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Chapter 48 – Sunrise

Rose was lying in a field with very long grass. She looked up at the sky and watched the clouds slowly go by. The cool breeze blew her hair in her face. She rose up to twist it to the back of her head and lay back down. She didn't notice she was suddenly not alone in her dream.

She continued to look at the sky. She felt the familiar touch as the Doctor rubbed her stomach. She smiled. "You've not been in my dreams in a while."

She turned to look at him. He was lying on his side with his head propped up on his fist, watching her. He was wearing his jeans and a light blue oxford. "What are you looking at?"

She smiled at him. "You."

He smiled, "I'm not in the sky. What were you looking at?" He lay down and put his head next to hers.

"When I was a little girl, I used to watch the clouds go overhead. I used to pretend they were different animals or ships or something. I would try to see something in clouds. Something no one else could see." She told him.

"I've done this. It's been a very long time, but I used to do this. It's rather….relaxing. This is a nice dream."

Rose sat up and laughed, "You must have Sam in the bed with us. He always calms me down like this. Is there something to that?"

He smiled at her. "I knew you would figure that out. Sam can sense your feelings, like we can, but he can alter them. Thankfully, he only seems to be able to sooth people's moods and calm them down. He'll be a hell of a mediator one day. Just what I need for Jackie Tyler. Damn."

Rose held her hair out of her face. "Really?"

He looked up at her and smiled. "Your son? Not do something….odd? He didn't need any of me to be strange."

Rose sat up in front of him and ran her hand across his beard. "Baby. I know that is a sensitive subject with you. It shouldn't be."

He nodded his head and kissed her hand as he sat up. "I know. I really shouldn't be. He's still my son."

She looked at him seriously, "I fear that you see him differently. "

"No. I don't." He tried to reassure her as he looked in her eyes.

She rubbed his chest. "You sing to Genie in Gallifreyan. You don't do that with Sam. You always speak English to him. You spoke to him in Gallifreyan, until you found out he was completely me."

"I don't do that. Do I?" He thought, "I do. I didn't realize I did that."

Rose continued, "I know you believe everything those computers tell you, but I will never believe it. There are parts of you that I see in him."

He smiled, "Like what?"

She held his hands. "He has freckles. I never had freckles. You do."

"Oh, you had freckles. Didn't you?"

Rose smiled, "No. I used to get a marker and dot them on my face because I wanted them so much."

He laughed, "Oh, you didn't. That's mad."

She laughed, "Oh, I did. It would make Mum go mental. He also seems to just accept whatever goes on. No matter how loud the house gets, who's holding him, who's speaking to him. He just goes with it. Mum says I was never like that. I only wanted her and Dad. Then, just her. She could never put me down. He is very happy to be to himself. Alone in a cot. Or in someone's arms. That's completely you."

He shook his head, "I don't know. You didn't seem that way when I met you."

Rose smiled, "I was nearly a year old, then! Did you hold me when I was a baby? I don't remember."

"Yeah. I wasn't going to tell you, but your mum handed you to me. I fumbled about and dropped you. You landed on the hard floor directly on your head. Explains a great deal." He teased.

Rose playfully smacked his shoulder as he laughed, "Oh, you didn't. Shut up."

He looked away and bit his lip. "I don't remember. I don't think I did. I was a bit preoccupied with reapers then. Man, that was strange day."

Rose nodded, "Yes, it was. I try not to think about it. It's very…..surreal."

He could feel her sadness. "I should probably test him again-"

Rose rubbed his chest. "No. No more tests. I don't need a computer to tell me what my heart already knows. Believe me. He's not 100% me. There are some bits of you in there, too. He is really, your son."

He smiled at her, "Our son."

Rose smiled at him. "Yes. Our son."

He kissed her hand, "Thank you for telling me this Rose. You're right. I do treat him differently. I shouldn't. I don't treat Genie any differently. Maybe it's because she's a girl. I'm used to girls."

Rose held her hair out of her face as the wind continued to blow. "You never had a son?"

He looked at her and smiled painfully. "I did. I just was never around when they were growing up. Never really knew them. It was forbidden because of…. well… some stuff. I resented it for years. I knew my nephews more than my children. I could be uncle without a problem. A father. No. Never was supposed to happen."

Rose held his hand. "I'm so sorry."

He shrugged his shoulders, "It was just how that entire thing…was. It ended up being the best for them, though."

She held his hand tighter. "How could that be the best?"

He looked at her and sighed, "You don't want to hear this. I'm sorry I even-"

She moved closer to him and put her finger over his lips. "This is part of you. I know you don't want to talk about it. Not ever. I am surprised you have said as much as you have. Know that you can talk to me about this. About anything."

