By RPonda
Parts 58-63
The next morning
everyone woke up groggy. No one was very excited at the thought of returning to
work, but real life took over again. Jack and Daniel had a briefing for a
mission they were going on the next day and had to catch up on their backlog of
work. Danny went back to school and then to daycare.
After the
briefing, Sgt. Siler stopped Jack to talk to him about Danny. “Colonel, I was
wondering something.”
“Yes,” Jack
replied, leaning against the wall.
“I know Danny
normally stays with General Hammond when you and Daniel go on missions, but
Rhonda’s been bugging me about letting him stay with us,” Siler told him. “She
missed playing with him while you guys were at the cabin.”
Jack thought about
it. “You do know Danny’s a handful to take care of.”
“No worse than my
daughter.”
Jack laughed at
that. “I’ll have to talk to Daniel, Hammond and Danny, but I’m sure it won’t be
a problem. We’re only supposed to be gone two nights.”
“That would be
great. I made Rhonda promise not to tell Danny about me asking you,” Siler
said, smiling, “not that I expect her to keep that promise. She and Danny talk
about everything.”
“That’s for sure,”
Jack replied. “I’ll get back to you before we leave for the day, alright?”
“No problem. We’re
looking forward to him staying with us.”
‘That’s what you
think,’ Jack thought. Then he went to discuss it with Daniel and General
Hammond. They both agreed to the plan. Nobody thought Danny would object to
staying with Rhonda. Jack informed Siler that Danny would be staying with his
family. They would drop off his bag at daycare for Siler to take with him when
he picked up Danny and Rhonda.
Daniel picked up
Danny and drove home. He didn’t mention anything about staying with the Silers,
although Danny kept looking at him curiously. “Did you have a good day at
school?” he asked.
“It was fine,”
Danny answered. “I already got all my work done.”
“How was daycare?”
“Good, Rhonda and
I worked on puzzles today.” Danny looked at Daniel carefully.
“Okay, Danny. What
do you want to know?” Daniel asked.
“Who am I staying
with when you go on your mission tomorrow?” Danny asked quietly.
“Don’t you always
stay with the Hammonds?” Daniel responded, knowing that Rhonda was told not to
say anything to Danny.
“Yeah,” Danny
answered slowly. Then he asked, “Is that who I’m staying with this time?”
“Why do think it
would be any different this time?” Daniel asked, trying to stay serious.
“Baaabaaa,” Danny
whined exasperated. “Stop answering my questions with a question.”
“No, you’re not
staying with the Hammonds this time,” Daniel finally told him. “Sgt. Siler
asked if you could stay with them this time. We agreed, as long as you want
to.”
“Of course I want
to,” Danny replied excitedly. “Rhonda and I made lots of plans for the next
couple of days.” Then Danny got quiet. He remembered Rhonda had told him not to
say anything about him coming to her house.
Daniel noticed
Danny go quiet. He figured he knew what was wrong. “It’s okay, Danny. Sgt.
Siler figured Rhonda would tell you. Nobody’s in trouble.”
Danny breathed a
sigh of relief.
When they finally
drove up to the house, Danny quickly gave Jack a hug and a kiss and then went
to pack everything he would need for Rhonda’s house.
After dinner, Jack
went to check on what Danny had packed. Opening the bag he found some Lego’s™,
digging equipment, books, and other toys. Jack laughed. “Danny, are you sure
you packed everything you need?”
Danny looked into
his bag. “Yeah.”
“Don’t you need
some clothes to wear, toothbrush and underwear?” Jack pointed out.
“Daaadddy,” Danny
said slowly. “That’s the stuff you pack. I pack the important things.”
“Oh,” Jack said
grinning, “is that how it works.”
“Of course,” Danny
replied seriously. “Will you help me remember to put my camel in the bag in the
morning?”
“I wouldn’t let
you forget it,” Jack assured him. “You go get ready for bed and I’ll pack the
unimportant stuff for you.”
