Disclaimer: Not mine; never will be. I'm just borrowing it.

Life and Other Things That Never go as Planned.

Chapter Six — Moments That You Want To Last Forever.

Gwen surveyed the Hub; taking a mental inventory. Martha sedated in the med-bay. Tosh's head resting on her desk, her arm in a cast. Celia; the temp, had left a note on her desk. She was at home, with a bad case of chicken pox. Ianto, a meticulously stitched cut marring his pretty face, was attempting to tidy the Hub and pretending that he couldn't see her. And Owen, having his ribs bandaged by a back from the dead, but otherwise fine, Jack.
Gwen sighed, rubbing at the small of her back, coming to stand in front of Ianto. She sighed again as he tried to sweep around her.
"Ianto. Take Tosh and Martha down to the cells we decked out as emergency accommodation." she took the broom from him "Have something to eat and then get some rest"
He looked almost relieved.
"What about…?"
Gwen smiled, directing Ianto in the direction of Tosh's desk.
"I'll deal with them"

Owen saw her first, carefully taking one step at a time.
"What the hell are you doing down here?" he winced as Jack pulled the bandage tight "Better yet, how'd you get in here? We changed some of the codes"
Gwen gave Jack a 'don't even bother' look and held out her hand.
"I'll go see what Ianto's doing" he said, passing Gwen the bandage.
Gwen glared at Owen.
"Stanley let me in"
"Stan Dobbs?!"
"Don't you start. You think I don't know what happened?"
"It was an accident"
"Throwing yourself in front of a rampaging alien is an accident?! I've never really thought you were that stupid Owen" she pulled the bandages tighter "A tosser? Definitely. Stupid? Only when pissed!"
"You want to talk about stupid? You had to get the bloody builder to let you in"
"Tosh and Martha were supposed to come round. I got worried"
Owen secured the bandages himself.
"We can take care of our selves"
"Really!" Gwen's voice dripped with scorn "Then explain to me, oh great and invulnerable one. Why is Tosh's wrist in a cast? Is Ianto going to end up with a scar across his face?" her voice rose "How many times did Jack die? How long before he was able to get up? And you-" Gwen stepped away from Owen, breathing heavily.
Owen watched her, a worried look in his eyes.
"What's the matter with you? Apart from hormones I mean?"
"What's wrong with me?" Gwen slapped his arm "Tell me some thing Owen. If Martha's asleep and the pain meds mean that you shouldn't be operating a toy car-" she paused again, as if tying to catch her breath "Who exactly, is going to deliver my baby?!"

Owen's eyes went from Gwen's face to her belly. He watched as she gripped the bed railing so hard her knuckles turned white. Owen picked up his radio, tapping it on.
"Jack?"
"Has Gwen left yet?"
"Err, no. Slight problem"
"Get her out of here Owen. The regulations are in place for a reason"
"She's having contraction's Jack. Less than two minutes apart"

"No!"
"Gwen"
"Wake Martha up, call an ambulance." Gwen gritted her teeth "Anything but him"
"If you wanted an ambulance you should've called one hours ago!" Owen shouted, shaking his hand, trying to get feeling back in his fingers.
"Jack is not delivering my baby"
"Ianto then?"
Gwen glanced at Ianto, all the colour leached from his face.
"I can have an ambulance here in 20 minutes"
"We wouldn't even reach the front door. How about a weevil Gwen? Or that translucent thing? I know, the pizza boy"
Gwen squeezed Owen's hand again, panting through a contraction.
"Fine, Fine. Where the hell is he?"
"I'm right here sweetheart." Jack took the hand Ianto had been holding "Crushed Owen's hand yet?"
"Working on it" Gwen closed her eyes.
"How far apart are her contractions?"
"Less than a minute"
Jack glanced at Owen, but spoke to Gwen.
You need to lie down, get as comfortable as you can. I need to see what's going on, okay?"
"Jack do you know what you're doing?" Owen asked, helping Gwen into Jack's office, where Ianto was laying out blankets and towels.
"My mother was a midwife, she thought that if I was going to be so good at the start of the process." Jack grinned at them "I'd better know my way around the end of it"
"How many babies have you actually delivered Jack?"
"11 or 12. Not counting the ones that spawned"
Gwen smiled at Jack weakly.
"Would it make a difference in I blindfolded you?"
"He's probably got it memorised"
Gwen gripped their hands hard enough to make both men wince.
"Any comments about my vagina and I'll stick you in a cell with a weevil. Naked"

Jack had been alive long enough to know that, when giving birth, there wasn't that much difference between humans and the rest of the universe. There was screaming, threats of murder or castration and the anxious partner(s) hovering uselessly in the background. Gwen's labour, relatively speaking, is fast and easy. A little over 4 and a half hours from the first contraction (which she'd ignored), to the moment when Gwen realised she didn't have to push any more. She'd screamed and yelled and threatened both Owen and Rhys. And like anyone else in the galaxy that had given birth, had sworn to never do it again.

Jack wrapped the baby in one of his shirts, smiling as it stared up at him with Gwen's eyes. The baby, thankfully, didn't look like Owen or Rhys. Just Gwen. Who was now glaring at him, her arms out stretched. Jack grinned at her.
"I get to be the godfather, right?"
"Just hand over the baby Harkness" Owen ordered.
Jack settled the baby into Gwen's arms, smiling as she stared at it, entranced. Gwen touched the blue shirt, silently asking the question.
Jack muttered a blessing he'd heard galaxies and decades ago, gently brushing his thumb over the baby's brow and smiled.
"It's a boy"

To be continued…