Jack looked up from his book, when Ianto walked into the living room. "Is he asleep now?"

Nodding, Ianto fell down next to Jack onto the couch and leant back, his head connecting with a soft thud with the wall. He was exhausted. The twins were now three weeks old and they were still trying to establish a regular daily routine. Of course working for Torchwood didn't exactly help in that regard. Even with their now rather large team with by now nine people including Jack, Ianto and Gwen there were times when Jack and Ianto couldn't get both home together with the twins to feed them and put them to bed, which was a problem because Josh wouldn't settle down when it wasn't Ianto who put him to bed. The little boy would cry and make a fuss and generally keep Katie awake as well until Ianto came in and swept him up into his arms until he fell asleep.

Jack had tried everything; he'd even tried to wear one of Ianto's shirts so he would smell like his lover, but Josh just wouldn't settle down. Growing constantly more frustrated by the day, Jack was in a slightly annoyed mood - to put it nicely. The hormones were still raging through his body and the fact that one of his own flesh and blood wasn't comfortable with his presence cut deep.

Katie on the other hand seemed to be tuned to Jack. It was like she was feeling his presence. As soon as he stepped into the room, she would start to settle down and wait for him to pick her up. Although unlike her brother she was happy with her Tad putting her to sleep as well as with Jack.

"I just don't understand why he is making such a fuss each evening," Ianto sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Katie is content with both of us putting her to sleep and we're not doing anything differently with her."

"It's the wisdom of age."

"She is 32 seconds older than Josh," Ianto snorted.

"See." Putting his book to the side, Jack pulled Ianto into his arms, tucking the younger man's head safely under his chin. "She has 32 seconds of experience over her brother."

"I'm just so tired and I know it's hurting you that Josh reacts to you this way. I'm so sorry, Jack." Snuggling tighter into the embrace, Ianto started to rub over Jack's belly, a habit he had picked up when Jack had been pregnant with the twins. It had been something that had calmed them both and it was still working.

"Hey, it's not your fault. I had the little guy for 10 months in me, maybe he needs a break from his dad." Pressing a kiss to Ianto's head, Jack tousled his fingers through his lover's hair. He loved to play with the short strands and it had the same soothing effect as the hand rubbing over his belly.

"That's crap and you know it."

"Well, Andres said it was perfectly normal for Josh to develop a preference for the first weeks. When we have established a daily routine he will get more comfortable with other people and everything will calm down. It was the same with Emma. Rhys had been the only one who was able to get her to sleep in the first few weeks after she was released from the hospital."

"Yes, but she was premature and the circumstances of her birth had been anything else than quiet and normal," Ianto sighed, his eyes slowly drooping.

"I don't think that being born premature in the middle of an attack had anything to do with Emma choosing her Tad to tuck her in," Jack said quietly, trying hard to keep his emotions down. The memory of that day still served to give him nightmares.

"No, it probably had more to do with Gwen being a horrible singer," Ianto stated dryly, trying to lighten the mood. No one of the team liked to be reminded of that day in May. They had been lucky.

Despite his dark thoughts, Jack had to chuckle. He remembered Emma's scrunched up face in the hospital when Gwen had started to sing a lullaby only to start wailing a moment later. It was only when Rhys had taken over the singing that the crying baby had settled down again.

"Don't tell me you sing to Josh," Jack mock pouted.

"No, but I tell him a Welsh nursery rhyme, the same I tell to Katie."

"Ah, so you're using you're Welsh vowels against me. No wonder Josh likes you more than me," Jack teased and poked Ianto's side.

Yelping loudly, Ianto jerked away from Jack, trying to put some distance between himself and his lover. "Don't you dare!"

Catching Ianto by the waist and throwing him onto the couch, Jack loomed over his lover with an evil glint in his eyes. "You're using Welsh vowels on our son; that screams for punishment." Wiggling his fingers, Jack climbed over Ianto's body and pinned him down with his weight.

"Jack, no!" Ianto already felt a silly giggle bubble up in him and he tried to catch Jack's hands in his own, but it was no use. The larger man descended on him like a tiger on his prey and a rather unmanly squeal escaped Ianto's lips while he desperately tried to dislodge Jack's hands from his ticklish sides. Laughter filled the room when Ianto changed tactics and started his own attack on Jack. Delighted when he pulled a girlish scream from Jack, Ianto somehow managed to flip them and was now the one who did the pinning down. Changing tactics again, Ianto put his hands and mouth to a better use and captured Jack in a passionate kiss, while his hands found their way between them and into Jack's sweatpants.

