Title: Elven Traditions
Author: caz251
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating: Pg
Character/Pairing: Ianto Jones/Jack Harkness.
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood.
Summary: Jack contemplates Ianto's family history and the traditions involved with his heritage in relation to their baby.
Warnings: slash, mpreg
AN: Written for cliche_bingo Prompt: Traditions
Jack was completely dumbfounded, more so now than when he had found out he was pregnant, Elves were real. His lover was an elve, he was pregnant with an elve, and his baby elve would succeed his lover's cousin on the Elven Throne. To say the least he was shocked, he had thought that he had maybe been infected by some alien parasite or something, he certainly hadn't expected this. He had never even known of the existence of elves, he had heard the myths, who hadn't, but he had never expected them to have a basis in truth. He did feel as though he should have known though, Time Lords were myths, as were many other creatures in the universe that he had firsthand knowledge of.
His first thoughts after the shock began to clear were of anger; Ianto had lied to him, something that he had been clear about at the start of their relationship. After Lisa he had made it clear that he didn't want Ianto to lie to him, and if he found that he was the consequences would be severe, both in and out of Torchwood. Then he thought about it for a moment, Ianto technically hadn't lied, he may have omitted some information, he hadn't talked much about his family but he had mentioned his sister Rhiannon, he just left out the fact that they weren't actually related by blood. While it was still a lie by omission, Jack had to admit, even if only to himself, that he too was guilty of the exact same thing, he had never been open with his family history. He had never told Ianto about his family or asked about Ianto's in return, what he knew about Rhiannon and her family were little things that Ianto had told him because he had wanted to.
As the anger gave way to resignation Jack couldn't help but feel guilty, he had intended to make an effort to get to know Ianto to let him know him, but he had obviously failed somewhere along the way, although Ianto had assured him otherwise when he had mentioned it. He sighed to himself, and looked towards the book on the table that Ianto had left him. The other man had gone out with Owen to get a weevil, insisting that Jack remain at home as he shouldn't be chasing after weevils in his condition. The book was one about Elven traditions and Ianto had told him that it was probably better that he read about the traditions that must be observed and the things that he would need to do for his baby elve in the way of the proper blessings. Ianto had told him of the traditional binding that would happen between all the parents of elves, not between the parents but between the parent and baby, and he was glad that even being human that he could partake of the ritual. He didn't want his baby to feel as though it was not loved or welcomed in the way of half its heritage, but there was no way that he would allow a completely Elven upbringing. Regardless of whether or not his child would become King or Queen of the Elven Kingdom, that elve was still his child, and he was human, his baby was half-human, and he wouldn't allow that heritage to be passed aside in favour of the part of his child's ancestry with power and riches ascribed to it.
The binding between parent and child was one of the first things he read about, it seemed as simple as Ianto had said, and took place as soon as possible after the unborn elve was acknowledged. The bond was emotional and was used to help with the development of the baby elve and help it to understand the world it was being brought into and its place in that world. Jack read the section on that one particular binding and the traditions around the bond before attempting it. The first bond was always between baby and bearer, and then the bond between baby and sire were formed. Jack was glad that Ianto wasn't here for this, he wanted to attempt the binding on his own, and that way he could try again if he failed the first time, without Ianto looking at him with scorn. He didn't want to mess up, but he had no knowledge of the Elven culture or traditions before that evening and he wasn't that confident in his abilities. He did know though that he wanted to succeed, he wanted to learn Ianto's culture so that he could help teach the baby both sides of its heritage.
Jack attempted the binding and was rather shocked, but pleasantly surprised to find that he managed it on his first attempt. Maybe it was a result of his desperation for it to work, although his telepathic skills that were a result of his fifty-first century biological make-up certainly helped to make the binding go much smoother. He let a small smile settle on his face when he felt the baby's emotions. He knew that with a human baby that this would be much too early for him to feel anything of the baby, let alone fully formed emotions, or senses of emotions, but he figured that elves grew at a different rate.
He retreated back into the book, the feeling of his baby's contentment making him happy, the knowledge that his baby was fine making him much more at ease than he had been even early that day. When he had first found that he was pregnant he had certainly been shocked, although not as much as Owen had been, and he had also been worried. He knew that he had been completely faithful to Ianto, but he wasn't so sure that the other man would believe him; he had told him after all that pregnancy between them was impossible. He certainly hadn't expected his lover to take the pregnancy well after figuring out that it was actually his baby because he was a mythical creature with super sperm. The baby was certainly unexpected, but the best surprises always were. He had known as soon as he was pregnant that he was keeping the baby, even if Ianto hadn't approved, but feeling the baby's emotions had solidified that standpoint.
Looking through the book he found traditional blessings for the third, fourth and fifth months of pregnancy and another for the birth, but nothing for the sixth, seventh or eighth. He made a mental note to ask Ianto for a book on Elven pregnancy, he was beginning to think that it was shorter, only lasting sixth months instead of the human nine month growth cycle. Jack devoured the book quickly, re-reading sections that he found especially relevant to his situation, as he waited for Ianto to arrive back home.
He had wondered why the other man had mentioned nothing about them binding together in a traditional Elven way for the sake of the baby, when he had stumbled across a section on traditional bonding only working for those completely devoted to one another in the ways of the heart. He had to wonder if Ianto's lack of mention of this type of bond was due to a lack of feeling on his part, or if he didn't believe that Jack felt the same for him. He set the question aside in his head to ask his lover later, adding it to his questions about his pregnancy and more importantly questions about what he had to do to prepare for a visit from the Elven Queen.