He'd gotten a phone call from Clara not long after he had taken his little trip down memory lane. She'd received word of Wilf's passing and it confirmed the Doctor's heartbreak. It felt so final coming from someone who wasn't the TARDIS; at least she could humor with trips to the past. Clara's voice shook as she told him of Wilf's final moments in the hospital; of how Donna never left his side for a moment. Jenny had called to tell her the details of the funeral and asked them to stop by later. How could they refuse?

When the Doctor arrived to retrieve Clara he found that her eyes were swollen and red. Fresh tear tracks were prominent on her cheeks. A lump in his throat made breathing difficult, even with his advanced respiratory system. She said nothing as she walked past him and into the TARDIS. The trip was filled with amicable silence.

Even Chiswick seemed to be saddened by recent events. Stepping out of the TARDIS the Doctor could feel the air chill around him and the trees began to droop in the wind. He wrapped his jacket tighter around him and saw Clara do the same as they made their way to the front door. Ringing the doorbell, Clara looked up at the Doctor and give him a wry smile; he nodded and returned it. In a moment of need the Doctor clasped her hand with his and she squeezed it in a comforting way; he had missed the feel of a companion's hand.

A confused Shaun Temple answered the door but immediately seemed to realize who the two strangers huddled in windy evening were. During their visitations, the Doctor and Clara had yet to meet Shaun Temple, he was always working or resting from working. Even now he looked exhausted.

"Ah, Clara and Dr. Smith am I right?" he asked, he attempted a smile but it didn't stay; he looked like he was about to keel over.

The Doctor took in the sight of Shaun. He had never seen his companion's husband up close before. He looked like a kind man, the kind of man that would make Donna happy. He let go of Clara's hand to shake Shaun's.

"Yes, Dr. John Smith, nice to meet you," the Doctor was sure his smile mirrored Shaun's. He felt so very tired, so very sad.

"Clara, Donna is in Wilf's bedroom with Jenny. I think she said something about wanting to talk to you when you get here. John, could I speak with you for a moment?"

Clara looked between the Doctor and Shaun, debating on whether she should leave him, but seemed to buy it and head into the house.

Shaun closed the door behind him and led the Doctor back behind the house where the picnic table sat. They settled across from one another and looked around awkwardly; one not knowing what to say to the other one. The Doctor felt oddly nervous, he couldn't really pinpoint why.

"You look different from the last time I saw you," Shaun began, breaking the silence.

The Doctor's eyes became large, "You too? Is there anyone Wilf didn't tell?" He kneaded his palms across his face in frustration.

"I don't think he intended to at first. But when Donna kept asking about you and having dreams about you I began to get a bit suspicious. You can't blame me for wanting to know about the man occupying my wife's thoughts."

The Doctor groaned in return.

"I thought he was barmy at first but when Sylvia confirmed it I knew it had to be true."

The Doctor couldn't help but chuckle, "Sylvia Noble does not beat around the bush."

Shaun laughed with him, "No she doesn't. But Doctor," he waited for the Doctor to look him in the eye, "I'm really glad that you're here. I think, I think Donna needs this. She needs to have time with you, especially now."

"I want to do all I can for her, for all of you," a playful smirk appeared on his lips, "even Sylvia."

A look of relief seemed to wash over Shaun's face, "I am so happy you feel that way, Doctor. Because I have to go back to work, Donna is trying to comfort Jenny, and I've been on Sylvia duty all afternoon. She's taking it really rough and she needs someone to look after her right now. Would you mind?"

The color drained from the Doctor's face. Before he could object Shaun rocketed out of his seat and slapped him on the back, "Thanks so much, mate. And maybe later you could take Donna somewhere to get her mind off of things, yeah? You know how she is, she's gonna take care of everyone else before she takes care of herself. Stubborn woman, she is."

DWDWDWDWDWDW

The Doctor isn't sure how it happened but he had somehow landed himself in the Noble kitchen that contained a very distraught Sylvia. You would have never known she was upset if it weren't for the sobs that made her entire body shake every few seconds. Feeling that she shouldn't be standing near a hot kettle in this condition the Doctor hesitantly placed his hands on Sylvia's elbows and turned her to face him.

He expected harsh words, instructions not to touch her, but instead her sobs became louder and she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head into his chest. Her voice came like a watery whisper and it made him want to cry, "I should have been a better daughter. I've been so horrible. All these years, he deserved so much more," he tried to intervene but she shook her head furiously, "No, don't tell me any different, Doctor. You were so good to him. He loved you so much."

