"Your mum and dad would be so proud of you."

Sarah tore herself away from her reflection in the full length mirror to look at her aunt. "I hope so," she said.

"Well I know so," Lavinia corrected. "All they wanted for you was that you were happy. And you are happy, aren't you?"

"I really do love him."

"A lawyer and a journalist, eh?" Lavinia said, trotting out the old joke as she turned Sarah back 'round to face the mirror. "Sure you two will have some interesting… debates in years to come."

"Probably," Sarah smiled. She didn't care. This was it, her wedding day. Her and Peter, finally husband and wife.

Unless the Doctor was going to burst in and reveal it all to be some elaborate Trickster plan. Unless there was some accident on the way to the church. Unless he'd been coming down the stairs leading from their flat and… She was going to be on edge until that ring was on her finger; something the others were just putting down to normal wedding-day jitters. But she'd never been so sure of anything in her life (other than Luke – and today of all days she really missed him).

"How do I look?" Sarah asked as her aunt fixed the veil in place.

"You look amazing," Lavinia said, her voice warm with the compliment and love. "Peter is a very lucky man."

There was another knock on the door which only just announced the deep voice of Sarah's old friend.

"Couldn't agree more," Alistair said as he stepped into the room. "Do I pass muster?"

As per Sarah's request, the Brigadier was not the Brigadier today, but her friend Alistair. He'd complained about having a to rent a suit, but Sarah was keen to avoid questions. Peter knew she'd done some work for the government, but she'd been a bit light on the details to spare him. She didn't fancy having to explain UNIT today of all days.

"Very handsome," Lavinia conceded. "Not the latest cut I imagine, but…"

"You look fantastic," Sarah cut in.

"As do you, my dear," he breathed, crossing the room and kissing her gently on the cheek.

"Is the car here?" Lavinia asked.

"Waiting outside," Alistair informed her.

"Right, well I shall go and get your bouquet from the fridge. Don't be too long, Sarah. It may be fashionable to be late but it's also expensive."

After Lavinia had gone, Sarah shot her friend an exasperated look.

"I don't think you'd want to be late, would you?" Alistair asked.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"If you knew something was going to happen… something bad, to someone you cared about. Would you stop it from happening, even if the consequences of that might be worse for everyone else?"

"Ah, the dilemma of having travelled with the Doctor," Alistair smiled, seeing through her motives clearly. "There's a reason we don't travel in time as a matter of course."

"I wouldn't have changed it for the world."

"I'm sure you wouldn't," he agreed, "but I'm also sure that the Doctor is very particular about the company he keeps. He chose you for a reason."

"He chose me?" she exclaimed loudly before remembering to keep her voice down.

"My dear, do you really think he would have let you stay with him if he didn't want you around?"

Beaten, she smiled. "I guess not."

"Like all of us, he was impressed. Strong-willed, determined, passionate. You knew what you wanted and you went for it."

"I want this," she said, her hands running down over the layers of her dress.

"And this decision you need to make?"

"I want that too, but if I go for it then I'm worried people will get hurt."

"Then you have to decide if it's worth the risk and consequences. I will always tell you that one life is as sacred as another, but there is the greater good to consider sometimes. Personal gain should never take priority over the safety of the community."

"What if that's what I'm doing now?" Sarah whispered.

She was doing this for her, no other reason. She was deeply in love with a man who loved her back. A man who was alive and well and waiting for her at the church. But this was not supposed to happen. She was not supposed to become Mrs Dalton; what would the consequences be of this for everyone else?

"I can't believe that for a moment," Alistair said, taking her hand in his and placing it on his arm. "How can two people being in love, celebrating that love, be the wrong decision?" He stopped and studied her expression. "What did you see?"

"Something… else," she decided on.

"Sarah, if you don't want to do this then say the word. We can leave now, you'll never have to see Peter again. If that's what you really want."

"Of course not," she said, her eyes shining with tears. "But it's not supposed to be like this. I'm not supposed to…" She stopped herself from blurting it all out – it would have been so easy to tell him everything.

