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Chapter 43 - Football and Sara

The Doctor and Rose had taken a shower and gotten dressed. Rose took a very long time playing with her hair. She was trying to decide how to wear it that night. She finally tossed her hands up with it and walked out to the sitting room.

The Doctor was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. He was tying his trainers when Rose spotted him sitting on the couch.

"Where are you going?" she asked him.

He looked up at her and smiled. "Tony wants to show me how to play football. We have a few hours before this State Dinner thing. Shakes and his men are going to play, too."

"That sounds fun. Have you ever played football before?" she asked him. She was wearing her robe, and had her hair all tied up behind her head.

The Doctor stood up and wrapped his arms around her. "I don't think I have. Tony said it was fun. I figured I'd give it a try."

Rose laughed at him. "Are you alright? That just doesn't seem like you."

He looked at her disbelieving. "What? Going to play football with my little brother doesn't sound like me?"

"Well. I don't know. It's just odd." Rose tried to explain, realizing she didn't really have a good reason for her worry. But, she was sure something was wrong that he wasn't telling her.

He smiled at her. "Rose, my darling. You are so suspicious. I'm alright. Don't worry about me." he kissed her quickly and ran out the door.

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The football game quickly turned into an international football match on the White House lawn between Shakes' men and the Doctor, against seven members of the Secret Service. Tony threw his hands up at the men stating that they were, "taking this simple game way too seriously."

Instead of playing, Tony refereed the game. He made all of the men laugh when he would tell them off for doing something. The Doctor saw a lot of Jackie Tyler in him as he yelled at Poltoius for sliding into a member of the Secret Service and knocking him down. Tony's size didn't keep him from being heard. He had no problem getting someone to pick him up to get into some player's face.

The men all had taken off their jackets and ties. They all hung in the trees around the area where they played. It looked like the trees grew some strange fruit. The players' sleeves were rolled up, and it was amazing at how sweaty and dirty they had gotten so quickly. The Doctor's elbow and knee were both bleeding from a collision he had with two Secret Service members from the other team. He could also feel a nice bruise forming on his leg.

"Football is NOT supposed to be this rough!" Tony yelled at them.

The Doctor took right to the game and found that he loved it. He also found that him and Sam the Quauhtin, were an awesome team at assisting one another to score a goal. They always just seemed to be in the right place at the right time. Shakes surprised them all when the Doctor kicked the ball to him, and he used his head to bounce it into the goal. They all yelled in celebration.

They had been playing for over an hour. The noise had attracted a large crowd of spectators from inside the White House. Almost a hundred people stood around and cheered on the players.

Rose, Jake and Pete heard the shouting as they walked over to the edge of the pitch.

Pete put his hands on his hips. "Now, and then there is this." he laughed as he shook his head in amusement. "Damn, now this looks like fun!"

Rose was shocked. The Doctor said he just playing Tony and the bodyguards. Based on the shouting and screaming, this game was near to losing control. She laughed in disbelief of what she saw. "Leave it to the British to get a football game of this scale going on the White House lawn."

Pete laughed and turned to look at her. "The only Brit out there is Tony. That's probably the most hilarious bit about this."

Just as Pete said that, Tony blew a whistle and walked over to a Secret Service member that was at least six times bigger than the small boy. The Doctor picked him up as the little boy put his finger in the man's face. They couldn't hear what Tony said, but laughed at the reaction that the Doctor and other players had.

Pete crossed his arms and laughed proudly. "That's my boy! God, I see Jackie in him with this. Jackie's temper and my red hair. I always knew that would be an explosive combination. "

Jake took off his jacket and handed it to Rose. "I'll go fetch the Doctor. I'd like in on this, and he looks like he might need a sub."

Rose nodded. "I hate to pull him away from this. He looks like he's having a blast."

Pete laughed. "Hell, I want to jump in on this!"

Jake ran up to Tony, who blew a whistle to get the players' attention. The Doctor looked over and saw Jake. He ran over to him, exchanged some words, then the Doctor ran over to where Rose and Pete stood.

"A simple football game?" Rose asked him.

"Yeah, it sortof escalated. Hey, Pete." the Doctor smiled and shook his hand.

"This looks like so much fun." Pete laughed at the Doctor.

"Oh, it is! It's a lot rougher than I thought it would be."

Rose looked at him. "You've ripped your shirt. What is that? The tenth shirt you have ripped in a week?"

The Doctor got serious and put his hands on his hips. "But, I scored a goal, Rose Tyler. Did you see it?" Then smiled.

Rose rolled her eyes at him. "I need to talk to you for a minute. Something came up. Is that alright?"

He nodded his head. "Sure, Rose. Sure."

A White House aide, that had been watching the game with some other members of the White House staff, ran over and gave the Doctor a towel and a bottle of water.

"Cheers!" the Doctor told him.

Pete looked at the Doctor and Rose. "I'm going to see if Tony needs another referee. I can't pass this up. You two probably need to discuss this alone anyway." Pete ran off to the football pitch.

The Doctor wiped the sweat out of his face with the towel. He just realized how sweaty he was. "What on earth is that about? What do we need to discuss?"

