A/N: So guys here we go... this time it's a somehow cute and fluffy (albeit serious themes) story, that sprang to my mind after reading spoilers for Children of Earth (okay, it's got not much to do with it, but I picked one particular aspect). Hope you like it.
„God… for heaven's sake Jack, stop acting like a bloody mother hen!" Gwen exclaimed rolling her eyes as she saw Jack again stroll down from his office to where she was standing in front of her workstation, trying to figure out what exactly that strange pattern meant that they had found on some alien artefact that came through the rift this morning. The pattern had been strangely familiar and yet nobody could have said what exactly it meant; even after running all possible scans over it they were left clueless.
Jack had been doing this at least every ten minutes since she'd entered the Hub three hours ago, always coming down to check on her as if he feared she might vanish or get seriously ill or something and it was starting to really unnerve her. His only response was to grin. She sighed, seriously annoyed and wanted to march over to where the artefact sat in the scanner when his arms circled around her, coming to rest at her belly, caressing her gently through her shirt, his embrace stopping her dead in her tracks.
"Sorry." He whispered into her ear, his breath tickling her skin, almost eliciting a shiver to run down her spine. "But I'm so excited." She frowned slightly at that; Gwen didn't need to see his face to know that he was smiling when she relaxed, leaning against him, her back resting against his firm chest. The pattern on the alien artefact seemed suddenly forgotten.
Jack and Ianto had been fussing all over her since they knew she was pregnant, they were worse than Rhys, her parents and his parents taken together. They didn't treat her as if she was ill – at least – but as if she suddenly had become extremely fragile which probably was just as bad; both acted like mother hen really. Since the two men had unanimously agreed that it was out of question that she could any longer indulge in Iantos fabulous strong coffee, (she wasn't happy about that but arguing had proved to be totally futile), and also came to the conclusion that she shouldn't any longer eat potentially unhealthy food (which meant pizza, Chinese… and all the other stuff Torchwood basically lived on) Ianto was out at the moment shopping for some healthy stuff as replacement. "Jack..." She sighed. "...it's not even yours. You're definitively overdoing it."
There it was again, his priceless ladykiller grin and she didn't need to turn around to know it was there. She was so used to his presence that she could feel his mood. "Oh you never know..."
"Jack!" She swatted his hand playfully, mock indignation in her voice, another frown on her face. "That's nothing to joke about, it's not funny!"
He stiffened slightly and rested his head on her shoulder as she leaned further against him. "I'm deadly serious." The earnestness and the intensity of his voice almost made her shudder.
"But we would remember if we… I mean, come on… I'm sure we didn't…" She trailed off, distracted when she felt his lips ghosting kisses over her skin in the bend where her neck met her shoulder.
She didn't even try to make him stop with this so obvious and more or less borderline show of affection for her; not anymore anyway plus it would probably have been a futile attempt anyway. She had to admit that he liked it when he touched her, when he kissed her, when his tongue licked over her skin without demanding sex (or well maybe he did and she just didn't give in to him) and she craved for it, she craved for the sensual physicality of touch as Rhys denied it to her since he knew she was pregnant. Her husband was so sweet towards her, kind and caring, trying to make her happy, cheer her up, sometimes almost suffocating her with his worries, but he obviously feared to break her or something when he touched her, so she could be happy if he so much as kissed her lightly on her lips. She'd always been quite physical throughout her life, touch and be touched, and after only a few days she'd felt terribly deprived of it; so despite being in a seriously committed relationship, despite loving Rhys she allowed this to happen, she allowed herself to indulge in the sensation Jacks hands caused sliding up and down her clothed body, in the sensation when his lips trailed gentle kisses on every inch of exposed skin.
"What if it was some kind of drunken fumble and we retconned ourselves afterwards? There is no use in denying that we both know it's possible. I always wanted you and I doubt you'd struggle." His words caused the breath to hitch in her throat; yes they both knew that there was so much sexual tension between them that it was not that unlikely despite both of them being more (as in her case with Rhys) or less (as maybe with his relationship with Ianto) seriously committed relationships. „I mean, can you recall every second of the period critical for reception?"
