Michael

The following morning, Mike and Donna walked down the stairs arm-in-arm, running into Rose and the Doctor in the living room. As the other couple smiled their good mornings, Donna dropped Mike's arm and crossed to his brother, pulling him into a tight hug. "Thank you for saving my life again," she whispered, and he grinned.

"You're welcome, sis," he replied. He didn't call her that very often, and she grinned back. He looked past her then to his brother, and his smile faded; Mike was gazing at him solemnly.

"May I have a word with you in private, Doctor?" Mike asked with a formal air. "Ladies, if you'll excuse us please..."

Rose glanced her question at Donna, who shrugged back, equally mystified. Mike hadn't said anything of this to her. They turned and went together towards the kitchen, and the Doctor turned back towards Mike again, waiting.

Mike took a deep breath. "I need to ask something of you, against what you owe me." He emphasized the last few words, reminding the Doctor of their tense conversation on the foggy beach just after their arrival.

His twin nodded, remembering. "Ask," he said simply.

Another deep breath. "If the three of you are going to be staying put, and hanging around here long-term while Davey goes to school," he began slowly, "then for the sake of my marriage, and my sanity, I need to ask you to find another place to stay." He raised both hands placatingly. "I don't care if it's just down the block. I don't care how often you come to visit. I don't care if either or both of you come every day and help out in the shop – in fact, that'd be great, I'd have more time to write," he added side-note as the thought struck him. "It's just..."

"Sleeping under the same roof," supplied the other.

Mike nodded. "Exactly. Even having the TARDIS in the back garden is just... too close for comfort sometimes."

"Understood. No problem. Consider it done."

Mike gazed at him a moment longer, seeing he really did understand, and nodded. "Thank you."

They turned of one accord and started towards the kitchen, but then the Doctor stopped suddenly as an idea hit. "You say we could come work in the shop?" Mike nodded, and he grinned. "Does that mean you'll pay us for it?"

Mike looked his surprise at this utterly uncharacteristic consideration for money on the part of the Time Lord, and the Doctor's grin widened. "If we'll be living as humans, we're going to need money to live on. That much I have learned."

Mike laughed. "OK, sure. I'll pay you fair wages." Pieces almost visibly fell into place in his mind, and his eyes grew thoughtfully excited. "You'll only need eating money, though."

"How so?"

"Listen. I've got an idea. You and Rose gave us the entire cache of jewelry Pete paid for the farmhouse, remember?"

"Yeah, but – "

"Shut up. We used most of it buying the house and shop, and most of our initial inventory. You know that. But that means that for the past eight years, without a mortgage or business loan to pay off, we've been able to put a huge chunk of our profits into savings each month. Now, a lot of that is earmarked for the kids' education – and, by the way, Davey's now included in that, if he wants to go to an Earth college," he added quietly.

Surprised and touched, the Doctor's eyesbrows shot skyward. "Thank you," he said.

Mike waved him off and went on. "The rest is supposedly for Donna's and my retirement, when and if we ever get tired of running the shop. That's going to be a loooong way off, and there's no reason it can't be invested in the meantime. We'll just invest in real estate, instead of stocks. We'll buy a small place near ours, and the three of you can live in it as long as you like. After that, we can rent it out, for the rental income. We may even move into it ourselves when we retire. Till then, it'll hold our money as securely as anything else, and make a little on the side. And you and Rose just need 'eating money', like I said."

The Doctor was shaking his head, amused and impressed. "Sounds fine to me. I just have one question. When did you get to be such a financial genius?"

Mike started to smile, then shook his head, looking distinctly sheepish. "I didn't," he admitted. "Donna's been after me to invest in real estate for months; I just added the idea of you and Rose living there first." He shot his twin a pleading glance. "You won't tell on me, will you?"

The Doctor laughed and shook his head again. "Cross my heart."