A/N I'm putting up one more chapter before leaving, hope you'll like it! One new person makes her entrance, and another one comes back, but how will they affect our boys?

Disclaimer: If I owned Torchwood, you wouldn't read about Jack and Ianto here, you'd see them on telly...

Chapter 17

Time went by fast, and in only two days time, Ianto was going to London with Jack to meet Jack's daughter. He was starting to feel seriously nervous about the meeting, what did he know about 12-year old girls? And he really wanted Alice to like him, he knew how important she was to Jack, she could probably make or break their relationship, so for her to dislike him just wasn't an option. He had asked Jack about her interests, and he had been surprised to hear that Jack thought that Ianto and Alice resembled each other; they both liked to read, especially crime novels and Harry Potter, they were neat freaks, liked running and both of them were independent people who didn't follow the main stream. Ianto couldn't help but think that Jack was probably just trying to make him feel better, but hoped that his boyfriend was right, that Alice and he would go together well.

On the eve of their trip, Ianto stayed at Jack's, and they had an early night, since they were leaving early on Saturday morning. Ianto had brought a couple of possible gifts for Alice with him, and asked for Jack's advice. He had then opted for the illustrated edition of "Harry Potter and Philosopher's Stone" and carefully wrapped it.

Jack and Ianto left before seven on Saturday morning, as Tosh had come to fetch Myfanwy, and set off for London in Jack's car. The trip was quiet at first, Ianto feeling incredibly nervous, and Jack not knowing how to reassure his lover more than he already had. After a stop for coffee, Jack decided that enough was enough.

'Ianto, you're gonna have to stop this. I love you, and I'm sure Alice is going to as well! This is our first trip together, we should be enjoying ourselves, talking, singing along to the music, having fun! We're going to London, not prison! Alice is a sweet kid, and she's open-minded… She knows how much you mean to me, and like I said, you have similar interests, even if you wouldn't hit it off immediately, you're going to find some common ground, and you're going to like each other! So, stop worrying, or I won't have sex with you for a week!'

He said this with a smile, what he had said, wasn't out of anger, but to relax his boyfriend, and he knew that the final phrase would make Ianto laugh – there was no chance Jack could keep his hands off of Ianto for a week, and they both knew it!

Ianto smiled, he knew that Jack was right, he wasn't complicated, and Alice probably wasn't either, so he took a deep breath, and told himself that everything was going to be fine.

'Sorry, Jack, you're right… Let's enjoy the rest of the trip! This is supposed to be fun, not angsty! So let's start having fun… How about some music?' he said, and started flipping through the CDs Jack kept in his car. He settled on John Barrowman's latest, John Barrowman. It was full of musical classics, and even though it wasn't his absolute favourite music, he knew most of the songs, and he knew Jack would appreciate a little sing-song. And the man was gorgeous, he thought to himself. Ianto put the disc in the player, and smiled as Jack immediately started to sing along, and soon joined him. This trip was going to be fun, he was sure of it now.

The couple arrived at Lucia's house just before eleven, and Jack took Ianto's hand as he rang the bell. They heard running and within moments the door was ripped open by a very excited Alice who threw herself at Jack, putting her arms around his neck, as he lifted her off the ground.

'Daddy, I'm so glad you're here!'

'So am I, sweetie! It's been too long, you've grown like forty inches!'

'Daad…' she whined as she swatted him over the chest, 'it's been two months, and I haven't grown at all… But I am happy to see you!' she then turned to Ianto

'Hi, you must be Ianto, I'm Alice, it's nice to meet you! Dad's talked a lot about you!'

'It's really nice to meet you too, Alice, I've heard lots of stories about you…'

'I bet,' she smiled, 'dad likes to tell embarrassing baby-stories about me…' she looked at Jack with feigned annoyance.

'Hey, kid, that was once, and how was I to know you were in love with that guy?' Jack smiled at her, before giving her another hug and following her into the house, taking Ianto's hand in his again, making sure he felt included.

'This was going well,' Ianto thought, 'Jack was probably right, he hadn't needed to worry…' he gave a little sigh of relief, and entered the house where Alice lived with her mother.

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Later that day, the three of them had gone in to town to go shopping, something Jack and Alice always did together. They were in HMV, when Ianto turned around and met the eyes of someone he knew very well.

Lisa.

'Ianto, I thought that was you! Hello sweetheart!' she said as she threw her arms around him.

The familiar embrace didn't escape Alice, who was standing a few metres away, jealousy flooding her entire body, for her father's sake.

'What are you doing in London?' she asked, as they were joined by Jack and Alice.

'Um… We're here to see Jack's daughter Alice…' he started, not quite knowing what to say to his ex-girlfriend, as his new boyfriend and his daughter were standing there looking at them.

'Oh, you're Jack! How nice to meet you, Gwen's told me a lot about you! She says that you make Ianto very happy, and I'm really happy to hear it!'

Both men were pleased to hear her say this, Ianto because he didn't have to explain anything to Lisa about Jack, and she seemed genuinely pleased for him, and Jack because he could now ignore the jealousy he had felt as he saw this woman's arms around his boyfriend, and she seemed nice. Ianto was even more relieved when Lisa continued to speak.

'Hello, you must be Alice then? I'm Lisa, Ianto's ex-girlfriend.' She said as the put her hand out to Alice, who politely shook it, taking in that apparently her father's new boyfriend was bi, but at least this ex seemed nice. But she couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was odd about this woman.

They talked for a while before Lisa said that she had to leave. She had a doctor's appointment, and couldn't miss it, she was glad to have been able to have it on Saturday, so that she needn't take time off work.

'Would you like to come to dinner at mine tonight? I'd really like to get to know you both, Alice, Jack…'

'That would be nice! Wouldn't it, dad, Ianto?' Alice said before either man had the time to decline. Alice wanted to shake the un-easy feeling and to make sure that her first impression of Lisa was correct, that she was nice, and that she wouldn't cause any problems in her father's new relationship, he seemed much too happy and in love for her to allow that.

'Uh, ok..' both men stuttered, slightly taken aback by Alice's answer.

'Here's the address, see you at 7?' Lisa asked, before giving Ianto a note where she had scribbled down her address, before rushing off to her doctor's appointment.

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As Ianto and Jack drove back to Cardiff on Sunday evening, they both felt very happy with their weekend, they had had a great time, and both of them had met, and gotten along splendidly, with someone who was very important to their partner.

Alice was going to come to visit in Cardiff in a few weeks, and both men felt excited about this, and on this journey there were no nervous silences, only happy banter about what had liked best about this weekend.

As they fell asleep in each other's arms that night, with Myfanwy at their feet, they felt completely happy, there were no longer any secrets or "scary" people from the other's life that could hurt them. Or so they thought…