ericadawn16 | Dressing Up Lula

Title: But Time Marches On
Author: Ericadawn16
Characters: David, Rhi, Johnny, Mica, Iefan,Gwen, Rhys,Alice, Jack Rhi/Johnny Gwen/Rhys Jack/Ianto
Rated: PG-13 ANGST COE Spoilers MPREG AU
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Things are looking up.
Author's Note: The Sequel to But Time Didn't Stop

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

Previous Chapter: The Easter Aftermath

Dressing Up Lula

A couple of days later, David sat beside his sister at his parents' house. They were playing her newest game. His scores were abysmal so she kept gloating at beating him, but he was preoccupied. Did Mica have the same problem? Should he ask her about it? Then, his willpower would leave him. He didn't want to have Mica react like Emyr did, assuming he was ill. The doorbell chimed and their mum checked who it was.

"Kellyn? What's Kellyn doing here? I can't let her see me," Rhi complained and touched her bald head. "One of you has to see her, make her go away."

"Busy," Mica spoke and David looked at her, realising something. She was behind this which didn't surprise him. She was a meddler like their mum.

"I'll go," their dad said, walking in from the kitchen, "Kellyn, what's this?"

"Well, we found out about your troubles so we cooked and baked. We also came up with a visiting schedule for when you and Mica are away," Kellyn said and David looked over to see the older woman with a huge smile on her face. His mum was sitting on the stairs, hidden by the angle of the door. Her mouth was open in shock.

"I...I'm not sure what to say," Johnny spoke as the plastic containers were thrust into his arms along with a cloth tote.

"With all your wife's done over the years, least we could do," Kellyn said, "Must be having a lie-in then, bless."

With that, she waved and left. David helped take some of the baked goods from his dad's arms as his mum continued to sit on the stairs.

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It had been nearly a week since Kellyn had showed up at their door and Mica knew that her mum knew exactly who was responsible. However, her mum also seemed to be on better spirits without having to worry about so much. The neighbors' visits also seemed to include cooking and cleaning. Mary even painted varnish on her toenails. It also helped today that Iefan was visiting. He was wearing a brown denim jacket he refused to remove and Faba clutched in one hand. The toddler pointed up the stairs, saying, "Up."

He held out his free hand for her mum to take. She saw her mum yawn and take the hand. They slowly made their way up the stairs.

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As soon as Gwen walked into the house, she wondered what was going on. Rhys was playing soft oldies music that Ianto hated. Then, she saw the candles on the dining room table.

"Rhys, where are you?" she asked, putting the post where it belonged.

"Cooking," he responded and walked into the room. He was carrying a sauce pan while wearing an apron and nothing else.

"Where's Ianto?" she asked when she regained the ability to talk.

"My mum's. I'll pick him up on the way to work in the morning. Tonight's just us," Rhys replied. Rhys always had a way of surprising her and this was nice, very nice. She forgot all about work.

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"Less than three months to go," Alice whispered to herself. She had only meant to close her eyes for a moment, but the clock revealed it had been a lot longer than that and Jack was at one of his appointments. Even more worrying was the absence of sound. Surely, the children hadn't killed each other that fast. Alice listened harder and heard them in a muffled way. They were outside. She made her way to her feet and down the stairs. The laundry basket was on the floor with items piled around it. If they were up to mischief, she hoped they were at least doing it together. Alice couldn't understand it. Lucia and Iefan would seem like they were on their way to becoming friends, then something would happen and Lucia would snap at him. Alice could never tell what had provoked her or whether it could be something to worry about with the new baby. She had a little less than three months to sort it out. Hopefully, she wouldn't be early.

Alice opened the back door the rest of the way and went outside to see what the kids were up to. Iefan, clutching Faba and a Kermit, was giggling as Lucia chased Lula around the yard. Alice sighed. Her daughter seemed bound and determined to harass that poor puppy. Lucia had put one of her button shirts on the animal as well as her hair bows. Iefan was wearing one of Jack's undershirts like a dress although it dragged all around him.

"Lucia, stop! Come here right now!" Alice yelled and the girl stopped right away, walking to her. "It's time out for you. Lula is a living creature, not a toy."

Alice put the timer on the microwave and went to Lula who was rubbing herself on the posts of the playground. She couldn't get the shirt off. Alice was glad the puppy was going to be a large dog so she didn't have to bend over a lot to undo the shirt. However, Lula ran off before she could remove the hair bows. Then, they heard a car park outside, Jack was back.

"Taddy!" Iefan screamed and ran two steps before tripping on the shirt. Alice took it off him, wondering when it only left a nappy where he had left the original outfit for the day. Her mobile chirped and she saw that she had a text message from Thomas. It was probably asking about Lucy but she was surprised to see he wanted to know how she was. It put a smile on her face. She was still wearing it when the door opened and her dad appeared with Iefan in his arms. He'd had one of his sessions again. They seemed to be getting better each time. Jack didn't seem as bad as the one before it.

"Just leave it," he said and nodded towards the laundry on the floor, "I'll take care of it. You're not supposed to..."

"Yeah," she said, remembering what the doctor had said. She wasn't supposed to exert herself. Then, the timer went off.

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Jack had gone from hating his sessions to tolerating them. At least Selene was Torchwood so they had discussed the Doctor and Rose. Jack didn't hate that Rose did what she did. If she hadn't he would never met Lucia or Ianto and had Alice or Iefan but it had made things so much harder. He was now the only other person in the universe to understand the burden of immortality. The important part was that he hadn't touched alcohol in over a month and he didn't have the urge to drink so often. Being more honest with another person made him want to be more honest with Alice and maybe he could do the same with Iefan as he grew up. There was still something Alice didn't know about Steven's death. Iefan was dragging his blue dog through the whole house while Lucia looked at picture books and Lula napped. Alice was resting on the couch so he sat down beside her.

"We need to talk," he said and saw her guard go up just like he would do. Lucia didn't seem to be paying attention but she wouldn't understand anyway.

"When I left to have Iefan, I ended up in the past with the Doctor, but I didn't know until Iefan was born, it was the fourth of June in 2009," Jack spoke and saw Alice flinch, "I begged the Doctor to go back and stop it. Ianto would live, Steven would live and everything would be okay again."

"But he didn't let you?" Alice asked.

"No," said Jack shaking his head for an instant, "He explained that I had a choice. I could have Ianto and Steven but...but Iefan would never be born. His birth was only possible by Ianto dying."

Alice looked like she was about to comment, but shook her head instead.

"Are you mad? I should have told you earlier but I had the choice to save my grandson twice and I didn't and..."

He hadn't wanted to see that look again where he didn't exist to her. Alice' head was turned to watch Iefan try to put Faba on top of the wooden dog and drag it, but he kept falling off. Lula had woken up from her nap and just as she was going to snatch Faba away with her teeth, Iefan grabbed it.

"No! No Lula! My Faba!" he yelled and waved his hand at her.

"I understand. I was angry with you for a long, long time and I wouldn't have understood then, but now," she said and he saw his daughter gaze at Lucia before looking down at her belly, "at least...at least some good came out of it."

Jack nodded and put an arm around her. She rested against it and it felt like things were getting better.

Radioactive