Chapter Fourteen: Twenty Weeks Along
May. 15th, 2010 02:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ericadawn16Title: Knocked Up!
Author: Ericadawn16
Prompt: Knocked Up
Character/Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, Rhi/Johnny, Ianto/Lisa
Rating:R
Warnings: MPreg, sex, language
Spoilers:Character from COE
Word Count:68,599
Disclaimer for TW and the movie you are using:I own nothing.
Summary:Ianto gets a promotion at work, meets Jack and things are never the same...
Beta: BIG Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
madkatstar_pir8 pirate4evrnavy2 and surreal_44
Author's Notes: This story is very AU. Chapter Thirteen: Eighteen Weeks Along
Chapter Fourteen: Twenty Weeks Along
"That makes sense," Jack agreed.
"I didn't hurt your feelings, did I?" Ianto asked.
"No, I just wanted to do right by you. If you don't want to, I'm fine with that," he replied and took that hand so their fingers entwined.
"I really do love you," Ianto whispered in those Welsh vowels that made Jack feel better. Jack wasn't sure how much he'd meant it earlier, but Ianto sounded like he really meant it. He could grow to love him, too.
"That's something then," Jack spoke.
"Do you really want to know that list of things I do feel weird about?" Ianto asked and his blue eyes were serious.
"Of course," he told him and waited for the other one to continue.
"I'm a bloke with a baby growing inside me. I can feel the kicks, punches, somersaults, everything just like any woman can, but I had that extra knowledge that my body wasn't designed for this so I could lose her at any moment. I've spent the last two weeks scared to death that something would go wrong," Ianto spoke and he felt his insides clench. Of course, Ianto had been unhappy...who wouldn't be?
"And top of that, I now have tits and a fanny! But there is one thing you can help with," Ianto said and Jack nodded. He'd do anything.
"Another thing that's been worrying me is that I know absolutely nothing about the father of my baby," Ianto continued, "nothing."
His blue eyes were glaring at him, but Jack felt he deserved that. Hadn't Owen told him the same thing several times? He hadn't been that honest with Ianto.
"Like you know baby stuff but you aren't around babies," the younger man pointed out and Jack had a split second to come to a decision.
"I have a daughter," he admitted which caused Ianto to sit up, asking, "What? How old?"
There was no point to lying anymore; not if it would just cause more stress on Ianto and their daughter.
"Thirty-two," Jack revealed and saw the other man's jaw drop. It would now be obvious that Jack was older than he looked.
"And she has a toddler named Steven..."
"You're a grandfather," Ianto uttered in disbelief.
"I know, I look good for my age," Jack quipped.
"You didn't think this was important? That my baby already has a half-sibling?" Ianto asked with his hands rubbing the bump.
"It's my baby, too," Jack reminded him., "I did tell her that I was going to be a father again."
"Again," Ianto repeated like a child and closed his eyes, "Did you tell her anything else about me?"
"No, not really," he said since it was nothing that he could repeat and Ianto took the duvet over him once more.
"At least you were finally honest with me," he spoke and Jack's heart sank. He had barely told him the tip of the iceberg and Ianto's eyelids were drooping.
"I'll be fine...Jack," he said with a yawn, "You can let yourself out."
******************************************************
Ianto wasn't allowed into work the next day either. He wondered what Martha had told them. She said it hadn't been the truth. Ianto was only dressed in an over-sized robe as he lay on the bed with Rhi beside him. They each had their own pint of ice cream as the telly flickered away. Supposedly, they were going to use a trebuchet to hurl flaming cannonballs at a caravan. It sounded interesting. At the very least, it worked well as background noise to try and distract him from everything in his head. Rhi was trying to cheer him up as well by bringing him lunch and ice cream in bed. However, he felt as though he was going to burst if he didn't tell someone about last night.
"Jack proposed to me. He did. It was really sweet. I feel a little bad. He was wearing this great button-down like usual. He tucked it in. He didn't get down on one knee because we were both on the bed. It was sterling silver with diamonds around the band," Ianto described to her.
"The ring was sterling silver?" Rhi asked with a face.
"Well, sterling silver makes a lot of sense. It would look nicer with my usual suits," he defended before eating more of his Baked Alaska.
