A/N: Hello, loves! As always, many thanks to my wonderful followers, to all you incredible readers who have favourited this story, and to every amazing person who has taken the time to review. I adore every single one of you. This chapter and I did not get along at first, but thanks to Ash's encouragement, we put aside our differences. I hope you enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or anything related. That all belongs to the BBC.

"How you holdin' up?"

The Doctor sighed, avoiding the gaze from the blonde man sitting across from him. If he was asked that question one more time, he would not be held accountable for his actions. He appreciated his family and friend's concerns, he held the same for them, but honestly, how did they think he was holding up? Yes, he was surviving and living his life day after day, doing exactly what his Rose would want him to do, but he was miserable. Utterly miserable.

Sensing his friend's discomfort and annoyance, Jake spoke up again. "Sorry. Stupid question, I know."

"It's fine, Jake. I'm fine," the Doctor brushed off, taking a sip of his coffee.

It had been four weeks since Rose left to her undisclosed location, and while Owen and Amy had both assured him that she was safe and being well looked after, he couldn't help but worry about her. Constantly. The only times he left the flat was for work and when Jackie would drag him out once a week for "family night." Jake had tried inviting the Doctor out a few times for pub nights with some of their Torchwood friends, but the human Time Lord had turned down every offer. Finally having enough, Jake had shown up at his door that morning and forced the Doctor do go have coffee with him.

Jake snorted into his mug. "Fine, right. Pull the other one, Doc. There's bells on it."

"What do you want me to say, Jake?" the Doctor snapped before adding, "And don't call me Doc."

He rolled his eyes. "The truth maybe?"

"And what good would that do me, hm?"

"Maybe you could get all the pent up emotion off your chest and stop being such a depressing sod."

The Doctor's eyes narrowed and Jake was sure, if looks could kill, he would be six feet under. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," his friend prodded. "I get it, alright. I miss her too. She's my best friend and I miss her, but so are you. I don't have Rose right now and I hate the fact that I'm losing you too."

Jake..."

"Don't." Jake stood and took a final sip from his mug. "We don't know how long Rose is going to be gone for. Living the way you have been for the past four weeks is unhealthy. Hell, living the way you have since Boxing Day is unhealthy. I hope, for yours and Rose's sake, that you snap out of it. Call me if you do."

The Doctor scrubbed a hand down is face as Jake exited the patio area of the coffee shop they had stopped at. He understood where he was coming from, he did, but what did Jake expect? The Doctor was trying to live a normal life, but life wasn't the same without his wife. He knew this all to well. Ever since Rose had left, he'd been having nightmares about losing her the first time. White walls haunted him almost every night, along with projected images at Bad Wolf Bay and unfinished declarations of love.

This whole scenario was far too familiar. He thought about what he'd done the last time. How he coped without her. There had been the whole fiasco with Donna to start with, but not long after that he met Martha Jones and so began their adventures together. He thought about calling this universe's Martha, she'd become a good friend to him since Rose's accident, but he remembered her mentioning an anniversary of some sort last time they spoke and he was loathe to interrupt.

Of course after his Martha had left to make a better life for herself on Earth, there was Donna again. Oh, Donna Noble. She was truly one in a million. While Martha's friendship was something he highly valued, it was Donna who truly began to help the Doctor heal and move on from his loss of Rose. Donna would know just what to say right now. She would tell him just what he needed to hear, just what he needed to do, then she would hold out her hand and help him up. She'd be kind about it, but in no way would she be gentle. It's very possible he'd receive a slap, if not a knock to the back of his head for his recent behaviour towards Jake.

"He's your friend, Spaceman!" she remind him, her arms crossed and eyes narrowed. "He's been by your side through this whole ordeal, not to mention being there for Rose, back when she didn't have you! And this is how you repay his kindness? Have you once asked him about him and his life lately? Did you ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe, he's having a rough go of things to and that's why he's wanted to go out with some friends? And how lucky are you that he considers you a friend!"

The Doctor audibly groaned as he imagined how Donna would rant and rave at him. Great. Now he could add hearing voices to his list of eccentricities. Somewhere in the back of his mind he heard a scoff that he knew was coming from a version of himself in leather with large ears.

Suddenly he felt a shadow fall over him, and heard a familiar and comforting voice.

"Look who we have here."

The Doctor looked up and was greeted with the pleasant sight of Rose's first private night nurse. He jumped to his feet and immediately embraced the older woman. "Eloise!" he proclaimed.

She laughed and hugged him back. "Hello to you to! Nice to see you out and about."

"Have a seat," he said, gesturing to the chair that Jake had been in. He quickly scooped up his friend's empty mug and handed off to a passing waitress.

Eloise sat down and asked, "So, how's our Rose?" She immediately noticed the Doctor stiffen. "Oh. I see," she said gently. "Would you like to talk about it?"

