Really sorry for how long it's been. I've been writing as much as I possibly could be real life got in the way, I'm turning this one into an original work of fiction because I've invested so much into it. Once this is complete I'm hoping to take part in NaNoWriMo and then I will be continuing with Breaking 13. I hope you enjoy this part and it's good to be back!
Chapter Twenty One
Jack had printed off the latest chapters of his book and had taken them into the office leaving Ianto in the house alone. The children were at school and Rhiannon had gone to their mams house for a visit and explain what was happening and then she'd be meeting with Johnny to discuss what was going to happen next.
Since the team had been kicked out after their defeat by England training had become lax. They had to keep themselves in shape but apart from that it was down time for the players and the young fly half was taking full advantage of it!
Ianto had had the first lie in he could remember in months and it was the first long lie in he'd had since he'd moved in with Jack. He'd had a lazy shower then threw on a pair of Jack's baggy jogpants and a hoodie before padding barefoot downstairs to the kitchen to make himself the first coffee of the day.
He was just adding a little milk when his phone started buzzing along the counter, Ianto picked it up and pressed answer
"Hey Tosh" he greeted her as he put the milk away then carried his coffee to the table so he could drink it and read the paper
"Hey Ianto, I heard about the game. I'm sorry"
"It's alright, someone had to win. It just wasn't us this time" he replied with a small smile; he wasn't as upset as he thought he would have been about losing the game. Maybe that had something to do with giving up his virginity to his boyfriend? "So not to be a pain or anything but is there something you wanted?"
"Yeah" she answered sounding extremely nervous "I was wondering if I could come round to talk about what I should do about John and the-the baby"
"Sure. You can come round and I'll make us some lunch, I'll text you my address" he told her, he had a sinking feeling that she was going to get rid of it and pretend that it never happened; Ianto didn't want her to do something she'd regret
"I know where you live, Ianto. I did come round oftern enough" she stated, he could hear her smirk over the phone almost expecting him to be flustered by forgetting. Ianto was surprised she didn't know he'd moved in with Jack
"Tosh, I moved in with my partner. I'll text you the address and I'll see you in a bit" then he clicked his phone shut, effectively hanging up on her.
Ianto drank his coffee in peace and read the morning paper with a smile on his face, he wondered how Tosh was going to react when she found out he'd moved in with Jack? He almost felt proud that she would see that he'd found someone better than she'd done after their break up; Jack was miles better than John. Jack hadn't knocked him up then left the country, Ianto mentally scolded himself for that line of thought, he didn't want to be bitter about the break up. After all he was with Jack and was happier than he could ever remember being.
He was half way through the paper when the doorbell rang announcing Toshiko's arrival, he left behind the latest review on the latest IT book to answer it. Ianto's ex girlfriend was standing there dressed to hide her pregnancy but anyone looking at her could tell just by how she glowed
"Hello Ianto, rather impressive place you've landed yourself with. Is the girlfriend a baroness or something?" she asked as he stood to the side so she could float past him
"Or something" he smirked in reply. Ianto led her to the kitchen and pointed at the table before he started getting stuff out of the fridge "Do you have anything in mind for lunch?"
"I'm not really hungry" she muttered
"Don't be silly, you've got to keep your strength up for the baby" he looked through the cheese before putting the blue back; he remembered when Rhiannon was pregnant with David and how much of a nightmare that had been
"I'm not keeping it" Toshiko told him, he paused and turned around
"What? Why?" he couldn't help but gasp "You're getting rid of it so you won't have to tell John, am I right?"
"John won't want it. It's all wrong! We've not really been together all that long, only a few months" she cried. Ianto closed the fridge door and came to sit down opposite her
"You've been together for the same amount of time we were together" said Ianto quietly "And I was about to ask you to move in. I was ready for the next step... maybe he will be too?"
