Only Child Syndrome
Only Child Syndrome
by danjanshippyqueen
Title: Only Child Syndrome
Author: danjanshippyqueen
Email: danjanshippyqueen@hotmail.com
Category: none
Season: Season 4
Pairing: Daniel/Janet
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Summary: Cassie has attitude
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
It kinda annoys me that in most fics, Cassie's completely fine with her mom having a boyfriend, getting married etc, so, here we go, one where she's not.
"Mom, I'm home." Cassie said dropping her bags in the hall. "Mom?" She called again into the silence. Knowing that her mother was in the house, she set out to find her. She quietly went up the stairs, aware of the fact that it was early and that her mother could still be asleep. She gently opened the door to Janet's bedroom, quietly calling her, "Mom." She saw her mother slowly stirring. Janet rolled over, slowly opening her eyes,
"Cass?"
"Hey, I just wanted to let you know I was ba-" She stopped as she saw something stir behind her mother. "Daniel?"
"Shit!" Janet cried out as she remembered that she wasn't alone in the bed.
"Aaagh!" Daniel exclaimed as he was woken by the cries, self-consciously pulling the duvet over his chest.
Cassie began backing away from the scene in front of her,
"I'm just going to go back downstairs......." She said trailing off each word. She spun round, "And try to erase this from my memory." She said under her breath. But whether or not she intended them to, both Janet and Daniel heard her comment. As soon as she had closed the door, Janet rolled back over to face Daniel a large grin spreading across her face. Daniel couldn't help but reflect the grin, they both fell into a fit of hysterics. Eventually, their laughing subsided and Janet got serious.
"You think she's ok?"
"I guess, I mean she didn't seem to upset." She began laughing again as he answered. "What?" She just kept laughing, "What?"
"You." She said pointing. "Clutching the duvet over your chest." She dissolved into giggles again. "You're a guy." She laughed again. He had the good grace to look a little insulted, before laughing along with her.
Janet was awoken from her half-sleeping state by the sound of the TV blaring down-stairs. She groaned, rolling over to see Daniel still asleep. She decided now was as good a time as any to talk to her daughter. Pulling on a pair of sweat pants and a comfortable top, she headed downstairs. She found Cassie in the living room, staring at the TV, which was turned up far too loudly.
"Cass, turn that down a sec honey I wanna talk to you." There was no answer, "Cass?"
"What?"
"Turn that down!" Doing as she was told, she looked at her mother expectantly.
"What?"
"Umm, about what you.....saw.....upstairs. You......are you ok with this?" Janet asked nervously, pausing a lot to search for the right words. Cassie just looked at her, with an amused look on her face.
"Mom, it's ok. You and Daniel are doing it, so what?" Janet laughed at the innocent of her statement, beside the content.
"Sweetie, we're not just, as you so eloquently put it "doing it", Daniel and I are seeing each other." She said stressing the seeing part of the sentence.
"As in dating?" She said nodding.
"No, as in......engaged." She eventually said.
"Engaged!" Cassie exclaimed.
"Yeah, sweetie, are you still ok with this?" There was a long pause as Cassie sat looking completely shell-shocked at the news,
"Umm, yeah, I'm fine." Another pause. "Why didn't you say anything before, I mean how long have you been seeing each other, how long have you been engaged, when are you gonna get married?" All the questions in Cassie's mind came spilling out.
"Whoa, whoa, one at a time."
"Ok, how.......when did you start dating?"
"I dunno exactly. It just sort of happened." Cassie was still wanting a bit more information than that, and it was evident from the way she was looking at her mother. "While you were sick, Daniel helped me, a lot."
"Helped you?" Cassie asked, not really understanding what she was being told.
"Yeah." Janet hesitated, knowing that Cassie wanted her to continue, "I was..........upset."
"Why?"
"I know you were convinced that what was happening was a good thing, but we thought you were......" She trailed off, not wanting to let her daughter know just how close it had been.
"You thought I was going to die." She finished for her. Janet smiled, realising how resilient her daughter was.
"Yes."
"Mom, it's ok. You don't have to explain it all to me, I get it." Janet laughed,
"Yeah, I guess you do." Janet stood up, kissing Cassie on the head. "I'm going back to bed."
"Would you like me to go out again?" She asked teasing her mother. Janet glared at her daughter before exiting the room.
"Hey Cass!" Tara said as Cassie sat down at the lunch table.
"Hey." Cassie replied.
"What's up with you?" Tara asked, seeing the unhappy look on her best friends' face.
