“I'm coming,” the recent high school graduate yelled back, hurrying down the stairs.
“The twins want to ride in Coop. Is that okay with you?” Jack asked, using the nickname he'd given to Jennifer's new Mini-Cooper car.
“I don't mind driving, Dad,” Jennifer agreed. She giggled, “Dad, I love your nicknames.”
Jack just smiled as the two walked into the living room to join the rest of the family.
“Ricky, Jenny, get your car seats from the SUV so ...”
“Yeah! We get to ride in Coop!” the little redhead cheered, causing Jennifer to chuckle.
“Everything's loaded,” Daniel stated as he picked up JD to carry him outside. “Bri, get the girls.”
“Yes, Daddy,” Brianna responded, getting the leashes and harnesses for Bijou and Katie and then letting the two beagles inside the house.
A few minutes later, the Jackson-O'Neills were headed for the Garden of the Gods where they were going to join several other neighbors for a Saturday at the park. It was Memorial Day weekend, and the weather was perfect for a day of relaxation and games as the friends picnicked in the peaceful surroundings of the park.
====
“Hey, Batter! You can't hit it. Strike out!” the shortstop taunted as the baseball game continued.
Jeff checked the sign from the catcher and shook off the call. A moment later, he gave a slight bob of his head. After checking the runner on first base, he threw a curve ball towards home plate.
David swung, connecting with the pitch and sending the ball sailing to right center field. He ran hard, picking up speed when the right fielder failed to cut off of the ball, and it continued rolling in the grass. He slid in safely to second base and was applauded by the runner, who was now on third base.
“Lucky hit, Squirt,” Jeff called out to his younger brother.
“Lucky you didn't get hit, you mean,” David teased back.
From the sidelines, Jack and Daniel chuckled at the exchange and the confidence both of their sons were exhibiting.
“Daniel, you're up,” Ben Iverson, who was acting as the team manager of the group that was now up to bat, said while pointing to the bat that now lay on the ground by home plate.
“Be right back,” the archaeologist spoke dryly as he handed JD over to Jack.
“Come onnnnnnn, Angel,” Jack rooted. Holding JD in his arms, he urged, “Cheer for Daddy. Tell him to hit the ball.”
“Daddy, hit ball!” JD called out obediently.
Daniel smiled over at his youngest son and nodded before taking a practice swing and then taking his stance in the batter's box.
“Get that smirk off your face, Son,” the archaeologist called out to the pitcher.
“Duck, Daniel!” the shortstop teased. “Deck him, Jeff,” the mischievous player then encouraged the teen.
The pitch was a fast ball, right down the middle. Daniel connected with the ball, his line drive going down the left field line. The two runners easily scored, and Daniel was looking for a daring triple.
“*Slide, Danny -- sliiiiiiiiide!*” Jack shouted eagerly.
“Go, Daddy!” Jonny cheered, jumping up and down excitedly.
“Run!” Little Danny shouted as loudly as he could, running over to the left to get a better look.
“Hit the dirt!” Brianna shouted, bending over and extending her palms downward as she stood in the third base coach's box.
“Tag him,” Shelly McClain called out to her live-in lover, Bob Stevens.
Running with all of his might, Daniel began to slide, head first, into third base while at the same time thinking, ~Why aren't I cataloging an artifact?~
“Safe!” the umpire called out.
“Yah!” a group of cheers shouted in unison.
The next batter flew out, but Daniel tagged up and scored what turned out to be the winning run for his team.
“Way to go, Love!” Jack praised. “Gutsy slide there.”
“Oh, geez, I can't believe I did that,” said an amazed Daniel, surveying the formerly clean outfit he had put on that morning. ~Oh well. Just another load of laundry to do.~
“Daddy hit ball good,” JD praised.
Daniel smiled, looking up at the boy, but still wondered what the heck he was doing sliding head first into third base.
====
“Sorry, Jen,” Sheila chuckled with a shrug. Sheila was Jennifer's best friend and she, along with a few other of the new graduates, were also at the outdoor party. “Bad set,” she admitted.
“Next time, remember to hit it up and not in a line drive,” Jennifer advised. “We're playing volleyball, not baseball.”
“Oh, yeah. Thanks for reminding me,” Sheila joked.
“Be ready,” Bob Rameriz, another player on the girls' team, encouraged.
“You'll never be ready enough,” Bob's wife, Maria, shouted as she prepared to serve for the other team.
Maria served, and the ball was volleyed back and forth several times. Jack and Daniel were on opposite teams, Daniel on the team with Jen, Sheila, Bob, and others, while Jack was on the same team as Maria and various other friends and neighbors.
