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 :)

This is the last chapter! Hope you guys liked it and thanks for all the wonderful feedback. :)

Living

Rose tossed in bed as her husband began to mutter in his sleep once again. His eyes were shut tightly in disturbed sleep. Beads of sweat were forming on his clammy skin, causing the dark mop of hair to stick to his forehead.

"No…please, don't go…" he mumbled, rolling over. Rose sat up against her pillow.

"John…" she whispered, softly trying to shake him awake.

"Rose…" he continued incoherently. "It's me, Rose… please, don't leave me…"

"John," she shook a little harder.

"It's me, The Doctor, Rose…please, don't leave Rose…don't leave…" his face twisted in pain. "No! You can't leave me here alone! You can't! I love you Rose! Don't go!"

"Doctor!" Rose shouted, startling him awake. He shot up, his breath heavy and his night shirt clinging to his thin frame with sweat. Silent tears spilled from his eyes, and he buried his face in his hands, ashamed.

"Hey," Rose soothed, wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace. "It's alright, sweetheart. I'm right here, 'm never gonna leave, remember? It was just a dream." They sat as she rocked him back and forth and combed her fingers through his tangled hair. He let the tears flow, slowly calming himself down.

"You had the nightmare again, didn't you?" she rubbed comforting circles on his back and rested her head on his shoulder. She remembered all too well what it felt like to have such nightmares and knew it wasn't something easy to deal with. Slowly, he let his hands drop to his lap and he nodded.

"Yeah," he whispered. "It's us, in that bloody room at Canary Wharf. I keep watching your hand slip from that lever, and you get sucked toward the void. I panic, 'cause I can't stand loosing you like that, so I close my eyes. When I open them…we're on Bad Wolf Bay. That's where you 'n me… well, this me… started our life together, that's the most brilliant day in my entire existence. But in my dream, you keep walking away. You just leave me stranded on that godforsaken beach while you…move on with your life…without me. It rips my heart in two and I just…can't bear it." His voice broke with raw emotion. Rose stroked his cheek affectionately. She pulled his face down to hers and gave him a sweet, passion-filled kiss.

"Well you don't ever have to worry about being without me again, love. I'm staying right here and I always will. I love you."

He smiled softly. "I love you too, my Rose." He wrapped his arms around her and they sat there locked in each other's embrace for a few minutes. The only sound to be heard was the humming of the refrigerator from down the hall of their modest flat.

"Rose?"

"Hmmm?"

"Are you happy?"

She pulled away, turning to face him square on.

"John Alistair Foreman," she enunciated each word, using his full human name. "Of course I am happy. Perfectly happy. I know it hasn't been easy over these past two years, for either of us. It was a rough adjustment in the beginning, but I know it was for the best. What happened was what was meant to happen all along. There was no other way we could have a life together, it's the only way he…YOU could have ever fully loved me." She entwined her fingers through his. "So yes, I could never be happier anywhere than I am right here, right now, with you."

"Thanks, love. That means a lot to me." He pressed his mouth hard against hers, slowly pushing her down onto her back into the covers. They broke apart the kiss only out of necessity to breathe.

"Want me to show you just how much I really love you?" Rose asked seductively. John smiled, his eyes dark with lust.

"Yes, please," he growled happily into her mouth. Just before things could escalate into anything more, a baby's ear-piercing wail broke through the baby monitor. Rose groaned, knowing what would probably come next. Her chest was constantly sore from nursing her month old baby daughter day in and day out. John seemed to read her mind.

"'S alright, I'll get her. She just needs a nappy changin'." He rolled out of the bed and sprinted to the door.

"How do you know?"

"I speak baby." He answered, his face deadpan. He left the room. Rose could never tell if he was being serious or not when he said things like that. She closed her eyes and sighed as she listened to the baby's crying begin to soften. John's voice carried through the baby monitor.

"Hello Eden." Rose heard the rustling of sheets as he picked baby Eden up and changed her, causing her crying to fade into quiet whimpering. "That's it, shhhhhh, daddy's got you." Rose quietly got out of bed and made her way down to the nursery room, pausing at the doorway. Her husband was cradling their daughter in his arms, standing with his back to her. The child was completely quiet now, her golden eyes staring up at her father with unusual attentiveness. She poked her tiny arm through the pink blanket surrounding her and grasped John's long finger, wrapping her hand tightly around it. John smiled.

"You know," he told his baby girl, softly bouncing her up and down. "I used to hate domestics, I really did. I'd have run away from all this in a double heartbeat…but then I met your mum. She is the most amazing woman I have ever met and that's sayin' something 'cause I have met a lot of people…and she made me better. She made this old man happier than I had been in nine hundred years. She loved me even when I was afraid to man up and tell her how I felt, even when I was bein' an outright git. She gave me you, Eden; the most perfect, wonderful, precious gift anyone could ever receive…and I can never thank her enough for that."

John placed Eden back in her bassinet, spinning the outer space mobile he had made for her around in a circle. Eden's eyes fluttered closed as she drifted back to sleep, her tiny mouth opening in a faint, melodious yawn. John bent down and kissed the soft dark blonde head of his child, then cooed softly, "Good night, Eden Foreman. I love you with all my heart."

He turned, sensing his wife smiling at him in the doorway and pulled her close to him, wrapping his arm around her waist as she leaned her head against his chest. They stood there absorbed in the small rise and fall of Eden's chest as she breathed in contented sleep.

John? Rose asked through their shared telepathic bond, as not to wake their sleeping child.

Yeah?

Do you…want more?

What, babies? He asked mentally. She nodded. …yeah, I do.

Good. Me too. She returned a smile. There was a pause of silence.

"John?" she repeated, this time aloud.

"Yes?"

"Are you happy?"

He smiled and twisted her around to face him. "I have never been happier in all my long life, Rose." He placed a pressing kiss on her forehead and wrapped her into a loving embrace.

Rose sighed, feeling perfectly content. She was no longer drowning; no longer sinking. No longer searching or waiting or falling or slipping. She had reached her happy ending. She had her family, her daughter, her husband: but most importantly, she had The Doctor…her doctor, completely the same man yet unique in his own human way. He could grow old and raise a family with her and she knew without a doubt that in this moment, nothing could tear them away ever again. In sickness and in health, for better or for worse, till death do us part…

My name is Rose Tyler, and this is the story of how I learned to live again.

THE END.