ericadawn16 | Up the Duff

Title: But Time Marches On
Characters: Mica, Alice, David, Rhi, Iefan, Johnny, Rhi/Johnny, David/Emyr
Rated: PG-13 ANGST COE Spoilers MPREG
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Alice admits her biggest secret.
Author's Note: The Sequel to But Time Didn't Stop

Previous Chapter: Obstacles

Masterlist: http://ericadawn16.livejournal.com/113396.html

Up the Duff

Mica lay on the grass in the park like they used to do when they were younger. Everyone seemed to be busy but her. They hadn't even found the time to exchange the Christmas presents. Jack kept being called away on Torchwood business, Emyr had to visit his parents along with David and her mum was always under the weather. It was also weird to be back in Wales. She'd liked Italy especially how sunny it was most of the time. Chris and Sian didn't even want to be in the same six metre radius of each other so she had to plan separate activities with both. There was a ginger girl that ran across pavement in front of her. She reminded her of Lucia. Lucia was a strange child especially during the staring game. However, she couldn't bring herself to bring it up with Jack. He'd been so busy anyway. Maybe she could call Eldora. They'd only done a few things together.

********************************************

Alice kissed Thomas on the lips, but it was brief and it didn't feel like he was into it. He'd been distant for days now, ever since she'd told him.

"Thomas, Thomas, just speak to me," she whispered and touched his face.

"You lied to me. I told you everything and you keep something so important to yourself. You told me he was your brother. Why? Why not just tell me the truth?" he asked. He was still dressed in his work clothes while she had opted for something more casual. His green eyes were sad and she wished she knew the perfect thing to say. It should be simple, but it wasn't and she couldn't blame all of it on her dad.

"It's what I'd always done. I've been telling people he was my brother since I was a teenager. Otherwise, people wouldn't believe me or they'd give him a dirty look for being so young," she said and couldn't bring herself to tell him that she had changed her name to further distance herself from him.

"But I'm not people, I'm your husband. Don't I deserve that respect?" he asked and gestured with his arms.

"Yes, yes," she agreed, "I'm sorry."
Due to her pregnancy hormones, she could cry at the drop of a hat and this was no exception. She hated crying, but it seemed like she was doing it all the time. Thomas put his arms around her and squeezed.

"I'm sorry to make you cry. It just upset me that you could do this. I never thought you would lie to me," he explained as he held her. However, this wasn't the only lie between them and if he found that out later, it would just make everything worse.

"There's something else," she whispered and waited for a response.

"What?" he asked as though it was inconceivable which made her feel even more terrible, "What do you mean?"

"I had a child before Lucia," she uttered and he froze before pulling away from her.
"Steven Joseph Carter, he was born on March the thirty-first in 1999," Alice spoke and pointed to her ring, "the third stone is for him."
Even as she was saying it, he was shaking his head in disbelief.

"I didn't come here because of the divorce. I came here after he died because I thought it was the only way I'd be able to live again," she continued, "That's why I kept turning you down. You deserved someone your own age without all this baggage with them."

He was looking at the floor and it felt like all her lies had become this huge wall between them. She waited for him to put his feelings into words. Her patience was rewarded with a question, "That boy, the one from the movies...he was yours, yes?"

Alice nodded and rubbed her hands together so she could feel the clasps holding the stones in place as well as the cold gold of her wedding band. Thomas put the forefingers of his hands together and placed them to his lips. A few more tears fell down her cheeks in the silence before he spoke again. Upon turning to face her, she saw that his eyes were glimmering in the lamplight, too.

"Can you...will you..." he started and the words seemed to fight to come out of him, "How did he die?"

This was where the truth had to end. There was no way she could begin to explain what father did or what her father was or why they had been singled out in a population of millions or how that imprisoned, emaciated boy in the grainy footage had pulled at her heart but when her boy died to stop that from happening to anyone else, it broke her heart completely. If she was honest with herself, it still felt cracked and held together with cellotape. She was so lost in thought that she hadn't realized she was sobbing until Thomas took her left hand.

"It was an accident. It could have happened to anyone, but my dad was in the room with him and couldn't help him and I hated him for it. We didn't talk for over eight years until he showed up here," she said and wiped her eyes with her other hand, "The death certificate said it was an aneurysm."

She knew this was fact because she had looked it up on a public computer in France.

"I'm sorry he died," Thomas spoke and he had that look in his green eyes. It was a look she had tried to avoid by running away because it was bad enough to see it in those soldiers' eyes as they told her that his body had to be moved. She had never liked being the subject of pity. Alice motioned towards upstairs, saying, "I should prepare dinner."

**********************************************

Mica couldn't find her sock. She knew she had two blue ones. However, she was holding a single blue sock with no mate. Mica ran down the stairs to where her mum was giving Iefan lunch.

"Have you seen my other blue sock?" she asked as Iefan took a bite of yoghurt.

"No, do you expect me to keep track of every piece of clothing you own?" her mum retorted as Iefan set his spoon down. He passed the plate to her and she pushed it back.

"One more bite of your chicken," Rhi told the toddler.

"So, you're not going to help me look for it?" Mica clarified and Rhi rolled her eyes before her face was more serious. Mica had caught that look on her a lot more in the past week or so.

"Mica, I'm not always going to be there for you. You're going to have to learn how to do things on your own like hunting down your missing clothes," she spoke and Mica knew she was right. However, the teenager didn't like to hear it.

"All done," Iefan spoke and started leading his blue dog through the house. Mica went up to her room where she gave up finding the other sock and stuck her bare feet into the purple Chucks.

*********************************************************

"Well...we survived," David said as Emyr got into bed beside him. They'd spent the last two days with Emyr's parents. Emyr's dad had teased that David should have asked his permission first and Emyr's mum wanted a complete description of how he had done it. Emyr's little sister, Caryl, only wanted to know what they had bought her back from Italy.

"I love you," Emyr spoke, "for putting up with my lot."

"You have to put up with mine," David reminded him and tugged at the bottom of his shirt, "It's been too long since we've fucked in this bed."

"Oh, I agree," Emyr agreed and helped him pull it off. His fiance was wearing drawstring pants and he undid the knot so the loose fabric settled low on Emyr's body, but only revealed the coarse, curly dark hair. David leaned down and kissed him. Emyr took his hands and played with David's blond curls before taking them lower and sliding his hands up his shirt. David loved having a long winter break.

*********************************************************

Rhi watched Mica shut the door on her way to school.

"Jack dropping off Iefan soon?" Johnny asked between bites of breakfast.

"No, I told him I couldn't take him this morning," she said and Johnny's face was curious.

"Why? Even with errands, you just bring him along," he questioned and she liked that this wasn't getting past him. This would be a good time to tell.

Mummy to be?