Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone who has read this story, commented, liked, added it to lists, recced it, everything. It has been, today, a ten year journey, and so this is where I leave Jack and Ianto. For now, at least. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have.

01.08.2009

The ivy-clad frontage of the sprawling manor house seemed bigger and more imposing than Ianto remembered it being, even in the weak sunshine that had broken through steel grey clouds just as they pulled off the motorway to head across country. Johnny's little Peugeot trudged up the long drive behind the sleek purr of their hired Jaguar and looked immediately and completely out of place, even in the nearly abandoned front yard. A couple of UNIT soldiers stood to attention with sharp salutes and came to open the back doors for Alice and Ianto's mum. They looked up at the rows of lopsided windows above them with expressions of muted awe. Steven, David and Micah had no such reservations. They piled out of the back of the Peugeot in a single mass and swarmed Jack and Ianto enthusiastically. "Is this it? Are we here? Can I go to the toilet?"

Rhiannon hurried over to corral them into a semblance of order whilst Johnny struggled with the bags in the boot. "Are we parking here, or is it round the back? Johnny wants to know. Yes, I know, Micah, we'll find a toilet in a minute. David, don't even look at that slug, I mean it."

"No, we'll just unload the bags here and then park up round the back in the stable yard," Ianto told her as soon as she paused for breath. He rested a hand on Micah's head to stop her running off again and pointed up the stairs. "There's a toilet in the foyer. Just ask whoever's on the desk and they'll show you. We'll keep an eye on David and Johnny."

"You mean David and Steven."

He managed to keep a straight face, just about. "Yes, of course."

Steven didn't need anyone to keep an eye on him. He was already hovering excitedly, offering to carry bags nearly as big as he was into the house. Ianto collected the suit bags and let Jack get the case, then followed him up the steps into the house.

Amanda was on her way to meet them, heels ringing on the marble once more as she strode down the corridor from the ballroom at speed, clearly warned by the arrival of Rhiannon and Micah. She introduced herself to the family smoothly and greeted both Ianto and Jack with a kiss on the cheek. "I should have known you'd be early," she told him, a touch reproachfully. "I take it you had a smooth drive over?"

"We planned for roadworks that finished yesterday. Besides, I didn't want us to be late," he said pointedly. Amanda, who had famously been two hours late for her own wedding because she was chasing some sort of pale blue gazelle across Hampstead Heath, gave him a very sharp look but conceded the point. "Now I know the answer already, but is there anything we can do?"

"Absolutely not. Constanza here will show you to your suite whilst Leon shows your family to their rooms. All you need to do is get your suits on and make sure you haven't lost the rings." She shooed them off with a flick of her fingers and turned on her heel. "I'll have tea and coffee sent up to your rooms imminently."

There was no way she was as composed as she was pretending to be, but Ianto appreciated the veneer. It helped to calm some of his constant nagging feeling that he should be doing something, helping somehow, going somewhere. The look Jack gave him said that he was entirely aware of Ianto's busy mind, so he just rolled his eyes and strolled, or perhaps sauntered but definitely didn't stride, back to the desk where the family and Amanda's minions were waiting. "Right..."

Constanza stepped in smoothly when he ran out of momentum after the first word. "It's an honour to have you all here," she told them, even Johnny. "This is my colleague Leon. If you'll follow him, he'll show you to your suite where you can get ready. If you'd like to leave your bags here, we can have them taken up to the rooms for you."

"And if you'll follow me, sirs," she said as Micah slipped her hand into a very confused Leon's and he led the family up the stairs. "Amanda thinks you'll like the bedroom she's chosen for you."

Curious, despite himself, Ianto started the climb up the big oak staircase a few steps below Johnny. But where the family peeled off on the first floor and took the right turn, down towards the wing that Torchwood had used at the conference, he and Jack were led up another flight and then, finally, up one more to the top floor. Constanza unlocked the single door at the top of the stairs and stepped back to let them in. It wasn't one of those grand unveilings that drove all thought from his mind in stupefied wonder, but it was definitely a luxurious and decadent room. A vast four poster bed with heavy drapes and matching bedding in midnight blue and silver that contrasted with the elegantly carved mahogany dominated the room. It was so deep there was actually a step to get up into it poking out from under the bedspread that still fell almost all the way to the deep rug that covered the polished oak floorboards. At the foot of the bed was a loveseat facing a fireplace that had been filled with a vase overflowing with flowers, and to the left of the fireplace was a door that looked newer than the rest of the room leading, Ianto presumed, to the bathroom. The light switches, even though they were bronze dimmer switches instead of white plastic, looked incongruous and out of place.

