14

A week later, New Year's weekend had been the drive home and resettling in the firehouse again.

The house seemed so quiet.

The kids were all at school, even Ton off at the Special Pre-school Eugene had found and Ianto had the entire house to himself.

It felt …. Weird.

Myfanwy was lying on the back lawn as Grub ran in large circles, two cats in the deckchairs getting a bit of sun and the odd cat out, Lady Emma was currently sliding down the stairs from the mezzanine level on her side, letting her butt thump onto each step with a weird glee only cats possess.

John would find a fur covered bed later, little minx knew he hated her.

Ianto snorted.

Jack didn't know he was alone, still being clingy about the whole diabetes thing. He had a whole roster system sorted that he thought Ianto hadn't twigged to, trying to keep him company in case he suddenly decided to die from sugar overload.

It was Idris's turn to babysit and had called to say Gene didn't know and had booked a lunch date.

It had been confirmed, his kidneys were at about 70% and although Jack had taken to it as a new project with all the books, brochures and diet plans being discussed like a major battle debate. Ianto knew the main thing was to portion your life into bite sized portions and exercise.

He had been for his run, feeling better for it and the long shower without an interruption from a child had been lovely as well. He now knew his rash on his arm was a sugar rash, another symptom in plain sight he had been ignoring and he was thoroughly angry with himself.

This was a failure.

He sat and checked his sugar level, writing the 5 in the diary for Jack to check later, adding the snack he had eaten half an hour before.

He looked at his readings for the last few days and was pleased to see that they were within the 5 to 7 range which was the preferred levels.

He never wanted to move out of the safe range, and knowing he was staying safe without any intervention was a comfort. With diet and exercise he might just be OK, no need to medicate.

Owen had been great, pushing the tests through on his kidneys and talking plain English as Jack panicked about every little thing.

There would be more tests and checks now, his kidneys monitored as he went through a gentle Detox and started changing his diet to compensate for this new lifestyle.

Ianto was hopeful that his kidney function would increase as they were relieved of a lot of the strain they had been under.

Thinking about it, Ianto rose to get a bottle of water and then walked out to watch Grub for a while.

Draft dog seemed more spastic every day as his long gangly legs tripped him up more than they obeyed his need to gallop.

Eugene called out and Ianto rose to go inside, taking a moment to watch the cats wraith off into the undergrowth as Ton's screams alerted them to his energy levels.

"Hey Taddy" Ianto smiled.

"Hey Tadda" Ton mimicked with a cheeky grin.

"You beastly beast monster!" Ianto growled as he opened his arms wide and watched his baby run towards him with a huge smile.

"Did you have a nice day darling boy?" he crooned, cuddling his sweetie.

The only sweetie he needs.

Sweeter than candy.