Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who.

The next chapter for your enjoyment.

"Hi."

"Hi."

Lily tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, as her smile nervously spread across her face. Now that she was standing there, it struck her rather quickly that she now had nothing to say. It was quite on impulse that she had ran over to the strange man, which seemed like a good idea at the time. Almost suddenly, uneasy silence came over them, but for some reason it seemed right.

They turned quickly when the Tardis door creaked closed. The rest of Lily's family having left them alone, for a short time.

"So what is that?" John asked, his head motioning the phone box, "A club house?"

Lily smiled with a chuckle as she replied, "No, not really."

"I'm John by the way, John Fenton." He said as he extended his hand.

Lily took the welcoming hand, "Lily, Lily Jones-Smith."

"Jones-Smith?" He asked not releasing her hand.

Lily nodded, "It depends on the situation, but I normally go by Jones."

"Well," John said as he shook her hand once more, "Nice to meet you, Lily Jones….Smith."

Her smile widened, "Nice to meet you too, John Fenton."

The Doctor paced the metal grating in the console room as Martha sat patiently on the jump seat.

"How could this happen?" The Doctor said as he ran a hand through his hair, causing the brown mass to spike, Martha smiled fondly at her husband's frantic behavior.

"Some things you just can't stop." She said plainly.

The Doctor stopped and went over to stand in front of her, "What do you mean, 'some things you can't stop'? I turned time completely around, and he still managed to wriggle his way through." He said indicating to the boy outside.

Martha nodded, "Yes, I know, but what about us?"

The Doctor looked at her, shrugging his thin shoulders.

Martha stood and took his hand in hers, "By all rights, we shouldn't even be here discussing about the boy or Lily. But, somehow there was a glimmer of hope helping us and brought us together against all odds."

The Doctor smiled down at her, her eyes older, but still carried the youthful girl he had met all those years ago. He cupped her cheek and brought his lips down to meet hers, there was not a day that had gone by that he did not thank whoever had helped him bring his family back to him again. The thought of a life without them, especially her, was too unbearable.

When they parted, he wrapped his long arms around her, drawing her close. "I don't want to see Lily hurt." His voice full of the fatherly protection that Martha could easily recognize.

She smiled into his chest, "She'll be alright, I think that she and John are meant for each other."

The Doctor pulled her back quickly, "Made for each other? They barely know one another; the likeliness of soul mates is quite…" He stopped suddenly when he saw the look in her eyes, "What?"

Martha raised her eyebrows, "I always considered us soul mates." Her voice laced with love.

He grinned broadly, "Really?"

She nodded, "Well, yeah. I mean fate did do a pretty good job of trying to spilt us apart, hell I came back from the dead; twice. I think that you and I are meant to be together."

The Doctor's grip tightened a tiny bit, he recalled all the moments from their previous timeline and was happy that they didn't have to live through another nightmare like that again. The fact of the matter was, the universe or fate or whatever it was that was trying to break, them up had come so very close. It was only a matter of time, and the Doctor wanted to keep it a very long distance. They didn't have the luxury of devices that kept them safe, or young. Martha was growing older, that was hard fact, she was living a human life, it was one thing that he could not stop. She was over forty now, how long did he have left with her? It was a question that always remained in his mind, but now there was another question that began to develop, how long until his family would be torn apart?

The Doctor was not an idiot, in fact, he was quite brilliant, he had mentioned it to practically everyone he ever met, and they could not argue with him. He knew that it would only take the right words, the right actions to take Lily away from them. From what he had remembered all those years ago, when he had first met John Fenton in the kitchen of Francine's house, John was a handsome, intelligent man. One that could easily tempt Lily to a normal human life.

The Doctor had been there and done that as well, in which resulted in Lily losing her memories and ending up considerably dead.

He would have none of that.

However, there on many occasions that Martha had been right. Soul mates were rare, but they existed much as the Doctor didn't want to admit. He felt in his hearts that Martha was right for him, made for him maybe, but did it constitute the actual term of 'soul-mate'?

And if it did, how would Lily chose? Because if it was fate at work once more, it wouldn't take much for disaster to set in.

The Doctor was taken from his thoughts, when the door opened.

Martha and he looked to see Lily leaning up against the now closed entry. Without a doubt, they could tell the expression written on her face. Lily had been captivated.

"Lily, are you alright?" Martha asked, her starry-eyed daughter.

Lily was in a daze, not hearing her mother, she continued to stare into the nothingness.

"Lily?" Martha tried again, trying not to smile, but feeling the happiness rise inside for Lily.

