Chapter One Hundred and Seventy
Hope walked into the kitchen and inhaled deeply. It was the night before her sixth birthday and her parents, brothers and sisters were having a movie night with her so they could spend time with her personally before they had the huge party. When they asked Hope what she wanted to watch, she asked if she could be adventurous and watch a horror movie. The Doctor debated over whether to let her watch one or not before he finally decided to show her a classic horror movie like Dracula that might be scary but not traumatize her and give her nightmares like Saw would. Hope agreed to that and the Doctor told her that he needed to go get the DVDs and would be back soon. He and Jack left in the Doctor's TARDIS and Rain set to work preparing some Mexican food. She made bean burritos, enchiladas, refried beans, spanish rice and taco salad and was planning to bake some nachos with cheddar cheese on them for later.
Hope walked up to the counter and stared at the taco salad. She had fixed a few of them for people who didn't want the burritos or enchiladas. Each one had a taco shell bowl and was filled with meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, black olives and sour cream. While she stared at them, Rain tousled her hair.
"Excited about tonight, baby?" she asked Hope.
"Yes! I wanna see a scary movie," Hope said. "I wanna sit with you and Daddy and watch a scary movie."
"Well, your daddy should be home soon with Uncle Jack and then we'll watch it, okay?"
Hope nodded and Rain gave her a handful of black olives to snack on. Hope munched on them while she watched her mother working in the kitchen. While she was doing that, there was a knock at the door. Rain wiped her hands on a tea towel and went to answer the front door. When she opened it, she saw Alan standing there. She was about to say something about how he wasn't supposed to come until the next night when he saw the grim look on his face and noticed Rose wasn't with him as usual.
"Bro? What is it?"
"The Doctor and Jack contacted us telepathically. There's been some complications," he said. "They were captured and taken prisoner and…they're being tortured."
Alan took her hand when she staggered at that.
"Tortured? They were going to get DVDs for tonight," Rain said in confusion. "How'd they go from getting DVDs to being tortured?"
"Well…Brother's TARDIS landed in the wrong place again," Alan said. "He landed in the middle of some rebellion on some distant planet and the people were suffering so you know him and Jack, had to get involved and one thing led to another and…"
"But why didn't he tell me this?" Rain said.
"Because he didn't want you to worry and because he asked me to come over and keep the wee one entertained while Rose and your sons and daughters and a few others go to rescue him."
Rain glanced over her shoulder when Hope walked up to them. She noticed Alan's expression changed in an instant from grave to exuberant.
"Hey!" he said, leaning down to her. "Guess who's coming to enjoy films with you tonight?"
"You?" Hope squealed.
"Nah, Spongebob Squarepants, I'm going to go sit in the garden and wet myself."
"No, you come inside and have fun," Hope said, taking his hand.
Alan reached down and grabbed a small brown sack.
"Never fear, I got the DVDs," Alan said to Rain as they walked by. "And don't worry, you know Brother…he'll be here soon."
Rain nodded and closed the door. She was now worried and searched for her husband's mind but couldn't find him or Jack. She hoped they were just shielding their minds to prevent her or Hope from feeling the pain of torture. She turned, suddenly no longer in the mood for movies but she noticed that Alan was sitting with Hope on the sofa, joking and being silly with her and for once, she was grateful he was here since she didn't want her daughter to be distraught.
"So…what are you watching tonight?" Alan was asking Hope.
"Dracula!" Hope said.
"Nah, we're not watching that rubbish. I have a DVD called Mowing Madness. Eight hours of people mowing the grass. It'll be thrilling."
"No!" Hope howled.
"Yes!" Alan howled back. "Mowing Madness for yoooou!"
Rain chuckled at that. She knew Alan was probably just as worried as she was but he was hiding it so completely that she would never have guessed anything was wrong. She realized that was one of her brother's many talents, to be able to fake being happy when his hearts were hurting. Fondly, she walked by him and patted his head.
