PARENTHOOD

Chapter One Hundred and Eighty Nine

They met Jack in the Doctor's house when they went back inside.

"So, you guys were taking a trip down memory lane again?" Jack said to them when they came back inside the living room.

"Yeah, wanted to show Hope a couple of things," the Doctor said as he walked over to him. "Needing more supplies?"

"That and I needed to get out of the house. Slow day today and I'm bored," Jack said. "I went for a walk and bumped into Alan and he mentioned he was going shopping later so I asked if I could come along."

"He twisted my arm, he's crafty, watch out for this one," Alan said, peeking over Jack's shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, get away from me, you nut," Jack said, trying to give him a playful punch.

Alan squealed and ran behind Rose.

"Protect me, you'd throw yourself on a grenade for me!" he said to Rose as he ducked down behind her.

Rose, who'd been talking to Rain, was rendered speechless. She shook her head while Rain laughed. Rose looked down at Hope when she came up to her.

"Now see, you just saw the Doctor leaving this with me and leaving me behind. I think he did it cause he knew this man would drive him insane if he stayed in the TARDIS with him," Rose said as she tousled Hope's hair.

"Can I talk to you alone for a minute?" Hope asked her.

"Sure. Where d'ya wanna talk?"

Hope took her hand and Rain watched as she led her to the patio door. She opened it, they went outside and she shut it. Hope led her to the back to a table and chairs at the back of the swimming pool. Anne and Elizabeth, who had been resting by the pool, came over to them. Rose and Hope petted them for a moment before they sat down at the table. Anne and Elizabeth lay down beside them and rested while they talked.

"What'd ya wanna talk about, love?" Rose said to her.

"I'm sad, Aunt Rose," Hope said after a moment's hesitation.

"Why? What's wrong?" Rose said, reaching across to take her hand.

"Daddy showed me this memory of his daddy and his daddy was mean to him and hurt him. I don't know Daddy's daddy but I'm glad I don't know cause I hate him for hurting Daddy."

Rose's hearts ached. He'd heard stories about the Doctor's abuse growing up and she also hated that he had been beaten and neglected by his own father. Rose squeezed her hand.

"I know, baby," she said gently. "I know. I hate that he had an abusive father too but he might not have become the person he is without that man in his life. Your daddy rebelled against him and traveled when all the other Time Lords chose to stay put and he made friends on Earth and without that, he'd never have met me or your mum and you wouldn't be here now. Besides, surviving all that made him a stronger person and prepared him for all the bad people he faced later on."

"Do you love Daddy?" Hope asked.

"I love him very much," Rose said.

Hope giggled.

"Even though you ended up with the crazy person?" she said.

Rose laughed.

"Yes. Even though your daddy shoved the crazy person into my face and said, here, take care of him for me and then he ran for his TARDIS and I've been going slowly insane since."

Hope giggled and pointed over Rose's shoulder towards the patio door. Rose turned in her seat and saw Alan standing at the door, feigning anger while he pretended to have trouble opening the unlocked door and pound on it while he let out a silent scream. Rose looked at Hope who was giggling hysterically.

"Yes, your daddy shoved that thing over there in my face and ran for the TARDIS so that thing wouldn't be following him around the TARDIS acting like a barmy git. And then I fell sorry for the thing and married him thinking he'd calm down but no...he's gotten worse with each passing year."

She glanced over her shoulder when Hope laughed harder and noticed Alan was pacing back and forth in front of the door, stopping every couple of seconds to check his watch. Rose looked at her niece.

"I get the feeling he's impatient and wants us to come inside," Rose said to her.

"Yeah, he's silly but I love em," Hope said. "Wait here," she added, getting up.

The dogs perked up and followed her as she walked to the door. Alan stopped pacing, folded his arms over his chest and tapped his foot impatiently. Rose watched as Hope stopped at the door and stared at him through the glass. She laughed when Alan pointed to the door handle and mimed opening the door. She opened the door a couple of inches.

"Thank Heavens, I was about to break through the glass and come outsi..."

