Connor 2

Father's Day

by Sistine

URL: http://www.area52hkh.net/ass/sistine/connor01.php
Summary: Jack and Daniel celebrate their first Father's Day with Connor

Gurgling sounds woke Daniel from a sound sleep. He squinted at the alarm clock and saw that it was way too early to be awake.

"Don't worry, I'll get him." Jack, Daniel's partner, was already up and moving, years of conditioning making him able to be awake instantly.

"Thanks." Daniel rolled over, closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep.

Jack grinned as he pulled on some sweats; the temperature inside the house was just comfortable. Switching off the baby monitor so that Daniel wouldn't disturbed, Jack padded out of the room and along the hall to the nursery.

He couldn't believe that three weeks had gone by so quickly since they had been gifted with Connor. At least the nearly-thirteen-month-old toddler had done them the courtesy of sleeping through the night every night but Connor was always awake bright and early. Most mornings, it was 0600 - or thereabouts - which was an hour too early for Daniel to be up so Jack got the morning shift, at least until his lover got up. If Daniel was the one heading into the base, then he got quality time with Connor until about 0830, and then Jack looked after the toddler for the rest of the day until his partner got home again. Two days a week, Daniel was the one who stayed at home while Jack went into the base as a military consultant and trainer, and they both got the weekends free.

It had been a hasty arrangement that they were still in the process of working out. Since they both wanted Connor to have a stable home life, they had decided that at least one of them should stay at home with their son unless there was an emergency at the SGC. So far, there hadn't been any emergencies, which was fortunate. Daniel had only been on three short missions with a revised SG-1; Jack had retired from field work so that someone would be home with Connor at all times. His knees were getting dodgy anyway, so it was easier to retire sooner rather than later.

Connor's appearance and Jack's retirement had created a lot of gossip, especially when the ex-colonel and Daniel moved in together. So far, according to Daniel, there had been no overt negative reaction to that, and some of their long-time friends had even congratulated them on finally getting together. That didn't mean that they advertised their relationship at work though; they were always careful in their actions and words.

"Dada-ak!" Connor bounced up and down in his crib, his chubby hands holding tightly onto the rails.

"Hey there, big guy." Daniel was 'Dada' so the older man had tried teaching Connor to say 'Papa' but somehow the little guy had cottoned onto 'Daddy-Jack', his younger father's way of addressing Jack. "What's up?"

Connor looked down at his diaper and then back up again.

"Right." Jack picked his adopted son up and took him over to the changing table. It seemed that Connor had inherited Daniel's intelligence - which made sense seeing that the toddler was a clone - and at times, definitely seemed to know what was being said to him. "You know," Jack said as he started changing the diaper, "Sunday is Father's Day so we ought to do something special for Dada, don't you think?"

"Dada," Connor agreed, clapping his hands happily before reaching for the bottle of powder nearby.

"Oh no, you don't," Jack stated, quickly shifting the powder out of reach. "Dada has to go into work today so how about we make him something special for his first Father's Day?"

Connor reached out, grabbed one foot and tried to put it in his mouth.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Jack commented with a grin. This was going to be fun.

***

After Daniel had left for work, Jack found a t-shirt that it didn't matter whether it got paint on it and dressed Connor in it. Then he got all the tools he needed together on the kitchen table - paint, crayons, scissors, glue, a box of tissues, newspaper, ice-cream container lids and coloured paper. Finally, he sat Connor on his lap and started his instructions.

"Okay, today we're making Dada a card. And do you know what all Daddy's like to have on their cards? Handprints. So we're going to put handprints on Dada's card," Jack explained. He poured some of the blue paint onto a lid and then gently pressed Connor's hand into it. "Do you like that colour?" he asked as he shifted Connor's hand back to press onto the front of the white paper card. "Can you say blue?"

"Boo!" Connor exclaimed.

"Close enough," Jack said proudly. His son was a genius, which was to be expected. He wiped the paint off the small hand as best he could then threw the tissue aside. "Okay, what colour for the other one? What about red?"