The Doctor sighed. Would he like to? Sure he would. He would love to. From the moment he met Eloise, there was something familiar about her, something that instantly put him at ease. But he wasn't sure what he was allowed to tell her. Only a hand full of people knew about Rose's true whereabouts. As far as the public, and even most of Torchwood was concerned, Rose was still in London, recovering from her accident.

To keep the media off her trail, Pete had decided to use the same tactic they'd used back when Rose was using the dimension cannon. There were times where Rose would be off on a jump for days, if not weeks. To keep people from getting suspicious of her sudden and random "disappearances," Pete had employed a look-alike for Rose. Someone who occasionally would be glimpsed out and about. The plan worked like a dream the first time and, thankfully, it was the same now.

"I would love to Eloise, but," he started to say.

"But you're unsure of my Torchwood clearance?" she asked knowingly.

"Pretty much."

"Tell you what, why don't you text that father-in-law of yours. Ask him what you're allowed to tell me. In the meantime, I see my husband coming with our drinks. You don't mind if he joins us for a bit, do you?"

"Not at all," the Doctor replied, as he stared down at his mobile, typing out a message to Pete. He smiled gently when he heard Eloise greet her husband.

"Thank you, darling. Why don't you pull up a chair. You remember me telling you about Doctor John Smith, don't you?"

There was a brief sound of scrapping metal as her husband dragged over a nearby chair. He settled himself next to his wife and said, "Course I do, sweetheart. Pleasure to make you acquaintance, Doctor Smith. My wife spoke highly of you."

The Doctor hit the send button and looked up in shock, instantly recognising the voice that spoke to him.

"You didn't introduce yourself, silly man," Eloise chided. "This is man husband, Wilfred Mott."

The older man held out his hand. "Just call me Wilf. Everybody does."

"I... I..." the Doctor stuttered, unsure of what to say.

Wilf looked at him carefully. "You alright there, son?"

"Blimey," he muttered under his breath. "Sorry, sorry. It's just... You remind me of someone I used to know. It's a bit uncanny to be honest."

The Doctor was in shock. His mind instantly went back to the night Rose told him about Donna in this universe...

"Whatcha thinkin' about so seriously?"

The Doctor blinked and looked over at where his wife was peering up at him with sleep still blurring her eyes. They'd only been in bed for three hours, and while she'd dropped off as soon as her head hit the pillow, he'd remained awake. "Nothing to worry about," he assured her. "Get back to sleep."

She yawned and shook her head. "Nope. Not when I know you're being all broody."

"I'm not being broody!"

"Yeah? Then what's the face for?"

He sighed. "It's just tomorrow," he glanced at the clock, "or today actually, would have been Sarah Jane's birthday. Is Sarah Jane's birthday. Don't know what made me think of it."

Rose reached a hand out and stroked his cheek. "You miss her."

"Well, sometimes. It's not like I've never gone without seeing her. Gone a lot longer than a few years obviously."

"Yeah, but then you were still in the same universe as her. You could always pop 'round and check on her if you fancied, and if you didn't... then she'd stay in your mind safe and sound like when you first left her."

"You know me too well," the Doctor admitted, leaning over to brush his lips across her forehead.

Rose took a deep breath. "There's a Sarah Jane in this universe, you know."

"Really?"

"Yep. Looked her up shortly after I got trapped her. I needed to talk to someone, someone who could understand, and I thought maybe it would help talking to her, even if this version didn't know you. She once told me that if I needed to find her one day, I could, and I hoped that applied to parallel versions as well."

"And did it?" he prodded. "Help, I mean."

She shook her head. "Never ended up going through with it. Her name's Sarah Jane Carter here. She's been happily married for fifteen years with twin daughters, Eleanor and Elizabeth. They'd be about thirteen now. Her husband, Hugh Carter, is a barrister, and she's a romance novelist."

The Doctor's eyebrows raised. "A romance novelist? How... different."

"Her books are quite good, mostly historical stuff. Mum has some at the mansion, I read a few when I had the time."

"And why didn't you talk to her?"

"I meant to. I knocked on her front door and everything, but when there was no response, a neighbour came out and told me that the family spent their Saturday afternoons at the park down the street. I walked to the park and watched Sarah Jane with her family for awhile, and they were just so... normal. This Sarah Jane, which I'm sure is brilliant in her own right, wasn't our Sarah Jane, and I knew she could never be the friend I would have needed her to be."

He leaned over and lightly kissed her. "I'm sorry, Rose.

She shook her head. "Not your fault."

"Did you look up anyone else?"

"Well, I tried to find any trace of Jack throughout history, but that was a bust."

"To be fair, I don't think Jack Harkness was his real name."

Rose grinned. "Oh, I know."

The Doctor sat up straighter. "What? How?"

