| Daniel was able to sleep for a whole hour on Sara's lap. When he stirred he looked up into Sara's face and smiled contentedly. She smiled back at him and kissed his hair before rolling her eyes towards the end of the couch. Daniel followed the movement of her eyes and chuckled quietly when he saw what she was gesturing at…Jack, in an extremely uncomfortable looking position, fast asleep with his feet up on the small table in front of him! |
| "He didn't last much longer than you did before he fell asleep!" whispered Sarah, placing a kiss on the little boy's hair. "I guess you must have both had a bad night last night?" |
| "Yeah, I guess so." said Daniel quietly. "Can we let him sleep for a bit longer? We can sit here and snuggle for a while." |
| Sara looked over at Jack again with a gentle smile on her face. "Sure we can Danny. Although I don't think we should leave him there too much longer. He doesn't look particularly comfy and he'll be stiff when he wakes up." |
| ~#~ |
| The next day, some hours after Daniel's third shot, he seemed to be suffering from every side effects that had been discussed. It was very hard on the young boy and he felt extremely miserable. Jack and Sara hoped that Daniel would get the last shot tomorrow and that it wouldn't be necessary for a fifth one. |
| Jack was glad that Sara was with them and also that his team and Hammond came along regularly and helped to distract Daniel from how he was feeling. Teal'c helped Daniel with Kel'no'reem, it calmed him down a little and he was able to sleep for a while. Sadly not long enough although it was better than not getting any sleep at all. |
| Daniel shed many tears while he suffered from the side effects and spent a lot of time in his Dad and Sara's arms. At night, when Daniel was very restless, Jack and Sara took shifts to walk around the room with Daniel in their arms and both of them sung lullabies to him. Daniel was sucking his thumb a lot and not only when he was finally sleeping. Jack and Sara let him as they were sure that he would stop doing it when the child was feeling better. |
| The fourth shot was luckily the last one, to Jack and Sara's relief. That afternoon Daniel was transferred to the Children's Memorial hospital and the transplant was planned for the next day. Jack and Sara were allowed to be with him the whole time. |
| The transplant was a success and Benji recovered fast. Much to the surprise of his doctors - they hadn't seen anything like it before. A little over a week later Benji was almost 100 % recovered. They all agreed that it was a miracle of the season. |
| It took a while before Daniel was back to his old self, but with Sara and his Dad's help he was feeling better and better every day. Now they all could enjoy the holiday season together. |
| ~#~ |
| Little Daniel O'Neill was again sleeping in his cosy little bed, this time though his dream was cosy too. He dreamt about Christmas with his family, he dreamt about his blood brother Benji and he dreamt about snow. A few hours later when the boy woke up, he looked out the window and saw it was snowing. Daniel jumped out of bed and ran to his Dad's bedroom. |
| "Dad wake up! Its snowing! Its snowing!" he shouted excitedly. |
| "Daniel." grumbled Jack. "Go back to bed and let me sleep." |
| "Dad, it's 8 o'clock! I'm not tired anymore." Daniel exclaimed. "Can I go out and play in the snow!" |
| "Okay Danny, but remember to put warm clothes on and don't forget your mittens." Jack reminded him. |
| "Okay Dad, don't you want to come out and play with me?" asked Daniel |
| "No, I want to sleep a little longer." Jack said. "Later on, you can call Benji if you'd like and ask him if his parents can bring him over so you, Benji and Tommy can all play together in the snow." |
| "Thanks Dad, that would be cool. Can we ask Sara to come too?" asked Daniel. |
| "Yeah, why not" Jack replied. "If she wants to. I'll phone her when I get up." |
| "Great, thanks Dad!" Daniel kissed him and ran to his bedroom to get dressed. |
| "Daniel! No running in the house! And remember to put your mittens on!" Jack shouted after him before grabbing hold of the pillow from the other side of his bed and dramatically covering his face with it. |
| He lay there in his bed and tried to go back to sleep, but he couldn't. He was thinking about his son - he wasn't convinced that Daniel would remember to put enough warm clothes on and he wanted to watch him enjoying the snow. |
