Authors/Note: I'm very, very sorry about the delay in this. I've finally managed to catch up with stuff. I was attacked a few weeks again and had bruised ribs that didn't really help with getting stuff written. But since I was 'resting' I've got a fair bit down, I just need to see where I'm up with everything and then I'll be posting chapters over the course of the next few weeks. There's this chapter and two others for the Little Things, I'm just getting this out for today. I know I normally reply to all comments and leave a summary of the chapter but since there are 3 chapters and I only have so much time here in the library and my ribs are starting to ache I'm going to be brief. Thank you all for your lovely feedback and your nice messages over the summer and I hope you enjoy these chapters! As always, read and review! Let me know what you think!

Chapter Seventeen

Ianto opened the door and walked in, he wasn't sure what he'd been called in for but since John, Simon and Alan were here he had a good feeling that it wasn't good.

"Ianto" Alan said then gestured for the chair opposite the desk "Have a seat"

He did as he was told, sat in the seat opposite Alan before glancing nervously at the other two who were stood behind the team manager.

"Is there something you'd like to tell us?" asked Simon

"Like what?"

"A friend of mine who works at Western Mail sent me these, his editor is going to be running them in the next edition" stated Simon as he tossed a brown envelop down on the desk. Ianto picked it up and saw blurry photos of him and Jack dancing and making out

"Ianto..." began Alan but he trailed off in a sigh "We don't care what you do in the bedroom as long as it doesn't affect you on the pitch but the fans..."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Deny everything" John suggested in a gruff tone that had Ianto squirming in his seat.

"It's up to Ianto, what he wants to do. Whatever he decides we'll support" Simon stated

"Would I loose my job if I..."

"Not at all! We can't fire you for being a shirt lifter, there's those laws now, but when it's out it's out. The team won't like one of your kind looking at them in the shower" sneered John. Ianto went bright red and stood up, his chair screeching behind him

"I do not look at my friends in the shower! Just because I'm gay does not mean that I do that! I'm more than happy with my boyfriend!" he yelled then went so quiet when he realised just what he'd said. He'd just outed himself! Alan cleared his throat and Ianto fell back down into the chair

"So you are, what happens now? What do you want to do about it?"

"It's my business, no one elses. It's another part of my private life that I don't want publicised, I have nothing against people knowing but this is all rather new to me" said Ianto calmly, he was still reeling from his outburst.

"Okay then, we'll deny it for now then?"

"Alright" Ianto nodded. He couldn't believe how John had reacted and that just strengthened his decision, he just hoped that Jack would understand.

"Good. That's all we wanted to talk to you about, Ianto, you're done for the day?"

"Yeah. I'm heading home" he nodded. Ianto rose to his feet and shook hands with Alan and Simon, John just glared angrily at him until he dropped his hand and left the room.

The past few days he'd been packing up his flat ready to move in with Jack and tomorrow he would be travelling down to Twickenham with the rest of the team. Jack would drive down and check into his hotel and later on, after training, Ianto would join him. The welsh rugby player had been giving a lot of thought about letting Jack top him completely and the thought of it was growing on him, especially after Jack revealed just how good he was!

Maggie was waiting for him in the car park right where he left her earlier that day and he sighed, he wished that Jack would go for a ride with him on her. Ianto had been hoping and praying that Jack would conquer his fears so he could tell the American writer just exactly why she was called Maggie and why she meant so much to him.

"Hey, sorry for keeping you waiting. Ready to go home?" he asked the bike as he stroked the frame. Ianto pulled on his helmet and climbed on, revving her engine "Yeah, we're going to go see Jack. No, sis, I don't know when he's going to go for a ride with me. I keep trying..."

Ianto peeled carefully out of the car park and headed to home. A smile came to his face as he realised that he started thinking of Jack's house as home! Ianto parked up when he arrived and headed in after covering Maggie with her protective covering

"Jack! I'm home!"

"I'm in my study" came Jack's usual reply. Ianto dropped his keys in the bowl, toed off his shoes under the coat rack and headed into Jack's study.

Jack was typing away on his computer, his glasses on with an intense look in the artificial light. Ianto couldn't help but wrap his arms around his lover's shoulders and nibble behind an ear "How was training?"

"It was good. Are you looking forward to tomorrow?"

"Not really, I'm not looking forward to being cooped up in my car for that long" scowled Jack, Ianto paled and pulled away

"Oh" he looked down when Jack turned hearing the sad tone in the rugby player's voice.

"Come here" Jack ordered gently as he held out his hand. Ianto took it and let Jack pull him down onto his lap "I'm sorry, of course I'm excited. I get to see you win"

"We might not... I've not practiced enough" mumbled Ianto. Jack kissed him lightly

"Nonsense! I've seen you play... you're going to win" he announced with a big, bright smile. Ianto nodded before looking away "What is it?"

