7
Ianto was glad of the weather, fine and smooth sailing. He had expected a stormy sea and a midnight fumble but instead to his relief it was not like that at all.
He lay on the bed with the trays set up along one side, the other side covered in towels and such for afterwards and he told himself to be brave. He had suffered worse, he had suffered and this was just one more thing to suffer. To recover form and to get over. Come on. Don't' be a pussy.
Ianto took the needle and started to inject his stomach across where he knew he had to cut, his hands shaking at first but soon calm as he focused on the task, the mirrors all over the room helping him track his movements.
He then waited for the local anesthetic to take effect, poking at himself now and then before deciding that was good enough. "OK munchkin… time to do this. Help Taddy out here."
He cut across himself, the pillows behind him to help hold him up in a half sitting position helping him reach as he felt the gush of fluids over his lower half and he grimaced as he hoped the plastic sheeting would hold it all. He then felt the little hand that had popped out grab his. Oh god. Stop dillydallying. Get her out. He carefully maneuvered and pulled, the pain not surprising as he only froze the extraction site and his mind roared with the indignity of it as he tried not to pass out, pulling the baby out to lay her on the towels.
It WAS a girl. He had felt that all along and now he looked at her with a strange feeling of detachment.
Focus.
Ianto wrapped her quickly and left her crying as he clipped off the umbilical cord and cut it, then started to scoop out the rest of the gross stuff from his body, the afterbirth landing in the plastic and several ripped up towels used to try and muck out the body cavity before he started to shakily sew up his stomach.
"No Picasso" he muttered then sniggered "Maybe in the weird drug stage."
He knew he had to finish, he was fading fast as the pain washed over him in waves now, the local anesthetic worn off to and he grabbed the stapler to he finish the job before he passed out.
Open and shut. Tickety boo!
.
.
Crying.
Ianto groaned as he came to, the baby now yelling with confusion as her little arms waved and Ianto reached out, and then groaned with agony as he looked down at the mess that was himself. He had managed to close himself but was still leaking. Fuck. Baby first.
He lifted the bindle to his breast and offered her the boob, not even sure if it would work and she seems as confused as he was. "No?" he tried again and after a few arguments her anger subsided and she latched on. God, he was so relieved as he read this can sometimes take a lot of practice. She was so hungry though and as she suckled he felt a strange tugging that was almost comforting.
She popped off and stared at him, a little drool of milk from the corner of her mouth. Holy hit… milk. He really was lactating. How about that. Ianto knew he was lying in filth, he knew a lot of things were wrong but staring into those vividly blue eyes he knew if nothing else, his daughter was perfect.
"You have your daddy's eyes" he said, swallowing back tears as he thought of Jack then dismissed it as selfish to wallow. He placed the baby back on the clean towels and checked she could not roll in a swell before he forced himself to pull back the bedding and look at the degusting mess that was his bed. "Ergh."
He gingerly got out of the bed, stopping to breathe through the pain and finally got to his feet, gripping the edge of the bed as he dropped sheets to walk on, the thought of dropping filth on the floor gross. The little shower in the corner of the room was great, he could still see the baby as he quickly hosed himself down with the hand attachment, not caring that the water made the sutures sting. Then he shuffled back to the bed, laying down more plastic on the floor to pull the soiled bedding into, the dull slap of wet bedding gross to hear and his stomach rolled. Nope. Don't do that. He then pulled the corners together and folded the mess up as best he could, then lifted it with a soft groan of pain, carrying it up out onto the deck where he flicked the entire thing over the side.
He then stumbled back down to the now uncovered bed, the baby on the other side of the mattress staring at him with silent confusion.
"I know… get used to it… Taddy is a bit nuts princess" Ianto said as he pulled another duvet from the storage cupboard and laid it on the bed not caring about sheets as he clambered into it and rolled it over himself like a cocoon.
Soon he was asleep.
His daughter lay there regarding him for amount or two, her little eyes roving around the cabin as if searching for something before she slept as well.
The boat sat low in the drink, the waves slapping against the hull as it soothed the two weary travellers in side.
In a brave new land.