"Yeah, but a baby? John's not like you... I have no idea how he'd react"
"So you have no idea if he'd be happy or not. There's no way to know unless you tell him; that's probably the wisest thing to do because then if he doesn't want it then you really know and you could go ahead and... well, get rid of it"
"I'm scared Ianto, I'm scared he'll leave me. I love him, I really love him! More than I ever thought I would and I can't imagine my life without him"
"I know how you feel" he couldn't help but smile as he leaned back in his chair. She smiled too as she looked around the kitchen
"You've gotten really lucky. She must be really rich" she stated cheekily. He shook his head as he put his hands on the table idly glancing at his watch; Jack would be back any second
"That's not why we're together. This really isn't about money" Ianto's grin spread when he heard the front door opening "I'm just really, really lucky"
Seconds later Jack Harkness was walking into the kitchen after putting his briefcase in his study, he was surprised to see Ianto's ex-girlfriend sitting there but it didn't bother him. He knew which side Ianto's bread was buttered on now! Jack wrapped his arms around Ianto's shoulders as he pressed a kiss to that hot spot behind his ear and almost burst out laughing when Tosh's eyes nearly popped out of her head
"The editors were really pleased with the new chapters" he said before going to the fridge, he was ready for lunch
"You?" blurted Tosh before turning to stare at Ianto "And you?"
"Yeah. Us" Jack scowled not liking her tone
"Gay?" she almost shrieked "Ianto I thought you were joking when you told me that you didn't want something platonic with him!"
"No, I wasn't. We've been together almost as long as you and John..." explained Ianto
"I don't understand. How long have you... were you gay when you were with me?"
"Yeah, I just didn't realise it for what it was"
"I hope you're not telling him you have a problem with it" Jack spat a little too coldly "Because he's really happy and it's taken him a while to be this comfortable with who he is"
"This is stupid! Ianto isn't gay! You-you made him like this! You brainwashed him!"
"Tosh! Stop it! I'm with Jack because I love him, not because he brainwashed me and not out of some sense of loyalty because he was there when you dumped me" hissed Ianto, clearly thinking her hormones were making her blow things out of proportion
"Why didn't you tell me? Why couldn't you tell me?" she asked as she started crying
"Because you would have reacted like this. Can't you just be happy for me?" replied Ianto feeling tears prick his eyes; at one point she'd been his whole world and even now he still hated to see her cry
"You make him happy? You love him and treat him right? Better than I did?" she asked directing her questions at Jack. He nodded, his jaw jutting out and a watery smile covered her face
"I'm settling down with him, he's my family. I love him"
"Good, then yes I'm happy for you" she told them "For the both of you"
Ianto couldn't put into words how much that meant to him; Tosh, even though slightly homophobic wasn't at all like Lisa or any other girl he'd been involved in. She mattered to him, still mattered to him and he was more than grateful that she'd accepted him because he'd hate to cut her out of his life.
"Now that Ianto's come out of closet, can we have lunch? I skipped breakfast and I'm starving" moaned Jack. Ianto stood up and crossed the room pulling his boyfriend close by the hips
"Aw, baby. Do you want me to spoil you?"
"Casedias? Hm, what have I done to deserve that?" chuckled Jack as he began to get ingredients out of the fridge and Ianto got the pan
"Do you want one, Tosh?"
"Yeah but no-"
"Blue cheese. I know, even if you weren't pregnant I know you hate the stuff" he twirled the pan in his hand as he cut her off. Jack just rolled his eyes and sat down in Ianto's spot at the table opposite Toshiko
"It really means a lot that you accepted him" Jack whispered to her so Ianto wouldn't hear him
"I-I think it's gonna take me a while to get used to it, it's an understatement to say the least. I just didn't want to upset him; he's a good guy"
"Thank you, he's still getting used to people knowing" he answered her as he spared a glance at Ianto who was happily grating cheese onto a plate.
"When... does his sister know?" she inquired
"Yep, Rhiannon knows. She's okay with it" he told her with a warm smile "In fact we almost split up after a big argument and she helped us get back together again. If it weren't for Rhi then we'd probably both be single and very, very miserable"
"Well I guess I'm glad" she pouted, Jack quirked a brow out of curiousity
"What?"
