Chapter Eight
On the way back to their camp, everyone was buzzing with excitement. Namid's siblings were crowded around her, happy that at last she had a chance to see. Rain walked behind everyone with the Doctor, the two of them holding hands and sharing in each other's happiness that their daughter might finally be able to see without them showing her everything.
"I can't believe it, our Namid might be able to see for the first time in her life," Rain whispered to him.
"Yup, we might not have to wait till she regenerates," he replied softly. "I just hope it works. Brain surgery is tricky and I don't want her ending up with brain damage, which is why we'll check this Doctor Prevensie out before we do this."
Sokanon ran back to them.
"Daddy, Mi-mi's gonna see again!"
She giggled when the Doctor scooped her up.
"With any luck, Soki, she will. I was telling your mum we're gonna talk to this doctor first and make sure he'll be able to do it so he won't hurt her."
He grimaced.
"Gorblimey, you're getting heavy. I can't carry you the way I used to," he said, gently setting her down.
"Am I a big girl now?" Sokanon asked him.
"Yes, you are, a very big girl," he said, tousling her hair.
By the time they returned to their camp, the sun was setting. Alan immediately zoomed to the tent and flung himself inside.
"Cooeee, mice, is mice in here?" he yelled.
"Shut up, Alan!" Rose said as they laughed.
"What?" he said, coming outside. "I don't want a mouse on my wife's lips. I have to kiss them. Besides, I don't wanna hear your shatter glass scream in my ear when a big, fat rat runs by."
He looked at the Doctor.
"Note to self," he teased, "never take Rose camping on any planet that has mice ever again."
"Note to self," the Doctor replied, "make sure Rose never gets caught and is tortured by having a mouse dangled in front of her face. Otherwise, she might confess something and we'll end up dead."
"Note to self," Namid said, walking up to them, "you're silly."
"Note to self," the Doctor said, picking her up, "quit butting in on other people's jokes!"
Namid giggled and hugged him tightly while he sent love into her mind.
"So, I s'pose now that we're all over being happy for Namid here, we can get on with the whole me telling the ghost story thing?"
He winced when Namid screamed YES in his ear along with the other children.
"Note to self," he groaned, "put Namid back down before saying anything that might cause her to yell."
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"Okay," the Doctor said, sighing, as he and the others sat down on long, narrow logs around a small fire they had started.
The sun had set and the firelight was the only illumination they had. The sky overhead was pitch black but because there was minimal pollution on the planet, the stars shone brilliantly and twinkled overhead. The Doctor and Alan sat with their wives on their left sides while Tara sat on the Doctor's right side, Christopher sat on Alan's right side and the triplets were gathered around their father's legs in anticipation of the story he was about to tell. The Doctor cleared his throat.
"I'd like to begin the evening with an ancient Gallifreyan song that was sung on nights such as this," he said.
"Cool!" Chaska said to his sisters.
The Doctor stood up and smoothed out the wrinkles in his jacket. He adjusted his tie and fiddled with his tousle.
"What are you doing?" Rose asked him.
"I'm making myself look presentable to the spirit of Rassilon. After all, this song is an homage to him," he replied.
He ran his hands down the sides of his trouser legs. Then he licked his index finger and wiped away a bit of dirt on the front of his left Converse.
"Does Rassilon care this much about your appearance?" Rain said while the others giggled.
"I must be presentable to him. After all, he's my god…sorta," he said.
He straightened back up and smoothed out his jacket again.
"Okay, you look good now, Daddy," Tara said. "Get on with it!"
The Doctor ignored her. Everyone watched as he turned and strode into the woods. They looked at each other and then laughed when they heard him peeing. Two minutes later, he came back out.
"Sorry, had to water the undergrowth before I began," he said.
They sighed when he fiddled with his jacket and tie again.
"Doctor, if you don't stop, we're gonna go in the tent and go to sleep," Rose said to him.
"Fine, fine, I just hope Rassilon is pleased," the Doctor said.
He clasped his hands in front of his body and cleared his throat.
"Mi mi mi miiiiiii…" he said. "Ma, me, mi, mo, moooooooo."
He cleared his throat again.
"Is this gonna take till morning?" Rose asked. "Because if it is then…"
"CARRY ON MY WAYWARD SON!" the Doctor suddenly bellowed. "THERE'LL BE PEACE WHEN YOU ARE DONE! LAY YOUR WEARY HEAD TO REEEEEEEEST, DON'T YOU CRY NO MORE!"
Everyone laughed when he began to play air guitar while he said, "NA NA NANA NA NA NANA NANANANANANANANANANANAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Alan noticed the confused look on Namid's face and showed her what he was doing while the Doctor continued to play air guitar and wiggled his butt. Then a moment later, he stopped and straightened his jacket out before he sat down.
"Now!" he said as everyone laughed. "Now that my homage to Rassilon is over with, we can begin the tale."