She could sense he didn't want to say anymore. He ran his hand through his hair and threw some grass that he had pulled up. "Ahhh…. That was a long time ago."

Rose held his hand. "It still hurts. One day, you'll want to talk about it. You can talk to me when that day comes. I don't want you to feel that I don't want to hear anything you might ever want to say. Sometimes, things need to be said."

He smiled at her. "Thank you, Rose. May I kiss you? Please?"

Rose smiled, "You know you can. Always."

He leaned in and snogged her proper.

Rose woke up and found that she was still being kissed slowly by her beloved. She felt his hands on her cheeks as he sucked her bottom lip. She smiled at him. "I could wake up like that every morning."

He chuckled, "I have something to show you. Stay here."

He got out of bed. Rose noticed he was wearing his jeans, but had removed his shirt. It was still dark outside of the windows of their island bedroom. He walked over and carefully picked up Sam. He positioned him on his chest. He walked back over to the bed and lay down gently so he wouldn't wake the small baby.

Rose turned on her side as she watched him. Sam lay on his stomach, high on his Daddy's chest. The Doctor whispered, "Watch this."

He quietly sang, "Fly me to the Moon" by Sinatra.

"Fly me to the moon, let me play among the stars. Let me see what spring is like on….Jupiter and Mars. In other words, hold my hand…."

Rose smiled as she listened to him sing to Sam. Sam smiled and laughed as he continued to sleep.

He stopped singing and smiled at Rose. "I knew it wouldn't be long. He likes to be sung to."

Rose covered her mouth and cried. "He really laughed."

"He really did." He smiled at her.

She rose up and kissed Sam on the head. "You make your Mummy and Daddy so happy, Sam. You bring so much happiness in our world. I love you, little boy."

Sam smiled in his sleep.

The Doctor kissed Sam's head. "You are so special, Samuel."

Rose smiled at him, "Tell him that in Gallifreyan. Let him hear that."

He sighed. "Gallifreyen."

Rose smiled, "It's such a beautiful language. I love to hear you speak it."

He kissed Sam's head and held his lips there as the thought. Rose smiled as she listened to him speak to Sam in the ancient language. He seemed to say several sentences to him. Sam laughed again his sleep.

Rose smiled, "I think he is laughing at your voice."

He smiled proudly, "Maybe that's it."

"What did you say to him?"

He smiled, "I told him, 'The things we deeply feel, we often will never say. Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. No matter what you do with your life, or whatever happens, I will always see you as the love that created you'."

Rose smiled, "That is so beautiful."

The Doctor kissed Sam's head. "Our son, Rose."

"Our son." She leaned down and kissed the Doctor.

Sam wiggled in his Dad's hands and started to cry.

"Oh, geez. I'll put you back in your cot then. Just a bit." The Doctor got up and tucked Sam back in. He stood and watched him as he drifted back to sleep.

Rose smiled at him, "Come back to bed."

He climbed back in the bed with her. She laid her head on his shoulder and ran her fingertips across his chest. "You feel tired. How long were you on the ship?"

He rubbed his face. "I've only just came back. I took Sam with me. Logan was having a party to make him feel better. It made us all feel better, honestly. It was a lot of fun. We sang all night."

Rose giggled, "You, singing? Really?"

He kissed her head, "The entire room was singing so I'm sure I was completely drowned out. No one sings louder than Tony. Geez, that man."

"Who all was there?"

"Jack, Jake, Tony, Legate, Ashena, Summus, Polotius, Lance, Licis, and some more of those guys." He sighed.

Rose teased him, "Logan and Ashena…."

He rubbed his face and groaned. "Legate is keeping an eye on them for me. Although, I am reminded of Sam and Lewis."

Rose looked confused, "What about Sam and Lewis?"

He rubbed his face, "Oh, that's the best story. I'll tell you that one sometime."

Rose settled back on his chest. He rubbed her back with his fingertips. "Jake and Jack were finished already at Torchwood?"

He laughed under his breath. "Yeah."

"I can feel that. What have you done to Jack?" Rose asked him as she sat up to look at his face.

He smiled, "Me? Rose. I'm hurt. Would I do something to Jack Harkness?"

Rose glared at him. "Oh, you would. And I know he deserves it. What did you do?"

He laughed as he bit his lip. "I took a bottle of chocolate syrup and squirted it all in his lap. He was asleep. Poor Jack had an accident. He's going to think it was way worse than it really was."

Rose laughed at him. "You are bad. Did you bring it back with you?"

He shook his head. "Nah. I think Tony took it. There wasn't much left."

She smiled at him, "That's too bad. I could have shown you what else you could have used that for."

