22

"Jackson?"

Jack looked up from the files on his desk, the office still in disarray but at least the town office was in one piece, and he had been working solidly there with Archie since things reopened. He had half expected her to come to him and he was not looking forward to it but… Ianto did tell him that he was a good man and allowed ot help his mother as well as his father.

"Come on in Mom, let's sit over here on the sofa." Jack led her to the meeting area in the corner of the office with a sofa and some comfy chairs as well as a large coffee table usually covered in books but at the moment had the remains of a case he was working on and he slid the photos of the young girl killed in an accident to one side.

"Your father did this… did you know?" she thrust the papers at him.

"We had lunch and he told us then" Jack nodded.

"Us. I see. So, HE was there in the middle of…"

"MOM!" Jack barked, startling them both "For fucksake this is nothing to do with Ianto and no… we was NOT there. Us as in us kids. You know… this thing you have against Ianto is one of the things that made life harder for all of us."

She balked and went to speak but he was quicker "and for the record… I am trying to reconcile with him. I intend to work on my marriage… the reopening and hopefully re-marriage of the only person I have loved like this. So completely, fully… painfully. Mom, Ianto is my happy place. You ruined it, you forced him away as much as water works though a rock. If I don't adjust my thinking and my place… you will still be there trickling your hate on him and I can't have that. I miss him. I fucking miss him like… like a limb. Don't you get that? You hurt him sure… but you hurt me too. Each strike, each slash at him… I bled too!"

"Darling I…. he just pushes my buttons." She sighed "Gold digging…"

"When Dad met you, you were a waitress." Jack leaned back, not sure of his footing and finding himself having already chosen a side even if he didn't have to "You were living pay cheque to pay cheque. Yet here you are, looking down your nose and scoffing at him for being less… less than what? He earns good money, fuck he is worth more than me ya know."

"What?" her eyes widened.

"A trust, you can't touch it, the pre-nup you so carefully orchestrated to hurt him can't touch it either. Yeah… he is more than you. Always was, he just didn't scoff like you seem to. Mom, I love you. You're my Mom and as such, my first love. You know that right? The first woman I ever loved is you. But sometimes… sometimes it is hard not to hate you" Jack shrugged like he had not just hurt her, and her sharp intake of breath made him pause. Then he added "but this is a chance for us all to change things. Mom, you're not happy. You've not been for a while. Look, Dad has to give you a good settlement and you can rebuild. We all can. You know the Winston house was always one you wanted… I hear they are selling. Make that part of the deal with Dad. You will give up this apartment if he purchases that house in your name and you get a budget to furnish it as you please. Come on… your interior design is amazing, the things you could do with that place. Rose and Gray can have rooms there for when they are not away at uni… and still have this place for partying … think about it. Dad will give you a good allowance, staff… and you will be free to look for someone who makes you feel… alive again. You deserve that."

Jack let it settle; the words Ianto and he had spoken and the calm way Ianto had helped him see this future "Mom… I see you on a beach with a lover. I see you on the Rivera with a wide brimmed hat and nothing but adventure and a glass of bubbly. The Orient Express… a cruise around the Maldives… endless possibilities now you don't have to look after Dad. You can have your own life. You deserve it. I mean… use of the private jet still, I know it's in your prenup for that… come on. Tell me you don't deserve some fun!"

"Well… I don't know. This feels so…"

"Mom, come on. Be honest. It was only a matter of time. You are just annoyed that he got in first. You know you would have left him sooner or later anyway. Dad is… Ianto. Don't you see it? Dad and Ianto are the same sort of person. You are… like… a bright colourful bird in the high branches flittering about. Dad is… well… a turkey." Jack waved a hand and she started to laugh, the anger gone as she saw it that way too.

"We outgrew one another years ago, you are right there darling. I just… for you kids… I wanted things…"

"We know that, Mom. And that's why we understand how hard things are now. You and Dad did a great job. Look at us. Three amazing young adults, our futures secure and our lives enriched. None of us will know hardship, poverty… you made sure to give us a foundation to be comfortable with. Now it's your turn. Look after you!"

She embraced him and rose, taking a deep breath and nodding as she looked around the room "This really needs a lick of paint."

"Mom!" Jack laughed "See? Bright and colourful in a world of beige. Run woman… run!"

She laughed and headed off with a new purpose in her step, ready to go see her lawyer to make sure she got that bloody house she had secretly coveted for years.

Franklin owed her that!

.

.

"The Winston house?" Fraklin repeated as he stared at his son.

"Is that the one she makes the car slow down for when passing?" Ianto asked as he buttered a piece of bread, the kids having eaten earlier and headed off to their rooms. They seem to be falling into the old pattern of late-night musing over a snack. Ianto was such a feeder.

"She hated the fact it got four pages in some magazine when our place only ever got two. She was enraged. If she could have sent a bazooka through the front doors she would have. Of course, she kept the magazine and lamented the lack of colour and the dull furniture. Said how she would have done it. Blah blah. You remember love, we passed it the other day and you asked my why it was familiar" Jack laughed "So I sort of put that in her head. It's worth less than her share of the house and insurance will pay in full. Dad can offer her the Winston place and a nice lump sum. Then she can get alimony or whatever as set out in the pre-nup and be happy. Finally, those lovers she hides can be openly flirted with now. She can think she won something."

"She will still take jabs." Franklin warned.

"I know, but she will not hit the mark and she knows it. I know how long her chain is these days" Ianto said, then slapped a hand over his mouth as the other two men laughed softly. He looked down as he picked up a slice of ham to add to the bread, pleased that things seemed to be going his way for a change.

He was not about to stick his head above the foxhole just yet.

She would likely take one last shot with a fucking nuke if she could.