(Untitled)

[echolls_cursed]

Life without Joe was harder some days. It was strange, really, since it wasn't as if Logan had seen him every day while he'd been there- yet he missed him a little every day now that he wasn't. Some days were worse than others, and this morning had been hard. He'd found himself glaring at the man's guitar, and then sitting out on the front porch,

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[captainjack]

Logan had made the suggestion that things in the baby's room be soft. Jack had taken it to heart and had planed and sanded and swept until the room was smooth everywhere, no chance of even a small splinter. And then he'd started trying to make a rag rug the way his mother had once made...but he was doing it from memory and there was so little of his childhood he remembered in detail.

The rug was not going well.

He finally gave up for the day and went to the compound to see if he could find another shirt or dress he could use for fabric. He spotted Logan against the machine as soon as he entered the room and he smiled brightly.

"There you are. I'm sorry I was being dull," he said as he caught up the basket and put it on the table. "I thought you'd be surfing, not sitting down here."

[echolls_cursed]

"I thought I'd do the laundry and save you the trouble, since you looked so busy," Logan replied, scooting over so Jack could sit with him.

"You got a lot done," he noted, tipping his head back to look at the other man. "You're so damn productive. Usually that would piss me off, but it's for the baby, so it's kind of adorable."

[captainjack]

"Every week that passes I panic a little more," he chuckled. "I'm afraid we won't be ready and I want everything to be perfect. But we might have to come up with something else for the floor. The rug isn't working out very well."

He sat next to Logan and leaned against him. Impulsively, Jack leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Thanks for doing the laundry."

[echolls_cursed]

Logan shrugged. "Whatever. It's probably my turn anyway. As for the rug though? Shit, I dunno. Maybe we can throw some quilts down or whatever. That would be soft enough for crawling and whatever, right?"

[misanthrope_md]

A basket of laundry tumbled down the stairs. Miraculously, most of the clothes landed with the basket at the foot of the stairs rather than strewn on them.

A moment later, House limped down after it and bent over to pile the clothes that had fallen out back in.

[echolls_cursed]

Logan watched, and nearly even got up to help him. Nearly being the key word there.

"You doing okay there, doc?" he asked, stretching his legs out as he spoke.

[misanthrope_md]

"Uh huh," House grunted, and righted the basket. "I wouldn't get too close if I were you, you don't know what I've been doing with these socks."

[echolls_cursed]

"Wasn't planning on touching any of your delicates, doc," Logan assured him, flashing a cheeky grin and finally getting to his feet.

The most help he offered came in the form of opening one of the washing machines for the other man.

[coffee_sir]

By sheer coincidence -- or, in his mind, good luck -- Ianto approached the door of the room just in time to see the laundry basket land on Logan's head. He entered just in time to see him kick it and didn't bother to disguise a soft snicker.

"Bad day or has that basket had it coming for a while?" he asked, moving without pause to set his own, family-sized bags of laundry down atop an unused machine.

[echolls_cursed]

"The basket totally started it, man. It's a smack talking basket," Logan replied, tilting his head back so he could look up at Ianto from where he sat on the floor.

"That's a lot of laundry," he added, glancing at the man's bags.

[coffee_sir]

Ianto tsked and shook his head. "The quality of baskets here have really gone downhill over the years."

With a light sigh, he went about the preparations for the first load of laundry, fetching the detergent and choosing his cycles, and answered Logan as he went. "Well, I married a filthy American and she spread her genes to our daughter. They produce a large amount of dirty clothes."

[echolls_cursed]

"I'm insulted by your comments on American hygiene, Ianto. ...Impressed too though. I've seen your wife, I don't think I'd have the balls to call her filthy- Mostly cause she looks feisty enough to rip them off," Logan replied with a snicker.

"Is she feisty? She totally is, isn't she? I bet she is," the younger man grinned playfully.

[patration]

Watching bemusedly as a basket bounced over and came to a rest at his feet, Zhuge raised an eyebrow at the object, before leaning down and over to pick it up, then casting a glance in the direction of the man who had dropped it in the first place. He seemed deeply preoccupied, which explained the slight outburst, and even though it truly was none of Zhuge's business, still he smiled, hoping that he could be of aid. (Or, if nothing else, sure that the man was someone who could prove interesting to watch, as all people were on the island.)

"I think you drop this," he greeted, bowing his head respectfully as he held the basket back out, tilting his head just in time to catch a glimpse of the pile of books. "You are... worried about a child?"

[echolls_cursed]

Logan glanced at the stranger, eying him with suspicion he still couldn't control. Kindness couldn't be trusted, even now after all this time on the island, he was distrustful of anyone who seemed too friendly until he got to know them.

"more worried about me," he said as he took the basket. "The kid isn't here for me to worry about yet."

[patration]

There was no immediate flash of enthusiasm on Zhuge's face, though a touch of it twinkled in his eyes. As a rule, Zhuge liked children. He enjoyed their candor, the fact that children went after what they wanted in the simplest way they could imagine, and many never stepped outside the realm of truth in their attempts to do so. He liked children, and he was also a man who respected familial bonds, even when he had never had quite enough time to spend with his own parents and siblings, isolated by an education not often given those who worked in agriculture.

"Ah," Zhuge nodded in understanding. "You... did not first plan to have child? Sometimes the unexpected can be a great blessing."

[echolls_cursed]

"Huh? Oh, no- We planned it, it's just I'm feeling kind of unprepared or whatever," Logan shrugged, not wanting to go into details about how they'd had to find someone to carry their child, and how they'd been lucky it had even worked.

[sortofaman]

The Doctor had a load of laundry in his arms, predominantly socks Atalanta had chewed on, Chase's running kit, and muddy grass-stained clothes from Nate's latest adventure in pretend cookery in the garden. Rose petals and moss made a great pie, apparently, who knew?

He could just about see over the top of it, in time to observe Logan Versus The Basket, deciding not to comment save with a touch of a smirk. "At least you're not reading What to Expect When You're Expecting," he noted. "That'd just be odd."

[echolls_cursed]

Logan gave the basket one last good kick, and then eyed the stack of laundry as he tried to see who was behind it. Logan didn't know the Doctor well, but he knew him well enough to tell it was him.

"Skimmed most of that one already, it just made me twitchy," he admitted seriously, leaning back against the washer again as he glanced at the pile of books at his side.

[sortofaman]

"A lot of those books are twitchy-making," said the Doctor, finally heaving down the pile of laundry in front of an empty washer. "Either that or hopelessly condescending. Nobody knows that much about taking care of a real baby, it's all playing it by ear." He went over to the shelf for some detergent, then sprayed stain remover on Nate's wee jeans.

[echolls_cursed]

"All of it?" Logan asked, frowning to himself slightly. "Don't get me wrong, I was kinda hoping the baby would come and I'd just know what to do, but I feel like I should be studying. I need a crash course on baby raising."

He paused a beat and got up slowly, checking his laundry and then leaning against the washer.

"I keep thinking about this one time when my sister let me stick jelly beans up my nose, and I had to go to the hospital. What if my baby does that? I mean, what if it shoves rocks up there or something? That's terrifying."