Title
Babysitting
Author
ChocoBetty
Fandom
Torchwood
Rating
PG
Warnings
none
Disclaimer
Torchwood doesn't belong to me. I don't make any profit writing this. No copyright infringement intended.
Authors note
This is set in an alternative universe. Expect the unexpected!
Also this is part of the Torchwood July Oneshot Challenge by inusagi, who was gracious enough to also beta my fic. Thank you, inusagi!
Babysitting
"Why did we agree to this again?" Jack was exhausted and tired. All he wanted was to go home and into bed, holding Ianto in his arms while he was falling asleep.
"Because she's my sister and she and Johnny deserved a night out." Ianto tried to reason. The first meeting of Rhiannon and Jack went well. Actually, she adored him the from the first time they met. Ianto and Jack had been standing at their doorstep for the introduction dinner. The handsome Captain had held her brother's hand and they had looked into each other's eyes. The happy smile on Ianto's face gave Jack a special spot in her heart immediately. But what helped them with Johnny was the moment when Jack agreed to babysit Mica and David so that Rhiannon and he could spend a night as a couple and not as parents.
Now Jack and Ianto were sitting on the sofa in the home of the Davies on a Friday night. Tosh's Rift program hadn't predicted a single activity for the whole weekend, so there had been no way to bail out of their offer. At 7 pm they entered the house – while Rhiannon and Johnny nearly flew out of the door with excitement. They wanted to go to the cinema and have a nice romantic dinner afterwards. Mica and David were sitting in front of the television playing some video game. They hardly paid any attention at all to Jack and Ianto. Neither of them really knew what to expect.
Then they found the letter Rhiannon had left for them on the table.
Thanks for doing this! Bed time for Mica and David is 10 pm on a Friday night. Supper for them is in the fridge. Help yourself to anything you want. Johnny and I will try to be back by midnight! Love, Rhiannon
They nearly had to drag Mica and David to the table at 7:30 PM for their supper. Rhiannon had prepared sandwiches for them.
"I don't like tomatoes," Mica stated, pulling a face in disgust of the slice of tomato on her tuna sandwich.
"And I don't like cheese," David added to the conversation.
Since there were no tomatoes on any of the other sandwiches Jack simply exchanged the tuna and the cheese one. "Problem solved." Still, it took them nearly 30 minutes to coax Mica and David into eating their supper.
Neither Ianto nor Jack was expecting to watch children's cartoons for the next two hours. But they endured it. Fortunately, they had eaten before they left the Hub for the evening. Both were relieved when the clock got closer and closer to 10 pm. They had no idea if the children should be in bed at 10 or if they should get ready for bed then. Since it was Friday they decided to go with getting them ready for bed at 10 pm.
So when it was 10 pm Ianto told them: "Time for bed." The trouble started with them not wanting to put on their pyjamas. When they were finally wearing their nightwear they didn't want to brush their teeth. Jack decided to play a game with them and asked Ianto for a spare toothbrush. "Okay, Mica, David, let's see who can brush the teeth the longest! Ianto, you have the stopwatch with you?" A certain glint appeared in Jacks eyes but disappeared quickly because he needed to push toothpaste on this toothbrush and prepare a glass of water to rinse his mouth.
"Steady, ready, go!" Ianto said – and Mica, David and Jack started brushing their teeth furiously. It took more than five minutes before Mica got bored and spit out the toothpaste and rinsed her mouth. David and Jack kept up for another five minutes before David was done with this "game". As soon as David spit out the toothpaste and rinsed his mouth Jack did so as well.
"I won!" he claimed – grinning at Mica and David. The little girl was skipping through a comic book she got herself when she got bored. "And now, off to bed!" Jack shooed them out of the bathroom.
"Thanks!" Ianto mouthed to him.
It wasn't that hard to get Mica into bed. She slipped under the duvet well, flipped through another couple of pages with Ianto staying by her bedside before he placed a good night kiss on her forehead and turned off the light. David, on the other hand, was running like crazy through his room with Jack standing at the door just watching in the hope he would get tired of all the running and go to bed.
"Come on, David, time for bed!" Ianto declared, holding up the duvet for his nephew.
"Don't want to go to bed! I'm not tired!" he nearly screamed while still running around, than dropping to the floor and looking under his bed. "There are monsters under my bed." he claimed sprinting to the door and straight into Jacks arms.
"Okay," the Captain answered calmly. "Why don't we two check this?"
He took David by the hand and they both knelt on the floor in front of the bed. "I don't see any monsters – do you?" he asked David gently and serious.
The young boy shook his head. "But I still don't want to go to bed!" he whispered to Jack. "I have nightmares."
Jack suppressed a sigh. He had been a father himself. Shouldn't he be used to all this? Still, it was exhausting. "You won't have any tonight, I promise." he told the little boy. He held up the duvet, so David could slip under it. "I will stay with you until you have fallen asleep." he added, before he reached for a book on the bedside table.
"Shall I read a story to you?" he asked. David nodded, his tiredness already starting to claim him. It was a book with fairy tales in it – and Jack choose very carefully. One that wasn't frightening in any way – and not long at all. He only read five sentences before David was asleep. Ianto stood smiling at the door, having observed the whole scenario after Mica had fallen asleep. He had watched her from the doorstep, making sure she wouldn't climb out of her bed again.
Now the Welshman walked over to his nephew's bed and placed a gentle kiss on his head, just like he had done with his niece before. "Sweet dreams," he whispered, not really sure why, but it felt right. Then he took Jack's hand and and led him back into the living room
The clock said that it was past 11 pm by now. That was the moment when Jack had asked why they had agreed to babysitting duties. "By the way, you are really good with children." Ianto smiled at him.
"As you know, I had a few in my lifetime." the older man replied.
"Still..." Ianto just said while he continued to hold Jacks hand in his. They didn't even realise how tired they were, simply falling asleep as well.
Next thing they remembered were flashing lights. Both were confused at first, expecting a thunderstorm had started. But it actually was Rhiannon, holding a camera in her hands. "Sorry, couldn't resist. You looked just too cute. Thank you for doing this."
Ianto glanced at Jacks watch. It was past 1 am. "Did you have a good night, Rhi? Did you enjoy yourself?" he asked his sister. "Yes, thank you once more."
"Where's Johnny?" Ianto wanted to know.
"Already in our bedroom..." Rhiannon smiled. "And that's where I should head right now..."
Ianto tried not to think about the implication of this statement.
"Get home, the two of you." the woman told them. Both men rose from the sofa, grabbed their stuff and were out the door within minutes. When their eyes met they both knew that they wouldn't offer babysitting services again in the near future.