"One night, when you were busy tinkering under the console, Jack and I were relaxing, watching some telly and what not, and we just got to talkin'. Never did tell me his real name, but he did it admit that it wasn't Jack."

"Huh."

"I, uh," she cleared her throat, "I also looked up Donna. Well, actually Mickey did for me since I was busy with the jumps and what not." Rose paused, wary of the Doctor's reaction. Carefully, she pressed on. "You've never asked about her being here."

"Is that a question or a remark?" he asked.

"Doctor..."

"I assume if she was alive and well here you would have told me right away. If she died, Rose, then I'm sorry, but I really don't want details."

"She didn't die," Rose said softly. "Donna Noble never existed in this universe. Not in... Well, not in any universe far as I could tell." She reached over and grabbed the Doctor's hand. "She really was the most important woman in the whole of creation. One of a kind."

He sat quietly for a moment before squeezing her hand. "And what about you, Rose Tyler?"

She gave a tongue in teeth grin. "Oi! That's Rose Smith now, thank you very much."

"My apologies. What about you, Rose Smith? Meet any parallel versions of yourself?"

"Nope. I was always really cautious of where I was and who I interacted with, in case I did exist in other places, but I was never able to find another me."

"One of a kind. The stuff of legends," he pronounced proudly.

She giggled as she curled into his side.

Rose had told him that Donna never existed in this universe, but she'd said nothing of her family, and he never thought to ask. And Eloise! Now he knew why Eloise had always been so familiar to him. She was Donna's grandmother! Of course this Eloise wasn't, but still.

"Well, someone good I hope, Doctor Smith," Wilf said cheerfully, bringing him back to the present.

"Oh, someone brilliant. And please no need to be so formal, you can call me John, if you wish. Or just Doctor."

"Doctor, eh?"

He smiled. "Yep! A nickname that just sort of stuck."

Wilf nodded approvingly. "Right then. Doctor it is."

"So, tell me a little about you two."

Eloise chuckled. "Us? Afraid we're not that exciting."

"Forty-nine years of marriage and you can't think of anything exiting?" Wilf bristled, but with a twinkle in his eye.

"Forty-nine years?" the Doctor questioned. "That's pretty impressive. What's the secret."

"Sex," Wilf responded immediately. "Lots of good se-oof!"

Eloise smacked her husband's arm. "Wilfred Donald Mott! That is a highly inappropriate thing to say."

He winked. "But the truth."

"I never said it wasn't, but that's not something we talk about in public, let alone with a guest. Honestly. What he must think of us," she huffed.

Wilf leaned over and kissed his wife's cheek. "Calm down, Ellie love. I was only joking with the lad. My apologies, Doctor, if my teasing made you uncomfortable."

The Doctor couldn't help the large grin that had spread across his face. "Not at all! Reminds me of the time Rose and I..." he trailed off, afraid of what he might say next.

Eloise reached over the table and patted his hand. "That's alright, dear."

"So," the Doctor cleared his throat, "do you two have any children?"

"None biologically," Wilf answered.

"We found out early on in our marriage that I was unable to conceive," Eloise went on to explain.

"I'm so sorry," he told her.

She waved him off. "Don't be! It turned into a blessing in disguise. Shortly after my diagnosis we were approached to be foster parents. Turned into the greatest opportunity we were ever given."

"Throughout the years we had over thirty children live under our roof. Wasn't always easy, but we loved each of them like our own. Lost contact with a few, but we're still in contact with the majority of them," Wild said proudly.

The Doctor shook his head. "That's brilliant. Absolutely brilliant."

Suddenly his mobile chimed. Opening the text, he read the message from his father-in-law.

'Eloise Sylvia Mott has Torchwood Clearance Beta. She was given that clearance upon her hiring one year ago by Rose. That was partly why I chose her as one of Rose's private nurses. If Rose has given her such clearance, you can trust her.

P. S. Please call Jackie when you get the chance. She's worried about you. And I'm worried about her. Stop by sometime too. Tony made a model rocket at school and he's itching to show you.

- Peter Tyler'

"Good news?" Eloise asked, knowing who the text was from.

"Looks like you have Clearance Beta. Well done, Eloise."

"I'm impressive, sunshine, and don't you forget it," she replied with a cheekiness she would have most definitely passed down to her granddaughter, had she had one. "Now come on. Let's take this chat back to our place. I'll make us some lunch."

Jackie Tyler missed her daughter. It was an ache she couldn't explain. It was like that nightmare of a year when her daughter first ran off with the Doctor. At least this time she knew Rose was safe and sound and hadn't been murdered by Mickey. She snorted. She could fully admit that she had been grasping at straws when she made that accusation and still to this day felt guilty about the hell she'd put the poor boy through. She missed Mickey too. She took his going back to their original universe harder than she admitted to anyone. Oh, she understood his reasoning, but it didn't mean she liked it. Not one bit.

