A few weeks later, they had all but forgotten the incident with Mickey. Jake had stayed for a few days but got called away. Rose just assumed someone had caught up with Mickey and he was starting a new life somewhere. They started looking at houses because they wanted to choose something together, Rose said she'd live in a hut with him if she has to, Alec said he hoped it wouldn't come to that and that after all, money wasn't really an object considering she had no bills to pay and a more than generous allowance for her Torchwood work so they decided they would buy something but Pete intervened. He didn't like the thought of Rose or Alec for that matter being subject to a mortgage hanging around their necks so they made a compromise which once Alec got talked around to solved their problems and still made him feel he was paying.

Pete offered to buy a house for them and they would pay him back every month, just like rent but they would own it outright from the start, be real homeowners. They liked that idea so they started house hunting. Jackie was still pestering to come and visit so Rose relented, after telling her mother that she and Tony could come down and admitted to her that she had practically moved into Alec's house anyway, just going home occasionally while she gave notice on the place which was two months. Jackie said she'd be having a word with him about that. So it was all arranged and Pete said he'd try and join them.

Alec's big moment was coming – meeting Jackie Tyler and if he could just survive that then the rest would be a breeze. He had finally persuaded Rose to give notice on her house, she'd practically moved in with him anyway and they'd live there until they found one to buy. He was quite comfortable with the arrangement but had to be persuaded by Rose with her usual powers of persuasion including some unmentionable things into accepting Pete's offer to pay for the house.

Rose was happy now she'd moved into Alec's and they were already calling it their house but she'd held off changing her address on everything until they moved properly. She had advertised for a part time Manager and employed a woman called Clare to do four days a week to start off with a view to her taking over entirely if everything worked out due to Rose looking to move. She spent a few days going over everything and introduced her to Carly.

The second week Clare had been there, Rose sneaked off home early to spend the afternoon with Alec and thought she'd surprise him for his birthday and caught him off guard. Having promised to give him a birthday he'd remember, she'd gone off to work giving him a card and telling him he'd get his present that night and he'd said as long as she came with it. She didn't know Alec was planning something of his own for her return to surprise her because he knew the next weekend her family were coming down so he'd been into her house to tidy up for her and was just returning when Rose pulled into 'their' driveway.

Alec looked pleasantly surprised "Hi, Sexy, what are you doing home so early? Not that I'm complaining, far from it."

"Just thought I'd surprise you, keep you on your toes, Inspector, since it's your birthday," she said as she kissed his cheek.

They only now did that in public. He also had an even bigger surprise in store for that very evening.

"Ellie brought me a present around this morning, she said she was going to buy me an apron but thought better of it," he joked. "Seriously, why would she want to buy me one of those?"

Rose just giggled. "If you don't know, Inspector, I'm not going to tell you."

They went inside and the door had hardly closed and Rose just managed to pull the curtains across before he had her over the sofa arm practically knocking her off her feet in the process. He pulled down her knickers and pulled up her skirt as she fell over the arm as she pulled him with her, balancing him on the arm and undid his trousers and pulled down his shorts as he moved on to her.

"Well this is a pleasant surprise, Miss Tyler," he managed to say in between kisses. "I could get use to this, having you here all weekend."

"Well, Inspector, be careful what you wish for," as she grabbed his neck and started to pull off his t-shirt.

"No time," he whispered as he had her knickers off and she'd pulled his shorts down as far as they'd go and she was already lost in the moment of his touching her.

She dug her fingers under his t-shirt trying desperately to pull it up but failed as he dug his hands into her hips and was pushing as hard as he could. She was begging him to go faster and deeper all the time and he was more than happy to comply. When they had both been satisfied at the same time, he gently eased off of her, kissing where he had just left. She held on to him as he came up and kissed her tummy then pushed up her t-shirt to kiss her breasts, pushing up her bra and kissing under it.

"Rosie, I love you," he whispered.

"Alec, you're just an amazing lover, you always leave me wanting you even more," she whispered back to him.

Reaching for him to stroke him as he brushed against her intimate area as he gasped for breath at her touch.

"Rosie, my sweet, you'll be the death of me yet if you keep doing that to me."

"Yeah, but you'd go with a great big smile on your face, Inspector," she laughed.

He put his hands under her bottom and squeezed hard, indicating she was to do the same and as she did he let her other hand guide him back into her gently, just barely touching and they both gasped for breath.

