Previous part of Daytrips and Knighthoods II - Calan Awst.

***

Sarian came in carrying some kind of ceremonial shawl and large leather bound book.
The book's engraved leather cover simply read 'Our Family'.
Ianto had been told by Blodwen the book contained the pertinent details for every single one of the rift children. Everything had meticulously been entered by hand on heavy parchment. Started by Tesni it contained the rift child's original name, their species, planet of origin, parent's names, true birth date and further details of how and when they were taken by the rift and all the circumstances surrounding their arrival on earth. It also contained the details about their earth education, location and given or chosen earth name and who their sponsors were. It read like a history book, Blodwen had shown Ianto the book briefly before it was taken by Delwyn, Delyth and Mabon who were the official scribes for the family.

Haf would be the first entry that reflected an actual birth on Earth in the 21st century to rift child parents so there would be additional details in her entry into the volume.

"I hope for all our sakes you printed out what I'm supposed to say, you remember the hash I made of it last time."
"Yes, Jack."
"Where is it?"
"It's already at the table in the garden..." Sarian pointed towards an area near the far edge of the rose garden where a group was gathering.

"What! After what happened the last time, you didn't think I MIGHT want to have a read through first?"
"I know but there was no time, Dai and Carys only just finished it. It isn't like our other naming ceremonies; this one's special so hers has to be different. We've never done one like this before so they re-wrote the whole thing. You'll do fine, it's all in English."
"English? We've never done one entirely in English before..."
"No, but Ianto doesn't speak Cymraeg and it would not be fair to him, so we decided to hold the ceremony in English."
"What happened to Standard?"
"I don't think Ianto speaks Standard either..." Sarian turned to Ianto "...do you?"
"Sarian, I don't even know what you're talking about."
"Galactic Standard?"
Ianto shook his head and laughed. "Welsh is an alien enough language to me, thanks."

They entered the rose garden and walked to where the large group was gathered and waiting.
The configuration of the seating, the elevated dais area and the central (this time small) table brought a wedding or baptism to Ianto's mind.

Standing at the front of the group both wearing nearly luminous flowing robes were Carys and Dai Owens the baby's parents. Their silvery skin coloration and the fact that for the ceremony they had both painted the ridges along their heads with a luminous paint made them look much more alien than they had when Ianto had first met them. Dai being only half Azarian had much less pronounced head ridges than Carys, but the paint made them stand out just as much.

On a cushion in a silver basket facing the gathering was the infant Azarian-Human. She was draped in a silver cloth and her head ridges were also painted with the same luminous paint. The table was covered in flowers, and herbs the flowers were mostly roses but there was also jasmine, peony and lavender.

As they reached the edge of the gathering Sarian draped the embroidered shawl around Jack's shoulders and Ianto got his first good look at it.

The cloth appeared to be silk but was so heavily embroidered that very little could be seen of the background bright blue material. Ianto could make out only a tiny bit of the fine detail but there were planets and stars in patterns all over the large shawl.

As Jack walked to the table everyone stood and bowed slightly, Jack motioned and they sat back down. As Sarian and Ianto sat down, Dai spoke.

"We join together today to welcome a new life to our family and into our world. May she be blessed with the ability to learn from the lessons life provides and to be joyful, kind and strong. May she never know the loss or fear we have known. May she always walk in the path and know the love of her family."

Carys spoke next. "As we were in our time, a child who joins this family must be nurtured and guided. We ask that he who saved us, nurtured us and has been our guide through this world also guide and protect the life of this child during her journey. Show her the wisdom you have shown us and help her to understand that which makes her different and that which makes her one with her family."

Dai spoke again as Carys lifted Haf into her arms. "There is power in a name. Unlike we who were born to other places and called by other names this little one has carried no other name, led no other life. According to Azarian custom her names were chosen to honor the season of her birth and a special ancestor, Carys and I honor that custom today. This child born of this summer season is called after that which we know here as Haf. She is also called after she who comforted so many of us in our terror and showed us the joys of belonging to this world and the duty of family, Tesni."

Jack had known about the name Haf but the fact that Dai and Carys had intended to also name the baby Tesni had been kept secret from him. He looked up in surprise at Dai's words and Ianto saw his eyes fill and the tears gather.

Then Carys spoke again. "Father we ask that you assume the role of protector and guide for this child. Bless her name and remember it. Teach her the wisdom you have taught us and the understanding that we are not lost and forgotten but found and loved. Guide her passage through this world and life and comfort her in her sorrow."

Carys handed Haf to Jack who wrapped her in the large shawl that draped down his arms and picked up the card with his part of the ceremony written out for him.

"Haf Tesni in acquiring your own name and your own identity may you be inspired by the spirit of the family you have entered today and by the memory and life of the woman for whom you are named..."
Jack was fully in tears before he reached the final sentence of the first paragraph.
"...I promise to watch over you, protect you and guide you as you assume your place in this family and in life. May you journey through life with wisdom and kindness, grounded in the knowledge that you are much loved and that you will grow to do wondrous things...."
He was so choked up that it was hard to understand his final words.
"... I pledge to you that I will be here to teach you what I know, to listen to what you have to say and to support you in growing into the adult you will become..."

Jack shook with emotion as he cradled the tiny infant in his arms the tears flowing freely down his face.
"...Welcome to our family Haf Tesni Owens, we love you."

Blodwen was the first to reach Jack with a handkerchief and he managed to wipe his eyes in an attempt to regain his composure. He looked at Dai and Carys and spoke softly.
"You guys blindsided me."
Carys smiled "We wanted you to be surprised."
"Oh you got that...thank you."

Jack stood cradling Haf as one by one her brothers and sisters ... or was it aunts and uncles Ianto wondered, came up and greeted her. Bowing to Jack first of course they laid a hand on Haf and welcomed her to the family first in their native language and then in Welsh, then kissed her. As the line moved forwards Ianto noticed a table with refreshments being set up off to one side and everyone began helping themselves.

Haf as before was mesmerized by Jack's pheromones and cooed in an odd sort of trill that had both of her parents smiling and Jack speaking softly to her in an unfamiliar language. Ianto felt almost like an intruder until Blodwen came to his side and touched his arm.

"I've not seen Jack so emotional since Tosh and Owen." He said
"Awst is always an emotional time for him and this one is even more so because of the new baby."
"I wish I could do something for him...but I'm not sure I know him well enough anymore. This is a completely different person."
"Just be there to hold him and allow him to cry...that is something he has lacked since her death." Blodwen patted his arm.
"He has no one."
"That is no longer true, Ianto. He HAD no one, now he has YOU. Can you be strong enough for him?" Blodwen looked up and Ianto who had been staring at Jack now looked down at her.
"I will try...I want to be but I am not sure anyone can be strong enough...not as strong as he is anyway."

The line dwindled and Carys and Dai began chatting softly with Jack. Ianto noticed that they both kept their hands on Jack who still held on to the adoring infant. Finally, Dai moved to Enid and whispered something and Enid went to her harp and sat down.

Enid's long stroke quieted everyone and Dai spoke.

"Father has a gift for Haf that he will share with us."
Enid began playing as Jack's rich baritone sang the Welsh verse, another old tune but this was one that Ianto recognized.
"Beth yw'r haf i mi? Dim ond gaeaf llwm a dagrau'n lli'
Er pan gollais di, nid yw'r hirddydd haf yn ddim i mi.
Gariad bach er cilio'n ffôl
Dwed a ddoi di eto'n ôl.
Nid yw'r haf i mi'n ddim ond hirlwm er pan gollais di..."

Ianto knew what this one was about his father had translated it for him one time but at this point all he could remember was the translation for the first verse.
"What's the summer to me? Just a poor winter and a flood of tears
Since I lost you, long summer days are nothing to me.
Little love, despite forsaking
Say you'll come back again
The summer means only long emptiness since I lost you..."

And didn't it just make him nuts that Jack knew more Welsh than he did. So much for the whole heritage and the totally crap line he'd given when Jack chided him for not knowing the entirety of the British monarchy since Queen Victoria. He recalled it vividly... '... I am WELSH and as far as WE are concerned our monarchy ended with Glyndwr Owain in the fifteenth century...we are still an occupied nation, subjugated by the English.'

Wasn't that just a laugh now in the face of all this...this Welsh-ness? What was it his mother used to say...'holier than thou'... it was truly humbling. And all this time he'd thought Jack was the one with the ego and here this alien...for Jack was as alien as the rest of these people... and his makeshift family knew more of his heritage and language than he did. It was embarrassing. He wondered if Edwin or Sarian would consider tutoring him.

Jack sang in clear tones as the tear tracks dried on his face. Several of the family members joined him in the second verse and by the final verse the entire family...even Siorus (with his odd lisp) was singing with Jack.

When the song ended, Jack passed Haf to Sarian who kissed her and passed her on to Andras. Haf then was handed from person to person, everyone wanting to hold her for even a short time, the smiles while alien were genuine and loving. Jack walked over to Ianto and smiled.

"Alright, Jack?"
"Yeah, I just didn't expect that... they took me by surprise... Sarian the creep, never told me about her middle name."
"They seem to be full of surprises, your children."
"They are that."
"It was a beautiful ceremony."
"Yes...Carys and Dai wrote it and did a great job."
"May I ask you about the shawl?" Ianto motioned to the embellished silk.

"Tess taught Marigold to embroider and Marigold made it for her..." Jack lifted one edge and showed Ianto the tiny marigolds embroidered on the edge. "...After Marigold died Tess asked each one to add something to the shawl, it's a tradition they've kept up ever since. Of course these days it's usually Sarian, Enid or Carys who teaches them how to embroider. Everyone designs their own pattern and even those who don't like to or cannot manage to embroider something large add something even if only a star and they all add the names they were given at their naming ceremony."

Jack opened the shawl out more to show one side to Ianto...who was amazed at the kinds of things that had been embroidered. There were planets and stars, ships and landscapes, what looked like a city skyline and roses, of course. There were also names everywhere Ianto saw a lot of names that he could put faces to and a lot he couldn't.

"There's a lot of names on this...more than are here today, aren't there?"
"Yeah, some like Marigold succumbed to the atmosphere, her lungs accumulated too many toxins and our technology couldn't clear them. If she'd been on Pasna it would have been the equivalent of a cold, but she wasn't and couldn't survive."
"You lost others as well?"
"There were various things, RTAs, a drowning, lightning...we lost several to common Earth illnesses..."

The shawl passed through Jack's fingers as he pointed to one name after another of his children that were no longer alive. His fingers lingered over one or two names feeling the raised lettering and his eyes became teary again.

"Father?"
"Blodwen?"
"Will you join us in refreshments? Andras has opened several special wines one of which he insist you try."

As she finished Andras did indeed walk up to Jack and Ianto with two glasses of white wine.
"Father, Ianto...would you try my new Muscat?"
Jack took a glass and laughed looking at Ianto.
"And you wondered why I don't usually drink. It's because every Awst I have to sample every single wine Andras can dream up."

"Father I did not dream this one up, Muscat is a perfectly traditional wine."
Ianto tasted the sample.
"Well, Andras I am ashamed to say I am no wine connoisseur...and while this is really good...I liked the one we had last night better."
"The Botrytis Riesling?"
"That's the one...this is much drier."

***

As Ianto was educated about the wine he was drinking, Jack wandered back towards the group that was still passing Haf around. As Jack approached Llinos, Aled's wife, smiled sadly and handed the baby back to Jack.

"I wish Aled and I could have one."
"I know LeeLee, but you know that won't work. Have you two thought at all about adopting a human child?"
"We have not, Papa... I wasn't sure if... it would be an option for us."
Jack wrapped one arm around Llinos while cradling Haf in the other.
"Sweetling, you talk to Aled and then we will talk. I'm only a couple of hours away, if you'd like I can either come back here or you can come to Cardiff. There's no reason you can't...we've done it before. Talk to Aled, but don't push him, LeeLee...this can't be a rash or unilateral decision." Jack kissed the side of her face and the row of spines along her head flared, Jack stroked them back and smiled.

"You know we've done it before. There are plenty of human children who need loving parents too...think about it and talk to Al...promise?"
"I will papa, thank you." She leaned up and kissed his cheek.
"Now I suspect by the smell that my darling Haf needs some attention... I think it's time we look for your Mam, sweetling."

Llinos smiled as Jack went in search of Carys or Dai to hand off the fragrant baby. After he had handed Haf back to her father for attention, Sarian and Blodwen took him aside.

"Father may we speak to you for a moment?"
"Of course, Bloddy."
"Some of us have been discussing Ianto..."
"Well sweetling as long as that is ALL you have been doing." Jack winked.
"Father this is serious."
"Of course...sorry."
"We were wondering if you were going to ask him to become part of the family?"
"I am considering it, why?"
"Because we think you should tell him that there are concerns."
"What will that serve?"
"Maybe it will help him understand."
"Well, I already told him...this morning in fact."
"What did he say?"
"He offered to go back to Cardiff and I told him no. Your brothers and sisters will just have to get used to it."