| Jack sighed deeply and got out of bed. He took a quick shower and stepped outside to check on the boy. He was right, of course, Daniel was playing outside, in the snow, without a hat, scarf or mittens. Jack went back inside, retrieved the relevant clothing and went back outside to put it all on Daniel. |
| ~#~ |
| Half an hour later Jack called Daniel in for breakfast. |
| "So Danny, when are you going to write to Santa Claus?" Jack asked once they were eating their waffles. |
| "I'm not going to write to him this year," Daniel said. He took his glass of milk and started to drink. When he was finished he had a milk moustache. |
| "Why not?" asked Jack. |
| "I don't believe in Santa Claus any more." Daniel informed him. "I'm not a baby Dad." |
| "You believed in him last year." Jack said. |
| "That was before I remembered that I used to be an adult!" Daniel told him. "When I remembered that, I also remembered that Santa is only a fairytale." |
| Jack gave Daniel a napkin, "Here Danny you've got a milk moustache." |
| "Oh!" Daniel grinned as he took the napkin and wiped his face. |
| "Danny, can you be certain that he isn't real?" Jack questioned. "You never know, maybe you'll find out that he is. Just like you found out that your theory about the pyramids was true, when no one believed you." |
| "I don't know for sure, but can you explain how it is that his reindeer can fly and that he can deliver presents to all those children all around the world in one night?" Daniel asked him back. |
| "Magic of course." Jack stated confidently. |
| "Yeah, right," Daniel shot back. "…and pigs can fly!" |
| "Well they can on P3H-something-or-the-other." Jack said with a big smile on his face. |
| "You are joking right?" Daniel was watching Jack's facial expressions, trying to decide whether to believe his father or not. |
| "No I'm not - they really can." Jack told him. "You were there too, when you were an adult. It seems that you didn't get the memory of that back though." |
| "What a shame, it would have been fun to remember that!" Daniel giggled. |
| "It was fun to see them fly." Jack remembered fondly. "We all laughed when we first saw them do it. Look Danny, I don't think it'd hurt if you wrote a letter to Santa Claus." |
| "Okay," agreed Daniel "I'll do that after I'm finished with breakfast." |
| "So…what are you going as him for?" Jack enquired. |
| "I won't wish for anything for myself, but I want to ask him to meet Benji." Daniel told his Dad "He still believes in him and he was afraid for so long that he wouldn't live long enough to see him this year. I really hope that he does exist or Benji will be very disappointed." |
| "What about having a party, here at our house, on Christmas Eve?" suggested Jack "We could invite Benji and his family and you can write and invite Santa." |
| "Cool! Can we invite Sam, T, Jonas, Graddad, Janet, Siler, Ferretti, Walter and Sara as well?" Daniel asked eagerly. |
| "Yeahsureyoubetcha." Jack said, laughing at the young boy's enthusiasm. |
| "Cool." Daniel said "I want to make the invitations." |
| After they finished breakfast, Daniel got busy, writing to Santa Claus and making invitations. Later on Jack called Benji's parents as well as Sara and confirmed that they were all able to come. |
| Jack would speak to everyone else at the SGC to make the appropriate arrangements. |
| ~#~ |
| Jack had remembered to ring Sara earlier and when she knocked on the door Daniel ran to open it. "Hi Sara," he said as he threw his arms around her neck. |
| "Hi Danny." Sara said, hugging him back. |
| "I made an party invitation for you, I'll be right back," Daniel said and left Sara alone at the door. |
| "Sorry about that, he's very excited about the party!" Jack said, smiling as he invited her in. "He did a really good job of making the invitations," |
| Sara laughed "That's okay. I'm looking forward to seeing his invitation." |
| "Can I offer you something to drink?" Jack asked. |
| "A coffee would be nice." Sarah replied. "Thanks Jack." |
| Jack gestured towards the front room. "Okay, make yourself at home and I'll be right back with the coffee." |
| Sara sat down on the couch as Jack went into the kitchen. Daniel returned, sat down beside Sara and gave her the invitation that he had made. |
| "What a beautiful card. Did you make it all by yourself?" Sara asked. |
| "Yes I did," Daniel said proudly. |
| "You drew the Christmas tree beautifully." Sara complimented him. "You're a very talented young artist." |
