"Rose River" AU
'River Run'
Chapter Twenty One
- Jackie -
A/N: I don't own squat, except what I write. Added a poll to my bio page. Put in your two cents on how you'd react to Celeste/Wilfred.
There was a bit of awkward silence in the room. Rose just sat there, staring at Jackie for a moment. Blinking when she came up with nothing, she turned to Celeste. "Uhm, how much can I say? I so don't want to mess this up."
"Mess what up?" Jackie asked. She had her teacup half covering her face, which was a bit of a self defensive manoeuvre, glancing back and forth between the three other women in the room. Rose looked lost and a bit scared, but Jenny – her granddaughter – had a secret little smile on her face. The other woman, Celeste, had a look of patience about her. She saw her nod to Rose encouragingly, then gave Jackie a pensive grin.
Steeling herself, Rose held her cup in front of her. The position further camouflaged her stomach, and she was doing her best to breathe. When that didn't work, she switched to her bypass. Feeling Jenny rub her upper back got a grin, and she flashed a small smile of gratitude to her. Looking back at Jackie, she tried to explain.
"Mum, remember you tellin' me how Grammie and Granddad Prentise didn't really approve of Dad?" That wasn't oblique at all, she thought.
Jackie gave her a confused look. "Yeah, what about it?"
Rose bit her lip then went into it. "I'm going to give you a hypothetical."
She screwed her face up. "Hypo-what?"
Rose sighed. "Pretend for a moment."
"Oh, all right," Jackie nodded.
Inhaling, she tried again. "Suppose for a moment, that you were able to go back to 1985 and talk with your mum and dad. You already had me, and knew there was going to be a lot of hardship for you in raising me by yourself after he died. What would you tell them to ensure that they would let you marry Pete?"
Grinning, Jackie chuckled. "Simple, really. I'd show them you."
Rose smiled. This went exactly where she wanted it to. Nodding, she reached to the side and put her hand on Jenny's knee. "Mmm-hmm," she hinted.
Jackie started. "He's not dead is he?"
"What? No! No, he's just fine," Rose said quickly. "He's just not here at the moment."
"And just where's he off to?" Jackie asked rather accusingly. "Hiding is he?"
Rose rolled her eyes. "Still at Mickey's reception in 2010, and a bit put out that we came here. Not like we had much choice, but I could tell he was upset about being left behind."
"Irony," Jenny giggled.
Smiling wide at that, Rose chuckled and nodded at her. "Serves him right. He'll get over it."
"2010? Reception?" Jackie, blinked.
Rose preened a bit. "Yeah, I was Mick's 'Best Mate' when he married Martha."
"You're talking like time travel's real, swee'hear'," Jackie said a bit sadly.
Jenny took this point with a smile and a raised hand. "Hello, I'm Jennifer Lillian Tyler. I'm twenty four Earth years old, and my mother's thirty three Earth years old. How else could that happen without time travel?"
"You're in a time machine, mum," Rose added chidingly. "How else do you think it would've appeared in the living room?"
"I … I don't know. This is all too weird. That book isn't supposed to be real!" Jackie complained.
"Where do you think H.G. Wells got the idea?" Celeste asked with a smirk.
Rose looked at her with wide eyes. "You're joking."
Celeste smiled and shook her head with a wistful sigh. "That one's on me. He was adorable."
Rose stifled a snicker, then laughed loudly. "Oh. My. God. Does the Doctor know that?" Seeing the prideful shake of the head, she turned to her mother. "You all right?"
"This is mad," Jackie whispered. "This is completely mad."
Rose had one more trump card to play. Prodding Jenny to stand, she had her help off the couch. "Mum, would I look four months pregnant in four days?" Emphasizing that, she lifted her blouse to show that it wasn't a pillow or anything.
Jackie's mouth dropped open with a gasp. "Rose!" Standing up, she felt at Rose's belly, then grabbed her left hand. Turning it up, she saw the gorgeous engagement ring. "You better be married, young lady!"
