"Hey, where are you going," said Sid, and then he saw where Luke was heading. "Is that dad? Something doesn't seem right here."
Lavinia and Lisa Ann were looking at the Doctor now too. "Stay here you two, and don't move unless I tell you to," said Lavinia as she stood up and went after Luke.
Luke reached the Doctor before Lavinia could stop him. "It's you, isn't it? Is it true, is my dad going to be alright like Mum said he was? Why do you look like him, now?" he said, looking at the man he was sure was his biological father.
"Well, you don't waste any time, do you, then?" the Doctor asked. "Yes, it's me, yes he's going to be alright, and because Time Lords regenerate when they get old, or hurt, instead of dying, I just happen to bear a resemblance to your dad."
By this time Lavinia had reached Luke's side and had heard everything the Doctor had said to his son. "Luke dear, please go sit down with your brother and sister, I'd like a word with this gentleman."
Once she knew Luke and the other children couldn't hear her, she turned to the Doctor. "I'm Lavinia Smith and I know who you are, Doctor. I'll cut right to the chase, it is true isn't it? John is going to be alright now?"
He smiled and nodded. "It's very nice to finally meet you, Aunt Lavinia. Yes, he's better than new. He's asleep right now. Sarah's with him waiting for him to wake up."
Lavinia let out a sigh of relief. "You know if the children weren't here with me right now, I'd take you to task. As Sarah Jane's next of kin, you have a lot to answer to me for, Doctor." Lavinia's lips were pursed and her eyes bored a hole into him.
He sighed. "And I'm sure I've already answered to a lot of it for Sarah Jane," he said. "I'm very well aware that I haven't been … I haven't … well, things haven't gone as I'd have liked. But in the end…" He gestured towards the children. "It all worked out, didn't it?"
"Thanks to John Tinker it has. You fell down on the job as far as responsibility is concerned." Then Lavinia stopped looking stern when she saw how miserable the Doctor was. "However," she said with a slight smile, "you have just saved John's life and that goes a long way towards redeeming yourself in my eyes. Now, would you like to come have some tea with us and meet the family that could have been yours?"
"As a matter of fact, I would, thank you," he smiled, holding an arm out to her. He led them back to the table and pulled over another chair, sitting backwards on it. "Well, then. Look at you three, all grown up!"
Luke had filled his siblings in about who the Doctor was. The three of them gave him looks that were filled with suspicion and curiosity. "Are you the man who saved Dad and me when I was little and the salt shaker things came to the circus," asked Lisa Ann, always the first one to speak up.
"I am," he said. "You were so precocious back then."
"Well, I am all grown up now, thank you" she said. "But why do you look younger now? You looked really old last time I saw you."
"Well thank you," he said with mock offense. "As I was explaining to your brother here, Time Lords have this trick, you see. Insteading of dying, they can change. I just happened to change into someone who looks a little like your dad. No objections, I hope."
"Did you do that on purpose, and if you did, why do you want to look like my dad?"
"Lisa Ann," said Sid, suddenly deciding that it was alright to talk to the Doctor. "You need to forgive her, she's always asking people a lot of questions." He held out his hand. "I'm Sid, I'm the only one of us that never got to meet you, Doctor."
Luke just kept staring at him, letting the others talk.
Lavinia sat back, sipped her tea and just let the children do the talking. She felt that it would be amusing to let them have a go at the Doctor. Besides, they deserved the chance to have him answer their questions. She quietly poured a cup of tea and sat it in front of him, along with the fairy cakes she had bought.
The Doctor shook Sid's hand, still quietly pondering Lisa's question. She was even more like her mother now than she'd been as a small child. He'd been about to answer that when he changed he hadn't even met her dad yet, but that wasn't true, now was it? When he changed into his current self, he'd known not only that Sarah Jane had moved on, but with whom. Subconsciously, had he done it on purpose? He was grateful that Sid had changed the subject. "Well, it's very nice to meet you at last, Sid. I was sorry I hadn't gotten to meet you before, but I understand you were very brave that day."
"Right," laughed Sid nervously. "When I wasn't mucking everything up, I was brilliant, right Luke?"
Luke shook his head and relaxed a bit. "Get over it already, you great git. You helped save the day and got a broken wrist to brag about to boot." He laughed as he turned to the Doctor. "He still tells people it's an old war wound and there's not a mark on him."
The Doctor laughed with them. "Don't underestimate the value of an old war wound," he said. "And anyway, you did help save the day, and that's what matters." He took a sip of tea. "I'm glad to see you all today," he said, looking specifically at Luke.
"Why," Luke challenged him. "Forget something last time you were here? You can always come back in another ten years or so and get it."
The Doctor leaned back as if slapped. "Well," he said, "I suppose I deserved that. I've been a right git, haven't I, staying away so long."
"Well, it's not like you've ever bothered to get close to us or anything," Luke said.
The Doctor started to protest, but he stopped, Sarah's words reverberating in his mind. 'Didn't you ever once think about coming back to me, or what I felt like when you left me?' he could hear her saying. 'Because I can tell you it nearly destroyed me.'