| "Thank you Sara." Daniel said. "I hope you can come to the party. I wrote a letter to Santa Claus today and invited him as well." |
| "Yes I can come, and I'm looking forward to meeting Santa as well." said Sara. "I hope he can take the time to come to your party, he'll be very busy getting the sleigh ready on Christmas Eve." |
| "Yeah right! I don't believe in Santa anymore, but Dad said that it couldn't hurt to write him a letter." Daniel told her. "I'm hoping that he really does exist though, and that he'll come. If he doesn't appear then Benji will be really disappointed." |
| "I'm sure he'll make the time to visit two very nice little boys," Sara said and gave Daniel a tight hug which he returned. |
| When Jack came in with the coffee he sat down on the couch next to them. Daniel clambered over into his lap and they drank their drinks they waited for Benji and his family to arrive. Daniel enjoyed the time alone with just Jack and Sara. After he'd remembered his biological parents he realised that he missed having a mother very much. He was happy to have Jack as his Dad, but he still wished he could have a mother as well. He was sure that Sara had been a great mother to his 'brother' Charlie and he hoped that his Dad and Sara would get back together. That's one of the reasons why he asked his Dad to invite her over as often as he did. He was glad that Jack hadn't figured that out though! |
| ~#~ |
| When Benji and his family got to Jack's house everyone went outside and made a big snowman. Later on they had a snowball fight and they all had a great time - even Benji's little brother Tommy. |
| Benji grinned widely when Daniel gave him his party invitation and could hardly believe his ears when Daniel told him that he'd invited Santa Claus as well. The boys were both chattering nineteen to the dozen and couldn't wait until Christmas Eve. |
| It was late in the evening when Benji and his family finally went home. Sara was about to go too but Daniel wanted her to stay a little bit longer. |
| "Daniel." Jack said. "It's time for your bath, it's almost bedtime." |
| "Daaaad, I don't want my bath yet. Can't I have it in a bit? Please!" Daniel whined. |
| "No, but you can stay up for a little while after your bath if you want." Jack said fairly. |
| "Okay," Daniel said reluctantly, "Sara, can you stay until it's time for me to go to bed?" |
| "I'll stay and read you your bedtime story if you want?" Sarah offered. |
| "YES!" Daniel shouted "I'd love that, thanks Sara!" |
| "Good," said Sarah. "That's agreed then. You'd better go take your bath now or you'll run out of time for stories afterwards." |
| "Sara I have to help Daniel, we'll be back as soon as we can. I'm not happy letting him take his bath on his own yet." Jack told her. |
| "I don't blame you Jack." said Sarah. "Shout when you're about to get him out and I'll some hot chocolate ready." |
| Daniel was allowed to stay up for another half an hour after his bath. Sara kept her promise and read him a bedtime story. |
| When Daniel was safely tucked up on bed Jack spoke to Sara about the Christmas party arrangements. "Sara, do you know someone who would play Santa Claus for the boys at the party? I don't want them to be disappointed. I can't get one of my friends to do it - Danny's too bright and he'd know in an instant that it wasn't the real Santa." |
| "I'm sure my Dad would love to do it." Sara said confidently. "I already told him about Benji and how Daniel was his donor. He was overjoyed when he heard that the transplant was a success. I'm certain he'd be more than happy to give the boys their wish." |
| "That'd be great." said Jack. "Thanks for reading Danny his bedtime story, Sara. I know it most have woken some memories of Charlie. It sure does for me, even now." |
| "Yes it did," Sara replied. "…but only good memories. I enjoyed having the chance to read a bedtime story again." |
| "I know what you mean. I'm so glad I've got Daniel. I wouldn't swap him for anything in the world - not even if someone offered me a million dollars to give him up." Jack stated. |
| "He's a very special little boy and I understand why you're proud to have him in your life." Sara said looking wistfully in the direction of the stairs, and the bedroom where she'd left Daniel. She sighed heavily and looked back at Jack. "Well I suppose I'd better go home now." |
| "No…" said Jack. "Please stay a little longer." |
