Rose ignored him as she tidied up Gallifrey's highchair. She wiped down the table part, his hands, his face, took off his bib to reveal more spaghetti sauce on his bright blue t-shirt. She sighed. "Rose, please, answer me. I want to help," the Doctor tried again.
"Alright, you want to know what's wrong, Doctor? I'll tell you. You left me alone for four and a half years, Doctor. That's a long time for a human. I had to raise a son by myself through his toddler years. And, where were you? You were off in another universe! How could I explain that to my son when he asks where his daddy is? I'm not mad you didn't destroy everything to come here, Doctor, but I'm furious you think you can just waltz on in back into our lives and pretend like we didn't live without you for four years. It's not fair to me, and it's not fair to our son! So, please, Doctor, do us a favor and slow down. I can't pretend like I don't want you here, because I do, but we can't ignore the past four years, yea? I mean, you even got another companion! I'm not upset about that, Doctor, trust me. I know how badly you need someone, but don't pretend like she doesn't exist. It's not fair to anyone." Rose took a deep breath and tried not to cry. She turned back to their son and lifted him out of his highchair. "Please, Doctor, just go." He took a step towards her.
"Rose, I'm so sorry. Please, let me help clean Gallifrey up. Please, Rose. I want to be in your lives." The Doctor's face was pained. "Please." His voice broke on that one simple word.
"Fine. You can give him a bath, if you want. I'll just clean the kitchen, I suppose." Rose handed Gallifrey over to the Doctor, still a little angry. Gallifrey's eyes were wide, flickering between his mum and dad. "Your dad's gonna give you a bath, you messy boy." Rose kissed the top of his head and sent her boys on their way.
"You're not scared of me, are you, Gallifrey?" The Doctor asked.
"No. You not scawy. You daddy," Gallifrey responded. He giggled as he rubbed his messy, spaghetti-sauce-covered hands on his dad's pristine brown suit.
"Oh, your mum is right. You are one messy boy." The Doctor smiled, pushing his son's wavy hair out of his face. The Doctor frowned. "Oh, you're burning up, Gallifrey. Do you feel alright? What am I saying. You're four. And you're obviously running a temperature. Hold on a moment, kiddo." The Doctor turned around, almost running straight into Jackie. "Oh, perfect! Jackie, can you give your grandson a bath, please? I've got to talk to Rose." He handed her Gallifrey before she even opened her mouth. "ROSE!" The Doctor shouted.
"Goodness, Doctor. What's the matter, you don't remember how to give a child a bath?" Rose joked as she walked around the corner. "Oh, my God, Doctor. Where is our son?"
"Don't worry, Rose. Jackie's got him. But he's burning up. He's got to go to the doctor—a proper one, not me," the Doctor explained urgently.
"I can't, Doctor. I haven't ever taken Gallifrey to the pediatrician. I'm scared to know if he has two hearts. I mean, when I was pregnant and everything, they said they heard two, but he was born, and they didn't say anything. What's with that? I don't want them to take my son away!"
For a moment, the two of them just stared at each other in silence. Neither knew what to do. They obviously couldn't take Gallifrey to the human pediatricians, but the Doctor wasn't sure it was a good idea to take his son for a trip in the TARDIS yet, especially because the Doctor shouldn't even be in this universe. "What are we going to do, Doctor?" Rose finally broke the horrified silence.
"I don't know." For the first time he could remember, the Doctor truly didn't know what to do.
(A/N: sorry for the short chapter but I wanted to update and not do a huge information overload-chapter 4 is coming soon!)
