PARENTHOOD
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty Nine Jamie walked down the hallway when he peeked into the room and saw three year old Moira sitting under the duvet, holding her purple fur teddy bear against her chest. Jamie and Jenna were staying at Hamish's house while Hamish and Lucy were on holiday and Jamie had placed the girls to bed a few hours ago. The unicorn lamp on the white night table was on as he looked at her and tilted his head to one side. "Why are you awake, ban-ogha?" he asked as he leaned on the doorframe and Moira smiled at him calling her "granddaughter" in Gaelic. Jamie was also glad that he could speak Gaelic around her and her family. He never admitted to Duer that he missed being able to speak his native tongue, though it is rare for anyone to speak it anymore. "I cannae sleep, seanair," she said then sighed and he softly nodded his head, walking into the room. Normally, they would call him or Duer "pa-paw" but hearing her call him "grandfather" in Gaelic made his hearts soar. Moira's room had soft pink walls with white trim, a white carpet and ceiling and most of the furniture was pink with white trim. A white ceiling fan was on the ceiling and pink flower stickers were on the blades of the fan. Disney character stickers were on the walls and framed holo photographs of her family sat on the night table next to the unicorn lamp. A small doll house sat near the dresser and several china dolls sat on top of the dresser. Those were her "look but don't touch" dolls and she had named all of them after flowers. Her other dolls sat on the window seat under the window and her teddy bears and other plush animals sat on shelves. The purple fur teddy bear was a present from Alan when Hamish and his family came from their universe and it was her favorite toy, "An' why cannae you sleep?" he asked as he sat on the edge of the white, four poster bed and had to duck his head under the pink canopy over the bed. The sheets, pillow cases and duvet had Dora the Explorer on them as Moira placed her chin on top of the head of her teddy bear and sighed, wiggling her finger for him to come closer. "I'm scared of the uamhas," she whispered and Jamie's eyes went wide. "An' where is this uamhas?" he asked, pretending to be scared. "It's under the bed," she said and Jamie softly smiled, going down on his knees. He carefully lifted the edge of the pink dust ruffle that went all the way around the bed when he saw several pairs of converse sneakers, some toys, a few candy wrappers and dust bunnies then lowered the dust ruffle. "When was the last time Mommy cleaned under there?" he asked, placing his arms on the bed then placed his chin on the back of his hands. "Why?" "Well, I havenae seen dust bunnies that big since your Aunt Zoe was a lassie," Jamie said and Moira's eyes went wide. "Let me see!" she said as she moved the duvet back and climbed onto the floor, sitting next to him. Jamie lifted up the dust ruffle when they looked under the bed and Moira smiled. "So that's where my sneakers are! Mommy got really mad when I couldnae find them!" she said and Jamie softly laughed, shaking his head. "What is going on in here?" Jenna asked while standing at the doorway and they turned around, looking at her. "We're looking at the dust bunnies under the bed, seanmhair," Moira said and Jenna looked at Jamie with a confused look on her face. "She called you "grandmother" in Gaelic," he thought to her and Jenna smiled, walking toward the bed. "And how did those dust bunnies get under there?" Jenna asked as she knelt down on the floor next to Jamie and he lifted the dust ruffle so she could see them. "Blimey, they are big, aren't they?" "Aye, they are," Jamie said as he nodded his head and Moira pouted, sticking her lower lip out like Jamie did when he was upset. "Is the uamhas going tae eat them, seanair?" she asked and Jenna looked at him. "No, ban-ogha, I dinnae think the monster's going to eat the dust bunnies," he said and Jenna moved closer and scooped Moira into her lap, wrapping her arms around her. "Tell you what, how about I take you into our room and Pa-paw and I will make sure the dust bunnies are safely removed from under your bed," Jenna said and Moira nodded. Getting up, she picked Moira up then left the room and Jamie sat against the bed, folding his legs up. "Father, what's wrong?" Hamish thought as Jamie felt his mind coming closer and Jamie softly smiled, setting up a privacy block. "Moira cannae sleep because of the monster under the bed," Jamie thought and heard Hamish softly laugh. "Aye, she tries that with us, too. We keep telling her there is nothing under there." "Och, there is something under there. I have never seen such dust bunnies since your sister was little." "I keep telling Lucy that she needs tae clean under there." "Dinnae