Fic: As Long As I Have (8/?)
Title: As Long As I Have (8/?)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Huge spoilers for Children of Earth, all Days.
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood. Anything you recognise is the property of the BBC.
Summary: Children of Earth fix it fic, starting from Day Five.
Author's Notes: Massive thanks to nipplemuggins* & pabzi for beta-ing. Thanks to tazza_di_jo for all the help with this story. Without her it probably wouldn't exist.
Previous Chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7
Ianto had got used to Jack sneaking up behind him in the bathroom. He was so used to it, in fact, that he barely reacted when Jack’s reflection appeared behind him in the mirror. He merely carried on guiding the razor over his cheek. He felt Jack’s hand at his hip and his lips on his neck and sighed, moving the razor away and tilting his head back, just for a moment before he pulled away. “Jack.”
“Morning,” Jack said, flashing him a grin that, this time, was nothing but genuine.
“Good morning,” Ianto replied. “Now, get off.” He was smiling and Jack grinned back at him in the mirror. He put the toilet seat down and sat on top of it, watching Ianto shave. It seemed to be one of his favourite pastimes and Ianto was loathe to argue with him about it. He wasn’t sure if it was because it gave Jack an opportunity to carefully watch him, or if it was just fascination with a daily task he had never had to engage in. Another thing to go with his fifty-first century pheromones that Ianto could only be envious of.
He finished up and turned to look at his lover. Jack was still watching him, fascinated. Ianto smiled and put the razor back on the sink, beside the cup holding their toothbrushes. “You okay, Jack?” He asked.
Jack grinned, “I’m great.” He stood up, following Ianto out of the en-suite and into their bedroom, where he began to get dressed. Ianto was already half dressed himself, but he rummaged around in the cupboard for a clean t-shirt as Jack pulled on yesterday’s trousers and complained about a lack of clothing.
“I’ll add it to the list of things we need to buy,” he said. “Clothes for Jack.”
“What else is on the list?” Jack asked, pulling on an undershirt as Ianto picked out a grey t-shirt to wear.
“Coffee. Food. A new diary.”
Jack looked up from choosing a shirt. “New diary?”
Ianto shrugged. “Mine was in the Hub.”
“Oh.” Jack winced and buttoned up his shirt. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Worse things have happened.” He looked at Jack. “You lost more. Everything you own.”
“Not everything,” Jack said, and pressed his lips to Ianto’s lightly. They continued to dress in silence and Ianto sat on the bed as Jack pulled his braces over his shoulders. “You slept right through last night,” he commented.
“Yeah,” Ianto said, quietly. “It was a good night.”
“Here’s to more good nights,” Jack murmured, pressing a kiss to Ianto’s temple. Ianto looked up apologetically and Jack shook his head. “I don’t mind you waking me, I just want you to sleep well.”
“Come on, let’s get breakfast,” Ianto said, keen to change the subject. His nightmares weren’t something he liked to talk about, even with Jack. Nine times out of ten, Jack respected that. He was there to soothe him through the night, and didn’t mention it again in the morning. Occasionally, there would be days like today, when Jack would comment on it, and Ianto knew that was him opening the door, giving him a chance to talk about it if he wanted.
Jack nodded, adjusting his collar, though there was no one to impress. “I’m going to call Martha later. I want her to look you over.”
“Jack, I’m fine.”
“I know,” Jack told him. “But I want to be sure. We’ve talked about this, we don’t know what happened, why you came back or how you’ve been affected. You need to be checked out. I’m having Martha look at you. No arguments.”
“Fine,” Ianto relented, “Don’t call her today though, she’ll be back from honeymoon tomorrow, you can call her then.”
“Yes sir,” Jack said with a wink.
Ianto rolled his eyes. “Are you still going to ask Tom to look at Steven?”
Jack nodded. “Yeah, I don’t want them going home until he’s got the all clear and Alice isn’t going to want to stay here forever.”
