OK so this one is quite long. It got away from me a bit. A tiny bit of plot may happen in the next chapter. I mean, you may have guessed that this story isn't exactly brimming with exciting plot twists and turns, but there might be a tiny bit. Then again, there's no earthly way of knowing which direction we are going.

The Doctor was wandering the corridors of the TARDIS again. In the couple of weeks since Rose had been back he had been dying to go to her room again to make sure she was alright. Not that he wanted her not to be; in fact she seemed to be coping admirably with any nightmares that were plaguing her. Unfortunately, Rose's nightmares fading slightly gave the Doctor no excuse to go and see her in her bedroom. And oh how he wanted to.

He dragged a hand across his face slowly, rubbing his eyes and trying to clear his head. He had promised himself that he would not dance around the edge with Rose this time. It was rare that anyone got a second chance as they had done, and he had to make the most of it. He was finding out quickly, however, that old habits really did die hard.

No matter how much he might want to grab Rose and kiss her every time he saw her, there was still a voice inside him listing all the reasons why it was not a good idea to pursue something deeper with her. He was desperate. These past weeks had been some of the best he had ever experienced – between Jenny and Rose he was so happy and so busy that he had not really had much time to think about things and where they were heading. Since that one day on the blue planet when they had talked, their lives had sped up considerably. Cramming in adventures wherever possible led to hectic days and nights of deep sleep with no possibility of talking or anything else that the Doctor might want to do with Rose Tyler in her bedroom at night. Or in the day for that matter, he wasn't really fussy about the time.

The problem was that it had been so long for him since he had done this sort of things – he had decided a long time ago that falling into the human way of love and relationships was not a wise idea, given the fact that he was a Time Lord and would therefore live a lot longer than any human whom he ever got close to.

Besides, he had had to reawaken a part of him he had thought long since dead fairly recently, and he was just not sure he was up to trying to work out his relationship with Rose just yet.

Feeling the TARDIS' warning inside his head, he began to walk swiftly down the corridor in the opposite direction. Jenny was awake, and he was starting out a new day as a father.

He was still not quite used to being a father again. He supposed the practicality of the job made it a bit easier to get used to. He could sit and mope around and try to get his head around it for ages but in the end, no matter what turmoil he was feeling, he still had to care for Jenny, feed her and change her nappies and play with her. And he loved her. Oh, he loved her more than he had ever thought possible.

He pushed open Jenny's door and stepped inside. She was standing up in her cot, waiting for him just as she always did when she awoke. The smile that spread across her face when she saw him made his hearts beat extra loudly inside his chest. His little girl, this child who had been the product of a machine, loved him unconditionally, more than anything else in the universe. She was a part of him, and in her he could see the innocence and happiness and curiosity that he felt inside himself. But in Jenny these qualities were not tempered with his guilt and anger and the deep grief he felt for his people.

The Doctor lifted his daughter out of her cot – should he get the TARDIS to swap her cot for a bed? She was getting quite big now – and rubbed his head on her tummy in the way that he knew she loved. His hair tickled her and she giggled and squeaked with joy. He took her over to the changing table and made quick work of her nappy, whistling all the while.

He supposed, as he dressed Jenny in her outfit for that day, which happened to be a dark blue dress with little stars and rockets embroidered on it, that being a father again had changed him. He had not changed really, deep down, but being put in this domestic situation had made him act differently, even feel differently as well. He wondered if Rose had noticed.

More than that, he wondered if she minded.

By now he had noticed there was something not quite right. Being a father to a toddler was very tiring, but being a Time Lord meant that he had a lot more time and energy on his hands than most. He had noticed the way Rose looked when she thought he could not see, the way that she hovered in the doorway before entering a room, almost as though she wasn't quite sure how to approach him. Things had changed, he knew, but he had not stopped to consider the idea that all this change might be a problem.

What if she wanted to leave?

