The Dinner Party

By Ladyisis

Rated T (Just to be on the safe side)

Synopsis: Set after the end of series 4 on Parallel Earth. The Doctor finds himself in unknown territory.

Warnings: None

Disclaimer: Doctor Who is owned by the bigwigs at the BBC, not me sadly.

The Doctor squeezed his companion's hand that little bit tighter as they neared their target.

"Rose, I'm sure I have some paper work that needs seeing to before tomorrow," he trailed off in a final attempt to escape his fate that night.

"Now, now! They don't bite," she smirked, making a subtle reference to one of their previous adventures.

The Doctor did not reply, perhaps contemplating outright bolting as they ascended the snow covered steps to a large and festively decorated house. As they stood awaiting a response from their knock, Rose nudged him in annoyance as he hopped his weight from one leg to the other, like a nervous twitch. He stopped and plastered one of his huge cheeky grins on his face as the door opened and they were beckoned in, out of the snow.

"Come in! Come in!" Rose's friend Mel trilled happily, taking their coats. "So glad you made it, I was starting to think the snow had beaten you!"

"The Snow?" The Doctor began, but a single glance at Rose silenced him as he plunged his hands in his pockets and continued to mooch around the hallway nosily.

'Beaten by Snow?' he scoffed inwardly, 'I've faced Daleks, love! Slitheen! Even the devil himself. Well supposed devil, still don't know quite where my thoughts lie on that one…anyway, point is, I don't think a bit of snow is going to… ahhh that's why she wanted me to shut up,' his inner dialogue told him.

He squinted at a few photos and tried to amuse himself while Rose and her friend waffled on about something he was sure to be very interesting, just not very interesting to him.

"Oh and Rose you should see her little hands, I've never seen such an adorable little baby…"

'Yikes,' The Doctor phased them out again, thinking this perhaps not the time to rejoin the conversation after all.

A few minutes later and he heard Mel say, "…But anyway let's not stand in the hallway all night, come on in."

At this safe topic he retook his place by Rose's side and they followed the woman through to a sitting room.

"Of course you know Anna and James, Claudia and Peter, Tallulah and Aaron…"

'No, Nope, Tallulah?' his grin unconsciously widened.

"…Claire and Daniel, Magda and Jeremy, Sandra and Bruce. Oh and Matthew's in the kitchen," she referred finally to her own husband.

'Christ how many people can you fit around your table?' he thought to himself as he nodded to each couple politely, 'And no, actually I don't know any of these people! And Rose never warned me this would be a coupley thing. She knows how I feel about coupley things! It's all just so… domestic!' he cringed on behalf of his ninth regeneration.

"So, John, Rose tells us you're a schoolteacher. What age are the children you teach?" one woman addressed him over her wineglass.

'Schoolteacher?' he fumed silently.

"Actually, Sandra…" The Doctor began, only to be cut off by Rose coughing quietly.

"Claire," she whispered under her breath.

"Actually Claire," he corrected, "I'm a lecturer at Oxford University, not a GCSE Science teacher."

"I teach Science at GCSE level," Bruce piped up in mild annoyance.

"Fantastic!" The Doctor smiled, "Good for you, shaping the minds of tomorrow!"

"Actually, it's mostly just trying to get them all to sit down at the same time," Bruce trailed off dejectedly.

"Right," The Doctor tried to keep his awkward smile.

'Save me! Anyone!' he screamed internally as he took a gulp of red wine.

"Anything I can do Matthew?" The Doctor asked one of only three people he actually knew at this party.

"John, Hi! Seeking escape already?" Matthew chuckled.

"Not at all," he lied, indicating his empty glass, the glass he'd emptied speedily to find an excuse to leave the room to begin with.

"Hey, why do you think I offered to cook? It's a battlefield in there," Matthew nodded his head towards the sitting room as they both grinned knowingly. "You know what, actually you could watch this lot for me while I take out all of this rubbish," he gestured the bubbling pans and flickering grill.

The Doctor nodded and refilled his glass, leaning casually on the kitchen counter.

