"It's mad in there," Alice said as she stepped out the restaurant door.

"A bit," Miranda said with a smile. She took a small drag off of her cigarette. "You've met everyone?"

"All the proper lies have been told, Auntie," Alice said a bit sarcastic.

"They are more for the benefit of Ianto's family than anyone else. He hasn't decided what he wishes to tell them, if anything," Miranda said, taking another drag. "Where's Steven?"

"With Henry. Steven likes him," Alice said, rolling her eyes a bit. The last thing she wanted was for her son to form attachments to people who would cause more questions… more immortals. "When did you start smoking, Auntie?"

"1860," she said with a wink and Alice rolled her eyes.

The two women stood in silence for a few moments, Miranda smoking her cigarette slowly.

"I hope Ianto knows what he's getting himself into," Alice said with a nervous laugh. "Then again after the dressing down he gave me, I hope Dad knows what he's getting into."

Now that got Miranda's attention. "What do you mean?"

"I wanted to meet him so I stopped by the Tourist Office on my day off," she said, shifting nervously. "We had a bit of a chat. It started out friendly enough but he took the gloves off and told me that I was breaking Dad's heart. He said I'd better decide, one way or the other, whether I wanted Dad in my life." She shook her head. "And after what you'd said to me… I did a lot of thinking and you were right, Auntie. I never really gave Dad a chance. So here I am."

"I'm glad you're here, Alice," Miranda said, smiling at the other woman fondly.

"Would you be surprised if I said I'm glad I came?"

"Extremely," Miranda laughed. She jerked her head at the restaurant window. "It meant the world to him."

"Can I ask you something, Auntie?"

Miranda nodded, taking another drag off the cigarette. She moved to Alice's other side as the wind changed.

"Were you ever sleeping with Dad?" Alice asked.

Miranda shook her head, glad to finally see Alice looking at things for herself. "Never when he was with your mother. Your father is loyal to a fault, Alice. If your mother wanted fidelity from him, he would have given it to her."

"She said you and Dad had a past," Alice asked, fishing.

Miranda stood there, smoking a bit more. She wondered how much she should reveal. This wasn't just her secret, it was also Jack's but she didn't want to repay Alice's new open mind with the evasiveness that had closed it in the first place.

"I met your father in late summer, 1919. He thought me the damsel in distress," she said with a wry smile. "It was something of a whirlwind romance. We were married in June the following year."

"So you're divorced," Alice said, nodding.

"Not precisely but I did leave him… under poor circumstances," Miranda said, shifting a bit.

"What happened?"

"We told each other too many lies and not enough truth. We didn't try hard enough. We didn't trust each other enough… and so many other things."

"Is it a gift that you and Dad have to never really answer a question?" Alice asked, shaking her head.

"It wasn't any one thing that ruined your father and I, Alice - the way it is with any failed marriage," Miranda pointed out. "In fact, I think we were doomed from the beginning. The fire that burns brighter dies out quicker. Jack and I are too similar. We have the same faults. It has taken us decades to form the friendship that we now share and things can still be… explosive."

Alice couldn't tell if the last word was a double entendre or not. The restaurant door opened, halting their conversation as Tom stepped out. Henry's son was visiting from America. He'd felt a bit as if he were gatecrashing but Ianto and Jack had insisted he attend. Miranda watched him reach into his back pocket and step out of view. He shook the squashed pack of cigarettes and then swore. Without looking up he said, "Hey, Auntie? Can I bum one off of you… oh…" Tom trailed off as he noticed Alice was standing outside.

"I will not indulge your habit, Thomas. Your father would have my head, quite literally," Miranda scolded. Knowing that Tom likely knew more than he should, she added, "And you may speak freely in front of Alice."

Tom looked from Miranda to Alice and Alice gave him a nervous smile. Miranda watched a dreamy sort of look come across Tom's face as he held out his hand. "We haven't met yet. I guess I can introduce myself the right way then. I'm Tom Blount. Uh… Henry's my father."

Alice got a confused look over her face and looked at Miranda.

"Adopted," Miranda supplied.

"Oh. I'm Alice Carter," she said, shaking Tom's hand. Then she said, almost as if she were admitting to a crime, "I'm Jack's… daughter."

Tom looked confused for a moment and then as the pieces slipped together in his mind. His face lit up and he smiled broadly. "Oh, hey! It's great to meet you! Thought I was the only person in the world with an immortal parent. Now there's a mindfuck for you."

He immediately looked embarrassed by his crass language and Miranda smiled fondly at the two of them as they chatted and flirted. She probably should've just put out her cigarette and return inside but the two of them were tuning out her presence and she was too busy eavesdropping. She'd edged away as not to intrude especially when the conversation took a poor turn.

Alice laughed. "We should form our own support group." She then grimaced a bit. "At least your father didn't just marry someone younger than you."

"My old man prefers men in their forties," Tom said with an eye roll. "When I was a kid myself, that meant men older than me. Now, I'm staring down the barrel at forty! Soon, I'll be staring down the barrel at fifty and then, it'll mean men younger than me. Either way, it messes with you. You think it'd be any better if Ianto was sixty?"

Alice chuckled. "I suppose not."