The Doctor dismissed that thought. She would not leave – at least, he would definitely be able to tell if she wanted to leave the TARDIS. He had become a practiced scholar in the art of reading Rose Tyler's mood, and he knew that right now she was uncertain and trying to adjust. If she had been really sad or in pain, he would have intercepted by now – actually talked to her about it. As it was, he had decided the best course of action for now was just to leave her alone. Carry on as normal and let her adjust and work out how she felt and what she wanted.

He knew that Rose wouldn't be awake for a couple of hours yet, so the Doctor took Jenny into her playroom – it was right next to her bedroom and the contents were different every day. Jenny was going to grow up spoilt, he just knew it. It was all the TARDIS' fault. He played with his daughter just as he would any other day, but today his heart was not really in it. His mind was fully on Rose. She had been the most important person in his life for such a long time, that even with Jenny there, he was in danger of being fully focussed on his pink and yellow human instead of anything else.

The Doctor had just about exhausted his creative capacity for the day when he had a brainwave. "Jenny," he said amicably, "why don't we go and wake up Rose?"

It was a potentially dangerous move, he knew. Rose Tyler liked her sleep. The Doctor having so much energy so early in the morning (the relative morning, given there was not actual night time on the TARDIS) had caused Rose much grief during her time on the TARDIS. And then there was that time when he had burst in to wake her up and she was already up. And naked.

She had had her back to him, but it was enough. The Doctor had stuttered and gawped and, when he had gotten the use of his legs back, stumbled backwards out of the door and fled. Nowadays he always asked the TARDIS if Rose was still asleep before bursting in there. Maybe that was a bit more cautious than he normally would be, but he wanted to avoid another awkward moment like that. At least, he thought he did. Nowadays he was entertaining the idea that, actually, walking in on Rose Tyler naked could lead somewhere quite pleasant. Nevertheless, he checked with the TARDIS before grabbing Jenny's hand and walking slowly down the corridor to Rose's bedroom.

He plucked Jenny up when they reached the door and put his finger to his lips. Jenny copied him and he smiled. He reached a hand into one of his bigger-on-the-inside pockets and pulled out a tissue, which he used to wipe Jenny's nose. Then, with one last "shh" to Jenny, the Doctor very slowly turned the handle and pushed open the door.

It was dark inside, and he felt Jenny's hands clutch slightly tighter at his collar. Pressing a kiss to her forehead – it was when doing that that he felt most like a father, he realised – he crept across the carpet and over to the sleeping form that lay in the bed, wrapped up in the old pink duvet and breathing steadily.

The Doctor gently placed Jenny on the bed – she was small enough that the shift in weight did not alert Rose to the fact that someone else was now sitting on her mattress. Jenny looked up at the Doctor, and he grinned and nodded, before giving her a gentle nudge towards the top of the bed. She crawled quickly over the covers, tiny hands and feet negotiating the springy terrain with more determination than skill. Still, she was up by Rose's head in no time. The Doctor watched with amusement, trying to stifle a laugh at the sight of Jenny poking Rose's cheek with one of her miniature fingers.

"Wose." When Rose did not respond, Jenny began to pat her cheek, before grabbing some of the messy blonde hair that lay across the pillow and pulling it. The Doctor winced and darted forward, but Jenny had been quite gentle, exerting just enough force for Rose to be pulled from her deep sleep.

"Huh? Doctor, what?" she mumbled, eyes still half closed. At that moment, the TARDIS turned up the lights to a soft glow – not enough to hurt Rose's eyes, but enough for her to be able to see what was going on in her room that morning.

"Wose," Jenny repeated, grinning a little grin, a miniature version of one of her father's beaming smiles, "Wose, bedast!"

"Wha'? Oh, hi Jenny." The Doctor saw Rose's sleepy smile and watched as she reach up to ruffle the excited toddler's hair. "What are you doing in here? Did your dad think it would be funny?"

"As a matter of fact, I simply decided that if you wanted to stay in bed and deprive Jenny of time to play with you, then you'd better explain it to her yourself."