“Okay,” Danny
said, running off to the bathroom.
Jack gathered the
clothes and toiletries Danny would need and packed them into his bag. Then he
and Daniel tucked Danny into bed and kissed him goodnight.
The next day Sgt.
Siler picked up Danny and Rhonda at daycare. Jack had dropped off his bag and
booster seat before going to the mountain, so Siler settled Danny and Rhonda in
his car and headed home. Upon arriving at the house Siler set Danny up in the
guest room. Danny was unusually quiet while he helped him unpack. “Is
everything okay?” he asked.
Danny nodded his
head, but didn’t reply. He laid his camel on the bed and sat down. Finally he
said, “Did my dads tell you I sometimes have nightmares?”
Siler sat down
next to him on the bed realizing what the problem was. “Yes, they did. I have
nightmares too sometimes.”
“Oh,” was all
Danny said.
“If you have a
nightmare while you’re here,” Siler told him, putting his arm around Danny’s
shoulder, “you can come wake Sandy or me up if we don’t hear you. Okay?”
“Okay,” Danny
agreed satisfied. “Can Rhonda and I play now?”
“You can play
until dinnertime, which will be in about a half hour,” Siler answered. “Stay
inside though.”
“Sure,” Danny
answered, sliding off the bed and grabbing his toys. “I have a new Lego™ kit
we’re going to build.” Then he went off to find Rhonda.
Siler shook his
head. Knowing Danny was a smaller version of the Daniel Jackson he knew, he
couldn’t figure out how Daniel had ended up without a family.
The two kids built
with the Lego’s™ until dinner, only stopping once to say hi to Rhonda’s mom
when she came home from work. After dinner they continued to play until
bedtime. Finally it was time to take baths, brush teeth and be tucked in. Sandy
took care of Rhonda and Siler got Danny ready. Pulling the covers up under
Danny’s chin, he reminded him, “Remember to come get us if you need anything
tonight, Danny.”
“Yes, Sir,” Danny
replied. “Can you leave the door open?”
“Sure,” Siler
answered. “Want me to leave the light on in the bathroom?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Siler bent over
and kissed Danny on the forehead and gave him a hug. Then he left the room to
say goodnight to his daughter.
Sandy Siler also
came in to say goodnight to Danny. After she left, he rolled over, hugged his
camel tight, stuck his thumb in his mouth, and fell asleep.
Danny slept fine
that night. Everyone woke up the next morning, ate breakfast and headed to
where they needed to be. The weather forecasters had predicted heavy snowfall
that day, and for once they were right. It snowed most of the day, but stopped
by the time the van came to take Rhonda and Danny to daycare.
That evening,
Siler left the base to pick Rhonda and Danny up from daycare. As he entered the
office, he noticed two children sitting in chairs facing opposite corners, two
very familiar looking children. Rhonda quickly snuck a look at her dad and then
just as quickly faced the corner again when she caught the look in his eye.
Danny didn’t even chance a look.
“Sgt. Siler,” the
secretary called out. “I’m glad you’re here. As you can see, there’s been a
problem. The director would like to speak to you before you take the children
home.”
“I’d be happy to,”
Siler replied, as he made his way to the director’s office. “Good evening, Miss
Johnson.” He shook her hand. “I hear there seems to have been a problem today.”
Miss Johnson shook
hands and pointed to a chair for him to sit on. “Yes, actually. It happened
about twenty minutes ago. That’s why the children are still in the corner.”
“That’s not a
problem.” Siler knew what kind of discipline the center used and approved of
it. “What did they do?”
The director
continued. “As you know it snowed today.” Siler nodded. “All the children were
very excited and wanted to play in it. We explained that they could play, but
there weren’t to be any snowball fights.”
Siler sighed. He
could tell what was coming next. “And Rhonda and Danny decided to have one.”
