Chapter Eighty Three

"And that was when I finally revealed myself to Alan and Rose and your aunt Awinita and Mingxia."

The children and Doc listened quietly while the Doctor told them about Morana and how he had been kidnapped by the Valeyard and enslaved. They had paused to get some sodas at one booth and were resting a moment on two benches near some of the game booths so the Doctor could tell them the whole story. The children were intrigued. They'd never heard the story of how their parents had met and how the Doctor had come to be Alan's brother. While he was talking, the rest of the group happened to be passing by and they walked over and joined them. Awinita started giggling when she realized what he was talking about. He backtracked a bit for Namor's benefit and then went on with his story, loving that now both Doc and Namor were giving him odd looks. By the time he was done, an hour had passed and the children, Doc and Namor were in complete disbelief.

"Mate, I don't know what to think," Doc said. "Especially your choosing to be a girl instead of a boy."

"Well, I thought a girl would be less threatening and they'd accept me into the group more readily than if I were a boy," the Doctor said. "But Rain was the first one who befriended me and that's how we became friends and then it grew into love."

"Mummy fell in love with you when you were a girl?" Chaska asked.

"No, son, I did reveal I was a man before I told her I loved her," he said as everyone laughed. "It would have been odd for both of us if I'd told her I was a man and loved her while I was still pretending to be female."

"And I actually saw all this thanks to his memory simulation thingy," Jack said. "Quite entertaining. Course it wasn't as entertaining as traveling with him during his ninth life and watching his awkward love affair with Rose but…"

"Awkward?" the Doctor said to him as Rose sniggered.

"Yes, awkward. God, it was like watching a virgin trying to ask a supermodel for a date. That and you going around pretending you had no interest in Rose when it was plain you had the hots for her."

"Are you quite finished, Harkness?" the Doctor said as Rain and Rose bent over laughing.

"Just saying, Doctor. You weren't fooling anyone back then," Jack said. "And might I add I was glad that by the time Rain came along you were a little more sure of yourself because I'm sure the poor girl would have never accepted your proposal if you'd walked around stammering and drooling all over her."

"I did no such thing. I never stammered or drooled on anyone," he said as Rain and Rose nudged each other. "And I…oh why am I even arguing with you, Harkness? Anyway, why don't we get back to having fun instead of listening to me rabbit on all day or listen to Jack's skewered version of my love affair with Rose. Go, go, have fun!" he said, waving them away.

Jack shrugged and winked at everyone as he put his arm around Ianto. Everyone walked away except for the Doctor's children.

"You really did dress up like a girl, Daddy?" Namid said.

"Yes, Mi-mi, I disguised myself as a girl to get close to your uncle. You don't believe me, ask your mummy and she'll back me up."

The Doctor got up and they threw their empty cups away before they moved on towards the next ride.

After riding a few more rides, Rain went to the restroom with Namid. The others decided to get on the tilt-a-whirl in the meantime so when they got back, Rain decided to get her and Namid some cold milk from a nearby concession stand while they waited for the others to return. They carried the plastic bottles of milk to a nearby bench, sat down and twisted the caps off.

"You enjoying yourself, baby?" Rain said to her as they drank the milk.

"Yes, I'm glad we came here."

"Me too."

"But…"

"But, what, honey?" Rain said.

"Daddy wants to teach me to defend myself."

"Yes, he told me. I think it's a good idea."

"I don't think I can do it, Mummy."

"Why? Because you can't see?"

She nodded and Rain put her arm around her.

"Baby, I'll let you in on a little secret. When your father told you about how we met, he didn't tell you that back then I was insecure and had low self-esteem and I didn't think I was good enough for him when he asked me to love him. I didn't think I could be his equal."

"Why?" Namid said.

"Well…because your father is very, very famous. People know him all over the universe and it's been that way for a long time. Before I met him, your Uncle Alan would tell stories about him and all the good he did and I was in awe of him so it was shocking when he actually asked if I would be his girlfriend. And then for the longest time, I was unsure of myself traveling with him and I thought I couldn't do it just like you but you see, baby, one of your father's greatest talents is he brings the best outta people and shows them their full potential and I went from being this shy, unsure girl to being his companion and helping him fight evil. That's what he's been trying to tell you all along, Mi-mi. That being blind doesn't matter. You still can help him fight bad guys if you believe in yourself."

She smiled when she saw her daughter thinking that over and saw the smile creep over her face before she took a drink of milk. While they were sitting together, Alan walked up and Rain's eyes boggled when she saw the three foot stuffed penguin in his arms.

"My God, where'd you get that thing?" she said.

"What you mean, Mummy?"

Rain showed her what was happening as Alan came up beside her.

"Whoa!" Namid said, reaching out and touching it. "Who's it for?"

