a/n: As always, thanks to bittie752 for the beta-reading and the virtual handholding. You have no idea how much I appreciate it.

Chapter 2

Early Friday morning Rose woke up in her bed, alone. She had had the weirdest dream. In her dream, she was asleep in bed and the Doctor had come into her room, climbed into bed with her and held her as she slept. It had seemed so real that when she woke up, she had half expected to see him there.

Mildly disappointed at both how the previous evening had ended and that her dream seemed to have been just that, a dream, she quickly showered and dressed. Before heading down to the kitchen, she cracked opened the en suite door that led to the Doctor's bedroom and peeked in. He wasn't there. What's more, the bed didn't look to have been slept in. She told herself it meant nothing. He had said himself that he didn't seem to need as much sleep. He could have easily slept a couple of hours and then gotten up and made his own bed. Or he could have lost track of time working on his new sonic screwdriver.

Then she laughed at herself. Did a Time Lord, even a partial Time Lord, ever completely lose track of time?

In the sunny, yellow kitchen on the ground floor of the Tyler mansion, she found her mum at the cooker doing a fry up and the Doctor leaning against the cabinets, ankles crossed, a mug of tea in his hand. The table was already set for breakfast. After her mum and parallel dad had gotten married, her mum had been uncomfortable with all the staff at the mansion, complaining that they always seemed to be underfoot and that she felt like she was being 'watched' all the time. She had eventually asked that most of them be let go. Pete had been amazed because her mum was so different than the parallel Jackie he had previously been married to. That Jackie had considered it a status symbol and badge of honor to have as large a staff as possible. But Rose's mum had lived on the Estate too long. As much as she enjoyed the lifestyle Pete's money afforded her, and she really, really enjoyed it, she wasn't the type to want to be waited on hand and foot, or at least not all the time. Eventually, she had agreed that the mansion was much too big a place for her to take care of by herself, and that she really didn't like housework anyway, so the number of servants had eventually crept back up. But the staff was still only a fraction of what it once was. There was a gardener, a couple of maids, a part-time nanny and a part-time cook who did evening meals. Their housekeeper, Mrs. McDonald, supervised the staff and occasionally filled in as a substitute cook and nanny. Fancy dinners were catered. Occasionally a car and driver were hired for Jackie, who always insisted she could drive herself, even though no one else wanted her behind the wheel of a car. And Jaqueline Andrea Suzette Tyler, mistress of the mansion, still did the occasional fry up.

"Morning, Rose," the Doctor said brightly as she walked into the room.

"Morning," she replied, crossing over to him. She stood on her toes and gave him a kiss, loving the fact that kissing was something they now did. And often. He grinned in response, the goofy one he always got on his face when he was genuinely happy. She always loved that one, so she kissed him again.

"Oi," her mum protested. "Not in front of the C. H. I. L. D."

The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Mum, Tony's not even in the room," Rose told her.

"Oh," Jackie said in surprise. She looked around the room as if he just might be hiding somewhere. "Oh yeah. Guess he's not up yet. Well, in that case, mornin', sweetheart."

"Morning, Mum," Rose said. She crossed over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek before pouring herself a cup of tea. After she crossed back to sit at the table, the Doctor sat down next to her.

"So, did you ever get to bed last night, or did you spend all night on your sonic?" she asked him.

The Doctor looked at her, puzzled. He glanced at Jackie quickly and then back at Rose. "I slept for a little while," he said carefully. "How did you sleep?"

"Pretty good, actually," she answered. "Better than usual."

He stared at her, brow furrowed. He opened his mouth to question her but stopped himself when Jackie brought the food to the table. She sat down next to Rose while her daughter started dishing it out. The Doctor immediately started eating before the food was even finished being put on his plate. Rose glared at him and he froze, fork halfway to his mouth.

"Wha'?" he asked through a mouthful of egg.

"Oi, table manners," Jackie complained, glaring at him. He swallowed.

"Still rude, I guess." He shrugged. He wasn't overly concerned by it.

"And not ginger," Rose replied, her mouth twitching mischievously.

"Don't remind me," he said with a groan. "Now I'm never gonna be ginger."

