Chapter Ten
After the costume contest, everyone milled around while the guests slowly left the hotel.
"Poor Daddy, you didn't win," Namid said to the Doctor. "That's okay, I didn't win either."
"You should have, you and your sister should have won first place along with Chaska," he said.
He looked at his son who had opened his envelope and was looking at his prize.
"Whad ya get, Son?" he asked as they walked over to him.
"I got a twenty dollar gift card to Toys R Us," he said, showing him the laminated red card with a cartoon Geoffrey Giraffe in the center of it.
"Oh, just what you need, more toys," the Doctor teased while he ruffled his hair.
He smiled at Rain when she came up beside him.
"What did you get, Latara?" he asked.
"Thirty dollar gift certificates to McDonalds. So now both you and your brother can drown your sorrows with a Big Mac."
"So what did the winners get, I wonder?" the Doctor mused.
"I heard the woman dressed as the Egyptian queen say to someone that she got a fifty dollar gift card to Wal-Mart. Other than that, I have no clue," Rain said, shrugging.
"Ah, well. Anyway, let's get going so we can celebrate the second party before we all pass out from exhaustion," the Doctor said.
They rounded up the rest of the family and after making sure they had everything, they headed back to the TARDIS.
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The moment the Doctor opened the TARDIS doors, everyone was pleasantly surprised. The TARDIS had decorated the console room while they were gone. The roundel lights were dimmed down low and garlands of paper ghosts and Jack-o-lanterns crisscrossed the ceiling. Sitting on the console was a large lit Jack-o-lantern that glowed in the semi-dark room.
"I see the TARDIS decorated in anticipation of the second party," the Doctor said as they stepped inside and shut the doors.
"Yay! We're gonna party with the TARDIS!" Sokanon said, skipping towards the console.
There was a large flash and several gift bags appeared on the console. They were black with an orange Jack-o-lantern on the front and above each Jack-o-lantern was one person's name in orange block letters. The children took their bags and looked inside them. The adults came close and watched while they pulled out assorted sweets, small Halloween toys and a small purple fruit. The children examined the round fruit.
"What's this?" Chaska asked.
"It's a manock plum. Try it, it tastes like chocolate which is why I think the TARDIS included it with the goodies," the Doctor said.
The children took a bite.
"Ooo, this is good," Sokanon said, licking purple juice off her lips.
"Yeah, it tastes like a chocolate bar," Christopher added.
"What do you say then?" Rain said.
"Thank you, TARDIS!" they yelled while the TARDIS stroked their minds.
The adults checked their bags and found the same things inside. Once they got their gift bags, the TARDIS urged them towards the back door. They walked through in into a large room that had been decorated with the same kind of decorations they saw in the console room. Halloween themed songs were playing overhead as the family members walked over to tables decorated with black and orange linen tablecloths and skull candles. The children noticed some place cards at one table with little orange cupcakes in front of them. The top of each cupcake had a Jack-o-lantern face on it. While the children ate the chocolate cupcakes, Namid noticed someone coming inside the room.
Namid nudged her siblings and cousin when the woman smiled at them and headed towards an empty seat on Namid's left side. She was young, in her late twenties, with long flowing brown hair. She had sparkling brown eyes that glowed in the light of the skull candles. She was wearing an ankle length dark blue robe with embroidered gold Seal of Rassilons around the bottom of it. The children stared at her in confusion and looked at the adults. Rather than being shocked, all the adults were amused.
"Do you know who she is?" the Doctor asked the children.
The children stared at the woman while she smiled lovingly at them. Sokanon got out of her chair and walked around to the woman's left side. She studied her robe while the woman smiled and quietly watched her.
"You kinda got on what Daddy used to wear. Daddy wore robes like this, only his was red."
The woman nodded but said nothing to her.
"You got that design too that's in Daddy's Cloister Room," Namid added, pointing to the Seals of Rassilon. "I saw it on the wall in there."
"Correct, Namid," the woman said.
The children were startled by her voice, thinking they'd heard it somewhere before. Meanwhile, the adults were chuckling and nudging each other. Namid walked around the woman towards their table.
"Hey, who is this?" she asked the Doctor as she pointed at the woman.
"You really don't know?" the Doctor said, amused.
"No, who is she?"
The Doctor glanced at the adults before he put his hand on her shoulder.
"She's the guest of honor," the Doctor said. "You asked her to come to the party and here she is."
