38
Ianto was sitting by the edge of the dome in a spot Jack called his Reflection Place.
Ianto hadn't realized how often he came here until the swing seat appeared, along with a shade. Bright yellow and orange, the awning frilled with little pompom things that made Ianto bray with laughter as Jack flicked them with glee and presented his cheek for a kiss.
Now he sat slowly swinging back and forth as he considered the events as of late, a hand softly stroking his growing bump.
He felt it now, the soft tendrils of awareness as his pup listened along with him to the settling of the sun. The moon was creeping up across the sky as she took the night shift and Ianto felt his pup reaching out in search of the strange power that recharged and renewed.
"That is Diana" he whispered, "She is the Sky Goddess."
He smelt the faint wafts of roast chicken and his mouth watered, soon time for the evening meal and he was hungry but knew it would taste better for the sprint onside instead of a slow amble to wait by the fire.
"Soon be snow, this whole area under inches of the stuff" Ianto said softly and Jack huffed softly as Ianto acknowledged him without turning around.
"I thought you would be in the school house" Jack said as he settled on the seat and let an arm fall across his beloved's shoulders.
"Too loud, they are so hyped up" Ianto smiled, leaning into the warmth.
"You OK?" Jack tried to sound casual, even if he didn't quite achieve it and Ianto smiled lovingly as he accepted a kiss.
"Yeah, this pup is also hyper" he huffed, "Little bugger is going to be just like his sister."
They swung for a few beats, then Jack froze, swinging to face him.
"He?" He demanded, "Was that a slip of the tongue? A generalization?"
Ianto rolled his eyes and shrugged, "He feels …. Like you. Strong and ready to argue the odds."
"He" Jack repeated with glee, "A son?"
"Yeah, for the last few days I've felt … yeah" Ianto smiled, "I think that's why I wanted Pip done with. Either way, I wanted it over. He is already starting to wake up. I know it's silly but I don't want her anywhere near him."
Jack wanted to leap off the set and punch the air while doing some dance moves John Travolta might have liked, settling instead for a soft squeeze.
"I could have saved her" Ianto confided, "There was time. I could have scooped her up and run, taken us both to safety but there in that underground facility, listening to her wail as those Clickers closed in …"
Ianto swallowed and Jack waited, "I felt him for the first time. Solid, real and conscious. His fear and his desire to live. I ran and left her; I ran like the fucking wind and left her there to die."
Jack waited.
"I was glad she was gone, glad she couldn't hurt us, hurt him" Ianto frowned as he tried to find words to match his mind, "I … he was afraid of her. All I needed to know in that moment. I felt our Pup push me to run and I did. As clear as if you were standing beside me. He is so strong, so clever. He knew I had to move and he told me to."
"Good" Jack said shakily as he finally learnt how close Ianto came to those things catching him.
"Our little secret" Ianto whispered.
"Yeah" Jack sighed happily, watching a flock of birds fly past.
"See that?" Ianto frowned, "They're swarming. I didn't think they did that."
"Flocks" Jack said, "Birds flock together."
"Not magpies babe" Ianto frowned, then sighed, "Brave new world."
"Yeah, who would have thought it" Jack smiled, "The end of the world and we're doing fine."
"Jack … I need you to listen" Ianto said softly, turning and placing a hand on his thigh.
"OK"
"Hope, the way she sometimes shows her teeth, it's not a smile. It's aggression. She is jealous of the two little urchins and struggles to welcome them. That's why I made sure Mia was seen as lower in the pack to her." Ianto shuffled, showing he didn't want to voice it, "I feel … I mean. I dreamed her, long before she came. Always a little girl laughing and running in the long grass with blonde locks in the breeze. She made herself known to me in this form. I always knew she was my Hope."
"And this one?" Jack asked softly as he watched Ianto's face.
"Teeth too, only not human ones. Gods. I see fangs in this one" he sighed, "Hope had a spark of the Wolfling in her, this one seems to have a whole bloody helping."
Jack frowned as he tried to understand, "Are you telling me that your gift is passed to our children?"
"Hope … she has Wolfling in her, yeah. I don't know how strong but strong enough to respond to mine" Ianto agreed, "this one … I don't see a little boy running and playing like I did her. I see a wolf. A large powerful wolf that runs alongside me, an equal. I see another Wolfling."
"And you worry" Jack whispered, "You worry that he might be judged if he comes out more you than me? That our son has your gift flowing through him and is harmed for it?"
Ianto nodded as he laid his head on Jack's shoulder.
"Your gift had saved us" Jack said pointedly, "Your gift kept our babies safe, this village safe. Holdfast, my love, don't you see? Your gift had saved me too. If not for you I would have run like I always bloody run. I would have left this planet to implode. I stayed for you."
Ianto pulled back and stared with shock.
"I have loved you since that first cup of coffee ya bloody moron" Jack laughed softly, "Long before I knew you could kick my arse, you held my heart in the palm of your hand."
"Oh Jack" Ianto sighed as he leaned into the hug once more.
"This is a wondrous thing" Jack continued, "As you keep us safe, to think one day our son will too. Gods, think a hundred year ahead. How many children? A whole pack patrolling, hunting, protecting Holdfast? For the love of the Gods, Ianto this is the start of a new species of man."
"I thought … I was afraid …" Ianto cursed his hormones as he let the tears flow, comforted by his strength, his heartbeat.
His Cariad.
Jack held fast.