"Rhiannon never liked me" she told him and Jack couldn't help but burst out laughing. Toshiko sat there scowling at him for a moment before the corners of her mouth turned up and she started giggling wildly.
"I don't know what's worse, you being cold to each other or you getting along. What's the joke?" Ianto inquired but they were too busy rolling around in their seats.
Once the giggling stopped, Ianto couldn't help but notice how comfortable Jack and Tosh where as they sat at the table; he fought the urge of jealousy when Jack put his hand over hers. He would have been fighting the green eyed monster until Tosh began to cry openly
"Thank you" she said loudly doing her best not to sniffle, Jack just smiled and Ianto wondered what on earth he'd said to her.
"Food's ready, you guys" he called before carrying the plates over to the table
"You're spoiling me" chuckled Jack as he looked down at the plate of three neatly folded casedias on the plate
"Heh, you're mine to spoil" replied Ianto before sliding into an empty seat "So, Tosh... how are all your students? Still coping with them trying to hack your lecturers account to change their grades?"
Toshiko grinned around a hefty mouthful of food before holding her hand over her mouth until she finished eating; she always had such a vibrancy when it came to her work
"You'd think by now they'd learn not to hack their lecturers files for better grades but they never do. They're all so cocky and think they can get away with it! It's so funny because they use what I'm teaching them to do it!"
"And virus and trojans aplenty then?" Jack suggested rhetorically
"Oh yeah" she chuckled, the other two people at the table joined in with her laughter "Jack, you use a computer, laptop?"
"Laptop. I have an external hard drive and I back my work up regularly, Owen would kill me if I lost any chapters. He's a real slave driver!"
"Well if you want I could run some diagnostics on her, give her a tune up. How long have you had your laptop?"
"Two years" Jack replied, Ianto was smirking at his boyfriend because he knew what the small Japanese woman was like when she got going
"Do you at all take the casing off to clean out the fans?" she pressed on as she started on her second casedia
"You're supposed to do that?" Jack asked glancing between Ianto and Toshiko. Ianto just smirked as his ex girlfriend gasped loudly and her eyes went wide
"I'm getting my kit after lunch! I can't believe you've never cleaned out your laptop fans! What's wrong with you?" Jack glanced at Ianto meekly, all he got back was a cheeky grin that screamed 'you've done it now!'
Ianto, after having dated Tosh for a few months was able to help her out when she was servicing the laptop while Jack hovered round nervously
"You're not going to damage it are you? I think there's a chapter I haven't backed up yet, Owen would kill me if I lost it!" Tosh glared at him, she was almost tempted to damage it just on the insinuation of how poor her abilities with technology were
"Relax" she waved him off as she pulled out her half empty can of pressurized air and aimed the nozzle at the fans. Ianto rolled his eyes and ushered Jack out of the study to leave her working in peace
"It'll be fine, she'll have it running like brand new. Go watch TV and relax" he suggested as he gently shoved his boyfriend towards the living room.
"I can't" pouted Jack sulkily "Owen's coming round later on with his foster son and if he finds out that 1, I'm not working on the book he'll kill me and 2, I let someone mess with my laptop and risk loosing the progress I've made he'll kill me"
Ianto just wrapped his arms around Jack's shoulders and smiled as all thoughts of doing the dishes fled his mind
"What if I promised to protect you?" he inquired cheekily, Jack was unable to stop the pleased grin forming and his eyes shone with mishcief
"Like my bodyguard?" Ianto just rolled his eyes as he playfully smiled before pressing a quick kiss to his boyfriend's mouth
"I'll even let you be Whitney Houston if you want" Jack's eyes widened and he pulled away with feigned indignation. With another eye roll Ianto shook his head "I'm gonna go do the dishes and you're going to go watch TV and relax. What time's Owen coming over?"
"About two. Do you think Tosh will have finished with my laptop by then?" he asked nervously. Ianto shook his head ignoring Jack's 'fear' and wandered into the kitchen.
