Jackie slumped back onto the couch with a huff, picking up her tea from the coffee table and switching on the TV. She sighed as the news told her the horrors of the day-fires, murders, and worse-and thought of her daughter. Was Rose safe? She trusted the Doctor, but how long would it be before he broke his promise?
Jackie knew that eventually, something would happen to Rose. She could die, she could get a rare alien disease, she could be whisked away by evil monsters, or she could be driven crazy by the frantic, ever-changing world that she had been thrown into.
A strange noise brought her out of her reverie and she almost spilt her tea as she span, automatically, in the direction of the sound. It was a sound that was impossible to explain, a strange sound that, whenever she heard it, made her fill up with joy, but also partially with trepidation, because she knew that whatever happened next would be good news or bad news.
It was the sound of the TARDIS.
She put down her mug and ran to the hallway, only to find a huge, blue box blocking the way to the door (apparently the Doctor had decided to park closer-the rain was falling from the sky by the bucket outside).
The door opened with a creak, and her daughter stepped out, carrying a huge backpack and grinning widely.
"Rose!" She exclaimed, pulling her in for a huge, relieved hug. She was alive!
Rose squealed as she hugged Jackie, laughing at her reaction to her return. "How long have we been gone?" She enquired.
"About three months!" She scolded her. Rose felt quite guilty-she usually visited at least once a month.
The doctor stepped out of the TARDIS, smiling at the gleeful reunion.
"Oi, you!" Jackie said. He winced, waiting for the painful reproach, but was instead surprised when he was dragged into a rib-crushing hug.
"I thought I'd said I don't do domestic?" He laughed.
"You do in my house!" She let go of him and turned her gaze to the huge bag Rose was now unloading from her back. "I suppose that will be full of washing for me? Honestly, have you aliens never heard of a washing machine?" She chastised the Doctor.
"I can't get everything in there, believe it or not." He retaliated, pointing a thumb to the TARDIS.
"Well, you would have thought a washing machine would have been a priority!" She laughed. "Anyway you, you're blocking my hall way!" She said, nodding towards the TARDIS sat directly in front of the door.
"Ah, yes, I'll just sort that out." He mumbled, dashing back into the TARDIS and closing the door.
"So..." Jackie said, walking into the kitchen and flicking the switch on the kettle. "What have you been up to lately?" She asked Rose.
"Just the usual madness," Rose laughed nervously, not sure how to approach telling her about the most recent part of her adventures.
Jackie nodded, obviously aware that Rose was holding something back, but cautious about pushing the matter. Silently, she pulled three cups out of the cupboard, and placed them on the cluttered kitchen top.
"All done!" Came a cheerful voice from the door. A soaked and somewhat dishevelled Doctor stood in the doorway, and Rose tried not to think about how incredibly attractive he looked.
"Does he drink tea?" Jackie whispered to Rose, not wanting to sound stupid, but unsure whether the alien stood in her kitchen would be accustomed to being asked how many sugars he took.
"Yes, Jackie, I do drink tea." He rolled his eyes and laughed.
"Okay, I was only asking!" She scoffed.
The Doctor looked at Rose questioningly. He mouthed the words does she know? But Rose stood there, frozen in panic. She knew that it was only fair that she told her everything. She rushed out of the room in a flurry of alarm, dragging the doctor by the hand and taking him out of earshot of her Mum.
"I don't know what to do." She muttered, her breathing become quicker in her frenzy.
"You have to do this." He said calmly, squeezing her hand reassuringly.
"I know, I know, It's just..." She took a deep breath and bit her lip nervously. "I don't know how she'll react, and I'm scared."
"I'll tell her, if you want me to." He said.
"Would you?" She breathed, feeling a huge weight off her shoulders. "I mean, you don't have to but..."
"Of course I will. Go and get changed and I'll speak to her." He smiled. She sighed with relief, and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek.
"Thank you." She smiled, and dashed upstairs.
The Doctor cringed in realisation of what he'd just agreed to do. Who would have thought that after all the Daleks and Cybermen he had fought, talking to somebody's mother would be the thing that terrified him the most. This conversation could change everything. What if Jackie resented him for making his daughter so different-so alien? It may have been a human serum, but the two thousad year gap would seem alien to her. Could Jackie stop Rose from travelling with him...Could he survive without her...?
He stepped into the kitchen and cleared his throat loudly.
"This tea's going cold." Jackie said, showing no emotion.
He took his cup from the side and leaned against the wall, trying desperately to find a way to start the conversation.
"Something has happened to her hasn't it?" She said, fully aware that Rose had changed. The Doctor thought he saw a tear drip from her eye, but he ignored it.
"I'm sorry Jackie, we had no choice. I don't even know what happened to her. She was ageing way too quickly and-she was..." he gulped, trying to hold back the tears. He remembered the terror he felt as he saw her quickly get older, and the dread at the thought of losing her. "She was dying. And it was the only thing we could do to save her..."
"What did you do?" She whispered.
"We went to a medical centre, a few thousand years in the future, and she took a serum." He told her, sipping his tea nervously, but putting it down when he noticed his hand shaking violently.
"And...what did it do to her? She's different Doctor. She's changed, and I can tell. Has she changed for the better?" Her face looked agonised.
"I don't know." He put his face in his hands and sighed angrily, before running them through his hair.
"What do you mean, Doctor?"
"The serum, it saved her. But, you're right, it changed her." He looked her in the eyes and saw the paternal fright that he had felt himself a long, long time ago. "She's never going to die, Jackie."
Unmoving, she stared at him for a few silent moments. The Doctor stood as still as a statue, waiting for her reaction. He knew how wrong it was. She was different now. She wasn't human. Not that it changed how he felt about her-he'd love her no matter what or who she was. But he felt like he had betrayed both Rose and her mother-he had changed her.
"Will you stay with her...after I'm gone?" She asked, a tear clearly slipping down her cheek..
"Forever." He promised.
"Then...it's perfect." She smiled. She dragged the Doctor into another bone-crunching hug, and muttered into his ear. "Thank you."
She knew that this was the only way that they could both be happy together.
"I thought you didn't do domestic, Doctor?" Rose's voice chirped, apprehensive, from the door.
Jackie smiled at her daughter, an everything-is-okay sort of smile, and Rose beamed back at her. They both knew they should talk things through, but they both knew that the other one didn't particularly want to talk about it.
"Come on you, we're going shopping!" Rose declared to the Doctor. "It's about time we did something human."
"Rose Tyler, I am not going shopping!" He laughed, incredulous.
"Oh yes you are! Are you coming, Mum?"
"Tell you what, I'll get dinner on, you two go out and have a nice time." She giggled at the Doctor motioning to her silently to help him.
"Okay, we'll just be a couple of hours. Allons-y!" Rose said, holding her arm out for the Doctor.
"I think you'll find that's my line!" The Doctor said, linking her arm and sticking his tongue out at her. "See you in a bit Jackie...if I survive!"