PARENTHOOD
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Eight The Doctor yawned and rubbed his eyes while he came down the stairs. He had taken a quick nap to rejuvenate himself before their next adventure and he was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. As he came down the stairs, he saw his four year old daughter, Hope, sitting on the floor playing with her dolls. He walked over to her, bent over and peered over her shoulder while she made her Strawberry Shortcake doll walk. A few seconds after the Doctor began to stare at her, Hope stopped playing and slowly turned her head to look at him. "Moo," the Doctor said, staring into her eyes. Hope gave him a big grin and put Strawberry Shortcake into his hands. "You be Strawberry Shortcake. I'll be Rainbow Bright," she said, picking up her Rainbow Bright doll. The Doctor stared at the Strawberry Shortcake doll in silence while Hope watched him. Just then, the front door opened and Rain came inside after spending some time in their flower garden. She was wearing dirty coveralls, a slightly smudged pink t-shirt and white plimsolls. The Doctor hurried over to her with the Strawberry Shortcake doll and held it up to her while Hope followed him. "Hi there," he said as he held the doll in her face, "my name is Strawberry Shortcake. I'm named after a dessert. Apparently my parents were hippies or they were very hungry when I was born. Woe is me that I had such daft parents." Rain sniffed deeply and inhaled the dolls scent. "But Strawberry, you smell like Strawberries, maybe that's how you got your name," she said sweetly. The Doctor did a double take. Holding the doll to his nose, he inhaled deeply and his eyes widened in surprise. Hope giggled when he walked over to the sofa, taking several deep breaths while he continued to breath in the dolls scent. Hope walked over to the side of the sofa and watched while the Doctor slumped down on the sofa and snorted the scent of the doll. "Daddy, what are you doing?" Hope asked. "I'm getting high on doll scent. I've become a Strawberry Shortcake addict," the Doctor said to her before taking several more snorting sniffs. "Ought oh, sounds like Daddy needs to go to doll sniffing rehab," Rain said as she climbed the stairs. "Nah, I love sniffing dolls," the Doctor said. Hope laughed as the Doctor stomped up the stairs while he chanted, "I love sniffing dolls, I love sniffing dolls!" She followed him upstairs and when the Doctor reached the top, he turned around and held out his arms to her. Hope stood a few steps below him, giggling and then ran down the steps. "Hey! Come back here, you!" the Doctor said as he hurried down the stairs after her. Hope ran into the kitchen and hid behind her mother as the Doctor ran inside. She peeked out from behind her legs and giggled when he pretended to search for her. The Doctor paused when there was a knock on the door and threw up his hands in mock frustration. "It always happens when I'm looking for that cheeky monkey daughter of mine, interruptions, interruptions," he said as he headed to the front door. Hope came out from behind her mother and both she and Rain followed the Doctor into the living room. The Doctor got to the door and opened it. "Good day, Brother," Alan said while he and Rose stood on his porch. "I have something that might interest..." He shut up when the Doctor slammed the door in his face. Rose laughed at Alan's peeved look when he heard the Doctor, Rain and Hope laughing inside. He began to pound on the door. "LET ME IN OR I GET THE BATTERING RAM!" Alan screamed as he ponded. He stepped back when the door opened slightly and Hope peeked out at him. "Aha, the child. Let me in this in..." Rose laughed when Hope slammed the door again. The Doctor opened the door and smiled. "You're teaching that child bad habits," Alan said as Hope came up beside her father. "You must correct the child and teach her discipline. For example, I used to beat Christopher every hour on the hour whether he was misbehaving or not to instill fear and awe of me into him and now he does everything I command him to. I suggest you do the same with this miscreant here," he added, pointing at Hope. "She'll grow up to engage in criminal behavior if you spare the rod and spoil the child, you know." "I'll keep that in mind," the Doctor said. "What do you want?" "Love, family and home security, but I have all that so I'm here to give you a brochure on something that might interest the little one standing beside you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thin colorful brochure. He handed it to the Doctor and the Doctor read it while he walked into the house. Rose and Alan followed him inside and Alan picked up Hope and kissed her while Rain closed the door and followed them. Rain walked