"Nothing." Cassie answered dejectedly. Tara raised her eyebrows sceptically. "It's my mom."
"You guys fighting again?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"I walked in on her and her boyfriend yesterday." She said quietly not wanting anyone to overhear. Tara looked slightly disgusted.
"Were they......?"
"No!" She said quickly. "He was just in her bed."
"So what's the problem?" Tara asked, not quite understanding what Cassie was so unhappy about.
"All yesterday when they FINALLY got up they were all over each other." She said obviously unhappy with such actions.
"I'm still not seeing the problem here." Tara said completely confused by Cassie's attitude.
"It was horrible, I mean she was like sitting on his lap and stuff. It was sickening." Cassie said, her face screwed up in disgust.
"Cassie, she must have dated guys before."
"Yeah, but she's never got beyond the first date." Cass replied matter-of-factly.
"You must have known this could happen. I mean, she's still young. You can't honestly say you thought she was going to stay single for the rest of her life." Tara said.
"That's not the point." Cassie said angrily.
"Then what is?"
"You wouldn't get it." Cassie said storming off leaving her uneaten lunch and confused friend behind.
"Cassie, can you give me a hand?" Janet called into the house, struggling to carry in groceries. Cassie took some of the bags from mother and took them into the kitchen. "Thanks." Janet said joining Cassie in the kitchen. "What's wrong?" she asked, getting concerned about the fact that she been in the house for more than thirty seconds and her daughter had yet to say a word. "Cassie?"
"What?" Cassie answered annoyed.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing."
"Fine, you don't wanna tell me about it, that's fine. Have you had your dinner yet?"
"No." She said sharply. "I was waiting for you."
"Well, I'm going out, so fix yourself something." Janet said callously, getting annoyed by her daughters attitude.
"Are you going out with Daniel?" She said disdainfully.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I am. Do you have a problem with that?"
"No." She said unconvincingly.
"Put these groceries away for me please." Janet said before turning and going upstairs.
Janet came down five minutes later, dressed to go out. Cassie was sitting on the couch, the groceries were still lying in the kitchen, not put away. Janet saw this as she was putting her earrings in.
"I thought I told you to put those away." She asked getting quite annoyed now,
"You did." She answered watching the TV.
"So why haven't you?" she asked angrily,
"You're not my mom, why should I do what you say?" She spat back. Janet sighed,
"Cassie, I don't have time for this right now. I'm gonna be late." She said dejectedly, upset at the way the conversation was going,
"Oh yeah, you wouldn't wanna be late for Daniel."
"You know what Cassie, I'm not gonna do this with you right now. Just put the damn groceries away!" She said angrily. She quickly grabbed her purse and her jacket and left the house.
"Hey sweetie." Daniel greeted Janet with a kiss as he opened the door to his apartment,
"Hey." She said smiling half-heartedly.
"What's up, I got bad breath?" He joked,
"No." Janet laughed,
"Then what?"
"It's nothing, it's just Cassie." She said, trying to keep herself from getting angry again.
"What?"
"It's nothing, I'd rather not talk about it."
"Come here." He said sitting down on the sofa. She slumped down next to him, curling her legs underneath her, he put his arm around her and she rested her head on his chest. "Now, tell me what's up."
"It's nothing, she's just acting up bit. I don't wanna put a damper on tonight." She said snuggling closer to him.
"Ok, if you don't wanna talk about it." He said going to stand up. She quickly grabbed his hand.
"Sorry." She smiled. "This is starting to sound like the conversation I had with Cassie tonight." He sat back down, getting comfortable again.
"What happened?"
"I don't even know. I can't have been in the house for more than fifteen minutes, she just started making snide comments about us." She said taking hold of his hand.
"I thought you said she was ok was us."
"I thought she was. But I'm not so sure."
"What did she say?"
"It's not exactly what she said, it was just the way she said it. She started with the 'your not my real mom' stuff again." She said sadly.
"You ok?" He asked tightening his hold around her a little. She nodded. "Really?"
"Yeah." She said unconvincingly.
"Don't even try to lie to me, I know how much it hurts you when she says that." He said trying to get her to open up.
"It's ok, I'm getting used to it." She said, trying to laugh it off. "Do you smell something burning?"
"Oh, shit it's the lasagne." He said jumping up and running into the kitchen. Janet followed him and few seconds later and entered the room to see him standing holding the charred remains of the meal he'd cooked. "I guess it's Chinese again." He laughed.
