A/N: Wow this ended up a lot sadder than I thought it would. For inspiration I used these old videos of me and my little brother (and yes I used our real names, I tried finding some nice Welsh names but I ended up just keeping ours, it cut down on the confusion for me.) I really meant for this to be kind of retrospective and happy so I'm sorry about all the angst. Poor Jackie boy.
Disclaimer: If I owned this my husband would be sleeping on the couch while I kept Jack and Ianto chained to our bed.
He lay in bed while he watched. The covers pulled around him, the old blue comforter that he only got out once every year. Anymore and the threads would begin to unravel and Jack didn't know what he was going to do when he lost that last bit of comfort. Ianto's soothing smell had long faded from their favorite comforter.
On the small screen was an Easter of long before. Jack was filming and Ianto was stumbling around the table in the living room trying to help unwrap all sorts of Easter chocolates. He was sure Leigh and Jordan had been up since early that morning with the promise of candy. Leigh was wearing the white dress she had worn as a bridesmaid in Mickey and Jessica's wedding earlier that year. Jordan was still dressed in his pajamas and demanding that his tad opened his chocolate bunny.
Ianto was as good of a father as he had been Torchwood employee. He treated Leigh and Jordan with the same gentle affection he had treated the Torchwood three team. He cleaned up after them and spoke in patient kind voices. While Jack was loud and overly affectionate, teaching his daughter Broadway songs to sing on long car rides and coaching Jordan's t-ball teams, Ianto had been quieter, reading to his daughter her favorite history books and easily going over Jordan's math homework with him. It wasn't unusual for Jack to fall through the door after midnight, still smelling for chasing down some god-awful alien to find Ianto and their kids curled up in their massive bed the blue comforter tucked up them, the kid's favorite story books lying all around the bed.
Back on the small screen Ianto picked up the chocolate bunny but at the same time pointed out the wrapped book next to the Easter basket. Jordan's attention quickly shifted to that and Ianto snatched up both of the children's chocolate before either noticed it was gone or could beg Jack for a chocolate breakfast.
The next video Jack slid in was the day Jordan was born. The tiny baby had Jack's finger in his hand while Ianto taped. The teenaged girl who had been so glad to find parents for her "accident" was asleep in the next room over.
"He's got a lot of hair, don't you think?" Jack asked with a smile. Ianto agreed but was cut off by Jordan's loud cry of protest.
"I know buddy, it's hard work being born," Jack said bouncing the newborn.
"We better save up soon of the juice on this camera Jack, big sister Leigh will be here in a few hours," Ianto said just before the scene cut.
The next scene cut back in with Jack feeding Jordan out of a tiny bottle. Leigh sat on her Auntie Gwen's lap with a colorful little robe over her outfit. Gwen had taken her shopping earlier that day while Jack and Ianto were at the hospital waiting for their new son. She had come in so proud of her little blue sweatshirt and skirt with the big bows on them.
Next Jack was filming Leigh holding Jordan in her arms with Ianto kneeling down by them both, his hand supporting Jordan's head.
"Are we making you nervous sweetheart?" Ianto asked quietly.
"No," she whispered back. After a picture was taken Jordan was handed over to Ianto's grandmother "Boogie." The old lady cradled the fourth generation of her family with a small smile on her face. It was the last video or picture they had gotten of the tough, old lady.
"After Boogie can I hold him again?" Leigh piped up loudly.
"Let's try getting a few more pictures first, huh Leigh?" Ianto asked with the smile kept only for his little girl.
They ended up compromising; Ianto sat in the plastic chair with Leigh to his side tucked under his arm and Jordan across their laps together.
Even with Leigh squirming and Gwen commenting about how tall Jordan would be and Jack muttering about feeding times the picture was so beautiful that the Jack of right now had to stop the video and lower his head. The covers came around and were used to dry his tears as he cried for a day that he couldn't even remember.