December 2003

"Why am I here?" Rory whined as he stepped out of the car. His dear brother Tony had dragged him to a jewelry store, in central London, a week before Christmas. His older brother could not have picked a better way to torture him.

"There are jewelry stores closer to home, Tony. Or we could borrow the TARDIS and I could take you to the largest precious stone exchange in the galaxy. Money's no object out there; I can always use my sonic on a cash point. You know, get us an unlimited credit stick."

Tony rolled his eyes and opened the door to the shop. "Hush, baby Time Lord. I brought you here because I need your help and I thought you might want to pick out a nice present for Mum. Or maybe one for your little Amelia, she still wears that locket you got her years ago. Maybe get her a new one with your picture in it this time."

"She's not my Amy," Rory huffed. "She's just a friend."

"But you want her to be more than just your friend, don't you?" Tony laughed as he watched his brother squirm. "Tell me you don't want to see your time-lines get all tangled up in each other. Seriously, have you kissed her yet?"

Rory let out a deep sigh. "Tony, she and I aren't like that. Amy is my very best friend and nothing more. We can't be, because I can't tell her the truth. Maybe when we're older but not right now, ok?" There was a shadow that passed over his face, one that showed his older brother that this subject was 100 percent off limits.

Holding his hands up in surrender, Tony said, "All right, all right, I give. No more talking about you and Amy, at least not today." He clapped his hands together. "Now back to the task at hand."

"You said you needed my help. What, do you want me to lick the stones to see if they're real? 'Cause, that sounds like its more Dad's department than mine." Rory laughed at the image of Dad licking all the jewelry Tony would be looking at, then summarily being escorted out of this posh jewelry shop by security.

"No, I don't need you to lick anything." Suddenly Tony blushed. "I'm going to ask Trisha to marry me," he said quickly and quietly. "And I want your opinion on the ring."

Rory's face lit up. "Congratulations, big brother. Trisha is a brilliant girl. A bit out of your league, though. As long as she doesn't mind settling for a primate like you, the two of you will be amazingly happy."

"She hasn't said yes, yet." Tony's whole face went redder than his strawberry blond hair. "I hope she will, but we've never really talked about marriage. We've been living together for almost a year. I just hope she says yes."

"Of course she will. She's been crazy about you right from the start." Rory said matter of factly. "Not that I understand why, mind you. So are we here to pick out a ring?"

"No. I had a ring designed, using one of the rings Mum brought from the parallel universe." Tony looked embarrassed again. Rory had never seen his brother blush so much in one day in his entire life.

"One of Gran's rings?" Rory asked. "So Mum knows you're proposing, then?"

Tony shook his head. "No, Mum gave the ring to me a year or so ago. I think she was trying to give me a hint. No one else knows but you. It's a surprise and I didn't want the cat to get out of the bag too early. So you have to promise not to tell anyone."

Furrowing his brow, Rory asked confusedly, "So why, exactly, am I here again?"

Sighing, the elder continued, "Like I said, wolf cub…"

"Stop calling me that, ape," Rory growled.

Tony ignored him and continued, "I wanted your opinion on the ring. Thought that maybe you could pick something nice out for Mum, Amy, Mels and Sabrina. Oh, and there is someone here I thought you might like to meet. Kind of like a present for you." He beamed at his little brother.

Rory started to ask what he meant but he was rudely interrupted.

"Oi, Space Cadets, do you need help or are you going to tie up my counter all day?"

Turning, Rory saw a tall, red headed woman looking crossly at them. "Mum and Dad are going to kill you," he muttered under his breath to his brother. Their parents had been crystal clear on interfering with people who were important in Mum and Dad's future. And this woman certainly qualified as important to their future.

"Rory," Tony started, "this is Donna, she helped me design Trisha's ring. Donna, this is my little brother Rory."

"Pleasure," Donna Noble said, rolling her eyes. "So, you're here to pick up your ring then, cutie?" Tony nodded. "Give me a tick. I'll get it from the safe."

