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Chapter 59 – Toddler Rings

Rose and the Doctor popped into the sitting room of Tony Stark's home in Malibu, California. He sat at the baby grand piano playing Moonlight Sonata. He was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt. He didn't look up. "Most people knock."

"I texted. That's what I always do. These are the numbers you just gave me." The Doctor defended himself.

Tony laughed quietly as he continued to play.

Rose looked around the room. The sun was just beginning to come up outside. "What time is it here?"

"5:32 am." Tony told them as he continued to play.

Rose covered her mouth. "I'm sorry, why did we pop over here so early in the morning?"

Tony shook his head and laughed. "I don't sleep much. John knows this. He comes over for coffee some mornings. I'm usually up by 4:45. I play a bit and then go work on something."

The Doctor rubbed his beard, "How was your date with Pepper?"

"She is upstairs. My playing helps her sleep. As long as I play stuff like this, and not jazz tunes."

Rose smiled, "You play beautifully."

He ended the song and smiled. "Classical education. It makes you crazy. You get a song in your head, and you can't get it out until you play it. Gene says she does the same thing."

The Doctor smiled, "And she's getting a classical education. How about that?"

Tony stood up and smiled. "Memorization. Oh yes. She's told me all about it. Come on. It's down in the shop."

Tony led them down to this workshop. As he pressed the keypad on the door and opened it, he held up his hand to stop them from entering. "Jarvis. This is Rose Tyler, umm. I mean Rose Smith. She has full access."

Jarvis' voice came over the speaker. "Yes, sir. Let me turn on some lights."

"That's a good idea." Tony agreed as he motioned for them to come in the room. He walked over to the large desk and opened the top drawer. "Which one do you want? All of the keys are in here if you ever want one and I'm not here. Just help yourself, man."

"We're going up the Pacific Highway. Along the coast." He told him.

Tony nodded. "Right. The convertible then."

The Doctor watched Rose. She was looking around at all of the suits and things Tony was working on. She looked back at the Doctor. "This looks like your workshop. Except it…."

He smiled, "What?"

"It's a lot cleaner." Rose giggled.

Tony laughed as he walked around and handed the Doctor the keys. "The R8 Spyder. The white one over there. It has a V10 in it and sits low. It's fun to drive. Better than the Porsche 997, even if it is heavier. Let me know what you think."

The Doctor nodded. "Right. Thanks."

Tony smiled, "Take your time, man. I don't need it back anytime soon. When you come back, ask Jarvis to open the garage door for you. He won't give you any problem."

Rose looked surprised. "Hang on. We're borrowing a car from Tony?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yeah. Oh, MI6 made positive ID on Hammer. He was in the crater."

Tony celebrated, "That is fantastic news. Don't even worry about giving me a Christmas gift." Tony insisted.

The Doctor rolled his eyes as he walked towards the car. "We'll chat more later."

Tony nodded. "Right. Have fun, kids."

He walked back out of the workshop and up the stairs as the Doctor held the door open on the car for Rose, then walked around to driver's seat and sat down. He started the car and the purr of the engine made him smile. "Oh. I really like this car." He pressed a button and the top opened.

Rose smiled at him as she put her hair up behind her head. "This is the oddest thing."

He looked back at her. "What?"

"You. Driving a car." Rose smiled.

"You've seen me drive a car before. I drove yours."

Rose shook her head. "I miss that car. That was one of the first things I got when I came here."

The Doctor slowly drove out of the tunnel and down the driveway. The sun had started to come up and everything around them had an orange tint to it from the sun. The Doctor reached in his pocket and pulled out his sunglasses. "California sun. Damn."

Rose giggled at him. "I love it."

He stopped at the end of the driveway and thought. "Right. To the right is what Tony said."

Rose teased. "They drive on the wrong side of the road here. Don't kill us."

He chuckled. "I've driven outside of England before."

Rose smiled at him. "Really? How many times have you done that?"

He sighed, "I don't even know."

Rose giggled at him. He worked through the gears and turned onto the Pacific Highway. The purr of the engine behind them was loud. "I love the sound of that engine. That's just…..ohh…. fantastic."

Rose smiled at him. "You are such a guy. I had no idea you liked cars so much."

"I've learned to appreciate the small things in life. Life on the slow path has done that to me."

"See, and I was worried about you. You're doing just fine." Rose smiled.

He settled in and took Rose's hand in his. "You worry too much about me. I've taken care of myself for centuries, Rose. You don't let me worry enough about you. That's what this date is about. We're not going to talk about me at all. It's all about you."

Rose looked confused. "You know everything about me."

He bit his lip, "I don't think I do. Actually, I know I don't."

Rose shrugged her shoulders. "What is there to know?"

"Tell me something you miss about the Prime Dimension."

She sighed, "Privacy. Being able to just….go someplace without people recognizing me. Just being me. Not Rose Tyler."

He teased her, "But, you are Rose Tyler."

"You know what I mean."

He smiled, "I do. What else do you miss? Tell me everything."

She sighed, "You are really on about this."

"I'm just making conversation. Do you want to talk about something else?"

"No, this is alright." Rose told him.

"Alright. I'll name something. I miss the way Earth tasted. This Earth is more…. hmm… aluminum tasting. It's strange. I think it's from all of the damn Zeppelins. That's another thing I miss. Not seeing damn Zeppelins. Ugh. I hate those damn things."

Rose laughed, "You and the Zeppelins. Yes. I'd have to admit that, too. I miss airplanes, not that I ever flew on one. Did you?"

"Oh, sure. I even flew one, and that ended. Badly. Daleks were involved. They attacked the damn plane I was flying. I've always wondered if it was me, or them. I think it was them. Yeah, it had to be them. I should know how to fly a plane."

