This is in the 'One Accidental Step Further' series, set a couple of years after 'Accidents Revealed'.
I really felt like doing something fun and fluffy for christmas, so I drew on an anecdote from my chilhood (every christmas holidays, I would be all sniffly for the first few days - somethign I remember vividly for some reson). Anyway, I hope you enjoy this!
There's another installment coming up on christmas eve for the Harkness-Jones clan's christmas day.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Jack or Ianto or anythign remotely Torchwood related. They belong to JB, GDL and RTD respectively.. I do own the sprogs and the relatives though!
Christmas Holidays?
"Kissmas, kissmas, kissmas, kissmas, kissmas!" The little girl was shrieking at the top of her lungs in excitement, running through the house in her pyjamas, her hair flying out manically as she cackled and giggled her way through seven in the morning.
Ianto raised his head for a moment and looked towards the bedroom door blearily before sighing and shoving his head back under the pillow, curling up away from the door and the source of the disturbance.
He almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a small figure wriggling beneath the covers next to him. His eyes snapped open and he caught a glimpse of Griffin's tousled hair before he disappeared beneath the duvet completely, leaning back on Ianto, muttering to himself.
Ianto wrapped an arm around him and pulled him closer, sighing slightly.
The light patter of feet became louder as the little girl clambered up the stairs and hit the landing. There was a beat of silence before the little girl shrieked with laughter and Jack cheered in triumph.
"Stupid head…" Griffin muttered darkly, forcing Ianto to bite back a smile. He knew he should be chastising the five year old for using such language, but he held the right to do so.
Niamh had been rocketing around the house for a solid half hour, waking everyone up. Ianto had glared at Jack and without a word, the captain had gotten up and gone to see to their daughter.
Once she'd been released form her bedroom, it had been virtually non-stop. The banging on the door and the yelling had turned into the shrieks of mispronounced 'Christmas!', proving to Ianto once and for all that Niamh was much more Jack than himself. Griffin, however, had the right idea.
First day of the Christmas holidays, you lie in and make the most of it. Even when Griff had been Niamh's age, he'd slept through the night and waited patiently for one of the other of the partners to collect him in the morning.
Of course, that wasn't to say that he didn't cause havoc in many other and more creative ways.
Ianto could hear noise again, murmurings.
"No."
Murmur.
"No."
Murmur-murmur.
"He'll kill me, sweetheart."
Murmur.
"No… wait, no!"
The door slammed open and framed in the light from the landing was the little girl, a crazy grin on her face.
Ianto looked up from where he was curled around Griffin and glared at Jack. Not only was it their joint day off, but it was also the first time in the past week that Ianto had got to spend more than a few minutes with Griffin – due to a horrific amount of paperwork needing completion for the Torchwood Three audit.
Any time he had managed to get at home had consisted mainly of paying attention to Niamh. Jack looked at him with chagrin on his face and his eyes were truly apologetic.
"KISSMAS!" The little girl yelled, much to Griffin's disapproval. The little boy tightened his hold on Ianto and tensed, obviously sensing that his sister was about to steal their tad's attention away.
"Not yet, baby, another few days." Ianto murmured, careful to keep his hold on his son as he looked over at the little girl. Her face fell and she looked at him with wide eyes.
"Not kissmas?" Her voice was so full of betrayal and hurt and Ianto very nearly gave in.
"Nope, not yet. A few more days." Ianto repeated, watching as her face moved through the motions of being on the brink of tears and being on the brink of a temper tantrum. "How about you and daddy go watch a film together?"
Her face lit up at that and Jack sighed slightly in resignation. He'd wanted to enjoy the lie in with Ianto that morning, seeing as they'd had barely more time together that week than kisses and touches stolen in the archives or during coffee breaks.
He managed to bite his tongue as he saw the duvet wriggle and a pair of blue eyes poked over the top to look at him imploringly. He sighed again and nodded. He owed Ianto a lie in with Griffin, who'd spent even less time with the Welshman than he had himself.
Ianto smiled with silent thanks and Jack returned it wistfully, closing the door and taking the wriggling toddler downstairs.
"There you go, kid, just us for a bit longer." Ianto murmured, stroking Griffin's hair gently. The little boy hummed gently and cuddled closer to Ianto.
*
Ianto felt the sleepy cobwebs in his mind clear a little as he stretched and yawned, turning into the warm body next to him. He felt strong shoulders and a square jaw and frowned slightly. Then he heard a chuckle like melted chocolate and relaxed, wrapping his arms around Jack and holding him close.
