A/N: Sorry this Chapter took so long. As you may be able to tell in this chapter our little time traveling family visits the planet Barcelona and Rose and the Doctor take a trip down memory lane. So I'm thinking about skipping some time for our little family and starting my series 4 rewrite, what do you think? How much time should I skip, let me know what you think.
Chapter 15- Barcelona
Rose POV
I woke up the next 'morning' to the TARDIS chiming in my head, which meant Oliver was awake, or the Doctor had hurt himself tinkering again. I sighed and rolled onto my back letting my arm flop down across the other side of the bed. Instead of coming into contact with cold sheets my hand smacked down onto the Doctors bare chest. He jumped a bit in his sleep but other than that he just grumbled and continued sleeping. I smiled and pulled myself out of bed as silently as I could, I shoved my feet into my slippers and made my way to the door. I walked across the corridor and into Oliver's room.
When I opened the door I saw the star projections zoomed in and moving around, showing him different galaxies and constellations. I left the light switch off and used the glow of the projections to navigate my way across the room. I pulled him out of the crib and went directly to the changing table. As I changed him I saw him looking at the stars and constellations in wonder. After I finished changing his nappy I cradled him in my arms to go to the kitchen. When I turned around the light flicked on and I saw the Doctor standing in the doorway wearing only a pair of pajama bottoms. His hair was sticking every direction, but that was no different from normal and his eyes were only half open.
"You look tired," I said smirking as I walked toward him.
"Well I turned over to cuddle up to you and you were gone," he grumbled and pulled me into a hug.
"Careful, don't squish Oliver," I told him. He released me then scooped Oliver out of my arms. He cradled him against his chest, then leaned down and planted a soft kiss on my lips.
"Good morning," he said with a groggy smile.
"Morning," I replied with a bright smile. "Come on, let's get some breakfast," I said walking out of the room and towards the kitchen. I walked in and the kettle was already on, so I opened the fridge inspecting the contents for what to make for breakfast. I decided to make banana pancakes since it was the Doctor's favorite breakfast. I went to the pantry and bent down to grab the flour and winced when it pulled at the stitches in my hip, I quickly picked it up and straightened before it caused them to tear. I put the flour down on the counter and went about grabbing the rest of what I needed. I heard the Doctor enter a moment later cooing at Oliver as he played with his sonic screwdriver shaped rattle.
"What are you making love?" he asked me as I put the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
"Your favorite," I said with a smile looking at him for only a few seconds.
"Yeah? Do you want to wait till you're done cooking and feed Oliver, or do you want me to give him a bottle right now?" He asked me as I continued preparing the pancake mix.
"He's fine for a little longer I'll feed him when we're done eating," I told him and he went right back to cooing at the one month old in his arms.
"So what are we going to do today?" I asked after a few minutes as I finished mixing the batter.
"Not sure, do you wanna stay in the TARDIS, or do you wanna go somewhere?" he asked me as I put the first pancakes onto the griddle pan.
"Ohh, what about Barcelona? The planet, not the city," I asked, we had eventually gone to Barcelona shortly after our encounter with Queen Victoria and the werewolf (a.k.a. Lupine Wavelength Haemovariform) it had been amazing, until Mickey had called about the strange happenings at a local school.
"Sure, why not. Just have to find a safe time frame and all that, no revolutions or invasions or anything." He agreed as he lightly tickled Oliver's belly. I flipped the pancakes over and continued cooking as the Doctor continued to play with Oliver.
I had stacked the pancakes onto a plate and once I was finished preparing them set them down onto the table along with a plate for each of us. I prepared our tea as the Doctor put Oliver in a bouncy seat on the floor. He grabbed syrup and butter and put them on the table. I put the mugs of tea on the table and plopped two pancakes down on my plate the Doctor was already halfway done with one so I figured they were good as I started on my first one. We ate in comfortable silence except for the sound of Oliver gurgling and whacking at the different things hanging above his head in the bouncy seat.
"So, do you want to bring a stroller or do you want to do that little sling you do a lot?" The Doctor asked as he put yet another banana pancake onto his plate.
