10

Zander.

Alexander sort of, ya know? It was a way of keeping the mother's name for the boy but make it…. Not. Do you understand? So, Zander 'Sparky' Harkness-Jones settled into the household with ease, in fact it was a little freaky how easy it was to adjust to another baby.

Christmas was full of noise, bluster and people, all coming to see the little man like they had never seen him before. Gifts like a belated Baby Shower started coming in Christmas paper and it was a sight that filled Ianto with delight. Especially as they remembered the little girl who watched on with intensity.

She got pressies too, don't worry.

With the legal paperwork done to ensure this little one was theirs, Ianto and Jack started to breathe. The Judge who granted them guardianship and then calmly sighed the adoption papers moments later was a friend of Duncan's who heard the story and agreed that this might turn into a year's long drama which a little one did not need to be born into.

Thank god for friends in high places.

Right?

Ianto was worried about Faith but she was a a trooper who decided this was HER brother and the world could be damned if it tried to get between her and her duty as a big sister. Ianto wondered if Rhiannon felt like this, if she had looked at the new born skinned rabbit Ianto was and felt the same feeling of destiny.

This led to him calling her and by that afternoon she was there with her kids in tow, welcoming the new family member with delight, touched that he had thought of her. They had become distant, hopefully this was the start of them becoming closer.

Lisa had burned so many bridges, including some of Ianto's by default and he was glad that he had the chance to make this new life a better one.

"Babe?"

Ianto plastered on the frown he knew Jack was expecting so the man could roar with mirth and wave a hand "Sorry…. I mean… Tiger?"

"Once more and you are in serious trouble young man" Ianto scowled deeper and Jack giggled like their daughter. This old game one they had played since their first meeting so long ago. Secretly, Ianto liked it, the Babe thing. The scowl and sometimes even bite back thing followed by Jack laughing as he pretended to apologize and correct himself with the default pet name of Tiger.

The thing he liked the most as the fact that Jack knew.

Why he did it.

The kiss was soft as Jack pulled him in to revel in all they had, the need to connect with Ianto normal too. As was that deep, dark rat gnawing at Ianto's insides as he waited for the meteorite to smash down on the village and kill them all or something. As was his way. This was all too good to be true and deep down the pessimistic little boy inside him was waiting for the other shoe to drop… while simultaneously telling himself to lighten the fuck up. He deserved this.

For once in his life he was just going to embrace it and try not to let the little flying monkeys swinging around his head get too much volume. He let that sort of thing happen too often and the fact one of them screeching louder than the others was a little arsehole that sounded a bit too much like Lisa didn't help either.

With a self depredating snort of annoyance he shook himself free of his funk and raised his head from Jack's shoulder to look him in the eye "Hey good looking. Where are our beasts?"

"Mickey and Martha. I think she's clucky and Mickey is a mixture of it too… and mildly horrified at the prospect of another one. She is hoping this will make him remember how great a baby can be" Jack laughed.

"Oh no… with OUR children? Is she mad? He will not expect it anyway. Sparky will remind him how far they can projectile vomit if he still does that airplane thing, I not long since fed him" Ianto sighed, letting his head fall back down as they started to sway softly to unheard music "Oh well."

Jack's hand slid to his arse "Yeah… oh well. Might be ALL afternoon."

"Oh well" Ianto pulled away and gave Jack that hooded look he knew so well before turning to walk away… towards the bedroom.

Jack started to pull off his shirt as he followed him eagerly with his grin wide "Yeah. Oh Well."

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So we leave them here.. stop it! No peeking ya disgusting… OK. I will let you know that Ianto was NOT wearing any underwear and when Jack discovered that he was a little overwhelmed thinking of his husband in the village store talking to the old biddies not half an hour ago with that gorgeous…. Right. That's it.

Thanks for reading.

Merry Christmas Diane, hope you liked your gift xxxx