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Love Conquers All
Chapter 10
She was carefully arranging potatoes in a casserole dish when Daniel entered the room, Emily toddling behind him.
"Babe, have you seen my watch?" he asked, moving a stack of papers on the coffee table.
"No, I haven’t. Did you ask your daughter?"
Daniel looked down at the little blonde beside him. "Princess, where is Daddy’s watch?"
"‘Autch?"
"Watch," Daniel corrected, pointing to his bare wrist.
The tiny face broke into a grin. She led him to her bathroom, pointed at the toilet. He lifted the lid, saw nothing.
"Fwush," Emily said.
"Oh, Emily, tell me you didn’t flush my watch!" he moaned.
She shook her little head. "Fwush. ‘Autch." She reached up and pulled the lever, flushing the toilet.
Daniel watched as the water continued to rise. He grabbed the lid off of the tank and manually lifted the stopper to keep it from overflowing. There was definitely something clogging the toilet. With a sigh he went for the plunger.
"Did you find it?" Casey asked as he walked past her into their bathroom.
"I hope not."
She giggled. Emily was toddling after her Daddy. "Emily, where is Daddy’s watch?"
"Fwush."
Casey bit her lip. "Emily Rose, you are not to put anything in that toilet, do you understand me?"
The little blonde head bobbed up and down.
Daniel plunged the toilet. And pulled his sodden watch from the water. He held it with two fingers, debating on whether to clean it or toss it out. "Emily Rose, don’t you ever do this again," he said firmly.
"‘Ever ‘gain," Emily echoed, nodding her head. She reached up for the watch that dangled from his fingers. "I cwean it, Daddee," she said.
"Oh, no you don’t," he replied, pulling it away from her reach. He tossed it into the sink. "Now, you leave Daddy’s stuff alone. And don’t put anything else in that toilet. Do you understand?"
She nodded. "‘Stand. Wuv you, Daddee."
He couldn’t help but smile. "I love you, too, Princess." He picked her up and headed back out into the kitchen.
"Well?"
He rolled his eyes. "I need a new watch. She flushed it."
Casey giggled. "Guess we’d better keep an eye on her. Who knows what she’ll try to flush next."
He shook his head, looked at his daughter. "Between the two of you, my life never gets boring."
"Is that a complaint, Doctor Jackson?"
"Nope. Just an observation." He sat Emily on the counter beside him. She watched contentedly as her mother finished the casserole and put it in the oven.
"Hot!" Emily announced when the oven door was opened.
"Yes, Baby, very hot," Casey replied, carefully centering the dish.
"Be ‘areful," Emily said, a frown on her little face.
"I will," Casey smiled. She closed the oven door. "Now, shall we have pudding for dessert?"
"Pwudding!"
Daniel sat down in one of the bar chairs and watched his wife and daughter. Casey measured the milk, let Emily ‘help’ pour it into a bowl. His heart beat against his ribs with love and pride as the two blonde heads bent together over the bowl, stirring the box of instant pudding into the milk. Emily giggled as she ‘helped’ hold the whisk that Casey was using to mix the pudding with.
"Make pwudding, Daddee!" she exclaimed excitedly, looking over her shoulder at him.
"I see that, Princess. You’re going to be as good a cook as your Mommy."
"Mommee good cook," the toddler said.
"Yes, she is," Daniel agreed.
"There," Casey said. "All done."
"All done" Emily repeated. She put a finger into the mixture and licked the chocolate off. "Good!"
Casey put the bowl into the refrigerator, leaned against the counter. Emily had crawled to where Daniel was sitting, and into his lap. "You're looking very contented," she said softly.
"Couldn’t be happier, Angel," he replied, holding his daughter against his chest. He watched her pull her lip between her teeth, sighed softly. "What’s wrong?"
"I just wish…well…those people on Darteen…"
He smiled. "We’ll talk to Duncan in the morning, babe. I promise we’ll try to do something."
She nodded and smiled, her face lighting up when she did. She walked to where he was sitting, leaned over behind him and put her arms around his shoulders, kissed his ear. "You’re a wonderful man, Daniel Jackson," she said softly.
Emily looked at them, then put her arms against his broad chest, trying to hug him. "Daddee ‘onderful!"
Casey giggled. "That’s right, Baby. Your Daddy is wonderful."
Daniel blushed slightly. "I think the two of you are just a bit prejudiced."
"Nope. We know the truth, right Emmie?"
Emily nodded. "Daddee ‘onderful," she said again. She put her head on his chest. "Wuv you, Daddee."
Daniel put one arm around his daughter, the other he raised to put around his wife. "I love you, too, Princess. You too, Angel."
"I love you, Sweetheart," she whispered, kissing his cheek.
The contentment he had been feeling all day stayed with him as they ate dinner. He chuckled as he watched Emily put her food on the spoon, then lift it to her mouth. He had to laugh out loud when she insisted that the finger that had accidentally gotten dirty be cleaned off right away. When she offered him a spoonful of her pudding, he accepted gladly, his heart so full of happiness and love that he thought it would burst.
When he turned off the light later that night, Casey snuggled tightly against him, he knew that he wouldn’t have the nightmare. It was the first decent night’s sleep he’d had in nearly two weeks.
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