"Probably the stroller, it'll be easier, plus we aren't planning on running around and I'm sure after yesterday, the TARDIS will make sure we get there during a safe time period," I said the last part to the ceiling and received a hum that felt like, sorry but who else would have saved the planet, I had to take the shields down. There was also the feeling of a promise for today to be relaxing. In all honesty I was loving my stronger bond to the TARDIS, I could practically carry on a conversation with the old girl now, being able to tell exactly what each hum and warm feeling meant.
I finished my breakfast and unbuckled Oliver from the bouncy seat, picking him up and sitting back down to feed him. He latched on and I stroked the side of his head as he had his breakfast. I brushed his temple almost accidently and felt his happiness and contentment. He turned his head away and I fixed my top standing up and looking over at my husband who was collecting the dirty dishes and putting them in the sink.
"I've got to shower and get ready, what about you?" I asked him when he turned and leaned against the counter smiling down at me.
"Yeah, me too, I probably need a shower," was his reply.
"Come on then," I said standing with Oliver and walking out of the kitchen into the corridor. I walked down to our room and entered with the Doctor following close behind, I laid Oliver down in a small bassinet that was near an arm chair at the foot of our bed and handed him his rattle. With a kiss to his forehead I turned and entered the bathroom knowing the TARDIS would let me know if anything was wrong.
When I finished showering I walked out of the en suite wrapped in a fluffy towel and over to my chest of drawers. I pulled open the bottom drawer and found a one piece bathing suit to wear under my clothes. It was hot pink and backless. I went into my closet then in search of clothes to wear and decided on a white V-neck t-shirt and a pair of denim shorts. I pulled on the swim suit, then the t-shirt and shorts over it. I walked out to my vanity table and quickly brushed my hair then went over to the bassinet and picked up Oliver to get him dressed.
He gurgled happily at me as I carried him across the corridor to his bedroom. I went to his wardrobe and pulled out a pair of tan shorts and a light blue onesie that would match his eyes. I laid him down on the changing table and began taking off his pajamas. I pulled on the onesie and snapped the bottom then pulled the shorts over it. I picked him back up and went back to my own room I pressed another kiss to his forehead and placed him under the play mat next to my vanity. He immediately reached for the little animals hanging above his head. I smiled watching him as I sat down.
I quickly applied eyeliner and mascara then went into the bathroom to dry my hair. I avoided doing anything with it really since Barcelona had been windy the last time we had been there. I walked back out and picked up Oliver to pack things we would need for him. I grabbed a small rucksack that the Doctor had upgraded for me so it was bigger on the inside. I put in nappies, his rattle and plush, baby sunscreen, and a tiny pair of sunglasses. As an after though I grabbed a small cotton blanket to use to cover myself when I fed him. I slung on the bag and picked Oliver up out of his crib. I went across to our room and grabbed a beach blanket and towel out of the bottom drawer also shoving them in the bag and headed towards the console room.
The Doctor was there in his brown pinstripe pants and a dark blue oxford with his sleeves rolled up and collar unbuttoned plus his normal converse, he was setting up the stroller with the carrier that snapped into it. I watched smiling as he struggled to get it all secured, finally it snapped into place and he tugged the carrier just to make sure.
"There we go, all tied down, safe and secure." He said with a smile. I walked up to him and patted his cheek as I kissed the other. I pushed my foot down on the wheel lock and looked back up at his sheepish smile as I set Oliver down into the carrier and buckled him in. "Ready for an adventure?" He asked heading over to the console and grinning. I grabbed hold of the stroller in case we were tossed about so it wouldn't tip and the Doctor grabbed a pair of sunglasses off the console and tossed them to me. I caught them and hung them on the collar of my shirt until I had a free hand. He began turning knobs, pushing button and typing in commands and the console came to life. He flipped the materialization lever and the time rotor began to chug and whir as we landed.
"Alright Rose Tyler allons-y," the Doctor said practically skipping over to me he grabbed the handle of the stroller and went to push it and it didn't budge, I began laughing and he gave me an embarrassed look as he unlocked the wheels then began to push it around the console and down the ramp. I went down and pulled open the door, going out in front of them and lifted the stroller over the doorjamb.
