Fic: Troublesome Twins
Title: Troublesome Twins
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Meriel, Twins.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1312
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: The twins are far more of a handful than Meriel ever was.
Written For: Challenge 418: Hair at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
Maybe having Meriel as a daughter had spoiled them a bit as parents, Jack thought. She’d been such an easy baby to look after, all smiles and laughter, compared to the twins, who practically from birth had always seemed to be at war with each other and the rest of the world. Perhaps it was because they were fraternal twins rather than identical, but they didn’t seem to have developed the bond Jack had heard other parents of twins talk about. It was as if they were in permanent competition with each other, over toys, attention, food, clothes, and anything else they could think of, possibly to the death. They were forever fighting.
Even as she’d grown older, Meriel had been a thoughtful, caring little girl, always happy to help her parents, her friends, or even complete strangers. It wasn’t so much that the twins were bad children, and there were times they actually managed to get along for a while without trying to kill each other, but they were definitely a handful. There was a reason their frazzled parents had nicknamed them the Holy Terrors, although Unholy Terrors might have been more apt. There was nothing remotely angelic about them, except maybe on those rare occasions when they were both asleep at the same time.
While Meriel had taken after Ianto in a lot of ways, Gareth and Jenna seemed to have inherited all of Jack’s stubbornness, in a highly concentrated form. From the moment they could speak, the word ‘no’ had been their favourite, and they’d applied it to everything. No, they wouldn’t take a nap, no, they wouldn’t stop hitting each other, no, they weren’t going to be dressed, or let themselves be bathed, or stop screaming like banshees, or put their toys away. About the only time they agreed on anything was when they were united in refusing to do something, and even that was never guaranteed.
Their Flufflets did the best they could to control the two demons in human form, but most of the time Nosy was the only one who could get them to do something they’d decided they didn’t want to do, its stern glare and firm hum reducing them to teary eyes and sniffles as they reluctantly obeyed.
They were at their worst around two to three years of age, when they were still much too young to be reasoned with, but even so, by the time they were about to start school their stubborn streak seemed to be set in stone.
“We should get Gareth’s hair cut shorter before term starts,” Ianto decided. “Jenna’s is fine, and if it gets in the way we can always plait it like we used to for Meriel when she was younger, but Gareth can hardly see where he’s going.”
That was the first battle. Jenna decided she hated long hair and wanted it cut short, while Gareth was equally determined that nobody was going to touch his hair, and in fact demanded that it be made longer, then burst into tears when told it couldn’t be stretched long enough for a ponytail.
Then Jenna, always a tomboy, took exception to the fact that, according to the school’s uniform code, boys got to wear trousers or shorts while girls were expected to wear skirts or pinafores. Jack was in full agreement of course, calling the rule sexist and out of date. He even talked to the school board until they relented and agreed that both boys and girls should be allowed to wear trousers if they preferred.
Naturally, then Gareth demanded to know why he couldn’t wear a skirt. It took a bit of doing to convince him that trousers would be more practical and comfortable for both school and play. Surprisingly, Jenna was the one to convince her brother in the end by saying that she hated wearing skirts because the wind went up them and made her bum cold. After that, Gareth decided he was perfectly content to wear trousers, like his dads did.
There was obviously still going to be a degree of confusion among teachers when the twins started school in a couple of weeks, what with Jenna’s new, almost boyish haircut, Gareth’s long hair, and the fact that they’d both be wearing trousers, but both Jack and Ianto were sure their kids would soon put everyone straight.
Not that everything was settled at home; there was always something new for the Holy Terrors to rebel against.
“Eat your veggies, kids,” Jack said firmly one dinnertime. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed you giving them to Squiggle and Spot. We feed them plenty; they don’t need extras.” If Ianto had been there, he would have put his foot down far more firmly than Jack ever managed, but unfortunately, he was still at the Hub, dealing with the kind of work emergency that only happened at Torchwood.
“I don’t like carrots,” Gareth said, which was news to Jack since the previous day his son had asked for seconds and wolfed them down, saying they were his favourites.
“I don’t like beans,” Jenna chimed in, scowling at her plate.
Jack sighed. “Veggies are good for you, they’ll help you grow up big and strong, and they’ll put hair on your chest like Taddy.” In retrospect, that probably wasn’t the best thing he could have said.