When Donna was out of ear shot, Tony beamed at his little brother. "Merry Christmas, Rory!"

"Are you insane?" the younger man hissed. "We can't be here. If we alter anything, even the simplest thing, I could cease to exist. Or worse, we could bring on the reapers. Mum still has nightmares about them. I can't believe that you tracked her down. We need to leave now." Rory tugged on his arm.

"Calm down," Tony pulled out of Rory's grip. "I didn't track Donna down. I came in here to get Trisha's ring made, and Donna was already here. I asked for her help designing the ring, thought it might make it more special. I thought you might like to meet her and maybe she could help pick out our gifts for everyone." He wiggled his eyebrows and Rory rolled his eyes.

Softening his tone, Tony said, "Seriously, it's not like she's going to remember us, we're just two customers during the Christmas rush. But for us, this is a once in a lifetime chance."

At that moment Donna came back into the showroom, carrying a small black velvet box. "Alrighty then, boys, here is one custom made, one carat, princess cut diamond, with three smaller diamonds on each side, and set in solid platinum. Your girl is one very lucky lady, Sonny Jim."

Opening the box, she handed it over. "If she says no, I'd be more than happy to heal your pain." She winked at Tony and Rory chuckled. Donna was only a little older than Tony and according to Dad, had been a little wedding crazy when they had met.

"I'll keep that in mind." Tony winked back, always the flirt, his brother. Donna's face went as red as her hair. "This is perfect, thank you Donna. I'm sure Trisha will love it. What do you think, Rory?"

"Sparkly." Rory wiggled his fingers at his brother. "Seriously, it's gorgeous. Trisha would be a fool to turn you down. And not just because it's a nice ring."

"Well, Tony." Donna wiggled her eyebrows and handed him a clip board. "Just sign here for the pick-up. You're all paid up and that's that. So, is there something else I can help you with. Maybe give you my number? Just in case."

Chuckling, Tony turned to his brother. "Anything else we need, Rory, or should we just let Donna get back to her day?"

To say he was torn was an understatement, Rory thought. He'd wanted to meet Donna his whole life, but had known that it would probably never happen. First, they had sworn to never interfere with her time line before she met Dad. Second, after the Crucible and the metacrisis, she could die if he simply uttered the wrong word.

Now he stood in the presence of the fantastic Donna Noble, his father's best friend and the other half of the metacrisis. He's always thought of her as Aunt Donna and, without her, he would have never been born. This may the only chance he ever got to spend time with her.

Like Tony had said, she would never remember two customers during the Christmas rush.

"Yeah, I think there is something else you could help us with," Rory said, having made a decision to spend a little more time with her. "I need some help picking out a gift for my mum. Maybe we could get something for our sister, his girlfriend and my two best friends too."

Donna smiled and Rory could imagine her adding up the commissions in her head. "Were you looking for something like a necklace, maybe a bracelet? I would say a broach but probably not for the younger ones." She started pulling out pieces for the brothers to examine.

Tony clapped Rory on the shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Knew you wouldn't be able to resist."

"Oi, pay attention, I haven't got all day," she snapped. "Now, do you want individualized pieces, or maybe something that matches?"

An hour later, Tony and Rory walked out with an engagement ring, five matching bracelets and a watch for dad.

"See, I told you," Tony gloated. "Time-lines still intact, you're still alive, much to my chagrin. And best news of all, no reapers." He gestured toward the sky. "And now Mum and the rest of the girls will have a bauble that the great Donna Noble helped pick out."

"Yeah and Dad will have the watch." Rory paused. "Do you think we should tell them? I mean, it will mean more to them if we tell them Donna helped pick the jewelry out."

"Of course we'll tell them, preferably when Amy and Mels are there and they can't yell at us." Tony sank into the driver's seat of his car.

"Speak for yourself." Rory grumbled, getting in the passenger side. "They can yell at me telepathically in a crowd of people and no one would be any wiser."

