Sorry sorry sorry sorry this chapter has taken so long to upload. I am trying to write chapters for the two stories I am posting on fan-fiction alternatively so it theory it should take double time to upload chapters. But I took longer than usual on chapter three on my other story, and less time on this one, so I guess it balanced out. Or perhaps not….

"Mummy! Daddy!" Jenny waved her plump arm in her mother and father's direction as they stepped out of the TARDIS that had just landed in Francine's house. Martha rushed over to her daughter, scooping her up into a massive hug and planted kisses on her face.

"I missed you," she said.

"For heaven's sake, Martha, you've only been away ten days," said Francine, rolling her dark eyes.

"Mum!" She put Jenny down and ran off to greet her mother. Jenny stumbled over to the Doctor.

"Daddy!"

"Hello you," he said, grinning broadly as he picked up his little daughter and held her in midair. She threw her arms round his neck, her face glowing with pleasure.

"Here," she said. "I made it for you. And I made one for Mummy. All on my own." She fished in the pocket of her cute little dungarees and pulled out a beaded necklace. The beads were green and yellow with a little plastic charm hanging down in the middle. She placed it, somewhat haphazardly, over the Doctor head and let it hang over his tie. He examined it.

"Thank you," he said. "I'm honoured."

"Grandma brought me a kit," she said. "It has a pretty box. Come see." The Doctor stole a glance to his left, and he saw Martha and Francine talking excitedly.

"So how was your honeymoon, Martha? Were there beaches? Shops? Was it romantic? Tell me!" He rolled his eyes as Martha grimaced at him behind Francine's back.

"Alright then," he said. "Show me." He set her down and the floor and she took his hand in her tiny one and determinedly led her into the spare room next to Francine's that she'd been sleeping in. It was mess of toys, books, and what else the Doctor had no idea. The covers of her 'half cot, half bed thing' as the Doctor liked to call it, was a tangled mess. He straightened them out and plumped up her pillow for her. She didn't notice; she was on her hands and knees fishing through piles of junk for her jewellery making set.

"Here!" she said, pushing it into his hands.

"Mmm, pretty," he said. In truth it wasn't very pretty, a medioka, fairly cheap box made of plastic with engraved swirls. But Jenny seemed to be in love with it, she rubbed it against her cheek.

"Inside!" she said, popping open the box with some difficulty. Inside were dozens of vivid beads and some wire to thread them on.

"That looks hard," he said. "Could you teach me?"

"I can do it all on my own," said Jenny. "Except tying the knot at the end of the string. Grandma did that. It's too fiddly."

"I think I could tie the knot for you," he said. "Why don't we make one for Grandma?"

"I already have," said Jenny. "Three. And some for Granddad. But one broke. And one for Keisha and one for Megan. She's exactly three weeks older than me, Daddy."

"I know," said the Doctor.

"It's funny when things are exact," she said. "We're like sisters."

"You're actually cousins," said the Doctor. "Because-"

"Uncle Leo is Mummy's brother and Keisha and Megan are Mummy's nieces."

"That's right," said the Doctor.

"Grandma said that Mummy had a sister too, but they lost her. How can you lose someone, Daddy?" The Doctor hesitated.

"She died, Jenny," he said softly.

"So she's in… heaven?"

"I'm sure she is."

"That's nice for her," said Jenny. "Did her house burn down?"

"No," said the Doctor. "So, Jenny, who are you making the necklace for?"

"I don't know," she said. "Maybe I'll make it and we'll see who matches the colours."

"Good idea," said the Doctor. "What do we do first?"

"Grandma ties the knot at the end of the wire," said Jenny, pulling a thin piece of clear, plastic wire from a sealable bag.

"I can do that." The Doctor threaded it into a small knot with his supple fingers.

"Then you chose colours."

"What colours do you think?"

"Red," she said. "And… purple. And then yellow."

"Fantastic choice," said the Doctor, watching as she picked out those colours from the mass of beads.

"Now we chose a charm," she said. "There's a heart shaped one, a teddy bear shaped one, a… what's this?"

"It's a four leafed clover," said the Doctor. "Some people think it's lucky."

"Lucky," she said. "It's a lucky necklace, then. I want that one. Then you thread them on… in a pattern."

"Wow," said the Doctor. "That's very clever, Jenny." She accepted the praise without protest.

"It goes yellow, then red, then purple. And you have to keep to the pattern or else it's wrong."

