My Son, The Alien 6
Dinner At The O'Neill's
by Belladonna
URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/asb/belladonna/mysont06.php
Summary: Shifu brings a guest home. Surprise!
"I am bringing a friend home from school today," Shifu announced as they ate breakfast.
"Really?" Daniel asked curiously.
"Who is it?" Jack asked as he forked up some bacon. He liked having a growing kid in the house, Daniel's breakfasts were a lot better since he didn't put them off to eat at the mountain.
"John," Shifu said brightly.
"Mm," Daniel said, recognizing the name of a boy that had befriended Shifu the first day of school. "John...?"
Shifu looked puzzled. "Yes, John."
Jack snorted. "What's his last name, kid?"
"Oh," Shifu said. "John Nelson." He popped the last piece of bacon in his mouth and chewed quickly.
"Did you feed Hani?" Jack asked as Shifu finished.
"I did. He said that the food makes his stomach hurt. He would like to go back to the kind we had before. May I be excused?"
Daniel caught Jack's eye and the older man sighed. "Okay, okay. Next time I won't buy the cheap stuff. Go ahead, Shifu. Is this John kid staying for dinner?"
Shifu brightened. "May he?"
"We're going to be late," Daniel warned. "You'll have to start dinner. Can you handle it?"
This made Shifu wince. He'd tried to surprise his parent's with dinner one evening, only to have them come home to the sight of the fire department in front of the house. "I will ask John's help. He's very experienced at cooking."
"Okay," Jack said, and stood. "Get moving, kid. We're gonna leave in five minutes." And he and Daniel watched in amusement as Shifu scrambled to get ready just like any teenager.
~*
John pulled up to ~his~ house, only not his, not anymore. "Are you sure that this is okay?"
Shifu nodded. "They said it was fine." He sent a slightly guilty look at John. "I did tell them that you would help me with dinner."
They got out of John's truck and John looked at Shifu curiously. "Oo-kay, what happened?"
Shifu pouted. "Food is much more flammable that I thought." He smiled when John threw his head back and laughed.
Barking from inside made John quirk a smile. "Let me guess, the old man thought you needed a dog?"
Unlocking the door, Shifu nodded. "Yes, and..." he began when Hani tossed himself out of the door and onto John excitedly.
"What a good boy," John crooned as he scooped the pup into his arms and rubbed it's ears, laughing as the entire hind end wriggled in happiness.
"His name is Hani and he is wondering why you smell so much like Jack, even though I explained it to him already," Shifu said, a bit censoriously as he closed the door behind them. "Dogs apparently have short memories at this age."
John gaped at Shifu. "You can understand him?"
"Mm," Shifu hummed agreement. "He's very smart, for a puppy."
Shaking his head, John followed the other boy into the kitchen. "Okay, explain it all to me ~again~ since we're not at school."
Shifu had been at the school for three weeks and thought he was doing pretty well at this 'being a kid' thing. "I decided I wanted to understand why Daniel came back to Earth, twice. I was," he paused and shrugged, "curious."
Jack snorted. "You're related to Daniel, of course you were."
A smile was shared between two people who knew Dr. Daniel Jackson. "I'm making chicken parmesan," Shifu said practically, pulling some chicken out of the 'fridge.
"I'll keep an eye on you and make sure nothing catches fire," John assured him, laughing as a balled up papertowel came flying his way and landing on the floor, only to get pounced on by Hani and turned into confetti.
"Ha-ni," Shifu said with a sigh.
John chuckled. "I'll get it," he said. He rubbed the happy puppy's ear and bent down to whisper, "Keep him on his toes, Hani."
"I heard that."
~*
Jack pulled into his driveway, eyeing the snazzy truck parked out on the street. "Well, this John kid has good taste."
Daniel snorted as he got out of their truck. "Quit calling him that, I feel like I should be hearing the musical score to the Walton's. Hey, No fire trucks, that's a good sign."
Opening the door and stepping into the foyer brought them into delicious smells, laughter and puppy barking. It was a happy sound and as Daniel stood in the living room he unexpectedly had tears in his eyes and a tight throat.
"Daniel?" Jack asked softly, turning Daniel to face him.
"I'm happy," Daniel whispered. "I have everything that I ever wanted."
Jack shook his head. "A cranky General, a formerly ascended teen-ager and a yappy dog? You have low expectations," he teased, pulling Daniel in for a hug.
Shifu came into the room, smiling as he caught them hugging. "You're home. Dinner is almost ready."
Jack opened his mouth to say something when he saw his younger self leaning against the door frame to the kitchen, a smirk on his face and familiar hidden pain in his eyes. "Holy crap."
Startled, Daniel turned and smiled. "Of course. Why am I not surprised?"
John lifted his bottle of water in salute. "Hey, long time no see."
"So, you're calling yourself John," Jack said, checking the younger man out. He looked identical to himself at that age, except for the haircut and the earring. No mullets this day and age, 'Thank God'.
"Yeah, you know, a new name to go with the 'whole new you' thing. How have you guys been?" John asked as if he hadn't asked Shifu before.
A timer going off made Shifu huff and disappear around John and into the kitchen.
"No firetrucks," Jack said brightly into the sudden silence.
"Nope," John agreed. "He did great."
Daniel shook off his surprise and went over and hugged John tightly. "How are you?" he asked as he pulled back, his blue eyes sharp as he checked John over.
John, for his part, was trying not to weep. He'd missed being a 50 year old pilot and leader of SG-1, but he'd missed Daniel even more. "I'm good," he lied manfully. "Though I was kinda surprised when Shifu came up to me in the cafeteria and said, 'Hi Jack."
Jack resisted the exasperated urge to smack himself, or his clone, in the head. "And you didn't think to, oh I don't know, ~call~?"
"Please stop arguing and come to dinner," Shifu's voice came from the dining room. Then they could hear the younger man speaking to Hani, trying to explain why the puppy couldn't eat at the table with them.
John stepped back, shoulders straight. "What was I gonna say?"
"Jack," Daniel said severely and the older man sighed.
"Okay, whatever. Let's eat."
~
Daniel wiped his mouth with his napkin and smiled at Shifu. "I think this was your best meal. And it tasted authentic."
Shifu smiled back, pleased by the compliment. "I watched Emeril. He makes it look easy."
A yap from the floor made Shifu sigh. "No, Hani. Tomatoes are not good for you. Besides, Jack promised to get you your favorite food already."
Jack winced. "Crap. I forgot to stop by on the way home."
Daniel leveled a look at his partner. "It's not my turn to shop."
"I shopped!" Jack whined.
"And you got the wrong food. So now you go back and get the right food," Daniel said reasonably, though he winked at Shifu and John.
John smothered an amused chuckle with his napkin. "I see who wears the pants in this family."
Shifu frowned. "We all wear pants, John. Well, except for Hani."
Daniel grinned at the same time Jack and John began whooping with laughter. "It's a saying, Shifu," Daniel managed to say over the cackling. "It means that I'm in charge."
"Ah." Shifu contemplated for a minute, then he cheekily smiled. "You are right, John. Daniel is the one who wears the pants."
That stopped Jack's laughter. "Hey!"