“Hit it, Dad!” Jonny called out.
“Hit it back, Daddy,” Little Danny shouted.
“Watch out, Dad!” David warned.
Jack just managed to reach the ball before it fell, tapping it over to Maria, who set it up perfectly for Jeff. Jumping up, the teenager slammed a perfect spike towards the other side of the net.
Meanwhile, Daniel had maneuvered into position when he heard a sound.
“Daddy, hi!” JD called out from his perch on Mrs. Sophia Valissi's lap.
Daniel looked over and smiled at the boy.
“Daaaaaaddy!” Jennifer whined.
“Ouch!” Daniel expressed unhappily when the ball hit his head.
“I got it!” Sheila called, barely managing to save the ball from touching the ground and tapping it over to Bob.
The tap was low, though, and Bob barely was able to hit the ball forward.
“Get it, Daddy!” Jennifer urged.
“I'm try...ing,” Daniel said, lunging forward, his body sprawling out lengthwise as he hit the ball up into the air. As he hit the ground and groaned from the impact, he thought, ~I could be researching some alien language. There has to be one just yelling for me to translate it.~
“Yippee!” Jennifer called out, seeing the ball Daniel hit just make it over the net and touch the ground for the winning point.
“You did it, Doctor Jackson-O'Neill,” Sheila praised.
Turning over and looking up, Daniel smiled, “I'm so glad.” ~Although an ice pack or two, maybe three, would feel good right about now.~
====
“Ready! Set! Go!” Mrs. Valissi called out, setting off a bunch of shouts and yells of encouragement as nine contestants began racing across the grass in potato sacks.
There were three divisions in the sack race -- seven and under, eight through fourteen, and fifteen and above. They'd had three heats thus far, and now the three finalists in each age group were racing in the finals.
~What the heck am I doing? I'm a scientist, and I'm hopping up and down in a freakin' potato sack? I could be reviewing the survey results from the Carson project,~ Daniel thought as he jumped forward.
From the sidelines, Aislinn and Jenny were leading the cheer, jumping up and down and clapping in unison:
“We are the J-O's,
The mighty, mighty J-O's!
Goooooooo J-O's!”
“Move your buns, Daniel!” Jack yelled, his hands raised to his face, cupping his mouth to center his vocal urging. “*Mooooooove it!*” he added even more loudly.
“David! David!
He's our brother!
Goooooooo David!”
The Jackson-O'Neill cheerleaders continued their shouts.
“Keep pushin', Son!” Jack shouted, clapping in approval as his son battled for the win.
“Briiiiiiiiii! She's our sis!
Briiiiiiiiii! She's the dish!
Goooooooo Bri!”
“Hop on ...” Jack paused, looking over at the cheerleaders. ~She's the dish? I don't think I want to ask.~ He refocused on Brianna, who was lagging behind a little. “Hop on it, Bri! *Big* jump! There you go!”
The finish line was just a few feet away, and all of the neighbors and friends were shouting out cries of encouragement for their favorites.
“*Daniel, don't let down the kids!*”
~Don't let down the kids?~ Daniel echoed. ~Oh, brother.~
**Move it, Danny. The Goa'uld are on your six!** Jack exclaimed via the couple's special communication.
Suddenly, Daniel made a huge jump, reaching the finish line first as he fell down onto the ground. He quickly tried to get up, grumbling when he realized he was still in a sack.
~Oh, for crying out loud,~ the archaeologist bemoaned as he just plopped back onto the grass. **Jack, you are so dead.**
**It worked, didn't it?** Jack chuckled proudly.
Daniel and Brianna both won their divisions, with David coming in second. Everybody considered all three divisions a family victory, though the tomboy did have a little discussion with the cheerleaders about their terminology.
~I am not a dish, nor do I want to be,~ the tomboy had thought upon hearing the cheer during the race.
====
Little Danny tossed the football to Chenoa, who took off running for the end zone. She evaded Calvin Miller, but saw Brianna, who was on the other team, coming after her. Quickly, she tossed the football to her younger father, who took off running.
Once again, the cheers erupted, along with shouts of 'stop him' from the opposition.
~I could be reading Archaeology Today, not sweating my buns off,~ Daniel whined inside as he sprinted toward his goal, which was just a few yards ahead.
“I'm gonna get you, Daniel,” John Miller called out.
Daniel glanced over at the man from the other team and realized he had just one more chance to score. He made one last dash to his right, jumping for the goal line.
