Title: Put to rest
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,201 words
Content notes: Minor spoilers for BigFinish audioplay “Expectant”
Author notes: Written for Challenge 480 - Nap
Summary: Ianto is relieved to have things back to normal, but getting Jack to admit he should take some time to recuperate is challenging.


‘You should be resting,’ Ianto insisted, coming up from behind Jack and catching him on his feet, as if that were a crime.

Jack groaned loudly at him. ‘Oh, not you as well,’ he complained. ‘It was bad enough having Jonty nagging me about every little thing.’ Honestly, if I hear the phrase “in my condition” one more time I'm going to take my gun and shoot whoever says it. He was sick to death of people moddycoddling him. ‘I’m fine,’ he said through gritted teeth. ‘Look at me,’ he said, throwing his arms out and gesturing. ‘All back to normal, see? Nothing for anyone to be fussing about.’ He perched down on the edge of the sofa. ‘Look, I'll even sit here for a bit if it makes you happy.’ It wasn’t making Jack happy but that seemed to be beside the point these days.

Ianto came and perched next to him, so Jack flopped back against the low cushions, just to put a bit of distance between them. He really didn’t want Ianto fussing. ‘I’m fine,’ he repeated.

Ianto eased back alongside him. ‘For once, much as it pains me to say it, I actually agree with Jonty. You make for a terrible patient and an even worse, er… incubator.’

‘Stop making it sound so clinical,’ Jack chastised. ‘I was pregnant. You can say it.’

‘I'd rather not if it's all the same to you.’

‘Fine.’ These twenty first century humans and their narrow-minded views of the world. ‘But I don't need a nap. It's done. The Empress has her new princeling and I'm back to being plain old me.’ Two weeks of gestating had put him off volunteering to go through it again any time soon. Or ever. He’d been pregnant twice now and that was two more times than he’d planned on, and two more times than it had ended up being a pleasant experience.

‘Well, I need a nap,’ Ianto replied. ‘Not to mention a stiff drink. Or several.’ He curled over slightly and wrapped an arm around Jack's middle, nudging his head up against Jack's shoulder in an attempt to snuggle. Now that Jack was no longer carrying a massive beach ball belly, Ianto's arm fit perfectly around it, just where it belonged. ‘I’m just glad we can count things as being back to normal. Being in charge of Cardiff is not as easy as you make it look. Thank God it was only for a day or two. Not sure I'd want that job full time.’

Jack couldn't help but grin at the admission. ‘Ah, so you admit no one runs Torchwood like Captain Jack Harkness, eh?’

‘Don't think we need to debate that one,’ came the sarcastic response. ‘But yes, you do have a tendency of making it look easy.’

Jack let his head fall back against the sofa. ‘Well, can I tell you something? Being pregnant wasn't exactly a walk in the park either.’

‘Really?’ came the even more sarcastic reply. ‘Which part exactly? The stomach lurching thought of bringing life into the world, the raging hormones and mood swings or just the baby trying to tear you apart as it births itself?’

‘All of it.’ But especially the hormones, he decided. Not being able to control his emotions was not something he was good at. Thank the gods that Ianto put up with him. ‘You know there's a reason why I always knew I'd never do this again.’

‘And yet you did.’

‘You know why,’ he replied. He had so much to atone for having lost Owen and Tosh. He'd thought that this would be the one good thing he might do to start making up for all the death and the pain. Stupid.

‘I do. And now that the slightly terrifying ordeal is done, I think we should have a few days of not trying to overextend ourselves, don't you?’

Jack pushed himself up and then felt a sudden wave of exhaustion wash over him. ‘Actually, you might be right about the whole rest thing.’ Hard to believe only a few hours again he'd been the size of a house and ready to pop. It might have made a difference if the birthing vessel hadn’t dumped them back in the sewers once they had their swaddling babe, ready to be collected by Jonty, leaving them with a very long walk home, the SUV still somewhere out by the Penarth Pier, probably under about fifteen feet of seawater. He supposed not all alien technology could be perfect. At least the part that had extracted Junior before he tore Jack's whole body apart had done its job, extracting the child and helping to repair some of the internal trauma. I hope I don't get stretch marks after all this, came the unbidden thought.

Ianto squeezed tight against him. ‘I'm so glad you think so. Perhaps you might find just enough energy to make it to the car? I've got a proper bed at mine which hasn't been used for days, just perfect for catching a few hours sleep.’

‘Ianto Jones, you had me at the word bed. We have some catching up to do, and I don’t mean your reports.’ If he had to be spread-eagled on a mattress, he preferred it to be with a naked Welshman and not on the receiving end of an alien extractor probe.

He didn’t move though and Ianto didn’t press him, happy to just stay snuggled on the sofa. ‘I really am glad you’re okay,’ Ianto murmured. ‘There was only so much of your emotional outbursts I could grapple with. Not to mention the stomach churning food cravings and the umpteen boxes of tissues we've been through every time you got teary and blubbery over nothing.’

‘I don't blubber!’

‘You bloody do. I had no idea pregnancy was such an emotional rollercoaster.’

‘I like to give everything one hundred percent.’

Ianto didn’t have a reply for that, knowing it was true. Instead he just sat there, leaning into Jack’s shoulder. For a while they were both quiet, and then Ianto started babbling on and on about how worried he’d been about Jack going through what he had, how he hadn't wanted to seem like he was worried, and that being mad at Jack was really just a front for covering up the anxiety he felt at being totally helpless to do anything other than make sure Jack was well supplied with decaf coffee and a lifetime supply of smooth peanut butter.

He also had some quite complimentary things to say about Jonty – Jack's midwife, for want of a better descriptor – even if the alien couldn’t manage to get his name right and kept pronouncing it Yan-too. Then he'd turned introspective and started talking about how he’d always imagined he'd have kids one day, but that he wasn't sure if that was a fair or realistic expectation anymore, and did Jack think he’d ever want to raise a family – not with Ianto necessarily, but just in general. It was only when he didn’t get a reply that it became clear Jack hadn’t heard a word he'd said, because he’d fallen asleep.

‘So much for not needing a nap,’ Ianto muttered.