Title: Domestic Battleground
Rating: T – not suitable for younger children, because I have a dirty mind.
Summary: The Doctor promised Jackie he'd take Rose back for special occasions. But a whole week with her family? Will he survive, and more importantly, will Rose?
Notes: Day Six. Breakfast, shopping and domesticity. Sorry it took so long - my mum's had to go into hospital, so I'm a bit all over the place. Enjoy!
Day Six
Rose opened her eyes and immediately closed them again. Her tongue felt three times bigger than normal in her mouth; her head was pounding; her stomach was warning her against any sudden movements.
And on top of that, the Doctor was laughing at her.
"Shut it," she moaned. "Please shut up."
"I warned you." He sounded just a little bit too pleased with himself. "I said you'd have a hell of a hangover."
"Yeah," she muttered, burying her face in the pillow for a moment. "Get us a glass of water?"
"I've got better." He produced something from a pocket. "Here, eat this." Giving him a glare, she took the small cube and ate it. It was slightly chewy, very moist, and tasted of raspberries. "Thought you might need that," he said.
"Thanks," she muttered, slowly sitting up. The headache was swiftly disappearing. "What was that?"
He opened his mouth to speak, then reconsidered. "You don't want to know," he said. "Leave it at that. Breakfast?"
"You're cooking?" she asked eagerly. "Yeah!"
He rolled his eyes. "You only want me for my cooking," he teased. "Alright. Get dressed, get the other kids up, and I'll see what I can rustle up."
Rose grinned and grabbed his hand. "You're a star," she said. "Thank you." She frowned suddenly, bits and pieces of memory coming to her. "What did I do last night?" she asked slowly.
The Doctor went slightly red and stood up. "I'll go start then," he said loudly, leaving the bedroom.
Rose stood up and stretched. Her hangover had practically disappeared, thanks to whatever the Doctor had given her. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been that drunk. She had a vague memory of kissing the Doctor, but…
Ah well.
She pulled off the clothes she'd slept in and changed into the clean clothes she'd brought. Waking up her cousins proved easy enough once she mentioned that magical word, 'breakfast'. They tumbled from their beds or sleeping places in various states of disarray and piled into the kitchen, where the Doctor was frying bacon and eggs.
"Brilliant," Josh enthused. "S'that beans?"
"You lot wouldn't survive without your beans on toast," the Doctor said cheerfully. "'Course it's beans." He handed a cup of coffee to Rose and kissed her. "Awake yet?" he asked.
"Just a bit," she smiled, putting her arm around his waist. "Thanks for this."
"Yeah, well." He moved her out of the way and shovelled the bacon and eggs onto a plate. "Put that on the table." She did as she was told with a grin. The food disappeared rapidly. She nabbed a bit of bacon. "That all?" he asked disapprovingly.
"I'm not really hungry," she excused. "I'll have some toast, though."
He passed her a slice on a plate. "Jam or peanut butter?" he wanted to know. "Or d'you want to be American and have both?"
She laughed. "Fat chance! I'll have peanut butter, please." She frowned. "Did someone call me a peanut last night?"
"Yep." The Doctor was enjoying this far too much, she complained silently. "Oi, watch it!" he said as Sandy reached past him for the saucepan of beans. "You almost burned my jacket," he complained.
"That thing's survived for years," Rose said derogatively. "And more things than my clothes ever have, and you're worried about a saucepan burning it?"
"Well, it could happen," he said defensively. He glanced over at the table. "Better put more bacon on."
"And eggs," Izzy called out. "Thanks, Doc!"
Rose bit back a smile as the Doctor shuddered at the nickname. She leaned in close to him. "I prefer your speciality eggs," she said softly. "Can we have some, when we go home?"
The Doctor stilled. The noise of the kitchen washed around the pair as he looked at her. "Home?" he repeated. "Home?"
She smiled. "Yeah. Home. You know, the big blue box?"
"But – you –"
She grinned. "Idiot," she said fondly. "Don't you get it yet?"
Rose laughed. "You are kidding!"
Izzy gave a curtsey. "Yup." She pulled the straw hat off, blowing feathers out of her face. "God. Who would buy something like this?"
"Some silly little girl, probably," Rose shrugged. She checked her watch. "Lunch," she announced. "I'm starving."
"Shopping's hungry work," Izzy agreed, gathering up her bags. "Where to?"
"Dunno," Rose shrugged, picking up her own bags. "There's a sandwich bar down the road, right? We could grab something there."
Izzy smirked. "Ahh. I forgot, you're meeting the Doctor soon, aren't you?"