“Yes,” confirmed
Miss Johnson. “From what the playground supervisors told me, Rhonda and Danny
moved to the far side of the playground. They seemed to just be digging in the
snow. After a while, some of the kids were complaining about being hit with
snowballs. When the supervisor walked over to see what was happening, they
pelted her with snowballs.”
“I see,” he said.
“And then they ended up in the office and the corner?”
“Yes.”
“Other than that,
will there be any other consequences from the center?” He was hoping they
weren’t being suspended.
“If you agree,”
Miss Johnson told him, “neither child will be allowed on the playground for the
next two days.”
“Oh, I agree, Miss
Johnson,” Siler stated firmly. “That’s being very generous. I’ll also be
talking to them both and I will inform Danny’s fathers. Is there anything
else?”
“No, I believe
that’s all.” The director and Siler stood up and exited the office.
Siler walked out
to the reception area. “Rhonda, Danny, come here please.”
Danny and Rhonda
got off of their chairs and looked at each other nervously before walking over,
heads down.
“Look at me you
two,” Siler insisted. They looked up at him with sad puppy dog eyes.
Fortunately, Siler was used to it. “Both of you have lost playground privileges
for the next two days. Understood?”
“Yes, Sir,” the
children said together.
“Go get your
things and meet me back here,” he ordered.
Danny and Rhonda
ran off to get their things from their cubbies.
Danny glanced at
Rhonda while he grabbed his backpack. “We’re in a lot of trouble, aren’t we?”
“I know I am,” she
answered, grabbing her own things. “I don’t know about you. I don’t think my
dad will do anything to you.”
“He’ll tell my
daddy,” Danny responded. “That’s bad enough.”
“Yeah,” Rhonda
agreed. “We’d better hurry up. Making him wait will only make things worse.”
Gathering their
coats, they went back to the office. Siler buckled them into their booster
seats and drove home. No one said a word.
When they got
home, Rhonda and Danny put their things away and then went with Siler into the
den. He sat them both on the couch and then sat on the chair across from them.
“So,” he started, “want to tell me what happened?”
Rhonda and Danny
looked at each other in silent communication before Rhonda began. “It’s just,
there was so much snow.”
Then Danny
interrupted, “And I’ve never been in snow.”
“Ever,” Rhonda
added. “And then I told him about snowball fights.”
“And I talked her
into showing me,” Danny admitted quietly. “It’s my fault.”
“No it’s not,”
Rhonda insisted, looking right at Danny. “I wanted to do it as much as you.”
Siler broke in at
that point. “Never mind who’s fault it was. You both heard the teachers tell
everyone no snowball fights, right?”
“Yes, Sir,” both
of them said sheepishly. “That’s what made us think of them,” Rhonda added
quietly.
Siler groaned.
“How come you hit the playground supervisor?” he asked, curious.
Danny glanced at
Rhonda. “That was an accident.”
“Yeah,” Rhonda
agreed. “See we were hiding in the hole we dug…”
“And we were using
the shadows to know when someone was within range…”
“And we threw the
snowballs at her before we knew it was an adult,” Rhonda finished.
Danny grinned.
“You should’ve seen the look on her face though.” Siler gave him a stern look
and Danny stopped grinning. “We apologized to her.”
“And that’s when
we got taken to the office.” Rhonda dropped her head as she finished. “We are
sorry.”
“We won’t do it
again,” Danny added.
Siler thought for
a moment. He understood the appeal of snow, especially for Danny, but the kids
had to understand they couldn’t disobey the adults in charge. Knowing he needed
to leave Danny’s discipline to his dads, he said, “Danny, it’s up to your dads
to decide how to discipline you.” Danny looked as though he was going to cry,
but Siler didn’t have any other choice. “I want you to go to your room and stay
there until I finish with Rhonda.”
“Yes, Sir,” Danny
replied shakily, fighting tears. He got off the couch and gave Rhonda a
sympathetic look before he went to his room and lay down on his bed, holding
his camel close. He knew Rhonda would be getting a spanking, as he knew he
would when his dads got home. It had seemed like so much fun at the time.