Hope shut the door back and laughed when Alan silently yelled at her and pointed repeatedly at the door handle. Then Jack stepped up beside him, put his hands on Alan's shoulder and began to give him a shoulder massage. Alan froze for a moment in surprise and then a dreamy look appeared over his face. Hope laughed when he began to pant like a dog while Jack massaged him. Then the Doctor and Rain came up beside Jack. Rain laughed when the Doctor stood there and silently stared at Jack and Alan with an odd look on his face. Hope opened the door enough to stick her head in.

"Alan was mad cause I wouldn't let him come outside and now he's happy," Hope said to her father as she pointed to Alan.

"Yes, I see that, my treasure," the Doctor said. "I'm also standing here debating whether I should leave these two here and let them continue their...massage."

"Just calming the boy down after he got upset at being separated from his wife and niece," Jack said, taking his hand down. "He was out of sorts."

"Hmm?" Alan said, snapping his eyes open. "Hey, what happened to the massage. I was enjoying that and...LET ME IN THERE!"

Hope slammed the door quickly and everyone laughed when Alan silently screamed at her before Jack quickly restarted his massage. Rose squeezed Hope's shoulder when Alan closed his eyes and let his tongue hang out again.

"See, you don't need to worry about your daddy," Rose said to her. "He has all of us now so even if someone does hurt him, we'll be here to make him feel better again."

When everyone was ready and the dogs had food and water, the Doctor led everyone into his TARDIS. As he walked, he was thinking about where they could go shopping when suddenly he felt a tug on his hand and he looked down at Hope. Hope stopped and the Doctor stopped with her with a questioning look on his face.

"If anyone hurts you again, you come and get me and I'll make them sorry they ever hurt you," Hope said to him.

The Doctor fought back tears as he knelt down and embraced her.

"Sometimes I wonder what I ever did to deserve you lot," he said, letting go and cupping her face with his hands. "You're just like your brothers and sisters, all of you are just so loving. Sometimes it seems like a dream and I keep worrying if I'm gonna wake up and be alone again."

He smiled and sighed contentedly when Hope gave him another hug and whispered in his ear that she loved him. He kissed her cheek and stood up, guiding her over to the console. While the Doctor was putting the coordinates into the computer, Alan came into the console room, strolled over and scritched Hope's head while he watched his brother.

"Famza? Nice choice. I'm assuming you're going to Megablast then?" Alan said to the Doctor.

"That was my intention, yes," the Doctor replied, glancing at him.

"What's Megablast?" Hope asked Alan.

"Oooh, it's an incredibly big and fun shopping center. The largest in the Pelium Galazy," Alan replied. "Oodles and oodles of noodles and poodles and kits and caboodles. You'll love it."

"Can we get something for Mamaw, Daddy?" Hope asked the Doctor.

"Um...I don't see why not," the Doctor said.

"Good. I want her to know I love her since Papaw was mean to her," Hope said.

The Doctor and Alan shared a look and he knelt down.

"Love, Mamaw knows you love her," the Doctor said, stroking her hair. "Everything you saw happened centuries ago and it's all in the past. Trust me, I've faced people and things a thousand times worse than my dad since then. The man doesn't even enter my thoughts now. He's a part of my very distant past and it's the same for Mamaw. We're fine, love. So you don't have to go around protecting us and worrying that we're being abused. Okay?"

Hope nodded and both men gave her a hug and sent love into her mind.

"Now, if you want to get something for Mamaw because you love her heaps, we can do that," the Doctor said.

"I wanna do that," Hope said, nodding. "What does Mamaw like?"

"Oh, I think she'll like anything you get her," the Doctor said.

"Me, on the other hand, I like chocolate so get me a big sampler box," Alan said, leaning down.

"I'm not getting you anything. You have Rose," Hope said.

"And?" Alan said while the Doctor laughed. "I know I have Rose but since you're in a generous mood, I'm requesting a Smoodles Sweet Shop sampler box which I believe is about...500 credits. Gourmet chocolate, you see. But I'm a bit of a choccy gourmand so just keep that in mind when we reach Smoodles."

"Yeah," Hope muttered.

The Doctor snickered at the annoyed look on Alan's face when Hope ran behind her father and hid. He gave Hope a quick tickle and walked out of the room while Hope came out from behind her father and stood with him at the console.

Back                         Home                              Doctor Who Main Page                          Next