Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing. This chapter is a little darker, as it deals with the death of a couple of characters. Please read and review. Oh, and the reason Tony (Rose's brother) is older than seems possible for the timeline is that I figured time in Pete's world goes quicker than in Rose's London. Please read and review this chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, as always.
When Amelia was three months old, tragedy struck the Pond family. First, Jackie, who had developed asthma due to all the pollution in Pete's world, had a serious attack while she was alone in the house. When Rose and the Doctor returned, the Doctor carrying little Amelia in a papoose across his chest, Jackie was lying on the floor, not breathing. Despite all the Doctor's efforts, she couldn't be resuscitated. Rose was desolate and it took all of the Doctor's considerable compassion, empathy and ultimately love, to be able to console his wife.
The second tragedy occurred two days after Jackie's funeral. Rose, having awoken suddenly in the middle of the night, went into the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea. While doing so, she collided with Pete, who had his bags packed. When Rose realised what he was going to do, Rose just turned and left him, as he was about to do to her.
The Doctor had wanted to track Pete using the TARDIS and then make him pay for how rejected he'd made Rose felt, but Rose had stopped him. She'd said that Pete wasn't worth it, and she was right.
Of course, there is an old saying that dictates that tragedies must travel in threes, and a week after Pete left, the old saying proved true. Tony, Rose's brother, now 20, was diagnosed with aggressive lung cancer, and there was nothing that the doctors could do for him. Technology and medicine weren't as advanced in Pete's world as they were back home. It was this that prompted the Doctor to make a suggestion to Rose.
"But Doctor, we can't go back. The worlds...they're sealed. They've been sealed for years" Rose said. She looked exhausted. All the events of the last month had taken their toll on her health, and the Doctor didn't know how much more she could cope with.
"I've found a crack, Rose. A safe crack, but its only one way, which explains why the other Doctor couldn't see it from his side. And because its one sided, if we go through, we won't be able to come back. But we can go, now, if we want. Amelia's too young to remember anything, and Tony knows we're not from this world." The Doctor looked like he was going to continue, but Rose just looked at him, immediately causing him to wait for what she wanted to say.
"How long have you known about this crack, darling?" She asked calmly. The Doctor looked down at his feet and blushed.
"Couple of years" he mumbled. Rose hugged him then, because she knew what he wasn't saying. If she'd known about the crack before, she'd have been torn between her desire to get home, and her love for her family. He'd kept that temptation from her, until it was possible for them to go through the crack.
So they had sold the Tyler house, packed their TARDIS and gone through the crack. Poor little Amelia had hated the TARDIS, especially when it was in flight. The trip was a particularly rough one – crossing universes was never going to be a walk in the park – but they'd eventually landed in Scotland, circa 1987. They'd decided to make the Scottish past their home to avoid running into the other Doctor – it would only complicate matters.
They'd found a cancer specialist for Tony, who thought he could help him – he was able to comfortably prolong his life for a few years. During one of his many visits to the hospital, Tony met and fell in love with a nurse, Sharon. They married and had had a happy life together.
And so Rose, the Doctor and Amelia lived peacefully. They'd parked the TARDIS in a quiet alleyway near their house, and most of the year she just sat there. But for two weeks twice a year, in January and June, Rose and the Doctor would go travelling , just as they used to, leaving Amy with friends.
Eventually, Tony lost his fight with cancer. Though she'd known it would happen, his widow mourned him deeply, and soon moved down South to England. She still kept in touch with Rose and the Doctor though, and little Amelia.
And things had continued fairly normally, until one fateful day in 1995, when the Doctor and Rose went shopping and got caught in a robbery. By the end of that day, Amelia was alone in the world, and about to begin a new phase of her life.
Should have a new chapter up fairly soon...in the meantime, hit that little button and tell me what you thought of this chapter.