I looked out the alleyway we had landed in to see people walking leisurely along the sidewalks of the city we had landed in. I could smell salt water and something similar to the smell of palm trees in the air and I walked backwards so I was next to the Doctor and grabbed his hand. We each grabbed one side of the stroller with our free hands and headed out of the alley way. We stopped at the edge and looked around blinking in the now bright sunlight that wasn't being blocked by buildings Oliver gave an unhappy grunt and I looked down at hit squinting face, I reached into the rucksack I had tucked into the underside of the stroller and pulled out the sunglasses putting them on his face and the strap behind his head.
"So, where do you want to go, shops or the beach?" The Doctor asked smiling at the tiny pair of sunglasses on the tiny time tot.
"How about we go down toward the beach and see what's down there. Then we can come back up this way closer to lunch time," I suggested smelling the saltwater breeze. I pushed the stroller out onto the sidewalk and toward the sound of crashing waves the Doctor following with an arm around my waist. I looked down at the infant in the carrier and was hit with the disbelief that this was real again. "You know I never thought we would be having this adventure. It was something I figured you wouldn't want or couldn't have. So I had accepted that I would never have it when I fell for you and knew I would never willingly leave you, but here we are, and I honestly couldn't be happier," I said looking up at him, his eyes looked a little damp but I'm sure he wouldn't admit it.
"I love you," was his response as he kissed my temple and we continued walking down the sidewalk. It may not have been the city in Spain, but the planet Barcelona had a very Mediterranean vibe to it. From the architecture, to the climate it had a large Mediterranean influence everywhere. An older woman walking one of the famous nose-less dogs on a leash was walking the opposite direction on the sidewalk and she smiled as she got closer.
We kept going down the sidewalk until we came to a beach, there was a small play scape in the sand and people laying around in the sand or swimming in the water as well as joggers or walkers on the sidewalk that went along the beach.
"Let's go find a quiet spot to lay down on the beach," I suggested and turned the stroller down the sidewalk, we walked until we were past the heavy groups of people and found a relatively quiet spot on the sand. The Doctor unzipped the rucksack and pulled out the beach blanket laying it in the sand. I unclipped the carrier from the stroller and put it on the blanket. He picked up the stroller and set it next to our spot in the sand.
I sat down on the blanket and pulled the sun visor over Oliver's carrier. The Doctor sat down next to me and pulled a book out of his pocket. I laid down letting the sun warm my skin and let out a please moan-like hum.
"This is nice," I murmured grabbing my sunglasses off the collar of my shirt and popping them on my nose. I felt the sand shift under the blanket pushing some toward my arm and I figured the Doctor was laying down next to me. Our little reward after saving a planet, sun and sand and the sound of waves crashing on the shore, a sleeping time tot next to me it was perfect.
We laid there for probably an hour before Oliver woke up and started crying. I unbuckled him and picked him up out of the carrier to change his nappy. I finished and laid him down on the beach blanket and he reached up for my hand as I pulled them away. I held out my finger and he grabbed it giving me a tingling feeling in my mind that I now knew was a telepathic connection. I smiled at him sitting up onto my knees and he smiled open mouthed, all gums, and gave a loud cheery squeal. I heard the Doctors book close and felt him sit up next to me. I heard the zip of the rucksack and then the sound of his rattle as the Doctor held it out in front of his hand that wasn't grasping my finger. He grabbed it and began moving his arm up and down in jerking motions then he squealed happily and began sucking on the end of it. I just smiled wider and giggled at the adorable sight before me.
"He's so perfect," I said quietly as he continued sucking on the end of the rattle and tugging on my finger. "I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it and we've been doing this for a month already."
"I know, sadly these day's won't last forever. It will fly by and suddenly he'll be grown. I just hope I don't blink and miss it." He said from beside me, I didn't even want to think about Oliver being big, I just wanted to take it day by day. Enjoy it while it was here, especially since it seemed like he was noticeably growing every day. Oliver pulled the rattle out of his mouth and released his grip on it making it fall onto his chest, he scowled at the feeling and tried to lift his head up to look at it, making grunting noises when he couldn't see what had caused that. We both laughed at that and I lifted Oliver up off the blanket and moved to the edge sitting him up against me so he could see the sand and the ocean.
"It's weird to think if I hadn't looked into the heart of the TARDIS or absorbed the time vortex he wouldn't be here," I mumbled, it was just a thought that occurred to me once in a while. Me looking into the heart of the TARDIS was what made it possible for my DNA to be compatible with the Doctor's.
