She greeted her mother and wheeled her cases to the car, telling her she had more stuff than she'd had when she was moving here. Her mother said she still wasn't too old for a slap and they both laughed when Rose said then she'd have to get Alec to arrest her. They called at the supermarket and then went back to make a late lunch. Alec was laid on the sofa watching an old film he'd found and was grumpy when he was interrupted near the end so Rose showed her mother to her room, showing her the bathroom and their bedroom. She was thinking that her mother would say something but she didn't. Jackie knew Alec had just come out of hospital so she had let it go. While they were upstairs, Jackie closed the bedroom door so Alec wouldn't hear.
"Rose, I know he's been ill again but it still doesn't alter the fact that I really do think he looks a lot like John." Rose put her hand up in protest but her mother insisted she heard her out. "I know you can't see it and I did notice you had photos of you and Alec downstairs but what if he sees your other photos of you with John?"
"He's already seen them Mum, we looked through them and he never even suggested I thought they looked alike and that's why I'm with him. Why can't you just accept I've moved on and I'm not with Alec for that reason. I'd never even thought about it until you brought the subject up. Please, just accept Alec for who he is, a caring, hard working man who loves me and wants to take care of me. I love him, just be happy for us because we've just…" She was just about to say they were engaged but they'd wanted to tell her together so she just added "moved in together."
Jackie suspected she was going to say something else and Rose thought she'd covered her tracks well but her mother kept her silence saying she'd unpack while Rose checked on Alec and got lunch ready. Rose was really hoping she wouldn't bring this up in front of Alec, especially now, he really didn't need it. They had both had a major scare and now she was regretting still letting her mother visit she decided to plead with her not to bring the subject up until Alec was over this at least and preferable not at all.
"Mum, please, promise me you won't say anything to him, not now. We don't need this. I think you're wrong, this is all about me finally moving on with my life, with Alec so please just accept it. I thought you'd be pleased. I'm going down now but if you bring this up again in front of Alec and he leaves me, I'm going away and I'm never coming back because no matter who I choose, you'll always say the same. I'm moving on with Alec, so I need you to let the past go too and accept him, for my sake, please."
Rose opened the door and went downstairs. Alec had wondered what the two women were up to, thinking they were maybe plotting to keep him cooped up all weekend. He was going to ask Rose if she'd go for a walk with him later, just down the coastal path for ten minutes, it was driving him crazy. He heard footsteps and hoped it was Rose. It was as she came up behind him and put her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek asking if he'd missed her. He grabbed hold of her and pulled her down and kissed her asking if that answered her question and he'd show her how much he'd missed her later.
Jackie didn't come down until they were already eating, Rose had bought a folding tray for Alec though he protested he wanted to eat at the table with her so she brought hers over and shared. They were laughing as Rose was trying not to tip the table over when they heard Jackie on the stairs. Rose had left her lunch covered up in the fridge so she got up and put the kettle on, retrieving the plate from the fridge. She looked at her mother as if to say sorry but she just sat down at the table so Rose made her some tea and put it down then went back to sit next to Alec. He immediately knew there was something wrong because she had said she was looking forward to really catching up with her mother since she'd only seen her for a few hours the week before at the court.
"What's wrong Sweetheart?" he whispered in her ear, so Jackie wouldn't hear.
"Nothing, it doesn't matter, we had a bit of a disagreement, that's all, please leave it Alec," she replied in a low voice.
"I can hear you, you know," came Jackie's voice from the kitchen area "and it wasn't a disagreement either. I had something to say and she doesn't want to listen. So I'm keeping quiet."
Rose was not going to start an argument in front of Alec, he didn't need all the stress so she left it and went to take their plates away then sitting back down with him as he put her arm around her and pulled her close.
"I fancy going for a little walk, will you come with me? I know I'm not supposed to go out but just for ten minutes? Please Rose, I'm going crazy in here. We can just walk slowly down the coastal path."
He gave her a kiss on the cheek and a sad look so she'd feel sorry for him. She did. He really now just wanted to get her out of the house to find out what exactly was going on. He knew the two of them were close so something had gone wrong somewhere and he really wanted to know what it was and if he was the cause of it. Before she had chance to answer him, her mother broke her silence.
"If you're going out to talk so I don't hear you, don't bother on my account. Rose knows what I think."
Rose was afraid her mother was going to come out and say the one thing she didn't want her to, to come right out with the revelation about Alec looking like John and she wasn't known for being tactical.
"Alec, has Rose shown you the photos she brought from London yet? Have you looked at them carefully? Seen anything unusual?"
Rose stared at her in disbelief, she couldn't believe she was doing this to her. She recovered, took Alec by the hand and said they'd take that walk now and headed for the door with him, picking up her purse on the way out. Once outside, they walked slowly for a few minutes up the path and stopped at the same bench where they had committed to sharing the house together. Now all that was about to be shattered if Alec took this the wrong way as he was already showing signs of asking her a million questions. They sat down and Rose didn't know where to start but Alec saved her the dilemma.
"Sweetheart, what exactly did she mean by all that? Did you tell her I looked at those photos you had? Why would she even ask me that unless there's something else to it. Is there something you haven't told me Rose? Because if there is then you need to tell me now. I love you, nothing will ever change that because without you, I wouldn't be here this time. I would have been on my own and might not have been able to call for an ambulance or been too late." He took her left hand into his and put his fingers inbetween hers until they were intertwined. "You really need a ring on that finger you know but I don't want you to have any doubts and we'll have to be careful who you tell about that cheque and we can't make it public, not yet. I asked you to marry me Rose and I meant it otherwise I wouldn't have asked. If you want to wait to get engaged then fine, I'll get you a ring to wear on your other hand and or we can just get married. How does September sound? It gives a reasonable period of certain people not associating the fact you've got compensation. What do you thing, my love?"