"Weh!" Connor echoed, clapping happily; he loved learning new words.

"Red, it is then," Jack agreed. They repeated the process and soon the card had a red handprint in the middle of it. "Good job, sport," he praised.

"Weh!" Connor held out his paint-covered hand.

"That's right. Your hand is red." Jack cleaned it off as best he could with a tissue. "Now, while the paint dries, we'll make some paper hearts and stars, okay?"

"Dadadadadadada," Connor said conversationally as he reached for more paint.

"Ah! No, you don't." Jack pulled his son back a little so he couldn't reach the paint. "We don't want it to go everywhere and let Dada know what we've been doing, do we?" He really wanted to surprise Daniel with this.

Thwarted in his plan, Connor turned indignant blue eyes on his father.

"Don't give me the pout," Jack warned, hard put to hide his grin. Connor was just so cute when he pouted; it seemed that some of Daniel's mannerisms had surfaced early in life. "We can do some more painting later."

Connor reluctantly agreed by not reaching for the paint again. He watched his father cut pretty shapes in the paper and then he helped stick them onto the card, getting sticky stuff all over his hands.

"Good job," Jack praised his son as he cleaned the glue off the small hands. "Okay, for the finishing touch, we need the writing." He picked a bright blue crayon and helped Connor to hold onto it.

The toddler immediately tried to put it into his mouth. "No," Jack said, pulling the crayon away from Connor's face. "This is for writing, not eating. Not yum-yum."

"Yum-yum," Connor echoed, trying again.

"No, not yum-yum," Jack repeated. Quickly, he helped Connor to write 'Happy Father's Day Dada!' and then put the crayon out of temptation's reach. "Alright, that's all done. Let's put that somewhere where Dada won't find it and then do some painting."

Connor squealed with delight and clapped his hands. Time to get messy!

***

Daniel got home just after five-thirty to find his partner and Connor enthusiastically watching some sport on television. "Jack--" he started to complain but his lover was quicker.

"Hi, love, how was your day?" Jack stood, Connor perched on one hip, and quickly drew Daniel into a kiss. The freedom to do this, to show their affection freely - at least within the confines of their home or in the company of people who knew about them - was wonderful.

"Tiring." Daniel leaned into the embrace, putting one arm around his lover and the other around his son. "SG-13 brought back a dozen tablets inscribed with a mix of languages and it took all morning just to sort them out. What have you two been doing?"

"All sorts of things. Some painting, playing in the yard, we had a nap after lunch, and I was just teaching Connor the finer points of baseball when you came home," Jack replied. "Come and see what he painted for you."

Daniel let Jack lead him into the kitchen where two messy paintings had been stuck onto the refrigerator. It looked like several blobs of paint had been put onto the paper and then the toddler had just swirled it around with his fingers. "It's... wonderful?"

Jack chuckled. "When he gets old enough to understand compliments, you'll need to deliver that with a bit more conviction," he teased.

"When he gets old enough," Daniel echoed with a sigh. One month had already gone so quickly; it would probably be no time at all before Connor was understanding them, and talking in sentences, and heading off to school...

"Do you want to cook tonight or will I?" Jack queried upon seeing Daniel's thoughts turn wistful. Now that they had a child in their lives, dinner time was much earlier than usual so that they could keep Connor company while he ate.

"You." Daniel lifted his son into his arms. "We'll supervise."

Jack gave his lover one more kiss and then started sorting through the cupboards.

***

The next morning, Daniel took Connor shopping. Daniel told his lover that it would give Jack time to read the newspaper and just relax but in reality, he was shopping for a gift. Something that Connor could give Jack for Father's Day but which also expressed how grateful Daniel was to have his partner in his life. He'd never had to worry about Father's Day before - it wasn't something his family had celebrated in Egypt - so he had asked his friends' advice and got some ideas from that. One of the ideas had been a homemade card but Daniel decided to wait until next year when Connor was able to have more input, so the next best thing would be a gift. The only thing he was worried about though was whether Jack would be thinking along the same lines. If they got each other gifts, then that would be okay, but what if Jack hadn't got him anything? Jack would feel guilty for not buying anything and Daniel... well, he wasn't sure what his reaction would be. He knew that Jack would do something - Jack loved celebrations like this too much not to - but what he would do was the question.

