthusiastically at first, but quickly seemed to become preoccupied with something on her mind. Jack knew the look well, as she often had to be reminded that the food on her tray in the commissary was unlikely to beam itself directly into her stomach - at least not without Thor's help.

"Sam? What's wrong?" he asked, catching Daniel's juice cup right before it spilled, sloshing only a little on his hands in the process.

"Nothing," she said with a heavy sigh, turning huge, pleading eyes on him that he knew meant trouble. "I just really, really wanted to drive the Jeep this morning after breakfast, that's all."

"Right after breakfast, huh?" Jack asked. "And you?" he turned to Daniel.

"I like to drive it too," he said. "And I wanted to play dinosaur ex-ca-va-tion in the yard."

"Hmm. Well, okay, if you guys eat the rest of your breakfast, then get dressed, you can play outside for a while first. Then you can come watch a movie while I get cleaned up. I don't want you outside while I'm in the shower. And after THAT we are going to the grocery store where I expect you both to behave like model soldiers."

"Yes, sir!" Sam promised eagerly, taking an overlarge bite of bacon to emphasize her compliance.

"Y-yes, sir," Daniel echoed, shoveling toast in his mouth.

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Jack sat on his deck and watched in amusement as the kids took turns driving the Jeep around, nursing his third cup of coffee. They were night and day on that thing. Sam drove around in a pattern that was only predictable in that she drove at top speed, all the time, and seemed to be trying to flip the whole thing over with hairpin turns every fifteen to thirty seconds, giggling and shouting with glee most of the time.

Daniel drove around like he was on a day tour, and in fact quickly made up a game where he pretended to be a tour guide, stopping at various "historical sites" around Jack's yard so he could point them out and provide background information to Sam (his impatient, captive audience) as to their cultural significance.

Jack had to stop himself laughing out loud as he heard Daniel say, "And just past the pyramids on the left, you'll notice the Ancient JackO'NeillTree. This tree has stood since the paleo… paleo-fliffic time. Dinosaurs used to scratch their horns on it to sharpen them for battle."

"Really?" Sam asked, looking at the ordinary-looking tree with newfound respect.

"Yes," Daniel continued, creeping the Jeep along to the flower bed. "And over here is the site of the Daniel dinosaur pit, where tons of dinosaur bones have been discovered. Rumor has it many more lie still buried underneath. Do you want to get out and explore the area?"

"No," Sam said firmly. She had had enough of going slow!

"Saaaaam," Daniel whined. "Come on, we'll bury my plastic dinosaurs and have a ex-ca-va-tion."

"Daniel, that's BORING. I want to drive the Jeep again. You're too slow."

"Hey," Jack called, interrupting before an all-out fight could erupt.

"Daniel, go and get your dinosaurs, you can play in the flower bed all you want. Sam, come here."

She reluctantly climbed out of the Jeep and trudged over to him slowly, dragging her feet, as Daniel hurried past her into the house to fetch his dinosaurs and shovel.

When Sam finally stopped in front of him, Jack had to work hard to keep the smile off his face. She was carrying on as though she were about to be executed, before she even knew what he was going to say. He was very glad she wasn't quite so dramatic as an adult.

"I'm very glad you like the Jeep, and you did a good job taking turns with Daniel on it."

She looked up at him, surprised. That didn't sound like she was in trouble…

"BUT," Jack continued. "Just because you like to play with it differently doesn't mean your way is better than Daniel's. If you want him to sit with you while you careen around like a demented roller coaster, then you better be prepared to sit there while he takes you on a site-seeing tour. Got it?"

"But I DID!"

"I know you did. But you clearly were unhappy about it. Sometimes you have to play what Daniel wants to play, so that when it's your turn to pick, he'll play what you want to play." He had noticed that Sam tended to boss Daniel around quite a bit, and more often than not they ended up playing whatever Sam wanted to play. Daniel did seem content enough with the arrangement, most of the time, but still. Jack figured this was a good time to talk about it a little.

"Now, you guys don't always have to play together," Jack continued. "If you want to play by yourselves for a while, that's fine. Daniel can play with his dinosaurs, and you can play with the Jeep some more."

"Thank you!" she yelled, hugging him quickly and running back to it.

For the next hour, Daniel played in the dirt and Sam drove the Jeep around until the battery died. After that, Jack insisted they come in so he could get a shower and get dressed. He set the kids up in the living room watching a cartoon and went off for a quick shower.

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"Do you think we'll get to play with Uncle Teal'c today?" Daniel asked hopefully five minutes after they were left alone.

"I hope so!" Sam exclaimed. "I want to show him the Jeep! And how we can ride our big girl bikes now!"

"Mine's a big BOY bike," Daniel reminded her.

"I know. And maybe we could go to the playground with him. He could probably push us so hard on the swings we'd go right over the bar!"

"That would be awesome!" Daniel agreed.

"Let's call him and ask him to come play," Sam decided, getting off the couch.

"How?" Daniel asked.

"We'll use that little phone the Colonel is always using. The one without any cords. He calls everyone on that phone."

"I saw it in the kitchen. But I don't know how it works."

They quickly found the cell phone on the kitchen counter and set to work trying to figure out how to call Teal'c on it, multiple little fingers pressing multiple buttons.

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When Jack came out of the bedroom dressed and showered, the kids were sitting on the couch, side by side, staring at the tv intently. TOO intently. They wouldn't look at him.

"Guys? What did you do?" he asked.

"Nothing," they said quickly.

He looked at them another minute, then glanced around. Nothing was obviously out of place or anything… he shrugged. "Okay, come on then. Time to go to the store."

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