over to her husband who was studying the brochure. "What is it?" she asked. "This planet offers a princess for a day experience for little girls. They pamper little girls and make them feel like princesses. It's a very reasonable price and they basically do everything to make her feel like royalty." "Friend of ours did that for her daughter and they loved it," Rose said, walking up to them. "They got to travel in a palanquin, walk on flower petals and you get a royal feast. His daughter couldn't get enough of it." "However, when the child got back home, our friend did have to beat her to re-instill the fear and awe," Alan said, walking up to them. "But once our friend told us about it and showed us this brochure, we thought you might like to take Hope there." "What about it, love?" Rain said to Hope. "Wanna be a princess for a day?" They laughed when her eyes grew as large as moons and she nodded. "Well, you lot wanna go with us then since you're here?" the Doctor asked Alan and Rose. "Seven course royal feast, you have to ask the eating machine?" Rose said, hooking her thumb back at her husband. "Yes, I will be there with bells on," Alan said. "I will watch with pleasure as our Hope is pampered and primped and then I'll gobble down her royal meal before she can get one morsel out of it." Hope walked over to him and he picked her up and held her close. "Well, we better get ready to go then," Rain said as Alan smothered his niece with kisses. A half hour later, the TARDIS took them to the planet Kanga, a pleasure planet with many different kinds of resorts. The one that had the princess for a day was more for children and not only were the hotels painted with primary colors but there were playgrounds, amusement parks and restaurants and shops geared towards kids. They walked to a small shop that was called Princess Adventures Ltd. The shop was shaped like a small purple castle and Hope stared at it in enchantment for a moment before they went inside. Inside was a reception area with a plump elderly alien lady. She had powder blue skin with white spots and long white hair that was done up in bun. Her face was pudgy with a pushed in pug like nose and round eyes with black irises. She was wearing a long white dress with a little name badge that had Princess Adventures Ltd at the top of it and Mytyn below it. "Hello, may I help you?" she said in a raspy, froggy voice. "Yes, Mytyn, we have a little girl who would love to be a princess for a day," the Doctor said as he put his hand on Hope's back and urged her forward. The woman who was sitting behind a large metal desk leaned forward and peered at her. Mytyn had a stern look on her face and the Doctor thought for a moment that she might say something snotty to Hope. But then a smile spread over her face and she patted her head with a pudgy hand before sitting back in her seat. The Doctor gave her information while she filled out forms and paid with a credit stick. Then they were escorted to the back of the building where there was a dressing room. Hope walked around the room while the Doctor and his family were told to wait. The room had a vanity with a lighted mirror, a white canvas folding screen and several pictures of princesses, castles and unicorns as well as several tan leather sofas and chairs spread around the room. The adults sat down while Hope walked over to the picture of the unicorn and stared at it. "Hey, do I get a unicorn?" she asked, walking back to them. "No, you get a beating, that's good enough for the likes of you," Alan said. They laughed when he got up from the chair he was in and Hope ran after him trying to smack his butt. They stopped when the door opened and two human men came in wearing purple military outfits that were trimmed in gold with gold bars and epaulets. They were both thin and both had crew cuts. One was older than the other one, he had a craggy, angular face with bright blue eyes. The other one had a fuller, baby face with slight acne on it. Both men bowed. "We are the servants of her royal highness," the older man said. "I am Josiah and this is Thomas. We are at her royal highness's service. Now where is her royal sovereign?" Everyone pointed at Hope and both men walked over and kneeled before her. "Your royal highness," Josiah said while the adults chuckled. "We have selected your clothes for your royal outing." "Okay," Hope said, a bit unsure as the men continued to kneel. The men got up and left. Thomas came back in carrying a large white box. He handed it to Rain and bowed. Rose lifted up the lid and ooed when she saw a purple princess dress and tiara inside. "Come on, baby, let's get you dressed for the day," Rain said, leading Hope back behind the folding screen while everyone waited.
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