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Chapter 53 - A Cry in the Night

The Doctor couldn't sleep. Everytime he closed his eyes, he felt like he was spinning on a merry go round. It almost made him sick.

Rose was laying on her side, he lay close behind her. She was wearing a sleeveless silk gown that went down below her knees. He continued to run his fingers up her arm and kiss her shoulder and back as she slept.

They had been laying in the bed for 1 hour and 24 minutes. He just couldn't sleep at all. The tux had always given him a problem. He felt like he surely couldn't get off as easy as he had tonight. The active shooter could probably be counted, but normally he was more involved in something. A tux always meant bad news for him. It always had.

He realized he hadn't checked on growing TARDIS since the day before. This day had been so crazy, he just hadn't had the time. He slipped out of bed and pulled his robe on over his jim jams. He realized his head was still spinning from the damn whiskey as he walked across the floor. He even managed to walk into the side of the door on the way out of the room.

"Damn!" he exclaimed quietly to himself. He couldn't remember ever being this intoxicated.

He rubbed his face as he knelt down and took the bigger on the inside box out of his jeans he had been wearing earlier that night. Not wanting to disturb Rose, he went into the sitting room with the box.

Once he was there, he sat it on the table and removed the lid. He flipped it on its' side so he could see everything better. He sat there and rubbed his chin as he tried to get his eyes to focus on it.

He shook his head, trying to force his eyes to focus. They refused.

He flipped the box back up and put the lid back on it as he heard a noise. As he stood up, he accidently bumped the box. The lid sat crooked on top of the box.

He rubbed his head as he listened. He heard the noise again. He wasn't sure what it was. He looked over into the bedroom and saw that Rose was still asleep.

He heard the noise again. He opened the door and stepped into the dim hallway.

Lewis was sitting at the end of the hallway. He saw the Doctor and stood up. The Doctor waved at him to tell him not to move, as he walked quietly down the hall. He heard the noise again. He thought sounded a bit like a cat's meow. He rubbed his head as he listened. What was that noise?

His superior hearing lead him into the residence's sitting room where they had been earlier that night. He heard the noise more clearly now, and looked around the room. He was still having trouble focusing his eyes in the dark. He really missed not being able to see in the dark as much as he used to. He turned on a lamp, and immediately jumped as he found the source of the sound he heard.

It was Genie. She was sitting in a chair, hugging her knees and crying. She had jumped too. She didn't hear the Doctor come in.

"Genie. Sweetheart." the Doctor told her as knelt down in front of the chair and put his hand on her head.

"What are you doing in here? What happened? Did the boys say something?"

She shook her head.

"Come here." he said as he held out his arms to her.

She climbed into his arms. He held her as he sat down in the chair she had been in. The Doctor felt her arms. Her skin was cold.

"Gosh, you are cold. How long have you been in here?" he asked her as he rubbed her arms to try to warm her up.

She continued to whimper.

He leaned down and kissed her head as he held her tightly. They remained that way for a while together.

Finally, Genie spoke. "I didn't want them to see me cry."

"Who?" the Doctor asked her.

"Jacob and Tony. I don't want them to see me cry. They might make fun of me."

He sighed. "My gosh, you remind me of myself. I believe I said those exact same words when I was just a little older than you."

His heart ached for this little girl he held in his arms.

"Come on, you're staying with me. No one should ever have to cry by themselves. Let's go find you a blanket." He picked her up and walked back down the hall to the room him and Rose were staying in.

He walked into the bedroom, and grabbed a blanket that was laying in the chair in the corner, and then carried Genie into the sitting room. He lay down on the couch with her. She curled up on his chest. He spread the blanket out on her. He rubbed her back as they lay there.

"Is this better?" he asked her.

He felt her nod her head on his chest.

He rubbed her back as he closed his eyes. "Everything is terrible right now. It's alright to cry. No one will tease you about that. If they do, tell me. I'll find some monsters to eat them."

Genie giggled quietly on his chest.

He smiled, happy she was feeling better. "You are so special, my Sara Gene. I already love you so much. I don't want you to think you are alone. Not ever. Rose and me are here for you. You can come and cry with us as much as you need to. It's okay."

She lay on his chest, looking him in the face.

"I don't like Doctors." she told him.

"You don't?" he asked her in surprise.

"No. They stick me with needles." she told him.

He smiled at her explanation. Of course she would think that. After that IV and hospital stay.

"Okay. Well, I'm not going to stick you. Don't worry. Honestly, I don't like doctors either." he kissed her forehead.

"How long am I going to stay with you and Rose? Is it forever?" she asked him.

"Your mum wanted to make sure you would be alright if something ever happened to her. So, she asked my Rose to take care of you. She loved you so much, Genie. That's what she wanted. I hope it's alright that you ended up with me as well. Rose and I are a package deal." he smiled.

"So, always?" Genie asked him.

"I hope that's okay. You could be part of this family, even when you are all grown up, with a family of your own. Rose and I will be there for you even then." he told her.

"I don't want to call you Doctor. Do I have to?" she asked him.

He shook his head and looked at her seriously. "No, you don't. Would you rather call me John?"

"I've not had a Daddy in a long time. Can I call you Daddy?"

The Doctor chuckled. "Sure. But, only if you want to. I can be that. What do you want to call Rose?"

She looked at him like he had dribbled down his shirt. "Well, Rose of course."

He rolled his eyes and laughed. "Right. Rose. I love that name. Almost as much as I love Sara Genevieve."

She giggled at him. And lay her head back down on his chest. He continued to rub her back.

"Daddy, what is in that box?" she asked him.

He had forgotten completely that the box he had the TARDIS in was sitting on the coffee table next to them. The lid still sat skewed on top of it. He looked over at it with her.

"Oh, that's my box. I have something I'm taking care of in there." he told her.

"Is it a monster?" she asked him.

He lay his head back and closed his eyes. "No, it's something I can use to catch monsters."

"Is there any monsters in it now?" she asked him.

He smiled at her. "No, sweetheart. There's nothing in there but my little plant I have growing for the monsters."

"Then what is that humming?" she asked him.

He opened his eyes wide in surprise, but didn't stop rubbing her back.

"You hear a humming? Coming from my box?" he asked her in surprise.

"Yeah, don't you hear it?" she asked him.

"No, I don't. Don't worry. I can make it stop." he told her as he leaned over and put the lid back on the box.

"Did that make it stop?" he asked her.

"Yeah. I've never heard anything like that." she told him.

"Was it scary? What does it sound like?" he asked her.

"Just like this." and she hummed quietly.

He couldn't believe it. Now he understood why Melissa had made Rose her child's guardian. She was telepathic and she knew Rose would be able to help her. With this war coming, Genie was just as big as a target as any other alien now because of her telepathically. Although, she was really young to already be showing any signs of it as far as he knew. He thought Rose had told him that Melissa had been attacked. Was it when she was pregnant with Genie? Maybe before? What had made this little girl telepathic?

And if she could hear the hum, why couldn't he? He began to worry. It took everything in him to remain on the couch and rub Genie's back until she fell asleep. Had he lost his ability to telepathically communicate? Had his sickness claimed that now as well? It was strange it had happened so suddenly, or maybe it had been disappearing slowly. He had never been able to hear the hum. Rose heard it days ago.

He became overwhelmed at the thought. He held Genie tighter and kissed her head as his eyes filled with tears. Oh, how he hated this rubbish, human body.

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