19

"Hey Tad" Stephen called out as he slammed through the house "I need my swimming trunks."

"Sure sweetie, they are in your swimming bag, the towel is one of those fluffy ones you like rolled in there too" Ianto replied, still working calmly at the kitchen counter as he made soup. He felt like soup so… it was a soup day.

"You all good?" the boy hesitated in the doorway, his hand on the frame like he might get washed away.

"Yes sweetie, I am all good. We are fine here, off you go. Enjoy the rest of your weekend" Ianto replied, still cutting vegetables as the boy left.

He had survived on his own before… he could do it again.

This was not a big deal, he had to be an adult and just… find his Zen again.

.

.

"Hi Ianto, I can't find my shoes for the walk across the dunes."

"Under your bed Alice, or maybe in the laundry still, I did tell you to put them away once they were done on the drying rack. I had to scrub the mud off from last time remember?" he replied sagely, watching her move through the house.

He stirred the soup and breathed in the aroma. God, he was hungry.

"See ya."

.

.

"Ianto, that towel Stephen has…"

"There is a whole pile of them in the cupboard by the office door" Ianto said as he lifted the bowl to scoop some soup into, leaning over to breathe it in with a hum of delight.

Rhiannon passed with an armful of towels and called over her shoulder that she would wash them before she returned them.

Ianto hummed as he placed the bowl down, then settled in the chair, adjusting the baby in the little front pack, then the robe wrapped around himself and bub. Warm, safe and sheltered.

He had his soup.

It tasted better than he had hoped for, and he even had seconds.

You know what? He really WAS OK. It was all good and he was not even angry anymore. After all, he had spent a lot of his life alone, he was a solitary creature truth be told and bonding with this little on right now… felt pretty good. He had a false alarm and now everyone was sick of it, he got that. After all... HE had been sick of it too and it was a relief to finally have that part of things done with. He was never a good patient, pregnancies brought out the sulker in him. Lisa used to tell him he was like a three-year-old wanting ice-cream before dinner. Ianto smiled as he recalled the tantrums she would watch him throw while telling him it would only tire him out.

Bloody hormones. He didn't blame anyone for this, after all… he WAS annoying I guess. Everyone made that so perfectly clear. And he hadn't even needed them. Was this so bad? This was his life now, right? They all had theirs and he was just… what… a side piece? He could live with that, after all. He had his little star in his pocket now. All his wishes came true. A good man, a family, a baby… so he forgot to wish for love. Stupidly thought that was a given. Didn't matter. He had all the love right here in his arms.

No problems.

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.

"Hey Babe" Jack called out as he entered the house with Owen and John in tow "Is that file still in your office on the xenomorphs? We wanna check those grating measurements on the other bunker."

"Sure Cariad" Ianto replied, lifting the cup of coffee, relishing his one cup a day. After this he would clean up that bathroom, the dull throbbing of his body healing was almost bearable now, he could have a little nap afterwards

Jack walked through the dishevelled bedroom and into the walk-in robe to head to the office beyond. Owen slowed as he recognized a smell turning to look into the bathroom and the towels still on the floor as Ianto did not want to bend over to clean up just yet.

The afterbirth was wrapped in a towel in a bucket, the blood in the tub smeared around the sides.

Owen stood staring at it, then turned and walked out to the main room "Ianto…"

"Nope. You can't."

"Huh?"

"You can't see her. The first person to see her is supposed to be her father, so… let's just wait for him to have time for me and his daughter so he can welcome her" Ianto said as he rose from the chair, wincing "Coffee?"

"Christ, sit down. I will get it. I cannot believe this… you are so calm" Owen leapt up, watching as Ianto gingerly sat once more, his hand sliding around the small bump in the front. "Are you OK?"

"She was smaller than Jayden was and I did not even tear, if felt… sad and at the same time… the joy. I cannot describe it. We just lay there in the water for the longest time just examining one another" Ianto smiled softly "I am OK Owen. I am fine. Good even. The pulling feels right, I am not bleeding, I was hungry so I made soup and now I am sitting here while the throbbing subsides more before I tackle the mess I made in the bathroom."

"Are the kids, OK?" Jack asked as he entered the room and plonked into his chair "Seen them?"

"Yes. Rhia has taken the boys to the underground pools and Alice has gone on a day trek with her friends" Ianto said as he watched Owen get Jack a cup of coffee.

"She found her boots?" Jack asked as he looked at the biscuits on the table "she always forgets where they are. I think she gets that from me."

"Yes, they were still in the drying rack." Ianto took another sip of cooling coffee. "And yes… forgetful as fuck, you two."

"You told her to put those away when they were dry, I swear to god she inherited my vacantness sometimes" Jack took a swig and made a face "Owen, you don't make it like Ianto."

"Yeah, but he has just had your baby all alone so I don't want him up and down tending to you, ya fucking idiot" Owen exploded "You asked about your kids. Did you forget this one? And the person you are supposed to love and respect who has clearly done some really hard work? Shit I feel shitty for missing it… how do YOU feel?"

"Owen, it's OK. He was busy and I was… static. He has time for us now, which is nice I suppose. When he is ready, I guess he will ask to meet her, maybe not. Who knows. Clearly, I am not a priority as he has not once asked how I am doing, let alone even noticed that I have given birth already. She's waking up, I can feel her breathing change" Ianto opened his robe slightly and grinned down as he watched a tiny hand moving "Awww… she is trying to suck her thumb."

He then closed the robe again and added ever so fucking calmly "So what have you got planned for this afternoon? Checking the secondary bunker? Sounds like fun. You should see if John is free, or maybe Rhys. You know, I think that man is lonely. Some of us are not built to live a life alone like I seem to be."

Ianto started to rise with one hand under the bump, moving over toward the bedroom so he could change her nappy as Jack sat there in stunned silence staring at the now empty chair.

"Jack?" Owen said softly "What the actual Fuck are you doing? Why are you still sitting there?"

Jack blinked as he tried to get his head on straight.

What the hell was going on?