Namid's eyes bulged and she turned to look at the woman.
"Hello, Namid. My beloved," she said pointedly.
The adults laughed when Namid's jaw dropped open.
"TARDIS?" she said as the adults laughed harder.
"Correct," the TARDIS said.
"Huh? You're a person?" Sokanon said, getting up with the other children for a closer look.
"I can be. This is a special holographic interface I use when I wish to speak to someone directly," the TARDIS said. "Your father is correct. You asked me to come to the party so here I am."
"You're a real person?" Namid said, not understanding.
The Doctor got up and walked over to the hologram. He lowered his hand towards her head and the children jumped when his hand went through the seemingly solid form. He took his hand back out while the TARDIS smiled at Namid.
"See, it's a holographic image," he said to them.
Namid began to get excited.
"So…so…you can follow us outdoors and see what we see?"
"No, my darling, I can only maintain this form inside the walls of the TARDIS. I'm still the ship even though I'm projecting this image for you."
The children groaned as the Doctor chuckled.
"Well, how come this is the first time I've seen you do this?" Namid asked, pointing to the hologram.
"Because this form takes a lot of energy to manifest and in order to hold it for any amount of time, I need to put all the energy I can into it and that means afterwards I need a long rest to bring my energy levels back up in order to do it again."
"Oh," Namid said. "Can you play with us though?"
"Play?" the TARDIS said, frowning.
"Yeah, do something neat for us," Sokanon said.
"Yeah, TARDIS, show off," Jack added.
"Very well, I will," TARDIS said.
Suddenly an enormous pumpkin playhouse appeared behind them. It was as tall as the Doctor and about ten feet across with a Jack-o-lantern face on the front of it. The children walked over to it and looked inside the eyes.
"Ooo, it's bigger on the inside!" Namid said while the adults laughed.
They stepped back when the pumpkin opened its mouth wide.
"Go inside it, my beloveds," the TARDIS said.
"Cool!" Chaska said as they stepped through the wide mouth.
"Hmm," the Doctor said as he tried to do the same.
The adults laughed when the mouth slammed shut and the pumpkin swiveled back and forth as if it were shaking his head.
"Oi, let me in! I wanna see what's in there," he said to the TARDIS.
Namid leaned her head out the right eye and looked at him.
"Daddy, they have dancing skeletons in here," she said to him.
"Where?" the Doctor said, walking over.
Namid stuck her head back in and the moment she did, the eyes and nose closed up.
"OI!" the Doctor said, pounding on it while the adults and children laughed.
He turned to the TARDIS who was chuckling softly.
"I want in, you let me see the dancing skeletons!" he said, putting his hands on his hips. "This is so not fair. I wanna see the dancing skeletons!"
"There's bouncing pumpkins in here too, Daddy!" Chaska called out.
"Oh, that tears it, I wanna see the dancing skeletons and bouncing pumpkins," the Doctor said.
He walked over to the Jack-o-lantern and looked back at the TARDIS who was smiling sweetly at him.
"Let me in! I'm your owner and I demand to be let in!" he said while the children watched from the triangular nose and eye windows. "This isn't funny, let me in!"
The TARDIS laughed when he tapped his foot while he eyed her with mock anger.
"Come on, Daddy, come and see the pumpkins," Namid yelled to him.
"Well, can I see the pumpkins or not?" the Doctor asked the TARDIS.
She laughed and shook her head.
"What? No! I must see the dancing skeletons and bouncing pumpkins!"
He walked over to the windows intending to peek inside and everyone laughed when the TARDIS made them vanish, leaving a solid pumpkin to frustrate the Doctor.
"No!" he said, kicking it while he heard the children laughing.
He turned towards the TARDIS.
"Open up! I must see the dancing skeletons and bouncing pumpkins for myself," he said.
The TARDIS smiled and shook her head. The Doctor grinned and suddenly fell to his knees in front of her.
"Please!" he said, clasping his hands while the adults laughed. "Oh please, please, please let me inside! Do I have to beg for you?"
"Ha, the TARDIS will open it for me!" Alan said, getting up and strolling over to the pumpkin, "she likes me better."
Everyone watched while he stood in front of the pumpkin but nothing happened.
"Any minute now," he said, tapping his foot while his family laughed. "Yup, any minute my faithful TARDIS will open the pumpkin up for me."
He frowned when nothing happened and looked back to make sure the TARDIS was still there. Sure enough, she was and he walked over to her.
