So here is the first in my series of one-shots wherein the Doctor shows domestic tendencies: some of them will be really obvious and other times it might just be a mention. Most will be fluffy; some will be happy and fun; others will be sad and angsty. Most will be TenXRose, although I have a NineXRose ready to post next time.

I hope you enjoy reading them. I am certainly enjoying writing them, and if you have any ideas for other scenarios that I might consider, please PM me (just not TenToo ones, because I feel that he HAS to do domestic anyway.) And just in case you didn't know, I don't own Doctor Who or any of the characters, it's just lots of fun to create stories about them.

This one is TenXRose (my OTP!)

Louise

Surprise

The sound of an explosion rattled through the T.A.R.D.I.S., jerking Rose abruptly out of a deep sleep. Ready to run, as she always was since she had been travelling with the Doctor, she leaped from her bed and flew out of her bedroom, into the hallway. Another explosion! Followed by a string of what Rose could only interpret as Gallifreyan expletives, told her that the turmoil was not originating from the console room as she would have expected, but from the direction of the galley. Heart pounding, she started off toward the commotion but was brought up short by the presence of the T.A.R.D.I.S. in her mind: a calm reassurance with an underlying tickle of amusement. Rose sighed in relief, "Thanks, old girl," she murmured, placing her hand gently against the warm wall of the time machine. "Now how 'bout I find out what that daft alien is up to, yeah."

Rose adopted a stealthy approach, tiptoeing down the hallway to the galley. The explosions had stopped, but she heard the Doctor's sonic screwdriver buzzing and, intermittently, his voice still uttering profanities under his breath. Peeking through the galley doorway, Rose quickly stifled an astonished exclamation (and a fit of the giggles) at the sight before her: the aftermath of the Oncoming Storm.

The entire room was coated in what appeared to be flour, cocoa, and globs of batter. Milk was spilled over the counter, dripping aimlessly onto the floor, and banana skins were draped over various surfaces. The fridge door was hanging off its hinges, and its contents had tumbled out. Broken eggs and empty egg shells were scattered throughout the space, and the oven was emitting lazy streamers of smoke.

In the very centre of the carnage stood the Time Lord himself: he was running his hands through his spiky, flour-coated hair in frustration, and his face was the picture of misery. A banana peel dangled pointlessly from his pinstriped shoulder. Rose felt her heart swell with compassion, as she watched him pull a smoking baking tin from the oven and slump hopelessly against the countertop. "Oh, my Doctor, what are you up to?" she muttered when he tossed the charred remains into the sink. Normally she would have wasted no time in taking advantage of the opportunity to poke some fun at him, but something about his demeanor warned her against this. Somehow, she knew that, today, it would devastate him to have her see him like this.

She was about to turn away and slip back to her room when she saw him pull her mobile from his suit jacket pocket and dial one of the pre-set numbers. Before she had time to contemplate how he had got a hold of her phone, she became engrossed by the conversation that she overheard and an expression of bemusement spread across her face.

"No, Jackie, it's me … yes, sorry, I know it's late. I forgot: lose track of time, sometimes."

"No, no, she's fine, amazing, brilliant, actually," he tugged on his ear nervously. "Actually, it's just that … um, weeeeellll, I, uh –"

"– need your help." There was a long pause as he listened to the response on the other end of the line. A frown creased his forehead, and his eyes gradually darkened in anger.

"WHAT? WHAT? Apologise for what?"

"No, no, no, no! Don't hang up, Jackie! Jackie! Urggh!" he snapped the phone closed and grumbled more Gallifreyan curses. "Can't believe she hung up on me. ME!" he exclaimed, kicking an upturned bowl across the floor in a temper. "Now what am I going to do?"

Rose considered that he might like to start cleaning up the catastrophic mess around him, but instead, he crossed his arms, stuck out his lower lip, and pouted like a little boy who had been sent to his room. It was all she could do to resist stepping out of the shadows and give him a hug. Maybe she could even brush some of the flour and cocoa out of that gorgeous hair … mmmmmm. She was shaken out of her reverie when he pulled out the phone again.

