Author's Note: Much love to kitsune17 for beta work!

Chapter 3:
Mickey and I were quiet as we walked to the bus station and got aboard. It was strange to be so awkward with someone I used to be close to. But had Mickey and I ever really been close? Or had he always just been there and I'd accepted it?

I noticed him looking at me, almost sadly, and I gave him a reassuring smile. "Did I ever tell you about this planet we visited, Woman Wept? It was amazing; they named it that because the land looks like a woman curled up crying. It was so beautiful there. And then we went to this ice planet, there were these beautiful beaches and ice as far as the eye could see, it was fantastic!"

"It's no wonder."

"No wonder what?"

"That you married 'im. He's taken you places, shown you things that are beyond description. All I can do is buy you a plate of fish and chips down at the pub."

I touched his hand, my ring glittering against my skin. "That's enough for a lot of girls."

"Not for you"
I winced. "I guess not."

"You think you're better than us."

"That's not it at all, Mickey! There's just so much out there, so much to see, so much to do..."

"Then sit at the pub with me on a Saturday night and watch the football tourney, I get it." Mickey shook his head. "I was always just standby until something better came 'long."

"That's not true. It's not like I planned this!"

"But you ran off with 'im without so much as a backward look! A year, Rose! A year gone by and we never heard from you! Shows how much you cared about your mum, shows how much you cared about me!"

I was stung by his words. "I explained to you that for me it was only a day, not a year!"

"It wouldn't matter, because one day you would just move on. So I did too."

I blinked. "What you talking about?"

"I'm going out with Tricia Delaney."

I was floored. "Tricia from the shop? She's...nice. She's a bit big."

"She lost weight. You've been away. And shagging an alien."

"Well good for you, she's nice." I couldn't believe this. Not that I had expected Mickey to sit around and wait for me forever...had I?

"Yes, she is. She enjoys fish and chips at the pub with the telly on. She's fun and doesn't walk around with her head in the stars. And she doesn't moon about over some alien blighter old enough to be her father."

"He's 900!"

"And that makes it better?"

I sighed. "Is this it? Are we just going to keep having a go at each other? We're not even going to be friends now?"

He looked out the window. "We're friends. We'll always be friends, Rose. Bloody hell, I'm dating a shop girl, and yet I come running as soon as you call. If you hadn't married 'im, I'd left Tricia Delaney behind without a thought."

"Like I did you," I whispered.

He nodded. "Exactly. That's what you do for someone you love."

I squeezed his hand.

"I've known you loved him since you met him. I knew you were gone for good. But I couldn't help bit hope that you'd change your mind."

I wiped a tear away. "I do love you, Mickey."

"But not like you love him."

I shook my head and smiled through my tears. "Here, what you think my mum's going to say?"

"Your mum's going to go off her nut," he said and we both shared a laugh.

"I think I'd rather face aliens any day of the week than Mum when she's got her back up," I said.

"I'm with you," he said.

I smiled. "Yes, you are. Tricia Delaney's a lucky woman."

"Thanks. The Doctor's a lucky man. Here, since I missed the wedding, is it alright if I kiss the bride?"

"I think you'd better," I gave him a smile, remembering all the good times we had.

Mickey leaned forward and brushed my lips with a soft, sweet kiss. "I hope you'll be very happy, Rose. You deserve it."

"Thanks, Mickey." I felt tears in my eyes. "Now to see about Mum..."

"Mickey Smith, what's this all about that I had to drag my arse all the way out to bleedin' Cardiff after working all bloody day?"

I'll say one thing about my mum. She knows how to make an entrance.

I stayed in the shadows of the pub, keeping out of sight as the rest of the patrons turned to stare at Mum's loud complaints.

"Four hours on the train and of course we're packed in there like bloody sardines! I'm down to my last quid, so you're payin' for the trip home. Now what was this about some bloke on the telly saying he saw aliens down here, was Rose and the Doctor spotted? Or that police box thing they're flying about in?"

I stepped out from the shadows. "Hi, Mum. Surprise."

