Chapter 11
"John... Oh god."
Creak. Moan.
"Yes, oh yes!"
Low and needy.
"Yes, John... That's it!"
More moaning. Much more throaty.
"Yes. Right. There."
The bed shook. A very obscene moan.
"Yes, that's it! That's the spot, John!"
The bed jerked. So needy.
"Oh God! Yes yes YES!"
The bed damn near lifted itself off the floor for a moment then... stilled.
A sigh, soft and affectionate.
"Feel better?" John asked as he let go of Ianto's left foot. Which felt noticeably more limber.
For his part Ianto smiled languidly. He was leaned back against the headboard wearing only a satin robe and an expression of utter bliss. The kind of bliss that came from having been on the receiving end of a massage.
"Yes, actually." Ianto reached up and pulled his fiancé towards him. "Thank you. I don't know why my feet are so sore lately."
"Sore? more like they're swollen," observed the older man. John rolled them onto their sides. A window showed an impressive view of the city at night. "Have you done anything?" he asked. "Anything that might have overtaxed your body?"
"Besides you?"
"Cheeky little brat."
"Just following your mother along as she drags me to every single person and establishment that can possibly be involved in the planning of a wedding. Hm... think I figured out why my feet hurt."
They shared a laugh.
Ianto snuggled close to John and let out a contented sigh. For the last few days he'd felt very tired and all out of sorts but he had no idea why. Add to that the fact that he was craving the oddest things lately (and he was certain he'd gained a couple extra pounds) and wanting, no, needing more sex. No amount of coffee could keep him awake enough to make it through the day. Only (great) sex and lots of chocolate could do that.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were pregnant."
"Haha."
"What?" John asked. "It would be a good explanation!"
"Don't even joke. In case you haven't noticed, Captain, I am a man from the 21st century."
"True. Ah well, I can dream can't I?"
"Dream away, darling. But it's just a dream."
As they fell asleep, in eachother's arms, life began to move.
O_O_O_O_O
Callis licked his lips and looked at the screen. If he read this correctly then Ianto Jones was nearly three months pregnant. Far enough along that he would soon be showing but not so far along that it would necessarily be noticed just yet.
Soon he would make his move. Soon he would have Ianto in his bed and Hart destroyed. As a bonus he would also have the child.
That thought brought a smile to his face. He would have Hart's lover and child and Hart would be dead. All that would be left to deal with would be Harkness. And in a way he had already gotten his revenge on that bastard when he had gone back in time.
He shook his head. Focused, he had to stay focused. Evan Milton had plans for Ianto as well so he would have to be cautious. Not that he was worried about that simpering idiot. He would let Evan have his delusions for a while longer. The money that fool provided would be useful. It would also give him great pleasure to see the look on the weasel's when he lost all his toys.
"Oh, Ianto Jones, you are the destroyer of so many lives and you don't even know it. Yet."
He smiled.
"But you will."
O_O_O_O_O
"I'm fat."
"Oh now, dear," Madelina cooed.
"You're not fat," John said.
Trevor Milton huffed and folded his arms across his chest. He looked at his wife and eldest son. Then he looked at his future son-in-law. This was going to be entertaining. To say that the young man was a match for his son was a severe understatement. He wondered if perhaps Trev- John had bitten off more than he could handle.
Ianto gazed mournfully at his reflection. He was dressed in his wedding suit. It was supposed to be the final fitting. Of course, no one had expected him to gain this much weight. He looked back at the mirror. There was a definite pudge in his midsection. In fact, he was pretty sure that his thighs were a little thicker as well. Was that jiggle he saw? Yes, it was. Jiggle. No matter how he looked at it, he had gotten...
"Fat." He said it again in a flat tone.
"Oh now, sweetheart!"
"But I am."
"Too much dessert."
Ianto shot his lover a dark look. "Piss off."
"What's the matter with you?" John asked curiously. And a bit put off. Just that morning Ianto had been irritable one moment then horny the next. Then irritable the second John had tried to touch him.
"I'm fine," Ianto snipped. "I'm just... fat."
"You're not fat. I'm telling you, just lay off the sweets for a bit. Exercise a little."
The young man yanked off the jacket and tossed it angrily at his lover.
"Maybe if you wouldn't insist on dining out three times a day then keep me up all night with your insatiable sexual appetite."
The family patriarch snorted. Be it a male or female, the 'woman' in any relationship could easily cut down the 'man' with a single look. Sort of like the look that Ianto was giving his son now. It was clear who was the 'woman' in this coupling.
"Ianto!"
The Welshman spun away from John and returned to scrutinizing his appearance. He bit his lip and looked at the mirror. In annoyance he began to undo the buttons of the waistcoat. He tugged at his collar. Why was it so warm... Oh, he felt a little dizzy.
He turned towards John. He opened his mouth.
He threw up.
O_O_O_O_O
It was with an air of self-importance Evan Milton strolled through the halls of the hospital. He had left that stupid wretch of a woman at home in bed. Crying, just because he'd touched her. Pathetic.
This had better be good, he thought. He had been pulled away from his bed -his big, comfy bed- an called to the hospital. If he were lucky, his stupid brother had died and he could then forget about the plan. He would already have Ianto in his bed, where he belonged.
Once he was finished here of course.
