Disclaimer: Doctor Who isn't mine. If it was things would be quite different. The BBC owns all and I bow before them.
Day 14 prompt: family. Tentoo x Rose.
The Doctor studied his hair in the mirror, running his fingers through it until it was sculpted just right. Behind him Rose and Jackie were trying to pull Tony away from presents assembled in front of the tree and get him to settle down long enough for their annual Christmas photo.
The scene almost took his breath away (no respiratory bypass on this body but it was a more than reasonable tradeoff for what he gained). Even after five months in Pete's World there were moments he could still hardly believe this was real, that he had the future he'd longed for but never thought he could have as a full Time Lord. Domestics and all.
He'd pretended well enough with Rose after he'd regenerated. Imagined just for the night, as he sat there over a Christmas roast with her, Jackie, and Mickey, that he was an ordinary bloke in love with a woman and that he could be with her forever. That he had a place to belong beyond the walls of the TARDIS. Because as precious as his beloved ship was to him, it wasn't quite the same as sharing his life with someone flesh and blood. But that peace and happiness had slipped away, a mirage forever beyond his reach when a white wall had separated him. Reality intruded rudely, and reminded him of what he couldn't have. There'd been a reason he never did that, and he resumed that way of life once more, even in the face of Donna's kind offer. He was better off that way. Or so he told himself.
But as the five of them smiled for the camera, the Doctor rejoiced. He had family. Not just because of the ring on Rose's finger that would soon make it legal, but because they loved him for who he was. He was accepted by them all - even Jackie though they often drove each other spare. Tony followed him almost everywhere, a second shadow whenever they were together. And Pete treated him kindly, thankful to the Doctor for bringing him and Jackie together and for keeping his new family intact.
Back on Gallifrey, he'd had blood relations, but never felt like he'd belonged. He was judged and found lacking. He'd been the rebel, an oddity, the outsider, even amongst his own house and children. Only with Susan had there been anything close to a loving relationship, but his dear granddaughter was gone.
Now though, he finally had it all. Love, acceptance, and family. He was at home in a way he'd never been before.