“Tell Suz 'howdy' and sorry I couldn't come,” Jack shouted in reply.
“Okay. Love you.”
“Backatcha,” Jack replied.
“Excuse me?” Daniel called out, a warning tone in his voice.
~What did I say? Oh,~ Jack thought in amusement as he replayed his last response. “I said, I love you, Angel, lots and lots.”
“That's what I thought,” Daniel responded dryly before he and several of the children left to go to the Denver airport to see his foster sister, Suzanna, during her ninety-minute layover.
In the study, Jack chuckled as he continued some final research on some archaeological equipment that J-O Enterprises was considering purchasing. In an hour, he had a meeting with a new client, which is why he couldn't go to the airport with the others.
“That'll do it,” Jack said out loud after making a final notation about the equipment. Checking the clock, he knew he had a few more minutes before he had to leave, so he decided to 'play' for a bit. ~Let's see what's new on Craigslist. That's always good for a laugh or two.~
Surfing around and going from listing to listing, he ended up on the animal's page.
“No,” Jack said, shaking his head. ~Have enough of those ... wait ... what's this?~ Curious, he checked out a listing. He scowled, sitting back in his chair. ~I resemble that remark. He just needs to be loved, that's all. Ask Danny!~
====
The next day, unable to resist temptation, Jack returned to the animal listing page. He frowned, his facial expression turning angry at what he'd read.
“I don't think so,” Jack snapped, picking up the phone. ~Stupid, dumb, unfeeling, uncaring, coldhearted ... no, make that no-hearted ...~ “Hello, I need to speak to ...”
====
A week later, Daniel retrieved the mail and was rifling through it while walking to the study. By habit, most of the mail ended up being sorted there. It was simply something that had begun when Daniel had first moved in with Jack, before they'd become lovers, back when the archaeologist had just returned from Abydos.
Sitting down on the sofa, Daniel began to divvy up the mail into the appropriate piles -- the usual junk mail, Jack's, his, the kids', the bills, magazines, etc. By the time he usually got done sorting the envelopes and flyers, he had half a dozen piles or more.
~Conway, the boyfriend,~ Daniel mused at the letter for Brianna. ~Molly. You changed our lives. I really wish we could see you again. That trip to Ireland is just so darn hard to schedule.~ He stacked a few bills in a pile before coming to the next personal letter. Then there were a couple of magazines. ~The O'Reillys,~ he thought when he saw their names on a large package. ~I'll wait for Jack. I wonder what they sent us.~
Next, Daniel reviewed the items he'd placed in a junk mail pile. One of them attracted his attention, though. At first glance, it had looked like a solicitation for an animal organization, but upon closer inspection, it seemed more formal. It was addressed to Jack.
~Geez, I wanna open this, but ...~
With a groan of immense curiosity, Daniel left the mail with the other items that were for his husband and then proceeded to pass out the mail to the rest of the family.
====
That evening, Daniel flaunted his abs in the privacy of the couple's bedroom. In fact, he was doing a bit of extra flexing and movement. His shirt was off, and he was just wearing his boxers.
“Daniel, are you trying to seduce me? If so, I'm already yours,” Jack responded eagerly from the bed, where he was already resting, sitting up against the headboard, a book in his lap that was waiting to be read.
“Actually, yes, and no. I want an answer to a question.”
“What question?”
“The one you've evaded answering all day and all night,” Daniel stated pointedly.
Jack grimaced and picked up his book to read, which was the only safe way to avoid answering the question. Unfortunately, Daniel began grunting as he exercised, and there was just no way that the general could resist. He knew it, and Daniel knew it.
“Fine. Come with me,” Jack groused, getting up and heading for the door.
Daniel got up and started to follow his husband out of the room, jogging a few steps until he was right on Jack's six.
Suddenly, Jack turned, and Daniel walked right into him. From the bumping of their bodies, the older man felt his husband's readiness for some late night lovin'.
“Don't you think you might want to put on your bottoms first?” the older man suggested while motioning to Daniel's midsection. “Don't worry. I'll take them off for you in a few minutes,” the older man smirked.
Daniel smiled as he retrieved his pajama bottoms and put them on. He also pulled on the top, though he didn't button it.
Downstairs in the study, Jack pulled out the paper he'd printed out a week earlier and the mail he'd received today.
“Last week, I was surfing around, and don't eyeball me because I was surfing. I had a few minutes and decided to see what fun was out there,” Jack stated.
“My husband, the child,” Daniel teased, ignoring the glare. “And?”
“And I saw this,” Jack said, handing the printout of the original ad to his lover.
“Uh, let's see,” Daniel began as he read the listing.
I have a smart male donkey that needs a good home. He does breed mares and will get excited when near a mare in season, but other than that, he is very docile and calm. He comes with registration papers, and there is a $500 adoption fee. I'll trade for fencing material as I have property I need to fence up for my goats.
“Okay, it's an ad for a donkey.”
“That was the first ad. This popped up the next day,” Jack said, giving the revised ad to the archaeologist.
Last call. I'm tired of giving sanctuary to this donkey. I tried the nice bit, but it didn't work. $500, and you can have this idiot creature. If no one buys him by tonight, I'm gonna shoot him myself and have him for dinner.
“That's ... harsh,” Daniel opined.
“He just needs some love,” Jack inexplicably spoke.
“Jack, why do you care about this donkey?”
“He's a living being. I thought you were the compassionate one,” Jack semi-argued.
“Jack?” Daniel prodded more sternly.
“His name,” Jack sighed.
“What?” Daniel asked, making a face from the strange answer.
“It's Jack,” the older man said, pointing at the subject line of the email. “Danny, look at his picture. That's not an evil beast. He's even wearing a blue collar. Come on, you know I had to rescue him.”
“*We own a donkey?*”
“We bought a donkey.”
“We *bought* a ... a ... a ...”
“Donkey,” Jack spoke, adding, “But we're finding him a really good home.”
“Not here?” the archaeologist asked, trying to remember the last time he'd been inside the Shetlands' stable.
“No, and that's why I didn't say anything in front of the kids, because if I did ...”
“He'd be in our backyard with Hot and Chocolate,” Daniel sighed, relief flowing through him as he walked over and sank down into the old, but still very comfortable sofa. “Jack, where's the donkey?”
“The where is what this is about,” the general answered. “There's a great donkey rescue society, in Bennett. We're paying for this guy's maintenance until they can find him a good and loving home, or they'll keep him and love him forever.” Jack walked over and sat on the sofa. “Danny, maybe it was crazy, but something in me just reached out to that little donkey. This isn't cheap, but I'd like to make a large donation to them and what they're trying to do. Is that okay with you?”
Daniel reached out and caressed his Love's cheek and then answered, “Jack, I love you so much, and I think you should tell the children because ... I just think you should. We can't adopt every animal, and we can't keep adding to our zoo, but this is doing something positive. It's helping in a way that we can.”
“Maybe we can visit Jack?”
“Sure, why not?” Daniel asked, his eyes searching his soulmate's, full of love.
“Little Danny would like it.”
“They all would. Just ... let's make sure we tell him that we can't start a ... donkey sanctuary like we did for his turkeys.”
“Danny ...”
“Oh, yeah,” the younger man responded.
The lovers kissed and then hurried upstairs to continue kissing, and so much more. As it turned out, a donkey for Jack ended up giving him a delightful dividend -- a very turned on husband. For Jack, that was worth every penny they were about to spend to make sure that Jack the donkey had a very long and happy life.
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