One Decision Interlude 3 part 2

AN: The missed trip to the beach gets made up for - big time. Well, after Jenny's punishment - you didn't really think she could cute her way out of it, did you? ;) Gallifreyans/Time Lords having evolved from cetacean-like animals came from a chat with tardis_mole where I was trying to figure out how the Doctor could interpret the sonic screwdriver without a readout screen or anything like that.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no such things as purple diamonds on Earth - however, I can be and often am mistaken, so feel free to let me know if I am. Other than the purple bits, the information on diamonds are as accurate as my research could make them. Likewise the bits about corals. However, diamond corals are a DW invention - this is just my best guess at how that could actually work.

Chapter 14: Interlude 3: Part 2 - Holiday

They had somehow survived the week of attempting to teach Jenny how to cook. Without as much success as they'd been hoping for, but at least now she could heat up a tin of anything and not burn it, and she didn't burn toast anymore...oh, and she could make biscuits. That, he had said, was probably because she adored eating them so much. 'Just like her father,' Donna had replied. 'Makes stuff she likes to eat.'

Which had then lead to a bit of a teasing argument where he listed everything he could cook, over half of which he had either no real care for one way or the other, or an actual dislike for. Well, in this regeneration, anyway - after all, he'd liked pears in his sixth iteration! Pears! Eurgh! So who knew what his future selves would like...though he hoped there would always be an appreciation for bananas.

He grinned as he worked his way a bit further under the console to lubricate some of the other bits that needed it. That was a really brilliant idea of Jenny's, locking them up together. Plus, he'd had to admit she was right. Donna really did love him, just like their clever girl had said. They'd just had a few bumps before they could admit it.

Think of his clever girls and they appear, he thought as he crawled out from under the console just as they entered. "Hallo!" He beamed and rubbed at a smudge of...well, call it grease...on his cheekbone. "Thinking of going anywhere special today?"

"Yeah," Donna drawled, smirking at him rubbing the grease-smudge all over his cheek. "You, Spaceman, owe Jenny and me a trip to the beach."

"Oh I do, don't I?" A stained handkerchief was pulled from a pocket and he wiped his hands relatively clean, then swiped at his cheek. "Well, a trip to the beach sounds like a good thing before our next adventure. Any particular beach you had in mind?"

"Mmhmm." Donna took the handkerchief from her darling idiot and cleaned off the rest of the grease or whatever it was on his face. "Remember when you thought I was leaving you? When the Sontarans were meddling with the ATMOS and whatnot? You mentioned diamond coral reefs...and I was talking to Jenny about that, and we both decided we wanted to see those."

"Donna," the Doctor whinged while she cleaned his cheek. But the rest of his complaint was sidelined when she continued, and he grinned in delight. "Oooh, the diamond coral reefs of Katta Go Flo! Yeah, we can do that. Make days - might even try to make a week out of it, even." He'd even thought about taking them there to make up for the disastrous trip to the Library...why hadn't he followed up on it? Oh yeah, thinking he was going to lose Donna - he was a right idiot sometimes.

"A week at the beach? People do that?" Jenny asked, looking between her parents. Despite the lessons she'd had from both of them over the week of her punishment, she still didn't exactly get the idea of a relaxing trip. And she didn't really think her dad could manage something like that anyway. If they weren't in the Vortex, or visiting Nan and Great-Gramps, it seemed like they were always up to their necks in trouble.

"Yup," he nodded. "Not sure if we can stay a whole week through, but I'm sure we can manage at least three or four days before boredom kicks in."

"Sounds great," Donna started, then wagged a finger at him with a playful scowl. "There'd better be no wars, invading aliens, or giant agressive intelligent crabs or lobsters! Or, God help you, squid! Just a beach, and some snorkeling or scuba diving around the reefs. Right?"

"Donna," He rolled his eyes. "There won't be any wars, it's a tourist destination and hasn't been invaded in ages, and there aren't any Macra, Krakken or giant intelligent lobsters on the planet. Nothing but fun in the sun. Or underwater."

"So, when can we go?" Jenny asked, an excited grin stretching across her face.

