Thank you, as always, to the lovely tenroseforeverandever.
"Bloody hell," John grumbled, turning irritably away from the inquisitive, whiskered nose that was poked right up against his own. "Will you pleasejust pick a spot?" he implored.
"Whassa matter?" Rose slurred.
"Nothin,' love." He grunted as Merlin proceeded to walk over his stomach. How the hell did a ten pound cat weigh that much?
"'lo Merlin…OW!" Rose suddenly shrieked.
There was a startled cry from one of the cots, and Rose and John groaned in unison.
"I'm sorry, but he stepped on my boob, and it hurt."
"S'all right. I'll get her." John wearily swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up.
Merlin peeked his face out from under the hanging edge of the quilt, where he'd retreated, then cautiously stepped out to wind around John's ankles.
"You. I'm buyin' you a cat bed in the morning."
"No, you're not," Rose chuckled, holding out her arms for the baby.
"No, I'm not," John admitted with a sigh.
"Come in!" Sarah Jane called crisply, in response to the timid knock on the office trailer door.
Astrid Peth entered, glancing nervously around at the other occupants of the room. "You asked for me?"
"We certainly did," Harriet Jones replied, smiling. "Do come in and sit down."
Sarah Jane looked to Rose. "Would you care to do the honors?"
Rose grinned and winked at Astrid. "You're going to love this, I promise. I'm sure you've heard by now, Nancy will be leaving us at the end of our stay here."
"She got it? The job with the film?" Astrid asked. "Oh, that's wonderful!"
"She's going to be a stunt double for an underage actress. It was too good an opportunity to miss. But that means we need another acrobat and flyer."
"You mean…me?" Astrid asked slowly.
"Yeah. You," Rose replied, smiling even brighter, if such a thing was possible.
"But…I…"
"You can," Rose informed her firmly.
"We believe in you," John added, just as firmly.
"All of us," Sarah Jane concurred. "Congratulations!"
"Anything else today?" Harriet asked.
Rhys Williams, Gwen's husband, spoke up. "I've got an estimate on the repairs for the big lorry. It's not cheap, but it'll keep her running for another year or two, and it's a lot less than a replacement."
Harriet sighed. "Well, I don't see as we have much choice in the matter."
"I'd an inquiry from the Mr. Copper Foundation, about where to direct a shipment," Ianto announced.
"Shipment of what?" Sarah Jane asked.
"No idea. It's all quite mysterious."
"He's such a nice fellow," Astrid interjected.
"Yes, he certainly is," Sarah Jane agreed. "Go ahead and give him our schedule."
"And I suppose we'll be needing someone for the concession," Harriet added.
"We can always hire locally for a while," Sarah Jane pointed out. "It's what we did before we found Astrid."
"I agree," Harriet replied. "We may as well wait to find someone who truly belongs here. It's usually worth it."