"If you hadn't looked into the heart of the TARDIS and came back, I wouldn't be here," was his reply. Oliver just kept happily rubbing his feet in the sand.
"Oh, yeah I guess that's true," I murmured as I tried to think of a turning point where we could still be here, well maybe differently in our relationship but without Oliver. "If you hadn't invited Mickey along or snogged Reinette," I thought aloud.
"Yeah, I remember after we left that space ship you wouldn't talk to me. For twenty six hours and thirty seven minutes, you wouldn't talk to me. I couldn't even find you. I finally gave up and went into the console room, nothing even needed to be fixed, I just didn't want to do anything else. When you came into the console room you walked straight up to me and snogged me senseless." I looked over and he had a far off look with a faint smile on his face as he thought about that night. I thought about the many after that of sitting in the library or the media room snogging or cuddling, we hadn't done more than that until after Mickey had decided to stay behind in the parallel universe and I had stayed with my mum mourning the loss of my friend.
"Do you remember the first time we came here?" I asked him tucking my bangs behind my ear when they fell into my face.
"Yeah, I do, honestly I wanted to kiss you so bad. I wasn't sure how you felt though it was only about a month after my regeneration. We flirted though, it was fun." He said leaning back and staring out at the horizon.
"Yeah it was, I made you go shopping. I got that one shirt that you hated, why did you not like it by the way it was a cute shirt?" I asked.
"Oh, I loved it, I just didn't want anyone else to see you in it. It looked great on you it really did especially since you had a bit of color, it showed it off more." I just looked back at him and smirked at the look on his face and how jealous he was thinking I would wear something like that to show off to other guys.
"Oh, I knew that, I saw the look on your face when I came out of the changing rooms. I thought your eyes may actually pop out of your head, or your jaw would detach and fall on the ground." I laughed at the blush on his face then and had to remember I was holding Oliver in my lap.
"Well it's not my fault. It was all tight and short, and I have never seen a shirt that shows so much cleavage in all my 900 years," I held my breath to try and keep from laughing at his flustered explanation because sometimes I'm pretty sure he forgets we're married, he has seen me naked more times that I care to keep track of and we have a child together.
"So is this the same area we came to before or is it a different country? I know it's definitely not the same city." I said changing the subject.
"No, not the same city, but not too far away either. Just a little ways North up the coast." He replied pointing down the beach.
We sat for another hour playing with Oliver and laying in the sun. We reminisced about the past and talked about what the future might hold for our time traveling family. We decided it was finally time to pack up and head back into town. The Doctor carried the stroller to the sidewalk while I strapped Oliver into the carrier. I picked it up and snapped it onto the stroller after making sure the wheel locks were in place and waited as the Doctor packed up the toys we had unpacked over the last hour and beach blanket. The Doctor took the stroller as we made our way up the sidewalk back towards town. In the window of a shop I spotted a small picture frame that had Barcelona printed on it and quickly grabbed the Doctor's attention.
"Doctor, we should get that and put it in Oliver's room," I said poking his arm and gesturing to the frame in the window. He looked at it for a moment, then furrowed his brow and looked down at me.
"Why?" He asked.
"Well you took those pictures on the beach and the walls are all bare right now, it would be cute, his first real trip in the TARDIS, other than just going to eat or visiting Jack." I said already picturing the perfect spot on the wall for it and possibly more in the future.
"Alright, I guess, let's go," he agreed turning the stroller toward the shop door. We entered the shop and there was an elderly woman rearranging glass jars with sand, seashells and bits or coral on a shelf. In the back corner there was a small nose-less dog sleeping on a fluffy dog bed. I scanned the different shelves and tables cluttering the shop for what I came in here for and spotted it on a shelf on the wall opposite of me.
"Hello, looking for anything specific?" the elderly woman asked in a voice that I knew well from working as a shop attendant. She stepped off the small stool she had been on and moved towards us with surprising grace for a woman her age. "Oh my, hello there aren't you a cute little thing," she cooed when she stopped next to us looking down at the curious blue eyes of the time tot. "How old is he, if you don't mind me asking."
