Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. I do not own anything, nor do I get paid for it.

A/N Thank you for the wonderful response on the first chapter. This one contains some discussions about motherhood and children. It's nothing explicit, I promise.

Happy Reading!

Home: The Little Things

As evening fell over London, Rose sat at the table in her mother's kitchen, trying very hard not to fidget. She could hear Jackie gathering up plates from the kitchen, muttering out loud if she ought to open the good bottle of wine or not. Rose didn't answer, lest she receive another tongue lashing from her mother about getting engaged to a mind-reading, time travelling alien.

All things considered, Rose knew it could have gone a lot worse. Jackie had been angry, but willing to listen and understand the bizarre world that Rose was trying to explain to her. Rose could see the worry plainly etched on her mum's face through it all, and the guilt weighing on her heart had only grown worse. She knew she had to bear through it though, because she owed her mum that much at least. Still, it did not make it easier to face her.

Surprisingly, it was the Doctor who was acting the mediator between them. He had answered Jackie's questions, even the most impertinent ones, with brutal honesty and accepted every one of her berating words just as he said he would. Rose had been dumbstruck by his ability to keep cool in the face of her mother's wrath, and she knew very well that Jackie was pleased with it too.

Rose found herself wondering how it was that her mother could accept the parallel universe and two years that had passed in between better than the fact that the Doctor and Rose were engaged. Even though they weren't, as Rose insisted when Jackie demanded why she couldn't see the ring on Rose's finger. The explanation about the telepathic bond had taken time to explain, and Jackie remained firmly convinced that the Doctor could read minds. Rose had seen the first signs of exasperation on the Doctor's face then, and she'd hastily changed the subject to dinner which the Doctor agreed to bring from the Thai takeaway place down the street.

Jackie had remained irritated when the Doctor had departed with a carefully written out food order from her mother, even after he assured her that he was capable of remembering it perfectly. Rose had situated herself at the kitchen table, trying hard to stave off the headache she was getting while Jackie insisted that some psychic, mind-reading thing was not going to work on her and the Doctor would marry Rose right and proper if he did.

"Jackie? You in 'ere?"

"Bev!" Jackie emerged from the kitchen to greet her friend. "Thought you'd be out with that no good Fred from down the hall."

Bev waved her hand airily in front of her. "Fred is old news, Jackie," she said and her bright blue eyes surrounded by equally blue eyeshadow found Rose. "Rose! Jackie didn't say you were coming home."

Rose smiled a little and let Bev smother her with a hug. "Yeah, bit of a surprise," she answered.

"Oh, but look at you," gushed Bev, looking her up and down. "Look so thin and pretty, you do. Is that Doctor fellow of yours making sure you eat enough?"

"He's making sure of something alright," sniped Jackie, pouring some wine and giving Bev the glass. "Madam here got engaged."

Bev's eyes widened and she snatched up Rose's left hand at once. Rose smiled to cover her embarrassment and gently extricated her hand from Bev's grip. "We haven't made it official," she fibbed.

"You better make sure that he puts a ring on your hand quick as he can, lovie," said Bev, gulping down wine at a rate that would alarm the Doctor for the vintage not being treated the way it deserved. "All the long engagements these young blokes get into these days just make it easier for them not to settle down."

Rose nodded with a polite smile, sipping the wine that her mum had given her to bite back the scream of frustration building inside her.

Bev was apparently satisfied that she had driven her point home with Rose, and turned to Jackie to catch her up on the latest gossip from the Estate. "Did you hear, Jackie? Fiona's little girl didn't come home from school today."

Jackie made a noise of sympathy in her throat and drank her wine. The nonchalant response from her usually protective mother took Rose aback. "Fiona's girl?" asked Rose. "Jocelyn?"

Bev nodded. "She'd be the fifth one to go missing," she said.

"Five kids have gone missing?" exclaimed Rose, shocked at their calm discussion.

"If you can call it that," said Jackie. "They go missing and turn up the next day. Not a hair on their head harmed."

Rose's brow furrowed as Bev nodded at that. "If you ask me, I'd reckon it's drugs," she said.

"You always think it's drugs," said Jackie, rolling her eyes. "I was talking to Billy yesterday and if anything, his boy has been studying more since his little vanishing act."

"Could be those ADHD drugs that make them focus," said Bev, apparently hell bent on her drugs theory.