"But still...sterling silver?" Rhi retorted and shook her head.
"Let's not focus on the ring. Something bigger happened," Ianto spoke.
" Something more important, more impressive than getting a proposal out of him? Did he pop your cherry?" she asked with a mischievous grin and poked his right breast.
"No, no, no," he answered at the thought and nearly choked on a chocolate polar bear, "He has a daughter."
"Did you meet her? Does she live with her mum or does she have two dads? What's her name?" Rhi questioned and scooped up more of her Strawberry Cheesecake flavor. Perhaps he should have questioned Jack more, but he'd been so tired at the time and so shocked at getting anything real out of him. Jack's past was still almost a complete mystery.
"He didn't tell me her name, but I think she probably has her own place because she's thirty-two," Ianto stated and saw her brown eyes widen.
"Thirty-two? That's older than me. How old is he then? Have you gotten yourself pregnant by some dirty old man?" she asked and he winced at the insult.
"I don't know, but she has a kid named Steven," he told her and turned the container over to get the last drops.
"A grandfather, blimey," she spoke, "I'm sorry."
"I'm over it. At least, he told me. This could be the start of being more honest with me," Ianto said and put his container in the trash pile on the floor.
"You need to train him. Oprah said that when two people meet they should point out each other’s differences and flaws," Rhi stated and he rubbed his belly. His daughter was moving all over the place. It felt like she didn't like being kept in bed any more than he did. He also thought about what Rhi just said. Jack didn't strike him as the type you could easily train.
"I thought you should love people for who they are," Ianto retorted for what he deemed the worst advice ever.
"You criticize them a lot, so they get so down on themselves they have to change," she spoke and drained the rest of her ice cream.
"You don't think that's naggy?" Ianto asked and felt the baby kick. Was she agreeing with him?
"In the end, they thank you for it," Rhi assured but he still couldn't believe her. She looked at her watch and then, at him.
"You've been good all day so you want to come with me to get the kids. Finally get out of the house?" she asked with a smile.
"Nothing would be better," he replied and got up from the bed. It wasn't as easy as it was even a month ago. He didn't want to think about what it would be like when he was seven or eight months along.
"Right, I'll get rid of this rubbish and you'll dress, then meet me at the car," she said and started picking everything up. Ianto picked out a clean outfit and took it into the loo to change.
"How much larger am I going to get?" Ianto whispered aloud at seeing his naked body in the mirror. It was weird. He'd been guilty of having a small beer belly at times, but this was different. At least, it felt very different.
When he finished and was walking out of the guesthouse, Rhi was doing the same from the main house.
"Just to clarify, you did tell him no, yeah?" she asked and he nodded, "You can’t commit to him. You don’t even know him. I don’t even know Johnny after ten years. I don’t know what he’s up to. He’s miserable."
The truth was that part of him had wanted to say yes before the rational part took over again.
"Why do you say that?" Ianto asked and crossed his arms as they walked across the property.
"I think he’s cheating on me. He’s always going to business meetings at odd hours. Then I try to call him on his mobile and he says he’s in a bad reception area when he’s in a good reception area," Rhi explained and pressed the button on her keys.
"Maybe he's working late. Maybe he has a new project. We might not get on the greatest, but I can't imagine Johnny doing that," he said to her before opening the door.
"There's no part of you that thinks maybe he's a dirty little wanker?" she asked.
"Well, in the literal sense, of course he is, but..." Ianto spoke, "I always thought of him more as a fuckwit."
"I think he might be," Rhi agreed and opened her door as well.
****************************************************************
That little nugget of information had really saved Jack's ass. Between telling Ianto about Alice and Steven and finding out that the pregnancy should progress as it should, Ianto was a lot more relaxed and happy. Jack kissed Ianto who leaned against the headboard. He was gorgeous but not in a way that he could have ever imagined. His face was fuller with stubble. There was a patch on his chin that he couldn't help running his thumb across with one stroke. Ianto smiled and took a hand to his belly. Jack held a hand over the swelled abdomen and Ianto took that hand to place where his hand had been feeling. He would never get used to this. A tiny movement met his palm. Their blue eyes met each other and they both wore huge grins.