Blodwen looked up at Sarian. "Could you leave us for a moment, brother?"
"Certainly." Sarian bowed slightly and walked in the other direction as Blodwen took Jack's elbow and guided him away from the group.

"Did you tell him WHY there are concerns?"
"Yes...what are you getting at Blodwen?"
"I have been requested to ask you a question..."
"To see if my answer is truthful?"
"Yes, father."

"Ask away."
"Do you trust Ianto?"
"Completely... I didn't for a long time after the incident, you know that. But I do now, he's proven himself."
"But he betrayed you again after that, father."
"And I know his reasons and accept them. Bloddy, do you honestly think I would jeopardize any of you if I didn't trust him?"
"I think, cariad that you have been without for so long that you could just possibly be blinded by your emotions."

Jack's face dropped and his shoulders tensed noticeably he turned quickly from Blodwen who stood quietly waiting. Then he turned back to her.

"Don't make me choose, it will not be an either or. I am old enough to make my own decisions, I am older ...actually, I'm older than all of you put together. Do you have ANY idea what he means to me? Of course you do...look who I'm talking to... I spent almost 2,000 years underground Blodwen...and every time I regained consciousness he was my very first thought. His time is so short, he's a breath on the wind...you all are; but I NEED him... I need a respite from the loneliness."

Both Jack and Blodwen's eyes were filled with tears.
"I'm sorry, taddy." Blodwen started to cry and Jack wrapped her in his arms and cried with her.
"I know, baban."
"I didn't want to ask you; but I was the only one who could."
"It's alright. You go back and tell them what I said. If they won't accept him then he and I both will go back to Cardiff."

Blodwen pulled back to look in Jack's face.
"Before Awst ends?"
"Sweetling, if they can't accept him, then Calan Awst as I knew it will be over. We have always accepted everyone into our family without question. It has never mattered what someone did or was before they were taken. Who they were, what they were stayed there and this was a fresh start with a new family. We never had a reason to trust anyone, but we always did anyway. If the rules are going to change now then maybe this isn't the family I thought I knew. I'll continue to fund the project but will leave the day to day running to the elders."

"Father, no! We don't want that...none of us."
"I'm not having a temper tantrum, Blodwen...but this is my decision...my life. I need him, you all have each other and as much as I love every one of you, none of you can be what he is to me."
"And what is that, father?"

"That, my dear, is the end of this conversation." Jack turned and looked at Ianto then turned back to Blodwen.

"I want you to take him somewhere...back to the suite, the winery...somewhere else. I want to talk to them...alone."
"But father,"
"Now, Blodwen."
"Yes, father." She dried her eyes and started back to the group. Jack continued to stand on the periphery and watched as she spoke quietly to Ianto and they started back to the suite.

When they were well away Jack clapped his hands.
"I hope everyone is here..." he pressed a few buttons on his vortex manipulator to check the location of any other alien life signs and then one to record a message.

"...Blodwen's done your dirty work and for the record, I trust Ianto completely. I understand some of you have concerns and that is to be expected. But in this family we trust each other...and I know coming from me this is probably laughable...we trust each other with our lives. Yes, he was Torchwood One but now he knows what One was all about...how they...what they did. He is not like that. Now, I'll tell you what I told Blodwen. If you cannot accept him I'll take Ianto back to Cardiff...remove myself from the day to day running of the family and leave it to the elders. I'll continue to provide the funding, but won't be involved in operations anymore. I will keep him as far away from the family as I can, so I won't have any further involvement. I will NOT give him up because as much as I love every one of you... I need him. I'm going back to my room now, I suggest you have a council and discuss it, let me know your decision this afternoon...and before you ask, I will NOT retcon him. Prynhawn da."

Jack turned and strode quickly away leaving cries of 'papa!' and 'father!' echoing after him.

He pretty much stomped back into the suite, taking off the shawl and folding it carefully before running a hand over the soft pile and placing it on the table. He looked up at Ianto and Blodwen speaking harshly.

"Blodwen, please leave us."
Ianto looked shocked he'd not heard that tone from Jack with any of his children before. Blodwen made her odd little bow.
"Yes, father." She left via the garden door closing it behind her and walking quickly back to the group that seemed to have surged closer. Jack got up and closed the drapes on the garden door.

"You look angry...what happened?"
Jack just shrugged and shook his head.
"Don't say nothing Jack...what's going on?"
"They sent Blodwen to do their dirty work."

"They don't trust me...that's understandable."
"No, it really isn't. Every single one of them started in this family with a clean slate..." Jack pointed to the now curtained garden doors "...they weren't all angels, weren't all innocents, there are a couple of real questionable histories out there but they ALL got another chance when they came here. They were all given the same opportunity to start over...past absolved. They all took advantage of that second chance and there isn't one out there that hasn't used that chance to their own benefit and made something of their lives here...and that's fine. However you did nothing but make the mistake of being hired by One and suddenly you're reprehensible?"

"But I did more than that... I betrayed you...twice."
"And I forgave you."
"But..."
"No but... I forgave you... I understand your reasons and forgive you. You betrayed ME not them...and they don't even KNOW about that...they're condemning you just for having been associated with One. I won't have it."

"What do you mean, you won't have it."
"We're going home."

Ianto looked shocked "What!"
"I said we're going back to Cardiff."
"But what about the Awst?"
"Let them have it...let them run everything...I can't do it anymore."
"Jack, you're being unreasonable..."

"Am I? I don't think so...I give them every thing they need, do everything I can for them... I need you... I won't give you up for them. If they can't understand that, then they aren't the people that I thought they were." Jack headed for the bedroom.

"Where are you going?"
"To pack."

***

Jack started to pack a lot less neatly than he had in Cardiff, his vortex manipulator beeping continuously as he did.
Finally in a fit of pique or perhaps frustration he nearly ripped it from his wrist and flung it across the room narrowly missing Ianto's face as it hit the bedroom door.

"Jack...stop."
"No...we're going."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"Yes, we are."
"Go then, I'm going to stay here and try to change their minds. You don't want to do this; I've seen you with them, they adore you and you adore them. Don't do something you'll regret...they need you."

"And I NEED YOU... I NEED to take care of ME for once and I need YOU..." Jack sat heavily on the bed with his head bent low, elbows on his knees and nearly wringing his hands.
Ianto couldn't see Jack's face, not really but he saw the tears dripping onto his hands.

Jack's voice was very soft.
"I ...love... you."

Ianto was torn. On one hand he wanted to jump for joy, Jack had finally admitted his feelings and said the words Ianto had wanted to hear. On the other hand this was not the way he wanted to hear them, not from a Jack who was this despondent. He sat down heavily on the chair across the room and stared into space then he took a deep breath.

"Well... there it is then."
"I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry for."
"Yes I do, I didn't want to say it when YOU needed it, when you needed the words...but now because I need to say the words..."
"Doesn't matter..."
"Yes it does..." Jack looked up "...there should be wine, soft music and candlelight."

Ianto got up and came over to the bed, sitting down next to Jack and taking his hand.
"I don't need wine, music and candlelight...what I need is you. But I don't want you to tell me what I want to hear at the expense of your family. It's not fair to either of us."
Ianto pulled Jack closer and Jack put his head on Ianto's shoulder.
"I've made a mess of everything."

"No you haven't...they adore you, a little spat won't diminish that." Ianto kissed the side of his head.
"Come on, get up a moment and let's get more comfortable." Jack stood and Ianto kicked off his shoes and bunched the pillows up.

"Come here and let me hold you." Ianto lay down and held his arm out. Jack quickly untied his shoes and kicked them off then lay down curling into Ianto's side, head on his chest. Jack lay quietly listening to Ianto's heartbeat under his ear. Ianto ran his fingers through the short hairs on the nape of Jack's neck.

"You need to talk to them."
"No."
"Stop it...don't be so stubborn. They were worried and you let your emotions rule you. Talk to them again...and after that if you still want to go home, I'll go with you, and for the record... I love you too."

Jack sniffled a little and Ianto just held him closer. Jack's breathing hitched a few times and then evened out, before long they were both asleep.


Blodwen was beside herself, she could feel the emotional distress rolling off of her father in great waves and emotions that strong from one whom she loved so much were difficult to block out. Enid wrapped her in her arms and tried to comfort her as Sarian called the group to order.

"Brothers and sisters...Blodwen has done as we asked and as you can see is much distressed by the task. Father has decided that if we cannot accept Ianto he will leave Awst and return to Cardiff and then withdraw from the family operations entirely. This is something that none of us desire..."

Blodwen pulled herself together and stepped away from Enid.

"Brothers and sisters...this task was difficult but I can tell you in no uncertain terms that father is being completely truthful and serious when he says that he will withdraw from the family if we do not accept this young man. What you may not have realized, and I can say honestly that I wasn't sure of either until he and I spoke...is that he LOVES Ianto. This is something he has not even told Ianto as yet because I suspect he remains in denial about it himself. I however have no such qualms...Jack Harkness loves this young man with his whole heart and we are making a mistake to judge Ianto based on his prior associations with One. We have all made mistakes and father accepted us and gave us a second chance...those of you who were cared for by Mamgu know that she likewise never judged us based on our species or what we may have done prior to being taken. We must demonstrate the same kindness and consideration to this young man who holds father's heart. If we do not, we stand to lose much more than just father or even Mamgu's memory...we lose our own integrity as a family."

Sarian picked back up "Blodwen's right. We were all given a second chance by father; we must show we have learned from his example. I think Mamgu now rests easier knowing that he has found someone to complete him in her absence. I cannot deny him that which I have encouraged him to find since even before Mamgu's death. She wanted him to be happy, to find someone he could be happy with, now he has and we like spoiled children say the choice is not a good one...for US. This is not about what is good for us...this is about what is good for father. We should be jubilant for him...yet we act selfishly...like children. He was his own man long before any of us arrived and will still be his own man long after we are all dust. Who are we to dictate to him who he can love? Has he ever said to any one of us that we could not love someone? Would you dictate to Dai and Carys, Andras and Rhosyn, Nye and Neiron, Llinos and Aled, Siorus and Carol... I could go on and on. Those of you, like Si who have human partners...did father ever once tell you that you couldn't? We should not preach to this man. I call for a vote...is there anyone here who would deny him his love after he has given us so much?"

Sarian stood quietly while his brothers and sisters considered his question and argument. Finally, Gethin Jones formerly one of Tesni's kids spoke up.

"Tad did not deny me when I asked about disclosing myself to Mari; he did not balk when we asked to wed. None of you denied us happiness."
The human woman in question glanced over at him, squeezed one of his hands and also spoke up.
"His love and acceptance has allowed us to be happy for almost 20 years now. He could have told Gethin no...he could have relocated Gethin and retconned me. But he will never deny anyone love...how can we presume to deny him the same consideration he has ALWAYS given every one of us...Earth born or not? Had it not been for Geth I never would have met Jack Harkness or any of you and I think I am a better person for having met you all. He and you have taught me the TRUE meaning of family. I never had this kind of relationship in the Earth family into which I was born. I can also tell you that for the diversities that have been cultivated into a family among you is a very rare thing, few are this lucky even with natural born families."

Jack's nightmare woke Ianto first. Jack was clutching Ianto's shirt and shaking his head. Ianto stirred and then rubbed at Jack's uppermost shoulder and began talking to him.
"Jack? You're okay...you're fine...shhhhh."
Jack's eyes fluttered then opened.

"Ianto?"
"Present."
"What time is it?"
"Early, half four."
"If we leave now we can be back in Cardiff by half seven."
"No... I told you, I won't go...please Jack. I love you but you need to make peace with them."
Jack looked up and kissed Ianto on the chin.

"I need a drink." Jack got up and headed for the sitting room walking right past his vortex manipulator still lying on the floor where it had fallen when he threw it.

Ianto sat up and started after him stopping when the wrist strap made a sound other than the annoying beeping. He bent and picked it up from the floor, then followed Jack into the sitting room.
"Jack this made an odd sound."
"It's just messages...ignore it." He poured several fingers of Penderyn into a glass and sipped.
"No, it wasn't the usual beep it sounded different." Ianto handed him the strap and Jack flipped open the cover and stared.

"It's the remote rift monitor, there's rift activity."
"Oh of course because today couldn't possibly get more demanding...where?"
"Doesn't matter it's only a small disturbance, it doesn't look like anything came through."
"Are you sure? Would you like me to go check with the monitor in the SUV?"

"You can if you want..." Jack shrugged and knocked back the remainder of the single malt in his glass. He started to reach for the bottle and stopped. "...No, wait...you know what? Let's go check it out anyway. It's down near Porthcawl shouldn't take us much more than an hour to get there."

"See, conveniently located as well. How often does the rift cooperate like that?"
Jack put down the cut crystal glass so hard it shattered. Ianto looked at him and spoke.

"Well, that's me driving then."
Jack just looked at the glass and shrugged.

Ianto retrieved his suit coat and Jack's great coat and they headed for the suite door. Jack swept towards the SUV like a tidal wave with Ianto moving along in his wake. Jack said nothing but Ianto managed a tight smile when the front desk person greeted them with a cheery 'good afternoon'. Ianto noticed as the door closed behind them that she had picked up the telephone and had a concerned look on her face.