Rose was astounded he was so calm over it all with what her mother had just come out with. "Alec, don't you want to know what she was getting at before you finalize our wedding plans?" He shook his head and looked at her. "You might change your mind when you hear what it was."
"Never, Rose Tyler, nothing will make me change you mind not even if what she was trying to say was that she thinks I look like your dead husband or that I look like a certain Scottish actor or I'm marrying you for your money. I don't care what she thinks, I'm marrying you because I love you, you're my life now. So tell me what it was and it had better be that I remind you of John because that proves you have good taste in men and not because I look like some skinny Scottish actor you had a crush on at some point because then I'd really have to think again." He smiled at her, brushing her hair back over her face and kissing her cheek.
"Alec, I don't even know where to begin and I can't believe you're so calm about it. Mum told me when we arrived outside the court last week that the reason I've been able to move on with my life is because I see John in you and that's why I was attracted to you but I don't, I never have and never even thought about it until she pointed it out and I still see no resemblance, you're totally different. I can't explain why she'd even think such a thing. She's not normally like this and she'll get over it. I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid you'd leave me. I love you, Alec Hardy," she said, as tears fell down her cheeks.
Alec pulled her close and whispered in her ear "Tha gaol agam ort Ròs" he said in Gaelic as he wiped them away with his hand. "It means I love you Rose. Now let's go back home then later, we'll walk across to the harbour pub for dinner and in the meantime, we'll talk it out with your mother and tell her we've set a date. Did you even tell her we'd got engaged?'' Rose shook her head. "Then she'd best know that nothing she says is going to get rid of me. How about the first Saturday in September? That ok with you?"
Rose smiled at him and said, "I can't think of a better time, Grumpy."
"Well, now I have no reason to be grumpy, do I? You can still call me that if you really want to but I'd rather you called me 'Sexy' when we're in bed. Speaking of which, I feel fine now and I don't want to go easy any more because I've missed you and I want to make up for it tonight. The worse that could happen is that I end up in hospital again but it will be more than worth it to have a night with you."
Rose laughed. "Well, be careful what you wish for, Mister but I might have to go easy on you, just for tonight and see if you can keep up with me."
They both got up and walked arm in arm back down the path and went back inside to find Jackie with her bags packed standing at the door as they walked through.
"Mum, where are you going, why have you got your cases packed? Don't be like that, we want you to stay. I've told Alec what you said and he's fine with it and he thinks you're wrong." Rose looked at Alec who took her hand and squeezed it. "We're getting married Mum, in September, he asked me when he came round from his surgery the other morning and yes, I thought it was just him coming around from the anaesthetic but he asked me again later so now we've set a date. We're not going to get officially engaged because we don't want certain people thinking he's marrying me because I got the compensation because we all know that's not true, you know we met before that even came up but it's a small town and word gets around, only a few actually know I received it but not how much for."
Jackie looked at them both holding hands and realised her daughter really did love Alec. She walked up to Rose and pulled her into a hug with Alec just watching until she pulled him in too and said she was sorry. They talked for a while then walked across to the harbour pub for dinner and they were laughing and joking by the time they'd eaten. After they got back and watched TV for a while, Jackie went to bed saying she'd better not be able to hear them in her room across the landing. Alec said he'd try his best to keep Rose quiet to which Rose had replied there was no chance. They had a few nights to make up for but she made him promise to keep it relatively low key until he'd been back for his check-up next week which he said he'd reluctantly agree to for now, just to be with her again.
Saturday, Jackie and Rose went shopping while Alec said he was going to look online at honeymoon destinations and promised not to go out and put Rose's number on a shortcut on his phone and she said they'd be back in a few hours. Rose showed her mother around town and they bought a few things each then went back to make lunch.
Sunday, Rose drove them up the coast to another seaside resort and Monday morning, they drove down to Brighton to see John's mother. She was happy to see them and Rose introduced Alec to her, saying he was the reason they had caught the man who had knocked down and killed John, that he had encouraged her to get the case re-opened. Rose also told her how she was moving on with Alec and that they were living together but they talked about John all the time and Rose would never forget him and that Alec had helped her over the worse time of seeing John's killer put to justice. John's mother said she was pleased for them and asked them to keep in touch which they promised they would.
They managed to find a jewellery shop that was open in one of the town's shopping centres and Alec bought her a ring, for her right hand but he made her promise when they were at home to wear it on her left hand which she always did. They opened a joint account at the bank and went the following Saturday to the next town and booked their honeymoon for the first Saturday in September and also called at the registry office and set the date, telling Rose's mother to come up the day before and she could house sit for them while they were away if she wanted to. Alec told no-one at work he was getting married, didn't see it was any of their business but planned to tell the personnel department after they got back from their honeymoon so Rose was his next of kin for any benefits he was due.
The next few months were hectic for the two of them, Rose thought she would be bored at home but she wasn't, making her shell pictures after a few local shops were interested in selling them for her so in the evenings, they would go out looking for shells and every night, they would show each other their love and Alec told her he wanted them to start a family. Their wedding day arrived, Alec spending the night before in a local hotel at Jackie's insistence and they flew off to their honeymoon and that night, Rose told him she had done a pregnancy test and she was four weeks and he was over the moon.
The End!