The baby monitor chose that moment to crackle to life and a moment later the protesting wail of a three weeks old girl came over the speaker. Both men stopped in their tracks and Ianto slumped down, hiding his face in Jack's chest with a groan.

"Maybe she'll stop in a moment," Jack said without much conviction.

"You know she won't and she will wake Josh." Ianto was already pushing himself off of Jack and had to laugh when he saw the full blown pout on his lover's face. Getting up on his feet he held a hand out to Jack. "Come on, the sooner we get them back to sleep, the sooner we can continue this."

"Oh, the joy of parenthood," Jack muttered but let Ianto pull him up.

When they walked into the nursery Katie had reached new volume levels and Josh was just scrunching up his face, ready to join the music. In an unspoken agreement Jack immediately went to Katie's crib and picked the girl up, quietly humming, while Ianto lifted Josh up and settled down in one of the rocking chairs.

The small boy instantly settled down into the warmth of his Tad, snuffling a few times as if to complain about Katie's wailing. Closing his arms securely around the tiny body now resting on his chest, Ianto watched with a smile while Jack comforted their daughter.

Ianto always loved to watch Jack, the dashing alien-fighting hero all domesticated with a baby in his arms, the tiny head safely tucked under his chin, humming a tune Ianto knew was from the future. He still had a hard time wrapping his mind around the way his life had turned out. From being devastated after losing Lisa to falling in love with Jack and building a family with him; it had been a whirlwind, but the Welshman wouldn't miss a second of it.

He had never felt happier in his life and judging by the smile blossoming on Jack's face after they had made eye contact, Jack was happy as well.

Katie was already settling down and only a few hiccups remained from the crying just a few moments ago.

"You are quite the over-achiever, huh?" Jack murmured and rubbed his thumb over the girl's back. "I changed your nappy just before putting you to sleep." Rocking his daughter slowly, Jack stepped to the changing table and carefully put her down. "You have quite the healthy digestive system, little princess," he smiled and tickled her belly. Katie, by now completely still, looked up at her dad, her blue eyes focused on Jack's face. "Let's get you changed and then back to bed, what do you say?" Working quickly and efficiently Jack undressed the baby and peeled the strips off that held the nappy in place. "Wow!" Waving his hand in front of his nose, Jack quickly disposed of the soiled nappy.

Chuckling, Ianto started to rock back and forth in his chair. "Not the sweet little lady right now, huh?"

"Don't listen to your Tad," Jack stage whispered to Katie, already fastening the buttons of her Babygro. "You're still sweet and beautiful even if you can do poo-poo like a fifty years old dock worker."

"Hearing you talk like that is so wrong," Ianto laughed now heartily.

"What do you mean?" Smiling, Jack sat down in the other rocking chair, Katie safely tucked against his chest.

"I'd never have thought I would hear Jack Harkness say the word poo-poo."

"Well, times change. And I'm Jack Harkness-Jones now, mister. Don't you forget that. So me being domesticated is really your fault."

"Is that so?" Ianto grinned, rubbing a hand up and down Josh's back to soothe the boy back to sleep after having woken him with the laughter. "Well, it's something I will never feel guilty about."

"Me neither." Smiling, Jack glanced at Ianto before pressing a kiss in the soft hair on Katie's head. "What do you say, we put these two back to bed and continue where we'd been so rudely interrupted earlier."

"Sounds like a plan." Ianto pushed himself up and stepped over to Josh's crib, carefully putting the boy down and brushing a kiss to the tiny forehead. He held his breath for a moment when he stepped back, waiting for the boy to wake up and start crying. But Josh blissfully slept on, his small fists curling and uncurling in his dream. "I'm good." Ianto whispered while carefully making his way to the door.

On the other side of the room, Jack was just straightening up, humming the same melody as before. "We're good as well." Quickly checking the baby monitor, Jack followed Ianto out of the room, leaving the door ajar.

Barely outside, Jack grabbed Ianto around the waist and pushed him against the wall, successfully trapping the younger man. "Now, where were we?" Leaning forward, Jack captured his lover in a searing kiss, leaving them both breathless.