He wanted to stay in control of his emotions, he really did. This body didn't cry, this body wasn't emotional; but that was a lie. His eyes watered slightly and he held her closer. "Don't you say that, Sylvia, you were a lot of things but a bad daughter wasn't one of them," he held her at arms-length and forced her to look at him, "you have done and said some terrible things but you know what? So have I. You took care of him every day until the end. Sylvia Noble, you are a good person."

A screaming kettle broke their moment and Sylvia took a few short breaths and forced herself away from the Doctor's grasp. She poured hot water into two mugs and offered one to him as they sat at the kitchen table.

She bit nervously at her bottom lip before speaking again, "I'm sorry you had to see me like that, Doctor. It's been a rough day to say the least."

"No worries," he replied, "besides, I understand, I've lost someone before. I know it hurts."

She took a sip of her tea, "It's odd, you whisk my daughter away in blue box across the universe and I don't know the first thing about you. Were you ever married? Have kids? Who are you?"

He stared distractingly into his mug, twirling a spoon through the liquid, "Yes, I've been married before, I've had children," he sniffed loudly, "that's all gone now. They're gone."

"I'm so sorry," and she was. He could hear the sincerity in her voice.

"I had a daughter once, Jenny she was called," he expected the shocked expression on Sylvia's face, "I had my DNA forcibly taken from me and it created her. Mind you she was fully grown when she came out of the machine. I wanted nothing to do with her. But good old Donna, she wouldn't let me give up that easily. She told me I was wrong, she had never told me that before. She opened my eyes to a possibility of a life, with a daughter, and her as my best mate. I could picture it, us all traveling the universe as some sort of wacky little family where I'm dad and Jenny calls Donna mum and Donna and I would have fun with our usual routine when people mistake us for a couple. We'd say, 'Oh so not married. Jenny only has one biological parent but she may as well be Donna's. Not together,' and life would be perfect. But of course, life rarely turns out the way we want it to. Just as I had accepted her into my hearts, she was taken from me, by a gun," he spoke the last words like venom.

It took him by surprise when Sylvia patted his hand in a comforting way, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

A tear trickled down his cheek, "I had tried my best to keep myself distracted for the rest of the day; but she was always in my thoughts. That night, in the library, I cried. I was actually impressed I had enough water in my system to make that many tears. Donna had heard me and came running in. I didn't even try to put up any façade at that point. She held me while I cried, shushed my tears, kissed my forehead," he could see Sylvia begin to tear up again so he mustered up the best smile he could, "because that's the beauty of friendship. It gets you through the hard times and I plan on being here for you and your family just like Donna was there for me."

Fishing around in the pocket of her cardigan, Sylvia retrieved an envelope and held it out to the Doctor. Taking it from her, he could see the name "John" written in Wilf's sloppy handwriting on the front of it.

"What is it?" he asked.

"He's asked that you read it at the funeral. He didn't tell me what was in it but he said it was important that you be the one who read it."

The Doctor nodded. He heard footsteps approaching behind him and he could tell just by the sound that they belonged to Donna.

"What's going on, then?" she asked, hands on her hips, fake smile on her face.

The Doctor pushed the envelope into his jacket pocket and got to his feet, "I was just telling your mother that I had a hankering for some blueberry cheesecake. Maybe you'd like to join me? It's your favorite, am I right?"

Her smile grew wider but so did her curiosity, "It is. But how did you know that?"

Panic swept through him, "Um, Sylvia told me, right Sylvia?" He shot her a pleading look.

"Oh yes, I was just telling him how much you loved it." Winking at him when Donna wasn't looking.

"Oh," she blushed red, embarrassed, "but yes, I'd love to join you. Get out of this house for a while. Would you like to come, mum?"

"No thank you. Actually, I think you should take Jenny and Clara along, I think I need to be alone for a bit if you don't mind.

Jenny and Clara chose that moment to make their appearance in the kitchen. Jenny went over to her grandmother and kissed her on the top of her head while Clara made her way to the Doctor's side.

"John and I were just going out for some dessert, why don't you two come with us?"

Jenny grinned, "Sounds like a plan to me! See you later grandma!" she yelled as she took Clara's hand and pulled her out the door.

Clara pulled a mock 'oh no' face as she was being dragged away by the child. Donna beamed a genuine smile and took one last look at her mother before shrugging on her jacket, "Be home in a bit, mum."

"After you," the Doctor gestured. As she walked on ahead of him, he turned around to give Sylvia one last wave, she was already crying again.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. A little fun fact, blueberry cheesecake is actually my favorite dessert so I thought, why not Donna's as well? Until next time, kiddies.