Epilogue – 9 months later

In a penthouse apartment, close to Mermaid Quay, two post-coital exhausted and naked men sprawled on a soft rug close to a stupendously decorated Christmas tree. Glen Miller was playing softly on the sound system and Ianto, wearing nothing but a circlet of sparkly red tinsel in his dark hair was carefully wrapping a length of golden tinsel around Jack's penis occasionally stopping to gently suck the end making his spouse shudder with pleasure.

'You're right' panted Jack, pushing up on his elbows to lick one of Ianto's nipples, ' it IS fun decorating the tree'

Ianto chuckled and turned away to select a bauble to complete his decorating of Jack's genitalia, only to be distracted by his mobile.

'Oh' Jack lay back down and made an abortive attempt to grab Ianto as he crawled to the end table of the sofa to answer his phone, 'leave it. We are off until the 27th I don't care if the universe is ending. This is our time. Ianto, please don't answer it, ple...'

'Hello, Ianto Jones'

Jack let out a loud howl of displeasure, rolled over and began to try to wrestle the phone out of Ianto's hands, making him laugh

'Hi Tosh...no it's Jack...he's being Jack.' Jack pouted and stuck his tongue into Ianto's ear making him squeak, ' make that very Jack' He waved his free hand emphatically trying to get Jack to behave as he listened intently a broad smile spreading slowly across his face.

'Tosh that is brilliant. When'

'...'

'Well it was an amazing night. How's Owen taking this?'

'...'

Ianto laughed, 'Tell him congratulations from us. We'll see you both on Boxing Day, yeah? I'm gonna tell Jack. Take care...mummy.'

Jack froze at Ianto's last words, 'Tosh...is she'

'Yep' Ianto's grin as getting bigger by the second, 'she's pregnant, about six weeks Owen thinks – we're gonna have a Torchwood baby, how brilliant is that?'

'Six weeks' mused Jack, 'that would be...?'

'Rhys' wedding' agreed Ianto.

Jack's eyes glazed over, 'that was a fantastic day, very...inspiring'

Ianto thought back to the innovative and inventive sex he and Jack had shared after attending Rhys Williams wedding. After being unceremoniously dumped by Gwen as she pursued Jack, Rhys had been depressed for some months until he had bumped into his first girlfriend, Delyth who had just escaped from an abusive relationship. The two wounded people had somehow found a way to heal each other and had fallen in love on the way. Their wedding had been sweet and romantic and had made every other couple there appreciate their relationship more than ever.

Obviously thought Jack, Yan and I weren't the only one's having incredible sex that night. Huh, if Gwen hadn't dumped Rhys so cruelly...

'Jack?'Jack was looking pensive; 'Jack' Ianto ran a finger down Jack's back to grab his attention, 'everything OK?'

'Yeah' Jack sighed, 'I was just thinking about Gwen.'

The smile disappeared from Ianto's face as if wiped off by a cloth, 'were you' he asked coldly as he began to remove the tinsel from his hair and look around for his tee-shirt.

'Yan?' Jack sat up and looked worriedly at his husband, 'what's wrong?'

Ianto turned round 'Fucking Gwen Cooper' he said fiercely, 'she is never going to be out of our lives is she? After everything she put us through and everything she did to you, after what we had to suffer before we found each other again, she's STILL in your head?' he shoulders slumped despondently, 'I'm never going to be enough am I? Even dead, she's between us. Is this how it's going to be? Every time something good happens to us, you will be thinking about Gwen bitch face Cooper.' He turned to look at Jack who was sitting on the floor, legs spread looking as serious as a man with tinsel wrapped around his penis can look, Ianto had to bite his lip to stop the smile that was threatening to crawl across his face, he wanted to let Jack knew how angry and hurt he was but sometimes the man was just too adorable to be true 'Jack, you are the only one for me, you always have been, you always will be but if that's not true for you then where are we?

Jack scrambled to his feet, pulled Ianto into his arms and collapsed them both onto the sofa in a closely entangled embrace

'I wasn't thinking about her like that,' he said reassuringly, 'I thinking about what you said the day we found out that she had killed herself, about the universe moving in mysterious ways. If she had not been so desperate to split us up, you and I may have danced around a proper relationship forever, if she hadn't been such a vile person you would not be here in my arms now, Rhys would not be ecstatically happy with Delyth and Tosh and Owen wouldn't be about to be parents. So many wonderful things from one twisted evil individual.'

"I suppose' said Ianto grudgingly.

Jack pulled him close, 'We have each other for as long as you live' he whispered, 'being without you when I was under Cooper's influence was hateful, finding you again was like a miracle and the terror of losing you again gave me the courage to act and make you mine.' I have to let him know that I know and that I love him for it he thought to himself. Jack pulled back a little so that he could look deep into Ianto's eyes and spoke in a voice deepened by his increased sincerity, 'I understand how much courage it takes to love someone so much that you make a choice, take a leap into an action, that has the potential to change you forever, simply because that one person matters to you more than life itself.'

Ianto's heart stuttered, what is he talking about? he thought in a panic, oh God, he knows, he knows I was the one that killed Gwen. He took a deep breath, 'Jack…' he began but Jack was still talking.

'The thing about that sort of bravery,' he was saying, carefully, 'is that you can keep it in your heart as a secret eternally and be confident that if the other person ever works out what you did for them, they will only love you more for being the incredibly wonderful caring person that you are.'

Ianto was not sure which of them moved first, maybe they both did, it didn't really matter; all he knew was that of all the amazing kisses he had shared with Jack Harkness, the one that finally made him forever believe that he was the centre of Jack's world, the one that permanently exorcised Gwen Cooper from their lives was the one that would be one of his brightest and most cherished memories for the whole of his life until the day that he died