He reached the private ward that was always reserved for his family and pushed the doors open. Instead of finding his brother laid prone and gasping his last breath, he found the object of his utmost desires hooked up to a series of machines.
"What's going on?" he asked. If that ogre had hurt Ianto, he would personally remove his entrails.
"Oh Evan, Darling!" his mother said in the gayest voice he had ever heard come out of her repulsively made-up mouth. "The most wonderful news!" She clapped her hands in delight and cried, "Ianto's with child!"
The second-born son of the Milton family felt sick.
"What?" he choked out.
"Pregnant!" Madelina said. "He's thirteen weeks along. Isn't it wonderful?"
Evan looked at his father. The look of proud was only overshadowed by the joy that came with learning that one was to be a grandparent.
"A grandchild! Isn't that wonderful news!" Trevor boomed. He was positively beaming.
"Fantastic news," Evan muttered.
John watched his brother closely. Ever since he had brought Ianto to Earth he had felt a sort of... danger. The way his brother looked at Ianto made his skin crawl. At first he thought it was because Evan hated anyone but himself getting attention. But now, as he looked at his brother's face, he realized that things had changed. Now Evan was not merely jealous of Ianto. He was jealous because Ianto was with John.
"Evan, can we talk?" he said in a terse tone.
The younger brother looked at him and nodded.
O_O_O_O_O
Sir Carter leaned back in his chair. A cup of coffee sat cooling on the desk and a stack of reports were in need of his signature. But he merely leaned back in his chair, a thoughtful expression on his handsome face.
"Still going without shaving, husband?"
He looked up and smiled at Arys. "Hello my wife. What, don't you like it?"
She laughed and ran her twig-like fingers over the beard.
"I like it, makes you look dignified."
"Even with the gray?"
"Especially with." She made herself comfortable on his lap. "He passes through your mind more often these days, doesn't he?"
"Who?"
"Carter, my husband, I give you my heart every moment of every day..."
"So give me your heart in return," he finished. He wrapped his arms around her body. "Those were the vows we spoke on the day we were joined as husband and wife. Why speak them now?"
"Because you are vexed."
"How so?"
"Because of him. Of Blue-Eyes." She smiled softly. "You know don't you? You can feel it, growing inside him."
"Life," Jack said with a smile, soft and gentle as her's. "I feel life. Inside him. You can feel it?"
Arys caressed his cheek. "He and I, the one I know as Blue Eyes, the one you know as The Other Half, we are more alike than different."
She smiled at him, eyes as green as new grass, and said, "You know. You've know since I've known. Since you knew about him."
Carter placed a hand on her stomach. The swell was just starting to show.
"You're both with child. You with mine..."
"Blue Eyes with his." Arys chuckled. "Ironic isn't it? He spent so much time trying to get you back and ends up falling for Blue Eyes. And now they, like we, are having a child." She paused, a frown marring her perfect features. "Are you... jealous of this occurrence?"
Carter smiled at her in the way that he had smiled at only a few people in his long life. First there was a boy, his first love, from is homeworld. The second person was a man with a large nose and a blue box. A woman who believed in fairies until she died. Then there was a young man with blue eyes, coordinating suits and a knack for making the perfect cup of coffee. He was the last one to be awarded that smile before her.
"My beautiful Arys... No," he said. His eyes shone with an emotion that could not be described. It was a good emotion. "No I'm not jealous. All I feel for them both is joy."
"And love."
"And love," he confirmed.
Once, so long ago, he held Ianto Jones in his arms for the last time. It was not as he died, it was later, in a room full of dead people. A woman, her name escaped him but he recalled that she never gave in, had just walked out to give him a moment. One last moment to be with his lover. He held Ianto in his arms until the UNIT guards had forced him to leave. Even then, as he pressed his lips to the cold gray ones he had kept silent an admission that haunted him to this day.
"I love him as much now as I did then."
Back when I was Jack. Back before I forgot how to love. It took meeting Arys for me to remember what love is. Because she and he are so very alike.
O_O_O_O_O
"What do you want, John?"
John turned and slammed his brother against the wall.
"I don't know what's going through that head of yours'," he hissed. "But you lay a finger on Ianto and I will kill you."
"Threatening your own dear brother? How typical of the great John Hart," sneered Evan. "And what makes you think I even care about your little s-slut?"
"Besides the stutter? How about the filthy look in your eyes when you look at him?" John stepped back. "I mean it, touch him and you answer to me."
Evan looked his brother in the eye.
"Why would someone as delicious as him want you? He's far too good for you."
"So you do want him." John narrowed his eyes. "I knew it. I knew it!" He clenched his hands.
He had never been so angry nor so frightened in is whole life.
John had felt it. From the moment he'd returned to Earth he had felt the danger. Not only was Ianto in danger, there was the baby now too.
But there was one thing missing. Evan was a coward. Dangerous, to be sure, but a coward nonetheless. A coward who would never risk getting caught. Who never worked alone.
"Who's helping you?"
O_O_O_O_O
Callis stood inside the room. He watched as Ianto was fussed over by the in-laws. The bump, so small, was noticeable beneath the hospital clothes.
Soon he would take Ianto from Hart. The baby would be a bonus. And it would destroy Hart.
O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O
TBC
