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Chapter 4 – "One"
They finished their dinner and decided to go back to the arrival park and walk around a bit. As they walked beside of the river, the Doctor's bracelet lit up. He saw that it was a call from Pete.
"Aren't you going to get that?" Rose asked him.
He thought about it as he watched the bracelet display Pete's name. "No. I know what that's about. I'll call him later. I really don't want to think about it at the moment."
Rose held his hand and they continued to walk until they came to bench that sat between two flowering bushes. They sat down as the Doctor picked a flower from the bush and handed it to Rose. She smiled as she smelled it. He laid his arm on the back of the bench as she leaned into him. A large boat slowly sailed in front of them on the river. Different sorts of people walked all around them.
Rose smiled, "This is just amazing. I love this."
"Feel safe?" he asked her.
She looked back at him. "I honestly can't remember feeling safer. I'm here, where no one knows me, and I'm with you."
The evening wind blew her hair around her face as she turned to look at him. He cupped his hand on her cheek as he leaned in to kiss her. After a few moments, Rose put her hands in his hair as they continued to snog.
Rose teased him in his head. 'Kissing me out in front of everyone. You are usually so shy.'
'Oh, mess my hair up proper for me, Rose. No one knows us here.' He told her as he held her tightly and continued to kiss her.
They were interrupted by someone making a very loud, kissing noise.
They stopped kissing, turned to see Tony Stark standing inches from their faces. He had bent down and made the kissing noise to get their attention. Behind him stood Jack, Lance, Legate, Logan and Timon. They were all laughing at them.
Rose smiled and covered her mouth.
The Doctor dropped his head. "Hey guys. Didn't know you were coming down tonight."
Tony laughed as he pointed at them and stood back up. "Looks like we got here just in time. Don't they have hotels here?"
Jack crossed his arms and teased, "Yeah, get a room. Geez. Don't we have to suffer enough on the ship?"
The Doctor groaned and shook his head. Rose took over. "Oh, shut up Jack. You are just missing Jake."
Jack nodded his head. "Oh, I am. I wish he was here with us. Did Pete get in touch with you?" He pointed at The Doctor.
The Doctor quickly waved his hand. "I'm on a date. Rose has my full attention. I'm not dealing with that right now. We'll have a meeting about it later."
Tony turned and smacked Jack's chest. "Told you he would be pissed. How could he not be?"
The Doctor reached in his pocket. "I'm serious. Not one more word about it." He took out the pod box and tossed it to Tony. "There. That's your ticket to get whatever you want. You are all authorized users of it. Even you, Logan. Get your mum and brothers something interesting. Jack will explain how to use it."
Jack looked at the box and smiled. "Nice. A pod! Fill it up, yet?"
Rose smiled, "Probably. You wouldn't believe the stuff we got."
The Doctor smiled, "Yeah, we needed a bit of stuff for the children."
Jack pointed at the Doctor. "You know, Sam is amazing. I don't see anything of you in him though, Doc. It's like he's completely, Rose. I think that's why I like him so much."
Rose could feel the Doctor's annoyance at Jack's comment. He turned and looked at Rose.
'Don't let him wind you up. He doesn't know.' Rose told him in his head.
The Doctor rubbed his beard to hide his annoyance. He asked Rose to say something to Jack.
Rose looked confused. She turned to Jack and said, "Jack. Go on up to the 34th floor. There's a fantastic chocolate shop you really should check out."
Jack's smile disappeared. He turned on the Doctor as the men all around him began to laugh so hard they could hardly stand. "You TOLD HER?! Really? You just suck!"
Jack walked away. The rest of the men, still laughing hysterically, waved as they left. Tony pointed back at them, "Don't wait up."
Rose turned to face the Doctor, who was laughing under his breath. "Okay, what the hell was that about?"
He took her hand as they stood up to walk to the platform to transport back to the ship. "Oh, that's a great story."
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The Doctor held Rose's hand as they walked down the dimmed hallways of the ship. It was late at night. They were both laughing at the story The Doctor had told Rose about Jack and the chocolate.
Rose continued to laugh, "I'll never look at chocolate the same way again. Oh, that's great."
As they got to the door of their room, The Doctor reached out to open the door, but then stopped. He looked back at Rose.
Rose looked in his eyes and smiled. "What is it?"
He sighed. "I don't want our date to be over. As soon as we walk through that door, we have to deal with reality again."
Rose wrapped her arms around his neck. "This is reality now. As we stand here. Besides, we don't have to go to a hotel for whatever you have planned. What is this 'Plan B' you have up your sleeve?"
He smiled at her. "Oh, you will really love it. And I think it's just what you need. Go take a hot shower, and meet me in our bed."
Rose smiled at him with her tongue in her teeth. "Shall I dress?"
