PARENTHOOD

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty One

Duer walked into the living room when he stopped near the couch and saw Cameron cuddling Faith on his lap. A Dora the Explorer plaster covered the scratch on her left knee, tiny scratches were on the palms of her hands, and Duer sighed, running his fingers through his hair. She had fallen off her tricycle while Cameron and Duer were watching her and both of them kept calm while Duer sorted her out. Cameron looked back at him while Duer walked closer and saw Faith's head resting on Cameron's chest. Her eyes were closed as Duer smiled and sat down next to them.

"How's she doing?" he whispered and Cameron kissed the top of her head.

"She just fell asleep," Cameron whispered and Duer handed him one of the tea mugs he had in his hands.

"You'd think she was having her leg cut off, the way she was crying."

"Hey, have you ever skinned your knee? It bloody hurts," Cameron said and Duer smiled.

"What I don't get is how you missed when you tried to catch her."

"I'm quick, but not that quick," Cameron said as Faith shifted positions and he gently rocked her. Duer watched the tenderness between them as he saw something in Cameron's eyes and tapped his leg.

"Making up for lost time?" he asked and Cameron blinked.

"What are you talking about?"

"Cam, you weren't around while my son was growing up..."

"Yeah, I was."

"Not really. Your mind was stuck in a mirror for the first five years of his life," Duer said and Cameron looked down at Faith, kissing the top of her head.

"Yeah," he said with a nod of his head. He closed his eyes then placed his head on the back of the couch and sighed. "Blimey, there are days that I really hate the Master."

"Yeah, there are days that I'm not too happy with him myself."

"To be honest, living with someone inside your head isn't so bad."

"Well, it certainly bothered Jamie," Duer sighed, thinking about his former companion, now son-in-law, and how he spent most of his life sharing the mind of one of his descendants. It wasn't until the Doctor helped Jamie reclaim his mind that he found any sort of closure and Duer rubbed his face with his hands.

"But he didn't get shoved into a bloody mirror," Cameron growled as Faith made a little moan and he looked down at her, rubbing his hand up and down her back.

"Well, you did say that you were provoking him."

"Yeah, but only because I wanted him out of my head."

"Koschei never did take a hint," Duer sighed and placed his feet on the coffee table.

"Was he right," Cameron thought and set up a privacy block.

"Was he right about what?"

"Was he right about you two fucking each other?"

"What?"

"He told me that you two were lovers and that you were a lousy fuck."

"Oh, he did, hunh? Well, yes, it was true that we used to...um...we used to take comfort in each other but it wasn't sexual. Both of us were outcasts and we found peace when we would lie together in either his bed or mine."

"So you never touched each other?"

"I didn't say that. See, on my Gallifrey, sex was considered barbaric and to touch one's flesh to another was simply not done except for experimentation. Like when my parents conceived me."

"So, what, you're saying that you and the Master were just experimenting?"

"Yep, and, to be honest, he was a lousy kisser!" Duer thought with a smile and dropped the privacy block.

"I do know that it hurt when he shoved my mind into the mirror world," Cameron said as Duer nodded and Cameron placed his cheek on top of Faith's head.

"I'm amazed that you didn't go insane."

"Hmm, there were times that I thought I did. Though I do admit that I saw some pretty interesting stuff," he said with a smile and Duer nodded.

"Did anyone ever see you?"

"Yeah, I think they must have seen me because I heard some screams and saw people pointing at me."

"When did you realize that you could move things with your mind?"

"I'm not really sure when, but I do know the first thing I moved. The Master had left the door to the bedroom open and he was..." he said then looked down at Faith and she shifted slightly on his lap.

"Uh, I think I better tell you this way," Cameron thought then set up a privacy block and kissed the top of her head. "He was fucking my ex-boyfriend. Now, normally, that wouldn't bug me but he was cramming a butt plug up his arse."

"Uh, yeah," Duer thought and Cameron arched an eyebrow at him. "Your sister used one on me once."

"Oooo, my sister's a kinky bitch!" Cameron thought and they softly laughed. "Anyway, I didn't want to watch anymore and wanted to close the door. I concentrated on the door when it started wiggling then slammed shut with a bang loud enough to make all three of us yelp. After that, I practiced moving smaller objects and loved playing "ghost"."

