Will You…?

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Chapter 5

Wedding Time

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While the Doctor and Jack tried to track down Old Henry Matchett boy, Rose and Jackie were trying to find something to wear. Before the two men had left, the Doctor had tugged Rose aside. "If you're looking for a wedding dress, go to the TARDIS wardrobe, and then go to the door on your left." At Rose's puzzled expression he had smiled. "The TARDIS made a new wedding room just for you with all the things you'll ever need," he had explained. Rose brightened and had given Doctor one last hug before he left on his adventure with Jack. "Meet me at McDonald's for lunch," he had offered. "I'll give you three hours." Rose had smiled as he chucked her chin and tapped her nose.

"Which one, though?" she had asked him, staring into his deep brown eyes.

"You'll figure it out," he had promised with a mischievous smile. One reluctantly quick, small kiss on the lips and he was gone.

Now Rose ran into the TARDIS, her mother hot on her heels. She ran into the console room, and then ran into the corridor, and then ran into the Wardrobe Room and then finally ran into the room on the left. In there was everything they could have dreamed of. Even napkins. Rose ran next to the rows and rows of every possible wedding dress.

"Let's start fitting you," murmured Jackie to her daughter and Rose smiled.

"Oh, I'll doubt any of these will need to be altered, Mum. The TARDIS has the habit of taking care of the details." She grasped a lovely dress and gently pulled it off of its hanger. She held it up to her, eyes glowing. The dress was perfect; a flowing skirt with little tucks and billows that reached down to the toes, and the bodice was stiff and elaborate with beads and small designs. It was sleeveless. "How does it look?" she asked her mum, twirling around playfully with the skirt.

Jackie looked at her daughter doubtfully. "Sure is lovely enough…"

"Or this one?" Another dress had caught the eye of Rose. She replaced the first one and took down the second one gently. It was just as elaborate, just as intricate, though with a slight difference. The neck was cut lower and instead of being sleeveless, it had long sleeves that gently billowed at the cuffs.

Jackie nodded in approval. "That's better. Go try it on."

Rose laughed as she nodded back and walked over to a stall. It took her a while to adjust everything to her satisfaction, but finally she managed to do so. She took a deep breath, and stepped out to look in the mirror.

"Oh my – " Jackie breathed. "You look absolutely beautiful!"

And indeed Rose did. The slim and sleek dress showed off her figure, everything was tight enough, but loose enough for her to breathe. She admired the way the skirt of her dress curved in at the bodice but then emerged in soft folds at the legs, giving her room to walk. The silkiness and shine of the fabric outlined the silkiness and shine of her abundant hair and made her glowing face stand out.

It was perfect.

Rose twirled, staring at the mirror, and nodded with satisfaction as her skirt swirled beneath her. Then she smiled, looking at her face in the mirror. It was happy and flushed with joy. "I think I'm in love," she whispered to herself with a smile, "and I think I like it." She blew herself a kiss and turned to face her mother. "It's great, Mum," she said quietly, her brown eyes wide and dancing.

"What about your hair?" fussed Jackie. Rose nodded thoughtfully.

"Hair salon?"

"Oh, but that would take too much time and we would need an appointment!"

"Let's just curl it then," said Rose softly.

"But it's your wedding day!" exclaimed Jackie. "It won't do – "

"Now, Mum. Enough of that. I'm marrying the Doctor and that's all that matters," replied Rose firmly. "I really don't care about my hair."

Jackie sighed. "Fine, fine, fine, fine. Don't listen to me, I'm only your mother."

Rose smiled and glanced at her watch. Two and a half hours left. "Let me get changed out of this and we can go invite people, okay? And then we're meeting the Doctor and Jack for lunch." She walked into the stall and closed the door.

Jackie sighed again. "All right." She glanced over at the wedding dress rack. "Did that come with gloves and a veil?"

"No doubt, Mum. We can always ask," came Rose's muffled reply from behind the door. She came out some minutes later. "Just gonna put it in my room, okay?"