Matthew gathered up several bags and took them out of the back door to the bins.

Silence. 'Ahh isn't it golden? It truly is,' the Doctor mused as he sipped lazily.

He was suddenly startled by a pop and a hiss, but soon regained his composure when he realised it was just some fat under the grill. 'So what have we here…' he browsed the kitchen counter, prying open some containers with strange looking desserts within, 'What in all the Earths in every parallel universe in existence is THAT! Dessert? I'll have to plead that dinner was so sumptuously delicious that I could not possibly eat anything on top of it! Hmmm, maybe Rose will let me stop off for some chips on the way home…'

Another pop, another hiss.

'Nope, nothing, nada,' he concluded as he finished his inspection, 'Not an edible ball bearing in sight. Shame. Maybe they were never invented here…Nooo! Can't be thinking like that. Well maybe I'll have to invent them myself! It's not half warm in here...'

"Argh!" he exclaimed, aloud this time as the popping and hissing got louder and the flames got higher.

'It's one thing telling me to watch the grill, but not telling me what to do if it does all go titanic!'

The Doctor grabbed a tea towel and flapped pathetically at the problem at hand. "Bollocks," he uttered, marvelling at how quickly he'd slumped into the human weakness of profanity, as his actions only served to worsen the situation.

"Doctor what on Earth…!" Rose cut her query short as she snatched the tea towel from him and wet it, placing it calmly over the fire.

They both let out a breath of relief when it killed the flames. He looked at his shoes, not his old trainers, but some shiny new black dress shoes. He didn't like them, it was just another change he had to make to prove he wasn't him, he wasn't The Doctor. Not any more. His gaze was cast downward partially because of his embarrassment at not being able to control the situation, but also in part he was waiting for Rose to notice the mistake in her address.

'Tick, tock, tick, tock…' his mind waited as he covertly watched her stare at the smoking grill pan.

Eventually, when she had processed the absurdity of what had just happened she took a sharp intake of breath.

'…tock, ah there it is, the penny's dropped…'

"John I'm sorry," she turned to him, pleading.

He smiled grimly. 'What should I say? That it doesn't matter?'

He turned his grave expression upon the grill pan. 'Maybe Jackie was right,' he stopped dead at the irony and gave a short laugh, causing Rose's brow to furrow all the more in confusion, 'She's right, I can't do normal. It's absolutely, one hundred and one percent impossible for me to function as a normal human being.'

"John, you know I don't still see you as him… it's just, well, it's exactly the kind of stupid thing he'd do," she chuckled nervously, "My brain went into auto-pilot, you aren't angry are you?"

'Yes, well no, well I don't know really. I thought we were past all this.' He settled for scrunching up his nose and shaking his head in a non-committal way then left abruptly as he heard the backdoor open again. 'Suddenly that battlefield seems like a good place to hide,' he reasoned.

"Here you go Rose," one of the women offered, placing a newborn in her arms.

The Doctor watched cautiously, scooting away ever so slightly. 'Out of puking range,' he reasoned. Rose had gone looking for her friend, they had left the noisy conversation and found her in another room downstairs. A quiet room. He was unsure as to why he'd been dragged along too but now had his suspicions.

"Oh Sandra she's absolutely beautiful," Rose gushed, "Oh John isn't she lovely?"

"Mm-Hmm," he agreed without really looking at the babe, the entire thing being a bit intimidating if he was honest, something he knew he had to conquer if they were to have any real future together. He was just so used to resisting his feelings, before this second chance presented itself.

Sandra was rummaging through a bag while Rose rocked the infant, cooing softly and a smile lighting up her face. And one crept upon his own despite his determined grump. They had faced death on a daily basis in the past, living that way you think you know a person inside out, but experiencing the mundane with her since their exile on this parallel Earth was showing him sides that he hadn't seen before. They were still learning about one another after all this time.

"Damn, it must still be in the car," Sandra muttered, closing the huge bag full of baby items. "Rose are you coming? We still haven't had a proper catch-up tonight, I'm sure John can watch Missy for two minutes."

