Two Weeks Later
Spoilers for Cure
Teal'c takes a small vial, and puts it in his wife's hand, "This may be important for the life of our children," he tells her.
"Ok, what is it?" she says carefully.
"We traveled to a planet which was populated by a group of people who made a medicine from the offspring of the Tok'ra queen. The Tok'ra are trying to reproduce it, and this is the sample for the people of Earth."
"Ok, first off, I'm a nurse, not a chemist, so I'm probably not the best one to work with this. Second of all, I don't have any idea what this has to do with my babies."
"You are the most intelligent women that I know. This medicine could solve their immunity problems."
Shelby hands the vial back to him, and says, "I thought that shots and antibiotics were going to solve that."
"It is only a theory. I have worried much about their immunity."
"You should talk to your wife when you're worried about your children," she says.
"I am used to bearing my worry alone," he confesses quietly.
"You didn't share a lot with Dray'auc?" Shelby asks, speaking about his ex-wife for the first time since her death.
"My worries used to pertain to the contrast between my actions and my beliefs while serving the Goa'ul."
"Do you still worry about that?"
"My job no longer causes a discrepancy between what I want to do and what I am required to do."
"And if it did?"
"I would tell you."
She takes one of her hands, and puts it on her stomach, resting both of her hands on top of it. "You feel them?"
He nods his head.
"We'll figure it out. Our kids are going to be fine."
"I will take this vial to the appropriate scientist," he says.
Two Weeks Later
"Welcome to our gingerbread party," Emma says with a huge grin on her face as the Jackson children come through the door.
"Candy!" Will exclaims, running toward the table with glee.
"Stop!" Ty shouts in horror catching the child in mid-run, and swinging him around. "You have to construct a house before you can decorate it."
"Candy?" the little boy says mournfully, staring at the table full of forbidden treasures.
"I think making a gingerbread house is a little beyond his motor skills. Let's just get him a little candy, and let him eat with the adults," Janet says helpfully.
"Now the table will be unbalanced," Ty complains.
"I think you forgot to count the biggest kid of all," Sam says, pointing to her husband.
"Dad, will you make a gingerbread house with us?" the kid asks hopefully.
"You betcha," he says.
Shelby and Teal'c arrive with their three children a few minutes later.
"Can I show you to your table?" Emma asks.
"I do not want to take part in the construction of a gingerbread house," Rya'c says gravely.
"Unbalanced tables!" Ty moans.
"Oh, that's ok, I'd really rather sit this one out anyway," Cassie says, "Maybe Rya'c and I can go hang out downstairs."
"Not by yourselves," Daniel says.
"Seriously, dad, we don't need to be supervised, we're teenagers." Daniel raises his eyebrows in a way that makes his daughter groan. "Teenagers who are dating other people."
"Door open," he says.
Cassie glares at him, and then the teenagers go off together.
"What were you endeavoring to prevent?" Teal'c asks Jack, confused.
"Something that wouldn't happen unless Dominic was here," Janet says.
Daniel flushes red.
"I am still uncertain what is happening," Teal'c says.
"Shh," Shelby warns.
"If there are things which I should be guarding my son against, I want to be aware of it," Teal'c objects.
"We'll talk about this at home," Shelby says, and by now all the adults are blushing.
The younger kids by now are now frosting their gingerbread houses together while shoving candy into their mouths. Will is just shoving candy into his mouth.
"Jack, your table awaits," Sam says, pointing to one of the empty spots at the kid table.
"I hope the adult beverage your table gets to enjoy still makes its way to me," he grumbles as he sits down with the children, to his secret delight.
"Wow, Livvy, you've done a great job with getting your house to stand straight, can you help me?" Ty says.
"Sure, you just hold it like this," she says, putting her hands on his walls to get them straight. Ty puts his hands around the girl's to get a feel for it.
Olivia's heart stops as she stares at the boy with wide-eyed emotion.
"You smell nice," she says, turning toward him.
"I used Emma's princess shampoo," he replies.
"Well, it's good," Olivia says.
"Thanks for fixing my house," Ty says, pulling his hands away and sitting back in his chair.
"Any time," Olivia says dreamily.
"Can you fix mine, too?" Hannah asks hopefully, referring to the sliding tent the young girl has constructed. It's about 80% frosting and 20% gingerbread, and the cookie just can't support the weight.
Olivia scrapes some frosting off the roof, and grabs some more gingerbread in an attempt to create something with structural integrity.
"I smell nice, too, right? I used Sissy's shampoo, too!" the child says cheerfully.
"Right, you smell great," Olivia says, but something in the tone causes Jack to look up, slightly alarmed. It was just so different than the tone she used when she told that to his son.
As soon as Hannah's house is vertical, Olivia returns to her seat and becomes completely absorbed in the construction of her own private winter wonderland.
"Eggnog," Sam says, handing her husband a drink before returning to the adult table. "I've got chocolate milk for the incubators in the group," she adds, handing it to the other women.
"We're going to need some sugar with this as well, if everyone else is getting high off sugar or alcohol. You're going to have to get some candy over here."
Hannah's house falls down, and she raises her two fists to slam into it, scattering candy across the floor.
"From now on, you've got to be eight or older to make gingerbread houses," Sam says, running over to remove her daughter from the table and wash the frosting off her arm.
"Let's see how the rest of the day goes before we plan a 'from now on'," Janet says, looking suspiciously at the scene in front of her.
"It said 'first annual gingerbread extravaganza' on the invitation," Olivia points out.
