The ceremony, predictably, was unpredictable. The Doctor and Rose had previously insisted to Jackie that, whilst they conceded to a church for the location, it would be a bit hypocritical and completely unlike them if they followed all the usual markings of a traditional Christian ceremony. So, they skipped all the fancy stuff - no need for a forty-odd minute thing for them, five minutes in and out would do, really - and after a few hymns that the Doctor rolled his eyes through, they pretty much went straight for the vows and rings bit. The Doctor had selected Tony as his best man, much to the annoyance of Jake and Pete, and he grinned widely when the ten year old boy standing beside him lifted his hand up to give them the rings.
"Good man," the Doctor told him.
"Oh," Rose murmured, staring at the two rings resting on Tony's palm, glinting in the sunlight that streamed in through the windows lining the church. She glanced up at the Doctor through her lashes. Speaking quietly out of the corner of her mouth, whilst the vicar did the pre-vow spiel, she said, "I didn't think you were getting a ring for yourself. You said it would be impractical. That I'd realise that too, one day, and that I shouldn't come running to you when it got caught on something or lost on a mission."
The Doctor sniffed, and shrugged a shoulder. "Changed my mind," he said simply.
"But why?" Rose persisted.
It was time for them to repeat after the vicar, but neither of them wanted to bother with those vows, not in that moment. The Doctor shushed him as politely as he could, mumbling something about how they were going to say their own vows. Rose's eyes widened; it was clear she hadn't prepared anything. The Doctor didn't mind, though. In fact, he was quite happy for them to just continue their conversation.
"Because I realised that it meant something to you. Something really important," he replied to her.
"No," she said, shaking her head. She raised her voice slightly, but the rest of the congregation had to strain to hear her, and the vicar looked a bit lost. "I didn't mind. I told you I didn't mind. Loads of human blokes don't wear a wedding ring, it's not unusual, it's not anything to make a fuss over. I just wanted one for me, that's all, liked the idea of it."
"Well, I liked the idea of it too."
She wrinkled her nose dubiously. "But - "
"Rose," he said impatiently, rolling his eyes. "Just bloody well put the ring on me."
"I just don't want you doing it just 'cos you think - "
He sighed and took the ring from Tony himself, putting it on his left hand ring finger. "There. Married. Stuck with me." He picked up the other one and, slowly this time, he slid it onto her finger. "We've probably made plenty of vows prior to this, but for tradition's sake," he said carefully, "How long are you gonna stay with me?"
Rose blinked, and bit into her bottom lip for a moment. Her mouth then quirked into a grin, and she whispered, "Forever."
He smiled back. "And I you. Can I kiss you now?"
The vicar tried to cut in, but Rose was certain that the Doctor could definitely kiss her now, so they ignored him and did just that, tilting their heads together and sharing a quick but deeply inappropriate snog.
When they pulled back, the Doctor laced their fingers together, and Rose looked down at their joined hands, admiring their matching rings.
Rose had to admit it looked nice, the thin silver band wrapped around his finger. She just hadn't wanted him getting one if it was because she had him wrapped around hers. Didn't want him to think she was gonna nag him about it, about how he didn't seem to want to display his commitment to her to all and sundry. She understood why he didn't; he was right, it was impractical, especially for him with all the tinkering he did. And it didn't mean anything in terms of his home planet's traditions and customs - although, she supposed, this was his home now. Earth. Britain. London. And it looked like he'd accepted that, assimilated as much as he could, doing this wedding business for her right down to wearing the ring, and - and suddenly Rose couldn't breathe.
This wasn't like earlier, though, nothing like this morning, when she was surrounded by women in her Mum's house, when she leapt out of her chair the moment she had started to feel the panic seep in. Earlier, she'd been near-hyperventilating before she managed to get herself under control to drive to her office. Now, though, her breath had caught in her throat and it was all because of the overwhelming love she felt for the man standing in front of her. The man who loved her, who would wear this ring to show her, show everyone, that very fact.
She rubbed her finger against his ring slightly. "Thank you," she said, meeting his gaze again.
The congregation assumed this was the end of the show, and were about to make a lot of noise and stand up in light of that fact, but then the Doctor started speaking again, and they quietened.
"You do so much to accommodate me," he tried to explain. "To accommodate me when I'm being difficult, or fussy, or stubborn. To let me get my way with things like me saying no to the tux, me being ambivalent about the wedding plans, me being useless with remembering important dates and saying the important things. And I just - wanted to do this. For you. Because it's something I can do, easily. Well, I could do all the other things too, but, well, I'm useless at it all, really, aren't I? And I didn't want you to think that I didn't want - " he cut off, let out a long breath. "Rose. You - you mean everything to me, and all these silly little rituals and things, they mean something. They mean something to me, because you've - we're part of each other's lives and you do so much for me and, well. I should be thanking you daily, telling you how much you mean to me daily, never taking you for granted, but sometimes, sometimes I know I fail at all that. But I love you. So much. And doing this wedding and babies thing, it's - "
"Wait, what?" Rose asked, interrupting him quickly.
"What? I said, doing the wedding and babies thing, it's time for me to show you that I - "
"No, I heard you - "
"Then let me finish - "
"No, I just want to know - you - you said babies. Wedding and babies thing."
"Er." The Doctor scratched at the back of his neck, flushing a bit and suddenly becoming very aware that they were talking about this in front of everyone. Rose didn't seem to realise that, though, in spite of the fact that he could hear Jackie's 'oh my god!' from there, along with the distinct murmurings of their other friends and family. "Well, that's - that's - is that not - ?"
"What?"
"I mean, wedding, then… it's always the next - well, no, not always, of course, not at all, sometimes it's the step before, several steps before, or several steps after, or not at all, and that's, all that's fine. Is it - is it not at all, then, for us, because that's…"
The vicar tried to get their attention, clearing his throat, but once more they ignored him.
"You want a baby?" Rose tried to get the Doctor to clarify, staring at him with wide, disbelieving eyes.
"I thought maybe - um."
"Do you?" she persisted.
"I - maybe? Yes. I think - don't you?"
"I'd…like us to talk about it, I s'pose, but I didn't think - "
"We don't have to," he said quickly. "I just want us to be happy. Just the two of us, or…not."
"Um, well, I guess - let's - can I think about it? For a bit."
"Of course you can," he said, exhaling roughly. "Nothing we have to rush into or - whatever."
"Right, yeah, I'll - " Her cheeks suddenly went crimson, and she seemed to come out of the bubble of just him and her and acknowledge that everyone was still listening to them. "Okay, then," she mumbled hastily, coughing. "Let's, er." She turned to the vicar. "Are we all done?"
"Well, yes, but - " he spluttered in reply.
"Good," she said, and yanked on the Doctor's hand, tugging him back up the aisle of the church with her. "All right, everyone, let's head to the party."
"The reception," corrected Jackie.
"Got to get the terminology right, Rose Tyler," muttered the Doctor, in Rose's ear, as they headed out of the church.
"And we've got to do the photos first!" called Jackie after them.
They found themselves coated in confetti, then, and it reminded them both simultaneously of the time when they were on the planet Hercrux, and had joined in with festivities involving throwing small edible petals at one another. Whilst the photographer got them to pose, they whispered to each other about that very day, and when the Doctor stuck out his tongue to sample a bit of the confetti, he confided to Rose ruefully, "Not nearly so tasty," and spat it back out again.