Part 3

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What seemed like several hours later, Donna's enthusiasm was beginning to wane, but Jenny was still bright and bubbly. Hopefully, she'd tire herself out enough to need an afternoon nap, Donna thought, and realised she didn't know whether it was actually afternoon yet or if some sustenance was necessary.

Glancing up at the utility clock on the nearby kitchen wall, she announced, "Time for some lunch. Let's have a look at what we can have, shall we. Anything you fancy from this lot?" She held the fridge door open in invitation for the child to peer in and offer inspiration.

Thank goodness the TARDIS had provided them with enough items to fill it up in the meantime. Once Donna knew where the nearest supermarket was, she'd plan their first shop for food. Provided that John had some actual money to spend, of course.

To her discomfort, as she stood there like a gameshow hostess offering prizes, Jenny nodded and then pronounced, "I want lunch with my daddy."

"You can't, sweetheart. Daddy is busy with all the ill people in the hospital. We have to have lunch with just me and you today."

"I want lunch with my daddy," Jenny stressed, with a slight stomp of her foot.

Oh dear. This had all the makings of a full-blown temper tantrum. "Yes, I know that," Donna patiently replied, "but he has to stay at the hospital. He won't be able to have lunch with us until his day off."

"I want my daddy!" A clenched fist was added to the foot stomp this time.

"Aw, that's a really nice first try at a temper tantrum, Jenny," Donna critiqued to distract the wee mite. "You had the beginning of the song right, with the 'I want'," she mimicked, "but as for the tantrum, you've got to put more oomph into it."

Oomph? Jenny's eyes went wide as she watched her guardian demonstrate a particular movement.

"You have to do it like this!" Donna insisted as she raised her knees high to stomp loudly. "And do this…!" She gave a comical jump, waving her fists in the air as she did. "You know, do a proper tantrum."

Standing with her mouth wide open, Jenny didn't quite know what to make of it. Was this normal behaviour for humans, or Donna in particular? It was a little bit frightening, and she nervously gulped.

"Or we could just go do something else entirely," Donna offered, much to her relief. "Do you fancy going for a walk and having a bit of an explore?"

"Yes please," Jenny readily agreed. "Can I wear my new wellington boots like the ones Paddington had?"

"Of course." Donna smiled pleasantly, looking back to the normal Jenny was used to, in her short little life. "Anything you like. I can even make a sandwich for us to eat when we finish our walk as our reward."

All thoughts of adventure pushed the angry spat Jenny had felt about not eating with her dad right out of her head. She was doing what she had been trained to do, in a previous life, and the remnants of that download helped her identify several things as she kept her gaze on the ground below her feet. She darted about, hiding from a pretend danger, or stalking an imagined prey. Whatever scenario played in her head at any given moment, she was having fun! She even found a stick to use as a gun.

Walking slowly behind her, Donna merely smiled in relief. As long as Jenny kept looking back to check she was there, to offer safety when anything frightening might happen, she was okay with all the antics. Although she wished she had a camera to capture some of the poses the girl took watching the terrain from various positions.

The hospital grounds were full of trees and bushes, that had their unique style of leaves for Jenny to examine; as well as the grass beneath them. it made her begin to appreciate why her father loved Earth so much, because the place was fascinating. Every possible shade of green could be seen, as well as loads of browns. Added to the experience was the sounds that filtered past them, of the breeze rustling through leaves, distant traffic, and various animals scurried about. Some of them even sung, she was surprised to discover.

Stopping when the first note hit them, Jenny cocked her head and asked in a curious whisper, "What's that?"

"What's what?" Donna listened carefully and then heard what had caught Jenny's attention. "That's a bird singing. Shall we see if we can see it in the trees?" She offered a hand to hold as they looked. A few seconds later she able to point a tiny bird out. "There he is, singing his little heart out."

Jenny's brow furrowed as she tested out the new word. "Singing. What's 'singing'?"

Realisation hit Donna. "Of course, you wouldn't know. Why would you? I mean, Messaline was quite a dull world in that respect. They were all too busy running about with guns to bother thinking about music. When we get home, I'll find some examples of music for you to listen to." She then noticed Jenny was still puzzled. "Singing is sort of saying words to music. It makes you feel happy." It still didn't explain singing, so she offered, "Let me think. What song can I teach you? Hmm."

