Thanks again for your reviews. Inspired once again by last night's Wife Swap, here's the next chapter. It's got a bit of drama in it.
It's the afternoon, which means tuition on different planets, alien life-forms and the history of Gallifrey in the Tyler household. This also means that the Doctor and his children will communicate in Gallifreyan, something Miranda is not impressed with.
(Everyone is in the library. The Doctor is standing at the front of the room, the kids are sitting at desks, and Miranda is lying on the couch.)
The Doctor: "Thayaca tamoscar granagha Rassilon re sidofex?"
Romana: "Milacanor rotir sija?"
The Doctor: "Trembor!"
Miranda: "How does your wife feel about you speaking in another language? Does she know how to speak it?"
The Doctor: "Gallifreyan's a pretty hard language to learn. It was easy for me to teach the kids from birth, but it's a little harder with Rose. And it's the only language the TARDIS won't translate."
Miranda: "And you don't think that by forming this bond with your children, Rose is missing out?"
David: "Dad, are we doing this or what? I want to know what happened to Rassilon."
Miranda: "And that's another thing. I never understood the point of learning history. Why can't people leave the past in the past?"
The Doctor: "These children are the last of their kind. I want them to know where they came from."
Miranda: "Do they get to learn the history of Earth too? After all, they are half-human."
(The Doctor is silent. He looks into space with a blank look on his face, while Miranda stands up and puts her hands on her hips.)
The Doctor: "Right guys, that's enough for now. Go get ready for dinner. How does Pleasure Planet 6.4201 sound?"
(The kids nod and run off. Miranda sighs.)
Miranda: "Couldn't we just stay in? I could make some spaghetti bolognese or something..."
The Doctor: "That's not how things work around here. And for your information, I'm taking you to a place in the universe that is entirely free from trouble. It's a pleasure planet. Rose and I have only run from our lives there twice, and one of them was a total misunderstanding. Now I suggest you get changed. It's a rule on Pleasure Planet 6.4201 that no more than 50 percent of the body is covered by clothing."
Miranda: "Um, I'm not a very revealing person."
The Doctor (cheerfully): "Well you are now!" -he turns to the cameraman- "That goes for you too."
In the Smith household, Rose, having finished the shopping, vacuuming and dusting, is now helping the kids with their homework.
Rose: "That's very good Jennifer. You're a lot smarter than me when I was your age."
(Jennifer smiles, and Rose moves onto Michael.)
Rose: "Hold on Michael ... ah, there's where you've gone wrong. You've mixed up the pronoun and the preposition. Don't worry, it's an easy mistake to make."
(Michael lowers his head.)
Michael (sniffling): "I'm never gonna get this right."
Rose: "Sure you will. You aren't born knowing everything, you have to learn it."
Michael: "But I can't learn it! I'm in the bottom class."
Rose: "What do your parents think about that?"
Michael: "They were mad at first, but now they've realised there's nothing they can do about it. They enrolled me in soccer to take my mind off it."
Rose: "Do you like soccer?"
Jennifer: "He's great at it!"
Rose: "Well there you go! I bet your parents are really proud of you for that."
Michael: "Well Mum comes to make sure I don't get hurt, but Dad's never there. He's too busy."
Rose: "Would you like him to come to your games?"
Michael: "Yes. Very much."
(Rose nods.)
That night at dinner, both families have a lot of talking to do.
Miranda (picking up a long green noodle-like substance): "I still can't believe you talked me into this. I'm so used to cooking my own, familiar meals, this feels so wrong."
The Doctor: "Does you husband ever cook?"
Miranda (shaking her head): "No. Why should he? He works all day, he should get to sit back and relax."
The Doctor: "But you work all day too. You've got a household to maintain. You deserve a chance to treat yourself. Maybe you and him could go out to a restaurant or something."
Miranda: "No, I couldn't. My family relies on me to be there for them and keep them all together. Together, and safe. That's my job as a woman, and I accept that."
The Doctor: "You remind me of a certain Eddie Connolly I met once ... anyway, let's just enjoy the meal. It's a wonderful thing that they managed to find use for all that sewage, don't you think?"
(Miranda stops dead, and the Doctor bursts out laughing.)
The Doctor: "Seriously, you are too easy!"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(Rose and John are at the dinner table. The kids have finished, and have now gone to their rooms.)
Rose: "Sorry dinner was a little late. I forgot how long a stir-fry took, and then I was helping the kids with their homework..."
John: "Miranda seems to fit all these jobs into her day quite easily. Also, the oriental nature of your dish is ... questionable. You burnt the onions a bit, too. However, since it's your first day I'm willing to overlook it."
Rose (sarcastically): "You're too kind ... by the way John, I was just wondering, how many hours a day do most of the people at the bank work?"
John: "Does it matter?"
Rose: "It's just that I was wondering whether you were being forced to work long hours against your will, or whether you were voluntarily neglecting your children."
John: "Excuse me?"
Rose: "Michael was telling me how much he wants you to go to his soccer games. And considering how little you see of your kids, it's not surprising. Did you know that he was having trouble in school?"
John: "As a matter of fact, the teacher rang us..."
Rose: "So you only found out through Michael's teacher. He wasn't even willing to tell you first. What does that tell you about the relationship you have with your son? About the level of trust he has in you?"
John: "Well, um, all children are a little embarrassed about these matters..."
Rose: "How would you know? Whenever your children want to associate with other children, you just pull them back into your grasp."
John (standing up): "Right, you can leave the table now."
Rose: "I thought you'd never ask."
(Rose storms out of the room. She sits in the lounge room with her arms crossed. Meanwhile, John stands at the dinner table, his face red with fury. He glances around, then slowly walks towards the lounge room.)
John: "The dishwasher still needs to be stacked."
(Rose turns around, her face saying "You've got to be kidding.")
Hope you liked this one. I know I liked writing it.