"How's half an hour sound? You two go pack, I'll do the same, then we'll set the coordinates and get going."

"Fantastic!" Jenny hugged her dad, then her mum, then dashed off down the hall, singing. "We're going to the be-ach, we're going to the be-ach! No more cooking, we're going to the beach!"

The two watched her go, then Donna snickered. "She really hated those cooking lessons, didn't she?"

"Yeaah," he replied, grinning. "Which made it a good punishment. But at least she doesn't burn anything anymore when she heats it up. Course, now sometimes it's half warm and half stone cold..."

"She learned to undercook. But she can make biscuits like a pro," Donna smirked, then playfully poked his ribs. "Skinnyboy, I stand by what I said. She's just like you, only she's a chocolate fiend and you're a banana-nutter."

"But bananas are good," He playfully pouted at her, and wondered if they could sneak some more kissing in. And...well, he couldn't help but wonder if they'd get further than the minor canoodling they'd been doing on this trip to Katta Go Flo.

"Yeah, but if you two had your way, it'd be banana and chocolate everything all the time, and I'd put on a stone and not be able to keep up with all the running." She quickly kissed that adorable pout of his, then backed off before he could pull her in for more. "Now, now, if I stayed and kept kissing you, we'd still be at it when Jenny came back all packed."

"Oh, all right," He sighed and rumpled his hair. "Ooh, and I bet she's got no idea of what to take to the beach either."

"No, probably not. Oh - I didn't think to ask, earlier, when we were talking about the beach...d'you think she knows how to swim?" Donna frowned in worry and nibbled her lip. "S'pose if she can't, we'll just have to extend our holiday a bit and teach her."

"Or delay leaving a little longer and toss her in the pool, see if her instincts do the job," the Doctor muttered as he gave her a pained smile. "Er, it hasn't really come up in our chats before, but Time Lords evolved from an aquatic mammal, rather than a primate like humans. Something like a cross between a dolphin and a sea otter is the closest I can come to describing it in a way you'd be able to visualise it. Swimming comes naturally...or at least I think it does. I don't recall ever having to learn how to swim, anyway."

Donna narrowed her eyes at him, then tilted her head as she thought about it. "Is that why the sonic screwdriver doesn't have anywhere to see readings? You can interpret the bleeps and buzzes when you're using it cos your evolutionary whatsit was like a dolphin? Like birds were dinosaurs once, and humans were sort of apes?"

"Evolutionary antecedent, yup!" He grinned in pride at how quickly she'd made the connection, especially about the sonic screwdriver, then raised an eyebrow as he had a sudden twinge of worry. "Is that...going to change anything with us?"

She rolled her eyes and lightly swatted him on the arm. "Only that - when we get that far - I'm restricting water play to something no deeper than the bathtub. I'm not drowning just cos you can naturally hold your breath longer than I can. Finding out you look human but evolved from a weird alien dolphin doesn't change that I've known you were an alien. Just clarifies what sort of alien." Then she blushed, because they hadn't yet talked about going so far as sex yet, and there she'd gone and just laid out conditions for the future!

He blushed too, but at the same time he had a silly, dopey grin on his face. She'd acted like it was a given that they'd get to that point sooner or later! Oh, sooner would be lovely! But later would be all right, he supposed. So long as they got there, and she'd just as much as promised that they would! "Right! I'll just make a note of that right now - no intimate activities in water deeper than a bathtub."

"You are horrible, Spaceman!" Her cheeks were trying to match her hair, but she was still grinning at him. Well, at the dopey grin on his face - he was such a bloke, grinning about future sex!

"Nah, not me! I'm just trying to be a good...well...boyfriend? That's the word, isn't it?" Unlike her, his blushing was fading, mostly because he was now remembering all his failings and becoming a bit sheepish. "Mind you, I'm rubbish at...romantic stuff." He heaved an almost-sigh, as he'd barely stopped himself from saying he was rubbish at weddings. It was a trifle too soon to talk about marriage.

