25

Gwen never saw it coming, already packed before she discovered the two nurses standing in the main room, Jack turning to face her, "Gwen. These lovely ladies are taking you to a place of peace to recover from the shocking events that have occurred then you will go visit your mum and dad. They are excited to see you, you need some time to yourself."

Gwen blinked, looked at the bags and narrowed her eyes, "Where are the children's ones?"

"They have the new school to still settle into" Jack said calmly, "I would rather not upset their routine Elizabeth has them in."

"How long?" she said as her face started to fall, realising that she was being sent away.

"A couple of months, then we assess things" Jack said and then sighed as she exploded, swinging to face Ianto.

"This is your idea, isn't it. Get me out of the way so you can settle as head of the bloody house…"

"I AM A FIRST PRIME!" Ianto roared, surprising himself as well as the rest of the room, "You monitor your tone madam! I AM head partner of this hive, as a First Prime I answer only to my mate … my partner! Jack does not own me, we stand together as heads of this family, you… behind. I will sit beside Jack, I will walk alongside him and if I want … if I want I will take an extra night if I need it! While you are gone I may need extra affections for the betterment of the coming spawn!"

Gwen was bristling and Jack saw his place, stepping in to pull Ianto against him, united. "Gwen, Ianto speaks for all of us, he is my partner. As a head of this Hive he can make a point or statement of fact as well as anyone else, especially as he is correct. The stress is not good for any of us, including you. Please, go get well."

She saw that she could not win the argument so she turned to Elizabeth, the weakest and went to speak but Ianto saw that coming as well, "Leave us if you would Lizzy, I think the baby needs her bottle now."

Elizabeth's relief was raw as she glanced gratefully at Ianto and took off, leaving the three alone.

"Think you are so clever" Gwen hissed.

"Actually I was hoping you would be" Ianto retorted, "Take the time to get well, go see your parents and then come back to us feeling more calm. You would be back in time for the twin's birthday, a real gift for them to see their mother well. Your return can be triumphant, we can really put on a show and give you the homecoming you deserve as First Wife."

Gwen looked at Jack who was smiling at Ianto, "That's a wonderful offer, will you be up to it?"

"Don't be silly. For my Sister-Wife I will do anything. The children will love it, Gwen will return with gifts, stories and so many cuddles" Ianto snorted knowing Gwen had to either play along or explode.

Luckily she was not that stupid and tried whinging instead, "But my babies."

"They need to learn better communication skills anyway, oh Gwen you will help them. Vid-calls every day so they have to learn to converse. You will be their teacher. New hairstyles, outfits each time. Like a game as they try to decide how pretty you will look." Ianto smiled and she huffed then realised that sounded kinda fun.

She could do that.

Jack squeezed Ianto against him and revisited the urge to kiss him, eyeballing Gwen as he saw that the future he had dreamed of might be attainable after all. If she resisted this, they could claim disharmony and have her removed from the hive. They could denounce the bond. She knew this too, her eyes wide as she tried to read Jack. She knew Ianto was what he wanted had always wanted and with Cheryse gone and Elizabeth preparing to be chaste Ianto would have Jack all to himself.

He had already won.

"I am still your wife" she finally said.

"Yes, but I will have you removed as First" Jack said, Ianto stilling with shock as he turned to look at Jack who was steely glaring at Gwen, "Ianto is having the son, also he is the only man apart from me. This makes him First Gentile. I can place him in the spot of Head Man."

Ianto blinked, then cleared his throat, "Gwen. I need your support, I always wanted sister-wives always wanted a hive. Please. I feel that so much was thrust upon you and you are such a … strong person that you did not want to admit that not everything was exactly fair to you. Take this break, time for you. Come back refreshed and I will be the first to welcome you."

She nodded as she turned to leave and Jack glanced at Ianto "Nice spiel"

"She seemed to buy it" Ianto hissed back and Jack stifled a laugh as he saw that he was right in his assumption that Ianto was blowing smoke up the woman's arse to get rid of her.

As the vehicle drove down the driveway towards the road Ianto felt the air shift, change and settle.

He turned to look at the huge house Jack had created an squared his shoulders

Time to clean house!

He had a nest to build.

She was never coming back, he would make sure of that!

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DarqueQueen7 asked …When you said 5:30pm did you mean EST? I'm on the east coast of the US. Just thought I'd ask. Man! This story is beyond juicy! Counting the minutes until again... D.

In reply … I live in NZ, first to see the sun. So my 5.30pm here is 11.30pm the previous day for you my friend. Today is Tuesday 6th 10am here. I post between 6 and 8 each morning depending on how hectic it is first thing which is why you probably get them about lunchtime your end.