Chapter Seventy Two

Janet's eyes were huge and she covered Cassie's ears.
Cassie's eyes matched Janet's and then she grinned.
"I never thought Daniel would...Dr. J?"
Bre grinned.
Anything the Viner saw and heard would be all over the Grapevine by morning.
She liked the kid.
She was cute.
"It's the Viner term for Dr. Jackson. I think it suits him."
"I do, too."
Very cute kid.
"You're not as smart as I thought Daniel's girlfriend would be."
Daniel choked and Bre glared.
"I'm an archaeologist just like Dr. J, actually."
"Really? Oh. I'm sorry. You just look more like Jack's type."
Daniel's choking turned into laughter as Janet's face flamed at Cassie's deliberate dig.
"Jack? Oh...as in Jack O'Neill? The Colonel? You think he and I would look good together?"
Cassie grinned.
She was having a blast.
Adults were way too easy to play with.
"Definitely. He likes girls that look like you. He's always watching them when we go..."
"Oh...kay! We're going to go get these movies, now. Daniel, join us when you're done...here. Nice seeing you Dr. Jacey."
"Nice seeing you, too..."
Daniel watched Cassie carrying the videos.
As she passed it, she slipped Dirty Dancing back into the pile.
Janet was too upset to even notice.
Daniel began to wonder if they hadn't just been masterly manipulated.
"Bre..."
He turned to where she'd been standing, but she was gone.
He sighed and joined Janet at the front as she picked up the bag of videos and marched out of the video store.
Daniel grinned for a moment, wondering if Janet realized how blatantly her feelings for Jack had shined with her actions.
As he neared the car, he suddenly realized Cassie hadn't looked at him as if he was Jolinar, but that could've just been because she was curious about Bre.
He slipped into the back seat, while Cassie put the videos in the trunk.
Expecting her to go up front, while Janet started the car, he was pleasantly surprised to see her slid into the back seat to the middle before getting buckled.
"I'm sorry I hurt you, Daniel."
"It's okay. I can understand how difficult..."
Cassie waved her hand to stop the sentence...exactly like Jack.
Daniel snickered at the look Janet had on her face as she watched Cassie.
She glared at him for a moment before turning to face the front and they got on their way.
"What time will the pizzas arrive?"
"I reserved them for nine o'clock."
"So they'll be there about eight thirty?"
"Around that."
Daniel shared a grin with Janet.
At least the pizza place was consistent.
Daniel snuggled with Cassie as she told him every story she'd memorized for him while there.
He listened intently until Janet pulled into Jack's drive.
Cassie popped up, out of her belt, and out the door before anyone blinked.
Daniel chuckled as Cassie took the keys out of Janet's hand and opened the trunk.
He slipped around and grabbed the movies before Cassie had a chance and she knew she'd been had.
She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up at him, love just pouring out of her eyes.
"Thank you for not getting me in trouble, Daniel."
Daniel was melting and he knew it.
Janet saved him from becoming a puddle by taking the videos out of his hand.
Suspicious now, she looked through them.
She sighed and tossed Dirty Dancing back into the trunk.
"Take the rest of these inside. Do not...Cassie?"
Cassie paused for a minute on the front step.
"Do not watch Dirty Dancing without my permission."
Cassie sighed, knowing a simple snitching wouldn't work now.
She'd just have to wait until she was at Laurie's and hope Janet didn't think to call her friends' moms to let them know.
She unlocked the door and went to Jack's room where she intended to sleep that night if the adults made her go to bed.
It was her favorite room in the house.
Daniel picked up the suitcase and overnight bag, letting Janet take the cooler out.
"What's in that?"
"Well, mostly drinks, but there's some fruit in here, too."
"Great. So we can keep Cassie from sampling Jack's alcohol collection again."
Janet scowled as that sentence caught Sam's attention.
*Cassie...*
*...got into Jack's whiskey. *
*I don't remember that.*
Janet stepped into the house and quickly moved to the kitchen to set the cooler down on the nearest counter.
*Jack was pretty cool about it the first time.*
*More than once?*
*The house was being fumigated and so Cassie, the dog, and I stayed here for the weekend.*
*Aww...*
Janet sighed as she opened the fridge.
She then opened the cooler and emptied its contents onto the shelves in neat rows to keep everything cold.
*Anyway, while we were here, Jack caught Cassie sipping whiskey in the middle of the night. He took it away, told her not to do it again until she was old enough to know better, and put it up after sending her to bed.*
*How do you know?*
*I followed Jack.*
*Oh really...*
*Sam! We weren't...oh forget it. You already know we weren't together.*
Janet laughed.
*Take over. You might as well take advantage of the chance to spend time with Cassie.*
Sam gratefully took over, shut the fridge, and placed the cooler in the corner of the kitchen, out of the way.
"Janet, here's some food Cassie took out of her bag. She's planted herself in Jack's room and won't budge."
Sam grinned at Daniel.
"Actually, it's me. Janet's busy for the moment."
"Oh, sorry."
Sam grinned.
"No harm done."
"I know...just feels off when I talk to the wrong person."
"I know. Just don't feel bad about it."
"I don't...like I said, just feels off."
"Yeah."
Janet dreamed up her island and concentrated to make each and every Colonel like she'd had them before.
She absolutely loved this.
Sam chuckled at the contentment in Janet's face as subservient Jack O'Neills attended her.
Daniel slanted her a glance, but knew she wouldn't tell.
He popped The Matrix in, then stopped as Jolinar's curiosity became apparent.
Voicing her question, Daniel turned to Sam.
"How will Janet watch the movie? Does she look out your eyes?"
Sam stopped, biting her lip.
"No, well, sort of...like I said, there's a planet inside my head right now. She can make a room or island or whatever and it's as if it actually exists there. Then, she just makes a huge view screen that shows her what I see."
"So she'll see the movie?"
"If she wants to."
Daniel raised an eyebrow, but Sam shook her head.
He dropped it and called up to let Cassie know the movie was starting.
She raced downstairs and plopped onto her stomach in front of the TV.
Daniel grinned as he and Sam leaned back on the couch, her legs curled under her, his legs propped on the coffee table.

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