Jack tossed him the keys after unlocking the SUV and opening the boot. He keyed in an access code and opened the weapons locker.

"Really? I thought you said it was a minor disturbance and nothing came through?" Jack handed him a standard issue handgun in a holster, then retrieved his Webley and opened his belt to slide its holster into place.
"No reason not to be prepared, why take chances?"
"There is that I suppose." Ianto checked his weapon and took off his coat sliding into the shoulder holster before replacing his jacket.

They got into the SUV and Ianto waited until Jack was belted before starting the engine and asking for directions. They headed for the B4295.

***

In the garden, Sarian received the call on his mobile and his distress was obvious to everyone. Blodwen moved quickly to his side.
"What is it?"
"Father and Ianto are gone."
"Gone?"
"They've left."

Blodwen stood calmly for a moment with her eyes closed, reaching for Jack with her mind.
"He's either blocking me or they are too far away. With father it is sometimes difficult to tell, he can utilize mental shields."
"Should you call him, Sarian?" Andras asked as Rhosyn moved nervously to his side and took his hand.

In the SUV as Ianto drove, Jack worked on his vortex manipulator.
"What are you doing?"
"Canceling appointments."
"Shouldn't you reschedule them instead?"
"No, not sure I want to...that's their problem anyway...let them figure it out."
"You're being unreasonable."
"No, I don't think so, let them stew a bit."
"Ja-ack."
"Just drive, Ianto...the turn is coming up."
Ianto shook his head and made the turn.

Jack's work on his wrist strap became more intense.
"Ianto, pull over."
"What?"
"I said pull over...now."

Ianto pulled over and Jack scrambled into the back seat of the SUV and started to work feverishly on one of the computers mounted there.
"Drive...now!"
"What's going on, Jack?"
"Something else has come through and there are life signs...put on the lights and get moving."
"Where?"
"Exactly the same place near Porthcawl...really close to the first mark."

Ianto flipped on the emergency lights and put his foot down. Via computer Jack notified the South Wales Police dispatch that Torchwood was responding to an incident near Porthcawl and they would be moving at high speed on the M4 and A4229.

"Can you tell what has come through? Is it dangerous?"
"No, just that there are life signs and it isn't very big. In my experience if there are life signs and it's this size it's usually in danger from humans, not the other way around."

While Ianto drove, his mobile wallowing in the depths of his jacket pocket vibrated steadily. Jack had turned his mobile off so any messages from the Awst group were going to voicemail. Ianto supposed they had gotten tired of leaving voice messages for Jack and were now calling him.

"Jack my mobile is ringing off the hook, please turn yours on, you're who they want to talk to not me."
"I'm busy, Ianto..."
"And I'm DRIVING Jack."
"It's coming up on the right."
"That's a field."
"I can see that...pull in here."

Ianto pulled the SUV over the trench at the side of the road and into the field; luckily the hedgerow was scant in this area.

Jack picked up a handheld scanner and was out of the car and running before Ianto had even fully stopped. Having learned a valuable lesson in the Brecon Beacons, Ianto put the SUV in park, took the keys and locked it before taking off after Jack.

He wasn't difficult to follow; his coat billowed out behind him as he ran, but he disappeared midway across the field. Ianto stopped, called out to him and then drew his weapon. Jack had turned off his mobile and they hadn't put on the comms so Ianto slowed down, still heading in the same direction with perhaps a bit less style and a great deal more caution than Jack.

Jack's disappearance was due to the contours of the field and Ianto was relieved when he got to the top of the rise to see Jack just below him squatting next to something.

"Jack!"
"Ianto...put your weapon away."
"What is it?"
"Stop where you are and put your weapon away. I'll tell you when you can come closer."
"Jack, what is it?"
"Who, Ianto...WHO is it...just do as I say or you'll scare her."

Ianto stopped and reluctantly put his weapon away, then walked slowly to where Jack was kneeling and speaking very softly in a language Ianto did not understand.
"Is that a baby?"

On the ground in front of Jack were two beings, an adult and a small child that had obviously been protected on its journey through the rift by the body of its parent.

"That looks like Enid."
Jack was making soothing sounds and softly stroking the arm of the terrified child who was trying desperately to waken its now dead parent.

"Mother's dead...but this little one is terrified...get on the phone call Sarian we need Enid here...she can help. Go back to the SUV get me one of the blankets."

"Will do." Ianto turned and headed back to the SUV at a dead run. When he got there while he dug in the boot for a couple of thermal blanket he called Sarian's mobile. Sarian answered immediately.

"Ianto! We've been trying to reach you..."
"Not now, Sarian we went out on a rift alert. There's a baby and a mother I think. The parent's dead but the baby is alive...Jack says he needs Enid...the baby is a ...I forget, but it's the same as Enid..."
"A Stas?..."
"Yeah, that's it... Jack says he needs Enid here."

Ianto could hear a great deal of commotion in the background as the information filtered through whatever group Sarian was with.
"Can you send us coordinates, Ianto? I'll bring Enid and Blodwen and be right there..."
"We took the M4 and got off at..."
"No, just send me the coordinates...Jack has us well equipped here...we can find you once we get in the area."
"Alright...please be as quick as you can...I don't know if the baby is injured or not."
"Then we'll bring Dai as well...hang on Ianto."

Ianto hung up and grabbed two thermal blankets then started to run back towards where Jack had been trying to calm the infant. He slowed when Jack came into sight and noticed that now the captain was standing next to the body of the adult. For the second time that day Jack cradled an alien infant in his arms.

"Jack... I spoke to Sarian, he's bringing Enid and Dai too in case the baby is injured."
Jack looked up smiling and nodded before replying in a sing-song voice.

"That's good, isn't it, sweetling? That's very good."
"Here's the blanket." Ianto opened the packaging and unfolded the thermal blanket. The baby startled in Jack's arms.

"Shhhh, shhhh...it's just a blanket...look, nothing to be afraid of..."
Jack started to croon a song in a language Ianto did not understand and as the baby quieted Jack looked up.

"I suppose it's a surprise this didn't happen sooner. Drathac 6 has a very active rift...it was only a matter of time before it happened again."
"Have there been other Stas?"
"Several but they have been dead on arrival, this is the first since Enid to come through alive...let's hope she stays that way."
"Is she hurt?"
"Not that I can tell; but the trauma of coming through the rift can kill even after the physical transition has been made. We'll know better when Dai gets here."

Jack took one blanket from Ianto and saw he had a second.
"Use that one to cover up the parent until Enid gets here...but don't cover the head..."
Ianto did just as asked without question.
"...there's a death ceremony for Stas, the covering of the head is something Enid should do...unfortunately she's had to do it before... too many times."
Ianto just nodded and he and Jack headed back to the SUV to wait for the troops.

"Do you want me to turn on the heat?"
"No, Stas like it cold..."
"Oh that's right Enid moved to Thurso."
"And it looks like she might be moving back here if she takes this little one. I don't want her all the way up there with an infant. Or maybe Llinos and Aled will take her...Llinos wants a baby very badly they were going to consider adopting a human child."

"They can do that?" Ianto was a little surprised. He knew some had human husbands and wives; he'd met many of them already and heard many of their stories. He'd not been aware that there were some who had already adopted.

"Well, it's easier to arrange when at least one partner is human; but we can manage it."
"Sounds to me like maybe you withdrawing from the family isn't such a good idea, huh?"
"I don't- want to- talk about- that right- now." Jack trilled as he smiled down at the baby in his arms.

Ianto watched Jack with the infant Stas and felt oddly at peace with the sight of Jack rocking and humming to an alien infant. He wondered if this baby was as attracted to Jack's pheromones as Haf had been. Then he though about how much he loved that look on Jack's face and was just the tiniest bit jealous of the baby.

They sat waiting for about an hour before another black SUV pulled up alongside.
"Sarian's SUV looks like this one."
"That's because it's a Torchwood SUV." Jack commented and watched as Sarian opened the door for Enid and Blodwen then followed them and Dai to where Jack sat in the back seat.

"Father?" Enid approached and bowed.
"We have a dead parent, sweetling she was protecting this little one. I don't know if she's hurt."

Enid looked down and smiled then said something in a language which sounded to Ianto very much like dolphin clicks and whistles with vowels.
Jack handed the baby to the woman and got out of the SUV making way for Dai to look the child over.

"Taddy, are you alright?" Blodwen asked.
"I don't know, baban, I just don't know. Go help Dai with the baby, I need Enid."
"Certainly, father." She made her odd little bow and moved to Enid's side at the SUV. Enid came back to Jack and Ianto.

"Sweetling, what do you need?"
"Some water and a blanket and some tree leaves unless you have any seaweed."
Jack turned to Ianto.

"I have some bottled water and here's a blanket. I'll get some leaves from the tree over there, will that be enough? I unfortunately don't have anything that would pass for seaweed."
"That will be fine, thank you. She was dead when you got here, father?"
"Yes, Sweetling I was too busy with the baby to look for a name."
"I'll look."

Jack stepped back while Enid laid the body flat and looked for any identifying marks.
Ianto came back with some oak leaves and two large bottles of water.
"I didn't know how much she needs here are a couple I have four more if she needs them. What is she doing?"

"She's looking for identifying marks; sometimes Stas have clan marks. You'll find with any of these cultures they put great value on names...family names, clan names, individual names. It'll also make it easier to choose a name for the baby."

Sarian walked up beside them.
Jack looked over at him. "How's the baby?"
"Dai says the baby is in shock but should survive. He's immersed her in the seawater we brought and Blodwen is soothing her and it seems to be helping."
"Good...that's good."

"Father...about what happened..."
"Not now, Sarian...this is neither the time nor place. Enid is releasing the mother."
"I am sorry father." Sarian bowed his head and stood facing the body and Enid.
Enid walked back over to the group.

"This is not the child's mother...older sister perhaps but this female has not spawned as yet, she is too young. She has only a clan mark and her lateral line has not fully formed."
"So she may be an older sister or maybe a babysitter?" Jack asked.
Enid nodded.
"Enid... Ianto, Sarian and I sorrow for the loss of your kinswoman."
"Your tears are balm, father...Sarian, Ianto, their flow helps her spirit return to the water from which she came." Enid bowed slightly to the three of them and then returned to the body.

Ianto heard more of the clicks and whistles as Enid poured one bottle of the water over the body then removed the coiled bracelets that covered both arms. Then she placed the oak leaves on the face, wrapped the blanket tightly over the body and finally covered the face with the blanket.

When she came back to them she handed Jack the bracelets. "Please keep these for me, father. I should return to the baby." Jack put the bracelets in his coat pocket and turned to Sarian.

"Can you help Ianto with the body, Sarian?"
"Certainly, father."
"Is there any problem with using a body bag, Jack?"
"No not now, Ianto...Enid sent her on her way...now there is just a body..." Jack took the bracelets out of his pocket. "...This is her symbolic identity right here."

Ianto went back to the SUV to get a body bag.
Sarian stayed with Jack.

"You could have told us why you were leaving. We were all worried."
"I do things every day without telling any of you. This was no different."
"We thought you'd gone back to Cardiff."
"I wanted to... Ianto wouldn't let me."
"You're still angry."
"Yes."

***

Ianto walked past the two towards the body. Jack turned without another word and headed back to the SUV with his hands folded behind his back. Sarian went to help Ianto.

"He's still so angry."
Ianto looked up and towards Jack who was standing at Sarian's SUV looking into the back seat and speaking with Dai and Enid.

"The anger is just a façade; he's more hurt than angry."
"He said you wouldn't let him go back to Cardiff."
"I told him that I wouldn't go with him. He needs to resolve this, he can't think he can just walk away and be happy. He'd be miserable...he knows it; he's just reluctant to admit it. Maybe this baby will make him come around before he becomes too miserable."
Ianto and Sarian hefted the body into the bag and started towards the SUV.

"I knew this would hurt him...that's why we were having the council when you arrived. We wanted to try to alleviate everyone's concerns before you got there."

"Is there a plan B?"
"No, but I'm working on it, how about you?"
Ianto shrugged.
"I wish I did. I hate to see him like this...he was so happy about coming here... it was like a transformation, he was a different man...and I was really enjoying it."
"We've botched it I'm afraid, we really hurt him."

They carefully loaded the body into the Torchwood Cardiff SUV, Ianto was wondering if Jack would ride back with Enid and the baby or with him. They closed the boot of the SUV and Ianto walked over to the other.

On the back seat between Dai and Enid was a plastic bin of the type Ianto and his chums used to haul beer to their rugby games. In the bin, in about six inches of seawater was the baby. Enid kept ladling water over the baby's head with her webbed hand, while clicking and whistling to her. Dai was monitoring the read outs from a couple of sensors he had attached to the baby.

"Jack we're all done here."
"Not quite... I have to find the first thing that came through, we still don't know what it was...just that it was small and non living." Jack turned from the SUV and flipped open his wrist strap.

"I'll be right back." He walked off staring down at his vortex manipulator tracking the residual energy signature from the object. He returned a few minutes later with an odd looking green basket.
Enid got out of the SUV.