| Sara ended up staying for a few hours after Daniel went to bed. Jack and Sara had a great time, they chatted about anything and everything and laughed a lot too - just like they'd never been divorced. |
| ~#~ |
| In a secret location somewhere near the North Pole |
| "Santa, a letter just arrived from a little boy," Bernard the Head Elf said. "I think you need to read it now." |
| "Okay, let me see." Santa took the letter and read it aloud: |
| "Dear Santa, I want to wish you and your elves a very Merry Christmas. I'm not going to ask for anything for myself this year, but I would be very grateful if you would meet my blood brother Benji. Not long ago he had leukaemia and he almost died. Through his treatment his one wish was that he could live until Christmas so he could meet you in person. My Dad is holding a party on December the 24th, Benji and his family will be there, I want to invite you to the party too. I hope you'll come. Yours truly, Daniel O'Neill." |
| "Are you going to the party Santa?" Bernard asked. "I know that it's on Christmas Eve and you'll be really busy…but how often do you get a letter from a child who doesn't wish anything for himself?" |
| "Not often Bernard." replied Santa. "I'll be at the party - I don't want to disappoint the boys. How could I disappoint two boys who are on the nice list. Daniel's always been on that list and so has Benji for that matter. Even though Daniel doesn't wish anything for himself I want to give him a special gift. He's the one who saved Benji and he suffered through the terrible side effects because of it. He really deserves an extra special gift - I just have to work out what." |
| "That's great. If I can help with anything just let me know." the Head Elf said. |
| "Thanks Bernard, I will. Well I'd better write to little Danny O'Neill and let him know that I'll be there." |
| ~#~ |
| The next morning when Daniel awoke he hurriedly pulled on a sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants over his pyjamas. Next he grabbed some socks and shoved his feet into them. Lastly he grabbed his slippers, pulled them over the socks and ran outside to check the mail box. He was hoping there'd be a reply from Santa. He found that there was a letter, addressed to him, and it was post marked from the North Pole. He looked at it with amazement on his face and ran back into the house to open it. He tore open the envelope and when he read it he got extremely excited. He charged into Jack's room, jumped onto the bed and woke his Dad up. |
| "Dad! Dad!" he shouted. "Look, I got a reply from Santa! He's coming to our party! Isn't that great?" |
| "Danny, I hope you'll soon grow out of this habit of waking me up early in the mornings on my days off work!" Jack told the excited boy. "So you got a letter from Santa huh? That sure was fast!" |
| Later that day Jack called Sara and asked her if her father had written the letter from Santa. Sara told Jack that she'd got back too late the night before to speak to her father about the party. She'd only spoken to him a couple of hours before Jack had called so it became clear that it wasn't him who had written the letter. Next Jack called 'Graddad Hammond' and was told that it he hadn't written it either. The general promised to try and find out if it was someone on the staff at the SGC and said that he'd call Jack if he found anything out. |
| Later that day Hammond called back and told Jack that it didn't appear to be anyone from the SGC who had written that letter. Jack was looking forward to the party before, now there was the added mystery of finding out who the secret Santa was he was looking forward to it even more! |
| ~#~ |
| On Christmas Eve morning Sara came round to help Jack and Daniel prepare for the party. |
| Jack and Daniel were decorating the dining room table. "Dad?" Daniel said. |
| "Yes Danny?" answered Jack. |
| "I was wondering…" Daniel paused as he thought about what he was going to say. "…was it you? |
| "Was it me what, Danny?" Jack looked at him in confusion. |
| "Was it you who wrote the letter?" Daniel asked "…the letter that said it was from Santa." |
| "No Daniel, it wasn't me." Jack told him. "The letter really was from Santa. You and Benji are going to see him today - in person." |
| "Did you get someone else to write the letter?" Daniel continued. "…so that I'd believe it was from him…because I'm still not convinced that he really exists." |