"Do you like your daddies having sex?" he asked and heard Ianto giggle. Another kick could be felt through the bare skin. This was much more preferable than hunting down Weevils. He studied Ianto's naked form again. His body had more curves than when they had first slept together, but he liked all of them, from ample breasts to the rounded belly containing their daughter. The more he gazed at him, the more he was ready for round two. He changed positions so his cock rubbed against Ianto as he leaned over him and kissed him on the lips. Jack pulled away to nibble on his ear and heard a soft exhale of pleasure that wasn't from him. His soft biting turned into kisses that he trailed down Ianto's body to his breasts and tugged the soft flesh with his lips. Then, there was a chirp and Ianto shrank away from him before picking up the mobile on the small chest of drawers by his bed.
"It's Rhi. She says it's an emergency and to meet her in the house," Ianto read off the screen and heaved himself out of bed.
"What? Now?" he asked because she had to know what the situation was with his car parked outside.
"She said 'emergency'" Ianto reminded him before pulling on a pair of his maternity jeans. Jack reached for his trousers although he would be pitching a tent in them. He'd still rather spend as little time as possible with Rhi. When they reached the house, she wasn't in the kitchen or living room.
"Rhi? Where are you?" Ianto called out and muttered in a lower voice, "I hope she's not expecting me to text her back."
"In here!" she yelled and they followed the voice to what Jack would guess was Johnny's office. It looked very masculine with a couple of guitars on the wall, a flat-screen telly with a wall of game machines and stereos attached to everything, including the computer. Jack wondered if she was supposed to be using the computer.
"I need to install this software. ’Memory Spy Web Memory Software. Locate history, files, websites visited, hidden downloads, e-mail history. Memory Spy,'" she read off a package, "You do this sort of thing at work."
"You said it was an emergency. I came running over here and your big emergency is you want me to help you spy on Johnny?!" Ianto exclaimed and Jack clasped a hand on his shoulder. He twisted out of his touch. Rhi pouted and her brown eyes seemed big. Jack knew that Ianto was going to give into her.
TWENTY-FOUR WEEKS ALONG
Ianto, Jack, Rhi and Johnny were seated around a table for dinner. Johnny was taking full advantage of it being Monday and was on his fifth pancake. This time, it was a Hot Dutch with sausage and chilies and things that made Ianto feel like he was getting heartburn just by looking at it. Rhi took another bite of her pancake with ratatouille and ham before rolling her eyes at Jack.
"That's a nutritious meal you're having there, Jack," she chided about his plate. Jack's dinner was everything you could possibly get on a sweet pancake.
"It's basically what Ianto's having," Jack retorted and motioned to Ianto's meal. Ianto held up a bite and said, "See, it has fresh fruit salad. That's healthy."
"That's different, Ianto's pregnant," she said and he sighed. He doubted Jack had suddenly forgotten that. Ianto knew he couldn't especially when he couldn't fit close to the table like normal. His belly prevented that.
"You're not going to tell them? Your workplace?" Johnny asked and his eyes were on Ianto's swollen abdomen. Ianto was worried that any day now he'd be called into Yvonne's office, but that hadn't happened yet. He remembered Faith's warning: he couldn't let any of them know.
"No. I don’t have to. It’s illegal for them to fire me over it, but they could still demote me and I get maternity leave for a year if I stay. So I’m not going to tell them," Ianto said and the baby started kicking again. She was too big to easily pull off the somersaults and flips like earlier.
"Good plan," Rhi spoke, in agreement with almost everything he did and said these days. Being a big sister, she had always been protective of him. However, the farther along he became, the more it came out in her.
"I like it. New parents have it so much better now than when we had our kids. I could have had seven months off," Johnny complained and Rhi shook her head. Across the table, Jack drove his bite around on his plate through chocolate mixed with caramel, honey, maple syrup and nutella. To the casual observer, Ianto was sure Jack would seem like the pregnant one and not him. He had opted for just chocolate and honey with his fruit.
"As long as he's being safe," Jack said at last. Had Martha told him?
"Of course, he's being safe. Isn't he?" Rhi asked, looking at Ianto.