Rose giggled, "I've never heard about this. When was this?"

He held her hand tighter as he drove down the road. "I don't remember. My fourth reincarnation or maybe my fifth. Then in 1966, a small plane nearly ran into the TARDIS near Alaska. That was my fault. And then when I was working for UNIT, with the Brigadier, we sent out some RAF planes to destroy a Krynoid that was destroying a house. Huh. I've never thought about it. Maybe it's a good thing there's not planes in this Dimension. I've never had much luck with them, either."

Rose smiled. "What is a Krynoid?"

"A really big carnivorous plant. A galactic weed. On every planet where the Krynoid took root, all animal life would become extinct. Krynoids desired that all plants should win against the animals that ate them."

"Alright, that's terrifying. So they were intelligent?"

"Yeah, they could even speak. But, we wasn't going to talk about me…or weeds from space. We're talking about you."

"Ugh." Rose groaned and laid her head back on the headrest. "About me. Okay. Where are you taking me?"

He smiled, "That is a surprise."

Rose laid her other hand on top of his and looked out at the ocean. "This is beautiful."

He took off his sunglasses and handed them to her. "Do you need these?"

She smiled, "No."

"Sure? I can see without them."

Rose smiled and took them. "Alright. It will keep my hair out of my eyes." She put them on. "Oh, wow. That's so much better. Are you alright? You're driving. Don't you need these?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Anyway. Your car. You got that when you first got here."

Rose smiled as she held his hand. "I did. I always wanted a car. Dad wanted to buy it for me, but I insisted that I wanted to pay for it myself."

The Doctor nodded his head. "When did you get it?"

"I don't remember. Maybe after that first year. It was nice to just….drive away from my problems."

He chuckled, "Wandering off with wheels. Oh yes. I can see where you would have loved that."

Rose rolled her eyes at him. "Mum hated it. She always insisted I take Mickey or Jake with me when I went on a wander."

He smiled, "I can agree with Jackie Tyler on that."

Rose rolled her eyes. "You and mum agreeing on something. That's frightening."

"To no one more than I." He insisted.

Rose giggled.

"Do you want another car?" he asked her.

Rose shook her head. "No. I'd never use it. We live on an island and we usually just pop wherever we are going. I'm alright."

He looked seriously at her. "Are you certain?"

Rose giggled as he looked back at the ocean. "I really am. I don't need a car. This is so beautiful."

He glanced over at the ocean. "Yeah, Lewis has learned to surf. So he is going to teach me how. I'm looking forward to that."

Rose laughed. "You surfing? I'm going to take pictures of that."

He kissed her hand. "Take plenty of when I fall. It will be humbling I'm sure."

Rose's phone rang. She let go of the Doctor's hand and answered it. Pete was on the other end of the call. "I'm sorry to bother you two, but Genie wanted to say good night. I'm just putting her to bed."

Pete handed the phone to Genie. Rose pressed the button on her phone so her voice would come through the speaker. Genie spoke, "Mummy. Grandfather says I have to go to bed."

The Doctor pulled the car over on the side of the road and turned off the engine. Rose looked curiously at him. "She can't hear us with the wind blowing. I don't want to put the top up."

Rose smiled, "Genie. It's late there. Go on to bed."

"You didn't tell me bye before you left." Genie insisted.

The Doctor rubbed his face. "Ugh. You're right, my child, we didn't. You have such rotten luck having us for parents. We're terrible. Awful. Ridiculous."

Rose hit his shoulder playfully. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you bye. We'll be back later tonight and I'll check in on you."

The Doctor looked at Rose. "Didn't she take a nap when she came back with Tony this afternoon?"

"It wasn't long. Tony and Jacob woke her up."

"A power nap! That's what we are dealing with. My Sara Gene, you are exhausted. I need you to go to sleep so you can help me with something in the morning."

"What are we doing?" Genie asked.

"We are going to teach Logan how to fight. Do you think you know how to fight well enough to teach someone?"

"Oh, I'm sure I do. I'm really good at that high kick now, Daddy!"

Rose looked surprised. "What is she talking about?"

"You need to show your mum your high kick. Is it ready for that yet?" he asked her.

"Hmmm…..maybe. Let me practice it some more and get back to you on that."

"Alright. You're the boss." He smiled. "Okay. So, if you are getting up to help me with Logan, you need to get to sleep now. I'll wake you up in the morning."

"Daddy."

"Yes, my dear."

"Are you safe? The bad people aren't going to get you again, are they?"

He smiled, "No sweetheart. They aren't. I'm not fighting any monsters tonight. I have your mum with me to keep me safe and out of trouble. Don't worry about me. I'll be back with your mum in a little while. Hey Genie."

"What?"

"If they lined up every little girl in the entire universe, which one would I pick to be mine?" he asked her. Rose smiled proudly.

Genie giggled, "Me. I know, Daddy. I love you, too. Good night."

He smiled, "Good night. Stop giving your Grandfather a hard time and go to bed."

Rose laughed, "Good night, Genie."

Genie handed the phone back to Pete. "Alright, we're going to bed now. Real quick, the guys wondered where you went."

The Doctor bit his lip. "They have a bet on it. Lewis has been asking me."

Pete chuckled, "Right. Tell me if I won some money. Where did you go?"

The Doctor smiled as he looked at Rose. "What did you guess, Pete?"

"Honestly? I said Disneyworld. Genie's been telling me all about her Tony taking here there today."

The Doctor shook his head and punched the steering wheel quietly. "Damn it." He whispered.

Pete's voice laughed through the phone. "Rose. Take a picture of his reaction to that."

Rose giggled, "Oh, I wouldn't dare."

"Ratted out by a toddler." The Doctor complained. He turned back on the car and pulled out on the highway as Rose ended the phone call.

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