Jackie nodded. "See you outside." She shivered. "It's too weird in this box for me anyway." She walked back into the console room, and then trotted out the door back to the outside. A few moments later and Rose was back outside with Jackie.

"Let's go." The two of them made their way to Keesha's flat first.

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The Doctor and Jack meanwhile, were busy hunting out Henry Matchett. After a lot of "I thought he lived down this street" and "Let's see where this deserted alley leads to", Jack had almost given up. He rolled his eyes. "This is pointless," he muttered. He spotted a phone booth and waved the Doctor over. "I have an idea," Jack told him. He ran over to the phone booth and was back out five minutes later.

"What did you go in there for?" asked the Doctor, confused.

"He lives on 5445 David Street," panted Jack.

The Doctor looked at him with unconcealed admiration. "Where'd you get that handy bit of info from?"

"He's in the phonebook," deadpanned Jack.

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It took the two fellows precisely an hour and forty-five minutes to get to their destination. That is, after the Doctor had continually insisted that he alone knew how to reach David Street. If he had realized it, he would have found out that if they had taken Jack's route, they would have reached Henry's house an hour and thirty-five minutes earlier.

The Doctor knocked on the door of 5445 David Street while Jack waited on the sidewalk. The door opened swiftly and a cane jutted out. "Whatt a wan?" an elderly voice croaked.

"Henry Matchett?" asked the Doctor softly.

"Who dat?" The old man jutted forward and nodded. The Doctor was astounded at his friend's appearance. He was so old he didn't even resemble what once he had been – his face was wrinkled and his eyes had sunken into the back of his head. He was hunched over.

"It's… the Doctor."

"Teee Docta?" he asked with slow deliberation. "Commm on ii." His voice was deep and even it sounded old. The Doctor nodded at Jack and the ex-time agent followed in slowly. Henry hobbled over to the door and looked both ways before closing the door after them. "Commm wit miii," the old man croaked, and hobbled slowly in front of the other two. They continued at an infinitely slow pace to the drawing room, and then walked warily inside.

As soon as the door had shut Henry walked with surprising pace to the window, looked out and then shut it firmly and pulled the blinds. As he whirled around he straightened, pulling the mask he had been wearing from his face. "I will explain my presence as an old cripple soon enough," promised Henry firmly, gazing into the Doctor's youthful face. He was struck dumb by the sudden change. Henry's voice was no longer old, strained and incoherent. Actually, it was a good deal younger. Henry walked forward, without the limp. His hair was back, white and grey. His eyes still had wrinkles around them, but mostly laugh lines. "But first," continued on Henry, "what have I done to deserve this pleasure of your visit?" He nodded approvingly of the new Doctor's face. "Regeneration. You fancied someone in your previous one, did you not?" The Doctor could only nod. Henry grinned. "Ah, that has what turned you into a… what do they call them? Pretty boy? Dandy? Young Fox?"

The Doctor grinned at his explanation. "I thought that might be the case," he admitted. "My love for her has only grown as a result."

"You're definitely more appealing to the eyes," agreed Henry with a fatherly teasing air. He turned to Captain Jack. "And who is this young man? Companion?" He glanced at Jack's outfit. "Military coat. If I had a choice I would say that he was not from the twenty-first century at all – " He gazed into Jack's eyes and nodded. "Nor from the past," he said decidedly, "but from the future." He grinned. "Or else you got that jacket at a thrift shop?"

Jack laughed. "No, sir."

Henry chuckled as well and turned back to the Doctor. "The reason of your visit – though I am quite delighted to see you again, Theta… what brings you here, of all places, to see me, of all people?"

The Doctor grinned, obviously overcome with happiness. "I would like you to marry me and my fiancée."

Henry chuckled again, beaming – though there was a slight bit of sadness to his laugh. "My dear Doctor… you have finally found her, have you? I would be absolutely delighted to marry you. And – I would be absolutely delighted to meet her."