"Not at all, he's one month," I smiled moving away from the door in case someone else tried to enter.
"Oh my, he's a big boy," she cooed at him. "So how may I help you?" she asked looking back at us.
"I saw the picture frame in the window, and wanted to get it." I told the elderly woman pointing towards the shelf where the frames were lined up. I started moving towards it but the woman hustled over and grabbed one off the shelf before I could take three steps.
"Anything else you want?" She asked with a wide smile I was wondering if she was an eager shop owner or an employee that worked on commission.
"Nope, that's it thanks though," the Doctor said moving toward the counter at the back of the shop. She walked behind the counter and began ringing up the object on a small touch screen.
"That'll be 80 credits," the woman said with a smile and held out her palm expectantly. The Doctor shoved his hand into his trouser pockets and dug around for a moment before pulling out the long silver credit stick. He handed it over to the woman. She plugged it into a slot in the monitor and handed it back a moment later.
"Thank you, just let me wrap this up for you quickly," she said and it took her about ten seconds to have the frame wrapped in tissue paper and in a bag, handing it to me over the counter. "Have a wonderful day," she smiled.
"You too," I said putting the bag in the bottom of the stroller as we turned to go back out the door. The door swung closed behind us and Oliver began to fuss. "Oh, he's probably hungry by now," I said looking around.
"Well it is lunch time, how about we go to that little café up there for lunch, you can feed him while we wait for our food," the Doctor suggested pointing down the sidewalk where there were tables and chairs and a few groups of people gathered.
"Okay, sounds good," I said and he took the stroller from me and I quickly grabbed the rucksack from the stroller. I opened it and dug out the small cotton blanket as we walked, putting it on Oliver in his carrier, then zipping the rucksack and putting it back. We were immediately seated outside near the black metal fencing separating the outdoor seating from the sidewalk. I unbuckled Oliver from the carrier and lifted him into my arms maneuvering him, my t-shirt and the blanket so I could feed him. Finally I got him situated and he latched on. I looked over the single page menu and noticed my favorite, the Earth Specialty Fish and Chips. It had been a while since I had had any so I sat back and waited for our waitress to come and take our order, gently rocking Oliver back and forth.
We ordered our food and sat back looking around at the scenery. Oliver turned his head away telling me he was finished and I fixed my top before tossing the blanket into the carrier and adjusting him so he was comfortable in my arms. I looked back up and noticed my husband staring at me and smiling making me blush.
"You want to see him?" I asked lightly bouncing Oliver in my arms. He just stood and scooped him up out of my arms and sat back in his chair already cooing and playing with him. If I had ever thought about the Doctor being a parent I never imagined it would come this naturally to him. Of course I always had to remind myself that he had done all of this before, although from what he told me he hadn't been this involved. There was so much happiness in his eyes it made my heart overflow with joy. We ate our lunches then made our way back to the TARDIS having had enough sun for the day.
The Doctor set the camera down on the console and I unbuckled Oliver from his carrier. I grabbed the rucksack and headed down the corridor to put the things away. I laid the now napping time tot down in his crib and began unpacking the unused nappies and everything else, putting it back where it belonged. I heard footsteps in the hall from the open door and turned in time to see the Doctor holding the picture frame we had bought in his hand. I smiled at him putting the rucksack where it belonged.
"So I had the TARDIS print out one of the pictured I took," he said rubbing the back of his neck and handing me the frame. I took it and looked down at the photograph. It was of me sitting with Oliver on my lap, kicking his little feet in the sand, I was looking down at him and smiling, I didn't even know he had still had the camera out.
"Oh, I love it," I said and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing him lightly. His hands rested on the small of my back and his thumbs were rubbing up and down making me shiver. He rested his forehead against mine when I broke the kiss staring into my eyes. "Let's hang this up and let him nap, I'm sure we can find something to do," I said pulling away and giving him my best tongue in teeth smile. I turned around and saw a little hook on the wall right where I had wanted to put the photograph. I sent a mental thank you to the TARDIS and quietly walked over to the wall hanging up the picture as silently as I could. I went to turn around but was suddenly scooped up from behind, I almost let out a shriek but there were lips over mine before I could I giggled quietly as the Doctor carried me out of Oliver's room and across the hall.
