Two Months Later
"So you missed last week," Shelby says lightheartedly before church begins. She's not really surprised. Teal'c is sometimes on a mission on church days. She doesn't know what that means, and she doesn't ask. Now that he's without a chaperone, she has figured out she can get a lot more information by pretending that she already knows it.
"I was with my son," Teal'c responds.
"Your son?" Shelby asks in utter shock.
"Indeed," Teal'c replies.
"You never mentioned that you had a kid before!" she practically squeaks.
"You never before inquired."
"It's not usually the sort of thing that you have to inquire about. I mean, most parents just talk about their kids. Jack mentioned his kids the very first day that I met him."
"O'Neill and his children share a residence."
"Oh, I got you. So did he get taken away, or are you and his mother just separated?"
"I would not allow my son to be taken from me by force."
"Well, when social services come, you ain't got nothin' to say about it. I should know, I got taken from my mom a coupla times when I was growing up. I never lasted long though. She was good with social workers."
"There is an organization in your country which steals children? Why does your government not work to stop them?"
"Dude, they are the government," Shelby says, giving him a weird look.
Teal'c files this information away in his brain for later reference. He's pledged allegiance to this government, and might have to take his vow back now that he knows they steal children from their parents.
"You didn't answer his question, did you and your son's mom split up?"
"I have been away from her for many months."
"But are you, like, divorced?" Shelby asks.
Teal'c pauses, "I left that country, and have pledged allegiance to yours."
"I get that you're a political refugee or whatever, but dude, they didn't even let you take your wife and kid with? That's cold man, stone cold."
"They were unaware of my family the point at which I pled my allegiance to them."
"You didn't even tell them man?" Shelby's eyes well up against her will, "You just left him there? Did you even say goodbye?"
Teal'c shakes his head no.
"My dad didn't say goodbye either."
Teal'c is silent for a minute trying to figure a way to make this girl of Earth understand his decision. Trying, for the first time, to really understand the decision himself. "I was defying my god. No one has ever done that before. I was sure that this action was going to result in my demise. I had seen gods kill for far less than that. I considered retrieving my family from my place of residence, and fleeing with them. Had they been caught, they too would have been executed. I believed that my leaving without them would have kept them safe. I was incorrect. My actions nearly cost my son his life."
She is silent for long second. "This is the first time you saw him since you left?"
"Indeed."
"How long have you been gone?"
"One and a half of your years."
"Our years?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Time is calculated differently where I am from," he responds.
"Ah, so did you bring your wife and son home?"
He tilts his head and looks at her for a while, "They remained at home."
And that is the first time Shelby realizes that Teal'c doesn't actually view his newly adopted country as his home. "Why didn't you bring them here with you?"
"I wish for my son to be free. This is not yet possible. I fight every day that he might one day have his freedom. He is a slave there, and here he would not be a slave, but he would be far from free. He would live his life in the confines of a concrete building without any windows. He could not play outside with his friends. He could not go to school. He could not learn to fight as a warrior."
"But you miss him?"
"Indeed."
"Teal'c you are perhaps the least selfish man I've ever met."
And he looks at her with surprise, and for the first time she recognizes the faint thing that flashes across his face as an emotion. She was sure the man didn't even feel them, or much less express them before just now.
Two Weeks Later
Sam is in the bathroom when Hannah starts crying. She rushes to finish up, and runs into the baby's room. She stops short when she enters the door. Her son is sitting in the rocking chair, singing a lullaby to his baby sister.
She feels like she should scold him. After all, Ty knows that he's not supposed to pick up his little sister without someone right there to help him. But the picture is so beautiful that she hasn't the heart. Besides, the baby is just fine.
Just then Ty leans over and bestows a kiss on his little sister's brow, and the baby stops crying in an instant.
"Ty, where you aware that you are a really good big brother?" she asks.
"Of course," he responds without looking up.
One Month Later
Daniel fidgets with his glasses as he rings the doorbell to the Fraiser house. He usually doesn't ring the doorbell anymore, but on this occasion, he feels like he should ask permission to enter. After all, he's asking permission for a lot of other things.
"Hi, Daniel," Cassie says cheerfully, opening the door.
"Hey, Cass, do you want to go on a short walk with me?"
"Not really, it's kind of cold out," she responds easily.
Daniel stands in the doorway, stunned and pale, not quite knowing what to do next. His entire plan hinged on the little girl saying yes.