"Of course," he said, watching as she expertly slid the beads down the wire. She shuffled back so she was sitting on the Doctor's lap and he hugged her gently, making sure he didn't get in the way.

"Now we're halfway," she said after a couple of minutes. "So you put the charm on. Where is it?"

"Here," said the Doctor, passing it to her. "You're very good at this."

"I know," she said. "Grandma says it's good quality." She said the words carefully, proud of herself.

"Very," he agreed. "Then do you carry on with the beads?"

"Yes." She did so, until the wire was almost filled with beads. "And now we put on a clasp so you can do it up. Hold this." She gave the Doctor the necklace to hold as she rummaged for the clasp. "Could you do another knot? To put on the clasp."

"Course I can." The Doctor tied on the clasp and Jenny nodded.

"See. Easy peasy lemon squeezy."

"Indeed," said the Doctor. "Show me Mummy's then. What's the charm?"

"A star," she said. "And yours is the bunny rabbit."

"I know," he said. "I'm very fond of bunny rabbits as it happens." She swelled in pleasure.

"Let's give it to Mummy," she said. She danced out the room, her newly made necklace clenched in her fist. The Doctor smiled at her proudly as she ran over to Martha. She was talking on her mobile phone, smiling absently at her daughter, as Francine hushed her.

"But Mummy I made you a necklace," she hissed. The Doctor intervened and swept her away.

"She'd love it in a second," she said. "But she's talking to someone right now."

"Actually Doctor," said Martha, walking towards him. "It's for you."

"Me?" he said, surprised. "Who is it?"

"Doris Lethbridge- Steward," she said, smiling slightly, but her face was puzzled. "She sounded… strange."

"Oh!" he said, smiling. He took the phone and spoke down it.

"Hello Doris. How's life treating you?"

"Doctor," she said, her voice was trembling.

"What's wrong," he said, steel tinting his voice. Martha looked up from where her daughter was pressing a necklace into her hand.

"He needs to see you," she said, sobbing. "The doctors say its cancer. They said it's been there for a while and his white blood cell counts gone up… he's feverish. They say he won't last the… last the night. He needs to see you…" The Doctor's throat tightened.

"Give me your address and time," he said. She told his tearfully and he nodded. "I'm coming," he promised. "Tell him to hold on in there.

"OK," she managed, sniffing. The Doctor snapped the phone shut. Martha, the necklace now round her neck, was by his side immediately.

"What's happened," she demanded. He ran a hand over his hair.

"The brigadier," he said. "They say he won't last the night." The brigadier, who had been at their wedding less than two weeks ago, looking older and frailer but none the less lively and as youthful as the Doctor remembered him. And now he was dying.

"Oh my God," she whispered. "We need to get you to him."

"I can go on my own," he said. Martha placed a firm hand on his arm.

"No you can't," she said softly. "I'm coming too." He nodded.

"I never thought he could… I mean he was so…" Martha nodded quietly and hugged him. He took in a few deep breaths and made his way to the TARDIS. "Your Mum can look after Jenny, can't she?"

"No," said Martha. "She's just gone out."

"Oh Lord…"

"It's ok," said Martha. "She'll be good."

"I don't want her to see death so young…"

"Neither do I," said Martha. "I'm sure she can sit quietly somewhere while you say goodbye."

"Martha Jones," he said. "Lifesaver." She shook her head.

"Not this time."

!

They reached the house and a teary Doris answered the door.

"He won't go into hospital, he says he wants to… die at home. He discharged himself. Doctor we haven't got long, you need to come quickly…"

"Doris, I'm so, so sorry about this," he said sadly. He walked into the house and turned to Martha.

"It's ok," she said. "I'll go and sit somewhere with Jenny. You need to be alone." He nodded gratefully, wondering when Martha had begun to be able to read his mind, and followed Doris out of the room. Martha sat down at the kitchen table and sat Jenny on her lap.

"So were you a good girl with Grandma?" she asked breezily. Jenny didn't answer. She chewed her thumb.

"Mummy," she said. "If your old sister didn't die in a fire, what did she die of?" Martha's gut twisted.

"She sort of… drowned," she said lamely.

"In water?"

"Mmm."

"How did you lose her?"

"Pardon?"

"Grandma said you lost her. Couldn't you find her after she drowned?"

"Saying you lost someone is a nice way of saying they died," said Martha. She felt faintly sick, nearly three years on and she couldn't think about it, yet along talk about it.

"Mummy," she said.

"Yes Jenny."

"Is Daddy's friend getting lost as well?"

!

