PARENTHOOD

Chapter Thirty Eight

After the bike race they settled back down and rested awhile while they talked. Chaska and Christopher became restless and began to walk around the campsite while Sokanon and Namid lay next to their mother and talked. The Doctor kept a watchful eye on them as they walked over to the road and stood by the side looking off to their right. He noticed Chaska was talking to Christopher and pointing down to the woods. They talked for a moment and then both boys walked back to the campsite.

"Hey, Daddy, can we walk down to the woods. I wanna show Chris how spooky they are," Chaska asked the Doctor.

"Well, I dunno. I need you to stay here and keep the fire from going out, chop wood, that sort of thing," the Doctor said, scratching his chin thoughtfully.

"Nuh-uh," Chaska said while everyone laughed. "Come on, Daddy, you can go with us."

"I've already seen the spooky forest, why would I need to go again?" the Doctor said. "There's nothing in there but trees and rocks and darkness. It isn't like there's an axe murderer waiting to jump out at ya. If you wanna walk down, go ahead, I'll just stay here and snooze away."

"No, come on, Daddy. Come with us."

"Yeah, come on, Daddy. Come and see the spooky woods," Christopher said to Alan.

"Um, I've also seen the spooky woods and it didn't impress me," Alan said.

"Doc, come and see the woods," Chaska said, walking over to him.

They laughed as Doc threw up his hands.

"Okay, since you desperately need to have someone see these spooky woods, I'll come," he said, getting up.

Alan got up with him and stretched his back.

"Aw, what the hell, I feel like taking a walk. Starlight, will you walk with me?" he said.

Rose nodded and got up. The Doctor did the same.

"Yeah, walk sounds good. Latara?"

"Kids, you wanna take a walk with us?" Rain asked Sokanon and Namid.

"Yeah," Sokanon said, getting up. "Come on, Mi-mi."

"Jack?" the Doctor said to him.

"I better not. Someone has to stay behind and keep an eye on the fire and I've seen the spooky woods. You go ahead," he said.

"We won't be long, we just want to take a walk and see what all the fuss is about," Rain said to him.

"There's absolutely no fuss which is why I'm staying here by the nice, warm fire," Jack said. "But you crazy kids have fun!"

Namid took her mother's hand and they followed Christopher and Chaska back to the road. They turned and walked down it, heading for the dense forest.

"Oooo-eee-oooooo," Alan said as they got nearer. "Ooo, maybe there are ghosts in here!"

"Or maybe there's nothing but trees and darkness," Rose said.

"Aw, Starlight, you gotta know when you travel with a Time Lord, adventure pops out at unexpected moments."

"Mmm, well, I'm not holding my breath," Rose said as Rain giggled.

"I don't know what you're worried about. I walk around in the dark all the time," Namid said. "It doesn't bother me."

Suddenly in her mind's eye, she saw Alan peeking in off to her right and the Doctor peeking in off to her left.

"Bwah!" Mental Alan said as he thrust out his arms. "Scared now?"

"Oi, leave my daughter alone," Mental Doctor said. "Scaring her is my job."

He opened his mouth and revealed a pair of vampire fangs before a cloud of smoke enveloped him and he turned into a huge bat.

"IT'S ONE OF THE ENDANGERED CAVE BATS!" Mental Alan said.

Namid giggled as Mental Alan chased Mental Doctor around with a net saying, "Come back here, I wanna sell you on the black market and see how much you're worth!"

While Mental Alan chased Doctor Bat around inside Namid's mind, the others reached the edge of the woods.

"Beware, we are entering haunted woods," Alan said with an ominous expression on his face.

"Yeah, right, sure we are," Rain said.

"Aw, play along, Rain," the Doctor said, nudging her.

The children laughed when Rain suddenly thrust herself onto her husband.

"No, I'm scared! Protect me!" she said as the other adults laughed.

She grinned at the shocked expression on his face.

"You said to play along," she said with a shrug.

He took her hand and took Sokanon's hand as they walked under the trees. The moon was high in the sky providing a little illumination but not much.

"Whoa, it's dark in here," Christopher said, looking around.

"Boo!" his father said, spinning around.

"I know it's you, Daddy. I can still see you," Christopher said, rolling his eyes.

He giggled when Alan picked him up and gave him a kiss on the cheek before setting him down and taking his hand.

"Okay, anyone brave enough to walk forward?" Alan said, pointing to the darkness in front of them.

They laughed when Namid started walking.

"I can't see anything but darkness so I'm not scared," she said as she strode confidently forward. "See, I'm not scared, just like Daddy."

"Yup, this is definitely your child," Rose said to the Doctor as she kept on walking.

Namid froze when she heard something moving through the trees on her left side.

"Get out of there, Uncle Alan, you're not gonna scare me," she yelled.

"I'm not over there!" Alan said as everyone laughed. "I'm back here with your dad watching you, ya daft woman! Not everything in the world is my doing!"

"Well, what was that then?" Namid said, looking back at them.

"I suspect it was a forest creature walking through the trees and now the poor thing's probably had a heart attack after you screamed at it for no good reason," Alan said.

The Doctor grinned and ran up to her side.

"Come on, we'll be brave together," he said, taking her hand.

The other children ran up to him and they all marched together down the darkened path. Alan snickered and ran up behind Namid.

"Bwah!" he yelled. "There, that was me."

Namid tried to swat at him as he walked around her and gave her a kiss on the top of the head. He got in front of the Doctor and stopped him.

"Wrestle in the dark?" he said.

"Nah, I don't wanna break all your bones. This way, children, follow me around the loony."

Alan's mouth dropped open as they walked around him. Rain grinned and ran up to her husband. The children laughed when she smacked his head and ran back to Rose and Doc.

"Oi, quit abusing me!" the Doctor said to her as they walked.

Rain chuckled. She ran back up to him and imitated the blue bird by bumping him in the ass and then circling around her while she chirped.

"Oh yeah?" the Doctor said as the children laughed.

The children laughed harder when the two of them imitated the mating dance.

"What a good idea. Come here, Starlight!" Alan yelled as he took off after her.

Rose laughed and ran back out of the woods with Alan in hot pursuit. He caught up with her and grabbed her around the middle, showering her with kisses on her cheeks.

"So do I impress you enough to build a nest and have my eggs?" he said in her ear.

"Oh yeah," Rose said.

Alan kissed her again and grinned as he gave her one more squeeze and let her go just as everyone else came back out. He and Rose held hands as the group went back to their campsite for the night.

"That was fun," Jack said as the TARDIS appeared in front of him. "But then again, it's always fun with you guys."

"Are we gonna do something else, Daddy?" Sokanon asked the Doctor.

"We'll see. For now, Doc and I have to go get those parts we were trying to get before we were interrupted," he said as he unlocked the door and let them go by with the bikes.

He grabbed his bike and followed in after them. He paused just inside when he saw Namid.

"I had fun, Daddy," she said to him.

"Good, I'm glad and we'll have more fun as soon as I think of something else but for now you need to go home and have a bit more rest, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy."

The Doctor smiled at her. He closed the door, led his bike up the ramp and took her hand as he walked with her to the console and programmed in the coordinates for home.

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