Jackie stared at them in puzzlement. "What's all this about, then?"

"Oh, just a bit of a private joke," Rose told her, laughing. "One of the first things the Doctor said to me after he regenerated was he asked me if he was ginger. He was real disappointed when I said no."

"Never been ginger. All those years, not once ginger." He started ticking off on his fingers. "I've had straight hair, curly hair, long hair, short hair, been brown, blond, grey, and even had pure white hair once. But never once have I been ginger."

"I could change that, y'know," Jackie offered. "Be easy. Couple hours, tops. Give you a haircut as well. You're lookin' a bit shaggy."

"Uh, no." He looked horrified at the prospect of Jackie Tyler anywhere near his hair with dye or, even worse, sharp implements of any type.

Jackie cocked her head and looked at him appraisingly. "Nah, you wouldn't look good ginger, anyways," she said, shaking her head. She was a former hair stylist and had an eye for that sort of thing. "Your coloring's all wrong for it. Now Rose, on the other hand…."

The Doctor stopped eating and jerked his head over to look at her so quickly, Rose thought he could have gotten whiplash. She saw him stare at her as if he were trying to imagine it. Oh, Lord, he was practically drooling.

"No," she said firmly. "Don't even think about it." She shook a finger at his hopeful expression. "I'm perfectly content with my hair color the way it is, thank you very much."

"Oh, but Rose…" he said pleadingly. His voice trailed off at the glare she was giving him. A look of abject disappointment briefly crossed his face. "Then again, maybe not."

After another suspicious glance at him, Rose tucked into her food. She found it tasted as good as it smelled. Her mother could always do a decent fry-up. It was one of the only bits of cooking she really could do, but for years Rose hadn't had much of an appetite. Just one more thing that had changed since the Doctor had arrived, she thought.

"So," Jackie said, "your dad says you two are off to Cardiff."

The Doctor and Rose exchanged glances at Jackie's sharp tone.

"Uh, yeah," Rose said. "Dad offered me the job in Cardiff and I took it. We need to get out there as soon as possible so that Gwen can go on light duty before the baby comes."

"Well, you have a lot to do around here," her mum informed her. "Someone's got to pack up Mickey's flat. I can do it if you want…" Jackie and Mickey had gotten very close over the years they had spent in the parallel universe.

Rose shook her head. "No, I'll do it. It's the least I can do."

"Well, don't forget," Jackie added, "you can't go to Cardiff until after next Friday."

"Why next Friday?" Rose asked.

"Oh, Rose, don't tell me you've forgotten. The annual Vitex party is next week, and you two are expected to attend." At the blank look on Rose's face, Jackie continued. "You did forget. The biggest party of the year, and you forgot."

"Sorry, Mum," Rose said apologetically. "It's just…."

"Yeah, I know," Jackie said. "You weren't plannin' on goin' cos you weren't plannin' on bein' in this universe. Well, you're still here so you need to go. Him, too," she added, with a jerk of her head at the Doctor. She looked disparagingly at his new blue pinstriped suit, maroon t-shirt, and red Converse. "And it's black tie, so you're not wearin' that."

A stricken look crossed the Doctor's face. "Oh, Jackie, I don't do well in a tux. Bad things happen when I wear a tux."

"Bad things may have happened to old you, but this you is gonna wear a tux and nothin' bad better happen this time." She shook her finger at him. "I'm gonna hold you personally responsible to make sure nothin' bad happens. We've got the entire Vitex board comin', not to mention the President and at least a dozen members of the Congress."

"Harriet Jones is coming?" Rose interjected.

"Oh, yeah," the Doctor said. "You told me she was President over here."

Rose nodded as Jackie continued. "Yeah, she's comin' and so are a whole bunch of celebrities, half of 'em I've never even heard of. We've invited close to three hundred people, which means at least seven hundred will show up, what with all the plus ones and extras that get invited at the last minute.

"Anyway, you both have to be here for the party, which means Rose, you need a new dress, and Doctor, you need a tux. Now Erving's still has all your measurements from when they made up your suits, so I've already ordered you one, but Rose, you need to go shopping for a dress."