"Hello old friend," said the brigadier from his prone position on his bed. "Come, sit down." The Doctor stepped forward, enveloping the dying man in a hug. The brigadier patted his back fondly and motioned him to a chair. "I do hope I didn't interrupt your honeymoon."

"No," said the Doctor. "We just got back when Doris called."

"She's a beautiful girl," said the brigadier. "Martha. I'm glad you found somebody. After Sarah-Jane… I didn't think…"

"Me neither," he admitted. "But I found her. And she's amazing. Not unlike your Doris."

"Ah, Doris," he groaned. "I'll miss her."

"I'll take good care of her," promised the Doctor. "I'll take care of everything, I swear. You mustn't worry about a thing."

"Doctor," he said. "You need to promise me something. Something else."

"Anything," he said, crouching down. He took in the man's drooping skin lined with deep wrinkles, his tired eyes. Where was the man ready to leap into action at a moment's notice? The man the Doctor had begged to calm down, to slow down, not to shoot. He didn't see him shooting him any time soon.

"Martha," he said. "And Jenny." He gulped. "You care about them?" The Doctor nodded.

"Yes… yes with both my hearts."

"Please, Doctor. Look after them. I can't bear to see you on your own again… I can't. Tell Martha she was beautiful at the wedding. Tell her she should be so proud of her gorgeous baby girl."

"I will," he said.

"And you need to be proud of her too," wheezed the Brigadier. "So, so proud…"

"I am," he said. "I love her to bits."

"I know you do," the Brigadier's eyes closed in pain and he hissed between his teeth. Doris let out a loud sob and rushed into the room throwing herself at her husband's side.

"Alistair," she sobbed. "Please, don't leave me."

"I'm sorry darling," he husked, hugging her tightly, kissing her head. "I love you."

"Alistair," she wailed. The Doctor nodded at his friend.

"Doctor," he said. "Take care of her."

"Yes, Brigadier," he replied. He smiled, satisfied.

"Good," he hissed. "Doris…"

"Yes," she choked. "Yes, yes!" He let out a little sigh and his head lolled on the pillow. The Doctor's hearts jumped in his chest. Doris stopped sobbing, in shock. Then her face crumpled.

"Oh my God… Alistair, no…"

Brigadier, Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge Stewart was gone.

!

"I'm so sorry," said Martha for the hundredth time. They were sitting in the living room of the cosy little house, Jenny playing with the remote for the telly, pressing the buttons, though the telly was switched off. The Doctor and Martha were sitting, their backs resting against the sofa, her arms resting on his shoulders, comforting him.

"I know," he said. "Thank you." Jenny began to chew on the remote and Martha carefully extracted it from her mouth, delicately wiping a strand of saliva from the end.

"Where's Doris?" asked Martha.

"Upstairs still. With him." Martha snuggled in closer to the Doctor, praying with all her heart that she would never be in the position of the older woman, grieving over her husband. It would be too much to bear. She shuddered.

"You ok?" asked the Doctor, concerned. She nodded, hugging him tighter.

"I love you," she said. He kissed her gently on the lips, and despite the soft, careful approach it contained just as much passion as the ones they had shared on their honeymoon. They turned as they heard footsteps treading on the steps and Doris entered the room. Her eyes were red raw, and she was shaking.

"I can't believe he's gone," she murmured. The Doctor jumped up to support her but Jenny got there first, enveloping the stranger in a passionate hug.

"I think you'll find him again," she said. "I don't think he'll be lost for very long."

"Jenny," whispered Martha. Doris shook her head.

"I hope you're right, little one," she muttered. She collapsed on the sofa. "Oh God." Jenny, unperturbed by the women's emotion, climbed up on the couch beside her.

"Look," she said, holding something up for her to see. "I made it earlier. And I didn't know who it was for and I think it's your colours."

"What is it?" asked Doris- Jenny was swinging the thing around so fast it was nothing but a blur.

"It's lucky," she said. "A necklace. With a lucky leaf on it. And it's for you." Doris took it and examined it.

"Thank you," she said. "Thanks."

"You have to put it on," said Jenny bossily.

"That's lovely, Jenny, but I think that she might want to be on her own for a while," said Martha, tactfully picking up her daughter.

"Wait! Do you like it?" Jenny cried.

"I love it," sighed Doris. "It's beautiful." Martha carried Jenny out of the room, leaving the Doctor alone with the widow.

"There," said Jenny triumphantly. "Now the army man can find his way home from heaven. Isn't that great, Mummy."