"What did the police say?" interrupted Rose.

"What they always say," said Jackie with a sniff. "Estate kids getting into mischief. Nothing to worry about."

Rose wasn't surprised. "So, they just disappear one day and come back home without anything wrong?" she asked again.

"Said so, didn't I," said Jackie, refilling her glass of wine.

"Nikki Thorne wouldn't agree, Jackie," said Bev. "She's convinced that her little boy is possessed."

"Why?" asked Rose, remembering Nikki who was only a year older than Rose. Nikki had got pregnant at fifteen with her little boy Joshua. Rose had lost touch with her over the years, but she didn't remember Nikki being particularly religious.

"Said he's gone all quiet like. Makes no mischief," said Bev with a snort. "I told her I'd call it a blessing, not possession."

Jackie raised a glass in agreement and downed the wine. "'Course there's Bobby Renford spouting nonsense too," she said, her words slurring slightly.

"Bobby Renford?" asked Rose, remembering the weedy kid from school. "Thought he was in prison."

"Got out a month ago," said Bev. "He's been talking alien abduction. Always knew he was a meth head but I suppose one too many of those was bound to drive him bonkers."

"He's not a nutter, that one," said Jackie, looking very sleepy as she polished off her third glass of wine. "Aliens are real."

"Got too much wine in her, poor thing," said Bev sympathetically. "Get her in bed, Rose. I'll drop by tomorrow with breakfast."

Rose nodded and hugged Bev goodbye before escorting Jackie to her bedroom. She would sleep it off for a few hours and then eat before going back to bed. Rose knew that she'd had a long day with everything that she had been told, so she kissed her mum's forehead and pulled the duvet on top of her so she could sleep.

When she came outside, she saw the Doctor sonicing the flat door open, holding two bags of food.

"I come bearing food," he declared with a wide grin.

"Shh, mum's asleep," said Rose as she took one of the bags from him and led him to the kitchen.

"Asleep? So soon?" he asked in confusion as Rose fixed up two plates of food for them.

"She had some wine when her friend Bev stopped by," said Rose. "Speaking of, I think something weird's going on here."

The Doctor's ears pricked up at that. "What do you mean?" he asked, accepting the plate from Rose.

"Kids are going missing and then turning up a day later. Five of them in a fortnight or so," said Rose as they sat down on the sofa in the living room with their dinner.

The Doctor frowned. "Were they harmed?" he asked.

"Nothing obvious, no, but they are becoming all quiet and studious, I think," said Rose.

The Doctor pursed his lips. "That isn't much to go on," he said. "Could be nothing."

"That's what the police think anyway," said Rose. "There's this bloke, Bobby Renford, I knew him from school. He's been mumbling about aliens."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows sceptically. "And how reliable is this Bobby Renford?" he asked.

"Not very," admitted Rose. "But Bev was right. He's a user, not insane. He might have seen something." The Doctor nodded noncommittally as he ate. Rose huffed in irritation. "You don't believe me?" she asked.

"Rose," he sighed. "Of course I believe you. I am just not sure that there is anything here worth looking into."

"Five kids going missing is nothing to look into?" asked Rose incredulously.

"They are not missing though," he said softly. "They come right back home and there's nothing wrong with them. If you want, we could check up on them but I don't think there is anything mysterious going on here."

At her look of disbelief, he sighed again. "Rose, are you sure you are not just reading too much into things?" he asked. "I know things have been overwhelming with telling Jackie and all…"

Rose's face twisted in anger and she set her uneaten plate of food aside before leaving towards her bedroom. The door slammed shut a moment later. The Doctor sighed and turned to go after her when he heard the bedroom door open, but it was Jackie, who emerged from the other room.

"Who slammed the door?" asked Jackie, her words slightly slurred. She saw the Doctor's chagrined face, and looked between Rose's closed door and back to him. "You two have a lovers' tiff?" she asked, walking into the living room.

"No," said the Doctor shortly, but Jackie stood in his way before he could get to Rose's room. "Jackie, I need to talk to her."

"I'm sure you do," she said. "But I need to talk to you first."

The Doctor sighed but knew that there would be no point in talking to Rose before she'd had a chance to cool down, so he let Jackie lead him towards the sofa. "What did you want to know?" he asked with another sigh.