"Meh. You're too old to be a boyfriend. Significant other's probably more accurate. And all the blokes I ever met are rubbish at romance, no surprise an alien bloke's rubbish at romance too." She smirked, glad to feel the heat finally leaving her cheeks. "So, want to go talk to Jenny about whether or not she can swim and then lets get packed? Or are we going to be stood here flirting when she gets back?"

"Much as I'd prefer the latter," he murmured as he pulled her into a surprise hug. "I think we'd best go pack and find out if Jenny can swim." He gave her a quick, firm kiss, then let her go and was running off down the hall before she could realise he was gone. "Come on, Donna! Time's a-wasting!"

"Oh you'd better run, Spaceman!" She shouted at his rapidly-vanishing back, but instead of following him, she took a detour to the Wardrobe. He could find out if Jenny could swim - she had to see if she could find a bikini for sunning in, now that she was a teensy bit flatter in the tummy. Yeah, her blue one-piece would probably blow his mind as it was, but she really wanted to get him good now, after that kiss-and-run he just pulled!

The TARDIS giggled at Their Ginger's thoughts and lead her to the Wardrobe and the bikinis in her size on offer. Oh, Her Thief and Their Ginger were going to have so much fun! As would the Little One, so curious about everything. Hopefully she wouldn't be too curious about her parents, should they choose to extend their limits...there were some things the Little One just wasn't ready to see yet.

"I am curious about one thing, Doctor," Donna started as they left the TARDIS for their few days on Katta Go Flo. "How exactly does a diamond coral reef work? Was it a ton of diamonds that got shoved up to the sea floor and the corals just grew on them, or what?"

"We-ell, it's actually very fascinating, Donna. You know how Earth coral polyps secrete calcium carbonate to make their little limestone skeletons that eventually pile up to make the various coral formations depending on what sort of polyp they are?"

"Yeah, certified deep water scuba diver, remember? I know that bit, along with don't touch, cos the polyps are fragile that way. And some of 'em sting on top of that."

"Yes, well, some of them are right vicious for tiny little creatures. Well anyway, the coral polyps of Katta Go Flo don't secrete calcium carbonate. They secrete, or possibly exude, pure carbon in a diamond lattice - each little skeleton is a very tiny hollow little diamond. Which makes Katta Go Flo the only planet in the universe where diamonds aren't dependant on massive amounts of pressure and heat to form."

"No!" She stared at him, then got jostled a bit by Jenny, who was impatient to be going to see the reefs already. "You're not serious - they really secrete diamonds? Really? How does that work? And are there any colour variations, or is it just miles and miles of clear reefs?"

"It works just like Earth polyps secrete calcium carbonate. They just secrete their carbon in the diamond lattice allotrope, instead of adding calcium et cetera to make limestone. And yes, they do come in colours. It's a combination of the way diamonds elsewhere get colours - yellow and brown from more or less nitrogen in the matrix, blue from boron - and the equivalent to the zooxanthellae algae that live in symbiosis with Earth polyps that give Earth corals their colour. When those die in the polyps, they get converted just like any other food, and the elements that make them red or pink or green or orange or purple get extruded along with the carbon to make pink and red and green and orange and purple diamonds. Or intensify the yellow and brown and blue."

"But Dad," Jenny couldn't resist asking. "Wouldn't they all be black then, because the polyps are extruding bits of dead things?"

"Nope," he replied. "Katta Go Flo is also unique in that it doesn't have black diamonds. Those are from inclusions of all sorts of dark materials, and mostly happen with meteor impacts, although it's possible that others could form naturally. Just not in diamond coral reefs."

"So when do we get to go see them?" Jenny was almost squirming with eagerness - actual real live living diamonds! How brilliant was that?!

"Why don't we check in first, then see when we can manage a scuba diving trip?" Donna smiled at their little girl - she was so excited to go see the reefs that Donna thought she'd wriggle right out of her clothes.

Two days later, Donna stood in front of a full-length mirror in her room and admired the bikini she'd found in the TARDIS Wardrobe room. At least it wasn't a thong, she thought as she turned to look at the rear view and the green cloth covering her bottom. There was a line she wouldn't cross, even to tease her Spaceman, and walking around with nothing but a bit of floss running up her crack was it.

