Once the Ninth Doctor has left, Rose turns to find her husband still pouting over the returned memory of kissing Nana Prentice. Smiling sympathetically, she leans her head against his shoulder as they walk back to the party and commiserates, "Aw, I'm sorry about that Doctor, but at least other you will forget it about if for awhile." When he merely grunts in reply, she adds teasingly, "And besides, I never promised you a bed full of Roses."

The Doctor promptly stops them both dead in their tracks just to glare at her poor and unrepentant attempt at humor so that they nearly walk into Jack who having overheard them murmurs dreamily, "Ahhh, a bed full of Roses, if only."

The Doctor shoots him a warning glare and points a finger at him as he demands, "You quit thinking about that right now, Jack Harkness!"

Properly chastised, Jack sighs and concedes, "Okay, fine," before perking up and asking, "So then how about a bed full of Doctors?"

"Jack!" growls the Doctor as he starts to lunge for the ex-Time Agent while Rose hurriedly throws her arms around him. "Jack," warns Rose with a hint of laughter in her voice, "you better go; I can't hold him back much longer."

He grins saucily while dashing off a quick salute. "Yes maam'!" Jack begins to scan the length of the Estates as he off-handedly remarks, "Besides, I want to get back to Nana anyway, I think that old coot, Wilfred Mott is trying to steal my girl." As he turns to head off, he starts walking backwards as he tosses the newlyweds a flirtatious wink and instructs, "Now you two be sure and behave and don't do anything that I wouldn't do!"

"That doesn't leave us much room to work with," grumbles the Doctor prompting Rose to bump his shoulder with her own in amusement.

When the Doctor continues to wear a sour expression despite the fact that they've actually been able to find a moment alone together, her brow wrinkles in concern and she asks, "What's the matter, love?"

"My mouth, it doesn't taste like pears anymore," he notes distractedly.

"Well, that's a good thing, isn't it?" she queries as she watches him bring himself out of whatever musings he was partaking in.

"Not really," he answers with a forlorn sigh. "After Jack's last statement about Nana being his girl," he recalls with a shudder, "all I can taste now is bile."

Feeling that he's been through enough today, Rose interlaces their fingers together and tugs him towards the vendors. "Well, why don't we go over and see if there's anything that you can find to your liking that can take care of that for you?"

"Oooohhh, Rose Tyler, you're brilliant!" enthuses the Doctor. "No wonder I keep marrying you! Do you think that they'll still have any of our cake left with the ball bearings?"

"Maybe!" replies Rose in the type of hopeful and cheery tone that she used to reserve for the more difficult children that she would babysit that needed encouragement. He stares at her quizzically as she's unable to hide her tongue in teeth smile when she's not all that surprised that the same technique for petulant children also works a treat on the Doctor as well, and trying her best to keep her widening grin into turning into all out laughter, they craftily navigate their way through the throng of partygoers and head back to their wedding cake.

"Hey, Professor!" calls out Dorothy McShane from behind the Doctor and Rose as she heads over to them wearing an extremely sophisticated frock paired with an extremely familiar leather coat and pair of boots.

"Dorothy McShane!" he calls back to her mischievously, knowing full well the rise it will get out of her. As her approach quickens in anger and he notes her fiery gaze, he rapidly remembers that out all of the teasing he gave her when they traveled together that her given name was one that he never utilized, and with good reason, she hated it. When she comes to a full stop before him, he throws his hands up in immediate surrender and pleads, "Ace, Ace! I'm sorry, so sorry! New body, you know, haven't quite got the hang of manners just yet!"

She crosses her arms over her chest and with a last seething glare, she gives him a thorough going over from head to toe before her tight lipped grimace breaks out into a huge smile and she throws herself into his arms. She draws back to tell him, "No worries, Professor. I know how old people are; you have to be a bit more tolerant of them, don't you?"

Now it's the Doctor who's wearing a tight lipped grimace. "I don't know what's more surprising, the fact that you just called me old or that you've finally learned to use proper grammar."

Before Ace can form a retort, Rose offers her hand in greeting. "Hello, Ace, I'm Rose Tyler and the Doctor told me all about you."

"Really?" inquires Ace suspiciously as she gazes at the Doctor with an arched eyebrow. She would love to think that she meant enough to him that he still talked about her even now but she can still recall the sting of learning from the Brigadier that she wasn't one of the Professor's first companions, not by a long shot.

"Yeah," assures Rose keenly. "He's told me everything from fighting off Daleks with baseball bats to realizing that you're the latest one." Rose sends Ace a sympathetic look as she tells her, "You're not alone there, mate."

Ace chuckles softly before commenting. "You too, eh? Yeah, well, I know that what with the Professor being ancient and all," she ignores his outraged 'Oi!', "that I shouldn't have been surprised, especially since I took over Mel's spot, but when you're made to feel like you're the only one in the universe who's special and lucky enough to travel with him, you start to believe it."

"Don't I know it," empathizes Rose with a rueful grin.

"Well, you two are special," the Doctor reassures them as he puts an arm around each woman's shoulder and hugs them to his sides, "if you hadn't been then I never would have asked you on my TARDIS." He stares down at Ace with a cheeky grin as he gives her a slight squeeze, "But you are right in regards to Mel, she was lucky to travel with me." He pulls a face and his entire body tenses up as he mutters under his breath, "I still hate carrot juice to this day."

"Speaking of Mel," mentions Ace, "where is she? I haven't seen her anywhere."

"Oh no?" questions the Doctor a little bit too innocently as he scratches the back of his neck. "I sent her an invitation, floated a message in a bottle out into the last space quadrant that I heard that she and Sabalom Glitz had been in. It must've gotten lost. Hmmm, shame about that really, she'd be so proud of all the running we do now."

