CHAPTER TWELVE
As he and Daniel left Cheyenne Mountain and headed down into the city, Danny's gaze remained on the sights outside the window, taking everything in.
"It's different," he said once they got into town. "All the cars, and the clothes, and other stuff."
"Things change in thirty years, Danny," Daniel pointed out. "It's the twenty-first century now. That little computer that I work on and the one you played on didn't exist back in 1973. Neither did a whole lot of other things you'll see. Actually, that makes me realize something. I'm going to have to teach you about all that stuff so that you're familiar with it. I'll also have to teach you some of the history of the past thirty years." He smiled. "We've got our work cut out for us before you go off to school in the fall."
They were soon at Daniel's place. Thankfully, Jack had been taking care of things like mowing the lawn, picking up the mail, and feeding Daniel's fish. He didn't touch the fridge, however – except to get beer from it – so there would be some spoiled food to clear out.
"I figured that I'd take the couch and you could sleep on the bed," Daniel said as they took the suitcase into the bedroom.
Danny frowned a bit. "But you're a lot bigger than me. I'd fit on the couch better."
Daniel smiled. "That is true, but I should be okay until we find a new place."
Danny shook his head. "No. You sleep on the bed, and I'll sleep on the couch."
The archeologist smiled, knowing that Jack would be making a comment about Danny having the same stubborn streak as Daniel. "Okay, if you insist."
Happy that he'd won the argument, Danny helped Daniel unpack the clothes and put them away. Daniel cleared a corner of his closet for Danny's shirts and emptied a drawer in the dresser for the boy's pants, T-shirts, underwear and socks. They would have to go shopping for more clothes for him since the four changes of clothing would definitely not be enough now that they were no longer on the base. Sam and Janet had been taking the dirty clothes home to wash every two or three days.
Danny was interested in the artifacts Daniel had at home, although he thought that the tribal masks were too creepy to be in the bedroom.
"What's that?" he asked, pointing at a large metal box with a glass front on the kitchen counter.
"Ah, that's a microwave oven, one of the handiest inventions of the twentieth century. It makes cooking food fast and easy. Great for leftovers. Mom would have loved it. And here's something else that's cool." Daniel took him to the living room, pointing at the VCR. "When I'm not at home, if there's a special program on TV that I want to see, that will make a recording of it so that I can watch it later. Also, I can get movies and other things I want to see from a store and play them. We'll have to get some movies for you to watch."
"The Indiana Jones movies?"
Daniel smiled down at him. "You remember that?"
"Uh huh."
"Okay, the Indiana Jones movies, too. Actually, I already have all of them. Jack gave them to me as a Christmas present one year. So, do you want to stay here or would you like to go shopping for clothes, food, and movies?"
"Shopping!" Danny immediately replied.
"Shopping it is. I'm afraid that we have to clean out the refrigerator first, though."
The next few minutes were spent on that task, accompanied by several comments of disgust from both Danny and Daniel. Fortunately, the archeologist hadn't had a great deal in the fridge that would spoil. Even so, there were a few "science experiments" going on inside.
The first stop was to a department store, where, for the first time in his life, Daniel went shopping in a children's clothing department. It was actually kind of enjoyable, the two Daniels going through the racks, Danny picking out what he liked. A couple of times, Daniel noticed women watching them, but didn't pay much attention to it.
At one point, Danny ran off to look at the shoes while Daniel lingered at a rack of children's pajamas. Danny came back a few minutes later, frowning.
"What's wrong?" Daniel asked.
"A lady came up to me and asked if you were my dad and if you were married."
Daniel's eyebrows rose. "She did? What did you tell her?"
"I told her that you were my dad and that you weren't married."
"That's good."
"Then she wrote down her phone number and told me to give it to you."
Daniel gaped at the child. "S-she did?"
"Yeah. She said to tell you to call her."
"Uhhhh. . . ." Daniel was now at a loss for words.
Danny frowned more severely. "I didn't like her, so I tore it up when she wasn't looking."
It took a lot for Daniel not to burst into laughter. "That was probably a good decision." He didn't think he'd be interested in a woman who hit on him through a child.
"I like Sam a lot better," Danny added, which succeeded in dousing Daniel's humor. He was still worried about her, knowing that the race she'd be participating in was dangerous. He was trying not to think about it.
He went over to the shoe department with Danny, and they got a second pair of sneakers for the boy. These had lights in the heels that lit up when you walked, which pleased Danny, who, of course, had never seen anything like it before.
