Chapter One; Getting Ready
That day after school Cassie rushed through the front door and accidentally forgetting that Nathan was behind her, slammed the door in his face. Shadow raced through the living room wagging his tail. "Oh hullo munchkin how was school?" her father asked her as he came out of the kitchen.
"It was alright, I got a lot of homework though." She replied heaving a sad sigh.
"Oh." He began. "Where's Nathan?" he asked her as she breathed a horrified gasp and placed her hands on top of her cheeks.
"Oh no! I forgot!" she cried as she quickly turned around and opened the door. "I'm sorry Nathan!" she apologized guiltily. "I was so excited about dance class that I totally forgot that you were behind me!" she cried but Nathan simply just shrugged.
"That's alright." He told her.
"Whoa wait a minute," The Doctor began. "back up a second." He said as both children took a step backwards. "No I mean go back to the part about dance class. When did I agree to sign you up for lessons?" he questioned her.
"Oh c'mon Daddy! You have to let me do it! There's a school talent show on Friday and I signed up to sing in it. And you know how great I was in my Christmas musical," she began.
"Yeah so what's wrong with just singing instead?' he asked her.
"Because I want to be famous someday, and you have to learn how to be able to dance as well as sing." She explained.
"Well Cassie I dunno, you have a pretty busy schedule already. I already have you signed up for Girl Scouts and horseback riding lessons. And plus you've got all of your school and homework to do, your science experiments that you like to do and I think you start selling cookies this month. Not to mention that I've got to come up with this Sunday's sermon." He told her.
"What are you talking about?" she asked him when all of a sudden Peter walked into the room.
"Dad's the new Sunday school teacher. Remember? Mr. Jacobs retired." He said.
"Oh yeah, that's right. He retired after he finished directing our Nativity play." Cassie said.
"Tell you what, I'll sign you up for dance class if you promise that you'll keep your grades up. Deal?" he questioned her as she grinned over at him.
"It's a deal! I'll go get started on my homework right away!" Cassie assured him before she raced upstairs.
"She is a hardworking student, so I don't have any doubt that she'll be able to do it." The Doctor began.
"Then what are you so worried about?" Peter asked him.
"That I can be able to do this on my own. Now that your mother has made it known that she isn't coming back, I'm not really sure if I can. I mean when it comes to single parenting." He said.
"Oh c'mon Dad you're doing a great job!" Peter reassured him. "Besides, you still have Clara." He told her.
"That's another thing. I haven't stopped thinking about her since we kissed and I'm worried that I'm really starting to like her." He said.
"Well then, is that really such a bad thing?" Peter questioned him.
"It is when Valentine's Day is coming up next month and since I don't know how serious we are right now, I don't know what to get her. Besides, Clara's a very nice woman and I'm a very lucky man to have her, but the truth is that I don't think that I could ever love anyone in the way that I loved your mother." He told him before breathing another heavy sigh and turning around and walking away.
"Peter?" Nathan began.
"Yes Nathan?" Peter questioned him back as soon as his father had walked away.
"Is The Doctor going to be alright?" he wondered.
"Oh don't worry, I'm sure that he will be." Peter reassured him with a wave of his hand.
"I feel bad for him, he really misses Rose. How do you get to Heaven anyway?" Nathan asked him as Peter just simply shrugged.
"I'm not sure, different people have different ideas. I believe that God judges what kind of person you were in your life when you die, and that if you lived a pretty good life and were sorry for the things that you did wrong then you will. Especially if you want to really be with Him and have Him and Jesus inside your heart." He said.
"Yeah I know that, I meant, is there a way to go there when you're still alive? So that way The Doctor can go visit her and Ms. Oswald can go visit her father.
"Gee, I don't know. Normally I would say no, but I guess if aliens and robot children can exist than anything is possible." Peter said.
"Actually I'm only half robot, if I was full robot I wouldn't be able to age." Nathan pointed out as he followed him upstairs.
….
"C'mon Peter, it's time to get up and get ready for church." The Doctor told his son with a knock upon his door before he slowly pushed it open and flipped on the light switch.
"Dad? Would it be alright if I stayed home tonight?" Peter asked hoarsely while he fought to keep his eyes open. "I don't feel so good." He said as The Doctor slowly walked over to his bed while he began to cough.
"Well it isn't any wonder. You don't look so good either." He told him as he placed a hand to his forehead. "Well I haven't even taken your temperature yet and I can already tell that you're burning up. I want you to stay in bed all day today. I'll make sure to let Uncle Mickey and Aunt Martha what's going on." He told him before he turned around and left the room again and walked out into the living room where Mickey and Martha were sitting on the couch together discussing names for their twins.
So far they had liked Mikey, Johnny, Jack, Nicholas, and Christopher for boy names and Lilly, Rosie, Amber, Emily, Stephanie, and Katie for girl names. They looked up at The Doctor as he entered the room. "Hey guys sorry to interrupt, but I thought that I'd just let you know that Peter's staying home from church today. He's very sick and I want him to stay in bed." He said as they both nodded in agreement and Nathan came out of his bedroom in his best tuxedo while Cassie came out of her bedroom wearing a flowery white dress and her hair pulled back in hair clips.
"You both look very nice, did you use the bathroom and brush your teeth?" he asked them as they both nodded. "Alright then let's go." He said before he picked Cassie up and carried her out the door.