PARENTHOOD
Chapter One Hundred and Eighty Two After putting on their flip flops and gathering up the things they'd need for the beach, everyone got into the TARDIS. The dogs were already inside, resting on the jump seat in the console room. They leapt down off the seat and walked over to the Doctor, wagging their tails. The Doctor patted their heads before going over to his monitor. While he inputted their destination, Alan walked in front of Hope. Still wearing the spectacles, he got down in her face while she giggled. "Finished with those equations?" he asked. "Yes. And Daddy said all of them were correct," Hope said proudly. "Finish my equation?" he asked. "No, cause Daddy said I didn't have to," Hope said. "Very well, here's another equation for you to solve. Follow," Alan said, walking towards the Doctor. The Doctor froze when Alan came up to his side and put his hands around his neck. "Now..." Alan said as he held his hands there, "if I twist your daddy's head off like a dandelion head and make him regenerate, how many lives will Headless have had in total?" "If I plant my fist in Alan's face and make him sail across the room into the wall, how many days will it take before he wakes up and how many days after that will it take before he recovers all his wits?" the Doctor said while Rain and Rose giggled. "If I say I'm gonna marry Daddy, how many days before it's gonna happen," Hope said. The Doctor sniggered when Alan was caught off guard by that. "Oh? She wants to marry you?" Alan asked the Doctor. "Very much so," the Doctor said, putting his hand on Hope's shoulder. "Say, I'm the same as him, wanna marry me?" Alan said, leaning down. "No." "No? Why not? I'm a bazillion times more charming, fun and handsome and I have a Stitch tattoo," he said, pulling up his sleeve and showing her. He grinned at the Doctor when Hope walked over and stared at the tattoo. "See, pays to ink your skin sometimes, Brother," he said to the Doctor. "Yes, I'm sure the other inmates at Volag Nok will enjoy your inked skin along with other things they'll enjoy that I won't mention in the presence of my five year old daughter, Mister Child Predator," the Doctor said. Rain and Rose laughed at the incensed look on Alan's face as he straightened up and pulled down his sleeve. "Yes, well, I suppose she is a bit young, however, she's young enough I can put her in my pocket and carry her away to my house so she can be my daughter forever more," Alan said. "Mmm, well, remember that fist in face I mentioned before, that can become a reality, you know," the Doctor said. Alan leaned down to Hope. "He likes to threaten my life, bless," he said to her. "He doesn't realize I could punch his lights out before he..." He was cut off when the Doctor seized the top of his right ear and tugged on it. He let out a squeal of pain while Rain and Rose looked at each other. The Doctor let go and hurried away while Alan glared at him and rubbed his aching ear. The TARDIS landed and Alan sighed as he walked with his brother to the back room so they could change into their swim trunks and t-shirts. When they were ready, they stepped outside. They were across the road from the beach in a vacant lot. "So...where are we?" Rose asked the Doctor. "The seventh level of Hell where there are duplicates who pull your ears," Alan hissed at her. "Yeah, well, you deserved it, ya git," Rose said while Rain bent over laughing. "You keep running your gob and thinking you can say anything you like without consequences. Well, this time you got your just desserts. So anyway, where are we, Doctor?" "The seventh level of Hell where there are..." Alan laughed when the Doctor shut up and gave Rose an innocent look the moment she eyed him. "Okay, we're in Miami," the Doctor said. "Are you going swimming, Daddy?" Hope asked him. "If you pay me five quid, I will," he said to her. Rain laughed when Hope asked her for money so he could swim. She squealed when the Doctor swept her up and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Only pulling your leg, love. Yes, I will swim." "Please, God, let there be a shark out there today." Alan bent over laughing when the Doctor's mouth dropped open and he turned to face Rose who now had the innocent look on her face. "I could shove you inside and take you back home, you know," the Doctor said to her. Rose sprinted past him. "Gotta catch me first!" she yelled over her shoulder while she ran across the road. Alan sidled up to the Doctor while Rain took hold of Hope's hand and walked with her across the road. "Now see, you gave her to me and missed out on all her cheekiness," Alan said to the Doctor. "Brother," the Doctor said, picking up the duffle bags containing their supplies for the beach, "I had enough of her cheekiness to last me several lifetimes and that's before I left her with you. But then again, you should know that since you have all those memories." "Eh? Can't hear ya," Alan said, putting a hand to his right ear. "I'm sorry, someone yanked on me ear and made me deef. Speak louder." He ran away when the Doctor took a huge breath and tried to put his mouth next to his ear so he could yell in it. "Yeah, that's what I thought," the Doctor said, following him across the road. As he walked, he noticed that Hope was waiting for him patiently. Alan stopped beside her. "Do that equation I gave you!" he said, pointing at her. "NO!" Hope said before Alan ran over towards Rose. "Is he bothering you with that crazy equation?" the Doctor said when he reached her. "He's being silly, Daddy." "Yes, he does that," the Doctor said. He smiled when Hope took the smaller black duffle bag and carried it while he carried the large red one. It was a beautiful summer day with a light, warm breeze. The beach was crowded with people of all ages and sizes and the surf rolled in and crashed on the sandy shore. They chose a spot near the back and spread out beach blankets. Rain