3
Ianto didn't know what made him do it but as he moved around Jack it just fell out. Shit, they were told to adlib and be as natural as possible to give it a more authentic 'reality' feel.
"That's harassment that is" had gained a look of surprise from Jack, a momentary one as he blinked at him, then smiled softly to show he still remembered his line as he swung away from him but Ianto was waiting for the reprimand after cut had been called only to have Jack walk over and tell him that had been great and what was needed. Gods, he smelt good.
It took three takes with the bloody scene where he was wiping Gwen's computer and each time he felt less 'real' and being told to make is seem more 'real' only made him more pissed by the second so he knew the final take would show his teeth grinding.
It was a relief when it was all over, even though he had enjoyed the exercise and the pay check would be welcome. With a polite goodbye he headed home, calling to his sister-in-law's for the evening meal and a sigh of relief.
"When will you know if it's been picked up love?" his mother asked and Ianto shrugged annoyed that she had chosen to visit when he was there.
"It probably won't be, like the last two pilots I did" Ianto smiled, then shifted his knees as little children roared though the house, the little girl hesitating as she checked the lap and Ianto pulled her up without a second thought, "Good evening princess, have you been good for Aunty?"
"Yes Taddy" she said happily "We baked."
"Yum" Ianto kissed his daughter and then sighed as his son slammed into the table, "Dafyd, please be more careful."
"Sorry Taddy" he grinned, showing he was not the least bit sorry, then he took off. So much like his mother that one. Mica jiggled off her Taddy's lap and raced off after her brother as Rhiannon pulled out a chair and sat next to her mother-in-law.
"Ianto, you will keep this pay check" she started and he waved his hand at her.
"Rhiannon, since Kayla died I would have been lost without your help" he assured her, "Besides, your own first beast is going to be here soon enough. You and Johnny need to start building your own wee nest egg. All you do? Looking after the kids for me, Jesus wept. Don't you dare, your sister would be furious to know how hard things have become for you both. No Rhia, until you have your own home I will keep putting that money into the house account. You and Johnny are going to be in your own home by next Christmas if it kills me."
"So, you gonna stay the night before travelling to the lighthouse?" his mother asked "Your father would be pleased to see you as you have been avoiding him a fair bit these last few days."
"Da and I have had all the talking we need" Ianto huffed and his mother sighed. "He doesn't want me around the place getting under his feet."
"What did he say this time?"
"That I should give the kids to you and him to raise" Ianto snapped, "To raise proper, he said. Asked me if I was …"
"What?" his mother looked up as Ianto grimaced looking away. "Oh no. Did he ask if you were gay?"
"No ma" Ianto rose and shot his cuffs, his tell that he was done talking about it, "He asked if I was the one who opened my arse cheeks."
"Oh dear lord" she gasped, her hand going to her own cheek as Rhiannon gaped and Ianto left the room to round up his children. He would have liked to have stayed the night, it was late in the afternoon and a long drive to the lighthouse he now lived in. Johnny would be back from therapy and would have enjoyed talking with him as well, he found it increasingly hard to navigate life from that chair and Ianto never pointed it out, his pride in his brother-in-law and his service for their country gave Ianto the strength to accept Johnny's injuries and in those early days after he came home so damaged it was Ianto who helped him adjust and reclaim his pride. But he knew his mother had settled in for the afternoon, his Da would pick her up when he finished work and sit for dinner while bemoaning the society Johnny almost died for. It was weird. They were his in-laws, not theirs but they had embraced Rhiannon and Johnny as much as they had Kayla. Once again Ianto wished it had been his time not hers when the attack happened. His parents loved this family more.
They would have all been so much better off with her still alive, all nurturing and shit.
No. The Lighthouse waited. Kayla had inherited it from her parents, then he had after she was killed at the Canary Warf Bombing. Rhiannon and Kayla had played there as children and it was still too painful for her to visit, seeing her dead sister everywhere so he travelled to her with the kids when he needed a sitter. Canary Warf. He still felt ill at the thought of such a traumatic event in his life being turned into a TV Show joke. At least he knew it would not be picked up by the studios, the paragraph in the back-story that would make his wife's death some alien invasion joke would not come to pass. Right?
Aliens. Please.
Humans are the worst creature that ever existed.
Ianto knew that as he stood at his wife's grave and let his children place a flower each before they started their journey out of town and along the coast.
Homeward bound.