FATHER'S DAY

Chapter Three

(An hour later…)

Rain smiled as she opened the front door and entered her house with groceries. She stopped when Alan waved at her cheerfully from the sofa.

"Why am I not surprised that you are here?" she said as she waved to Rose.

"Because I am him and he is me and I own everything he owns," Alan said, pointing to the Doctor who was sititng in a chair beside the sofa.

"Guess again, Bucko," Rain said, shutting the door while the Doctor and Hope walked over to greet her.

She accepted their kisses and handed the sack of groceries to her daughter before telling everyone that she needed to go upstairs and freshen up. Hope walked to the kitchen with the groceries while the Doctor followed his wife upstairs. Alan watched him and watched Hope go before he looked at Rose.

"Everyone's gone…so…sex on the sofa then?" he said to her.

"I don't think they'd approve," Rose said dryly.

"Could be kinky."

"Down, boy," Rose said while Alan sniggered.

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"So…how was your day, love?" Rain said after she and the Doctor entered their bedroom and she slipped her high heels off.

"Well, it was sorta, kinda productive until the inlaws showed up," the Doctor said, leaning against the bureau while Rain shut the bedroom door and began undressing. "I did send the child to the shop to resupply for breakfast though."

"Oh?" Rain said with a grin while she took her earrings out. "And why couldn't you do it, Thete?"

The Doctor feigned surprise.

"You do know who I am, yeah?" he said.

"Um…you're…a lazy bum who sends people to do the jobs you should be doing?" Rain asked sweetly.

"I'm the Doctor."

"Yeah…I figured that out long ago, dearest. What's that got to do with anything," Rain teased as he laid her earrings down on the bureau.

The Doctor pointed to himself.

"I…am the Doctor. I am in charge. I…have companions. Their job is to go and do for me. The daughter…wants to be a companion so this is practice for her."

"You," Rain said, pointing to her husband, "are a lazy bum who wanted to sit on your butt and do nothing while conning your daughter into getting what you should have gotten in the first place. You…manipulate people."

"Um…yeah, I do, yeah," the Doctor said.

He giggled when Rain playfully swatted his arm.

"Rose has some good news by the way. Not sure if I should tell you before she does," the Doctor said, eyeing his wife's body while she slipped off her skirt and blouse and opened her drawer to get t-shirt and shorts.

"I think you should let her tell it, Thete. You know, giving those companions jobs to do and all that."

She laughed and ran when the Doctor tried to pinch her butt. Rain was about to walk back to the bureau when they heard a knock at the door, followed by their daughter calling through the door for them. The Doctor glanced at his wife and she nodded. He nodded in return and walked over to the door while Rain pulled out a pair of black shorts and a white t-shirt. The Doctor opened the door slightly to make sure it was only Hope and let her in when he saw no one was around.

"Hello, Mummy," Hope said, walking over to Rain while the Doctor shut the door.

"Hello, Baby, I heard you were conned into doing an errand today," Rain said.

"I was on a mission for the Doctor," Hope said proudly.

"So I heard," Rain said while the Doctor feigned innocence.

"I wanna talk to you in private, Mummy," Hope said.

Rain chuckled when the Doctor bent over and put a hand to his ear as his head hovered two inches over his daughter's head. Hope turned to look at him and the Doctor immediately straightened up and put his hand down to his side.

"It's about you so you can't listen," Hope said.

"Moi?" the Doctor said, pointing to himself.

"Yeah, so go away and go play with Uncle Alan or something," Hope said, playfully poking him in the stomach.

Rain laughed when the Doctor spun around, jogged to the door and flung it open.

"I'M GONNA HAVE PLAYTIME WITH ALAN!" he yelled before heading out and shutting the door behind him.

Hope giggled with her mother when they heard Alan yell out, "PLAYTIME WITH BROTHER, MY FAVORITE!" from somewhere downstairs.

"Those two make quite the pair," Rain said to her daughter. "Okay, so what's the big secret about Daddy then?"

"I wanna get him something for Father's Day but what do I get him?" Hope said.

Rain froze, thrown off by her question for a moment.

"Well…I suppose anything you do would make him happy, Baby," she said as she picked her hairbrush up from the bureau. "Actually, I think he'd just prefer to spend time with you and your sisters and brother and that would be enough."

"I know, I just wanted to do something special for him," Hope said with a weary sigh.

