PARENTHOOD
Chapter One Hundred and Eighty Eight Lounging by the pool, Duer listened to the sounds of his children and grandchildren playing in the pool as he smiled and sipped on the glass of ice water he had brought out with him. "You are one lucky Time Lord," he thought as he placed the glass on the small table next to the lounge and moved the small beach umbrella around to shade Faith's chibi, Elby. Faith had dressed Elby in blue bathing trunks and the sunlight shimmered on the light coating of sunscreen she had placed on Elby. Elby lifted up the tiny sunglasses as it looked up at him and Duer smiled, adjusting the small beach umbrella some more. "Don't want to get a sunburn, do you?" he asked and Elby shook its head, placed the sunglasses down and went back to its nap. Even though Elby was just a doll, Duer worried about it as much as he did the rest of his family and he picked up the book he had on his stomach. It was the latest of the books Adam had been writing and he admitted that Adam changed a few details in telling the story of when Duer, the Brigadier, Harry and Sarah Jane had to fight the Zygons at Loch Ness. Turning the page, Duer gently thumped his feet together when he felt like he was being watched and looked over at Faith, who was standing next to the lounge. She was wearing a blue bathing suit with Disney's the Little Mermaid on the front and she had a matching towel wrapped around her shoulders. Her hair was plastered against her head as she smiled at him and he scooted over so she could sit on the lounge with him. "Why aren't you in the pool with the others?" "They're splashing too much," she said as he placed his arm around her and she snuggled closer, placing her damp head on his shoulder. "What are you reading?" "Oh, it's just Uncle Adam's latest book." "What is it about?" "It's about the time I had to fight the Zygons." "What is a Zygon?" she asked as he thought for a few seconds then projected what a Zygon looked like into her mind. "Ew, they're ugly!" "Yep, but the monster they released into the loch was really silly looking," he said and showed her what it looked like. Faith giggled as he smiled and gently stroked her wet hair. 'That doesn't look like Loch," she said, talking about the water horse that Frazer had brought back from Loch Ness and Duer nodded. "Daddy, can I ask you something?" "You just did, but you can ask me something else," he said and she giggled. "Why don't I have a papaw like Hope does?" she asked and he felt his hearts jump a bit in his chest. He and Frankie had decided they would wait until Faith was older to discuss why neither of their fathers were around and he sighed, placing the bookmark in the book and placed the book on the small table next to the glass of ice water. "Well, that is a little complicated. See, my daddy is...well, he is an angel," he said and Faith pouted, tilting her head to one side. They had explained about angels and that people and being become angels when they die. She had asked if that included pets after they explained what happened to Blizzard and Rory, the Siberian huskies that used to live with them, and he told her that it did include pets. "You mean he's in Heaven?" "Yep," Duer said as he popped the "p" and did a silent prayer in hope that it was true that his father, his real father, was in Heaven and was waiting for him when it was his time to die. "Was he a good daddy?" she asked as he sighed and brushed some hair out of her eyes. "I don't know. You do know how I was born, right?" "Yeah, Grandma said that you grew in her tummy like I did in Mommy's tummy," she said and Duer smiled, remembering his mother, Delmari, telling Faith the story of his birth. Being born naturally was something that simply wasn't done on his Gallifrey For as long as he could remember he was told that his birth was a science experiment and that he was nothing more than a failure. Having a navel didn't help matters and he was tormented by his classmates for having one. "Yep, I was born just like you and your brother were." "Grandma said that you used to kick her while you were in her tummy. That was mean," Faith said with a pout and Duer smiled, kissing the top of her head. "Oi, you were playing football with Mummy's kidneys, Kiddo," he teased and ticked her, making her giggle. "Grandma also said that you had two daddies." "Well, now that is where it gets confusing. See, Grandma was married to a Time Lord that was very mean and controlling and he was the one that I thought was my daddy. It turned out that Grandma had divorced him, but he still thought of her as his wife, and Grandma married someone else. His name was Pandor and he loved Grandma very, very, very, very, very much." "Then why did she have a baby with the other Time Lord?" "Well, it was really his idea to have a baby, but she didn't want him to be the daddy. Well, honestly, he couldn't make a baby if he wanted to," Duer said