Knots In Time
Chapter Four: Timey Whimey Wedding
The Doctor's driving had obviously not improved much over the years, as the TARDIS materialized back on Earth with a lurch, sending most of its occupants sprawling to the floor. The Doctor pulled himself upright on the console and adjusted the view screen to verify that they'd landed in the right place.
"Ha! You've been gone all of fifteen seconds! Molto Bene!"
Pulling herself to her feet quickly, Rose headed directly for the doors but paused before opening them to look back at her future family. Future Rose had moved to take her place at the Doctor's side, one arm wrapped around her son's shoulders. Her daughter Jane was grinning with excitement at witnessing a piece of her parents' life before she'd been born.
"I..." Rose began. "I have no idea what to say. Thank you for taking me home. I suppose I've got a lot more to look forward to than I realised." Future Rose smiled back at her knowingly and gave her son an affectionate squeeze. Rose fumbled a bit with her hands, trying to think of anything else she ought to do before departing.
"Go on," urged the Doctor, tossing her communicator back to her, "you're going to kill my poor past self with anticipation if you don't leave this TARDIS and marry me right now." He winked at Future Rose as he said this.
With a mournful glance at the state of her gown as she pocketed the device, Rose took a deep breath and opened the door.
The Doctor had just enough time to process the thought that he was looking at the TARDIS and this might mean something very, very bad had happened to the walls between universes when the door opened. Out stepped his Rose, hair and dress in shambles, plastered with mud. He didn't care. She was back.
They locked eyes and ran straight for each other, meeting in the middle of the aisle in a passionate embrace. He held her tightly, still not entirely sure she was real, and searched her face for answers.
"How? What? You just... Where'd you go? Whose TARDIS is that?" He babbled somewhat incoherently as the blue ship faded away again nearly as swiftly as it had arrived.
Rose silenced him with a finger pressed against his lips and said, "it's a long story Doctor, and I'll tell you everything I can, but first, I believe we were in the middle of something, no?"
The Doctor looked around them, noticing for the first time since the TARDIS had reappeared, that they were being watched with equal measures of relief and confusion by all of their friends and family. Pete stood off the side next to Jackie and Tony with a dazed expression on his face.
"Right." The Doctor cleared his throat. He took Rose's hand and slipped it around his arm, leading her to the front of the room where their bewildered officiant stood. He nodded to the man to begin.
The trembling man swiveled his head from the Doctor to Rose, eyes wide in shock. He was one of the few people in the room not in any way affiliated with Torchwood. He was not handling the sudden disappearance and reappearance of the bride very well. Rose put her hand on his arm reassuringly. "The quick version is fine."
Clearing his throat nervously, he began, "We are here today to celebrate the joining of these two remarkable people in marriage. Is it your intention, before these witnesses, to bind yourselves together in this life?"
Rose and the Doctor both nodded, not taking their eyes off of each other.
"Then, John Alistair N...Noble, do you take Rose Marion Tyler to be your w...wife?" He stammered.
"I do." The Doctor smiled at Rose.
"And you, Rose Marion Tyler," He swallowed hard, "do you take John Alistair Noble to be your husband?"
"I do." Rose replied with a giddy smile.
Seeing that the officiant was at a bit of a loss for his next lines, the Doctor tugged at his tie, slipping it loose from his collar. Taking Rose's hand in his again, he wrapped it around both of their hands, binding them together.
"Rose Tyler, I give you my forever." He said, voice barely louder than a whisper.
"Doctor. You've always had mine." She pulled him in for a kiss with her free hand and the guests, silent until this point, erupted in cheers and applause.
Much later that night, after hours of dancing, chatting with guests, and many banana flavored cupcakes covered in edible ball bearings, the Doctor and Rose were able to finally make their escape. Rose gave him an abbreviated version of her kidnapping and return to Earth while one of the hire cars her father had arranged drove them to the hotel. She told him simply that she'd ran into their future selves on the planet and had gotten a ride back in the baby TARDIS. The Doctor was absolutely delighted to hear that their little girl would fly one day for sure. (And more than a little relieved that they wouldn't be spending their honeymoon tracking down some great universe-threatening calamity that ripped holes in the time-space continuum.)
She kept their children a secret though, rationalizing that telling him might endanger their future timelines, but really she just wanted to be able to surprise him with the news when the time came. Besides, they had few more years to themselves if her guess on their future selves' ages was correct. Rose intended to enjoy them.
They stumbled up the stairs to their room, both a little bit tipsy from the champagne at the reception and punch-drunk from the stress of the long day. Rose giggled as the Doctor attempted to lift her over the threshold before the heavy security door swung shut. He managed it, but only just, and promptly tripped over the suitcase he'd set inside the room before picking her up. They ended up falling onto the bed together in a heap, rather than the graceful romantic gesture he'd been aiming for. It was a few minutes before either of them stopped laughing long enough to move.
The Doctor rolled over to lie on his back next to Rose, long legs dangling off the edge of the bed. She took his hand in hers and toyed with the metal band that now encircled his finger. Halfway through the reception she'd realised that they'd forgotten the rings; the Doctor had found them in his pocket and they'd exchanged them with mock solemnity before cutting the cake. At that point, both of them had had more than enough to drink to render any attempts at seriousness in the face of the absurdity of their wedding utterly useless. Even Jackie had given up her grumbling about the state of Rose's dress and 'bloody aliens' and was enjoying herself.
"This is going to take some getting used to. You're my husband now. How'd that end up happening?"
"Weeeeeeeeeeell..." He began with a cheeky grin. Rose poked him playfully. "Oi! I was just going to say that it happened because in addition to being brilliant and incredibly handsome," he dodged another jab, "I'm the luckiest bloke in the entire universe."
Rose looked over at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Lucky, eh?" She leaned over to kiss him. "What'd ya say you help me out of this dress, Doctor Tyler, then we'll see how lucky you are?"
"Tyler?" He frowned. "I don't think that's how it works," The Doctor looked at Rose, hovering above him, one eyebrow raised, eyes glittering with mirth and love. "er... yeah it is." He reached up and pulled her down onto him, hands already searching for her elusive zipper.
And that was the last coherent thought either of them managed for a few hours.
a/n - Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed it, be sure to let me know!
This isn't the last you've seen of these two from me either; be sure to check out my one-shot follow up to my first story In Any Universe, Good Morning. It's a good bit... steamier than this, if that's your cup of tea. I'm in the planning stages for another multiparter involving Cybermen as well.