35

Ianto powered down the skimmer as they closed out the end of the day's work. Owen took off like a dog shot in the arse, not even collecting his tablet. As the other two got their things form the skimmer Ianto turned to Lucia "Look. I know what you want but I don't think you will get it the way you think you will."

"Then what can I do?"

"The hardest thing…. Wait." Ianto replied.

"But they are my children and…"

"No. They aren't. You need to get that out of your head. You don't even know these young adults. You've never met my Fen, would not know my Alice if she was standing in front of you with her new hairstyle. The children in your mind, the little crying things that clung to you and begged you not to go, not to leave them as your lover roared at you to hurry the fuck up… those little children still cry in the night. The nightmares wake me, I hear their pain. The young adults that I call mine… MY kids… are not what you think they are. Alice is a powerful Mute, taking instruction from one of my old masters, she has the potential to be a planetary protector." Ianto stopped talking to give her a moment to reel back from him with shock as he dropped a clanger. The thing he knew she feared the most, he threw in her face. Alice was openly a Mute. Everyone knows.

She sat and asked softly "well… does she know…"

"That you are a mutant too? Don't be dense, of course she does. She knows it's heredity, she knows you left out of fear of that. She thought you left her, because she shamed you or scared you. Can you imagine that?" Ianto huffed "You made her feel … wrong. That takes time to heal too."

"But it wasn't that, it.."

"I know. I explained that to her. You ran because of the fear of your own powers being discovered, weak as they are… I know they are there. The waves of green and blue swirling around you." Ianto waved a hand like it was no big deal he was telling her he could 'see' her powers.

"You… you see it?"

"I am one of the most powerful Multi Mutes in the known verse. I am what they call a Master Mutant. I am the strongest one in this sector… maybe the entire quadrant" Ianto stared her down "Not many know that. I hide as well as I can but if I wanted to, I could set fire to this entire world with Dragon's Breath."

She stood staring at him.

The warning had not even been all that veiled.

.

.

"Hey good looking" Jack called out from the counter of the kitchen where he was plating up the evening meal as Ianto entered the house via the back door, placing his chiller by the door on the floor, then leaning across the corner of the counter for a kiss.

"Alice… your cupcakes made Uncle Owen's day darling" Ianto called out as he patted Jack's arse, heading into the main room as Jack finished preparing the evening meal. After a quick wash and a clean shirt… Ianto would never sit down to a meal with a dirty shirt on folks… he returned to find things ready.

"Did you get it all mapped Tad?" Stephen asked as he sat at the neatly laid table, folding the napkins.

"Not quite smudge. Will need to go back tomorrow, I got sidelined by the pool."

"Pool?" Alice asked, settling in her seat at the table, the jug of juice she had carried through placed in the middle where everyone could reach it, the glasses already full of water sorted by her as well.

"I decided there should be a pool" Ianto said in a silly voice, "Yeah. Reconfiguring will take some thought process. I did some on the site scribbles and now after dinner I will sneak into my lair to do some more calculations."

"And what street will you put the pool entrance at?" Stephen asked excited to watch Ianto instantly pull the schematics out of his brain.

"Oh, that's an easy one" Ianto smiled at him "Stephen's Drive."

Stephen sat there in silent shock, then he lit up "Taddy… did you name a street after me?"

"Alice Avenue.. Astra Lane … Daddy Jack has one too. His is Jumping Jack Flash Boulevard."

The kids roared with glee as the food was placed down and Jack looked around the table for praise gaining it as Ianto breathed in the gorgeous roast meal "Oh Cariad. I was sooooo dreaming of a roast today."

"So did Uncle Owen crash the drone again?" Alice asked as she settled back from pouring a glass of juice for Stephen.

"No but your mother did crash hers." Ianto replied like it was no big deal, "It skipped like a pebble on a lake. Your Uncle crowed like he had NEVER done that before… three times last month."

"Mama?"

"She's on my work crew and today she flew with me." Ianto placed down the knife and fork to watch the boy's face "She says hi and was pleased to hear how well you are doing. I explained to her that you are mine now and I will fight her for you."

"Is she… is she OK?" he asked.

"Oh, she is fine." Ianto assured him "Healthy, looks good and she told me she is going to join the building gang once I have finished mapping. She has learned to drive the road layers. She will pave your street."

Jack sat watching his son as Stephen pushed his food around the plate before asking "Do I have to see her?"

"No. Never if you don't want to. I told her that too darling. You are a young man now, you have a busy life and she has no place in it… like she wanted. It is entirely up to you if you do or don't. And it's OK with me either way. Your Dad and me… we love you. And want you to be happy. If you want to see her for some sort of closure or whatever that's OK too. If you want Dad or me there with you… that's fine too. If you feel in your heart that you don't want to or need to see her… we will support that too."

"I don't know if I want to see her or not. I don't really remember her and… I don't need her, ya know?" he shrugged like it was no big deal.

"And that's totally understandable son" Jack finally spoke, seeing that Ianto had left that moment in the conversation to him, the soft whispering in his mind comforting "We are totally different people now, our lives are not the ones she was part of so really… she's a stranger."

"How I feel too" Alice said softly "But maybe… maybe I want to tell her how she made me feel."

"And me and Tad will support that too" Jack said as he loked over at Ianto, seeing how amazing he was. How his life was just as it should be and she was not welcome.

Astra chose that moment to wake and call out for attention, Jack rising to rush to get her, pushing to kiss Alice's forehead on the way past and say softly "And she chose to miss out on so much goodness. Her loss, not yours."

Enough said.

"Dessert?" Alice asked, rising to see what her Dad had under the cloth on the counter for afters.

Conversation over.