"Of course," he answered while staring at his plate. Suzie was suspicious enough without his being restricted from active duty. Other than bodily injury, there was only one reason for a member of Torchwood to be taken off active duty. She would know right away and he didn't trust her. It just meant that he had to be careful and not let himself be put in a position where he could get hurt.
"Isn’t it weird, though, when you have a kid and all your dreams and hopes go right out the window?" Johnny asked and put the last bite in his mouth as if things weren't awkward enough. Rhi threw her thick, dark hair back and made a disgusted noise.
"What changed for you? What went out the window? You do everything exactly the same," Rhi spat.
"No, I love what I’m doing. But say before you’re married with children you want to live in India for a year. You can do it," said Johnny who was on the verge of ruining their meal.
"You want to go to India? Go to India! I won't be bothered," Rhi told him and scooted as far away from him as she could so her chair was pressed against Ianto's own chair.
"Do you want to go to India?" Johnny asked.
"No. You can go," Rhi stated and pushed her plate away. He hoped one or both of them were under the influence of alcohol and not in their right minds. However, he wanted to avoid a public incident. He'd rather not have coppers staring at him while he made a statement.
"I get what he means. Honestly, when I found out about..." Ianto started and gestured at his body, "I had this flash of forcing Martha to come up with an antidote or running away so I could be free. It just felt like my life was over."
Among those staring at him, like he'd admitted to drowning kittens, was Jack.
"It was only that first week or so," Ianto uttered and wishing he'd gone into a different conversation.
"Really?" Jack asked.
"Don’t look at me. We can talk about our fears here. If Doc Brown screeched up to you in the DeLorean and said, 'Jack, I got the car here. What do you want to do?' No part of you would think, 'Maybe I’ll go back to that night and put a condom on?' Or if I hadn't been so eager to be the hero and gotten myself hurt in the first place? You never think that sort of thing?" Ianto questioned and tried to read Jack's face.
"No. What are you talking about?" Jack asked and Ianto had the impression he was hiding something.
"Where we're going, we don't need roads," Johnny recited with a goofy grin.
"You wouldn't do that?" Ianto questioned and was surprised to see Jack frowning.
Chapter Fifteen: Twenty-four Weeks Along
Author: Ericadawn16
Prompt: Knocked Up
Character/Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, Rhi/Johnny, Ianto/Lisa
Rating:R
Warnings: MPreg, sex, language
Spoilers:Character from COE
Word Count:68,599
Disclaimer for TW and the movie you are using:I own nothing.
Summary:Ianto gets a promotion at work, meets Jack and things are never the same...
Beta: BIG Thanks to
madkatstar_pir8 pirate4evrnavy2 and surreal_44Author's Notes: This story is very AU. Chapter Thirteen: Eighteen Weeks Along
Chapter Fourteen: Twenty Weeks Along
"That makes sense," Jack agreed.
"I didn't hurt your feelings, did I?" Ianto asked.
"No, I just wanted to do right by you. If you don't want to, I'm fine with that," he replied and took that hand so their fingers entwined.
"I really do love you," Ianto whispered in those Welsh vowels that made Jack feel better. Jack wasn't sure how much he'd meant it earlier, but Ianto sounded like he really meant it. He could grow to love him, too.
"That's something then," Jack spoke.
"Do you really want to know that list of things I do feel weird about?" Ianto asked and his blue eyes were serious.
"Of course," he told him and waited for the other one to continue.
"I'm a bloke with a baby growing inside me. I can feel the kicks, punches, somersaults, everything just like any woman can, but I had that extra knowledge that my body wasn't designed for this so I could lose her at any moment. I've spent the last two weeks scared to death that something would go wrong," Ianto spoke and he felt his insides clench. Of course, Ianto had been unhappy...who wouldn't be?
"And top of that, I now have tits and a fanny! But there is one thing you can help with," Ianto said and Jack nodded. He'd do anything.
"Another thing that's been worrying me is that I know absolutely nothing about the father of my baby," Ianto continued, "nothing."
His blue eyes were glaring at him, but Jack felt he deserved that. Hadn't Owen told him the same thing several times? He hadn't been that honest with Ianto.
"Like you know baby stuff but you aren't around babies," the younger man pointed out and Jack had a split second to come to a decision.