At the department store, Daniel also got some toys, books and drawing things for Danny. After getting some lunch at McDonald's, the next stop was the grocery store, where Daniel got an education on what kids liked and didn't like . . . and how unhappy they could get when you got something for them to eat that they didn't like. He had to stand firm on some things, determined to give Danny a relatively healthy diet, including the detested vegetables.
"Trust me, Danny. When you grow up, you'll like broccoli," Daniel stated as they wheeled the shopping cart to the car.
"How do you know?" the boy asked a bit petulantly.
The archeologist looked at him. "Because I like broccoli."
"But I thought you said that I might not like everything you do when I grow up."
Daniel thought about that before answering. Would Danny develop different likes and dislikes in food? "I'm not sure of that applies to food, Danny. You have the same taste buds as me. I guess we'll see. I don't think I liked broccoli at your age, either."
"But you're going to make me eat it anyway."
"Yep, just like Mom and Dad did." He looked down at his clone again. "I'll tell you what. I'll make a cheese sauce for the broccoli. Broccoli with cheese sauce tastes great."
Danny looked unconvinced, but didn't complain anymore.
The last stop was the video store, where they picked up enough movies to last several days. Once the groceries and clothes were put away, Daniel began the task of teaching Danny about today's technology and the history of the past thirty years. For now, he would focus on the more important historical events. Though the Internet was great for this, he knew that he was going to have to pick up some history books as well.
Telling Danny about the events of 9/11 wasn't easy. Though he had already been aware of what terrorism was, such brutal acts on that great a scale terrified the boy, as it did virtually every other child in America when the attack happened.
"Could terrorists come here and blow up buildings?" Danny asked.
"Well, they could, but I doubt that they'd be interested in blowing up buildings in Colorado Springs." Daniel did not add that Peterson Air Force Base right outside the city and NORAD, which sat right above the SGC, would be prime targets for terrorists.
Deciding that they'd had enough lessons for the day, Daniel played a DVD, which Danny insisted be one of the Indiana Jones movies. Daniel, worried that the graphic content of Raiders of the Lost Ark would scare the boy and cause nightmares, warned him ahead of time. As it turned out, Danny was more interested finding out how they made all the "gross stuff" look so real when it was only make believe. He also commented on how all the bodies in the Well of Souls should be just bare skeletons since the chamber had apparently been exposed to the air all those thousands of years and would have lots of bugs in it. Daniel smiled at that comment, which was the very thought he had when he first saw the movie. Daniel, in turn, pointed out the inaccuracy that a small bag of sand would weigh as much as an idol made of gold, which Danny agreed with, having actually handled real gold artifacts and knowing how heavy they were.
As promised, the broccoli they had with dinner that night was topped with cheese sauce. Danny decided that he liked it and ate it all without Daniel having to tell him to do so.
After dinner, they watched another movie, a Disney cartoon to discourage nightmares.
As Daniel tucked Danny in that night, the boy asked when they would start looking for a new house.
"Well, I was thinking that I'd look at the newspaper tomorrow to see what's listed there," Daniel replied. "It might take a while to find the right place, though."
"When we get a new house, are you going to put the creepy masks in your bedroom?"
Daniel grinned. "Oh, I suppose not. I don't need them to keep me company anymore. I have you now. And you're much better company than they ever were."
Once Danny had fallen asleep, Daniel checked his email and went through the pile of mail sitting on the counter. To his delight, there was a letter from Catherine Langford. After reading it, he decided to give her a call.
"Daniel! How wonderful to hear from you. It's been way too long since we talked last. How have you been?"
The last time they'd talked – and seen each other – was after Daniel had descended and recovered a good portion of his memories. He'd found out from his teammates that they told Catherine the truth about what happened to him, figuring that she deserved to know what had become of the man she looked upon as a son. Catherine had cried over the phone when Daniel called her and insisted on seeing him as soon as possible. They spent several days together a few months ago.
"I've been good," Daniel replied. "Busy, as usual."
"Yes, you're always busy in that place. Any exciting new discoveries?" When Daniel didn't answer immediately, Catherine sensed that something was up. "What's wrong?"
"Well, I've got some news. A couple of weeks ago, we went to a planet called Cedarna." Daniel proceeded to tell the woman about the inhabitants' problem with reproduction and the reason for it.
"So, they'll be able to recover from this?" Catherine asked.