"Oh, you shall, Henry, you shall," replied the Doctor beaming.

"When shall the marriage take place?"

"Today."

Henry roared with laughter. "My, you two are eager, aren't you?"

Jack grinned. "You should see these two in the TARDIS, sir."

The Doctor went red as Henry chuckled again. "All right, just let me get some things together and I need to get my best monkey suit out of mothballs."

"Sounds good. But… Henry," ventured Jack. Henry turned to him.

"Yes, son?"

"What were you doing disguised like that?"

"Oh, that," grunted Henry with a proud grin. "Just testing to see how good of an actor I was. The disguise I created myself – rather good, isn't it? I wasn't expecting anybody, and I was just practicing on my mirror, so I'm rather glad you decided to pop in." He turned to the Doctor. "I'm sorry, though, about that. I saw it on your face…"

"No," replied the Doctor quickly, "Let's not talk about it. It's fine. I'm glad you aren't as… forget it."

Henry nodded, and the Doctor and Jack took seats on the couch as the elderly man hastened to make preparations for the upcoming ceremony.

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Keesha and Shireen were able to attend the wedding at two o'clock, same with Trish and Rob Delaney. It wasn't much, but it was perfect for the Doctor and her, Rose thought with satisfaction. It was getting to be that time where the couple would meet up for lunch. Rose still didn't know which McDonalds the Doctor had referred to and was getting slightly worried at that. Five minutes before they were supposed to meet her mobile rang. She grabbed it.

"Hello?"

"Hey." The Doctor's voice came loud and clear over the 'phone.

"What's up?"

"We found Henry. Meet us at that big mall near David Street? Is it okay if he joins us?" Rose knew the one he meant.

"Sure, okay." A thought occurred to her. "Mind if Keesh comes for lunch with us?"

"I don't mind – s'long as she doesn't steal all your attention from me. See you in a few minutes. Love you lots, Rose."

Rose giggled. "Love you lots too."

She hung up and dialled again.

Keesha answered on the first ring.

"Hey, you wanna come for lunch with my mum, the preacher, John and Jack?" she asked her friend.

Given the affirmative, they both hung up after Rose had repeated the meeting place. She tucked the mobile back into her pocket for easy access. She turned to Jackie, who was walking beside her. "Let's go eat."

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The Doctor and Jack were waving their arms. Henry was just sitting there, a big smile on his face. "What are they doing?" Jackie asked warily.

"It looks like they're trying to land a plane," added Keesha as Rose giggled.

"That's those two for you. It was probably Jack's idea," she told them as they made their way over to the two at the tables they had grabbed. The mall was packed with dozens of people. The Doctor stood up to greet his fiancée with a hug and a kiss and the group sat down together, the Doctor pulling Rose's chair for her and then tucking in beside her. Jack held out Keesha's chair for her and Henry pulled out Jackie's chair. Jack grabbed another chair from another table and sat at the end between Keesha and the Doctor. Henry sat on the other end, and after the introductions were made, he was absolutely delighted to meet the Doctor's bride-to-be.

"I've heard a lot about you, young lady," teased Henry as he gently shook Rose's hand. Rose was charmed to meet Henry. Somehow she had pictured a stuffy old codger, but was surprised and delighted to meet someone completely different.

Rose raised an eyebrow and looked at the Doctor and Jack. "Most of it good, I hope."

The Doctor shrugged with a twinkle in his eyes while Henry chortled. "You don't have much faith in your fiancé," he pointed out.

"Oh, I have faith in him all right. Just not when it comes to talking about me."

Henry grinned. "Oh, he told me how fantastic you were – "

"I think I said 'brilliant'," interrupted the Doctor.

"He said both," declared Jack, mouth full all ready.

"Anyway," Henry continued, "He told me how fantastic and brilliant you were and he has not yet disappointed me. You are a charming young lady, miss Tyler, and I am completely enthralled." He patted her hand in a fatherly way, and Rose blushed, touched by his kind words.