He smiled like a loon. "Oh, I can figure that out. That's a date. Wow. Yes. And whip cream. Actually, I prefer whip cream. It's easier to clean up and I can eat a lot more of it."

Rose leaned down and kissed him. She whispered, "Whip cream then."

He smiled at her. "You don't seem tired. You need to go back to sleep. I'm sorry I woke you."

Rose rubbed his chest. "I'm glad you did. It's not every morning you get to hear your baby laugh for the first time."

Rose noticed him roll his eyes and think about something for a moment. She asked him, "What's the matter? Your police scanner?"

He stood up beside the bed and shook his head, "No. Come here. This won't take but just a bit."

Rose, still wearing only her blue robe, took his hand and stood in front of him. "What are we doing?"

He smiled at her. "Something you will love." He reached behind her and pulled the duvet off of the bed. He wrapped it around himself and motioned for her to join him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, as he pulled the long duvet around them both. They enjoyed a lovely snog as they carefully walked over to the balcony's doors.

He smiled at her as he opened the door, "Let's take our circus tent outside."

Rose giggled at him. He sat back down in the chair he had lay in with Genie and Sam only hours before. Rose sat in his lap and he wrapped the duvet around the two of them and held her tightly. He kissed her cheek and moaned. "This is the best."

Rose smiled. She was so comfortable wrapped up in the large, fluffy duvet with him. The crisp, cool sea air blew on her face. The sky was purple with beautiful blue and red clouds.

She smiled and whispered, "I've never thought about watching a sunrise out here. This was a great idea."

He laughed quietly, "I knew you would love this. It will pop right out of the ocean in 5 minutes and 14 seconds." He held her tightly. She could feel his chin on her shoulder as he watched the horizon.

Rose whispered, "How close are we to Hawaii?"

"About 400 miles." He pointed to the left. "It's just over there. Well, sortof. Don't try to swim for it."

She giggled, "I can promise that I won't."

"Are you warm? It's cold out here."

"I'm fine." She told him.

He smiled and held her tightly. "Ko'u aloha. That's how the Hawaiians say, 'My love.' I'm sitting out there with he wahine u'i."

Rose smiled, "What does that mean?"

He kissed her cheek and whispered, "A beautiful woman."

Rose laughed quietly as he kissed her neck and her back. "Baby, you aren't watching this sunrise."

He stopped kissing her and chuckled, "I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself."

Rose couldn't help how much she was smiling. "This is my favorite place in the world. In the entire universe."

"The beach?"

"No, in your arms. Just here with you. I've never felt so safe or loved in my entire life. You've been here for…."

He thought, "Ummm…Eight months."

Rose smiled, "The happiest of my life."

"Mine, too." He started to kiss her neck again.

"You are going to miss this." Rose told him.

He continued to kiss her, "I promise I won't. I can feel when we spin into it. Your neck demands my attention."

Rose's skin tingled as she felt his warm breath and bearded kisses against her skin. She watched the colors of the sky change and become more orange.

He stopped kissing her and positioned his cheek to hers. He whispered as the sun rose. "And there it is."

Rose bit her lip and giggled, "This is beautiful."

He held her closely, "You are beautiful. Good morning. I need to tell you something. It's extremely important." He kissed her neck again.

Rose smiled, "I love that. What did you need to tell me?"

He whispered in her ear, "I need to tell you that I love you. I've not told you that today. I'm sure of it. You are precious to me."

Rose turned around to face him and smiled. "And I haven't told you today, that I love you."

He smiled at her as he bought her hand up to his mouth to kiss it. She noticed his wrists. She held them up to see them closer. "What is this?"

He grunted, "Ugh. I didn't think about that. It did bruise rather badly."

Both of his wrists were bruised and scratched from being tied up the night before. He felt Rose almost begin to cry. He kissed her hands quickly and shook his head. "Rose, I'm fine."

She covered her mouth and took a deep breath. More to herself than to him, she said, "I'm not going to cry." He could feel that she was very close to breaking down.

He kissed the side of her head. "I need to get you back to bed. You need to rest. You really haven't slept that much at all."

Rose sighed and seemed to pull herself together, "What are you doing? Can you lay down with me for a bit?"

He smiled, "Sure. Will my tablet bother you? I need to get some stuff done."

Rose shook her head. "It won't. Tell me. What do you want for Christmas? I can't believe you have gone through so much trouble for me."

He smiled as he looked in her eyes, "Put a bow on Sam."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Come on. What?"

He thought for a moment. "Better plan, put a bow on yourself." He laughed quietly.

She kissed him. "Okay, I can do that. What else?"

He laid his forehead to hers. "All I ever wanted, I have. I have you. I have us. I'm a very happy man, Rose."

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