"Me," Alan said proudly. "I won it in that game where you lob the ball at the bottles. There's a trick to doing it, of course, but me and my brilliant mind worked it out and I kept winning until I got Pengu here."

"Win one for me, Uncle Alan. I want a penguin!"

"Well…I'm not sure. My arm is a bit tired from throwing the ninety million balls I had to throw to win this beaut. But I'll consider it."

"I'll pay you!"

Alan raised his eyebrow.

"Pay me what?" he said as Rain eyed him.

Namid reached into her pocket and pulled out the credit stick that her father gave her as part of her weekly allowance. She started to give it to Alan but Rain put her hand on her arm.

"No, Mi-mi, you're not paying your uncle for a penguin he can give you for free," she said as she gave Alan a pointed look.

"Tell you what. I was planning to put this in the TARDIS since I don't feel like carrying it all day. I'll put it in your room and you can have it since you asked first."

Namid cheered.

"Thank you, Bro," Rain said as Namid put her credit stick back in her pocket.

"No problemo, I was teasing about keeping it. Rose would have kittens if I did. We have enough crap at home anyway. Oh…here's your ereader back, Mi-mi. Thank you for letting me use it," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling it out.

Namid put it back around her neck while Alan sat the plushie down on the bench beside her.

"And where can I get some de-licious moo juice?" he said, bending down and staring at Namid's milk.

"At that concession booth over there," Rain said, pointing to the stand near them.

"Ah! I will be back. Need some de-licious milk! Guard my penguin!" Alan said, strolling towards the concession stand.

While he was doing that, the Doctor walked up with Sokanon and Chaska. Both their eyes bulged when they saw the penguin.

"Cool! Can I have that!" Chaska said, running towards it.

"No! This is mine!" Namid said, pulling it to her. "Uncle Alan said I could have it cause I asked first."

"Alright, calm down," the Doctor said to her. "I'll see if I can win something for Chas and Soki then."

"Can I touch it?" Chaska asked Namid.

She nodded and Chaska rolled his eyes as he touched the penguin. The Doctor grinned as he examined it. He started chuckling.

"What? What's so funny?" Chaska asked.

"Heh, reminds me of Frobisher," the Doctor said.

"Who's that?" Sokanon asked.

"He was this Whifferdill I knew in my sixth and seventh lives. He was a shapechanging alien and most of the time when he traveled with me, he took the form of a penguin much like this one," the Doctor said, patting the stuffed penguin on the head.

"Can we go see him and say hello?" Namid asked.

The Doctor glanced at Rain.

"Well, uh…" he said.

"After we go to the circus?" Chaska said. "I'd like to meet him."

"Yeah, I wanna meet a talking penguin. Please, Daddy?"

Just then, Alan returned sipping his milk. He took a huge sip and smacked his lips.

"Nice and cold, just the way I like it," he said.

"Brother, I mentioned Frobisher since this penguin plushie reminded me of him and now the children wish me to go track him down so they can meet him."

"Do you know where he is?" Alan said.

"I assume he's on his home planet," the Doctor said. "Still running his detective agency."

"Actually, I thought he opened a pub. Bish's or something like that?" Alan said.

"Oh yeah, that's right, he was gonna do that."

"Can we go see him then?" Namid asked.

Alan snickered when the Doctor shot him a helpless look.

"Might be fun. Be interesting seeing the old bird again after all these years," he said, "or am I s'posed to distract the children and convince them we shouldn't go?"

"Let's just get through tonight, kids, and then I'll consider it, yeah? One thing at a time," the Doctor said.

The children nodded. The Doctor caught his brother's eye.

"Alan, can I have a word with you in private for a moment?" he said.

Alan nodded. As they walked away, Rain smiled at Sokanon and Chaska.

"Do you guys want some milk?" she asked them.

The Doctor stopped Alan when they were out of earshot of Rain and the children.

"What do you need, Brother?" Alan said.

"I came to a decision. I want to teach the children self-defense. I figure it'll come in handy especially considering what happened to Namid recently."

Alan nodded.

"I've also considered doing that with Chris. Perhaps we can train them together."

"I was hoping you'd say that. The problem is finding a way to train Namid and compensating for her blindness."

He explained his idea for training her hearing and Alan nodded in agreement.

"I like that idea and if you're looking for others, might I suggest one?"

"By all means," the Doctor said.

"The ear pieces we developed with the sonar technology. Perhaps we can make weapons for her that have the same technology embedded in them. They would beep and beep faster the closer an opponent got so she'd be able to judge the distance."

"Brother, that's brilliant."

"And…" Alan added. "I'm betting the beeping noise would be a distraction as well and keep her opponent from concentrating."

"I knew I could count on you," the Doctor said. "We have to tell the others as well, perhaps we can train all of the children, they're old enough."

Alan nodded at that. The Doctor patted his shoulder as they headed back towards Rain and the children.