Snorting loudly, Rose pulled Jackie into a hug. "Have a daughter already and been married for a while now, in the ways of his people that is. We've been waiting on an Earth ceremony though."
Head spinning, Jackie pulled back. "Why are you taller? You're not wearing any shoes!"
"Oh," Rose blinked. "Uhm, had a growth spurt?" she cringed at the outlandish lie. "S'all right, just two and a half inches. Five sevenish now, I think."
Lost about everything, Jackie felt at Rose's arms, then put a hand on her daughter's forehead. "Jenny, get your mother a blanket," she said quietly. "She's freezing."
"Mum," Rose protested, even though she was ecstatic that she just accepted Jenny. "Mum, sit. I'm fine. Really, I'm quite comfortable. In fact, I'm a bit hot." She patted her stomach. "This little man's been making me sweat something awful lately."
Blinking rapidly, Jackie sat down again rather quickly. "I… A boy?"
Just from the look on her face, Rose could tell that she'd reached her limit. "It's okay, mum. Let's just sit quietly for a bit. Are you hungry?" She turned to Celeste. "What's the local time?"
"A bit after noon," Celeste said. "Tell you what, why don't we go to the actual kitchen and whip something up? Then after, we can go back to the reception. From what I understand, Jackie's nearly Michael's second mother. Be a nice wedding present to have her there, you think?"
Rose gaped at her. "Wh- Will that be all right? The timelines…"
"I already told you I can fix it," Celeste said quietly. "Besides, I think a bit of proof, other than the obvious, would be just what she needs right now."
"If you say so," Rose said. Turning to her mother, she asked, "Would that be all right? Want to see Mick's new wife?"
"It … I …" she stuttered, then blew out a breath. "Sure, whatever you want," she said quietly.
Eyes popping wide, Jenny sat next to her and hugged her from the side. "Hey now! None of that! Stop with the gloom!"
Jackie's hands went out in front of her. "I. Don't. Know. What's. Going. Onnnn." she hissed with a bit of a whine.
Celeste frowned. "Culture shock. Happens to the best of us."
Rose turned and actually glared at her. "So that's where he gets it," she snapped. Crossing her arms, she got snippy. "I don't care how old you are, Madam Lungbarrow, but you do not make light of this! Not with my mother!" she said in a shout.
Eyes widening in embarrassment, Celeste put her hand over her mouth. "Oh! I'm so sorry! That was beyond rude of me."
"Rose, calm down. I'm fine," Jackie said. "Don't need you to get wound up. Bad for the baby." Standing, she looked at Celeste. "Was a touch rude, but it's all right. That's something I know how to deal with. Where's this kitchen? And what's wrong with that one?" she asked while pointing at the kitchenette across the way.
"Nothing, just thought you would like to sit at a table?" Celeste said as she stood up. Two steps over, and she had a hand on Jackie's shoulder. "Truly though, please forgive me. I don't know what I was thinking."
Grinning, Jackie pulled her into a hug. "We're fine, and here's good for snacking." She let go of the hug and turned to Rose. "Rose Lungbarrow?" she asked with a cringe on her face.
"Doesn't translate all that well, mum, but I kept my name. He tried using Chinese with Shanfei, but I wasn't having that either."
"The literal translation is: The hill of the sighing wind," Celeste offered. "It was where the family holdings and properties were. The wind actually did sound like sighing in the spring."
"Oh, I wish I could've seen it," Rose whispered sadly, then perked up. "C'mon Jen, let's get lunch started."
"Can you do that?" Jackie asked.
Rose simply rolled her eyes. "Mum, I'm pregnant, not dead. Now sit and have a talk with your son in law's mother. Have her spill some dirt on him or something."
Eyes gleaming with a bit of a mad grin, Jackie turned and sat Celeste down with her on the couch. "All right, you. Who's this man that stole my daughter?"
The ladies were laughing like mad in the middle of lunch, when the TARDIS door opened. Turning sharply at the noise, Rose gasped. "Oh SHIT!"