30
The men dressed in their uniforms, as did many others. By the time the food was ready Ianto had changed into something less… tight. Bump was really getting in the way but he was determined to dance with his husband.
And they danced.
The food was great, the music great and the mood was light.
Nothing bad happened and as the two men settled in the bed in the early hours of the next morning they agreed that it was the prefect wedding.
For them.
.
.
Three days later Ianto felt the twinges and took a deep breath before approaching Owen.
"Braxton Hicks" Owen declared with a sniff of superiority, "you're not going yet. I think another week or so, if you think you can stomach it. Sorry… ahahahahaaaaaaa"
Ianto withheld the urge to throttle the little shit.
Another week.
What could possibly happen.
.
.
Well… yeah… it happened.
The klaxons sounding woke the street, everyone pouring out of their houses to look around, then up at the sky. Then came the cries of 'invasion' before people rushed to get weapons and such.
Ianto knew he could not take part, he wanted to take scalps but knew he could not so he retreated back to the house with Alice and Steven coming over as well, the two women armed to the teeth, as was Ianto. With their hearts pounding in their throats, they turned off all the lights, put the kids upstairs with Rhiannon on the bottom step under a warm blanket, then Ianto took the front door and Alice the back.
And they waited.
In the darkness they heard noises, distant cries and roars of battle, the fight seeming to be in the lower camps. Ianto knew Jack would be OK, that man was built for battle like himself but still… he clutched his large bump and considered options.
When the back door flew open and Alice screamed with rage while engaging the intruder, Ianto knew it was mote. He was a soldier. He was built for battle and bump or not, he was going to kill something.
Ianto gave a battle cry that made his daughter shuffle up the stairs to settle on the top step now, her gun trained on the bottom step and her eyes as steel as his.
The war had come to them. Come get some.
The large man that ran at Ianto was met with the nasty blade he had swing in return, too close for a gun that might be turned in a fight even as Rhiannon's barked in the distance, the blades Ianto liked to keep close were savage and unexpected. No one fought with blades anymore. Only those trained many cycles ago, before this oaf was even born, knew hand to hand combat like this and Ianto was in his element.
He moved like the wind, liquid and supple, the bump almost not even there as he bent low to avoid a fist, coming up to slice offending fist right off the appendage that had swing it, he slid to the left, jumped to the right, he was like a dancer on crack cocaine.
Finally… there was silence.
"Taddy?"
Ianto turned to his daughter who was now peeking around the corner of the staircase, her eyes huge. What now… he had to defend… the house was clearly entering the war zone, the fight was coming and the children… the babans…. They would soon be outnumbered "We run."
So, in the darkness, as the sound of battle ensued around them, they fled the house and ran for the only place Ianto could think of. The river. They ran for the river, the dog keeping company with them peeled off at some point, reappearing with blood on its fur and a look of determination. Whatever she had intercepted… she had done her job.
They waded into the deep water, until they reached the mud bank, then they sat, just their heads above water with each of them nursing a child… technically Ianto was nursing two if you count bump but Mica was so small that it didn't matter. For once the boys did not argue their age, just clung to their mothers with fear and a strange anticipation as each held one of the blades Ianto had handed over.
They watched as fire lit the sky, someone's house going up and he hoped it was not one of theirs. God, the nursery was ready for the sprout… god. Please.
Someone came to the side of the riverbank and Ianto responded, rolling to slide Mica over to Alice but then the voice called out softly "Boss?"
"Safe" Ianto hissed back, relieved to hear the unmissable warble of a Blumanchu. By the first tendrils of light, by Dawn's creping approach, the battle seemed contained to the lower camps again and the riverbank was lined with Blumanchu, crouching low in the grass with weapons drawn, protecting the boss.
Ianto never felt so loved.
.
.
"IANTO!"
"JACK" Ianto finally rose, groaning as his calves complained and Jack saw him in the half-light, racing into the water to seize him and hold him close, Mica squashed between them as she threw her arms around Jack's neck as well.
"Is it over?" Ianto asked.
"Yeah, we are safe. They are being herded up and the Shadow Proclamation are cleaving skulls with their fists, like several planets in the area were hit at once." Jack said all in a rush "but it's all over now. Safe. Come on, we are all safe and it is done."
"Good" Ianto shivered, his teeth clicking with the cold and shock "Because I think I took a hit to my stomach and the baby is not moving."
Jack looked down to see the mud and the water …. And the blood.
A large slash across Ianto's side and hip telling the tale of a hit.
Jack felt the cold invade his soul as he scooped Ianto into his arms and turned to wade for the shore, yelling at the Blumanchu to get Owen.
The battle was not won yet.