As the TARDIS faded away, Rose and the Doctor turned to face each other. For several minutes, they stared at each other, as if in disbelief that the other was actually there. The Doctor was the first to break the silence.
"Home time then?" He asked, with one of his trademark grins. Rose could tell this sudden joviality was being put on for her benefit, but she wasn't in the mood to respond as such. Instead, Rose gave him a small smile and led him over to where her Mum was standing. Jackie was on the phone, Rose assumed she was talking to Pete.
"Alright love, see you tomorrow. Give my love to…all at home….er no, Rose can't talk right now, tell him she will talk to him later. Ok, bye!" Jackie finished the conversation and hung up, turning to the Doctor and Rose, "Right, so we can't get home til tomorrow as there are no zeppelins available to be sent now. Pete's booked us into the little hotel up the road- d'you remember the one Rose?"
"Umm, yeah, it's about a mile or so away right?" Rose said quietly, in an almost child-like voice. The Doctor gave her a concerned look, which she caught out of the corner of her eye, but pretended she hadn't.
"Yeah, that's the one. They did that really nice breakfast," Jackie said as they began walking up the beach, her leading the way "Y'know I was saying to Pete the other day I really fancied that breakfast, heaven knows why considering why we were here. Why did you have to appear out here anyway?" She addressed the Doctor, "Do you know how much hassle that caused? Me with my morning sickness, last thing I needed was a drive up to bloody Norway. And trust you to appear somewhere so bloody cold. Could have been Spain or Greece or Portugal, but no…" Jackie continued on like this for the rest of the walk, The Doctor and Rose walking silently behind her. Both kept stealing glances at each other, and whenever their eyes met they gave each other a small smile, totally oblivious to whatever Jackie was saying.
After about 15 minutes they reached the hotel. It was a rather unremarkable building, but it looked clean and well-maintained, and it was a place to sleep, which was all Rose cared about at this point. The group went inside and Jackie walked up to the desk. The Doctor and Rose hung back by the entrance, which was a wood-panelled room with too many plants for the Doctor's liking. A fireplace was the centre-piece of the room, and in front of it was a large rug with a cat sat on top.
"They are really going for the rustic aesthetic, don't ya think?" Rose said, trying to break the slightly awkward atmosphere. Until they could properly talk, it was best to stick to small talk.
"It's almost textbook, I'm surprised there aren't children singing songs around the fire." The Doctor said, responding happily to Rose's sudden shift in mood.
"Na, I think that would upset the cat." Rose retorted, and they both laughed.
"We'll be alright Rose." The Doctor said, suddenly serious. He gave her hand a squeeze, and Rose realised they hadn't let go of each other since they were on the beach.
"I know…it's just…" Rose began, looking down at the floor. The Doctor moved his hand (the one not holding hers) and lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes,
"Rose, I know. I know this isn't what you expected, but we'll manage…more than manage, we'll be brilliant." Before Rose had a chance to respond he drew her closer and placed a kiss on her lips, when he drew back he smiled down at her and said "I love you, Rose Tyler."
Rose couldn't help but give a grin and a small laugh, "I love you too."
"Come on you two," Jackie said, walking over to them. "less of that thank you." The Doctor and Rose both blushed and jumped apart, like a couple of teenagers that had been caught by their parents. "Our rooms are upstairs, rooms 6 and 7, you two are sharing, give you a chance to catch up an' that." Jackie told them, turning and walking towards the stairs.
"Thanks Mum." Rose said, following her, pulling the Doctor along behind her. When they reached the rooms, which were directly opposite each other, Jackie handed the Doctor one of the room keys.
"You go on in," She said to him "I've just gotta borrow Rose a minute."
"Oh, okay." The Doctor responded, slightly surprised. He unlocked the door and walked inside. When the door was firmly shut, Jackie turned to Rose,
"You have to tell him." Jackie said in a voice not much louder than a whisper.
"I know, I will." Rose replied in the same tone.
"Tonight, Rose. You can't put this off," Jackie grabbed her arms and looked directly into her eyes "He needs to be prepared."
"Yes, I'm aware Mum…I'm gonna tell him now, if you must know." Rose got out of her mother's grip and went towards the door to her and the Doctor's room.
"Don't take that attitude with me, misses. You might be an adult now but you are still my daughter. I'm just looking out for you." Jackie responded angrily, her voice now almost at normal volume.
"Yes I know, sorry, I'm just…I don't know what I am, I'm just not ok right now." Rose almost-whispered with a sigh. Jackie notice that tears were building in her eyes.
"Oh darlin', it'll be alright." Jackie was back to almost-whispering again, and pulled her daughter into a hug. For several seconds, they stood there, just holding each other. Rose pulled away and dried her eyes.
"I better go in there, get it over with. I'll see you in the morning." Rose said, now composed. She put her hand out for the door handle.