Course, she'd gotten Rose and the Doctor (clone? twin?) in return, and that was just lovely. She felt tears prickle her eyes when she thought about how happy Rose had been after they'd come back. Sure, there were a few rough patches with those crazy kids, just like there had been for her and her new Pete, but they worked it out. Just like she knew they would. They'd started their life together, got married (she cringed as she thought of the wedding they'd put her through), and she knew that they had been talking about starting a family.

Rose had confided in her a few days before Christmas, about wanting children. She'd been nervous. She knew the Doctor would be ecstatic and was ready whenever she was, but Rose was afraid. Afraid of how dangerous their lives could be, afraid that she might be a bad mum. Jackie had calmly sat her daughter down with a nice cup of tea and soothed her little girl assuring her that she would make a fantastic mum whenever she was ready. The more Jackie spoke, the more Rose realised that she did want children. And she was ready to start trying as soon as possible.

Jackie had been thrilled (and sworn to secrecy) at the thought of grandchildren. There was a time in their lives, when she'd never thought Rose would settle down, let alone have a baby. It was truly a miracle in her eyes. She'd sent a silent thank you to the Doctor in back their original universe for making the sacrifice (she knew how much he loved her daughter) and letting them have this family.

Then there was the accident. She still blamed herself, though the Doctor, Pete, and Jake had all tried assuring her that it wasn't her fault. Why hadn't she insisted on going to get the milk herself? Why couldn't they have gone one morning without? Or better yet, why hadn't she been more prepared and bought more milk in the first place? These questions constantly swirled in her mind. She tied to ignore them and focus on other things.

Like the Doctor. Blimey, she was worried about him. He was going through the motions, but it's like he was a completely different person. His enthusiasm for life was missing and Jackie had never realised before this mess how much she appreciated his positive outlook on things. If she didn't know any better, she was half tempted to ask Pete if the Doctor had been body swapped of something. Her mind went back to the image of the "sipeen" or whatever green alien thing had tried to attack her and Mickey. The Doctor had ended up saving them, of course, thanks to Rose's prodding.

He needed her.

The Doctor needed Rose like Jackie needed tea.

She should call him and insist he come over for a proper meal. Perhaps she could ask Pete if there were any special Torchwood projects he could ask the Doctor to help with. Something alien might lift his spirits! With that in mind, Jackie bounded up the stairs to find her mobile so she could call her husband and son-in-law. Her heart stuttered as she stepped on the top step and heard a familiar laugh coming from Tony's room.

Not possible. There was no way. But what if?... Rose had always been exceptionally close to her baby brother, even after the accident. It wouldn't surprise Jackie one bit if Tony was the first person Rose would go to see upon her return. She wasn't sure how her daughter had snuck in without her noticing, but that didn't matter. Her daughter was home! Barreling across the landing, Jackie quickly threw open her son's door.

"Is something wrong, mum?" Tony asked, as he sat on his bed, packing his laptop back in it's protective case.

Jackie's heart deflated as she took in the room and saw no sign of Rose. "I thought... I thought I heard... Were you talking to someone Tony? I thought I heard someone laugh in here a second ago?"

"That was my pen-pal, Hannah!," he answered happily. "I was watchin' the video she sent me yesterday of her dog chasin' its tail! Wanna see? It's hilarious!"

"Sure, sure," Jackie responded, trying her best to sound genuine. Sure enough the video was pretty funny, and in the background she could hear the light feminine giggle of Tony's pen-pal. It was obviously just wishful thinking that had made her think it was Rose.

"Wasn't that great, mummy?" Tony asked.

She smiled and kissed the top of his head. "Really great. Hey, I'm going to go make a quick phone call and then why don't you and I sit down and watch a movie together. How does that sound?"

"Cloudy With A Chance of Pepperoni again?!"

"Whatever you want. I'll even pop us some popcorn."

Tony threw a punch the air. "Yes!"

Jackie smiled as they exited the bedroom. Yes, she missed her daughter desperately, but she was so thankful that she still had her son.

"You look happy."

Rose looked up at the comment as she walked out of her bedroom. "I am happy," she responded cheerfully to her roommate Erica.

Erica grinned. "I could hear you laughing from all the way out here. Good chat with your friend from back home?"

She thought back to the conversation she'd just had with Tony and laughed. "It was great! I needed it, I think."

"Good. So, today's the big day, yeah? When's Callum coming to get you?"

On cue, the girls heard a knock on the door.

"Now I think." Rose laughed, opening the door. "Perfect timing," she told her new boss.

He smiled. "Well, aren't you the chipper one this fine morning. Ready for your first wedding?"

"Ready as I'll ever be!"

He smiled and held out his arm. "The let's go, Flower!"

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