Gwen swallowed hard, but was unable to even move the lump forming in her throat a millimetre; she was worried with how much precision Jacks assumption had hit home, briefly wondering if maybe he still remembered what she probably couldn't. In fact there really were five hours missing from her memory. These five hours had already caused her quite a lot of sorrows and sleepless nights, when doubts were nagging at her. Of course there were lots of professional, perfectly fine reasons for these five hours to be erased from her memory... but what Jack had just implied had actually been the first thought that crossed her mind when she found out that she was pregnant. Plus a drunken fumble with her boss without any contraceptives seemed much more likely than an accident with Rhys. They had always been very careful, very conscientiously about that, especially since the deaths of Tosh and Owen had brought a full stop to their plans of having children for the time being.
Jack must have felt that he had upset her with what he said, causing the mood of the situation to change from playfully messing around to something more serious, more dark. "It's much more likely it's Rhys's though. So don't worry about that." He finally added, one of his hands tenderly caressing her cheek, the other never leaving the place where it rested in an almost possessively gesture on her still flat stomach. "Still, I'm so happy for you."
"But I'm not." Her voice broke, tears suddenly welling up in her eyes, as she snuggled deeper into the security of his embrace. "I didn't intend to let anyone know… not even you guys, but then I couldn't hinder it. And then…" She paused biting her lip to stifle the sob that was threatening to escape her. "…then you had to congratulate Rhys and he told my parents and his parents and now everybody knows, everybody is so happy and excited about the baby." She let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. "And I... I... feel so shitty about that. I felt so bloody guilty when I was at the consultant agency to get that paper I need for the doctor for abortion..." She remembered that very awkward chat she had with the much too caring, much too understanding woman from the consultant agency. She had felt incredibly guilty and ashamed and emotionally drained afterwards. "This feels so much more alien to me than the goddamn Nostrovite egg."
"I'm sorry, I wouldn't have mentioned it to Rhys had I known that... that you were thinking about abortion." Jack was pressing a light kiss to her hair.
"You have nothing to be sorry for." Or maybe you actually have. She added in her thoughts; one of the biggest worries that came up when she realised the five hours missing from her memory was what she'd do if she kept the child and it then looked unmistakeably like Jack. The thought made her feel sick. She loved Rhys and she didn't want to hurt him like that, and she just knew that this would be a devastating blow for him. And the worst of it was: she couldn't be sure, she'd never be sure unless she'd do genetic mapping which wouldn't be possible until it the baby was already to old to go for an abortion without any medical reasons. Plus she wasn't sure which thought disturbed her more, aborting Rhys's baby or Jacks; the fact that she even thought about that was already disturbing enough in itself. On the other hand... with how things were here at Torchwood it was also not highly unlikely that she'd lose the child naturally, well, as natural as an accident could be anyway... and she had felt disgusted with herself that she'd wished something like that would just happen and relieve her of the burden of making a decision.
Carefully Gwen entwined her fingers with his, holding onto him as if for life itself. "If things weren't that complicated then maybe I'd be happy about it myself. But right now... I just don't know what to do."
"Gwen..." There were so many emotions in his voice that it made her shudder as he said her name. "Talk to me, tell me what the problem is."
Gwen almost laughed hysterically at this question; sometimes she still felt the shock, the disbelief that had been surging through her when she three weeks ago discovered her pregnancy. "What do you think? Maybe that two of my best friends died not too long ago, maybe that I risk my life every day to save this city, this world? Maybe that I'm having near death experiences on a regular basis since I joined Torchwood? Maybe that recently the end of the world has just been too close already a couple of times?" She paused, relishing the feeling of him holding onto her tightly, their fingers still entwined. Until now she had never voiced her thoughts, her doubts, her fears to anyone aloud, kept them to herself, and she was so grateful that Jack obviously didn't judge her for having doubts about keeping the child; Rhys would and that's why she dreaded making a decision. "How would I be able to do my work, Jack? Would you really sent me out on a mission when you know that maybe I'd never make it back home to the baby? Would you? Could you do that?"
Despite the seriousness of their conversation Gwen had to concentrate hard to not moan out loud now when Jack nibbled along her jaw line, all teeth and lips and tongue, her head bending to the side automatically to allow him better access to her skin. "I know it's probably going to be difficult." His lips brushed over her pulse with every word, making her tremble, making her stomach flip like it was doing summersaults and causing goose bumps to spread all over her body. "But after all this death surrounding us, don't you think you should give life a chance? Think about it, Gwen, despite all the terrible things happening to us, despite all the death, all the fear, there still is this tiny spark of life growing inside you waiting for its chance to one day see the wonders of this universe. Life is such an incredible thing, it needs to be cherished." She felt him smile against her skin, obviously content with his passionate parol for life. "But it's your decision and we're going to love you no matter what."