“He’s got the Harkness genes, must count for something,” Ianto said, and then looked over at Jack. “Have you told Alice yet?”
Jack frowned. “About being immortal? I think she’s noticed, Ianto.”
“No,” Ianto said, rolling his eyes. He often wondered if Jack was this frustrating on purpose. “Have you told her you want Tom to look at Steven?”
“Not yet.” He rubbed at his wrist. Putting his wrist strap on was usually the last task before leaving the bedroom and Ianto felt for his lover. It seemed silly to become so attached to an object, but Jack’s wrist strap had been the one thing he had still had from his old life, before he became immortal. Ianto didn’t know much about that life, but he was sure that the wrist strap was a reminder of so many things. Jack made his way towards the bedroom door, realising that he didn’t have the strap to put on. “I’ll talk to her today. Explain about the tests, make sure she doesn’t mind. She doesn’t want Steven experimented on; I should tell her before Martha and Tom arrive.”
Ianto nodded. “I could take Steven out for a bit,” he offered. “I mean, I’ve got errands to run, he might as well come with me. It’ll save him being stuck indoors all day and he’s probably far less trouble in Tesco than you are.”
“Sure. Check with Alice,” Jack said, opening the bedroom door. Ianto followed him downstairs, where Alice and Steven were already eating breakfast. She smiled at them, but Ianto didn’t miss the frostiness of the look she sent towards Jack as Steven bounded out of his chair to say good morning. Taking Steven out would definitely be a good idea, they needed to talk and not just about Steven’s check up.
Jack handed Alice a cup of tea and sat on the sofa while she took the loveseat. He sipped his own tea and glanced over at her. “I’m calling some friends of mine tomorrow to see if they’ll come take a look at Ianto. He inhaled a lot of gas at Thames House, I want him checked over by someone I can trust,” it wasn’t the whole truth, but he didn’t want to explain to Alice that he might have brought his boyfriend back to life, not least because of the questions it could pose about why Jack didn’t save Lucia.
Alice nodded, “Do you want us out of the way?”
“No,” Jack took another sip of the tea. “I’d like for them to take a look at Steven, too.”
“Oh no,” she shook her head. “I’ve told you Dad, you’re not experimenting on him.”
Jack had expected this, Alice didn’t trust him, she couldn’t trust him. She knew too much about the life he led and it wasn’t surprising that she expected every decision he made to put Steven at risk. “I don’t want to experiment on him. Tom’s a paediatrician. He doesn’t work for Torchwood, he works at a normal hospital.”
“How do you know a normal doctor?”Alice asked, an eyebrow raised.
“He’s married to an old friend,” Jack told her. He watched her sip her tea and regard him suspiciously. “Look, I can get him to bring his credentials if you want. I just want to know that Steven is okay. I don’t want him being looked over by just anyone, I want someone I know I can trust.” Alice was still eyeing him. “You’ll be right there with him.”
Alice nodded, “I would feel happier knowing he wasn’t affected by what happened. He seems fine now, but if he got ill later because we didn’t get him looked at now... I couldn’t stand that.”
“I’ll call Martha tomorrow and arrange it,” Jack said, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, drinking their tea.
“Dad,” Alice said, her voice quiet, unsure. Jack looked up. “We’ll have to go home soon. Steven and I.” Jack nodded. “He’s got school and we can’t stay here forever.”
“Yeah.”
“You could... visit though. Take Steven out, like you wanted to. If you still want to.”
Jack’s heart skipped a beat at the thought. He grinned. “Of course I want to.”
“But if anything happens to him, if anything even comes close, then it stops. And you stay away, for good this time.” She was watching him carefully, as if she half expected him to turn down those terms. But he wasn’t going to. He had missed out on a large portion of Alice’s life, and he missed the days when Steven was younger and he had been there for them both. It hadn’t been long, barely two years, but Alice had let him visit regularly, had let him be a father to her and spoil Steven. But then her mother had died and Alice was reminded of Jack’s immortality, of who he was and how dangerous he could be and that was it, he was gone. Shut out. It hurt, not being able to be the father to her that he could have been, but he’d take any chance he could to be in her life, to make up for all the days he’d missed.