with a smile and she titled her head to one side. "Anyway, Pandor and Grandma made a baby and here I am!" "Did the other Time Lord know that Pandor was really your daddy?" "Yep, and that was one of the reasons the other Time Lord didn't like me. He thought I was a freak and he left me behind when he used a machine called a shifter to move my Gallifrey to a different universe." "That wasn't very nice," she said as he nodded and she snuggled closer, placing her head on his chest. "He could have taken me with him, but he didn't want to." "Was your mommy and daddy mad when they found out that he didn't take you with them?" "Oh yeah, in fact Grandma formed her own army and I helped her stop him." "And that's when your daddy died?" "Yep, he died saving your brother and I when a bomb went off. The odd thing was I never even knew he was my daddy." "Didn't Grandma tell you?" "Uh, no, I sort of figured it out on my own," he said and his ears turned a bit pink. Walking in on his mother and the man he thought was her second in command having sex was something he didn't want to tell her and that he figured out that Pandor was his father after his mother explained his birth to him. "Mother, what is going on?" "When I was married to Rassilon, I was miserable. He was only interested in the advancement of science and I was interested in traveling. We would argue about everything and I wanted to desperately to get out of our marriage. He thought another child would changed my mind, but I refused to loom another him. When he suggested having a child naturally, I was thrilled. The problem was we couldn't conceive one when we became human. He wanted to end the experiment when I got an idea, Pandor and I had been sleeping with each other without his knowledge so..." "Ah, I get it. He donated some sperm and here I am." "What a bright boy!" "Eh, women on Earth do that, too." "They do?" "Yeah, sometimes it's because they want a baby and not a husband or a million other reasons. Did Rassilon know?" "I think he did because of the way he treated you." "And if he isn't my father then...." "Hello, Son." "Do you think Pandor would have liked me?" Faith asked as he lifted her chin and smiled sweetly at her. "He would have loved you," he said and tapped the tip of his finger on the tip of her nose. "He got all blown up then?" "Uh, no, but he was badly hurt. He couldn't regenerate because he was on his last life so..." "Are...you alright?" "Hush now." "No, I...know what is...happening." "But you're not going to give up now, are you?" "It's...time." "But you can't leave now. You need to teach me things. I mean what sort of father would save his son and not hang around to see him grow up?" "You are...grown up." "But I still need my father's approval." "I am...very proud...of you." "What about my son? He does have Time Lords that act like his grandfather, but you're the real deal." "Tell him...about me." Duer sighed as he felt the tears in his eyes when he wiped the tears away and Faith looked up at him. "Don't cry, Daddy." "Sorry, I was just thinking about when Pandor died." "Did he like being your daddy?" "Oh yes!" "Then why didn't Grandma leave the other Time Lord and go live with Pandor?" "Well, the other Time Lord never admitted that they had gotten divorced and I had to live with him because he wouldn't let Grandma leave." "But that isn't fair! Pandor was your daddy!" she said and he hushed her, sending love into her mind. "I know, Butterfly, but that's how it was. In fact, if I had lived with Pandor and Grandma, I don't think I would have gone off and become the Doctor." "Because you would have been happy and wouldn't have run away?" "Right," he said and tapped the tip of his finger on the tip of her nose. "What about Mommy's daddy? Is he an angel, too?" she asked and Duer thought for a few moments. He knew that Doctor Douglas was an abusive man, had belittled Frankie and beaten Cameron for being bisexual, but he was dead now and Duer sighed, looking up at the sky. "I'm not sure if he is an angel, but he is dead. See, Mommy's daddy wasn't a very nice man and he used to treat Mommy and Uncle Cameron terribly. He would call Mommy mean names and told her that she wouldn't amount to anything. He also beat Uncle Cameron because he..." "Uncle Cameron can make me fly by wiggling his fingers," she said and he nodded. "Yep, but that's not why he beat him." "Is it because he kisses boys?" she asked and Duer's eyes went wide. "When did you see Uncle Cameron kissing boys?" "He was coming out of Torchwood and he kissed Uncle Jack," she said and Duer rolled his eyes. "Yes, it was because Uncle Cameron kisses boys." "No fair," she grumbled and he nodded. "Daddy, I wish Papaw Pandor was here so he could go swimming with me." "So do I, Butterfly," he said as he kissed the top of her head and gently stroked her hair, sending love into her mind. "So do I."
Back Home Doctor Who Main Page Next