You Want To Make A Memory (2/2)
Title: You Want To Make A Memory
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG-13
Length: 11,000 words - eek - in two parts to appease LJ.
Disclaimer: I don't own Jack, I don't own Ianto, I don't own the Doctor either.
Spoilers: None, really.
Summary: Jack and Ianto want to have a baby, but that might be tougher than it appears.
Author's Notes: This is for morbid_sparks, without whom the plot bunny that led to this fic would have been ignored until it went away.
Thanks to: morbid_sparks for the beta, and also for encouraging me while writing it. Thanks to angelzbabe1989 for her encouragement too.
Part One
You Want To Make A Memory
Part Two
After a few quick calls to their team-mates to make sure they were all set, in the event that they were gone longer than planned, Jack and Ianto were ready to go early the next morning.
The actual journey to the 41st century was uneventful - or at least as uneventful as a journey in the TARDIS could be. Jack and Ianto had travelled with the Doctor for a few weeks shortly after their partnership ceremony, and the trips between successive disasters had never been quite so smooth.
They came to a halt without even a bump. “Right,” the Doctor announced, “it should be 4062 out there. Mid-June, if I got the co-ordinates right. The middle of one of the biggest baby booms in a millennia - you should fit right in.”
Jack and Ianto stood on the ramp down to the TARDIS doors, hands clasped.
“Ready to do this?” Ianto asked his partner.
Jack nodded. “You?”
“Absolutely.”
Opening the doors, they stepped out into the sunshine, followed by the Doctor.
Before they could walk off, the Doctor turned and called to them. “Oh, Ianto, you still have that same mobile, right?”
Ianto nodded, waiting for the explanation as to why this was important.
“I’m going to have a wander around the market, there’s this little stall somewhere around here that sells the most wonderful…”
“Doctor, the phone?” Ianto interrupted.
“Oh, yes - just give me a call when you’re ready to leave. I remembered it this time.” He pulled the now tired-looking phone from an inside pocket of his coat triumphantly.
With a grin, he turned and disappeared off.
Jack and Ianto turned towards each other as Jack accessed local information from his wrist strap. “Right, medical centre is… that way.” Jack indicated a direction with his head, tightening his grip on Ianto’s hand before he turned to walk in the direction.
It was a fairly short walk, and from the traffic and people’s activities around them as they walked, they surmised that it was still fairly early in the morning.
The medical centre, when they reached it, was a large building that, much like the clinic Ianto had visited in the 21st century, was trying hard to be bright and welcoming but still had that distinct ‘medical’ feel.
They paused in front of it, just out of range for the sensor on the automatic doors at its entry. Ianto brought his hands together, clasping Jack’s between them. He lifted an eyebrow in question when Jack turned to face him.
Take a deep breath, Jack nodded, and turning as one, they walked through the doors.
Inside, Ianto mused once more on how little things had really changed in the 2000 years since his home time. At once side of the open space they entered was a low desk, with what could only be described as a receptionist behind it, even if she was blue. And had four arms. One corner of the space was given over as a waiting area, with gatherings of comfortable-looking chairs.
As they made their way over to the reception desk, the receptionist turned to smile at them, one pair of arms reaching out to hit a button bringing up a holographic screen.
“Good morning. Do you have an appointment?” she asked pleasantly when they got within a few feet of the counter.
Jack shook his head. “No, but I’d, we’d like to make one.”
“Right, that’s fine,” she told them, the cheery smile never leaving her face. “Are you registered?”
“Ah… no.” Jack glanced at Ianto as he wondered what story to give her. Before he could come up with one, Ianto had taken over.
“We’re only in the area temporarily, but we really do need to see a specialist as soon as we can. Today, if possible.” He flashed her the pleasantly unassuming smile that so often assisted him when concocting cover stories back at home.
Whether it was the smile or the story itself, she didn’t seem to have any questions about this explanation. “Of course, sirs. I can register you as temporary residents. Which of you is the patient?”
Jack lifted his free hand. “That would be me.”
“Name?”
“Harkness. Jack Harkness.” A thought flashed through his mind, and he took a moment to hope that if he was still around the planet in this time period, he was either living some distance away or was using a different name by now. Or, at least, that he hadn’t registered with the medical services.
He breathed a tiny sigh of relief when the name didn’t appear to spark any suspicion when she entered it into the computer system.
”And how can we contact you?”
Jack could see Ianto curse under his breath - he hadn’t thought of that. Wracking his brain, he tried to remember the history he’d learned, first as a child and then in the time agency. He was fairly sure that early versions of many of the features in his wrist strap - the communications device included - had been around since the 38th century, so he decided to risk it.
“We don’t have a local contact sorted out yet, but I can be contacted through this.” He flashed the wrist strap, being careful not to let her get too close a look. When she nodded expectantly, he rattled off a string of numbers and letters, surprising himself - and Ianto, from the look on his face - at how naturally the contact code came back to him even after so long.
Thankfully, the receptionist didn’t seem fazed by the mode of communication or the accompanying code, so Jack knew he must have remembered correctly.
The string of digits safely entered onto her system, the receptionist turned back to them, still smiling.
“And which department would you like to make an appointment in?”
Ianto squeezed Jack’s hand supportively. “Fertility and Family Planning.”
They could see her scrolling through a few screens on the holographic display before she turned back to them, her smile even wider than before. “You’re in luck. There’s an appointment available with Dr. Elanu this afternoon. She’s very nice. If you would prefer a male doctor, however, there’s a space tomorrow morning at…”
“That’s okay,” Jack interrupted, quickly confirming with Ianto through a glance. “Dr Elanu sounds lovely, we’ll take it.”
Touching something else on her screen, the receptionist produced a small card that reminded Ianto of a hotel key card. “Right, that’s booked for you. Here’s your reminder card, and I’ll see you this afternoon.”
Ianto took the card, and thanking her, they left the centre.
Once they were a few metres away from the doors, Ianto stopped to examine the card. “Okay, I must be missing something. I’m not sure exactly how this will remind us of the appointment when it has nothing written on it.”
Jack took it, turning it over in his hands a few times. “I saw something like this before, years and years ago.” His eyes lifted to Ianto’s. “Back when I was still in the Time Agency. If I’m right, there will be several messages triggered which will project from this card at certain intervals before the appointment. A bit like 21st century sat nav, really… only for doctor’s appointments.”
Ianto plucked the small device back from between Jack’s fingers. “It’s a good idea,” he smiled as he looked it over once more. “Although I’m sure some people find them just as annoying as sat navs can be.”
Jack just grinned.
“Anyway,” Ianto continued, “the appointment isn’t for hours yet, so I’ll just put this somewhere safe and…”
Jack protested as Ianto pocketed it.
“Oi! What do you mean ‘somewhere safe’? Technically it’s my appointment, shouldn’t I get the card?”