She hugged me. "Rose, oh, Rose, you're here! Why the bloody hell did you make me travel all the way down to Cardiff for, you know how I hate to take the trains, and to sodding Cardiff? Why didn't you pop in front of the flat like always?"

"We had to refuel and Cardiff's the only place to do it."

"We've got petrol in London."

"TARDIS doesn't take petrol, Mum," I said with a smile. "See, there's this rift..."

"Don't get her started, she'll be nattering on about it all night," Mickey said.

Mum looked around. "Well, where is he?"

"Who, the Doctor?"

"Hiding from you," Mickey put in. At my glare, he said, "Hey, I never said I'd be nice to him."

"He's back on the TARDIS, we had some alien complications," I explained.

"So there's really aliens in Cardiff?"

"Yeah, Mum, never mind all of that, sit down, I've got something I've got to tell you. Maybe you'd better get a drink first."

"What's this all about, sweetheart, that you think I need a drink? Not that I couldn't do with a pint, but you're scaring me." She sat down, staring up at me.

"Mickey, get Mum a pint," I said.

"No way, I'm sticking 'round for this," he grinned.

I gave him a sharp look. "Mickey!"

"Alright!" He signaled the waitress.

I took a deep breath. "Mum, you always wanted me to be happy, right?"

"Of course, sweetheart. I tried my best, though it's hard, being a single parent and all..."

"No, Mum, I mean happy, like you and Dad were happy."

"Well, your Dad and I didn't always get on..."

"I noticed," I mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"We didn't always get on, but we loved each other and I wouldn't trade our time together for anything." Mum looked a little misty.

"That's what you wanted for me, right? Someone that I loved that I wouldn't trade the time together for anything. Someone to have a life with."

"Y-Yes." Mum looked from me to Mickey. "Someday. When you're older. Finished A-Levels maybe. Why? What's happened?" She was looking from me to Mickey rapidly. "What's going on?"

I took her hand across the pub table. "Mum, I'm an adult now, and I've been traveling on my own for...I don't really know how long. And not exactly on my own, I guess."

She was staring at my hand as if I was wearing a tarantula. "Rose, what's that on your finger? That's not..."

"Mum, I got married!" I blurted out.

I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head. "What?" Her gaze was darting back and forth between me and Mickey. "You mean to tell me you and Mickey ran off to bloody Cardiff to get married?"

Mickey sat back, hands held up in front of him defensively. "Leave me out of it, I had nothing to do with it."

The waitress brought Mum her drink and she bolted it. "I don't understand, if you didn't up and marry Mickey, who'd you..." she trailed off, a look of horror on her face. "No..."

"Now, Mum..."

"Where is he? Where the bloody hell is he?" She stood up, looking around.

"Mum, sit down!"

"I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill the bastard!"

"Mum!"

"He's old enough to be your father, Rose! And an alien! He's not of this planet!"

"Mum, keep your voice down!"

"Who knows if everything works the same way it does with us?"

"Oh, it does, trust me."

She frowned. "Don't get smart with me, Rose Marion Tyler."

"You're the one that asked, I'm just telling you."

"How's he going to provide for you, he doesn't have a job he just travels about from place to place the great lout. What's he going to do if you have a baby? And what kind of a life is this for a child?"

"We get by, I haven't wanted for anything. We've always got the psychic paper and the sonic screwdriver, I haven't gone hungry yet. And I don't even know if we can have kids."

"What do you mean, you don't know if you can have kids? You went off and married someone who can't give me grandchildren?"

"First you're complaining because I could have kids and now you're complaining because I couldn't? Make up your mind, Mum!"

"I knew he was trouble from the moment I lay eyes on 'im! He could be a rotten bounder for all you know, Rose, have a girl on every planet. You sure you're the only wife he's got?"

"Mum, please..." I broke off, hearing rumbling in the background. "What?"

"Promised to keep you safe and then he goes and does this..."

"Mum, shut up for a second!" I said, concentrating on the noise.

"Oh, so you're married and now you think you can talk to your mother like that?"

"Is that thunder?" I asked, tuning her out. "That's not thunder." I jumped up and headed for the door.

Something was wrong. I knew it.

And my husband would be right in the thick of it.