"Please don't tell me I've been sleeping for several decades." Ianto murmured, pressing his face into Jack's neck.
"He decided he'd rather be making biscuits than sleeping." Jack said with a grin, pressing a kiss to Ianto's head. The younger man looked up and captured Jack's lips in a hot kiss, teasing lips and tongue until Jack let out a soft moan.
"Just checking." Ianto sighed, still captured by the remnants of sleep. He closed his eyes again and sighed, breathing in Jack's scent as he prepared himself to drift off again.
The sensation of Jack's hands and fingers tracing lazy patterns across his back almost did the trick when the door slammed open and his eyes snapped open in alarm.
"Morning, Yan!" Bryn said brightly, the customary jingle of bracelets following as she climbed onto the end of the bed, accompanied by Griffin wriggling between the two lovers and Niamh squirming from her aunt's arms to join him.
"I thought 'alone time' was part of the agreement." Ianto growled with a slight glare at his sister. She smiled and shrugged apologetically.
"You got an extra three hours - and I think that's a rather generous offering, considering the morning so far." She grinned with Ianto winced and shook her head before he could apologise. She loved her niece and nephew and would do anything for them, Jack or her big brother.
Ianto wrapped his arms around Niamh as she cuddled closer to him and took comfort from the feeling of Jack's hand resting on his arm.
He closed his eyes briefly and felt Niamh grip onto the front of his shirt with one hand, sucking the thumb of the other. He opened his eyes once more as he felt a gentle yet insistent poking at his hand, seeing Griffin staring at him imploringly. He reached his hand out and wrapped his arm around the little boy, sandwiching Niamh between them.
As he closed his eyes again, he heard Jack and Bryn having a murmured conversation, ending with the young woman laughing lightly and getting up to leave the room.
After several minutes of attempting to sleep again, Ianto gave up the ghost and gently levered himself from the bed, managing, somehow, to transfer Niamh to Jack.
He was just about to slip out of the room when there was a plaintive cry from the bed. He turned around to find Griffin struggling against the heavy duvet with a look of sheer panic on his face.
"Tad, wait!" He called fearfully. Ianto stepped closer and quickly disentangled him, pulling him up into his arms, where Griffin held on tightly, burying his face in his neck.
"What's wrong, mate?" Ianto whispered, stroking the back of the little boy's head with his free hand.
"You're gonna leave again…" he muttered, tightening his hold around his tad's neck. Ianto closed his eyes briefly in regret and proceeded to head downstairs to find Bryn, making sure to hold the little boy tighter – as much for his own reassurance as Griffin's.
He smelt the warm, comforting smell of freshly baked cookies before he heard the gentle clinking of dishes being put in the dishwasher.
Next came the soft sound of Bryn humming to herself and the sight of the young woman with her sleeves rolled up and rinsing out the bowls and staking away the unused ingredients.
"If you do this every time you come over, I may not let you leave." Ianto said with a smile. Bryn looked up with a grin and carried on.
"I reckon there's some things that are just engrained in us," she spoke thoughtfully, with a wisdom that was greater than her years, "Like the almost compulsive neatness, the calm feeling you get when cleaning, the accurate way everything's done, the need for order…"
Ianto caught a look of sadness on her features and swallowed slightly, sitting back on the table and watching her work for a moment. She'd always been capable of that kind of talk and had showed in on rare occasions – but they were indeed rare.
"Is there something up?" He felt concern growing inside.
"Nah, not really." She said with another smile, looking over her shoulder to reassure him.
"Read as: 'yeah, definitely'. Give me more credit than that, kid." Ianto said with a dry expression and a raised eyebrow. "Boy troubles?"
"Oh, and you'd be the perfect advisor on that one." She laughed in earnest and Ianto smiled. "It's Marcus."
"Ah, Marcus, eh?" Ianto smiled and he saw Bryn begin to blush. The two had been dating for almost a year now, but from what he'd gathered, Marcus had returned to Greece to visit relatives for Christmas and New Year.
"Yeah." Bryn seemed uncharacteristically caught up in her memories as she continued to clean the large mixing bowl, a vague smile on her lips. "He asked me to move in with him."
Ianto didn't say anything, torn between putting Griffin own and hugging his little sister and getting impulsively protective over her.
"And?" Ianto asked carefully, loosening his grip on Griffin slightly in preparation for her answer.
"I said I wanted to, but I'd have to check first." Bryn was still facing away form him and he couldn't remember a time when the young woman had ever had the tone of voice that she was currently entertaining.