A short time later
Siler came to the door. “Hi, Danny.”
“Hi,” Danny said
quietly.
Siler came in and
sat on the bed next to him. “It’ll be okay,” he assured. Danny merely nodded.
“Why don’t you come on out and play with Rhonda now.” Danny stared up at him.
He figured he’d still be in trouble. “I don’t hold grudges, Danny. I’ve taken
care of Rhonda; your dads will take care of you. It’s over. I know both of you
will follow the rules next time.”
“I will,” Danny
promised. “I’m sorry I caused trouble again.”
“You’re a little
boy,” Siler said, pulling him into a hug. “You’re going to get into trouble.
Just learn from it. Okay?”
Danny leaned into
the hug, needing the comfort. “Yes, Sir,” he agreed.
Siler released him
from the hug and pushed him off the bed. “Rhonda’s getting a puzzle started in
the family room. Why don’t you go help her out?”
Danny smiled at
him and went to work on the puzzle with Rhonda.
After dinner and
the kids were put to bed, Dave and Sandy Siler relaxed. He told his wife about
what had happened, not able to keep from chuckling when he mentioned Danny
talking about how the supervisor had looked covered in snow. “I mean, I know
they shouldn’t have done it, but it was Danny’s first time in snow and they
hadn’t been allowed out in it at school,” Siler explained.
Sandy thought
about it for a moment. “I agree they needed to be disciplined. I have an idea
though.” Then she proceeded to explain her idea to her husband. He agreed, and
said he’d talk to the Colonel and Daniel about it. Finally, they too, went to
bed.
Next thing Siler
knew, something was tapping his cheek. He opened his eyes to see two big blue
eyes staring at him. The camel had been tapping his cheek, since Danny’s thumb
was stuck securely in his mouth. “Bad dream?” he asked, once he was awake
enough to speak. Danny shook his head. Siler thought for a moment. “Nervous?”
Danny nodded. “About getting in trouble when your dads pick you up?” The tears
started to flow. Siler picked Danny up and carried him back to his room. Then
he sat down with him on the bed and held him in his lap, snuggling him. “It’ll
be okay, Danny. Your dads are going to understand.”
Danny whispered,
“I wasn’t supposed to be any trouble.”
Siler was
beginning to understand Danny’s worries. “Are you afraid you won’t be allowed
to stay with us again?”
Danny nodded. “If
I’m trouble you won’t want me,” he mumbled around his thumb.
“Danny,” Siler
said. Danny had his head facing his chest. He pulled Danny away from him a
little so he could look at him. “Danny, there is nothing you can do that will
make me stop liking you. You and Rhonda are best friends. That’s a good thing.
Getting into trouble and dealing with the consequences is part of growing up.
As long as you’re honest with me, I’ll understand.”
“Will you tell my
dads that?” Danny asked, needing assurance.
Siler hugged him
tight again. “Of course I’ll tell your dads.” He laid Danny back down on the
bed. “Do you think you can get back to sleep now?” Danny nodded, but didn’t
look too sure of himself. “Want me to stay with you for awhile?” Danny nodded
more vigorously. “Okay, roll over on your tummy. I’ll rub your back and tell
you a story about your dads.” Danny rolled over, clutching his camel and
sucking on his thumb. Then he fell asleep listening to Siler’s story.
The next day, the
Silers got the kids off to school. Danny was still quiet and nervous. His dads
were due back today and he’d have to deal with the consequences of the snowball
fight.
Meanwhile, SG-1
came back on schedule from their recent mission, a rarity for them. After the
team was checked out in the infirmary and finished debriefing, Siler stopped
Jack and Daniel and let them know he needed to talk to them. Deciding to meet
in Daniel’s office, Siler told them the story of the snowball fight at daycare.
Jack groaned, but Daniel started laughing.
“What in the world
are you laughing about, Daniel?” Jack asked, irritated.