"Sorry." She grimaced.
"It's not your fault." He laughed,
"If I hadn't been whining......."
"You weren't whining, you were sharing your problems with your caring and sensitive fianc." He said jokingly. They both laughed,
"Well aren't I the lucky one." She said putting her arms around his waist.
"I guess you are." He said, lowering his head to kiss her. "And I suppose that makes me a very," another kiss, "very lucky man." He said before kissing her again. She just laughed at him.
"Call for the food." She said smiling. She returned to the couch, while Daniel stayed in the kitchen to call the delivery place. He didn't even need to ask what she wanted, he knew fine well what it would be. He went back to the living room to find her on the couch much as she had been before. Her legs were curled up beneath her again, but she was rubbing he neck.
"The food in be here in about thirty minutes." He said sitting down.
"Great." She answered, still rubbing her neck,
"Is your neck bothering you again?" He asked concerned.
"Yeah, just a little." She replied,
"Is it bad?"
"No worse than usual." She said still smiling.
"Here, let me." He said as he sat behind her. He began to massage her neck.
"Hmmm, that's nice."
"Janet?"
"Mhmm."
"Do you think we should tell the others about us?"
"What's brought this on?" She asked turning to face him.
"I dunno, this stuff with Cassie I guess. I mean, Sam could maybe help."
"I guess, Cassie listens to her."
"Oh god sorry, I didn't mean that the way it sounded." He tried to back peddle, realising what his statement must have sounded like.
"It's ok, it's true. She listens to Sam and not me." She said sadly,
"I didn't mean that."
"It's the truth."
"Is it?"
"We all know it."
"You still haven't answered my question."
"Yes."
"Yes you still haven't answered or yes you want to tell them?"
"Yes I think we should tell them. I mean we're going to have to sometime. I'm shocked we've been able to keep it a secret this long."
"Well we have had or moments." He said laughing,
"That wasn't funny, I thought Jack was never going to leave and that bathroom of yours is freezing." She complained,
"I know, I remember you were like a Popsicle when you came out. I also remember how I warmed you up." He said seductively. She laughed,
"At least wait until after dinner."
"Fine." He said laughing along with her.
"Hey Tara, it's me."
"Oh, hey." Tara replied unenthusiastically.
"Listen, I'm sorry about lunch today. I was totally out of line." Cassie said trying to make up for her behaviour,
"It's ok, it doesn't matter, lets just forget about it." Tara said in a more upbeat tone.
"Thanks."
"It's ok, so what are you up to?"
"Oh you know, nothing much, Janet's gone out again."
"Oh, I take it you have fallen out now then."
"What makes you say that?"
"You only call her Janet when you're having an argument. So what did you do this time?"
"Nothing, she was just a total bitch from the minute she came in tonight, she was totally ordering me around, like put the groceries away, blah, blah. And I was trying to watch the TV, and I was gonna put the groceries away at the commercial and then she came down before it and was all 'I told you to put those away', I mean, like she can order me around, specially in a slutty outfit like the one she was wearing." Cassie eventually finished, having gone on for quite a while,
"What was she wearing?" Tara was curious.
"Like that tightest pants ever, and a really low cut top. It was so embarrassing."
"Why? I mean I could see it would be embarrassing if it was my mom, 'cause she's like really old and fat, but your mom's not."
"You're missing the point."
"Sorry." She apologised but still thinking she was right. The conversation continued on much the same for just over an hour, Cassie just kept moaning about her mother and her various flaws and Tara found it easier to just agree. Eventually, Tara made up some excuse about still having homework to do and made a hasty escape from the conversation.
"I better go." Janet said reluctantly pulling out of Daniel's embrace and standing up from the couch.
"Do you have to?" Daniel asked in a whiny voice.
"Yes!" She laughed at him, "I've got to get back for Cassie." She said in a more serious tone.
"She'll be alright for one night."
"Daniel don't tempt me. I really have to get back." She said grabbing her coat and heading towards the door.
"I know. But you'd be offended if I didn't try to keep you hear." He said as he followed her towards the door.
"Oh, so you're just trying to keep me sweet." She said turning back towards him.
"As if." He pretended to be offended.
"Yeah right." She joked.
She arrived home about forty-five minutes later, the traffic being unusually busy for that time of night. She was surprised to find the house in darkness. Janet was surprised to find Cassie was already in bed. This fact kinda thwarted her plans to have a talk with her. She tiredly headed to her bedroom, resolving to talk to Cassie in the morning.