"Yes, especially since they agreed to the donations from sperm banks." Daniel paused. "There's a reason why I've told you about this. We found out that, to keep from dying out, the people had been making clones using a machine left by a race that was apparently on the planet before they got there."
"Clones? Incredible."
"The Cedarnans were going to other planets and getting DNA samples from people without their knowledge. They . . . they got one from me, too."
"Oh no. Daniel, are you saying that these people made a clone of you?"
"Yeah. But there's more. The clones were made to mature rapidly, but this machine didn't do it completely. The clones were all children when they came out . . . including mine. He's here, Catherine, with me."
There was a moment of silence. "Your clone is living with you?"
"Yes. He's eight years old and has all the memories I did at that age."
"Oh my word. That's remarkable. Does he know what he is?"
"Yes, we had no choice but to tell him."
"That poor child."
"He's doing pretty well." Daniel paused. "It's . . . been an amazing experience, Catherine, having a child in my life and learning how to be a father. Danny is a fantastic kid. Uhhh . . . does that sound conceited?"
Catherine laughed. "Not at all. Oh, I'm dying to meet him. You'll have to bring him out here one of these days."
"Yes, I will. I'm sure he'll love you."
"I never had children or grandchildren, you know. I've cared for my sister's and brother's kids and grandkids, though, and it's always a joy to have the little ones in the house."
Daniel said goodbye to the woman a short while later, then went off to bed, his thoughts on what the next day would bring.
Daniel was at the dining room table with a cup of coffee and the morning paper when Danny got up. Up until then, the boy had been taking baths, but Daniel decided this would be a good time to teach him how to take a shower. Danny came to the conclusion that he liked showers better than baths.
As Danny showered and got dressed, Daniel fixed breakfast. After the meal was finished and the dishes rinsed, Daniel returned to the paper, this time with Danny beside him. They looked at the listings for houses together.
"This one sounds promising," Daniel said, pointing at one. "It's got three bedrooms, a large yard, and is in a pretty good part of town."
"How come we need three bedrooms when there's only two of us?" Danny asked.
"So that we have a guest room in case we have company that stays overnight."
There were a total of six houses listed in the paper that Daniel decided they should take a look at. Of those six, he and Danny eliminated three by just looking at the outside of the houses and the neighborhoods they were in. A fourth was taken off the list once they took a peek in the windows and saw the tiny bedrooms. The remaining two were still occupied, so they couldn't look inside. Daniel decided that he'd call and make arrangements to view the inside. He then called a real estate office and spoke to a woman who said that she'd put together a list of houses that fit his criteria, asking if he'd be able to go look at some of them on Monday.
"Sure, that would be fine. I'm on leave right now, so my time is free."
"On leave? Are you in the service?"
"No, I'm a civilian, but I work in Cheyenne Mountain."
"Ah, okay. You know, thinking about, I actually do know of a couple places off the top of my head that might work for you. Would you like to take a look at them today? My schedule is free in the afternoon."
"All right. I'll have my son with me, if that's all right."
"No problem."
That afternoon, Daniel and Danny went to the realtor and met with Megan Radcliff, who drove them to the first house. As the adults walked through the inside, Danny ran out into the backyard.
"Your son looks just like you, Doctor Jackson," Megan remarked.
"Yes, that's what everyone says."
"And his mother?"
Daniel paused. Okay, here would be the first time he'd use the 'cover story'. "She passed away a few weeks ago."
"Oh no. I'm terribly sorry."
"She and I got divorced when Danny was little, and she had custody. I visited him regularly, but we're still adjusting to him living with me."
"That must be very difficult for both of you."
"Sometimes, but we're doing all right."
Danny came running in. "There's a swing in the backyard," he announced.
"That's nice. How about if we take a look at the bedrooms?"
Though the master bedroom was large, the two others were quite small, which Daniel didn't like. The bedroom he had now wasn't very big, so he knew from experience how aggravating it could be to have a bedroom that was too small. He hoped that the house he bought would be one that he and Danny would live in for years to come, and he wanted Danny's bedroom to be one in which a teenager would be comfortable. That made him start to think about how it was going to be when Danny was that old, but he quickly pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. He had too much to think about already.
The other house they looked at had bedrooms that were a bit bigger, but the backyard, instead of being grass, was a perfectly manicured garden, not someplace in which a child could really play. Of course, the yard could be changed, but that was a task and expense that Daniel didn't want to undertake unless he had no choice.
