EPILOGUE

"So what now?" the Doctor asked, leaning against the wall opposite the little girl's bed. A very different bed in a very different hospital. And this time, Charley was at her side. This time, the problem was an "easy fix" according to the specialists. In a few hours, they would be on their way and Julia, he'd been assured, would be a perfectly normal, perfectly healthy little girl.

"I don't know," Charley admitted quietly, stroking the back of the sleeping girl's hand. "I've been running for so long, I'm not sure I know how to stop."

"You don't have to stop."

She looked up at him.

"There's thousands of places left to explore, Charley. We can see them at any pace you'd like."

She smiled at him faintly, then sighed as she looked back down at Julia. "Doctor, I can't."

Struck, the Doctor's face fell. "What do you mean?"

"I have a daughter now. And she's really, properly four years old."

"She can come with us!"

Charley laughed quietly. "Oh, Doctor. With all of the times that we've barely scraped by with our lives, you think it would be safe to take a little girl?"

"We'll just have to choose our destinations more carefully."

"That wouldn't be exploring," she pointed out with a knowing smile. "And exploring is what you really like to do."

"Charley, there are hundreds of thousands of places I want to show you. And seeing you see them for the first time would be enjoyment enough for me. More than enough!"

Charley hesitated for a long moment. "She's a child, Doctor," she finally whispered. "All I've ever wanted for her was a home, stability, friends and neighbors. Maybe even a dog. Maybe you can't understand that. Maybe you never had it. But it's important. I want that for her."

The Doctor was quiet for a long moment. Finally, Charley stood and walked closer, setting her hands on his chest as she stopped directly in front of him.

"I love you," she whispered. "I will always, always love you. But I can't come with you, Doctor. I can't travel with you. Not while she's still so young."

The Doctor studied her for a long moment. Then, slowly, he raised a hand to cup the side of her face. "Then let me come with you."

She laughed quietly as she bowed her head. "Doctor, you don't want that. You could never be happy in one place." She looked up again. "You can't give up your freedom and I would never want you to do. It's too much a part of... you. Of who you are."

"You're right," he answered quietly. "I could never stay bound to one planet. But it's been a very long time since I've had a home to come back to. I don't think I've ever had that, now that I think about it."

She frowned, confused. "So, what? Instead of going off to work, you go off to save a galaxy somewhere? Back in time for dinner?"

He smiled back, pulling her closer to kiss her lips lightly. "It's a time machine, Charley. I could be back before I ever left. And besides," he looked over her shoulder at the sleeping child, "she won't be four years old forever."

Charley was staring at him, as if she wasn't entirely sure what to think, wary of believing anything that sounded too good to be true. He smiled, and pulled her close again, this time for a much deeper and more thorough kiss.

"Charley, I love you," he whispered against her lips. "You're not going to get rid of me. And if you're serious about giving Julia a stable home, about raising her as if she were your own child, born from your womb... then why not give her a father as well?"

Charley studied him, wariness melting into joy, slowly but surely. "Are you offering?"

"I spent a year and a half at her bedside. I think I'm as qualified to love and care about her as anyone you're going to find. I don't know what kind of a father I'll be, but..."

Her eyes were brimming with tears as she nodded, and he smiled back as he nuzzled her gently.

"I'm not going to lose you again, Charley," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. "Everything hurts so much more without you."