"I have a daughter," he admitted which caused Ianto to sit up, asking, "What? How old?"
There was no point to lying anymore; not if it would just cause more stress on Ianto and their daughter.
"Thirty-two," Jack revealed and saw the other man's jaw drop. It would now be obvious that Jack was older than he looked.
"And she has a toddler named Steven..."
"You're a grandfather," Ianto uttered in disbelief.
"I know, I look good for my age," Jack quipped.
"You didn't think this was important? That my baby already has a half-sibling?" Ianto asked with his hands rubbing the bump.
"It's my baby, too," Jack reminded him., "I did tell her that I was going to be a father again."
"Again," Ianto repeated like a child and closed his eyes, "Did you tell her anything else about me?"
"No, not really," he said since it was nothing that he could repeat and Ianto took the duvet over him once more.
"At least you were finally honest with me," he spoke and Jack's heart sank. He had barely told him the tip of the iceberg and Ianto's eyelids were drooping.
"I'll be fine...Jack," he said with a yawn, "You can let yourself out."
******************************************************
Ianto wasn't allowed into work the next day either. He wondered what Martha had told them. She said it hadn't been the truth. Ianto was only dressed in an over-sized robe as he lay on the bed with Rhi beside him. They each had their own pint of ice cream as the telly flickered away. Supposedly, they were going to use a trebuchet to hurl flaming cannonballs at a caravan. It sounded interesting. At the very least, it worked well as background noise to try and distract him from everything in his head. Rhi was trying to cheer him up as well by bringing him lunch and ice cream in bed. However, he felt as though he was going to burst if he didn't tell someone about last night.
"Jack proposed to me. He did. It was really sweet. I feel a little bad. He was wearing this great button-down like usual. He tucked it in. He didn't get down on one knee because we were both on the bed. It was sterling silver with diamonds around the band," Ianto described to her.
"The ring was sterling silver?" Rhi asked with a face.
"Well, sterling silver makes a lot of sense. It would look nicer with my usual suits," he defended before eating more of his Baked Alaska.
"But still...sterling silver?" Rhi retorted and shook her head.
"Let's not focus on the ring. Something bigger happened," Ianto spoke.
" Something more important, more impressive than getting a proposal out of him? Did he pop your cherry?" she asked with a mischievous grin and poked his right breast.
"No, no, no," he answered at the thought and nearly choked on a chocolate polar bear, "He has a daughter."
"Did you meet her? Does she live with her mum or does she have two dads? What's her name?" Rhi questioned and scooped up more of her Strawberry Cheesecake flavor. Perhaps he should have questioned Jack more, but he'd been so tired at the time and so shocked at getting anything real out of him. Jack's past was still almost a complete mystery.
"He didn't tell me her name, but I think she probably has her own place because she's thirty-two," Ianto stated and saw her brown eyes widen.
"Thirty-two? That's older than me. How old is he then? Have you gotten yourself pregnant by some dirty old man?" she asked and he winced at the insult.
"I don't know, but she has a kid named Steven," he told her and turned the container over to get the last drops.
"A grandfather, blimey," she spoke, "I'm sorry."
"I'm over it. At least, he told me. This could be the start of being more honest with me," Ianto said and put his container in the trash pile on the floor.
"You need to train him. Oprah said that when two people meet they should point out each other’s differences and flaws," Rhi stated and he rubbed his belly. His daughter was moving all over the place. It felt like she didn't like being kept in bed any more than he did. He also thought about what Rhi just said. Jack didn't strike him as the type you could easily train.
"I thought you should love people for who they are," Ianto retorted for what he deemed the worst advice ever.
"You criticize them a lot, so they get so down on themselves they have to change," she spoke and drained the rest of her ice cream.
"You don't think that's naggy?" Ianto asked and felt the baby kick. Was she agreeing with him?
"In the end, they thank you for it," Rhi assured but he still couldn't believe her. She looked at her watch and then, at him.
"You've been good all day so you want to come with me to get the kids. Finally get out of the house?" she asked with a smile.
"Nothing would be better," he replied and got up from the bed. It wasn't as easy as it was even a month ago. He didn't want to think about what it would be like when he was seven or eight months along.