“Nooooo!” John shouted, tackling Daniel, as did Bob Iverson.
“Touchdown!” the referee called out.
~It better be,~ Daniel thought. “Ouch,” he said, waiting for the two other men to get off of him. ~I never thought I'd say this, but I'm getting to old for this.~
“Are you okay, Danny?” Jack asked, running forward to check on his lover.
“Fine. Just fine.”
“We won!” Jack exclaimed happily.
“I'm glad,” Daniel said dryly, walking away and rubbing his butt.
~Cutest six in creation,~ Jack opined as he watched his lover move away.
====
Aislinn kicked the ball over to Chloe Payne, who gently gave little pat after little pat to the soccer ball with her foot as she proceeded along the grass.
“Here, Chloe!” Jonny urged since he was in the clear. The girl made a perfect pass, and Jonny kicked the ball forward. He caught a glimpse of David, who was playing on the other team, approaching. “Danny!” he called out quickly, not having time to include the 'Little' in his brother's name.
The middle Munchkin nodded, moving to his right in perfect timing to get the ball and prevent a steal by Angela Wilson, who was also on the opposite team.
The older kids and adults were eager to get the ball. By agreement, when the younger children had control of the ball, only the other younger children could try and get it. Except for a steal when one child attempted to kick the ball to another, the adults just watched and cheered on.
Little Danny successfully moved the ball down the playing field another few yards before attempting to pass it back to Jonny, who was waving his arms eagerly.
Unfortunately, Melinda, the daughter of Bob and Shelly, intercepted it, taking it back a few yards. She kicked it over to Jeff, who continued the run.
~This is crazy,~ Daniel thought, just knowing his oldest son was about to pass the ball in his direction. ~I could be in New Mexico, digging up bones.~
Just then, the pass was attempted. Daniel glanced around him, to see if the coast was clear. All of a sudden, Jennifer tried to head off the pass, but she didn't have full control. Instead, her foot got under the soccer ball, sending it flying through the air, the line drive impacting Daniel's abdomen with a thunder.
“Daddy, are you okay?” Jennifer asked, running over to her wide-eyed younger father.
“No,” Daniel gasped. “But I ... I will be,” he said, walking off the field. “Substitution, please.”
Jack snickered, knowing his husband wasn't hurt, but just stunned briefly. It was nothing more than what had often happened to them when they were off-world.
“Go teams!” Jack yelled, unable to root for just one team since the brood was divided among the two groups.
====
“We're gonna beat 'em, Daddy,” Lulu asserted as her left foot was tied to Daniel's right foot.
“It's a snap,” Daniel responded. ~I hope.~ He looked around at the other competitors and shook his head. ~I could be meeting with the curator in Denver. Today was his only available opening. His perspective on the latest discoveries in Egypt would be so valuable.~
“On your mark!” Mitzi Miller instructed all the contestants in the three-legged race. “Three ... two ... one ... go!”
A quick ninety seconds later, Daniel was lying on the grass laughing, with Lulu giggling hysterically as she lay on top of him.
“I don't think we were supposed to do this, Daddy.”
“I don't think so either, Little Bit,” Daniel responded as the two sat up. “Sorry we didn't win.”
“Yes, we did, Daddy,” the youngster claimed, her face bright with a big smile and shining eyes.
“We did?”
“We had fun, so we won!”
Grinning, Daniel pulled the curly-haired girl towards him, hugging her.
“Ow!”
“Oh, sorry,” the archaeologist apologized, realizing they were still tied together.
====
Curious about his son's fascination with the grass, Daniel lay down beside Ricky, who was prone on the ground.
“What are you looking for?”
“Not for, Daddy, at. See -- ants. Lots of them. Where are they going?”
“Food hunting,” Daniel answered playfully. “They want Dad's Froot Loops.”
Ricky giggled, “No, they don't.”
“You're right, they don't,” Daniel answered seriously. “It's the chocolate walnut cookies Aunt Sam gave me.”
“I bet they'd like those,” Ricky opined. Then he frowned for a minute. “Daddy, you didn't bring any of the cookies to the park.”
“That's true.”
“Where are they going? Really?” the boy asked, wanting an honest answer about the ants.
“To food, somewhere,” Daniel answered. “See, ants spend their entire lives on the ground. They're ground experts. By nature, some ants are foragers, meaning they seek out food for the other ants. Once they find food, they leave a pheromone trail that can be followed by other ants.”
“What's that mean?”
“What? Oh, pheromone is a chemical. In this case, it's a scent. Ants have a tremendous ability to smell, so when the forager finds food, he releases the scent as he returns to the others. Then the other ants follow the trail to the food.”
