After baby Jack woke up and Rose changed and fed him, Alec went down to see if he could hire a car seat and was in luck. They were usually in short supply but the camp was quiet so following the instructions, he managed to get it attached to the back seat and Rose carefully put their new addition into it, giving the boy a kiss on his forehead. Jack tugged on her hair and giggled.

Rose smiled back and went to tickle him, making him giggle even more. She had packed a small bag with nappies, wipes and a change of clothes just in case and Alec had put the pushchair in the back. They were about to leave when Ellie rang Rose.

"Hey, how are you getting on with the baby? I was told you'd named him Jack but I'd be careful, the other one has barely been buried and people don't forget so easily."

"Ellie, it's no-one's business what we name him and besides, welfare may find his real parents over the weekend so it doesn't matter. We're just going down to the superstore, get a few more things for him until Tuesday but Alec doesn't want to spend too much but I'm gonna get him a few toys, something to sleep with. He was really good last night, he must have been tired."

"Who, the baby or your boyfriend?" Ellie laughed.

Rose saw the funny side, fortunately for Ellie. "Both. I thought you were going camping?"

"Just leaving, thought I would check up but if you need any help you can still call me."

"Ellie, I helped my mother raise my younger brother, I can do this and so can Alec. What do you think our chances of keeping him are?"

"You're serious then? That's great. Just look after him, show the people who turn up on Tuesday you're capable of doing a good job and you should get considered, especially with DI Hardy being who he is although this murder investigation might go against him but if he gets the chief on his side, I don't see any problems. I'll be back Monday afternoon, I'll call over. Can you put your boyfriend on?"

Alec was pacing up and down waiting for Rose to get off the phone and Ellie Miller was the last person he wanted to talk to on a Saturday morning.

"What is it Miller?"

"Sir, I was just going to say it's a lot for you two to take on, that's all. I know Rose still isn't settled yet."

Rose was now sitting in the driver's seat, she never allowed Alec to drive and now he had no chance of getting behind the wheel.

"Maybe you were right, this is just what she needs to help her. See you on Tuesday."

After getting to the superstore, Jack was big enough to be fastened into the trolley seat and was giggling, Alec was fussing over him as Rose steered the trolley around. They got some groceries and more baby supplies and Rose went off to the toy department and got him a teddy and a few toys and some more clothes. Alec wasn't happy she was spending so much. While they were getting a drink, Alec decided to bring up the subject of maybe applying for adoption.

"They might want to give us a trial first Alec, foster him first but yeah, I'd go for it but what about you? What if they find out about you?"

"They won't will they? The paperwork is being taken care of. Look Rose, don't worry about things, I'll make sure you're well taken care of."

He picked up Jack's baby cup and passed it to the boy. Jack giggled at him. "Da!"

Rose smiled.

"Well it would be a shame to have him call me that all weekend then have to give him to someone else, we'll just have to convince whoever comes to see him we can do the job. If they say we can look after him, we'll go ahead with the adoption procedure and get my operation. I want you to promise you'll still go ahead with it if anything happens to me. We still have something else to talk about but we can't do that here."

"I know Alec. Now have we got everything? I'd like to take Jack to the beach when we get back."

"Sure but I'm not going in the water."

"We'll see about that, won't we Jack?"

Jack just held out his cup to Alec.

The weekend passed all too quickly. Baby Jack had enjoyed playing in the sand and Alec had enjoyed seeing Rose in her swimsuit just as much as Rose enjoyed seeing Alec in his swim shorts. They had bumped into the Latimers, who were enjoying a rare afternoon out on the Monday and Alec had to explain what had happened and that they were just looking after him. The two Latimer woman made a big fuss of the boy and Beth wished them luck with keeping him.

Jack wouldn't settle when he had been fed and was ready for bed. Alec had tried walking him up and down the caravan, Rose had warmed him some milk so Alec suggested putting him in the pushchair and just going for a walk along the seafront so Rose had wrapped the boy up and they walked past the Police Station and along the Esplanade. Reaching the far end they sat down, Jack finally beginning to close his eyes.

Alec turned to Rose after bending down over the boy. "We could do this every night for the rest of the summer Rose, if things go well tomorrow."

She took Alec's hand. "I know but best not get our hopes up by too much. Who knows what will happen tomorrow. What sort of questions will they ask?"

"Well you have that CRB check and I'm a senior Police Officer, I won't have to pass any more checks. Did you remember to register to vote like I told you?"

"Yeah, did that when I went to the clinic the other day."

She leaned her head on his shoulder, Jack was facing them and almost asleep. "Let's get him back Rose, we still need to talk in private."

