2
"Where were you today?" Lisa asked as she looked up from the glass of whiskey, the ice chinking in the glass as she raised it to take a sip.
Ianto had exited their son's room and not been able to hide his jump as her arrival home had been so quiet he had not heard her. "Jesus love, you scared the crap out of me. So malevolent of you"
She laughed, leaning back. She liked that thought.
"Actually I spent some time with Owen today" Ianto said, placing a plate of hot food before her, then another on the other side of the table. He did not eat without her, waiting sometimes into the middle of the night. He never knew how much he hated that until now, another control she loved and he didn't. If he did not eat with her she would throw a fit and accuse him of not caring.
"Oh? He still with that Chinese girl?"
Japanese" Ianto said before he could stop himself. She hates being corrected "but Toshiko is a name that can be either I guess."
She slammed the glass down and then cleared her throat, pulling the plate closer and picking at it with her fork "Did you add garlic?"
"No love. You have the big meeting tomorrow you told me about. I know Garlic makes us gassy.. no garlic. I used ginger instead." Ianto said, her flatulence another sore point he took on as his as well.
She hummed liking the taste and ate with gusto, then settled back as he started to clear away the dishes, his hardly eaten. "So … you and Owen were other on the South Side?"
Ianto's hand waivered over the glass of wine he had been drinking as he had forgotten that tracing app she used to keep an eye on his movements, and he smiled softly "Yes, he has a friend over there. Jack. He had to drop something off and you know I like a car ride."
"A lot of different businesses over that way" she said, seeming to bore into him and he tried not to squirm under her scrutiny.
"Yes, I saw a gym over there full of those middle aged women in Lycia that makes you squirm. I was almost transfixed. A Starbucks… I think some sort of florists. I may go back, their arrangements were superb." Ianto made small talk, "Mostly I window shopped as we drove. The traffic… horrible darling."
She relaxed, accepting this and began a tirade about the traffic she had coming home. Then she asked "And Hen? His day?"
God he hated that. Their child is not a fucking chicken. He smiled through it and said "the preschool said he had a mild day. Only bit Justin and apparently Justin had been pinching all day."
"Provoked!" she said with a sharp nod of her head "I hope you pointed that out. Our son is blamed for everything!"
"Yes love. I did, I also remind them of the last time you had to intervene. Taking precious time for your work for something so stupid as your son's school. Their little arseholes puckered" he said and she laughed, leaning back more and he knew what was coming next.
"Any chance of a rub down there Mister Hallett?"
"Why Missus Hallett… so bold of you" he simpered "I shall just finish loading the dishwasher and check our son is covered… and shall meet you in the bedroom. Remember… I want to undress you!"
She laughed and rose, slapping that pert arse she liked as she sashayed from the room and he felt that weird twist in his gut.
He loved her so much. Right now… he felt something else. That thing creeping into the equation like that thing in the matrix movie where you realise there is no spoon. Ya know? The world was weirdly tipping and he knew he had to hold on.
For his son.
.
.
.
"Sorry we had to meet here, Henry attacked one of the carers at the pre-school and it is an automatic stand-down" Ianto explained as he sat on the park bench with Jack and Owen "He is happy now. Got what he wanted. He hates that place. He is a free spirit. I would rather he was homeschooled but… she thinks I mollycoddle him too much as it is."
Jack glanced over at the child running with arms wide, flapping as if he might take off. Clearly the child have problems, his facial features suggesting something in the DNA and he also saw that this could not be Ianto's child. The Asian tint there clear.
"Right. First we do a DNA test, set your mind at ease right? Could be, this is your kid and some distant strain of a past relative has crept in. DNA says he is yours… there is no need to go nuclear right?" Owen asked "After all, he is yours in every other way. She does not even know his favourite colour… food…"
"It will be what she decides it is" Ianto said bitterly, surprised by his own tone.
"Look. We do the test, we look at options and move from there. Right?" Jack joined the side of caution "But in the meantime, my people are looking at what you gave me, searching what you didn't … there are more bank accounts, more money she has squirreled away… some on your name, in your son's name too."
Ianto stared at him with shock.
Hidden accounts?
What was she doing?