“‘Somewhere safe’ as in somewhere it won’t get lost,” Ianto intoned. “Which by definition means ‘not giving it to Jack’.”
Jack started to pout before realising that Ianto knew him too well; it probably was safer to let Ianto look after the thing.
“Okay then, so… we have a few hours. Wanna explore the market?” Jack wiggled his fingers invitingly.
* * *
Several hours, a lot of wandering and four increasingly irritating reminders from the appointment card later, and Jack and Ianto were back at the medical centre. They’d been waved to the small foyer waiting area by the receptionist, and Ianto was mentally comparing it to his own time in the waiting room of the clinic back in the 21st century. Then, he’d been one of the few people there alone, forced to watch couples, like he was with Jack now, talk quietly and calm each other as they waited.
Just a few minutes later, they were called through to see the doctor.
Dr. Elanu was a cheery woman who looked to be in her early thirties. Her hair and eyes were peculiars shade of blue and purple respectively, betraying her not-entirely-human ancestry.
After the introductions had taken place, and Dr. Elanu had given them a brief outline of her experience in the area, they didn’t waste any more time in getting down to the issue.
“… with no luck. Ianto has already been tested, and that came back okay, so now it’s my turn,” Jack finished.
Dr. Elanu had smiled sympathetically at the appropriate points in the story, taking copious notes on what Ianto hesitated to identify as a tablet computer.
“Right, I think the best thing to do would be to just give you a complete complement of fertility testing - that means a few blood tests and I’ll give you a scan too,” the doctor told them, scribbling down a few last notes.
Ianto squeezed Jack’s hand, and Jack nodded his agreement.
Standing up, she led them to what could only be, in any century, the treatment area. It had an instrument trolley, a few pieces of fancy equipment on the walls, and the piece that really gave it away; a sterile white bed.
Jack hopped up onto the edge of it, shedding his ever-customary greatcoat.
Dr. Elanu rummaged through a drawer of the trolley for a few moments, pulling out a vacuum-packed package.
Indicating for Jack to roll up his sleeve, she broke into the package, pulling out a small sealed vial.
“Right, this might pinch for a moment,” she warned as she placed the top of the vial against the inside of Jack’s forearm. Ianto could see Jack flinch ever so slightly as she clicked a button on the top of the vial and it filled with dark red blood.
When she pulled it away, Ianto was surprised to see that there was already a small sticky bandage in its place, covering the tiny wound where it had extracted the blood sample.
The doctor turned away to scan the vial into her system and send it through to the testing equipment. Ianto inched a little closer to Jack, who was still looking somewhat put out.
“What is it?” he murmured softly.
“Two millennia later - actually, even three millennia where I grew up - and they still haven’t found a way to take a blood sample without poking you with a bloody needle, even if it is more automated now,” Jack grumbled under his breath.
Ianto smiled indulgently at his partner; could deal with bullets and trauma with sharp instruments with barely a complaint, but whined whenever he was confronted with an itty-bitty needle.
The vial dealt with, Dr. Elanu returned to the side of the bed and pulled out one of the myriad pieces of equipment lining the wall.
“Right, if you could just lie back for me Mr. Harkness and we’ll get the scan under way,” she said, flipping switches and bringing up a holographic screen much like that in the reception area.
Slowly, she ran the piece of equipment, a scanner of some sort, Ianto inferred, over Jack’s abdomen. A picture started to appear on her screen, along with reams of data that Ianto didn’t understand or recognise.
The scan didn’t take that long, and once the machine was returned to the wall and the scan data saved, the three of them returned to the consultation area of the doctor’s office.
“The testing will probably be complete sometime between 60 and 90 minutes from now,” Dr. Elanu was telling them as Jack finished sorting out his clothing. “I’d like you to make another appointment for us to discuss the results, either late this afternoon or tomorrow. Depending on what the test results show, we can discuss your options then.”
Ianto gulped slightly at the word ‘options’, but logically he knew it could be a good thing - if they went back to the 21st century they knew they still theoretically had the options of adoption or surrogacy, but they had discussed them before and they really wanted to give this everything they had before they resorted to either of those options.
Here in the 41st century he knew they would, in all probability, have many more options available that could help them achieve their dream.
Less than fifteen minutes later, a new appointment card in hand for the last slot of the day, they were headed back out into the fresh air.
* * *
Their second stint in the waiting area was even more tense than the first. As it was approaching the end of the working day in the medical centre, there was only one other person waiting with them, who looked just as nervous as they were.
Neither of them was quite sure whether the dominant emotion was anticipation or dread.
When they were called through to Dr. Elanu’s office, they kept their fingers tightly intertwined, sending each other what comfort they could through the familiar grip.
Their nerves weren’t calmed at all by the sombre look on the doctor’s previously cheerful face.
“It’s not good news, is it?” Jack asked, his tone defeated, as he sank into the chair he’d occupied before.
“Well,” the doctor began, “there’s good news and bad news, really, I’m afraid.”
“What’s the good news?” Ianto asked, both hands now wrapped around Jack’s.
“From the scans and the results of the blood tests, there seems to be absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t carry a pregnancy to full term with no issues,” she replied. “Obviously there are the same risks as are associated with any pregnancy, but the relevant organs appear to be in good working order.”
While all of this sounded very good, Jack and Ianto were both very aware that she had mentioned bad news too, and if there had been nothing wrong they were convinced they would have conceived by now.
“So what’s the bad news, then?”
“So why haven’t I been able to get pregnant?”
They spoke at the same time.
Dr. Elanu took a deep breath before answering their question. “There have been some changes in your physiology. More specifically, the passageway allowing the sperm to travel to meet the egg has become blocked or has closed up.”
“So if the sperm and egg met and implanted themselves in Jack, he should be able to carry the baby to term, but they haven’t been able to meet?” Ianto clarified.
“Exactly,” she nodded.
“Is there… is there any reason why this might have happened?” Jack asked, and Ianto knew he was wondering if it could be the result of his immortality, or of one of his many deaths.
“It’s unlikely we’ll be able to say for sure,” the doctor replied, shaking her head slightly. “It’s a very rare condition, so we haven’t been able to pin down many specific events that can directly lead to this occurring. Unless…”
She looked between Jack and Ianto contemplatively, questions clearly whizzing through her mind.
“Unless?”
“Well, this might sound like a slightly odd question, but… have you spent any significant time in a time period before the 26th century?”
Jack and Ianto looked at each other.
Jack raised his eyebrows in a clear question. Do we tell her?
Ianto hesitated for just a moment, biting into his bottom lip ever so slightly, and then nodded almost imperceptibly. Yes.
“Actually, doctor… strictly speaking… we’ve lived in the 21st century for a long time now,” Jack tendered. “We came back forward,” - he decided not to reveal for the moment that Ianto technically belonged in the 21st century - “specifically to seek medical help with this.”