"Poor baby Time Lord," Tony said, leaning over to pat his cheek. "The perils of being a superior being, having Mummy and Daddy able to yell at you in your head."

"Keep taunting, ape," Rory growled, "and I'll show you what a superior being can accomplish."

Christmas Morning

Tony surveyed the sight before him, a nervous anticipation, an almost dread gnawing in his stomach. The Tyler family, Trisha, Amy and Mels sat around the Christmas tree. Most of the gifts had been opened. The only ones left unopened were the ones that he and Rory had bought from Donna. And the engagement ring that sat heavily in his jeans pocket.

"Ok, last gifts," his younger brother said, rubbing his hands together. "Tony, can you help pass these out?" Rory held a few of the gifts out.

"Just call me Santa," Tony smirked as he began to pass the small boxes out to the intended recipients.

"We found these at a great store in London," Rory continued. "The sales woman was an old friend of Dad's. A very Noble woman, she was justtemping there for the holidays."

Dad's eyes shot up as Tony handed him his box. "You met Donna? You two didn't say anything… inappropriate, did you?"

"No, Dad, everything is perfectly fine. We accidentally found her while we were out shopping," Tony reassured his dad.

"Who's Donna?" Amy asked, shaking the box Rory had just handed her.

Rose smiled. "Donna was Dad's very best friend. They were like brother and sister once."

"Then why doesn't she come to visit?" Mels asked, taking the box offered to her. "If she was such a good friend?"

Dad tugged on his ear. "We grew apart." He turned to Rory. "So she helped pick out the gifts?" Tony could see the telltale signs of their telepathic conversation. He knew he'd be in for it later if Rory didn't smooth this over with the parents.

"Yes, Rory and I wanted to get everyone something special. Go on then, open them." Tony sat back down, wrapping an arm around Trisha's shoulder.

Paper was ripped off packages and Amy and Sabrina squealed when they realized they had matching bracelets.

"I love it. Thank you. Thank you," Sabrina yelled as she launched herself at Rory. He, in return, wrapped her in a big hug.

Mels had offered a very rare, very sincere thank you and had asked Rory to help her put hers on. Mum and Dad beamed as they compared their new treasures.

"Thank you both," Mum said quietly as Dad clipped the bracelet to her wrist.

"Yes, thank you." Dad smiled and cuffed his watch to his own wrist. "These are so much more special, given who helped pick then out. Did you, did you like her?"

"She was brilliant, Dad, absolutely brilliant," Tony said. "In fact, she helped me with another special gift." He turned to Trisha, who was still staring at the bracelet. She was still in awe of how much he doted on her sometimes. "Something very special, for my very special girl."

She turned to him, holding up the bracelet. "You got me this and I get to spend time with you and the family. I don't need anything else. You're spoiling me."

"True, but this is something that I need for you to have." He shifted, pulling the ring out of his pocket, all while trying to calm his breathing. "Patricia, I love you, more than anything and I can't live without you. Haven't wanted to since the day we met."

He moved to a kneeling position on the floor. "I want, no, I need the two of us to be together, forever." Slowly he opened the box, unable to hear anything except the creak of the hinge and the blood pounding through his ears.

Now or never, he thought, looking up to meet her eyes. "Will you marry me?"

For a long moment she said nothing. Just sat there slack-jawed, looking completely stunned. Tony began to think that maybe he shouldn't have asked in front of his entire family. It would have saved him the embarrassment he was now feeling.

He had started to pull back when Trisha threw herself into his arms, knocking him, arse first, onto the ground.

"Yes! Yes, Tony Tyler," she squealed as she pressed him into the floor, peppering his face with kisses. "Yes, yes, yes."

He eased them up into a sitting position and slipped the ring on her finger.

"I told you she'd say yes," Rory called from across the room. Tony heard the oomph as Amy elbowed him in the stomach and the collective admonishments of Mels, Sabrina and Dad.

No longer able to care about the world around him, Tony sealed his and Trisha's engagement with a kiss. A promise of forever, however long their forever turned out to be.