Reversal of Fortune: Part 14
By
Gemsong

The surprise birthday party for Jack at the SGC had been a resounding success. Daniel was not the only one who had thought that Jack's first birthday since his downsizing would be a hard one. He needed to be surrounded by those that knew him best. He needed to be assured, regardless of what he had lost, he hadn't lost everything. He wasn't alone.

Jack had bounced from person to person, eating too much, playing too hard and eventually exhausted himself. The party had only lasted a few hours, and it wound down as General Hammond transferred a sleeping 6-year-old into Daniel's arms to take home.

Jack was a heavy limp form on Daniel's shoulder as they made their way out of the mountain. General Hammond escorted them, opening doors for them, since Daniel had his hands full. It also gave him the opportunity to talk to the archeologist.

"You seem to be managing rather well, Doctor Jackson," the general said as they road the elevator upward.

Daniel smiled. "As well as I can," he replied. "Jack has his moments."

"In what respect?" Hammond asked.

Daniel glanced at the general, noticing that he had a serious expression on his face. "There are times when Jack is nothing more than a normal five... rather six year old boy. Active, inquisitive, mentally and emotionally where most children his age are. But then there are the moments where his knowledge of things literally floors me. For example, his knowledge of the Olvanon language and culture. As I mentioned in my report, they co-existed with the Ancients, but this is the first indication we've had of their culture off Earth."

"How is he handling this knowledge?" Hammond asked as he signed the three of them out.

"It tires him out," Daniel replied. "The more Ancients knowledge he accesses, the longer he will sleep. And that is also followed by a bout of nightmares."

Hammond frowned with concern as he looked at the innocent sleeping child in Daniel's arms. "Is there anything we can do to help with that?" he asked.

"I keep a careful limit on how much time he spends accessing it," Daniel said as they walked through the upper corridors that were part of NORAD. "Shau're is helping him with the nightmares." Then he smiled. "Even Dr. Mackenzie had made some house calls to talk to Jack."

Hammond was surprised. "Jack actually speaks with him?" he asked.

Daniel chuckled. "It surprised me too," he said. "But I think he's actually helping Jack to cope with the memories and knowledge. It's a new situation for him, which he finds fascinating. Mackenzie described it as helping Jack develop a mental filing system. It does seem to be helping him."

"I admit that it surprises me," Hammond said. "But I'm glad it's helping. Has he exhibited anything else out of the ordinary?"

"Is ordinary ever been a word you could apply to Jack?" Daniel asked with a smile. Then he shook his head. "Other than his knowledge of the Olvanon, he's been pretty normal, I would say."

Hammond nodded. "I hear you are going to Lieutenant Lewis' daughter's Halloween party the day after tomorrow?" he asked.

Daniel nodded. "I wasn't sure at first," he said. "But Edward is fully briefed on Jack's situation. His wife Lisa has been told that Jack is a special needs child. Cassie is also going to be there since she knows the Lewis's, and I'll be staying. Between the four of us, I think it'll be all right."

Hammond had been a little concerned about Jack being isolated, but it sounded as if that was not going to be a problem. "Good to hear," the general said as he helped Daniel get Jack situated in his car seat. Jack showed no signs of waking up. He was one completely exhausted little boy.

"I'll talk to you again soon then, Dr. Jackson," Hammond said. "I can't wait to hear what kind of costume you plan to wear to the party."

Daniel groaned as the general walked away. He got into the driver's side and looked in the rearview mirror at the child sleeping soundly. 'Homer' had been placed on the seat beside him and Jack sucked on his fingers. Sam and Teal'c would be bringing by all the gifts that Jack had been given later in the afternoon. Then the four of them would spend the evening together watching movies. Teal'c would be bringing the X-Men movies, while Sam would arrange for pizza and in this case, root beer. It wouldn't be the same as it had been in past years, but it would be just as special.

Saturday, the day of the Halloween party, arrived much sooner than Daniel would have liked, but arrive it did. Jack had decided what the two of them would wear and wouldn't budge no matter how much cajoling Daniel tried. Daniel firmly dumped the full blame for the choice on Teal'c broad shoulders. After watching all three movies, Jack wanted to be an X-man and there was no changing his mind.

The costumes themselves were simple enough, but not cheap. It all had to be black leather. Jack decided that Daniel would be Cyclops. They had found red-lensed goggles that would fit over his glasses. Jack, on the other hand, would change his character's name without notice or reason. While satisfied with the costume itself, Jack couldn't decide which power was the coolest. Daniel could only regret that they didn't stick to their original choice, Indiana Jones and son.

