A/N:
Lady Mist:
Aaron Anderson… in… A New Day, I think it was. Jack asks Ianto who was the last person he 'saw'. Answer: while Jack was off with the Doctor, old beau Aaron Anderson popped into Ianto's life and they went out for drinks and movie a couple of times. When Jack returned, Ianto broke it off. Even though he wasn't sure he was ready to forgive Jack, he knew where his heart really was. I mentioned Aaron in passing once before as well… an old friend who worked in middle management in some department store or another and thought his life was quite nice… it reminded Ianto of just how not-normal his own life was.
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It was recently brought to my attention that the website AfterElton dot com is doing a "best of" poll (it's actually really cool, the awards recognize gay/lesbian/bisexual visibility in the media, both in news and fiction)…
John Barrowman, Jack Harkness and Torchwood are in several of the categories.
Anyone can vote (whether you're registerd to the site or not)
Here's the website… (don't forget to remove the spaces)
http : / / www . afterelton . com / people / 2008 / 12 / visibilityawardfinalvoting
Votes have to be in by the 14th.
and as a favour… unless you already have a favourite "best book" (the very last category), an old friend of mine, Frank Polito, is the author of a FANTASTIC book called Band Fags that's on the list…
Band Fags is set in the mid 80's and deals with a young man and his best friend, both band students, coming to grips with homosexuality in a conservative blue collar suburb of Detroit aptly nicknamed Hazel-tucky by it's residents. I couldn't be more thrilled that Band Fags made the list.
Chapter Fifteen: Home Coming
Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration.
~Charles Dickens
Ianto was taken completely by surprise when the Doctor accepted Jack's offer to hold Seren. While the young Welshman anticipated that most of their friends would want to hold her when they got home (God the thought of Mickey holding a baby was frightening), he hadn't imagined the Time Lord as the type of man who would fuss over a baby, even Jack's. He had expected the Doctor to coo over her a bit. Everybody cooed over babies, after all. But his expression… that twinkle in those ancient eyes of his… could the Doctor have been a father himself? he wondered.
The look on the Time Lord's face when he took her from her Papa's arms… the warmth of his smile… the look in his brown eyes when she smiled up at him certainly suggested that he had.
Ianto realized it wasn't outside of the realm of possibility of course, he just couldn't imagine him standing still long enough to have a wife…or husband… or whatever they did on his home planet. One thing the past year had taught him was not to make assumptions.
The Doctor's voice cut through his musings. "She is absolutely beautiful," he said.
Ianto made a mental note to ask Jack if the Doctor had ever had children…
Just then, Seren reached up and made a grab for the Doctor's nose… Ianto cringed, but the Doctor merely laughed, surprising him further by nuzzling at her, laughing all the more when she gave him a delighted little squeal. "Oh you are going to be a handful someday," he said to her before handing her back to her Papa. "She has your eyes, Captain. Your smile too, if I'm not mistaken."
Jack smirked, "Don't I know it." He cradled his daughter in one arm, snagging Ianto's waist with the other. "Let's hope she has her Tad's good sense," he raised his eyebrows at his partner.
"I don't suppose you know any convent planets we could send her to…?" Ianto quipped in retort.
"There's always the Sisters of Plenitude," mused the Doctor. "No… on second thought… maybe not," he shook his head, smiling at some private thought. "Well. Ready to go home, gentlemen?" he asked. He'd landed the TARDIS in the same spot he had to drop them off and walked to their apartment.
Jack glanced over at his husband, giving him a questioning look; Ianto nodded. He was as ready as he was going to be.
The Welshman couldn't help a small bit of trepidation as he stepped through the TARDIS doors once more. Jack had handed Seren off to him so he could carry their gear across the park.
The younger man wasn't sure how, exactly, but Seren seemed to have acquired a duffle bag all her own that was nearly as large as Jack's. It was mind-boggling to both fathers that someone so tiny and so young could need so much stuff. It wasn't as if she didn't have a wardrobe full of clothing and other necessities waiting for her back home. But Ianto didn't want to leave behind the things she was used to. He was quite certain the trip would be traumatic enough on her as it was, with a whole new world of sights and sounds and smells to get used to.
Jack kept saying he was being silly, but acquiesced without much of a fuss anyway. They weren't taking anything that would raise too many eyebrows back home.
The Captain set their bags out of the way and joined his partner by the TARDIS console. "Nothing like the first time, huh?" he wrapped his arms securely around the younger man's waist pressing his lips to the back of his neck.
Ianto leaned into the kiss.
"All right, you two, if you're going to start in with that, you know where your room is…" he gave Jack a look.
"I was just…" he began defensively. His hands were only on Ianto's waist. Sure there was that kiss, but it was just a kiss…
"That's all it takes with you," said the Doctor.
His Welshman snickered. "He is right, you know, Cariad."
"Traitor," Jack grumbled at him, grinning all the while. It only made Ianto laugh harder.
He pulled the young man closer to him as the TARDIS doors swung shut. He knew Ianto was a bit unnerved being there again. He supposed it was his own fault for telling the younger man about all the misadventures he'd had the year he spent travelling with Rose and the Doctor… he'd meant for the stories to help Ianto understand how happy he was on earth… with him… but it hadn't taken much for the Welshman to glean that the TARDIS had a mind all her own and sometimes she went where she wanted to, regardless of the wishes of her passengers.
Ianto leaned back a little further into him, snuggling Seren against his chest. She seemed completely content, oblivious to being a ship as fantastic as the Doctor's TARDIS.
Jack laid his chin on the younger man's shoulder. "Love you," he whispered, stealing a quick kiss to the young man's neck when the Doctor wasn't looking.
It made Ianto snicker. "I love you too," he said. He gave the Time Lord a glance, hoping desperately that the trip home would be as smooth as their last trip had been.
