Author's Notes: This was actually one of the first parts written but I couldn't post it until the previous ones were finished!!

Part 10 - Poker Night

Dinner consisted of spaghetti bolonaise - the only dish Jack could competently make from scratch and which he realised too late was a very messy meal for a child - and chocolate ice-cream for dessert. After dinner, they watched `The Simpsons' together... well, Jack watched while Daniel curled up with a book beside him.

Earlier, Daniel had proudly shown Jack his picture of the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx. The drawing was childlike but the subject matter was unmistakable, and Jack thought that for a kid Daniel's age, it wasn't half bad. Daniel had wanted to display it somewhere so Jack had stuck it up in the kid's bedroom; Daniel had been very pleased.

Now, it was an hour before his buddies arrived and Jack figured he ought to start getting Daniel moving. "Come on, kiddo, time for bed." He nudged Daniel's shoulder.

Daniel was about to protest when he remembered his new toys. "Bathtime!" he shouted virtually in Jack's ear. He jumped down from the couch before bounding down the hallway into his bedroom. By the time Jack had caught up with him, Daniel had gathered up his pyjamas and the three bath toys, still in their boxes. "Come on, Jack!" he urged his big brother as he ran into the bathroom.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Jack followed Daniel into the room and then started the bath running.

While he did that, Daniel plonked himself down in the middle of the room and tried to open the boxes. He got `Nemo' out easily but then got stuck on the diver's box. "Jack, can you open this?" Daniel asked, holding the box out.

"What do you say?" Jack prompted, wincing mentally as he heard echoes of his mother in that question.

"Pleeease?" Daniel implored Jack.

"Okay." Jack took the box and opened it, getting the diver out and handing it to Daniel, receiving a `thank you' in return. Then he opened the box with the ship as well before turning his attention back to the bath.

"Oh! I forgot the soap!" Daniel ran back to his room to get the soap-on-a-rope which Jack had said was especially for him so he didn't lose it. Daniel brought it back in just as Jack was shutting off the water. "I got it!"

"So you have." Jack, remembering the instructions from last night, tested the water with his elbow and found it to be just right. "Alright, it's ready."

Daniel did his best to quickly undress, occasionally getting stuck because of his rush, so Jack helped him out. Then Jack hoisted him into the bath before handing him the toys. Daniel immediately set the fish going, watching with delight as it `swam' through the water. When it ran into the end of the bath, Daniel exclaimed, "He's found the lost city!"

"Lost city?" Jack echoed.

"Uh-huh." Daniel made the ship chug over to where Nemo was futilely trying to burrow through the wall of the bath. "It fell into the sea and now it's up to me and Daddy to find it." He made the diver jump off the ship into the water and then swim to the bottom of the bath.

Jack figured that `Daddy' must be the diver. "Okay, you do that. I'm just gonna get something." He knew that he should supervise Daniel but if the bath was going to take a long time, then he wanted something to read. How much trouble could Daniel get into in two minutes anyway?

"Okay," Daniel said happily, reaching out to turn Nemo around to swim in the other direction. As Jack left the bathroom, Daniel, in game mode, made the diver come up for air. "I've found it!" he said in a deep voice that was supposed to imitate his father's. "Come and see."

"Okay, Daddy," Daniel replied in his normal voice. He shifted so that he was lying down in the bath and then put his face in the water to better see the `lost city'. After a few seconds, he came up for air, then took a deep breath and put his face in the water again.

When Jack entered the bathroom, he couldn't see Daniel and his heart stopped beating for a second before it restarted, thumping loudly. He quickly moved forward and saw Daniel lying face down in the water. Fear settling in his stomach, he lifted his brother out of the bath, hoping that he wasn't too late.

"Ja-ack!" Daniel protested as he was lifted up, clutching the diver in one hand. "Put me down!"

"Are you alright?" Jack asked, realising he may have just overreacted.

"I was `sploring the lost city," Daniel said, kicking his legs as Jack continued to hold him up in the air; he was getting cold. "Jack!"

"Sorry." Jack put Daniel back in the bath, his heart returning to its normal rhythm. "I didn't know." He had only been gone for a minute and he had come back to see Daniel face down in the bath; it had been a reasonable reaction, he told himself.

"'Sokay." Daniel looked solemnly at Jack, sensing that something wasn't right. "Did I do something wrong?" he asked.

Jack looked into the big blue eyes and smiled weakly. "No. No, you didn't. I just... overreacted, that's all. Go back to your playing," he instructed. He had been lucky this time, Daniel was fine, but he would have to make sure that he didn't leave the kid unattended again because he would never forgive himself if something happened to his brother. And Jack was positive that his mother, wherever she was now, wouldn't forgive him either.