| "No Daniel I didn't, and as I just said, the letter was from Santa Claus. I promise I'm not lying to you." Jack said. |
| "But…" Daniel was getting really confused now, he knew that Santa wasn't real, but Jack was telling him the complete opposite. |
| "Daniel, your Dad is telling you the truth." Sara said. "Relax and enjoy yourself along with Benji when Santa comes." |
| "Okay," Daniel said, but he still wasn't convinced that Santa Claus actually existed. |
| "Daniel, now that we're finished with decorating the house I want you to go and take a nap." Jack told his son. |
| "Please Dad, I'm not tired." complained Daniel. "Can't I just stay up?" |
| "No Danny, I want you to be rested when the guests come." Jack said and steered his son towards his bedroom. |
| "Okay." Daniel reluctantly agreed. "Sara can you read me a story? Please." |
| "Sure Danny I'd love to." Sara replied. |
| After Sara had tucked Daniel in and read him a story she went into the kitchen and helped Jack prepare the party food. |
| ~#~ |
| They woke Daniel up again half an hour before the guests were due to start arriving. |
| Later on, all the invited guests had arrived except for the one, extra special guest. All the adults were intrigued to see who the secret Santa would turn out to be. The kids were just plain excited that Santa was coming to the party at all. Some of the staff at the SGC had started a betting pool to who the secret Santa could be. Some bet that it would be General Hammond, others that it Sara's father would do it, and a few even placed a bet that it was the real Santa Claus. |
| Benji ran up to his blood brother. "Daniel, do you know what time Santa is coming?" |
| "No sorry Benji." Daniel replied. "He didn't tell me a time, just that he'd come." |
| "I hope he comes soon!" an excited Benji told him. |
| "Me too." Daniel agreed. |
| All of a sudden the party goers became aware of someone singing in a beautiful, feminine voice. |
| "In the silence of the night, when the snow lies soft and still…" |
| The guests thought it sounded like an angel and they all looked around to find the singer. No-one spotted her though - she was nowhere to be seen. |
| "You can see a magic light and hear the ring of Christmas bells...." |
| They moved outside to see if the singing came from there, but again they couldn't see anyone. |
| "Though the night seems long and dark…." |
| "Someone's playing a game with us. Where's the music coming from? Carter have you set this up?" Jack asked when they were back inside. |
| "Me sir? No sir. I can't sing." Sam replied. |
| "It is the earth just gone to sleep…." |
| "Ferretti?" asked Jack. |
| "Come on Jack, do you see me singing?" Lou laughed as he answered. "And with a female voice too?" |
| "No, but maybe you've got a hidden CD player." said Jack. |
| "Sorry Jack, but you're wrong." Ferretti said. "I don't know where the voice is coming from any more than you do." |
| Then Cassie voiced her opinion. "Maybe it's an angel singing - it sure sounds like one." |
| "You're right sweetie, it sure does." agreed Janet. |
| Teal'c made sure that neither Mr. and Mrs. Kent nor Sara could hear him before he said. "Maybe it is Oma Desala who is singing," |
| Jack was glad that he wasn't either eating or drinking when Teal'c said that or he'd have choked for sure. Somehow he just couldn't picture Oma singing like an angel. |
| "The stars that dot, the sky above, hold you in their precious keep. So close your eyes and come with me. The Christmas bells will bring you home and now, with song we fill the night. While magic dances in the light, to wish you now and all the year the joy that come with Christmas cheer. Hear our voices fill the air, to drive the winter's cold away and so our hearts with all will share, the love that comes with Christmas day. The love that comes with Christmas day. The Christmas bells will bring you home." |
| When the singing stopped, there was a knock on the front door. |
| "It's Santa. He's finally here!" Benji shouted, as he and Daniel ran to the door. |
| Jack jumped up and chased after them. "Daniel, Benji, stop and let me open the door. We don't know for sure that it's Santa. There could be some stranger knocking on it." |
| Daniel stopped and turned to face Jack. "Aw, Dad…come on. You don't really believe that do you?" |
| "Daniel," Jack said, exasperated. "…just stay here. Benji you stay with him too please. I'll open the door, just to be on the safe side." |