Once back in the caravan, Alec had no trouble putting him into the cot and covering the boy up. The bed in the spare room had been moved on Saturday morning and they left the door open so they could hear if the boy woke up but apart from him waking around seven they'd had a few quiet nights.

Rose and Alec sat with the TV on low down the other end of the caravan, Rose with her legs tucked under her and cuddling with Alec.

"You know what this means Rose? This is your last chance to think about this you know. If we see welfare tomorrow, we're committing to look after Jack. What about you trying to find your way back home?"

She reached up to kiss him. "I know Alec and I know we've argued over me going back but you wanted me to stay, now you've got your wish."

"But what about you, your family?"

"Let's face it Alec, like you said, I may never get back, I may end up somewhere ten times worse and I can't let you come with me to even try. On my own, yeah, I would have tried but I can't expect you to follow me. I love you, I want to stay with you and Jack."

"Good because I didn't fancy having my atoms scattered or ending up in the void and I can't stay here without you, not now. I'm going to ring the hospital tomorrow and get booked in, after we see the welfare officer. Have you even thought about how Jack got here?"

"No but whoever left him, they were either fools or desperate, to leave him like that. Maybe it was someone who couldn't cope and had no family or was ill. He can't just have been deposited there."

"Couldn't he Rose? You told me about what you dealt with at your Torchwood, maybe he came through a rift in time but we'll never really know, will we? All I know is we can make his life here better if no-one has claimed him and since I haven't had a call, I take it that no-one has reported him missing, I left instructions for them to call me."

Just then, there was a tap at the door and he looked at her. "Maybe I spoke too soon."

He got up but Rose assured him. "It will be Ellie, she said she would come around."

It was Ellie and Alec let her in. She had a sneaky look at Jack, who was fast asleep with his new blue teddy and a rabbit sat in the corner while Alec made some tea. After she left, Alec asked Rose to go outside on the decking.

"Rose, this isn't how I wanted to do this and I should have done it earlier, when we were out or maybe on the beach."

He got the box he had been hiding in his jacket pocket out and opened it. There on the pad was a solitaire diamond ring. Rose clasped her hands over her mouth.

"Rose, I didn't want you to think I was going to propose to you to get you to stay because we'd been fighting over it and you haven't mentioned it for a while but when Jack turned up on Friday and we've talked about asking to keep him, well I think the time is right, don't you? So, Rose Tyler, will you marry me?"

Rose was still blinking in disbelief. Alec took the ring from the box and placed it on her finger halfway.

"Yes Alec, I'll marry you and I would have done even without Jack coming into our lives and I wouldn't have thought you were just trying to keep me here, you wouldn't do something like that. I know I've given you a hard time and I was stubborn but you've proved to me it's impossible to be sure I'll get back to the right place. Like you said, there are 1000s of possibilities and 1000s of dangers awaiting if I even try. Just maybe, time is so different here, they won't even have missed me yet but I can't forget them."

"I know Angel. We both found each other when we needed it the most and now we've got Jack and I just know they'll agree to let us keep him, I think we were meant to find him somehow. What were the chances he would be found on that beach and everyone had gone home? They're almost the same chances of you ending up in this version of your world, it's unbelievable."

"I know you make sense Alec and I'm so sorry for what I put you through."

"It's ok Angel, let's just put that behind us and think about the future, with Jack. Now let's watch TV a while longer, I'll make some hot chocolate and we'll have an early night. Then when welfare turn up in the morning, I'll bring them back here to show we can take care of him, that he has a good home and don't get upset if they turn us down. There's no point in taking him to the station, it may upset him and they will want to see where he's been staying."

"Ok but I will get upset if they say no Alec, you know that now. I feel differently to what I did on Friday."

"So do I Rose."

After their hot chocolate, they got into bed, both of them checking on Jack and gently made love so Alec wouldn't get too worked up since he had to go back to work and keeping Jack would be mainly up to him. Jack woke early but Rose got up and got his breakfast just after seven after playing with him for a while and soon it was time for Alec to set off. He got a call from his chief just after eight.

"Alec, I've just been informed about the small boy that was found. Are you coping with him?"

"Yes Elaine, Rose and I have had him all weekend, he's fine. He's happy and well taken care of. Can you believe welfare couldn't send anyone over on Friday. Holidays or not that was no excuse."

"I know Alec, it was very remiss of them. I'm sure you'll bring that up against them when they arrive. Will your girlfriend be bringing him in before anyone arrives?"

"Not exactly. I'll have them come down here to see where he's been staying because we've talked it over and we want to keep him."

Jack was making giggling noises as Rose played at giving him his milk.

"He sounds happy. Well if they said we were capable of looking after a child all weekend, I'll turn the tables on them when someone finally shows up. If you want to keep him, I'll back you up."