Rose flushed. "Yes," she admitted. "But that's not –"
"Whatever," Izzy cut in airily. "S'your business, dear coz!"
"Ha! If only!" Rose snorted. "The things that our family's been saying to me…"
"You are Jackie's only daughter," Izzy pointed out. "And you are the special one."
Rose paused in the shop doorway for a moment. "What d'you mean?" she wanted to know.
Izzy frowned. "You don't know? You're you," she said simply. "It sort of started when your dad died – all the aunts love you, Uncle Jeff loves you, the kids all love you – did you never wonder why you always got away with everything?"
Rose shrugged awkwardly.
"And you can't say you're not special now," Izzy continued, pushing Rose out of the shop. "Gallivanting around the universe with an alien."
"Keep it down," Rose said with a smile. "Don't want the whole world hearing, yeah?" They stopped at the sandwich bar to buy their lunch. "I'm not all that different to anyone else," Rose said afterwards. "I'm just…"
"Just you," Izzy said with amusement. "Don't worry, I get it." She stopped and looked in a shop window. "God, who could wear something like that?" She pointed out a leopard-print mini-skirt. "I mean, I know the fashion's weird at the moment, but…"
Rose hid a smile and chose not to think about the planet where she'd had to wear something uncomfortably similar.
"Oh, look, there's lover boy," Izzy said after a few minutes. She waved at the Doctor, who was across the street and heading towards them.
"Don't call him that," Rose muttered, cheeks flushed. "He doesn't like nicknames."
"Oh, so that's why he almost growled when I called him Doc this morning?"
"He did not," Rose protested, grinning.
The next thirty seconds or so seemed to happen far quicker than normal. Rose wasn't quite sure of the sequence of events, but Izzy later told her that she'd stepped forwards and a bicycle had swerved into her. Rose had then been knocked into a passing car, which had screeched to a stop. Rose had bounced off the bonnet and landed in a heap on the ground.
Rose just remembered being on the ground, her palms stinging, the breath knocked out of her.
"Rose!" The Doctor appeared above her, frantic. "Rose! Don't move."
She forced the air out of her lungs and then took a ragged breath in; she did it again, and again, until she could breathe properly.
"I'm alright," she said then, still gasping a little. "Ow. Shit. Ow." Unexpectedly she felt tears welling in her eyes.
"Rose! God, are you alright?" Izzy was at her side, then got up and rounded on the cyclist. "You stupid git! Why can't you watch where you're going?"
"Izzy, it wasn't his fault," Rose said. "Doctor, help me up."
"Casualty or the TARDIS," he said sternly as he helped her up. His hands roved over her, feeling for injuries. "Your choice."
"TARDIS," she said. She looked at her hands; her palms were grazed. Her jeans had ripped at the knee, too. "Uh. My head…"
"You hit your head?" Izzy demanded, turning back to her. She gathered up all the bags that had scattered. "Right, c'mon, let's get you seen to."
"Oh, not another one in my TARDIS," the Doctor complained. His eyes didn't leave Rose. "You alright to get there? S'not far."
"Yeah," Rose said dazedly. "Yeah, just…gimme your arm, yeah?" She leant on the proffered limb. His other hand clasped her hand tightly. She gave him a wan smile. "I'm fine," she said.
"You're bleeding and in shock," the Doctor said bluntly. "You're not fine."
"I'm fine," Rose repeated. "Just, um…stand still a moment, yeah?" She frowned. "Oh, you are."
"Okay." Izzy took Rose's other arm. "Let's just go a step at a time. C'mon. Left, then right."
The five-minute walk to the TARDIS took nearly half an hour, during which the Rose didn't talk much and the Doctor gave a mostly misunderstood explanation of the TARDIS so that Izzy wouldn't be too shocked.
"It's bigger on the inside," Rose said at last, patting the door of the Police Call Box fondly. "Ooh, my head."
"Alright," the Doctor said, opening the door. "Infirmary." He guided Rose in. "Shut the door," he called over his shoulder to Izzy. "And don't get lost."
"Mum'll kill me if Charlie kills you," Rose nodded, immediately regretting the action. "Ouch," she grumbled. "I want the dermal thingy," she said plaintively.
The Doctor frowned. "I think you're concussed," he muttered. "Right. Izzy." She looked at him, wide-eyed. "Don't let Rose touch anything," he instructed. "I'll be right back. Can't get her to the infirmary in this state, it's three floors up."
"Three…floors?" Izzy echoed. He gave her a look. "Right. Um. Rose. Sure." She paused. "Charlie?"
Ten minutes later the Doctor returned.
"She's insane," Izzy reported. "What're you doing?" she asked a moment later as the Doctor attached something to Rose's temple.