Dr. Elanu was nodding thoughtfully. “That could be a significant factor, then. There have been several reports of men posted to those early eras having significant troubles conceiving on their return. Many of those men who have gone for testing have showed the same physiological changes as we’re seeing here. No one has yet been able to pin down anything specific about why it happens, or why the effects don’t appear for any period after the early 27th century, but it’s been documented in several areas, and on some of the new colonies too.”
“So, we don’t really have a chance of conceiving then?” Jack asked dejectedly.
“Naturally, I’d say the chances are very small, yes.”
“What are our options then, doctor?” Ianto queried.
“Well, obviously there are the long-standing traditional options of adoption or surrogacy,” the doctor started. “But given that you’ve been trying for over two years, I’m assuming you’ve probably discussed those options before and would prefer, if possible, to continue with a pregnancy for Jack.”
Jack and Ianto nodded.
“In that case, there is the possibility of in-vitro fertilisation. As I’ve said, Jack is in a good position to carry a pregnancy to term, so if we get a successful implantation, the odds are good.”
Jack and Ianto shared another look. Silently agreeing to at least consider this option, they looked back to Dr. Elanu.
“If we went ahead with IVF…” Ianto started a little tentatively, “what would that actually involve?”
The doctor smiled reassuringly. “Well, first of all Jack would go on a 4-day long series of hormone treatments, to stimulate production of ova. Those would then be harvested - considering the changes to Jack’s physiology, this would probably be done via a combination of the usual method and minor keyhole surgery.”
She paused to make sure they were still following her. “We would then fertilise those in a sterile environment with a sample from you, Mr Jones, and after another two to three days, one or two viable blastocysts would be reintroduced to Jack’s body, and would hopefully become implanted and become a successful pregnancy.”
“One or two?” Jack’s brow furrowed.
“The rate of successful implantation isn’t 100%, so transferring two increases the odds of at least one success. It also, of course, carries the risk of twins. There is still a tiny chance of monozygotic twins developing from a single transfer, but it really is quite small.”
“What is the success rate?” Ianto wanted to know.
“There have been significant advances in the last decade,” Dr. Elanu answered, “increasing the success rate in females to almost 90% and in males to just over 65%.”
Ianto nodded thoughtfully.
Knowing that the two men would need to discuss this thoroughly before they made a decision, Dr. Elanu stood up. “I can get you an information chip about it, if you would like. It should answer any further questions you might have.”
“Of course. Thanks,” Jack said absently, getting to his own feet and dragging Ianto up with him. “We’ll let you know what we decide.”
They were back on the street for the third time a short time later, information chip in hand and thoughts racing through their heads.
“We should probably call the Doctor,” Ianto said suddenly after they had walked hand-in-hand, in silence, for about five minutes, not really paying attention to their surroundings.
“Yeah.” Jack brought them to a stop at the side of a small street with only a few stalls lingering from the market. Ianto pulled out his phone to make the call, and forty minutes later they met the Doctor in front of the TARDIS.
On the walk back, they had discussed the possibility of trying IVF. They knew that, in addition to all the issues that might arise from the actual treatment, they would also have to make arrangements to stay here for another week at least if they went forward with it.
However, after forty solid minutes of consideration, and a few references to the information chip they had been given, they had decided that, assuming they could arrange things with the Doctor, they were going to try it. It was their only real chance of Jack getting pregnant, and they couldn’t pass up that opportunity.
“So, did it go well?” the Doctor asked as he approached them.
“It could have gone better,” Ianto told him. “But we do have an option still available to us.” He caught the Doctor’s look. “IVF,” he clarified.
“Ahhh.”
“It would mean us staying here for another week or so,” he continued. “From the local information available, finding accommodation wouldn’t be too difficult, but,” he indicated the TARDIS with a tilt of his head, “I imagine you might want to be off sooner than that.”
The Doctor couldn’t deny it. “I could come back for you in a week though!” He waved at Ianto’s pocket. “You’ve got the phone; you could just call me to pick you up.”
Ianto looked at Jack questioningly. Jack blew out a breath and nodded. “Sounds like a plan, Doctor.”
* * *
Furnished, thanks to the TARDIS, with a reasonable supply of the local currency, finding temporary accommodation proved easy, just as Ianto had predicted. The tiny flat, designed for short to mid-length stays, was a little cramped but more comfortable than a hotel suite (although lacking in the creature comforts of a hotel, like room service).
They managed to get another appointment with Dr. Elanu first thing in the morning two days after their first arrival.
After another extended discussion about exactly what they could look forward to in the next week, the doctor produced a small kit. From this she pulled out a tiny vial, similar to the one that had been used to collect blood from Jack in their initial visit, only smaller and full of a light yellow liquid.
“Right, so this is what you’ll need for the hormone treatment course. I’ll do the first one now, but they’re pretty simple.”
At her gesture, Jack shed his coat and pulled up his shirts to reveal a patch of bare skin above his hip. Holding the tip of the vial against his skin, she pushed a plunger on the other end and the yellow liquid disappeared. Ianto noticed that Jack, once again, flinched slightly, and realised that he had this to look forward to many more times over the next few days.
“So there are… eleven more of those?” he asked, just to be sure.
“Yes, two more today, and then three daily for the next three days.” Ianto mentally did a little sarcastic whoop, knowing as he did that he was going to be the one administering the doses and putting up with Jack’s whining about the inability of the medical profession to develop needle-less technology.
Closing the kit again and handing it to Ianto, Dr. Elanu bid them farewell. “I’ll see you back here in four days for the harvest.” She nodded at Ianto. “And your sample, of course.”
Ianto sighed again. It looked like he was going to have to produce a sample in one of those little rooms after all. The only advantage here was that this time, Jack could be there to ‘lend a hand’ if necessary.
“Four days.”
* * *
Ianto steeled himself before he opened the door to the tiny living room in their temporary home. It was the third day of Jack’s course of hormone shots, and in the last day and a half their side effects had started to become evident. Jack’s moods had been swinging wildly all over the shop, and Ianto couldn’t quite be sure whether he’d walk in and be yelled at, groped, ignored, cried on or smothered in affectionate kisses.
Shifting the tray holding his coffee, Jack’s decaf and a plate of biscuits to one hand, he pushed the door open. Jack was slouched in the sofa, watching something on what Ianto had quickly realised was just a futuristic television set.
Jack looked up at the sound of the door opening. “Hey,” he greeted, smiling softly and pointing at the screen. “They still used to show repeats of this when I was a kid. I never realised it was quite as old as this.”
