Jack squeezed Ianto's hand. "Hey," he said, tilting his boyfriend's chin up with his free hand, "it's going to be okay."

"I know, Jack," Ianto replied, giving him a small smile. "I'm just…nervous."

"You're going to be a great uncle."

"Actually, no, just an uncle."

Jack mock-glared. "Very funny."

"I thought so."

Jack shook his head and smiled, continuing to hold Ianto's hand. He looked around the room, which was now sprinkled with people of all ages. He watched a little girl playing with a doll, while an older boy – likely her brother – played on a portable gaming system. The man and woman he assumed were their parents were talking in hushed tones, the woman occasionally glancing at the door to the room.

To that family's immediate left there was a young couple, snuggled together but quiet. He occasionally pressed kisses to the top of her head and once she sighed, looking up at him and smiling before lowering her head back to his shoulder.

Behind both families was a woman who appeared to be on her own. She was eyeing Jack occasionally and shaking her head.

"Should it be taking this long?" Ianto asked beside him, bringing Jack's attention back to the matter at hand.

"When Mom had Gray we waited for over twenty-two hours, but that's unusually long for a second pregnancy. It's entirely possible for a first one, though."

Ianto squeezed his hand. "It's already been fifteen hours. I really don't like hospitals, Jack."

"Yeah?" His boyfriend nodded and Jack released his hand, slipping it instead around Ianto's shoulders. "Bad experience?"

"Do you remember that day I came to school with bruises and scrapes on my arms?"

Jack did remember. They'd been about seven years old and Jack had already been smitten. "I recall not wanting to leave your side. You didn't want to talk about what happened."

Ianto nodded, leaning into Jack's embrace. "I think the teacher assumed I had been abused. I hadn't, of course, but I can see why it would look that way. But I had fallen out of that tree in the yard. Got myself all banged up and had to be taken to A&E."

Jack frowned. "So what happened there?"

"They were afraid I'd broken one of my arms, but luckily I hadn't. I was just crying because I was so scared." He looked up at Jack, his face a picture of misery. "While I was being cleaned up there was another woman rushed in. I could hear the nurses trying to calm her. But she wouldn't stop screaming. For months afterward I couldn't get those screams out of my head."

"What was wrong with her?"

"She'd been in a car accident," he answered, swallowing hard. "I could hear them talking about a sudden loss of blood, and needing to get her into theater with a surgeon. But suddenly the screams just stopped. She died there, Jack. She Right there beside me. The only thing separating us was a curtain."

Jack took a deep breath, wrapping his other arm around Ianto and hugging him even closer. "Rhiannon's going to be fine," he murmured into Ianto's hair, stroking his back. "She's having a baby. The most natural thing in the world."

"I know, I just…"

"Can't get those screams to fade away?"

Ianto snuffled. "Yeah."

Jack pulled back and saw that Ianto was trying to hold back tears. He pouted, leaning in and pressing a soft kiss to Ianto's lips. "I'm here, Ianto. I'll keep the screams away."

Ianto smiled, ducking his head and looking up at Jack under his lashes. "You must think I'm awfully pathetic."

"Never."

"I shouldn't be scared of a building."

"It was traumatic, Ianto. You were very young and easily influenced. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Ianto leaned back into him, wrapping both arms around Jack's waist and tucking his head under Jack's chin. "I love you."

"I love you too, Ianto."

They sat that way for several minutes. Out of the corner of his eye Jack could see the old woman staring at them. He continued to ignore her, figuring she was just old fashioned and had a problem with two males expressing affection for one another. But suddenly she was approaching, and Jack tensed. Ianto must have felt it as he moved his head, looking up at Jack and then at the woman who was now standing just a couple of paces away.

She lifted a finger, shaking it at them. "This is a family waiting room," she said sternly, frowning at them. "How dare you taint it with your disgusting behavior? You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

Jack's eyes darkened but he didn't distance himself from Ianto. "I beg your pardon?"

"Jack…" Ianto started, pulling back.

"No, Ianto," Jack interrupted, tightening his hold and lifting his chin defiantly. "I'd love to hear what she has to say. Because evidently she's an authority on family."

"You gays think you can go wherever you want, spreading your diseases and your perverted filth. But you can't! There's a place for you. Both of you. You're going to burn in the fiery depths of Hell, you are!"

Jack was about to open his mouth to retort when the father of the children across from them stood up, gaining Jack's attention. He was tall, thin, yet made quite an imposing sight. As he stepped up beside the woman he met Jack's eyes, the intensity enough that Jack almost had to look away. The mad nodded once, turning to the elderly woman.

"I believe that's just about enough out of you."

"Excuse me?" she sputtered, turning her attention to the man beside her in the brown coat and blue trainers.

"You heard me. You need to step away from these boys and keep a civil tongue in your head."

"Well I've never!"

"And maybe you should have," he told her, flinging his coat behind him and shoving his hands in his pockets. He rolled on the balls of his feet. "I mean it. Move away from them now or I'll make a call that will have security in here so fast your head will spin."

"Aren't you afraid for your children, my good man?" She waved a bony hand in the direction of the two kids seated on the floor. "Don't you care at all for their upbringing?"

"My children have been raised well, my dear. They've been taught never to judge lest they be judged. Believe me; the only thing that frightens me in regards to what they're seeing today is that now they know there is still such hate in the universe. Through all of time and space there is but one constant…love. It's a fixed point. It cannot be defined by traditional standards. You'd do best to educate yourself. Now off with you. Get. Remove yourself from this room and wait elsewhere. This is a place of love."