Rose merely rolls her eyes at the Doctor's dodgy tactics while Ace is obviously impressed. She turns to Rose and asks, "So, did he ever happen to mention how we met?"

Rose nods affirmatively. "Yeah, he did actually; he said that you were a waitress on a space station serving milkshakes."

"Well, I see that you can remember some things," she congratulates the Doctor, "good for you!" The Doctor's just opening his mouth to form a protest when Ace declares, "Because I'm going to be one of your waitresses for the day," as she withdraws an apron from her bigger on the inside jacket pockets that he had enlarged for her so long ago.

"What?" squeaks the Doctor as he anxiously scans the area for the waiting staff that Pete and Jackie had hired. "What are you talking about? We have a whole crew of people to take care of that!"

"Not anymore you don't," informs Ace with a wry expression. "Apparently a couple of people have called out sick and they're a bit short." She tugs the strings of her apron around the back as she ties them into a firm knot and announces brightly, "Or at least they were."

The Doctor takes hold of her shoulders and stares down at her with an indulgent smile as he reminds her, "Ace, that's lovely but you hate waitressing and I don't fancy cleaning off any guests who may have the misfortune to upset you on our wedding day."

"Yeah, I do hate it," she agrees wholeheartedly, "but I love you, Professor." Her eyes take on a glow as soft as her smile. "And I'll always do anything for you."

The Doctor's vision starts to blur a bit as he tries to swallow down the lump that has unexpectedly formed in his throat. Leave it to his little girl to render him speechless. "The feeling is more than mutual, believe me," he vows in a hoarse tone as he pulls her to him for a tight hug and kiss on the side of her temple. "Thank you."

Rose reaches a hand out to Ace and gives her shoulder a reassuring squeeze as the women allow the Doctor a discreet moment to turn his head to clear his throat and take a quick swipe at his eyes with the back of his hand. Just as the Doctor finishes composing himself, Rose tips her head in his direction and mouths a brief 'thank you' to Ace before turning back to face her husband.

Ace simply returns Rose's smile with a nod. "Well, I better hurry up and go help out." She looks around the area and leans in close as she divulges, "If you can believe it, they've actually got kids going around and asking the guests what they can get them. That's when I knew that I had to step in."

The newlyweds exchange matching grins as they envision the assembly of little helpers that Ace is referring to and reflecting on the numerous antics that arise with the children about on even the simplest of occasions, the Doctor hastily schools his features into a mask of austerity. "I must say that we appreciate all of your help, Ace, but please make sure that you take some time out to enjoy yourself as well, and most importantly, do not dump any milkshakes onto anyone's head."

"Of course not," swears Ace vehemently, "not unless they deserve it! Now, you just make sure that you and Bad Wolf, here, stay for the entire reception so you don't miss the fireworks!"

Although the couple freezes at the mention of Ace's nickname for Rose, the Doctor is the first to find his voice. "Ace," he requests very gravely, "I remember your penchant for nicknames well and they usually apply, but why in Rassilon's name did you call Rose that?"

Not realizing why or how much that this was upsetting the Doctor and Rose, Ace replies nonchalantly, "Well, it's sort of obvious isn't it, Professor? She'd have to be fierce to put up with you."

A sense of relief fills the couple as any worry over impending doom ruining their big day is pushed to the side and they gratefully lean into each other as Rose notes with pleasant surprise, "I didn't know Mum and Dad set up any fireworks for us, that was so sweet of them!"

"Oh, that wasn't your mum and dad," proclaims Ace proudly, "that's me! It's my gift to you! Well, I'm off," she calls back over her shoulder as she runs off into the crowd, "hungry people to feed and all that! I'll see you later!" She turns back for a split second to toss them a cheeky grin when she adds, "Unless I meet a handsome bloke!"

"There are to be no pretty boys for you of any kind, young lady!" orders the Doctor sternly before he settles down to straighten his tie. "Excluding present company, of course, so I'll be sure to keep my dance card available to you whenever you feel the need to trip the light fantastic."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me playing around with boys, Professor," informs Ace much to the Doctor's relief. "I prefer to do all my dancing with men."

He does a fast survey of the street and demands with a growl, "Which happens to remind me, where's Harkness?"

"He's looking for Nana, his girl, remember?" prods Rose with a teasing grin.

"Oh yes," bemoans the Doctor, "that's right, another memory today that I didn't need to recover." He suddenly startles as yet another unwanted thought occurs to him as he watches a chuckling Ace run off to assist their guests while Rose, being able to read him like a book, realizes instantly what's bothering him as she recalls Ace's earlier pronouncement.

"Doctor," frets Rose, "you did tell me that Ace was basically a Nitro expert, right? That she really knows her stuff? I mean, if that's the case then there's nothing to worry about with the fireworks, yeah?"

Long gone are the days when the Doctor could avoid Rose's gaze to evade answering her questions, those opportunities are now past, now that they've bonded. He turns back to her with a concerned expression and a rueful smile before elapsing into a soft chuckle as he pulls her close to him and rests his chin on top of her head. "Don't worry, Rose, I'll have a butchers at her set up and make sure everything's okey-dokey, and ooohhh I'm never saying that again," and as she laughs softly, he finishes, "we will definitely not have a repeat of Henrik's." I hope.

"I hope so too," she announces in response to his thoughts. Chagrined at being caught out at still not being accustomed to their link, he leans his forehead against hers as Rose muses aloud, "I don't know though, I guess it wouldn't be that terrible if we ended up revisiting Henrik's." At his quizzical stare, she expounds with a tongue in teeth grin, "It would be kind of nice to go back to where we started."

"Oh, Rose," he groans before pulling her back to him with a laugh.

To Be Concluded…