48

The crunch of tires had both Jack and Hawk sitting up straight, the DVD on pause as they swung to the look at the door and when Ianto entered they both exploded form the sofa to run to him, overjoyed to see him.

"Oh Taddy" Hawk wailed "I have had a HORRIBLE weekend. Take me away!"

"Ianto… I… oh thank god you are here" Jack cried over top of the child. Ianto letting time both wail for while before he stepped back to stare at them.

"I am getting my bag from the car, Jack give me a hand with it while Hawk picks up all these toys scattered around. It is way past his bedtime" Ianto said.

"It's the weekend man" Hawk grumbled as he reluctantly complied "No work in the morning. Men get to stay up later!"

Jack followed Ianto outside to hiss at him "He is the devil. I am telling you… that child is… is… unnatural… of all our kids, I never had one so… what's so funny?"

"Jack, I will only say this once. He is NOT the worst child. Noah was… I mean… Babs is a wonderful girl, a lovely girl but… Noah… whoa… you were never there. I do not begrudge you that. You had a job to do. A career. This is the first child you have had to deal with like this." Ianto replied calmly "I have told you so many times. Children need boundaries. You plant the fence posts in the ground, then cement around them and let the little shits rail against that fencing wire all they want. No retreat, no surrender. You do not give in, you do not EVER let them change the rules once stipulated. You love the Jurassic park movies. Right? Remember those ones … Velociraptors… checking the fence every day, a different part each time looking for any weakness so they could escape and rampage? Think of him as one of those things. Cool to look at, exciting to play with but if let loose can destroy the entire planet."

"You are comparing our child to a rampaging monster" Jack said slowly, then considered "Yeah… I can see that."

"The thing is Jack… they don't have to check the fences when it's you. You leave the fucking gate wiiiide open" Ianto swing his arm out "And they are gone… in a flash."

Ianto then walked inside and regarded the child. "Hawk? What are the rules regarding clothes?"

"It's the Lake House man! We can go neekid!"

"Unless….."

"Unless we have company or…. Oh. Right. We are near a window where people can see in." Hawk said as he turned to stare at the huge picture window. "I forgot."

"Right… since it IS the Lake Hose, we can forget it happened. But… now we remember so…."

"Yep, say no more" Hawk said, swaggering upstairs to get his PJs on while Jack gaped in the kitchenette.

"You must control the animal with strength and cunning" Jack whispered softly to himself "Or it will eat you."

"Yep" Ianto popped the P Never let them smell your fear."

Jack had a new respect for Ianto and the children he had raised. Jack now knew… he hadn't had as much of a hand that raising as he had first thought. He was not even an animal keeper. All this time he had not even been one of the admins at the Harkness-Jones Zoo.

He had been a spectator pressed against the glass while the baboons flashed their shiny red butts.