The old woman was staring at the man with anger emanating from every pore. She opened her mouth to say something in response but at the tilt of the man's chin she let out a loud breath and spun on her heels, moving to the door and out of the room in a manner befitting a much younger person. Jack watched her go, eyes wide.

"Well, I think that took care of the problem," said the man, presenting them with a grin before he turned around to walk back to his family.

"T-thank you," said Ianto, sitting up and taking Jack's hand.

"Aw, it had to be said," the man replied, grin not fading.

Jack was in shock, looking from the door to the man and from the man to the door. He glanced at Ianto, who he noticed was now smiling, and then again at the man seated across from them. No, not a man. Some sort of force of nature.

"I'm Jack," he finally managed. "And this is Ianto. His sister's having a baby."

"Great to meet you, Jack, Ianto," the force replied. "This is my wife Rose, and these are our children, Mickey and Donna. My eldest daughter, Sarah Jane, is having a baby as well."

"We're pleased to meet you all," said Ianto. "And what's your name, sir?"

"Oh, people usually call me Doctor."

"Doctor who?" Jack asked.

The man grinned again. Or was that still? "Just the Doctor."

Jack and Ianto exchanged a glance and both shrugged, turning back to the man and returning his smile.

"Well thank you, Doctor," Jack replied, holding up their joined hands. "We both appreciate it."

"Is he your husband?" Mickey asked.

Donna shook her head at him. "Partner, Mickey Mouse."

"What do you know about it, anyway?" Mickey snapped back, and suddenly both children were tussling on the floor. Rose shook her head and bent over to tend to them while the Doctor raised his arms out wide and shrugged.

"Actually, he's my boyfriend," Jack explained to the kids once they were again settled quietly. "But you're right. One day he'll be my partner." Ianto sighed beside him, leaning against his shoulder. Jack kissed his head.

"That's cool," replied Mickey, picking his game back up and focusing on the screen.

"I think you're gorgeous," Donna said, leaning her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. "It's a real shame you like boys. We could have gotten married."

"Donna!"

"Oh, leave the child alone, Rose," the Doctor said, lifting the girl onto his knee. "She's just a flirt."

"She's six, Doctor!"

Jack laughed, hearing Ianto laugh along with him. "Maybe in an alternate universe," he told the little girl, winking. She giggled.

The door opened and all heads turned to look at the real doctor who'd entered, a graying gentleman with a smile on his face and crinkling laugh lines around his eyes. Jack liked him immediately.

"Ianto Jones?"

"Yes, sir," Ianto replied, getting to his feet and pulling Jack up with him. "That's me, sir."

"Your sister and your mother would like you to join them. I believe there's a little girl waiting to meet you."

Ianto beamed, turning to Jack and then back. "W-what about Jack? Can he go too?"

The doctor nodded. "Of course. Ms. Jones asked specifically for her brother Ianto, but advised I'd find him with the baby's uncle, Jack."

"That's me," Jack said, puffing out his chest. He really liked the sound of that.

"Follow me," the doctor told them, waiting until they were right behind him before turning down the hallway and making his way to Rhiannon's room. When they got there he waved his hand into the room. "Here you are. Congratulations, Ianto, Jack."

Ianto was the first into the room, making his way to the bedside where he leaned down and placed a kiss on his sister's forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Like absolute rubbish," she told him, smiling. "I'm sure I look it as well."

"You look sensational," Jack told her, coming to stand beside Ianto. He lifted Rhiannon's hand and kissed her knuckles. "Radiant."

"Oh stop, you flatterer, you."

Jack grinned, turning to watch as Ianto lifted his baby niece out of his mother's hands. She kissed Ianto's cheek as he sat down on the chair beside her, cradling Mica in his arms. Seeing the four of them together warmed Jack's heart. It had only been a few months since Bethan's first venture outdoors, and she had made amazing progress in that time.

"She's so tiny," Ianto whispered, brushing the little girl's head full of dark hair with the pad of his thumb.

"She's a wee bit bigger than your sister was, Ianto," Bethan told him. Tears filled her eyes. "I can't believe my baby had a baby."

Ianto leaned closer to his mother so she could wrap an arm around him as he held the baby. Her other arm reached for Rhiannon and she grasped her hand. Jack pulled out his mobile. He wanted to capture this moment.

"Smile," he told them, watching as all three of them looked up. Ianto smiled and Jack's heart clenched. Then Rhiannon and Bethan smiled as well and Jack snapped the photo. "Beautiful."

"But you should be in the picture too, Jack," Bethan told him, shaking her head. "You're family."

"Yes, Jack, grab a nurse." Jack raised an eyebrow at Rhiannon, smirking. She narrowed her eyes. "So that she can take the picture, you naughty thing, you!"

Jack chuckled and walked over to the door, glancing around. He saw the nurse's station and headed over, putting on his best smile. "I'm sorry, but do any of you have a moment to assist me?"

Three nurses stepped forward immediately. Two women, one man. Jack was amused, but indicated for only one of the women to follow him. The other two sighed and shrugged, turning away.

"If you could take a quick shot of me and my family, that'd be great," he told the nurse, handing her his mobile.

She frowned for a second but then smiled. "Of course."

Jack scooted over to where Ianto had moved, on the opposite side of the bed from Bethan. Rhiannon was now holding Mica. They all crowded in towards the bed, surrounding the smiling mother and child, and the nurse snapped a picture. She checked it, nodded and then held out the phone to Jack when he reached for it.

"It's perfect," he said, showing the others. They all agreed and he looked back up to thank the nurse, only to find she'd already left. He smiled, turning to kiss Ianto's cheek before reaching for the baby. "My turn."

~tbc~