She turned back around and smirked at her reflection, admiring how the top gave her cleavage a bit of extra oomph, then tossed on a gauzy caftan while she continued to muse on the last few days. They'd found out that Jenny could swim like a little fish...or seal, given that they were mammals - not to mention Jenny's opinion of fish - and the first, half-day on planet had been spent finding out they had to wait two days for one of the dive boats to have room for all three of them. Booked solid they were. So they'd had to check out the other activities on offer, then they had a meal in the five-star restaurant and off to their suite.

Surfing and wind-surfing was yesterday, cos Jenny had wondered how it worked. And while both activities were easy enough for her to pick up now that she was fitter than she'd ever been in her life, she'd pretended to be utter pants at them. It was more fun that way, cos then her darling nutter insisted they do it together so he could 'show her how'. And oh, that had been brilliant, them pressed so close together while he 'taught' her how to balance! It gave her tingles, and she knew he'd enjoyed it too - he might be evolved from an alien dolphin, but he still had a noticable reaction to being that close to her!

Today, though, they'd decided on a quiet beach interlude before going to scuba around the reefs most of the day tomorrow, hence the bikini. It wouldn't fall off if she didn't go too deep, and it was perfect for lounging in. And teasing her alien man till he was even sillier than usual, which was the whole point of the thing.

Musing done, she picked up her packed beach bag, plopped a hat on her head and, sunglasses in hand, stepped out into the common room of the suite the Doctor had managed to get them, probably with the psychic paper. Just in time too, as her Time Lords were looking rather antsy. She couldn't wait to see his face when she ditched the cover-up and he saw the bikini!

Dad? Jenny asked as she tossed a frisbee at him.

Yes Little Star? He caught the frisbee and threw it back at her, along with a raised eyebrow.

Why's your scent been muskier since you saw Mum in her bikini? And why'd you adjust yourself a bit when you were putting the lotion on her back so she wouldn't burn? She threw the frisbee back, then sighed as he missed it.

His jaw dropped in shocked surprise, then he sputtered, the frisbee bounced off his chest, and he had to swim after it a bit. Once he got it back, he spun it on his finger for a few moments to buy time to compose himself for a calm answer, then launched it back at his daughter. Erm...well...ah...I've given you the basic biology lessons regarding reproduction, and how quite a few species do the activity for fun as well as offspring.

Yeah, she grimaced, and then had to swim after the frisbee herself. Maybe asking embarrassing questions while playing frisbee wasn't the brightest idea, but she needed to know! So, when you get muskier, it's a sign that you're wanting to mate with Mum for fun? Or is it offspring?

Nah, your mum's at the wrong point in her cycle for offspring. It'd just be for the fun...and the bonding even closer. People of most species that don't have actual mating seasons also use the act to become closer to their mate.

She threw the frisbee back at her dad finally, though it was way off the mark, and frowned curiously. So...why aren't you and Mum mating yet?

Jenny Caelesta! He made a lunge for the frisbee, but ended up splashing down in the water in a belly-flop. He spat some water out and shook his head like a dog when he surfaced, and glowered at his overly-curious daughter. When the time is right, Donna and I will mate. It isn't time yet.

Why're you so mad, Dad? I'm just trying to understand, She made a face, complete with tiny pout, that made her look like a sad kitten.

He sighed and waded toward his daughter, then pulled her into a hug. I know, I know. But that's private between your mum and I. And both partners have to want to mate at the same time, or nothing's going to happen.

Oh. She hugged her dad, then gave him an inquisitive look. Should I ask Mum why she's not ready yet, then?

Oh Jenny. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry at her innocent question, and finally settled on a smile and a sigh. She'll be ready when she's ready, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Jenny caught a twinge, just a flicker of emotion, then grinned at her dad and stole the frisbee. Bet you're hoping the bikini means she's ready! And off she ran, splashing into shallower water, laughing, with her dad chasing after.

