--3--

As it was a Wednesday, Cardiff's St David's Centre was relatively quiet, as was the large Mothercare that Gwen and Tosh found themselves in. They, or rather Gwen, whose close friend recently had a baby, had come up with a list of things they needed during the ride over, deciding what was worth buying, given the rate of Emma's growth, and what wasn't. Tosh had been mostly silent, only venturing an opinion when asked.

In the large store, the confusing array of baby things annoyed Gwen almost as much as the staff, who kept pestering her with 'can I help?' and 'are you looking for anything in particular?' type questions which were met with increasingly terse 'no's.

The first thing they bought was a cot. Gwen was familiar with the travel cot her mate had and decided that was best for the Hub as it would likely need to be moved around a great deal.

Tosh disappeared while Gwen was picking out blankets and when she came back her arms were full of toiletries, far more than was probably needed, but Gwen really didn't care.

At the checkout, the girl politely pointed out that there was a discount on Nuk products this week so did they need any bottles as the price was very reasonable? Gwen and Tosh looked at each other, then at the pile of goods on the counter, none of which would be any use to feed Emma. Well pizza was out…

"Yes." Gwen said.

So bottles and a steriliser were added at the last minute and they prepared to leave the shop. As they passed the racks of tiny baby clothes, they both stopped and stared at the rows of little cardigans and trousers.

Gwen sighed. "Bloody hell."

They began to wander through the racks of tiny outfits, picking out a range of sizes, tutting over the outrageous prices for such small scraps of fabric. Perhaps it was brain washing, or Gwen thought, rolling her eyes, possibly hormones but after a few minutes, the little bits and bobs began to look appealing and Gwen found herself smiling.

Tosh finally spoke. "Have you ever thought about having kids?"

Gwen's face fell. "It's not really an issue anymore, Tosh."

"You're getting married."

"And I work for Torchwood."

"You could still-"

"No, Tosh." She cut in. "I can't."

Tosh fell silent and Gwen moved away from her. She didn't like the line of questioning. If forced her to think, really think, about her future and everything it wasn't going to be. It wasn't like she was at a cross roads anymore, it wasn't about taking one choice over the other. That had already happened, before she'd even known that taking one road meant the other was no longer an option.

Ianto winced at the constant noise coming from the sports bag as he put a cup of freshly brewed coffee next to Owen, who was busy with test results and seemingly unaffected by the wailing.

The baby's cries were louder than before and when Ianto peered into the sports bag, he could easily see why. Emma was a little, but still noticeably, bigger than before.

Her face was red and angry and scrunched up and her limbs were flailing about.

Ianto frowned. "Is she all right?"

Owen didn't look up from his work. "She's hungry."

"Are you sure?"

"Might have had a shit again. If you want to check, be my guest."

Ianto peered a little closer. No, Jack didn't pay him enough for that… "You should…hold her or something."

"I'm working."

Ianto cautiously reached out and gave the bag a wiggle, trying to rock her, hissing an uncertain "shhh…" at her. The wail only got louder.

Owen swore under his breath and got up. He grabbed Ianto's arm, pulled it out and bending it at the elbow, arranging it as if he were holding an invisible baby. "Don't move." He demanded, then quickly scooped up the baby and laid her into the space he'd made in Ianto's arm. Ianto went stiff and did his best to ignore the squirming in his arms.

"Your hands clean?" Owen asked.

Ianto only gave him a withering look.

The doctor then took Ianto's free hand, bent the little finger and moved it towards Emma.

He tried to counter Owen's move, but with Emma in his arms it wasn't easy to resist without running the risk of dropping her. "Owen…"

Owen pushed the knuckle of Ianto's little finger into Emma's mouth and the noise immediately shut up as she began to suck. The feeling of her tough gums working on his skin was vaguely creepy but he did his best to ignore it.

"Happy now?" Owen asked.

Ianto remained frozen where he was.

Owen returned to his work.

Jack watched Ianto and Owen, hiding a smile. He glanced at the time and frowned. Gwen and Tosh should be back by now. There was work to do. They needed answers.

He felt a vague sense of urgency in his gut, although he didn't know why. It felt like the static in the air before a violent storm. Perhaps it had nothing to do with Emma or the Rift; perhaps it was the Doctor…

The strap on his wrist bleeped softly again, almost as if the SOS was taunting him, reminding him that there was some things he had no means of getting answers from.

The supplies were dumped in the centre of the Hub and both Gwen and Tosh returned to the Rift readings. From the look Gwen gave Jack it was clear that her womanly responsibilities had been fulfilled by buying the stuff. Someone else could do the rest.

Jack had set up the cot in his office with Ianto's help. It wasn't practical for Emma to leave the Hub until they knew she was safe so she would be living here with him whether he liked it or not. Jack also moved most of the supplies in there as well and they littered his desk like something out of the movie Three Men and a Baby. They only items that were not there was the carton of formula and the bottles which Owen had scooped up and disappeared with. And from the silence, Jack guessed the baby was finally getting food.

He was still trying to bring order to the mess when Gwen's voice rang out.

"Jack!"

He left the office and went to stand at her side.

She pointed at the graph that monitored the energy bleeding from the Rift even when it was stable. There was a jittery quality to the line. "It started a few minutes ago."

"I've never seen anything like that." Tosh said. "But whatever it is, it's getting worse."

TBC...