He looked at Luke, bravely trying not to show how much his father's rejection had hurt him. Two lives he'd damaged. Maybe there was still time to fix it. "Luke, you're right," he said gently. "I've been sadly remiss. I tried to give your mum and dad space so they could be together, and in doing that, I probably made you and your brother and sister feel like I didn't care. But I do care, very much, and I'm sorry for making you feel like I don't."
"If you really mean that, you're a Time Lord, go back and fix it, because I'll tell you, just saying you're sorry doesn't make it all suddenly better. You should have been a part of Mum's life, but instead you left her and never came back. Do you even care how much you hurt her?" What Luke wasn't saying spoke volumes. He held back what he wanted to really say out of pride. What he really wanted to do was to scream at the Doctor for leaving both him and his mother behind to fend for themselves.
Lavinia decided to jump in. "I think what Luke is trying to say Doctor, is that rejection is never easy, but when you're very young, it's impossible to deal with."
"And I can certainly understand that. You have every right to be upset. But even if I could go back and fix it, what would you have me do? Go back and marry her instead of your dad? What do you think that would do to your siblings here? You don't want to blink them out of existence, do you?"
Luke was taken aback at the thought of what the Doctor had just suggested. "Nnnnno, but it would have been better if after you came back the last time we saw you, you would have stayed around for a while."
Sarah Jane had come down stairs to join them just in time to hear the accusations Luke had made, and the Doctor's answers. She walked quietly over to Luke, leaned over and hugged him tightly. He buried his head in her shoulder so he could hide his tears.
Sarah just held him for a while and stroked his head. Then she looked over to the Doctor.
"I see Auntie and the children have made you feel right at home, Doctor," she said to him.
"Yes, well, I'm afraid your eldest has had some legitimate concerns regarding my past behavior. I'd like to try and explain it, but only if he wants to listen."
"I'm afraid he needs some time first." She turned to the children. "That will have to wait though, if we want to go home and see your dad. Who's up for that, and maybe even a ride in the Doctor's TARDIS?"
"I'm all for that, yes please" answered Lisa Ann and Sid in unison.
"Well Luke, are you coming too? I promise you no one will bother you if you do," said his mother.
Luke shrugged. "I guess so," he said. "I wouldn't want to ruin the trip for everyone else."
Sarah smiled at her son. "That's very kind and considerate of you, Luke. I'm very proud of you. Are you ready to go now, or do you need a little more time?"
"Now's as good a time as any," Luke shrugged. "Besides, the sooner we go, the sooner we'll get home to dad."
"Ready, Doctor," Sarah asked him.
"Ready," he said. "Right this way."
The Doctor had moved the TARDIS to the roof to avoid having John see it, and as they rode up in the elevator, he contemplated what had happened. Luke had been pretty upset with him the first time, but had forgiven him; then he'd been gone for half the boy's life, and he was upset all over again.
'Imagine that,' he thought. 'A Time Lord upset with his elders.' He sighed. Of course he couldn't have stayed after his last visit; even if he hadn't been worried about seeing Sarah again, he was in the middle of a war, for heaven's sake. But Luke didn't know that, and there was no way to explain it without opening old wounds, he supposed.
They arrived at the TARDIS and he turned his key in the lock. "Here you go," he said, and opened the door.
Sarah gestured to her aunt to enter the TARDIS first. "After you Auntie. Children, you're next. Luke, we'll walk in together, alright?"
Lavinia stepped into the TARDIS, looked around, and smiled. She turned back to Sarah Jane as she stepped aside to let the others in. "It's a good thing you described this to me long ago, otherwise it would have given me quite a turn. It truly is as amazing as you said it was, and to think that this is just a small part of it all! Doctor, I am afraid that I'll have to insist on you giving me the grand tour. This is too lovely. Not to be able to see as much of it as I can while we're here would be completely unacceptable."
"Oh heavens," said Lisa Ann. "I agree with Auntie Lavinia, I want to see it all too. I can't believe you got to live like this for years mum. You were so lucky. I wish I could travel and have adventures with you too, Doctor."
He smiled. "Well, maybe one day I can come back and take you all on an adventure, if you'd like to come. What do you say, Sarah?"
Sid looked up from studying the coral walls. "Oh, mum, can we?"
She looked over at the Doctor, shook her head and grinned. "Maybe one day, but not without your dad and me. The way the Doctor travels, we might not ever see you again if we're not there with you. He's a regular Peter Pan, this one, and I don't want to lose the lot of you to him."
"Oi, that's not fair," he said, but he was smiling. "Next regeneration, though," he said.
Luke glared at him. "Right, so it'll be a while, then."
The Doctor took a deep breath. "Luke, I understand you're upset -"
"Right, you're great at understanding, just not very good at being there for anyone," Luke glared at him.
"Doctor, set the coordinates for the vortex for a while, can you?" asked Sarah Jane as she put a reassuring hand on Luke's shoulder. "I think the two of us need to have a talk with Luke. Maybe Aunt Lavinia, Lisa Ann and Sid would like to see the garden till we finish up."