They returned to the real estate office, and Megan said goodbye to them till Monday.
On Sunday, Daniel took Danny to the Garden of the Gods, which the boy found quite impressive. That afternoon they spent at the park, Danny having fun in the playground.
On Monday, the search for a new home continued. By the time they called it quits for the day, Danny was getting worn out and a little cranky, tired of driving from house to house. That evening, Daniel called Janet to find out if, by chance, she'd be off-duty tomorrow and could watch Danny so that the boy wouldn't have to be dragged out on another day of house hunting. Unfortunately, Janet had to work. However, when Daniel called General Hammond to see if anyone else at the SGC was going to be off and could babysit the boy, the general said that he could take the day off himself.
"Who would take command of the base, sir?" Daniel asked. "Jack usually does when you're off-duty."
"Colonel Reynolds is not on a mission. I'm sure he'll have no trouble taking care of things for the day. I was actually already considering taking the day off. My daughter and son-in-law want to go to a concert in Denver tomorrow and would like to make a day of it. Normally, Tessa could watch her little sister, but Kate and Gary most likely won't be back until well after midnight, and they didn't want the two girls to be in the house alone at night. Watching Danny gives me an additional reason to take the day off. I'm sure he'll have fun with Kayla and Tessa, although Tessa will most likely mother him to death."
Daniel smiled. "All right, sir. That would be great, and I know that Danny would love spending time with you."
"Then it's all settled. What time can we expect you?"
"Would 8:30 be okay? That would allow me a little time to hang around and make sure Danny's going to be all right."
"That will be fine. We'll see you then."
Danny loved the idea of spending the day with Hammond, although he was a little unsure about meeting the man's granddaughters.
Shortly before Daniel and Danny were due to arrive, General Hammond sat down with Kayla and Tessa to explain things to them.
"A friend of mine is going to be bringing his son, Danny, over. He needs somebody to babysit Danny for a few hours, and I told him that I could do it."
"How old is he?" Kayla asked.
"He's eight."
"Is he a big brat? Monica's little brother is eight, and he's a pain."
"Kayla Lynn, you shouldn't talk like that," Hammond scolded. "Danny is a very nice boy. I know that you'll like him. There's something that you need to know, though, so that you don't ask certain questions. Danny lost his mother just a few weeks ago, and he's still very sad about it."
"She died?" Tessa asked, her mothering instinct immediately rising to the fore over the little boy.
"Yes. So, I don't want you to ask any questions about his family, all right? It'll just upset him."
"All right," the two girls said at the same time.
At 8:30, Daniel and Danny pulled up into General Hammond's driveway. Hammond and his granddaughters came out to greet them. Danny, a little shy, stayed close to Daniel as the general introduced the girls.
"Would you like to go play in the yard?" Tessa asked. "We've got swings and stuff back there."
Danny looked up at Daniel with uncertainty and a little trepidation.
"It's okay, Danny," the archeologist said, giving him an encouraging smile. "I'll be with General Hammond in the house for a while. I'll come out and say goodbye before I leave."
Tessa grabbed hold of Danny's hand and fairly dragged him into the backyard as Daniel and Hammond went into the house. The two men watched through the sliding glass doors as the girls started playing with Danny, who seemed a little unsure, but climbed onto a swing as Kayla got on the other one. Tessa took up position behind Danny and started pushing him, which clearly surprised the boy.
"How has he been adapting to living off the base?" Hammond asked Daniel.
"Pretty well, sir. He was upset about not seeing everybody every day, but he's adjusting all right."
The general turned to the archeologist. "We're off-base and off-duty, Daniel. I think it's all right for you to call me 'George'."
Daniel smiled slight. "Sorry, sir . . . I mean, George."
"Have you had your coffee yet this morning?"
"Yes, but I wouldn't say no to a second cup."
The general poured Daniel a cup, and the two men sat where they could watch the kids play.
"Has there been any word from Jack, Sam and Teal'c?" the archeologist asked.
"No, but we really didn't expect there to be. Their orders were only to contact us if they needed help, and the earliest we can expect them back is Friday."
Daniel nodded.
"You're concerned about them," Hammond guessed.
The archeologist shrugged. "This is the first time that I haven't gone with them on a mission since I returned. Before I left, the last time I didn't join them on a mission was when I was on that archeological expedition, and they ended up going off to Juna to meet with their robot doubles and nearly all got killed."