After the chase, they'd played frisbee a bit more, then gone back to join Donna at her lounger. Where the Doctor promptly claimed the next one and turned on his side so he could watch her. That bikini of hers managed the impossible by making her appear even more appealing than she already was.

Jenny shook out a beach towel and laid it on the sand between her parents, then sat and looked up at her mum. "Mum?"

"Yes Jenny?" Donna slid her sunglasses down her nose to look at the pair of them, and wondered why the Doctor was looking like he was about to die of embarrassment, complete with readying himself for face-palming.

"When can I get a bikini?" Jenny's blue eyes were bright with curiosity. Well, and the amusement of teasing her dad by going off at a different tangent, but she did kind of want to know about the bikini too.

"What?!" The Doctor sputtered and stared at his daughter. He'd not been expecting that, but the automatic answer of an overly-protective father came spilling out almost without him processing the words first. "The twelfth of never!"

"Isn't that a little extreme, Spaceman?" Donna asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

"No it isn't," He growled. He wasn't about to let his little girl wear anything that would attract more male attention than she was already getting. She wasn't going to be ready for that sort of thing for a very long time. A very, very, very long time. Twelfth of never long time.

"Oh, you," Donna couldn't help but smile at his sulking and glowering. "You're acting just like every other Dad in the universe when they realise their little girl's growing up."

She ignored his indignant sputtering - something about not being like any other Dad anywhen - then gave Jenny a curious look. "Ignoring your overprotective dad here for a moment, what's brought this on? When we went shopping, you didn't look too impressed with bikinis. Wrinkled your nose at them, actually. So...why d'you want a bikini now?"

Jenny shrugged. Bit more teasing and questioning, then she'd maybe see about going in and letting her parents have alone time to maybe decide they were finally going to get around to mating. "Dunno. I guess I just didn't realise how nice they could look on a person. They looked kind of useless on the mannequins."

When Jenny looked down at her hands, Donna raised her eyebrows then glanced over at her Spaceman. He looked like a thundercloud, so she thought she'd try and head off the Oncoming Dad before he went and did something stupid like threaten every unattached male in the place and get them thrown off the planet before they could see the diamond coral reefs.

"Well, yeah, they do look nice. But there's a reason I haven't joined you two in the water. It's cos the tops also have a habit of falling off. And then floating away, and then there's me left trying to cover up with just my hands. Not really practical and only really good for strolling about, or lounging in, mostly. So...while it probably won't be the twelfth of never until you get a bikini, it certainly won't be until you've got an interest in lounging around for a good part of a day."

Since the goal was to calm the Doctor down, she didn't bother mentioning that this particular one probably had less chance of falling off than the hotel had of falling down, if that stuff the TARDIS had supplied to help it stay on until she wanted it off worked like it was supposed to. And he was definitely calmer now. Actually, he was now far more interested in the thought of her losing her top, if his intense look meant anything. Made her tingly, knowing she could do that to him.

"But that's so boring!" Jenny looked up at her mum and frowned. "Dull, dull, dull! And I don't see how you can stand to lounge around all day anyway." Then she slanted a sideways look at her dad and rolled her eyes. He was musky again...but if her nose was right, so was Mum! Well, just a little, and it was sweeter than Dad's...but she was sure they were both interested in mating now. And they weren't even talking about mating, that was sooo weird! Maybe she should leave now, so they could get on with it?

"Catching up on my reading, sweetheart. I've been so distracted lately that I've fallen behind." Donna smiled at their girl, then stole a glance at the Doctor, who was toying with the bottle of sunscreen. "But, I suppose...if your dad was willing to slather me up with sunscreen again, then I could go play beach games with you two."

"Really? That'd be great!" Jenny grinned, though she wanted to huff in exasperation. All that time trying to get them together, and she'd thought they were finally going to seal the deal...and now Mum wanted to play frisbee? Oh, she was so confused! At least Dad looked more than happy to put more sunscreen on Mum...

The Doctor was rather relieved that his daughter had decided not to twit them about mating, and took a very firm grip on his biocontrol so he wouldn't accidentally give her a reason to start. Although Donna made it very hard...er...difficult...to manage, rolling over like that so he could lotion her back.

