TW Fic: Treats

[nancybrown]

Title: Treats
Author: nancybrownCharacters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, Martha/Tom, Lois, Anwen, OC

Comments

[nandamai]

I knew as soon as I read your A/N hat this would be delightful, and it is. Every word is perfect. Perfect, but I didn't completely dissolve into giggles until Ianto went to speed-dial Alice. Ianto is such a good dad, and Jack is, too, in his different style, and I love that Theia isn't a superchild and Ianto thinks that Anwen is. Ianto, honey, it's the good parents who worry that they aren't good enough. And that tiny bit of foreshadowing when Ianto thinks that being preoccupied will get him killed one day, lovely. (Even lovelier that it didn't actually get him killed.)

Please be self-indulgent more often.

[nancybrown]

:D Thanks! There is nothing I love writing more than Ianto and Alice working together to team up against Jack. Just the threat makes him cringe and makes me giggle like a loon.

I think all parents have the same worry, and do the "But why didn't my kid walk/talk/write sonnets/win the Nobel Prize at the same age as that child? I'm a FAILURE!" internal monologue. Add that to the self-doubt when you've got a kid with measurable milestone misses, and there's this crushing sense of, "OMG, it's all my fault, the baby is screwed up for life!" (Why yes, my son's only word was "Ba!" until he was three and a half, why do you ask? Did I mention self-indulgent?)

I am however delighted you liked it. :)

[nandamai]

I do love your Ianto and Alice together.

I hope your son is happy and healthy these days. I have a niece with cerebral palsy who made few sounds at all until she said her first word around 3.5 and progressed to short sentences within a couple months. Every kid is different! Which Ianto surely knows, but has trouble remembering sometimes, understandably. And his kid didn't need more than one word to save his life.

I just love the name Theia for her, btw. So appropriate.

[mcparrot]

Rhys said, "You know he just wants to mess about chasing aliens in his pirate get-up."

Gwen said, "We call those Thursdays."

Bwahaha!

Parenting Torchwood style. And of course Ianto would worry himself sick that everything would go wrong.

Weevil - ouch. I didn't see that coming.

Lovely story. I can't remember the earlier ones so I'll go read them now too.

Oh and ps, just seeing your list of previous Halloweenie fics, the Truth About Plums was AMAZING - but I much prefer this sort of self indulgent fluff for bedtime reading.

[nancybrown]

Gwen: slowly realizing the truths of her life, and I think, coming to appreciate them at long last. ;)

I have a writing trick whose seams are probably showing at this point. When I'm stuck in a scene without a way to end it, I throw in a random explosion. (In this case, a Weevil.) And then the writer's block is gone and I can get on my way. :)

Self-indulgent fluff does make being able to sleep much easier. :D

Thanks for dropping by!

[fide_et_spe]

I must re read the earlier ones.. I loved this, so cute but at the same time Ianto was so angsty. I really felt his anxiety was very in character.

I really liked him being resentful of Anwen and knowing that was daft at the same time. I think that's so realistic, we have those thoughts and it's the insight into how we really shouldn't and the ability to recognise it, that makes it a normal and OK thing.

[nancybrown]

Aw, thanks. :D The Ianto in this storyverse would be a worrywart kind of dad, with some justification. (As opposed to Rabbit Hole Ianto who's too busy to worry.)

As I said above to nandamai, it's very easy to fall into the "But why isn't my kid doing the same thing at that age?" trap. I'm glad that worked for you here.

[fide_et_spe]

Oh yeah and parents get competitive and show off their children's achievements, so it takes a lot not to react to it and start feeling defensive or inadequate. I thought it was really well done.

[nancybrown]

It's very common, yeah. And the important thing is to remember each kid is on their own journey, so bragging about, or feeling defensive about, where they are isn't a game worth playing.

[aviv_b]

Wonderful story. Somehow I'm not surprised that Ianto and Jack's child would utter Gooey as her first word!

[nancybrown]

:) Originally her second word was "yucky" but then I remembered "Super Fudge" and decided to change it. Also appropriate, I think.

Thanks for reading!

[tymewyse]

Yay! This was a lovely treat after the day I've had. Thank you. :)

[nancybrown]

I'm glad it brightened your day!