While the Doctor had been speaking Jenny had been mumbling to herself, getting progressively louder. "Wose, bedast! Bedast, bedast, bedast!"

"What is she saying?" Rose asked, sitting up and stretching her arms in the air. Jenny attempted to tickle her ribs, with little success, and Rose laughed. "Stop that you, I've only just woken up."

"She's saying "breakfast". It's her latest word, she's very proud of herself. She's been demanding breakfast at all hours of the day and night, just because she can."

"Well at least she's got her priorities straight." Rose swung her legs off the side of the bed. The Doctor noted that she was only wearing a t-shirt and knickers, and attempted to divert his gaze to somewhere that wasn't Rose's legs. Jenny, on the other hand, had scrambled over to the edge of the bed and was sitting with her legs hanging over the edge, just like Rose. Rose stuck her feet out straight and wiggled her toes, laughing when Jenny did the same. "Doctor, d'you think if I threw a pillow at your head, she'd copy me?"

"I really don't want to find out," replied the Doctor, standing up and walking over to face the two of them, sitting side by side on the bed with their legs outstretched. Rose attempted to trip up the Doctor on his way past, and he gave her a look of triumph as he hopped over her ankle, picking up Jenny from the bed. "Come on, Mrs, let's go get you some breakfast."

"Bedast!" Jenny yelled in victory, "bedast! 'nana, 'nana!"

"I take it she likes bananas then."

The Doctor threw Rose a look of incredulity. "How could you even doubt it? Of course she does, Rose, they're her favourite!"

After she had gotten dressed, Rose joined the Doctor and Jenny in the kitchen. The Doctor was singing a song in a language that Rose did not recognise, and Jenny was attempting to join in, her face and hands already covered with banana. Rose sat at the table with a cup of tea in order to try and wake herself up – the Doctor felt quite bad for waking her up earlier than normal, and made her peanut butter on toast as a sorry.

"So where are we going today?"

"Not sure," said the Doctor in between gulps of team, "I thought I might just hit random and see where we end up. Of course," – he nodded his head towards Jenny – "I'll have to do a sweep to make sure it's safe for her. You understand."

"'Course." The Doctor was certain he saw a flicker of emotion behind her eyes, but it was gone before he could register it properly. "I just need to go get my jacket." Rose stood up and walked out of the door. Seeing her leaving, turning her back and walking away just as she used to in his dreams, stirred something inside the Doctor, and all of a sudden he just couldn't stand to hold back any longer.

Leaving Jenny in her high chair at the kitchen table, mashing some banana with her spoon and giggling at nothing, the Doctor sprinted out into the corridor.

"Rose!"

She stopped and turned, eyes showing concern. "What is it?"

"Nothing, it's... nothing."

She threw him a look. "Ah, I see. I forgot how you always yell and chase after me when there's absolutely nothing you need me for. Oh wait... that's right, you don't do that. So what's up?"

If he had caught her just after she had woken up she would not have been this sharp. With his mental capacities dulled for a reason that he could not quite specify – though he suspected the culprit was the woman standing in front of him with a sceptical smirk on her face - he had absolutely no chance at keeping up with her quick wit that morning. "Yeah, there is something. Yep, definitely is. If I could just think of it."

Rose sighed. "Well when you've remembered it, Doctor, you know where to find me." She began to turn away, but the Doctor lunged forward and grabbed her arm.

"No, wait."

She turned back towards him. He could normally read even the tiniest twitches and quirks of her facial expression, but this one wasn't particularly hard to gauge. It was confusion, mixed with a liberal amount of curiosity and just a drop of amusement. The Doctor was aware that he was acting quite strange – no doubt his own facial expression was something to behold.

"Rose, I..." Nothing. He opened his mouth and, for the first time in a while, there was nothing coming out. Knowing that Rose was going to want an explanation for this later, the Doctor decided that, if his mouth wasn't going to be occupied with explaining away his erratic behaviour, it may as well be made use of elsewhere. Without another thought he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her towards him.