"No!" both The Doctor and Rose urged together, each silently picturing the grill pan incident.

"Um, I just don't want to put her down," Rose offered when the poor woman looked slightly concerned at their outburst.

Nodding, Sandra left to search the car for the baby's dummy. Missy soon began to scrunch up her face in a disgruntled manner. Rose didn't notice, she was lost in a haze of fantastical thought.

When she was with The Doctor, she knew she loved him, therefore she knew she would never have a child. She resigned herself to a lifetime travelling by his side, but understood the sacrifices that had to be made. But now everything was different. At first it was hard to deal with, knowing The Doctor was still out there in his TARDIS roaming the universe. But one day it all just fell into place, John was here, a gift from him so that she could have the happily ever after he never could.

It was early, far too early to truly discuss such things as children, but they were together, and he loved her. Surely that was a good indication that one day it could happen. He had nothing to fear beyond what any other mortal man would.

The baby began to writhe and cry, pulling her rudely from her musings. She rocked and paced but nothing would calm her. "Shhh, Shhh Missy. It's alright, don't cry. John I don't think she likes me," she brokenly admitted, her dreams of being a maternal goddess torn in two.

"Don't be daft," he voiced, but continued to detach himself, leaning against an armchair in the dim room and crossing his arms.

Rose, with her inexperience, continued to soothe the little girl unsuccessfully, going to the window to try to catch a glimpse of Sandra, but she couldn't see her. "I'm gonna have to go get Bruce," Rose sighed as the babe turned an ugly red with the force of her tears.

'This is just what she expects from me. From HIM. Just push the boat out, do something The Doctor wouldn't…'

"Give it here," The Doctor reluctantly held out his hand as she made to leave and retrieve Missy's Father.

Rose looked at him worriedly, she wasn't handing him his screwdriver, you would have thought it by his request however. She was also slightly unnerved by his referring to the baby as 'it'.

'Trust me, Rose,' he begged silently.

Anyone who has ever had children cannot stand the shrill cry of a newborn. It affects parents in a way that it can't touch those without their own offspring. Apart from his need to prove himself as a person in his own right, The Doctor felt this parental gene kick in then. He felt an overwhelming need to just soothe.

"Come on, come on," he urged impatiently.

Reluctantly she lay the screaming baby in The Doctor's arms as if she was made of glass. He grasped her firmly and turned her to sit up on his now bent knee, holding her one-handed across the chest and supporting her chin.

"Oh my goodness! She's only three weeks old John, she can't sit up yet," Rose trembled.

When she suggested he might want to sit down rather than balance her precariously as he was he sighed in slight frustration. He rubbed Missy's back in circles, trying to ignore Rose's protestations. Then with a few firm pats to her back, at which he thought Rose may actually faint, the baby burped loudly and milk trickled out of her mouth and settled into a nice puddle on his suit trousers.

"Weyhey, there it is! See, I'm not completely useless," he grinned triumphantly, handing her out for Rose to take back.

She had stopped babbling incoherently but looked a bit shocked so he decided to keep the baby in his possession for the time being. Missy stopped crying instantly and he picked her up, settling her against his shoulder.

"Just a bit of wind, we all get that Missy," he smirked as the baby chuckled, "Rose could you pass me a muslin or a wipe," he pointed to the baby bag.

He held Missy under her bottom against him with one hand and held out the other for the cloth. He gave up when Rose insisted he have two hands on the baby at all times and proceeded to mop up the deposit on his thigh for him. His frustration fled him as she laid her head on his opposite shoulder, the first sign of affection she'd shown him all evening.

"It's been a long time since I experienced this feeling," The Doctor mused aloud.

Rose shivered, of course, he'd been a Father himself once. She felt awful for treating him like an amateur. She moved to look into his eyes, dark and distant they were as she whispered, "The feeling of being a family? Of holding your own children?"

"Hmmm?" his orbs came back into focus and settled on her as his brows rose. "No, no, no," he grinned one of his maniacal grins and added, "I've not experienced this feeling for many, many years Rose. This feeling of baby sick seeping through your clothes. You're in a permanent state of it for the first year you know."

