PARENTHOOD
Chapter Eleven "Now you're sure you lot can handle this?" the Doctor said while he stood on the porch and John, Samuel, Tim, Linus and Wilf nodded. Standing in front of the Doctor were nine two year olds and all of them smiled up at them. The Doctor was taking Rain, Alan, Rose, Adam, Marion, John, Rosie, Jamie, Jenna, Theta and Frankie for a day on a pleasure planet and John had offered to babysit. "Well, if you say so." "Yo, Brother, just drop 'em off and let's get going!" Alan shouted from the curb as the Doctor smiled and shook his head. "Go on, we'll be fine," John said as the Doctor nodded and squatted. "I want you to be good for Pa-paw, ok?" the Doctor said as the triplets looked at him and tears trickled down Sokanon's face. "But I want to go with you," she whimpered and he kissed her forehead. "I know you do, Soki, but Mummy and I need some alone time. Besides, you like spending time with Pa-paw, right?" "Yeah, but..." "Come on!" Alan said when he pulled on the back of the Doctor's shirt and the Doctor nearly fell down the steps. "Hey!" the Doctor said as Alan shrugged and the Doctor stood up, looking at the kids. "Right, be good and try not to destroy anything." "That sounds boring." Christopher said as David nodded and the Doctor sighed, rolling his eyes. "Come on," the Doctor said as Alan waved to the kids then ran after the Doctor and John laughed. "Ok, let's go inside," John said as the kids slowly walked inside the house and Tim looked at him with a worried look. "Are you sure about this?" Tim asked. "Sure, how hard can it be?" John asked as they walked inside the house the door closed behind them. "You had to say it, didn't you?" Linus shouted while the shrill screams of nine two year olds filled the air and John looked at him, fingers in his ears. "What?" John shouted over the noise when Wilf walked down the stairs and had an air horn in his hand. The two year olds jumped when he pushed the button and looked at him. Suddenly they all started crying at once and John sighed, looking at Wilf. "Well, it worked with Donna," Wilf said when they walked to the two year olds and John sighed. "No!" Chaska said while standing next to the potty chair and John knelt on the floor next to him. "But you use one at home," John said and Chaska shook his head. "I want my poopy seat!" "It's the same one." "Mine has Big Bird on it!" "Chas, use the chair!" "NO!" Chaska shouted and John sighed. "Pa-paw John, I can use the big boy potty!" Christopher said when he dropped his jeans and training pants, stood on the stool then took aim at the toilet. He made a face when John heard a tingle of water and smiled at Christopher. "What a good boy!" John said as Christopher smiled then used the toilet paper, placing it into the toilet. "Go wash your hands." Nodding, Christopher used the stool to reach the sink and washed his hands. John watched him leave the bathroom when he turned to Chaska and sighed. "Oh, Chas," John sighed when he saw the wet spot on Chaska's jeans and shook his head. "Don't move!" Samuel said when he and Tim found David, Cameron and Christopher at the top of the stairs and they smiled at them. "Watch what we can do!" David said then went on his stomach and reached for the step. He started crawling head first down the stairs with Cameron and Christopher following close behind them and they giggled. They got to the bottom step when they stood up and grinned. "That was very good. Now, why don't you...?" Tim asked when the boys ran up the stairs and did it again. "They're going to keep this up all day, aren't they?" "Yep," Samuel said as he nodded and they sighed, watching the boys coming down the stairs. "Now this was a good idea!" Tim said while they walked down the path and pushed the push chairs the Doctor had left them. Tennant Park was the largest park in Kasterbourous City. A large stone fence encircled the park and the paths and landscape were kept neat and clean. The Doctor had gone to New Earth to acquire some lemon grass seeds and the trees, shrubbery and bushes all came from Earth. There were jogging trails, areas where people could bring their pets, several playgrounds and large stage areas for concerts of all kinds. Any time of day there was music playing and colorful banners dangled down from the lamp posts. The largest playground was located at the center of the park and the music from the nearly stage floated through the air. Statues of beloved characters from fairy tales dotted the landscape as the children played, ran around in the grass or sat on the animal statues and the two year olds' eyes went wide. "I want to do that!" Jackie said as she pointed to the climbing bars but Samuel shook his head and she sighed. "Can we go on the swings?" Zoe asked as she pointed to the swings and Tim smiled down at her. "That we can do!" Tim said as they pushed the push chairs to the swings with the toddler swings and placed Zoe, Jackie, Namid and Sokanon on the swings. Tim stayed with the boys while John, Samuel, Linus and Wilf pushed the swings and the girls giggled. "Boring!" Chaska said as he frowned and sank down in the seat. "We want tae go play!" Donald said. "I have to go potty," David said as Tim looked down at him then looked at John, waving to him. "David has to go potty," Tim said as John nodded and told Samuel, Wilf and Linus to get the girls