Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, but I do own David Tennant. Sorry, Georgia Moffet. (obviously just joking)

Two days after our little shopping trip, the Doctor (who was dressed like a normal guy) and I were shoving bags into small back seat of my Corvette. It was early, even for me. The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, sending a slightly golden-blue haze across the block. It was enough light to see, but every now and then I'd have to squint into a shadow to find out what was there.

After about fifteen minutes, everything we needed (which wasn't much) was piled in and we were ready to leave. Of course, I was driving. After that one time to the Hunters' Inn, I wasn't letting him touch my steering wheel… with a ten-foot pole… ever.

"Why can't I drive?" He whined over the roof of my car, pulling the door open.

"Because I'd rather not completely wreck my beautiful, expensive car." I mumbled, pulling my own door open and hopping in.

He grinned. "You make me sound like a bad driver."

I smiled and shook my head, jamming my keys into the ignition. He hopped in, and pulled the seatbelt across his shoulder before clicking it into its little hub. Then, he turned to me.

"So," His face became rather serious. "Tell me about your mother so I can impress her when I meet her."

I snorted. "Are you serious?"

He dropped the serious look, and instead seemed upset. "Yeah…" His voice raised itself several octaves.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't try to impress her. You're you, and if she doesn't like it that's her problem." I turned around as I started to back out of the driveway. "And she shouldn't have a problem with you, because she's my mom and she likes everyone."

"Oh," He calmed a bit, leaning back in his seat. "That's good. That is good, right? Of course it's good, why wouldn't it be?"

I smiled and listened to his ramblings. "I should tell you about Adam, though."

He paused and focused all of his attention on me, setting his elbow on the little thing between our seats and setting his chin in his hand.

"He's a soldier."

The Doctor frowned and moved to lean back in his seat, folding his arms across his chest and looking out the window. I knew he'd react this way.

"I know you don't like men with guns, but he's a great guy." I mumbled. "He's only here for a week, and then he's going back to Iraq. Please try to be nice."

He didn't say anything, just made a 'humph' sort of sound and kept staring out the window. I knew that this conversation was closed and he wasn't listening anymore. Instead of trying to force him into talking again, I sighed and reached out to turn on the radio. As music started to softly pour from the stereos around the car, I focused on the road and three hours of driving ahead.

The minute I opened my door, I felt a swarm of mosquitoes race to me and nip at my skin. I hated the stupid things, as most people did, but I could live with them. They really liked me for some reason. Ever since I was a kid, I'd been bitten more times than the average person every summer.

With a heavy sigh, I slammed the door shut and looked at the smallish cabin and guesthouse in front of me. It had been a good two years since I'd last been here, and I could honestly say that I'd missed it. We used to come here every summer for the Fourth of July, but we'd stopped when Adam had decided to join the army.

"Auntie Cat! Space Doctor!"

I pulled myself out of my mind and grinned as Nicky came lumbering towards me. I lifted my nephew off the ground and wrapped him in a tight hug.

"Did he just call me 'Space Doctor'?" The Doctor asked, stumbling over to me as he tried to figure out how flip-flops worked.

I nodded. "It works, doesn't it?"

He shrugged, and smiled when Nicky leaped from my arms to his. He happily hugged the little boy, and released him only when his father came tromping out of the cabin.

"Cat! Good to see you out of that house of yours!" Ian yelped as he strode across the dying grass to us and wrapped me in a bear hug. He released me and turned to the Doctor. "Mr. Smith, good to see you as well." They shook each other's hand.

I looked past my brother as Morgan, his beautiful wife, pushed her way out of the door.

Morgan was a smart woman with long, strawberry-blond hair, which she gave to Nicky. Her blue eyes matched Ian's, so she'd technically given Nicky that, too. Her skin was tan thanks to the beachside house in Hawaii, and it stretched beautifully over her high cheekbones and forehead. I'd always been jealous of her flawless looks.

"Cat!" She smiled as she gracefully strode to me and wrapped her arms around my tiny frame.

I smiled and returned the hug. "You look great, Mo."

"Thank you." She released me and flipped her hair over her shoulder, her icy blue eyes glinting as she reached out and brushed my normally side-swept bangs to the side. "Did you get a haircut?"

I nodded. "A few since I last saw you."