He smiled, "No. But, it's not what you are thinking. Well, it could be. I won't say."
Rose kissed him quickly. "I had a great time tonight. Thank you."
He smiled at her. "Even with the lobster lies?"
"Especially, the lobster lies. That was the highlight."
He put his hand on her cheek and leaned in to kiss her. She held him close as they kissed. He ran his hands up to her breasts, and the hallway was suddenly illuminated by his bracelet. Pete was calling him again. They stopped kissing as the Doctor looked at the bracelet. He considered answering, then declined the call again.
"What's going on?" Rose asked him.
"Oh, I'm sure that will be the only thing people will be talking about for days." He shook his head as he looked down at the ground. "Don't let this take over our night. I promise I'll tell you everything in the morning about it. Everyone is safe."
Rose looked serious at him. "Something big, huh?"
He nodded his head, "Yeah."
Rose nodded her head. "I trust you. Alright."
He pressed the door and they walked into their suite. The lights were dimmed. Lewis was sitting on the sofa holding Genie who was sleeping with a blanket wrapped around her. Lewis was watching football on the telly. He looked up at them walk in and smiled. He whispered, "Welcome back. I thought you would be gone all night?"
The Doctor shook his head. "Nah. We're not ready for that yet."
Rose bit her lip. "Yeah, I feel badly about-"
The Doctor quickly turned to her and shook his head. "Don't feel bad about that. It's alright. I wanted to come back to the ship tonight, too."
Rose smiled as he leaned in and kissed her cheek. He looked at Genie lying in Lewis' arms and smiled at her. He asked, "Where is Sam?"
Lewis smiled, "Funny you ask. I think he knows you are back." Sam started to cry.
Lewis pointed to oval cot that was on the floor. Rose walked over and took Sam out of the cot. She kissed him on the top of his head as he stopped fussing immediately. "We might have to wait on your 'Plan B'. He seems to need a feed."
The Doctor smiled as he looked at Sam. "Yep. Back to reality. We'll get to it another time."
Rose looked seriously at him and spoke in his head. 'Are you disappointed? I can feel that.'
He smiled at her. "No, sweetheart. I'm not." He looked down at Sam as the baby grabbed his finger and pulled it into his mouth. "I got you something else to put in your mouth besides my fingers. I should go get it for you."
Rose smiled, "Is the stuff we already got already up here?"
The Doctor smiled as he looked at Sam. "Yeah. Lewis brought up the contents of the pod while we were at dinner. Thank you for that Lewis."
Lewis waved it off. "No big deal at all. This cot, and some nappies I'm familiar with, were the only things I took out of stuff. Well, and a pack of those pants! Thanks for grabbing me some of those. The rest is down in the cargo hold."
Rose laughed quietly. "You two and your pants. Are they really that much better?"
They both looked back at Rose and nodded seriously.
Lewis smiled, "I've already put a pair on. Oh, I thank you, man. I think Sam likes his new nappies, too. He went right to sleep after Arla changed him."
The Doctor smiled, "Earth nappies are strange, aren't they?"
Lewis nodded his head. "Crazy. And they feel like paper. I don't like them at all."
Rose smiled at them. "Excuse me, gentlemen. I'm going to take this one to bed. Good night."
They both told her goodnight as she left the room.
The Doctor smiled at Genie. "When did she go to sleep?"
Lewis smiled down at her. "About an hour ago. She wanted to wait up for you. Then she wanted a snuggle. I knew she would go right to sleep if I got her still."
The Doctor leaned down and picked up Genie. She didn't wake up completely, but spoke, "Daddy."
He kissed her cheek as he sat down on the sofa next to Lewis, holding her. "Hello, my sweet Sara Gene. Mum and Dad are back." She lay her head on his shoulder and went back to sleep. Lewis handed him a blanket. He rubbed her back as she continued to sleep.
The Doctor smiled down at Genie. "Where is Arla?"
"She fell asleep a few hours ago. I told her to go back to our room and get some rest. She seemed tired to me." Lewis turned to The Doctor. "So. You? How are you taking this news?"
"I'm not thinking about it. I think it would be best to get all of the information on what exactly happened before we get excited about it. Or pissed. I'm not sure which I'll be yet."
Lewis shook his head. "Hell, I'd be happy. But, that's me."
The Doctor shook his head. "Really. I don't want to think about it. I've not even told Rose, yet. Pete has called me twice. I've not even taken the call. But, there is something I need to talk to you about."
Lewis looked surprised. "Sure. Everything alright?"
The Doctor looked at Genie and put his fingers over his lips. Then he spoke in Lewis' head using the Quauhtin connection. 'We can talk like this and only we hear it, you are 100% certain?'
Lewis smiled. 'Yes. What is it?'
