fandomweekly | [#163] A Very Special Gift (Torchwood)

Theme Prompt: #163 – Gift
Title: A Very Special Gift
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: G / None
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1000
Summary: Jack and Ianto’s oldest daughter is getting engaged, so naturally there must be an engagement party, complete with gifts from family and friends.

Meriel had met Sean shortly after starting university; they’d been in the same computer science class and had quickly become close friends. They’re remained friends through two years of dating other people before realising the reason none of their relationships worked out was because they preferred spending time with each other to being with their respective partners. Since they came to that realisation, there’d been nobody else for either of them.

Sean was a dark-eyed, deceptively serious young man, but once people got to know him they soon found he had a keen mind and a wicked sense of humour. From the first time Meriel had brought him home he’d fitted in wonderfully with her family, even though he’d been a bit in awe of her two dads. By the time the two young people had returned to their studies, Sean had been fully accepted into the Harkness-Jones clan. Even the Fluffs had approved.

Now, two years after graduating, Meriel and Sean were getting engaged. Ianto and Jack had helped their daughter and future son-in-law plan the engagement party, and Sean’s mother and younger sister had been flown in from Ireland for the occasion, his father having passed away when Sean had been fourteen.

The party itself was held in one of the function rooms at the St David’s Hotel. There was a buffet with enough food to feed an army, a DJ playing music for everyone to dance to, champagne to toast the happy couple, and about fifty human guests, plus a few Fluffs. Aside from family, Meriel and Sean had invited the close friends they’d made in college, as well as the friends Meriel had grown up with. Most of the Torchwood team were there as well, leaving the Hub manned by a skeleton crew, who’d been instructed not to interrupt the party for anything less than the end of the world.

“Enjoying yourself, sweetheart?”

Meriel turned to see a man who didn’t look much older than her own twenty-two years smiling down at her. “It’s wonderful, Tad!” Meriel threw her arms around Ianto, hugging him tight. “Thank you so much! And thanks for not letting Dad go too over the top with the decorations.”

Ianto hugged her back. “It wasn’t easy, he wanted to have a thousand gold and silver balloons float down from the ceiling, but I managed to talk him out of it. Told him it wouldn’t be much of a party if he buried everyone.”

Meriel giggled. “That’s so like Dad. Sometimes I wonder how you put up with him.”

“Practice.” Ianto pulled back, his smile widening as he looked between Meriel and Sean. “So, are you two ready to open your gifts?” He pointed to a table in the corner piled high with gaily wrapped presents.

“Oh my God!” Meriel’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Where did those come from?”

Ianto laughed. “You didn’t expect all your friends and family to show up empty-handed, did you?”

“Kind of. I mean, I thought people would wait until the wedding…”

“Well,” Sean cut in, “Looks like they haven’t. I guess we really ought to open everything so we can thank everyone properly for their generosity.”

“My oh-so-practical husband-to-be.” Meriel reached up to kiss Sean. “You’re right though, we should.” Taking her fiancé’s hand, Meriel led the way to the table as the music fell silent, and her dad called for everyone’s attention.

“Always has to get himself into the spotlight somehow,” Ianto muttered, following his daughter.

The gifts were many and varied: household items, things with sentimental value such as framed photographs, a few joke items, even a pair of champagne flutes engraved with their names and the date, a memento of a day they were never going to forget anyway.

“This is from your Tad and I,” Jack eventually said, handing Meriel and Sean an envelope once all the other gifts had been unwrapped. Inside was a cheque for a substantial amount of money.

“Dad, Tad…” Meriel was almost speechless. “You really shouldn’t have. This is too much!”

“No it isn’t,” Ianto told his daughter. “Getting married is expensive. You can put that towards your honeymoon, use it as a deposit on a house, or whatever you want. Your dad and I just want to make sure you two get your life together off to the best possible start.”

Sean was looking a bit shell-shocked at seeing the amount written on the cheque. “A deposit? That’s enough to buy a house outright!”

“Depends on the house,” Jack said, grinning. “If you want something the size of Buckingham Palace you might be a bit short.”

“Jack,” Ianto interrupted, cutting his husband off with a stern look. “Behave.” He turned back to Meriel. “There’s one more person with a gift for you. It’s been waiting patiently because it wanted to go last, but I don’t think it should have to wait any longer.”

At that, there was movement beneath the long, white cloth covering the table where the gifts were displayed, and Nosy slithered out, carrying a covered wicker basket in its mouth.

“HUMMmmm!” it said as it set the basket down in front of Meriel and Sean.

“Thank you Nosy!” Meriel crouched to hug her oldest friend. “Whatever could this be?” She knew the Fluff loved to buy gifts for its friends, and it always came up with something thoughtful.

Reaching out like a conjurer doing a magic trick, Nosy grasped the basket’s cloth cover in its mouth and whisked it away to reveal the gift.

Meriel gasped as a fluffy green and russet head popped up with a squeaky little hum.

“A Flufflet!” She scooped it from the basket.

“It’s about time you had a Fluff of your own. Nosy made this one especially for the two of you,” Ianto told her.

The Flufflet sniffed curiously at her fingers and clothes, then had a good sniff at Sean too.

Meriel laughed with delight. “I’m going to call you Snuffles.” She couldn’t imagine a better gift.

The End