Toshiko dropped the little screwdriver after making sure the last screw was in the casing and sat back with relief, while she did hate being a stereotype, she couldn't deny that machines were so much simpler and easier to deal with that people. There were very few people she actually did connect with and when she did she went back to them even when it was a strange thing to do. Gwen had been surprised to hear from her, she'd been Tosh's best friend and that connection had always stayed with her.
That connection had taken Ianto away but it had given her John and the possibility of a family. She didn't despise Ianto for being gay, nor Jack for falling for him, it was just a surprise to her that made her realise just how socially awkward she could be. How did she not notice? Toshiko mentally shook her head; it didn't matter now. Yan had got lucky, really lucky, and Jack was one awesome guy. She thought back to what he said to her in the kitchen and rubbed her hand over the barely-there bump
"You finished?" Jack asked frantically as he popped his head around the door, she could hear her ex-boyfriend chastising him for disturbing her
"Yeah, I'm done now" she smiled "Should run like a dream now"
"Thank god, 'cause Owen's just pulled up! He'd tan my hide if he saw the laptop in pieces!" he told her. She couldn't help but chuckle at their antics
"Go answer the door and stop pestering her!" Jack disappeared to go answer the door and Ianto came in and sat on the the little couch.
"Even at the risk of sounding like a jealous boyfriend I'm wondering what Jack said to you early, you seemed so grateful for whatever it was" Ianto asked, unable to take his eyes off her. The curiousity was killing him!
"Jack... he asked me what I wanted, said 'Do you want this baby?' And honestly, I thought about it. I didn't think about John would want or my job or what was right or wrong; I thought about whether I wanted to have this baby and I did. I told him and then he said that's all that matters then"
"Heh, he's got a way about him. I think that's one of the things that made me so attracted to him. Jack... he looks at you and he just knows what kind of person you are" he said aloud, his eyes rolling up in thought as he tried to explain what he meant.
"Are you talking about me or talking about what it took to convince you?" she inquired knowingly. Ianto couldn't help but scowl
"Convince me? What..." he trailed off as his scowl deepend "Oh. This is about the gay thing again, right?"
"I didn't mean anything by it" she said quickly, holding up her hands gesturing surrender but the damage had been done
"Even if you didn't... Honestly Toshiko! You know me! Why do you have to be so stubborn about me being gay?"
"I'm not! I'm not, I swear... it's just... I don't know you, not if you really are gay. We were together and before me there were only other women so I don't get how suddenly you're so into Jack? I blame myself for this... You wouldn't have ran straight into his arms if it hadn't been for me and John" Toshiko told him, this time he looked down as his frown morphed into a smile
"I won't lie to you and say seeing you and John together didn't really hurt me but when I came to see you... the reason I was there to walk in on you was to tell you that I had feelings for Jack and I'd almost kissed him. Me and Jack, the thing between us was there from the minute we met" Ianto replied before looking at the ajar door "He's the one for me, I just never expected him to be a man"
Toshiko couldn't help but sigh at his infectious smile; he seemed really sincere about how he felt about Jack but there was something nagging at her. She didn't know if it was how she was brought up or some awkward feeling about Ianto's new found homosexuality but it bothered her and she was doing her best to accept it, to make him happy, but she didn't understand it and it was difficult for her to accept.
Two Days Later
Andy didn't really consider himself all that bright, sure he knew his way around the crossword puzzle they put in the paper althought he wasn't out to win a Nobel prize for brain smarts any time soon, but even he could understand why Ianto wanted to keep his recent relationship a secret. If he ever saw the guy who put that article up in the Western Mail then he'd probably beat the crap out of him!
He got out of his car before grabbing his bag and sparing a quick glance at the crime scene taped off near the back of the centre, he sighed gruffly then made his way towards the entrance. There were several news hounds looking for comments but he just ignored them; they've done enough damage he thought to himself.
Simon was sitting in the empty locker room, the quietness surprised Andy when he'd been expecting to see the rest of his team
"Boss?" he mumbled in confusion nodding around the room as if in the silence would suddenly give him an answer
"There's no training on while Ianto is in the hospital and the police carry out their investigation" replied Simon without looking up. Andy suddenly noticed he was holding a copy of today's paper, the older man chuckled sadly "They arrested three members of the team as well as Ianto's brother in law! No bloody wonder he wanted to keep it a secret!"