"She touched me, you have any cootie spray on ya?" she heard him ask Hope as she went to the kitchen.
"No," Hope replied.
"No! What if I get cooties? I might suffer."
Rain smiled when Hope laughed at that. She heard her happy chatter and Alan happily teasing her and it lifted her hearts a bit knowing she wasn't worrying about what was happening to her father at the moment. She decided to make some tea so she could calm her nerves. She was so focused on making it that she didn't notice Alan had come up behind her until he tapped her on the shoulder. She gasped and put her hand over her right heart while she spun around.
"Sorry, didn't mean to give you a scare," Alan said. "Just wondering how you're holding up while Hopey goes to the loo."
"Okay, I guess. Just worried," Rain said, putting the kettle on the burner. "Hard not for me to worry, you know."
"Don't worry. He and Jack'll be fine."
"I know. It's just…sometimes it's like being married to a cop or a fireman, you worry," Rain said.
"Hmmm, never heard it put like that, but I s'pose you're right. But never fear, he's been through worse and come through it alright."
Rain nodded and Alan gave her a peck on the cheek. He looked over when Hope entered the room.
"Hands clean?" he asked her.
"No."
"No! Clean hands are obligatory in this house. Go back to the lavatory and lather up those hands, young lady," he said to her.
"No!"
"Okay, you'll have to watch Mowing Madness then," Alan said with a shrug.
"No!" Hope said with a giggle while Rain tousled her hair.
Hope went around him and asked for some more olives. Alan leaned down and put his chin on her shoulder.
"Clean hands?" he said.
"No!"
"No olives for you then," he said while Hope giggled.
"Would you like some taco salad?" Rain asked Alan.
"No, Mummy, don't give him any. He hasn't got clean hands!"
"Don't you backchat to me, Pooh the Roo! I'll do what I want to, Pooh the Roo," Alan said, poking Hope's belly while she giggled.
Rain handed him one of the taco salads and he stuck his tongue out at Hope while he took a fork.
"Ha! I'm an adult, I can do anything I want to," he said as he walked out the door.
"Do you want a taco salad?" Rain asked Hope.
She nodded and gave her one and a fork. While Hope walked out, she went to the fridge and got the milk out.
"Hey, no fair, taco salads are to be eaten by me and me alone. Go take that back!"
"No!"
"I'll make you watch Mower Madness, I swear I will!"
Rain chuckled and got two glasses down from the cabinet. While she did that, Hope came back into the kitchen.
"Is Daddy and Uncle Jack coming soon?" she asked.
Rain forced a smile on her face and nodded.
"Yeah, they probably went and did something else, maybe got you a gift," she said.
"Or…" Alan said, sticking his head into the room, "maybe they ran far away to the end of time because you have cooties."
"I do not!" Hope said, chasing after him as he ran.
Rain chuckled again and poured two glasses of milk for them. She took them out and sat them on the coffee table while Alan and Hope sat on the sofa.
"Mummy, can we watch a film?" Hope asked.
"Mower Madness!"
"No!" Hope said with a giggle.
Alan opened the sack he brought and looked through the selections.
"Mower Madness," he said as he looked in the sack. "Mower Madness 2, Mower Madness 3, Mower Madness 2, Electric Boogaloo…"
He gasped when Hope reached into the sack and pulled all the DVDs out.
"How rude! Mower Madness marathon for you then," Alan said while Hope laughed.
Rain took the DVDs from her.
"We have Dracula, Frankenstein, Invisible Man or The Mummy," she said, reading off the titles.
"Mower Madness isn't in there? Musta misplaced it somewhere," Alan said, feigning shock.
"I want Dracula, Mummy," Hope said.
Rain went to put the DVD in while Hope hopped off the sofa and ran upstairs. She ran back down a moment later, dragging a pink Scooby Doo blanket behind her. She wrapped it around herself and plopped down next to Alan while Rain started the movie.