The Next Day
Teal'c and Rya'c are sparring in the basement 'sparring room'.
"Father, do you believe that my actions were without honor?"
"I believe that your actions could result in consequences that would be less than desirable."
"I won't get caught engaging in battle at school again."
Teal'c smiles at the careful wording, "It is good to have many family members to give you advice. Who was most helpful in this recent endeavor?"
"Tyler," Rya'c replies.
"I would not think the child knows much about the ways of an Earth warrior."
"The people here are no more tolerant of boys who act like girls than the people of Chulak. Young Tyler O'Neill has fought more battles than most children his age."
Teal'c considers his son gravely, "I will offer in his defense if he ever needs it."
"I believe that would be beneficial," Rya'c agrees.
-0-0-0-
When Daniel goes to pick Olivia up from school the next day, he notices some new writing on her notebook.
He tilts it toward him, and sees "Olivia O'Neill" written all over it in different scripts.
His eyebrows shoot up, "Ah… so you've got a crush."
"I've decided that Ty and I are going to get married," Olivia says seriously.
"Interesting, considering that usually two adults make the decision to get married. Not one child," he says, pulling out into traffic.
"I'll tell him when he's a bit older. He still thinks that girls have cooties."
"Well, I think you're too young to date."
"I don't want to date him. I don't even like fancy food and flowers," Olivia objects.
Daniel just barely manages to keep his laughter inside. "Well, that's great, but I think you are too young to be writing someone else's last name all over your notebook. There will be plenty of time for boys later."
Olivia considers this for a second, "But Daddy, Anne of Green Gable was a child when she fell for Gilbert."
"No, she was a child when she hated him, and then it turned to love later on."
"So you're saying I should hit Ty with a slate?" Olivia asks with a giggle.
"I am certainly not suggesting that. I'm just saying you should wait until you're old enough for boys."
"But Ty is really cool, isn't he, Daddy?"
Daniel's stomach churns; he's pretty sure that his daughter is going to get her heart broken. He thinks there is a good chance that Ty might never be interested in having a girlfriend. Even if Ty isn't gay, by the time Ty is old enough to look at girls, his daughter will have no doubt have moved on to some other boy he'll have to worry about.
"Livy-Lou, I'm just not sure that he is the best person for you," Daniel says sadly.
"Ty? Are you kidding? Have you seen him play hockey?"
"Well, there is more to life than hockey, dear one."
"He's also really smart. He won an award for reading a hundred books, and he was the first one to get it."
"I'm not saying that Ty isn't a good kid. He is. He just might be… a little too much like a brother for you."
"We're not related," Olivia protests.
"The children of SG-1 have always called each other cousins," Daniel objects, feeling that he doesn't have a right to bring up the real reason he thinks that Ty would never take an interest in Olivia. He's pretty sure that the flower boy at his wedding is gay.
Olivia smiles, "The more you tell me it's a bad idea, the more I like the idea. It's like Shakespeare or Austin."
"Austin? You've read Jane Austin?" Daniel asks.
"Yeah, I don't like her as well as Alcott, but Alcott never wrote about people who weren't supposed to fall in love. And if she did, they wouldn't have fallen in love, because they were very obedient to their parents or legal guardians."
"Then I say more Alcott and less Austin," Daniel says, allowing himself the smile that he was hiding the whole conversation.
"I like to read everything," she says, proving her point by pulling some Poe out of her backpack, and losing herself in the House of Usher.
"I think you are a bit young for that book as well."
"You think I'm too young for all the good things in life," Olivia says with a sigh.
"I think you don't realize how many wonderful things you are the right age for and I am too old for."
A Week Later
There have never been dolls in the Jackson house. Cassie's culture didn't have them, and when she'd arrived she was almost too old for it. Olivia used to play with dolls with her mother, but she hadn't touched them since her mother died.
But Daniel decided that he had to teach his daughter how to play, and he would do that with a doll. But he doesn't just use any doll. He gets an American Girl doll.
Olivia smiles as she opens it but Daniel can see she's disappointed.
"She comes with a book, you know."
"It's a book for children. You could have used the money for this doll to get me thousand of books at a used-book store."
"But you needed this," he says, sitting down next to her. "Her name is Samantha, and she's from the Edwardian period, although her clothes are actually more Victorian."
"So she's not even historically accurate," Olivia grumbles.
"No, but she is fun," Daniel says helpfully.
Olivia rolls her eyes.
