Disclaimers: I do not own Torchwood or any of its characters. I am making no money from this. It is purely for entertainment purposes only.

Warnings: MPREG! If you've been reading for this long, I'm sure you've already noticed.

Notes: Please remember that I am just another stupid American. Please forgive any spelling or grammatical errors as I must rely solely on my own knowledge and my irritating spell-checker.

More Notes: Christmas vacation is over. Now, a hopefully short interlude and then on to Combat!

Expectations

Part Forty-Five

"Surprise!" Gwen exclaimed in a voice only a breath away from a shout.

Ianto stared at her, not knowing what to think as handfuls of confetti fluttered down around his shoulders. Both handfuls had been supplied by Gwen, of course. He blinked at her, not quite sure how to react. Then he glanced beyond her, to the coffee table in front of the grubby couch. There was a pastry box there, beside a number of brightly colored parcels.

"What?" Ianto asked, but faltered when he didn't know what he was asking.

What was going on here? Well, he could guess what was going on. But why? Why were they doing this for him? He wasn't worth this much effort. His fingers twitched and he moved them over his concealed stomach. He was confused, not sure of what to do here. He picked at his fingernails. "I don't understand," he admitted softly, his cheeks warming as he looked nervously about. His gaze landed on the confetti on the floor, the glittery sparkles of paper and foil catching his attention. He'd have to get a broom.

A hand touched his cheek and he jerked his head up. Tosh smiled at him. He smiled back reflexively. It faltered a moment later. "Don't worry about it," Tosh said. "Gwen and I will clean it up."

Gwen caught one of his hands. "Come and have a cupcake."

Ianto followed. He sat when he was urged to and took the chocolate cupcake that Gwen handed to him. It was covered with a pale blue icing. "It's not a baby shower, not really," Gwen said, trying to explain. "No party games. Only a couple presents, and cupcakes of course."

Ianto looked over the coffee table again. There were only three gifts, nothing too extravagant. He could handle this. All that he had to do was to open the gifts, smile and thank them for their thoughtfulness. He wouldn't be the center of attention for long. After that, everything would go back to normal.

He idly picked at the wrapping around his cupcake and stared intently down at the blue icing. He didn't really notice what his hands were doing as his thoughts drifted to everything he wanted to get done today. Aside from getting his hair cut, he hoped to go to a few shops. Maybe Tosh would like to get lunch after, or dinner, depending on when they left the hub and how long everything took. Only if she wanted to, of course, he didn't want to force her into helping him. He already knew he was going to be wasting her valuable time. She had important work to do and he would be taking her away from it. This thought left him feeling guilty. Maybe it wasn't worth it. Did he really need a haircut today?

His thoughts were jarred as much as the couch itself as Owen flopped down onto the cushions beside him. Ianto looked over and watched as the doctor peeled the wrapping from a cupcake. "Enjoy it while you can, Tea-Boy," Owen said with a sigh. Then he promptly shoved half the cupcake into his mouth.

Ianto let out a snort. Whether Owen was talking about eating cupcakes, or enjoying his moment in the spotlight, Ianto wasn't certain. It didn't bear discussion either way. He ate his own cupcake more sedately. And unlike Owen, he managed to not smear his lips and fingers with icing.

"Which do you want to open first?" Gwen asked, practically vibrating with excitement.

Ianto blinked over at her, then to the parcels between them. She'd pulled a desk chair over to the coffee table and was smiling toothily at him. "Well, I'm not sure," he said. Tosh handed him a napkin and he took it without noticing and wiped his fingers off. He also didn't notice when she took the napkin and cupcake wrapper from him and threw them away. His attention was fixed on those packages, worrying over them as if they contained bombs and not gifts. In the end, he decided to just get it over with and chose the nearest one. "That one, I suppose." He pointed.

He didn't know how it was possible, but her smile brightened considerably. "It's from me," she announced as she handed it over.

