Chapter 32 – Dealing With Tantrums
Rose woke up the next morning to a light knocking on the bedroom door. She yawned and rubbed her eyes, sitting up.
"Yeah?" she asked drowsily, struggling to get her hair out of her eyes.
The door swung open to reveal Jack, poking his head in. "Thought I should let you guys know, the Master's gone."
"Thank God," Rose breathed, looking at Leah and the Doctor beside her, still fast asleep next to each other with Leah cradled in the Doctor's arm. "I'll let him know."
Jack nodded, following her gaze. "Oh, that's cute," he remarked.
Rose grinned, slipping quietly out of bed and pulling on a dressing gown, struggling to wrap it over the bump. "He's definitely gone?"
"Left in a taxi this morning," Jack assured her. "On the way to Daufor right now if he hasn't tried to kill the driver."
Rose nodded, not even seeing a joke in that. "As long as he gets lost forever."
Jack just smiled supportively at that, before changing the subject. "You guys need anything?"
Rose shook her head. "No, thanks."
Jack nodded again. "Call me if you need me," he said, then left. Rose took another glance at her husband and daughter still fast asleep, before moving off.
She went to the medical room first to pick up the Doctor's pregnancy medication, saying good morning to her Mum and Tony at the same time before moving to the kitchen make some breakfast. Even by the time she got back to the bedroom, the Doctor and Leah were both still asleep. She rolled her eyes and moved to the Doctor, kissing him lightly.
"Doctor," she said quietly, resting a hand on his shoulder.
He just groaned in reply.
She smiled and shook his shoulder slightly. "Wake up, lazy bones."
He groaned again, but kept his eyes closed.
"Okay," she said. "Be lazy if you want."
He groaned once more, but didn't budge an inch. She kissed him again and looked next to Leah to try and wake her up. She reacted exactly the same as the Doctor, groaning and turning further for shelter in her father before Rose eventually managed to get her to sit up, half-asleep, and her hair everywhere as she rubbed bleary eyes.
"Breakfast's ready, it's in the kitchen," Rose told her gently. Eventually the toddler managed to make it out the door as Rose sighed despairingly and turned back to her husband, who still hadn't moved an inch.
She rolled her eyes and rested the nozzle of the now very familiar needle gun against his shoulder. "I'm gonna give you your medication. Three, two, one..." She pulled the trigger. It hissed and fired, but the Doctor didn't even flinch. Even after she got dressed he still hadn't moved, so she just kissed him again. "Breakfast's in the kitchen when you're ready."
He groaned again, as an affirmation that he'd heard.
It was about twenty minutes before the Doctor decided to get up. He made it to the kitchen, bleary-eyed and half dressed, dropping down into an available chair and rubbing his eyes.
"Good mornin'!" Rose said brightly, giving him a bowl of cornflakes and a cup of tea.
"Yeah," the Doctor grunted, shoving a spoonful into his mouth.
"Mum's been screaming abuse at you for about half an hour."
"I know," the Doctor replied tiredly. "I heard through the soundproof walls."
"You're gonna check her and Tony today, yeah?" Rose asked, taking a seat at the table.
He nodded. "I don't think I get a choice."
"How long will it take?"
He paused to think. "A day, a bit more, maybe."
"Good," Rose replied, reaching forward to try and subdue his bed-hair. It made barely a difference. "Do you need my help?"
He nodded again. "It'd speed it up."
"Daddy," a voice suddenly came from the doorway and Leah appeared still in her pyjamas, hands tugging the front of her top as she stared up at him.
"Hmm?" he asked, taking another sip of tea.
"Please can I talk to you today?"
"I'm sorry, Leah," the Doctor replied, turning to look at her. "I need to check your Gran and Tony all of today."
Leah's gaze dropped to the floor. "But... Daddy..."
"I'm really sorry, Leah," Rose said quickly. "Daddy's busy today and I have to help him, so it'll be borin' in here anyway."
"Okay," Leah replied, utterly deflated.
"Do you wanna spend the day with Uncle Jack?"
"No," Leah replied, still with the same tone of voice.
"I promise I'll play with you tomorrow," the Doctor said gently. "But if you don't want to spend the day with Uncle Jack you're gonna have to look after yourself for a lot of today."
"Okay."
"Is that all right?"
"Mmm."
"Good," the Doctor replied, just as he finished the cornflakes and Rose picked up the bowl. "Just come to us if you need anything."
The Doctor and Rose spent all day checking Jackie and Tony, and by 6pm they were still only halfway through, but decided to call it a day anyway.
The Doctor took a leaf out of Jack's book and took it upon himself to learn how to order some pizza, simply because everyone was too knackered to cook. They ate around the kitchen table with Leah, who spent quite a lot of time staring at her Father.
"What did you do today, Leah?" he asked.
She perked up slightly. "I watched TV then I played then I drawed and now I'm eating," she said quickly, beaming.
The Doctor grinned. "And pretty soon you'll be sleeping," he joked.
Leah's smile faded slightly, her face unnoticeably paling. "... Yeah." She paused, and then started again. "Will you play with me tomorrow, Daddy?"