Her mouth gaped in astonishment, but then she smiled, mock smacking him on the shoulder she had laid upon. Her anxiety had dissipated completely and she joined him in moving to sit on one of the sofas in the dark. As she laid her head back on his shoulder she looked upon Missy affectionately, the baby's eyes were drooping as she steadily fell asleep listening to the steady rhythm of The Doctor's single heart.

"Do you ever…" Rose began slowly, pausing to find the right words.

He urged her to continue.

"Do you ever think you could do it all again?"

"This?" he asked, indicating the baby.

He became thoughtful again, his mind wandering back to Messaline, the planet where Jenny had been created from his own flesh and blood. He believed then with all certainty that that side of himself had died and could never be resuscitated. But now things did not seem so black and white. 'Could I? Perhaps Donna was right, perhaps I was wrong after all…'

"It's hard work Rose, but it's worth every bit of it."

Cryptic but positive, she deduced. They sat curled up contentedly for a few minutes, then Sandra came hurriedly through the doorway.

"I'm so sorry it took so long, I found it on the floor in the car so I had to re-sterilise it, was she alright for you?" Sandra asked but hushed when she saw her daughter was finally off to sleep. "That's a miracle," she breathed, flopping in another chair, "She never goes to sleep without her dummy," she said as she held up the offending item.

Rose smiled, trying to keep any smugness at bay. She was incredibly proud of him, and seeing as he was obviously a prime example of paternal perfection maybe the lack of maternal goddess in her could be countered by that.

The Doctor glanced around the dinner table at the other guests to gauge their reaction as their plates were produced. 'I hope they like their steaks well done,' he mused, guilt and mirth duelling for dominance within him.

Glancing at Rose however he felt relieved as she attempted to rein in the smile forming involuntarily at the corners of her mouth. So many thoughts had bothered him since the incident in the kitchen earlier. Was she angry with him? Embarrassed by him? She probably wasn't impressed at having been deserted to explain to Matthew what had happened. But to his astonishment her mood had actually improved.

She had been so nervous all afternoon, snapping at him, preening him constantly, adjusting his tie. It was the first time they were really doing something with others as a couple. He was concerned that he wouldn't live up to what her friends were expecting, and he was even more concerned that Rose shared this thought. Rose had been living here for some time after they were parted. He made new friends in Martha and Donna, Rose made new friends here. He was still getting used to this place and the people in it.

As they started to eat, some of the others started to talk about their jobs and their kids. Once more The Doctor found himself having to concentrate really hard just to listen and keep his mind from wandering off. 'Normally this would be where I start an interesting conversation. I wonder if they know this day is the only day in every five hundred years that Daxus Nine's moon turns red. You'd have to wait five lifetime's to see that again, well, only three if they were a Daxun. Or perhaps they'd be interested in starting a debate about whether the mating rituals on Harboo really do breach the inter-planetary non-aggression treaties of the Neral Galaxy, or is the High Council just blowing things out of proportion?'

"Well, that's me done!" he placed his fork down with a clink and held his belly in feign contented bloatiness, "Fantastic steak Matthew, but my goodness I couldn't eat another bite!"

'Except perhaps a Chicken kebab with extra chilli sauce, oh yes, got to have plenty of chilli sauce…and chips! Don't forget the chips!'

"Thank you John, sorry it was a bit crispy," Mel shot a glare at her husband, assuming him responsible for the dire serving.

The Doctor congratulated himself on escaping the horror of eating those awful looking tart-like things.

"You are a traitor," Rose accused.

"What?" he exclaimed, "What are you banging on about?"

"Thanks to your forfeiting your portion of the custard and ginger tartlets, I had to eat more!"

"You didn't have to," he smirked.

"Didn't have…" she began to repeat in exaggerated mock annoyance, "I could hardly refuse after you told Mel they were my favourites!"

The Doctor's grin grew threefold, "Oh yes, so I did."

