Author's Notes: I had to do a lot of research to get the accurate (or as close as possible) Happy Meal Toy - talk about hard to find!!!

Part 8 - More New Experiences

After a trip to Kmart to get a small bookshelf, a little backpack, some bubblebath and a turtle soap-on-a-rope - and realising he could have got all of Daniel's things so far from there if he had thought about it earlier - Jack and Daniel took all their bags back to the car. The weather had turned colder - not surprising since it was nearly the end of November - so Jack removed the tags and tucked Daniel up into the new coat. Then, since it was nearly lunchtime, Jack took his little brother to the nearby McDonalds.

The place was very busy, so Jack picked Daniel up as soon as they were inside so that they didn't get separated. Daniel put his arms around Jack's neck as he looked around. There were lots of other kids about his age, most accompanied by their mothers, plus some older couples, and some men in suits. "What's this?" he asked Jack.

"This? This is McDonalds," Jack replied. "We're going to have lunch here." He went to the back of the shortest queue, his eyes on the menu. "What do you want to eat?"

"I don't know." Daniel had never been in a place such as this before.

"Oh that's right, you probably haven't even been in McDonalds before," Jack stated, remembering that everything today had been new to Daniel. "Well, for kids, there's a Happy Meal. You get some food, and a toy to play with."

"Why?"

"Because... You ever had a hamburger before?" Jack changed the subject. Daniel shook his head. "Cheeseburger? Chicken Nuggets?"

Daniel nodded his head at the last one. "We had nuggets for dinner the other night," he informed his older brother.

"Chicken Nuggets, it is then," Jack decided. He hefted Daniel up a little and continued to peruse the choices. Definitely not Pepsi to drink - there was no way he wanted a hyper Daniel for the afternoon.

The queue moved forward, giving them both a better look at the menu. "Oh, look," Jack said, pointing to one of the displays. "They've got `Brother Bear' toys. Don't they look cool?"

"What's `Brother Bear'?" Daniel inquired, looking at the display.

"It's a new movie about a bear," Jack explained, not really knowing that much about it.

"Is it like the Mickey Mouse movie?" came the next question.

Jack was kept occupied for the rest of the wait answering Daniel's questions about movies and cartoons. Finally, they were able to place their order - Jack deciding on a Big Mac, large fries, and a large Pepsi. They then carefully took their tray with the food on it over to a small table for two. Jack put the tray down, then put Daniel down onto one of the seats before sitting in the one opposite. "Eat up," he said.

Daniel opened his box and got the toy out. It was called a Denahi Transformer, and Daniel decided to investigate it further after he had eaten; he was hungry! He got his nuggets, fries and lemonade out, and put them in front of him. "Jack, what should I eat first?"

"Nuggets, definitely," Jack stated before taking a bite of his Big Mac.

Taking Jack's advice, Daniel started eating the nuggets. They were very good, he thought, and the four pieces disappeared quickly. Then he ate the fries one at a time after deciding that he liked them too. "Can we come here tomorrow?" he asked as he finished the fries.

"I'll be at work," Jack replied, swallowing the last of his drink. "And you'll be at the day-care centre."

"Where do you work?" Daniel asked, swinging his legs.

"Cheyenne Mountain."

Daniel tilted his head as he looked at Jack. "How can you work at a mountain?"

That explanation lasted until they got to the car again, Daniel asking questions about the military and NORAD, which was also based at the mountain. Once they got travelling, Daniel opened his little Happy Meal toy. It was a wolf that transformed into a boy when it stood up, and Daniel kept himself occupied with the toy for the entire trip to the day-care centre, absolutely fascinated that it could change from one thing into another.

Jack grinned to himself when he heard Daniel introduce the teddy bear to the new toy. A conversation followed, complete with different voices. The teddy bear had a deep voice - similar to Jack's voice because Daniel couldn't get it any lower - while the wolf had a growling quality to its' voice.

Then he realised that half of the conversation wasn't in English. Nor was it in Arabic, Jack noticed when he couldn't translate it. "Danny?"

"What?" Daniel looked up from playing with his toys.

"What language are you speaking?"

"I'm not speaking," Daniel stated with perfect logic. "Thoth and Denahi are."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Alright, what language was the bear speaking?"

"Egyptian."

"Why?" Jack had to know.

"Because he's the Egyptian god of wisdom," Daniel replied in a voice that implied that the reason should have been perfectly obvious. "Whereas Denahi has to speak English because he's from here."

"Of course," Jack said, wondering just how many languages Daniel could speak. "So what other languages do you know?"

"Mommy was just beginning to teach me Dutch," Daniel stated, swinging his legs eagerly. "And I learned Egyptian and Arabic on the digs. Daddy said I have a natural altitude with languages."

Jack had to agree; if Daniel could speak three languages already and was learning a fourth, he had to be very smart. "Natural aptitude," he corrected.

"Ap-ti-toode," Daniel echoed. Then, that sorted out, he went back to the conversation with his toys.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the day-care centre. Daniel grew quiet as he stared out of the car window; there were lots of children running around, playing, and that made him nervous. In Egypt, he had played with other children when he wasn't with his parents but that was different. They had been on the dig site though, not in a brightly-coloured building with strange structures outside, and he was a little scared about being in the new environment.

As Jack opened the car door for him, Daniel remained seated. "I don't wanna go," he pouted, putting his thumb in his mouth again.

