PARENTHOOD

Chapter One Hundred and Ninety One

"Right then, let's get this show on the road. Wagons roll and all that," the Doctor said as he started the TARDIS.

Everyone else went in the back while the Doctor stood at the console. As the rotor moved up and down, he stared at it, deep in thought. When he showed his memories to his daughter, he only meant to calm her fears about being abused and show her what a bad parent was but he hadn't expected the question about whether or not his father could possibly be alive. Knowing that his son and mother had turned up long after he thought he was dead, he couldn't help but wonder and a chill ran down his spine at the thought of his father turning up at his home. Then he scoffed at himself.

I'm not a child any longer, he thought to himself. I told Hope I've faced far worse than my father and I have, so why should I be afraid of him now? I'm older and stronger now and he has no power over me anymore. If he turns up out of the blue and starts being abusive, I'll put him to rights.

He felt someone come up behind him and looked down at his daughter. He was surprised to see her dressed in black dress pants, black dress shoes and a brand new white blouse.

"Well, don't you look good," the Doctor said, admiring her outfit.

"Mummy said why don't we go find a photographer and get a photo of me that she can have and everyone else can have as well so I said okay, so Mummy dressed me up."

"Brilliant! Love the idea!" the Doctor said.

Alan strolled into the room, whistling cheerfully. There was a large piece of cardboard hung around his neck by a long piece of string. As he approached, Hope walked over and examined the writing on the cardboard while Alan stopped and let her see it.

"I need love," Hope read aloud before looking at her father. "Does it say that?"

"Yes, it does," the Doctor said.

Hope beamed with pride and began to tell her father how proud she was that she read it while the Doctor gave her a proud look. While she was doing that, she had her back turned to Alan and the Doctor sniggered when he gave his niece a pointed look while he pointed repeatedly at the sign. Hope turned and looked at him and Alan paused in anticipation.

"I read this correctly, Uncle Alan," Hope said, pointing to the sign.

Alan gave her an exasperated look when she turned back around. The Doctor grinned, knowing from her little giggle that she knew exactly what Alan wanted her to do. Her giggle increased when Alan inched forward and started breathing hard into the back of her head.

"Ooo, gotta go to the loo, Daddy. See ya. Bye, Uncle Alan!" Hope said as she suddenly ran off.

"See if I get you anything for birthdays, holidays, weddings or funerals ever again!" Alan yelled after her as she ran giggling through the back door.

He looked at the Doctor. The Doctor took hold of his arms and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek before he patted him on the head. In response, Alan reached into his pocket and gave him a red lollipop.

"Thank you for your kindness, much appreciated," he said, handing him the lollipop. "Now see, if your offspring hadn't been cheeky she would have gotten this."

"Eh, apple doesn't fall too far from the tree and all that," the Doctor said with a shrug as he pocketed the sweet in his trouser pocket.

Alan was about to walk away when the Doctor grabbed his arm.

"A word, Brother, before you go? " he said.

Alan gave him his full attention and the Doctor let out a ragged sigh before telling him his fears about his father resurfacing.

"It's not me I'm worried about, it's my family. I don't want him around them," the Doctor said when he finished speaking to him.

Alan chuckled and patted his shoulder.

"Brother, I don't think you need to worry. Even if he is around, I doubt he'll want anything to do with us since the majority of our family is from Earth or has Earth ancestry. And even if he does, I doubt he'll do anything after he sees how large our family is, not to mention Clara might have something to say about that. Just put it out of your mind, enjoy your lolly and have a great day. In the meantime..."

Alan trailed off when Jack suddenly came in the room and made a beeline for him with arms outstretched. The Doctor laughed at the incensed look on his face when Alan recoiled from him.

"Ahem, I was told you needed love so I was coming out here to give you a hug," Jack said, pointing to his sign. "I'm not gonna bugger you if that's what you're thinking."

He rolled his eyes when Alan stepped up to him and gave him a hug.

"Geez, centuries have passed, you'd think these Jack is gonna rape me fears would have passed by now," Jack said after giving him the hug.

"Sorry, knee jerk reaction," Alan said. "It's ingrained in me, thanks to him," he added, pointing to the Doctor.

"That figures," Jack said, rolling his eyes while the Doctor and Alan sniggered. "Why I signed up to be your brother is beyond me."

"Because we're lovable, witty and we're the sort of brother one should have," Alan said to him. "Why you even had doubts about being our brother is beyond me. Furthermore...oops, here comes the butter knife..."

Rose entered the room with Hope and Rain. She was holding her hands behind her back and walked over to her husband who was whistling and pretending to look around the room as if he were hiding something. She brought her hands around and Alan noticed another cardboard sign. She grabbed the string attached to the top of it and put it around Alan's neck. Alan grabbed the sign while Rose ran away and looked at it. It said NUTTER with a crude arrow that was pointing to his head.

"Tee hee," Alan said, dropping the sign while the other adults laughed.

Hope walked up to him and studied the sign. She looked at her father.

"What does this say?" she said.

"Sound it out," the Doctor said.

Everyone giggled while Alan shot Rose a dirty look. Rose stuck her tongue between her teeth while Hope sounded out the word aloud.

"Nu...t...eeer. Nut...ter. Nutter," she said.

She gave her father a confused look.

"I don't get it," she said.

"I think Rose is implying your Uncle is insane," the Doctor said while Rose and Rain shared a gleeful look.

"Well, if I'm bonkers, why'd ya marry me then?" Alan said to Rose.

"Um...mixture of pity and boredom," Rose said.

Alan stuck his tongue out while everyone laughed. Suddenly, everyone gasped as the TARDIS went out of control. Alan caught Hope as she felt backwards to the floor and everyone except the Doctor grabbed the railing. The Doctor gritted his teeth and held on to his console while the TARDIS careened out of control.

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