A/N: I had not planned on including Twelve in the following situation, but I think it worked out alright.

Sixteen

Clara kept on fussing over her children in the library, making sure they were picture-perfect for the big day. She had been waiting for this moment for a long time and it wasn't going to be spoiled by smudged noses and wrinkled clothes.

"Mum, we look fine," Aly whined. She was fidgeting as Clara combed through her hair for a third time, attempting to tame her unruly curls. "It'll just be Granddad—he won't mind."

"Yes, but I want to make a good first impression," Clara stated. "He's going to meet his grandchildren for the first time, which means that they have to look their best, which also means your hair."

"It makes me sad that we never got to meet Granddad and Linda before this," Jim frowned. He was curled up on a chair with a book, glad he could go without a necktie that day. "I understand why we couldn't, but that doesn't make it less sad."

"I know, sweetie. I know," his mother replied. Clara knew she denied her father a lot when it came to his grandkids, and that under normal circumstances anyone was liable to be furious with her for it, but she hadn't been in a normal situation for a long time—years before the children were even born—and that deep down her father would both know and understand. She kept on brushing her daughter's hair as she gently raised her voice, calling out into the vastness of the ship. "Doctor? Are you ready yet?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," he replied from the depths of the library. He came out from behind a shelving unit, not glancing up from the large book he was reading, already dressed finely in his wine-red jacket and having run a bit of product through his hair. It was still a bit wild and didn't lay flat like his son's, but his son also had to utilize a few more globs of the stuff and he wasn't about to stoop to that level.

"What'cha reading, Dad?" Jim wondered.

"A contemporary account of the foundation of the Fifth Alexandrian Empire of Helos II; what do you have?"

"'Ptolmey's Gate'."

"Ptolemy actually was a very big fan of elaborate gate architecture, so I'm sure he'd be proud." The Doctor finally peered over the top of his book, seeing his space-wife attempting to wrangle their daughter's hair into a braid. "You know that's not going to work."

"Won't stop me from trying," she muttered in reply. Clara tied off the end and surveyed her work: it was still acceptable towards the bottom, though at the top it was already attempting to curl and frizz its way out of the hairstyle. She then cursed under her breath, undoing the hair tie and brushing out the braid to start over.

"A Time Lady's hair is gonna do what it wants," Aly scoffed. Clara finished with the brush and stared at the mane in front of her before animatedly giving up.

"It'll have to do—come on, or we're going to be late." She rounded up her family and they went to the console room, ready to hop out of the time vortex and back to Earth.

"Mum, we're not going to be late though; it's impossible," Jim noted. "We live on a space-time ship."

"Don't sass me, young man," Clara warned. "Now what's the story?"

"You're gonna be our step-mum in a few weeks, so we already call you Mum, and Dad managed with two kids because his aunt helped him out when we were little," Aly recited.

"Our 'actual mum' died when we were babies; her name was Alexandra and it was due to an electrical fault at the library where she worked at the time," Jim added. "It's only the two of us and Dad, now that we're old enough to walk home from school on our own, and we're just as excited as you and Dad are about the wedding."

"Do we have to call Granddad's wife Gran?" Aly asked.

"I don't expect so," Clara replied. "It would be nice, but I'm not going to force it one way or the other." The Doctor finished putting the TARDIS into park and they left the ship, finding themselves standing in a discreet alleyway a short walk from their destination. "Now please behave."

"Yes, Mum," the children echoed.

"Yes, Clara," the Doctor said at the same time. They then began the trek over, hoping that their efforts would pay off.

Dave Oswald lived in a neat, tidy house in a quiet neighborhood in Blackpool. It was the same house Clara grew up in, therefore being a place with many memories of her late mother. Not all visual evidence of Ellie had been erased by Dave's second wife, Linda, for one thing she was at least sympathetic and kind about had been the gaping hole in her husband's life that had been left behind. She couldn't wholly fill it, as she knew first-hand from a flash-in-the-pan marriage when she was just out of secondary school, but she did truly love him, and he loved her, and that was the only reason why Clara tolerated Linda's very presence.

Walking up the drive, Clara led the way up to her father's house. Before she could as much as knock on the door, Dave opened it with a wide grin on his face and more grey in his hair and beard than his daughter remembered. They hugged, happy to see one another.

"Oh, it's good to see you," he said. Dave then pulled away from Clara and held out his hand towards the Doctor. "…and you must be Basil."

"Yes, and these are my kids, Alison and James," the Doctor replied. He caught the look on Clara's face and cleared his throat before shaking Dave's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Pleasure's mine." Dave then turned towards the tweens and chuckled. "Can't forget you two, can I? You can call me Granddad, if you like."

"Yes, please," Aly said cheerily. "Yeah our aunt helped raise us, but Clara's the only mum we've really had, which makes you Granddad."

"Let's all get inside—I can put the kettle on and we can all get to know one another," Dave beamed. He went towards the kitchen, while Clara led her family towards the sitting room. Linda was nowhere in sight, allowing the parents time to regroup.

"Clara, I need my flashcards," the Doctor hissed. "Why didn't you let me bring them?"

"…because Dad will definitely think something's up if you go silent and whip cue cards out of your pocket," she scolded. She then turned towards Aly, narrowing her eyes. "Alison, watch it. That was close."

"Don't worry, Mum—I'm careful," the girl said. A few minutes passed and Dave returned with the makings for tea, closely followed by his wife.

"Clara," she said stiffly.

"Linda," Clara replied. "Faring well?"

"Well enough." The older woman looked at the twins sitting on the sofa and gave them a genuine smile. "And these must be the good sports; I hope you aren't bored hanging out with us old folks."

"We're okay, thank you Gran," Jim said.

"Yeah—Da's ancient and we still get on with him," Aly added. The Doctor smirked at that, while Clara hid her face in her hands in embarrassment.

"They're typical kids alright," Dave laughed. "It's a shame my mum couldn't have met you—died before you were born—'cause she would have loved you. Same sense of humor."

"Gran and Alison is a combination I don't even want to think about," Clara muttered. It was true that her grandmother had died years ago at that point, but it didn't change the fact that the memory of her had not faded and the potential situation was a terrifying one.

"Oh come on, I think that would have been fun," the Doctor said, rubbing her back soothingly. "It sounds like the two of them were cut from the same cloth."

"Funny how that happens, isn't it?" Dave admitted. He glanced over at the twins and caught something interesting: Aly's eyes looked almost like Ellie's as she laughed. No—he shook that from his mind. It was him projecting and nothing more. These were going to be his grandchildren, no doubts about it, but they both very clearly resembled their father and any similarities to the Oswald family were pure coincidence. Speaking of, "So Clara tells me that she's adopting you two, giving you her name. How do you feel about that?"

"Really good," Jim said. "She is our mum, so we should have her name, yeah?"

"I guess that makes sense," Linda commented. "You're really attached to her, aren't you?"

"We are," Jim replied. "She's family."

"Uh, yeah; she's Mum, no one else," Aly said.

"That's good," Dave nodded. "You've got sweet kids, Basil. You should be proud."

"Don't worry, I am," the Doctor said as he stirred the many sugar lumps in his tea. "Soon my family will be officially complete and I couldn't be happier." He leaned in and pecked Clara on the cheek, demonstrating his devotion towards her. "You didn't do that bad with your kid either, Dave."