"Gee, I had no idea Carry On My Wayward Son was originally from Gallifrey," Rain said.
"Indeed it is, I'm the one that gave Kansas the song and the idea of recording it," he said to her. "Now, on with the story."
He slid down beside the children and reclined against the log while he folded his hands on his chest and looked up at the sky.
"Now, the man I heard this from was an old recluse that lived high up in the mountains of South Gallifrey," he said as he looked up.
"Why did he live by himself up in the mountains?" Tara asked.
"I don't know. Sometimes it's better not to ask," the Doctor said as he continued to stare up.
"Why, did he kill somebody?" Rose asked.
They giggled when the Doctor remained silent and just stared up at the stars with wide eyes.
"Well, Love, did he kill someone?" Rain said when he didn't answer.
"Um…not sure, I don't know why he was a hermit, he just was," the Doctor said.
"And everyone was okay with this weird old man living high in the mountains?" Tara said.
"No one really cared. He was shunned," the Doctor replied.
"Why, did he kill somebody?" Rose repeated.
"Brother, why are you sitting there like a lump and not coming to my defense?" the Doctor said, glancing at Alan.
"You mean all these people are actually gettin' to ya?" Alan said.
"I would just like someone on my side," the Doctor replied.
"We're just wanting to know why this man was a recluse," Rain teased.
"Yeah, did he murder someone?" Rose said as the children laughed.
"I…don't…knooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow!" the Doctor said as they laughed harder. "Why don't you let me tell my storeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?"
"Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!" Rose said.
"Right, let me think of a story he told me," the Doctor said.
"You mean you don't have one prepared?" Rain said.
"I was a bit busy trying to dodge the whole was he a murderer thing to think of something," the Doctor said while they laughed. "Um…okay…it was a dark night a lot like this one when an old man was walking along a road in North Gallifrey…"
"Then this man jumped out and killed him and he went to live in the mountains and tell Daddy stories."
Everyone except the Doctor roared with laughter when Chaska interrupted him.
"Oi, you shut your gob," he said to him giving his head a playful shove. "Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted…this old man was walking along a road in North Gallifrey when suddenly he saw a ghost dart into these woods that were right beside him. Curious, he decided to follow the ghost and see where he was going."
"But it wasn't a ghost at all, it was this man in a sheet and when the old man caught up to him, he killed him and years later, he became a hermit who told gullible boys ghost stories."
"Tara!" the Doctor said as they howled with laughter. "I'm not gonna tell it if you keep interrupting me."
"Okay, okay, we'll stop," Tara said.
The Doctor gave her a skeptical look but continued with his story.
"So anyway, the old man followed the ghost into the woods. As he walked he looked everywhere for it but it was nowhere to be found. After awhile, he gave up the search and went back to the road."
"And he went home, pooped his pants and fell asleep in his chair, the end," Tara said.
Everyone laughed when the Doctor smacked her on the head.
"No! He went back to the road and walked along but he kept seeing the ghost as if the thing was following him. Finally, he grew tired of seeing the ghost and demanded he show himself."
"And then the Doctor stepped out of the shadows took off the bed sheet and said, it's a fair cop," Rose said while they laughed.
The Doctor looked at Alan.
"They're never gonna let me finish this story, are they?"
"Probably not," Alan said.
"Okey-dokey then."
The Doctor fell silent and stared up at the stars while the children begged him to finish.
"No, everyone keeps interrupting me," he said when their begging got louder.
"Here, I'll finish," Alan said.
The children shut up and turned their heads toward him in anticipation.
"Okay, so the old man goes into the forest and says, leave me alone," Alan said. "And the ghost says, boo, I'm a ghost, and the man says, yeah, I get that, what do you want, and the ghost says, you. So the ghost possesses his body and the possessed man went home and murdered all the cousins in his house. After that, he went up into the mountains where he became a hermit and years and years later…"
The Doctor eyed him when everyone laughed.
"Just telling them what they want to hear, Brother," Alan said to him. "They're just so sure that the hermit is a murderer that I was just confirming their suspicions."
"Well, I s'pose he was an odd man but I doubt he murdered anyone," the Doctor said as he stared up at the sky. "He was just an outcast like I was."
"How come you were an outcast, Daddy?" Sokanon asked.
He patted her head.
"Cause I was different and back then on Gallifrey, people didn't like different," he said. "I didn't think and act like everyone else so almost everyone avoided me."
He smiled when the children let out an "Awwww!" and clustered up around him in a group hug. Tara laughed and joined in along with the others.
"Um…" the Doctor said in a muffled voice. "This is fabulous but you're all smothering me and blocking any air from coming to me, could you not pile on me and kill me with your love?"
They all stepped back and he took an exaggerated intake of air.
"Thanks! I didn't want to die in a group hug, that would have been embarrassing," he said.
He smiled when the children snuggled near him and he put his arms around them while the adults chatted with each other.