"Well that explains it..." she reached for the basket and ran her fingers through the goop inside.
"What is that?" Ianto asked staring into the basket.
"Food...if you're a poor Stas..." Jack said.
"She must have been foraging and the basket drifted away..."
"Into a rift breach... then she went after it with the baby and they also got caught up." Jack finished.
"This is plankton, Ianto...it's nutritious but difficult to harvest; my people usually only bother with it in times of hardship."
"So the baby may be malnourished, Dai." Jack said.
"I'll give her some additional calorie supplements along with the mineral bath when we get back."

Enid shook her head. "They were probably starving. Her marks were from one of the primitive clans of the southern oceans. It is not a place of plenty. The females there are frequently sold by their families and kept in herds. They may not even be related."

"I can compare their DNA when we get back." Dai said.
"Is it dangerous, this plankton..." Ianto asked "...to the environment here, I mean."
"No, it is incompatible...dead now. By the time we get back it will be only dirty looking water..." Enid said "...it is harmless to this biosphere."

Ianto took the basket and headed for the other Torchwood SUV, it went into the boot beside the body of the young Stas.

Jack drove back to the Seren Wib in the Torchwood Cardiff SUV with only Ianto in the car. He'd declined Blodwen's request to ride along saying he wanted to be alone with Ianto. Ianto wondered if it wasn't himself that Jack had wanted to be alone with as he'd yet to say a single word.

Finally Ianto broke the silence.
"What will happen now?"

"Now we do what we always have. We will care for the baby and she will become one of them...one of the rift children. She'll be introduced to all her brothers and sisters. We'll raise her, educate her, nurture her and ...protect her. She'll learn Welsh, English, Standard and probably Stas as well. She'll be taught a musical instrument, learn to sing, dance and even embroider. She'll be encouraged to find something she wants to do and build a future."

"It's all planned out then?"
"It always has been. This isn't new, Ianto...this is the way we always do it. We have an actual procedure to follow."
"Where do you fit in? What do you do?"

"Me?... These days I mostly just orchestrate and provide the funding and direction. I haven't been that much hands on since Blodwen came through."
"That must be hard for you."
"It is...a bit... I want to do it but don't have the time. Torchwood itself has changed since Bloddy came through. I can't refer activity to One's immediate response team like I used to. I have to check out everything...WE have to check out everything ourselves. There's no one else."

The rest of the ride was quiet. Ianto pondered how he could utilize this latest arrival to bridge the chasm that had formed between Jack and his children. Jack it seemed to Ianto was either deep in thought or pouting; it was hard to tell the difference. Jack was tough to read when he was quiet, but at least he wasn't driving like a maniac on the trip back, if anything he was driving too slowly.

"Let's go check on the baby. Sarian will take care of the body."

They pulled up to the rear of one of the outbuildings of Seren Wib. The other SUV was already parked and empty. Ianto followed Jack up to one of what appeared to be a service entrance. Jack punched in a code on a key pad next to the door and they walked into a foyer.

When Jack walked up to the door and leaned into a retinal scanner Ianto just had to ask.
"Why does a resort have a retinal scanner, Jack?"
"Because this isn't a typical resort, Ianto...I thought you had that figured out...come on."

The doors opened automatically and Ianto followed Jack into a large modern open plan office. Ianto might have mistaken it for the business office area of the resort had it not been for the Torchwood logo that was prominently displayed nearly everywhere.

"Welcome to Torchwood 5 Ianto. The kids called it Torchwood Cartref, or you might hear them just call it home."
"Torchwood Five? Are they... does the government know?"
"No...no one knows about it except me...and now you. This one is completely mine...this IS the family business."

One of the rift children, Bryn Davies a Cathril from a planetary system called Tov who had been introduced to Ianto as the beverage manager of the Seren Wib approached him and Jack, eyeing Ianto with some surprise.

"Director... Dai and Enid are in the med bay with the baby."
"Thanks, Bryn... the body of the other victim is in the Cardiff SUV can you have it taken care of?"
"Certainly Director..."
"Oh and the basket of plankton is there too. Destroy the plankton but please salvage the basket I think Enid may want it as one of the baby's legacy items..." as an afterthought Jack dug into his pocket for the bracelets and handed them to the man. "...these too. They were on the body."

Bryn accepted them carefully with one of his claws and turned to one of those manning a nearby station.
"Delphine, have the body from the Cardiff SUV removed to the incinerator, have the basket sanitized and then it and these placed in the secure archives."

Delphine nodded, rose to her full nearly 8 foot height and flowed to the door, accepting the bracelets from Bryn along the way.

Jack started to walk away but Ianto was so stunned he just stood and stared around him. Jack was across the room and about to enter another doorway when he turned.
"Ianto, you with me?"

Ianto shook his head a moment and walked quickly to Jack's side.
"This is quite a shock, Jack."
Jack stopped just short of stepping through the door and looked at him.

"And now, Ianto you know ALL of my secrets..."
"And Bryn didn't look happy about that."
Jack laughed "Bryn's a Cathril...they never LOOK happy...come on, let's go see the baby."

Jack started down a hallway that was lined with what appeared to be labs of various kinds.
"What are all these?"
"Labs, these are mostly the tech and computer labs...they're kind of empty right now because during Awst everyone is on vacation."
"How many labs are there?"

"We have five levels here...three are active and two are archives, storage and armory..." Jack stopped and pointed left at the end of the hallway. "...that's my office; Sarian's is right next to it he's the assistant director. The other one is for the DOD, the director of the day...basically the duty officer. Unlike Three, Five is never left unmanned...even during Awst there's a skeleton staff in rotation."

"Which would be why they have an SUV like ours." Ianto nodded.
Jack laughed.

"AN SUV?...Ianto, they have 10 fully equipped SUV's... plus an immediate response team. That's why I was in such a hurry to get out of here...before they did. Since I was on site they would defer to me for deployment orders."

"So that's why they were trying to contact you so insistently." Ianto nodded.
"Yep...come on, med bay's on level two." Jack placed his palm on the scanner next to the elevator and the pad turned green as the elevator responded. The door opened and they stepped inside.

'Level please' the voice response system inquired.
"Level Two" Jack replied. "I'll have to remember to give you access here otherwise the elevator and doors won't work for you.

Ianto felt very little movement before the elevator doors slid open and the voice announced 'Level Two'.

He followed Jack out and walked next to him, trying very hard not to bump into him as he walked and tried to look at everything around him. When Jack stopped and Ianto did walk into him Jack spoke.
"I promise I will give you the full tour...just not right this minute, so relax, okay?"
"Yeah...okay...this is just so much to take in."

At the end of a long hallway, a wide set of doors opened to a med bay that, Ianto thought would have had Owen coming in his pants. One of the attendants or nurses stood as Jack approached and smiled.

"Director, they are in isolation one...on the right." She pointed.
"Thank you, Enfys." Jack swept past and went directly to the isolation room. Ianto entered and saw Enid standing next to a tank of seawater ladling handfuls over the baby who now appeared to be sleeping.

"How is she?"
Dai and Helen were sitting side by side at a terminal, Helen looked up and smiled but Dai spoke.
"She's stable, director. I'll be starting her on high calorie supplements when she wakes up, right now Blodwen is sedating her."
Ianto looked across the room and Blodwen sat in a recliner type chair with her eyes closed, she appeared to be asleep.

"Alright, I'll be in my office. Call me when she wakes up." Jack stepped up next to Enid who turned to look at him.
"Looks like you may need to move back here for a while, sweetling. You're going to have your work cut out for you."
"True...but Thurso is so nice, father." She looked sad.
"And you can go back just as soon as this little one is out of danger. I'll have Ianto see what he can find for you around here."

Jack turned and headed out the door, Ianto followed.
They went back up to the first level and headed for Jack's office. Ianto looked around while Jack sat down at his desk.

This office had nothing in common with Jack's Cardiff office. This ultra modern looking room was paneled with a pale rose colored marble. There was a large work table along with a sitting area that included a leather sofa and several chairs with a large coffee table and various end tables. Jack sat down at the large marble topped desk and turned to the computer terminal in front of a bank of monitors to his right.

"Through that door is a kitchen..." Jack smiled hopefully "...there's a coffee machine."
"Oh is that a request?" Ianto smiled.
"Please? It's gonna take a few minutes for me to get you entered here."

Ianto shook his head and walked to the door. Through the door was a fully equipped kitchenette including a better coffee machine than he currently had in Cardiff. He found the grinder and beans and went to work.
When he came back into the office Jack was still working at the computer but looked up and smiled.

"Pull up a chair." He motioned to one of the rolling chairs at the desk's side and waved Ianto closer.
Ianto put the two cups down on the top of the desk and grabbing the chair that Jack had indicated sat down next to him. The three screen curved monitor sat off to the side of the desk. The central screen was where Jack was working, one of the others showed the med bay room where the baby Stas slept and the other just displayed the Torchwood logo.

"Got enough monitors, Jack?" Ianto laughed.
"Oh you ain't seen nothing, Mister Jones this is just the top row." Jack pressed a key on the keyboard and the bank of monitors rose up from the desk to display three more screens directly under the three that Jack had initially been using.

"That's amazing."
"Not so much...it's Azarian technology, Carys built it. The mainframe here was salvaged from the Azarian vessel that Dai was on...he was the only survivor of the crash. We think that was only because he was asleep in a stasis pod. Everyone else died. Carys harvested and salvaged the tech for us then adapted it to our needs here. It's a bio-tech mainframe."

"So it's a living computer...like the Cardiff mainframe?" "Yes, but more advanced. There is actually an interface between the two, but it's so well disguised and buried that not even Toshiko ever found it. This baby has made some upgrades to the Cardiff mainframe." Jack patted his desk fondly.

"I thought that was you."
"Well, it was. I directed them and programmed this...so yes it was me."
"So...instead of Cardiff's country cousin this Cartref is actually the superpower and we're the underprivileged ones?"

"Ummm, basically...yes. I would have had to explain why and how, there was no way to do that without exposing Five and the whole project. So, I harvested or had the others harvest what we could and destroy or archive what we couldn't then left the mostly useless or less dangerous stuff for Three to find."

"You're right...it would have been difficult to explain." Ianto agreed. "...and who better to examine alien tech than actual aliens."

Jack stopped what he was doing and turned to face Ianto.

"This is it, Ianto...this is all of me, every single one of my secrets..."

"Including your secret army." Ianto added.
"Including my secret army." Jack agreed.

"Your secret army of aliens."
"My secret army of aliens."

"Your secret army of aliens who all speak Welsh."

Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Where are you going with this?"

"Nowhere in particular, I just liked to hear you repeating me." Ianto smiled.

***

Jack picked up his coffee and sipped.
"Is it okay? It's not a machine I'm used to."
"It's wonderful as usual...sit here and see if you can log in." Jack tapped a few keys and brought up the Torchwood logo screen.
Ianto switched chairs with Jack sinking into the deeply cushioned leather.
"Nice chair."

"Hey I come here to relax. Your user name is the same."
Ianto typed in 'ianto.jones' then looked up at Jack.

"Password?"
"I love Jack...no spaces, all lower case. You can change it on the login screen....if you want."

Jack smiled and Ianto laughed.
"Why in the world would I want to change something that unique?"

Jack slid into the chair that Ianto had vacated and directed him through the various features of Five's system.

"You can send email to Three directly but the mainframe here changes the ip address and details to a front called Gower Winery Tours...very pretty background, lots of pictures...easy to ignore unless your looking for them. If you should get any they'll probably go to your spam box so you'll have to reset your filter."

"This system is much more elaborate than we have at Three."
"Well, it'll take some getting used to. But take the virtual tour..." Jack reached over and guided Ianto's mouse to an icon in the corner. "...since we have members from so many diverse species and tech levels we have an extensive help system and virtual tour of not only the facility but the archives as well. You might enjoy that...you can call up holographic 3D images of every item and view all the details including prospective applications."
"Really? How do I get there?"

"Just follow the links it will offer you a tour of the archives. You have access to everything but the personnel files...and that's just because I want a decision from the family council before I go there...IF I go there."
"Okay...what will you be doing while I'm touring the archives?"

"I'm going to check in with Bryn and then Dai. Keeping that baby asleep is taking a lot out of Blodwen and she will never say anything to them. So I'm going back to the med bay...come here for a minute." Jack got up and headed for a panel on the wall. He opened it and keyed in some commands.

"Put your palm flat there...first right and then left..." when that had been completed with the computer recording Ianto's palm scans, Jack then directed him to look into the retinal scanner once again right eye first and then left.

"Did Siorus have to do this three times?" Ianto asked laughing as he stepped back from the retinal scanner.
Jack laughed "Yes he did and Gethin had to scan all four palms too...we don't discriminate at Five."

Jack went back to the desk and gulped down the remainder of his coffee and then grinned.
"You have fun... I'm going down to the med lab. It's on level two if you need me just press this button..." Jack pointed to a small flat device located to the side of the computer keyboard. "...it's a comm system." Jack took a comm headset from the top drawer and put it in his ear.
Ianto nodded and turned back to the screen in front of him.