"Why would you have to check with Mam and Tad? You're twenty one, not twelve." Ianto snorted gently in disbelief. Then she turned round with one of the most vulnerable looks on her face that he'd seen.
"I didn't want to check with them, I wouldn't care what they said…" She trailed off and watched him warily. Realisation dawned on Ianto and he carefully placed Griffin on a chair, quelling any protests with a kiss to the forehead.
He stepped across the room and tilted Bryn's face up by the chin, looking at her carefully.
"Do you love him?"
She nodded.
"Do you trust him?"
She nodded again.
"Does he love you?"
Another nod.
"Does he make you laugh and cry for no reason whatsoever?"
She laughed a little and nodded.
"When he's holding you, do you feel like nothing could possibly hurt you?"
He saw her eyes shining with tears as she bit her lip and nodded once more.
Ianto gazed into her eyes – so similar to his own – for a long moment before pressing a kiss to her forehead and pulling her into a warm, firm embrace. He stroked her hair gently and pressed another kiss to the top of her head before pulling away and patting her on the cheek.
"Go for it, kid." He said with a grin. She laughed and smiled back, wiping the stray tears form her cheeks on the back of her hand. "If there's anything else you want to talk about, or anything you need, just talk to me."
She nodded once more and sighed. "Yan?"
He looked over from collecting Griffin from the table, waiting for her to go on.
"I really, really want some chips." Her expression was completely serious and deeply thoughtful and Ianto just laughed, rolling his eyes as he took Griffin back upstairs.
He headed back into the bedroom and found Jack sitting up in bed, his eyes closed, with Niamh splayed out across his chest, completely out of it. He climbed under the duvet next to him and managed to convince Griffin to let go of him.
"I'm going to get some fish and chips for lunch, have you got any preference?" Ianto asked gently, intensely aware that too much noise would wake up the little girl. Jack opened his eyes and turned his head to kiss Ianto gently.
"You'll do fine." Jack replied huskily, letting his lips linger against his lover's. Ianto kissed him promisingly before pulling away and gesturing for Jack to keep Griffin in bed whilst he collected clean clothes to change into once he'd showered.
*
"Tad, Tad!" Griffin was clambering and stumbling down the stairs, the same edge of panic in his voice as earlier.
Ianto knelt down as he reached the bottom step and looked at the little boy, still dressed in his Spiderman pyjamas with his hair sticking out at Jack-like angles. He came to a halt and stood upright, watching Ianto very seriously.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Ianto asked in concern, a little worried now. Griffin didn't reply, just looked at the floor. "I'm just going round to the chip shop, I'll be back as fast as I can."
"But I want to help." He said quietly, his face forlorn. Ianto looked from the little boy to Bryn, now approaching from the kitchen, her expression of worry mirroring his own.
"Griff, why don't you stay with me and help me start icing those cookies?" She gestured for Ianto to stand up and took his place in front of the little boy almost instantly. He looked at her for a moment and nodded slowly, letting out a sad little sigh as he took her hand and followed her into the kitchen.
*
Ianto arrived back at the house in twenty minutes, laden with several portions of chips, fish, a sausage for Griffin and a pot of curry sauce for Bryn.
The moment he was through the door, he was almost bowled over by Griffin barrelling towards him from the kitchen, latching onto him tightly. Ianto managed to shift the food into one hand and heaved the little boy up in his other, arms coming around his neck instantly.
"I made you a special one." He said with a proud smile as Ianto discovered the newly iced cookies in the kitchen. He could see, on a plate all to themselves, there were two that had obviously done by Griffin.
Both had a layer of white icing with tiny silver balls scattered haphazardly across. The first had a large, slightly wobbly 'D' on it in blue and the second had a similar 'T' in green. Ianto smiled at the little boy and his face split in a truly Jack-like grin.
"They took him a good twenty minutes." Bryn said with a knowing smile. She took the bag from Ianto and began to plate up the food.
"Can we go to the park after?" Griff asked quietly, hand still curled tightly around Ianto's neck. Ianto sighed and managed, with Bryn's help, to shrug his coat off, taking a seat with Griffin settled on his lap.
"I'll think about it. It's really cold outside, it wouldn't be much fun." Ianto grimaced apologetically, flexing his fingers as the warmth of the kitchen began to sink in. Griffin saw the action and reached out to place his hands along Ianto's palms, a look of deep concentration of his face.
Ianto noticed a slight trembling in his son's hands and quickly curled his fingers around them, peering down at him in concern.