She stares at him, standing in the doorway as if he's just experienced some sort of trauma, and carefully amends her previous statement, "Sure, just let me grab the super-warm coat. And I hope this is actually going to be a short walk."
She can tell that Daniel has something important to say, and her love for him is the only reason that she is agreeing to this. Everything that is within her wants to say 'no way'.
They walk together three blocks in silence before Cassie finally says, "So was this walk really about your desperate need to get hypothermia, or…"
There is another pause of almost a minute, and Cassie has almost given up on the man ever spilling the beans when she says, "You know Jack got Ty an engagement ring shortly after he asked Sam to marry him. I thought it was kind of a cute idea."
Cassie's heart leaps within her, and she doesn't even mind that he takes another long pause before continuing.
"I think a ring might be a little… odd. But I liked the concept, you know. Because if you're going to marry someone with a kid, the commitment you're making to the kid is as big as the one you're making to the mother… maybe even bigger."
She looks up at him with tears almost brimming in her eyes.
He stops, and kneels down on one knee in the snow, snapping open a box containing a beautiful silver locket and says, "Cassandra Fraiser, do I have your permission to propose to your mother?"
"Of course you do!" she exclaims, flinging herself into his arms.
He grins at her, "So, ah, do you like the necklace? 'Cause if you don't, I could get you something else. I mean, if you wanted a ring or a bracelet or, heck, a toy, I could do that instead."
"I love it."
"Or I could get a different style. I thought about getting you gold, but it just didn't seem like it was your style. But if you'd rather have a gold one, I'll get it for you…"
"On Hanka, gold was worn only by the priests and priestess of the goddess," she says softly.
"So I made the right call with silver then," he says softly, rustling her hair.
"You definitely did. Now, come on, you've got a question to ask my mother," she stays, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him back toward her house.
"Wow, Cassie, you're not going to say anything when we get back to the house, are you? I mean, I want to ask your mother in my own way."
Cassie nods her head, and then suddenly grows grim.
"What is it?" he asks, noticing the change.
"What if she says no?" Cassie asks.
Daniel's heart sinks to his stomach so fast that for a second or so he can't even find the words to speak. Then he chokes out in panic, "Do you think she is going to say no?"
"No, of course not, she loves you," she says, comforting the panicked man before her. She kicks a rock with her foot, considering what to say next, before she continues, "It's just… I thought you already were my dad. And here you are saying that you're going to make a promise to be my dad if mom marries you."
"Oh, my dearest Cassie-girl," he says with a contented sigh, "You are mine forever. But if I marry your Mom, it's going to be different. I won't just be there for the father-daughter dances, and come over a couple times a week, and help you with your history homework. I'm going to be there every single day – when I'm on Earth, of course. I'm going to make you breakfast, and check your math homework, and tuck you in every single night, and I'm going to be there if you have a nightmare, and for parent teacher night, and… it's going to be different, sprout. Just different."
"I think I'm going to like different."
"Me too, love. Me too."
-0-0-0-
"You ready?" Janet asks, when Daniel and Cassie return from their short walk.
Daniel nods his head, but Cassie shakes her head, "We're ready, Mom, but you're not."
Daniel shoots Cassie a glare, but Janet just looks confused. "What's wrong honey?" she asks.
"I just think maybe you should dress up a little more," Cassie says.
"Where are we going?" Janet asks Daniel, thinking that he might have told her daughter something that he didn't let her in on. She's in her second-nicest dress. Granted, she could have put a touch more effort into the make-up, but seriously, Daniel sees her almost every day. He's seen her without clothes or make-up more than once. They had, of late, got in the habit of sneaking a communal shower after Cassie went to bed and before Daniel slipped out the door.
"You look amazing," Daniel says, kissing her and leaving an arm wrapped around the small of her back.
"You should at least put on earrings," Cassie whines.
"I'll be right back," Janet says, slipping from his grasp and running up the stairs in heals. They've finally reached the point where Daniel doesn't mention it anymore. He's used to it, and no longer fears that it's going to result in her falling.
"We're going to be late!" Daniel calls after her.
"Well maybe you and Cassie shouldn't have taken such a long walk," Janet calls back.
"I never should have asked you for her hand," Daniel grumbles to Cassie.
"You're right, I believe the Earth tradition is to ask her father," Cassie teases back.
Daniel stops cold in his tracks, "Do you think I should do that? I mean, is the family going to be mad at me if I don't ask them before I ask her?"
