Fic: Baby Names
Title: Baby Names
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack, Meriel, Nosy, Twins.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1312
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Jack and Ianto’s twins have arrived, but there’s a slight problem.
Written For: Challenge 423: Amnesty 70 at fan_flashworks, using Challenge 206: Name.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
A/N: Set in the Nosy-Verse.
Gazing at their newborn twins, swaddled in blankets, and snoozing contentedly in their crib, Ianto couldn’t help but smile. Soon enough they’d be awake, demanding to be fed, or changed, or both, but right now they were perfect little angels, one girl and one boy, the latest additions to the Harkness-Jones clan. Barely an hour old, and they’d already completely stolen the hearts of the rest of their family, the way babies had a habit of doing. There was just one problem, and it made him frown as he studied his new son and daughter.
“What’s wrong?” Jack asked, coming back from enjoying a long, hot, luxurious shower. Now that he had his usual body back, he was free to indulge in the everyday pleasures of life without the twins getting in the way, making it impossible for him to bend, or to reach certain areas. “That’s not a deliriously happy new father look.”
“I’m not a new father,” Ianto corrected absent-mindedly, his attention still focused on the twins. “I’ve been a Tad getting on for eight years now.”
“But now you’re Tad to three instead of one. You don’t seem as happy about it as you were when I went for my shower and left you alone with them.”
Ianto could have told Jack he was hardly alone with the babies, not when their older daughter and the family Fluff were also present, but he didn’t want his husband to accuse him of splitting hairs, which he most certainly would have. “It’s not that. Of course I’m happy, they’re wonderful, and I’m so glad they’re finally here.”
“Not as glad as I am. Being pregnant with twins isn’t fun.”
“Granted, I wasn’t the one who had to deal with them kicking hell out of my insides, but I made my own sacrifices.”
“You did, and I’m beyond grateful for the way you took over at the Hub, not to mention putting up with my moods and weird cravings. Especially over the last few months.”
“That’s all part of becoming a parent, and I was at least partially responsible for the condition you were in.”
“Yes you were.” Jack grinned at his husband. “And despite the discomfort, I have no regrets, but judging by the way you’re frowning, I’m not so sure the same can be said about you.”
“No regrets,” Ianto said firmly. “I’m nervous about trying to care for two babies at once, but no matter how difficult it might get, I don’t regret having them. It’s just…” He trailed off, his frown deepening.
“Just what?” Sometimes, as the old Boeshanian simile went, getting the truth out of Ianto was like trying to prise a grellick out of its shell, a frustrating and near impossible task.
“Why does naming babies have to be so hard?”
Jack’s eyebrows shot up; that was unexpected. “I didn’t know it was. Didn’t we already choose their names before they were born?”
“Yes, we did, but be honest, Jack. Does our son look like a Gethin?”
Jack put aside the towel he’d been using to dry his hair and gazed into the crib, looking from one bundled up baby to the other, feeling a sudden and unexpected sense of confusion. “Uh… which is which?” He’d carried them for almost nine months, he ought to be able to tell, but looking at them now, he realised he couldn’t.
“This is what you get for insisting we dress them in the matching outfits you bought. The one with the tuft of hair poking out from under his hat is the boy.”
“Ah, okay.” Jack leaned closer, peering into the tiny, scrunched up face. “No, you’re right; definitely not a Gethin.” He turned his attention to their daughter. “And our baby girl doesn’t look like a Lowri either.”
“See what I mean? Naming babies is hard!” Ianto almost pouted. “We spent months going over names, picking the perfect ones, only to find the ones we picked don’t suit our babies. The same thing happened with Meriel.”
Their oldest daughter, who had been listening intently to the conversation, cut in with a question of her own. “What were you going to call me?”
“Delyth,” both her fathers said at the same time.
Ianto smiled down at her. “As soon as we saw your beautiful blue eyes though, we knew it was totally the wrong name.”
“I’m glad you changed it. I like Meriel much better.”
“So do we,” Ianto agreed, smiling down at her. He turned to look at his newborn daughter. “Delyth doesn’t suit this little one either.”
“Great, so now we have two babies and no names.” Jack sighed. “We can’t just call them baby girl and baby boy for the rest of their lives, or Twin One and Twin Two.”
Ianto chuckled. “Well, we could, but I have a feeling they’d object once they were old enough to understand.”
Jack mock glared at his husband. “Funny guy. Okay, if we’re not going to use the names we picked, we’ll need to come up with new ones. Ideas, anyone?”
“Not Owen, or anything that sounds like it,” Ianto said firmly. “That would get confusing.”
“Good point. No variations on Gwen either, and nothing starting with M because we’ve already got one of those in the family. There are twenty-six letters in the alphabet, plenty to choose from; we don’t need two kids with the same initials.”