"Whether we win or not... Jack I... when I come to you after the game... I want you to... I want you to you know... with me"

"You're so cute when you're shy! Why so nervous all of a sudden? It's not like we haven't done stuff"

"We haven't done this" Ianto pointed out thickly, he could already feel his erection pressing against his trousers "I want you to make love to me after the game"

"Oh" gasped Jack and damn, if that didn't make Ianto's not so little problem worse! Jack stared at his lover, looking deep into his eyes "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I am... I want you to-"

"Don't say it. Not yet, not now Ianto, please, because if you ask me to make love to you or fuck you... any combination of those words then it won't be happening after your game. It'll be happening right now" he brought Ianto's hand down to press against the bulge in his old, worn jeans.

"Hmm, is that for me?" smirked Ianto

"Might be" Jack answered, completely loosing his focus with his writing.

"That's good, because I have something similar for you" his eyes flicked down and Jack smirked as he palmed Ianto's trousers

"Can I play with it?" Jack asked, sounding unbelievably innocent in his request. Ianto cocked his head back as if in thought

"I don't know, you do look rather busy" stated Ianto. Jack pressed two keys before he closed the lid on his laptop and turned back to Ianto with a big grin

"What ever gave you that idea? Nope, I'm not busy! Not busy at all"

"Care to join me upstairs, Mr Harkness?" Jack pouted

"Want you now" he told Ianto. Ianto shook his head

"You can have me but in our bed" he replied. Jack's pout grew stronger until Ianto smirked, pulled Jack up by his arm before throwing the American over his shoulder in a fireman's lift

"Ianto! Christ! Put me down!" chuckled Jack as Ianto carried him out of the study and towards the stairs, spanking hm repeatedly as he went. Ianto got to the foot of the stairs when he heard a key in the front door, it opened and Rhys was standing there with Gethin on his hip

"I'm not even going to ask" he mumbled. Ianto regretfully put Jack back down and wished they hadn't been interrupted, Rhys looked at his son who was giggling "Uncle Jack and Uncle Ianto are being silly aren't they?"

"Ehs" shouted Gethin as he bounced in his father's arms. Gethin held out his arms, leaning forward towards his uncles.

"Got cabin fever?" asked Jack as Gethin settled in his arms, Ianto led them all back into the living room

"Like you wouldn't believe. It's hard now that Gwen's back at work" replied Rhys

"I'll put the kettle on" said Ianto leaving the two old friends to talk. Rhys watched his fellow welshman leave the room before turning to look at Jack with a knowing smirk

"Does he live here now?" he teased, Jack blushed and didn't bother to hide his smile

"Yeah, he asked me to move in with him. I said yeah but told him to move in here because there's more space"

"Shit, Gwen's not gonna be happy I found out first" laughed Rhys, Jack shook his head as he handed Gethin a soft toy car

"I haven't told anyone, I don't think Ianto's even told his family yet!" Jack explained, he couldn't keep the grin off his face. Rhys was glad to see his best friend so happy, he almost didn't want to show him the newspaper

"It's good that you're moving in together but I have a feeling that everyone knows, at least knows you're together" Rhys told Jack before he turned to pull out a worn copy of the newspaper he'd bought this morning and showed it to him. There was a big picture a few pages in about Ianto and him, the title of the article was 'Fly Half Flys For The Other Half'. There was generic information about him, some stuff dug up about his past and being kicked out and there was a lot of information on Ianto and his rugby style and statistics

"I don't... crap, they've even mentioned when my dad threw me out! Rhys..." he looked up in disbelief "What... what do I do? What am I going to do...?"

"Has Ianto seen it?"

"Oh god, no... he can't have. He'd have freaked out if he saw this! The people at the club, the rest of the team... they'd hurt him"

"Jack" Ianto popped his head round the door, Jack quickly pushed the paper behind him "We're out of milk, baby. Want me to nip to the shop to get some more?"

"No!" cried Jack, Gethin jumped in his arms at the sudden shout and promptly burst into tears, Rhys glared at him "Sorry"

"What's that?" Ianto asked as he came further into the room; he could tell something was up with the way Jack was acting.

"It's nothing" Jack replied as he tried to lean back, as if that would help. Ianto pulled the paper out from behind his boyfriend and stared at it before dropping it back down on the coffee table.

"I'm going to get milk" he said in an indifferent tone. He left the room quickly and Jack jumped up following him and calling his name, not realising that he still had Gethin in his arms.

"Ianto!" Jack grabbed his arm with his free hand and spun him around "Talk to me"

"I'm denying it. I'm denying all of it, I spoke with the managers"

"What do you mean you're denying it? You're denying me? What you feel for me?"