"What about the rest of it?" Duer asked as Cameron looked down at the Faith and half smiled.

"Well, that was just me fiddling with something that was mine to start with," Cameron said, thinking about how his power to move objects also allowed him to pleasure not only the Master but other people he came across.

"You can do it to other people as well."

"Not at first, I couldn't. It was after I became a Time Lord that I found out I can do it to others. Makes me sort of popular at parties," Cameron said with a grin and Duer shook his head, rolling his eyes. "What really bothered me was the fact that I wasn't alone."

"What do you mean?"

"Cam did tell you that I used to wear this silver helmet with a visor, right?" he asked and Duer nodded. "Well, I found it on the ground next to this skeleton."

"What?"

"Don't know how it got there but it was wearing this silver spacesuit and the helmet was sitting there," he said and Duer nodded. "Now, Ziggy Stardust didn't bother me but the little girls with the red balloons did."

"What little girls with red balloons?"

"There were these three little girls with red balloons. They'd skip from one mirror to the other and sang "Ring Around the Rosie"," he said and Duer thought for a few minutes.

"Blimey, that was Daughter of Mine," he said and Cameron frowned.

"Who are you talking about?"

"Did I ever tell you about the Family of Blood?"

"No, but I read Adam's book about them. Are you saying that they were real?"

"Yep, I placed Daughter of Mine inside a mirror and she was holding a red balloon. If there's three of her then..."

"One of them is from here and the other is from Amato's universe?" he asked and Duer nodded. "Blimey, and they are NOT nice little girls! I spent a lot of time running from them because they wanted someone to hunt."

"Ah, so that's why you don't like mirrors," he said and Cameron nodded.

"The worst part was being separated from my sister. Imagine what it was like for me to see, uh, no, better not tell you that," he said and Duer's eyes went wide.

"You didn't watch me and Frankie having sex," he said and Cameron smiled, nodding his head. "You pervert."

"Hey, how was I supposed to know you two were going to be doing that?" he asked and Duer gently slapped Cameron's foot. "Anyway, the toughest part was watching her stomach grow bigger while she was pregnant with Cameron and not be able to feel the baby moving inside her. I watched you, and everyone else, do it and started hating you lot."

"On the outside, looking in," Duer sighed and Cameron nodded. "I feel that way, too."

"What are you on about?"

"I mean when you and Frankie have your quiet moments. I feel like I'm intruding when I see you together," he said and Cameron blinked then made his eyes go wide.

"You do?"

"Yep," Duer said, popping the "p".

"Well, that's just plain stupid."

"It is?"

"Yeah, look, I thought the only family I had was my sister, but that changed when I became a part of this...uh...well, all this! You know how it was. Our mum and dad didn't care that much for Frankie, they thought she was a stupid dunce, and, well, me being the way I am didn't make family time anything to talk about. I still remember the times the cops came and told my parents to keep it down or they'd lose us. My dad once laughed and told them to take my sister because he didn't give..." Cameron said then looked down at Faith and smiled. "He didn't care."

"Rassilon," Duer whispered and Cameron nodded.

"But that's not how it is with you lot. Even though I did make it possible for the Master to be "born" again...."

"Which we forgave you for," Duer said and Cameron nodded.

"And I admit that I did like cutting up my Captain Jack," he thought after setting up a privacy block and Duer sighed.

"Why did you do that?"

"Well, I read the file on him and wonder just how he did it."

"But he was a human being."

"Yeah, and, to be truthful, he wanted to learn his limits. The reason he got pissed off was because I cut him up into little bits."

"I bet."

"I did go see him and apologized after you got me out of the mirror world," Cameron thought and Duer smiled.

"I remember that you were in his office for a long time. What were you guys doing?" Duer thought and Cameron wiggled his fingers.

"Ah," Duer said and Cameron shrugged a shoulder.

"Anyway, watching Cam grow up from behind glass wasn't fun, believe me," Cameron said then shifted Faith on his lap and she placed her thumb in her mouth.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"I woke up a few times during the night to someone singing over the baby monitor. Was that you?"

"Yeah," Cameron said, nodding his head.