Ianto joined him on the sofa, and put the tray down on the table in front of them. Picking up his coffee and taking an appreciative sip, he passed Jack his mug. When he’d first switched Jack to decaf, he’d thrown up a bit of a fuss, but after a few weeks he’d stopped whining and resigned himself to a caffeine-free existence.
He was just beginning to relax in the thought that Jack seemed to be in a fairly even mood for once when there was a small whine from beside him.
“What is it, Jack?” he asked patiently.
Jack pointed at the plate of biscuits. “What happened to the little chocolaty ones with the sprinkles? I liked those.” His voice had grown progressively higher and more chocked as the sentence went on.
“Yes, I know you did,” he soothed. “Which is exactly why we’ve run out of them.”
Tears appeared in Jack’s eyes and he started to sniffle. “We’re out of sprinkle biscuits?”
Ianto nodded.
A few tears leaked from the corners of Jack’s bright eyes. “R-really and truly? There… there aren’t any more… in…in… in the back of the cupboard?”
“No more.”
Jack’s face fell further. “Y-y-you checked?”
“Yes, I checked.” Ianto pulled a now openly weeping Jack into his arms, feeling the tears begin to soak through the thin material of his T-shirt.
He let him sob for a few minutes before pulling back enough to look him in the face. “I can run out and buy some more now, if you really want.”
Jack sniffled, visibly trying to contain himself. “No… no… you don’t have to do that. I’ll… I’ll be okay. I’ll just have… my coffee. And one of the ginger biscuits.”
He didn’t let go of Ianto for quite a while after that, gripping him tighter every time Ianto made to get up and leave. He still looked a little sniffly when he finally pulled back and picked up his cooling cup of coffee and a ginger biscuit.
Ianto made a note to run out and get more of the chocolaty sprinkle biscuits at the first opportunity. He didn’t want a repeat of this upset if he could help it.
As he walked down the aisles of the local shop later that evening, he caught himself looking forward to the end of the hormone treatment, and the reappearance of a calmer Jack, and then he realised. If this went well, Jack was going to be pregnant. Everything he’d read in both the 21st and 41st centuries agreed: pregnancy was one long rollercoaster of hormones.
Looking around at the shelves, he made himself another note for when they got home.
Stock up on enough of all Jack’s favourite foods to last a full pregnancy.
* * *
Ianto pulled the door closed behind them, his sample safely deposited in the system. While he’d initially been just as uncomfortable as he had been in the fertility clinic back home in the 21st century, Jack had been on hand with a blindfold and whispered fantasies that could overcome even the awkward feeling that had pervaded Ianto.
One sample down, it was now Jack’s turn.
They’d done a detailed scan early that morning to check that the hormone treatment had had the desired effect, and the minor surgery required for the harvest was scheduled in just over an hour.
Then the two samples would be mixed and the eggs fertilised.
And after that, it was a matter of waiting.
* * *
Jack and Ianto waited impatiently where they had landed nine days ago for the TARDIS to appear.
The final procedures for the IVF treatment had taken place the previous day, when they had chosen to take their chances and have just a single embryo transferred back into Jack’s body. Although they had considered staying until they knew for certain whether it had worked or not, the urge to go home was stronger.
In their two years of unsuccessful trying, they’d developed rather a tradition around the taking of the test, and they were both anxious for the positive test, when it finally came, to be taken in keeping with their little ritual.
They’d been lounging around on a nearby grassy knoll for nearly an hour when the familiar sound of the TARDIS engines roused them from the semi-daze they’d been in. Seconds later, the door swung open and the Doctor bounded out and over to them.
“Taxi for Jones?” he grinned, offering Ianto a hand up. Ianto, in turn, pulled Jack to his feet, and they walked more slowly back to the TARDIS.
“So?” the Doctor asked excitedly, evidently keen for any news.
“We won’t know for another 7 to 10 days, when we can test,” Ianto told him as the doors shut behind them. “But I promise you, you’ll be among the first to know.”
* * *
If three minutes had seemed an eternity before, it still couldn’t compare with how long the agonising wait seemed this time.
Ianto watched the seconds tick by on his stopwatch, convinced that time was actually slowing down as the three-minute mark approached.
Jack, usually the picture of outward calm during these waits, was shifting his weight from one foot to the other, unable to stand still.
“Twenty seconds left,” Ianto announced, his voice shaky. “Ten.”
Breaking with tradition, Ianto stood and pressed himself against Jack’s back, peering over his shoulder at the test in his hand.
Three minutes up, they looked together at the indicator window.
Ianto felt his knees give out under him, and he gripped Jack’s upper arms to stay upright. A few long moments later, he sank to the floor anyway as Jack’s own shaky legs failed to support them.
Slumped against their bathroom wall, they couldn’t help but stare at the test window, still gripped tight in Jack’s hand.
For two years they’d grown used to the single red line that would appear to indicate a negative result; always willing that second line to appear.
And now…
There, clear as day in the window, were two strong red lines.
* * *
Jack was resting on the bed, his three day old daughter sleeping on his chest, when the ever-more familiar sound of the TARDIS materialising could be heard from the back garden.
Before Jack could move, Ianto scurried out of the kitchen, where he’d been sterilising bottles. A few minutes later, he could hear the Doctor and Ianto’s hushed voices as they talked quietly while they came in the back door.
“… don’t want to wake her up if we can help it,” Ianto was murmuring as he pushed the bedroom door open.
Jack smiled at his partner, who looked as tired as he felt these days. He’d started actually needing to sleep quite a lot late in his pregnancy, and his body hadn’t quite bounced back yet - indeed, he didn’t know for sure if it ever would.
“Hey,” he whispered, even more softly as Ianto and the Doctor came fully into the room.
Despite his exhaustion, Ianto’s eyes lit up with adoration as they came to rest on his tiny daughter.
It hadn’t been the easiest of pregnancies, even aside from its complicated beginning and the necessity of hiding it, but for Jack and Ianto, it was all worth it the moment they set eyes on the precious little girl three days previously.
They’d been shuffled off home the day after the delivery, with the stern instruction from the rest of the team not to even think about coming in for at least a week. Jack had protested, but considering how much work caring for a newborn had turned out to be, he was pleased they just had this time to spend bonding with her.
Not that they were alone for much of it. They’d had a steady stream of visits from their colleagues; they had almost considered actually kicking Gwen out yesterday - she’d spent almost more time at their house cooing over the baby than she had spent at home and the Hub put together.
They’d called the Doctor shortly after the birth, inviting him to visit, and now he was here. His eyes were wide as he stared at the tiny form sleeping peacefully on Jack’s chest.
Ianto came to sit next to Jack on the bed, and they both looked up at the Doctor.
“Doctor,” Jack said quietly. “We’d like you to meet our daughter, Tasha May Harkness-Jones.”
fin
All comments and concrit welcome! (Comments = Love <3)
Final Author's Note: This could technically be considered a prequel to my redismycolour fics Fun In The Snow and Pink
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG-13
Length: 11,000 words - eek - in two parts to appease LJ.