"You mean... the people he worked with? His family and friends... ?" gasped Andy in disbelief "They did that to him?"
"Yeah, they did. Heh, if your friends do that to you then I guess you really don't need enemies!" quipped Simon before he tossed the paper onto the bench and stood up "I didn't think the boys would do something like this, hell I didn't know they were capable of doing something like this!"
"Neither did I" Andy replied honestly, trying to think back over the last few times the team was all together; surely there should have been some clue to what was coming? Maybe he could have stopped it?
"You knew?" Simon asked surprised; Ianto had been so private and wanted to insist that it was all lies to protect himself so why would he tell members of the team
"I figured it out, I didn't care who he was sleepin with. He's a good guy... he didn't deserve that just because he has a boyfriend" explained Andy "He's my friend... things like that don't matter"
"You're right. They don't matter and you'll stand by him? Things are going to be tough for him... he'll need people to count on" said Simon, he paused "Do you know how his boyfriend is? Is he with Ianto? At the hospital?"
"I don't know but he probably is. His sister too... Ianto's close with his big sister, I don't imagine it's easy for her right now knowing that her husband gay bashed her little brother" Andy shook his head and began to wonder how the hell Ianto's boyfriend and sister were coping.
Rhiannon wandered into the room and closed the door over, the room smelt of disinfectant, sweat and coffee. Or maybe it was because she'd been up all night consuming coffee after steaming coffee waiting for any sign of change. Jack hadn't left his side once.
"Hey" she mumbled sleepily, Jack jerked up from the seat he'd been dozing in and she suddenly felt guilty for waking him "Sorry, I didn't realise you were asleep"
"I wasn't... at least I don't..." he mumbled to himself and she sighed inwardly; he must have been awake for the past two days. She knew that he'd waited up all night for Ianto to come home and when that didn't happen he'd stayed up when the police reported that her little brother had been attacked and taken to hospital. Jack had watched over him through the night begging and pleading for him to wake up but so far there had been no change.
"Jack, you need to go home and get some sleep" she told him gently as she handed over the cardboard cup, he took it gratefully and warmed his hands up with it
"I can't leave him. What if he wakes up and I'm not here? What if... if he doesn't wake up and I'm not here?" he sounded like he was talking to himself trying to convince himself of all the things that would go wrong if he left his lover's side. Honestly, Rhiannon wouldn't have left Johnny's side... that was until he hurt her, scared the kids and now... this? She was amazed that Jack was letting her anywhere near Ianto despite being his sister; he should be blaming her for this! Hell, she was blaming herself and deep down she was surprised that she didn't see it coming.
"Look at me, you're dead on your feet Jack. You need to go get some rest, go home take a shower and have a couple hours" she was on the verge of ordering him
"I-I could sleep here, in the chair... it'll be okay to sleep here" he replied barely above a whisper. Her heart felt like it was breaking in half and she felt such rage towards Johnny and all the other members of the team that did this to him!
"No, it won't. You can't sleep here... what's Ianto going to say when he wakes up and you're all smelly and sore from sleeping in that old thing?" she tried to be humourous but Jack just stared at her, his eyes misting up
"I wouldn't care what he says to me, as long as he'd be awake to say those things" he mumbled, his face had gone stoic and tears streamed down his face. Rhiannon swore that if she ever saw Johnny again then she'd give him one hell of a beating for what he'd done to this family!
Rhiannon was about to start another round of pleading and begging to get Jack to rest when the monitors flared wildly and Ianto lifted his hand towards his mouth
"Yan! Ianto! Can you hear me?" cried Jack as he rose to his feet, he spared a glance in her direction "Go get the doctor! He's awake!"
She left the room to see Jack smiling down at his boyfriend and brushing his damp hair off his forehead; it was gonna be okay!
TBC...