When they finally untangled themselves and cleaned up a bit, Rose told him things were going well with her new Manager so she was going to take Saturdays off. Alec was delighted saying it wasn't before time either. He'd only met her once when he'd called in but she seemed to know what she was doing and he and Rose actually went out to a café for lunch. They could start making plans to go away at weekends if they weren't viewing any houses and talked about even going away for a week. Alec hadn't made plans like that for a long time but had come to an important decision that would change their lives forever that very evening.

After spending most of the afternoon on it, they got off the sofa, Alec said he'd made a reservation for dinner and told Rose to go choose something nice to wear, the shorter the better and if she needed any help he'd be only too happy to. She thanked him and assured him she would shout if she did. She took her time choosing something she thought he'd like having treated herself to some new dresses and sexy underwear (for his benefit, not hers) she thought. She knew this was going to be a special occasion for his birthday as he'd told her he'd not celebrated it for a long time, he'd had no-one to celebrate with all these years.

Now every birthday was going to be worth celebrating, she would see to that. She put on his favourite perfume and was just about ready when he came upstairs anyway. He stood behind her with his arms around her waist and told how beautiful she looked as he saw her through the mirror and turned her around.

"Don't you go making me having to get dressed up again, Inspector, that was the reason I didn't call you upstairs," she smiled.

"I wouldn't dream of it Rosie, my love," as he kissed her. "I just wanted a sneak preview before we went out. I have one more thing I need to do before we go out, we still have time then we'll get a taxi then we can have a birthday drink, sweetheart." He kissed her once more. He knew it sent a shiver down her back when he did.

He disappeared into the bathroom Rose thought he was just trimming his beard and freshening up. She was still in the bedroom when he opened the bathroom door and walked across the landing. Rose stumbled back and almost fell on the bed. Alec stood there minus his beard and Rose stood with her mouth open in disbelief.

"Alec!" was all she managed to stutter out, still staring at him.

He looked just the same as she had see the Doctor all those years ago, minus the brown striped suit and the trainers. Alec was wearing a light grey suit and black shoes. Then there was the question of the spiked hair, Alec didn't have spiked hair, more like when she had first met the Doctor. In fact, Alec Hardy looked exactly like the image of the Doctor from the night Rose had been with him in the Tyler Mansion.

Rose swallowed and managed to find her voice after what seemed ages. "You didn't have to Alec, really you didn't. You are already gorgeous and I love you with that beard. I love you with or without it and I never expected to ever see you without it but I'm more than pleasantly surprised, Inspector."

Alec walked towards her and she put her hand on his face, feeling his smooth chin, then she put both hands on his face and pulled him towards her and pulled him into a deep passionate kiss.

When she let him go, he had the same look on his face as he'd had when she had kissed the Doctor while she was being possessed by Cassandra. He was just about to speak when she pulled him back and kissed him again. "Well, actions speak louder than words" he was thinking. He managed to get away for a second.

"Rosie, sweetheart, I wish I'd done that before if I was going to get that reaction. The truth is, until I met you I had no-one to impress, no reason to take care of myself but now, well, now I have you."

They kissed again. Alec was the first to break it. "Sweetheart, we have a dinner reservation in half an hour, I'll phone for a taxi and we can talk about this over dinner. I have something I want to talk to you about."

They went downstairs and Alec phoned for a taxi. All the while, Rose was staring at him, putting her hand on his face. She just couldn't believe the transformation. She had fallen in love with a bearded Alec Hardy and he had chosen to show his love by shaving it off and showing how he really looked underneath it.

ooooooooo{silversurfer60}ooooooooo

He had been right. Now he had reason to take care of himself. He had gone round to Rose's house after she had left, to clean up for her family arriving and had opened one of the dresser drawers to put something away and he had found a photo of her and the Doctor that she had shown him on her laptop so it wasn't like she was hiding it. She probably still felt uncomfortable reminding him constantly of how he looked. He had sat on her sofa thinking long and hard about the situation. Any other man would have run a mile, he almost had done before he realised he loved her no matter what. He had come to realise he was head over heels with her before she even told him. So what? He looked like a man, an alien from another planet in another universe what's the big deal? Rose had been through so much and had poured her heart out to him. She didn't have to. She could have kept him in the dark, lived a lie but she didn't. She had trusted him with her heart and he had almost broken it again after she had already had it broken. She hadn't deserved the silent treatment while he'd been wallowing in self pity. What were his feelings compared to hers?

He decided right there and then in Rose's house he was going to stop being an ass about it and do something to please her, something that would change both their lives. He got up, locked her door and walked down into town. It was his birthday but what better time?

He'd got back via a taxi to finish tidying her house just as she arrived back early.