"All that immortal shit doesn't make for stable relationships," Tom pointed out. "Pop tried to hide it a lot from me when I was a kid but before Joe? That man should've put a revolving door on his bedroom."

Alice dissolved into fits of giggles. Henry opened the restaurant door and Tom immediately silenced his own laughter.

"Ah, Alice, there you are. Your son is looking for you," he said, brightly and then he caught sight of the pack of cigarette's in his son's hand. He frowned and asked, sternly, "Are you smoking, young man?"

"No! Pop! I swear!" he denied, holding up both his hands. He even opened the pack, to show it was empty.

Alice couldn't help but laugh. Henry looked to be less than half Tom's age, barely out of his teens. Yet, he'd reduced Tom to a scolded child in seconds. Henry eye'd his son suspiciously.

Alice turned, smiling. "It was lovely to meet you, Tom. I'll see you later, Auntie."

"Yeah… yeah, you too," he said, giving her a crooked smile. He followed Alice with his eyes as she went back into the restaurant. Henry held the door open for her, politely. Tom's eyes followed Alice as she walked over to where Steven was talking to Ianto.

"You will stop ogling Jack's daughter, young man," Henry said, sharply, pointing his finger at his son. Shaking his head, he turned and went back inside.

Tom sighed, watching Alice through the window. "Way the fuck out of my league anyway…"

"I wouldn't say that, Thomas."

Tom smiled at her. "It's good to see you again, Auntie. I've missed you. What's it been? Seven? Eight years now?"

"Something like that," she said, sadly. "I hope you will be visiting Wales more often now that your father is here."

"I've wanted to come out and visit you too but I know you're busy all the time with all that Torchwood… err… whatever it is you do," he said with a shrug.

Miranda raised her eyebrow at him. "Thomas."

"Listen, I know I'm not supposed to know nothing-"

"Anything," she corrected.

"Anything… but I've overheard enough of Joe and Pop's conversations over the past week to put two and two together," Tom said with a shrug. "Torchwood. What you and Pop are… Ianto… Jack? I'm not stupid, Auntie, and I'm not fucking stupid enough to say nothing to no one."

She opened her mouth to correct him again and he said, "To say anything to anyone. Happy?"

Miranda held out her pack of cigarettes out to Tom.

As he took one of the cigarettes, he said, "Pop'll tear you a new one for doing this."

Miranda held the lighter up, igniting it.

"What your father doesn't know won't hurt him," Miranda said with a smile.

Tom puffed on the cigarette to get it lit. He took a deep drag and laughed. He waved it at her. "You know, you always were the 'fun parent'."

"I am not your mother, Thomas," Miranda warned.

"No, not technically but you're the closest thing I got and that's how I think of you," Tom said, seriously. "Didn't you get the flowers?"

Miranda nodded. Every American Mother's day, she received a large bouquet of flowers from Tom. She took another drag off her own cigarette and blew the smoke out through her nose to hide the tears stinging her eyes. This year's bouquet had been spectacular and had included a small box of chocolate covered mochi. She'd pressed several of the flowers, the same way she did every year.

"Pop, he's always saying he'll pay for me to see him whenever I want. I'm always saying no cos I don't want to be taking money from my old man like I'm some fucking kid but… I want to see him more. I want to see you more. I know we talk all the time but it isn't the same," he said, taking a deep drag off his cigarette. He looked at her and smiled, affectionately, "You and him are all I got, Ma."

Whenever he was a kid, Miranda never allowed him to call her that. Ever. This was the first time he'd tried since he was a little boy. Now, Tom saw another angry scolding coming his way and stopped it before it started.

"I'm not a little kid anymore, Ma. You know, it ain't going to matter one fucking bit what I call you. When I go, you're still going to feel like you lost another son because you're my mother whether you want to admit it or not," Tom said. He jerked his head towards the restaurant. "You're the reason I got my head out of my ass and started talking to him again. You held me when I was sick, looked for monsters under my bed and taught me how to throw a decent punch. You're the reason I became a cop. So will you stop dicking around with the fucking semantics?"

"In that case, son," Miranda said, emphasizing the last word. She grabbed the cigarette she gave him and broke it in half. "You will do your father and I a favour and cease this unhealthy habit and you will watch your language."

"Great I've created a monster," Tom said with a laugh. He put his arm across her shoulders and kissed her cheek. "I love you, Ma."

"I love you too, my boy."

The restaurant door opened. It was Henry again. "Ah, perhaps the two of you shall grace us with your presence? You're both being rude. Ianto and Jack are about to cut the cake and I believe you wanted to say a few words, Mao-Lin."

"I did, indeed, your grace," Miranda said, smiling.

"I'll see you inside, Ma." Tom kissed Miranda on the check again and walked back inside, also kissing his father on the cheek as he passed. He was happy. "Love you, Pop."

Henry looked at Miranda with surprise. "You have finally relented?"

Miranda nodded. She put her arm around Henry's shoulders, turning him to look at Tom. Tom put his hands on Steven's shoulders and began speaking with the young man in an animated fashion, laughing and joking. "I think we did well."

"Yes. Yes, I believe we did," Henry said with a sad smile. "I hope you are not encouraging him with regards to Jack's daughter, Mao-Lin."

"Why would I do that, my Lord Richmond?" she said with a mischievous smile.