“Well, if you’re going to be picky,” Ianto teased.
“I carried them, I get to veto anything I don’t like.”
“Fair enough, as long as Meriel and I can do the same.”
“And Nosy!” Meriel insisted.
Ianto nodded. “And Nosy. It should get a say too.”
The next half an hour was spent going over lists of names, crossing some off, adding others, looking at the twins, and changing their minds yet again.
“They’re not identical, so they shouldn’t have matching names,” Ianto insisted.
“But we don’t want something they’ll have trouble spelling,” Jack added.
More names were discarded.
“J and G are sort of the same, but not,” Meriel said.
“That’s a good idea,” Ianto told his daughter. “One name starting with G and one with J; similar, because they’re twins, but not too much alike.”
“That narrows it down,” Jack agreed.
“The boy is NOT going to be Jack junior.”
“Spoilsport.” Jack grinned. “Okay, G for the boy, and J for the girl.”
“But still not Gethin.” Ianto pulled a face. “I wasn’t keen on that anyway; I only agreed because you liked it so much.”
“Fine, there are plenty of other names starting with G. Griffin, Glyn, Geralt, Gawain, Garth, Gareth…”
“Gareth. Yes, I like that.” Ianto looked at his son. “He could be a Gareth. It means something like ‘gentle’, or ‘civilised’. I’ve come across both definitions.”
“That would give our boy something positive to live up to,” Jack agreed. “What does the rest of the family think?” Jack turned to Meriel and Nosy.
“I like it,” Meriel said. “Nosy?”
“Humm!” Nosy agreed.
“Okay, Gareth it is. Now, what about our baby girl?”
Meriel had her nose in a book of baby names. “Julia, or Jemima… no.” She wrinkled her nose. “Not Jemima, that’s a duck name. What about Jessica? No, Jenna! I like that one.”
“HUM!” Nosy approved the suggestion.
Jack and Ianto looked at each other, then at their youngest, born a few minutes after her twin. She had one eye open, as though wondering if someone had called her name.
“I think she likes it,” Jack said. “Problem solved.”
“Gareth and Jenna Harkness-Jones.” Ianto sat back with a satisfied smile. “That’s much better. It just goes to show what we can achieve when we all work together as a family.”
Jack grinned, lifting his eldest daughter onto his lap, something he hadn’t been able to do in months. “We do make a great team.”
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack, Meriel, Nosy, Twins.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1312
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Jack and Ianto’s twins have arrived, but there’s a slight problem.
Written For: Challenge 423: Amnesty 70 at fan_flashworks, using Challenge 206: Name.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
A/N: Set in the Nosy-Verse.
Gazing at their newborn twins, swaddled in blankets, and snoozing contentedly in their crib, Ianto couldn’t help but smile. Soon enough they’d be awake, demanding to be fed, or changed, or both, but right now they were perfect little angels, one girl and one boy, the latest additions to the Harkness-Jones clan. Barely an hour old, and they’d already completely stolen the hearts of the rest of their family, the way babies had a habit of doing. There was just one problem, and it made him frown as he studied his new son and daughter.
“What’s wrong?” Jack asked, coming back from enjoying a long, hot, luxurious shower. Now that he had his usual body back, he was free to indulge in the everyday pleasures of life without the twins getting in the way, making it impossible for him to bend, or to reach certain areas. “That’s not a deliriously happy new father look.”
“I’m not a new father,” Ianto corrected absent-mindedly, his attention still focused on the twins. “I’ve been a Tad getting on for eight years now.”
“But now you’re Tad to three instead of one. You don’t seem as happy about it as you were when I went for my shower and left you alone with them.”
Ianto could have told Jack he was hardly alone with the babies, not when their older daughter and the family Fluff were also present, but he didn’t want his husband to accuse him of splitting hairs, which he most certainly would have. “It’s not that. Of course I’m happy, they’re wonderful, and I’m so glad they’re finally here.”
“Not as glad as I am. Being pregnant with twins isn’t fun.”
“Granted, I wasn’t the one who had to deal with them kicking hell out of my insides, but I made my own sacrifices.”
“You did, and I’m beyond grateful for the way you took over at the Hub, not to mention putting up with my moods and weird cravings. Especially over the last few months.”
“That’s all part of becoming a parent, and I was at least partially responsible for the condition you were in.”
“Yes you were.” Jack grinned at his husband. “And despite the discomfort, I have no regrets, but judging by the way you’re frowning, I’m not so sure the same can be said about you.”
“No regrets,” Ianto said firmly. “I’m nervous about trying to care for two babies at once, but no matter how difficult it might get, I don’t regret having them. It’s just…” He trailed off, his frown deepening.
