17

"Sweetling?" Ianto looked up from in the bushes to find Jack looking down at him with open confusion "What are you doing in there my love?"

"Hiding, get in here!" he hissed in response and Jack found himself sitting in the bushes with his husband, like a couple of thieves hiding from the guards as people rushed about in a panic.

"OK… we are here because…" Jack asked.

"Everyone knows. I had hoped that announcing would make things easier to control. Pip went and announced as well, took the joy from the event and now everyone is acting like I am spun fucking glass. It is driving me insane Cariad" Ianto hissed, pulling the bushes around them more to create a canopy as voices passed their spot.

"I am sorry about Pip." Jack grimaced, knowing the little cow had really cut close to the bone this time. Ianto had really been looking forward to seeing his parents and had been eagerly planning the refurbishment of the wing for them and showing off his little realm.

To tell the truth, Jack had been looking forward to watching him shine too.

"Well… Daddy will be getting into the Capitol about now, his Hover touching onto the Regal Hover Pad. No doubt the meeting will drag for a day or so. Tonight he will contact us and tell us how Uncle is looking. I know he is recovering well from the fall but there are still days where he is a little tired. Thank the gods for the healers your family sent." Jack tried to take Ianto's mind off things.

A little giggle had him turning to peer under the bush to his left and he found two little girls pressed against the dirt "What the…. Girls?"

"Hi Daddy" Ali giggled "We are hiding from everyone."

Jack frowned "And where, might I ask… is your brother?"

"Other side" Ianto whispered and Jack looked past Ianto to find his toddler sitting in the dirt happily sniffing a flower he acquired from somewhere.

"How long have you all been in here?"

"Long enough to decide the evening menu, the dresses they want to wear tomorrow and according to our son here… flowers are cool" Ianto said in a bored tone like they were so over it all.

So cheeky, such a Tiger. They were playing a game and Jack could see that his children were loving it. He decided to play along… this might be his last time before the baby comes to show his children that he loves them all equally. He did worry that the new bub might bring some problems. If would be a strong Bladesinger… much more than little Jax was now and the girls had seen the reactions to their brother when he was born, Jack worried that seeing another Bladesinger babe come into their family might upset them more.

To tell the truth… if felt nice in the cool of the bushes. It was roomy, the ground soft and as Ianto laid back Jack joined him. Pleased when the children all cuddled to them with Jax in the middle, a parental either side of him and a girl on each side of the parental.

Jack realized that they were bonding… nesting… communing and as he closed his eyes and let his mind drift he heard the soft giggles of Ali in the bond. Of course, they had Bladesinger in them too and Ianto was taking moments to help them find themselves.

Jack felt a little remorse there.

They had not known their heritage at all, his mother such a fucking prude.

Ianto was here now though.

He was fixing it.

..

.

Ianto could see the message blinking at the corner of the screen and after considering for a moment he touched it, steeling himself for the latest barrage of Pip Bullshit. Instead he was surprised to find one of his old masters there with a soft smile "Boy, if you have the time to watch this message, you have the time to bloody talk to me. I hate these damned things!"

Ianto laughed softly.

"Listen…Penelope is kicking up some sort of fuss over a crown… a filigree one that she wants to wear for a commissioned portrait of her once she is fat and ready to pop and I know you have it. Your Grandmother gave it to you and she knows, she is now trying to make out it is communal property and she wants it… tell me you took it with you. I know you hate the thing but it is your birth rite… tell me you have the Righteous Crown and the blades to match. Your Grandmother was clear that they are yours and she would be pissed as hell to find that little shit with them. She would come from beyond the veil to throttle us all."

Again Ianto laughed softly at the image of his long gone sweet Grandmother haunting them. He tapped the screen to respond "Master Hafflin. I do have what you ask about. They were gifted to me officially, you can find the papers Grandma sighed in the vaults… also it was witnessed by Master Flerd and Master Polim. Father was there as was my oldest sister Rhiannon. She has no claim."

He sent the message and settled back to consider Pip and her need to be so fucking important. He did not understand why she felt this need, clearly she was the favorite. Must she seek reassurance of that all the time?

His hands went to his bump and he sent loving thoughts.

He would not do that to his children. He loved them all so much, blood not a factor here. They were bonded by love. His daughters… his sons.

Pip though ….

Ianto hoped she only had the one child, gods forbid she have more than one for she would definitely choose one to lavish attention on… the prettiest, smartest one and the others would be pushed aside like everything else in her world.

His parents had created a monster.

He felt a little hatred for them there… hard not to.

No.

She is their problem now.