17
Ianto saw his chance to talk to Jack as they headed into town shopping.
"Jack?"
"Hmmm?" Jack hummed as he fumbled with the CD player and tried to drive.
"Could you stop trying to kill us and watch the road?" Ianto asked and Jack grunted as he found the song he wanted and complied.
"Better baby?"
"Thank you" Ianto sighed. "Jack, this illness …"
"Nothing we can't handle." Jack replied, "I'm on it!"
"Jack, it's not a virus to be sweated out or …"
"It's OK!" Jack interrupted again, "We'll get though it together."
Ianto got the feeling they were on different pages and frowned as they pulled into the mall car park.
"Come on" Jack barked, "Shopping to be done!"
Ianto followed and nodded in the right places as Jack filled the trolley in the grocery store then followed him back to help unload the cart. Then they went back in to walk to the furniture department.
Jack was soon trying out sofas and arm chairs for the reading nook and Ianto started to get annoyed.
"I thought it was going to be my little area" he pouted.
"Sure, but I love this one!" Jack grinned.
Then Ianto saw it.
A large leather wing back chair with rolled arms and sitting beside it was a smaller child version that made his heart melt as he saw his child sitting with him reading one day.
Awwwww.
Jack was pulling at a rug as Ianto sat in the chair, noting the nice high arms and large accommodating seat.
He wondered if he could nurse his child in here and imagined it in his arms, looking up at him with love.
He wanted this chair.
These chairs.
"Yuck" Jack said, "Why?"
Ianto blinked, "Pardon?"
"It's dead animal skin!" Jack spluttered, "Yuck. Its … brown. It's old looking. Hey, I'm all for antique and you know I love vintage but these look like something you would find in a crypt or … you know. A haunted house."
Ianto rose from the chair was his face flushing, embarrassed by Jack's loud expression of dislike for the one fucking thing he wanted.
"Fine" he snapped, "We won't get them! You choose, like you've chosen fucking everything!"
He stormed off and Jack gaped, then ran after him. He caught his elbow and barked, "Hey!"
"I hate the sofa you want, I can't sleep on that, where is my fucking snooze sofa?" Ianto was so angry that he couldn't stop cursing, like Owen was channeling though him, "And as for that coffee table. I want a coffee table, not a bloody coffin!"
Jack blinked.
"What does it matter!" Ianto snorted, suddenly tired and fed up with the whole thing, "You don't care what I think. IF you did I would have nice things. We can't have nice things, we have 'Jack' things."
"Ianto, calm down" Jack begged, "If you want the chair, I will get you the chair."
"Both of them!" Ianto clarified, "I want both!"
"Why?" Jack laughed as he turned to find a store employee, "Not like we'll ever have a child to sit in the little one!"
"No?" Ianto felt bold.
He felt that it was now or ever and he steeled himself to speak before they were interrupted.
Then Jack turned back.
"Gods, who wants a child in all of this madness?" he laughed, "I am NEVER doing that again!"
Ianto felt his world crumble as he swallowed back his despair.
Jack didn't want kids?
Bit late for that.