"Thanks, I appreciate that. I might need a couple of days off at the end of the week, just in case we have any meetings to attend if we go for foster carers or adoption." He couldn't just say so he could get an operation and hoped when he rang later they could fit him in. Jack deserved a proper home and family.

When Alec came to say goodbye to his new family, Jack wanted to cling hold of him. He kissed the boy's forehead and told him he would see him later and passed him back to Rose.

"Don't worry honey, daddy will be back later." She kissed his cheek. "Say bye bye."

She took his little hand and waved it. Jack giggled. Alec waved and kissed Rose.

"Just be ready, I don't know what time it will be. Relax, it will be fine."

He kissed her again and left for work.

He tried not to let it bother him as he walked into his office. It was just before nine, he had checked with the desk and there were no messages from welfare and he was reluctant to call them just in case they said someone was on their way to collect the boy because he didn't want anyone collecting him. This was their chance, Rose had finally agreed she was now going to stay and not put herself or him in danger and he was happier than he had been since they had met. Ellie came into his office and sat opposite him.

"No sleepless nights? Mind you, babies tend not to wake up too much during the night at that age."

"I do remember Miller, it wasn't that long ago. No word from welfare? They're taking their time over it. What if the boy had been in danger?"

"I suppose they think because he's with a Police Officer it's not urgent. If they're not here in an hour, I'll call them but it was only an emergency number on Friday, maybe no-one had even passed it on yet."

"Yes, well it doesn't make it any easier for Rose, sitting back there and wondering if I'm going to turn up with someone who's going to take Jack away from her. She was happier over the weekend than I've seen her since we met."

"Admit it Sir, it makes you happy as well, not just seeing Rose happy but you've taken to the baby as well."

He knew all his pretence of being gruff didn't fool his DS. "I might have been Miller. Go call them will you? I'd rather get this over with, I don't want to make things worse."

He knew he couldn't give Jack up without a fight and neither would Rose. He saw Ellie pick up her desk phone and dial a number from her notebook and stood behind her. She knew he was nervous and both he and Rose would be devastated if someone took the boy away.

She got through and asked for someone to talk to her about the baby who had been found on Broadchurch beach on Friday afternoon and was put through to the supervisor.

"Oh hello, this is DS Miller from the Broadchurch Police, I reported a small boy had been found on Friday afternoon and the emergency supervisor asked us to look after the boy over the weekend."

"A young boy, around a year old?"

"Yes, that's the one. Our senior officer and his girlfriend have been looking after him and he just wondered what was happening over the situation."

Alec interrupted her. "That's fiancée Miller, I asked Rose to marry me last night and she said yes."

Miller almost choked, covering the mouthpiece of the phone while she had been put on hold. "What? She said yes?"

"Don't sound so surprised Miller and no, I'm not asking her just to keep her here or for Jack, I've had the ring for a while now but it seemed the right time."

Ellie was about to think of some witty remark but the welfare supervisor came back on the line.

"Sorry to keep you waiting DS Miller but no-one seems to have taken many details on the report from last Friday, just the fact a baby had been found and was being taken care of at the Police Station. If a senior officer has taken the boy in, there's no reason why the boy has to be moved just yet. I'll ask someone to call round this afternoon. Did you say he and his girlfriend? That would be DI Hardy would it?"

His reputation had proceeded him. "I stand corrected, he informed me she's his fiancée, they got engaged and he neglected to tell me. I know her quite well but I've been away over the weekend. I'm sure she would have told me. So what do you want me to tell them?"

"Just someone will come and access their ability to take care of the child if no-one has claimed him. I see no reason to put the boy in emergency care if they can offer a good home to him, if they're prepared to take care of him. Is DI Hardy there?"

Ellie passed the phone to him and moved so he could sit down.

"Hardy. What did you want to know?"

"Just your assurance the boy is being cared for and if the visit is satisfactory and you and your fiancée can provide a suitable home, we can place him with you until we can find someone to adopt him."

"If it's all the same to you, we can save you the trouble, we were going to apply to adopt him."

By now, the whole office was listening and anyone who thought Hardy was a grump soon changed their minds.

"I'll make sure whoever calls is aware of that and brings the necessary paperwork but after the assessment, you'll need to have the boy examined and we will see him on a regular basis. You'll get full support from us plus an allowance then he will be put into the system. Does he have a name?"

"Yes, we've called him Jack."

After the welfare supervisor gave him a time for the visit, arranging for them to meet at the station and interview him first then take the worker to meet Rose and Jack, Alec went back into his office and rang Rose to tell her the good news – that they may be no objections to them keeping the boy.