"No worries," the Doctor assured him. "I'll have you home before you can blink… although mind you, Praxinnia Seven is lovely this time of year… we could go for a couple of days and still be home just when I promised. That's the beauty of time travel, you know," he favoured them with a sly grin. "We could arrive before we left… although that would lead to all sorts of difficult explanations," he winked. "What do you say, though? A quick holiday before heading back to Cardiff?"
He cast a questioning look at Jack and Ianto. "I wouldn't even mind doing a bit of baby sitting while you two go off and see the sights… although somebody might have to refresh my memory on a few little details…" he suddenly remembered that he had no idea how to change a diaper… still, it couldn't be that difficult. He was well over nine hundred years old. If he could pilot at TARDIS single headedly a diaper couldn't be that much of a challenge… could it?
"Home sounds better, if you don't mind," said Ianto, casting a sidelong glance back at his partner. He smiled. It didn't look at all like he was the only one who preferred the notion of going home to some exotic holiday with the Doctor.
"Maybe some other time," Jack added.
"You're welcome to stay for a few days," the younger man said. "I'm sure Jack would love the chance to catch up with you."
The Time Lord nodded, neither accepting nor rejecting (or even seeming to really take note of) the offer as he was already busy punching in coordinates. "Oh," he said almost as an after thought, after pressing a button to start the dematerialization. "There's been a slight change in plan…"
Jack gave him a sharp look.
"I stopped in to check on that team of yours last week…well, you know, last week for them…"
"Doctor…" Jack's tone was ripe with suspicion.
He chuckled. "Now, now, Captain. I knew you'd be fretting over what they might have gotten themselves into in your absence. They're fine by the way… although that girl Abby has a mean left hook. I made the mistake of surprising her alone in the Hub," he explained, rubbing his chin in memory. He hadn't expected to find anyone in the five o'clock in the morning; the lights had been off, in fact. He'd figured it was just him and the pterodactyl until Ms Scuito came around the corner in her night cap and flannel dressing gown. "She was quite apologetic, though, once she realized I was me," he went on, giving the console a tap with the mallet he kept hanging from a toggle for just that purpose muttering something unintelligible as he did.
Both men chuckled.
"Mind you," he went on, "If she ever decides she wants to see the rest of the Universe…"
"I don't think so," Jack cut him off. "Now… you were saying something about a change in plan?" he asked, trying to get the Doctor back on track. The thought of Abby taking off with the him, even if Tim went with her, was truly frightening. Abby was as prone to getting side tracked as the Time Lord… a quick glance in his partner's direction confirmed that Ianto was having much the same thought.
"Hmm? Oh, yes, right, quite," the Doctor fussed with the instrument panel another moment before finally getting around to explaining. "Gwen asked if I would do her a little favour is all."
Ianto just barely stifled his groan.
"Nothing major," the Doctor assured them. "Just… there we are…" he said with a wide grin as the TARDIS began to materialize. "A slight change in location is all… oh and we're about a week later than anticipated. I gather your family has been told some story or another," he added in Ianto's direction as he pressed a button and the TARDIS doors swung open. "Gwen said she would take care of everything." He was grinning a grin worthy of a Cheshire Cat.
Jack and Ianto exchanged brief glances before the Captain decided to step out first since he was the one who couldn't die. Not that he actually expected that the Doctor would have landed them anywhere dangerous or anything…
"SURPRISE!"
"Welcome home, Jack! Ianto!" Gwen squealed, sweeping the Captain up into a hug before he'd gotten both feet out of the TARDIS.
He recovered enough to get himself past her so Ianto could squeeze out.
When he saw the sheer number of people crammed into their living room, he was half tempted to ask the Time Lord if they could relocate the party to his place... He didn't have a chance to suggest it, however, because in that moment he spied Jason bolting down the steps. Jack caught him before he hit the landing and pulled him into his arms in a fierce hug.
Within in seconds of emerging from the Police Box (sitting in the middle of his living room with the drapes wide open), Ianto lost Seren… first to Gwen… then Tim and Abby had to have a coo at her… after that it was Sara Jane Smith…it seemed as if everybody they knew was crammed into his lounge.
After Tegan took Seren from Sara Jane, Ianto completely lost track of his own child, never mind that his husband seemed to have vanished as well.
Sara Sidle pressed a cup of hot orange jasmine tea into his hands. "Personally I hate big, noisy parties," she said with a sympathetic smile.
Ianto returned it. "Me too. Guess we'll have to endure together. Thanks," he nodded at the cup she'd handed him, silently grateful for one quiet, steady person. Even Tim, who was usually very quiet and very steady, seemed to have gotten caught up in the mayhem. The pile of gifts over by the fireplace didn't escape his notice either. The only thing was, they didn't need anything and everybody knew that… before they left, Ianto had even made Jack install child safety latches on all the cupboards.
"So how was the fiftieth century?" Sara inquired quietly.
"Overwhelming. Not quite as overwhelming as this, mind," he glanced at the room over the top of his cup. "Have you seen…?"
"He's in the kitchen," she answered the question before he could finish it. "Having a father / son moment with Jason."
"Ah. Well. I suppose I can endure a bit longer without disturbing him."
"Just wait until they drag out the baby shower games." Her tone wasn't encouraging.
"Oh dear."
Sara chuckled, "I could manufacture a Weevil emergency…?"
The thought of Weevil hunting with Jack made him smile… then he caught sight of Seren again, as Liz Shaw handed her off to Wendy and he smiled a very different sort of smile. He turned back to Sara, "I think I can manage a few baby shower games. After all, if you want to get technical Jack is the 'mother'."
Sara's soft chuckle turned into a merry giggle at the thought…