The Doctor bit his lip. 'I don't know how to tell you this. But, I'm your friend. I need to say it.'
Lewis rubbed his face and groaned. 'Oh, shit. This has to do with Arla, doesn't it? You don't approve of something-'
'No, she's great! I honestly think she's too good for you. But, that's not what this is about. You need to marry this girl. This week. Before we return home.'
Lewis looked surprised. 'Why? Is she going to turn into a pumpkin?'
The Doctor bit his lip. 'Summus will really be pissed if he finds out she's carrying your twins and you haven't gotten married.'
Lewis looked surprised. 'You're fucking with me. That's what this is, right?'
He shook his head as he smiled. 'I'm not! I felt it yesterday when we were at the house. I honestly kissed her on the cheek in my excitement. She thinks I was excited that she asked to babysit. I don't think she even knows.'
Lewis covered his mouth in shock. 'Oh. This is not good. Hell, I'd be out of the Guard if this is true! This is a capital offense!'
'Well, you dumb ass, didn't you two use something? You knew what you were doing!'
Lewis looked offended. 'Of course we did. And I have to say, I hate it and was planning on picking up something more comfortable here. Doesn't look like I have to do that now. Wow. Are you sure?'
The Doctor nodded his head. 'Positive. I can scan her if you like. But, I'm sure I felt three heartbeats where she stood. I'm sure of it.'
'Two. Well, it's not four. I always worried about that. Shit, I know when this happened. Three weeks ago. We had a …. Ummm…. nevermind.'
The Doctor smiled, 'That can happen.'
Lewis laid his hand on his head and sighed. 'This couldn't have been easy to say to me. Thank you. I'll have to tell her. Then I suppose I'll have to find my Ten.'
The Doctor looked confused. 'Ten? Is that really true?'
Lewis nodded his head. 'Of course it is! It's tradition. I suppose I'll start with you. Would you be 'One'?'
The Doctor looked shocked. He spoke aloud excitedly. "Really? Me? 'One'!?"
Genie groaned. They both smiled as they both rubbed her back. Lewis continued to speak in The Doctor's head, 'Of course. I'll sort the rest of it out tomorrow. Wow. Who could even marry us? I remember there was some question about that when you and Rose married.'
'Earth traditions are a bit different than Quauhtin. Anyone can marry a Quauhtin, but for people from Earth it has to be a leader of a church, someone associated in law, sea captain-'
'Captain! You could do it! You're the captain of this ship!'
The Doctor looked surprised back at him. 'Are you serious? Me?'
'Come on man. Would you? I'm not going to go to her with a problem without a solution already worked out.'
'That's very Quauhtin of you. I get yelled at when I do that.'
'Come on, man. We're friends. Help me out here.' Lewis said.
'Does she have any family that she would want to be at the wedding? Can you get away with doing this?'
Lewis shrugged his shoulders. 'I've never asked her about her family. I'm not sure.'
The Doctor laughed in disbelief. 'How do you two even have a relationship? You never talk about important stuff.'
Lewis held out his hands. 'It's never came up!'
'Does she know about you being a quadruplet?'
Lewis shook his head. 'No. I normally don't tell anyone that.'
'Really? Why not?'
'People see you as a ¼, instead of a whole person. None of us usually say anything about it.'
'Does she even know Lance is your brother?' The Doctor asked in surprise.
Lewis bit his lip and thought. 'I'm not sure.'
The Doctor threw his head back and laughed quietly. 'Lewis. You are unlike anyone I've ever met before. Wow. Do you and Arla even talk? About anything?'
'Oh, shit. Of course we do.' Lewis told him.
The Doctor rose his eyebrows at him. 'Like what?'
Lewis looked back and him and blushed. 'Well, nothing I'm going to discuss with you!'
The Doctor was laughing hysterically and trying to be quiet about it so he wouldn't disturb Genie. 'This is unreal. Wow. So, this will be the first real conversation you have had with this woman?'
'No. We've had some 'real' conversations. She knows I'm a Quauhtin and I'm in the Guard. I've never explained my tattoo isn't British, but…. you know what? Don't worry about me. I'll talk to her. Explain what's at stake.' He rubbed his face. 'Geez. I can't believe this.'
They sat in silence for a bit as Lewis seemed to organize his thoughts. The Doctor continued to laugh quietly at his friend. Finally Lewis broke the silence. 'So. Will you marry us? Will you be my 'One'?'
He smiled at him. 'Of course. It would be my honor.'
Lewis smiled proudly as he stood up. 'Wonderful! That's settled. Keep it to yourself about the twins. Wow. Twins. Holy shit. I'm going to be a father.'
'You're going to love it. You're great with mine.'
'Oh, I love children. They remind me what's important. Thanks, for everything. I'll see you in the morning.' Lewis shook his hand as he left the room.
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