After Jack forced Blodwen to remove herself from the baby's proximity, Dai and Helen went to work rehydrating and beginning to nourish the baby Stas.

Jack took Blodwen aside to speak to her.
"I've given Ianto accesses here; I've decided that if anyone doesn't like it they can... make other arrangements. I refuse to be dictated to regarding my own choices for my own project. This is my executive decision and as such is not subject to any family council recommendations. Cartref is still mine, managed and funded by me...I've permitted the council to advise in the past but the ultimate decision is still mine."

Blodwen smiled sadly and took Jack's hand.
"That, director, is your decision and my brothers and sisters will have to learn to live with it. You try to please everyone, father that is something that as we grow in size as a group you will find that you are able to do less and less. We acquire different mindsets as we acclimate to this new life. We spread out and are influenced greatly by the things around us. I doubt you will be able to please everyone on everything. It will have to be a learning curve for both us and you...and for the record... I support your decision wholeheartedly."

Jack looked relieved.
"Thank you." He took the small woman in his arms and hugged her kissing the top of her head.
"My baban, that's taddy's girl."
She hugged back tightly. "Always, taddy...always."

Jack tried to return to his office but was waylaid by Sarian.
"Director."
"Sarian."
"May I speak with you for a moment?"
Jack sighed "It'll have to be in your office, Ianto is using mine."

Sarian opened the door and he and Jack entered and sat on the couch.
"I know you're still angry, father."
"I'm trying hard not to be Sarian...but you need to know I've made my choice."
"And may I ask what it is?"

"Cartref is mine...lock, stock and barrel. Ianto is in... I've given him full access to everything but the personnel files. If anyone doesn't like it then they will be retired from Five and their file restricted to executive access only, all attempts to accommodate relocation and renaming will be made and they need have no further contact with him. What I'd like for you to do is call another family council...poll them and see who still objects. Then we'll proceed from there, I won't attend because I want you all to feel free to speak your minds."

Jack paused and looked over at Sarian "Well?"
Sarian looked very serious then nodded.
"I see."
"Is that all you have to say?"

"I say good for you, father...good for you! You have to understand that as the current president of the council and A.D. here, it was my duty to bring those concerns to your attention. I for one, never agreed with them. I'm just thrilled you have someone and I trust your judgment. Like you said, Five is your baby...you've never made a decision that was bad for any of us, I see no reason to think you'd start now."

Jack looked relieved "Thank you. Please call the council as soon as possible; I want to get back on schedule here. I don't want to spend the entire week on meetings and business." Jack stood and headed for the door.

"Father?" Sarian stood and followed him
Jack turned back "Yes?"
"Welcome back."
"Diolch, I'll be in my office, please advise me when the council has concluded and the decision."
"Yes, sir."

Jack peeked around the corner and into his office, Ianto was still sitting at the desk but he was playing with the holographic representation of a Villanguard Lapcat and was poking his finger around inside the light to disrupt the holograph. Jack watched for a few moments, enjoying the look on Ianto's face as the light scattered around his fingers and reformed the image in their wake.

"Having fun?" He came around the door and Ianto blushed.
"Umm I was just..."
"Playing with the hologram, I saw...I think we all do that."

"This system is amazing. I can call up any item in the archive...the 3D hologram and all the information about the item, any research...all the details of its acquisition. Everything I've been trying to do with Cardiff's archive plus a hologram."
"I know, Ianto... I designed it, remember?"

"And I just don't get that. At home you are the absolute worst at archiving... I mean look at the playroom contents."
"I'd rather not, that's why it's a hidden room."

"Oh sorry, perhaps that was a poor example..."
"I'd say so. Look, at Three everything was already a mess when I got there... I've been playing catch up since 2000 when it became mine. It's hard to manage almost two hundred years of slap archiving on paper and not cross referenced. Here I created the system, it goes in there..." Jack pointed at the computer screen "...no where else. There aren't a dozen wooden filing cabinets full of details. It was easy to start from scratch...cleanup is what I'm NOT good at. And this system is flexible... I can move items from secure to high security, executive level security or even open archive any time I want with a couple of keystrokes. The automated containment system changes the security level and location of the item."
"And what if you need an item?"

"Ahh that what this is for..." Jack walked over to the wall and opened what looked almost like a dumbwaiter. "...items too big for this are delivered to a central location of the fourth level for examination. Items too big to be delivered are in another area entirely on the 6th and 7th levels."
"You said there were 5 levels."

"There are 5 working levels...6 and 7 are warehousing and the morgue only. No one works there unless they are working with a ship or a body or something... they are purely storage."
"You have ships?"
"Yes, we have a couple of salvaged ships and several life pods of various types...we also have a better cryogenics system then Three does. Ours is newer and doesn't have the limitations that the one in Cardiff does...that one has been there since the hags."

The mention of Jack's early torturers had Ianto stopping his perusal of the archives.
"Do you mind if I ask you a question about that?"
"What, the Three cryo or the hags?"
"Your early experience with Torchwood Three."

"What about it?"
"Do they know?... your family, do they know what happened to you?"
Jack took off his coat and tossed it on the couch than came up and sat on his desk facing Ianto.

"Some of them do...Tesni told all of hers. I think Sarian has as well... I think they all pretty much know. If Tess or Sarian didn't tell them the others have...like I said there's a very active grapevine. It isn't a secret, we just don't discuss it, I think they all know that Five is my answer to the way I was treated. Why?"
"I just wondered...sorry."
"You've nothing to be sorry for, believe me."

Jack's stomach rumbled.
"Sounds like your stomach clock has gone off." Ianto laughed as Jack's gut rumbled again.
"Stress makes me hungry."
"Jack...everything makes you hungry. Any where we can get some food?"

"The other nice thing about Five is it has a four star restaurant right in the complex. I told you we could get room service in the bath if we wanted. I wasn't kidding. How about some roasted salt marsh lamb?"
"Don't we have a dinner coming up in a couple of hours?"
"Yeah...your point?"
"No... nothing."

Sarian tapped on the frame of the open door.
"Director?"
"Yes, Sarian."
"Council is starting in 10 minutes, so I'll be going to monitor status only here for the duration."
"That's fine, Ianto and I will be here...who's staying with the baby?"
"Dai is going to stay with the baby while everyone else goes."
"Well I hope someone at least told Carys, I wouldn't want her to think her husband has run off."
"Carys is aware of why Dai will not be attending."

"Good, got any food?" Jack asked hopefully.
"I took the liberty of having some provisions placed in your kitchenette. I'm sure if you look you'll find something."
"Thanks Sarian. Let me know when it's over."
"Certainly, father...Ianto." He made a little bow and was gone.

After Sarian left Jack raided the refrigerator in the kitchenette. Ianto made more coffee and Jack made sandwiches from the supplies he found. While they were sitting on the couch eating they were talking.

"So what will happen to the baby now? Will Enid take her?"
"If she is then she's going to have to move back here. That child is too young for her to be on her own and Thurso is too far for Dai to travel if the baby gets sick. The one thing you can count on when someone comes through, with the rare exceptions being humans like Helen, is they are bound to pick up something that will make them sick. Earth isn't the healthiest place in the universe to live."

"So Enid will have to move back to Wales?"
"Yeah here, Caernarfon, Harlech, Dai is in Caernarfon...Helen is in Cardiff but we've got a bunch of doctors all over. Most have only bothered to get veterinary licenses here, but are fully equipped to tend their brothers or sisters if needs must. Dai however is a pediatrician he was one when he came to Earth too, so he has the most experience with babies of various species. He'd worked on mixed species colonies so he's the best...to tell you the truth, Ianto...I'm not certain Enid will decide to take the baby...yes it's a Stas, but Enid has always been independent and loves Thurso."

"If she doesn't?"
"Well if she doesn't then I'll offer Aled and Llinos. Llinos and I were discussing them adopting anyway. Right now, however Enid is the only Stas we have...so I'm hoping her allegiance to her species will outweigh her desire to stay in Thurso."
"Plus you want her back in Wales."

"Plus I want her back in Wales...it's safer for her. The Welsh are remarkably accepting of oddities and those who are...different. The Scots....well, not so much."

After they had eaten, Ianto started clearing up while Jack worked. Sometime later Sarian appeared back at Jack's door.
"Director?"
"Sarian? Big meeting all over?"
"Yes sir...the family has voted unanimously in favor of accepting Ianto."
"That's good!"

"Why do I suddenly feel like a referendum?"
"Thank you, Sarian there have been no alerts and Ianto and I are going to return to our suite to rest before dinner. We'll worry about rescheduling appointments later."
"As you wish, director...Ianto, I'll see you later, yeah?"
"Absolutely...I'm looking forward to that salt marsh lamb roast Jack's been raving about."

Jack picked up his coat and they headed back to the hotel through the underground connecting tunnels.

***

While Ianto showered, Jack asked to see Enid. She came to the suite fairly certain she knew what the subject would be.
"Sweetling, I wanted to ask you this with no one else around. I am not trying to pressure you and I want you to know the decision is entirely yours."

"Yes, father."
"If you take the baby you will have to move back here. It would be too dangerous for you to be so far away with an infant. Now I know you think you have an obligation to take her because she is Stas; but I want you to know you don't... we do have other options. There's Aled and Llinos and then there's also Elain and Marc or Gethin and Mari. You aren't the only one who can give her a home and love."

"No, but I am the only Stas..." she sighed and sat back "...we come here having lost everything and never expecting to ever see another of our kind. Then something like this happens and there is opportunity to share my heritage with this young one. What would she think of me later if I decline her now?"

"Sweetling, she would never know any different."
"But I would, father. As much as I love them all she has not even biology in common with her new brothers and sisters... who will teach her what is safe to eat, where it is safe to swim, how to dress to hide her gills, what is happening to her body when her laterals start developing? No one else here has that experience."

"We've raised others without having a same species mentor for them. It would be no different."
"Yes it would, you always made do with who and what resources you had to bring up a youngling in a semblance of their culture and have done an admirable job. But I will do what I can for her. She should learn what it means to be Stas and I am the only one who can teach her."

"Okay...I understand and I'm not arguing with you. But if you choose to do this, you WILL have to move back down here."
"I know."
"Raising a child is no easy task; you'll have less time to write."
"I know."

"On the up side, if you move up near Caernarfon you can not only have easy access to Dai but this little one and Haf can be raised together and have someone to play with. That's something I wish I'd had when Blodwen came through."
Enid nodded.
"Socialization of the youngling is very important to their development, Stas are no different there."

"How about this; you keep your Thurso house and we'll still purchase the other one. You can use it for weekends and vacations when the baby is more stable and then in a couple of years move back up there permanently if you still want. In the interim I'll have Ianto look for something for you in Caernarfon, with any luck close to Dai and Carys...unless you want to come back to the Gower?"

"Let me think on that father and I will let you know by Awst end, will that be alright?"
"That will be fine, sweetling... I'm sorry, Enid I know you love Thurso... but I will tell you from my heart that I think you are making the right decision for you and the baby. Have you started to think about a name as yet?"

"I have actually, I was thinking of Morgan...it is from the old Welsh for sea circle but have not as yet decided if it should be Morgan Awst or Awst Morgan...what do you think?"
"Well, we have neither and I really like both...but of the two I think Morgan Awst James sounds better..."
"I do as well... Morgan Awst James it is."

"Thank you, sweetling for making this sacrifice. I think she will bring you great happiness and fulfillment. And if you'd like we can have her naming ceremony this week...unless you'd prefer to wait until next Awst?"
"No, I think the sooner the better. As soon as Dai thinks she is out of danger."

"Oh and talk to Sarian...I think he has a boat available if you'd like to go on a kelp harvest to help with her diet change."
"I will, thank you, father."

Jack stood and although Enid had nearly a foot on him in height he took her in his arms and hugged her.
"Thank YOU, sweetling...I think you're making the right choice."

When Enid left Jack went to the bedroom to find Ianto. He was sitting in a chair in the bedroom reading through a brochure about the winery. He looked up and smiled.

"All done?"
"Yeah...you didn't have to hide out in here."
"Well I thought it best to give you two some privacy, I didn't want her to feel uncomfortable with me in there."
"I doubt she would have but thank you for thinking about it. I guess I'll have to shower alone now."

"Poor thing, I know it's a hardship but...yes. So tonight's the announcement dinner, yeah?"
"Yep." Jack stripped off in around ten seconds flat and was headed for the ensuite.
"And exactly what kinds of ceremony does that entail?" Ianto followed him into the bathroom and sat on the towel bench.

"Well, announcement dinner is for things like betrothals, relocations, adoptions... that kind of thing. It's like the family newsletters people send out with Christmas cards, except we do it in August."
"So what's the process?"

"Sarian has the list and if you have an announcement you put your name on it. Then he calls them in order of listing...that's it...no ceremony."

"So no bowing?"
"Well, I didn't say THAT..." Jack peeked around the shower curtain with a smile. "...it's Awst, there's always bowing it seems."

"Okay...good to know. So what happens to the baby now?"
Jack didn't respond immediately,
"I'm sorry, did you say something?"
"I said what happens to the baby now?"

