35
It was not Nainny, not Anna come back and for some reason it seemed better that way. Somehow, the thought of cousins in love did not sit right, too close and Ianto knew Pip was slowly accepting it as well, still pleased that he had another baby to fuss on as well as with.
Case in point.
The baby was roaring as Michael did her nappy, his face stern as he did the task as quickly as he could, the little one hating the cool air on her skin.
"We've talked it over" Mica said softly, "Now we've seen her, now we see her … I want to call her something nice. I wanna call her after Mam as well but … as a second name I just can't think of something fitting. She is such a little grump."
"No she's not" Ianto defended as he looked down at the sullen child, "she is confused. It's all so big out here. She's ….um ….well. You could keep the name thing going since we seem to have a few now. We've not got a Marigold yet, your Mam liked those. Or … Zanna. Latin for Lily. Your Da used to get her those didn't he? Lilies?"
"Oh Uncle, yes!" she lit up, "Pink ones. She loved the pink lilies! Oh Michael, do you think …."
"I love it" he assured her, "Lily-Rhae. Yes. I like the sound of that love. Wow. She is … she is a little Lily."
Ianto was pleased that they liked it, remembered lilies on the table sometimes as Rhiannon fussed about and made a mental note to ask about the possibility of some being grown for her birthday each year of something. He wandered to the junk room where he found Jack behind the large fridge thing and he stood watching it for a while then he spoke, "Cariad? What is it? It has two compartments … but only one is for ingoing, right?"
Jack came out from behind it "What? How did you work that out?"
"The bottom one, that symbol. You put that on your rubbish bin in the bunker at the Hub. I figure it means Out Box. Or something like that … the top one has a symbol you still put on maps when designing a room. In. Out. Right? They are the In and Out symbols?"
"I didn't even know I did that" Jack looked at the squiggle for In and the scratch for out and realised for the first time that he wrote them in Boeshanninan. Huh.
"OK, wanna see? It's a secret though, I haven't got it quite fixed and it needs tweaks" Jack said as he reached down and picked up an apple from a basket. He placed it in the top compartment, then closed it and nervously looked around, then went and pulled the blanket over the doorway.
"Secret squirrel" Ianto said softly as Jack then rubbed his hands on his trousers and closed the bottom that had been previously open, he then stood back. He motioned, "Open the bottom one."
Ianto stepped forward and pulled it open to stare at the apple inside.
"Apple."
"Yeah." Jack grinned, "Take it out and close it again."
Ianto complied and then Jack motioned for him to re-open it.
"Apple" Ianto said then realised. He looked at the apple in his hand and grinned as he opened the op and stared at the apple, took it out and took a bite, placing it back in. He closed the doors, then opened the bottom one to look at the perfect apple … apart from a bite out of it.
He plucked it out and took a bite, spitting it out with a frown. "Sour."
"Yeah, like I said, needs a tweak. Its sugars are out" Jack stepped behind it again, "These food replicators can be tricky."
"So … food?"
"Yeah, you can get all sorts. Clothing, weaponry but this one was for food. Not our food so it's sour. I have to tweak until it gets the memo" Jack nodded.
"Only food" Ianto repeated, "Not a child or a pet or…"
"No! No, it has a failsafe love. Nothing with a pulse, nothing it perceives as alive." Jack hastened to assure him.
"So … watermelon? Grapes…. Coffee beans?" Ianto suddenly blurted, "My secret staff down to the last few? Could it?"
"Go get them … hey … quietly!" Jack warned and Ianto grinned as he loped off, returning with what appeared to be an old tin of horse liniment that he opened to reveal a snap lock bag of coffee beans. He headed them to Jack an then grabbed his wrist as he reached for the machine.
"These are the last of my blend. Only the glasshouse ones after this, the last of my yummies" Ianto warned "Does it hurt them?"
Jack smiled as he kissed Ianto's forehead, "No love. These aren't changed or damaged in the process. If the new ones are no good, we try again. The originals are not hurt. Promise."
"OK"
Jack placed them in the machine and hoped the last tweak was the right one, holding his breath as he pushed the button.
Ianto looked more nervous than when he waited for the baby to be born.
Well …
This was his coffee ya know.