AN: When I started writing this, I was getting over one of those annoying 24-hour bugs myself, so you could say I was inspired. Special thanks to Google Earth, who was my best friend when writing about the Doctor's plans for the day.
The first thing he was aware of as the thick fog of sleep lifted from his mind was how heavy his body felt. His limbs were so cumbersome, he needed to force his chocolate brown eyes open just to check and see if weights hadn't been tied to his arms and legs while he slept. Once he was sure that nothing was holding him down physically, he allowed himself to remember what day it was, a sudden smile stretching across his freckled face. Not only had he been living an ordinary human life with Rose for five months, sixteen days, ten hours, twelve minutes, and forty-five seconds, give or take fifty-seven nanoseconds, but it was also the twenty-fourth of December; Christmas Eve. He'd been planning for this day ever since the Henrik's in this world started bringing out their Christmas decorations. While he still wasn't completely sure what the past Christmases were like for Rose, he knew he'd had enough of Christmas being interrupted by Gelth, or Sycorax invasions, or Racnoss Empresses, or spaceships modeled after the Titanic, sabotaged to crash into the Earth. This year, he was going to make sure that Christmas would be completely uninterrupted. No danger, no alien invasions, no threats to humanity, just a normal, worry-free Christmas. The one he'd wanted to share with Rose ever since…well, ever since 'Run', to be perfectly honest with himself. In other words, he was determined to make it the perfect Christmas.
It was all planned out in his head. After breakfast, he'd take Rose down to the Broadgate Ice Rink. Yes, he'd never actually learned how to skate, but Rose used to say that, in the years before they'd met, she would go there with her old mates, Keisha and Shareen, and he knew that she'd enjoy it. Besides, skating was one of the things humans did, wasn't it?
After the ice rink, they'd go for a walk along the River Thames, making their way to Skylon, where he'd managed to reserve a table for the establishment's Christmas Eve five course meal, something he wouldn't have been able to pull off if it weren't for the fact that Torchwood tended to be generous on Christmas bonuses. While he'd always feel animosity towards Torchwood after what had happened at Canary Warf back in the other world, the opportunity to stay by Rose's side and make sure she stayed safe always managed to outweigh his hard feelings.
When they were done with their meal, they'd check out some of the shops in London, gradually heading over to Primrose Hill, which he heard was a prime spot to watch the stars come out. The same stars they helped stop from going out. Of course, they would have to make an appearance at Jackie and Pete's Christmas party at the Tyler mansion at some point in the evening. One of the prices of Rose being the Vitex heiress. But on the plus side, they wouldn't have to stay long, and could return to their flat in plenty of time for hot chocolate by the fire, where he'd be able to reveal his special Christmas surprise for Rose.
With everything planned out in his head, the half-human Doctor started to get out of bed, only to be hit with a sudden dizzy spell. Groaning from the surprise of the room violently pitching around him, he fell back into bed. What was going on? Did he sit up too fast? Trying to sit up a second time, he found that wasn't the case, for the dizziness hit him again.
This couldn't possibly be normal, even by human standards. There had to be something that triggered it, and the first possibility that crossed his mind was when he and Rose were up against a rogue Kolante yesterday. They'd managed to deal with the problem without too much trouble, but not before the Kolante had drenched him with a chemical sludge that he had never encountered in the other world. While the analysis of the sludge indicated that it was virtually harmless, it was still entirely possible that the sludge was having some unexpected effect on him. Hopefully, it was only temporary, and it wouldn't interfere with his and Rose's Christmas.
Ignoring the dizziness, and the sudden soreness that was arising in the back of his throat, the Doctor got out of bed and headed out to the kitchenette, where he could hear Rose moving about making breakfast.
Rose glanced up at the clock on the wall when she heard the bedroom door opening, knowing that the Doctor had finally woken up. It had taken them a while to get used to his increased need for sleep, but this had to be the latest he'd ever slept. Another five minutes, and she would have gone in to see if he was okay.
"Mornin'," Rose greeted when she saw him shuffle into the room out of the corner of her eye.
"Mornin', Rose," the Doctor replied, his voice coming out in a rough croak which suddenly progressed into a brief series of ragged coughs. Immediately, Rose looked up from the bowl that contained the pancake batter she'd been mixing and noticed that his face was terribly flushed.
