10

Ianto welcomed his parents and they moved confidently to the room and to Stephen who was sitting in the bed with Walter, watching a DVD.

"Ah, so you're our new Grandson!" James said softly as he looked at the way Walter was cuddled into his side.

"I'm Grandpa James and this is Grandy Eugene" James said as he sat on the side of the bed, "We didn't know what you might need so we brought a few things."

Eugene offered the gift bag and Stephen accepted it shyly. Walter had no such shyness as he grabbed the bad and upended it.

"A journal!" Ianto exclaimed.

"Yep" Eugene popped the P and Ianto smiled.

"When my Mammy died they gave me one too" Ianto hugged his fathers.

"Ianto was about your age when he came to us" James explained, "We gave him a journal like this. Feelings are weird things and they don't make sense. Sometimes writing down how you feel makes it easier to explain."

"Thankyou" Stephen said softly as he fingered the book.

"I love mine" Ianto told him, "I still write in one, not every day but at least once a week. I lost them in the fire, god, it was one if the things I most missed. My old thoughts all written down and filed away."

Stephen carefully placed the journal under his pillow as Walter placed the other bits and bobs by the bed and kissed Stephen before he left the room.

"Nice room" James looked around with interest. "Nice Telly. Bigger than mine."

"I told you we needed a bigger one!" Eugene huffed.

"Come on possum, we don't want to go blind" James argued.

"How can people keep up with the joneses if we are boring" Eugene pouted and Stephen smiled as the two men glared at each other.

Ianto saw the first real smile since the accident bloom across Stephen's face and he resisted the urge to hug him.

Instead he sat on the other side of the bed and took his hand as gently as he could, glad of the squeeze of affection Stephen offered.

The two fathers left in search of the Babbit and Ianto shuffled higher up the bed, pretending to fluff the pillows as he looked furtively at Stephen as he examined the journal.

"I'll go make sure they don't accidentally tear a limb off while fighting over Babbit" Ianto sighed as he heard his Taddy's shriek roar of indignation telling him Babbit had chosen his father's hug first.

Stephen watched him go as he hugged the journal to his chest.

If Ianto wrote in one it wasn't a girly thing to do, right?

Maybe it would help.