Four months after her wedding, Rose Tyler stood in the kitchen of her parents' house, making dinner for herself and her three-year-old brother. Everybody else was gone for the evening, her parents out for a date night and her husband at a teachers' meeting at the school where he taught.

"Rose, what are you doing?" asked Tony, slowly walking into the kitchen to join his sister.

"I'm making dinner," she replied.

"What are you making?"

"Macaroni and cheese, and don't you even think of telling me you don't like it, you ate some just fine yesterday."

"Can I help?" He jumped up and then stood on his toes, attempting to see what was happening inside the big, silver pot sitting on the stove.

"Alright, why don't you stir the cheese in. Here, up you go," Rose said as the picked up the toddler. He grabbed the spoon that was sitting on the counter and immediately started stabbing the pasta, so violently that he almost hit his sister in the face. "No, Tony, you don't do it like that! Here, bring the spoon in circles, like this." She guided his hands around and around the edges of the pot until all of the cheese was mixed in. Putting Tony down, she spooned the macaroni into two bowls, got some spoons, and the pair sat down to eat their partially mashed dinner. Just as Rose picked up her spoon, the Doctor walked into the room, carrying two large, rather heavy looking books, which he set on the counter.

"You're home early," she said. "Thought you wouldn't be back till 8?"

"Yeah, well, you know me. Meetings." He said the word as if it had done him a great personal wrong. "Anyway, what's that you've got there? Smells good."

"Mac'n'cheese, you can have some, it's on the stove." The Doctor took off the lid and glanced into the pot.

"Why's it all in pieces?"

"Tony learned something new today."

"What's that?"

"How to stir."

"Ah. Very important, knowing how to stir things. Nobody ever gives stirring enough credit." He took a bowl from the cupboard and spooned some of the chopped up pasta into it. Sitting down next to Rose, he took a large bite and said, "Mmm. Not bad, this. You two make a pretty good team, eh Tony?"

"I got to stir it!" replied Tony excitedly. Of everyone he lived with, the Doctor was the person that Tony seemed to like the best.

"So I heard! And between you and me," the Doctor said, leaning in towards Tony, "this might just be the most well-stirred mac'n'cheese I have ever tasted, and that's saying a lot." He looked at Rose and gave her a little wink. Tony started to giggle.

"Well-stirred or not, it's getting on your bedtime, isn't it? Hurry and up and finish eating." Rose told her brother. He looked at the Doctor, who said to him, "You best do what she says. She gets scary when she's angry, you know."

"Hey!" she protested, playfully pushing the Doctor so he swayed in his seat. "Oi, and you!" she said to Tony, who had attempted to run off without being noticed, a feat which he failed in because he was giggling so hard. "Where do you put your bowl when you're done with it?" she asked him, exasperated. Sulking, he returned to the table and put his empty bowl in the dishwasher. "Thank you. Now, you go get changed and don't forget to brush your teeth! I swear, Doctor, that kid'll never learn."

They stayed at the table for a bit, talking and laughing, until they heard a scream from down the hall and Rose leapt into action, running to check on her brother.

"Rose, help! There's something here!"

As she entered the bedroom, Rose saw Tony standing petrified in the corner of the room, staring at the opposite wall. There, she saw a rather large bug, resembling a mosquito.

"Oh, come here, Tony, it's all right," she comforted the boy. He ran into his sister's arms while the Doctor went to the wall opposite and squashed the bug.

"See Tony?" he said. "Nothing to worry about."

"Doctor, it's gonna get me! I'm scared!"

The Doctor looked at Rose, and she said, "Tell you what, I'll stay in here with you until mum gets home. Okay? But," she added, "you've got to promise me you'll go right to bed after that, alright?" He nodded, and they both climbed into the small twin-sized bed, making themselves comfortable between the sheets.

"Well, then, goodnight you two," said the Doctor, turning out the lights. "See you in the morning." He left the room, leaving the door ajar behind him.

"Rose, tell me a story," Tony said, snuggling up next to her and leaning his head on her arm.

"Okay, but then you've got to go to sleep. Promise?"

