fandomweekly | [#193] Happy Surprises (Torchwood)

Theme Prompt: #193 – Surprise
Title: Happy Surprises
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG / Contains M-Preg
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1000
Summary: Jack had thought he was destined always to lose the people he loves, but that was before he met Ianto Jones, who never ceases to surprise him.

Life is full of surprises, and it’s safe to say Jack has had more than his share. As a kid on Boeshane, he loved them, surprises were something to look forward to, but that changed the day the aliens raided the settlement his family called home, killing his father, and abducting his little brother. That’s when he realised not all surprises are pleasant or fun.

Over the years that have followed, scattered through time and space thanks to his work as a Time Agent and his travels with the Doctor, the surprises have kept coming, some of them good, but most of them things Jack wishes he could have avoided. And yet, he still hasn’t completely lost the optimism of his youth. It’s just that it’s become a bit battered and has lost some of its shine over decades of bad experiences, and the loss of so many people he’s known and loved.

It's fortunate that he’s so resilient, because being immortal, dying repeatedly before being brought back by the vortex energy coursing through him, would be enough to break a lesser man. Sometimes, Jack wonders if it’s the healing power of the vortex that keeps him from cracking up, repairing him not just physically but also mentally and emotionally each time he dies. It makes a weird kind of sense.

He's endured countless deaths, horrific torture, almost two thousand years of being buried alive, and so much loss that at times he can’t help but wonder how he still has the ability to fall in love, despite his best intentions. His heart has been shattered more times than he cares to remember, and yet whenever someone special comes along, he lets them in even knowing the risk. By now, his poor old heart should be nothing but a mass of scar tissue considering how many times it’s been torn apart and painstakingly pieced back together again.

After Lucia left him, taking their baby daughter with her, he’d vowed that he was done with romance. He’d get what he needed from willing bodies, but he’d never let anyone into his heart again. Well, so much for promises to himself. Somehow he’s never managed to keep them for long, no matter how well-intentioned they might be, and Ianto Jones is a sneaky son of a Welshman, with his sharp suits, orgasmic coffee, and equally delicious accent. There must be a curious kind of magic inherent in Welsh vowels, or perhaps the magic resides in the man himself, because Jack is fairly certain he’s been bewitched, in a subtle and largely benevolent way.

And if falling in love with his divine Welshman came as a surprise, everything since has just upped the ante. A few months ago, Jack might have believed that nothing could ever surprise him again, which just proves that he really needs to stop underestimating the man he loves. Like a magician pulling rabbits from a top hat, Ianto keeps performing unexpected and seemingly impossible miracles, to the point that Jack’s starting to suspect that he has a permanent giddy grin on his face.

He'd almost managed to resign himself to the inevitability of losing his lover, probably sooner than either of them would want, when Ianto performed his first major miracle, somehow managing to infect himself with Jack’s own brand of immortality. It had been a bit nerve-racking at first, but the Doctor has since confirmed that young Mr Jones is indeed as much a fixed point in time as Jack is. As surprises go, that was one of the biggest and best Jack had ever been privileged to receive. Then, because he never does things by halves, Ianto managed an even greater miracle by falling pregnant!

Admittedly, that one has caused a number of complications over the last five months since they found out, and Ianto was understandably freaked out, since a regular twenty-first century man isn’t supposed to have the necessary plumbing, but alien tech can do curious things to the unsuspecting, often without anyone noticing… It’s true what they say about sufficiently advanced technology resembling magic. According to the Doctor, who they once again had to ask for advice, the extra bits should be harmlessly reabsorbed once the baby arrives. Speaking of which…

Okay, so Ianto going into labour isn’t really that much of a surprise, they both knew it was going to happen soon, but now the moment has arrived, and Jack can hardly wait to meet their baby!

“We should get married!”

“What?” Jack has never heard Ianto actually squeak before. It’s adorable! “I’m in labour, and that strikes you as the perfect moment to propose?”

Jack almost laughs out loud; seems this time he’s the one managing to surprise Ianto.

“Just a thought. I mean, we don’t have to do it right now…”

“I should think not! I’m a bit busy at present, and you should be too!”

“Right, right.” Jack nods agreement so hard that he goes a bit dizzy for a moment, then pulls himself together and helps his lover out of the car. Martha is waiting in the medical suite to perform the caesarean, because even with the correct internal plumbing, there are some things a male body just isn’t equipped for. “We can discuss plans for the wedding later.”

“I didn’t even say yes yet!”

“You will though.” Jack is sure of that.

“I expect a proper proposal, just not right now!”

A little over an hour later, with Jack holding their little bundle of joy, and Ianto’s incision already mostly healed, Jack tries broaching the subject again.

“Would now be a good time?”

“Huh?” Ianto drags his attention from the baby in Jack’s arms, still amazed that he’s somehow grown a whole new human inside him. Women do it all the time, but still…

Jack grins, sliding carefully out of the chair and lowering himself to one knee. “Ianto Jones, will you do me the honour of becoming my husband?”

“Yes, twpsyn. Now hand me our son.”

The End

[#193] Happy Surprises (Torchwood)

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