"Well you know where I am, night love." Jackie responded, opening her own room door. She watched Rose go into her room and then closed her own door with a sigh.
When Rose walked into the room her attention was immediately drawn to the double bed in the centre of the room. Like downstairs, the walls were wood-panelled, although there was no fireplace in the room. Instead there was a wooden dresser with a mirror above it. A door to the left of the room indicated the presence of an en-suite. The Doctor was stood at the window, which was directly opposite the door, looking out over the bay.
"Doctor…" Rose started in a small voice, quivering slightly.
"Ah Rose," The Doctor said, turning around with a grin on his face. He immediately noticed how nervous she looked "Everything ok?" HE asked, his smile fading.
"Um…not really…I think we should sit down." Rose said, sitting on the edge of the bed. The Doctor followed suit and when he had done so he looked at her expectantly.
"The thing is Doctor…I, um…" Rose could feel the tears starting to fall down her cheeks. Internally she cursed herself, she had promised herself she wouldn't do it.
"Rose, what's wrong?" The Doctor asked, his voice drenched in concern. He put his arm around Rose, inviting her in for a hug, but Rose didn't move. Instead she looked up into his eyes and with all the courage she could manage to muster, she took a deep breath and started again,
"I have something I need to tell you, and I don't want you to get angry and I don't want you to interrupt." The Doctor could sense how nervous, no scared, she was, and he nodded in agreement. Rose appeared to grow in confidence, and sat up a little straighter. She took his hand and focused her eyes on it, not wanting to look at his face. "Well the thing is, I lied to you." She looked up at his face for a second to see his reaction, and she could see his confusion. She could tell he was searching his mind for what she could have lied about. She looked down again.
"When we were on the beach before, I mentioned a baby, but then I said it was Mum's….do you remember?" She looked up again to see The Doctor slowly nod his head, piecing it together. She went back to looking at his hand "Well it wasn't a lie because Mum was pregnant, but…the thing is, I was too." She didn't dare look up at him this time. She felt him pull away from her and get off the bed. She looked up seconds later and saw him pacing back and forth between the bed and the window.
"So, let me get this straight," He began, "you get me to stay here, only to now tell me you've set up home with someone else?" The Doctor said in a controlled and measured tone, the voice Rose knew he reserved for when he was really angry but didn't want to show it.
"No, you don't understand!" Rose exclaimed, standing up. The Doctor didn't let her finish,
"And where do you see me fitting into this scene? The eccentric uncle? The mad man that lives in the attic? Maybe you don't want me to be in the scene at all, is that it?" The Doctor had stopped pacing now, and was facing Rose. The full rage of the oncoming storm was moments away, Rose knew that much.
"Doctor, listen to me, you've got it so utterly wrong…." He stopped now and gave her a look, challenging her to explain, "I'm not with anyone else, I haven't been with anyone else. Not since we…" She widened her eyes, begging him to understand
Realisation hit the Doctor, he looked like he had been punched in the stomach, "Rose…no…"
Rose nodded her head.
"But…. you can't have…" He took a tentative step towards her "Rose, it's impossible."
"Yeah well, your definition of impossible has always been a bit off." She said defensively, crossing her arms. In that moment he knew that she was telling the truth. He gave a small laugh and looked down at the floor,
"I suppose that's true," He stepped closer to her and placed his hands on her shoulders "so what you are saying is that, I, we, have a child?" Rose nodded her head. The Doctor looked at her for a moment, before walking over to the window, energy taking over his body again "Why didn't you tell the other me? Why didn't you tell us on the beach? He wouldn't have left you here…you should have said something."
"There wasn't time! You were shot by a Dalek, then nearly regenerated, then we were on the crucible, and then there were 2 of you, and before I knew it we were back at that bloody beach! And then, well you, he, whatever, said that you'd grow old at the same time as me and that we could have a normal life. It made me realise that that is what I want now, and then when he wouldn't say those words… well it showed me how unreliable he is… that was fine when it was just me, but I don't want my son to be raised by a father who might not be there in the morning, or one that leaves us on some planet or spaceship for hours with no indication of whether he or not he is coming back, or one that changes his face and basically his whole personality every now and again instead of dying. You can't do that to a little kid, y'know?" She sits back down on the bed, crying now. She takes a deep breath and continues in a much smaller voice, "I was so focused on getting back, I didn't think about what would happen next. But when you said what he wouldn't… it made me realise. I want you, this you. I want to spend a life with you, even if it's only a silly human life. That's why I chose you. I know he thinks he manipulated me into it, but he didn't- I chose this."
The Doctor sat down on the bed and pulled Rose back so they were lying down, his arms wrapped around her. He held her as she cried, letting go of all the pain and anger and fear she had been holding on to for so long. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, but said no words. He wanted to ask about his son, he wanted to know everything about him, but he knew the time for that was not right now. Instead he held Rose Tyler as she cried herself to sleep, and he silently promised her that this was the last time she would ever have to do so.