Sorry I've taken so long to update! Here's chapter 2! I do not own Torchwood or Halo by Zizou Corder.
…
A few hours later, Tosh was asleep on Owen's shoulder, Owen was still staring grumpily out of the window, Jack was quietly singing "we're all going on a summer holiday", Gwen was reading Halo by Zizou Corder and Ianto was obviously still driving. All of a sudden Owen tutted "Oh no, you've not brought us to the seaside have you Harkness?"
"Me? I've not brought you anywhere! Ianto?" Jack was puzzled. He didn't like not knowing things after all. Tosh stirred and opened her eyes.
"We there?" she said blearily.
Ianto dragged out the sentence "Just about….." Gwen put her book in her bag and stretched her arms. As they drove round the corner they saw a large sandy bay. Ianto pulled into the pub car park right next to the beach and said "Well. This is us!"
Owen didn't seem very enthusiastic about it. "You've dragged me away from important work to bring us all to the BEACH? God I know it's boring making the coffee all the time, but some of us actually have things to do!"
"Oh shut up Owen" Gwen poked him in the ribs. "Ianto's being nice. And would you really rather pull bits of stomach out of an alien than spend the day at the seaside?"
"Let me think about that…"Owen replied, looking to the ceiling of the car, "There's little kids everywhere playing about and getting in the way, there's loads of people that really shouldn't be wearing wetsuits, sand flying about everywhere, kids screaming at their parents for ice creams, the sea is just cold…"
Jack cut him off. "Ok, ok, you just stay in the car Mr Grumpy." He opened the door. "Smell that sea air! You could live forever!" Nobody laughed. "Come on, that was a good one."
Ianto groaned. "Right guys, there's some beach stuff in the back of the car. Take your pick."
…
"I can't believe you went in my flat Ianto!" Owen hadn't cheered up.
"Ah well, there are probably a lot of things you wouldn't believe about Ianto…" Jack said cheekily.
Owen shuddered. "Ok, enough. Fine! I'll get changed but you're not getting me in the water. That's final." Owen grabbed his swimming trunks and stomped off to the pub to change in the toilets.
"He really does need to lighten up." Gwen whispered to Tosh. Tosh giggled. She liked Owen's silly moods – they made her laugh and sometimes she could even cheer him up if he got too irritable. Usually by making him food, but then again, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach… She just wished that she would touch his heart one day. Grabbing a swim bag Gwen had packed her (it wasn't just Owen whose flat had been ransacked by their colleagues), she headed off to get changed as well.
Gwen walked around the car to where Jack and Ianto were. "Ianto! I thought you said you weren't wearing a suit!"
Ianto looked a bit sheepish as he scraped at some stray sand with his shoes. "Well, I didn't want to arouse suspicion this morning, and anyway-"
"He looks good in a suit." Jack finished for him.
"I was going to say I feel quite comfortable in it, actually, SIR." Ianto said sarcastically. Gwen laughed. These two were like schoolboys sometimes.
"Look, Rhys is here!" Gwen ran towards the silver car. As it pulled up in a space, she opened the door and picked Anwen out of the seat.
"Oh, so no happy hello for the old husband then? No, I'm second best now Little Miss Perfect has come along!" Rhys joked. "But you are perfect, aren't you darling?" he added to the baby, whose eyes were wide as she gaped at her new surroundings from Gwen's arms.
"Look sweetheart, look at the sea? Isn't it gorgeous? Almost as gorgeous as" - Rhys looked expectant – "Johnny Daniels from the corner shop!" Rhys' face fell until Gwen was unable to keep a straight face.
"Stop teasing me woman, you're going to be the death of me!"
Jack and Ianto watched the family from the sidelines, smiles on their faces but both were deep in thought. "You'd like a family wouldn't you?" Jack asked Ianto. The Welshman looked shocked. He had often thought about children when he was with Lisa; a little girl he could spoil or a boy who might take after him... but he had given that up soon after Lisa's conversion.
"I don't know" Ianto said truthfully. "What about you?"
Jack was quiet for a moment, seemingly pondering how to answer the question. "I have already had children. Many times over probably. Many I don't even know about, many that haven't been born yet and many that will have already lived their lives and whose children may be out there today. But I've never had a family, not really. Of course, there was my first family, my mum, my dad…" he trailed off, tears in his eyes. Ianto spoke quickly.
"Yes, I know. I just meant…"
"I know. And maybe one day I'd like to have kids properly, you know, be there for them and watch them grow. But then one day I'd have to watch them die."
Gwen jogged over with Anwen. She had heard the conversation. "Happy day guys, remember. We're off duty, having fun, kicking back and all that. Here." She passed Anwen to Ianto, who stared at her and smiled widely. "Come on boys, we're at the beach!" She hopped over a low wall onto the warm sand, followed by Ianto and Rhys, with Jack bringing up the rear. Jack stopped for a second. He could remember the last time he had been on a beach, the worst day of his life. He was determined to give the sand a chance to redeem itself.