4
The fresh fruit was divine, the strawberries lush as the children pigged out and Ianto watched over them like a mother hen.
"The stalls were bursting and Tommy has always loved fresh fruit, we must have stopped at every bloody stall along the road here but damn, look at them go" Frank laughed as he watched Ianto cutting apples into segments with that careful care.
"Are you ready tonight?" Jack asked, all of them slightly edgy and Ella responded before Frank could even register the question.
"Raring to go … if we don't catch tonight tomorrow night for sure. Can you go two nights in a row or is that being greedy?"
Jack grinned at her, "feeling greedy but Ianto knows me well enough to know I will never be satiated."
They laughed softly and Ianto looked up from the floor with the boys, not having heard the conversation but seeing the comfortable banter and smiled softly before returning to his conversation with the boys "So … we will decide on the site for the wood pile before the night comes in, tomorrow we will complete the bonfire and tomorrow night will be time for the ritualistic dancing and burning of marshmallows. OK?" he said gently, "Tonight, the wood will still be a bit wet and we need more than we can gather at short notice. Besides … it will be like the ultimate finish to the full day of fun then. This is just a precursor."
"Can we be bare-chested like heathens?" Tommy asked in his little voice, "I want a spear and face paint. I want to have my bits dangling under a skirt of some sort. Can we achieve that Taddy Ianto?"
Ianto grinned, the little brains so quick to think of movies they had seen "skirts?"
"In Hawaii they have grass skirts. I always wanted to know how how felt swishing about" Tommy whispered and Max made a noise as he nodded his head.
"Like being naked but more … risqué!" he finally agreed. "Taddy?"
"Well ...when shopping tomorrow I will see if there are any hula skirts in the local stores, gotta be a dress up place somewhere. If you want to go all native crazy man" Ianto nodded finding it amusing that they wanted to create something whacky. So much like him as a child dressing up as an alien for an entire week before his father list his temper with the weird beeping noises at the dinner table.
He had forgotten that.
"Right! Finish unpacking … then it's jimjams and a movie while I get the tea sorted, then some finger eating, no knife and fork tonight. We will eat like heathen scummers!" Ianto growled and the boys giggled uncontrollably at the idea of being so …. naughty.
"Really?" Jack asked as he watched Ianto rise and start toward the Grup table, "Heathen Scummers?"
"Yes." Ianto leaned in and to Jack's delight he kissed him then said softly, "Heathen Scummers rut like animals in the dark too."
"OOoooo" Jack said with glee, "Promises, promises."
Ianto let his hips sway as he headed into the kitchenette and Ella giggled softly as she watched her friend seduce Jack, his eyes large and lips pouty as he followed Ianto's every more with obvious lust. She hoped this would give her what she needed, that tonight or tomorrow night she might seed and become a mama again. The life that grew inside her had felt so alive, so powerful and the hope of a second chance at that made her feel so … special.
Frank just enjoyed the fact these men did not fit the idea he had about gays. It was strange, to see them openly affectionate without it feeling weird to watch. He saw two strong, powerful men that he was proud to call friends and their showing affection seemed ... normal. Looking back at past thoughts he now knew he was wrong, not all gays are campy, not all advertise. Some are just … well … normal.
"I might shower then, get my weekend clothes on now we are here" he finally said as he rose and kissed his wife's forehead, "A cuddle with the boys sounds great. I had Tommy choose several movies, we can see what ones we haven't seen yet and pop one in while we eat?"
"And then later we can start preparing the bonfire pit" Ianto agreed over the counter of the kitchenette, "Maybe scope out the area. Do some recon."
"Can we wear our solider hats?" Tommy asked and Max agreed, rising to race off and return with a couple of plastic helmets, Tommy grinned "Cool. These are a good idea. We can commando crawl."
"Yeah, don't have guns but we can find some drift wood ones" Max agreed as they decided to embrace the weekend and be little boys playing soldiers.
They didn't always have to be super.