He nodded. “I won’t let anything happen. To either of you.”
Alice smiled, but didn’t move. Jack wasn’t going to go to her again, she had to come to him in her own time, when she felt she could trust him again. “Thank you.”
He felt happier than he had in a long time. Ianto was alive and well and his family were letting him back into their lives. It seemed like things were finally going right, after so much had gone wrong.
Ianto smiled down at Steven, who was reading a comic while Ianto gathered up various newspapers. He had been very quiet since they’d left the house, not badly behaved or rude, just not talkative. He didn’t know if that was normal for Steven, although he seemed very chatty with Jack, but Ianto wasn’t used to shopping in silence, he was used to Jack trying to coax him into buying inappropriate things or, if he was shopping for the Hub, Gwen chattering along beside him. He certainly hadn’t expected shopping with a child to be quiet and he wondered if Steven felt uncomfortable around him. He bit his lip briefly before speaking, “You can have that, if you want.”
Steven looked up at him, “What?”
“The comic. I’ll buy it for you if you want it.”
“Really?” The boy smiled, a bright grin that was more than a little familiar to Ianto.
“Yeah, really.”
Still smiling, Steven reached over and put the comic into the trolley atop of the newspapers Ianto had thrown in. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Ianto told him, glad to have raised a smile. He glanced at his shopping list and began to move away from the newspaper section, Steven at his side. They were quiet again for a while, but it was a more companionable silence, as though Steven had realised Ianto wasn’t terrifying at all. Then again, in the two days since they had met, Steven had seen Ianto grapple with soldiers and save his life, heard him battle through night terrors and seen him put David in his place - it must have painted a fairly intimidating picture for a nine year old boy.
As Ianto selected various dairy products, Steven stood watching him. After a moment or two of staring, he spoke. “Ianto?”
“Yes?”
“How old are you?”
Ianto frowned. “I’m nearly twenty-six. Why?”
He shrugged. “Mum said you’re a lot younger than Uncle Jack.” He paused. “I don’t know how old Uncle Jack is, though.” He frowned, before looking back to Ianto. “He’s not really my uncle, you know.”
Ianto swallowed. If Steven had figured out that Jack was his grandfather, Ianto didn’t want to be the one to have to explain it. “Isn’t he?”
“No,” Steven said, wrapping his fingers around the side of the trolley. “I just call him that. He’s known Mum since forever.” He shrugged. “I think they went to the same school.”
Ianto breathed a small sigh of relief, and pushed the trolley further down the aisle. Steven kept hold of the side, walking with him.
“My dad doesn’t really like Uncle Jack,” Steven said, kicking at the floor. “I don’t think Uncle Jack likes my dad much, either.”
“No?” Ianto asked, not really sure where to go with that. Of course Jack didn’t like the man who had broken his daughter’s heart.
“I like him though. And I’m glad you do, too.”
“I’m glad,” Ianto said, trying to decide which vegetables he should pick up for dinner.
“He needs people to like him and look after him,” Steven said. “He’s brave and strong, but sometimes he’s sad. Sometimes he needs someone to take care of him, like Mum takes care of me.”
“Yeah,” Ianto said, not really sure what response to give. He wondered what Jack would say if he knew that he’d been figured out by a nine year old boy.
“You look after each other, don’t you?” Steven asked as Ianto surveyed the carrots.
Ianto turned to look at the boy, a smile on his face. “We do. I care very much about Jack.”
“He cares about you, too.” Steven said, with all the knowledge of a child. “I’m glad he’s got you.”
“I’m glad I’ve got him,” Ianto said, honestly, and they shared a smile.