Her body was pressed against his, and the Doctor raised one hand to cup her cheek, hoping to any deity in the universe that could possibly exist that he had not just made a ridiculous decision to do this. Rose's eyes, however, convinced him he had made the right choice. Smiling a little, he leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to hers. From there on in, it seemed as though the floodgates had burst open.

Rose flung her arms around his neck without a second thought, pulling his face to hers and knotting her hands into his hair. He, on the other hand, wrapped his arms so tightly around her waist that he was a little bit worried he was crushing her. Judging by the delighted moan that escaped from her when he sucked on her lower lip, she did not mind being crushed. To be honest, death by kissing seemed a pretty good way to go.

Her lips were soft but strong, moving with his and almost challenging him to go further. He accepted the challenge, his tongue making the intrepid journey into Rose's mouth in a matter of seconds. She tasted absolutely brilliant – all of his taste buds were on fire and her tongue was dancing with his. She tasted like tea and he knew there was a reason he enjoyed tea so much and this must be it and he needed more of it, so much more and right this second. Also peanut butter – a good choice, even if he did say so himself since he had made her breakfast, sweet and delicious and wow, Rose really knew what she was doing with her tongue. The last moan that he had registered had definitely not come from her. Rose's hands were caressing the back of his neck – how had he not realised until now how much he liked to be touched there? He growled when she scraped with her nails, his hands roving up and down her back, feeling the skin that was separated from him only by a thin barrier of cloth and that he was aching to feel bare under his fingers.

In the other room there came the sound of something crashing to the floor, and the insistent cry of "Daddy! Daddy!" managed to jerk them out of the other world they had somehow found themselves in.

With much regret the Doctor pulled away from Rose. Her eyes looked slightly dazed, but she was grinning like a Halloween pumpkin and her cheeks were flushed bright pink. She lifted a hand to his face and he held it there for a second, closing his eyes.

"I take it that's what you wanted me for."

The Doctor smiled, not opening his eyes or moving from his spot. "Couldn't hold back any longer."

"Good thing too, 'cause otherwise I was going to snap first." He opened his eyes at that.

"What... you-?"

"Of course I wanted to – have done ever since I got back here. Well, longer than that really, but you know what I mean." Rose rolled her eyes. "Honestly Doctor, I was only not doing it because I was worried that you might not want to cross that line."

The Doctor waggled his eyebrows at her. "Consider it crossed."

Rose grinned. "Anyway, still got to go get my jacket. See you in a minute." She turned and walked off down the corridor, leaving the Doctor smiling after her like an idiot. After a few seconds, however, the smile faded as he realised the importance of what he had just done. Another cry from Jenny brought him back to reality with a resounding bang.

As he cleared up the mess that Jenny had managed to make with her banana – why did she think it was a good idea to rub everything in her hair? – the Doctor was deep in thought about his actions and what they meant. Had he started something that was going to snowball until it became too much to handle? He didn't know exactly what it was that Rose wanted, and he was aware that maybe having a child around had thrown her. He spent most of his nights when he wasn't sleeping pacing around the TARDIS, trying to work out what was the best way to go about sorting out their relationship. He would have loved to say that it didn't need sorting, but in reality that just wasn't true.

He sighed. They had been going out to different planets and exploring bits of history every day, but for the first time he felt a bit trapped in the TARDIS with Rose. He needed to get out, get some perspective. This was important stuff – if he mucked it up then he would be paying for it for the rest of his life. He thought about it for a minute, scratching his nose absent-mindedly, lips still tingling slightly from the thorough snogging that he had participated in. Wasn't it normal to talk to other people when you needed help with something?

He heard her footsteps coming down the corridor and yelled her name."Rose?" She peeked her head around the door at him, brows furrowing at his tone and expression.

"What?"

"D'you wanna go visit some friends?"