PARENTHOOD

Chapter Two Hundred and Thirteen

After they returned to the TARDIS, Jack and Rose watched over Chloe in the console room while Rain and Hope followed the Doctor and Alan back to the Doctor's bedroom. Hope noticed her father was angry and she took his hand. The Doctor looked at her and smiled, then noticed her sad look.

"What is it?" he said.

"I'm sorry I made you mad, Daddy," Hope said.

"Huh? You didn't make me mad. I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at Swampdancer," the Doctor said.

"Why?"

"Let me get changed into my normal clothes and then we'll talk about it, yeah?"

Hope nodded and the Doctor squeezed her hand. When they came to the bedroom, the Doctor asked Alan to come inside with him while Rain and Hope waited outside.

"Why do you need me to come inside with you?" Alan teased. "Can't dress yourself anymore, old man?"

"Ha ha," the Doctor said while the others giggled. "Just, come inside."

"Aye, aye, Captain Nearly Naked," Alan said with a salute as the Doctor opened the door.

Alan followed him inside and the Doctor closed the door once he passed through. Alan walked over to the wall beside the chest of drawers, folded his arms over his chest and leaned back against it.

"Yes?" Alan said while the Doctor walked to his closet.

"I'm worried about Hope. Should I really tell her what the prophecy said?" the Doctor said to him. "I don't want to upset her and have her worry about me."

"Well, if you want my opinion, I think she'll be just fine. I don't know if you've noticed, but your daughter has seen a lot of disturbing things, including watching her father in a life or death match with a frog and a giant lizard and she's taken everything in stride. She wants to be a Time Lady so badly; I think she'll be even more upset if you don't tell her. Just trust her, there's quite an old soul in that little body."

"No argument there," the Doctor said, putting his brown jacket on. "I'm extremely proud of her."

"I'm not. She keeps farting and stinking up the air. Did you get a whiff of that planet, poor lamb couldn't help herself."

The Doctor chuckled and tousled his brother's hair. He finished dressing and then opened the door. Hope walked in with Rain and stopped to look at him.

"No more froggy," she said to him.

"Nah, I don't like Froggy. I'm a rough, tough sort who likes to kill. Grrrrrr!"

The Doctor got down in her face and grrred at her while he tried to look fierce. Hope stared at him calmly while Rain and Alan snickered. They laughed harder when Hope yawned and patted her father on the head.

"Silly daddy," she said.

The Doctor patted the bed and Hope sat down on it while Rain sat down beside her.

"I asked Uncle Alan if I should tell you what I read because I was worried about your reaction," the Doctor said to Hope. "But your uncle told me and I agree with him that you have taken everything in stride and you've behaved like a good little Time Lady so I'm going to take a chance that what I have to say won't scare you."

"I'm not afraid, Daddy," Hope said while Rain rubbed her back.

The Doctor nodded and cleared his throat.

"Chloe gave me a piece of paper and on it was written a prophecy. Do you know what that is?" he asked Hope.

Hope frowned in confusion and shook her head.

"A prophecy," the Doctor said, sitting down beside her, "is when someone predicts the future. What Chloe handed me was a prediction about Swampdancer's people's future and it involves me and Chloe. You know that a lot of people know about me even if I don't know them, yeah?"

Hope nodded.

"These people knew about me and sometime in the past someone made a prediction that I would come to them at some point and when that happened, I was going to be married to the chief's daughter, which is Chloe, and both of us would be sacrificed to prevent some calamity...bad things from happening. It means that they thought something bad was going to happen and they wanted to kill me and Chloe so they could stop it."

He waited for the questions or fears from his daughter but she lazily swung her left leg back and forth while she thought about what her father had told her. The Doctor laid his head on her and smiled as her leg continued to swing back and forth.

"Whatcha gonna do then, Daddy?" Hope finally asked.

