Jack walked slowly across the plas, trying to sort out his emotions, after the year that never was he knew that his emotional radar had been, well...completely fucked, so he distrusted his responses in some non-work related situations. Classifying alien threats were easy, classifying sentiments were often beyond him. He knew that he needed constant reassurances, that he sought comfort from any source prepared to offer it and that this made him emotionally vulnerable so he had got into the habit of examining his emotional responses more carefully than he had in the past. Gone was the man who had given his heart and his body so freely and so joyfully – another legacy from The Master, he thought bitterly; he hated this weakness in himself so much, so closed and repressed; Susan's mother would not recognise him if she met him now.

Finding that Ianto still loved him had been the fulfilment of his most cherished fantasies, discovering that he and Ianto had created a child together had shaken and thrilled him to the core of his soul but now...discovering that also he had another grown up daughter; one who, unlike Alice, had been brought up to love him and was hoping to be a part of his life, no matter how small? He thought his heart might explode with joy.

This joy was magnified a million times when he spotted Ianto leaning on the railings and gazing out at the waters of the bay. On silent feet, Jack crept up behind him, slid his arms around the young man's waist and rested his chin on his shoulder.

'Better make this quick' said Ianto without turning round, 'Jack will be back soon'

'Hey!'

Ianto turned in Jack's arms, a happy smile on his face and pulled Jack closer for a kiss. 'You OK?' he said tenderly.

Jack gave a huge tension relieving sigh, 'I am now I know that you and Carwyn are alright' he admitted. 'When that bitch Lisa was holding out on me, I wanted to rip her apart with my bare hands.'

Ianto rested his forehead on Jack's, 'Tosh told me everything that happened. It all sounds very nasty. I can't say I'm heartbroken about either of them, though, to be honest. Gwen was always a sloppy field agent so I'm not surprised Lisa got the better of her but I thought Lisa was sharper.'

Jack grinned, 'I think Tosh and Susan were sharper still.'

Ianto kissed him again, 'I really don't care, those two women made me the unhappiest I'd been since my childhood and now they are dead. I don't need to worry about Lisa trying to injure me or Carwyn as a way of hurting or controlling you and Gwen Cooper, well, she was a walking sac of poison and no mistake, she would have dribbled some of her venom into our cup of happiness if she could.'

Jack could not believe what he was hearing, 'You are incredible, you know?'

Ianto snuggled closer, 'all I wanted for the last four years was for you to come back to me, for Carwyn to know his other father and for Lisa and Gwen to be out of my life forever.' He sighed contentedly, 'I have everything I ever wanted.'

'And I have you and we have a son' whispered Jack, 'everything I ever wanted.'

For a long moment the two men stood in a quiet and tranquil embrace, watching the sunset, then Ianto stirred, 'How is Ms Finlay?'

Jack could not stop the smile that crept across his face, 'on the mend, thank the gods' he murmured, biting gently on the lobe of Ianto's ear.

'I take it she has told you about her parentage?'

Jack pulled back to stare at his lover's face in shock, 'what?'

Ianto chuckled, 'I worked it out ages ago. Sometimes, when she is engrossed in something, she looks just like you, she laughs like you as well and she is allergic to strawberries just like you are. Plus, Owen sequenced everyone's DNA for fun when a handheld DNA scanner fell through the rift and later on I sequenced yours too and compared them. I didn't tell anyone'.

'Lisa knew'

Ianto's face fell, 'yeah, I know. She caught me doing the preliminary analysis. I thought I'd covered my tracks but I guess not. She was slippery and sly but very smart - she would have worked it out if I did. I'm so sorry, Jack.'

'Yan...I...'

'Once I worked it out I made sure she was part of Carwyn's life as much as I could. He already loves his Aunty SuSu – he'll be thrilled to find out he has a big sister,'

Jack could not check the tears flowing down his face, 'I don't know what to say. Everything I throw at you, all my shit, and you just take it all in your stride. I love you so much'

Gently Ianto swiped his thumb across Jacks cheek, 'We are your family and we all love you too. C'mon, let's go check on our son, and then I think we should go to bed.'

'Bed' the sigh that Jack gave seemed to have been pulled up from the bowels of the planet, 'oh Yan, I'm so tired.'

Ianto kissed him, 'I know, Cariad, I know.'

With his arm tight around Jack's waist, Ianto guided him back into the Hub and down to the room where Carwyn was fast asleep in his customary sprawl. Ianto grinned at Jack, 'hogging the bed – he gets that from you.'

'Not true' pouted Jack, 'I sleep best when I sleep curled up, neatly and tidily, on you.' He paused and gave a rueful smile, 'I don't think I've slept properly since the last time I slept an entire night with you.

Ianto took Jack's hand and led him back out into the corridor and together they entered the guest room opposite Carwyn's. Jack opened his mouth but Ianto delicately placed his fingers over his lips, 'shh, Cariad,' he said softly, 'you cared for me so many time in the past, now let me care for you. I don't think anyone has for a very long time.'