She glanced back at Ian and 'John' and leaned towards me. "Who's the guy?" She asked, flashing me a wink. "He's kinda cute."

I grinned. "And British."

"You're kidding!"

I shook my head.

"A gorgeous British boyfriend! Jeez, you've been busy."

I blinked. "Oh, no, he's not my boyfriend."

"But Ian told me-"

"Yeah, Ian jumped to conclusions. He's just a friend." I explained. "I only brought him along because Mom wouldn't let me leave him behind. Well, that and I don't trust him to be in my house on his own."

"He's living with you? What are you, roommates?" She asked.

I smirked slightly, hiding it from her carefully. "Something like that."

"Catherine!"

I spun and found my mother standing on the steps, a smile on her aging face.

"Mom!" I gasped as I turned and ran to her, throwing myself into her waiting arms. I hadn't seen her in weeks, and I was glad to see her again. I'd missed her hugs.

"Oh, it's wonderful to see you, sweetheart." She tucked a few strands of hair behind my ear as she pushed me away gently, grabbing my face between her frail hands. "Now, introduce me to your boyfriend."

"Mom, he's not-"

"No, introduce me."

I sighed, grabbed her hands from my face and pulled her over to where the Doctor was talking to Ian, trying his hardest not to correct him on how the world would end. I could tell it was hard for him because he was literally biting his tongue.

I smiled. "Mom, this is the-" I stopped myself. "I mean, this is John."

She reached out to shake his waiting hand, but shot me an odd look.

"It's wonderful to finally meet you, Mrs. Black!" The Doctor grinned, holding her hand tightly in both of his as he leaned forward so she wouldn't be uncomfortable. The height comparison between the two was shocking.

"Oh, um, indeed," She mumbled, obviously a little surprised that my 'boyfriend' was so outgoing. "You as well."

"Careful, babe,"

I turned around again to see my younger brother Adam and his girlfriend Maddy slowly making their way out of the cabin. His large, strong soldier arm was wrapped around her fragile neck, and her thin arm was around his waist trying to hold him up. It was then that I noticed the cast on his leg.

"What happened?" I yelped, running over to help Maddy with the impossible task of supporting my muscle-y brother.

Adam threw his free arm around my neck thankfully, and then smiled down at me. "It was just an accident at the base, Cat," He leaned over to press a kiss to my temple. "In fact, you should be happy I got it. It's the only reason they gave me the week off."

I frowned, but didn't say anything else as I helped him over to where everyone else was standing. As the Doctor caught sight of my younger brother, he frowned, but otherwise held his tongue. I knew he didn't like soldiers, but he'd have to… soldier through it. Oh, I'm never going to become a standup comedian.

"So, this is your boyfriend?" Adam asked as he jerked his head towards the Doctor.

I groaned. "Alright, let's get this straight right now. We're not in a relationship. He's just a friend that's sort of staying with me for a while."

Adam smirked. "Cat, you brought him to meet your family at the family lake house."

"Only because Mom wouldn't let me leave him home!" I objected. I suddenly realized I was being rude. Really, I was spending way too much time with him. "No offense."

"Oh, no, none taken." He tucked his hands into his pockets. "I would've rather stayed home." He looked around at my family. "No offense."

They all smiled at me, as if approving him. I knew they weren't, though. They all needed to get to know him before they would fully understand how fantastic he was.

After a few moments of silence, I spoke up. "Well, I'll get him settled in the guesthouse. You guys go do whatever it is you were doing." I waved them off, and grabbed the Doctor's sleeve to pull him back to the car. We started to pull things out of the backseat, but once everyone was back inside he paused and threw his elbow into my shoulder.

"You almost called me the Doctor." He smirked, looking rather cheeky.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I don't normally call you John," I mumbled, throwing a suitcase at him. "Plus, you're clever, you'd come up with some lie to explain it." I grabbed his other bag and slammed the door of my car shut. He grinned, and followed me as I began to walk towards the guesthouse.

I didn't understand why we had a guesthouse. We never actually had guests, so it mostly served as storage for when it rained. It wasn't huge, just a small two bedroom cabin that didn't even have a bathroom. It looked a lot bigger than it actually was, though, because it was connected to the sauna.

I threw the bag at the Doctor and leaned down to reach into the small hole on the wooden porch, fishing out the key we hid down there. I stood up again and pulled the screen door open before jamming the key into the lock on the actual door. I pushed the door open, and held it open so the Doctor could trip inside.

