Secret Santa: Traditions
Summary: Part of the Secret Santa Universe. Set 46 years after the original. The Harkness- Jones family go to the pantomime.
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Torchwood and Doctor Who are the property of the BBC, RTD and SM. However, Addiena, Kerenza, Rebecca, Daniel, Ethan, Milo, Lottie, Thea, Toby, Connor, Frankie, Suzanna, Ffion, Erin, Elis, Leah and anyone else you don't recognise are mine.
Jack and Ianto's kids' ages: Addiena= 44, Kerenza= 39, Daniel and Rebecca = 37, Milo= 13, Thea and Toby = 9
Daniel and John's kids' ages: Ethan= 15, Lottie=10
Addiena and Connor's kid's age: Suzanna=4
Rebecca and Emily's adopted kids' ages: Ffion = 9, Erin and Elis = 6
Sitting in his office Jack Harkness- Jones had nothing to do but think. Everyone was out of the hub, either on a mission or kid watching, so the immortal was bored. Usually when such feelings arose Jack would call his husband but Ianto had gone out to sort the tickets for the family trip to the pantomime. Ever since Addiena had started school the pair had taken their children to the theatre on 3rd or 4th January to see a show. It was a tradition that had been going on for 40 years, regardless of what Torchwood threw at them. It had been easier, of course, when Toshiko and Owen still worked for the organisation as they could monitor the rift while the family went out. However, when they retired there was no one but family running things, so that made things difficult. Most years they had been lucky and had no rift predictions, so no one was left out. Yet, occasionally there had been times when one or two family members had had to forfeit their place to watch the Hub. Usually, the task fell to Jack and Ianto as they didn't want their children to miss out. Luckily, this year there was no likelihood of any rift activity, so everyone was going, providing Ianto could get the tickets sorted.
Looking back, Jack remembered some close calls with tickets. Due to the small window for rift predictions, the Welshman couldn't buy tickets too early as they may go to waste. For any other show the Welshman would buy the tickets regardless but for a pantomime he didn't want to stop another child and their parent from going if they couldn't. Jack knew his husband would feel terrible thinking a child had missed out because they had bought a ticket they didn't need. It was one of the many reasons why Jack loved him so much, he was always thinking of others and never wanted a child being upset if he could do something about it. Hence, the tickets were bought on the day.
Jack hoped that there were enough left. He remembered one year where there had only been 6 tickets left and the family had been left with the difficult choice of who should go. In the end the family had decided to send him, Ianto, Daniel and John so that Ethan and Milo could go with their parents. He remembered his husband feeling guilty that their daughters couldn't join them. He had offered for one of them to take his place, but they had insisted he go with Milo. Fortunately, that had not happened again since.
Jack chuckled thinking back on all the years they'd enjoyed the pantomime. He couldn't believe it had all begun to stop a little girl having a tantrum in the theatre…
40 years ago…
Sitting in the soft theatre seats, popcorn in one hand and a drink in the other Addiena was so excited. Her Daddy had asked her what she would like to do on the last weekend before going back to school and she had suggested going to the pantomime. Her friends at school had all been and she wanted to see it too. Beside her Ianto made a groaning noise, causing her to look over at her Taddy with concern.
"Are you ok Taddy? Is it the baby?" she whispered, remembering that they had told her that Ianto's pregnancy was a secret.
"I'm fine sweetheart."
Jack gave him a look of concern too, but Ianto just smiled and put his hand on his husband's shoulder, giving him a reassuring little squeeze.
Just as he removed his hand the lights started to go down.
"Its starting!" Addiena squealed in delight.
xxx
All through the show the little girl watched in fascination. She joined in with yelling, "Behind you," and all the songs she knew. She never wanted to fun to end.
When the panto was over the 4 year old sat in her chair and pouted.
"Daddy, I want to see it again. I'm staying here!"
"Addiena!" Ianto began, "Put your coat on and let's go!"
"But Taddy…!"
"No Addiena. I promise we will come again next year if you get your coat on and we make it back to the car within 10 minutes."
The two men smiled as the little girl rushed to get on her coat and began dragging them to the car.
Back to present day
Jack smiled at the memory. It was funny how the little girl never forgot the promise her Tad made and kept asking all year when the pantomime would be on. That year had been a challenge to organise with the baby, but Toshiko and Owen had agreed to watch Kerenza for the night, so the family could go and thus beginning the tradition.
Jack was shook from his thoughts when the alarm signalled the arrival of someone in the hub.
Quickly, he darted from the room expecting to find Ianto but only found Daniel.
