A/N: This story takes place five years after Rage Against the Dying of the Light.
Chapter One
"Children!" the Doctor called up the stairs as he shrugged his trench coat over his black pinstriped suit. "Hurry up, we're about to leave!"
The Doctor adjusted his tie, loosening it a bit around the neck of his maroon shirt. He was wearing the outfit Rain had given him on the cruise ship. After wearing it again, he decided to add it to the usual rotation of blue and brown suits he owned. While he was inspecting himself, Rain came down the stairs and smiled as she walked over to him.
"Mmm, you look handsome, Thete. No need to make sure of that," she purred in his ear as she embraced him from behind.
"Just making sure I pass approval, Dear Hearts," he said to her.
"Mmm, you do and then some," she said.
The Doctor raised his eyebrow while she giggled. He stared at her with lust in his eyes. She was wearing a yellow sun dress and brown leather sandals.
"Let's leave the kids here and go to Noelle on our own. What'd ya say?"
"And leave them in the care of your maniac brothers? P'eh, no thank you."
"Making fun of me again, Rainy Painy," Alan said, coming down the steps with Christopher at his side.
At five years old, Christopher looked like a miniature version of his father, something Alan was very proud of. He also was just as funny as his dad, something else Alan loved. Behind them was Rose who was wearing a pink halter top, blue jean shorts and brown leather sandals. Alan had on tan shorts and a midnight blue t-shirt and Christopher was wearing blue jean shorts and a white t-shirt with the local football team, the Kasterborous Komets on it. The Komets logo was a soccer ball that looked like a streaking comet with Kasterborous up above and Komets down below in black block letters. Alan had taken his son to several games and they were both big fans.
"So, you lot are going to the Christmas planet, eh?" Alan said as they walked up to the Doctor and Rain.
"Yup, thought we'd have a little bit of Christmas spirit in the middle of July," the Doctor replied.
"Do you need me to come with you? You know, so I can do the Christmas Rhumba?" Alan said.
"Yes, Daddy, do the rhumba!" Christopher said, jumping up and down. "Do it again. I wanna see it!"
"No, no, we have to wait till Christmas morning before I can do it. It's an ancient traditional Time Lord dance."
Rain giggled when Rose let out a big snort.
"Can we go to the Christmas planet, Daddy?" Christopher asked.
"No, we're going with your Uncle Adam to eat and see a film," Alan replied.
"Awww, I wanna see the Christmas Rhumba," Christopher said, pouting.
"Well, if you're a good boy, maybe I'll do it just for you," Alan said.
Christopher beamed at that and Alan tousled his hair. He waved at the Doctor and Rain.
"Well, you lot have a wonderful time and we'll see you when you return with armfuls of Christmas goodies," he said to them.
"You have fun as well. Be careful," the Doctor said.
"Aren't I always?" Alan said.
Rose and Rain hugged and Rain gave Christopher a kiss on the cheek before they left their house. The Doctor hurried over to the stairs and looked up.
"Sokanon, Chaska, Namid, come on, we have to go get your other brother and sisters," he yelled.
They heard them running and then Chaska and Sokanon hurried down the stairs. Five year old Chaska also looked like a miniature version of his dad except he had dark skin and hair like his mother. He was wearing blue jeans and a Harry Potter t-shirt and wore black converses on his feet. Sokanon looked like a light skinned version of her mother and had on blue jeans and a pink hoodie with Disney's Sleeping Beauty on her chest. On her feet she was wearing little leather sandals. The Doctor gave them both kisses and then hurried up the stairs.
"Namid? Love, are you in here?" the Doctor said, peeking inside.
"Yes, Daddy, I'm here," she said, turning around.
The Doctor came into the room and knelt down beside her. Unlike her sister and brother, Namid had been born blind. Neither the doctors nor the Doctor or Martha or Grace could determine the reason why since her brain and eyes appeared to be normal. The Doctor kept trying to find out the reason behind his daughter's blindness but so far had no success. In the meantime, they had gotten her the best tutors to teach her Braille and help her be independent and tried to accommodate her as much as they could. She walked with a blind person's cane but other than that she was able to do what her sister and brother could do and get around without too much trouble. However, she was not as bold as her brother and sister and a little bit shy and self conscious which the Doctor loved since she was as sweet and caring and introspective as her mother was.
"Do I look okay, Daddy?" Namid said.
The Doctor looked her over. She was wearing blue jean shorts, a purple t-shirt with Disney's Jasmine on it, leather sandals and a pair of glasses that had dark tinted lenses and brown frames.
"You look beautiful, Rainbow," he said to her.
"Good, I wanna look beautiful," she said.
The Doctor chuckled at that and watched lovingly as she grabbed her cane off her vanity table and unfolded it. The Doctor stood up, took her free hand and they walked out together.
"Is everything okay?" Rain asked as they walked down the stairs.
"Everything's fine. Namid just needed a man's opinion on her outfit. I told her that her butt was huge in these trousers and she had a wolverine in her hair which I had to pull out and dispose of."
Namid giggled at that. When they reached the bottom, the Doctor held her hand and took Sokanon's hand while Rain took Chaska's. They walked out of the house and went to the right. Two houses down Jenny, Tara, Julie, Grace, Juliet, Amber, Patty and Tish lived in a large apartment style house. The Doctor and the others jokingly referred to it as the Nunnery which irritated the women no end. The Doctor walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell.