We... meant Ianto and him; both men had been fussing all over her from the start as if the three of them were going to found a family and not her and Rhys. "Ianto! We're having a baby!" Jack had exclaimed happily, his hand placed on hers, squeezing it gently when he found out.
At first she had been worried, extremely worried, because the sexual tension between her and Jack had reached new heights since they knew about her being pregnant, especially with Jack becoming obviously more and more confident about touching her, about showing his desire for her openly when they were down here in the Hub, even when Ianto was around.
Jack would sneak his hands around her waist, hold her, caress her, flirt with her not anymore trying to be subtle, kiss her skin ever so lightly. Gwen had feared that it would upset Ianto, hell it had even upset her how indulgent she was to Jacks gentle administrations, and at first she hadn't been able to look Ianto in the eye anymore. But then, before this could get really awkward, Ianto had placed his hands on her shoulders, squeezing them reassuringly and kissing her gently on her cheek. "I love you, and I don't mind him loving you, you loving him." The gentleness in his voice, the way he looked at her then had almost made her cry and caused her to blush rather furiously actually; he always beamed at her now whenever she met his watchful gaze.
The relationship between her, Jack and Ianto had changed to something that she still couldn't fully comprehend – and maybe she didn't want to – but it was way beyond friendship, even with Ianto. It was like living a threesome, but without the sex, at least no sex involving her and there would never be. Well... apart from Jacks hands and lips on you anyway.
It truly felt a little weird to her, being in the centre of attention of two men in a relationship, not to mention that she had a third man at home waiting for her anxiously every day, but she had somehow grown accustomed to it. At least Jack and Ianto were not trying to baby her all the time as Rhys did – he didn't allow her to do anything when she was home. Although they still babied her often enough to be annoying at times.
Gwen was snapped out of her reverie when the sirens blared and Ianto walked in after the cog door rolled open. He was carrying two plastic bags which were probably filled with all the stuff he had already tortured her with last week: herbal tea, fruits, vegetables, meat and fruit juice, all originating from organic farming of course. At least Ianto had proved to be a decent cook thought Gwen felt a little awkward having him spending so much time on her well-being when she would've been pleased with a pizza.
"Oi Jack! I see you're seducing our becoming mother again?" Ianto beamed at Gwen as he walked up to them, obviously not minding that Jack was still busy nibbling and licking at her neck. He hugged Gwen gently and placed a kiss on her cheek, ignoring Jack. "You really look radiant today Gwen."
God... she couldn't help but smile and blush a little at that.
"Actually it was more a pep talk until now, but we were getting to the seducing part..." Jack finally answered to Ianto, one of his hands sneaking out of hers to start again his slight caressing. "He's right, you're incredibly sexy."
This time a low moan really escaped Gwen as Jack was obviously trying to test his limits as his hand cupped her breast and his thumb circled around her already taught nipple through her clothes. The sensation he elicited shot directly to her groin, making her legs feel like jelly all of a sudden, her stomach to flip more than just a bit and causing her not only to moan but to arch her back slightly against him in response. "Christ! Jack!" Regaining control over her body she shoved his hand away, feeling embarrassed at how her body had so easily reacted to his touch.
"What? You can't deny you enjoyed that." He grinned at her, not even trying to hide that he too had enjoyed that, probably more than he should. "Want more of it? I feel in a sharing mood today." And they were back to teasing and messing around.
Though she had to admit that she felt truly tempted by this proposal – and horrified at her own reaction – she rolled her eyes at this bold advance on her, looking at Ianto for some moral support. But Ianto didn't meet up to her expectations as he just shrugged, keeping his voice completely neutral. "As I said, I don't mind and I could keep an eye on the rift monitor while you're busy."
Gwen gaped at Ianto at a complete loss for words and felt heat creep up around her neck, shooting directly to her head; she wasn't sure she had ever blushed so deeply in her entire life. "You two are unbelievable!" She scolded both of them seeing them smirk all too content with themselves now, before shrugging out of Jacks grip; after all she had some work to do. But despite feeling a little outraged at the immorality (she was a married woman for heaven's sake!) of what Ianto and Jack had just suggested she couldn't stop a happy smile from spreading on her lips. She finally knew for sure that whatever happened, she'd be okay. After all... which other woman could truly say that three gorgeous men were taking care of her?