With a sigh, he dialed, "Alright, I'm sorry."

He gritted his teeth at Jackie's response, "I'm sorry I tried to improve the function of your toaster..."

"WHAT? It's a screwdriver!" his voice took on an angry edge again.

"Noooooo! No, Jackie, please, don't hang up!" He took a deep breath to calm himself, and mumbled into the phone, "I'm sorry that I ruined your toaster, Jackie. But really these human inventions are so inefficient –"

"I promise."

"Really, Jackie, I promise, I'll never try to help again. Please, will you help me? I don't know where else to go …"

"Now, that wasn't very nice, Jackie! After all, I did apologise. Never in my more than nine hundred years have I had to apologize to someone's mother. No, don't go, Jackie, please! It's for Rose!" he shouted in desperation.

"Well, it's her Birthday tomorrow, as I'm sure you know –"

"No, I wasn't trying to be rude. Of course you'd remember! Do you want to know what I want help with or not?"

"Well, fine, then! I shouldn't have bothered." His tone turned defeated, "Oh, by the way, I'm sure she'll want to drop by sometime tomorrow so she can celebrate with you. S'pose we'll see you then." He hung up, and despondently began to pick up some of the debris from the counter.

Rose was ready to step out and reveal herself, when the mobile rang. The Doctor stared at the call display, groaned, and answered it. "Hnnnn," he grunted, uncharacteristically tight-lipped.

"Oh, Jackie! Really? You'll help?" he grinned enthusiastically, making Rose's heart do a little backflip.

"Oh, right! Well, it's Rose's Birthday –"

"I'm not trying to be condescending. But I am rather brilliant –"

"Yes, I do need your help, Jackie. I am very clever, but I'm afraid that I do need your help with something –"

"I've been trying to bake Rose a chocolate-banana birthday cake, and, weeeell, it's hopeless. A disaster, really. Please, Jackie. Will you help me? I just wanted to do something personal from me to her, to let her know that I lo-," he stammered, and Rose caught her breath, "… well, because she's, she's Rose."

"I'll be right over! Oh, and could we decorate it with those edible ball-bearings? Amazing, they are! And you are, too, Jackie!"

"Right, I'll see you in one minute, 3 point 6 seconds!"

Rose quickly ducked deeper into the shadows around the doorway as the Doctor rushed by, heading toward the console room, oblivious to her presence. Rose made her way back to her room with a smile plastered on her face. And, as she felt the T.A.R.D.I.S. land she was curling up under her covers and drifting off to sleep, again.

The next morning, she awoke to the Doctor standing by the side of her bed with a manic grin lighting his face, his hands behind his back. "Happy Birthday, Rose Tyler!"

She smiled up at him from under her sleep-tousled hair, and struggled to sit up. She blushed a little, "You remembered!"

"Rose Tyler, how could I forget to celebrate the most important day in the Universe?"

As she felt the heat of her blush increase even more, he pulled the finished cake from behind his back with one hand, and a little package, neatly wrapped in T.A.R.D.I.S.-blue paper, in the other. He bounced on his toes, waiting for her approval, and she obliged him by beaming at him with a little laugh. "For me? Where did you get the cake, Doctor?"

"Rose," he put on a show of being mock-offended, "I baked it myself, of course! It's banana-chocolate, and look: covered in edible ball-bearings. Only the best for you!"

She shook her head lovingly at his little lie, because she realized that it didn't really matter. He had sacrificed so much of his pride to make that cake just for her, and she loved him so much for it. "Oh, you put candles on it, too!"

"Twenty-one, my Precious Girl."

"Oh, let's light them and I can blow them out and make my wish! And open my present," she laughed. "And we can have cake for breakfast!"

"That we can! And we'll visit Jackie later so you can celebrate together. Would you like that?" he asked as he soniced the candles alight.

"That would be nice," she agreed with a little smirk. "You'll come too, won't you? I know she's probably still angry about the toaster …"

"For you, Rose, I would happily face one hundred angry Jackie Tylers."

And as Rose blew out the candles, she wished for forever with her Doctor.