off the swings. The girls complained as they were placed back into the push chairs and they went to go find the bathroom. "Why didn't you go in your pants?" Christopher asked. "Because I'm wearing my big boy undies," David said with a shrug of his shoulders and Christopher made an O with his mouth. "What do you mean you can't find them?" John asked as Linus looked at the ground and sighed. At the center of the park was a large lake at the center of the playground and a large variety of ducks, geese, swans and other water fowl sailed peacefully over the calm surface of the water. Several small feed dispensers stood near the edge of the lake so the guests could feed them and nesting boxes sat near the shore or in the tall reeds. Linus had taken Cameron, Zoe and Donald to see the ducks when he started chatting with one of the mothers then turned and found that the threesome were gone. "I just turned away for a second. I thought they were still in the push chair," Linus said and John sighed. "They couldn't have gotten far," Wilf said as they headed down the path and John prayed that the children were alright. "But you got tae be the Doctor the last time," Donald said as they headed for the sandbox and stuck out his lower lip. "Ok, you can be the Doctor this time." Cameron said. "Why can't I be the Doctor?" Zoe asked and they giggled. "Zoe, the Doctor cannae be a girl!" Donald said. "Says who?" Zoe asked and placed her hands on her hip. "Because the Doctor's a Time Lord and Time Lords are boys!" Cameron said. "That's nae fair!" Zoe said while tears trickled down her face and Donald sighed. He didn't like seeing his sister cry as he smiled and gently hugged her. "Then you can be the Doctor," Donald said as she smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes. "So, Doctor, where are we?" "We are in Princess Pony's Funland!" Zoe said as Cameron glared at Donald and he shrugged. "And what are we looking for?" Cameron asked. "We have to find Princess Pony's hairbrush!" Zoe said and Cameron rolled his eyes. "Of course we do!" "Come on!" Zoe said as she headed for the sandbox when they saw a large sandcastle and Donald smiled, nudging Zoe. "Look at the size of that thing, Doctor," Donald said. "Yes, Jamie, it is a big one, isn't it?" Zoe said, doing a perfect impression of Theta in his second life and they giggled. "Excuse me, but are you Zoe, Donald and Cameron?" a park security guard asked as they looked at her and she smiled at them. "Uh," Cameron said as Donald placed Zoe behind him and the security guard sighed. "Look, it's ok, I won't hurt you," security guard said and Donald glared at her. "Cameron, Zoe, Donald, it's ok," John said as they looked at him and the security guard held her hand out. Cameron took one hand while Donald held onto Zoe's hand and they walked to John. They looked at him while he thanked the security guard and she nodded, walking down the path. He pointed to the push chair as they walked toward the others and John placed them in the push chair, heading down the path. (Hours later) "Well, that was a nice day!" Alan said as he stretched and Rose tickled his stomach. "Hey!" "Sorry, couldn't resist!" Rose said as they headed for John's house then stopped and the Doctor smiled. "Well, it's still standing," the Doctor said as they walked up the steps and the Doctor knocked on the door. They waited when the door opened and Rose was surprised to see Jackie. "Mum, what are you doing here?" Rose asked when the kids appeared behind Jackie and they smiled at them. "Let me guess, they called for backup?" "Yep," Jackie said as she looked back at John, Samuel, Tim, Linus and Wilf standing in the living room and the Doctor sighed, looking in at John. "We are so sorry," the Doctor said when John walked to the door and leaned on the doorframe. "Star Child, I love my grandchildren, I really do, but I will NEVER do this again!" John said and the Doctor laughed. After saying goodbye, they led the children down the sidewalk while Zoe frowned and Jenna looked at her. "What's the matter, Honey?" Jenna asked. "I think we forgot something," Zoe said then looked at Cameron. "Cammy, remember when we found Pa-paw Wilf's toolbox?" "Hold it, you found Wilf's toolbox?" "Yeah, and we got bored," Cameron said and Theta's eyes went wide. "What did you take apart?" Theta asked with a sigh. Cameron had been taking things apart for the last few months and had promised not to while staying with John. "I don't remember," Cameron said when they heard a scream and stopped turning around. "Dad, are you ok?" Rain thought as she felt his anger and looked at the house. "No, one of the little "darlings" took apart our toaster, vcr and the phones!" John thought as Adam and Alan smiled then winced when Marion and Rose whacked them in the back of the head. "Actually it was two of them. Hang on, we're coming," the Doctor said as he glared at Zoe and Cameron then sighed, holding his hands out. "You broke it, you fix it," the Doctor said as they took his hands and they headed down the sidewalk. "Um, Daddy, since we didn't break anything, can we have ice cream?" Christopher asked while looked up at Alan and Alan looked at the others. "Uh, no, I don't think so," Alan said as the kids sighed and they walked down the pavement, heading for home.
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