13

"Are you OK?" Jack asked softly as he discovered his husband sitting on a bale of insulation almost asleep where he sat, the drink in his hand long since tipped to one side and dripped into the dirt. "Ianto? Love?"

"Hmmm?" Ianto focused on him and smiled "Hey."

"Look at you… asleep where you sit… darling. I remember the first time you did that. Waiting for me during a costume fitting. So cute" Jack sat next to him and took a hand to rub the knuckles with his thumb "You OK?"

"I just want this to work that's all" Ianto sighed as he leaned against him "I just… well I do want to crush Cunty Carl… but I want the money we make from this for our charity. I really do."

"I know love" Jack squeezed his hand.

"Rainbow Children. A haven for LBGTQ+ kids. Be they little ones barely old enough to voice their true selves to the teens thrown away by their families for being… well… different. I want to help them" Ianto rubbed his face with the other hand, the coffee cup now discarded as well.

"Ianto, you are a good man. A wonderfully good man and you have such a great vision for this house… someone out there will love it, someone is in love with it as much as I am with you" Jack assured him.

"Jack… I love you. Not just your body... I mean, I love your body too but… you. Beyond the body… the vessel… your sprit within… it sings to me. With me. And I not taken the path I did, we might never have met. Had someone been willing to take me off the streets and love me enough to help me understand that I was not a freak, just myself. Proper councillors, care… help. We have to help them!"

"Hey… it's OK. We agreed remember? If we don't win we match dollar for dollar whatever we manage to raise… right?" Jack held him close "I never what a child to feel unloved for the way they were made."

"I hated meself for so long for being Bi… Mama told me that was why Da left us… for a long time I believed her. Now I now… now I know he left for other reasons but that shit messed with my head. Truth is, whatever reason he left, he didn't love me enough to take me with him" Ianto closed his eyes and let the traitorous tears fall "My father did not love me like he said he did"

"It's OK love… you are not him. You are like your Grandy… full of fire and style. Come on… he never let you down, you have never let me down either, despite me being a mighty fuck-head sometimes" Jack cajoled him "You are a good man. My lovely good man."

Ianto drew back and looked at his beloved then smiled "Yours. Yes. Always."

"Come on love… let's finish this one."

.

.

Ianto sat at the evening shared meal with his head high as the others talked and gushed about their rooms, then came the time to talk about one another's. Ianto accepted the praise from everyone, including Helen as her husband poked at her then Carl said that it "looked a bit… gay."

Silence fell over the dinner table and Ianto focused in him "Excuse me?"

"Well… fairies… fluffy pink and white everywhere and the toadstool things? God… all you needed was a little poodle or something" he scoffed.

Ianto leaned back "So… you think a little girl's room is gay. So… does that mean the child is gay? It IS for a little girl ya know. Or do you mean the creator? Because Carl… in case you missed it… I AM gay. Bisexual actually… my husband here is too. Mind you… my sons have the same table and chairs... does that mean THEY are gay? OR I am making them gay? Hmmmm? Come on Carl… what MAKES someone gay? Enlighten us with your wisdom!"

Heads turned to stare at Carl who sat with his mouth open, unable to argue something he knew he would lose.

"My cousin is gay" Mildred suddenly said loudly "He was not MADE anything… even as little kids he was himself!"

"Thank you Milly love" Jack said flatly, reaching out to pat her arm as she bristled.

"I think Carl just misspoke and maybe we should change the subject" Ianto said as he swung to one of the other houses "So… do you think it's kitchen or bathroom next? They must be going to smash us with something big soon."

Jack watched Carl deflate as his wife glared.

.

.

"So… thanks for taking the time out to sit with us between challenges. We are doing this with all the couples but since you two got the most feedback we are starting with you" the poor man shifted in his chair nervously as Ianto glared into his skull and Jack grinned as he posed on the sofa "Right… ah… have you named the house?"

"Gayville"

"Stop it" Jack scolded as he laughed "Sorry… you caught us just after a little ah… discussion with other contestants about homosexuality and… well… Ianto is fuming still. See? That's his mad face. So cute right? Even when he wants to kill someone he's so damned sweet."

Ianto glared at him.

"No… we have named it Sweetington. Because it is soft, sweet and you want more" Jack said as he settled back and took over the interview for a while.

"Ianto… one for you. Ah, actually the most asked one… sorry" the man grimaced as he was forced again to speak to the broody thing now in total Resting Bitch Face "Ah… the question in many of the emails is … ah… your father. How did he die?"

Ianto blinked slowly then said in a low voce "My father is not dead. He ran away and left me behind with my mother. He is living somewhere with his money, his lovers and his happiness. He changed his name and left this world behind with everything he didn't want or need… like me."

Jack saw this sliding sideways fast as Ianto now bored his glare into the camera lens "And if you are watching Daddy… look at me. Still here. Still alive and still trying to move forward. And for the record… I don't need you anyway!"

Jack rose from the sofa and hauled up the sullen man "Interview over!"

He shuffled Ianto outside so he could pace and mutter and kick at the tufts of grass still surviving in the back lot.

They had hit a nerve.

Man... they had hurt him with that one.