Bits In Between

By Lumendea

Chapter Twenty-Six: Meeting Oliver Jones

AN: It was brought to my attention that I had a timeline issue with Ace's age and her dating Jo's grandson. I have changed Oliver Jones to Jo's son and will address what age I have Ace at in this chapter. With how weird the dating of the UNIT years was, I just got myself confused. So this is me just cleaning up my world a bit. You've probably figured out that I really adore Ace hence why she gets so much screen time.

….

Oliver resembled the photos that Rose had seen of a young Clifford Jones with the square jaw and dark hair. There were plenty of hints of Jo in his feature as well. His mouth was more like his mother's, and he had Jo's curious brown eyes. He was an attractive sort of man and walked with a confidence that most men in their mid-thirties did not possess.

"Ollie," Ace said. "This is Rose Tyler, honestly one of my best friends. Try not to judge me for that."

He laughed and extended his hand to shake Rose's. "I've heard a lot about you, both from my Mum and Ace."

"I've heard a bit about you," Rose said. "Though, to be honest, Ace pretty much only told me about you after letting it slip she was dating someone."

Olive laughed good-naturedly. He remained close to the smiling Ace as they all sat down in Ace's living room. Rose was glad to note that all of the windows had been replaced after that ugly business with Fenric. Ace had called her two days ago to tell her that Oliver was back in New York for business and to ask if Rose wanted to take a quick trip to visit. Rose had been surprised but more than happy to jump across the pond.

"It's great to meet you as Ace's boyfriend," Rose continued. "But I'm also happy to meet another of the Jones clan finally. You lot are hard to pin down."

"We are," Oliver agreed. Then he snapped his fingers in realization. "That's right, Mum dragged Henry to Sarah Jane's wedding to meet you, didn't she?" Oliver laughed, grinning widely. "Sorry about that. I know you've met my nephew Santiago. Have you met any of my other siblings?"

"Yes, I met Michael when my friends and I stayed at his place in Bolivia, so I've met his kids. I've never met Santiago's mother, though."

"That's not a surprise. Lisa is crazy busy," Oliver said. "Like Dad, she's a botanist, and now that Santiago's a bit older, goes on longer trips to record and study rare plants in the rain forest. I haven't seen her in over a year myself."

"I've yet to meet any of them except for Henry," Ace admitted. "And Santiago, of course, but those events were pretty crazy."

"How is Henry, by the way?" Rose asked. She vaguely remembered the son that Jo had brought to Sarah Jane's wedding.

"He's fine. Engaged to a nice man in New Zealand," Oliver said. "So, no hard feelings there."

"Did Jo know?" Rose asked.

"He's bi," Oliver explained. "So yeah, Mum knew. She's already pestering them about if they're adopting. She also suggested that my sister Summer could help them have a child. Summer wasn't impressed."

"So eloping is still a very real possibility," Rose said.

The pair glanced at each other, both of them smiling softly. Rose had a feeling that she might not be far off. Still, as much as she adored Jo, she didn't envy them her reaction when she learned that they'd gotten married without telling her they were dating.

"Just remember to invite the Doctor," Rose said. "He'd be horribly hurt."

"If I ever get married," Ace said, "To anyone and I'm not in a hurry," she assured Oliver. "I'll alert him." Her expression softened. "I'd want him there."

Rose smiled at Ace's words. It was hard to imagine that not long ago, they'd been estranged, and now, Rose got the distinct impression that Ace was in contact with the Twelfth Doctor on a regular basis. That made her happy on many levels. The Doctor too often lost track of the fact that lots of people loved him.

She blinked, realizing that she was missing part of the conversation. Oliver was teasing Ace about something. Rose focused on them and tried to catch up with what she'd missed. Somehow, they'd gotten on the topic of who was older and the fact that Ace had grown up decades ago.

"Even with her altered birthdate, she's still a couple of years older than me," Oliver teased.

"Altered birthdate?" Rose repeated. "I'm confused."

Ace gave Oliver a look and shook her head fondly. "It's never come up with you, but I was actually born in 1970. Then I was swept up in that time storm and traveled with the Doctor for a few years before coming back to Earth. But I didn't get back to Earth on a date that really matched up with my real history. So, UNIT helped me out and redid my birth certificate. Instead of being born in 1970, I was officially born in 1976 since there was a gap. It's not a bit deal, but Oliver likes to tease me about it."

"I was born in 1978," Oliver explained. "While Mum and Dad were working on a project in Japan. So Ace is either two or eight years older than me."

"Not sure why he finds it so funny," Ace grumbled. Rose could tell she wasn't that annoyed. "At least he likes real music and wasn't corrupted by the 90s."

"I think I take offense at that," Rose said.

Ace launched into a rant about the terrible music of the 90s when compared to the 80s while Oliver laughed. Rose took a sip of her wine, studying the couple. They sat close together, their body language relaxed and comfortable. She couldn't help but smile at them. It was strange how their little club had changed so many lives, but Rose could only be grateful.