Rose took his hand and lead him away from the game to someplace quieter. She stopped under a shade tree and started to sit down.

"Hang on there, sweetheart." the Doctor told her as he lay the towel out on the ground for her to sit on.

She was wearing a cotton blue, striped wrap dress that accented her figure nicely. The crossed neckline showed off a little cleavage, and the draped skirt hung right to her knees.

She sat down on the towel and pulled her legs under her, gracefully.

"You are beautiful." the Doctor told her as he sat down in the grass next to her.

"Thank you. I'm sorry to pull you away from your game." Rose told him.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I need to sit down a minute anyway. What do you need to talk to me about?" the Doctor asked as he drank his water.

Rose turned to look directly into his face.

"Gosh. I don't know where to start. I practiced telling you this in my head all the way out here."

"Uh-oh. This is going to be something bad." the Doctor said as he sat down his water bottle and leaned back on his elbows.

Rose laughed at him. "I feel that way. It's good and bad."

He looked surprised at her. "Alright, my pink and brown girl. Out with it. Just pick a place and start talking. We're in this together."

"I'm honestly scared this is going to make you reconsider your promise about running." Rose confessed.

Seeing how much she was struggling to feel comfortable enough to tell him whatever it was, he took her face in his hands. "Sweetheart. I'm not running. I mean it. You have me forever. No matter what. It's not that bad. I'm sure. You can tell me. Go on."

Rose smiled and relaxed. She took his hands in hers, and pulled them down to her lap.

Rose looked around. "Jake popped back a bit ago, and told me that Melissa's daughter had been alone in their flat for the past four days."

"She's how old?" the Doctor asked as he leaned back on his elbows again.

"As old as Tony." Rose told him.

She could see anger come all over his face. "Well, what kind of stupid ape would think it's a good idea to leave a child alone for even 10 minutes when they are that old!? Rose, that's a toddler!"

"Well, no Doctor. A bit older than a toddler, but yes I see your point." Rose patted his sweaty arm in an effort to calm him down.

"Well, on Gallifrey that's a toddler." he mumbled.

Rose smiled at his grumbling. "Melissa called her neighbor and had her bring her daughter to her apartment because she was on her way home when she had the accident. The neighbor apparently left her there alone, thinking her mum was close-by."

The Doctor finished the story for her. "But then, Melissa had the accident and never came home. Damn. Poor kid. Did no one think to look in on her? Was she completely alone that entire time?"

"No one knew Melissa hadn't came home. She stayed there by herself. She ate cereal, cookies and some fruit over the days -"

"Waiting for her mum to come home. Gosh, that's sad. Where is she now?"

"Some officers got her this morning after her mum was identified from the crash. They have her at a local hospital."

"But, she's alright?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah, just dehydrated they said."

The Doctor shook his head. "That's unbelievable. That poor kid needs somebody, Rose. She's so young, and alone in the world."

"Well, there's more. This is the part I'm worried you might run off after you hear." Rose told him. He could sense the worry in her voice.

He took her hand. "I'm not running Rose. No matter what you say."

"Melissa appointed me the sole guardian of her daughter in the event of her death." Rose told him.

He rolled his neck back and looked at her in surprise. "She did?!" he squeaked.

"Yeah, ready to run off yet?" Rose asked him.

He laughed in disbelief and shook his head. "No, Rose Tyler. I'm not that sort of person. That won't make me run. It would break a promise I made a very long time ago."

Rose looked at him seriously, "Really?"

He looked at her asked, "Rose. Have you ever known me to run away from someone who needed my help? That would be cowardly and cruel to this child. Especially, given this entire situation. In fact, I was about to tell you that we need to just go get her. It's not good for a child to grow up all alone. She needs someone, and you need someone."

Rose looked at him. "Sweetheart, I have you. What are you talking about?"

"I mean, besides me. Someone that you will have after I'm gone."

Rose groaned loudly as she threw her hands up in the air. "This again!? I thought we had stopped talking about you dying. You're not dying!"

The Doctor took his water bottle and started drinking from it again.

"Are you telling me everything?" Rose demanded. "You never tell me everything. I bet there's more to that, isn't there?"

He looked at her. "No, there's not. I'm sorry I brought it up."

He took her hand, "This is happy news! Wow. Rose Tyler has a daughter! Hell, I have a daughter! What's her name?"

Rose smiled at him. "Sara."

The Doctor laughed. "Sara? Like my Sarah Jane?"

"Yeah, but I'm not sure what her middle name is. It was on the paperwork, but I can't remember. And I believe we have to adopt her legally before we can call her our daughter."

"Sara Tyler." the Doctor tasted.

"No, she will be Sara Smith. When we marry, I will be Rose Smith. Not, John Tyler. Nutter."

He smiled at her. "Of course. I was just joking with you. How are you with all of this?" the Doctor asked her.

"I feel strange. My friend died, and I'm very sad about that. But, she's asked me to take care of her daughter now. It makes me happy."

"It should. Your children are the most precious thing to you in the entire universe. You two must have been closer than I realized for her to trust you with such an amazing gift." the Doctor told her.

"See, now that makes me nervous I'm going to screw this entire thing up." Rose told him.