There was a brief moment when Donna regretted having suggested beach games, because it felt so good to have his hands on her, but it was too early to slope off for a bit of private fun and games. And who knew what trouble Jenny would get into if they went off and left her alone? She'd probably be as big a trouble-magnet as her dad. So she just relaxed under his hands until he ended the rubdown at her feet. Then she rolled over - with her back to him so as to not give him any more problems than he likely already had - and lotioned her front.

Once she was done with that, she exchanged a mischevious grin with Jenny, stole the frisbee and ran off laughing with her two Time Lords following after. Which pretty much defined the rest of the day - frisbee, three-cornered beach volleyball with a beach ball, and lots and lots of laughing.

Later that night, after Jenny had gone to bed, Donna was idly caressing the Doctor's chest, following the lines of muscle. "Y'know, I have to wonder about you and your suits. You're nowhere near as skinny as they make you look - they bigger on the inside or something?"

"Something like that," he replied, and was glad to relax and not have to clamp down all the time now that Jenny was in bed. Meant he could enjoy Donna's touch without having to worry about his little girl deciding to try and encourage things along.

"Yeah? Really? Think you could make me a bigger on the inside bra then?" She rested her hand over one of his hearts and grinned up at him.

"What? Why would you want to look smaller? Your breasts are gorgeous!" He didn't get it - why would she want to hide those glorious curves?

"Doctor, my tits are double-D, actually borderline E-cup. Gets tiring, sometimes, holding them up all day. I'd kind of like to be able to run without having to brace them, too. Or squash them with a sports bra." Still, it was nice to have the girls appreciated - and it was fun to surprise the Doctor with a glimpse of more cleavage than normal. For an alien, he was such a tit-man!

"Sooo...you just want them smaller for running?" He asked, carefully, then wrapped his arm around her and stroked his hand down her back in a gentle caress. He'd have done other things, but they were both tired and wouldn't appreciate them.

"Yeah," she breathed, and shivered at his touch. She had a t-shirt on, but nothing under it because she was going to bed soon, and the touch of his hand...well, it made her wish she wasn't so tired. She didn't know if they were just that right or if it was all the time spent with just him while Jenny was finding out the downside to being a kid, but she was ready for a bit more than the canoodling they'd been doing. Just...not tonight. Too tired to enjoy it.

"I'll have to consult some books, but I think I could probably manage something. Even if it's only a sports bra that doesn't squish them." Oh, if only she wasn't so tired, and if he wasn't actually tired for a change, he'd do more - slide his hands under that shirt of hers and feel the silken skin on her back at the very least. But they were both tired, so he let it go with just tugging her into a snuggle.

"Oh, that'd be lovely Spaceman," She snuggled in and sighed contentedly, then yawned. "I could go to sleep right here, y'know."

"Should get you into bed then," he murmured, but didn't make any move to A) let her go, or 2) get up and carry her.

"Yeah, probably should." She was quiet for a minute, then something she'd noticed earlier in the day came back to her and made her ask. "Doctor? Why have you been looking uncomfortable off and on today?"

He sighed and ran his free hand through his hair, and snuggled her closer. "We-ell, that's because I found out today that Jenny's nose is at least as sensitive as mine, if not moreso. She can smell when I'm thinking about doing naughty things to you. And she teased me about telling you about it...so, I've been trying to keep myself under control so she wouldn't embarrass either of us." He leant down and kissed her briefly, then managed a crooked smile. "Never had such a hard time controlling my urges until I met you."

"Oh, really?" Donna thought back a little harder, comparing some of the odd looks she'd gotten from Jenny with times she'd been thinking randy thoughts and blushed. "Oh my God...she can smell me too!" She stared at him, almost taken aback. "Does that mean you can smell me too?"

"Yeah, thought as much. She's wondering why we don't just get on with it, since we want each other like that. I told her that it would come in it's own time, when we were both ready for it." He closed his eyes at her question and sighed at the heat in his cheeks. And wished his Earthgirl hadn't brought that up, because he loved the way she smelled when she wanted him. "Yes."