"You all right?" Rose asked in concern. "You look awful."
"Oi! I'll have you know, Rose Tyler, that I have never been anything but handsome and charming. I never look awful, thank you very much, Blondie." The moment he'd said this, a look of distaste appeared on the Doctor's face, making him look as if he'd just gotten a bad taste in his mouth. Rose smiled sympathetically, fixing him with an understanding glance. This was something they were slowly getting used to.
"That was Donna, wasn't it?" she asked.
"Yeah," the Doctor confirmed, tugging on his ear. "I thought I'd have gotten that under control by now."
"Well, don't worry about that now," Rose advised, stepping forward and placing a hand against his forehead. "You've got a bad fever."
"Come on, Rose," the Doctor waved away her observation. "My body temperature is just higher now that I'm part human."
"Doctor, this isn't just you having a different body temperature," Rose argued. "You're burning up. You must have come down with something."
"Oh, don't be daft," the Doctor scoffed, stepping over to the fruit bowl and selecting a banana. "I don't get sick; you know that."
"You've never been half-human before," Rose pointed out.
"I am not sick, Rose," the Doctor repeated stubbornly before letting out another sudden cough. "It's probably just some unforeseen affect on my metabolism from that substance that Kolante hit me with yesterday." Instead of replying, Rose turned and left the kitchen. For the next minute, the Doctor heard her rummaging through a drawer in the loo before she returned with a digital thermometer.
"Sit down," she ordered. "We're taking your temperature, just to be sure."
"I'm not putting that under my tounge," the Doctor frowned. "I keep telling you I'm not sick."
"Stop acting like a child," Rose ordered, holding the thermometer over. "Just do it."
"I'm not acting like a child!" the Doctor fired back. "I'm just not putting that in my mouth. There's no point, because I'm fine."
"Doctor," Rose fixed him with a stern glare, an act that the Doctor couldn't help but notice made her look unsettlingly like Jackie. "You can either take your temperature, or there will be no marmalade in this house for two months." If Rose hadn't been trying to make her threat stand up, she would have laughed at the horrified expression that suddenly appeared on his face.
"Rose Tyler, that was incredibly low!" The Doctor sulked, grudgingly allowing Rose to slip the thermometer under his tongue.
"Thank you." Rose placed a tender kiss on his forehead, the smile returning to her face. "Now keep that in until it beeps, all right?"
As Rose went back to fixing breakfast, the Doctor sat back in the chair, folding his arms. While he wasn't happy with having this bulky thing under his tongue, it probably wouldn't take too long. As soon as it beeped, Rose would see that there had been no need for it and they could get on with the day he'd planned. Until then, he decided to fill his time with glancing around the room, particularly at the framed photograph that hung on the nearby wall. It was the one that had been taken of him and Rose during their first adventure together in this world, when Torchwood had them go undercover in Scotland to monitor the activities of a group of aliens impersonating humans. He had particularly enjoyed that mission. With the exception of their mandatory daily reports to Torchwood headquarters, those two weeks had offered a taste of what a completely normal life would be like. While he knew that neither him nor Rose would be happy with having that normal, alien-free life all the time, it was nice to experience it occasionally, which was why he'd planned everything out for today, down to the exact nanosecond.
The Doctor's thoughts were interrupted when the digital thermometer started beeping, and Rose took it out to check the display screen.
"I thought so," Rose nodded, showing the Doctor the readout. "You have a temperature of 39.4 degrees Celsius. You're going straight back to bed."
"What!?" The Doctor snapped his head up, gawking at Rose in mild horror. "For how long?!"
"Until your fever's gone," Rose answered, rinsing the digital thermometer under the faucet.
"That could take days!" the Doctor cried, aghast. More specifically, they wouldn't be able to experience the day he'd planned for them if he was stuck in bed all day.
"Not really," Rose replied, thinking back to her own childhood. "It might just be a twenty-four hour thing. The fever could be gone by morning."
"But that's….that's still the entire day lost! Christmas Eve, Rose! You can't really mean I have to spend Christmas Eve in bed!"
"I'm sorry, Doctor. But that's what you have to do when you have a fever this high. Now, you go back to bed, and I'll bring you in something to eat in a minute or two, okay?"
"Rose," the Doctor nearly whined, gazing at her like a beseeching puppy.
