A Moment with Cassie
With a smile, accompanied by a boisterous screech, Daniel had just cleared the front door when he was plowed over by an ecstatic little girl with bubbly golden locks. Locks that were currently doing their best to stuff themselves in his mouth, as he was enveloped in a tight tiny embrace. He chuckled, working to get the wad of hair out of his mouth, and find his feet. "It's good to see you too, Cassie."
Janet rescued a bottle of soda and cheese spread that had clattered to the floor nearby, during Cassie's 'welcome', and helped them up. Leaning against the kitchen door, Jack just watched with a smirk. He'd already been through this earlier.
Janet tried to separate Cassie from her 'Unca Daniel', but her adopted daughter seemed insistent on gluing herself to Daniel's leg. With a shrug and a mischievous grin, she informed Daniel that he'd officially been elected as Cassie's guardian for the duration. Before Daniel could utter another word, she'd headed back to the kitchen to save her appetizers from overcooking. So Daniel, with Cassie in tow, hobbled through the house to greet the rest of the guests at Janet's cookout.
Bored, Cassie began pulling Daniel and Janet toward the house. "Unca Daniel, wanna show you some'in."
Kneeling, Daniel peered at Cassie. She's just too precious. "Can you give me and your mom a minute?" She put her finger in her mouth and began to pout. That did it. Daniel gave in. Janet just shook her head at Daniel for even trying to argue with her stubborn daughter. Instantly, both of them felt one tiny overzealous hand against the back of their legs, pushing them toward the backdoor, and then on to the living room.
Once there, Cassie started moving furniture away from the middle of the room. While Daniel helped her, Janet worked on moving the more fragile items. Cassie muttered something while trying to move the couch, but because her face was so close to the pillows, Daniel missed it, so did Janet. Jack didn't. He took up residence on a bar stool with his beer in hand and smiled.
"Okay, Unca Daniel, mom, watch!" The little girl started making small spins, kicking her legs out on each turn, while making guttural growls.
Daniel, slightly distracted by snickering behind him, had turned in time to catch Jack trying to conceal a laugh. "Waaaaatch!" Cassie whined. Daniel twisted back around, chastised by a harrumph accompanied with folded arms from the little girl. Janet hid a snicker in a cough. Giving her all his attention, Daniel nodded at Cassie.
Cassie grinned then started spinning and kicking again. "This is what Unca Jack taught me. It's called a roadhouse... roadhog..." Snorting started behind Daniel again, Daniel rolled his eyes. "...groundhog, um... Unca Jack, what was it called again?"
Jack, caught off guard by a question directed at him, quickly composed himself. "Um... [cough] It's called a roundhouse kick."
"That's it! It went like this." For the next few minutes Cassie demonstrated the roundhouse kick Jack had shown her. It was pretty amusing. When Cassie was done, she looked no more exhausted than when she'd started. Janet got called away for a moment. Cassie beamed at Daniel and bent herself over his legs while looking up at him, "Unca Jack taught me that. He said it was so I could kick Nirrti's a—"
"Th-aaaat's enough, Cassie." Jack interrupted. "I think there's a hotdog left for—"
Like a bolt of lightning, Cassie was up and out the door. "— you outside." Jack finished.
"Uh huh, Jack, so she could kick Nirrti's— what was that last word again?" Daniel moved in front of Jack, scowling disapprovingly, "and who could she have possibly learned it from? Good thing Janet wasn't in here a second a go."
Jack grimaced. "Okay, so maybe I got a bit carried away. I was just trying to give Cass a little courage so she felt safer after the hell she's been through. I mean she just lost everyone she knew only six months ago 'cause of that bitch."
"Jack, language!" Daniel took a quick look around, no kids in ear shot. Whew. "Maybe you should let up on the beers for now."
Jack glanced at his beer and tried to count which one he was up to, failing, he placed it back on the bar. "Maybe you're right, Danny. It's just that she's been through so much and now she has to start all over."
"She has us. She's got Janet." Daniel glanced out the window. Cassie was running around, hair everywhere, hotdog high above her, trying desperately to keep her galloping puppy from snatching it. He smiled, "and we have her."
Janet returned at that moment, realizing she'd walked into the middle of a conversation, an apparently somber one. "Why the morose look, Colonel?"
Jack glanced up from where he'd been tearing the label off his beer and noted cautious concern in Janet's eyes. He smiled affectionately to reassure her things were fine and then said admiringly, "You've done a terrific job raising Cassie, since... she's a very happy, healthy little girl."
"With two incredibly doting Uncas.'" Daniel added.
"Thanks," Janet replied beaming with pride and happiness. She wanted them to know how much her life had changed, brightened, since she'd met Cassandra. "She and I have learned so much from each other. I look at her and wonder how I ever lived before not knowing her. Bringing her back to Earth, away from all that death, was the best thing you could have done for her. I just wish she hadn't have had to feel any pain. I deeply appreciate what you did and thank you for my daughter. Both of you."
Daniel ducked his head, momentarily, and then fixed his eyes with hers with a huge, goofy, smarmy grin.
Jack hesitated a moment, unsure if he should do this, then decided she wouldn't mind, so he clapped a hand on Janet's shoulder. "You're welcome, Doc."
As they looked out the window at Janet's beautiful garden, there was one bloom in particular that was growing taller at an incredible rate and seemed to only get more beautiful with each passing moment. They spotted her in a corner. Cassie had used the back of a frisbee as a plate and, with a hotdog jostled around in the middle, she and her puppy were in a tug-of-war. Winner take all.
The three couldn't help but laugh at the spectacle, overwhelmed by feelings of love and protectiveness for this beautiful little flower.
The End