Daniel sits down on the floor in front of her, "My parents died when I was eight, Olivia. I didn't really play after that. I studied, and I read. I loved it, but I regret it now. I've spent my entire adult life studying and reading. I really wish I had spent a little bit of time playing with Lego or baseball or… doing something that kids should do."
"And since it's too late for you, you're going to save me from the same fate?"
"I was kind of hoping that you would save me," he says, pulling the doll out of the package.
"These aren't exactly Lego."
"They'll do," he says, holding up the doll in front of her and saying, "Hi, Olivia," in a really high voice.
She laughs, "I'm pretty sure that's not how you're supposed to play with dolls."
"Ok, show me how," he says, handing the doll to her.
"I don't know how to play with a doll, either."
"Well, we'll figure it out together," he says.
-0-0-0-
"I do not understand why warriors do not stop this 'Santa' from breaking into your houses at night," Rya'c says, looking at the presents under the tree.
"He leaves us presents; why would we want to stop him from doing that?" Becky asks from inside her mound of presents.
"It seems like it is a serious security breath," Rya'c says.
Shelby uses her eyes to communicate to her husband that it will be his job to inform his son that Santa Claus is not real at some point when the girls are not listening. Teal'c has been in America long enough now that he is able to understand the facial expressions and the intent behind them.
The younger girls are ripping through presents by now.
Teal'c helps Rya'c get the idea, but the teenager is less enthusiastic about his gifts. He comes from a culture where material possessions are not highly valued.
Shelby, and Teal'c start to open their presents only after the girls have covered the floor with wrapping paper, and are reading new books and playing new games.
When there presents are done, there is one left. Teal'c hands it to his wife.
"What is this?" she asks, looking at the tag.
"To the twins. From Daddy."
She can feel tears filling her eyes, and she knows that this is only partly because of her hormones.
"This is so sweet."
"You have yet to open it," he reminds her.
She opens it up to see two small baby outfits. She rubs her stomach. "Thank you; the babies love it."
He takes the outfits out and places them across her growing stomach.
"I think you got it backwards. The boy is on the right and the girl is on the left. At least, that's the way they were at the last ultrasound," she says.
He switches the outfits, and she grabs him by his shoulder to pull him down for a kiss.
The doorbell rings. "Amy has come for the exchange of our presents," Rya'c says.
"Leave the door open," Teal'c warns him. Shelby did have that discussion with him about why Daniel didn't want his daughter alone in a room. Now Teal'c is terrified that all American teenagers are having sex all the time.
Even though the thought is nowhere near either of the teenagers' minds.
"Yes, father," Rya'c says, going to get the door. Amy and Rya'c walk into his bedroom, and he takes a box from the dresser. "I was not aware that I was supposed to wrap Christmas presents until this morning. I am sorry for this oversight."
"It's ok, I don't believe in everyone having to do cultural experiences exactly the same way." She opens it to reveal a huge set of fancy art pencils. Some are colored, some are just different hardness or thickness. "Thank you; I love it," she says seriously. She hands over a thin box to him, "Mine is kind of dumb."
He opens it up to reveal a complete copy of her most recent comic book, "I get to see how it ends?"
"Oh, it's not an ending. We are so far from the ending," she says, with a meaningful look in her eyes.
"I shall read this and have it back to you before the start of school."
"You don't have to get it back to me. It's a present; you get to keep it."
"You put so much work into this, I could not keep it forever," he objects.
"I made you a copy. Besides, it is your story as much as it is mine," he says.
Shelby walks into the room, "Sorry, it was either your dad or I popping in, and I thought you might prefer me. I'll be out of your way for five minutes now."
"You know we can go sit in the living room," Amy says.
"That will just encourage their behavior," he says.
"They are your parents. You have respect them."
"She isn't my parent. And he left my mom when I was a kid. Just because he decided to be a dad again doesn't mean that he really is."
"He's your dad, and he's acting like this because he wants to protect you."
"He doesn't need to protect me from you."
"No, he doesn't, but it's actually kind of sweet that he wants to."
He takes her by the hand, and they stand up together and walk into the living room.
"Your sisters are adorable," Amy comments.
"They aren't my sisters. They are my step-mother's sisters."
"Your father and step-mother are their legal guardians, and they are your legal guardians;you're their brother."
"See, I told you that you are my big brother," Becky Lynn says, looking up at the kid with admiration in her face. "I can't get the dolly out of the box. Do your fingers twist good?"
"Indeed," Rya'c says, taking it from her.