"No, don't give me that look," Rose ordered. "Either you go back to bed, or….or the bananas in that fruit bowl will be replaced with pears. For six months."
"You wouldn't dare!" the Doctor exclaimed, now truly horrified.
"Do you want to risk it?" Rose challenged, folding her arms sternly.
"Threatening to ban marmalade was low, Rose Tyler," the Doctor sulked, reluctantly shuffling back to the bedroom they shared. "But replacing bananas with pears? That's just plain cruel."
As the Doctor disappeared into the bedroom, Rose felt a wave of sympathy for him. Christmas Eve was a miserable time to be sick, but to top it off, this was also most likely his first time actually getting sick. There was no way this could be easy on him. But while she couldn't do anything to make him better, she could do what she had to do to make it less of an ordeal. However, that meant that she'd be unable to leave the flat today. Not only would he probably need her to take care of him, but she also had to make sure he stayed in bed. She knew the Doctor, and he just didn't do very well at staying still for longer than five minutes. If she stepped out for even a second, the Doctor would probably see that as his chance to leave as well, and that just wasn't a good thing to do when you had a temperature as high as his.
Making a split second decision, Rose made her way to the phone and dialed up a number that she had long since memorized. She only had to wait for two rings before she was greeted by the familiar voice of Jake.
"Jake, it's Rose," she announced.
"Oh, hey, Rose," Jake responded, the smile evident in his voice. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas to you, too. Listen, Jake. Could you do me a favor and pick up a few things for me at the chemist? The Doctor just came down with a bad fever, and I don't want to leave in case he needs something."
"Oh, sure, no problem. I'm going to be passing by your place today anyway. What do you need?" Thinking back, Rose began requesting the things her mother used on her when she was sick as a child (and what she used now with Tony) from tomato soup and ginger ale to VapoRub and cough medicine, also adding tea to the list. As the Doctor himself had once said, 'Superheated infusion of free radicals and tannin.'
"How about something for his fever?" Jake suggested. Rose had to pause for a moment. Pain relievers might be a good idea, but she was still unsure about giving them to the Doctor. He was part-human now, but he was also still part-Time Lord, and that meant aspirin might still be toxic to him. They'd never really determined if it was still an issue, and she didn't want to take any chances.
"Yeah," Rose agreed finally. "Just get something that doesn't contain aspirin, okay?" It was better to play it safe, just in case.
"You got it. See you soon."
"Thanks, Jake. I'll have some money to pay for…"
"Forget about that. Think of it as part of my Christmas present to you two."
"Right. Thanks again."
"Don't mention it." Even after Jake had hung up, Rose didn't return the phone to its cradle. There was one more call she had to make.
When Rose entered the bedroom sometime later, carrying the Doctor's breakfast on a tray, she immediately spotted him sitting on the foot of the bed, clearly sulking.
"I just called Mum and Dad," she announced. "I let them know that we can't make it to their party tonight because you were sick. They said they understood, but I think Tony will be a little disappointed; you know how much he idolizes you." In response, the Doctor narrowed his eyes at her, displaying his dissatisfaction at being confined to their flat for Christmas Eve. "Don't give me that look," Rose sighed as she set the tray down on the bed next to him. "I know being sick isn't fun. The year before we met, I was sick on my birthday. Mum wouldn't let me get out of bed, either."
"I would think that the fact that you know what its like," the Doctor commented, "would enable you to not do the same to me." Rose started to smile as she reached out to cup his cheek, now rough from the beard he was starting to grow. She had been a little surprised when he'd announced his intention to grow one, but then he had explained that it was partially to differentiate himself from the other him. After that, Rose had understood completely. Besides, she was curious about how he'd look once it had completely grown in, and she couldn't pretend to object to the scruffy beginnings of his new beard, which, in a strange way, made him look even more attractive than ever.
"Sorry, Doctor," she apologized, "but I'm doing this because I love you, and I don't want to see you get sicker. Believe me; it is possible to get sicker." Reluctantly, the Doctor started to mirror Rose's smile before turning his attention to the tray.
"Are those banana pancakes?" he asked eagerly, leering at his breakfast. "With a glazed cinnamon roll?"
"Yeah, I thought that might cheer you up," Rose laughed. After all this time, he still had a limited attention span, especially if there were bananas and sweets involved. "Just don't leave the orange juice. Vitamin C, you know." The Doctor started to lift the glass of orange juice to down it in one go, but stopped to cast Rose a questioning glance.