Disclaimer: I don't own Jack, I don't own Ianto, I don't own the Doctor either.
Spoilers: None, really.
Summary: Jack and Ianto want to have a baby, but that might be tougher than it appears.
Author's Notes: This is for morbid_sparks, without whom the plot bunny that led to this fic would have been ignored until it went away.
Thanks to: morbid_sparks for the beta, and also for encouraging me while writing it. Thanks to angelzbabe1989 for her encouragement too.
Part One
You Want To Make A Memory
Part Two
After a few quick calls to their team-mates to make sure they were all set, in the event that they were gone longer than planned, Jack and Ianto were ready to go early the next morning.
The actual journey to the 41st century was uneventful - or at least as uneventful as a journey in the TARDIS could be. Jack and Ianto had travelled with the Doctor for a few weeks shortly after their partnership ceremony, and the trips between successive disasters had never been quite so smooth.
They came to a halt without even a bump. “Right,” the Doctor announced, “it should be 4062 out there. Mid-June, if I got the co-ordinates right. The middle of one of the biggest baby booms in a millennia - you should fit right in.”
Jack and Ianto stood on the ramp down to the TARDIS doors, hands clasped.
“Ready to do this?” Ianto asked his partner.
Jack nodded. “You?”
“Absolutely.”
Opening the doors, they stepped out into the sunshine, followed by the Doctor.
Before they could walk off, the Doctor turned and called to them. “Oh, Ianto, you still have that same mobile, right?”
Ianto nodded, waiting for the explanation as to why this was important.
“I’m going to have a wander around the market, there’s this little stall somewhere around here that sells the most wonderful…”
“Doctor, the phone?” Ianto interrupted.
“Oh, yes - just give me a call when you’re ready to leave. I remembered it this time.” He pulled the now tired-looking phone from an inside pocket of his coat triumphantly.
With a grin, he turned and disappeared off.
Jack and Ianto turned towards each other as Jack accessed local information from his wrist strap. “Right, medical centre is… that way.” Jack indicated a direction with his head, tightening his grip on Ianto’s hand before he turned to walk in the direction.
It was a fairly short walk, and from the traffic and people’s activities around them as they walked, they surmised that it was still fairly early in the morning.
The medical centre, when they reached it, was a large building that, much like the clinic Ianto had visited in the 21st century, was trying hard to be bright and welcoming but still had that distinct ‘medical’ feel.
They paused in front of it, just out of range for the sensor on the automatic doors at its entry. Ianto brought his hands together, clasping Jack’s between them. He lifted an eyebrow in question when Jack turned to face him.
Take a deep breath, Jack nodded, and turning as one, they walked through the doors.
Inside, Ianto mused once more on how little things had really changed in the 2000 years since his home time. At once side of the open space they entered was a low desk, with what could only be described as a receptionist behind it, even if she was blue. And had four arms. One corner of the space was given over as a waiting area, with gatherings of comfortable-looking chairs.
As they made their way over to the reception desk, the receptionist turned to smile at them, one pair of arms reaching out to hit a button bringing up a holographic screen.
“Good morning. Do you have an appointment?” she asked pleasantly when they got within a few feet of the counter.
Jack shook his head. “No, but I’d, we’d like to make one.”
“Right, that’s fine,” she told them, the cheery smile never leaving her face. “Are you registered?”
“Ah… no.” Jack glanced at Ianto as he wondered what story to give her. Before he could come up with one, Ianto had taken over.
“We’re only in the area temporarily, but we really do need to see a specialist as soon as we can. Today, if possible.” He flashed her the pleasantly unassuming smile that so often assisted him when concocting cover stories back at home.
Whether it was the smile or the story itself, she didn’t seem to have any questions about this explanation. “Of course, sirs. I can register you as temporary residents. Which of you is the patient?”
Jack lifted his free hand. “That would be me.”
“Name?”
“Harkness. Jack Harkness.” A thought flashed through his mind, and he took a moment to hope that if he was still around the planet in this time period, he was either living some distance away or was using a different name by now. Or, at least, that he hadn’t registered with the medical services.
He breathed a tiny sigh of relief when the name didn’t appear to spark any suspicion when she entered it into the computer system.
”And how can we contact you?”
Jack could see Ianto curse under his breath - he hadn’t thought of that. Wracking his brain, he tried to remember the history he’d learned, first as a child and then in the time agency. He was fairly sure that early versions of many of the features in his wrist strap - the communications device included - had been around since the 38th century, so he decided to risk it.
“We don’t have a local contact sorted out yet, but I can be contacted through this.” He flashed the wrist strap, being careful not to let her get too close a look. When she nodded expectantly, he rattled off a string of numbers and letters, surprising himself - and Ianto, from the look on his face - at how naturally the contact code came back to him even after so long.
Thankfully, the receptionist didn’t seem fazed by the mode of communication or the accompanying code, so Jack knew he must have remembered correctly.
The string of digits safely entered onto her system, the receptionist turned back to them, still smiling.
“And which department would you like to make an appointment in?”
Ianto squeezed Jack’s hand supportively. “Fertility and Family Planning.”
They could see her scrolling through a few screens on the holographic display before she turned back to them, her smile even wider than before. “You’re in luck. There’s an appointment available with Dr. Elanu this afternoon. She’s very nice. If you would prefer a male doctor, however, there’s a space tomorrow morning at…”
“That’s okay,” Jack interrupted, quickly confirming with Ianto through a glance. “Dr Elanu sounds lovely, we’ll take it.”
Touching something else on her screen, the receptionist produced a small card that reminded Ianto of a hotel key card. “Right, that’s booked for you. Here’s your reminder card, and I’ll see you this afternoon.”
Ianto took the card, and thanking her, they left the centre.
Once they were a few metres away from the doors, Ianto stopped to examine the card. “Okay, I must be missing something. I’m not sure exactly how this will remind us of the appointment when it has nothing written on it.”
Jack took it, turning it over in his hands a few times. “I saw something like this before, years and years ago.” His eyes lifted to Ianto’s. “Back when I was still in the Time Agency. If I’m right, there will be several messages triggered which will project from this card at certain intervals before the appointment. A bit like 21st century sat nav, really… only for doctor’s appointments.”
Ianto plucked the small device back from between Jack’s fingers. “It’s a good idea,” he smiled as he looked it over once more. “Although I’m sure some people find them just as annoying as sat navs can be.”
Jack just grinned.
“Anyway,” Ianto continued, “the appointment isn’t for hours yet, so I’ll just put this somewhere safe and…”
Jack protested as Ianto pocketed it.
“Oi! What do you mean ‘somewhere safe’? Technically it’s my appointment, shouldn’t I get the card?”