There must be a famous short ditty she could use. Especially one with a dance.

"I know," she declared. "We'll do ring a ring o' roses. Give me your hands."

Jenny obeyed, wondering what would happen next, with some excitement. And she was not disappointed.

" Ring a ring o' roses. A pocket full of posies. A-tissue! A-tissue! We all fall down ," Donna sang, gently twirling the little girl in a circle, pretending to sneeze before finishing by pulling her downwards towards the grass.

"Again!" Jenny gleefully requested, clapping her hands together in joy. Several times in fact, in the next few minutes.

"Did you like that?" a beaming Donna asked. "Oooh, I know loads of these nursery rhymes. We'll have fun trying them; but for now, race you to the tree over there."

The squeals of delight from Jenny as she ran gladdened Donna's heart more than she'd own up to. After all, she could now plan more activities and help Jenny learn about this new world.

The next item on her agenda was building a mental map of the place as they neared the main hospital building; but she was happy enough to leave that for another day.

"I'm starving," she announced, catching Jenny's keen attention. "I bet you are too. Fancy a sandwich? I'll race you back to the flat."

"Daddy, daddy, we did singing," Jenny whooshed up to tell John Smith as soon as he walked in through the door.

"Did you?" he encouraged, easily lifting her up into his warm embrace. "What else did you do today?"

"Erm…" Jenny tucked her hands away as she pondered this question. "Dancing about tissue. I had a fancy sandwich for lunch, wiv cucumber," she felt the need to whisper as if it was a confession, "and I made a dolls house, with lots o' us in it."

"Wow, you've been very busy." He then turned to ask Donna, "Was she any trouble?"

"Nah, not really. She loved running about outside in her wellies and exploring the woods," she answered. "How was your day?"

"Exhausting," he admitted, plonking him and Jenny down onto an armchair. "But not bad for a first day, all in all. Was she really all right?" His head tilted towards the child in his lap.

"Just a faint wobble lunchtime, that's all. She wanted to eat with you and got a bit upset when she couldn't."

"I missed you," Jenny stressed, turning her tearful gaze onto him. "Donna said you had to be in the ho'pital."

"I did, sweetheart," he agreed, and tenderly stroked a hand down her cheek. "It's not the place for little girls to be."

"Why?" Her bottom lip wibbled, making him feel extra guilty.

"Where I work is full of very sick old people who'd find someone like you running about to be extremely irritating. Sorry." When her expression stayed sad, he came up with a compromise. "How about I come outside for a while tomorrow, and we have a picnic lunch together. Would you like that?"

Jenny readily nodded.

"Is that okay with you, Donna?" he then asked.

A bit late to disagree, she thought. "I'm fine with it, as long as you turn up. Otherwise, I'm bringing her in to tell you off."

As he continued to make a fuss of his daughter, Donna thought he could laugh, but she'd have no problem with carrying out her threat.

Just before lunch time, Jenny led the way to outside the geriatric unit, before peering desperately in through the windows. "Where's Daddy?" she ordered.

"He's probably busy, Little Miss Impatient," Donna defended him. "Give him a minute or two."

Undeterred, Jenny heavily scowled. "But he said he'd be here."

It caused Donna to sigh. "You've got a lot to learn about blokes," she mumbled. "Most of them will promise you anything just to get out of a situation. How sad is that?"

A minute later, a window opened near them, and a woman poked her head out. "Can I help you?" she asked in a way that wasn't offering help in any way.

Fortunately, that social cue totally missed Jenny. She stared at the woman and loudly declared, "My daddy is meeting us here. Go get him?"

"You can't say that," Donna cried as she leapt forward to pull Jenny away. "He might be saving somebody's life." She then apologised to the woman, "I'm really sorry. We're new here and she hasn't learnt the rules yet."

The woman considered them for a second, her piercing blue eyes reflecting her utter disgust, before asking Jenny, "Who is your daddy? What's his name?"