Janet shakes her head, and passes some of her son's candy over to Sam's daughter. Schrödinger and Buddy, the O'Neill's dog, scurry across the floor to devour the stray pieces of candy that fell with the crash of Hannah's house.
"Pretty soon you're each going to have a squirming baby on your lap," Daniel says to Teal'c and Shelby.
"You want to practice now?" Sam asks, looking like she's wrestling an octopus.
"Yeah," Shelby says seriously.
"That was a joke. I don't actually expect you to take my kid mid-tantrum," Sam says with a laugh.
"I think I'm going to need the practice," Shelby says nervously.
"You're a great mom," Janet says softly.
"And I'm not going to let you fight with a four-year-old when you're pregnant with twins. There is no reason for you to end up with a back ache," Sam adds.
Then Becky Lynn's house falls down. Teal'c and Shelby both jump up to help her. Teal'c sits back down to build his wife's confidence.
Shelby bends down next to the girl who is almost in tears, "Do you want me to help you build it up again, or do you want to come over to the grown up table?"
"I can do it alone," Becky Lynn says sadly.
"You're sure?" she asks.
The girl nods, and then without asking, Shelby gives her a hug.
"You're going to be fine," Janet says, patting Shelby's hand as she returns.
"Dad!" Cassie's voice objects from the basement.
"Just checking," he says, hopping up the stairs, looking a little guilty.
"And our daughter was…" Janet prompts.
"Sitting and talking to a boy," he admits.
"As I thought," she says, rocking the quickly-calming boy on her lap.
"Hey, if they were doing something bad, you'd all be thanking me for checking on it," he mutters.
"Checking on what?" Teal'c asks.
"Later," Shelby says again.
"What do you say we put on some Grinch for the gingerbread house dropouts?" Sam asks, causing the squirming on her lap to stop.
"Olivia, how did you make those characters?" Ty asks, looking intently at the Santa on her roof.
"I just mushed the candy up, and sculpted it into a shape," she says.
"You're an artist," Ty says in awe.
"You really think so?" Olivia says, melting in a way which sets off alarms in the heads of all the adults that are around her.
"Can you make me a Santa?" Becky Lynn asks hopefully.
"Me too!" Emma pleads.
"I'll try," Olivia says with concentration.
"Hey, Teal'c and Shelby, can I talk to you quick?" Cassie asks, coming out of the room.
"You are a character without honor, you said you would not reveal my secret," Rya'c protests from behind her.
"What?" Shelby asks, terrified, following the girl. Teal'c trails after his wife, and they all shut the door.
"Look, Ry doesn't want me to share this, but this just sounds like the kind of thing you break promises for. He got suspended."
"What?" Teal'c asks.
"He was kicked out of school for a little bit because he did something bad." Shelby translates for her alien husband, "What and how long?" Shelby asks.
"He only got one day. He punched a guy. It sounded like he really deserved it. This guy was picking on that girlfriend of his," Cassie says.
"Is the other boy ok?" Shelby asks with concern.
"Why would this action not be considered honorable in your culture?" Teal'c asks.
"He used violence, Teal'c," Shelby says in shock.
"The other kid is fine… I'll go see how the construction is going," Cassie says, making a hasty exit back to the group.
"What are we going to do?" Shelby asks.
"We are going to give Rya'c the accolades he so richly deserves for fighting injustice," Teal'c says.
"No, we're going to punish his violent behavior," his wife corrects.
"He was behaving as a warrior."
"Which is bad because he's a teenager. Look, I have to work tomorrow so you're going to have to take him. You're going to have to make him do something he really hates. Like read Shakespeare or clean the house. He can't do that again. If he gets in trouble a few more times like this he's going to be kicked out of school. We have to stop this right now."
"Alright," Teal'c says reluctantly. He knows that she knows more about her culture than she does.
"And I'll be giving him the lecture about why what he did was wrong. At some point when you are not in the room to give him winks so he doesn't believe it."
Teal'c walks back into the main room, and sees a Becky Lynn looking confused.
"What is the problem?" he asks.
"I made our family," she says, pointing to the front yard of the gingerbread house where there are two figures formed from tootsie and three formed from bubble gum. "I just didn't know what color to make the babies."
"Well, we won't know for sure until the babies are born. They could be very dark, they could be very light, but they will probably be halfway between."
"Will you help me mix up the pink and brown?" she asks, putting a blob of each into his large hands.
"Certainly," he says with a smile.
-0-0-0-
Thirty minutes later, all the other kids have abandoned houses in various stages of completion. Olivia, however, is still working on her masterpiece with absolute concentration.
Ry'ac returns from his talk with Shelby looking like he didn't believe a word that his step-mom said. He was quiet and respectful, but he didn't buy into anything she said. He just doesn't think she understands. She's not a warrior. She's never been to battle. She thinks fighting is wrong, even though she could have saved her little sister by fighting.
Sometimes it was the right thing to do.
Rya'c sits down next to Tyler on a small couch that they call a love seat. On the television, the small green god his father told him about years ago is returning the gifts that he stole from the noisy children.
"I heard you were taking care of a bully," Ty says quietly.
"I still believe my actions were honorable, but I am willing to take whatever punishment they have decided is just," Rya'c mutters.
"It's ok to beat up the bully, you just can't get caught," Ty whispers.
Rya'c looks at him in surprise.
"You do it when they're not watching. Do it once or twice, and they leave you alone. Then you can fix your hair with gel or use clear nail polish or whatever you want."
"I have no desire to do any of those things."
"Well, you can do whatever you want, then."
Over at the gingerbread table Olivia overhears the conversation, and her heart melts even more for the boy who is stealing her heart.