He dodged her swinging handbag effectively then rejoined her side, linking their arms as they paced the snow-covered pavement. "The evening didn't go too badly," he commented positively, "Well, that is if you don't count the fire or the baby puke, or that incident with Bruce's hairpiece," he paused as Rose's arm tightened on his, she slightly supporting herself on him as she laughed out loud.

"Poor Bruce," she sympathised with the teacher, wiping tears of mirth from the corners of her eyes, "I hope he can get a replacement before Monday, kids can be so cruel."

"Well, I have learnt one thing tonight," he mused as they approached home.

"What's that?" his companion smiled.

"That this body cannot hold half the alcohol my old one could," he laughed as he scooped her up in his arms and started to carry her up the steps to the front door.

It was a romantic gesture gone horribly wrong as he stumbled backwards and landed on his backside in a snow-drenched flowerbed. Now laughing hysterically, having landed safely in his lap Rose could barely speak though her amusement, "I would have taken your word for it John, you didn't need to go and prove it to me!"

"Argh!" he voiced his displeasure at the wetness he'd landed in.

'Think it's funny do you Miss Tyler? Well I don't see why you should stay dry…' The Doctor pushed her abruptly off of him and revelled in the shocked squeak as she landed in the snow beside him.

As her shock melted into giggles again he nudged her onto her back. He shivered however when she instinctively arched her back off the ground, out of the snow, pressing up against him as he leaned over her in a hazy daze. 'Definately can't hold my drink.'

His laughter fizzled out, his eyes fixed on hers, his single heartbeat drummed loudly in his ears, but when he moved to kiss her she averted his lips and chuckled. He pulled back, crestfallen, leaning on his forearms as he hovered above her. 'What?' he questioned in his mind, and she answered.

"John, you know I hate chilli sauce," she smiled up at him again.

His trademark grin returned as he hoisted himself up, pulling her with him. He took the keys from his pocket and dropped them three times on the doorstep before managing open the door.

Rose entered the kitchen and put the kettle on, waiting for it to boil she fought the fluttering butterflies assailing her innards. 'Could tonight be the night?' she asks herself, contemplating the depth of his eyes as he'd made to kiss her just moments ago. 'Is he finally ready?'

"Have I not been a good boy this evening?" he asks cheekily as he reappears, speaking around his toothbrush.

"You were brilliant," she mirrors the words he often used to speak to her, "Finish brushing your teeth and you can have your treat," she tries to keep a strait face as his eyebrows fly up in surprise.

He soon composes himself, but not enough to speak. He brushes furiously with one hand and makes a 'just a minute' gesture with the other as he backs out of the room.

Rose turned back to the kettle as it turned itself off, fully boiled. 'Sod the tea,' she mused, searching for any alcohol they may have lingering in the house, 'I'm going to need something stronger, it's easy for John, I'm not half as drunk as he…' she stopped dejectedly.

Her mind knew she had to tell him no. Not tonight, not when he was in such a terrible drunken state. She wanted to cry, she'd waited so long. But she had to insist. She'd seen the look of determination on his face however, and when the Doctor was determined, when John was determined… 'No, I must be strong, I'm going to march into the bathroom and tell him…'

Rose didn't get as far as the bathroom, walking through the bedroom she found him crashed out on his front on the bed, toothbrush still planted firmly in his snoring mouth.

"Oh John," she sighed affectionately, but disappointedly as she sat beside him.

Raking her fingers through his hair, a new favourite past time of hers, she smiled despite herself. She extracted the toothbrush and replaced it next to hers, something that was still a novelty, then with great difficulty attempted to rid him of his snow-soaked garments, tucking him in like a child and kissing his crown.

Whereas the Doctor would have woken at the slightest movement in the room, John never ceased his snoring. Rose dressed for bed and climbed in beside him, there still being a tangible gap between them. For three weeks he'd been the last thing she saw before sleep, and she thought the same words she'd thought every night of those three weeks just before drifting off. 'Maybe tomorrow.'

The End

Please let me know what you think! Isis x