"We should take this to the bedroom, don't you think?" Eyes slightly glazed over, Ianto could barely control himself not to take Jack right there. But that would only result in the twins waking up again and that would help nobody.

Instead of an answer Jack grabbed Ianto's hand and pulled him towards their bedroom. Conjuring up the last of his control, Ianto managed to close the door with a silent click, trusting the baby monitor on the nightstand to alert them if one of the troubles was in distress. Both men shed their clothes as quickly as possible. Sexual energy, pent-up over several weeks now, providing the desperate speed to ensure both were naked within seconds.

As soon as the last item of clothing had hit the floor, Ianto was all over his lover, pushing him back to the bed, lips fused together while hands roamed over familiar grounds. When Jack's knees hit the bed, he fell back, pulling Ianto with him. Their lips never lost the connection and the younger man now made use of his position and pushed Jack's legs apart, one hand finding the by now rock hard shaft of his lover.

Jack was arching up his back and groaning into the kiss the moment Ianto's hand closed around his erection. It had been far too long since the last time they had sex.

"Who is the over-achiever now?" Ianto chuckled and moved his hand just in the way he knew would drive his lover nuts.

"Less talking, more action," Jack panted, a shudder of pleasure running through his body. To reinforce his words, he moved up the bed, pulling Ianto with him. "Do me."

Not needing to be told twice, Ianto roughly pulled the drawer of the nightstand open, almost ripping it out completely. Unsteady fingers were searching for the lube, while Jack pulled him into another kiss.

"Don't need lube, need you."

"It's been too long, I don't want to hurt you." Finally finding the lube, Ianto squeezed a fair amount into his hand. "I'll be quick." True to his word, he pushed two fingers into Jack's ready body, instantly finding his lover's sweet spot.

"Jesus!" Jack cried out, his hips bucking uncontrollably, fingers digging in Ianto's arm. "Do that again and it will be over."

With a satisfied grin on his face, Ianto twisted his fingers a few times before pulling them out and replacing them with his cock. Throwing all caution to the wind, he pushed in in one smooth move, not giving either of them the time to adjust before pulling out and slamming back in again. With this rhythm neither of them would last long.

Groaning heavily, Jack pulled his legs up and wrapped them around his lover's waist, pulling him even deeper with each stroke. It was all the change in angle Ianto needed to nail Jack's prostate with every thrust. Speeding up, he felt his own orgasm approaching quickly. He closed his hand around Jack's cock and two strokes were all it took before the hot seed pulsed over his hand and their bellies. Pounding into his lover a few times more, Ianto was quickly following him into completion.

Collapsing onto Jack, Ianto was panting heavily, feeling Jack's pounding heartbeat under him.

"That was..." Jack started but trailed of, still trying to catch his breath.

"Yeah..."

It took both of them several minutes until they had calmed back down enough for Ianto to pull out and clean them up with a wet wipe from the box on the nightstand. Crawling under the duvet, Jack pulled his lover into his arms and they were both fast asleep as soon as Ianto's head came to rest on Jack's chest.

Blinking his eyes open in the darkness, Jack needed a moment to realize what had woken him up. The spot next to him was empty and already getting cold, which meant Ianto was out of bed for some time. Turning his head, he squinted at the alarm clock. 3:37 am. Allowing himself a deep sigh, Jack rolled over to Ianto's side of the bed and turned the baby monitor back on. The young man always switched it off when he was looking after the twins in order not to wake Jack up.

Smiling when he heard Ianto's voice coming over the monitor, Jack laid back and concentrated on the sounds transferred from the nursery. Ianto's melodic baritone was intoning a string of Welsh words. Jack was still embarrassed that in all the time he had spent in Wales, he had never felt the urge to learn the language. He knew a couple of words, but he never saw the reason to properly learn to speak Welsh. Listening to Ianto now, he wished he had.

Gee, geffyl bach, yn cario ni'n dau
Dros y mynydd i hela cnau;
Dŵr yn yr afon a'r cerrig yn slic,
Cwympo ni'n dau. Wel dyna i chi dric!

Cwyd Josh bach a saf ar dy draed,
Sych dy lygad, anghofio'r gwaed;
Neidiwn ein dau ar ein ceffyl bach gwyn,
Dros y mynydd, ac i lawr y glyn.