“‘Somewhere safe’ as in somewhere it won’t get lost,” Ianto intoned. “Which by definition means ‘not giving it to Jack’.”
Jack started to pout before realising that Ianto knew him too well; it probably was safer to let Ianto look after the thing.
“Okay then, so… we have a few hours. Wanna explore the market?” Jack wiggled his fingers invitingly.
* * *
Several hours, a lot of wandering and four increasingly irritating reminders from the appointment card later, and Jack and Ianto were back at the medical centre. They’d been waved to the small foyer waiting area by the receptionist, and Ianto was mentally comparing it to his own time in the waiting room of the clinic back in the 21st century. Then, he’d been one of the few people there alone, forced to watch couples, like he was with Jack now, talk quietly and calm each other as they waited.
Just a few minutes later, they were called through to see the doctor.
Dr. Elanu was a cheery woman who looked to be in her early thirties. Her hair and eyes were peculiars shade of blue and purple respectively, betraying her not-entirely-human ancestry.
After the introductions had taken place, and Dr. Elanu had given them a brief outline of her experience in the area, they didn’t waste any more time in getting down to the issue.
“… with no luck. Ianto has already been tested, and that came back okay, so now it’s my turn,” Jack finished.
Dr. Elanu had smiled sympathetically at the appropriate points in the story, taking copious notes on what Ianto hesitated to identify as a tablet computer.
“Right, I think the best thing to do would be to just give you a complete complement of fertility testing - that means a few blood tests and I’ll give you a scan too,” the doctor told them, scribbling down a few last notes.
Ianto squeezed Jack’s hand, and Jack nodded his agreement.
Standing up, she led them to what could only be, in any century, the treatment area. It had an instrument trolley, a few pieces of fancy equipment on the walls, and the piece that really gave it away; a sterile white bed.
Jack hopped up onto the edge of it, shedding his ever-customary greatcoat.
Dr. Elanu rummaged through a drawer of the trolley for a few moments, pulling out a vacuum-packed package.
Indicating for Jack to roll up his sleeve, she broke into the package, pulling out a small sealed vial.
“Right, this might pinch for a moment,” she warned as she placed the top of the vial against the inside of Jack’s forearm. Ianto could see Jack flinch ever so slightly as she clicked a button on the top of the vial and it filled with dark red blood.
When she pulled it away, Ianto was surprised to see that there was already a small sticky bandage in its place, covering the tiny wound where it had extracted the blood sample.
The doctor turned away to scan the vial into her system and send it through to the testing equipment. Ianto inched a little closer to Jack, who was still looking somewhat put out.
“What is it?” he murmured softly.
“Two millennia later - actually, even three millennia where I grew up - and they still haven’t found a way to take a blood sample without poking you with a bloody needle, even if it is more automated now,” Jack grumbled under his breath.
Ianto smiled indulgently at his partner; could deal with bullets and trauma with sharp instruments with barely a complaint, but whined whenever he was confronted with an itty-bitty needle.
The vial dealt with, Dr. Elanu returned to the side of the bed and pulled out one of the myriad pieces of equipment lining the wall.
“Right, if you could just lie back for me Mr. Harkness and we’ll get the scan under way,” she said, flipping switches and bringing up a holographic screen much like that in the reception area.
Slowly, she ran the piece of equipment, a scanner of some sort, Ianto inferred, over Jack’s abdomen. A picture started to appear on her screen, along with reams of data that Ianto didn’t understand or recognise.
The scan didn’t take that long, and once the machine was returned to the wall and the scan data saved, the three of them returned to the consultation area of the doctor’s office.
“The testing will probably be complete sometime between 60 and 90 minutes from now,” Dr. Elanu was telling them as Jack finished sorting out his clothing. “I’d like you to make another appointment for us to discuss the results, either late this afternoon or tomorrow. Depending on what the test results show, we can discuss your options then.”
Ianto gulped slightly at the word ‘options’, but logically he knew it could be a good thing - if they went back to the 21st century they knew they still theoretically had the options of adoption or surrogacy, but they had discussed them before and they really wanted to give this everything they had before they resorted to either of those options.
Here in the 41st century he knew they would, in all probability, have many more options available that could help them achieve their dream.
Less than fifteen minutes later, a new appointment card in hand for the last slot of the day, they were headed back out into the fresh air.
* * *
Their second stint in the waiting area was even more tense than the first. As it was approaching the end of the working day in the medical centre, there was only one other person waiting with them, who looked just as nervous as they were.
Neither of them was quite sure whether the dominant emotion was anticipation or dread.
When they were called through to Dr. Elanu’s office, they kept their fingers tightly intertwined, sending each other what comfort they could through the familiar grip.
Their nerves weren’t calmed at all by the sombre look on the doctor’s previously cheerful face.
“It’s not good news, is it?” Jack asked, his tone defeated, as he sank into the chair he’d occupied before.
“Well,” the doctor began, “there’s good news and bad news, really, I’m afraid.”
“What’s the good news?” Ianto asked, both hands now wrapped around Jack’s.
“From the scans and the results of the blood tests, there seems to be absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t carry a pregnancy to full term with no issues,” she replied. “Obviously there are the same risks as are associated with any pregnancy, but the relevant organs appear to be in good working order.”
While all of this sounded very good, Jack and Ianto were both very aware that she had mentioned bad news too, and if there had been nothing wrong they were convinced they would have conceived by now.
“So what’s the bad news, then?”
“So why haven’t I been able to get pregnant?”
They spoke at the same time.
Dr. Elanu took a deep breath before answering their question. “There have been some changes in your physiology. More specifically, the passageway allowing the sperm to travel to meet the egg has become blocked or has closed up.”
“So if the sperm and egg met and implanted themselves in Jack, he should be able to carry the baby to term, but they haven’t been able to meet?” Ianto clarified.
“Exactly,” she nodded.
“Is there… is there any reason why this might have happened?” Jack asked, and Ianto knew he was wondering if it could be the result of his immortality, or of one of his many deaths.
“It’s unlikely we’ll be able to say for sure,” the doctor replied, shaking her head slightly. “It’s a very rare condition, so we haven’t been able to pin down many specific events that can directly lead to this occurring. Unless…”
She looked between Jack and Ianto contemplatively, questions clearly whizzing through her mind.
“Unless?”
“Well, this might sound like a slightly odd question, but… have you spent any significant time in a time period before the 26th century?”
Jack and Ianto looked at each other.
Jack raised his eyebrows in a clear question. Do we tell her?
Ianto hesitated for just a moment, biting into his bottom lip ever so slightly, and then nodded almost imperceptibly. Yes.
“Actually, doctor… strictly speaking… we’ve lived in the 21st century for a long time now,” Jack tendered. “We came back forward,” - he decided not to reveal for the moment that Ianto technically belonged in the 21st century - “specifically to seek medical help with this.”