The Doctor shook his head as he laughed. "That's the parent in you talking. Trust me Rose, every parent thinks they are screwing up their children. No matter how good of a job they are doing. In fact, the more they worry, the better job they are usually doing."

"I'm going to need help with this." Rose told him. "She looks so much like Melissa, that I'm afraid I won't be able to even look at her. I feel like I'm going to break down in tears even now."

He looked at her seriously and rubbed her hand. "Sometimes all you can do is smile. Move on with your day, hold back the tears, and pretend you're okay. But, Rose. This is a remarkable odyssey. And I'm so glad we're wandering it together."

"So, you're okay with this?"

"Yes. Of course I am." he said as he leaned in to kiss her.

He looked down at his watch. "If we hurry, we have enough time to go get her before the State Dinner!"

"How are we going to do that?" Rose asked him.

"With the gizmo. Jake is back. So, we have two!"

"Dad won't let us go without security." Rose reasoned.

"We'll take Jake. Two for each watch." the Doctor explained. "Rose, she's been all alone for four days. She needs to be with her family as soon as possible. She needs to know someone cares about her. Let's go get her!"

Rose shook her head in disbelief. "I can't even believe this is happening. I always thought I would become a parent in a much different way."

The Doctor stood up and held his hand out to her to help her back up on her feet. "Oh, trust me. The shock is still the same. No matter how you become a parent. Come on, I need to take a quick shower before we jump over to London."

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The Doctor took possibility the fastest shower he had ever had in his life. Rose had asked Jake to join them in twenty minutes.

The Doctor walked out of the bathroom wearing just his pants. Rose had laid out his three piece suit he had wore earlier that day. She walked in the bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed, while she watched him dress.

Rose noticed how bruised and scratched up he was.

"Good grief. Did you play football or rugby? You look beat-up!" Rose told him.

He laughed as he dressed, "Yeah, it was a lot rougher than it was supposed to be according to Tony. I'm already sore as hell. I'm sure I'll hate myself tomorrow. And they are already talking about a re-match!"

Rose laughed at him beaming at his newly found hobby.

"You probably need some different trainers then. Some made for football." Rose told him.

He looked up at her, "Hey! That's not a bad idea! Get Tony a pair as well. Maybe a kit for a referee. We can give it to him for his birthday."

The Doctor suddenly stopped talking and looked at Rose seriously, "Wait. Did we forget Tony's birthday? Isn't it soon?"

"Tomorrow, love." Rose told him.

He smiled at her. "Oh good! Yeah, order that so it can get here by tomorrow for our re-match! Those Secret Service guys are tough, and they will be ready for us tomorrow."

Rose laughed as she pulled out her tablet and ordered the shoes for the Doctor and Tony. She finished just as the Doctor was putting some lollipops into his bigger on the inside pockets.

"I love how you look in that suit." she told him.

He looked up at her and smiled. "Your new favorite of mine, huh? I wonder if I had wore this in the TARDIS, if I would have been a bit more..."

"Sexy?" Rose growled at him.

"No, braver. I could have asked you out. Just said, to hell with the Time Lord curse." he said seriously.

She looked at him curiously. "You would have never done that. That just wasn't you then."

"It should have been. I wasted so much time when we could have been together."

"Like when?"

He put on his jacket. "Like, when we were laying in the apple grass. You raised up to move over me. It took everything in me not to grab you right then and kiss you."

Rose smiled. "You never told me that."

He sat down on the bed and started putting on his socks and trainers. "Yeah, it's true. When we blew up Downing Street, I wanted to wrap you in my arms and kiss you in celebration that we even lived through that."

Rose laughed. "That was right after my mum slapped you."

"Yeah, but that didn't change my mind. Oh, how I wanted you. Some days, it took more self control than I thought I could even muster." he smiled at the memory. Then he turned to face her.

"And now I do have you. All of you. The most precious part of my lives, right next to me. No matter what happens, I want you to know that we are in this together." the told her. She leaned in and kissed him.

Someone knocked at the door.

"Come in!" they both called.

Jake came in and picked his jacket up off the back of the sofa. He was all sweaty and had a towel identical to the one the Doctor had been given by the aide. He tossed an empty water bottle in the rubbish bin.

"Okay, so we going to get her?" Jake smiled.

"Yep!" the Doctor popped. "Game still going?"

"Nah. Everyone had to come in to get ready for the dinner. We are cutting this close, mate."

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "Ah, so what if we're late. This is more important." He handed Jake his watch.

"Let's go ahead and trade back while I'm thinking about it. I'll take Rose on the way over, and you can bring her back. Is that alright, Rose?" the Doctor asked her.

"Sure." Rose told him.

"These would probably carry all four of us, but I'd rather not risk it. Okay, Rose, do you know what hospital we are aiming for?"

Rose told him.

He scratched his chin and thought. "Okay, that's going to be... " he mumbled as he thought.

"Alright! This should pop us into the little shop. I like a little shop!" he exclaimed. He told Jake the numbers to type in, took Rose in his arms.

"Ready for this adventure, love?" he asked her.

Rose smiled. "We're in this together. Let's go."

They disappeared out of the White House.

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