"Right, I'll get rid of this rubbish and you'll dress, then meet me at the car," she said and started picking everything up. Ianto picked out a clean outfit and took it into the loo to change.
"How much larger am I going to get?" Ianto whispered aloud at seeing his naked body in the mirror. It was weird. He'd been guilty of having a small beer belly at times, but this was different. At least, it felt very different.
When he finished and was walking out of the guesthouse, Rhi was doing the same from the main house.
"Just to clarify, you did tell him no, yeah?" she asked and he nodded, "You can’t commit to him. You don’t even know him. I don’t even know Johnny after ten years. I don’t know what he’s up to. He’s miserable."
The truth was that part of him had wanted to say yes before the rational part took over again.
"Why do you say that?" Ianto asked and crossed his arms as they walked across the property.
"I think he’s cheating on me. He’s always going to business meetings at odd hours. Then I try to call him on his mobile and he says he’s in a bad reception area when he’s in a good reception area," Rhi explained and pressed the button on her keys.
"Maybe he's working late. Maybe he has a new project. We might not get on the greatest, but I can't imagine Johnny doing that," he said to her before opening the door.
"There's no part of you that thinks maybe he's a dirty little wanker?" she asked.
"Well, in the literal sense, of course he is, but..." Ianto spoke, "I always thought of him more as a fuckwit."
"I think he might be," Rhi agreed and opened her door as well.
****************************************************************
That little nugget of information had really saved Jack's ass. Between telling Ianto about Alice and Steven and finding out that the pregnancy should progress as it should, Ianto was a lot more relaxed and happy. Jack kissed Ianto who leaned against the headboard. He was gorgeous but not in a way that he could have ever imagined. His face was fuller with stubble. There was a patch on his chin that he couldn't help running his thumb across with one stroke. Ianto smiled and took a hand to his belly. Jack held a hand over the swelled abdomen and Ianto took that hand to place where his hand had been feeling. He would never get used to this. A tiny movement met his palm. Their blue eyes met each other and they both wore huge grins.
"Do you like your daddies having sex?" he asked and heard Ianto giggle. Another kick could be felt through the bare skin. This was much more preferable than hunting down Weevils. He studied Ianto's naked form again. His body had more curves than when they had first slept together, but he liked all of them, from ample breasts to the rounded belly containing their daughter. The more he gazed at him, the more he was ready for round two. He changed positions so his cock rubbed against Ianto as he leaned over him and kissed him on the lips. Jack pulled away to nibble on his ear and heard a soft exhale of pleasure that wasn't from him. His soft biting turned into kisses that he trailed down Ianto's body to his breasts and tugged the soft flesh with his lips. Then, there was a chirp and Ianto shrank away from him before picking up the mobile on the small chest of drawers by his bed.
"It's Rhi. She says it's an emergency and to meet her in the house," Ianto read off the screen and heaved himself out of bed.
"What? Now?" he asked because she had to know what the situation was with his car parked outside.
"She said 'emergency'" Ianto reminded him before pulling on a pair of his maternity jeans. Jack reached for his trousers although he would be pitching a tent in them. He'd still rather spend as little time as possible with Rhi. When they reached the house, she wasn't in the kitchen or living room.
"Rhi? Where are you?" Ianto called out and muttered in a lower voice, "I hope she's not expecting me to text her back."
"In here!" she yelled and they followed the voice to what Jack would guess was Johnny's office. It looked very masculine with a couple of guitars on the wall, a flat-screen telly with a wall of game machines and stereos attached to everything, including the computer. Jack wondered if she was supposed to be using the computer.
"I need to install this software. ’Memory Spy Web Memory Software. Locate history, files, websites visited, hidden downloads, e-mail history. Memory Spy,'" she read off a package, "You do this sort of thing at work."
"You said it was an emergency. I came running over here and your big emergency is you want me to help you spy on Johnny?!" Ianto exclaimed and Jack clasped a hand on his shoulder. He twisted out of his touch. Rhi pouted and her brown eyes seemed big. Jack knew that Ianto was going to give into her.
