Thanks to those of you who have reviewed. This tale sees Foo-Foo, the toy bear, get handed on again.

Foo-Foo 2

- August 4600, Ogmore

Having a baby in the house again felt wonderful; Luke was a month old and doing well.

After the disruptions that Owain had caused, with his constant crying and restlessness, all the adults were relieved when the new arrival slept and ate at regular intervals and made almost no noise at all. Konni was his devoted slave and as the baby already looked like Ianto Jack was won over too. Ianto and Holly loved the baby though were not quite as devoted. Ianto because he wanted to make sure all his children were loved equally and as a consequence was deliberately spending time with the older two and Holly as this was just another little brother, more something to endure than get excited about.

Of all the household, only Owain actively disliked the new arrival. At two and half years old, Owain was used to being the baby of the family, accustomed to his parents' attention and indulgence. The problem had started months before when his dad had not been able to play with him. Owain was an active lad. He ran everywhere and played physical games, usually kicking a ball around. And his dad played with him, that was the rule. But suddenly that had stopped. Instead his dad had got fatter and fatter and that was no fun at all. Finally, Owain had been presented with a scrawny little baby and told it was his brother and that he had to love him. He had determined there and then that he would never like the baby that had taken his dad's attention away from him.

"Hey, tiger," called Jack, coming across Owain in the games room "What are you up to?"

"Nothin'." Owain put his hands behind his back and looked guilty. He had Ianto's personal music system, which he knew he was not supposed to touch.

"Give." Jack held out a hand, knowing full well that Owain was guilty of something. The boy was so like he had been as a child; mischievous with a face that could hide nothing. Reluctantly Owain held out the music system. "You know you're not supposed to touch this," said Jack, taking it. He glanced down but couldn't see any damage.

Owain nodded his head, unable to look at his dad.

"Why did you take it?" Jack hunkered down to the same level as the boy. He was aware, and Ianto had pointedly told him as well, that Owain needed some of his attention. The boy had always been devoted to Jack and the pregnancy and then the arrival of Luke had meant Jack had spent less time with him.

"To dance," said the boy. It was the first thing that had come into his head.

Jack frowned; Owain dancing? That sounded wrong. Holly was the dancer in the family having already taken part in a couple of competitions. "What did you really want it for?" Jack asked.

The boy shrugged and hung his head. He hadn't wanted it for anything, he had just taken it from the library for the sake of it. He wouldn't have damaged it, not deliberately, he just wanted to have it.

"Well, go and put it back where you found it. It belongs to Tad and you're not to touch it without his permission." Jack handed the system back to the boy. "And when you've done that, how about we go fly some kites?" Owain's face lit up.

"I goin', Dad," he yelled and shot out to the library. He put the system back on the table and ran back to his dad who was now waiting in the hallway. "Ready!"

"Come on, then. We'll get the kites and go up the hill, should be quite a breeze up there." He held out a hand and smiled as the warm small one was placed in it so trustingly. Babies were wonderful things, and Luke was very special, but enjoying simple pleasures like flying kites with a toddler was something rather special too. Father and son went off to the shed to get the kites.

-ooOoo-

Ianto sat in the living room holding Luke. The baby had been fed and changed and was lying quiet in his arms, staring up at him. Ianto was delighted with him though his quiet and amenable nature had alarmed him at first. Having endured Owain's noisy and difficult first year, Ianto had forgotten what it was like to have a well behaved baby. Luke yawned and his eyes closed and Ianto gently rubbed a finger against the baby's cheek. He would be quite content to remain here, looking down at the sleeping child, for some time to come but it was not to be.

"Tad," came from the doorway and Ianto looked up. He saw six year old Holly, dressed in a bathing costume. "You said I could go swimming."

"Yeah, all right. You run on, I'll be down in a minute. But don't get into the water until I get there." Reluctantly he eased himself up, unwilling to wake the child. He placed Luke in the carrying cot and picked it up then followed his daughter to the swimming pool.

Holly was waiting impatiently, shuffling from foot to foot, as he appeared. "I'll get in now," she said, her voice loud in the large, tiled room. She dived into the water, already a good and fearless swimmer.