"Enid will take her...and will be moving back to Wales...now whether here or up near Dai and Carys in Caernarfon she hasn't decided as yet." Jack finished up his shower and pulled the curtain back, Ianto threw a towel at him.

"That's going to be one of the announcements, hey, call Sarian tell him I want the very first and the very last spots tonight."
"Do you have announcements?"
"Maybe...but I want those spots." Jack toweled his hair and finished drying off then tossed the towel in a corner and headed for the bedroom.

Ianto stopped to pick up the towel then folded it and carefully placed it in the discard basket.

Ianto loved to watch Jack dress almost as much as he loved to watch him undressing. For as quick and as slapdash as he was at seemingly everything else, Jack was a very methodical dresser. Every item of clothing was chosen and then laid out in the order he would put them on. Only after every item was selected and arranged did Jack actually begin to dress. Then after all items were put on he carefully checked his appearance in the full length mirror.

Next up was the hair 'ceremony'. Ianto walked into the other room, the obsessing over making individual strands of hair purposely look tousled sometimes set his teeth on edge.

And always the very last thing Jack did was check the overall look, including the rear view in the full length mirror. Ianto knew the moves so well; he could see them in his mind. Jack turning sideways and smoothing his hand down across the seat of his pants. It always made Ianto hard so he had to look away, he wasn't sure that Jack didn't do it deliberately for that reason so he didn't dare ask.

By the time Jack finished and came into the sitting room Ianto had spoken to Sarian and delivered Jack's message...he'd also had a drink, checked out the TV channels, eaten a bag of crisps...and a candy bar and started to read a book...he got through the first chapter.

"You ready, Ianto?"
Ianto rolled his eyes and marked his place in the book.
"I've been ready for some time, Jack. Just waiting for you..." Ianto said as he stood. Jack tugged at his waistcoat and smoothed his hand across the front as he checked his look in the mirror (again) "...as usual."

"Sorry, did you say something?" Jack spun towards him.
"No, nothing, shall we?" Ianto headed for the door.

Once again the large ballroom at the Seren Wib was set up for a banquet. The table settings and linens were in a different style than the prior lecture dinner. The room reflected much more festive decorations and as always flowers were everywhere. Instead of the single large table on the dais there was only a podium with two small tables on either side.

As usual everyone stood when Jack entered but took their seats when he did without being given leave.

Sarian was seated at the other table with Helen and came over when Jack sat down.
"Father... I did as you asked and have given you the first and last positions of the dinner."
"Thank you...well we best get started then..." Jack got up and patted Ianto on the shoulder as he walked around behind his chair "...back in a moment." He walked to the podium and turned on the microphone.

"Noswaith dda! Welcome to the annual announcement dinner. I asked Sarian to allow me the first announcement this evening. By now you have all heard we had a rift alert this afternoon and the storm produced two victims. The older female was deceased but she managed to protect an infant Stas who is currently under Dai's care in the Cartref med bay. Dai says the baby will be fine and I am happy to announce that Enid will be assuming her fostering. To do this she is giving up her house in Scotland and returning to Wales...Enid?"

Enid stood and walked to the podium.

"Thank you, father. Brethren, today as father has said our number was increased yet again. The child is an infant female of my species and I have asked to become her caretaker and sponsor. Father has granted this request on the condition that I relocate to Wales for the duration. This is a reasonable thing to ask as the child is very small and as we all know there are many dangers lurking on Earth to the newly arrived..." Throughout the audience many of the rift children were nodding in agreement.

"... I spoke with father earlier today and asked to have the naming ceremony for her as soon as Dai says she is able to safely be removed from the med bay. I ask for your assistance and support. I hope she will be another joy for this family."

Enid gave a little bow and Jack came back to her side and hugged her close. There was a round of applause from the audience that continued until Enid took another little bow and joined Carys with baby Haf at their table.

The dinner was indeed the wonderful salt marsh lamb roast that Rhosyn had promised and was served with mushy peas and roasted potatoes. Jack, of course had three servings as Rhosyn predicted. Ianto had two helpings himself.

During the dinner, prompted by Sarian those who had signed up with announcements took turns. The announcements varied. Several business expansions, Si's new paper (still in editing), a couple of betrothals (including Andras and Rhosyn) and marriages (one to an indigenous human) as well as Aled and Llinos announcement of their intention to adopt a human child with Jack's help. There were several Torchwood Five announcements; a new appointment to the immediate response team; a new department formation and announcement of personnel to staff it, announcement of a new medical outpost located in Caernarfon (Dai and Carys' project) and a myriad of other announcements, anniversaries and birthdays (usually celebrated on the day they came through the rift). The announcements were met with excitement and applause for each event.

Ianto found them all interesting and Jack was enthusiastic about every single one, always applauding and sometimes even commenting. The evening went quickly and after the dessert (treacle tart) the entire group was ready to adjourn once again to the rose garden for wine, cheese, songs and dancing.

Jack walked to the podium and called the room to attention.
"Before we adjourn to the rose garden and things get out of hand, as usual... I have one more announcement to make..."

Jack took a deep breath and stood quietly for a moment.

"I know there have been a lot of...surprises... so far this Awst and things have been a little...well, tense. But I want you to know that does NOT mean that just because there are tensions that we are any less a family. Those of you who had families before you came to us know that. If you don't then ask any one of our human members and they can tell you. Family members do not always see eye to eye, they don't always agree about things...but what differentiates a family from any other type group is that a family still loves and respects each other in spite of the differences of opinion. There is nothing wrong with disagreeing; it forces us to examine ALL the angles. I do not begrudge anyone their opinion, nor do I dismiss them lightly. I am sorry we cannot see eye to eye on the issue; but there's nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is to let a disagreement divide us as a family... that will never happen. I love you all and will continue to do so whether you agree with me or not. It will change our dynamics a little but it won't divide us..." Jack looked over at Ianto and then back out to the ballroom.

"I... I... I love... Ianto Jones and your decision will not change that fact. It's been a long time since I could say those words to anyone. And all of you know that those words do not come easy for me... I love Ianto Jones and I intend..." Jack kind of petered out looking for the correct words, he gave up, shrugged and just said what came to mind "...I love Ianto Jones and I intend to keep him...with or without your blessing... for as long as he'll have me... That's all I wanted to say. Thank you."

Jack stared at his audience for a moment before swallowing hard like a teenager who'd just challenged his curfew, then nodded once and walked away.

The audience was quiet for a moment and then Andras (of all people) stood up and began applauding. Then table by table more joined in the applause until finally, Sarian moved to the podium and quieted everyone down.

"Father...we want you to know that earlier today at our second council meeting we voted unanimously to accept Ianto not only into Cartref but more importantly into the family. We were gong to tell you at the after party however you were so...eloquent here that we didn't want to stop you...you seemed...on a roll. Besides, a little open declaration like that is good for the soul... Welcome to the family, Ianto." Sarian made his little bow to Jack and then one to Ianto as well.

Jack nudged him.
"Now they're going to bow to you too."
"Oh god." Ianto groaned.
"Get used to it." Jack grinned like a madman.

***

The after party was much more raucous this night.

Everyone had at least a dance with Ianto much to Jack's delight and Ianto's embarrassment. Many were taking turns playing the various instruments or singing while others played and danced. Occasionally family members would burst into song spontaneously inciting others to harmonize and still others to dance.

Ianto had never in his life seen anything quite like it...from people who were sober.

Ianto got twirled back towards Jack after a particularly jaunty dance with Rhosyn ended. He had long since lost his tie and jacket and had unbuttoned his waistcoat. Jack, as always somehow looked as fresh as a daisy even though Ianto knew for a fact that he'd danced every single dance. Ianto stopped, breathless and was drawn immediately into Jack's arms.

"There you are... I thought you'd run off with Rosy. I was about to buy Andras a drink and break the bad news to him."

"Do they never stop?"
"Umm, not really... you tired?"
"Exhausted..." Ianto turned his head slightly and got a whiff of himself "...and I think I stink."

"I think you smell wonderful..." Jack leaned closer and sniffed Ianto's neck "... there's only one smell I like better on you." He lapped at the sweat running down Ianto's neck before it reached his collar. When he did that, Ianto got a whiff of him and looked up.
"I hate you...and those damned pheromones of yours...do you never sweat?"

"Of course I do."
"Yes but you never stink."
"Sorry, can't help it...but I love that smell... on you."
Ianto pulled back slightly.
"You're very...odd."
"Well for goodness sakes don't tell anyone."
"Wouldn't dream of it."

The music once again turned slower and more romantic.

"Dance with me."
"Jack, I'm exhausted...can't we just sit this one out?"
"No...the way this goes in this family you play an instrument, dance or sing...which would you prefer?"
"I'd prefer to be the quiet observer resting with a glass of iced water over there." He pointed at a nearby bench.

"Nope...sorry." Jack pulled Ianto tightly against him and started to move to the music. Ianto sighed and put his head on Jack's shoulder. The dance was very slow and Ianto was very tired, and hot and sweaty...Jack's pheromones were so intense it was making him lightheaded.
"Jack...stop."
"What?"
"Stop...it's too much, I need to sit."
"What's wrong?"

"I'm tired and your pheromones are getting to me. If you don't stop now, I'll ravage you right here and scandalize everyone."
"You never know, they might enjoy it."

"No...just...no." Ianto walked to the refreshments table, picked up a bottle of iced still water and headed for one of the benches that bordered the rose garden. Jack followed him, when he sat down Ianto put his head on Jack's shoulder and closed his eyes.

"This is so nice...the smell of the roses...the smell of you, the music."
"So enjoying yourself then?"
"Yep...it's nice to not feel like an outsider."

Jack laughed. "This family is all outsiders; that's what makes us family."
"So what's the agenda for tomorrow?"
"Well, it was supposed to be a free day for me; but it looks like I'll have all those cancelled appointments to make up. You should let Andras give you a tour of the winery and maybe Sarian can finally give you the tour of Cartref I promised you."

"Shouldn't I sit in with you for your appointments?"
"No need for both of us to be there; you can always read the transcripts. Like I told you these things are documented in great detail..."
"If I want to?"

"I won't deny it would be nice to have you there; but they can get really boring. I still want you to see Cartref, so how about we arrange that with Sarian and if you really want the tedium you can sit with me for the rest of the time?"
"Okay."

Jack saw Sarian dance by with Enid and beckoned him over.
"Father, Ianto..." He made a little bow to them both "...you wished to see me?"
"I want Ianto to have a full tour of Cartref...but all the appointments that were cancelled are rescheduled for tomorrow..."
"I am sorry, father...hopefully we can consolidate some business and give you another day to yourself."

"...not a problem but I'd like for you to give him the tour... then, fool that he is, he wants to sit in on the rest of the appointments. What time do you have free tomorrow?"

"Well I was taking duty in the morning anyway, he could join me then and I can give him the tour and let him share DOD with me...I'll have him back to you for lunch...how's that?"
"Ianto?"
"That's fine with me...what time?"

"I go on duty at 6am...is that too early for you?"
"No...no that's fine."
Jack shook his head.
"No, Sarian make it 9."
"Jack, 6 is fine."
"Ianto, do you have any idea what time it is right now?"

"Ummm, no."
"I didn't think so, it's nearly 2am Ianto. Sarian make it 9am, Ianto and I are going to sneak off back to the suite to get some rest."
"I'll tell Enid..."
"No...let them enjoy themselves. Don't tell anyone we're leaving." Jack interrupted.

"As you wish, father...Ianto...good night, I will meet you in the lobby at 9am."
"Thank you...goodnight."
Jack and Ianto got up and headed around the perimeter of the garden taking the long way back to their suite.

"Oh I need a shower in the worst way. I don't know how any of them managed to get within dancing distance to me."
"Maybe they find the smell as erotic as I do."
"I don't even want to think about that."

They entered the suite through the sliding doors and Ianto headed immediately for the shower.
He stood leaning on the tiled wall with his eyes closed until Jack slid into the shower behind him.

Ianto groaned as Jack washed him then leaned against the tile wall as Jack slid to his knees and put his talented mouth to work.
The top of Ianto's head came off just as he did and he started to slide down the wall.

"Come on...out with you..." Jack handed him a towel and pushed him out "...I'll only be a minute." Jack showered quickly and got out Ianto was half asleep sitting on the towel bench. Jack toweled off quickly and took his hand.

"Come on...bedtime."
Jack led him by the hand and Ianto went without a word snuggling close with his head on Jack's still damp chest.
"This would be much more romantic if you'd actually dried off first." He muttered.

"Go to sleep, Ianto."
"Good night." Ianto slurred mostly asleep before he'd finished the second word.
"I love you." Jack whispered as quietly as he could so as to not incur the wrath of the fates.

Later when Ianto was well asleep, Jack got up and dressed then went to walk in the garden as the sun rose.
He leaned into more than one flower face first to sample the scents and unbeknownst to him the morning dew made the pollen cling to his nose.

He was sitting on one of the benches looking out across the garden when Sarian found him.