“Sorry, Jack,”
apologized Daniel, “I was just remembering my first snow.”
Daniel didn’t
continue, so Siler asked, “Well?”
“Well what?”
Daniel asked, being difficult.
“Daniel,” Jack
said, exasperated by his friend, “tell us!”
“Oh, that what,”
Daniel said still giggling. “It was in my first foster home. Living in Egypt,
I’d never been in snow. I’d read about it, but that was all. The first time it
snowed I was so curious about it. The foster mom bundled us up and sent us
outside. I took off my gloves so I could feel it. Next thing I knew, I was
smacked on the back of the head with snow. My foster brother had thrown a
snowball at me and even then I didn’t know what it was. It took my foster
sister to show me how to make a snowball. Then we had an all out war.”
Jack just stared
at Daniel not saying a word. Siler was chuckling.
Daniel stared
back. “What, Jack? Did you think I didn’t have any happy memories?”
Jack spluttered,
“Yes, I mean no. I mean; you just never talk about any.”
Daniel shrugged.
Then he asked Siler, “So how did you take care of it?”
“Well, I talked to
both of them,” he answered. “They know what they did was wrong. Rhonda got a
spanking. Danny knows this. I told Danny I would talk to the two of you and
he’s pretty nervous.”
“Ya think,” Jack
quipped. “I’m sorry he was such a problem for you.”
“That’s the other
thing,” Siler explained. “Danny’s worried he’s not ever going to be able to
stay with us again. I don’t have any problem with having him stay over. My wife
and I love having him stay, no matter what he does. I told him that, and I
promised him I’d tell you too.”
“You’re sure?”
Jack questioned.
“Colonel,” Siler
insisted, “even with as much trouble as Danny and Rhonda get into, they’re good
for each other. In fact, after you deal with Danny, my wife had an idea of how
to let the kids know the snowball fight itself wasn’t the problem.” Siler then
proceeded to explain the plan to Daniel and Jack, who were all for it.
Daniel had a lot
of artifacts to catalogue from the recent mission, so Jack was able to leave
first and pick up Danny from daycare. He found Danny and Rhonda working on a
puzzle in the playroom while the rest of the kids were playing outside. Danny
looked up at him shyly and Jack held out his arms. Danny ran into them, hugging
tight. He laid his head on Jack’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”
“I know, Bug,”
Jack assured him. “We’ll deal with it when we get home. Say good bye to Rhonda
and grab your stuff.” He released Danny and then signed him out.
When they got
home, Jack had Danny put his things away. Then he took him into the den and sat
Danny on his lap. Rather than go over the whole incident again, he asked a
pointed question, “What part of the snowball fight got you in trouble, Bug?”
Danny looked at
him quizzically. He thought the whole thing was what got him in trouble. “I’m
not sure what you’re asking, Daddy.”
Jack clarified it
for him. “Was it that you threw snowballs, or that you didn’t obey the teachers
when they told you not to?”
“Oh,” Danny said,
understanding now. “I didn’t obey the teachers. It’s just…” he trailed off.
“Just what, Bug?”
“It was fun,”
Danny admitted. “Why weren’t we allowed to do it if it was fun?”
Jack had the
answer to that question. “Because not everyone likes snowball fights. Quite a
few of the kids complained about getting hit with your snowballs.”
“Oh.” Danny leaned
back against his dad again.
“When you have a
snowball fight, everybody has to agree to it. Otherwise, it’s not fun for
everyone. That’s why the teachers said no snowball fights.” Jack looked at
Danny to see if he understood. He seemed to. “Ready to get this over with?”
Danny nodded. He
knew what was coming, been worrying about it all day at school. Jack undid
Danny’s pants and lowered them and his boxers. Then he laid Danny over his lap.
“What’s this spanking for, Danny?”
“Not obeying the
teachers,” Danny answered. Then he shivered.
Jack decided to
get it over with quickly. A few hard, fast swats were all he administered.