Ianto placed the cot on one of the loungers and adjusted the covers. Luke would sleep for a solid four hours, he always did. Ianto walked to the side of the pool and watched Holly swim up and down. Making a sudden decision, he went to the changing room and changed into swimming trunks and joined her in the water. The two swam a few lengths then stopped. Holly scrambled out and got a ball and they threw this around, getting silly and giggly as the ball went in all directions but the one they intended.

"That's enough for me," said Ianto eventually. "I'm getting out now." he went to the side and climbed out.

"I'm going to do a couple more lengths," called Holly and started ploughing through the water.

-ooOoo-

Outside, the breeze was blowing strongly and Jack and Owain had had a wonderful time racing up and down getting the kites into the air and then fighting to keep hold of them. Owain was loving it. He had his dad all to himself and at this moment they were flying a kite together, the boy leaning back against Jack's solid bulk as the man helped hold the kite. Owain was talking non-stop; his tongue had loosened immediately after his second birthday and now was seldom still.

"Hold on tight, tiger," reminded Jack, pulling on one of the control wires and making the kite dip and then rise again.

"I is, Dad. Real tight." The boy concentrated hard and gripped the wires even harder. He was not going to let go for anything.

They continued in this way for a while longer until the breeze swung round suddenly, the kite was yanked to the right and the controls were wrenched from both father and son's hands. The kite flew up high and then got tangled in the branches of a tree. Owain turned to look at his dad, for once speechless.

"Oh boy," said Jack, smiling, "we lost it."

Owain giggled and clapped his hands to his mouth. "You gonna get it?" he asked. Nothing was beyond his dad, he could do anything. He was confident that a twenty metre climb up a tree on top of a windy cliff was well within Jack's capabilities.

"I think not," admitted Jack. "It's a bit high to go up there all on my own." He held out a hand to the boy. "Let's go and sit down for a minute."

Owain happily walked beside his father. From time to time, his head turned to look over his shoulder at the kite. "I could help," he offered as they sat on a fallen tree trunk.

"I don't think so, tiger, not today. Anyway, I want to talk to you."

Owain bit his lip. Those words usually meant he was in trouble and his dad was going to tell him off. Was it because he'd taken his tad's music system? But he'd put it back and he hadn't played with it at all. He looked up at his dad warily.

"Owain, I want to talk to you about being a big brother," began Jack. He looked down at the small boy seated beside him, his legs sticking out in front of him. "Do you know what a big brother does?"

Owain shook his head. "No," he said in a small voice.

"Well, a big brother – which is what you are now – is a very important person. As Luke grows up, he'll need someone to help keep him safe and out of trouble. Are you ready to do that for him?" Jack had a hand on the boy's back and stroked gently.

"I don't know," Owain admitted. "I only little."

"I know but you see, you can already do all the things that Luke's going to have to learn. You can walk and talk, use the notepads and vid-screen. He's going to have to learn all that and while Tad and I, and Konni, will teach him we'll need you to help too." Jack and Ianto had discussed how best to persuade Owain to like Luke and had decided that giving the older boy a role would be the best way. "Will you help us? Help Luke?"

"I s'pose," the boy said slowly.

"It's good being a big brother," continued Jack in a confiding tone. "Luke will look up to you because you'll always be bigger than him. Always do things first. And he'll always be there be there to play with you, doing what you tell him." He saw Owain's eyes light up. "But you have to look out for Luke too. You mustn't hurt him and you have to make sure other big boys don't hurt him either."

"I do that," said Owain happily. Having someone to play with would be good. Holly never wanted to play and anyway she was a girl. And he could easily fight off other boys. "Were you big bruvver?" he asked innocently.

"Yes, I was," said Jack, thinking of when he and Gray were young and played together on seemingly endless sunny days. "And even though I did my best, I didn't manage to look after my little brother and he was hurt." Owain looked shocked. "So you'll need to be better than me, though I'll help you, if you'll let me."

"You can help," said Owain immediately, his small cold hand on Jack's knee. "We do togevver?"

"Together," agreed Jack, placing his large hand on the little one. He pulled the boy into his side and hugged him, kissing the top of his head. "So, you'll be friends with Luke now?"

"Oh, yes," cried the boy. Jack wasn't sure how long this generous feeling would last but he thought it was a start if Owain saw Luke as a potential friend and playmate rather than a rival.

