Chapter Twenty-One
The Doctor, his three companions, and Haban stood in the throne room wondering what was going to happen. After leading them in here, the Lady Rose excused herself and left through a door behind her throne. They stood there waiting for her to return.
Finally, after several minutes, the door opened and Lady Rose returned carrying four large golden coins in her hands. She walked over to the Doctor.
"These medallions mark you as heroes of the kingdom. Wear them whenever you return, and you shall be treated with the utmost respect wherever you go."
The Doctor beamed. He bent his head over while Lady Rose held up one of them. It was attached to a thin, golden chain and she slipped it over his head. She did the same for Rose, Martha, and Donna and when it was done, stepped back.
"I hope you will return sometime to see us again," she said.
The Doctor glanced at his companions.
"Well, I'm not sure if we will be able to or not, to tell you the truth, but if you don't mind, we need to take my Rose home for the moment and then come back here to use the tractor beam, so we can get back to my universe. I hope that won't be too much trouble."
"You may do anything you want, Doctor, you have earned that privilege," Lady Rose replied, "you can come and go as you please."
"Thank you. I have a feeling Rose wants to go back with me to the other universe, but she'll have to tell her mother about her decision before we go. And since the tractor beam is our only means of getting back to the other universe..."
"Take all the time that you need, Doctor," Lady Rose replied.
"Again, thank you," the Doctor said, bowing his head.
He turned to his companions.
"So guys, wanna go meet Rose's mum? It's an experience you can't afford to miss."
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The TARDIS landed several feet away from the Tyler mansion. The door opened, and the Doctor stepped outside. It was early evening, just after the sun had gone down, and the mansion's windows were illuminated, as was the front porch. He let out a low whistle
"Posh," he said, "you really did well for yourself, miss Tyler."
"Yeah, well, I don't care about living in the mansion as much as mum does," she replied.
"Why am I not surprised by that?" the Doctor muttered.
They followed Rose up to the front door. They heard her mutter a curse under her breath.
"What is it?" the Doctor asked.
"She pointed to the driveway. A red Mustang was sitting there.
"Frank is here," she said, "my mum didn't get the message."
"Ooo," the Doctor said, looking at Martha and Donna, "we get to meet her sweetie pie too."
"Button it, Doctor," Rose said, when he giggled.
They walked to the front door. Rose hesitated a moment and then slowly opened it.
"Mum?" she called, peeking her head inside.
The Doctor flinched and gritted his teeth when he heard Jackie screech, "Where have you been, young lady?"
"Yup, that's her mum," he said to Martha and Donna, "I call her the bleach blonde harpy. As you can probably tell, she has the kind of voice that brings to mind the sound of rusty nails on blackboards."
He grinned at Donna.
"Come to think of it, you two might get on rather well," he said, winking.
Donna flipped him off.
Rose gasped when the door was flung open to reveal a very pissed off Jackie Tyler.
"Young lady, do you know what time it is? Frank has been waiting here for over an hour! I…"
She trailed off when she spied the Doctor.
"Oh…hell…no…"
"Hey, mum! Long time, no see!" the Doctor said, waving enthusiastically.
His eyes widened when Jackie grabbed Rose, pulled her inside, and slammed the door.
"Should we go play a round of night croquet while we're waiting for you to get done shouting at Rose?" the Doctor yelled through the door.
The door opened back up.
"Come in, guys," Rose said, beckoning to them, "mum and I have to sort this out. Just…make yourself comfortable in the living room."
The three of them looked at one another.
"Rose, you know, we can go wait in the TARDIS," the Doctor said.
Rose held up her hand.
"No, you are my guests, and I want you in here. Come in."
They walked inside. The Doctor could see Jackie standing at the end of the hallway, glaring at him. Rose sighed and pointed to a room beside her.
"Just go in here and I'll be right back," she said.
"Rose, if you want me to come with you and help back you up…" the Doctor said.
"No, I'm fine, Doctor. Trust me; I can hold my own with my mum. Just make yourselves at home."
The Doctor looked back at Martha and Donna, and the three of them walked into the living room. They paused and looked at the young man sitting in a chair on the far side of the room. The Doctor tilted his head to one side and gave him an appraising look. He took in the tousled brown hair, sideburns, and boyish face and held back his laughter.
"I assume you are Frank. I'm the Doctor," he said.
"That's right, nice to meet you," he said, crossing the room to shake the Doctor's hand.
"And, you," the Doctor said returning the handshake.
He glanced behind him.
"These are my friends, Martha Jones and Donna Noble."
"Hi," Martha said.
Donna nodded and smiled a hello.
There was a long, uneasy pause.
"So…" Frank said, "you friends of Rose?"
"Yes, we are," the Doctor replied.
"Great. She's a great girl."
"That she is."
Another long pause.
"Um…would you guys like some tea while Rose is talking to her mum? She just put on a fresh pot."
"That would be fine, thanks," the Doctor said.
"I'll be right back then."
The Doctor nodded. The three of them watched while he walked past them and went out the door. The Doctor felt a tap on his shoulder.
"Yeeees?"