Jack propped his feet up on the coffee table, ignoring the mud on the bottom of his shoes. Ianto wasn’t going to be back for a while yet. He glanced over at his daughter, watching her watch the television. It had been hard, watching her grow up in photographs, but he’d give anything to decorate his house with photos of his family again. If Alice noticed him watching her she didn’t say anything and he smiled to himself, wondering how she was half him and still so much stronger than he was. They hadn’t said much to each other since Alice told Jack he could be a part of Steven’s life, Alice had put the television on and they had wasted the morning together. But it was nice, just having her near, being in her life without feeling like she was about to ask him to leave.
He turned back to the television just as the key slid into the lock. He gave Alice a half-hearted glare when she laughed at how quickly he took his feet away from the table. He didn’t get up, but called out into the hallway. “That was quick.”
It wasn’t Ianto that came into the living room though, it was Gwen. “Oh, so you are still alive then,” she said with a grin. “Ever tried answering your phone?”
Jack frowned. “It’s upstairs. What’re you doing here?”
“I haven’t heard from you or Ianto since he left mine. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“We have a doorbell,” Jack told her. “Thought you’d learnt by now not to let yourself in.” He winked at her and she blushed a little before rolling her eyes at him and turning to Alice.
“I’m Gwen. I work with Jack and Ianto. You must be Jack’s daughter?”
Jack watched Alice greet Gwen and smiled to himself. He loved that his two families were getting to know each other. He’d spent so long trying to keep the two separate, Alice hadn’t wanted him in her life for more than a few hours at a time. Cards on their birthdays, dinner at Christmas, always brief, always distant, and letting his team into that, letting Ianto into that, had seemed too much. There wasn’t enough of it for him, never mind to share. But now, now he could be a grandfather to Steven and a father to Alice and Ianto could be a part of that, Gwen could be a part of that. It wasn’t about sharing something small anymore, it was about a family that was getting bigger every day. Gwen with her baby and Jack and Ianto with their families coming together. It wasn’t what he’d expected, it wasn’t what he would have asked for, but it was good.
Chapter 9
Pairings: Jack/Ianto.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Huge spoilers for Children of Earth, all Days.
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood. Anything you recognise is the property of the BBC.
Summary: Children of Earth fix it fic, starting from Day Five.
Author's Notes: Massive thanks to nipplemuggins* & pabzi for beta-ing. Thanks to tazza_di_jo for all the help with this story. Without her it probably wouldn't exist.
Previous Chapters: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7
Ianto had got used to Jack sneaking up behind him in the bathroom. He was so used to it, in fact, that he barely reacted when Jack’s reflection appeared behind him in the mirror. He merely carried on guiding the razor over his cheek. He felt Jack’s hand at his hip and his lips on his neck and sighed, moving the razor away and tilting his head back, just for a moment before he pulled away. “Jack.”
“Morning,” Jack said, flashing him a grin that, this time, was nothing but genuine.
“Good morning,” Ianto replied. “Now, get off.” He was smiling and Jack grinned back at him in the mirror. He put the toilet seat down and sat on top of it, watching Ianto shave. It seemed to be one of his favourite pastimes and Ianto was loathe to argue with him about it. He wasn’t sure if it was because it gave Jack an opportunity to carefully watch him, or if it was just fascination with a daily task he had never had to engage in. Another thing to go with his fifty-first century pheromones that Ianto could only be envious of.
He finished up and turned to look at his lover. Jack was still watching him, fascinated. Ianto smiled and put the razor back on the sink, beside the cup holding their toothbrushes. “You okay, Jack?” He asked.
Jack grinned, “I’m great.” He stood up, following Ianto out of the en-suite and into their bedroom, where he began to get dressed. Ianto was already half dressed himself, but he rummaged around in the cupboard for a clean t-shirt as Jack pulled on yesterday’s trousers and complained about a lack of clothing.
“I’ll add it to the list of things we need to buy,” he said. “Clothes for Jack.”
“What else is on the list?” Jack asked, pulling on an undershirt as Ianto picked out a grey t-shirt to wear.
