65
Jack had a man who knew a man who could get then ten horses.
"Ten" Ianto repeated like it was a joke.
"Well… the adults need to ride too, the kids are going to want real horses. Not ponies, they are all so adult in their minds and will be offended if miniature ponies or something shows up. You know how they are!" Jack said with a roll of his eyes that such a parody of Ianto's eyeroll that he couldn't help but smile.
"And the motorbikes?"
"We have fifteen on the way. For some reason Arthur was quite set on that amount. That man is so damned stubborn" Jack frowned. "We are uneven."
"Uneven?"
"Well… ten and fifteen makes twenty five. There are kids left over, and adults." Jack pointed out.
"Ah… not all want to have a bike or horse. They don't want that" Ianto replied, "I am still trying to get out of them what would work instead but they are all so… shy. I am thinking about asking Toshiko to get in some drones or something, they are tech savvy and maybe they want something mindful to do rather than physical."
"When you were a kid if offered a horse, a motorbike or a computer… what would you… no. don't answer. That was a stupid question" Jack said with his hand held up "You were always a thinker."
"Exactly. Also, the security dogs are interesting to them beyond the normal side eye they give other things, I think if we got a few puppies for those who showed little interest in cats… might help. Or some rabbits? Something alive but… not big and scary like a horse." Ianto suggested.
"Pets."
"Yes, something to nurture?"
Jack drummed his fingers against his thigh, seeming to compute then he said "I will go talk to the others. I have an idea."
Ianto shook his head as he got a clear image of ferrets and hoped the others would laugh that one down, Christ. An influx of those would cause chaos, but the idea of some birds as well a dogs was a good head. He had not thought of little dogs.
Jack still did not know Ianto could hear him, could 'see' his thoughts and it was a random moment for Ianto as well. Seems when you love one so strongly, you can connect. He had asked the others and they did with their partners as well, but not to the extent Ianto did, able to 'see' so clearly.
But then, he did have the extra power of the children around him.
And he had always had that… spark of something.
.
.
"Taddy?"
"Yes Zaney?"
"A castle?"
Ianto stopped what he was doing to turn and look at the child who was looking back with those intelligent eyes full of interest. Bugger.
"Daddy wanted to get one of those bouncy castles" Ianto explained and Zane made a noise of annoyance.
"Oh. The baby things. No. Oh, I thought... I mean… we sort of thought…." His hands waved in such a Harkness way that Ianto felt a spike of annoyance before remembering that this was his child, so he 'looked' for the answer the child was trying to convey.
"A castle" Ianto repeated "As in… a real one."
"We got a little excited about that idea… if it had ramparts, turrets and things… we even considered a draw bridge… a moat is asking too much but… no. We went off on a tangent didn't' we. I blame the Harper influence there." He sniffed, blaming Owen's bloodline in the mix.
What could Ianto do but giggle as he agreed, Owen would go full on medieval with a castle.
But… is it so silly?
.
.
"Well, they build them pretty quick smart for movies and such. They are not asking for a real one, a representation of one… we could do that right?" Jack asked, "After all, we had that massive castle of our own, stands to reason the kids want one for themselves. I mean, they were just newborns before we moved to here but… they do remember things."
Ianto sighed deeply.
"Come on… you know where to get movie props right?" Jack poked at him "Come on… little Jasmine is clearly her father's child, asking if there is a dragon statue to be found."
"I liked that place" Ianto agreed, then sighed again "Shit on a cracker. I can make a few phone calls… I think I can find the façade of a castle, but you guys will need to build the framework and stuff."
"A project" Jack said with glee.
Ianto watched him running off and knew the next week or so would be full of yelling, banging and occasional tears. And the kids might help too.
He went to call some of his old friends from his childhood.
This birthday would be fun. This place would be fun.
Ianto vowed to be fun too.
No matter how weird it would feel.
It had been a long time since he had really had fun in his life.
Time to get back to his inner child.