"Bryn, could you get me the first aid kit out of the cupboard please?" Ianto asked carefully, Griffin looking up at him sadly, almost guiltily.
Bryn placed the green box on the table and took the seat next to them, placing the back of her hand to the little boy's head as Ianto pulled out the thermometer. Griffin grimaced but opened his mouth and let Ianto place it under his tongue.
The fact that both children were as opposed to medical equipment as Jack made speed and ease a prerequisite, hence why Ianto had bought an electronic instrument. He waited for the ten second sit took to beep and Griffin almost spat it out, cringing away from the offending article and turning into Ianto.
Ianto grimaced as he read of the '39' on the display and held Griffin tightly, rocking him gently.
"Why didn't you say anything, kiddo?" Ianto murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of his son's head.
"I didn't want to ruin Christmas." He muttered, only half audibly. "If I ruined Christmas, Santa wouldn't bring me anything…"
"Baby, you know that's not true!" Bryn said comfortingly, torn between laughing at the absurdity of his words and cuddling him. Griffin swivelled his head around and looked at her in surprise.
"Really?" He asked, his voice full of hope.
"Of course not, he told me himself." It was Jack's turn to speak now, emerging through the kitchen door and placing Niamh in her safety seat and walking round to kneel next to Ianto and look at the little boy. Griffin still had an intensely dubious look on his face.
"Hang on, I know." Ianto grinned and winked at Bryn as he pulled his mobile from his pocket and quickly dialled in his father's number, the older man answering on the third ring.
"Hello, son." Eli answered with a warm voice. Ianto could almost see his crinkled smile.
"Hi, is that Santa?" He asked, completely seriously. There was a beat's pause before Eli answered, hi voice growing a little deeper and much more vibrant.
"Why yes, it is!" He boomed, chuckling loudly enough for Griffin to hear. The little boy's eyes widened in amazement.
"I have a little boy here, named Griffin, who's particularly worried about Christmas this year." Ianto said matter of factly.
"Well, put him on!" Eli chuckled. Ianto raised his eyebrows and handed the mobile to Griffin, who took it in both hands and held it to his ear.
"Hello?" He whispered.
"Is this Griffin Harkness-Jones?" Eli asked intently.
"Yes, sir." The little boy replied, staring at Jack in shock. Ianto had to put a hand on Jack's shoulder firmly to remind him to not laugh.
"What seems to be the problem, young man?"
"I didn't want to ruin Christmas, honest, but I feel ill… I'm sorry." He replied seriously, his face falling slightly. Bryn almost clapped her hand over her mouth to stop the snort of laughter bubbling up.
"Oh my, don't be sorry, young man. It's not your fault you're ill!" Eli chuckled heartily, a genuine smile at the young boy's predicament. "I'll make sure to drop by an extra something for you to find on Christmas eve. Say hello to your sister for me and keep up the good work!"
"Thank you, Mr. Santa, sir." Griffin said with a grin, already looking much better than he had all day. Ianto heard a chuckle over the speaker and took the phone to bid Eli 'thank you' and 'goodbye', before closing it and pocketing it.
Bryn smiled and returned, with Jack's help, to finish serving lunch
*
After the maximum dose of Calpol and a mug of warm milk, Griffin had fallen fast asleep in Ianto's arms as the five of them watched a film during the afternoon.
When the credits started to scroll, Bryn sighed and stretched herself out, jumping to her feet with a smile. She padded softly over to Ianto and hugged his head – the only available part of his body – briefly before saluting Jack.
"You guys are going to try and come over on Christmas, right?" Bryn asked, almost pleadingly.
"We'll try, but it's highly possible that at least one of us won't be able to make it." Ianto said regretfully.
Since he'd reconnected with his parents and sisters, he'd discovered a yearning for the whole family-ideal that was so far from their own. He loved his life with Jack, but there were definitely things that could be better.
"Just drop me a line if you can't get away from work and I'll take these two for the day." Bryn smiled as she shrugged on her hoody.
"Thanks." Ianto Jack hoisted the sleeping Niamh onto his hip carefully and followed her to the door, kissing her on the cheek as she let herself out of the house.
He looked down to see Niamh's bright blue eyes blink open and pout up at him. Her arm stuck out, pointing at Bryn's retreating back, watching as she got into her car and drove off.
"See soon?" She asked quietly. Jack smiled and kissed her on the forehead.
"Yup, in a few days." Jack grinned as she nodded and settled her head back down on his shoulder and sighed sleepily.