TWENTY-FOUR WEEKS ALONG
Ianto, Jack, Rhi and Johnny were seated around a table for dinner. Johnny was taking full advantage of it being Monday and was on his fifth pancake. This time, it was a Hot Dutch with sausage and chilies and things that made Ianto feel like he was getting heartburn just by looking at it. Rhi took another bite of her pancake with ratatouille and ham before rolling her eyes at Jack.
"That's a nutritious meal you're having there, Jack," she chided about his plate. Jack's dinner was everything you could possibly get on a sweet pancake.
"It's basically what Ianto's having," Jack retorted and motioned to Ianto's meal. Ianto held up a bite and said, "See, it has fresh fruit salad. That's healthy."
"That's different, Ianto's pregnant," she said and he sighed. He doubted Jack had suddenly forgotten that. Ianto knew he couldn't especially when he couldn't fit close to the table like normal. His belly prevented that.
"You're not going to tell them? Your workplace?" Johnny asked and his eyes were on Ianto's swollen abdomen. Ianto was worried that any day now he'd be called into Yvonne's office, but that hadn't happened yet. He remembered Faith's warning: he couldn't let any of them know.
"No. I don’t have to. It’s illegal for them to fire me over it, but they could still demote me and I get maternity leave for a year if I stay. So I’m not going to tell them," Ianto said and the baby started kicking again. She was too big to easily pull off the somersaults and flips like earlier.
"Good plan," Rhi spoke, in agreement with almost everything he did and said these days. Being a big sister, she had always been protective of him. However, the farther along he became, the more it came out in her.
"I like it. New parents have it so much better now than when we had our kids. I could have had seven months off," Johnny complained and Rhi shook her head. Across the table, Jack drove his bite around on his plate through chocolate mixed with caramel, honey, maple syrup and nutella. To the casual observer, Ianto was sure Jack would seem like the pregnant one and not him. He had opted for just chocolate and honey with his fruit.
"As long as he's being safe," Jack said at last. Had Martha told him?
"Of course, he's being safe. Isn't he?" Rhi asked, looking at Ianto.
"Of course," he answered while staring at his plate. Suzie was suspicious enough without his being restricted from active duty. Other than bodily injury, there was only one reason for a member of Torchwood to be taken off active duty. She would know right away and he didn't trust her. It just meant that he had to be careful and not let himself be put in a position where he could get hurt.
"Isn’t it weird, though, when you have a kid and all your dreams and hopes go right out the window?" Johnny asked and put the last bite in his mouth as if things weren't awkward enough. Rhi threw her thick, dark hair back and made a disgusted noise.
"What changed for you? What went out the window? You do everything exactly the same," Rhi spat.
"No, I love what I’m doing. But say before you’re married with children you want to live in India for a year. You can do it," said Johnny who was on the verge of ruining their meal.
"You want to go to India? Go to India! I won't be bothered," Rhi told him and scooted as far away from him as she could so her chair was pressed against Ianto's own chair.
"Do you want to go to India?" Johnny asked.
"No. You can go," Rhi stated and pushed her plate away. He hoped one or both of them were under the influence of alcohol and not in their right minds. However, he wanted to avoid a public incident. He'd rather not have coppers staring at him while he made a statement.
"I get what he means. Honestly, when I found out about..." Ianto started and gestured at his body, "I had this flash of forcing Martha to come up with an antidote or running away so I could be free. It just felt like my life was over."
Among those staring at him, like he'd admitted to drowning kittens, was Jack.
"It was only that first week or so," Ianto uttered and wishing he'd gone into a different conversation.
"Really?" Jack asked.
"Don’t look at me. We can talk about our fears here. If Doc Brown screeched up to you in the DeLorean and said, 'Jack, I got the car here. What do you want to do?' No part of you would think, 'Maybe I’ll go back to that night and put a condom on?' Or if I hadn't been so eager to be the hero and gotten myself hurt in the first place? You never think that sort of thing?" Ianto questioned and tried to read Jack's face.
"No. What are you talking about?" Jack asked and Ianto had the impression he was hiding something.
"Where we're going, we don't need roads," Johnny recited with a goofy grin.
"You wouldn't do that?" Ianto questioned and was surprised to see Jack frowning.
Chapter Fifteen: Twenty-four Weeks Along