Jenna pushed her plate away; she might be a tomboy, but she still had her limits. “I don’t want a hairy chest; it would be all itchy! And anyway, Auntie Gwen doesn’t make Anwen eat her veggies if she doesn’t want to.”
Gareth, on the other hand, was more amenable to the prospect. “Cool!” He dug in again. “If I eat enough veggies, I might get so hairy I turn into a Fluff!”
Well, a fifty percent success rate was better than none. Jack thought hard, trying to come up with something that would convince Jenna that veggies were good, but drawing a blank.
That was when Meriel, now a very clever twelve-year-old, came to her Daddy’s rescue.
“Poor Jenna,” she said to her dad. “Just think, if she doesn’t eat her veggies, she’ll be too weak to play sports. She’ll have to stay indoors at breaktimes and play with dolls. No running around playing football, or climbing, or doing anything really fun because her bones will be too fragile. She might break something.”
“That would be too bad,” Jack agreed, reaching to take Jenna’s plate away. “But if she won’t eat her veggies, there’s nothing we can do. She’ll just wither away to nothing.”
“NO!” Jenna squeaked, grabbing for her plate. “I didn’t mean it; I was just pretending. I DO like veggies!” And even though they were a bit cold by now, she quickly cleaned her plate. “They’re even quite nice when they’re cold,” she insisted.
“Well, if you’re sure. I mean, if you really don’t like them, I suppose I can’t force you to eat them…”
“No, I love veggies, I want them every day!”
“Me too!” Gareth agreed.
“Very well,” Jack said with a sigh. “I’ll let Taddy know when he gets home. It’ll mean more work for us, growing them, and cooking them every day, but if you want veggies then you’ll have them.”
“YAY!” both twins cheered.
Jack shared a smile with his oldest daughter once dinner was finished. Meriel was helping him load the dishwasher while the twins played with their Flufflets.
“Thanks for that.”
Meriel shrugged. “Looked like you needed some help.”
“I did; the Holy Terrors are always harder to handle when your Tad isn’t here. I don’t know how he does it.”
“I feel sorry for the teachers,” Meriel admitted. “They’re really going to have their hands full with those two.”
“I know. I think I’ll suggest the school puts them in different classes; there’ll be fewer fights that way.”
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Meriel, Twins.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1312
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: The twins are far more of a handful than Meriel ever was.
Written For: Challenge 418: Hair at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
Maybe having Meriel as a daughter had spoiled them a bit as parents, Jack thought. She’d been such an easy baby to look after, all smiles and laughter, compared to the twins, who practically from birth had always seemed to be at war with each other and the rest of the world. Perhaps it was because they were fraternal twins rather than identical, but they didn’t seem to have developed the bond Jack had heard other parents of twins talk about. It was as if they were in permanent competition with each other, over toys, attention, food, clothes, and anything else they could think of, possibly to the death. They were forever fighting.
Even as she’d grown older, Meriel had been a thoughtful, caring little girl, always happy to help her parents, her friends, or even complete strangers. It wasn’t so much that the twins were bad children, and there were times they actually managed to get along for a while without trying to kill each other, but they were definitely a handful. There was a reason their frazzled parents had nicknamed them the Holy Terrors, although Unholy Terrors might have been more apt. There was nothing remotely angelic about them, except maybe on those rare occasions when they were both asleep at the same time.
While Meriel had taken after Ianto in a lot of ways, Gareth and Jenna seemed to have inherited all of Jack’s stubbornness, in a highly concentrated form. From the moment they could speak, the word ‘no’ had been their favourite, and they’d applied it to everything. No, they wouldn’t take a nap, no, they wouldn’t stop hitting each other, no, they weren’t going to be dressed, or let themselves be bathed, or stop screaming like banshees, or put their toys away. About the only time they agreed on anything was when they were united in refusing to do something, and even that was never guaranteed.
Their Flufflets did the best they could to control the two demons in human form, but most of the time Nosy was the only one who could get them to do something they’d decided they didn’t want to do, its stern glare and firm hum reducing them to teary eyes and sniffles as they reluctantly obeyed.
They were at their worst around two to three years of age, when they were still much too young to be reasoned with, but even so, by the time they were about to start school their stubborn streak seemed to be set in stone.
“We should get Gareth’s hair cut shorter before term starts,” Ianto decided. “Jenna’s is fine, and if it gets in the way we can always plait it like we used to for Meriel when she was younger, but Gareth can hardly see where he’s going.”