"I was worried when he told us that he had a friend in his mirror but Frankie wouldn't let me scan it. She said that a lot of kids have imaginary friends. If I had..." Duer said as Cameron nodded and patted his leg.

"Yeah, but you didn't, which is ok. Well, not ok, but you get what I'm saying," he said and Duer nodded. The front door opened when Frankie walked inside and placed the tricycle by the door, closing the door behind her.

"What was Faith's..." she asked as they hushed her and Frankie walked to the couch, looking down at Faith. "What happened?"

"She had a little mishap," Duer said then told her what happened and Frankie knelt in front of the couch, touching Faith's hair. Faith sniffed then opened her eyes when she looked at Frankie and pouted, taking her thumb out of her mouth.

"I fell down, Mommy," she said softly and Frankie nodded.

"I see that. You want to come and get some cookie and chocolate milk?" Frankie asked and Faith nodded. Standing up, Frankie lifted her off of Cameron's lap then walked to the kitchen and Duer sighed, looking at the floor. Cameron watched when Duer stood up and held his hand out to him.

"Come on," he said as Cameron stood up and blinked.

"Where are we going?" Cameron asked.

"Just follow me and you'll see," he said as they headed for the garage and the door closed behind them.

Fiddling with the hospital bracelet, Cameron walked down the hallway when he stopped at the nursery window and looked at the five babies sleeping in the cots. The babies were in their own section of the nursery as he looked at the cot with his name on it and smiled.

"Excuse me," the nurse asked as he turned around and coughed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hi," he said and the nurse looked at him suspiciously. "I am Frankie Douglas' brother."

"Can I see your identification band?" she asked as she took the scanner out and he held up his wrist. She scanned the barcode on the hospital bracelet then nodded and he looked at the cot.

"Is that her baby?" he asked and she nodded. "Can I hold him?"

"Well," she said as he gave her a sad puppy look and she sighed, looking at the floor.

"Cameron?" Duer's voice said as Cameron turned and Duer walked closer, stopping next to them.

"Hello," he said and Duer blinked.

"What are you doing here?" he asked and the nurse looked from Duer to Cameron and reached for the alarm pack on her belt.

"Do I need to call security, Sir?" she asked and Duer arched an eyebrow at Cameron.

"Does she?" he asked and Cameron looked at the cot. Placing his forehead against the glass, he looked at Cam but didn't say anything and Duer walked closer, looking at him. "Cameron?"

"On the outside looking in, that's me," Cameron sighed when Duer nodded to the nurse and she walked into the nursery. Cameron watched as the nurse lifted Cam up then left the nursery and walked to Duer, placing Cam in his arms. Cameron slowly walked closer when Duer placed Cam into Cameron's arms and he looked down at his nephew.

"Rassilon," Cameron whispered as Duer felt something move through his mind and Cameron looked at him with a small smile on his face. "Yeah, I am."

"But how is that possible?" Duer asked as Cameron rocked Cam in his arms and gently kissed the top of his small head.

"As Doctor River Song would say, spoilers," Cameron said with a little smile and Duer nodded. Cameron walked up and down the hallway as he looked at the small life in his hands and small tears dripped onto Cam's little face, making him frown. "Ooops, sorry about that."

"Cameron?" Duer asked as he walked closer and Cameron wiped his eyes.

"Look, I have to go. Promise me that you won't tell Frankie about this and..." Cameron said as he looked down at Cam then handed him to Duer, who looked at his son then at Cameron and Cameron sighed. "If he tells you about someone living in his mirror, just put it off to a vivid imagination."

Before Duer could say anything, Cameron ran down the hallway then around the corner and ran inside the TARDIS, closing the door behind him. Duer came around the corner with Cam in his arms as he watched the TARDIS dematerialize then shrugged and walked back down the hallway, heading for the nursery.

Duer moved around the console while Cameron sat on the jump seat with his face in his hands and Duer looked at the screens. Sniffing, Cameron sat up when he wiped his eyes then stood up and walked to the console.

"Thanks," Cameron said as Duer nodded and smiled at him.

"Any time, Te'lesau," he said as Cameron blinked then softly smiled and Duer placed his arm around Cameron's shoulder.

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