"Don't look so glum," said Jackie, sharply. "Did she tell you about the Estate kids going missing?"

"She did, yes," he said, not wanting to discuss this right now. "Jackie, I don't want to…"

"I think there's something wrong there," said Jackie, not giving him a chance to say anything. "The kids who come back, they are so changed. They don't smile and laugh like before, it's like they've turned into zombies." At the Doctor's look of interest, she continued. "I don't know if it's drugs or aliens or what, but something's happening to those children, Doctor."

"I see," he said and then rubbed his eyes. "Rose tried to tell me the same, but uh, I…"

"You didn't believe her," nodded Jackie. At his look of surprise, she rolled her eyes. "I was awake and eavesdropping, so what? It's my house."

He chuckled and nodded. "So it is," he said.

"I know my daughter, Doctor," said Jackie, sounding as calm as the Doctor had ever heard her. "She feels too much that one and doesn't want anyone to see how much it hurts. When she was seven, she twisted her ankle before her gymnastics competition and didn't tell me until after she'd got the bronze," she reminisced with a sad smile. "I know it hasn't been easy for her to tell me everything about what the two of you have been up to but I am so grateful that she has."

"I'm sorry," he blurted out.

"What are you sorry for?" asked Jackie, her voice getting back the snappish quality. "I know you love my daughter and I know you have kept her safe. You could have abandoned her in that other world but you stuck by her and made sure she was okay. God knows I don't ask for much from Rose's blokes, but if I ever wanted her to settle down, it would be with you."

"Thank you, I think," said the Doctor, unsure if he was being given a compliment or not.

Jackie nodded sternly in reply. "Doesn't mean you're off the hook for not giving her a proper ring," she said. "I know your fancy mind reading stuff is important and all, but Rose is human. Don't you forget that."

"I assure you, Jackie, I will never forget that," he said.

Jackie looked satisfied enough at that. "Fine then. Go and make up with my daughter," she said. "And don't go thinking you can stay the night in her bed," she added as he rushed towards Rose's room.

"I won't, Jackie," he promised, before trying the door knob which turned under his hand easily.

The room was in semi-darkness when he entered, with only the night lamp on the side table being switched on. Rose was curled up on her bed, turned away from the lamp. The Doctor navigated the clutter in her room, until he was sitting on the bed behind Rose.

"Rose," he said softly, knowing that she was awake. "I am sorry."

"Me too," he heard her whisper.

Encouraged, he decided to lie down next to her on the tiny little bed. "Could you look at me, please?" he pleaded and sighed in relief when she turned on her side to face him. "I will set the TARDIS running scans for any alien tech in the vicinity, and we will go and talk to your friend Bobby first thing tomorrow," he promised.

Rose smiled a little and nodded. "It's not just about this, you know," she said softly, looking down at the duvet instead of him.

"I know, and I am sorry," he said, pulling her close so she could rest her head on his chest. "You are so strong, Rose Tyler, and I am truly sorry about what I said." He felt her nod, but then he could feel her nervousness as well. "Was there something else?" he asked lightly.

She tilted her head to look at him and nodded slowly. "All this talk of kids reminded me of something that Morgaine said," she said.

"Morgaine?" he asked, surprised.

"She lured me out of the castle in Camelot with this little girl," said Rose.

"Morgaine is capable of many telepathic tricks, Rose," said the Doctor, looking concerned. "Do you have a headache? Any lingering pain?"

"No, nothing of the sort," she assured him. "When I asked her who the girl was, she said she took the image from my memories and this whole time I have been trying to remember if she was someone we met on one of our trips. But I can't."

The Doctor looked worried as he encouraged Rose to move her head onto the pillow so he could hold her gaze. "What did she look like?" he asked.

Rose shrugged. "I dunno," she said. "Blonde hair, curly, I think," she said, running her fingers absently through the Doctor's curls. "Her eyes might have been blue but it was hard to tell." When the Doctor was quiet for a long moment, Rose grew worried. "What is it?" she asked.

"Morgaine said she got her from your mind?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Rose. "I know we haven't met anyone like that, but…"

"But?" he prompted.

"But she seemed really familiar too," said Rose, her brow furrowing. "Like I should know her, but didn't."

The pause was even more obvious now and Rose could practically see the cogs turning in the Doctor's head. She waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts.