Jack was nearly bouncing in his seat as Daniel pulled up to the Lewis' home. The small house was at the end of a cul-de-sac and was covered with Halloween decorations. There was even had a plot of headstones in the corner of the yard. From all appearances this family took Halloween seriously.

Daniel shut off the engine and got out. Already he felt uncomfortable dressed up as an imaginary character. He still couldn't believe he had agreed to it.

Once Jack was out of the car he ran down the sidewalk to the front door, knocking before Daniel's longer legs caught up with him. It was Cassie who opened the door and swept up the little boy in a hug. Cassie herself was dressed up in a harem costume that revealed more than Daniel thought she should be revealing. He wondered if Janet had seen Cassie's costume yet.

Cassie then gave Daniel a hug as Jack ran into the house to shouts of greetings from the other children. A small reminder from Daniel in Jack's ear had the boy going over to the Lewis' to thank them for the invitation before taking off to join Rachel, Amber, and the other half dozen children that were there.

Daniel walked over to join Edward, who introduced him to his wife. Edward was wearing surgical scrubs with a mask dangling around his neck. Beside him was his wife Lisa dressed in a nurse's costume. She smiled as she shook his hand.

Daniel looked at Edward's costume and shook his head. "I feel over dressed," he said.

Edward laughed. "I was going to wear my air force uniform, but..." he started.

"He wears that all the time," Lisa interrupted. "It hardly counts as a costume."

Daniel joined the laughter, holding his hands up in surrender. "I'm a civilian, what do I know?" he asked.

"Excuse me, Dr. Jackson?" A young voice said from behind him. Daniel turned around to see Edward's son Teddy standing behind him wearing a baseball uniform.

"Yes?" Daniel answered and then found himself handed a neatly written 5 page report.

"I'm sorry about what happened," Teddy said not meeting his eyes. "I just... I mean... it was.."

Daniel was silent a moment, looking at Teddy. Then he spoke. "I don't think I'm the one you need to apologize to," he said finally.

Teddy looked uncomfortable and nodded, turning to slowly walk over to where the other children had gathered. Daniel scanned through the first page of the report then glanced at Lisa in surprise. Edward had said she was a history teacher.

Lisa shrugged and smiled. "I only showed him how to research, the rest he did on his own," she said.

"This is very well done," Daniel said. "I'm impressed."

Lisa looked pleased at his words. For the next couple hours Daniel learned what adults did at children's parties. They were only there to keep them supplied with food, drink and to break up the inevitable arguments. Cassie was having a wonderful time leading the younger children through a series of games of skill. There was a candy hunt with the children searching around the front yard to find where the treats were hidden. There was a game of pin-the-tail on the skeleton that left Daniel just shaking his head.

Jack was having a wonderful time with his new friends. Teddy's apology was instantly accepted. At this age Jack was very forgiving. And at one point the two boys had their heads together with Jack whispering about other 'cool' moves, strictly for self-defense of course.

Daniel enjoyed himself as the other children included him in their conversations. Jack, of course, was having a wonderful time. Daniel had to struggle not to laugh when he started to hear stray Egyptian words being shouted across the room from one child to another.

Soon it was time to leave. Other parents came to pick up their offspring while Cassie and Daniel helped Edward and Lisa clean up the mess active children made. Soon it was time to leave. Daniel would be dropping Cassie off at Janet's before driving himself and Jack home.

Jack walked up to the Lewis', reaching up to hug first Edward, then Lisa to thank them again for inviting him and letting him have a good time. Jack hugged Lisa for an unusually long moment. He looked up at her for a long moment, a puzzled look on his young face. Then he smiled widely.

"Are you all right, Jack?" Lisa asked returning his smile.

Jack put his hand on her stomach. "May I play with him when he is born?" he asked.

Four jaws dropped.

"How...?" Lisa began.

Edward swallowed as he exchanged a look with Daniel. "We just found out this morning," he said, his voice hushed as he looked back at Jack.

Lisa stared down at the child, shocked. There was no way he could know. Yet, she was certain he did. "It's a boy?" she asked in a whisper.

Jack nodded. "Yes," he replied. "Very healthy. You need a good name for him."

"We'll work on it," Edward said.

"We... we better get going," Daniel said. "Thank you again."

Cassie picked up Jack and carried him out as Daniel followed them to the truck. This was definitely new. As Edward watched them leave, he wondered how the hell he was going to explain this to his wife.