PARENTHOOD
Chapter Two Hundred and Five "Gitchee goo!" "Daddy, make Uncle Alan stop," Hope said while she walked beside him. Alan was behind her and every few steps he would stick his finger in her armpit and say gitchee goo in an exuberant voice. The Doctor eyed his brother while Alan gave him an innocent look. "Being a pest again, Brother?" the Doctor asked. "Not at all. Just playing the gitchee goo game with my favorite niece," Alan said. "She must not mind too much, she hasn't moved away from me. So I'll continue to gitchee goo her as long as she's in front of me and…" "Gitchee goo!" Rose, who was walking beside Alan, laughed when Jack, who was behind Alan, stuck his finger in Alan's armpit and said gitchee goo in a high-pitched voice. Alan looked back at him. "Gee, you're not moving away, must not mind it too much," Jack said to him. Alan stopped for a moment, let Jack catch up to him and putting his arms behind his back walked by his side. Jack gave him a wary look. "Okay, what are you planning?" Jack asked. "Revenge, it will come and come swiftly when you least expect it," Alan said airily. "Geez, Blondie, how you put up with him is beyond me," Jack said while Rose and Rain giggled. "If Ianto was like this, I would have chucked him out the door long ago." Belock led them to a large hut deep in the forest. The hut was in the middle of a clearing and to the Doctor's amazement was far bigger than Swampdancer's hut. "Who lives here?" the Doctor said, pointing to it. "I thought Swampdancer was the head honcho and had the biggest house." "He does have the biggest house. But this is our hatchery where all our young stay until they get their full frog bodies. Come inside." They entered the hut. Most of the interior was a huge pool of water where large tadpoles swum around. Unlike Earth tadpoles, the babies were one and two feet in length. Around the pool, several female frogs were feeding and caring for the babies. Everyone walked up to the rim as the frogs smiled and got out of their way. Hope walked up to the edge of the pond and looked down in a fascinated silence while the jet black tadpoles swam around. Rain walked up beside her and Hope pointed down at them. "Look, babies," Hope said. "Yup, those are tadpoles," Rain said. The Doctor came up behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Actually, they're called pollywogs," he said to her. "Actually, they're called tadpoles," Rain said. "Nope, they're called pollywogs," the Doctor said. "Nope, they're called tadpoles," Rain said while Hope giggled. "Pollywogs," the Doctor insisted. "Tadpoles," Rain said. "Pollywogs." "Tadpoles." "Polywogs." "Tadpoles." "Polywogs!" "Okay, wait," Rain said, holding up her hand. "Let's compromise and call them Tadwogs." The Doctor considered that and then moved over to Hope. He bent down and put his chin on her shoulder. "Look at the tadwogs swimming down there, aren't they magnificent?" he said, pointing, while Rain chuckled. "Yes. I like the tadwogs," Hope said. "Actually," Alan said, walking up, bending over and resting his chin on Hope's other shoulder. "You could call them polypoles, you know." "Nah, I like tadwogs better," the Doctor said. Alan looked at Hope. "Hey, air still smells, quit farting," he said to her. "That's you!" Hope said, poking his nose. "You farted." "Not me, when I fart it's flowery sweet," Alan said. "Hey!" Hope said. "What happened? Did you fart again?" Alan said while the Doctor laughed. "No, look, that one has little legs," she said, pointing to a tadpole swimming around in front of them. "Ah, that's what happens," the Doctor said to her. "See, they start out with no arms or legs and they slowly grow them and lose the tail and become froggy frogs." "How long does it take them to grow?" Rain asked Belock when he came up beside her. "About a year," Belock replied. "After that, they leave the hatchery and return to their parent's huts." "Okay, but how can you tell them apart?" Jack said, coming up beside him. "I mean, I'm assuming this is a communal hatchery so how do you tell which child belongs to which family?" Belock reached down and grabbed a tadpole. He held it up and showed them the underside while the tadpole tried to wriggle out of his hands. On the underside of it was a small white strip of paper with alien writing on it. "This is an identification tag. The paper and ink are waterproof and the name of the family and date of birth are written here. When they're ready to come out, we look at the tag and then notify the parents." Belock put the tadpole back in the water and it quickly swam away. "And…where are the eggs at?" Jack asked. "They hatch from eggs right?" "Correct. The eggs are in another tank below this one," Belock said. "There is a grate in the bottom of the tank and a thin strip of waterproofed wood separates the two. When the eggs hatch, the babies are small enough that they can swim up through the gate and join the others." "And they don't eat each other?" Rain asked. "No, we keep them well fed so they won't do that," Belock said, pointing to the female frogs that were still dispensing food to the tadpoles. "The nursemaids also keep an eye on the babies and make sure they're not fighting with each other." The Doctor was listening to Belock while he stood beside his daughter. He noticed someone coming up beside him and he smiled at Chloe when she stopped beside him. He noticed that Chloe was now dressed in a shimmering white cape and had on a skirt of the same material. Chloe gazed at him while the Doctor nodded to her. "Are you enjoying your tour?" Chloe asked him. "Yes, it's very interesting," the Doctor said with a nod. Rain glanced at Chloe and noticed the interest she was showing in her husband. She glanced at the Doctor and noticed that he was missing the subtle signs that Chloe wanted him. She decided to take matters into her own hands and warn him before it was too late. "Doctor, a word with you for a moment," Rain said to him. The Doctor glanced at her and saw her beckoning to him to follow her. He put his hands in his trouser pockets and she led him away from Chloe to the other side of the room. As they walked, Rain glanced back and noticed Chloe was watching the Doctor intently. When they were far enough away, she stopped him and walked in front of him. "I'm not being paranoid but I believe that there's more here than meets the eye," Rain said to him. "And that more here would be?" the Doctor said. "Thete, she was naked before and now she's all dressed up and she's giving you these little lustful looks. She may be a frog but I can still tell by the way she's looking at you what she's thinking. I'm beginning to wonder just what she whispered in her dad's ear." The Doctor looked over his shoulder. Chloe was still in the same place but she was silently watching him. He raised his eyebrow and looked at his wife who now had a "You see?" look on her face. The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. "Yes, well, I see your point now," he said. "I think Swampdancer is doing the same thing all powerful people do, try to marry off their daughter to another powerful person in an alliance. After all, he's made no secret of his admiration for you," Rain said. "And what about you? How would you like it if I took a frog for a second wife?" the Doctor said with a twinkle in his eyes. "I think if you did, I would be serving frog legs to our family the very next night," Rain said sweetly. She laughed at the stunned expression on her husband's face. "In that case, I'll make sure Chloe stays far away from you then," he said while she patted his shoulder. "Blimey, every once in awhile that Native American warrior blood in you still manages to show itself." "Mummy! Daddy!" The Doctor and Rain turned when they heard their daughter's voice. She was standing by the edge of the pond while a female frog held a wiggling tadpole in her hands. Hope pointed to the legs on the back. "This one's growing legs and the tail's almost gone," she said to them. Rain took her husband's hand and they walked over to her. "This one's growing," Hope said, pointing to it. "Yup, it is, isn't it?" the Doctor said, running his finger down the baby's back. "Magnificent!" "This is Shia," Hope said, pointing to the female frog. "Nice to meet you, Shia," the Doctor said while Rain echoed his sentiment. Shia bowed her head to them in return and they watched while she carefully put the tadpole back in the water. While she was doing that, the Doctor noticed Chloe walking up beside him. He looked at her and she smiled as she gave him a shy look. The Doctor glanced at Rain who gave him another "You see?" look. The Doctor nodded, making a mental note to talk to Swampdancer before the dancing started.
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