A/N: Okay here we go. Off to Egypt…or are we, we shall see? Again this chapter might be a little domestic but I promise there will be action. Forgot my disclaimer on the last chapter but as always I own nothing of Doctor Who or the song Night Boat to Cairo, which I think belongs to Madness, remember my Dad poncing about to it at barbecues when I was a kid!

"Mummy! Daddy! Get up!"

Susan's cry was her parent's only warning as she crashed through their bedroom door and jumped on the bed, landing squarely on her father and waking him with agony.

"What the…?" he cried in pain as Rose hurriedly sat up and pulled a rather sheepish looking Susie onto her lap, laughing despite her husband's obvious pain.

Rose smoothed down the tiny denim jacket that Susan wore as she tried to calm her laughter, shooting the Doctor a sympathetic glance as he recovered himself

"That kid has fantastic aim," he half laughed through gritted teeth, "I'm half convinced she wants to be an only child, she's certainly doing a good job of preventing me having anymore kids."

Rose rubbed a soothing hand on his stomach as he flopped onto his back with a groan, reaching out a hand to grasp his daughter's fingers lightly. Susan looked down on him, her big blue eyes mournful. Rose often found herself trying to avoid the question of Susan's eyes being blue when both her parents had brown eyes. It was hardly the most convincing tale which ever way she told it but the truth was more unbelievable. The Doctor Rose had married had been his ninth incarnation, the one who had saved her life from the Hatrevic in Whitechapel and a month before their fateful encounter with the Daleks on Satellite 5 Rose had fallen pregnant. She hadn't known at the time and she was glad of it, she didn't think she could have coped with her husband's regeneration if she had known she was pregnant. That had added to her apprehension at telling the Doctor and she sometimes wondered if he, in the smallest way, resented the fact that Susan would never look like he did now.

Rose was pulled from her reverie as Susan spoke.

"Sorry Daddy," said Susie, not understanding her father's words about children but seeing the pain in his face, "Nana said I could come and wake you."

"You're alright baby," said Rose, "You're just getting a bit big to jump on the bed and you know Daddy's a grump first thing."

The Doctor pulled a face at Rose that set Susie giggling before grabbing his daughter out of her mother's arms and holding her high above his head. She held her arms out like and aeroplane, squealing with delight as the Doctor brought her down to his face before lifting her back up again, growling at her. He finally brought her down to lie on his chest, cuddling her close.

"Am I a big bad ogre, my littlest Time Lord?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at Rose who was giggling like a six year old.

"A big Bad Wolf!" said Susan, knotting the Doctor's hair around her fingers.

Both of her parent's faces fell at the final two words but Rose gave the Doctor a lopsided grin and began to clamber out of bed, pulling a dressing gown over her nightdress. She wandered around the bed and picked up her daughter, giving the Doctor a chance to sit up. Susan absently played with the nine tear dropped necklace that graced her mother's neck, marvelling in the colours that played in the dim bedroom light.

"Let's go find your Nana shall we?" said Rose, "Don't want her to get lost."

"She's in the 'trol room," said Susie, "She's going to Satsuma man's house."

"His name is Howard Susie, don't call him Satsuma man," said Rose shooting a glare at the Doctor as he stifled a giggle.

"That's what Daddy calls him!" protested Susan, pouting prettily, her dark brown curls bouncing around her shoulders as she huffed.

"Daddy's naughty."

"Then why doesn't he get a smack?"

Rose heard the Doctor's face hit the pillow before his muffled laughter filled the room, "I wish," was the hushed response.

"Theta!"

"Sorry dear."

Rose didn't respond as she left the bedroom and set off towards the control room, secretly laughing to herself as she imagined the day Satsuma man found out his girlfriend's son in law was an alien.

XXXX

The Doctor wandered into the Control Room, already aware of the conversation going on between Rose and Jackie, he'd heard the shrieking from outside the bedroom.

"I'm not going to bloody Egypt!" cried Jackie, "You can look after Susie yourself."

"I'm asking you to come as Susie's baby sitter," said Rose, "Just for a holiday. Mickey and Trish are coming. What do you say Mum? Please?"

The Doctor coughed and stepped through the doorway, attempting to stop the argument before him. Jackie rolled her eyes and turned away.

"Have you never heard of a shirt?" she said not impressed as her son in law decided to make an entrance in just his pyjama bottoms.

"My house," he said with a cheeky grin before his eyes narrowed, "Where's the little one?"

Rose turned to face the control room chair, "She's right…Suze?"

Before fear could grip them totally the TARDIS gave a pained rasp and gentle shudder, causing Susie to roll out from underneath the console, much to Rose's relief. She picked up her daughter only to give an exasperated sigh as she removed a piece of wiring from her chubby fingers. She shot the Doctor a pained glance before seeing him wriggle beneath the console to survey the damage.