Dr. Elanu was nodding thoughtfully. “That could be a significant factor, then. There have been several reports of men posted to those early eras having significant troubles conceiving on their return. Many of those men who have gone for testing have showed the same physiological changes as we’re seeing here. No one has yet been able to pin down anything specific about why it happens, or why the effects don’t appear for any period after the early 27th century, but it’s been documented in several areas, and on some of the new colonies too.”
“So, we don’t really have a chance of conceiving then?” Jack asked dejectedly.
“Naturally, I’d say the chances are very small, yes.”
“What are our options then, doctor?” Ianto queried.
“Well, obviously there are the long-standing traditional options of adoption or surrogacy,” the doctor started. “But given that you’ve been trying for over two years, I’m assuming you’ve probably discussed those options before and would prefer, if possible, to continue with a pregnancy for Jack.”
Jack and Ianto nodded.
“In that case, there is the possibility of in-vitro fertilisation. As I’ve said, Jack is in a good position to carry a pregnancy to term, so if we get a successful implantation, the odds are good.”
Jack and Ianto shared another look. Silently agreeing to at least consider this option, they looked back to Dr. Elanu.
“If we went ahead with IVF…” Ianto started a little tentatively, “what would that actually involve?”
The doctor smiled reassuringly. “Well, first of all Jack would go on a 4-day long series of hormone treatments, to stimulate production of ova. Those would then be harvested - considering the changes to Jack’s physiology, this would probably be done via a combination of the usual method and minor keyhole surgery.”
She paused to make sure they were still following her. “We would then fertilise those in a sterile environment with a sample from you, Mr Jones, and after another two to three days, one or two viable blastocysts would be reintroduced to Jack’s body, and would hopefully become implanted and become a successful pregnancy.”
“One or two?” Jack’s brow furrowed.
“The rate of successful implantation isn’t 100%, so transferring two increases the odds of at least one success. It also, of course, carries the risk of twins. There is still a tiny chance of monozygotic twins developing from a single transfer, but it really is quite small.”
“What is the success rate?” Ianto wanted to know.
“There have been significant advances in the last decade,” Dr. Elanu answered, “increasing the success rate in females to almost 90% and in males to just over 65%.”
Ianto nodded thoughtfully.
Knowing that the two men would need to discuss this thoroughly before they made a decision, Dr. Elanu stood up. “I can get you an information chip about it, if you would like. It should answer any further questions you might have.”
“Of course. Thanks,” Jack said absently, getting to his own feet and dragging Ianto up with him. “We’ll let you know what we decide.”
They were back on the street for the third time a short time later, information chip in hand and thoughts racing through their heads.
“We should probably call the Doctor,” Ianto said suddenly after they had walked hand-in-hand, in silence, for about five minutes, not really paying attention to their surroundings.
“Yeah.” Jack brought them to a stop at the side of a small street with only a few stalls lingering from the market. Ianto pulled out his phone to make the call, and forty minutes later they met the Doctor in front of the TARDIS.
On the walk back, they had discussed the possibility of trying IVF. They knew that, in addition to all the issues that might arise from the actual treatment, they would also have to make arrangements to stay here for another week at least if they went forward with it.
However, after forty solid minutes of consideration, and a few references to the information chip they had been given, they had decided that, assuming they could arrange things with the Doctor, they were going to try it. It was their only real chance of Jack getting pregnant, and they couldn’t pass up that opportunity.
“So, did it go well?” the Doctor asked as he approached them.
“It could have gone better,” Ianto told him. “But we do have an option still available to us.” He caught the Doctor’s look. “IVF,” he clarified.
“Ahhh.”
“It would mean us staying here for another week or so,” he continued. “From the local information available, finding accommodation wouldn’t be too difficult, but,” he indicated the TARDIS with a tilt of his head, “I imagine you might want to be off sooner than that.”
The Doctor couldn’t deny it. “I could come back for you in a week though!” He waved at Ianto’s pocket. “You’ve got the phone; you could just call me to pick you up.”
Ianto looked at Jack questioningly. Jack blew out a breath and nodded. “Sounds like a plan, Doctor.”
* * *
Furnished, thanks to the TARDIS, with a reasonable supply of the local currency, finding temporary accommodation proved easy, just as Ianto had predicted. The tiny flat, designed for short to mid-length stays, was a little cramped but more comfortable than a hotel suite (although lacking in the creature comforts of a hotel, like room service).
They managed to get another appointment with Dr. Elanu first thing in the morning two days after their first arrival.
After another extended discussion about exactly what they could look forward to in the next week, the doctor produced a small kit. From this she pulled out a tiny vial, similar to the one that had been used to collect blood from Jack in their initial visit, only smaller and full of a light yellow liquid.
“Right, so this is what you’ll need for the hormone treatment course. I’ll do the first one now, but they’re pretty simple.”
At her gesture, Jack shed his coat and pulled up his shirts to reveal a patch of bare skin above his hip. Holding the tip of the vial against his skin, she pushed a plunger on the other end and the yellow liquid disappeared. Ianto noticed that Jack, once again, flinched slightly, and realised that he had this to look forward to many more times over the next few days.
“So there are… eleven more of those?” he asked, just to be sure.
“Yes, two more today, and then three daily for the next three days.” Ianto mentally did a little sarcastic whoop, knowing as he did that he was going to be the one administering the doses and putting up with Jack’s whining about the inability of the medical profession to develop needle-less technology.
Closing the kit again and handing it to Ianto, Dr. Elanu bid them farewell. “I’ll see you back here in four days for the harvest.” She nodded at Ianto. “And your sample, of course.”
Ianto sighed again. It looked like he was going to have to produce a sample in one of those little rooms after all. The only advantage here was that this time, Jack could be there to ‘lend a hand’ if necessary.
“Four days.”
* * *
Ianto steeled himself before he opened the door to the tiny living room in their temporary home. It was the third day of Jack’s course of hormone shots, and in the last day and a half their side effects had started to become evident. Jack’s moods had been swinging wildly all over the shop, and Ianto couldn’t quite be sure whether he’d walk in and be yelled at, groped, ignored, cried on or smothered in affectionate kisses.
Shifting the tray holding his coffee, Jack’s decaf and a plate of biscuits to one hand, he pushed the door open. Jack was slouched in the sofa, watching something on what Ianto had quickly realised was just a futuristic television set.
Jack looked up at the sound of the door opening. “Hey,” he greeted, smiling softly and pointing at the screen. “They still used to show repeats of this when I was a kid. I never realised it was quite as old as this.”
Ianto joined him on the sofa, and put the tray down on the table in front of them. Picking up his coffee and taking an appreciative sip, he passed Jack his mug. When he’d first switched Jack to decaf, he’d thrown up a bit of a fuss, but after a few weeks he’d stopped whining and resigned himself to a caffeine-free existence.