-ooOoo-

Ianto was sitting on a lounger beside Luke in his carrying cot when footsteps clattered down the steps from the games room and he saw Owain and Jack descending. "Hello, sweetheart, what have you been doing?" he asked the boy.

"Flyin' kites," he said, bouncing up and down. "Lost one."

"You lost one?" Ianto looked at Jack who nodded. "How did you do that?"

"We let go and it flewed away. Is in tree," Owain giggled.

"Yep, a very tall tree. I'll have to ask Dem to help me get it down." Jack peered into the cot and saw Luke sleeping peacefully. The baby looked more and more like Ianto every day though Ianto himself said he couldn't see the resemblance. "Owain, come here. Now, who does Luke look like? Me or Tad?"

Owain peered into the cot, getting his first good look at the baby in a while. He concentrated and looked from his dad to his tad a few times before making up his mind. "Tad," he said definitely.

"You see, Ianto?" said Jack triumphantly. "Even Owain says he looks like you."

"Maybe you're right," conceded Ianto, more interested in Owain's change in attitude. He glanced at Jack who nodded, indicated that he had spoken to the boy.

"Owain here has agreed to help us with Luke," went on Jack, sitting down on another lounger. "I'm going to help him be a proper big brother to little Luke."

"Yes. I gonna look afer him. And play wiv him," said Owain.

"He'll like that a lot," said Ianto. "I never had a big brother and I'd have really liked one. You'll be able to teach him all about soccer," he encouraged, "and flying kites."

"And swimming," put in Holly. She had finished her swim and was standing behind Owain wrapped in an over large robe. She exchanged a conspiratorial grin with Jack over the boy's head; she knew what they were trying to do.

"I could," admitted Owain, realising for the first time that he really did know more than Luke and would be able to boss him around like Holly did to him.

"That's my big boy," said Ianto, hugging him or trying to; the boy squirmed out of his hold straight away.

Owain stood beside the cot and looked down at the sleeping baby. Luke was all right, he thought. "I gonna look arfer you," he said and smiled.

-ooOoo-

Later than evening, Ianto was reading a story to Owain as he lay in his bed. The boy was unusually silent, not asking questions about the story or looking at the pictures. Ianto stopped reading and watched the boy as he lay staring at the ceiling. "You're not listening to me," Ianto said quietly. "What are you thinking about?"

"'Bout Luke."

"That's nice. But you know it'll be a little while before he's big enough to play with."

"How long?"

"Not until this time next year, really. By then he should be walking and talking." Ianto didn't want to crush Owain's newfound enthusiasm for this brother but he also didn't want him to think that Luke would grow up overnight.

"That's long time."

"Yes, it is. But it'll go by very fast." Ianto went back to the book and started to read again. The sound of his voice usually lulled Owain to sleep quite quickly.

"But, Tad," began Owain, struggling with the covers to sit up, "wanna do somefin' now!"

"It's bedtime, Owain. Lie down and close your eyes." He was gently pushing the boy back into his bed.

"No!" Owain fought against Ianto. "Please, Tad, let me do somefin'." He struggled to find the right words. "I his big bruvver."

"Luke's asleep and you should be too." Ianto was beginning to wonder if Owain's willingness to help was a good thing after all.

"He sleepin'? I know!" The boy avoided Ianto's restraining hands and stood up, reaching to a shelf above the bed. Among the various toys stored there, he picked up a small brown bear. "He have Foo-Foo, for bedtime." Owain thrust it at Ianto.

Ianto took the toy, remembering when Holly had passed her beloved bedtime companion to Owain. The boy had never liked it in the same way and it had lived on the shelf for the past year. Perhaps it was time for Foo-Foo to move on to the youngest child in the family.

"That's very kind of you," said Ianto, holding the bear. "Come on then, five minutes then it's back to bed."

A smiling Owain walked beside his tad to Luke's room and was lifted up to put the bear into the cot. Luke'd like Foo-Foo, he was sure. Back in his own bed, Owain listened to some of the story before drifting off to sleep. He was planning some of the things he and Luke would do when he was a bit bigger and, in his dream, whatever it was Owain did it best.

Ianto put the book aside and kissed Owain lightly before leaving the room.

More chapters coming soon ...