"Um…Doctor, I don't know if you noticed, but the guy looks a lot like you," Martha said.
The Doctor spun around and feigned shock.
"No! You're talking crazy, Martha Jones, that man looks nothing like me. For one thing, my hair is much longer than his is, and I have fewer freckles. You need to get your vision checked."
He snickered when Martha rolled her eyes.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did notice the man looks a whole lot like me. And he's Rose's boyfriend? Interesting. I wonder if this universe has a Freud. I bet he'd love to analyze this whole situation and give us his two pence. Then again, he'd probably just chalk it all up to Rose having some kind of weird penis fixation, snort a couple of lines of cocaine, and leave us with a huge bill. Ah well, let's sit down and see how this whole thing plays out, eh?"
They moved over to the couch. The Doctor plopped down onto it with Donna while Martha sat in a chair next to them. Donna listened for a moment.
"I don't hear anything," she said.
"I expect they took it upstairs," the Doctor replied, "probably in a bedroom with the doors closed or something. I just hope we don't have to go in there and rescue her. Josiah was bad enough for one night without having to confront Mama Tyler."
They looked over when Frank entered the room carrying a tray filled with three cups of tea, three spoons, a small carton of milk, and some sugar packets.
"Thanks," the Doctor replied when he laid it down on the coffee table in front of them.
"No problem."
He walked back over to his chair and settled into it while they fixed their teas. He noticed the medallions hanging around their necks.
"Nice bling," he said, pointing to them.
The Doctor looked down. He had forgotten they were still wearing them.
"Yeah, we actually went out earlier tonight on a little shopping spree and saw them in a jewelry store window and just had to have them. Actually, I think the gold of my medallion brings out the chocolate brown in my eyes, don't you think?"
Martha looked at Donna when Frank gave him an odd look.
"Um, yeah," Frank said, hesitantly.
"So," the Doctor said, changing the subject, "you and Rose…sweethearts?"
"Um, yeah, we are," Frank replied.
"So, where did you two meet then?" the Doctor asked.
Frank smiled.
"On the bus, actually," he said, "I was coming home from work and she got on. The bus was crowded, so she ended up sitting next to me, and we started talking and soon she was asking me for my phone number."
"So...she was interested in you, then?"
"Yes, she was very interested in me."
The Doctor nodded, a wide, knowing smile on his face.
"And, how long ago was that, if you don't mind my asking?" he continued.
"Um, it'll be eight months this Sunday."
"Oh, eight months. Well, congratulations, then."
"Thanks."
Frank studied them closely.
"So…how does Rose know you? I've never seen you here before," he said.
The Doctor looked at his two companions.
"Well, we…have been traveling. Rose actually used to travel with us and…took a break to pursue other things…and now actually…I think she wants to travel with us again."
Frank frowned.
"Are you with Torchwood?"
The Doctor's eyes darkened for a second.
"No," he said, in a low voice, "I'm not affiliated with them."
"Are you part of the reason she had to go on assignment?"
"Uh….yeeeeeeeeeah…"
"But, I thought she was going to be gone for a few days."
"Weeeeeeeeeell, everything got sorted out quicker than she thought."
"Is that why she didn't call her mum? I mean, I wasn't going to come tonight because I assumed she had told her mother she had to go out of town, and the next thing I know, Jackie is ringing me up, wondering where I am. Then, when I told her that Rose told me she was going out of town, she flew into a rage. I mean, I don't know if you've ever seen her mother angry…"
Donna and Martha snickered when the Doctor nodded, wide-eyed.
"Well, we didn't know what to do. We tried calling her mobile repeatedly, but there was no response. And then, while we're sitting here, she comes up to the door out of the blue, and well, I guess they're upstairs going at it now."
He leaned forward.
"So, what was going on? Why wouldn't Rose answer her mobile?"
The Doctor paused, hesitant about what to say. He figured that Rose would want to deal with Frank on her own and without knowing what she was going to say to him, he was unsure of how to handle the situation.
As it turned out, Rose saved him by coming in the living room door. A look passed between them. He could see her red eyes and tear stains on her cheeks, and he gave her a concerned look.
"Everything alright?" he said.
Rose nodded.
"Rose, are you alright?" Frank said, "what's going on?"
Rose looked over at him and sighed.
"Frank, um….we have to talk…alone," she said.
Frank frowned.
"Is everything alright, sweetheart?"
Rose nodded.
"I…just really need to talk to you alone. So, if you could come with me out on the patio for a moment."
Frank nodded. Wondering what was going on, he slowly rose and walked to the doorway. Rose watched him for a moment and then leaned down to the Doctor.
"Mum is still upstairs, but be prepared for her to come down," she whispered to him, "I told her I was leaving with ya, and I think she's finally accepted it, but she's not happy about it, so just a friendly heads-up."
The Doctor nodded. Rose paused for a moment and then whispered in his ear.
"Oh, and dad took my little sister, Billie, out to the cinema. So, if they walk in the door, don't be surprised."
"Gotcha."
Rose squeezed his shoulder. Sighing, she straightened up, turned, and followed Frank out the living room door.