He was just beginning to relax in the thought that Jack seemed to be in a fairly even mood for once when there was a small whine from beside him.
“What is it, Jack?” he asked patiently.
Jack pointed at the plate of biscuits. “What happened to the little chocolaty ones with the sprinkles? I liked those.” His voice had grown progressively higher and more chocked as the sentence went on.
“Yes, I know you did,” he soothed. “Which is exactly why we’ve run out of them.”
Tears appeared in Jack’s eyes and he started to sniffle. “We’re out of sprinkle biscuits?”
Ianto nodded.
A few tears leaked from the corners of Jack’s bright eyes. “R-really and truly? There… there aren’t any more… in…in… in the back of the cupboard?”
“No more.”
Jack’s face fell further. “Y-y-you checked?”
“Yes, I checked.” Ianto pulled a now openly weeping Jack into his arms, feeling the tears begin to soak through the thin material of his T-shirt.
He let him sob for a few minutes before pulling back enough to look him in the face. “I can run out and buy some more now, if you really want.”
Jack sniffled, visibly trying to contain himself. “No… no… you don’t have to do that. I’ll… I’ll be okay. I’ll just have… my coffee. And one of the ginger biscuits.”
He didn’t let go of Ianto for quite a while after that, gripping him tighter every time Ianto made to get up and leave. He still looked a little sniffly when he finally pulled back and picked up his cooling cup of coffee and a ginger biscuit.
Ianto made a note to run out and get more of the chocolaty sprinkle biscuits at the first opportunity. He didn’t want a repeat of this upset if he could help it.
As he walked down the aisles of the local shop later that evening, he caught himself looking forward to the end of the hormone treatment, and the reappearance of a calmer Jack, and then he realised. If this went well, Jack was going to be pregnant. Everything he’d read in both the 21st and 41st centuries agreed: pregnancy was one long rollercoaster of hormones.
Looking around at the shelves, he made himself another note for when they got home.
Stock up on enough of all Jack’s favourite foods to last a full pregnancy.
* * *
Ianto pulled the door closed behind them, his sample safely deposited in the system. While he’d initially been just as uncomfortable as he had been in the fertility clinic back home in the 21st century, Jack had been on hand with a blindfold and whispered fantasies that could overcome even the awkward feeling that had pervaded Ianto.
One sample down, it was now Jack’s turn.
They’d done a detailed scan early that morning to check that the hormone treatment had had the desired effect, and the minor surgery required for the harvest was scheduled in just over an hour.
Then the two samples would be mixed and the eggs fertilised.
And after that, it was a matter of waiting.
* * *
Jack and Ianto waited impatiently where they had landed nine days ago for the TARDIS to appear.
The final procedures for the IVF treatment had taken place the previous day, when they had chosen to take their chances and have just a single embryo transferred back into Jack’s body. Although they had considered staying until they knew for certain whether it had worked or not, the urge to go home was stronger.
In their two years of unsuccessful trying, they’d developed rather a tradition around the taking of the test, and they were both anxious for the positive test, when it finally came, to be taken in keeping with their little ritual.
They’d been lounging around on a nearby grassy knoll for nearly an hour when the familiar sound of the TARDIS engines roused them from the semi-daze they’d been in. Seconds later, the door swung open and the Doctor bounded out and over to them.
“Taxi for Jones?” he grinned, offering Ianto a hand up. Ianto, in turn, pulled Jack to his feet, and they walked more slowly back to the TARDIS.
“So?” the Doctor asked excitedly, evidently keen for any news.
“We won’t know for another 7 to 10 days, when we can test,” Ianto told him as the doors shut behind them. “But I promise you, you’ll be among the first to know.”
* * *
If three minutes had seemed an eternity before, it still couldn’t compare with how long the agonising wait seemed this time.
Ianto watched the seconds tick by on his stopwatch, convinced that time was actually slowing down as the three-minute mark approached.
Jack, usually the picture of outward calm during these waits, was shifting his weight from one foot to the other, unable to stand still.
“Twenty seconds left,” Ianto announced, his voice shaky. “Ten.”
Breaking with tradition, Ianto stood and pressed himself against Jack’s back, peering over his shoulder at the test in his hand.
Three minutes up, they looked together at the indicator window.
Ianto felt his knees give out under him, and he gripped Jack’s upper arms to stay upright. A few long moments later, he sank to the floor anyway as Jack’s own shaky legs failed to support them.
Slumped against their bathroom wall, they couldn’t help but stare at the test window, still gripped tight in Jack’s hand.
For two years they’d grown used to the single red line that would appear to indicate a negative result; always willing that second line to appear.
And now…
There, clear as day in the window, were two strong red lines.
* * *
Jack was resting on the bed, his three day old daughter sleeping on his chest, when the ever-more familiar sound of the TARDIS materialising could be heard from the back garden.
Before Jack could move, Ianto scurried out of the kitchen, where he’d been sterilising bottles. A few minutes later, he could hear the Doctor and Ianto’s hushed voices as they talked quietly while they came in the back door.
“… don’t want to wake her up if we can help it,” Ianto was murmuring as he pushed the bedroom door open.
Jack smiled at his partner, who looked as tired as he felt these days. He’d started actually needing to sleep quite a lot late in his pregnancy, and his body hadn’t quite bounced back yet - indeed, he didn’t know for sure if it ever would.
“Hey,” he whispered, even more softly as Ianto and the Doctor came fully into the room.
Despite his exhaustion, Ianto’s eyes lit up with adoration as they came to rest on his tiny daughter.
It hadn’t been the easiest of pregnancies, even aside from its complicated beginning and the necessity of hiding it, but for Jack and Ianto, it was all worth it the moment they set eyes on the precious little girl three days previously.
They’d been shuffled off home the day after the delivery, with the stern instruction from the rest of the team not to even think about coming in for at least a week. Jack had protested, but considering how much work caring for a newborn had turned out to be, he was pleased they just had this time to spend bonding with her.
Not that they were alone for much of it. They’d had a steady stream of visits from their colleagues; they had almost considered actually kicking Gwen out yesterday - she’d spent almost more time at their house cooing over the baby than she had spent at home and the Hub put together.
They’d called the Doctor shortly after the birth, inviting him to visit, and now he was here. His eyes were wide as he stared at the tiny form sleeping peacefully on Jack’s chest.
Ianto came to sit next to Jack on the bed, and they both looked up at the Doctor.
“Doctor,” Jack said quietly. “We’d like you to meet our daughter, Tasha May Harkness-Jones.”
fin
All comments and concrit welcome! (Comments = Love <3)
Final Author's Note: This could technically be considered a prequel to my redismycolour fics Fun In The Snow and Pink