He still couldn't believe how easily they had slipped into family life. It was as if they had been a couple for ten years rather than just one. And looking after Connor had become so natural, so normal, that it sometimes worried Daniel that he was becoming too complacent, that he shouldn't get too attached to this way of life because he was only going to lose it. Somehow, Jack always seemed to know when Daniel was worrying about that and managed to make his partner forget all about it. But the worries couldn't be completely erased.

However, this wasn't the time to dwell on them. He and Connor had a mission: to find something for Jack, whether it be a card or a gift. How hard could it be?

An hour later, Daniel was reassessing his opinion. It was hard shopping with a toddler, especially one who wanted to be walking rather than be carried, and Daniel hadn't packed the stroller. When he could, he let Connor down but made sure to keep hold of the little boy's hand so he couldn't disappear. This prevented Connor from getting too frustrated and of course, there were always brightly coloured objects to attract his attention.

They were going past a novelty shop when Connor suddenly said, "Dada-ak!"

Daniel's eyes followed the pointing arm to where a mug with Homer Simpson on it sat in pride of place at the front of a display. "It's perfect, Connor," he praised while silently resolving to talk to Jack about letting their son watch 'The Simpsons'. Making sure the toddler was firmly placed on his hip, Daniel picked up the mug and took it to the counter.

"Oh, he's adorable!" gushed the female shop assistant who, Daniel judged, couldn't be more than eighteen. "How old is he?"

"Thirteen months," Daniel said as he handed the mug over to be wrapped. Then he had to quickly catch his son as Connor leaned forward, trying to reach the mug.

"He looks just like you," the assistant gushed as she rang up the purchase.

Daniel was tempted to say, 'what, adorable?' but just smiled instead; he didn't need to flirt with someone young enough to be his daughter if he'd slept around more in college. "Thank you," he said as the mug was handed back to him, then he made his escape.

Connor happily clapped his hands and Daniel agreed; it was good to have got the gift, and he knew Jack would love it. Now the problem would be hiding it until tomorrow.

***

When Daniel and Connor came home, Jack saw his lover trying to hide a square-shaped parcel and for once, didn't try to pry. He figured that it probably had something to do with Father's Day and Jack didn't want to spoil this, the first one together. He was going to make tomorrow so good for Daniel.

***

As he got out of bed the next morning, Jack grinned to himself. He had well and truly worn Daniel out with their love-making the previous night, which guaranteed he and Connor would be able to get breakfast ready this morning without any interruptions.

The toddler was awake when Jack entered the nursery, babbling away to the mobile hanging over his cot. Jack spun the camels around - goodness only knew where Carter had got the mobile from - and then grinned down at his son. "Good boy for sleeping in. You ready for today?"

Connor held his arms out to be picked up, ready to be changed and fed. "Dada-ak!" he demanded.

"You know," Jack said conversationally as he picked Connor up, "it's just as well I like my Jacksons demanding." He had the feeling that once Connor got old enough, things were going to be quite interesting.

***

At 0830, Jack decided that Daniel had slept in enough and so, with breakfast tray in hand, ushered Connor into the master bedroom. It was a slow process to start with as Connor set off at a walk but then, when he kept falling over, he continued at a fast crawl. Jack set the tray down on the bedside table and then put his son on the bed where Daniel lay sprawled on his front.

"Dada!" Connor immediately crawled over to his daddy and patted him on the back. "Dada!"

"Wha-?" Daniel was slowly pulled out of sleep by an insistent tapping on his body.

