A/N: ok, I picked over this a little more carefully and hopefully spotted at least most of the mistakes… I gave 4 a quick once over as well and caught a few I'd missed the last time around, corrected and replaced... thanks for noticing and pointing out that I was moving too fast and needed to be a little more careful!

Chapter Five: The First Trimester

I begin to love this creature,
and to anticipate her birth
as a fresh twist to a knot,
which I do not wish to untie.
-- Mary Wollstonecraft

By the end of the first month, Ianto was accustomed to waking up to the sound of Jack retching.

Despite his Captain's insistence that he should just stay in bed, Ianto slid out from in between the soft warm sheets and slipped his feet into his slippers before making his way into the bathroom. He ran cool water onto a washcloth and pressed it gently to Jack's forehead as he leaned further forward, throwing up what little was left in his stomach in between bitter moaning. The younger man used his free hand to rub his back until his stomach finally stopped heaving.

"Oh God…" Jack leant into him, settling back away from the commode. "I'm dying."

"You of all people are not dying, Jack. You can't die, remember?"

His only response was a humourless groan.

Ianto chuckled despite his partner's obvious misery.

Jack just groaned some more. "If you loved me, you would shoot me and get it over with."

"If we I did that, we'd have an awful lot of explaining to do, don't you think?"

His response was another mournful groan.

"Come on," Ianto eased the older man up to his feet. He opened up the medicine cabinet and handed over the mouthwash.

Jack fixed him with a glare.

"You'll feel better if you rinse your mouth, I promise," Ianto assured him.

Without bothering to verbalize his feelings (the grimace on his face said it all, anyway), Jack swiped the bottle from his partner's hands and swished the foul minty stuff around his mouth. He spit it into the sink with a vengeance.

Nothing tasted good any more. Nothing smelled good. Everything made him sick to his stomach, even riding in the lift.

Ianto led him, grumbling with every step, to the little dining room table and sat him down. Without asking whether or not he wanted any, he made Jack a cup of ginger tea.

Jack hated ginger.

He hated ginger snaps and gingerbread men and ginger beer. He especially hated ginger tea.

"It'll make you feel better," the young sadist insisted.

"So will a revolver to my temple."

"Yes, but tea is much more sensible."

"Spoken like a true citizen of the British Empire."

Ianto ignored the comment and the tone it was delivered in. He didn't remember Gwen being this miserable when she was pregnant… then again, Rhys may have seen a side of her that the rest of them were spared. Jack was completely civil to other people. It's just me who keeps getting the short end of it… with a sigh, he turned and headed towards the bedroom…

"Ianto…" Jack called out suddenly as the younger man turned away… he was only going to grab their bathrobes, although he supposed in Jack's hormonal state it may have looked like he was huffing out of the room. "I'm sorry. I know you're only trying to help."

He turned back to him, making a special effort to keep his tone soft. "I know that, Cariad," he laid a soft kiss on the older man's forehead. "I know you can't help it." He wrapped his arms around Jack's shoulders, letting him burry his head in his chest.

"God I love you."

"I love you too. Now drink your tea. I'm just going to go fetch your robe… and no dumping it down the drain," he added as he turned away again.

Jack managed a chuckle. He'd hoped Ianto hadn't noticed him doing that the last time…

Instead of a bathrobe, Ianto came back out of the bedroom with the comforter from their bed; he pulled Jack over to the sofa and sat him down so they were cuddled up together with the blanket draped over them.

Jack he drank his tea. He had to admit that as much as he was sure he was going to throw it back up again, it settled his stomach and he was able sleep through the rest of night without incident.

………………………………………………………………..

Jack lay on a thickly padded table in the exam room with his shirt open, a set of cameras positioned around his midsection, capturing a true three hundred and sixty degree view of the baby inside him.

But it wasn't Jack that his partner was staring it; Ianto couldn't take his eyes off the image in front of him. It was truly, fully, three dimensional, turning slowly, so he could see all sides of the five week old foetus inside his partner… their child… their daughter… he swallowed, but the lump in his throat refused to go away.

Jack reached out and took his hand; Ianto looked at him. "My God, Cariad," he breathed.

"Miraculous, isn't it?" Basha said in a soft tone. "No matter how much science we put into to…" she gave them both a smile.

"Are those really her fingers?" Ianto forgot to be embarrassed about sounding like an ignorant gumby.

It didn't matter, Basha's smile was anything but unkind.

"And her heart… ears… that's going to be a mouth," she hit a few buttons to highlight each body part that she named. "She's in perfect health," she added, after consulting the readout on her computer screen.

Ianto blinked feeling his heart seize up in his chest. He had to sit down before he fell down… he took Jack's hand again. "Cariad…"

"We do good work, huh?" Jack beamed at him.

The younger man swallowed, but the lump was still in his throat, making it difficult for him to talk. This was really real. It was really happening. He had a daughter… they had a baby… together…

He looked to Jack… he was smiling. Handsome. So incredibly handsome that the younger man forgot all about how horrible he'd been that morning…every day for the last five weeks. He laid a hand gently on his partner's midsection because somewhere in there… he glanced up at the image again. She would be tiny… so tiny inside… but she was there and she was genetically one hundred percent theirs and in that moment Ianto knew how much he loved her.

How much he loved her other father. He leant over and laid his head next to Jack's stomach, closing his eyes. "I love you so much," he whispered softly at both of them.

"I love you too," Jack told him. He didn't remember feeling quite this happy when he'd been pregnant with Jason… it was a long time ago. He was sure he had been happy… but not like this. This was so different.

It wasn't that he didn't love his son, he did, he loved him so much, but what he felt now was closer to what he thought he remembered feeling when Laura had been pregnant.

Contentment.

The feeling that he was sharing this amazing experience with someone so special… his beautiful Welshman.

Jack looked down at him… blue grey eyes. Welsh vowels. Someone who loves me more than anything… "Thank you."

Ianto gave him a startled look. "For what?"

"For making… " he shook his head and started over. "For being who you are because I wouldn't have wanted to do this again if it weren't for you and I can't tell you how happy I am right now. How happy you make me… both of you," he rested one hand on his belly.