"I promise."

"Alright then," she began. "Once upon a time there was a man with a magical blue box that could travel in time. He travelled all through the universe, saving people and defeating bad aliens."

"Why did he do that?"

"Well, he wanted to help people, didn't he? But, even with all of the people he saved, he was still the loneliest man in the universe."

"That's sad. Why was he so lonely?"

"Because all of his friends had been lost, and he didn't have any family, so he travelled the universe alone, looking for someone that he could be friends with."

"Did he ever find anyone?" Tony sounded very concerned about the magical man with the box. "Did he make any new friends?"

"Yes, he did. One day, he came to a world just like this one, and he met a girl in the basement of a shop. He saved her life, and then they became best friends. He took her with him on all of his adventures, fighting bad guys and saving the universe. They met talking robots, and blue ghosts, and even drawings that could come to life!"

"What happened to them?" he asked sleepily.

"Well, they lived happily after after, didn't they? That's the best way to end a story, with a happily ever after."

"What was the magic man called?"

"His name was the Doctor," she replied.

"Just like my big brother." And with that, Tony drifted off into a peaceful sleep, breathing softly, still cuddled up right next to Rose.

"Yes," she said, quietly so he wouldn't wake. "Just like your big brother."

The Doctor was awakened the next morning by a thin rectangle of sunlight, which had somehow managed to creep its way through the windowshade and directly onto his eyes. He sat up and turned to see Rose lying next to him on her stomach, still asleep. He glanced at the clock. 5:03 in the morning. It's still early, he thought. Maybe I can get a few more hours of sleep before school. But thoughts of sleep immediately vanished from the Doctor's head when he heard a soft knock on the door, then a quiet, "Hello?"

Carefully getting up out of the bed so as not to wake his wife, the Doctor walked over to the door and opened it. Unsurprisingly, he saw the figure of Rose's brother standing in the doorway, holding a blanket and a teddy bear.

"Shhh…" said the Doctor as Tony walked over to the bed and crawled into the space in between Rose and where the Doctor normally slept, but to no avail. Not only did the toddler make a tremendous amount of noise getting into the bed, he also seemed to think that the best way to do so would be to climb on from the side closest to the door, crawling right over Rose's sleeping body.

"Ow," she said simply as she was kneed in the back by Tony. "Morning. Only maybe next time don't crawl over me, yeah?"

"Hi Rose!" said Tony brightly. "Surprise! Surprise!"

"What's he talking about?" asked the Doctor.

"Tony, I told you not to say anything! Ah, well. You made it this long, I guess. You can go get it, if you want."

"Get what?" the Doctor asked, as Tony ran off giggling. He looked expectantly at his wife, but she didn't answer until Tony came back into the room holding an envelope and a long round package wrapped in birthday paper.

"Well, I don't know when your real birthday is," Rose said, taking the package from Tony and handing it to the Doctor, "but I figured I can still get you a present. So, I thought, I'll give it to you today, since this is the day you first got here, right after killing those Daleks. Well go on, open it!"

The Doctor opened the envelope first, revealing a card on which the words "Happy Birthday" were written on the cover, along with a picture of a rocketship. Opening it, he read "Hope it's a blast!" and both Rose's and Tony's signatures. Chuckling a bit, he moved on to the present. It was rather badly wrapped, so it was easy to tear open.

"Oh wow, Rose. It's beautiful." He was holding a long black telescope, complete with a stand, with silver rings around the top and bottom. "Thank you so much."

"I figured that even if you couldn't travel the stars, you should at least be able to see them. So, there you are. Happy birthday." She smiled at him in that cute little way that always made his stomach turn to liquid and his single heart beat faster, and then fell back onto her pillow. "I'm exhausted. You couldn't wait another hour or so?" Tony looked at her guiltily.

"Sorry."

"Oh well, no getting back to sleep now. Let's go have breakfast."

The trio headed down the hall and into the kitchen, Rose and the Doctor chatting about what to eat for breakfast, and Tony running ahead of them making far too much noise for any time before six in the morning.