“These ants are hungry?”
Daniel chuckled, “Apparently.”
“How do they know when the food is all gone?” Ricky asked.
“The ants who have ... eaten return to the others without marking the trail with more pheromones. They move on to wherever another forager has found food.”
“Maybe we should leave them food? There's lots of ants,” Ricky observed, staring at the long, seemingly unending line of ants in the grass.
“I don't think that'll be necessary,” Daniel said, smiling at his son and then getting up.
====
The family was picking things up, preparing to go home at the end of a very long day. Several of the neighbors and friends had already left, but some were still there along with the Jackson-O'Neills.
“Noa, please pick those up.”
“I'm playing with them,” the little girl said about the sugar cubes that she'd taken out of the box and was lining up on a tray.
~I can't believe she did that,~ Daniel thought. “Noa, now.”
“What?” the youngster asked innocently, though her mischievous smile suggested she knew the answer to her query.
“The sugar cubes. Please put them away, now.”
“Okay, open up,” Chenoa giggled, picking up one cube and stuffing into Daniel's mouth.
He knew he should be stern, but Daniel couldn't help it. He just laughed and digested the cube.
“Now, Sweetie.”
“Sweetie for the sweet cubes?” Chenoa teased.
Daniel laughed louder, watching as Chenoa began to pick up her cube 'toys' as requested.
====
Late that night, Jack and Daniel were making their final rounds of the evening, checking on their brood, all of whom were sound asleep, having been exhausted by the day's activities.
“They're all beautiful,” Daniel remarked as he looked back at his girls sleeping peacefully in their room.
“Danny, you have a little bruise,” Jack observed as he stared at his lover's neck.
“Oh, uh, I think that's from the football tackle, or maybe the baseball game,” Daniel responded.
Jack laughed, “You were great out there today -- a real jock.”
“A jock? Me?” the younger man asked incredulously. He sighed, “You know, Babe, during most of the day, when I was playing all those sports, I kept thinking about all the other things I could be doing -- research, translations, reading. I mean, sports has never been my thing, even if I do tolerate your hockey addiction and, well, I admit it -- I enjoy basketball. The point is, I could never have imagined a day like this.”
“Yeah, I don't think when we first met, I could have pictured you out there running down a line drive or tackling Lou on the five yard line, either,” Jack admitted jovially. Growing serious, he asked, “Regrets?”
“The thing is, every time I thought that, I'd look over at our children. They were smiling and having such a good time. They liked it when they won.”
“And when they lost,” Jack opined.
“That's just it, Babe. They didn't lose.” Seeing the questioning look on his lover's face, he explained, “We were together, and we were having fun. According to Lulu, that means we won. I agree with her.”
“Me, too,” Jack replied.
“It's all those little things we did today, Babe -- watching ants in the grass with Ricky, having Noa being so silly again after having had such a difficult year -- all the crazy things that happen in the course of a day. They *are* happiness. There isn't a thing I could read about or translate that could even come close to telling Ricky about foragers and watching Jenny face off with another grasshopper.”
“I know exactly what you mean,” Jack said as the two finally headed for their bedroom. “Danny, you do realize that you aren't that slender, clueless geek who used to fall over everything anymore?”
“I did okay, didn't I?”
“Angel, you've been excelling at sports for the last few years. David's improved so much, too.”
“Did you see that hit of his? Wow, I was so proud.”
“It was a *great* hit,” Jack agreed happily.
“Oh, yeah, it was, and I was proud of him for that, but, uh, I think I was prouder when he struck out after his first at bat.”
“Proud of a strike out?”
“Did you see his face?” Daniel questioned. “He wasn't defeated. He knew he'd tried his best, but that particular time, Jeff threw him some great pitches. He didn't mope or pout. He turned around right away and cheered Calvin on. Then his next time up, he got the hit. That's why I'm proud of him, for not giving up and for knowing you can't get a hit every time you're up.”
“And I'm proud of you.”
“Me? What for?”
“For being my jock,” Jack said playfully, though his eyes were suggesting something more erotic than a potato sack race.
“Your jock, huh?” Daniel responded, closing their bedroom door and locking it. “Well, as one jock to another, I suggest we ...”
It had been a very long, exhausting day for the Jackson-O'Neills, but there was a final sporting event to be played out -- the 'who gets to top and who gets to bottom' game. Although, in the end, the extremely happily married couple decided to compromise and do both.
Life for Jack and Daniel was definitely sweet!
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