"Alright, this is the living room, and you can use the bedroom on the left," I mumbled, snatching the suitcase and bag from him like a good host and pulling them over to the doorway that led to his temporary bedroom. "If you have to use the bathroom, you'll have to come inside 'cause there isn't one in here." I turned to catch him holding a picture frame, staring at it with curious eyes.

After a few moments, he realized I was staring at him and set it down. "Sorry,"

I shook my head. "You didn't do anything wrong, Doctor."

"But, I thought-"

"It's a photo," I mumbled, frowning slightly as I interrupted. "It's there to be seen."

He stared at me for a moment, and then cleared his throat. "Right, of course," He nodded his head quickly and without purpose, knowing that he in fact had done something wrong.

"I'll leave you to unpack." With that, I headed towards the door, only risking a single glance at the photograph of me and my father.

I could hear everyone else laughing close to the cabin, trying to start up a fire. After the Doctor had pointed out the picture I hadn't seen for years, I'd started to back away from everyone else and wallow in self-pity. I wasn't proud of myself for doing it, but I did it anyways. So, in order to get away from all of the noise, I'd trudged out to the dock that harbored my family's many boats.

I sighed as my feet moved in consecutive circles through the murky water. My flip-flops sat on the wood beside me, and my hands supported me from falling backwards. My face was blank. Thinking of my dad used to hurt so much I often felt like I was going to die, but that had changed. Now, I didn't feel anything. Just numb.

Suddenly, I heard a thump.

I stopped moving my feet and looked over my shoulder to find the Doctor on his knees, clinging to one of the metal poles that supported the dock.

"You alright?" I asked. I couldn't help a small smile from coming to my face.

He grinned and hopped over to drop himself onto the dock beside me. "I'm always alright!" He happily pulled his own flip-flops off and dipped his long and hairy feet into the water.

"Did you, like, trip on the planks or something?"

He sneered back at his shoes. "When can I wear my trainers again?"

I smiled, shook my head, and looked back out at the lake. The sun was setting, casting an orange reflection across the surface of the water. The hundreds of trees around the edge of the lake cast their own distorted reflection, only disturbed by the sunset fisherman and their boats.

"See that bay over there?" I asked, pointing to my left. "My dad and I used to fish there all the time. I don't remember it, but he took all sorts of video."

The Doctor was silent, but followed my finger.

"And we swam to the sandbar over there a lot." I moved my arm about ninety degrees to the right. "I had this little life jacket and these things that I put on my arms. I still have no idea what they were called." I was smiling now, but the numbness was still there. The more I thought about it, the more I could feel the sharp poke at my emotions, too.

I jumped as I felt something warm envelope my hand. Curious as to what it was, I looked down and found the Doctor's long finger's squished between mine, our palms loosely pressed against each other. I blinked and glanced up at him, but he was just staring out at the water. I stared up at him softly for a few more moments, and then did the same.

"I'm guessing you know about the plane crash," I mumbled. "The one he died in…"

He nodded. "November 5th of 1988, Black Sky Corporation's CEO dies in his own plane."

I nodded in response, and sadly bit my lip. "I was only two," I started. "I don't even remember the funeral."

He gently squeezed my hand and we sat silently.

After several moments of just enjoying his company and staring out at the setting sun shining brightly across the water, I pulled him to his feet, let him slip on his flip-flops and tugged him back towards the others.

A/N: I'm dedicating the next three chapters of this story to the brave men and women that serve the country I'm so luck to live in. If Adam were real, I'd hug him and never let him go. All of the men and women over-seas in Iraq and Afghanistan risk their lives, and sometimes loose them, everyday so millions of people don't have to. So, please, help me thank these amazing, wonderful people by hoping (or praying, if you are religious) for them every day and night.

Anyways, what'd you think? Cat's family is finally revealed! And now you know what happened to her dad. So... yeah...

I'm not gonna put much here this time around because I 'm actually very busy. Basketball season is in full swing and I'm back to practicing twice a week with tournaments every other weekend. It's actually why I'm posting this a day earlier than I'd planned. I've got two games tomorrow, basketball on Monday, and again on Tuesday. Yay for me, right?

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed!

Allons-y!

Jazmine