“Coffee. Food. A new diary.”
Jack looked up from choosing a shirt. “New diary?”
Ianto shrugged. “Mine was in the Hub.”
“Oh.” Jack winced and buttoned up his shirt. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Worse things have happened.” He looked at Jack. “You lost more. Everything you own.”
“Not everything,” Jack said, and pressed his lips to Ianto’s lightly. They continued to dress in silence and Ianto sat on the bed as Jack pulled his braces over his shoulders. “You slept right through last night,” he commented.
“Yeah,” Ianto said, quietly. “It was a good night.”
“Here’s to more good nights,” Jack murmured, pressing a kiss to Ianto’s temple. Ianto looked up apologetically and Jack shook his head. “I don’t mind you waking me, I just want you to sleep well.”
“Come on, let’s get breakfast,” Ianto said, keen to change the subject. His nightmares weren’t something he liked to talk about, even with Jack. Nine times out of ten, Jack respected that. He was there to soothe him through the night, and didn’t mention it again in the morning. Occasionally, there would be days like today, when Jack would comment on it, and Ianto knew that was him opening the door, giving him a chance to talk about it if he wanted.
Jack nodded, adjusting his collar, though there was no one to impress. “I’m going to call Martha later. I want her to look you over.”
“Jack, I’m fine.”
“I know,” Jack told him. “But I want to be sure. We’ve talked about this, we don’t know what happened, why you came back or how you’ve been affected. You need to be checked out. I’m having Martha look at you. No arguments.”
“Fine,” Ianto relented, “Don’t call her today though, she’ll be back from honeymoon tomorrow, you can call her then.”
“Yes sir,” Jack said with a wink.
Ianto rolled his eyes. “Are you still going to ask Tom to look at Steven?”
Jack nodded. “Yeah, I don’t want them going home until he’s got the all clear and Alice isn’t going to want to stay here forever.”
“He’s got the Harkness genes, must count for something,” Ianto said, and then looked over at Jack. “Have you told Alice yet?”
Jack frowned. “About being immortal? I think she’s noticed, Ianto.”
“No,” Ianto said, rolling his eyes. He often wondered if Jack was this frustrating on purpose. “Have you told her you want Tom to look at Steven?”
“Not yet.” He rubbed at his wrist. Putting his wrist strap on was usually the last task before leaving the bedroom and Ianto felt for his lover. It seemed silly to become so attached to an object, but Jack’s wrist strap had been the one thing he had still had from his old life, before he became immortal. Ianto didn’t know much about that life, but he was sure that the wrist strap was a reminder of so many things. Jack made his way towards the bedroom door, realising that he didn’t have the strap to put on. “I’ll talk to her today. Explain about the tests, make sure she doesn’t mind. She doesn’t want Steven experimented on; I should tell her before Martha and Tom arrive.”
Ianto nodded. “I could take Steven out for a bit,” he offered. “I mean, I’ve got errands to run, he might as well come with me. It’ll save him being stuck indoors all day and he’s probably far less trouble in Tesco than you are.”
“Sure. Check with Alice,” Jack said, opening the bedroom door. Ianto followed him downstairs, where Alice and Steven were already eating breakfast. She smiled at them, but Ianto didn’t miss the frostiness of the look she sent towards Jack as Steven bounded out of his chair to say good morning. Taking Steven out would definitely be a good idea, they needed to talk and not just about Steven’s check up.
Jack handed Alice a cup of tea and sat on the sofa while she took the loveseat. He sipped his own tea and glanced over at her. “I’m calling some friends of mine tomorrow to see if they’ll come take a look at Ianto. He inhaled a lot of gas at Thames House, I want him checked over by someone I can trust,” it wasn’t the whole truth, but he didn’t want to explain to Alice that he might have brought his boyfriend back to life, not least because of the questions it could pose about why Jack didn’t save Lucia.
Alice nodded, “Do you want us out of the way?”