| When Jack opened the door he couldn't believe what he saw. There stood Santa Claus shining brightly in all his Christmas colours. He looked like the real deal too, not like a Santa Claus from the mall. His white hair and beard looked like they were actually his as well. |
| "Ho, ho, ho and Merry Christmas." Santa's voice boomed "I heard that there are two very special little boys in this house who want to meet me." |
| Jack didn't quite know what to think but played along anyway. "Yes Santa, there is. Welcome in and a very Merry Christmas to you too." |
| "Santa I'm so glad you made it." Benji said while he ran up to him and gave him a hug. Santa picked him up and returned the hug. |
| "Hi Benji, I'm glad to meet you at last." Santa said. |
| "How do you know it's me and not Daniel." asked Benji. "Every stranger we've met so far thinks that we're twins." |
| "Well Benji," answered Santa. "It's magic. I'm Santa Claus and I know every child on this planet. I can remember all their names, especially the ones who are on the nice list - like you and Danny." |
| "Thank you so much for coming." Benji said, still clinging on to Santa. "I was afraid that I wouldn't live long enough to celebrate Christmas this year and that I would never get to meet you, but thanks to Daniel I can!" |
| "Yes I know. Speaking of Daniel where is he?" Santa asked the his little friend. |
| Daniel was hiding behind his Dad's legs. "Come on Danny, why so shy all of a sudden?" Jack took his son's small hand in one of his own and rested his other on Daniel's shoulder to offer him a little comfort. "Don't you want to talk to Santa and thank him for coming?" They walked towards Santa who was now sat in the recliner with Benji on his lap. The young boy was telling Santa what he would like for Christmas. |
| Daniel held Jack's hand tightly. When he stood in front of Santa, he found that he was too shy to look him in the eyes. He didn't say a word and looked down at his feet. |
| "Hello Daniel," Santa said quietly. "A Merry Christmas to you. Thank you for inviting me to your party." |
| There were a few moments of silence until Jack urged, "Daniel, Santa was talking to you. You should answer him." |
| "Merry Christmas to you too Santa." Daniel said in a very low voice. "You're welcome. Thank you for coming." |
| "It's my pleasure. Do you want to sit on my lap and tell me what you wish for Christmas?" Santa gently asked the nervous child. |
| Benji climbed off Santa's lap. "Don't be afraid of him Daniel - he's very nice." |
| "I'm not afraid of him." Daniel told the other boy. |
| "Come on Daniel. I'll stay with you." Jack promised. "Go and sit on Santa's lap." |
| Daniel walked over to Santa and climbed onto his lap. Jack hurried to take a photo before Daniel could change his mind. Daniel looked up at Santa and then whispered in the old man's ear. "I know you're not the real Santa because he doesn't exist. Did Dad hire you to come here? I promise I won't tell Benji, I don't want him to be disappointed." |
| "Daniel, I am real." Santa assured him. "Judy is one of my elves and I remember she once said to me; seeing isn't believing, believing is seeing." |
| "I tried to believe in you again, really I did. But I started to remember something and that made me doubt that you're real." Daniel said sadly. |
| "Don't worry child, I know all about it." Santa whispered to Daniel. "It started when you remembered that you once were an adult, didn't it?" |
| Daniel looked puzzled at Santa. "How do you know that?" |
| "As I said to Benji earlier, I know all about all the children on this world. Oh, I almost forgot I have something that belongs to you; something that you lost a long time ago." Santa took something out of his pocket and gave it to Daniel. |
| "It's my Teddy! Thank you Santa! I lost him when my parents died. I looked everywhere for him, but I never found him." Daniel said with tears in his eyes. |
| "You're welcome." said Santa with a huge smile on his face. "I thought it was time for you two to be reunited." |
| Now Daniel finally believed that Santa was real. Pulling his eyes away from Daniel sitting on Santa's lap, Jack scanned the room. He realised that Daniel wasn't the only one starting to believe again - many of the adults were as well. A few of them also realised that this meant they'd won the bet. |
| "So Daniel what do you wish for, for Christmas?" Santa finally asked the boy perched on his knee. |
| "I don't have a wish. I have all I want; Dad, Granddad, Janet, Cassie, Sam, T, Sara and my blood brother Benji." |