"No. I'll never deny that, Jack. I love you" he told his lover honestly

"Then why? Because this is really breaking my heart, I don't understand why you would..."

"I need my job, Jack. I can't loose it, I love playing rugby... it's what kept me going when my tad died, it's what's keeping me sane with how my mam is. I-I need it... it makes me happy"

"But they know. Even if you deny it, they're going to see it and they're going to know... are you gonna be safe?" Jack asked as he brought his free hand up to stroke Ianto's cheek "They wouldn't hurt you, would they? The rest of the team"

"I-I don't know" stammered Ianto "It's not going to stop me though"

"Ianto! They could hurt you, really hurt you and you still want to play?" Jack cried in disbelief

"I wouldn't give them the satisfaction, Jack, you need to understand that. I won't let them control me just because I'm gay. I will not let them tell me what I can and cannot do"

"Heh" smiled Jack as tears filled his eyes "You're one crazy bastard, you know that right?"

"Yeah I do" Ianto bowed his head, Jack tipped his chin to look deep into Ianto's eyes

"But you're my crazy bastard and I wouldn't change that for the world" Ianto stared at him for a moment before he kissed him passionately. Someone cleared their throat causing the two of them to pull apart, Rhys is standing behind them with a moody yet pleased look on his face

"Can you not make out in front of the kid" he ordered before taking his son back

"Ack, An Mwah!" Gethin slapped his hand over his mouth in a noisy kiss before he giggled. Jack looked at Rhys somewhat apologetically

"If my son grows up gay coz of you, Harkness..." the shorter welshman chuckled as he rolled his eyes. Jack linked fingers with Ianto and smiled

"He won't, I made sure he got the good genes" replied Jack jokingly, he missed how Ianto's eyes widened in surprise

"I still have to get milk. I'll be back in a bit" he told them before wandering off to the shops. Rhys watched Jack watching Ianto go

"Are you two gonna be okay?"

"Yeah... I think we'll have to talk about this tonight and I... oh crap"

"What?"

"I just realised what I said. About Gethin" Jack pointed out. Rhys looked down at Gethin then sighed

"Are you going to tell him?" asked Rhys as the two of them began walking back to the house

"Do you think he'd be weird about it?" Jack inquired, he closed his gate "I know Gethin is biologically mine but I don't have any claim to him. All I see when I look at him is you and Gwen"

"Well, we know that! But Ianto doesn't..."

Ten minutes later Ianto came back carrying milk and had a rather dour look on his face, Jack was lying on the floor playing with Gethin while Rhys was making dinner

"Gwen's coming by after her shift" Rhys called from the kitchen. Ianto sat down on the couch and watched Gethin and Jack together; he could see the similarities now that he was looking for them

"Is he yours?" he whispered, Jack looked up startled to see that Ianto was sitting there.

"We'll talk about this later after they're gone"

"Okay" Ianto looked away, his gaze turned to outside the window and he spotted Maggie sitting under her cover "There's something I have to tell you as well"

"Oh?" Jack sat up and put a tentative hand on Ianto's knee "It's not dear Jack, is it?"

"No. It's about my sister"

"Rhiannon?"

"No. I'll explain tonight" he said finally leaving Jack just as confused as he'd left Ianto.

Gwen was still in her police uniform when she got there, she happily sat down to the table and everyone could see how tired she was. It was a nice dinner together, Rhys had cooked traditionally and she asked to marry him again it was so good.

"I... we have an announcement" said Jack as Ianto started clearing the plates away. When he came back, he took hold of Jack's hand linking their fingers together

"You're getting married?" cried Gwen, Rhys looked at his wife in surprise before looking for any signs of rings

"No, we're moving in together. I'm gonna live here with Jack" Ianto explained; neither Williams' missed the hopeful look in Jack's eyes nor the thoughtful look on Ianto's.

"Oh, congratulations!" Gwen stood up and pulled the two of them into a hug "When are you moving in?"

"I've already started bringing some of my stuff over and I'm packing up my apartment"

"If you need a hand then we'll help out! Have you told Rhiannon and Grey yet?" inquired Rhys

"Nope, you're the first. We'll tell them soon when we've got a bit more of Ianto's things over here" Jack stood up "Who want's coffee?"

"Not me, I'm stuffed" Gwen replied as she patted her stomach. Gethin had long since fallen asleep in the spare high chair Jack kept here.

"Better get the missus home before she falls asleep" Rhys decided, Gwen swatted him but smiled as she carefully lifted her son out of the chair "Thanks for having us over boys"

"You're welcome. We'll come round once we're back from Ianto's away game"

"You're going with him?" blinked Rhys in surprise

"Yeah, gonna show support" grinned Jack

"Well be careful, you've never been to an England vs Wales game before, have ya?"

