1

Ianto looked at Jack again, the silent rebuke still there and Jack shifted in the driver's seat as he threw a hopeful grin at him only to meet the brick wall of doom.

It had been a great idea, one he had even researched. Sort of. Well…OK he rang the number on the bottom of the brochure from the tourist office upstairs but that counts right? I mean … he did look at three before seeing one with promise and now they were hurtling along towards a week of calm…. soothing….. private beach….. and enough food to feed them for a month…. and… and….

"OK. Someone definitely farted" Owen muttered in the backseat and Ianto's eye twitched at the corner, you know the one. That…trigger happy one.

Jack tried another smile, softer this time.

"Owen, no one farted, it's the cows." Gwen replied, her own voice full of annoyance, "You could put the window up."

"Why? You cold?" he asked with sarcasm, "Can't that man of yours lie over top of you and like…save you? Man can take a bullet for ya, he should at least….ow! Jack! Jack! She hit me!"

"Gwen" Jack said with a sigh, "For the third time…stop hitting Owen."

"He started it."

Ianto's eye twitched some more and Jack gave up on the hopeful grin. This was going to be better though, once they got there and divvyed up the rooms. He would take Ianto for a romantic walk along the beach and they would find a spot to sit on some driftwood and watch the sun going down, just the two of them. Maybe a bonfire….

"For fucksake!" Rhys boomed, "Now that is definitely a fart."

Owen swung around to stare back at the back seats, his hand resting on Tosh's leg instead of the armrest he was reaching for and she froze as she stared at it, Ianto swinging to chastise and seeing the problem as well while Owen scolded "Rhonda, I told you to go before we left. Do you need a potty darling?"

"Potty?" Rhys plastered, "I think she is about to shit a full cow herself."

"Nah, Gwen would never fit up…AWWWWW!" Owen howled, "Jack she hit me again"

Jack slammed on the brakes and the SUV skidded along the road to stop on the verge. He swung to look into the back of the vehicle, "Owen. Please stop heckling everyone. Rhonda, do you need to get out for a walkies love?"

Rhonda considered as Ianto tapped his finger against his thigh, then she nodded.

"Right, take five everyone!" Jack roared and doors flew open as they all clambered out to stretch their legs and Rhys asked Jack just how far this bloody beach house was.

"I am so sorry" Tosh said softly as she came to stand by the ramrod straight man staring into the field Rhonda was playing in with abandon. "If I had any idea he was planning something…."

"It's not your fault Tosh" he sighed.

He knew she felt awful for calling out that there was a window of Rift Silence approaching that would last about ten days. Jack's glee evident as he had run upstairs and it wasn't until he was leaning over the railing of the catwalk to yell down that he had booked a beach house for the coming week that the fun had begun.

Of course Rhonda had been the first one to show excitement as she pondered her first beach house, running away to return with bucket and spade that had Jack's face falling. He had then watched Owen shutting down his workspace to put the work away as he called out he would help pack the SUV for 'their' holiday.

Ianto then watched Gwen call Rhys to gush that the entire Hub was going to go into one of those rare shutdowns and did he still want to visit….oh. Really? Nothing? Her face falling, then looking furtive as she had shot upstairs.

Yeah.

Of course she had told Jack she wanted time away with Rhys and of course he had found himself telling her to ring and see if he could get time off work.

Ianto had calmly gone to the vehicle bay and opened the back of the SUV to unfold the back seats, turning the vehicle into a eight man vehicle, Rhonda running with him still carrying her bucket to make sure it wasn't forgotten.

"It's OK Tosh" he said again as he felt her worry, "Maybe if we are lucky Gwen will fall in or something and we can watch her scream with seaweed in her hair?"

Tosh smiled as she felt she was forgiven for ruining what might have been a wonderfully romantic trip for two, Ianto's eyes sliding to find Jack watching him from a distance with that grimace of apology that was so bloody annoying.

Ianto sighed.

Time to take some lemons and make lemonade.

Owen screamed with horror as he stepped in a cow pat, Rhonda pondering on to stare at the gorse hedgerow with interest.

Make that a margarita….or two.