likesthecoat | (no subject)

Congrats to you and your family!

I've found that playing Aunt to a child is much better than playing the mom. You get to spoil them and take pride in their accomplishments, but when they start to cry, their moms step in.

Thank you! Yes, I like being able to give them back when they get fussy. (Though the first time my nice Carys let me comfort her--she'd bumped her knee, I think, it was something small--I melted quite a bit.)

*smiles* It's always nice to know, that they think they can run to you for comfort.

Do you ever think that perhaps someday you might have kids? I know your job... is what it is, but if you weren't working there or something...

Yes, it is.

Sometimes I do. Considering everything, work and my current circumstances and all, I don't think it'll ever happen, though.

*nods* Yeah, but... do you think you'll be able to do that job for a long time?

If it doesn't kill me . . . we'll see.

... I wish that was just a joke. I am frowning severly at you.

I'm just being realistic.

I know. Doesn't mean I have to like it. *pouts* Despite my own first name basis with death, I prefer my friends and family stay as far from as possible.

Institute employees aren't known for their longevity. Particularly in the last few years.

It's nothing, though. Maybe I'll live forever. Stranger things have happened.

Congrats on the nephew! **grins** And don't worry 'bout not bein' able to be all profound and stuff right now; I've noticed that babies can turn even th' smartest people into cooing bakas. :)

Thank you! What's a baka?

heh... my bad. **grins** When I'm typing or writing to one of my English speaking friends, I tend to throw in Japanese without even thinkin'... baka is the Japanese term for idiot. **grins** which babies turn me into almost every time. :)

That's all right. I do that with Welsh sometimes when I'm tired.

Congratulations again. **smiles** If you really want one, you should offer to babysit for a few days...see if you're more content in the uncle role.

But, you do have a very kind personality. I think you'd make an excellent father if you ever decided to...

Thank you :). For all of it. (Sometimes I think I'd make a good dad and sometimes I think, good lord, no, I can't be responsible for another person's life.)

You're most welcome! ^_^

**chuckles** They say parenthood is one of the most beautifully terrifying experiences of a person's life...

The deer-in-headlights look Euan had Friday night attests to that.

Yes, but the learning curve is surprisingly steep... I'm sure he'll manage just fine; after all, humans have been parenting for millennia now.

Oh, I'm sure they'll do fine. I'm not worried about their parenting skills. It's just . . . there's a person now. That they have to take care of and look after and raise.

That's scary. It's exciting, but it's scary.

It is! It's an incredibly wonderful thing, and yet extremely frightening. And the whole concept is just...mind boggling to consider.

Mind-boggling. Yes.

And when I held him . . . and he was so heavy and warm, and his heart was beating and he was looking around . . . that was brilliant. That was amazing.

**smiles** Sounds like you're smitten.

You're absolutely right, though. For all our technology and advancements and everything else, nothing can quite compare to the wonder and amazement of that new life coming into the world.

. . . well, you know. Family.

**nods** Indeed...

Kids are cute, as long as you can hand them back when they start screaming. *grin*

[Private to Ianto]
Thought you might want to know; Lorne's been checking in as scheduled, everything's going fine. He sounds bored out his mind, but yeah. He's fine.

Always the best part: giving them back.

[Private to John]

Thank you. I appreciate you letting me know.

congratulations, uncle ianto! what sort of welsh-y name did they give the little tyke, anyway?

[Private to Ianto]

seriously? you've thought about it?

Thank you! They gave him the very Welsh name of Rhodri.

[Private to Sam]

Yes, seriously.

Before Lisa was injured we were actually talking about it, in a "when should we throw out the birth control pills" kind of way.

rhodri? that's kinda catchy. is it really a welsh name? 'cause you know you could've told me his name was vincenzio, and i would've believed you if you said it welsh. you ARE the local authority, after all.