"No... why? What's wrong?"

"The crowd gets more than a little rowdy, sometimes it's rather hostile" he explained, Jack went pale but Ianto just put his hands on Jack's shoulders

"You'll be fine, baby, the seats I got you are right near the pitch a few rows up from the bench where the managers sit. Nothing's going to happen, Rhys is just being melodramatic"

"Why's Rhys being melodramatic?" asked Gwen as she came back in, she'd put Gethin in his car seat ready for them to fasten it into their car

"Jack's coming with me for my away with England"

"You be careful on your own" she told Jack, repeating Rhys's sentiments from before "They can get rather wild, I've been on crowd control when England played here. I ended up with one hell of a concussion"

"Stop it! Jack will be fine, I'll look after you baby" Ianto leaned down and kissed his boyfriend to allay his fears. The new couple led Gwen and Rhys out, saying their goodbyes and waved them off.

Jack crept back into the kitchen to do the dishes and to avoid talking but Ianto followed him easily, he wrapped his arms around Jack's waist "Tell me about Gethin"

"They'd been trying for a year and a half... all weird fertility shit, IVF and nothing worked... they got tested and Rhys's boys had trouble swimming up stream. They really wanted kids so I went and got myself tested, my boys swam fine so I spoke to Rhys. I told him that if he wanted I would donor sperm so they could have children; I asked Rhys first because I know Gwen would have gone ahead with it. She wanted kids so badly... he said he didn't have a problem with it so we both told Gwen. She jumped at the chance... there was all this paperwork that I had to fill out. I don't have a legal claim over Gethin... he isn't my son even though we share DNA. I've never seen him as mine and I never will... I'm his godfather in case, God forbid, anything happens to Gwen or Rhys"

"I think I love you even more" confessed Ianto "I can't believe you did something so amazing for them"

"Well, they're my family. Of course I'd help them... after my family shunned me I didn't have anyone but Owen. When I went to University and I met them... I love them and I'd do anything for them"

"I think, it's time I told you" whispered Ianto, Jack turned in his arms carefully holding out his wet hands. Jack could see how difficult this was so he wiped his hands, turned everything off and led his lover up to bed.

They settled down in bed, Ianto was breathing hard and he was rather tearful. Jack held him close and waited patiently

"When I was born... I wasn't... when my mother was pregnant with me she was expecting twins" Ianto began, trying to find the right words

"Rhiannon's your twin sister?" asked Jack, Ianto's eyes shone in the dim light and he shook his head

"No. She's my big sister but she isn't my twin sister... when we were born Maggie wasn't breathing. She was still born"

"Shit, Ianto" gasped Jack, he closed his eyes and Ianto scooted a little closer

"That's why my mam isn't well, she never got over the fact that Maggie died" he said before rolling onto his back "I have pictures of the two of us somewhere, when we were babies, I think about her all the time and my entire life I've felt a part of me missing"

"I'm not surprised, I'm so sorry, Ianto"

"Me too" nodded Ianto "Growing up was hard, sometimes my mam would treat me like she would if Maggie was alive. She'd call me Maggie and try and dress me up in Rhiannon's clothes. She was in and out of Providence Park after that so for a lot of the time it was Rhiannon, tad and me. I loved my tad and he loved me but he was like mam wishing that Maggie was alive. He never quite got over it either so when he found that bike... he thought he was going crazy when he saw it but when he did he said it reminded him of her. I never saw it, myself, but he got the bike from the scrap yard and me and him fixed it up. He named her Maggie and we spent years fixing it up; he died before she was finished but I kept on and me and Rhiannon did the paintwork together. I don't know why but it's like having Maggie here with me. I talk to her sometimes and I'm a bit worried because I've started treating her like she is my sister. It scares the shit out me because I think I'm loosing it like my mam did"

"That's rubbish. Absolute rubbish, you're not loosing it. Yes, the method does seem a little unorthodox but your bike has sentimental value because of your tad; it's not just your twin sister that comforts you from the bike. It's your tad too, so what if you talk to her? You'd be crazy if you actually heard her talking back and you don't"

"No, I just imagine she does because I wish she could. I wish my sister was still here, I miss her so much" he couldn't help but sob, Jack pulled his lover close wrapping his arms tight around him "I feel so alone without her, I always have and it hurts"

"How can I make this better for you?" whispered Jack, unsure of what to do

"Don't let me go" Ianto replied as he wriggled closer. Jack wasn't about to let go any time soon and he tightened his grip around his lover

"Never, you're stuck with me, Jones. I'm never letting you go"

"Promise?" sniffled Ianto

"I promise" agreed Jack, and he meant it.

TBC...