PARENTHOOD

Chapter One Hundred and Two

Namid and Sokanon were in awe as they approached Lady Gaga. It wasn't the first time they had met someone famous but this was the first time they met someone they were a huge fan of. When they finally were in front of her, their father introduced them.

"These are my daughters, Namid and Sokanon," he said to Lady Gaga. "I have a son and so does Alan but they're too busy watching Harry Potter to come out here and give you a proper greeting. Mi-mi, Sokanon, say hello."

His eyebrow rose when both of them greeted her shyly.

"Okay, like my wife said earlier, what is wrong with this picture?" he said while the other family members laughed. "You two have never been shy in your whole entire lives and now suddenly you can't speak above a whisper."

"It's Lady Gaga, Daddy," Namid said.

"And? She isn't gonna bite ya," the Doctor said with amusement.

"Yeah, I'm harmless, for the most part anyway," Gaga said with a wink.

"You gotta go hide now?" Namid said sadly. "You can't sing anymore?"

"Um...well, that's what we're trying to figure out," the Doctor said to her. "We're trying to find a way for her to keep on singing."

"Yeah, especially since I'm not about to let that scum ruin my singing career," Gaga said, folding her arms over her chest.

"You couldn't sing on your own planet?" Sokanon said.

"I could as long as I sang songs glorifying our benevolent leader, His Supreme High Lordship Gavrot Lamarck," Gaga said sarcastically. "No thank you, I wasn't about to be the puppet of that...idiot. I like Earth. Humans have been wonderful to me and they've embraced me and my songs. I don't wanna go back. I'd rather stay here."

"And there's the rub," the Doctor said to her. "If you wanna stay here we have to find a way to get rid of the Geordies. They're warlike and they'll blow up the Earth if they want you badly enough. I can't have that. Now unlike the Sontarans, war isn't their one all-consuming passion so perhaps we can find a way to reason with them. Course they might want something in exchange..."

"Yes, but if you're the one who does the talking, I'm sure they'll listen," Gaga pointed out.

"You like my daddy, don'tcha?" Sokanon asked her.

"Baby, your daddy has helped many people all over the universe. I grew up listening to legends about him and I know what he can do. If he can't stop Lamarck, no one can."

Sokanon felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see the Doctor was bent over, giving her a big toothy grin as he nodded in agreement.

"P'eh, you're just plain old daddy to me," Sokanon said, walking past him.

Rain snickered at the shocked look on her husband's face before he straightened out and composed himself.

"Yes, well, she's going to bed when we get home," he said as Sokanon stuck her tongue out at him and giggled. "And I believe home is the safest place for you now. You can have asylum on New Gallifrey while we straighten this mess out. In fact, you can apply for permanent asylum with our high council, that way you can take a breather from your fans down here since I know the paparazzi are brutal."

"I'll consider that," Gaga said. "But for the moment I'd just like somewhere where I can hide and rest and figure out what to do next. One thing I know, Lamarck has to be brought down. He's caused so much suffering among my people and it would be criminal to leave him in power even if he does leave me alone."

"I agree," the Doctor said. "Having said that, let me go fetch my son and nephew so we can leave before something else happens."

The Doctor steeled himself for the inevitable whines and groans and arguments about leaving the movie early as he headed for the cinema door. But to his relief, when he opened the doors he saw the credits rolling and the house lights coming up. He walked down to the boys who were getting up and gathering their uneaten popcorn and soda.

"Ready to go?" he asked them.

"Are we seeing the second part?" Christopher asked him.

"Not yet, we have to sort out the aliens."

Both boys groaned but the Doctor held up his hand.

"Don't start," he said sternly. "You both got to see a film uninterrupted which is more than the rest of us can say so I don't wanna hear it."

They stood up and followed him outside into the lobby.