Donna wriggled enough so she could look up at him, not sure if she should be angry or pleased. "And why have you never mentioned this before?"

"Because," he started and looked at his knees. "I didn't want to scare you off. You have to admit, that's a bit weird to you."

"Yeah, well so was finding out you were evolved from an alien dolphin, but I didn't run off then and I could've." She tapped him on the chest until he looked at her, then cupped his cheek with her hand. "Doctor, whatever we manage to make of our feelings, it won't work right unless we're honest with each other. And part of that includes telling me about anything that might be considered odd to me."

"Sooo...you're not mad at me because I can smell your...ah...intimate moods?" He asked, after a long, searching look at her face and eyes.

"Eh, maybe a little. But only cos you didn't tell me before now," Donna quirked a grin as an unexpected bonus to his newly-revealed ability popped into her head, then drew him toward her. "And bonus for me - if I'm not in the mood, you'll know it and won't press. I may be the only human woman in the universe who'll never have to claim headache to avoid sex."

"Donna, you never cease to amaze me with how accepting you are," he gave her an awed smile, then took advantage of her gentle tug to swoop in for a kiss. Blimey but he loved kissing her!

"That's love, Spaceman," she managed after another of his toe-tingling specials. "Accepting the differences and learning to work with'em. Should I try and quote Shakespeare and prove it? Pretty sure I remember the applicable sonnet."

"You're thinking Sonnet 116, aren't you?" He asked and stroked her cheek, then nestled her against him again.

"'Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments. Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, or bends with the remover to remove.' That bit is...well, it's just us. And the best advice for us," she replied then rested against him again, just enjoying being held. Even with the roving hand that'd gently stroked down her arm and ended by holding her hand and caressing her palm. Felt nice.

"Yeah it is, isn't it?" He murmured and cuddled her against him, even though his hand seemed to have a mind of it's own and was toying with hers in a sensuous manner. He was busy remembering the rest of the sonnet, not realising he was reciting it aloud. "'O no, it is an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken: It is the star to every wand'ring bark whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks within his bending sickle's compass come. Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom: If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.'"

"Y'know, for an alien bloke who claimed to be rubbish at romance, you're actually pretty good," she murmured, then snuggled closer and yawned again.

"Nah, that's just the words of a genius. I really am rubbish at romance." He stole a few more moments of being with her then reluctantly let her free from their cuddle, and was ready to say good night when he was startled by her next words.

"Come to bed with me, Doctor."

"What? But I...you're tired, Donna, you need your sleep!"

"Yes I need sleep, you prawn. But I want to sleep, and wake up, with you." She stood and held out her hand to him. "Come on, sleep with me. And no arguments about not needing sleep - I don't think you've slept since we've been here."

"Have too," he groused as he took her hand. "Just...not well." Complete lie of course - sleep was for tortoises. Except when his body finally put the brakes on, then he had to give in. Like tonight.

"Not the comfiest sofa in the universe, is it? Still don't know why you insisted on sleeping on it." She smirked and headed for her room - which would have been their room all along if he wasn't such a silly prawn - towing him along behind.

"Donna!" He yipped softly and barely managed to stop stumbling after her. "I didn't think you were ready to share a bed. And anyway, if I'm going to sleep with you, I need to change."

She giggled, but let go his hand. "Sweet, silly love, I wouldn't have minded a bit." She eyed him, stood there in nothing but shorts, then nodded. "Yeah, guess you do. I'll be expecting you to show up though, so don't just go to the sofa out of habit or you'll be in trouble!"

"And not the fun kind either, I'll bet," He grinned and waggled his eyebrows at her, then angled off to get his jim-jams, neatly dodging the obligatory swat.

Five minutes later they were both snuggled into bed together, the Doctor spooned up against Donna's back, arms wrapped around her. And five minutes after that, they were both sound asleep, dreaming of the days to come.

Ending AN: Sonnet 116 is used in homage to the story that inspired me to write this one. My beta tkelparis' story 'Shakesperean Cupids'. Love ya tkel!