Title: "Impromptu Tea Table"
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating: PG
Length: 740
Content notes: Mpreg, and gentle snarking about the inconveniences that come with pregnancy. Implied Jack/Ianto. AU/alternate timeline.
Author notes: One of my favorite tropes featuring one of my favorite characters to play that trope with. Got the idea from one gal's photo of herself during her third trimester, and it looked like something Jack would do in similar circumstances.
Summary: Yet another reason why Jack is "never doing that again", the discomforts of the third trimester, but at least his sense of humor has survived, to Tosh's concern.


With Jack into his eighth month carrying Ianto's child -- a son? a daughter? Owen knew from running ultrasounds, but Jack had held off on the answer, wanting to hold the surprise (and for all they knew, the child could have inherited Jack's intricate plumbing, which would play hob with any scans) -- Owen had ordered him off the field work, which had him stuck behind his desk for the last weeks of his pregnancy. Or until Owen ordered him onto bed rest. He'd wanted to man the comm, but Owen had decided against that, just in case any excitement caused any complications: for all Jack's robust health, he didn't like what was going on with the patient's blood pressure.

Which had Tosh keeping her eyes on her monitors while the rest of the team handled the field work, and the ear that didn't have her earpiece cocked toward Jack's office. It felt too quiet for her liking, though Jack had put on his usual swing/1920s jazz music/things that sounded like them that he often played while working on especially boring stuff. Like paperwork or reports to be typed for their insurance or the trust that handled their finances.

Finally, when the only sound she could hear through her ear piece came from the three chattering in the car, Tosh muted her end of the link, took up her tablet and went to check on Jack. I'm being an idiot: if there was trouble, I'd be the first to know, she couldn't help thinking as she rounded the catwalk to Jack's office.

She found their leader sitting back from his desk, not quite at arm's length from the keyboard, but further back than he had in recent weeks, eyes on the screen ...and a coffeecup full of tea balanced on his belly. Tosh couldn't help staring at this, and she wondered if she should reach in and move it, in case it fell off.

"I can feel you staring at me, Tosh, and I can hear what you're thinking," Jack said, without looking up, his eyes not leaving the screen. "I could balance either the keyboard or the coffeecup on my unborn daughter: I couldn't reach both without wheeling the chair in closer and then I'd feel strangled."

"I'm just worried if it spills: I wouldn't want the hot water burning you or...something," Tosh said. "Owen would have a fit

He glanced at her with a smirk. "I've got two shirts and a waistcoat on, plus, Verrity or Taliessin is protected by a thick layer of me. I almost dare her to kick the cup off, she's been pummeling me in the ribs so hard."

"She's kicking that hard and that strong, I take it?" Tosh asked.

"Oh yeah, had me awake half the night last night," Jack replied, taking the cup off and setting it on the desk. "Come here." Tosh approached him; Jack took her hand and gently pressed her palm to his flank. Tosh felt nothing but the warmth of him for a moment. Then she felt a ripple of movement under the layers of clothing and the flesh beneath.

Tosh looked Jack in the face, feeling her eyes widening as she let out a gentle "Oh..." of surprise. Jack smiled, showing the tips of his teeth. "See what I mean? That was her being gentle and saying hello to her Aunty Tosh."

"'Her'? You're sure it's a girl?" Tosh asked, as she withdrew her hand.

"I keep having dreams about a girl, and since I haven't had a dream since the last time I went through this, I'm taking it to mean I'm giving Ianto a daughter," Jack replied, replacing the coffeecup.

"Maybe she'll be a champion martial artist or something like that," Tosh suggested with a smile.

The moment the words came out of her mouth, the front of Jack's waistcoat rippled and the cup started toppling. Jack caught the bottom in midair, the contents splatting on the floor. "And either she took issue with that or she took my challenge," Jack said, chuckling and holding the cup up to her. "Could you be a dear, Tosh and get me a refill and some paper towels? Ianto's keeping a pot on the back of his coffee station for me."

"Sure," she said, taking the cup. When she got back a moment later, she found Jack had balanced the keyboard on himself as he continued working.