Ianto took the large, flat box and balanced it across his lap. He was thankful that he hadn't taken the ring off yet, or he wouldn't be able to manage it. He didn't have much of a lap to speak of when he was free of the shape altering effects of the ring. Luckily, Gwen had been overenthusiastic in her party plans and Ianto hadn't been able to get away to change his clothes before she'd scattered the confetti all over him.

Little fluffy animals danced across the blue wrapping paper. Ianto was eager to be rid of the saccharine sight and stripped it away quickly. Tosh took the shredded paper and disposed of it while Ianto slid the lid off of the box. Inside was a variety of soft things. Bibs, tiny little one-piece garments in an assortment of pale shades. And underneath it all, a remarkably soft, pale blue blanket. It was all simple, perfectly ordinary and Ianto was appreciative of the thoughtfulness. He'd been expecting outlandish designs, or cuddly little animals, like he had seen on the wrapping paper. Instead, there were muted colors and no designs to speak of.

"I didn't think you'd want anything too...well, too busy," Gwen was saying in explanation.

Ianto smiled a little, running his fingers over the blanket. It really was very soft. "Thank you, Gwen." He carefully put the lid back on the box and set it aside.

Tosh was there to take it from him and to hand him the next gift, which was a much smaller box in plain, pale yellow wrapping with a silver cloth ribbon tied about it. "From me," she admitted.

A single, smooth tug unraveled the bow. Upon removing the paper and opening the box, he found something strange within. Two cobbled together pieces of tech sat innocently in a bed of tissue paper. They both looked like they'd reasonably fit in his hand. One clearly had a camera mounted on the front of it, the other a video screen. A receiving and transmitting system of some sort?

His confusion must have shown, since Tosh said, "Baby monitor. I was going to buy one, but none of the ones I looked at seemed good enough. So I decided to make them myself. I improved the battery power and the transmitting range. And the video and audio quality, of course. They aren't quite done yet, but they will be by the time you need them."

A thoughtful gift. Ianto admitted as much and smiled as Tosh blushed. She took the box and placed it on her workstation.

His attention shifted to Owen as the doctor jerked forward from his seat beside Ianto and snatched at another package. "Here," he grunted, dropping the fairly large thing on Ianto's lap.

It was obviously a gift from Owen. The thing honestly looked as if Owen had placed it in the center of a large piece of wrapping paper, gathered up all the edges together around it in a fist at the top and tied it closed with a bit of ribbon in a messy bow. There was no effort to make it look pretty. Typical Owen. And yet, Ianto smiled, because Owen HAD gotten him a gift. It was ridiculous to feel so touched by this misshapen thing. Even after opening the present, it was no better. As messy inside as it was outside. Tearing away the paper revealed a plastic bin filled with an assortment of items to see to a baby's needs. A thermometer, nail clippers, wipes, washcloths, small hooded towels, soap, baby shampoo, even a little first-aid kit, among other practical things. There was no order in anything. Owen seemed to have simply thrown everything in randomly.

Ianto didn't know what to say besides, "Thank you."

Owen merely grunted in response.

"One last present," Gwen chimed in.

Ianto leaned forward and put the bin on the coffee table. He looked around, but didn't see anything else. Sitting back, he was about to open his mouth to ask what Gwen meant, when something dropped into his line of vision. He gasped, then blinked as the dangling object came into focus.

A mobile. Brightly colored planets and moons twirled about a central sun, while a delicate unfamiliar melody chimed softly. Ianto blinked again and looked up at Jack, who held the device aloft. "Sorry, didn't have time to wrap it," he said, smiling his familiar brilliant smile.

Ianto took the mobile carefully, holding it by the topmost piece as Jack had done. "It's brilliant," he said, marveling at it. He couldn't see how the planets were hanging there, let alone turning. There didn't seem to be anything tethering them in place.

"It fell through the Rift a few years ago," Jack said in explanation. "I never thought it would come in handy."