"It's to stop my concussion," Rose said, leaning against one of the support pillars. "It's amazing." She held her hands out, palms up. The Doctor ran the dermal regenerator over them. "And that itches," she added.
"If that cyclist hadn't run into you, you wouldn't need it," the Doctor said tautly. Rose caught his hand, stopping him, and cupped his cheek with her other hand.
"It was just an accident," she said. "Could've happened to anyone." She gave a slight smile. "And hey, makes time and space seem less dangerous, right?"
"No." He crouched and ran the dermal regenerator over the cut on her knee. "You alright, Izzy?"
"Yeah," Izzy nodded. "S'a bit weird, that's all."
"He is that." Rose reached up to her temple. "Can I take this off?" she wanted to know.
"A few more minutes," the Doctor said, straightening up. "Any bruises?"
"Dunno," Rose shrugged. "Just ache a bit. I'll have a bath later, that'll sort me out."
"I swear, I could've killed that cyclist," Izzy groused. "He just came out of nowhere!"
"Yeah, but I'm fine," Rose said quickly. "We'd better get back, Auntie Bridget'll be worrying. We're s'posed to be watching the kids later, remember?" She slipped her arms around the Doctor. "I'm alright," she said yet again.
"I know," he said defensively. "I just…" He brushed her hair away from her face. "Don't do that again," he scolded.
"I'll try," she said softly.
"Break it up," Izzy said good-naturedly. "C'mon, Mum's gonna flip if we're not back soon, and I want to see some more of this thing."
"My room only," Rose said quickly, seeing the protest before it left his mouth. "I promise."
"There's something wrong about that," Sandy commented, shading her eyes and looking towards the house. The Doctor was sitting in a deck chair, supposedly reading a newspaper but actually watching Rose.
"He's male," Rose dismissed. "And I'm wet and wearing a white shirt – bloody idiot, me." She hefted a water balloon and threw it at Tommy.
"You could always go change," Izzy smirked.
Rose bit her lip. "Um. Yeah, I could, but…that would just be too much effort."
"Sometimes a girl likes to be ogled," Izzy nodded. "Gotcha." She shrieked and tried to avoid Anna's water balloon. It landed on the ground whole, and Izzy threw it back. "He should get wet too, though," she added.
"Nah, leave him alone," Rose shook her head. "He's been good, this week."
"It's been interesting," Sandy nodded. "He and Grandpa have been circling each other like wolves."
"Grandpa's more like a lion," Izzy disagreed. "King of the pride, or whatever. But the Doctor, he's the big bad wolf, alright."
Rose gave a slight smile. "Yeah." She stretched; she suspected her back was bruised. "S'gonna be good to be gone, though. I love you guys, but…"
"It's not home anymore," Sandy said. "I get it." Mandy threw a balloon at her, and she raced off to get revenge.
Rose wandered across the garden to the Doctor. She smiled as she saw him intently reading something about local tax.
"Didn't know you were that interested in local government," she said teasingly, wringing water from her hair.
"Oh, yeah, fascinating," the Doctor nodded, folding the paper and looking up at her. His eyes kept straying to her breasts, she noted with amusement. "S'no wonder there's a revolt in ten years time."
"There is?" Rose raised her eyebrows. "Huh. That's after Harriet's done, right?"
"Right." The Doctor reached out a hand to her; she took it and stretched out on the chair, half next to him and half on top of him. "You're getting me wet," he complained.
"Whatever," she said, breathing in his unique scent. "You don't mind really."
"Hmph," he snorted, wrapping his arm around her. She tried not to wince as he brushed a sore spot on her back. "You alright?" he asked instantly.
"You're a mother hen," she grumbled instead of answering. "I regret kissing you, if this is what's going to be happening." She tilted her head and kissed his chin. "I'm fine."
"Yeah, I know."
"So stop being so –" Rose was cut off by a water balloon exploding on her shoulder. She shrieked and fell off the chair. "Izzy! You're dead!"
"I'm wet!" the Doctor complained, prodding his wet shirt. "This is war," he announced. "Rose, you with me?" He pulled his shirt off. Rose nodded, tongue in cheek.
"Yeah," she said. "Uh huh. Sure." She grabbed an unexploded water balloon from the ground and threw it at him. He blinked several times, shook the water off him as if he were a dog, and gave chase.
He got Izzy first, and then Izzy and Sandy got Rose simultaneously. Tommy chased the Doctor around the garden three times before giving up and soaking Anna, who had been filling more balloons. She responded with great enthusiasm, aiming for Tommy but getting the Doctor, who promptly threw a balloon each at Anna and Tommy. Rose slipped on a patch of wet grass and collided with Mandy, who in turn fell into Izzy. The Doctor tried to help them up, only to be splattered from all sides by water balloons.