Danny was crying quietly when Jack pulled up his clothes and turned him back
over, holding him close. “It’s all over, Danny.” He kissed Danny’s head.
Danny snuggled
into his dad. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I’ll obey next time.”
“I know you will,”
Jack agreed, “and if you don’t, we deal with it.” Danny nodded. When Danny
stopped crying, Jack wiped his face off. “Daniel will be home soon. What do you
say we get dinner started?”
“Yes, Sir,” Danny
agreed. “What are we having?”
“What do you
want?”
“Macaroni and
cheese,” he answered, “with pepperonis.”
Jack laughed.
Danny had some strange tastes. “Okay. Corn, too?”
“Sure.”
“How about some
chicken nuggets to go with it?” Jack suggested.
“Sounds good.”
Danny got off Jack’s lap and they both went into the kitchen to start dinner.
On Saturday,
Danny, Daniel and Jack worked on cleaning the house in the morning. About
eleven o’clock the doorbell rang. Daniel and Danny were straightening the
living room, so Daniel told Danny, “Why don’t you open the door?” Danny looked
up surprised. Normally he wasn’t supposed to open the door. “Go ahead,” Daniel
assured him.
Danny walked to
the front door wondering what was going on. He opened it slowly to find Siler,
Sandy and Rhonda standing there. “Hi,” he said stunned. No one had told him
they were coming over.
“Danny,” Daniel
said with a grin, “ask them to come in.”
“Oh,” Danny said
in surprise. He turned back to the door. “Come on in.” He whispered to Rhonda,
“What are you doing here?”
“I don’t know,”
she whispered back, shrugging her shoulders. “Mom and Dad just told me to
bundle up. That we were going somewhere.”
Jack came out of
the kitchen. “Siler,” he said, slapping his shoulder. “Right on time. I think
lunch is just about ready too. Made baked macaroni. Good to see you too, Sandy,
Rhonda.” Then he looked at Danny. “Danny, there’s three more place settings on
the counter. Why don’t you go finish setting the table for our guests?”
“Yes, Sir,” he
answered, still wondering what was going on.
“I’ll help,”
Rhonda said.
While Danny and
Rhonda went into the dining room, the adults talked. “I’m glad the weather held
out for our plan,” Sandy said.
“Definitely,”
Daniel agreed. “It couldn’t be better.”
“So when are we
going to let the kids know what’s going on?” Siler asked.
“As late as
possible,” Jack told them. “Let’s go eat lunch first.”
By the time they
entered the dining room, Danny and Rhonda were finished. The kids remained
fairly quiet while the adults talked. They wondered if they were in trouble
again, but it didn’t seem like the adults were angry. Finally lunch was over
and the table cleared. “Danny,” Jack said getting his attention. “Why don’t you
go get your warm jacket and gloves on? You might want your hat too.”
Danny looked at
him quizzically. “What’s going on, Daddy? Why do I need to get my warm clothes
on? Where are we going?”
“Well,” Jack
answered, leading him on, “you don’t have to get your jacket, but you might
freeze during the snowball fight we’re all going to have.”
Danny and Rhonda
looked at each other eagerly. Rhonda spoke up first. “I thought we got in
trouble for having a snowball fight.”
“Remember,
Rhonda,” Siler told her, “it wasn’t the snowball fight that got you in trouble,
it was having one when the teachers said not to.”
Danny piped up,
“Daddy said it’s okay if everyone wants to fight.” He looked up at Jack
expectantly. “Right, Daddy?”
“Absolutely, Bug,”
Jack agreed. “And everyone here is wanting to have a snowball war, right?”
Everyone agreed
and started to put on their warm clothes.
“Now the only
thing left, is to pick sides.” Jack looked expectantly at the kids who
immediately grabbed hands. “Do you want one of us on your side, or do you want
it to be adults against kids?”
Danny and Rhonda
conferred for a moment and then Danny spoke up, “We want Baba.”
Jack was slightly
shocked. He’d expected them to pick him. However, he tried not to show it.