Hammond said nothing for a short while. "Have you given any thought on what you will do once you return from leave?"
Daniel looked down into his coffee. "Yes, I have, a lot, actually, and, to be honest, I still don't know what I'm going to do. I know that, for Danny's sake, I should transfer off SG-1 and stay on base. My life wouldn't be in as great a risk, and I'd have more regular hours."
"But your heart is with SG-1 and going through the Stargate," the general surmised.
"A big part of it is, but another part of it is with Danny. He needs me. I don't know what it would do to him if he lost me, too."
"I can understand how difficult this decision would be. Whatever you decide to do, I will support you one hundred percent, Daniel."
The archeologist gave him a little smile. "Thank you, sir . . . George. I appreciate that."
A few minutes before he had to leave, Daniel went into the backyard to say goodbye to Danny.
"I need to get going now. Will you be okay?"
Danny nodded. "We're going to play in the sandbox, and I told them that I'd show them how to make the Giza Pyramids."
"That sounds like fun." Daniel gave the boy a hug. "I'll be back in a few hours."
After Daniel left, Danny, Kayla and Tessa went to the sandbox with a bucket of water, and the boy began sculpting the wet sand into the three pyramids of the Giza Plateau, trying to remember the positioning and difference in the proportions of each one. As he finished, he knew he didn't have it quite right, but decided that it was close enough.
"That one is Khufu's," he said, pointing to the largest pyramid. He gestured at the second largest one next. "That one's Khafre's, and the littlest one is Menkaure's pyramid."
"How do you know all that?" Kayla asked. "What grade are you in?"
"Fourth."
"But you're only eight! How can you be in fourth grade?"
Danny made himself a little smaller. "B-because schoolwork for my age was too easy. Mom and Dad said that most kids my age don't know the things I do and can't speak six languages."
"You can speak six languages?" Tessa asked in amazement.
Danny nodded.
"Which ones?"
"English, Arabic, French, German, Spanish, and Greek. I've started learning Italian, too, but I don't know a lot of it yet. And I can read Hieratic, which is the regular, everyday writing the ancient Egyptians used, and I know a lot of hieroglyphic symbols. I'm learning Akkadian and Sumerian cuneiform, too."
"You're making all that up," Kayla said, frowning.
"I am not," Danny said defiantly.
"Then prove it."
Danny stuck out his chin, and proceeded to rattle off sentences in each of the five foreign languages he knew. He then wrote some symbols in the sand that looked like a bunch of squiggles to the two girls, saying that it was Hieratic and translating it for them. After that, he did some hieroglyphs, which Tessa did recognize, though she didn't know their meaning. Then came some cuneiform, both Akkadian and Sumerian.
At that moment, General Hammond came out. "And what are you three up to?"
Tessa looked up at him. "Danny can speak six languages, and he wrote words in languages that I've never heard of, except for hieroglyphs."
General Hammond gave a little chuckle. He smiled down at Danny. "Showing off a little, Danny?"
The boy's gaze fell to the sand. "No," he mumbled. "Kayla didn't believe me when I told her I could."
"He's in fourth grade," Kayla said. "I didn't learn all that stuff in fourth grade."
"No, I should imagine that most kids don't, Kayla. Danny, do you feel like explaining how you know all those things?"
"My . . . my mom and dad were archeologists, and my mom was a linguist, which is somebody who studies languages. We went on a lot of digs in Egypt and other places. Mom and Dad taught me lots of things that they knew."
"I thought that man who brought you was your dad, and that only your mom was dead," Tessa said, having caught Danny referring to both parents in the past tense.
Danny got scared, realizing he'd made a mistake. Wide-eyed, he stammered, "H-h-he is. S-s-s-she is." He scrambled to his feet and ran away into the house.
Realizing what she'd done, Tessa said, "I'm sorry, Grandpa. I didn't mean to upset him."
"I know you didn't, Tessa. This is my fault. I'll go see to him. You and Kayla stay out here."
General Hammond went into the house and started looking for the boy. "Danny? Danny, where are you? It's all right, Son. Nobody's mad at you."
Not getting an answer, Hammond kept looking and finally found Danny hiding in a corner in the living room, behind a chair. Moving the chair out of the way, he knelt beside the child, who was crying.
"Danny, don't cry. It's all right."
"I m-messed all up," Danny sobbed. "Daniel's supposed to be m-my daddy, but I messed it all up. Daniel's going to be dis-disappointed in me."