"Have you eaten yet?" he asked. Before Rose could say anything, the Doctor was cutting the stack of pancakes into two even halves and nudging one half towards her.
"Doctor, that's your breakfast," Rose shook her head. "If you don't eat enough, you won't get better." In response, the Doctor cut a piece off the half he was trying to offer Rose and held it out to her with his fork expectantly.
"I am eating," he argued. "I'm just sharing with you. There's more than enough here. Come on, Rose, share with me. I wouldn't enjoy them anyway if I knew you didn't have any." Rose was about to point out that there was plenty of batter left in the kitchenette to make more pancakes, but lost her resolve when she glanced at the Doctor's face. Not only was he giving her that giant smile of his, the one that she never was able to resist, but he'd even employed his large chocolate brown eyes. Giving in, she allowed him to pop the pancake piece into her mouth and returned his smile as she swallowed it down.
Grinning even wider, the Doctor leaned over to give her a quick but loving kiss, one that Rose reciprocated. However, just when the Doctor was about to deepen the kiss, Rose stood up and started to leave the room.
"Where're you…?" the Doctor sputtered, gazing after her like a lost puppy.
"I'm just getting a second fork," Rose smiled, glancing back at him. "You were the one who wanted to share, remember?" The Doctor let out a quick chortle, which partially covered up another cough, as Rose disappeared from sight, returning a moment later with a fork in hand.
Sometime after the last of the pancakes had been eaten, Rose was at the sink washing the breakfast dishes. As she worked, the Doctor came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"You're beautiful when you're acting like a housewife," he stated, nuzzling her neck with his nose.
"Mmm," Rose smiled, leaning against him as he started placing tiny kisses over her exposed skin, completely forgetting to remind him that he should be in bed. "And you don't look too shabby yourself."
"So," he spoke into her ear. "Do you want to do something today? Maybe go for a walk?" Rose immediately turned to face him with mock sternness.
"Nice try, Doctor, but you're not going to get me to forget you're sick. Like it or not, you're not going anywhere. Look, you don't have to stay in bed, but you cannot leave the flat until your fever's gone."
"Oh, come on, Rose," the Doctor complained. "No one can spend all of Christmas Eve inside. Everything that would count as a Christmas activity is outside."
"Well, we'll just have to find some sort of Christmas activity to do inside."
"Like what," the Doctor questioned, clearly not convinced.
About an hour later, the Doctor was sitting on the couch, watching a Christmas special on the telly in the flat's den. Every so often, he glanced up at the clock in discouragement. They should have been at the Broadgate Ice Rink by now, holding hands and skating around with the other couples. Instead, he was stuck on the couch while Rose was in the kitchenette, making tea with the teabags Jake had brought over. It was looking as if it wouldn't be much of a Christmas Eve, after all.
As Rose carried the cups over to the couch, she couldn't help but notice the Doctor's brow was furrowed as he watched the special. She'd always loved watching him when he had that look, which was usually when he was tinkering with some piece of alien technology. There was just something enticing about it.
"Hasn't anyone ever pointed out how illogical this is?" he asked, smiling up at Rose as she handed him one of the mugs. "Someone who can melt any object he touches? Their body temperature would have to be impossibly high for them to do that."
"Well, this movie was made for kids," Rose pointed out, sitting down next to him as the Heat Miser's song and dance number ended. "In fact, this is Tony's favorite Christmas movie. He insists on seeing it every year, and then he'll sing the songs all day long.
"But I think Christmas Carol is playing on another station. We could watch that instead. I know how much you love Charles Dickens." At the mention of Charles Dickens, the Doctor smiled widely, remembering that adventure with Rose.
"You know, you really were beautiful in that dress," he beamed.
"For a human, you mean?" Rose asked in a teasing tone, her tongue peaking through her teeth.
"Beautiful for anyone," the Doctor corrected, leaning over to lay a kiss on her cheek. "Forget what that first me said; he was only trying to keep you at arms length because he was already falling for you."
"Is that right?" Rose pried, bumping him with her shoulder playfully.
"Oh, yeah," the Doctor insisted, gazing at her intently. "How could he not?" Returning his glance with equal passion, Rose reached out to playfully ruffle his hair. Grinning widely, the Doctor gently gripped her wrist and redirected her hand to his cheek. She could still feel he had a high fever, but at that moment, Rose just didn't care about that. Especially not when he was looking at her like that.