“No,” Jack took another sip of the tea. “I’d like for them to take a look at Steven, too.”
“Oh no,” she shook her head. “I’ve told you Dad, you’re not experimenting on him.”
Jack had expected this, Alice didn’t trust him, she couldn’t trust him. She knew too much about the life he led and it wasn’t surprising that she expected every decision he made to put Steven at risk. “I don’t want to experiment on him. Tom’s a paediatrician. He doesn’t work for Torchwood, he works at a normal hospital.”
“How do you know a normal doctor?”Alice asked, an eyebrow raised.
“He’s married to an old friend,” Jack told her. He watched her sip her tea and regard him suspiciously. “Look, I can get him to bring his credentials if you want. I just want to know that Steven is okay. I don’t want him being looked over by just anyone, I want someone I know I can trust.” Alice was still eyeing him. “You’ll be right there with him.”
Alice nodded, “I would feel happier knowing he wasn’t affected by what happened. He seems fine now, but if he got ill later because we didn’t get him looked at now... I couldn’t stand that.”
“I’ll call Martha tomorrow and arrange it,” Jack said, and they sat in silence for a few minutes, drinking their tea.
“Dad,” Alice said, her voice quiet, unsure. Jack looked up. “We’ll have to go home soon. Steven and I.” Jack nodded. “He’s got school and we can’t stay here forever.”
“Yeah.”
“You could... visit though. Take Steven out, like you wanted to. If you still want to.”
Jack’s heart skipped a beat at the thought. He grinned. “Of course I want to.”
“But if anything happens to him, if anything even comes close, then it stops. And you stay away, for good this time.” She was watching him carefully, as if she half expected him to turn down those terms. But he wasn’t going to. He had missed out on a large portion of Alice’s life, and he missed the days when Steven was younger and he had been there for them both. It hadn’t been long, barely two years, but Alice had let him visit regularly, had let him be a father to her and spoil Steven. But then her mother had died and Alice was reminded of Jack’s immortality, of who he was and how dangerous he could be and that was it, he was gone. Shut out. It hurt, not being able to be the father to her that he could have been, but he’d take any chance he could to be in her life, to make up for all the days he’d missed.
He nodded. “I won’t let anything happen. To either of you.”
Alice smiled, but didn’t move. Jack wasn’t going to go to her again, she had to come to him in her own time, when she felt she could trust him again. “Thank you.”
He felt happier than he had in a long time. Ianto was alive and well and his family were letting him back into their lives. It seemed like things were finally going right, after so much had gone wrong.
Ianto smiled down at Steven, who was reading a comic while Ianto gathered up various newspapers. He had been very quiet since they’d left the house, not badly behaved or rude, just not talkative. He didn’t know if that was normal for Steven, although he seemed very chatty with Jack, but Ianto wasn’t used to shopping in silence, he was used to Jack trying to coax him into buying inappropriate things or, if he was shopping for the Hub, Gwen chattering along beside him. He certainly hadn’t expected shopping with a child to be quiet and he wondered if Steven felt uncomfortable around him. He bit his lip briefly before speaking, “You can have that, if you want.”
Steven looked up at him, “What?”
“The comic. I’ll buy it for you if you want it.”
“Really?” The boy smiled, a bright grin that was more than a little familiar to Ianto.
“Yeah, really.”
Still smiling, Steven reached over and put the comic into the trolley atop of the newspapers Ianto had thrown in. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Ianto told him, glad to have raised a smile. He glanced at his shopping list and began to move away from the newspaper section, Steven at his side. They were quiet again for a while, but it was a more companionable silence, as though Steven had realised Ianto wasn’t terrifying at all. Then again, in the two days since they had met, Steven had seen Ianto grapple with soldiers and save his life, heard him battle through night terrors and seen him put David in his place - it must have painted a fairly intimidating picture for a nine year old boy.
As Ianto selected various dairy products, Steven stood watching him. After a moment or two of staring, he spoke. “Ianto?”
