5
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Ianto seemed so much happier after he decided what he needed from his parents in order to accept their apology. His father controlled him for years, and then tried to clamp down again when we got back together.
Ianto fell back into it, at first. Old patterns are hard to break, especially when you haven't had a catalyst for changing. But then he told his dad to shove it. I'm glad he did, and that he finally broke away. But I know that he's been hurting about the fact that he even had to do such a thing.
It's hard when the people who are supposed to love you are the ones who reject and hurt you. How does a kid become equipped to defend himself against that? He doesn't. Not until he's an adult, and in many cases, not until he's been an adult for a while.
I understand this. I wasn't able to really be myself until after my old man died, to be honest.
So with that all decided, Ianto called his parents and made a lunch date to meet them at the country club tomorrow.
In the meantime, there were two girls sitting at the kitchen bar swinging their legs and eating pancakes.
Jellybean sat under them, waiting for them to drop food.
"Jack!" Eve said, just before stuffing a syrup soaked piece of pancake into her mouth.
"Eve!" I said, grinning at her.
"Ask your question before you put food in your mouth," Ianto reminded her.
Eve managed to give him a guilty look, but didn't hold it for long. She grinned and chewed her pancake. With her mouth closed, thank goodness.
Her sister Jenny took advantage of the situation. "Are we going to decorate the tree today?" she wanted to know.
I nodded. "I told you we would, remember?"
"Oh yeah. I just wanted to make sure. Sometimes grownups say something will happen, but then it sometimes doesn't."
"Sometimes grownups can't help that," Ianto reminded her. "Life is complicated, so if someone says they will do something and then they can't, it might be out of their hands."
Jenny looked down and pushed her pancakes around. "I know. I know. I'm just excited to decorate the tree."
"That's good," I said, refilling her orange juice. "Because I need lots of help to get everything done. I waited for you guys to get here so you could make sure I did everything right."
Ianto choked, and then tried to cover it up with coughing.
"You're so funny, Jack!" Eve said. "You always have to make sure everything is perfect!"
Jenny giggled, covering her mouth while she absentmindedly waved her fork around.
I laughed, glancing at Ianto who was leaning up against the counter, his arms folded, an enormous smile on his face. He raised his eyebrows and chuckled.
"Oh no!" Eve suddenly said. Both girls looked down at the floor under their chairs. I leaned over the counter and Jellybean was happily wolfing down a pancake. Both girls looked up at me guiltily.
"I dropped a pancake," Eve said.
Jenny's eyes were wide and she looked back and forth between me and her father.
"Did it have syrup on it?" I said, hoping not.
Eve shook her head no, her lips pressed together in a tight line.
"Oh good," I said. "We don't feed Jellybean people food, but the syrup is extra bad for him."
Both girls nodded solemnly. "We know," Jenny said. "We'll be careful."
I looked back over the counter at my opportunistic dog.
"You lucked out," I told him. He smiled up at me and thumped his tail. Then he weaved himself out from between the chair legs and came around the counter to see me.
I squatted and Jellybean came up between my legs, his nose reaching for my face. I gathered up his fur on both sides of his neck between my fingers and scratched him just the way he liked. "Who's my good boy?"
"Not Jellybean!" Eve giggled.
"He's still mostly good," I said, and hugged my furry friend. He tried to wrestle away from me and lick my face. I tipped my head out of his reach and laughed. Jellybean was the reason I had this family in the first place.
"Can we string popcorn for the tree?" Jenny wanted to know.
"How do you know about stringing popcorn?" Ianto said.
"It was in a book at school," Eve informed him.
"Oh," Ianto said. "I don't know. Do we know how to do that? Would Jellybean eat the popcorn?"
They all looked at me. "I don't know anything about stringing popcorn but how hard could it be? We could look it up."
"We could put it higher up so Jellybean couldn't reach it?" Eve said.
"Jellybean doesn't even want popcorn we try to feed him on purpose," Jenny said. Then she slapped a hand over her mouth and her huge eyes betrayed her guilt.
"You are such a tattle tale," Eve said.
Jenny frowned, but kept her hand over her mouth.
"Don't feed Jellybean popcorn," I said, trying to feel patient.