“Just what?” Sometimes, as the old Boeshanian simile went, getting the truth out of Ianto was like trying to prise a grellick out of its shell, a frustrating and near impossible task.
“Why does naming babies have to be so hard?”
Jack’s eyebrows shot up; that was unexpected. “I didn’t know it was. Didn’t we already choose their names before they were born?”
“Yes, we did, but be honest, Jack. Does our son look like a Gethin?”
Jack put aside the towel he’d been using to dry his hair and gazed into the crib, looking from one bundled up baby to the other, feeling a sudden and unexpected sense of confusion. “Uh… which is which?” He’d carried them for almost nine months, he ought to be able to tell, but looking at them now, he realised he couldn’t.
“This is what you get for insisting we dress them in the matching outfits you bought. The one with the tuft of hair poking out from under his hat is the boy.”
“Ah, okay.” Jack leaned closer, peering into the tiny, scrunched up face. “No, you’re right; definitely not a Gethin.” He turned his attention to their daughter. “And our baby girl doesn’t look like a Lowri either.”
“See what I mean? Naming babies is hard!” Ianto almost pouted. “We spent months going over names, picking the perfect ones, only to find the ones we picked don’t suit our babies. The same thing happened with Meriel.”
Their oldest daughter, who had been listening intently to the conversation, cut in with a question of her own. “What were you going to call me?”
“Delyth,” both her fathers said at the same time.
Ianto smiled down at her. “As soon as we saw your beautiful blue eyes though, we knew it was totally the wrong name.”
“I’m glad you changed it. I like Meriel much better.”
“So do we,” Ianto agreed, smiling down at her. He turned to look at his newborn daughter. “Delyth doesn’t suit this little one either.”
“Great, so now we have two babies and no names.” Jack sighed. “We can’t just call them baby girl and baby boy for the rest of their lives, or Twin One and Twin Two.”
Ianto chuckled. “Well, we could, but I have a feeling they’d object once they were old enough to understand.”
Jack mock glared at his husband. “Funny guy. Okay, if we’re not going to use the names we picked, we’ll need to come up with new ones. Ideas, anyone?”
“Not Owen, or anything that sounds like it,” Ianto said firmly. “That would get confusing.”
“Good point. No variations on Gwen either, and nothing starting with M because we’ve already got one of those in the family. There are twenty-six letters in the alphabet, plenty to choose from; we don’t need two kids with the same initials.”
“Well, if you’re going to be picky,” Ianto teased.
“I carried them, I get to veto anything I don’t like.”
“Fair enough, as long as Meriel and I can do the same.”
“And Nosy!” Meriel insisted.
Ianto nodded. “And Nosy. It should get a say too.”
The next half an hour was spent going over lists of names, crossing some off, adding others, looking at the twins, and changing their minds yet again.
“They’re not identical, so they shouldn’t have matching names,” Ianto insisted.
“But we don’t want something they’ll have trouble spelling,” Jack added.
More names were discarded.
“J and G are sort of the same, but not,” Meriel said.
“That’s a good idea,” Ianto told his daughter. “One name starting with G and one with J; similar, because they’re twins, but not too much alike.”
“That narrows it down,” Jack agreed.
“The boy is NOT going to be Jack junior.”
“Spoilsport.” Jack grinned. “Okay, G for the boy, and J for the girl.”
“But still not Gethin.” Ianto pulled a face. “I wasn’t keen on that anyway; I only agreed because you liked it so much.”
“Fine, there are plenty of other names starting with G. Griffin, Glyn, Geralt, Gawain, Garth, Gareth…”
“Gareth. Yes, I like that.” Ianto looked at his son. “He could be a Gareth. It means something like ‘gentle’, or ‘civilised’. I’ve come across both definitions.”
“That would give our boy something positive to live up to,” Jack agreed. “What does the rest of the family think?” Jack turned to Meriel and Nosy.
“I like it,” Meriel said. “Nosy?”
“Humm!” Nosy agreed.
“Okay, Gareth it is. Now, what about our baby girl?”
Meriel had her nose in a book of baby names. “Julia, or Jemima… no.” She wrinkled her nose. “Not Jemima, that’s a duck name. What about Jessica? No, Jenna! I like that one.”
“HUM!” Nosy approved the suggestion.
Jack and Ianto looked at each other, then at their youngest, born a few minutes after her twin. She had one eye open, as though wondering if someone had called her name.
“I think she likes it,” Jack said. “Problem solved.”
“Gareth and Jenna Harkness-Jones.” Ianto sat back with a satisfied smile. “That’s much better. It just goes to show what we can achieve when we all work together as a family.”
Jack grinned, lifting his eldest daughter onto his lap, something he hadn’t been able to do in months. “We do make a great team.”
The End