Janet woke up the next morning to an eerily quiet house. She got up to find Cassie had already left. Just as she had reached that conclusion, the doorbell rang, she opened it to reveal an over cheery Daniel.
"Nice PJ's." He said as she opened the door. She just growled at him, still extremely pissed off at Cassie's disappearing act. "What's up?" He asked,
"Cassie." She said angrily,
"Oh."
"It doesn't matter, I'll sort her out." She said storming through the house, he followed her through, closing the door behind him.
"Ok, ok. Calm down." He said soothingly.
"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN DANIEL!" She shouted angrily, he stood completely still, not entirely sure what to say to her when she was in a mood like this. "Sorry." She said softening. "I didn't mean to take it out on you." She apologetically.
"It's ok." He said sincerely,
"No it's not. It's just.....she gets me so damn angry." She said clenching her fists.
"Hey, hey, come here." He said opening his arms to her. "Your so cuddly in your PJ's." he said trying to lighten the mood. She laughed despite her anger. "Do you want to wait until we sort this out with her to tell people?" He asked. She pushed away from him to look up at him.
"No." She said quickly. "No, that's what she wants."
"What?" He asked confused by what she was saying.
"I was thinking about it last night. She's just having attention issues, it's textbook stuff."
"So what are you going to do?"
"Well, if she ever stays in the house long enough. I'm going to talk to her."
"Will that work?"
"I hope so. You should probably be there."
"Me? Why?" He asked in a panicky voice.
"Well, I think you're a big part of her issues, I think the two of you should probably talk. That is, if you want to?" She said unsurely.
"Well if you think it'll help......"
"I do."
"Then I'll talk to her." He said resolutely. He took her in his arms again and they stood like that for quite awhile. Just enjoying the feel of each other. Daniel suddenly jumped, abruptly jumping backwards out of the embrace. "I almost forgot. I get to give you this now." He said excitedly. Janet couldn't help but grin at the excited look on his face. He pulled a small velvet box out of his pocket.
"Daniel?" She asked questioningly.
"Just let me do this properly." He said as he opened the box to reveal a large chunk of Africa on beautifully decorated white gold ring. "Ok, just pretend I haven't already asked you this." He said as he got down on one knee. "Janet Fraiser, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"
"Yes." She said grinning as he stood up, picking her up in his arms and spinning her round. He put her down, they were both still grinning. He took the ring out of the box and put it on her ring finger. It fit perfectly, Daniel having sneakily stole one of her other rings to make sure he got one the right size. Daniel stood staring at her, "What?" She asked, the grin still not leaving her face.
"Nothing, you just have no idea how special you are."
"Quit sucking up." She said jokingly, trying to deflect the attention from herself. "I'd better go get ready." She said running up to her bedroom. She came back down about five minutes later, with her uniform skirt on, her blouse was untucked and missing the tie.
"Hey." He said greeting her. She crossed the room, sitting on his lap.
"Hey yourself." She said picking up the cup of coffee he'd made himself and taking a sip. "You know, I've been thinking. I don't see any point in us waiting."
"To get married?"
"No, to go to work. Of course to get married." She laughed.
"No me neither." He said understanding the serious undertone to what she was saying. Their lives had been in danger countless times, obviously Daniel's more so, but even Janet, who was supposed to safe back at the base had been in mortal danger many times.
Daniel felt the briefing the briefing dragging on and on, he was desperate for it to finish so he could make his announcement. Sam had finally finished her report on solar something or other.
"All right people. You ship out in 2 hours. Dismissed." General Hammond said.
"Ugh, actually, I, we, have something to tell you guys." Daniel said standing up.
"We?" Jack asked questioningly.
"Janet and me. We're engaged." He said excitedly. Jack fell forward off his chair in shock.
"ENGAGED!" He exclaimed standing up. Sam rounded the table, hugging her best friend and then grabbing her hand to take a look at her ring. Jack now slightly recovered from the shock also rounded the table slapping Daniel on the back. Then hugging him as well.
"Congratulations Dr's Jackson and Fraiser." Teal'c said.
"Oh my god, it's huge." Sam exclaimed, everyone turned to look at her. "The ring." She clarified. "I was talking about the ring." Everyone turned back to where they had previously been facing.
"Congratulations both of you." Hammond said shaking Daniel's hand and kissing Janet on the cheek. "I hope you'll both be very happy." He finished his congratulations and headed back into his office with a grin on his face.