"What about the one I wore last time?" Rose asked.

Jackie shook her head. "If you show up in the same dress as last time, people are gonna think we couldn't afford a new dress and they're gonna wonder if Pete's having trouble at Vitex. No, you need a new dress."

Rose sighed loudly. "Mum, I don't even want to go to this thing," she protested.

"Pete needs you there," Jackie said. "So you're goin' and that's that. Oh, and I don't know what you think your plans are for today, but whatever they are, cancel them."

"I promised Dad we'd go over and start to dismantle the dimension cannon this morning."

"I've already spoken to your father before he left and he knows not to expect you. I need you to take me to the doctor."

"What? Why? Is there anything wrong?" Rose asked in concern.

"No, and it's his fault I have to go at all," she said with a glare at the Doctor. "Evidently because I used the dimensional transport one time, one time mind, with this business with the Daleks, he thinks I need a complete workup and he convinced Pete of it."

"Well, just to be on the safe side…" he responded. "But you shouldn't need Rose for that."

"Are you so needy and insecure that you can't be alone for a few hours?" Jackie demanded.

"Oi!" the Doctor protested. "I am not needy and insecure. I'll have you know I am very secure. I am the picture of secure. You look secure up in the dictionary and there's a picture of me."

"Right," Jackie said, drawing out the syllable and rolling her eyes. "You can't even get through breakfast without you two holding hands under the table." The Doctor and Rose abruptly let go of each other guiltily and put their hands on the table and then wondered why they did. Jackie continued. "If I want my only daughter to accompany me to the doctor in my hour of need before you cart her off to Cardiff or God knows where, I should be able to have her. Besides," she said in an entirely different tone of voice, "I need you to watch Tony for a bit. The nanny doesn't come in on Fridays and Mrs. McDonald can't watch him today."

"Mum, the Doctor shouldn't have to play nanny for you," Rose protested.

"And why not?" Jackie said indignantly, turning to her daughter. "It's not like he does anything else around here."

"Oh, saving the planet from an invading alien species isn't good enough for you?" Rose was more than gearing up for a fight.

"No, Rose, it's fine," the Doctor quickly interjected. Blimey, he hated domestics. For a moment he calculated how soon they could get to Cardiff if they left immediately and wondered if he should just grab Rose's hand and yell run.

Rose and her mother were glaring at each other so the Doctor bent his head down again to finish eating. As soon as Jackie noticed that the Doctor was no longer watching them, her expression changed. First looking at Rose, she glanced at the Doctor and then jerked her head at the door. Rose looked at her in surprise. What? she mouthed with the tiniest shake of her head. Jackie repeated her motions, first nodding her head meaningfully at the Doctor, and then jerking her head at the door.

"Oh, and while we're gone, Rose," Jackie said loudly, "I thought we could go see my friend, Nidra. You remember Nidra Kapoor? Well, she's goin' through the change but she's havin' some problems and her doctor said she needed to have the surgery, the whole works out…"

The Doctor stood up so fast Rose didn't even see him move. The force of the backs of his knees hitting his chair as he stood made it slide backwards across the room to hit the cabinet behind him.

"I, uh, I think that I, uh…" he stammered.

Rose decided to rescue him. "Did I just hear Tony?" she asked innocently.

"Yeah, Tony," he said like a man grasping onto a life preserver. "Yep, I think I just heard Tony get up. I'll, uh, just go check on him, shall I?" He was out of the room like a shot, leaving the door swinging in his wake.

"Thank God, I thought he'd never leave," Jackie said emphatically.

"Yeah, what was all that about?" Rose asked. "Mrs. Kapoor lived on the Estate and she had her surgery my GCSE year."

"Rose, if there's one thing I've learned in all these years, if you want to get rid of a man, all you have to do is mention female troubles and they are gone faster than lightning."

Rose laughed, because she had never seen the Doctor move faster, not even when the werewolf was after them.

"Okay," she said. "What did you really want to talk to me about?"

"Well, there's no easy way to say this, but part of the reason we're goin' to the doctor today is for you."

"Me?" Rose asked. "Why?"