"Bore da, father." Sarian bowed slightly and sat down next to him.
"Bore da, Sarian."

"Is Ianto still asleep?"
"Ianto was so tired I suspect if left alone he'd sleep for a couple of days."
"I can give him the tour this afternoon if you'd like to let him sleep in. There's no reason it has to be this morning."

Jack still stared out over the garden and didn't answer immediately.
"Are you alright?"
Jack closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again.
"I'm fine."
"Pardon me but you don't sound fine...can I do something for you?"

"Stop everyone around me from dying."
Sarian nodded and sighed.
"If only I could, father...but Ianto is young..."
"Ianto is Torchwood, Sarian and we both know what that means."

"Then make him leave Torchwood."
"Being with me is dangerous too... he wouldn't be happy and I would be miserable without him."
"You could always leave Torchwood as well...come here and run Cartref...let us watch over the rift in Cardiff."

"Torchwood is Torchwood...Three or Five it's still Torchwood, still dangerous. He'd never forgive me if I pulled him from the field and sent someone else out and they got hurt. Besides, as much as you like to think you can do it all; you can't... you can't run Three... the institute is a Crown appointment...it would be too dangerous for everyone...isn't that right, Ianto?"

"He's right." Ianto's sleep hoarse voice came from behind them both and made Sarian jump.
Sarian turned around and Ianto was standing in pajama bottoms and a vest rubbing his eyes.

"How long have you been there? I didn't see you when I came out." Sarian stood.
"The bed got cold...I was lonely."
Sarian glanced quickly at his watch. "I have to go...duty calls...see you later, yeah?"

"Umm, yeah." Ianto sat down next to Jack.
"No, he's going back to bed; it's supposed to be a holiday for him. You can take him on the tour this afternoon."

"Ja-ack."
"No, Ianto...you're going back to bed and you're going to stay there until I think you've had enough sleep."
"Not alone I won't."
"Ianto I have appointments this morning."
"And you had appointments yesterday...and the day before...why can't they be pushed back again?"

"He has a point, father...there's no reason they can't be pushed back...I don't think anyone would mind."
Jack sighed.
"Fine. Push the appointments back...I'll pick them up this afternoon and Ianto will have his tour then."

Jack reached for his vortex manipulator.
"I'll take care of it, father...go to bed. You also look tired and you might want to wash your face."
Jack nodded only half listening, Ianto sat down when Sarian left and took Jack's hand.
"Come back to bed and hold me."

Jack turned to face him and opened his mouth to speak.
Ianto started to laugh.

"What's so funny?"
"Your nose is yellow."
"What?"
"Your nose is yellow... brilliantly so." Ianto touched the end of Jack's nose and showed Jack the pollen that had come off.
"Pollen, I think." Ianto said.
"I was smelling the flowers."
"And they got revenge." Ianto laughed. He took Jack's hand and they headed back to the suite.

While Jack washed his face, Ianto closed the door and the drapes in the bedroom and stripped off the vest and pajama bottoms. He held the blanket up until Jack had stripped off and climbed back in beside him.

"Time for a little cwch." Jack sighed.
"I haven't heard that term since my mother died...I forgot how nice it sounds." Ianto kissed him deeply then began kissing his way down Jack's chest and licked a broad stripe up Jack's hardening cock..
"Ianto you don't have to do that..."
Ianto looked up.

"I want to...are you refusing a blow job...should I alert the media?"
"No, it's just I know you're tired."
"And did you ever think I MIGHT have an ulterior motive?"
"Really?" Jack seemed to get even harder in Ianto's hand.
"Really...find the lube." Ianto went back to his task and Jack reached into the bedside table for the lube that he was certain was there.
"Here it is..." Jack managed while squirming then squirted some onto the hand Ianto presented to him.

As Ianto slid in a single finger, Jack bucked. At the second finger Jack groaned and came and Ianto slipped in the third finger before Jack was even finished pouring down his throat. He removed his fingers and slicked the remainder of the lube on his cock pushing inside before Jack had recovered from his orgasm.

"Someone's ...eager...this morning." Jack managed as Ianto pushed his knees up and back. Jack raised his legs over Ianto's forearms as Ianto shuffled closer. Finally when Jack was bent in half with his butt on Ianto's thighs and his legs over Ianto's shoulders Ianto started to move in earnest, before long Ianto was sweaty all over again.
"Where's my favorite smell?" Jack managed while Ianto pounded him into the mattress and dripped sweat.

"Shut...up...Jack..." Ianto lunged upwards and captured Jack's mouth voraciously.
Between suffocating kisses and being bent in half with his knees practically next to his ears Jack had recovered and was fast approaching a second orgasm. Ianto buried his face in Jack's neck and grunted as he came. Jack lapped at every part of Ianto he could reach until Ianto finally collapsed onto him. They lay quietly Ianto panting at the exertion and Jack still folded in half until the sweat started cooling.

"I think I may be dead." Ianto whispered into Jack's neck.
"Oh no, you're very much alive mister Jones."
"Are you sure because I'm fairly certain I've had a stroke."
"You had several but not the kind you're thinking." Jack chuckled.

"I knew it...I'm dead."
"No...but I will be soon... unless you let me put my legs down."
Ianto lurched to the side rolling off Jack and rolling Jack to the side as he did.
"I'm sorry...did I hurt you?"
Jack reached across and wiped sweaty hair back from Ianto's face.
"You could never hurt me...there's my favorite smell." Jack leaned forward and inhaled deeply.

"You are a very sick individual, you know that right?"
"Yes...but I'm YOUR sicko...come here."
"No... I gotta get a flannel or we'll be glued together."
"I wouldn't mind..."
"Sure you would...eventually." Ianto kissed Jack on the nose.

"I'll get it; I could stand to stretch my legs a little." Jack rolled in the opposite direction and headed for the ensuite. A half hour later, they were both curled against each other asleep.

***

They slept late, Jack woke first and lay quietly just holding Ianto until the other man woke around 8:30. When he woke Jack found a message on his wrist strap from Sarian advising him that there was a coffee service and full breakfast waiting for them in their sitting room when they got up.

Foregoing a shower they decided instead on a long leisurely bath in the huge sunken tub while they had their coffee. Finally, around 10:30 after finishing breakfast they curled back up on the bed together, Jack had another cwch and then dozed off much to Ianto's amusement.

When Jack woke he was in bed alone, he had only a small panic before he heard Ianto laughing.
"I suspect you might have been a little tired as well, yeah?"
Ianto was in the oversized armchair fully dressed and reading.

Jack rubbed his eyes "I guess I was...what time is it?"
"Nearly one."
"What? Why'd you let me sleep that long?"
"For the same reason we had the whole morning here...because you were tired."

"But I've got appointments."
"No, you don't. Sarian's taken care of them."
"When, how?"
"I sent him a text to tell him you were still asleep. We'll have lunch with the troops..." Ianto glanced at his watch "...in about a half hour and then you can have appointments for the rest of the day, while Sarian gives me the tour."

"We had the whole morning here because YOU were tired...not me." Jack sat up on the bedside rubbed his eyes again and then yawned.
"Uh huh...I can think of only two or three times since we've been together that I've seen you nap like that. You were tired too whether you'll admit it or not...let's just say we BOTH needed it, okay?"
"Fair enough...I'll get dressed."

"Good idea... I was thinking...Enid is going to need baby things...a crib, car seat, baby clothes...what kinds of things do baby Stas need?"
"Morgan."
"Sorry?"
"The baby's name is Morgan Awst James."
"Really? When did this happen?"
"Enid decided it; it just hasn't been made official as yet. We'll have a naming ceremony as soon as Dai okays her leaving the medical bay."
"Morgan Awst...I like it, any special reason?"
"According to Enid, Morgan is a derivative of the old Welsh for sea circle...and Awst is for well... now."

"Yeah I did get the Awst part... anyway she'll need baby things for Morgan. Don't suppose you have an alien owned baby shop in your family business catalog?"

"Nope...you are going to have to work with Enid to make sure she gets what she needs. I'll give you access to the Cartref Accommodations funds to get everything she needs and baby proof wherever she decides to live."
"Well I may not be the best person to help with the baby supplies and baby proofing...I've no idea..."

"Enid can help she knows what a Stas needs and enlist Carys and Dai as you need to they've probably got a good idea what might be required...you can use my office."
"Jack, perhaps Carys and Dai would be better help for her than me."

"No, this will let you get your feet wet with the Cartref processes and the kinds of things that are required when we get a new arrival. She'll need a birth certificate and Enid will need all kinds of modifications to her information to support parentage...trust me, you'll have a good grasp of what's going on by the time you're done. Remember you'll also have to find out where Enid wants to live and find her a place."

"I'm sure there are plenty of places to rent..."

"No, no, no...we never rent. I don't want them to ever have to deal with a landlord...that can be too dangerous. We always buy...Sarian can help you with some of the other requirements but suffice it to say, the more alien appearing the arrival the more secluded their home needs to be, unless they can mainstream..." when Ianto looked confused Jack explained. "...pass for human with makeup, appliances, perception filters, that kind of thing. Dai and Carys do...obviously Andras can, Sarian uses facial appliances and a wig. Bryn can't but lives and works here. Mickey can't at all but he lives on Flat Holm...see?"

"Okay so what does Enid do?"
Jack laughed "Enid uses a perception filter and clothing to disguise her gills...she's kind of a recluse, which is not unusual for an author so she keeps mostly away from everyone...she's considered an eccentric." He said proudly.

Jack had finished dressing and was beginning his hair ceremony so Ianto left the room.

Lunch with the family was a whole different animal than Ianto had experienced previously. Served buffet style there was something for everyone and it was very informal. Some of the food Ianto found frightening looking although thankfully he still didn't see anything moving.

A smiling Jack wandered the tables speaking with everyone and sampling food from the various selections available as he roamed.
Ianto stayed at the table sitting with Enid, Dai and Carys and discussing his assignment from Jack.

"This will be good for you Ianto. It'll let you see how Cartref works." Dai said
"That's what Jack said too. Although honestly I haven't a clue what kinds of things any baby would need, let alone a baby Stas...sorry Enid."

Enid laughed "Ianto everyone in this room is used to dealing with new alien arrivals and they haven't a clue either. Before Morgan that last baby we had...that lived was Blodwen and she was a child, not an infant."
"There have been other infants?" Ianto looked confused.

"There have been several, but none survived. The trip through the rift is...difficult and dangerous even for an adult. Few of us survive without injury of one kind or another even if in a ship when taken. I only lived because I was in a stasis pod on the ship when it went into the rift storm." Dai said.

"Helen was on a ship as well, everyone else died, she happened to be near enough to a life pod to get inside and survive the crash." Enid agreed.
"I was on my way to market with my sister; my transport was swallowed up in a storm." Carys said.

"I think you will find that the only beings who can travel through the rift without significant physical damage are time agents who utilize a vortex manipulator..."
"Jack has a vortex manipulator." Ianto was curious now.

"That's because father was a time agent... are you not aware of that?"
"Well, yes...but I don't really know what that is... I wasn't... Jack doesn't... talk... about his past...I know a little ...most of it is what happened since he got here, very little...well, nothing really of his life before he came to Earth."
Enid, Dai and Carys looked at each other.

"I know that he got here in 1869 using his vortex manipulator which burned out on the trip and then he was captured by Torchwood."
"Do you not know about the Time Agency?"
"No...he doesn't talk about it...what is it?"

"Dai, not everyone knows about the time agency...even some of us are not familiar with them..." Carys looked at Dai "...remember it depends on your time and place of origin."
Enid nodded and spoke "Some others depending on how isolated their planet may not be aware."
"But with he and father..." Dai started.
Carys snapped something in a language Ianto didn't understand or recognize but obviously Dai did and Enid seemed to as well, (so Galactic Standard then) and Dai apologized to Ianto.

"I'm sorry, Ianto. I did not mean to infer he was keeping anything from you."
"It's alright, Dai...I suspect Jack has many more secrets than any of us know. He'll reveal them in his own time."

About then Sarian came up behind Ianto.
"Ianto, you ready for that tour? I understand from the director that you also have an assignment?"
"I am and I do..." Ianto laughed "... I can't get over how you all change your references so quickly. One minute he's father, next minute he's the director..."

"I think you'll find that is part of the formality we've imposed on ourselves...we try always to refer to him as director when referencing Cartref or Three, but in personal or family matters he is always father...in one form or another. Some have adopted the Welsh forms...some like papa or some other version from their world. But in Torchwood matters he is always the director unless there are outsiders included and then it's just Jack or the Captain. We are comfortable with the transition, so you might hear the same person refer to a family matter and a business matter in the same discussion and flow easily from one term to the other."

"Inside Cartref he's almost always called Director...very seldom father..." Enid added "...you have your tour; please alert me when you are ready for me and I will attend. I am going with Dai and Carys to the med bay we are going to introduce Haf and Morgan."

"Aren't they a little young for formal introductions? Sorry I'm not familiar with how things are done."
"No, it's alright..." Dai said "...they are too young to rationalize; however Azarian children and Stas children have in common a very good sense of smell ...Azarians more so in air than Stas; but this will still allow them to become accustomed to each other's scent and assist them to bond as sisters."
"Makes sense if they are already familiar with each other's scent they will see the other as family." Ianto nodded.
"Precisely."