Once the Doctor got his TARDIS back, he took it back to New Gallifrey while Alan took Daisy back to his house. Gaga rode with him, Jack, his wife and children, gaping in awe at the console room while the Doctor flew her. His children stood beside him, occasionally helping him and every once in awhile the Doctor caught his son stealing a glance at Gaga. Her bleach blonde hair was teased up, she was wearing the same skintight catsuit that she had worn in Namid's poster and she had heavy makeup on her face including purple eyeshadow that looked like it had been applied with a steamroller. The Doctor had to admit it was unflattering on her face, but then again he was used to the light makeup his wife used. Knowing what he knew now, he knew that the amount of makeup she used was the norm on Geordie where women were little more than sex toys for the warmongering men to use after they got back from battle. The tight outfits were also the norm and he guessed her sexually suggestive lyrics also reflected the sort of life she lived there. Even if things were normal, he would hope she would find a life somewhere else where she wouldn't be treated as an object.

Once they reached the house, Jack hurried home to alert Torchwood what was happening and seeing if he could get Xashon involved. To the Doctor's relief, Doc was home reading the newspaper when they came inside.

"Hey, great to see you, Namor and I..."

He trailed off when he saw Gaga.

"Isn't that Lady Gaga?" he said.

"Yes and we need to talk to you, we have a problem that needs to be solved," the Doctor said to him.

Meanwhile, at Alan's house, Rose was telepathically talking to Donna and several other people. Alan went to use the lavatory. He was angry beyond belief as he walked down the hallway to the bathroom. He was upset that the evening had been ruined, not for him but for the children, especially Sokanon and Namid who had their hearts set on seeing Lady Gaga. He hated that more often than not something seemed to happen every time they went out and just enjoyed themselves. He knew about the Geordie and even though they weren't as bad as Sontarans, the Sontarans being in a class by themselves when it came to making war, they were still a menace and the fact that they tailed one woman halfway across the universe and ruined her performance. He was still angry when he finished urinating, washed his hands and came back out of the lavatory. He grunted when he opened the door and ran into Rose.

"What's wrong? I can feel your rage," Rose said.

Alan sighed and explained why he was so upset. Rose nodded and gave him a sympathetic look as she took his hand.

"I feel the same way but on the other hand, this is what the children want to do with their lives. They want to help us fight evil and I don't think the children are as upset as you think they are. In fact, I think Namid and Sokanon are probably getting a thrill having Lady Gaga in their house. Beats seeing her up on a stage amidst a crowd of people, yeah?"

"Yeah, but still...I know they want to grow up and become Time Lords but all the same they need to be children and it seems like whenever we try to take them to something fun, something happens and they're dropped right in the middle of it."

"What do you want to do? Wrap them in blankets and stick them in the corner until they're twenty?" Rose said. "I know you love them, Alan, but look at who their father is, it's just the nature of the beast and I think they've accepted it just like our children accepted that we're also gonna get attacked due to guilt by association. Just calm down, yeah? I doubt if we take them with us when we leave out of here. They'll probably go over and stay with John's group or Mum and Dad's house until we get back. Besides, I'm sure the children will look at this as just a good excuse to go out again and go see the film all over again. Lord knows we'll have to take Namid and Sokanon to see it again before we go see part two. And you, of course, you missed it and I missed it. Chris and Chaska are the only ones who got to see it straight through. I'm betting if you ask them, they won't be that upset."

"Upset about what?" Christopher said, coming up behind Alan.

Alan put his arm around him and explained what they were talking about. Christopher shrugged.

"It's okay, Daddy. I'm used to bad people showing up. We can have fun later," he said to him. "Don't be upset, okay?"

Alan nodded and smiled and gave him a hug.

"I'm glad you're not angry," he said as Rose smiled at them both.

"Nah, I got to see the film and I understand why we had to come back home. I don't like Lady Gaga but I'm glad she's safe," he said. "I just hope she doesn't sing to me because I really will run away."

Alan chuckled and gave him another hug and a kiss.

"You wanna go over to Uncle Adam and hang out with David while we fix this problem?"

Christopher nodded.

"Come on then. We'll see if Chaska wants to go over there as well," he said as he put his arm around his son's shoulders and all of them headed for his front door.

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