"Wow," Jack said, echoing Ianto's thoughts. He tucked their suitcase into the gap between the door and a small writing bureau and stepped further into the room to let Ianto in behind him. The curtains were drawn back and showed a view of the house's grounds rolling away down towards the ornamental lake and the folly on the island. The sun had pushed through the clouds to reveal growing patches of blue sky at last, and it glinted off the water as shadows of clouds scudded across the gently sloping lawns and flowerbeds bursting with colour. It was like some bucolic image of Regency England, a world that had never heard of a computer, let alone a Dalek. The procession of sleek estate cars and nippy little convertibles with their roofs down trickling up the long drive through the avenue of lime trees was the only piece of modernity that encroached on the view, and a useful reminder that they were there for a reason and the clock was ticking.

The tinkling of china against metal heralded the arrival of a spotty teenager dressed all in black and carrying a tray with a cafetière and a pair of coffee cups very carefully. Constanza took it from her gracefully and slipped past Ianto to set it down on top of the chest of drawers under the window. "Everything is in order downstairs. Tea and coffee will be served in the ballroom along with a light breakfast, as you requested. There's no rush for you to join everyone, but I'm sure you will anyway."

"I'm sure you're right," Ianto agreed. His phone was already buzzing with messages, probably Ally and others telling him they had arrived. "We'll just get changed and come down."

"Of course, sirs." She looked to Jack to check if he needed anything, then left them with a dip of her head. The grandfather clock down in the foyer chimed the hour and was cut off by the heavy door closing behind her, leaving them in an island of calm tucked away at the top of the house.

Ianto watched the realisation dawn on Jack's face, and was gratified to see it accompanied by excitement and anticipation instead of shock. He returned the bright smile with one of his own and gestured around the room. "We should, uh..."

"Make use of the bed?"

"Later," he chuckled. "We should get changed and join everyone, before they come looking for us. You know Ally will."

"I also know the Doctor will. Whether he wants to or not." Jack sighed and started pulling his shirt off, and it took Ianto a moment to remember that he was supposed to be doing something other than staring. "I wonder which one of him will turn up."

Ianto snorted. "Knowing our luck, all of them." He shucked his trousers and hung his suit bag up on a hook concealed by the wood panelling before taking out his suit trousers. Despite his concerns the dark cotton was uncreased, and he hadn't put on weight like he'd feared. They'd elected to get matching suits in very dark grey, so dark it was almost black, with subtle metallic stitching and silvery satin lining, and then Ianto had chosen a cherry red shirt and Jack a crisp white one. He turned to sneak a look and found Jack staring into an open box. "Jack?"

He turned to Ianto with a nervous look that didn't belong on his face, especially on a day like this. "I know we didn't talk about this, but I found them and then forgot about them. So I wondered..."

"It's not like you to be tongue tied," Ianto commented in an attempt to lighten the mood as he sauntered over. "Are they handcuffs?"

They were not handcuffs, it turned out. Nestled in the box were two identical sets of cufflinks, simple silver squares with a row of coloured stones arranged in a rainbow a third of the way in from one side. Ianto studied them and then Jack's face again. "I always knew that one day this would be possible," Jack explained quietly, "but it felt like a long way off at times. I wanted to mark it, somehow."

Ianto took one pair and reached out for Jack's free hand to fasten it in place for him. "I'd like that."

# # #

Every eye in the ballroom turned to the door when they entered, despite their attempts to sneak in unnoticed. They had both agreed that the grand entrance and tearful first look would have felt performative considering that they lived and worked together. No one was going to let them have a low-key event, but they could at least take some of the dramatics out of it and push attention onto the celebration. Or so Ianto had thought. As they were swarmed by friends and surrounded by the happy buzz of what felt like the entire alien hunting community of Earth, he started to reassess that. Time began to run in a blur, there were so many people there to greet them and congratulate them. He thought he'd got confused at first, but realised eventually that at least three different versions of the Doctor were there along with several companions. That was probably cheating, but he was sure Amanda had it covered.

As if summoned by his thoughts, Ally appeared at his elbow with two glasses of champagne and a grin as bright as the sun. "Hey you," she chirruped, pressing a glass into his hand and leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. Even with her towering heels on he had to bend down a little to let her. "Aren't you both looking lovely? I bet you can't wait to get that suit off him."