Jenny glared at her sister and slowly pulled her hand away from her face. "We know. It wasn't really on purpose. It just fell on the floor and we thought maybe he would get it. But he didn't care."
"Well that's good to know," I said, looking at Ianto with my, what are we going to do with these kids look.
"So are we going to pop popcorn?" Eve said, bouncing up and down. She grabbed her sister's hands and they jumped and danced in a circle together.
"Pop corn! Pop pop pop popcorn!" they sang.
Jellybean ran up to them and barked, like what is going on! Why are you barking!?
"I'll pop the popcorn," Ianto said, interrupting the melee. "You girls go wash all the sticky off yourselves, and brush your teeth."
"Okay Taddy," Eve said. She's been trying out new names for Ianto lately. Jenny giggled and looked at her dad to see if "Taddy" would fly.
Ianto blinked and started to say something, and then shook his head and smiled.
"Better than calling you Ianto, right?" I laughed.
Ianto laughed and resumed digging through the kitchen cabinet for the popcorn popper.
"Exactly," he said.
"Don't worry," I reminded him. "You'll get it all figured out with them. For now let's just focus on decorating." One thing at a time, that's my motto.
Ianto's shoulders sagged with relief. "Okay, yeah," he agreed. "Just caught me off guard, you know?"
"Yeah, I know." I pulled him close for a side hug while he cradled the popcorn popper. I kissed him on his head and smacked his ass as he walked by.
Ianto laughed and carried the popper to the counter. After some googling and a quick trip downtown to get needles and thread, Ianto and I found ourselves threading popcorn onto needles. I had to be ambitious and get cranberries to thread too, because I figured while we are doing this thing — let's go all out.
The girls were still trying, but it turns out that sliding a needle through a piece of popcorn without breaking it is pretty delicate work. So, that means that Ianto and I were left with most of the work.
"Jellybean needs to go outside," I told the girls. He'd been really good, and it was true — he wasn't interested in popcorn. But I could tell the girls were getting stir crazy and needed a change of scene, preferably something outside and active. "Will you girls take him in the backyard and run around with him?"
Ianto peeked up from his popcorn stringing and smiled at me.
"Yes!" the girls both shrieked. "Come on, Jellybean! Let's go outside!"
That was all they needed to say. Jellybean jumped to his feet and ran circles around them as they put on their shoes and coats. In a tumble of noise and shrieks, they clattered outside. We could still hear them in the yard, but it was insulated, and the room fell into silence.
"Did you think you'd ever be stringing popcorn and cranberries to put on a tree?" Ianto said, leaning back and stretching his back.
"I never try to predict anything anymore," I said. "I mean, I didn't think I'd ever see you again either." I felt my heart surge with love for my elegant and sensitive Ianto. "I feel lucky that I get to be a part of this family with you and the girls."
Ianto blushed and he dragged his eyes to meet mine.
"We're lucky to have you," he said. Then he shuffled through his phone and with the touch of a button the speakers came to live and the house filled with Christmas music.
"Now we're really festive!" he said, dancing a little to the music.
I smiled and shook my head. I loved how silly he could be sometimes.
While Ianto finished stringing the garland together I wound all the lights on the Christmas tree. We got multicoloured lights to make the girls happy, and wow were they ever! I thought white lights would look better with everything else we were doing, but if this wasn't to entertain the girls, what was it for?
Finally, after poking a needle and thread through about a million cranberries and pieces of popcorn we strung the garlands on the tree. I haven't lived with kids long, but one thing is for sure. All those fun ideas they want to do end up being no work for them and lots of work for the adults.
But the garlands were worth it. They gave an extra organic fresh feel to the inside, and complimented the fresh green of the live tree. And they looked better with the rainbow lights than I thought they would.
After that we hung ornaments and had fun looking at each one and deciding where they went. Christmas music still rang throughout the house, and with the crackling fire, and the snow outside, and the festive tree, I felt like we were in a movie or something.
I watched Ianto with his girls, and thought about the visit from his parents.
Did I want to see his happiness taken away by trying to accommodate them? I ground my jaw. No I did not. But Ianto seemed adamant and relieved.
I just hoped everything went as well as he wanted. It would be a great Christmas present for him.