Daniel obeyed, happily playing for the remainder of his time in the bath. Jack pretended to read while surreptitiously watching his little brother playing, unaware that he had taken another step towards caring for Daniel.

When it came time for Daniel to wash himself, Jack put the soap on his brother's wrist. Daniel inspected it carefully and then used it enthusiastically. Watching him do that, Jack realised that he hadn't bought any shampoo for Daniel; should he use some of his own? Maybe just water would suffice for today, Jack decided since Daniel's hair was already wet, thinking that he could quickly go shopping tomorrow for some. "Wash your face," he ordered, handing Daniel the cloth.

Daniel handed the soap back and took the cloth, scrubbing vigorously. Bathtime was fun, even if Jack had pulled him out for no reason! He scrubbed behind his ears without prompting, and then handed the washcloth back.

Jack picked Daniel up and lifted him out of the bath onto the nearby mat. Then he helped Daniel to dry off, giving the hair a quick once-over to get rid of the moisture. After that, he let Daniel dress himself in the pyjamas while Jack removed the toys from the bath and then started the water draining.

A few minutes later, Daniel was tucked up in bed and Jack was sitting by his side, reading another story. This time, Daniel stayed awake for the whole book but he was yawning by the end of it. But he didn't want to go to sleep; he wanted to spend some more time with Jack. Despite the bad start to the day, the afternoon had been great fun, and Daniel - with a child's intuition - could sense that his big brother was starting to like him.

Jack closed the book and looked down at his brother, who was in the middle of a yawn. He smiled and said, "Goodnight, Daniel." As he got up from the bed, he heard Daniel say in a small voice, "Can you check for monsters, Jack?"

"There aren't any monsters," Jack replied, putting the book on the new shelf and then heading for the door.

"Please?"

Jack looked at his brother, who was curled up on one side, his big eyes pleading with Jack to check for monsters. A sudden flash of memory came to him: he was four years old and his father had yelled at him for no apparent reason only minutes before. Tremulously, he had asked his mother to make sure there was nothing scary hiding in his room. Little kids are easily scared, Jack reminded himself. "Okay."

He looked under the bed and in the closet - two major hiding places for monsters, he remembered - and then declared the room monster-free.

"Thank you, Jack," Daniel said, smiling at him, trusting that the monsters were all gone for tonight. "Love you." He gazed expectantly at Jack.

Something in Jack's heart flipped over when he heard those words giving so easily and trustingly from the child. He had been so adamant yesterday that he wasn't going to let Daniel into his heart, but those words broke down another barrier. "Love you too, kiddo. Now get some sleep." He tried to make his voice gruff but didn't entirely succeed.

"Okay." Daniel curled up and closed his eyes, the smile still on his face.

Jack stared at him for a long moment then hurriedly left the room. He headed to the kitchen and grabbed a beer. Sitting down at the table, he took a long swig as he contemplated the consequences of coming to care for Daniel. He couldn't look after the kid - he didn't know how; plus, being a soldier meant that he wouldn't be around much to give Daniel the love he needed. No, Daniel would be best off living with someone else and soon, Jack decided, before either of them grew too attached.

"I'm out." Two hours later, Lou Ferretti threw his cards on the kitchen table and leaned back in his chair. "My luck's just not in tonight."

Jack grinned smugly; he was on a winning streak. "It has nothing to do with luck."

"Yeah, it's skill," Charlie Kawalsky said as he put some poker chips on the pile in the middle of the table. "I bet ten."

"I'm in," the fourth guy, Henry Boyd, stated.

"Me too." Jack threw two chips onto the pile. Then he became aware that Lou was looking at something past him so Jack turned his head in that direction. "Daniel?" he said, spying the kid in the doorway.

Dressed in his pyramid pyjamas, teddy tucked firmly under one arm, and right thumb in his mouth, Daniel surveyed the men warily. Everyone was now looking at him and he didn't like it.

"Daniel?" Jack prompted again, wondering what was going on; the kid was supposed to be asleep.

"Thoth is thirsty," Daniel stated, briefly taking his thumb out of his mouth.

"Hey, Jack, something you want to tell us?" Charlie joked, finding the situation amusing. His friend had never mentioned anything about a child.

Jack shook his head, not looking forward to the explanations later. "Daniel, just go back to bed. Thoth can wait until morning."

"But Thoth is thirsty," Daniel protested.