"Alright, Ianto?" Sarian asked.
"Yep, ready...I'll see you all later, yeah?"
The three at the table rose almost in unison and bowed to Ianto. He was stymied for a moment then waved as he walked off with Sarian.

Across the room, Jack watched then laughed and mumbled to himself. "Get used to it."

Ianto went with Sarian for the big tour. Sarian handed him a PDA, a much higher-end appearing one than Ianto used at Three. Toshiko would be doing a happy dance Ianto thought as he admired it.
"Some of our equipment is better than Three's."
"Yes, I can see that...ALL of your equipment is better than Three's it seems."

"That's the benefits of private funding over Crown funding..." Sarian smiled. "...If you press this and this, you can record the entire tour holographically for playback." Sarian showed him which two buttons to push. "When we get done I'll show you how to access the user guide so you can see all the features. It's basically the big brother of the one you're used to using."
The tour began with the tunnels and accesses to the Cartref base from the hotel.

Meanwhile back in the Seren Wib, Jack settled into his first appointment of many for the afternoon and early evening.

As the tour concluded Ianto settled into the chair in the director's office and reflected on what he'd seen. Cartref was more amazing than Three especially the archiving system. He logged into the computer and the monitor rose from the curved groove in the desk. One screen was still on the med bay, one screen on the 'watch room' where he'd originally entered, one screen displayed the archive gateway, another screen email, another screen the internet gateway and the final screen showed the sitting room of their suite in the Seren Wib.

Ianto saw a priority message on his email and opened it.

Ianto,
I had Sarian forward the feed of the meetings to you in my office so you can see that you aren't missing anything.
Don't worry the camera and audio will be gone when everyone leaves, unless of course you'd LIKE to record something later for posterity? ?
???
Jack

Ianto tried to work on finding his way around the system and was joined soon after by Enid, Dai and Carys. Together they began shopping for a house for Enid near Dai and Carys as well as baby items to furnish a nursery for Morgan. Ianto started an electronic list for the baby items that would be needed and they focused on finding a house close to Dai and Carys home in Caernarfon for Enid. Ianto figured it would be easier to shop for items if there was a delivery place designated but Dai, Carys and Enid had already decided that Enid and Morgan would live with them until they could move into whatever house they had chosen. There was plenty of room to store items there so Ianto's list grew very quickly.

Dai and Carys had the perfect house in mind for Enid. The house was a renovated barn; actually the former barn for the farmhouse where Carys and Dai lived. It was close enough to them to walk to each other (in about 10 minutes) but far enough to still cater to Enid's reclusive tastes. It had six bedrooms and a huge kitchen and living area. It had been up for sale for only about a month and Dai and Carys had spoken with Jack about purchasing it as another of Cartref's getaways. Enid was thrilled with the pictures of the interior they found online at the estate agents site and Ianto wrote a memo to Jack about transferring the cost of purchase into Dai and Carys' account so that they could complete the purchase as quickly as possible.

Enid would still require some additional renovations but they were not urgent and could be completed after she moved in. There was also the matter of moving her things from the house in Thurso to Caernarfon AND purchasing the other cottage in Thurso for Cartref's use. They sat and schemed over how to manage everything and decided to enlist some of the others in assisting with the actual logistics.

After Dai, Carys and Enid left. Carys and Dai to the Seren Wib and Enid to the med bay to check on Morgan; Ianto set about placing the large orders of baby items. He set the delivery address to Dai and Carys home and emailed the list to Jack, Sarian, Enid, Dai and Carys. He glanced at the marble clock and then at the screen that showed the suite's sitting room.

Jack was still mid meeting so Ianto decided to do a little tour of his own. He headed down to the med bay to see the baby and Enid. Enid was sitting in a rocking chair holding Morgan and feeding her a bottle of something that was a disgusting color of green.

"Would you like to feed her, Ianto?"
"Umm, I don't know I've never fed a baby before."
"Then you will learn now..." Enid got up "...sit here and take her." Enid handed Morgan to Ianto who held her stiffly; she began clicking frantically and squirming.

"She can feel your tension...relax."
"That's easy for you to say."

With Enid's coaching, Ianto managed to hold, feed and wind Morgan, then bathed her in the sea water bath that had been prepared. Enid showed him how to immerse her to condition her gills and skin. Ianto finally had to stop when he could no longer feel his fingers in the icy water. When he handed Morgan back to Enid the baby cried.

"She's become accustomed to your smell; she associates it with feeling full and comfortable. The next time you come in she'll probably reach right for you."
"Her sense of smell is that good already?"

"Well you also had your hands in the water with her, so while the Stas sense of smell in air is not as good as Azarians our sense of smell or if you prefer to call it taste in water is excellent. You scented the water with your hand and then poured it over her gills. She will know you."

Ianto left the med bay feeling accomplished and headed back to Jack's office. He strolled in and headed back to the desk to check on what was happening at the suite. The screen was blank.

***

"Missing something?" Jack came strolling out of the kitchenette drinking a glass of water.

"There you are, I missed you..." Ianto came over and took the glass of water from Jack's hand and put it on the work table before kissing him.

"...I went to the med bay, I fed Morgan."
"I know, I saw...how was it?"
"It was amazing. I got to bathe her and she cried when I handed her back to Enid."
Jack grinned "I saw that, too. I also see you got a lot done this afternoon...and found a house for Enid."

"Well I really didn't it was Dai and Carys mostly all I did was bring up the online tour and put a contract on the house. Dai and Carys will take care of the rest."
"Did you transfer the funds to them yet?"
"Umm, no I thought I'd have to wait for you."

"No, you have access to all accounts, Ianto. You can take care of it..." Jack sat down on the sofa and waved at the desk "...I'm done working for today." He put his feet up on the coffee table and crossed his arms.

"Fine...I'll take care of it."
"No, you're done for today too. Email the info to me and we can take care of it in the morning. I have plans for this evening."

"Don't we have dinner with the family this evening?"
"Yes...you didn't look at the schedule, did you?"
"No, why?"
"Dinner this evening is on the beach at Rhosilli."
"Really?"

"Yep, an old fashioned clam bake. Not something done a lot in Wales I know but it's a lot of fun. Dig a big pit...line it with rocks build a fire throw in baskets full of lobster, clams, mussels, crabs, oysters, sweet corn and seaweed then cover and in an hour or two viola. There'll be lager, laverbread...and perhaps Enid and Delphine will go diving to see what else they can find. Last year they found a scallop bed and made a big haul...anyway, it's kind of dining al fresco...cozy beach fires, music...a minimum of bowing..."

Ianto laughed "That's okay, Jack you had me at lager. Sounds like fun."
"It IS fun... Rhosyn and her team are already there...she's incredible. She always manages to pull off the most amazing surprises, I can't wait to see what she's done this year."

"So, casual then, yeah?"
"Very."
"So when do we leave?"

"Well we both have to change... may I suggest jeans and a jumper and a jacket...although knowing Sarian he'll have already thought ahead and will have extra blankets and jackets. When we were at the St David's last year we did this on the beach at Sully. Edwin had some heated tents available. Some need warmer environments so they will probably have them again here. I know it's August but it's gonna get cold on the beach."
"It sounds wonderful, let's go change."

They headed back to the Seren Wib through the connecting tunnels.

They returned to the suite and changed. Ianto had packed jeans and a hoodie but nothing heavy enough to support an evening on the beach. Jack changed into his jeans and a cream colored fisherman sweater that had suddenly appeared in a box on their bed. The card said the sweater was from Gethin and Mari. Jack put on his usual vest, then a shirt and carried the sweater into the sitting room.

"I think they meant for you to wear it."
"If I put this on now I'll suffocate before we get there. I'll take it for later. Is that hoodie all you have?"
"Well I didn't expect to be visiting the arctic...so yes."

Jack picked up the phone and dialed a number.
"Neil? Hi, Jack Harkness...I was wondering if you could get a heavy jumper for Ianto all he has is a hoodie and it's going to get cold?...Great!...Yeah, thanks!"
"Neil will be bringing you a jumper to put under your hoodie."

Jack went to the decanter and poured a couple of fingers of Penderyn into two glasses.
"Here, need to get the blood circulating before we go."
Ianto sipped, Jack sat down on the sofa and Ianto sat next to him. Jack put his arm around Ianto's shoulders and pulled him close to his side.

"This is nice just like this... order room service... start a fire in the fireplace...put on some music."
"I'm not so sure the family would go for that. I'm pretty sure as the patriarch you don't get to pass on going."
"No...more obligations." Jack sighed and sipped again.

"So what's tomorrow night's event?"
"Oh the dinner dance, you'll love it."
"Formal?"
"No... lots come in costume, it's almost a fancy dress thing."
"A costume party?"
"Yeah, some wear costumes...some wear traditional garb from their home world. Some just dress as pirates."
"Pirates?"

Yeah...that was funny...Si came as a pirate year before last...he wore two eye patches and braided his hair, so one patch covered his right eye and one covered the one on the back of his head...every time I looked at him they were rearranged...but he always had 2 of the 3 covered."
"I'll bet that was funny."

"So... it was so much fun about half came as pirates last year. Bryn went to the trouble of renting a full costume for himself but then inadvertently snipped all the buttons off with his claws. Suffice it to say he lost THAT security deposit."

Ianto laughed with Jack.
"I'll bet."
Jack sat upright for a second. "I forgot something." He chucked back the last of his drink and went back into the bedroom just as there was a rap at the door.
"That'll be Neil with that jumper, get it will you, Ianto?"

Ianto got up and went to the door.
"Hello, Ianto."
"It's Mari, isn't it?"
"Yes...nice of you to remember."
"Well you kind of stand out."
"Because I'm human, I know."
"Yes, please come in..." Ianto stood back holding the door.
"Thanks."
"Jack will be back in a second."

"I didn't come to see father, I came to see you. I have something for you."
She handed a large tissue wrapped bundle to Ianto.
"This is from Gethin and me. We figured father probably didn't mention the beach party and you might not be prepared. So Gethin made this. We guessed at your size, I'm afraid."
Ianto tore away the white tissue paper just as Jack came back into the room.

"Mari...what a nice surprise."
"Father." She kissed him on the cheek.
"What's up?"
"Gethin made something for Ianto, we figured you might forget to mention the beach party and he might not have come prepared."

Inside the tissue was a gorgeous cable knit jumper of very soft wool. Ianto tossed the tissue to the side and held it up. Jack fingered the sleeve.
"This is beautiful, Mari...it must have taken months, I can't take this." Ianto blushed.

Jack and Mari both laughed.
"Ianto it took about four hours and most of that was deciding on the color and knit...Gethin DOES have four arms you know...he's knitted entire coats in an afternoon." Mari laughed.
"Oh...it's still beautiful. Thank you and thank Gethin for me, I'll wear it tonight and treasure it."

"Good, that's why he made it. I've got to go; he's finishing up our matching pirate coats for tomorrow!" She grinned and kissed Ianto on the cheek then bowed to them both and left. Neil was coming down the hall jumper in hand.
Ianto explained that it was no longer needed and why and showed off the lovely gift jumper then closed the door.

"Well, welcome to the family, Mister Jones! If our Geth is making you jumpers now, you've really arrived."
"Really?"
"Really... you know that footlocker under my bed in Cardiff?"
"Yeah."
"Full of jumpers made by Gethin. Tess thought how easy it would be to knit if you had four hands and arms. So she taught Gethin, and the rest as they say is history. You need something knitted? Give Gethin a ring he'll have it ready for you in a flash. That's one of the side businesses too. Mari designs the patterns and garments and Gethin knits them...hand knitted items are all the rage and command a pretty penny, it's been quite lucrative for them."
"Really?"

"Yep, check the gift shop in the Millennium Centre, they sell some of their stuff there. I forgot I had these..." Jack produced two knit watch caps. "...we might need them. Anyway, it's all 'handmade' so it commands top shelf prices. Geth's an architect but this is so much more lucrative that it's almost his primary business now."

"This is beautiful for just a couple of hours work."
"Yep, I have to give it to the kids they've made the best out of a bad situation. Of course Tess helped to point them in directions for their talents but still they've all done pretty well considering."

"It certainly appears so."
"Try it on..." Jack sat on the sofa and motioned "...model it for me in the light where I can see it. It'll be too dark on the beach."

Ianto took off the hoodie and pulled the jumper over his head. The fit was a little big, Mari had said they estimated his size but that was okay he'd wear the hoodie under it.
"Beautiful and long enough that if you pull it down it'll help keep your butt warm!" Jack laughed.
"I think they estimated my size by looking at you."

"That makes sense, Geth knows my size...you look delicious."
"Stop it."

"Good enough to eat."
"Stop it I said...we have to go."

Ianto pulled the jumper back over his head and picked up it and the hoodie.
Jack grabbed his jumper and put on his greatcoat.

"Let's go."

***

Next part of Daytrips and Knighthoods II - Calan Awst.

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