Gee, geffyl bach dros frigau y coed,
Fel y Tylwyth Teg mor ysgafn dy droed,
Carlam ar garlam ar y cwmwl gwyn;
Naid dros y lleuad, ac i lawr at y llyn.

The house was completely still except for Ianto speaking in a low voice and occasionally Jack could hear a satisfied snuffle, unmistakably coming from Josh. He could easily picture the two of them sitting in the rocking chair, the boy safely tugged under Ianto's chin. One of the blankets Ianto's brother had sent them draped over them to keep father and son warm. Ianto would wait a few moments longer until he would put the boy back in his crib and come back to bed, making sure the kid was asleep again.

And as predicted a few minutes later, Ianto walked into the room and quietly climbed back into the bed.

Jack shuffled closer and draped one arm around the younger man's waist. "I want you to teach me."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't want to wake you." Turning around a bit, Ianto snuggled even closer into Jack's embrace.

"You didn't wake me. I didn't even hear Josh, is he okay?" Since the twins had been born, Ianto had an even lighter sleep than Jack and often woke up from the slightest noise coming over the baby monitor.

"Yes, he is fine. He just wanted his Tad."

"You know, if you keep going to him each time he even breathes hard, he will never learn to sleep through the night."

"I know, but I just love them both so much and they grow so quickly. Sometimes I think they grow at least an inch each day. I want all the time I can get with them while they're still so small."

"Yeah, I get that. But it won't help them or us if we coddle them too much. And believe me I know how hard it is to let them cry."

"It is, but I know you're right. So what did you want me to teach you?" Smoothly changing the subject, Ianto enjoyed the warmth and safety Jack's embrace provided and started to drift off to sleep again.

"The nursery rhyme you just told to Josh. I want to learn that. And maybe it's a good start to finally learn a bit more of those Welsh vowels as well." Smiling Jack pulled his lover even closer, also revelling in the warmth and the complete trust Ianto was having in him. A trust that went both ways.

"I can do that. Tomorrow."

The last word being already slurred, Jack felt Ianto getting heavy and so he closed his eyes as well

Two days later Ianto was held up at the Hub again. For reasons he couldn't even fathom after the call was over, the Chief of UNIT had wanted to talk with him and only him. After assuring the Chief that UNIT would get access to their latest find of alien technology as soon as they'd classified it as not dangerous and unlikely to blow up, a rather grumpy Ianto had left the Hub in a hurry. It was way past bed time for the twins and he knew he would find a crying Josh and an even grumpier Jack at home.

Steeling himself for another stressful evening Ianto opened the door to their house, but was only greeted by blissful silence. He quickly made his way up the stairs to the nursery but stopped in the doorway when he found Jack sitting in one of the rocking chairs, a baby in each arm. Both kids were gazing up at their dad, listening to the soothing baritone singing a Welsh nursery rhyme.

Ianto recognized it as the one he had taught Jack just the day before. He had told his lover that it was in fact a lullaby, but that he never had managed to sing it right and therefore just spoke the words to the twins. Obviously Jack had found the melody and he was able to sing it in just the right way. Exactly like his mother had sung it when he had been a little toddler, Ianto thought and closed his eyes and leant against the doorframe.

When Jack stopped singing, he opened his eyes again, smiling at his lover. Finally entering the room, Ianto took Katie from his lover's arm, hugging the little girl close to his chest.

"I guess we found something you could impress the little guy with," Ianto chuckled and gave Jack a kiss.

"Looks that way." Smiling himself, Jack stood up and carefully put down Josh in his crib. And when only two days ago the baby had cried, he now was completely silent and snuffled happily as Jack pressed a kiss to his head. "Seems Josh and I came to a truce."

Ianto who had already put Katie down and kissed her good night came over to Jack and sneaked his arms around the other man's waist. "Dw i'n dy garu di."

„I love you, too."

FIN*

Translation of the Lullaby:
Gee Up Little Horse

Gee up little horse, carrying us two
Over the mountain to gather nuts,
Water in the river, the stones are slippery,
We both fall down, well what a trick!

Get up little Robin and stand on your feet,
Dry your tears, forget the blood,
We'll both jump on the big white horse,
Up the mountain and down the valley.

Gee up little horse over the branches of the
tree
Like the fairies so light footed,
Galloping away over the big white cloud,
Jump over the moon and down to the lake.