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Chapter 34 - Painting in the Sky

It was late. The children had made a huge blanket fort in the dining room using the boxes from the delivery earlier that day. Jacob and Tony had already went to sleep inside of it. Genie had asked her Grandfather to rock her to sleep. Pete was thrilled to do it and sat with her in his lap in her bedroom. Jackie had already went to bed in the spare room. The Quauhtin guard had to take Howie, Caroline and Harriet home. Jake had went to sleep on the sofa in the sitting room.

Howie declared the entire evening a "Fun bag of nails!"

The Doctor was walking down the hallway rubbing the back of his neck. He looked in on Pete and Genie. Genie was sleeping already.

The Doctor smiled as he leaned in the doorway. He whispered. "Is there anything better than rocking a little one to sleep?"

Pete chuckled. "Not much. I'm sorry to say I didn't do this much with Tony. I thought I would have more time."

"Yeah, I did that too. Stick with me Pete, and I'll try to help you not make some of the same mistakes I did."

Pete smiled. "Sortof stuck with you now, aren't I? Son in law?"

The Doctor smiled. "Yeah, I suppose so." He knelt down and kissed Genie on her forehead.

Pete smiled at him, "Go on, be with your bride. I'll keep an ear for these children."

The Doctor looked at him and smiled. "I'm going to pop us over to the island for a while. You good with that?"

Pete smiled. "That sounds perfect for you guys tonight. Don't worry about this lot. Take your phone in case you are needed, Director Smith."

The Doctor threw up his hand as he left the room.

He walked into his bedroom. 'Rose?'

'I'm in the closet.' she told him.

He walked in to find Rose scratching her chin looking into one of the drawers built into the wall.

"What are you doing?" he asked her.

"Looking at this lingerie. Trying to decide which one I want to put on for you." she teased him.

He smiled and ran his hand through his hair. "Pete has the children. Do you want to pop over to our island for a while?"

Rose looked at him as she closed the drawer. "That sounds wonderful. What time is it there?"

"It's after midnight here, so it's about noon there." he said.

"You know, I've not thought about this time difference we are going to have to deal with when we move there. Maybe you should build a little time thing."

He was already shaking his head. "No, I thought about that all afternoon. You're right about that. I'll wait until the TARDIS grows up. No time travel for me. No matter what."

Rose looked surprised at him. "Seriously?"

He put his hands on his hips and said, "Serious. I can stay put for a few more years before I go traveling in time again. You and Genie need me here. It wouldn't be fair to either of you for me to get lost. We'll have years to travel. This is where we need to be now."

Rose looked surprised. "I feel bad even asking you that."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Don't. You're right. I didn't even think about that. I'm not on my own anymore. I have to think about things I've not thought about in a very long time. Always remind me of that. I might forget."

Rose leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. "I have a thought, and you can say no."

He looked at her and smiled. "Ha! You are on a roll tonight with mad ideas!"

"Instead of the island, let's go get some chips and beer in Germany. You don't have to sing." Rose said.

He laughed, "That's what you want?"

Rose smiled. "Yeah, it really is."

"Okay. But, I insist on taking you someplace first. For... say, hmmm... 10 minutes. Bring your lip gloss."

She smiled. "Dare I ask?"

"You can if you want. I won't tell you. Just put on some comfortable shoes. Grab a jacket. It might be cool. Actually, I'm pretty sure it will be." he told her as he grabbed his trainers.

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They popped on top of a very high summit of a mountain. The cold wind blew on the clear night. The Doctor held Rose very close and told her to not move. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw that they were standing very high up on a narrow ledge. Snow capped mountains were in front of them with a river cutting between them. A large boat floated in the distance. A large waterfall fed into the river as a small, village seemed to sleep. A Zeppelin flew in the distance.

"This is beautiful. Looks like a painting." Rose told him.

He chuckled, "The painting hasn't even gotten started yet. This is Geianger Fjord in Norway. You are right about the Earth here being smaller, so it messes with things here a bit."

"What? Like how?" she asked him.

"Well, if my calculations are right. And they typically are, ah! Yes! See! The Northern Lights!" he pointed in the sky.

They were beautiful. The lights appeared in ripples and seemed to dance across the sky.

The Doctor smiled as he held Rose close. "The Northern Lights, named after the Roman goddess of dawn, the Aurora occurs when highly-charge electrons from the solar wind collide with different atmospheric elements in the area around the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth."

Rose smiled up at him. "This is beautiful. Perfect for tonight."

He smiled, "Earth is really a beautiful place. Once you get past the strange taste in the air."

Rose laughed at him. "You are so strange. What does it taste like?"

He ran his tongue around in his mouth and made a funny face as he thought. "I don't know. Salt and dust. Earth. I don't think there is another taste."

"Can you tell what planet you are on just by tasting the air?" Rose asked him.

"Usually. It has been very helpful."

Rose chuckled, "I bet it has, with how well the TARDIS worked."

He laughed, "So very true. I've gotta figure out a way to get the new TARDIS to like me. Ugh. I'm open to any ideas with that. It's still not singing to me. In a few months, it will be able to transform itself in order to blend in to its' surroundings. I'll lose it if I don't get it to like me now."

Rose suggested. "Have Genie talk to it, maybe? Explain who you are."

He looked impressed. "That's not a bad idea at all. I mean, it's really a child. Genie's a child. That might work.

They watched the lights dance across the sky as they continued to hold one another.

Rose could feel the Doctor's longing to return to traveling in space and time. He took a deep breath. Rose told him, "We'll be back up there soon. Don't let it get to you."

"I miss it. So much I can't even explain." he admitted to her.

"How much longer to you think it will be?" she asked him.

"I turned it down. Several times, so she's growing safely now. But, it still will take years."

"How many years?" Rose asked.

"Genie and Tony will be 14 years old. Seems like a good age to start time traveling. We will probably be ready to get away from teenagers." he chuckled.

"So, 10 years." Rose laughed.

He nodded. "Yep."

She smiled at him. "A lot can happen here in 10 years."

He laughed, "Yeah, look at just what's happened in the past month! Geez!"

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