4

Ianto knew there would be a push and it came sooner than he had expected, Gwen not the one for a change as Owen started to go off on a tangent about the attic space.

"But there is so much shit up there!" he roared.

"My shit!" Ianto said calmly as he dried a plate, much as a parent would a tantruming child, "It stays."

"But I want a lab, a real working one and I could set it up if I just clear out some of the…"

"Shit?" Ianto said calmly as he turned to face the goblin with his little face twisted with annoyance, "Owen, do you need a time out?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, put him on the naughty step uncle" Mica agreed as she ate her porridge and smiled sweetly at Rhys "I bet he can't even make perfect porridge like Uncle Rhys can."

"What? What? Porridge?" Owen spluttered as he swung to look at the table and a growl from beneath warned him that he was treading a fine line, "Er…sorry Crypto. Nice porridge is it mate?"

The head came out from beneath the cloth, one eye boring into him before it disappeared and Owen turned to Ianto again, "But…but…what if I just move it, I don't mean chuck it out. Stack it all? If nothing leaves that space, I just…"

"Smoosh it?" Mica supplied for him and he pointed at her with agreement.

"Yeah, that" Owen was getting frantic now, "Awwww, come on."

Ianto stood and did a mental inventory of what was up there and then sighed, "As long as the Christmas baubles do not get broken, single them out to one side please."

Owen punched the air and ran up the stairs whooping.

"He's just bored" Suzie suggested, "He is going a bit nuts cooped up, he was always on assignment and cruising around the SUV or cutting something up. He hates down time."

"Well, we could being him with" Ianto suggested quietly, "He could do some scouting about while Mica stays in the vehicle."

"With where?" Suzie asked.

"Ianto and I are going to another homestead today for a poke about and a chance for Mica to get away from…negativity" Jack said with a grimace and she nodded as she glanced out at Gwen sitting morosely on the edge of the raised gardens.

"Good idea, we can use some board games and such if ya find any you know Owen is deadly with those" she offered "I would suggest taking him with you, he will enjoy crowing that he got to go, just don't forget the booster seat and a spare nappy."

They laughed as Jack shoved at her then he looked out the window to see Gwen moving, stalking across the grass and into the barn.

"I wonder what she's up to now" he muttered.

"Well, not like there's another crawler in there" Suzie said with a crass snort, "If we are lucky she is gonna climb into the loft and fall off the edge. Meeeeeeoooooowwwwww splat."

Ianto sniggered and watched her disappear inside then turned from the window to smile at them, "Mind you … she might be a high functioning crawler wanting her brains on a plate or something."

Laughter as he finished putting away the dishes and moved to find Mica knowing she was upstairs somewhere and he found her in her room with Crypto writing in the walls.

Yeah, his fault I know.

"So, let's see" he settled on the bed to look up at the wall as she proudly grinned at him. "So. Uncle Ianto and Uncle Jack are the bosses. Uncle Ianto the biggest. Right, I would agree with that but Uncle Jack might be a bit embarrassed, well…what else…ah…Sunday is always dessert day. Well, my gods, how did I miss that one? Mica, you are a genius. We must go write that one down so everyone knows, especially Uncle Rhys and that wonderful meringue he says he can make from the chookie eggs."

They headed down and she ran to add that one about desserts to the wall, Ianto whispering in Jack's ear that she had her own set of rules up in her room and Jack kissed his cheek before racing up to see for himself and Ianto sniggered as he waited for the response, the howl of mirth carrying though the house.

"What's he find so funny" Gwen muttered to herself as she entered the house to slide into a chair at the table.

"Life" Ianto said to her with annoyance, "It's funny that we are all still alive."

He then left her to her glaring out the window, his annoyance back and he wondered if she knew she was a psychic vampire sucking all the happy out of someone.

Upstairs Jack sighed as he looked around the little girl's space and he hoped they all made it.

Especially this little family of his.

Gods, to lose them would hurt more than the others had.