Jack stood passively, head bowed, eyes closed, hands loose at his sides as Ianto slowly undressed him, stripping him with dedication, fixing all his concentration on Jack as if he was the only thing in the universe worthy of attention – which to Ianto he was. Ianto ran his fingers over Jack's skin, placing his palm over the spot on his chest where he could feel Jack's loving heart beating so fast he feared it would break out of his rib cage.

This was not the frantic reconnection of their previous encounter of the previous few days when Ianto had introduced Jack to their son; no battle for domination here, this was a quiet and satisfied reclamation between equals of a personal treasure of great value. Gently he traced Jack's features, sweeping his fingertips over Jack's closed eyes, letting the thick lashes brush against his fingers like silk. He ran his finger down Jack's nose, making it twitch and both men laugh; he went on to trace Jack's lips with his thumb, leaning in to place long and tender kiss on them. Ianto slid his tongue into Jack's mouth and let it rest, passively on Jack's, just enjoying the feeling of them being together.

Jack kept his eyes closed, but his breathing roughened as Ianto continued to stroke and caress his upper body, sliding his hands over Jack's shoulders and down his arms reacquainting himself with the feel of muscle and sinew, skimming the pads of his thumbs over Jack's nipples, kissing them as they pebbled under his touch.

'Love you' whispered Jack on an intake of breath

'Love you too' murmured Ianto as he sank gracefully to his knees and nuzzled the crease at the top of Jack's legs, slipping his hand between Jack's trembling thighs to fondle his hot, hard, balls and kissing the very tip of his weeping penis. Jack entangled his fingers in Ianto's hair and gasped out, 'bed, please.' Ianto was more than happy to oblige, his own cock was hot and throbbing within the confines of his jeans and he wanted nothing more than to feel Jack's skin against his own.

Jack lay on the bed, his gaze never wavering from Ianto's. He watched as Ianto efficiently removed his own clothing, marvelling that the alabaster skin was as translucent and beautiful as he had pictured it during those terrible days on The Valiant. He gave a soft gasp as Ianto's long thick cock bounced free from his pants followed by a contented sigh as Ianto reached behind himself and began to prepare himself to receive Jack. Jack began to sit up but was gently pressed down onto the soft duvet, he struggled against the loving pressure, 'Yan,' he protested weakly, 'we need..'

Ianto silenced him with a kiss and moved to straddle his body, hissing with pleasure as their hard cocks slid against each other. 'No,' he told Jack, 'no lube, I want, I need to feel you inside me, my Cariad.' And with no further warning he impaled himself on Jack, their mutual cry of pleasure mingling and echoing around the room like a blessing.

Jack's time sense told him that it was very early morning when he awoke. Still half asleep, he shifted slightly and gave a satisfied grunt at the familiar pleasurable soreness in his hips and his arse. Closing his eyes he replayed the previous night when Ianto had made good his promise to care for him. In the whole of his extensive sexual experience, Jack could not recall ever being so thoroughly loved or cared for with such adoration and wholehearted affection. Once they had loved each other to exhaustion, Jack and Ianto had taken a long caring shower and crawled into bed to sleep in each other's arms.

Jack snuggled closer to the hot body pressed up against his back and heard a small murmur of contentment from Ianto who pulled him closer and stroked his abdomen with large warm hands, fingers teasingly slipping below the boxers he had insisted Jack wear to sleep in. Jack sighed happily and turned carefully to face his lover who was smiling, blissfully.

'Hey'

'Hey'

They kissed gently and rested their foreheads together just revelling in being peacefully together when there was an upheaval at the end of the bed, a disturbance under the duvet and the tousled head of Carwyn appeared as he wriggled up between the two men. Jack met Ianto's amused eyes

'Ah now I understand why you insisted on the boxers,' he grinned.

'The joys of fatherhood' explained Ianto with a grimace, 'It only takes one kick from a small, over excited foot to your unprotected bollocks to recommend even the flimsy protection of underwear.

Carwyn carefully placed Plushie Plane on Jack's chest then threw one arm around Jack and one around Ianto and hugged them tightly.

'Hello' he said brightly as Jack quietly choked in his son's strangle hold.

Ianto chuckled, 'Car, it's very early why aren't you asleep?

'I heard Daddy Jack talking and I thought he might like Plushie Plane to help him get back sleep'

Jack stroked the toy with his finger and swallowed hard, 'Carwyn that's...that's the nicest thing anyone has done for me in a long time' he smirked as he saw Ianto pout and reached over their son to ruffle his hair.

'I also thought,' continued Carwyn in the offhand way that was characteristic of him and which had already endeared him to Jack more than Jack had believed possible in so short a time, 'that we could tell stories and then go out for breakfast.'

'Sorry' Ianto looked apologetically at his lover, 'before breakfast story-time is a bit of a Harkness-Jones tradition'

Jack raised an eyebrow 'Harkness-Jones?'

Ianto blushed, 'it's the name he was registered under, actually, that was quite a saga.'

Jack manoeuvred himself so that he was enclosed in the combined embrace of the love of all his lives and his beautiful son.