"I'll get it," Lou volunteered, having baby-sat his nephews and nieces before, and therefore being used to kids Daniel's age. He stood up and went over to the kid, crouching down in front of him. "My name's Lou. Is that Thoth?" he asked, looking at the teddy bear. When Daniel nodded, Lou continued, "How about I help you get Thoth a drink?"

Daniel stared at the man for a minute and, deciding that was okay, nodded.

"Would you like one too?" Lou asked, knowing what the transference to the teddy bear meant.

"Yes, please," Daniel said quietly. Everyone was still looking at him with amused expressions except for Jack, who was frowning at him. Worried that Jack was mad at him, Daniel stuck his thumb in his mouth again and started sucking on it, not caring about it getting waterlogged.

Lou picked Daniel up and put him on the bench near the sink. Then he proceeded to get two glasses from the cupboard and filled them with water. "So," he said to the kid, "does anyone call you Danny?"

"Uh-huh," Daniel said before he had a sip of water. "My mommy does."

"But no-one else?"

Daniel shook his head and continued to drink his water. After two mouthfuls, he peered over Lou's shoulder at the others. "What are they doing?" he whispered.

"Playing poker," Lou whispered back.

"What's poker?" Daniel inquired curiously.

"It's a game," Lou explained in simple terms, a smile on his face; the kid was so endearingly cute. When Daniel started to swing his legs, the heels of his feet hitting against the cupboard doors below, Lou put his hands on the small feet to halt them.

"It doesn't look like a game," Daniel commented, taking another look at it.

Lou grinned. "That's because it's an adult game."

"Oh." That explained why it looked strange.

When the water was almost gone, Daniel put the glass down on the bench. "We're finished," he announced quietly to Lou, seeing that the others were playing their game.

"Thoth is finished too?" Lou asked, making sure.

"Yep." Daniel gave Lou a shy smile; he liked this man. "Thank you very much," he said.

Lou had to smile too; someone had taught the kid good manners. "You're very welcome. Do you want me to take you back to bed?"

"No, thank you," Daniel stated. He held his arms out for Lou to pick him up.

Lou set Daniel on the floor before following the kid as he toddled out of the kitchen and down the hallway into his bedroom. Then he returned to his seat at the kitchen table, certain that Daniel wouldn't hear the upcoming discussion. "Cute kid, Jack. Yours?"

"My half-brother," Jack explained curtly, frowning at the hand of cards he held before looking over at Henry. "How much was the bet again?"

"Twenty," Henry replied. "You in or out?"

Jack took another look at his cards. "In." He put some chips on the pile.

"So how come he's here?" Charlie said, continuing on Lou's line of questioning.

"Who?" Jack was concentrating on the game and had put everything else out of his mind.

"Daniel," Lou prompted, shaking his head. He knew enough about Jack's parents to know that they had divorced a long time ago, but since his friend was very tight-lipped about the past, that was all he knew.

"Oh, right. His parents died a few days ago, and until social services can find Grandpa Nick, I'm stuck with him," Jack said succinctly, trying not to think about it too much.

Lou frowned at him and crossed his arms; for Daniel's parents to have died, that meant that one of Jack's had as well. But he had been friends with Jack for a long time so he knew better than to continued with that subject. And what was with `stuck with him'? "Don't you want him here? He seems like a great kid."

"Yeah," Charlie agreed, throwing down his cards after deciding the pot was too rich for him.

"Do you guys have any idea just how much work a kid entails?" Jack said in frustration, thinking about the day he'd just had. "With our jobs, can you really see me being able to raise Daniel? Besides," he added, "I'm not ready for a family."

The other men exchanged glances; they all knew about Jack's penchant for playing the field. "Maybe it's time to settle down," Charlie suggested.

Jack threw down his cards, annoyed at his friends for even suggesting that. "Are you kidding? That's the last thing I want right now." Although a little tiny part of him thought - what if? A wife, a couple of kids... No, he didn't want that! "I'd have to stay home and look after him every night, and entertain him..." he added, talking more to himself than to his friends.

The three other men exchanged glances, all of them thinking that Jack had protested just a little too much. But none of them said anything as Jack turned the subject back to cards, not wanting to push the subject.

Fortunately, Daniel hadn't heard a word of the conversation as he was snuggled up in bed, content in the belief that Jack was beginning to like him even if his brother didn't always show it.

Later, after eleven o'clock, Jack's friends went home as they all had to work the next day. Jack, before he went to bed, checked in on Daniel, who was sleeping soundly. Then he went to bed but didn't get to sleep for a long time, thinking about Charlie's `settling down' comment and Daniel's `I love you.'

He fell asleep before anything was resolved in his mind.

tbc...