Secret Santa: Lullabies
Summary: Part of the Secret Santa Universe. Set 9 years after the original. Addiena sings a lullaby her Tad taught her to soothe her crying siblings.
Disclaimer: Torchwood and Doctor Who are the property of the BBC, RTD and SM. The Lyrics for the Lullaby belong to Rod, Jane and Freddy.
The screaming wouldn't stop. For an hour Rebecca and Daniel had been crying, and Jack and Ianto had tried everything they could think of. They had changed their nappies, fed them, cuddled them… but nothing had worked.
They were sat in their living room, Jack with Daniel and Ianto with Rebecca, rocking the babies in their arms. They were so stressed, that they didn't notice Addiena and Kerenza enter the room. The 7 year old walked over and placed herself in the middle of her fathers and motioned for Kerenza to sit with her. Once her sister was in position, Addiena started to sing,
"Time to sleep, so don't you cry, I will sing a lullaby. Time to be together, time to feel the love. Sing a song, a lullaby, won't be long until it time, to see the stars all shining bright, and watch the moon above."
By now the crying had become fainter, and Kerenza had started to droop on her shoulder. She didn't mind though. She loved the song from when her Tad sang it to her as a baby, and loved to sing it herself. She enthusiastically carried on,
"I'll hold you close, and kiss your head, then it's time, to go to bed. I'll see you in the morning; I'll see you when it's light. Lullaby, my little one, go to sleep, the day is done, now we have to let you go, it's time to say goodnight."
By the time she was finished, the crying had stopped and Kerenza had completely fallen asleep.
"Oh Addiena, that was beautiful," said Jack, giving her a kiss on the forehead. The girl beamed at her Dad.
"Cariad, would you be ok to watch your sister, while we put the twins to bed? We'll only be a few minutes."
"Ok Tad." Ianto stood up and kissed her hair, before he headed upstairs with Jack.
Once both twins were in their cots, Jack and Ianto headed back downstairs. Jack took Kerenza, and carried her to bed, while Ianto stayed with Addiena and talked. When Jack joined them, they watched Beauty and the Beast together, until it was her bedtime.
In her bedroom, Jack and Ianto sat on the bed, like they used to do when she was younger, and listened to her read her school book. When she'd finished, they both kissed her forehead and said goodnight, before heading out of the room, closing the door behind them.
When the door was closed, Jack wrapped his arms around Ianto and kissed his neck and shoulders.
"So, now that all our children are in bed, how about we get an early night?"
Ianto rolled his eyes, before turning in his husband's arms and kissing Jack fervently. When they parted for air, Ianto took Jack's hand and led him to the bedroom…
Xxxx
Laid in bed that night, Addiena was wide awake. She had just woken up from a terrible nightmare and couldn't get back to sleep. She kept tossing and turning, but sleep wouldn't come. She even tried to sing to herself, but it didn't help. Making a decision, she slipped out of bed and headed down the hall, maybe she could get her Tad to sing to her, like he used to.
The landing was dark as she crept across to her parent's room. Opening the door, she slowly tiptoed inside. Making her way to the bed, she felt nervous, was she too old to be doing this? Would her parents be mad at her for waking them?
As she got closer, she could make out more and more of her parents. They appeared to be sound asleep, her Tad was closest, facing her in the darkness, but she couldn't make out his features.
As he slept, Ianto sensed something was wrong, he kept hearing muffled noises nearby. After years of parenthood, he had developed impressive listening skills, listening out for if his children were awake. He opened his eyes; he could just make out a figure in the darkness. He leaned over and turned on the bedroom light.
"What's wrong, cariad?" Ianto asked, as he slowly sat up. He had to be careful; he didn't want to wake Jack. Luckily, the older man didn't wake, he just moaned a bit in his sleep, sensing the loss of Ianto's warm body beside him.
"I had a nightmare and couldn't sleep," she whispered. Ianto held out his arms, inviting her over for a hug. She grinned and ran into them, hugging her Tad tight. "Can you sing to me Taddy?"
Ianto lifted her into his arms and carried her back to her room. As they walked across the landing, Addiena tucked her head into the crook of her Tad's neck and closed her eyes, allowing the familiar scent to soothe her. When they reached her room, Addiena was half asleep and reluctant the let her Tad go. He sat on the bed and began to rock back and forth, Addiena sat on his knee, singing the lullaby softly in her ear. By the time he had done, she was fast asleep. He gently lowered her into bed, tucked her in and kissed her hair, before leaving the room.
As he got back into bed, Jack's arm instantly wrapped around him, pulling him closer. Ianto smiled at the gesture. It was one of the many things Ianto loved about his husband that, even in his sleep, Jack still showed him that he was loved. Ianto snuggled back into Jack's warm embrace and whispered, "Love you too Jack," before closing his eyes and falling back to sleep.
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