Feeling his heart crack open a little, Hammond lifted the boy up and sat with him on the chair, Danny in his lap.
"Daniel is not going to be disappointed in you, Danny. I promise. You only made a little mistake, and it's my fault that you did. I shouldn't have asked you to explain to Tessa and Kayla how you know those things. I'm very sorry about that."
"Tessa and Kayla are going to know the secret now," Danny said in a muted tone.
"No, I don't think they will, Danny. If they ask, I'll just explain that you used the wrong words because of being upset about your mother. It will be all right. You'll see." He lifted the boy's face and wiped the tears away. "Now, dry your eyes. Tessa's very sad that she made you upset, and I'm sure she'd like to apologize."
"I don't want to go back out there."
"All right. How about if they come in here? We can do some things in the house for a while."
It took a while for Danny to give Hammond a nod, but he finally did. The general left Danny on the chair and went to get his granddaughters.
"Is Danny okay?" the elder girl asked.
"He's still a little upset, but I think he'll be all right."
"I'm sorry, too, Grandpa," Kayla said. "I didn't want to upset him."
"I know, sweetheart."
"Is he going to come back out?"
"No, he doesn't feel like it right now. I think that you should all play inside for a while. Just be very gentle with him, all right? He is still hurting a lot over his mother's death."
"We will, Grandpa," Tessa promised.
Hammond and the girls went inside. Danny's gaze was focused on his lap, his arms wrapped about himself in a way that the general recalled the elder Daniel occasionally doing during those first few years at the SGC.
Tessa and Kayla walked up to him.
"I'm sorry I made you sad, Danny," the older girl said. "I didn't mean to."
"And I'm sorry I didn't believe you when you said you knew all those things," Kayla told him. "I didn't know that anybody could be that smart."
"Won't you come play with us again?" Tessa asked. She wanted to give the little boy a hug, but she didn't know if she should.
"I don't want to go outside," Danny mumbled, eyes still cast downward.
"That's okay. We can play in here. We've got lots of toys. We'll play anything you want to."
"Or how about some TV?" Hammond suggested, thinking that Danny might be more comfortable with that.
"Can we watch The Little Mermaid?" Kayla asked him excitedly.
Hammond smiled, not surprised by the question. It was her favorite movie. "Ask Danny if that would be okay."
"Is that okay, Danny? Have you ever seen it?"
The boy shook his head.
"Oh, you'll love it! It's my very favorite."
Tessa, who had suffered through watching the movie at least a million times, wasn't thrilled about seeing it again, but didn't say anything, hoping the cartoon would cheer Danny up.
The boy watched the first part of the movie in silence, slowly becoming interested in the story. They were about twenty minutes into it when he said in a very soft voice, "Some people think that the mermaid legend came from the manatee or the dugong."
"What are those?" Kayla asked, her attention briefly drawn away from the cartoon.
"Sea cows. They kinda look a little like walruses, except they don't have tusks."
"But mermaids look like girls with fish tails."
"Some scientists think that sailors made up the stories about mermaids after they saw sea cows."
"How do you know all these things?" Tessa asked.
Danny shrugged. "Mom and Dad told me lots of things, and I learned stuff from other people, too. I like learning things about history and mythology."
"History is boring," Kayla stated.
Danny shook his head. "No, it's not. There's lots of cool things that happened a long time ago."
"Like what?"
"Like . . . like the Egyptians figuring out how to make the pyramids with blocks that weigh thousands and thousands of pound when they didn't have cranes or anything like that to lift them up."
General Hammond smiled slightly. Apparently, Daniel hadn't explained to the boy that the ancient Egyptians had some otherworldly help in building the pyramids.
"So, how did they do it?" Tessa asked. She had actually studied this a little in school, but she wanted to see how much Danny knew.
It turned out that the boy knew quite a lot and explained the different terrestrial theories on how the pyramids were built. He didn't say anything about the theory that aliens helped, because he didn't think he should talk about aliens since they really did exist. Maybe aliens did help make the pyramids. He'd have to ask Daniel.
"Wow. You really are smart," Kayla said, which made Danny duck his head shyly.
They went back to watching the movie. After it was finished, they had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch.
Danny was back to feeling mostly at ease with the two girls, though he was very careful not to say anything about his mom and dad, not wanting to mess up again. But, even though he was now enjoying himself again, he missed Daniel and wanted him to come back soon.