and Rose sat on a red one and chatted while Alan spread out a purple one and laid out with a sigh. The Doctor spread out a smurf one for Hope and a green one for himself. The Doctor sat down and took his shirt off. "Blindness alert!" Rain said. Alan snickered and the women giggled when the Doctor shot her a look. "Ooo-ee, look at that white chest, you'd think he'd been living his life in a cave," Rain said to Rose while the Doctor cocked his eyebrow. He has been living his life in a cave, it's called the TARDIS," Rose replied. "And now because of that, everyone here will wonder where the mini sun came from before they find out it's just him," Rain said to her. "You know what? I think I'll take you up on that offer of marriage," the Doctor teased Hope. "Least you don't make fun of me in public." He looked at Alan and noticed his brother hadn't taken off his shirt yet. Alan glanced at him and read his mind before snorting. "Are you kidding? I'm smart enough not to subject myself to mini sun comments. I'll wait till they're out of sight before taking my shirt off, thanks." "In that case, we'll just sit here," Rose said. "Suit yourself, doesn't bother me none," Alan said with a shrug before closing his eyes. He opened his right eye when Hope walked over, lay down and snuggled with him. He looked at the Doctor. "Blimey, they're right, the mini sun does scare people, eh?" he said to his brother. The Doctor didn't reply. He got up and everyone watched while he ran to the water. "Cover your eyes, everyone, supernova is passing by," Rain said while Rose giggled. "Here now, that's not very polite," Alan said to them. "And you're the perfect example of politeness?" Rose said to him. "No, but that's still not very polite," Alan said. "The poor man is lily white, pasty and has a slight beer gut but that's no reason to be rude towards him. Be rude when he's out of earshot like I'm doing." "Nice role model for your niece," Rain said to him. "And you're being the perfect role model by calling your husband a small sun in front of her. She might be traumatized for life now," Alan retorted. "For shame, Rain, for shaaaame." "I SAID TO GET OVER HERE NOW!" Everyone fell silent when they heard a woman bellowing near them. Hope sat up and Alan rose up on his elbows. They saw a three year old Asian girl walking away from her mother. The mother, sitting on a sea green beach blanket about twenty feet from where they were, was screaming at her to come back. The Asian toddler spied Hope and started towards her while Hope waved at her. Suddenly, the woman ran over, yanked her daughter's arm and spanked her butt several times as hard as she could. The woman dragged her wailing daughter back to her blanket, ignoring all the dirty looks around her, including Rain, Rose and Alan's. "Mummy?" Rain looked at Hope and was shocked when she saw how distraught she looked now. "Should we go get Daddy so he can do something?" Hope said, pointing at the crying toddler who was now sitting on the blanket beside her mother. "She's hurting her." Rose groaned softly while Rain felt a twinge. She got up and sat down beside Hope on the Doctor's blanket. "Baby, you know how sometimes everyone teases you about spanking you if you do something bad. Well, some people do spank their children's bottoms and that's what that mommy just did." "Yeah, but she was just taking a walk and her mummy made her cry," Hope said. "Well," Rain said, "she shouldn't wander off like that on this crowded beach and I'm sure the mom was scared she might get lost or taken but the mom didn't need to spank her that hard." "Or spank her at all," Alan said angrily. "I never understood the practice. Especially when the parent is larger than the child. Nothing but bullying if you ask me. I've never had to do that with our children and neither has Brother or anyone else we know." Which is why she's freaked out right now, Rain thought to him. I think the Doctor would rather swallow hot coals than do what that woman just did and so would I. She noticed Hope took a step towards her father who was swimming in the water. Then remembering what happened to the other girl, she stopped and held her hand out. "I wanna go to Daddy and I don't wanna be spanked, okay?" she said. Alan fought to control his anger as he got up. He kissed his niece's head and took his shirt off before he took her hand. Rain walked back over to Rose while he led her down towards the beach. The Doctor was swimming near the shore when he noticed his daughter trying to get his attention. He smiled and swam for shore, standing up when he got close. He moved his wet hair away from his eyes and walked towards her. "Ready for a swim, my treas..." He paused when he saw how upset she was and how angry Alan was. "What's wrong?" he asked Alan. Alan sighed and explained the situation, making sure to add that Hope had been afraid to walk over to him without being escorted. The Doctor sighed sadly and took Hope's hand before they turned right and took a little walk. "Look, Hope, I know I've teased you about spanking you in the past but I'd never really do that. I don't believe in it," the Doctor said as they walked. In my opinion, spanking someone smaller than you is abusive, solves nothing and it makes the child afraid of you and more prone to rebel when the spanking no longer has any effect. Now granted, she was a bit young to wander off and you did that as well but I took your hand and led you back without spanking you as hard as I could. Having said that, you are five now and I trust you to walk from the blanket to me without wandering off. Not to mention your mum, aunt and uncle can see you and so can I so don't worry about walking that short a distance without supervision, yeah?" Hope nodded and the Doctor squeezed her hand. Alan gave her a kiss and they both held her hand while they walked along the water.
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