The words faltered on Jenny's lips. She only knew him as 'Daddy' or 'the Doctor' so she looked to Donna to explain.

"He is the new consultant, Mr John Smith," Donna supplied. "Could you let him know we're here, please?"

"Hang on," the woman brusquely ordered, and her head disappeared again.

About a minute or so later, one of the patio-style doors to the unit was thrust open, and the woman stood there. She was clad in a hospital uniform although the authoritative air she enjoyed had already professed her to be a resident employee, even before Donna caught sight of the badge on the woman's chest. 'Staff Nurse Joan Redfern' it proclaimed her to be. What a cheery welcoming woman, Donna didn't think. To be honest, she was imagining a stuffed shirt. "Hello," she cautiously greeted her.

"Don't just stand there," Nurse Redfern sternly called out. "Come right in. We're letting all the heat out."

There was obviously a chill breeze blowing in her direction, Donna reasoned, so she forced her face to smile. "Isn't the lady nice for letting us in, Jenny?" she trilled to her young charge. "Hopefully Daddy will be easy to find," she added as they walked past the entry guard – oops, I mean, the staff nurse – to enter the ward, and look beyond.

Staff Nurse Redfern visibly bristled. "I hope this is the only time you will be doing this. He can be found in the room two doors down."

But Jenny wasn't waiting for further instructions, instead, she ran whilst yelling, "Daddy?!"

"Jenny! What are you doing in here?" she heard. Then she was in his arms, being hugged and soothed for being upset at his lateness.

"That's her dad," Donna commented to Joan.

Could she call her 'Joan' yet? Never mind, she decided. They were officially on first name terms now. In fact, she refused to have it any other way. For one thing, it might make her lighten up for a second, Donna thought.

Surprisingly, Joan seemed to suddenly do just that. "Oh Dr Smith," she fondly crooned. "Is this the daughter you told me all about?"

You what?! Donna gawped at Joan. What had come over her, going all soppy like that? And then it hit her as Joan stood all hearts eyes at John. No! She couldn't be, could she? Time to make a mental note to ask Martha later on. And was he even aware of it?

One glance at John made it obvious he was oblivious to the attention being lavished on him. His attention was all on the little girl in his arms. "I'm not sure I said very much," he blustered, not wanting to be accused of being a doting dad, "but this is certainly my daughter Jenny." He finally lifted his gaze and caught Donna's puzzled expression. Thinking she was miffed with him, again, he tacked on, "And this is Donna who looks after her so wonderfully for me. We have a lunch date."

"That's me and Jenny have the lunch date with him," Donna quickly explained when Joan's jaw dropped.

Why did she feel sorry for the woman? she wondered. It wasn't as though Joan had deliberately endeared herself to them. It was probably because she knew exactly how it felt to have a crush like that who didn't care tuppence, she realised. Although being sympathetic rarely did her any favours, she smiled at Joan to show she was trying to like her.

John had put Jenny down at this point and was possessively holding her hand. "Let's find somewhere nice to sit," he offered, letting her lead the way out.

"We found a lovely spot," Donna told him. "Well away from any wasps, we think."

"There are buttercups and green grass," Jenny told him. "With a tree."

"With a tree," he jovially echoed, and beamed a conspiratorial smile at Donna. "Who would have thought?"

When he did that sort of thing, she had to admit that she understood why Joan thought he was the bee's knees, even if he wasn't the Doctor anymore. So she threw the woman another pitying look before hurrying after him.

Of course, those smiles never worked like that on her, she thought with a dismissive snort. Dread the thought! Nope, all that was for the fawning minions or anyone who could be impressed with him when he attended to Jenny's every need. Especially with that loving expression in his eyes that reflected the heart-melting smile on Jenny's face.

Oh dear! If she wasn't careful, John Smith might work his charms on her too. She would have to work on shielding herself from such ridiculous ideas, she decided. Some random human bloke wasn't going to make her start being so soppy.

But he had to go and flash another fond smile in her direction, whilst saying, "This picnic is wonderful, Donna. You are so talented and brilliant; I don't know how you do it."

All she could do was blush, mutter, "Thanks," and then tell those self-mocking thoughts to shut up and let her enjoy the moment for once.