"Make him a card. He'd love that more than if you went out and bought something for him. He'd treasure something handmade from you. To be honest, I wouldn't know what you could buy him that he doesn't already have. The closets and attic in the TARDIS are jam packed with stuff he probably doesn't even remember he has. But something you made, he would love that."

"What are you going to do for him, Mommy?"

"Um…probably fix him his favorite things to eat and spend time with him. He's a simple man, Hope. He values being with us above anything else. His family is his greatest treasure so that's why he would just love spending some time with you. That's my advice. You have some allowance and you could spend it on something but I think something you make would make him very, very happy. Okay?"

"Okay," Hope said, nodding.

Rain patted her on the head and gave her a sideways hug. She quickly brushed her long, dark hair back into place and the two of them walked out the door. As they walked downstairs, they paused on the stairs when they saw the Doctor and Alan chasing each other around in a tight circle.

"Wheee, playtime with Brother is fun!" Alan squealed as he ran.

"Have they been doing this since my husband left the bedroom?" Rain asked Rose while her daughter giggled at her father and uncle's antics.

"No, they did it when they heard the door opening and you coming towards the stairs," Rose said, gesturing to the two adult men before her.

"Aw, you told her," Alan said as he and the Doctor stopped running. "I was hoping she'd think we'd been doing this for ages."

"I guessed you weren't because if you had, you'd have been huffing and puffing like the lazy, flabby person you are," Rain said sweetly as she and her daughter came down the stairs.

Hope giggled when Alan stuck his tongue out at her and he and the Doctor walked back to the sofa.

"So…the Doctor tells me you have good news?" Rain said to Rose while she headed for a chair.

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After Rose and Alan left, Rain distracted her husband and convinced him to go into the TARDIS with her for a relaxing dip in the pool when she realized Hope was going to make a card for her father. After gather up a large sheet of unlined paper and her crayons, Hope sat at the kitchen table and stared at the blank sheet of paper, trying to think of something to do. She sighed and walked over to the fridge. She poured herself a glass of milk and put everything away before taking the glass back to the table. She selected a black crayon, folded the paper in half so it resembled a greeting card and wrote I LOVE YOU in big bold letters on the front of the card. Then she selected a red crayon and drew a valentine heart under it. Then she was stumped again and took a swig of milk while she thought of something else to do. She stared at the card for a moment before she opened it up. She went and got a pencil from a nearby desk and took it back to the table. She sat down and thought for a moment before writing…

Daddy,

I'm rubbish at this. So just telling you I love you and happy father's day.

Hope.

She sighed, disappointed with herself as she closed the front of the card. She picked up her milk and drank it while she cleaned up her mess.

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(Sunday morning…)

The Doctor stepped outside into the backyard and breathed deeply; taking in some fresh air while he did a few morning stretches. Today, he was planning to work on his TARDIS, updating some of her software and do a few experiments. He looked over his shoulder when he heard the patio door sliding open and smiled at his daughter when she and the dogs came outside. He noticed that his daughter had one hand behind her back and she didn't turn to shut the door while she walked towards him.

"Shouldn't you shut the door?" the Doctor reminded her gently.

He frowned when Hope brought her other hand around and held out the card to him, backside up so he couldn't see what was on the front. The Doctor took it from her and examined the blank back of the card while Hope turned to close the door. Then he turned it over and his expression lit up with delight when he saw what was written there. Hope waited and watched with a touch of nervousness while the Doctor opened up the card and silently read what was there. He ignored the dogs running around him while he read the words with a smile on his face.

"I didn't put much in it, I really didn't know what to say," Hope said quickly when her father didn't say anything.

"On the contrary, Daughter, I believe you put just enough and said enough into this card," the Doctor said before walking over to her and embracing her. "And I forgot it was Father's Day today, scatterbrained, me. Thank you for reminding me and thank you heaps for the card. I love it!"

"I love you, Daddy," Hope said, embracing him tightly.

"And I love you," the Doctor said. "And now that I know what day it is, I suppose I'll have to hurry and finish my tasks since I'm sure you lot will be taking me somewhere to eat tonight. So…would you assist your old fart of a father in finishing his work?"

"Yes, sir!" Hope said with a salute.

"Hm, I'll have to drum it into your head about saluting. But no matter, come with me and we'll spend some father/daughter time together."

Hope smiled, took her father's free hand and they and the dogs walked back into the house.

THE END.

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