PARENTHOOD

Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Six

After eating, Hope wandered back to Amato and Peri's seats. There was one empty seat beside them and the scooted down so she could have the window seat. She felt sleepy so Amato asked the flight attendant to bring a pillow and blanket for her. Once the pillow was behind her head and the blanket was over her, Hope drifted off to sleep, her belly full and her mind content. Amato looked through a science magazine he had purchased at the airport while Peri gazed out the window. They announced an in-flight movie over the intercom system but it was Rush Hour and Peri had no interest in that. She relaxed in her seat and gazed out at the irregular cloud formations while Hope snoozed quietly in the seat beside her.

Peri became lost in her thoughts while she stared at the fluffy white clouds zooming past the window. She felt Amato put his arm around her and she turned her head and smiled at her.

"Do you love me?" Amato asked.

Peri gave him an odd look.

"Um...yeah..." she said.

"I mean, do you love this body?"

"I guess so. I married this body, didn't I?" Peri said, poking his ribs.

"Yes, but I could change back to my tenth self if I wanted to."

"I don't want you to. I don't you looking like everyone else. I love that I can spot you with no difficulty when you and your brothers are together. Don't change, Amato, please. I love this body. You're sexy," she said.

She laughed and tugged the sleeve of his tweed jacket.

"Now, your fashion sense, perhaps that should be tweaked a bit but otherwise..."

"No, I like the way I look. I look cool," Amato said.

"Perhaps but...perhaps a bit of leather now and then. Leather pants, leather jacket..."

Amato made a face.

"Already tried the leather jacket look in my ninth life, never again," he said to her.

They paused and watched Hope when she let out a yawn and shifted slightly in her seat before she fell asleep again. Peri gently brushed some of the strands of her hair out of her eyes and adjusted her cover so it was up above her shoulders.

"She's so beautiful," Peri said, staring at her. "Makes me wish for a daughter of our own."

"We have a daughter, look," Amato said, pointing to Namid who was sitting in her seat quietly reading a magazine.

"No, I mean one that came from us, not an adopted daughter," Peri said.

Amato stared at her for a moment in silence.

"You want to become human so you can..."

"I don't know. I'm having mixed feelings about that. Rose told me about using the chameleon arch and how painful it is. I would love to have a child but not if I have to go through the pain of changing back on top of the pain of childbirth. Besides, I didn't know if you wanted one or you were just content with Namid."

"Per, I love you and I would love to be a parent. If you want a child at some point in future, I wouldn't mind it. Just let me know when you want to become one."

"I'll have to think about it. Like I said, I'm still having mixed feelings. For the moment, I'm happy being a mother to Namid and helping out with raising the other children. Especially the little booger here," she said, putting her hand on Hope's head.

Hope yawned and opened her eyes. She blinked and looked up at Peri.

"Hello," she said.

"Hi, get enough sleep?" Peri asked her.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Ready to destroy the aeroplane now?" Amato asked her.

"No."

"Oh. Well, we'll leave the plane destroying to Alan."

He said Alan louder than the rest of his words and he and Peri chuckled when they saw his head rise up above his seat. Rose laughed when he raised his eyebrow.

"Now what are you lot saying about me?" he said. "Can't a man read his magazine in peace without his family gossiping about him?"

"What magazine are you reading?" Peri asked.

Alan sniffed.

"If you must know, I'm reading Barely Legal Babes."

"Oh, you are not, Alan," they heard Rose say while he and Christopher laughed.

"Fine. I'm reading Time Magazine. I like to update myself on current events. Makes me feel smarter," Alan said.

"And as dumb as you are, you need all the help you can get."

The rest of the family sniggered when Alan eyed Sokanon who was giving him an innocent look. Alan walked over to her and bent down.

"Want me to hit you so hard on the noddle that you're head ends up sticking out your anus?" he asked her.

"No," Sokanon said in between giggles.

"Then I suggest you zippy that lippy, Missy Doodle, or it will happen."

"Yeah, yeah, go back and read your magazine. Maybe you'll get smart enough to actually have a battle of wits with me," Sokanon said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

Alan leaned over and tapped the Doctor on the shoulder. The Doctor looked up from his magazine and raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah?" he said while Rain chuckled.

"Permission to give your daughter an anus head?" Alan said.

"Permission denied."

"Bollocks, you're no fun," Alan said as he went and sat back down.

After a few more hours, the aeroplane landed at Heathrow Airport. The Doctor held Hope's hand while they walked through customs and had their passports checked. Then after getting their luggage and making sure everything was in order, they headed towards the Underground so they could take a tube train to Victoria Station and catch a train that would take them all to Cardiff.

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