6
Next day Douglas arrived with Rhiannon and the kids in tow, talking about the eggs. Ianto stared at him, then her "did she tell you?"
"What? No, Jack did. But it's right, right? They are still on ice?" Douglas demanded.
"Yes. They are" Ianto replied sagely. So she did not retract her decision? Shame. For what? Now here like nothing happened, like he did not tell her there was a line to consider here. What does he do now? Did she cross it? Has she decided to recognise and respect it? Jack took that decision away form her. But still… Ianto had no idea what to do, feeling lost.
"Well… yesterday was a crazy day and I was not myself" Rhiannon started tugging her shirt hem in her hands "So… I was thinking. If we get one or two of my eggs fertile, inserted along with one of yours… I can have your baby at the same time as mine."
Ianto stared at her like she had grown another head. OK. So… now she was trying to double down on some sort of… what? Apology? Huh?
"Like… triplets?" Jack screwed his face up.
"Well, likely one of them will not make it, I looked into the numbers so… two of mine and one of yours will" Douglas said grandly.
"That… that's not how it works" Ianto said softly "What if both of yours don't catch, only ours. Will you be willing to hand it over? I don't know… Jack…"
"No. No, I see her point too." Jack tried to be diplomatic here. "Come on, Rhiannon had two healthy kids!"
"I was a twin, my twin brother died during childbirth. David was a twin, his brother died in the womb. Rhiannon might lose them all, or just keep one … ours?" Ianto argued.
"Why are you being so pigheaded?" Jack asked with a frown as he had no idea the prior argument between the siblings over exactly this problem "Rhiannon is the one offering the sacrifice here… again."
Ianto glowered at his husband and simply shrugged.
"Whatever."
.
.
"You said OK?" Toshiko asked with shock.
"Look, I don't believe it will happen for one minute, I have zero faith in this but clearly the menfolk have it all worked out and us delicate flowers need to be pandering for the moisture they piss down on us" Ianto replied.
She started to giggle.
"Look… when it doesn't work… and it won't… are you willing to go into the breach for me once more? I would love a little girl, we have two female embryos on ice… yeah?"
"Agreed."
Ianto nodded confident that as per usual, he had a Plan B.
.
.
Ianto entered the house and froze, seeing his monster-in-law there. What the actual fuck?
"Jack?"
"Hey babe, mama came by with some things for me … by means of an apology for being a bit crazy yesterday. She was grieving, thought I was dead ya know" he replied.
For him… not for Ianto who got the fucking head thump… of course. "Yes. And now we know that if you do die, she will try to kill me or something."
"don't' be so dramatic" Jack laughed "Mama wants to apologise."
"No."
"What?"
"I do not accept her apology. I do not want her in my house, if you must have her here fine. I will not be." Ianto folded his arms "You choose."
"What?" they both spluttered at him.
"Right. Fine" Ianto turned on his heel and stalked from the room.
He would be in the kid's room with them playing board games until she left.
.
.
Jack entered the room and Ianto looked up "So she left?"
"She wants to see the twins."
"No." came the reply from all three of them and Jack grimaced.
"OK, fair enough. Rhiannon and Douglas are here too, want to se them at…. Least…" the twins erupted from the room to see their aunty as Ianto glared at him accusingly and he shrugged "So… I needed to lead with that one?"
"I am thinking of leaving you" Ianto said as he rose from the floor once the kids were gone "If you are going to choose your mother over me, I am gone. She attacked me, also… did you forget me telling you that she also grabbed our son by his hair in front of the police? They wanted me to press charges! The kids are traumatized by her violence, she terrifies them and you are just… mean …. I cannot trust you not to let her do something stupid with the…. What's that?"
The noise was growing as they entered the main room to find Toshiko and Rhiannon yelling as they struggled over something with Jack's mother, the three women doing a weird dance as everyone watched on, all three of them screeching.
"What is happening?" Ianto asked.
"She had cookies and wants the kids to have one each, was demanding it as they tried to tell her no and I can see the fucking peanuts from here" Toshiko snarled as she finally got hold of the packet, the biscuits flying through the air.
"That is all rubbish and you know it is. There is no such thing as a food allergy and the sooner the boys get used to different food the sooner their bodies adjust. Everyone knows that!" Daphne scoffed. "That bloody man is turning them into poofs!"
Ianto turned to stare silently at Jack, his eyebrows raised and then Ianto said calmly, "Come on boys. Car ride. We are going to see Gigga!"
"Ianto… come on…" Jack whined "I could have died."
"And so could I… so could our son just have. Think it over mister" Ianto said forcefully, stepping around Rhiannon like she was not there. "MY boys come first!"