Jack reached in, unbuckled the seatbelt, took Daniel's thumb out of his mouth, and then lifted his brother out of the car. "That thumb's going to be waterlogged soon," he commented as he closed the car door.

"What's waterlogged?" Daniel inquired as Jack took his hand and led him towards the building.

"When your skin is so wet, it's wrinkled like a prune," Jack explained patiently, taking everything in and threat-assessed the centre. There was a lot of play equipment, supervised by two adult women, plus a large sandpit which Jack figured Daniel would probably love after the deserts of Egypt. And on first glance, everyone looked friendly enough, but only time would tell whether Daniel would fit in.

Daniel looked at his thumb, searching for wrinkles. "I can't find any," he reported to his brother.

"Well, if you keep sticking it in your mouth, it will," Jack continued. "Just like if you take a long bath or go for a long swim."

Daniel resolved to test that theory during his next bath. "Is it perm'net? Is that why old people are wrinkled? Do they stay too long in the water?" he fired off the questions rapidly.

"Uh, no," Jack replied, opening the door and going inside. "It's not permanent, and it's different for old people."

"How?" Daniel asked, walking fast to keep up with his brother.

"I'll explain later," Jack said as a woman in her late thirties came towards them. "Good afternoon."

"Good afternoon," the raven-haired woman replied, giving them both a smile. "My name is Alice. Can I help you?"

"I hope so. I'm Jack and this is Daniel. I work at Cheyenne Mountain, and I was told this centre provides day-care for personnel who work there," Jack explained.

"That's correct," Alice said, nodding. "We're open from eight till six, although most children don't stay here that long."

"Right." The hours were perfect, Jack thought, because it meant that he could leave Daniel at the centre all day while he was working.

Daniel tugged on Jack's hand, wanting his attention. When his brother looked down at him, Daniel tugged again, wanting Jack to come down to his level.

"What is it, Daniel?" Jack queried a little impatiently as he crouched down.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Daniel whispered, not wanting the lady to overhear.

"Why didn't you go at McDonald's?" Jack asked, thinking that would have been easier.

"I didn't need to go then," Daniel replied with perfect logic.

Jack sighed and then straightened up to face Alice. "Uh, I'm sorry about this but could we use your bathroom?"

"Sure." Alice's smile was both understanding and amused. "It's just down the back there," she said, pointing the way.

"Thanks." Jack allowed Daniel to pull him towards the boys bathroom. "Go for it," he said once they were inside.

Daniel rushed into one of the stalls and closed the door while Jack waited, tapping his foot somewhat impatiently. A couple of minutes later, Daniel came back out and washed his hands in one of the child-sized basins.

When Daniel had dried his hands, Jack led him back out to where Alice was waiting. "Sorry about that," he apologised to her.

"It's no problem," she stated. "It happens all the time. Let me show you around."

Jack and Daniel were taken on a tour of the centre, the little boy holding onto his brother's hand the whole time. There were plenty of activities, Jack noted, including a `quiet room' for those who wanted to read or draw in peace.

"We have set activities each day for a few hours, and the rest of the time, the children are free to do what they wish to participate in," Alice explained as they came across a group of three-year-olds doing a singing activity. "We ask parents to send along a piece of fruit for morning snack, which is shared with the group, plus a drink and something for lunch. The centre provides the afternoon snack."

Jack nodded, thinking that sounded reasonable. "What about naps?" he asked.

Alice opened a nearby door. There were dozens of mattresses on the floor, covered with blankets, plus several cots. "This is the nap room. The younger children are put in here for an hour or so every afternoon while the older ones can either join them or spend some time in the quiet room."

Jack asked a few more questions, including whether it was safe to bring toys and books to the centre - yes to the first but the staff preferred that the second be left at home as the centre had plenty of books and they were more easily damaged than toys. Then Jack signed Daniel up for the next few weeks, explaining briefly to Alice that Daniel was only with him temporarily.

When Alice saw the different surnames on the form, she knew better than to pry even though she was curious. "So I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning," she said to Daniel.

Daniel nodded, not entirely happy with the situation; he wanted to stay with Jack just like he did with his parents.

"Say `yes, ma'am'," Jack prompted.

"Yes, ma'am," Daniel echoed dutifully before leaning against Jack.

"He's shy," Jack explained apologetically to Alice.

"That's fine," Alice said, understanding completely. "It takes time to get used to a new place."

Goodbyes were said and Jack took Daniel out to the car. "You were very quiet," he commented. "Don't you like the place?"

Daniel shrugged. "It's okay," he said without any real enthusiasm. The quiet room had looked okay, as had the sandpit, but he wasn't too sure about the rest yet. He gathered Thoth to his chest and held on tightly.

"You'll love it," Jack promised as he got in the driver's side.

Not convinced, Daniel closed his eyes and let his head rest against the back seat; he was a little tired.

Within two minutes, he was sound asleep.

When they arrived home, Daniel was still sleeping so Jack carried him into the house. He took Daniel's coat, shoes, sweater and jeans off, and then put the kid to bed. Once that was done, he went back out to the car and brought in all their purchases, putting them on the double bed in Daniel's room for sorting out later.

After a final check to see that Daniel was sleeping soundly, Jack went into the living room, turned on the television and muted the sound, and then settled on the couch to watch some sport, worn out from the lengthy excursion.

Within minutes, he was asleep too.

tbc...