“Okay then,” he said. “Siler, Sandy, it looks like we need to make plans.
Everybody gets fifteen minutes and then we meet outside and the war is on.”
Jack showed the Silers into the kitchen to discuss their plan of attack.
Meanwhile Daniel,
Danny and Rhonda met in Danny’s room. Daniel was curious. “So guys, why did you
pick me?”
Danny answered,
“Mainly, we want to be able to throw snowballs at Daddy.”
“And we can’t if
he’s on our team,” Rhonda added.
“Besides,” Danny
continued, “we thought you’d like to hit him with snowballs too.”
Daniel agreed
wholeheartedly with that idea. “Sounds like a plan to me. What’s our strategy?”
Rhonda replied.
“We were hoping you’d have some ideas. Remember, we need get my mom and dad
good too.”
Daniel thought for
a moment and then huddled them all together to explain his plan.
Fifteen minutes
later they all met in the backyard. The weather had been good to them. It’d
snowed quite a bit the rest of the week. The two teams nodded to each other and
then Jack’s team turned around to get ready. The moment their backs were
turned, all three were pelted with snowballs. “Hey,” Jack yelled, turning
around to see Daniel and the two kids running behind some bushes to make more
snowballs.
Daniel shrugged
his shoulders. “You said the war started in fifteen minutes. You didn’t say we
couldn’t make ammunition beforehand.” Then he threw one more snowball at Jack
hitting him square in the chest, before running off to join the kids.
Jack took off to
catch up to Siler and Sandy who were trying to build the fort Jack had planned.
“Okay, people. We need to get a move on or we’re going to get nailed.”
They quickly threw
together the fort and then searched for their victims. At that moment, Siler
was nailed with a snowball on the top of his head. He looked up to try to find
the source and found himself with a snowball to his face. Jack searched for the
culprit and found Danny had shimmied up a tree and was being fed snowballs by
Daniel. Instead of aiming for Danny, he caught Daniel unaware and nailed him in
the chest.
Daniel stepped
back in shock, aimed one at Jack and let loose. Jack ducked just in time to let
the snowball fly past him and hit Sandy in the shoulder. Then he grabbed Danny
out of the tree and headed for cover.
Rhonda was the
next to get in her sniper shots. She managed to get her mom and dad before her
dad nailed her in the leg. Then she regrouped and found her teammates. They
quickly planned their next attack and took off in separate directions.
Half an hour
later, Daniel’s team had managed to get in two to three shots for every one of
Jack’s team. Siler called a team meeting. By a vote of two to one, Jack’s team
decided to surrender. Sandy waved the white flag.
Daniel, Danny and
Rhonda came out of hiding. “Had enough?” Daniel asked.
“I haven’t,” Jack
argued, brushing snow off his pants, “but they have. So yes.”
“Good,” Danny
said, running up to Jack. Jack picked him up and Danny planted a snowball on
top of his dad’s head. Then he laughed.
Jack glared at him
and Danny got quiet, thinking he was in trouble. Then Jack got a mischievous
glint in his eye and still holding onto Danny, planted him in the snow and
started covering him with snow. Rhonda ran to her friend’s aid and jumped on
Jack’s back. Siler scooped his daughter up and also planted her in the snow.
Daniel looked at
Sandy and she looked back at him questioningly. Daniel held up his hands in
surrender. “I give,” he said. “Not planning on landing in the snow.” Sandy
agreed and they watched the others turning white.
When the kids
finally cried ‘uncle’, Jack and Siler let them up and carried them into the
house, with Daniel and Sandy following. When everyone had changed out of their
cold, wet clothes, they sat around the fire in the living room and sipped hot
chocolate.
Danny was the
first to speak. “That was really fun.”
“Yeah,” Rhonda
agreed.
Jack laughed. “It
sure was. Can’t wait for the next one.”
The others agreed
and everyone sat around, talking comfortably until it was time for the Silers
to leave.