[Private to Ianto]

wow. i'm actually a little surprised. i mean... you're kinda young, you know? plus, it's not like you have the safest job in the world...

it's not really any of my business, anyway, but... lately i'm beginning to think that i don't really KNOW anyone around here, and it's been bugging me. i'm not consciously TRYING to be nosy, i promise.

It's quite Welsh. It was the name of a 9th-century king.

[Private to Sam]

I'm twenty-six. My brother Griffen had been married for two years when he was my age--it seems just right to me, at least to be thinking about it. Of course, if I actually decided to have a child it would involve surrogacy or adoption, and thus paperwork and contracts, so I'd really, really have to want to.

Torchwood 1 seemed much safer than it turned out to be. People had normal lives, families, all of it.

I've thought you knew me pretty well. Do you feel you don't?

now that you mention it, it DOES sound kinda familiar... does he LOOK like a rhodri? babies sort of all look alike to me, to be honest.

[Private to Ianto]

okay, i see your point. i guess starting a family is something that depends a lot on both individuals' level of maturity, and yeah, job security is a big thing, too. family (or a lack thereof) seems to be the one constant in just about everybody's lives around here, but i've been back-trawling through various comm members' posts, and i don't see that very many of us have actually DISCUSSED our families, you know? at least, not like normal people do. when the five questions meme made the rounds again, i totally blanked on what to ask, so i just threw 'do you have any kids' out there to lorne. but once i thought about it, i was kind of shocked to realize how little i know about the people i 'talk' to every day.

maybe i'm just having an online crisis or something. i'm sure it will pass.

but yeah, i think i know you pretty well, all things considered. i just feel like i don't do anything on LJ except rattle on about superficial stuff, and that's not what i signed up to do in the first place. i think i try so hard NOT to be nosy, that i've just ended up going too far in the wrong direction. i can still be nosy with you, right?

i want to feel more CONNECTED, dammit. my dad always lectured me not to waste time building up relationships that i couldn't afford to lose on short notice, but ever since i left home, i've worked hard to make a career out of doing the opposite of everything he ever told me. i guess i was just a little shocked when i looked up and caught myself drifting into those same old habits again. or something. does that make sense? you can tell me if i'm starting to sound crazy, i won't mind.

Oddly enough, he does look like a Rhodri, particulary the rho part.

[Private to Sam]

I suspect most of us don't find ourselves comfortable talking about our families, for whatever reason. I . . . don't see as much of my family as I would like, because of Torchwood, because there are so many things I can't explain to them.

I've come to realise how little I know even about my colleagues--I've learned things about Owen, for example, in the past week that I'd never have guessed. And these are people I see every day--the rest of you lot, I'm still getting to know.

You can be nosy with me. I don't mind.

is rho his nickname, or is there an obscure welsh reference or meaning that i'm not getting? (it's pronounced 'hrow', right?)

[Private to Ianto]

i don't have a problem understanding that, but i've learned from experience that keeping your mouth shut about certain things can create almost as many problems as it solves, in the long run. but... they're your family, man. don't you already have plenty to discuss with them without bringing work into it?

so... you don't consider yourself very close to your co-workers? or is just one of those situations where you find yourself chumming around with people, but not really SHARING?

okay, nosy i can do. i remember you told me you had brothers... how many, and where do you fall in the line-up? how many are married so far? any sisters?

He doesn't have a nickname yet--they're still just calling him "the baby", mostly. And . . . that's mostly just me attempting to be funny.

[Private to Sam]

Well. Not much, really. We talk about video games some, my brothers and I, and movies and books and what not, but when they ask about my life there's not much to say. Though I did tell Euan about Jack and Lorne this weekend. He's the only one to know about them.

No, I suppose I don't. I got into the habit of keeping myself separate when I was looking after Lisa, and I've yet to get out of it. Though I'm getting better, I think. I wouldn't have told them about Rhodri, for instance, before TIC and all.

I have four brothers, and I'm smack in the middle. Two are married, the third is thinking about it, and the youngest . . . nobody knows what's going on with him, really. He's still figuring out what he wants out of life. No sisters.