"If you saw a future, when you were with the Doctor, then it may have just been a possible future. Things change all the time, Sarah. Different worlds, the same as ours but not quite. If you saw a world where you were not, for example, married to Peter and blissfully happy with a hoard of kids running around your feet, then that was one world, one existence.

"This is the here and now. This is our present and our future has yet to take shape. We have to believe that we have control over it because otherwise what's the point?"

That was what she'd been waiting almost two years to hear. She had come back, there was so much evidence to tell her that she was living her life over again. A Groundhog Day of thirty years. She was making the changes but they weren't really changes, were they? They were actions. Her decisions and they were laying out a new timeline. An alternative timeline. One she could shape and control.

Immediately the idea flashed into her head. The big house on Bannerman Road that she would buy with the inheritance from her aunt, filled with life and love. Her and Peter and their children. And Luke. They would adopt Luke. She had all this time to plan and prepare and bring Peter into her world and she could have it all. The man she loved and the life she loved.

"So my dear," Alistair said, patting the hand that was on his arm. "What would you like to do?"

"I want to get married," she said with absolute conviction.


Throughout the ceremony Sarah tried to remain focussed on the man standing next to her. The Doctor was not about to burst in, she kept telling herself. Storm clouds are not going to dramatically roll in and people will not just disappear.

She was so distracted that Peter had to gently touch her arm to get her attention and with a self-chiding smile she turned to face him in order to recite their vows and place the wedding rings on their fingers.

No interruptions, no storm clouds, no disappearing.

The ceremony was completed and they moved to the side to sign the register. After she'd signed her name after his Sarah stepped back, allowing Harry and Alistair to take her place.

"You OK," Peter whispered, placing his hand on the small of her back. "You seem distracted."

"You're a very distracting man," she whispered back, allowing herself to begin to feel relieved.

"If anyone's going to be distracted it's me," he replied. "You look absolutely stunning."

Sarah turned to face him, her smile lighting up her entire face. "I love you, Peter."

"And I love you. Sarah Jane Dalton."


"It all started when she threw a glass of wine all over me, and since then I've learnt to either catch or duck! But I know that whatever life throws at us, there's nothing I won't be ready for. I know this woman is the love of my life, we are meant to be together. Sarah left it to fate and therefore I have to believe that fate has brought us here today.

"This woman, my wife, is everything I have ever wanted out of life. She is my equal, my partner, my heart and soul. She supports me and challenges me… Well, she challenges me a lot! I suppose a journalist and a lawyer is an interesting mix to begin with. But for whatever reason, whatever higher power is controlling this and guiding us, we work. And we work well.

"My Sarah Jane. I will love you for as long as there is breath in my body. I will care for you and look after you, even when you don't want me to. I will be there for you, support you, counsel you and defend you – in court if need be! Above all else I will be your friend, your confidence, your sword and shield to face whatever lies ahead.

"So I would ask everyone here to charge your glasses in a toast to the most amazing woman the Universe has ever known. I give you my wife, Sarah Jane Dalton."


They stumbled into the hotel room, not looking where they were going and crashing into various pieces of furniture. Hands pulled at clothing, grabbed at arms and faces, ran through hair as the passion and excitement that had been building all day was now fit to burst.

Part of Lavinia's gift, in addition to the deposit on a house, had been an executive suite for the weekend. Both of them couldn't afford to give up work for a proper honeymoon so she'd insisted that they be at least able to lock themselves away for 48 hours.

Right now there was one thing on their mind – the other. As Sarah allowed him to pull her to the bed, she reflected on this night that she didn't have before. Her other wedding night, spent sobbing into the Doctor's arms, enduring nightmare after nightmare.

If she woke up tomorrow in Bannerman Road then she would be happy, she reflected. She would have had this chance, her perfect wedding day with friends and loved ones. Dancing with Alistair and Harry at the reception, the latter crushing her toes more than once before Peter rescued her. The speeches and attention that she'd normally shy away from but today paid little attention to because there, beside her, was her husband. This was all new to her. Aliens, fine. Other worlds? Piece of cake. Even motherhood she was almost OK with. But being a wife? This was new, exciting, thrilling.

The Universe had allowed her a husband, was giving her the wedding night. The cost of that she'd accept.