"How? I mean, why?" Sam gushed. Daniel put his arm around Janet's shoulder, laughing at Sam's excitement.
"Ugh....well, we've been together a while." Daniel replied.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Jack asked.
"Well, you know, we wanted to see how it went." Daniel answered. Jack smiled, reflecting Daniel's.
"I'm happy for you Danny boy." He grinned, as did Sam and Janet. "You too doc." He said leaning down to kiss her on the cheek.
"Thank you sir." She beamed. The congratulations continued like that for some time.
SG-1 had left on a 24 hour recon. Mission, which Janet figured gave her plenty of time to sort out this issue Cassie seemed to be having with her and Daniel's engagement. She headed home as soon as she had finished work, determined to catch Cassie before she had a chance to leave the house. She got home and wasn't quite sure if she was happy about it or disappointed that she actually had to confront her daughter tonight. She was tired and she didn't know if she could take more of Cassie's 'Your not my real mom' crap tonight, her tether was growing shorter and shorter by the day with her.
She entered the house wearily, mentally preparing herself. Taking of her coat, she the sitting room was empty,
"Cassie." Janet hollered up the stairs. Cassie appeared at the top of the stairs,
"What?" She asked looking at her mother with what could be described as contempt.
"Get down here right now, I want to talk to you." Janet ordered sternly.
"I'm busy." She sneered.
"I don't care, get down here."
"Fine!" She stomped her way down the stairs. "What?"
"Sit down." Janet pointed toward the sofa. Cassie slammed herself down. "I wanna know what your problem is young lady." She asked angrily.
"I don't have a problem." She continued to sneer at her mother.
"Oh please Cassie. Don't even try to lie to me again. You told me you didn't have a problem with mine and Daniel's relationship but it is quite obvious that you do." She said trying to keep her anger in check.
"I don't have a problem." She repeated. Janet glared at her. "Can I go now?"
"No! You can sit there until you decide to tell me what's wrong."
"Screw you I don't have to do what you say, you're not my mother!" She shouted storming back upstairs. Janet just stood looking after her, fists clenched, teeth gritted. She grabbed her coat, putting it on as she stormed out of the house, deciding to go for a drive to try to cool down.
She drove for hours before finally returning home, much calmer than before. Cassie was in her room when she got back, and she stayed there until Janet left for work the next morning.
SG-1 returned home on schedule, Warner handled their posts, which Daniel found strange, Janet nearly always did them herself. As soon as the debrief was done he headed straight to her office.
"Janet?" He cautiously got he attention from the door. Seeing the state she was in he quickly moved inside, rounding her desk and kneeling in front of her, taking he hands in his own. "What's wrong?" She looked to him, eyes filling with tears. "Janet what is it?" He asked panicking at her strange behaviour, it wasn't exactly normal for her to sit in her office close to tears. She began sobbing, he quickly enveloped her in a hug, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "Is it Cassie?" She nodded, her head leaning against his chest. "What did she do?" He asked, Janet pulled away from his embrace, wiping her eyes, embarrassed at her own behaviour.
"It's not all her fault, I'm handling this all wrong." She admitted sadly. He frowned, unsure of what she meant. "I went home to try to sort out what's been going on, but I just......I went about it all wrong. I let myself get angry at her." She admitted guiltily.
"Well, it's understandable." He tried to reassure her, taking her hands again, resuming his kneeling position.
"But it's not what she needs right now Daniel, she needs to know that me being with you isn't going to make me love her any less. Getting angry with her is just making things worse." She said dejectedly.
"Janet you can't help it, the way she acts out some times it's a wonder you've managed to put it with it for so long."
"You don't understand. I can't let myself get angry with her, it'll just make things worse. I just.....I just wanted things to be perfect. I wanted her to be happy for us."
"She'll come around, she just needs time to adjust to the idea of having me around." He tried to sound reassuring, but he knew that it wasn't going to be that easy. She smiled at him sadly, he stood up, gently pulling her up with him, taking her in his arms again. He gently stroked her hair. "Everything's going to be fine, I promise." He soothed.
Later that day, Janet talked to Sam, who that night talked to Cassie, who after a three hour conversation with Sam eventually left her room. She came down stairs to find Janet sitting on the sofa with Daniel, his arm around her and her head lying on his chest. Janet quickly jumped up when she saw Cassie, standing up and walking towards her with her arms open.
"I'm sorry sweetie." Janet said,
"I'm sorry too....... Mom." Cassie replied.
TBC
Oh please, you didn't think I'd make it that easy.
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