That was the first battle. Jenna decided she hated long hair and wanted it cut short, while Gareth was equally determined that nobody was going to touch his hair, and in fact demanded that it be made longer, then burst into tears when told it couldn’t be stretched long enough for a ponytail.
Then Jenna, always a tomboy, took exception to the fact that, according to the school’s uniform code, boys got to wear trousers or shorts while girls were expected to wear skirts or pinafores. Jack was in full agreement of course, calling the rule sexist and out of date. He even talked to the school board until they relented and agreed that both boys and girls should be allowed to wear trousers if they preferred.
Naturally, then Gareth demanded to know why he couldn’t wear a skirt. It took a bit of doing to convince him that trousers would be more practical and comfortable for both school and play. Surprisingly, Jenna was the one to convince her brother in the end by saying that she hated wearing skirts because the wind went up them and made her bum cold. After that, Gareth decided he was perfectly content to wear trousers, like his dads did.
There was obviously still going to be a degree of confusion among teachers when the twins started school in a couple of weeks, what with Jenna’s new, almost boyish haircut, Gareth’s long hair, and the fact that they’d both be wearing trousers, but both Jack and Ianto were sure their kids would soon put everyone straight.
Not that everything was settled at home; there was always something new for the Holy Terrors to rebel against.
“Eat your veggies, kids,” Jack said firmly one dinnertime. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed you giving them to Squiggle and Spot. We feed them plenty; they don’t need extras.” If Ianto had been there, he would have put his foot down far more firmly than Jack ever managed, but unfortunately, he was still at the Hub, dealing with the kind of work emergency that only happened at Torchwood.
“I don’t like carrots,” Gareth said, which was news to Jack since the previous day his son had asked for seconds and wolfed them down, saying they were his favourites.
“I don’t like beans,” Jenna chimed in, scowling at her plate.
Jack sighed. “Veggies are good for you, they’ll help you grow up big and strong, and they’ll put hair on your chest like Taddy.” In retrospect, that probably wasn’t the best thing he could have said.
Jenna pushed her plate away; she might be a tomboy, but she still had her limits. “I don’t want a hairy chest; it would be all itchy! And anyway, Auntie Gwen doesn’t make Anwen eat her veggies if she doesn’t want to.”
Gareth, on the other hand, was more amenable to the prospect. “Cool!” He dug in again. “If I eat enough veggies, I might get so hairy I turn into a Fluff!”
Well, a fifty percent success rate was better than none. Jack thought hard, trying to come up with something that would convince Jenna that veggies were good, but drawing a blank.
That was when Meriel, now a very clever twelve-year-old, came to her Daddy’s rescue.
“Poor Jenna,” she said to her dad. “Just think, if she doesn’t eat her veggies, she’ll be too weak to play sports. She’ll have to stay indoors at breaktimes and play with dolls. No running around playing football, or climbing, or doing anything really fun because her bones will be too fragile. She might break something.”
“That would be too bad,” Jack agreed, reaching to take Jenna’s plate away. “But if she won’t eat her veggies, there’s nothing we can do. She’ll just wither away to nothing.”
“NO!” Jenna squeaked, grabbing for her plate. “I didn’t mean it; I was just pretending. I DO like veggies!” And even though they were a bit cold by now, she quickly cleaned her plate. “They’re even quite nice when they’re cold,” she insisted.
“Well, if you’re sure. I mean, if you really don’t like them, I suppose I can’t force you to eat them…”
“No, I love veggies, I want them every day!”
“Me too!” Gareth agreed.
“Very well,” Jack said with a sigh. “I’ll let Taddy know when he gets home. It’ll mean more work for us, growing them, and cooking them every day, but if you want veggies then you’ll have them.”
“YAY!” both twins cheered.
Jack shared a smile with his oldest daughter once dinner was finished. Meriel was helping him load the dishwasher while the twins played with their Flufflets.
“Thanks for that.”
Meriel shrugged. “Looked like you needed some help.”
“I did; the Holy Terrors are always harder to handle when your Tad isn’t here. I don’t know how he does it.”
“I feel sorry for the teachers,” Meriel admitted. “They’re really going to have their hands full with those two.”
“I know. I think I’ll suggest the school puts them in different classes; there’ll be fewer fights that way.”
The End