"Thank you," she murmured quietly as the Doctor gave a wide smile and quirked an eyebrow at her, shifting in his seat. Henry simply grinned at her and continued on with his meal.

Lunch was fun, full of jokes and laughter. "So, what did you figure out, Angel?" the Doctor asked of Rose, snagging a chip from her meal.

Rose giggled and leaned against him, her head resting in the crook of his neck as her lips came up to whisper into his ear, "I found a dress." His arm that was already around her tightened as he rolled his brown eyes with drama.

"When do I get to see it?" he asked her, reaching over to snag another chip and double dipping it in cheese sauce. He rolled his tongue along the top row of his teeth before inserting the golden brown chip into his mouth and swirling his tongue around the gooey drip of hot melted cheese.

"The ceremony and not before." Rose was watching him closely. "Mm." She swallowed hard. "That looks sooo good."

"Try one then." He reached over and grabbed another chip from her meal and wrapped the tip of it thoroughly in the cheese before waving it under her nose. "Want it?" Rose grinned as she reached for it, but the Doctor held back. "Nuh, uh, uh," he tutted as he lifted her chin with his free hand. She stilled as he gently fed her the cheese-absorbed chip. "There you go," he said softly and he reached forward and kissed her lingeringly on the lips, getting a taste of the melted cheese and greasy chips second hand.

He grinned down on her. "Thanks," murmured Rose, leaning back and once more digging into her meal. The Doctor reached over and brushed his fingers in light strokes against her neck, going back to his own food.

"Wow, I'm starving," commented Jack, stuffing his face.

Keesha had been sitting silently throughout the meal, trying to get Jack to look at her. So far it had been useless. She looked at the man next to her and wished that he would do something equally romantic like what the Doctor did to Rose. She had been enchanted by the Captain.

He finally turned to her. "You gonna finish those fries?" Keesha shook her head with a sigh as Jack reached forward and eagerly collected the chips off her tray. "Mm – they're gonna be purple in a few centuries." He turned and grinned at her. "Shame you miss out," he commented, licking his lips. "They are so good!" Keesha sighed and then shook her head as he smiled. Her heart dropped. Great, she had a thing for a man who was a prophet for food. He carried on, seemingly oblivious to her infatuation. "You see, colour is key. For instance, colour and sound make a gift so much more fun."

Keesha rolled her eyes. "What else do they have?" she asked, even more curious.

Jack grinned. "Where's the fun in me spoiling things for you?"

Rose, who was looking across directly at Jack, trying to warn him not to say too much, saw that his 'natural' charm was not totally wasted on her friend. She rolled her eyes and nudged the Doctor, who looked at Jack. He saw that grin. And he knew what it meant. He turned to Rose and sighed. "I am not letting Jack flirt with her." Rose giggled. "Rose, it's not funny. You know what's going to happen," he warned her. That set her straight.

"Okay," she sighed. She squeezed the Doctor's shoulder and stood up. She walked over to Jack where he was still rambling and tugged at him – hard. "Jack," she hissed.

Jack looked innocently up at her with a pleased smile. "What's up, honey?"

Keesha blinked. Did he have a thing for Rose too? "You're not doing this," Rose warned him as she sighed, and Keesha was mildly reassured that their relationship was strictly platonic.

Jack rolled his eyes and nudged her. "Can't I have a little fun?"

"NO,"hissed Rose as she tugged him to stand up. "Come on. You're coming with me. Now." He wasn't given a choice. He smiled apologetically at Keesha and then stood up.

"Fine, fine, fine," Jack mumbled as Rose led him away to have a little sister-to-brother and why-it-wasn't-good-to-flirt-with-her-old-mate talk.

Five minutes later Jack came back looking very pale.

"Men," Keesha muttered and turned just in time to see the Doctor lovingly kiss his Rose hello. She smiled because she couldn't help herself. Men.

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