Chap 24
Jack walked around to the side of the house and froze.
There was nothing there.
Jack frowned with his hands on his hips. He was beyond confused now because this is where he and Gray had agreed to put it. At the side of the …. Oh god, no.
Jack ran to the other side of the house where the memorial garden lived in all its glory.
The decking was still fresh and unstained, the hot tub sat up in the corner and the pool was almost half full of water. Off to the side, rose bushes had been thrown in a pile and the memorial garden was totally decimated as Gray had torn it apart.
"Hey, there you are!" Gray grinned, carrying the gates to hang as Walter danced about him.
"Gray" Jack tried to be calm, "Why did you do this?"
"I know you said the other side but it was narrower then this side. This side gets more sun, imagine how warm the water will be for snotty."
Walter howled and pretended to attack him as he laughed and Jack sat down. His legs folded and he found himself on the grass with Gray running to him, shock on his face.
"Are you OK? What happened?" Gray touched his shoulder, "Are you sick?"
"You tore up the memorial garden." Jack said softly, "You destroyed Ianto's most favourite thing in the whole fucking garden."
"Huh? The flowers?" Gray frowned and looked back at the heap of foliage.
"OH MY FUCKING HELL! WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO THE GARDEN?" Rhia screamed from the deck with Aurora in her arms, "AH, SHIT THE ROSES!"
"Oi! Aurora can hear that!" Gray scolded and she calmly placed the baby on the grass before attacking him.
She slapped at his head and shoulders as she berated him for destroying the garden.
"And where the hell is my birdbath? You bloody moron!" Rhia was shaking as she pulled at her braid with frustration.
Jack left them to their domestic and went back inside. The closer he got to the bedroom the slower he walked. Now he understood the reason for Ianto's distress, he had no idea how to make this better.
Ianto was quiet. No sobbing, no snoring. Jack wondered if he was asleep and stood at the end of the bed, dithering about whether or not to say anything. Ianto suddenly threw back the covers and glared at him.
"Are you just going to stand there all day making that stupid fucking grunting noise?"
"I didn't know I was grunting" Jack exclaimed.
"Whenever you can't decide something you grunt!" he growled and Jack grunted. Oh.
"I didn't know I did that. No wonder you are always ready for me when I have a problem." Jack smiled and then it faded as he remembered what the problem was.
"Baby, I never told him to do that. I said to put it on the other side where the old shed was. It never occurred to me that he would be so … so …"
"Fucking stupid!" Rhia bellowed from the doorway and Jack squealed with surprise.
"You! Get out there and help your retard of a brother try to save some of those poor plants!" she demanded and Jack scurried from the room with surprising speed.
Rhia toed off her shoes and climbed into the bed, Ianto's big eyes filling his face as he reached for her.
"You saw what he did to my memories?" Ianto whined, sniffling as the tears threatened to come back.
"Oh Teddy Bear! I'm so sorry. When he told me what was happening today I never dreamed he could be so thoughtless." She soothed as she wrapped her arms around him and he buried his face in her bosom, "He is such a fucking twat sometimes!"