| "Are you sure." Santa asked. "What about some toys?" |
| "No, thank you." Daniel said politely. "My Dad's always complaining that I've got too many toys already and that they're always scattered all over the house." |
| "Okay, but you must have at least one deepest wish." Santa prompted him. |
| Daniel was looking at Jack now, watching his Dad as he spoke quietly to Sara. Truthfully his deepest wish was for Sara to become his mother, but he was afraid to tell Santa that. He knew he'd be too disappointed if Santa couldn't grant him that wish. Santa however, noticed how Daniel was watching them and understood enough without Daniel having to tell him. He realised that it would be easy to give the boy that, the love between Jack and Sara was plain to see. |
| "Don't worry Daniel." He whispered to the boy. "Your wish will come true." Daniel looked into Santa's eyes and knew that he was telling the truth. |
| His eyes lit up and he gave Santa a bright smile and a huge hug. "Thank you Santa that really would mean a lot to me." |
| Then Daniel slid off Santa's lap and walked over to General Hammond. "Granddad look it's Teddy! I lost him a long, long time ago and Santa gave him back to me!" |
| "I'm glad you've been reunited with your friend, son." The General said kindly. "…but how do you know it's the Teddy that you lost?" |
| "I remember his smell…and look at the scar on his left arm." He handed the bear to his grandfather for inspection. "My mother had to sew it up after he got hurt. I cried and cried until my mother mended him and put a bandage on his arm." |
| "I'm glad she could fix him son." Hammond told him as he handed to bear back to the young boy. "I think you should go back to be with Santa before he has to go and start his Christmas deliveries." |
| Santa stayed a little while longer and played with the kids until the time came when he had to leave. He told Daniel and Benji that he had to go and get his sleigh ready because he had so many presents to deliver all over the world that night. |
| They other guests stayed until it became clear that the two boys were starting to get very tired. |
| Mr. Kent scooped Benji up and onto his shoulder while his wife stopped to talk to Jack. "Thank you Colonel O'Nei…oh, sorry…Jack for a great party. We'd better go home and get Benji to bed. I hope we'll see more of each other next year and if you ever need a babysitter for Danny please let me know. I think we need to arrange some play dates for Benji and Danny and maybe even a sleepover or two - I'm sure they'd love that. Both of you will always be welcome at our house - and Sara too of course." |
| "You're welcome." Jack said lifting his own, very sleepy, son into his arms. "The play dates sound like a great idea. It'd be a shame to separate the 'blood brothers' and I'm sure, with my job, that there will be times I'll gladly take up your babysitting offer. Thanks for the thought and please, drive safely home." |
| "Thanks Jack, we will. Bye-bye Danny." Mrs. Kent said as she waved at the tired child. |
| "Goodbye Mr. and Mrs. Kent. Bye-bye Benji," Daniel said in a sleepy voice. |
| "Bye Danny, bye Colonel Jack. It was a great party." Benji said, not lifting his head from his Dad's shoulder as the Mr. Kent loaded him into the car. |
| Over the next half an hour the other guests gradually went home too. Soon only Sara was left. |
| "I will stay a little longer and help you clean up." she offered. |
| "You don't have to do that Sara." Jack told her. |
| "I know." Sara replied. "…but I want to." |
| "Thank you Sara. I'd better get this little one to bed." Jack tried, and failed, to look down at Daniel who was sleeping with his face nuzzled tightly into Jack's neck. |
| Sara smiled at this. "Do you mind if I we tuck him in together?" |
| "No of course I don't." Jack assured her. |
| The two of them went upstairs together and tucked the sleeping boy into his bed. Sara commented that he was still clutching his precious Teddy close to him protectively. When he was settled in for the night, both Jack and Sara stood at the end of his bed and watched him sleep. |
| "Have you realised that we were right?" Sara asked. "He stopped sucking his thumb after we got the news that Benji would be OK." |
| "Yes." said Jack. "I'd noticed it too. I think it was his way of seeking comfort and coping with everything he was going through while he was saving Benji's life." |