"Lily!" The Doctor shouted, rather loudly.

Their daughter managed to break away from her thoughts and look at them, "No thank, I'm not hungry." Her eyes were clouded over and a goofy smirk formed on her lips.

She walked up the ramp and rested on the branching coral columns, the Doctor could have sworn he had heard her sigh.

"What's with the goofy face?"

Three heads turned to look at the sixteen-year-old boy whose hair was still damp from his shower.

Lily looked from him to her parents, their eyes upon her once again. Slowly Lily's cheeks fell from the slowly retracting smile on her lips. Shrugging defensively, she shook her head and muttered that it was nothing.

Ducking her head, obviously aware that she had been caught daydreaming, she quickly shuffled past her irritating brother and made her way to the kitchen.

Martha shaking her head at her son, left her husband's embrace and followed her daughter.

Stephan looked at his dad, raising his hands, "What did I say?"

The Doctor said nothing and he too left the room.

Martha rounded the corner of the hallway and found Lily busying herself with making tea. She fluttered about searching every cupboard for the kettle.

"It's on the counter." Martha said as she soon realized what Lily was looking for.

A small 'oh' escaped the young girl's lips as she reached for the pot. Filling it with water, she set it upon the burning and turned away from the stove.

Martha watched as Lily chewed her bottom lip, not noticing that she had not lit the burning.

"Unless you want cold tea…" Martha said as she went in further and lit the fire underneath the metal kettle.

"I hardly know him." Lily said suddenly her eyes glowing brightly, "I don't know him at all, and yet I'm all giddy and gah!!" She ran a flustered hand through her hair, it was a trait that both of her children had picked up from their father.

The man himself entered the room just as Lily lowered her hand.

"Dad," Lily said walking over to him, "I think I'm sick, maybe you should run some tests or something."

Martha lips curled quickly into a tiny smile, "You're not sick, Lil."

Lily turned away from her still silent father, "Then what is it? I mean this isn't me, I'm normally logical and rational. I'm rationally logical." She said, panic beginning to sound through her voice.

Martha stood in front of her and placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders, "All this is, is you are smitten."

"Smitten?" Lily questioned, she knew what the word meant, but she never thought it could have been used to describe herself. Lily Jones couldn't be smitten, that was just another word for love. And love at first sight was not her, it just was not her. That was a fantasy, created by romance novelists and Hollywood directors to make it seem possible.

However, from the stories her mother use to tell her about how she and her father had first met, maybe smitten/love at first glance wasn't so far fetched.

The silly smile appeared on her face once more before it vanished quickly. She was jumping the gun just a bit. She had never seen this man before and the likeliness of seeing him again was rather minute. Then again, she had seen him twice in one day, the Tardis hadn't meant to land in that warehouse, and yet it had.

Lily never really believed in fate. There wasn't really much to elaborate on the subject.

"It doesn't matter." Lily said finally, after a moment of silence, "I probably won't ever see him again."

Martha walked over and took the whistling kettle off the burning and placed it upon the stovetop. She took three cups out of the cupboard.

"No, I'm not thirsty anymore."

Shrugging, she placed one cup back, motioning one to her husband.

The Doctor nodded, accepting a cup of tea.

Lily was standing very still, contemplating her previous words.

As if knowing her daughter's mind, Martha asked, "Would it be a terrible thing? Not to see him again." She poured the hot water into the cups.

Without thinking, Lily nodded, "Yes."

Martha turned to looked at the Doctor, his eyes fixed upon Lily. He quickly closed his mouth, not wanting to add to the uncomfortable situation.

Lily sighed softly and left the room, her quiet humming drifting behind her.

The Doctor stood up and took the offered teacup from his wife.

"We're in trouble, aren't we?" He asked sipping the brown liquid.

Martha chuckled and placed her arm around him, "Well, darling, I think that you have just found out that your daughter is growing up."

The Doctor looked down at her, his eyebrows raised, "Can't we just turn time round again?"

"No." She said her voice stern, but a playful grin on her lips.

They both smiled, he came down and kissed her full on the mouth, but keeping it soft and sweet.

"Did I say 'I love you' today?"

Martha's smile widened, and shook her head.

Kissing her once again, he cupped her cheek. Pulling away slightly he bent forward whispering his terms of endearment.

Wrapping her up in his arms, the Doctor couldn't help but think about Lily. He knew that she would ask to come to Earth more often then they would. And with persistence from Martha, he would. John Fenton would be the dividing factor that would ultimately part his family.

Please review. Thank you.

VampMistress