"Time to wake up, sleepyhead!" Jack singsonged as he sat on the edge of the bed, making sure that Connor wasn't going to fall off.

"Coffee?" Daniel questioned, his nose already sniffing out the aroma of his favourite liquid.

"All yours if you turn over and say 'good morning' to our boy," Jack promised.

"Dada!" Connor insisted on getting some attention from his younger father and his little hands continued their tapping.

Daniel carefully turned over, aware of the toddler nearby, until he was facing the little boy. "Good morning, Connor," he said, drawing his son into his arms for a hug, which was returned enthusiastically along with an open-mouthed kiss.

"Happy Father's Day, Danny," Jack said, leaning over the top of Connor to give his partner a totally different kind of kiss.

The kiss had the same effect as coffee and Daniel's brain started to clear. "Happy Father's Day, Jack," he replied, smiling up at the older man.

"Me-me!" Connor wormed his way out from between his parents and bounced on the bed. Then he flopped on top of his younger daddy, a big smile on his face.

"Yes, we're celebrating today because of you," Jack agreed, reaching out and ruffling the silky blonde-brown hair. It was interesting that Connor's hair was more blonde while Daniel's had turned completely brown.

Daniel shifted Connor off to the side for a moment and sat up against the headboard. Then he lifted his son onto his lap. "Did you help Daddy Jack make breakfast?" He pointed at the tray of food.

"Yum-yum!" Connor leaned towards the tray.

"No, you've already had your breakfast," Jack reminded him, catching the little boy and shifting him to sit next to Daniel. Then he got the tray and laid it over Daniel's lap. "Enjoy."

Daniel's eyes roamed over the toast, orange juice, coffee, eggs and bacon - and the homemade card. His whole face lit up at the sight of the small blue handprint on the front and the little love heart cut-outs. "Thank you, Connor," he said, giving his son a one-armed hug. "I love you too."

"Lub," Connor echoed, picking out the new word and testing it. "Lub-lub-lub-lub-lub-lub."

Jack chuckled. "I see you started babbling early," he commented to Daniel.

"Be nice or you won't get the present Connor and I got for you," Daniel threatened as he started to eat the eggs which were cooked just the way he liked them. "Did you make yourself any breakfast?"

"I ate while I was getting yours. I figured I would need both hands to keep a certain someone from eating your breakfast," Jack replied, catching Connor's hand as it went to pull some toast off the tray. "A present, did you say?" he changed the subject.

"It's not much, just something we both thought you'd like," Daniel said so that Jack didn't feel guilty at not getting him anything. "If you want it right now, it's in the top drawer of the dresser." He gestured with his fork.

Did he want it right now? What a stupid question! Jack retrieved the blue-wrapped box from the dresser and came back to the bed.

Connor's attention was immediately diverted from the food to the shiny wrapping paper. "Me!"

"No, me," Jack disagreed, keeping the present out of the toddler's reach. "You can have the paper when I've opened it, okay?" He quickly unwrapped the box and grinned when he saw what it was. "Homer! Where did you find this?"

"Actually, Connor found it," Daniel admitted. "We were passing this shop and he pointed it out."

"Well done," Jack praised, ruffling his son's hair.

"By the way, we need a chat about letting you-know-who watch certain programs," Daniel continued, letting Jack know with a sideways glance that this was one talk his lover wasn't getting out of.

Jack grimaced but didn't argue; he had known it was only a matter of time before Daniel found out about the father-and-son 'Simpsons' marathons. Well, not exactly marathons but an episode each day Jack was looking after the little boy. "So, do you have any plans for the day?"

"Just relaxing with the two of you sounds like heaven," Daniel stated with a grin as Connor started playing with the wrapping paper and putting it up to his mouth.

"Then relaxing it is," Jack said, shifting so that he could put an arm around Daniel's shoulders. With the other, he reached out to rest on Connor's back, keeping the toddler balanced. There was no other way he would prefer to spend the day.

Next: A Family Christmas