Before either of them knew it, Rose was laying back on the couch, the Doctor hovering over her as they kissed without any sign of stopping. Smiling into his mouth, Rose wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, with one hand lightly scratching at his scalp. In response, the Doctor slowly inched his fingers under the hem of Rose's sweater, his fingertips nimbly dancing over her warm, smooth skin. Before they could do anything further, however, there was a sudden knock at the front door, which opened an instant later.
"OI!" an unexpected, and extremely familiar, voice cried out, sending the Doctor tumbling off the couch in shocked surprise as Rose sat straight up.
"Lo, Jackie," the Doctor muttered without looking over, rubbing the back of his head which had hit the floor when he fell. Sure enough, there was Jackie Tyler, looking at the two with a stern glare, carrying a large tote bag in one hand while keeping a firm hold on Tony with the other.
"Mum? Rose blinked over at Jackie as she and Tony stepped into the den. "What are you doing here?"
"Your father told me you called, saying this one was sick," Jackie explained, jerking her head over at the Doctor as he pulled himself back onto the couch. "I decided that, since you two obviously weren't going to make it tonight, and that he'd probably be unable to go anywhere tomorrow, either, I should stop by to drop off your presents now. And of course, Tony wanted to see you, too, since he would have missed you both terribly at the party.
"And it's a good thing we did stop by," Jackie continued, as Tony plopped himself down in front of the Doctor, the two of them instantly grinning widely at each other in greeting. "I thought you said the Doctor was sick. So why isn't he in bed, where he belongs?"
"He was in bed," Rose explained. "But come on, Mum. This is the Doctor, remember? I can't even make him stay in bed. And he can take it easy and rest on the couch."
"Well, it didn't look like he was resting when I came in," Jackie noted, frowning in disproval before returning her attention to her tote bag, which contained four wrapped Christmas presents. "Here, Tony. Put the presents we brought for your sister and the Doctor under their tree, okay?"
"Yeah," Tony nodded obediently before starting to move the presents from his mother's tote bag to the artificial tree that was standing in the corner, one package at a time. As he placed the final box under the tree, he turned back to Rose and the Doctor, who were chatting with Jackie.
"How 'ome you have no orn'ments?" he asked in curiosity. Rose paused before answering, glancing over at the Doctor, who was gazing aimlessly at the ornamentless tree. The tree itself was bright blue in color, and the only decoration it held was a single lighted up star sitting at the top.
"It's…a long story," she replied. If Tony was disappointed by the lack of an answer, he gave no indication.
"Not to be rude, sweetheart," Jackie turned to Rose, "but we really can't stay long. I have to get back and help your father finish getting everything ready for the party tonight."
"Mom, I wanna stay an' 'alk wit' 'Ose and the Doc'or!" Tony exclaimed with wide eyes.
"Oh, don't worry, Tony," Jackie spoke to her small son. "You'll see them tomorrow morning when we all come and visit."
"That's right," Rose agreed, paying no attention to the Doctor's aghast expression at the thought of Jackie visiting them two days in a row. "Besides, the Doctor's sick right now. We don't want you catching his cold, too."
"Okay," Tony gave in, slightly sulking, but he still returned Rose's goodbye hug before waving to the Doctor as he left the flat with his mother.
Once Jackie and Tony had left to return to the Tyler mansion, Rose happened to glance at the clock and saw that it was already after noon.
"Well, I suppose it's time for lunch, isn't it?" she asked, smiling over at the Doctor. "Jake brought over some cans of tomato soup. How does that sound?"
"Soup?" The Doctor's eyes widened instantly. He'd suddenly remembered the reservations he'd made at Skylon, and his discouragement had returned immediately. They should have been sitting at a table overlooking the River Thames, enjoying roast turkey supreme, traditional garnish, stuffing, sprouts and chipolatas. Instead, they were going to be sitting in their flat, eating plain old soup.
"What's wrong with soup?" Rose asked, staring at him. She understood that he was disappointed about being sick on Christmas Eve, but she couldn't see how that would warrant getting upset about having soup for lunch.
"Nothing," the Doctor answered unconvincingly.