"I'm your favorite, right? You'll open it up for me, right?" he said while she laughed.
Rain snickered. She got up and walked over to the pumpkin.
"TARDIS, can I go inside?"
Everyone except the Doctor and Alan laughed when a big hole appeared in the front of the pumpkin and Rain stepped inside. They laughed harder when both brothers scrambled to get to it and it closed up just as they reached it.
"No fair!" Alan said while Rain and the children laughed inside the pumpkin.
"Wow! Alan, you gotta see this! There's all these dancing skeletons and bouncing pumpkins!"
"Put a cork in it, Rain!" Alan yelled while his family laughed harder.
He glanced at the Doctor and both of them fell to their knees, begging to be let in while the adults roared with laughter. While they were doing that, the TARDIS opened the windows in the side of the pumpkin and the children and Rain watched with amusement as the Doctor and Alan pleaded to be let inside. While they were pleading, Alan looked back and noticed the audience watching through the windows.
"Oi!" he said as the Doctor jerked his head around.
They leapt to their feet and let out a string of curses when the windows closed up again.
"I want in!" Alan whined as he jumped up and down.
"Hey, out there!" Namid yelled from inside the pumpkin. "Now the skeletons are juggling the pumpkins!"
"Alright, that's it!" the Doctor said, stomping over to the TARDIS while the others laughed. "You let me inside so I can watch the show!"
The TARDIS gazed at him lovingly.
"As you wish, my beloved," she said.
The Jack-o-lantern's face appeared and the mouth opened up wide so everyone could go inside. The TARDIS followed everyone inside as they bent over and stepped through the gaping mouth. When they got inside, they noticed that everyone was several feet away from them, sitting on padded chairs and eating popcorn while seven skeletons juggled massive pumpkins for them. More chairs appeared beside them with a bag of popcorn on each one and the adults took their popcorn, sat down beside the others and enjoyed the show while the TARDIS stood nearby and gazed upon them with love.
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"Ah, what a night!" the Doctor said as he and everyone else left the party room.
Namid looked back at the TARDIS who was following behind them. She frowned when she noticed that her body wasn't as solid as it was before.
"TARDIS, what's wrong?" Namid said.
"I'm losing energy, Namid. I need to let go of this body so I can rest," she said. "But it was nice being with all of you and I'm so glad you had a fun Halloween."
She smiled at the Doctor and Alan.
"And you both need to wear those outfits more often; I like them better than the clothes you usually wear."
"Oh no, this is about to come off. It's hot and itchy and the makeup feels odd on my face."
"Yeah, I'm a little tired of the cow. I want a nice hot shower so I can be me again," Alan said.
"Yes, shower sounds lovely right about now, " Rose muttered.
The children watched as the adults headed out the door before they turned to the TARDIS who was now transparent.
"Please do this again, I like your body. You're very pretty," Sokanon said.
"I will. But it'll take awhile before I can do this again so be patient," she said. "But I'm glad all of you had a wonderful time tonight and I know you made your parents happy just by having fun."
"Yeah, I like it when they do things like that with us," Namid said.
"Nooooooooo!"
They turned around when they heard Alan moaning and watched as Doc hurried into the room. He took the hat off and placed it on Namid's head.
"Here, I deem you the most worthy of this," he said, bending over to give her a kiss.
"Nooo!" Alan said, stepping into the console room. "That's mine! I claimed it for me!"
"Oh no!" the Doctor said, coming in after him. "That was mine, I claimed it first!"
"Well, I own it and it's my right to choose who gets it and I choose my daughter!" Doc said to them while the children laughed.
Alan blew a raspberry at him.
"I have Candy Corn Kitty anyway," he said, turning around and stomping out the door.
The Doctor watched him go.
"Don't worry, Candy Corn Kitty will cheer him up and he'll forget aaaaaaaall about the hat," the Doctor said to Doc.
He smiled when the children came up and hugged him. The children turned to say goodbye to the TARDIS and noticed her hologram had vanished. They let out a moan of disappointment while the Doctor and Doc patted their heads.
"Come on, you lot, get out of that kit and come have some showers so we can rest," the Doctor said to them.
The children said goodbye to the TARDIS who grunted and stroked their minds lovingly in return. Then the children followed the Doctor and Doc out the door and once they were out, the Doctor said goodnight to the TARDIS and shut the door.
THE END.