"And the fact that you even have to ask that question is exactly why, missy." Jackie raised her eyebrows at her daughter. "Now that himself is here I know you two are going to go back to shagging like rabbits and don't you think you need to get into the doctor and get back on the pill or get a shot or at least get over to the chemists?" She had said the last part quickly and in one breath, so after she finished she was forced to inhale deeply.

Rose's eyes widened. "Oh, my God. I am so not having this conversation with you."

"Oh, yes, you are," Jackie insisted. "Cos someone needs to. And when the two of you are together I get the impression that you are doin' a heck of a lot of communicating, but not a lot of talkin'. I just want you to use your head before you manage to get yourself up the duff with my part-alien grandchild, a grandchild, I might add, who I am entirely not ready for as well as being far too young for."

Rose rolled her eyes at the idea that her mum was too young to be a grandmother.

"Mum, we're not…"

"Yeah, right. Pull the other one while you're at it. The two of you are always touchin', holdin' hands and hugging. And that's just what you're doin' in front of us. The two of you can hardly seem to be away from each other five minutes, and as soon as you are back together the first thing you do is snog, and I mean snog, not just a peck on the cheek. Dad found the two of you snogging on his desk last night."

"Mum, we were not on his desk!" Rose protested.

"But you were in your dad's office and you were snogging, and from what I understand his tongue was halfway down your throat," Jackie said pointedly. It was a guess, but obviously a fairly accurate one, she decided, when her daughter didn't deny it.

"I cannot believe I'm having this conversation with you," Rose said, shaking her head. "Mum, I am a grown woman."

"So start acting like it. Make sure you're prepared. Cos I know it's been a while for you."

"Oh, God." Rose dropped her head into her hands and sighed. "Not that this is any of your business, but we're not… We haven't… And we weren't then, either."

Jackie's eyes narrowed as she stared appraisingly at her daughter. "I almost believe you," she said after a long pause.

"Oh, now you believe me," Rose said incredulously, throwing her hands in the air. "I've been saying the same thing for almost a decade, and now you believe me. Why now, all of a sudden?"

"I didn't say I believe you. I said I almost believe you," Jackie countered. "And it's not because of what you said, but how you said it."

"Oh yeah? How did I say it then that makes you almost believe me?"

"You sound kinda…" Jackie said, an odd expression on her face, "disappointed. Anyway, I scheduled an appointment for you this morning with my doctor. She's very nice. But you don't have to see her if you don't want. You could always go to whoever you were seein' in Cardiff."

The thought of seeing Owen Harper for birth control made Rose feel like her head was about to explode. "No," she squeaked hurriedly. Then she continued in a calmer, and lower, tone. "No, that's just fine. Seeing your doctor will be just fine."

~oOo~

Three hours later, Rose was sitting in an examination room waiting for her mother's doctor.

The waiting room had been extremely posh, not at all what Rose was used to. The last time she had gone to the doctor, other than seeing Owen in the autopsy room for a variety of injuries and the genetic testing the Doctor insisted she have, was while she still lived on the Powell Estate in her home universe. There the waiting rooms were just ordinary rooms with uncomfortable mismatched chairs and years old magazines and were filled with sick adults and screaming children. This room was half empty and was complete with indirect lighting, comfortable furniture and brand new magazines. A large, flat screen TV hung on the wall playing health information and advice on a continuous loop. Definitely not NHS, she had thought.

The examination room was just as nice, but in a clinical sort of way. Everything was new and sterile and white: white walls, white desk, white examination table. Stainless steel medical instruments sat on the otherwise empty white counter. Rose sat in a white vinyl chair by the desk, having been informed by the nurse that the doctor preferred to come in and talk to her patients first before any type of examination. She didn't have a long wait. There was a gentle knock on the door within seconds and the doctor entered.

And Rose became convinced that the universe, no, the multiverse, had a sense of humor and was also totally insane.

The doctor stood in the doorway. A petite, very pretty black woman, she wore a white lab coat and carried a matching white EPad.

"Hello," she said. "Are you Rose Tyler? I'll be your doctor. My name is Martha Jones."