"Don't give me that," Rose ordered. "I know you too well, Doctor. Remember that. I know something's bothering you, and it can't just be because you're sick for the first time. So, what is wrong?"
"It's Christmas Eve, Rose," the Doctor cried, ruffling his hair in frustration. "Christmas Eve! We should be out there enjoying the day, going skating, exploring the London shops, and eating out at an actual restaurant. Instead, we're stuck here in this flat, watching cheesy Christmas specials that are completely implausible, and eating soup. I don't care if my Christmas is ruined; I'm used to it by now. But you deserve the best Christmas you can possibly have. And because I'm half-human, and sick, you can't even have a good Christmas, because you're stuck inside, too. And it's all because of me." Rose remained silent through the Doctor's venting, gaping at him in amazement and sympathy.
"That's why you've been so upset?" she blinked before being seized by a sudden suspicion. "You weren't planning a whole Christmas Eve itinerary behind my back, were you?" The Doctor didn't need to answer for Rose to realize that's exactly what he had done; his expression gave it all away. "Oh, Doctor, you still don't get it, do you? I thought I'd gotten you to understand back on Krop Tor. It didn't matter if I was out there seeing the stars or living a normal day-to-day life. Yeah, I did enjoy seeing all the aliens and spaceships and things, but the only thing that really mattered to me was that you were there with me. As long as I had you, I wouldn't care what came with it.
"And it's the same thing now, don't you see? It doesn't matter to me at all if my Christmas is absolutely perfect or a complete disaster. In fact, there is no such thing as a perfect Christmas. There's always something that goes wrong or doesn't happen exactly the way you wanted. Doctor, the only thing I need to have a good Christmas is to have you to share it with. Why do you think I never really enjoyed the last few Christmases I've had here? Even though they would have seemed to be the ideal Christmas to everyone else, I couldn't enjoy them because you weren't there to hold my hand."
For the longest time, the Doctor sat there, looking completely gobsmacked, but he eventually looked away, glancing at his feet.
"I didn't enjoy my last two Christmases, either," he admitted. "And not just because they always seemed to involve the Earth in danger. Because those two Christmases I shared with you…."
"First the Gelth, then the Sycorax," Rose nodded.
"Exactly," the Doctor continued. "Even with all of that, I still couldn't help but enjoy Christmas, because you were there. But…after you…you left," Rose could see the Doctor swallow hard, nearly doing the same herself, "Without you there, there was nothing to counter the threat of the invasions.
"You know, I didn't really take part in Christmas before we met. The closest I ever came to celebrating it was a long time ago, when I shared a drink with some old friends, but that doesn't really count. So, I suppose the only good Christmases I've had were the ones I got to share with you." Smiling tenderly after the Doctor's confession, Rose snuggled up next to him, hugging him tightly. In response, the Doctor wrapped an arm around her shoulder before laying a kiss on the top of her head.
For the rest of the day, Rose and the Doctor filled their time with relating personal stories about their past Christmases, while sharing the tomato soup Rose had heated up. The Doctor had to fight a grin when Rose brought up the Christmas when she had been twelve, pointing out that he'd never fully explained his casual comment about that red bicycle. She finished off by talking about that last Christmas before the dimensional cannon started working, during which she and Mickey had helped Tony bake some cookies to leave for Santa, and they had all ended up completely covered in flour, due to Tony's over-exuberance with the flour sifter. The Doctor instinctively took her hand and gave it a slight squeeze, seeing that she was now thinking about Mickey, and no doubt missing her once-longtime friend.
When Rose was finished with her stories, the Doctor went into the few Christmases he'd experienced after the Battle of Canary Warf. They both knew Rose already knew the broad scope of what had happened because of her dimensional jumps, but she wasn't completely sure of what it had been like for him personally. For that reason, he told her all about being on the Titanic, and about Morvin and Foon van Hoff, Mr. Cooper, and of Astrid and the sacrifice she'd made, before mentioning how he finally had met someone called Alonzo in an attempt to perk things up a bit. But his mood soon fell back to sorrowful as he started explaining about the events he'd dealt with immediately after the first visit to Bad Wolf Bay, about his first adventure with Donna. Rose had immediately wrapped her arms around him as he started talking about that Christmas. It was no secret that he missed Donna terribly, and hated that there was only one way she could live after absorbing the mind of a Time Lord. Rose completely understood that Donna's inevitable fate was an emotional scar for him that would never completely heal.