After a quick breakfast of toast and eggs, Rose announced that she was going to take a shower and get ready, and she walked off, leaving the Doctor alone with Tony.

"Doctor, look what I drawed!"

He leaned over to look at Tony's plate, where he could see a smiley face made out of salt and his leftover eggs. "Very nice. I always love a good smiley face. But, we should probably put our empty plates away, eh?"

"Okay," he said, picking up his plate and putting it in the dishwasher. Once he had finished cleaning up, the toddler walked over to the living room and turned on the television, putting it on a channel with kids' cartoons. The Doctor cleaned up and walked into his room.

Some time later, when the Doctor had been sitting on his bed reading a book, Rose walked in wearing her clothes for the day, her hair dripping wet. She hopped onto the bed and plucked the book out of the Doctor's hands, grabbing his attention by spraying him with water droplets from her loose hair.

"Hey, look, I've been thinking. How about we set up your telescope and check out some of the constellations tonight in the park? We could do a picnic or something to celebrate your birthday. It'll be fun!" The Doctor's eyes lit up and he smiled.

"That sounds great! Oh, I'll show you the most beautiful star in this galaxy, right at the top of Orion's sword. I remember one time when I was young, I think only about 300 or so, me and some mates….." he trailed off. Rose saw a glint of sadness in the Doctor's eyes. She rushed to speak before he could reminisce too much about his tragic past.

"That's sounds fantastic. And I have another surprise for you, too."

The Doctor's eyes lost their faraway look as his curiosity was peaked.

"Really? What is it? Is it a new pair of trainers? My old ones got a bit worn down and now there's holes in the toes and I can't wear them anymore and -"

"No way! I'm not telling you nothing, you're the one's gonna have to be surprised for a change! Now I've gotta get off to work a little early today, do you think you can get Tony ready so's I can take him to daycare?" Rose promptly cut off any further attempts of the Doctor's to divulge the truth by shaking her head one last time and spraying him with mist before grabbing her shoes and heading to the kitchen to pack her lunch. The Doctor popped out of bed and went in search of the toddler, whom he found naked in his room vigorously trying to pull a pair of trousers over his arms and head.

"Oi buddy, you're gonna get all tangled up like that. Though it's a nice fashion statement. But here, try it this way." The Doctor tugged the trousers off the three-year-old's arms then scooped him up. He placed the trousers on the ground all scrunched up, leaving two holes for Tony's feet to go through. He then lifted the boy high in his arms and gave him a little toss. As Tony giggled furiously, the Doctor caught him and lowered him down into the trouser legs. They then chose a matching shirt and walked into the kitchen to find Rose stirring milk into two cups of tea. She handed one to the Doctor and sipped the other one herself, simultaneously packing herself a lunch for the day and picking up the scattered contents of Tony's nappy bag. The Doctor helped Tony tie his shoes as the toddler prattled on about flying, showing his mother's capacity to fill a silence. The Doctor grabbed their coats from the hall closet and was just finishing zipping Tony into his duckie-patterned mackintosh when Rose set down her cup and walked over. Without missing a beat, the Doctor picked up Rose's coat and she slipped into it, he zipping it up just as he had with Tony's. Rose giggled and observed,

"We make a pretty good team, eh?" The Doctor's heart quickened for a moment and he smiled at the butterflies that still showed up whenever he looked into Rose's eyes. He gave her a light kiss on the lips, then picked up Tony and headed out to strap him into the car. Rose appeared moments later, her arms full of bags.

"Mum just phoned from work, says she'll pick Tony up today 'cause she's getting out early, so don't bother going by after school. I'll see you tonight, don't forget our date!"

And with that, she was off. The Doctor watched Teddy drive down the road, then went back into the kitchen to rinse their teacups before walking the 15 minutes to the school. On the way, he stopped to observe a little house that passed every day with a For Sale sign on the lawn. It was small, two bedrooms and a finished basement, a little cottage made of brick with blue shutters and a little stone path that led to the front door.

We do make a great team, Rose. And maybe it's time our team got a little bigger?