"It's not fair," he groused, landing on the grass next to Izzy.
"What's not?" Sandy asked, flopping down on the grass on the other side of her cousin. "Truce!" she called out to the younger cousins. "Time to stop, guys."
"You lot gang up on me," the Doctor answered, reaching out to take Rose's hand. "Why is that?"
"Rose," Sandy said at once.
"What?"
"She's Rose," Izzy said impatiently. "You ought to know that she's special."
"Yeah," the Doctor said cautiously.
Rose rolled her eyes. "They're protective," she explained. "They're idiots, the lot of them."
"Totally mad," Sandy agreed cheerfully. "Welcome to the family."
"I don't do domestic," the Doctor muttered moodily.
"He always like this?" Izzy asked, sitting up.
"Yup," Rose nodded. She smiled up at the sky. "I'm freezing," she said after a minute. "I'm going to have a shower." She pushed herself upright and started towards the house.
"Rose, wait!"
Rose smirked to herself as the Doctor followed. "Want to share the shower?" she asked, tongue in cheek.
Rose frowned, flipping the pages in her diary. It was so hard to keep track of the time that passed. The easiest way was to keep track of twenty-four hour periods, but that could get difficult. She usually managed to realise that about twenty-three days had passed by her period, but that was what was worrying her now.
She chewed thoughtfully on the tip of her little finger.
"Doctor," she called out, "how many days has it been since we ran into those man-eating flies?"
"Earth days? Forty-one. Why?"
"No reason," she answered. She looked at her diary and sighed. "You done in there?" she asked after a moment.
"Hold on." After a minute the Doctor emerged from the bathroom, rubbing his hair dry. "You alright?" he asked. "Your back's blue."
"It is not," she dismissed, reaching behind her to pull her camisole down to cover her back. "I've not done anything in the past forty days or so that could possibly get me pregnant, have I?"
The Doctor stopped, then dropped his towel. "I bloody hope not," he said strongly. "Why, do you think you are?"
She hummed. "I skipped a period," she nodded. "Two, actually." She ignored his grimace. "So. Did I do anything?"
"I don't know." He flopped into the bed next to her and thought. "Don't think so. You didn't touch any of the asexually pollinating hybrid nettles, did you?"
Rose blinked. "No. I think I'd have remembered doing that."
"Hm. And no sex with any humanoids?"
She smirked. "Well, there was this one…" He gave her a sharp look, then relaxed as he saw her expression. "No, Doctor, I've not had sex in six months or so, as you well know."
"S'probably just your body adjusting to time travel, then," the Doctor shrugged. "A bit like jet lag, only more extreme."
"Alright, then," Rose nodded, closing her diary and dropping it to the floor. She trusted the Doctor in things like that. She yawned and crawled under the covers. "Ugh. Wedding, tomorrow. You got a suit?"
"Yep." He joined her under the covers and pulled her close to him. Her head fit just so under his chin. Now that he had her, he couldn't imagine how he'd ever slept without her near him. "There will be cake at the reception, right?" he checked.
"Yes," Rose said with a smile. "Cake, and jelly and ice cream for the kids – which I'm assuming includes you – and a meal and champagne and dancing and then home."
"Back to sightseeing around the universe," the Doctor nodded. "You sure you still want it?"
"You're an insecure idiot," came her decided answer. "Of course I want it. The TARDIS is home. You're home. You going to understand that any time soon?"
"Oh, in about a thousand years."
She stilled. "I forgot. You're practically ageless."
He sighed and threaded his fingers through her hair. "Don't think about that," he said gruffly. "We've got all the time in the universe, you and me."
"I love you," she said after a moment. "I do. Have done for ages." She smiled against his chest. "You remember when we first met? In Henrik's, before you blew it up?"
"I remember. I thought you were just another little ape, messing up my saving the world."
"And actually, I saved the world and you." She yawned again. "I loved you then. You grabbed my hand and you called me a bonehead and you kept forgetting about Mickey…but I loved you. Couldn't not."
"I knew I loved you when you figured out where the transmitter was," the Doctor said lazily. "Knew you had a brain back in the lift, but then the transmitter…couldn't not love you."
"We're a pair of sentimental idiots," Rose yawned. "And I'm going to sleep."
"Sleep well, love."
She smiled. "Love. I like that." She yawned and snuggled even closer to him. Her leg slipped between his. "Your love."
"Mine," he said softly after she was asleep. "All mine."
Please review! Next chapter up as soon as, hospital visits allowing.