"I think I also need you there as another pair of eyes," said Rose to her mother, "Our little mechanic here is nearly as volatile as her Daddy."

Susan, instead of looking as sheepish as she should of, beamed at the compliment. Jackie couldn't help but smile and nodded.

"Ok, I'll come but any bog monsters, slikeen jobs…"

"Slitheen, Mum."

"Slitheen jobs or Jack the Rippers and we're going home."

"Trust me Jackie," came the Doctor's voice from beneath the console, "Where we're going is perfectly safe, well… when I say perfectly safe I mean relatively safe but then what do you measure relative by. I mean to me relative is only having to run for my life twice but to you…"

The Doctor trailed off as he heard the front door shut and the soft footfalls of Rose echoed on the stairs. He wriggled out of the work space to see Susan perched on the steps before him.

"Abandon me did they?" he said taking in the otherwise empty control room.

"You was rambling," said Susie, adopting her mother's often exasperated air.

The Doctor shuffled over slightly and gestured to the space beside him, "You gonna come help me then?"

Susan nodded and settled down next to the Doctor, sliding back underneath the TARDIS. It was never too early to start her training.

XXXX

"Night Boat to Cairo!

Its just passed noon,

Half past monsoon,

On the banks of the river Nile.

Here comes the boat,

Only half afloat,

Oarsman grins a toothless smile!"

"Will you two please shut up!" cried Rose as Mickey and the Doctor sang as off key as possible to the track currently echoing out of the TARDIS radio.

"Just getting in the mood!" said the Doctor, side stepping as Susan shot out from beneath the console. Through habit he bent to check if little fingers had done any damage and laughed as he picked up a Barbie doll dressed in tiny Time Lord robes he'd been forced to create. He'd foolishly used the dolls to explain the set up of the Time Lord Senate but had been brow beaten into making them clothes. He sat the doll on the console and gave it a dignified nod.

"President Romana."

Mickey was still singing, perched on the captains chair like he'd been there all his life.

"The oar snaps in his hand,

Before he reaches dry land

But the sound doesn't deafen his smile,

Just pokes at wet sand,

With an oar in his hand,

Floats off down the river Nile."

Jackie appeared in the TARDIS, giving a disapproving tut at Mickey who was swinging his legs like a five year old, catching the Doctor as often as he can. She had several large suitcases in her grip.

"What do you need all that for?" said Rose, "We've got an intergalactic wardrobe out back."

"It helps to be prepared when I'm with you too. Oh damn I forgot the savlon!"

"Mum! We have a Doctor on board with a state of the art med suite!"

"We also have a three year old on board, never did you any harm my girl," said Jackie, "We're still waiting for Trish anyway, I'll go back up and get it."

"Can I come Nana?" said Susan who was currently being prised away from the control panel by her father while several buttons were flashing wildly after being prodded by tiny fingers, "Please?"

"Take her, take her," cried the Doctor, "Susan stop that you're gonna hurt the TARDIS!"

Susan stopped her prodding and turned to the Doctor with tears in her eyes, "I didn't mean to Daddy," she said, her arms curling around her as she sobbed.

"Hey, no tears," said the Doctor wiping them away with the sleeve of his long brown jacket, "You just need to be careful, understand?"

Susan nodded and smiled lightly as he kissed her on the forehead.

"Good girl. Now off with you. Go help Nana," he said watching Susan hurry over to the doors, pausing to allow Rose to ruffle her hair, and following Jackie out onto the Powell Estate, "Oh God I'm a bad father."

Mickey rolled his eyes and jumped down off the pilots chair, "If you're going to have a moan about your parenting skills I'm going to find Trish," he said clapping the Doctor on the shoulder, "But I'd like to see anyone else try to handle Susan."

The TARDIS was silent save for the sound of the birds singing outside the open door as Mickey left. Rose walked over to the Doctor and put a hand on his arm.

"You really need to stop worrying Doctor, you'll make yourself ill. You're good with her."

The Doctor gave her a pained smile, "Sorry. I just…oh I should be better at this. Time Lord, who can juggle to whole of time and space but a three year old daughter, hah!"

"I'm glad we've got plenty of babysitters coming on this break," said Rose, "I swear I'm going to make a scene so the Pharoah's guards have to chase you down the street."

The Doctor laughed, "That would be nice, I'd…"

They both jumped as the door slammed shut but no one was in the room and, with terrible memories of their previous crash, they paled as the central column began to move. Without any need for thought the Doctor began dancing around the console, flicking switches and firing commands at Rose but to no avail, they were flying and their was no stopping them.