"I always know I can rely on you to drag the conversation into the gutter, Analyn." He downed his glass and reached for hers. Off to their right Jack had been pulled into a group of UNIT veterans from the 1970s and 80s and their bright-eyed offspring. "I take it everything is..."

"Everything is under control," she assured him. "I think Amanda is enjoying herself. The drinks are flowing, the kitchens are on track for lunch bang on one, everyone who's staying overnight has arrived and been shown to their rooms, and, most importantly, the paperwork is ready for you and I haven't lost the rings. Everything is fine."

"Is..."

She tutted. "I can hear you thinking, you know. Stop it. Everything is fine. Are you fine?"

"I'm fine," he confirmed and found, to his surprise, that he was. The nerves still hadn't kicked in. In fact, he was more relaxed than he could remember being. "As long as we're married by the end of the day, it'll be a success. That's a much lower bar than a normal day at work."

"See? Everything is fine."

He handed her her empty glass back. "In that case, I'm going to go and find my fiancé again."

It took a while for him to few yards between him and Jack, because it was suddenly filled with even more people who wanted to speak to him. He got more hugs and handshakes than he received in an average year, but eventually, having collected another glass of champagne along the way, was able to slip his arm around Jack's waist and anchor himself at least for a while. Jack greeted him with a warm smile and gestured with his glass to the room. "Having fun out there?"

"We should do this more often. It's nice to get everyone together for something that isn't the end of the world." He scanned across the room and his eyes settled on one worrying group. "Is that..."

"River Song flirting with Prince William? Yes, I think so." Jack nudged him and gestured over to another corner of the room. "And there's her daughter chatting up his brother."

Ianto chuckled. "They would have incredibly ginger children. I assume this is her during her travels with the Doctor. No sign of Rory."

"Canton has waylaid him by the bar. Risky choice, but he's good at keeping quiet when he needs to. They're between the moon landing and Demon's Run, so she might be a duplicate already." He spotted Ianto's expression morphing into worry and waved it off. "It's fine, she doesn't know."

"That's strangely reassuring," he admitted. "When did my life get... like this?"

Jack laughed and the clock chimed again. "I think that's our cue."

Sure enough, Amanda pushed her way through to their side, her face split in a broad grin. "The kitchens are almost ready. Are you ready for them?"

Ianto met Jack's eyes and nodded. "Alright. Let's get married."

# # #

The sun was setting over the fields to the west of the house, sinking between the trees and gleaming off the river that snaked its way across the plain as Ianto Harkness-Jones strolled out onto the veranda, with two glasses of a very nice single malt. Jack looked up from his conversation as soon as Ianto emerged like he'd felt him coming and his smile immediately brightened. Seeing their distraction, Sarah Jane made her excuses and made her way down the steps to the patio below, to join Luke, Kate and Jo on the edge of the ornamental fountain. Against a soundscape of the wind through the trees, quiet conversations from their friends and family and the gentle burble of water, Ianto passed Jack one of the glasses and wrapped his now free arm around his waist once more, pulling him in for a kiss again. "I thought I'd find you out here," he said, barely a whisper against Jack's cheek. "Having a good night?"

"Sorry." Jack pulled back enough to look at him with a rueful smile. "Seems I've got a lot to catch up on with a lot of people."

"I know, it's fine. We should make the most of tonight. I've got years with you, we've only got a few more hours with everyone here." He looked past Jack to another group who were lying on the lawns with a few bottles of wine. Laughter told him that River and Amy were down there, and what sounded like the female Doctor. "It can feel very lonely out there in Cardiff, it really is the edge of the world. But we aren't."

"Thanks to you."

He tutted. "All I did was convince you to turn up to conferences. Although I will admit that that did sometimes feel like pulling teeth." He gestured around. "But they're all your friends. All I brought to the table was Rhiannon and Johnny, and I'm going to have to apologise for him."

"You know that's not true."

"I know. Well, the apologising for Johnny bit is." He looked back up at the house and smiled. "Think anyone will notice if we slip away?"

Jack grinned. "Yes, but isn't that the point?"

It was a beautiful night, the hall was full of their family and friends, and they had a month long honeymoon on a pleasure planet in the Vegas galaxies courtesy of the Doctor stretching out ahead of them. But the party was going to go on for hours yet, they could always come back down. He grabbed Jack's hand and they slipped away.