"I think," he began after a long bout of silence. "I think I might know who she is." At Rose's questioning look, he sighed. "Do you remember the page I showed you about Arkytior and the Other from the book?"

"The one that you had torn off, yeah," nodded Rose. "What about it-oh."

"Yes, oh," he agreed.

"But I thought that was just a rumour," said Rose, confused.

"It wasn't," he said. "When the Guardians had us swap places, Arkytior told me that…"

"That she had borne a daughter?" asked Rose aghast. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Honestly, I was not trying to keep it from you on purpose, Rose," he said earnestly.

"But she did say that," said Rose. "They really did have a daughter."

"Yes," he said softly. "They did."

A breath escaped Rose with a whoosh. "Did you see her?" she asked quietly.

"No," he answered. "They-they had already sent her to safety through the vortex."

"What does that mean?" asked Rose, alarmed.

"Not the way that they cast out Arkytior, no," he assured her quickly. "This was done to keep her safe. Where she will arrive, we cannot say."

"Will? So she's still in the vortex then?" asked Rose apprehensively.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," he said. At her look of frightened disbelief, he stroked her cheek softly. "I would know if she were anywhere in the multiverse. We would share genetic matter, not to mention a telepathic link to erm…"

"To us, you mean," said Rose quietly. "That was what you were going to say, weren't you?"

He looked at her with apprehension but nodded reluctantly. "Yes," he said. "I always wondered how Susan was related to me, and now, it makes sense." When Rose was quiet, staring unseeing at the duvet, he touched her cheek softly. "Rose?"

She looked up and he was startled to see tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said, wiping the tears away. "I-I just, I think I need some air."

"Rose," he caught her arm gently before she could leave. "Don't run from me, please. Just talk to me."

Rose wriggled away from him half-heartedly but at his sincere gaze, she stopped. "I don't think I...God, this makes me sound awful." The Doctor's gaze didn't waver and he stroked her cheek in reassurance. "I've never wanted to be a mother," she blurted out, trying not to crumple when she felt the Doctor stiffen. "I'm sorry, Doctor, but…"

"Hey, shh, it's okay," he said, pulling her into his embrace.

"No, no, it's not," she sobbed. "God, I am a horrible person."

"No, Rose, of course not," he said, rocking her gently. "You are the most compassionate person I know. You are anything but horrible."

"But I am," she said, pulling away and looking at him through tear-filled eyes. "I don't think I can be a mother, Doctor. I am sorry, but I can't. If one day we do find her, I am not sure if I can get over that and oh god, I don't know anything about being a mother…"

"Shh, shh, Rose," said the Doctor, running a soothing hand through her hair. "You are getting a bit ahead of yourself, precious girl. You don't have to be anything that you don't want to be, Rose."

"But I already am, aren't I?" she asked tearfully. "I am a mother, whether I like it or not."

"You are no more a mother than I am a father, Rose," he said gently. "We didn't choose this, you and I, and it doesn't make you a horrible person if you don't want it."

"I can't just walk away though, can I?" she said sadly.

"Do you want to?" he asked. "From me?"

"No, not from you," she said hastily. "Oh god, Doctor, I just...a mother…"

"It's alright, Rose," he said, hugging her tightly. "For all we know, it might not happen. But if it does, we will decide what to do. Together."

Rose looked at him and her lips quirked up a little. "What if I still feel the same?" she asked.

"I meant it when I said together, Rose," he said solemnly. "What you and I both want. We can deal with it as it comes."

They were quiet for a few moments, with the Doctor letting Rose absorb that notion. When he felt the tension leave her body, he smiled and kissed her forehead. "Get some sleep," he said softly. "We still have a mystery to solve."

"Can you stay?" she asked.

"Your mother has explicitly forbidden me to," he said and smiled when she did. "I'll get the scans started. You need your rest."

"'Kay," said Rose as she tilted up her head and kissed him softly. "See you in the morning."

"Goodnight," he said and kissed her again before easing himself out of her bed. "I'll be here bright and early."

He blew her a kiss from the doorway and at her delighted smile, he closed the door after him.

A/N Thank you for reading.

I want to say right off that I won't be turning this into a full-time kid fic, nor will I be turning Rose into a children-hating woman or something. Just trust me for now, and watch as things unfold. Part 3 will be up soon.

See you then!