| "I'm just sorry that his biological parents will never get to see him grow up." Sara said with a sigh. "He's such a sweet child. I'm sorry Jack, I know that Daniel Jackson was your best friend and I know you still miss him terribly." |
| "Yeah I do, and I always will." Jack said. "…but he gave me something so special; his son and I'm very grateful for that." |
| "Well I think we better let him sleep. Let's go downstairs and clean up." Sara suggested. |
| ~#~ |
| When Daniel awoke early the next morning, he wandered into Jack's bedroom, with his Teddy in his arms. He stopped suddenly when he found that his Dad's bed was empty. |
| He was even more surprised when he went downstairs and found Sara in the kitchen with his Dad. |
| "Sara, when did you get here?" Daniel asked as he gave her a hug. |
| "Well Daniel, I didn't actually go home last night." Sara admitted. "I stayed here." |
| "Did you sleep with Daddy, in his bed?" the boy asked. |
| "Daniel!" Jack said loudly. "Apologise to Sara." |
| "Sorry Sara." Daniel said. |
| "That's okay Jack." Sara laughed. "No Danny, I slept in the guest room." |
| "Oh, I don't mind if you want to sleep in Dad's bed." Daniel told her quietly. |
| "Daniel." Jack said his name with a warning tone in his voice. |
| "Sorry Dad, sorry Sara." Daniel said. "…but I meant it you know." |
| "Daniel!" Jack warned again. |
| "Jack it's okay." Sara said, putting her hand on his arm to calm him. "Well Daniel, let me explain something. If I sleep in your Dad's bed someday it'll be if after I was married to him and not before, okay?" |
| "Okay. Does that mean that you want to merry him again?" Daniel asked. "Does that mean that you want be my mother?" |
| "You mean marry him?" Sara corrected him. |
| "Yes," Daniel said. "That's what I said - merry him?" |
| Sara smiled, "I would be honoured to become your mother Daniel, but I'd want to spend much more time with your Dad before I even thought about marriage." |
| Daniel's eyes lit up and so did Jack's. Jack was ever so happy that Sara wanted to spend more time with him and Daniel. |
| "Danny don't you want to look what's under the tree?" he asked his son. |
| "Why?" asked Daniel. "There aren't any presents for me anyway." |
| "Are you sure about that?" Jack asked gently. "I thought I saw some presents under there that had your name on them." |
| "But I didn't wish for any presents. I almost got everything what I wished for." Daniel told his Dad. |
| Jack sighed dramatically, "Well, why don't you go look and see for yourself." |
| "Okay." said Daniel as he scampered off into the living room, with the two adults following him. |
| ~#~ |
| Daniel looked at the Christmas tree with wide open eyes. He couldn't believe how many presents there were under the tree. |
| "Well Danny." Jack said. "Don't just stand there. Go and find out which ones are yours." |
| It turned out that most of the presents were for the youngest member of the O'Neill household. Jack and Sara sat on the couch together and watched joyfully as Daniel opened his presents. |
| The first present he pulled from the pile was from Jack. He gleefully tore off the colourful wrapping paper and uncovered a train set. He immediately got up and gave his Dad a hug. |
| "Thanks Dad." he said "I didn't think you'd give me any toys this year." |
| "Why would you think that?" Jack asked him, wondering if the boy had misunderstood something Jack had said to him. |
| "Well," Daniel said. "You're always complaining that I've got too many toys." |
| "I do not." Jack retorted. |
| "Do too." |
| "Do not." |
| "Do too." |
| "That's enough you two!" Sara stopped them before them before they kept on. "Daniel how about opening some more of your presents?" |
| "Oh yeah, great idea." cried Daniel and he clapped his hands together while he chose which present to open next. |
| The next one he opened was from Sara, it was a Lego crash car. |
| "A Lego crash car, cool." He went over to Sara and hugged her. "Thank you so much Sara, I love it." |
| "I'm glad you like it." she told him. |
| Daniel sat back down to open the rest of his presents. He was surprised when he saw that there were some presents for him from Santa. He hadn't asked Santa to bring him anything when he spoke to him the day before. |
| Jack and Sara sat side by side on the couch and enjoyed watching him. Together they remembered happy times that they'd shared in the past with another special boy a long time ago. |
| The End (For now) |