Cassie shakes her head, "They love you Daniel, it's going to be ok."
Janet comes running down the stairs, putting earrings in place as she goes. She bends down, and hands Cassie a necklace which matches the bracelet she must have thrown on upstairs.
"Better?" she asks her daughter, as she tilts her head to fasten on the other earring.
"You look perfect, mom," her daughter assures her.
-0-0-0-
"Janet, I'm really glad we started dating," Daniel tells her, taking his first sip of wine at the restaurant.
"Me too," she says with a smile.
"You are truly the most amazing person I've ever met. You're so strong, and compassionate, and smart," he continues, reaching across the table to take her hand lightly in his.
"Ok," she says slowly, "What exactly is going on here?"
"I'm telling you how great you are," he says with a laugh, "Apparently I don't do that enough."
"I just feel like I'm missing something, is it our anniversary or something?"
"Of course, it's not our anniversary, you'd have to be married to have an anniversary," he says with an edge in his voice. He's starting to get a bit annoyed at the way she keeps interrupting his plan. He'd put a lot of thought into his plan.
"I meant the anniversary of our first date or first kiss or something…oh," her eyes brighten suddenly as she realizes what is really going on.
"What?" he asks.
"Nothing," she says grinning, "I'm shutting up now. You talk. You were doing such a good job of it," she lets out a little giggle.
He shoots her a suspicious look, but continues on with h is planned speech, "I am so lucky to have you and Cassie in my life. My only regret is that I don't have the two of you in my life a whole lot more. I was wondering, would you marry me."
"Yes," she says, jumping up from the table. She runs around to his side, and sits down in his lap to give him a long and slightly scandalous kiss.
When she finally pulls away she looks up, she sees that she has the attention of most of the people in the room. She blushes but then offers, "What can a girl do, he just offered to marry me?" And then the room breaks out in applause. Janet stands up and walks back to her seat across the table from Daniel.
Daniel's cheeks go red from the attention as well as the kiss. "You said yes so quick that you didn't bother to take a look at the ring," he warns.
"If you think you have to bribe me to marry you, you're nuts," she says.
He hand the velvet box over to her, and she gasps as she opens it. "Daniel," she scolds softly.
"Don't you like it?"
"It's too big," she tells him, closing the box and pushing it back.
"I want you to have it," he insists pushing the box back over to her.
"I've seen your car, darling, you can't afford this."
"The car again! If it really bothers you that much I'll sell it, maybe buy a minivan."
"Minivan? Are we going to need it?" Janet asks with an even bigger grin.
"Well, I thought maybe, if you wanted to," he says insecurely, "We could fill it up with some kids."
"I'd like that," she says.
"Of course, you know that medically that might take some time to do."
"I think I can be patient," she says, "Maybe we can even get a head start tonight."
"We're not married yet," he reminds her.
"True," she says coyly, "But are you figuring on a long engagement? Because if not…"
He smiles, "No long engagement, but let's not get pregnant until we're officially married."
She smiles at him again, and lets out a little giggle.
"But seriously Daniel, you don't need to get me this big honking rock. You don't need to impress me. You already impress me with how brilliant, and handsome, kind, and courageous you are."
"Thank you for your concern, madam, but I can actually afford that ring. You've seen my apartment, right?"
She nods her head, but that isn't quite accurate. She's been in his apartment plenty of times, but she was never really noticing the décor. It was always for a lunchtime rendezvous, and her view had mostly either been of a ceiling or some sheets.
"I've got lots of artifacts there. Just because I choose to use my money to buy ancient board games instead of new cars doesn't mean I'm destitute."
She smiles, and slips the ring out of the box and onto her finger. "Thank you, then," she says softly, admiring the way it looks on her hand in a way that erases any doubt in his mind that the big rock was the way to go.
"I'm assuming you already told Cassie, by her desperate need to dress me up?"
"I did, and I gave her a locket too," he confesses.
"I am so looking forward to having you around every day," she grins.
"Oh, me too," he says with something akin to relief on his face, "And I'm also looking forward to getting to hold you all night long."
"The honeymoon," she says with a grin.
"Promising you, forever," he returns.
Her eyes well up, and she pulls a cloth napkin from the table to dab at her eyes to keep the make-up, already worn from a long day at work, from being completely ruined. Cassie would never forgive her if she came back from her engagement with trails of mascara running down her cheeks.
"Forever," she says with a nod. "I like the sound of that."