Finally, the Doctor had finished talking about those two Christmases he'd experienced without Rose. By that time, the sun had completely set and the sky outside was dark, but they were both enjoying each other's company, they hardly cared about the time. That is, until Rose happened to glance at the window and her eyes widened.
"I don't believe it," she whispered, getting to her feet and stepping over to look outside. "Doctor, come look at this." Slightly confused, the Doctor joined Rose at the window. It was a moment before he saw what had interested Rose. It was hard to see against the black sky, but in the light of the streetlamps that lined the street, he could make out tiny white flakes swirling through the night breeze.
"Real snow on Christmas," the Doctor laughed in appreciation. "Well, that's a first for us, isn't it?"
"It's beautiful," Rose agreed, hugging his arm tightly. Grinning widely, the Doctor stood by the window with Rose for a long time, watching the snow. It was indeed a beautiful sight, and it couldn't even be marred by the fact that no stars could currently be seen in the sky.
Stars! The moment he thought about the stars, he remembered that Christmas surprise he had wanted to share with Rose. While he had to admit that this Christmas Eve had been just fine without the Broadgate Ice Rink or dinner at Skylon, this was not an event he was willing to forget about.
"Rose," he turned to her with an almost manic grin. "I'd almost forgot. There's something I've wanted to give you all day."
"What is it?" Rose was unable to help from getting excited after seeing him like this. His eagerness had always been contagious.
"Even though my other plans for Christmas Eve never pulled through," the Doctor stated, the smile never leaving his face, "this is something that I can do exactly, weeellll, almost exactly like I'd planned out. Just wait here, okay?" In moments, the Doctor had disappeared into their bedroom, returning a moment later with a tiny square present wrapped in blue paper with a yellow bow. In his hand, he also carried the new sonic screwdriver he'd constructed, which wasn't quite like his old one, but still maintained most of the same features. Without pausing to explain, he pointed the screwdriver at the fireplace in the den, and a fire started instantly.
"Perfect," the Doctor grinned, grabbing Rose's hand and directing her to the outer hearth where they both sat down.
"So, what's this all about, Doctor?" Rose asked, glancing at the present in the Doctor's hand.
"I actually could have given you this a few days ago, the Doctor started explaining, holding up the tiny present. "But I thought it would be best to wait until tonight, and give it to you as a Christmas present, and a special surprise." The Doctor's smile was wide enough to split his face as he passed it over to Rose. Very slowly, she unwrapped the present to find it contained a fashion necklace box. Her curiosity doubling, she flipped open the top and found a small silver key carefully tucked inside. The key, which was fastened to a silver chain, looked almost like a skeleton key, with the bow's design matching the Seal of Rassilon. Immediately, Rose looked up at the Doctor in amazement, and found that he was beaming at her.
"Doctor," Rose's voice shook with suppressed emotion. "Is this what I think it is?"
"Oh, Donna's instructions were brilliant," the Doctor grinned. "She finished growing five days ago. But she won't actually be complete until she forms an imprint that will give her a symbiotic link to her pilots. I thought that could wait until we're both there, since she will be our TARDIS." Barely containing her excitement, Rose threw her arms around his neck, kissing him in joy and being met with a passionate response.
"Of course," the Doctor winked after they'd come up for air, "once that's done, there is still the problem of her maiden voyage into the time vortex." As he said this, the Doctor gave Rose a look, one that she instantly knew to mean he was asking her to choose where that maiden voyage would take them. Biting her lip in joy, Rose took his hand and led him to the window. With a cheeky grin she pointed up at a random point in the night sky.
"That way," she stated. "No, hold on. That way." Looking back at the Doctor, she found that he was gazing at her in amusement and admiration.
"Yeah," he chuckled. "That way."
Returning their attention to the night sky, Rose leaned up against the Doctor, who wrapped his arms around her waist.
"You know," Rose whispered as the Doctor rested his chin atop her head. "I think I was wrong about what I said earlier."
"About what?" the Doctor asked, slightly frowning in confusion.
"About there not being such a thing as a perfect Christmas. You being sick or not, I'm still sharing it with you, yeah?"
"Yeah," the Doctor smiled in satisfaction. "Merry Christmas, Rose Tyler."
"Merry Christmas to you, too, my Doctor."