10
A few months later, I stood at the front of a large crowd gathered in front of the museum. Camera crews from the local news stations were there, as were some excited people from the Steampunk World's Fair who'd made the drive out to Brandenburg for the special day. Jack and JJ stood near the front of the crowd, applauding with everyone else as we got ready to flip the switch and start the clock up for the first time.
I stood beside the head curator as he gave a speech about the significance of the clock, its history, and what it represented for the museum and the community at large. I didn't really need to listen to the speech. I knew what it represented for me, and that was all that mattered.
"And now," he said as he reached the conclusion of the speech, "our very own Ianto Jones, the person responsible for what we've accomplished here today, will throw the switch and start the clock!"
I stepped up, greeted by a round of applause. I waved to the crowd, and gave a special smile to Jack. I felt like he and JJ should be up here with me. Getting the clock fixed had really been their idea, after all. Jack had inisited I take the moment.
"Tell me when," I said, putting my hands on the big lever.
No one in the crowd knew that it wasn't really hooked up to anything. The lever was just sticking out of a large metal box. A mechanic up in the tower would turn on the power at the same moment that I threw the lever, giving the ceremonial act the illusion of reality.
The curator looked at his watch, waiting for the right moment, then started counting. "Ten…nine…"
The crowd shouted along with him. "Eight…seven…"
I waved to everyone again, then grabbed the lever with both hands, making a big production out of it. I waited for the countdown to reach the end.
"Three…two…one…"
The crowd started cheering as I pulled the lever. At the same time, the clock up above started ticking. The camera crews got the whole thing on tape, ready for the nightly news. I made the rounds, shaking hands with a few VIPs, particularly some of the donors who had given a hefty amount to the fundraiser.
Before long, the crowd started to disperse. Some went inside the museum to go check out the exhibits, including the all new exhibit upstairs, where the inner workings of the clock were now on display behind a glass case. We'd also posted some historical news articles and pictures
going back to the year the building was built, laying out the entire history of the museum and the clock itself.
Included in the display was a more recent news article about the fundraising campaign, along with my picture.
JJ, Jack and I had become a permanent part of history.
I headed over to the big buffet table we'd set out, making myself a plate for lunch. Jack joined me, while JJ peppered the curator with questions about one of our exhibits.
"So," Jack said as he filled a plate of his own. "I've been thinking."
"Oh yeah?" I eyed him sidelong while I sucked a bit of mustard off my thumb, wishing I had a free hand for a napkin.
"Yeah. About the future and where things are going." I paused and stared at him, my heart starting to race.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean us."
I held my plate carefully in both hands, worried that I might drop it. "What have you been thinking about us?"
He led me off to the side, away from a few guests who were browsing the buffet table. "Well, I've been thinking that I spend a lot of time out here. And we both spend a lot of time driving halfway across the state to see each other. And, well, my lease is about to come up…"
I licked my lips, studying his face. He blushed and looked down, scratching the back of his head.
"The thing is," he said, "I don't want to move away from JJ. But at the same time, we're getting to the point that this is becoming something serious. And you have your job here and I have mine, but it seems like we could probably figure out some middle ground."
"Middle ground?" I asked, frowning.
"Yeah." He cleared his throat. "I mean, for a place. For us. Our place."
"Jack," I said. "Are you asking me to move in with you?"
"No, I think I'm asking you to marry me."
I smiled. "Well I think I might say yes."
Happy tears filled my eyes. I had to admit, it had been on my mind pretty much every day. I lived about five minutes from the museum, which was really convenient for work. But really inconvenient when my boyfriend lived an hour away. But I could see us together in a nice little house, somewhere halfway between us. Where we could find a balance in our lives, while taking the next step on our journey together.
I blotted my tears and leaned in to kiss him, though our plates got tangled and nearly spilled. We both laughed, awkwardly shuffling our plates into one hand so we could kiss.
"Does JJ know?" I asked.
He nodded. "Yeah. I asked him how he felt about it before I asked you."
"And?"
"And he loves the idea. He wants to know if he can move in with us."
I laughed, covering my mouth with one hand. "Oh, I can't imagine his mother would ever agree to that."
"No," he said, sighing. "In fact, I'm sure she'll raise a fuss about him visiting on weekends once we're married. But there's nothing she can do about it. I have my visitation rights guaranteed on paper by the courts, and I'll fight her until the end of days to keep them."
I slipped an arm around him and kissed his cheek. "Well, even if he can't live with us, maybe one day we'll be able to give him a new little brother or sister."
"Oh?" His eyes lit up at that idea. "Adopt?"
I smirked, giving him a teasing look. "I'm not saying any time soon. But it's definitely something I want."
"Me too."
A few weeks after that we had a small ceremony with my mother, Tosh and Owen, and a few friends of mine and Jack's. While we were planning our little ceremony we also found a place to live. I packed up my things, leaving the apartment I'd been in since I got out of college, and loaded everything in a truck to take to our new home. I left behind most of my old, worn out furniture, though I brought the bunk bed to put in JJ's room for when he visited, and to maybe have a place for another kid to sleep one day soon. Jack and I hung my paintings around the small house we now called home, alongside his family photos and other memorabilia. And we set up a new art studio in one corner of the dining room, near the sliding glass door that led to the patio. On nicer days, I moved my easel out onto the patio and painted under the shade of the elm tree outside our home.
And when I started painting another clockwork doll, she wasn't broken. All of her gears and cogs were perfectly in place, everything fitting together in clockwork precision. I realized now that the clock tower hadn't been the only thing in the museum that was broken, but all of the parts were mended now, and I was ready to keep on ticking, all the way into my new, bright future.