Speaking of which, my deep thoughts were interrupted by Jenny's little face looking up at me. "What do you want for Christmas, Jack?" She looked so earnest and excited.
I furrowed my brow and thought. I didn't like a lot of stuff, and didn't want to obligate my friends and family to spend money to give me more things to deal with. But what did I want? Just then Santa Claus Comes Tonight came on the speakers, and I grinned at Ianto.
He laughed and turned slightly pink before busying himself with the tree.
"I want to take care of my little family," I said, looking down into Jenny's wide blue eyes.
"You take care of us already," Eve said. "You are even the king of making breakfast!"
I laughed. "I'm glad you think so. And you guys are the royalty of eating it!"
"What are you going to give my Taddy for Christmas?" Jenny wanted to know.
I glanced at Ianto, wondering if he'd been trying to guess the same thing. Ianto didn't look at me, but his lips twisted in a funny half smile as he studiously avoided eye contact and adjusted a tree branch.
"Oh, probably a lump of coal," I teased.
"A lump of coal?!" Eve practically yelled. She wagged her finger at me with one hand on her hip. "That's not very nice."
"To be fair, I like coal," Ianto said from behind the tree. "It keeps the fire going all night long."
I chuckled. "Exactly. A lump of coal is actually a great gift!"
Jenny scowled. "She meant like a present!" she said.
"If I tell, what will be the fun of that?" I said, and dug into the box for the next ornament to hang.
"We're just nosy," Eve said, a grin spreading across her face.
"Yeah we are!" Jenny agreed, and both girls collapsed into shrieking giggles.
"At least they admit it," Ianto laughed. He looked across the room at Jellybean, who was stretched out snoozing in front of the fire. "Jellybean has the right idea. I want a nap for Christmas," he said.
"Ugh, grownups are so boring," Eve said, disgust in her voice.
"Being a grown up isn't nearly as boring as you think," Ianto peeked at me through the tree branches and winked.
"Can we have hot chocolate now?" Jenny said.
"Not until we finish hanging all the ornaments," Ianto reminded her.
"But we're getting bored," Jenny said, as if this argument would convince her dad. I laughed to myself, knowing what was coming next.
"Only boring kids get bored," Ianto said.
"I knew you were going to say that," Eve said.
"That's because it's always true," Ianto told her. "We're almost done. Then we'll have dinner. Then we'll have hot chocolate."
"Are we having a Christmas party this year?" Jenny asked, like she suddenly remembered this possibility.
"Yep, one on Christmas Eve," Ianto said.
"And mama is coming, right?" Eve said.
"Yes, your mother is coming," Ianto said.
"Who else?" Jenny said.
"Nikki and Owen, Josh and Toshiko and Avery," I said.
"Ohhhh, fun," Jenny said.
"What about Aunt Rhiannon?" Eve said.
Ianto furrowed his brow. "My sister hasn't been in Torchwood for Christmas for a long time," he said. "So probably not? If they come into town, we'll invite them."
"What about Gramma and Poppy?" Jenny said. "How come they don't come to parties anymore?"
"They might," Ianto said, his tone slow and measured. "They might have other things to go to that night."
I had to admire Ianto for not telling his girls that their Poppy was not welcome.
"But don't they want to see us on Christmas Eve?" Eve said. "Do you know how to dance around the house without them showing us?"
"You remember that?" Ianto said, a puzzled smile on his face.
"Yeah, we held hands and Poppy and Gramma sang a funny song and we danced around the house. And Gramma said that we could both be Santa Lucia next time."
"How did you know about Santa Lucia?" Ianto looked at Eve in amazement.
"Gramma had a book about it, remember?" Eve said, exasperated.
"She said we could both dress up as Santa Lucia," Jenny said. "So can we?"
Ianto looked at me while he thought through this question. "Yes, you can do that for our party."
Eve shrieked with excitement. "Can we wear real candles on our head?!"
"Certainly not," Ianto said. "Only electric ones."
"Aww," Jenny said, the disappointment clear in her voice. "But the real Santa Lucia wore real candles on her head."
"She was older than you too," Ianto said.
I didn't know what this was all about, and gave Ianto a puzzled look.
"You'll see," he laughed.