fash, I think your mother an' I are going tae take care of it." "Och, you dinnae have tae do that." "If it means getting my ban-ogha tae sleep then I'll do it," Jamie said when Jenna walked back into the room and leaned on the doorframe. "I have tae go now. Your mother's here." "Aye, just be careful. That bed's heavy," Hamish thought when Jamie let the privacy block down and felt Hamish's mind leaving. Jenna walked closer as Jamie got up and they looked at the bed. "So, how do you want to do this?" Jenna asked as he thought for a few seconds and blinked. "Do you ken where the vacuum is?" Jamie asked and Jenna shook her head. Walking out of the room, Jamie checked the upstairs cupboard when he found the vacuum cleaner and quietly removed it from the cupboard. Walking back into the room, he dragged the vacumm behind him and Jenna smiled at him. "Found it." "Now what do we do?" Jenna asked as he looked at the bed and tapped the tip of his finger against his lips. He walked to the bed when he removed the pillows and placed them on the white rocking chair that sat near the bed. He was about to remove the duvet when something growled from under the bed and they looked at each other. "You did hear that, right?" "Aye," Jamie said with a nod of his head then reached over to touch the bed and the growling grew louder. "Ok, I'm getting the girls and getting out of here," Jenna said as she turned but he gently grabbed her arm and turned her toward him. "No, McCrimmons dinnae run," he said and she patted his cheek. "I am only a McCrimmon by marriage. If you want to see what that is then go ahead. I'm out of here!" she said then left the room and Jamie glared at the doorway. Shrugging his shoulder, Jamie walked to the bed and knelt down on the floor. The growling grew louder as he slowly picked up the corner of the dust ruffle and peeked under it. He opened the drawer of the night table when he found the torch with Elmo on it that Moira used to light up the dark at night and he pushed the button, shining the light under the bed. "What?" Jamie asked as he saw the glowing red eyes in the far corner of the bed near the wall and shined the light over toward the glowing red eyes. Snarling and growling at him were what he thought was the dust bunnies but he saw they were small creatures made up of gray and white fluff and he lowered the dust ruffle. "I think I am going to need some help." Jenna opened the door then bent over and started laughing. Jamie had called the Doctor and Duer to help them with whatever it was that was under Moira's bed, but seeing Alan and Adam dressed in tan jumpsuits, black work boots and black leather gloves with goggles on the top of their heads and some sort of backpacks on their backs cracked her up. "Out of the way, Woman, The Dust Bunny Busters are here!" Alan said as he stormed into the living room and Adam followed close behind him. Duer placed his hand on Jenna's shoulder as she tried to calm and he shrugged. "Right, where are they?" Adam was walking around the room with a black box in his hand as the black box made a soft beeping sound when he looked up at the ceiling and his eyes went wide. "The targets are upstairs, Sir!" Adam said as he clicked his heels together and saluted. "Ah, well, let's go!" Alan said when the Doctor and Duer ran to the stairs and stood in front of them. "Oi, get out of the way, we have dust bunnies to bust!" "I am not going to let you storm up there, dressed like that, and scare the hell out of my granddaughters," Duer said, giving them a stern look. "But..." Adam said then pouted, grinding his toes into the carpet. "No, the Doctor and I can handle this," Duer said as he held up a finger and Adam sighed, rolling his eyes. Jamie was at the top of the stairs with Zoe and Moira as Duer and the Doctor walked up the stairs and Duer gently ruffled Moira's hair. "Are you an' Uncle Doctor going tae save the dust bunnies from the uamhas, sinn-seanair?" Moira asked and Duer didn't mind that she had called him "great grandfather" in Gaelic. "Yep," he said, popping the "p" and she half smiled up at him. Alan and Adam had followed them up the stairs as the girls looked at them and giggled. "What's so funny?" Alan asked and Zoe pointed at him, making him look down at his clothes. "I will have you know that this is regulation dust bunny busting clothes!" "You're going to kill the dust bunnies?" Moira asked and tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "No, ban-ogha, they're nae going tae do that," Jamie said as he glared at Adam and Alan and their faces went blank. "Right, we're not going to do that," Adam said as he patted Moira's head and Alan nodded. "Which room is it?" the Doctor asked as Jamie led the way and Jenna stood in the hallway, holding the girls against her sides.
Back Home Doctor Who Main Page Next