"Well, I want to talk to Chloe, see how much she knows," the Doctor said. "She was in a hurry to leave with us so I'm sure she doesn't want to be sacrificed but on the other hand, she wanted very badly to marry me so I'm confused."

"Was she threatened into this marriage, do you think?" Rain asked.

"Dunno, she didn't look like she was being threatened when she was following me all around the village, then again, she could be a fabulously talented actress," the Doctor said. "We won't know until we ask her."

"Okay, let's go ask her then," Hope said, hopping up from the bed.

"You're a woman who gets things done, I like that," the Doctor said while Rain and Alan laughed. "Well, come on; let's go ask Chloe what's going on."

They walked out of the room and headed back to the console room. When they got there, they noticed that Jack was sitting with Chloe on the jump seat while Rose was in front of them, her buttocks resting against the rim of the console. Rose noticed them and headed towards the Doctor.

"Don't tell me, Jack has found a girlfriend," the Doctor said softly, gesturing to him and Chloe.

"Nope, Jack's just trying to find out what's going on. Chloe admits she knew about the prophecy but said her father forced her into the marriage."

"Really? Well, we'll soon find out about that."

The Doctor hesitated a moment and then looked down at Hope. Hope smiled at him and he tousled her hair.

"Listen," he said, kneeling down to her. "I need to do this alone. I was wondering if you wouldn't mind going ahead and going shopping with your mum?"

"You don't want me to be a Time Lady with you?" Hope asked.

"I do. But, I also need a few things from the shops and you can do that for me. Would you like to? Give you a few credits for your troubles," he said.

Hope nodded and the Doctor thanked her and kissed her cheek. He stood up and looked at Rose and Alan.

"Why don't you go with them? I'll keep Jack with me and you can take the TARDIS and go to the shops," the Doctor said.

"What if you need us?" Rose asked.

"I'll phone you, promise," the Doctor said. "I just think you need a bit of fun and..."

He put up a privacy block around Alan, Rose and Rain's minds.

I'd really like Hope away from here in case something happens, he thought to them. I know she wants to help me but I'm not sure what's going to happen here and I want her safe.

He dropped the privacy block when everyone nodded in agreement. He held up his finger and walked over to Jack.

"Jack, you and I and Chloe are going to take a walk back to the village," the Doctor said to him. "The others are going to take the TARDIS and go shopping."

"But...we need to run," Chloe said.

"No, we need to go back and get this sorted out," the Doctor said. "And I'm going to do it since this involves me and I don't like loose ends and weird prophecies. Wait a tic..."

He walked back over to Alan as he reached into his trouser pocket and got out a small silver key.

"Brother, stop by the post office and check my mail, I'm expecting a couple of letters from old friends and I haven't been there in ages," the Doctor said, handing the key to him.

"Are you expecting packages?" Alan said.

"Um...no," the Doctor said.

"Blast, I was hoping to nick some free gifts while you were gone," Alan said.

The Doctor swatted his head playfully.

"Get outta here, ya maniac before I change my mind," the Doctor said.

"Aye, aye, Froggy Betrothed," Alan said with a salute.

The Doctor walked over to his wife and laid his hands on her shoulders.

"Latara, hate to leave you alone with Alan since I'm afraid you might end up making him regenerate before he comes back but...do try to get along with him."

"Oh...I suppose I'll restrain myself," Rain said with a melodramatic sigh.

The Doctor grinned and kissed her lips. He walked over to Rose.

"Rose, don't cause trouble and make life hard for others," the Doctor said. "There's a good girl, bye now!"

"I wouldn't talk if I were you, mate," Rose said as the Doctor bent down to Hope. "And you, little Time Lady, you watch out for this lot and keep them in line, got that?"

"Yes!" Hope said. "You be careful, Daddy."

"Always," the Doctor said before he kissed her forehead.

He stood up and walked over to Jack and Chloe.

"So...both of you, come with me. We're going for a little walk," he said to them.

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