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Choices
Story Notes: Challenge: July birthday story (although this is more of a pre-birthday story) Rating: G Type: Kidfic, humor Spoilers: None Author’s Note: The diaper incident is based on a true event. My brother actually did this to my mom once,
O’Neill offered Teal’c two choices, and both were daunting. Teal’c decided on the lesser of two evils and began an assault upon Jack O’Neill’s truck. He gathered the debris that had accumulated on the floor, cramming fast food containers and Styrofoam cups into a garbage sack. Another bag was filled with an assortment of socks, toys, and books. He vacuumed up bits of crayons, cookie fragments, and particles of other food items. He scrubbed away unknown sticky substances from various surfaces and wiped fingerprints from the windows. When the truck was cleaned to his satisfaction, he packed several lawn chairs and then hauled out the cooler. Ice clunked against the pop and beer cans inside. Finished with his mission, he returned to the house to check on O’Neill’s progress. An hour ago, he had left O’Neill with the task of readying Daniel Jackson for departure. The child was two years old today, and Doctor Frasier and Major Carter had volunteered to host a late afternoon birthday party at Doctor Frasier’s house. Newly-awakened from his nap, Daniel Jackson needed a bath and a change of clothing after falling asleep during his lunch of Spaghettios. “Are you in need of assistance?” Teal’c asked upon entering the house. O’Neill was on his knees in the living room, wrestling a towel over the dripping-wet hair of a wriggling, naked Daniel Jackson. During a mission six months ago, the accidental activation of an alien device had reduced Daniel Jackson to infancy. In rescuing Daniel Jackson from the device, O’Neill had been caught in the periphery of the device’s effects and lost fifteen years himself. As soon as it was determined the effects were irreversible, O’Neill resigned from the SGC to care for Daniel Jackson. He often commented that raising Daniel Jackson would take every single year the device had returned to him. “Help! Help, Teal’c!” Daniel Jackson giggled as he tried to squirm out of O’Neill’s grasp. “We’re good, T,” O’Neill said. “Did you get the you-know-what out of the hall closet?” Teal’c’s reply of “Indeed” was drowned out by Daniel Jackson yelling, “I know what! Present!” O’Neill set aside the towel and manhandled a comb through the damp curls. “Would you hold still, Daniel? We’re going to be late.” “Can’t start wifout me!” the child crowed. “I’m da birfday boy.” O’Neill released Daniel Jackson to open a diaper and position it on the floor. An impish grin spreading over his face, Daniel Jackson began to back away. O’Neill turned and reached. Daniel Jackson dodged. He chortled, avoided another grab, and ran. “Daniel!” A distant laugh was the only answer. “Daniel Jackson, you get your bare butt back here and park it on this diaper right now!” Silence. The command voice that had once brought raw recruits running had no effect on Daniel Jackson. O’Neill climbed to his feet with a heavy sigh. He waved off Teal’c’s offer of assistance and plodded after his errant child. Teal’c settled into a chair to wait. A battle of wills between O’Neill and Daniel Jackson, either in serious confrontation or in jest as this one was, always lasted a considerable amount of time. Fifteen minutes later, Daniel Jackson crept back into the living room. He pressed a finger to his lips. Thus silenced, Teal’c watched as Daniel Jackson prepared a surprise for O’Neill. Then the still-naked child tucked himself in the corner of the room, where a cabinet hid him from view. Moments later, O’Neill appeared. “Hey, T, did Daniel--” O’Neill stopped, cut short by the sight. A teddy bear sat regally in the exact center of Daniel Jackson’s diaper. “What the--” Teal’c quirked an eyebrow at O’Neill’s mystified expression. It amused him that Tau’ri children tended toward a literal-minded interpretation, and he was often the first to comprehend them since his mind was not cluttered by the idioms or colloquialisms of the Tau’ri language. “It appears Daniel Jackson has obeyed your order, O’Neill.” “Huh?” “As you requested, he has parked his bear butt on the diaper.” From his hiding place, Daniel Jackson began to giggle uncontrollably. O’Neill stared for another moment, processing, and then snorted. “Well, Teal’c, it looks like we’ll be taking Bear to the party since Daniel’s not ready.” O’Neill knelt and began wrapping the diaper around the teddy bear. “Think he’ll like all those presents we got for Daniel?” “No! MY presents!” Daniel Jackson shrieked. He raced out of his corner, snatched up the bear, and tossed it aside. Then he plunked himself down on the diaper, his expression defiant. “MY party.” “Only if you’re good,” O’Neill said with mock sternness. Daniel Jackson cooperated as O’Neill proceeded to dress him. When the task was done, he smiled virtuously up at O’Neill. “Good boy?” he wheedled, blinking wide and innocent eyes. O’Neill snorted again. “Sure you are. Go get your shoes.” As Daniel Jackson scurried off, singing the word “shoes” in several different languages, O’Neill glanced toward Teal’c and said, “Well, that was a déjà vu moment. I swear he used to look at me just like that whenever I asked him when was the last time he’d eaten.” “There will be many such moments. For all that he has changed, he is still Daniel Jackson.” “No doubt about that,” O’Neill said with a wry grin as Daniel Jackson wandered back into the living room, without his shoes, dragging an overstuffed backpack and a child-sized blanket. “Hey, Jack, I been finking.” “What a shock,” O’Neill replied in a tone that implied the opposite. “Where are your shoes, Daniel?” “Can’t find dem.” Daniel shrugged at the inconsequential matter of shoes and returned to more pressing business, “I fink I’m gonna need lotsa presents, Jack. Since I’m two today, can I be free next week and have anudder party?” O’Neill hauled himself off the floor and glanced toward Teal’c. “You wanna tackle the question or the messy room?” Teal’c considered. Both were formidable tasks. One question invariably led to more, usually preceded by the dreaded word “Why?”. And Daniel Jackson’s bedroom often resembled the site of a recent tornado. O’Neill smirked at Teal’c’s indecision and made the choice for him. He headed toward Daniel Jackson’s bedroom, leaving the child to regard Teal’c with a solemn expression. Teal’c sighed and began. ¤
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Disclaimer: The Stargate characters all belong to Gekko Film Company, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions, MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Showtime, Sci Fi Channel, and Stargate SG-1 Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended to infringe on any of those rights and is meant solely for the purpose of entertainment. All other characters, the story idea, and the story itself are the sole property of the author. |