'Tell us that story' he said. He leant back on the pillows, clutching Plushie Plane and let Ianto's gorgeous Welsh tones flow over him, supplemented from time to time by the helpful interjections of Carwyn who clearly had heard the tale before and was keen to ensure that Ianto got his facts right.

'Home' mused Jack silently to himself as he placed a promissory kiss, firstly onto Ianto's hair and then onto Carwyn's 'in these arms is where I have made my home. They are big enough to accommodate me and everything I bring with me. I'll never leave again'

As he was talking Ianto was watching Jack from the corner of his eye, there was tranquillity and serenity in his demeanour that Ianto was proud to have put there. Even as he squabbled with Carwyn about the details of the story he was telling he could feel Jack relaxing even further into his embrace. Ianto felt a warm glow of contentment begin to grow in his belly.

'I love this man' he told himself mutely, 'I'll keep him in circle of my arms for as long as I can. I can hold him and Carwyn and Susan, even Alice, please god, one day. He'll never have to leave again.'

Epilogue - Four Months Later

Ianto raced into the kitchen looking panic stricken, 'Jack, Jack have you seen Carwyn?'

Jack extricated himself from the depths of the fridge where he had been foraging for beer, 'last seen heading into the garden carrying a bowl of coleslaw nearly as big as his head' he said, 'why'

Ianto let out a cry that would not have been out of place at the culmination of a Greek Tragedy, 'I told you to keep him away from the coleslaw, I told you.'

Jack frowned, 'I don't see the problem – he said he liked coleslaw, I admit it's a strange taste for a four year old but...'

Ianto rolled his eyes, 'he loves it Jack. He is more than capable of eating the whole of that massive bowl. Do you have you any idea what affect that amount of mayonnaise and vegetables has upon the digestive system of a small boy? Do you?' Mutely, Jack shook his head, Ianto continued, 'Do you remember that time that Myfanwy went hunting and managed to bring home a carton of 500 chocolate bars from somewhere and ate the lot before we found out? Do you remember the state of the Hub the following day?' Jack did. 'That is only a fraction of what we will be facing.'

Spinning on his heel Jack sprinted out into the garden, closely followed by Ianto. The Harkness-Jones late summer barbeque was in full swing and the two men skidded to a halt to take in the sight. From their vantage on the high level deck, above the sun-drenched garden they could see Carwyn, sans coleslaw thankfully, sitting under a table with Susan, both of them engrossed in the large, seagull sized ToSu that Tosh had made for Carwyn's birthday, they were flying it around the garden and using it to steal food from the plates of the other guests and laughing hysterically. Rhys, still a little subdued and downcast after Gwen's "tragic" death was presiding over the barbeque ably assisted by Olivia's cousin, Catherine, the two of them seemed to be getting on rather well if Rhys' hesitant smiles and Catherine's shy laughter was any indication. They seemed to be innocently touching each other a lot,on the shoulder, on the hand, on the arm; it made Ianto smile to see it because it reminded him of the days when he and Jack were on the brink of beginning their relationship and they would make excuses to casually touch each other in just the same way . Olivia and Tosh were comfortably ensconced on the padded swing seat at the bottom of the garden, both of them sporting tiny baby bumps. It had been hard to say who had been more surprised by the pregnancies, Owen or Susan since both couples had been trying for a while. Jack suspected the use of alien tech, especially in Olivia's case since it had taken six attempts at IVF before a viable pregnancy resulted, he had asked Owen but Owen had remained silent on the matter citing doctor/patient confidentiality. The man himself was sitting between the two women teasing them gently as he sipped the beer neither of them could have, whilst Alice, Jack's recently reconciled daughter, laughingly sided with Toshiko and Olivia from her seat on the grass as they berated Owen for his insensitivity and meanness. Susan had pestered Jack for Alice's address and had worked hard to create a relationship with her sister. Thanks to Susan, Alice's attitude to Jack had softened considerably and they were slowly re-building their relationship. Steven, Jack's grandson was playing penalty shoot outs with Johnny, Ianto's brother in law and his son, David, whilst Ianto's sister Rhiannon was watching from her seat on the swing suspended from the apple tree holding her young daughter, Mica, on her lap.

Ianto stole a sidelong glance at Jack's face; he was smiling happily even though a small tear was trembling on his lashes. 'Jack?'

Jack put his arms around his young lover and held him tightly, 'look at them, Yan, unconventional, eccentric, dysfunctional and avant-garde, each and every one of them; our family, such as they are.' He dropped a kiss onto Ianto's hair, 'I wouldn't change them for the world.'

In response Ianto pulled his phone from his jeans pocket and took several pictures of the scene before them. Slipping his phone back into his pocket he rested back against Jack's chest and entwined their fingers. so that they rested on his belly ' Jack' he murmured quoting from Carwyn's new favourite film, 'don't forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he always wanted.' He could feel Jack's chuckle against his back as he picked up the quotation.

'What happened?'

Ianto turned in Jack's arms and kissed him, 'he lived happily ever after'

...and they did.

~~ Gorffenedig ~~