The Doctor pulled a face. "No, I'm sorry Leah, Granny and Tony still need my attention. We'll be done soon."
"Oh," Leah muttered in the exact disappointed tone of voice she'd used earlier. Not that it's was noticeable enough for anyone else to pick up on.
They chatted idly for a while. It was around about the moment that Rose began a conversation about what they had to do tomorrow with the Doctor that Leah began to feel incredibly angry and frustrated. She felt so mad, heat coursing through her body, she wanted to hit something, break something, scream and throw herself around and...
"I hate you!" she suddenly screamed at her parents, dropping to the floor and instantly commencing a massive tantrum.
The Doctor looked at Rose, frozen on the spot. He didn't know what to do with a screaming toddler, and by the look on Rose's face, she didn't either.
"Erm... Question. What do we do?" the Doctor hissed under the sound of the little girl currently screaming her lungs out.
"Err..." Rose's eyes flashed to the girl just in time to see her assault a tea towel. "What does the sitcom parenting guide say on tantrums?"
"Um..." The Doctor tried to recall what he'd seen. "... Don't pay attention to it?"
"Okay, we'll do that," Rose said quickly, turning to look at the wall away from Leah, as did the Doctor. The screaming didn't seem to stop.
"This isn't working," the Doctor muttered, staring at the wall.
"We'll wait," Rose decided. There was a loud crack from across the room.
"I'll bet you a tenner that was the sound of a cupboard breaking," the Doctor muttered without moving an inch.
"I totally didn't see this comin'," Rose breathed, resisting the urge to glance over her shoulder. "She's gonna hurt herself."
"Again! Question!" the Doctor began brightly. "What do we do?"
"Keep ignoring her."
There was more screaming, crying and stamping of feet as Leah tried desperately to get their attention.
"She's looking at us," the Doctor breathed.
"Don't look back," Rose urged.
"You know, in a way I'm proud," the Doctor admitted after a moment.
"What?"
"She's having a tantrum. That's normal, right? For a human? This is like her rite of passage. She's a completely normal three-year-old."
"She didn't really seem like the type," Rose muttered as the screaming intensified. Another loud crack came.
"Cupboard door number two," the Doctor noted.
"Sounded more like some kinda utensil to me," Rose replied.
"The TARDIS is really not gonna be happy with me."
More screaming.
"Does it sound like it's gettin' quieter?" Rose wondered.
"I can't tell, my ears are ringing."
Something smashed.
"Was that glass?" Rose asked, anxious.
"Yep," the Doctor replied, and within seconds both parents were up and moving to grab Leah before she ended up hurting herself on broken glass. "Leah!" the Doctor said quickly, holding her gently to the floor. The screaming seemed to get even louder.
"Leah," the Doctor said calmly over the screaming. "Calm down."
She screamed back in a menagerie of incomprehensible words, thrashing around on the floor.
The Doctor glanced at Rose before he took hold of Leah, holding her close, but she wormed about in his grip, still screaming.
"Leah, calm down."
"I don't wanna!" she screamed.
"You don't want to what?"
"I don't wanna go to bed!" she screamed, but seemed to be calming a little in his arms.
"Why don't you want to go to bed?"
"Don't wanna!" she yelled, tears pouring down her face.
"Tell me why not," he said gently, still holding her close.
She reached up to cling onto him, still crying but no longer struggling. "Don't make me!"
"Why not?" he repeated patiently.
"Don't like it," she gasped through her sobs. "Don't wanna. Please don't, Daddy, please."
"Why don't you like it? Is it nightmares?"
She sniffed, trembling through her tears as she nodded fervently, still clinging onto him tightly. The Doctor reached down and pushed her back from him, looking into her little eyes. "Nightmares are just dreams, Leah," he told her. "Yeah, they're very scary, and it's okay to feel scared, but remember they're not real."
She brought a new set of fresh tears. It was breaking his hearts.
"Please don't cry, you know how much it wrecks me," he said, offering a small smile. "Daddy's a wimp when it comes to you."
She suddenly giggled, sniffing despite the fact there was already a load of snot on her face.
"Hey there it is," the Doctor said, grinning as he brushed back some hair from her eyes. "That beautiful smile. I love you."
"I'm sorry I got mad," Leah whispered.
"It's okay, just don't do it again. Anger doesn't solve anything," the Doctor replied. "But it's bedtime."
Leah looked ready to burst into tears again. He quickly kissed her forehead to avoid a fresh onslaught.
"Hey, nightmares can't hurt you. Give it a try. If you get really scared, come and find me and Mummy, okay?"
She looked up at him with those watery eyes. "Okay," she said a little reluctantly.
The Doctor kissed her again as Rose swooped in to pick her up to carry her to bed. They both kissed her goodnight, then left out into the corridor.
"We've entered the tantrum stage," Rose surmised.
"So that'll end when she's 18, then," the Doctor joked, running a hand through his hair. "I think I need an early night."
"Me too," Rose replied. "Let me clean up the glass first."
Twenty minutes later they were in bed. Thirty minutes after that, they were asleep. Forty minutes after that the Doctor had his recurring dream, and finally at 11pm Leah was in their bed, absolutely petrified.