"Where's it from?"

"Earth, actually. Somewhere in the forty-third century, I'd say."

Ianto nodded, barely hearing the other man. He poked at one of the planets, watching as it righted itself immediately. Then, he plucked the planet out of alignment. He could feel it trying to tug out of his loose hold. When he released it, it returned to its original orbit, as if nothing had happened.

Jack put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. Then he turned to the others. "Okay, people, back to work," he announced. "Tosh, would you mind giving Ianto a hand taking his stuff to his room?"

"Of course I'll help," she replied.

The party broke up quickly. Owen disappeared back to his domain, snatching another cupcake on his way by. Jack strode off to his office, offering Ianto a conspiratorial wink and a smirk as he succeeded in getting Ianto a moment alone with Toshiko to ask his favor. Ianto smiled back, amused by Jack's apparent pride. Gwen gave Ianto a hug and a peck on the cheek before she, too, went back to her work. Much to Ianto's relief, that work included getting a broom and dustpan to clean up the confetti. As simply as that, Ianto's world reverted to normal. Or as normal as it could get while he was pregnant.

Ianto uneasily rose from the sofa. "There's a box, from my sister," he told Tosh, pointing to where Jack had left the item in question, as well as his bag, near the door to the garage.

Tosh nodded and went off to get them, while Ianto gently placed the mobile into the bin of stuff Owen had given him. He took the bin and the box of soft things he'd gotten from Gwen and went to his room, trying to decide where he could put everything while he was walking. Tosh came in while he was hanging the mobile. The delicate melody continued and Ianto wondered if there was a way to turn it off. It turned off. The music stopped and the planets stilled, although they still floated aloft as if held by invisible wires. He thought about it being on, and the music began again, the planets once more rotating in their orbits. Well, that was simple enough, he thought and switched it off again.

"Where do you want this?" Tosh asked, indicating the things she was carrying.

"Oh, on the bed," Ianto replied, turning to face her. He stepped up beside her, putting his hands on the flaps of the box, but not opening it.

Tosh gave his arm a pat and turned away, obviously intending to return to the central Hub area and the work that awaited her there. "Tosh, wait," he said, reaching out and grasping at one of her wrists. He let go quickly when she stopped to look back at him.

"Did you need something?" she asked, kindly.

Somehow, he felt certain that she'd say 'no,' to his request and it left him feeling terribly self-conscious. "Would you mind, I mean," he swallowed, flustered. "I asked Jack and he said I could, but he doesn't want me going by myself." Oh, this was not going well at all. He wasn't making any sense, was he?

Tosh brought a hand up and set it against his face. He blinked and looked at her, flushing in embarrassment. She simply smiled at him as she drew her hand away again with a gentle caress of her fingers. It was strangely calming.

He took a breath and tried again. "I plan to get my hair cut today," he said, emphasizing his words by tugging on one of the strands curling about his ears. "Maybe do a little shopping after. For the baby, you know? However, Jack and I agree that it might not be such a good idea if I went alone. So, would you mind coming with me?"

"Of course, Ianto. When do you want to go?"

"This afternoon?"

Tosh smiled. "Perfect. I can treat you to lunch."

Ianto laughed, then yawned. He felt so much better now that she had said 'yes.' Better, but tired.

"But first," Tosh said, stroking a hand up along his arm to his shoulder, and then down again to settle at his elbow. "Why don't you have a lie down? I'll wake you in a couple hours."

Ianto nodded. He could see the sense in that. He was tired. And he was likely to need all the energy he could muster to endure shopping for baby things.

He retreated to the en-suite to change his clothes. When he returned, Tosh had moved the box to the floor by the end of the bed and had turned down the blankets for him. "Thank you," he murmured, setting the ring on the table by the bed. He was a little embarrassed by all of this. But he got into bed, all the same, accepting it as she draped a blanket over him, and was asleep before she'd switched off the overhead light for him.

To Be Continued …