"Hey Dad, you ready to go? Tad told me to come and get you, so we can meet there."
Jack ran to grab his coat before the two men left the hub. Even after all the years he had been to the panto he couldn't help but feel excited to be going again.
Xxx
At the theatre, the ever expanding family were sat waiting for their patriarch to turn up. They had collected the tickets and were sat in their places waiting for him, that was all except Ianto who had decided to wait in the foyer.
"Hey love. Thanks for waiting. Everyone here?" Jack asked, kissing him on the cheek in greeting.
"Yep. Come on." Ianto smiled and led his husband to their spot between Thea and Toby. Just as the couple sat down the lights dimmed and the show began.
The usual squeal of, "it's starting," from all the kids, except Ethan and Milo, made Jack and Ianto smile.
Xxx
After the show the family made their way back to Jack and Ianto's house for the traditional after panto party. As soon as they got in, Milo took Ethan to his room to play on the Xbox.
The girls Thea, Lottie and Suzanna headed to the playroom to put on a show for their family, dragging Ffion and Erin with them. Every year the girls would make up their own choreography and perform. This year, Ffion and Erin, being new to the family would get the star roles. No one was left out when you were a Harkness- Jones, and everyone, regardless of age, had been taught that valuable lesson. Which was why Toby had taken Elis under his wing and invited him to play in his room.
It had only been a couple of weeks since Rebecca and Emily had adopted the 3 orphan siblings, but already the family loved them. The three children were still nervous to be surrounded by so many people, but they knew that they had become part of a loving family. Rebecca smiled at her wife, grateful for the love her siblings where showing their children.
Xxx
In the kitchen, Jack and Ianto began to sort the party food. When everything was in the oven the pair made their way to the living room and sat together on the corner chair, Ianto in Jack's arms, taking in how happy their family looked.
On the sofa, Daniel and John were sat together. John began gesturing wildly as he told one of his many stories of the past, Connor and Addiena listening from the next chair and laughing. By the CD player, stood Kerenza helping Lottie pick some music for their performance, usually something from a film or tv show they knew.
"You know Jack," Ianto began, "I never realised how many of our family traditions fall this time of year. I don't know how much longer we can keep the panto trip going though. Ethan and Milo are getting too old now and I'm sure that the older children are not going to want us going with them for much longer. "
"Why not?"
"We don't age! How can we expect our children not to feel weird in public with us when we look younger than they do?"
"Ianto, we've talked about this. Our children don't think like that, but I can ask… Hey kids! Do you enjoy the panto visit with us or would you rather we not go with you?"
"It's great. I love going as a family," Kerenza answered.
"Me too. I know Ethan is not as bothered as he used to be, but Lottie enjoys it."
"It's tradition. I like it when we all go. It reminds me of old times, but I do think things need to change before we go next year… I think we need to hire some more people, so that the hub is well manned if something happens, and then we won't have to worry about not getting tickets because you can buy them early."
"I'll think about it…" Jack began, always reluctant to hire more people. More people meant more chance of exposing the uniqueness of his family and he didn't want to put them at risk. He might have to contact the Doctor and see if he can make any suggestions. He hadn't actually contacted the man since Daniel had gone with him to find John. He was angry and had given the Doctor a stern talking to about using his children for dangerous missions. Yes, he knew it had turned out for the best, and had not been that dangerous really, but Daniel was his son, his only one at the time, and so was very protective of him. He supposed he was grateful for that mission now as without it he wouldn't have his first grandchildren.
"I also want to say something," Rebecca began, bringing Jack's thoughts back to the present. "I know I'm not a part of Torchwood, but I know that you are asking because of how you look Tad. I don't care. You're my Dads and you always will be no matter how you look, and I know I love spending time with you. I know we are not a normal family, but I love our traditions and hope that they never end."
A chorus of cheers followed and Ianto felt relieved.
"See Ianto, I told you," Jack whispered in his ear.
"Ok cariad, you were right," Ianto said, lying back against his husband, enjoying being in the arms of the man he loved more than anything.
The two immortals spent the rest of the night enjoying their time together as a family. They cheered at the girls' dance and laughed at the antics of the boys as they were roped into some dances.
As time went by, the two men only had two thoughts on their minds. They thought about how much they loved each other and their family and about how happy their children and grandchildren were. In the end their family being happy and healthy was all they wanted for them.
Traditions can start for all sorts of reasons. Traditions can be things that you just do because everyone else does them, like having a large meal at Christmas, others begin for a reason that you create. For Jack and Ianto every tradition was created for one reason; to make the most of the time they had with their family.