“Yes?”
“How old are you?”
Ianto frowned. “I’m nearly twenty-six. Why?”
He shrugged. “Mum said you’re a lot younger than Uncle Jack.” He paused. “I don’t know how old Uncle Jack is, though.” He frowned, before looking back to Ianto. “He’s not really my uncle, you know.”
Ianto swallowed. If Steven had figured out that Jack was his grandfather, Ianto didn’t want to be the one to have to explain it. “Isn’t he?”
“No,” Steven said, wrapping his fingers around the side of the trolley. “I just call him that. He’s known Mum since forever.” He shrugged. “I think they went to the same school.”
Ianto breathed a small sigh of relief, and pushed the trolley further down the aisle. Steven kept hold of the side, walking with him.
“My dad doesn’t really like Uncle Jack,” Steven said, kicking at the floor. “I don’t think Uncle Jack likes my dad much, either.”
“No?” Ianto asked, not really sure where to go with that. Of course Jack didn’t like the man who had broken his daughter’s heart.
“I like him though. And I’m glad you do, too.”
“I’m glad,” Ianto said, trying to decide which vegetables he should pick up for dinner.
“He needs people to like him and look after him,” Steven said. “He’s brave and strong, but sometimes he’s sad. Sometimes he needs someone to take care of him, like Mum takes care of me.”
“Yeah,” Ianto said, not really sure what response to give. He wondered what Jack would say if he knew that he’d been figured out by a nine year old boy.
“You look after each other, don’t you?” Steven asked as Ianto surveyed the carrots.
Ianto turned to look at the boy, a smile on his face. “We do. I care very much about Jack.”
“He cares about you, too.” Steven said, with all the knowledge of a child. “I’m glad he’s got you.”
“I’m glad I’ve got him,” Ianto said, honestly, and they shared a smile.
Jack propped his feet up on the coffee table, ignoring the mud on the bottom of his shoes. Ianto wasn’t going to be back for a while yet. He glanced over at his daughter, watching her watch the television. It had been hard, watching her grow up in photographs, but he’d give anything to decorate his house with photos of his family again. If Alice noticed him watching her she didn’t say anything and he smiled to himself, wondering how she was half him and still so much stronger than he was. They hadn’t said much to each other since Alice told Jack he could be a part of Steven’s life, Alice had put the television on and they had wasted the morning together. But it was nice, just having her near, being in her life without feeling like she was about to ask him to leave.
He turned back to the television just as the key slid into the lock. He gave Alice a half-hearted glare when she laughed at how quickly he took his feet away from the table. He didn’t get up, but called out into the hallway. “That was quick.”
It wasn’t Ianto that came into the living room though, it was Gwen. “Oh, so you are still alive then,” she said with a grin. “Ever tried answering your phone?”
Jack frowned. “It’s upstairs. What’re you doing here?”
“I haven’t heard from you or Ianto since he left mine. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“We have a doorbell,” Jack told her. “Thought you’d learnt by now not to let yourself in.” He winked at her and she blushed a little before rolling her eyes at him and turning to Alice.
“I’m Gwen. I work with Jack and Ianto. You must be Jack’s daughter?”
Jack watched Alice greet Gwen and smiled to himself. He loved that his two families were getting to know each other. He’d spent so long trying to keep the two separate, Alice hadn’t wanted him in her life for more than a few hours at a time. Cards on their birthdays, dinner at Christmas, always brief, always distant, and letting his team into that, letting Ianto into that, had seemed too much. There wasn’t enough of it for him, never mind to share. But now, now he could be a grandfather to Steven and a father to Alice and Ianto could be a part of that, Gwen could be a part of that. It wasn’t about sharing something small anymore, it was about a family that was getting bigger every day. Gwen with her baby and Jack and Ianto with their families coming together. It wasn’t what he’d expected, it wasn’t what he would have asked for, but it was good.
Chapter 9