"Good evening, Sister," he said to Grace when she opened the door. "Art thou fellow nuns ready to accompany us or are they at vespers."
"Get bent, Doctor," Grace said while he and Rain laughed. "When are you gonna stop referring to this place as the Nunnery?"
"When you all marry and move out of it," the Doctor said. "Now is Sister Tara and Sister Jenny available?"
"In a minute, Father Doctor," Grace said dryly.
The Doctor giggled when she yelled out, "Tara! Jenny! The priest is here to get his nuns!"
"Daddy, you're always doing that," Sokanon said to him as they stepped inside.
"I know, it's because it irritates them," the Doctor said with a wink.
The room they were in was a large living room that was used as a common area. The downstairs was for everyone with a kitchen, laundry room, game room, three bathrooms and a garage. At the top of the stairs was a long corridor with doors on either side. Behind each door was a small studio apartment and each woman had her own living room, kitchenette, bathroom and bedroom. The house was huge and there was room for many more tenants besides them but no one else wanted to move in with them at the moment. A moment passed before Tara and Jenny came down the stairs.
"We're here, Father," Tara said. "And when I say Father, I mean I'm carrying on the whole nun joke you guys started."
"Hey, you lot decided to live together here in Estrogen Central. I can't help it if the rest of us blokes look at this place and snicker," he said.
He laughed when Tara gave him a playful slap on the chest. She was wearing blue jeans, purple Converse high tops and a powder blue t-shirt that she got when she attended the Rhyme Lords concert a few years back. The Rhyme Lords was a Gallifreyan boy band that was popular with a lot of the female population on New Gallifrey and something else that the Doctor and the other men poked fun at. Looking at the shirt, the Doctor rolled his eyes when he saw the five singers standing together with wanton looks on their faces.
"You had to wear that thing, didn't ya?" he asked, pointing to it.
"Daddy, quit making fun of them. Just because they can sing and you can't isn't any reason for you to be jealous."
"I can sing! I just choose not to do it on a stage in front of hordes of screaming, emotionally charged females who swoon the moment my shirt lifts and reveals a bit of skin," he protested as they laughed. "If I knew this boy band thing would come out of us making everyone more creative I would have stuck with the pure logic side of things. Just don't be surprised if I can't stop myself from making one or two jokes about them or five or ten or a heap."
He chuckled when she rolled her eyes and kissed her lips. The Doctor smiled at Jenny. She was wearing a purple halter top with tan shorts and black plimsols. Her hair was done up in a tight bun and she had a black plastic comb stuck into the top of it.
"How are you tonight, Angel?" he asked.
"Fine. Just ready and raring to go," she said.
"Well good, because I'm raring to take you there," the Doctor said.
Jenny took hold of his hand.
"Dad, can I talk to you for a minute in private?"
"Sure, Jen, but be brief. We still have to go get Dex," he said.
"It'll just be a moment," she said.
She led him up the stairs to the second door on the right. She opened it and they stepped into the living room of her apartment. It was neat with a small grey sofa and recliner, a wooden table with a crystal lamp on it that sat between them and a television on a wooden table across the way. The carpet was a pale green and the walls were white with wooden shelves above the sofa that had various knickknacks on them and a family portrait across the way on the other wall. The Doctor closed the door and put his hands in his pocket.
"Yes?" he said.
Jenny sighed.
"I heard some more idiots today…talking…about Namid in the supermarket."
The Doctor sighed angrily. Although most people were kind to Namid and had done all they could to accomidate her including putting Braille on the signs, there were some who believed her blindness came from being womb born and not loomed where any blindness could have been weeded out beforehand. No one dared to say anything about it to the Doctor or his family but occasionally someone would overhear them talking about her and what a mistake it was for Rain to give birth naturally. The Doctor shook his head.
"We can't worry about them, Jenny. We won't be able to convince them that Namid's blindness didn't come from being womb born. Just ignore them and let them believe what they want. As long as they don't hurt her, I won't make an issue out of it," he said.
"I know, Dad, I just hate when they do that. Especially since they're doing it behind your back."
"That's because they know better than to come up to me and say that sort of thing to my face," the Doctor said. "They know what I'll do to em if I catch them saying it. Which is why I've never heard it myself. They don't dare say those things if they know I'm nearby."
He smiled at Jenny and put his arm around her.
"But, like I said, it can't be helped. We have improved on the old Gallifrey in many ways, but intelligence always bring with it a certain amount of cruelty and short of brainwashing and enslaving everyone, there's nothing we can do. Let it go, my daughter. Namid knows she's loved and if anyone ever dares hurt her, they better run like hell."
"Too bloody right and I'll be leading the whole damn clan in my race to get at em," Jenny said.
The Doctor smiled and nodded. He opened the door and they stepped outside.
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"Have fun, Pa," Amelia said, giving her father a hug.
"You too. I wish I could say I'll miss going to the opera with you and Opal and your ma, but…I won't," he said smugly.
"Now, now, Son. The opera is fabulous," the Doctor said.
"Then you go and I'll take your family to Noelle," Dex said.
"No, no, I'm fine. I'll take them myself," the Doctor said quickly as they giggled.
He accepted kisses from Opal, Amelia and Patience before all of them turned and headed back down the street towards the Doctor's TARDIS.