Disclaimer: I do NOT own any characters from Doctor Who. That all belongs to the BBC! I do, on the other hand, take credit for MY version of what happens during Rose's Time away from The Doctor in the parallel universe, what happens when she is left with the metacrisis Doctor, and any original characters she meets along the way, such as Richard "Roady" Colbert, Mitch Wilkinson, and Dr. James Caroline. Forgive any weird time flubs that may occur. If something seems off, just blame it on the wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey-ness of Doctor Who and move on. That's what I do, at least :)

Knowing

Rose stood outside John's hospital room, watching his sleeping form through the large glass window. He had been in the Torchwood Medical Wing for two days now and he was already looking much healthier. In fact, yesterday he had tried to get out of bed on his own and walk out the doors, claiming he felt "all better", much to Dr. Harper's disdain. He had to promise John that he would be discharged tomorrow if he would stay put and recover today. It was a miracle he was sleeping at all. Usually, John was fully awake, making jokes with the nurses or spouting some strange scientific facts that no one else really understood. Most of all, he would light up like a Christmas tree whenever Rose came around to see him. The smile she saw on his face filled her with so much happiness; she couldn't believe she had been daft enough to push him out of her life.

"Rosie?" Pete Tyler called to his adopted daughter as he approached her.

"Hey, Pete."

"Jackie called me at work, said she hadn't seen or heard from you in days. I figured I might find you here." He gestured to the window. "Are you gonna go in and see him?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't want to wake him." She paused. "You know, I never really saw him sleep before. He always said he didn't need too much. Well, until now, I guess."

"Your mum says the two of you are talking again."

"How does she know? I haven't told her yet."

"'Mother's intuition.'" He quoted with a smile. "Which I'm guessing means Roady told her." Rose rolled her eyes. "Plus, you seem a lot happier than you have in a while." She shifted her gaze to the floor. Pete frowned. "Sorry, did I speak too soon?"

"No, of course not. I am happier. I love him, Pete. I always will…it's just…"

"Can I tell you something?" Pete interjected. "When I lost Jackie…my first Jackie, I mean…I was an outright mess. I stayed inside, locked all the doors, curled up in a little ball all day and did nothing with my life. 'M sure the staff all thought I was going barmy! I was miserable, until I got of my arse and decided to do something to help others who had lost ones they loved, like me. And that's how I met you again…how I met your mum. My second chance family, I call all of you. Of course it wasn't easy, but we worked through it. We figured it out and we fell in love all over again. I loved my Jackie just as much as I can see you loved The Doctor. But Jackie and I both got over the weirdness and chose to have a happy, wonderful life together, and you will too Rosie. You just have to remember how much you both want to make it work, and how much you really truly love each other."

Rose hugged him tightly, thankful that she now had a dad to talk about these things, especially one who understood more than most exactly what she was going through. "Thank you. For everythin,'" and she meant it. "For bein' such a great dad."

"Anytime sweetheart." He kissed her on the forehead. "Now I've got to get back to work. Call your mum, will you?"

Rose chuckled. "Yeah, I will."

Pete indicated his head toward John's room. Rose looked over and saw John sitting up in bed, smiling that big goofy grin of his. She smiled back at him, vaguely aware that Pete was telling her something.

"What?"

"I said, go get 'im." Pete winked and headed back toward the lifts with a smile on his face. Rose opened the door to John's room, knowing that everything was definitely going to turn out alright.

Short, sweet, to the point. I love the idea of Pete becoming the one person who can actually talk sense into Rose. Since we don't see much of their interaction in the series, I thought this little tidbit of a chapter would be appropriate. I mean, she lost her dad when she was a baby, and Pete (this version of Pete anyway) never had a daughter to raise in the first place. I think Rose would cling to him like he was… well, her own father plus, he fully understands what an emotional roller coaster Rose has been on because he basically went through it himself. I originally had it as Jackie instead of Pete, but I felt like Rose needed to hear it from Pete just a little bit more. So I wrote this little exchange as an ode to the cuteness and strength of father-daughter relationships. Yay! Smile, be happy, hug your father (and mother), and leave a review!