It wasn't all Rose's fault, really. Even John had to admit that. Some of that fault belonged to the Doctor. Then some of the fault was his own, which was just great, because he already had the Doctor's guilt issues.

The Doctor's cagey nature with his feelings had one of two possible effects. The first, which was more common, was that people didn't know what they meant to him and thus underestimated their value in his eyes. This had been the case with Donna until he finally screwed up enough courage to tell her. The second was rarer and what had happened with Rose.

She imagined that she meant as much to him as he did to her, which is to say, everything.

On her visit back to the original universe, he had done nothing to blatantly dissuade her from this view because, as usual, he was oblivious to feelings. He failed to mention he was married to Donna now and not at all in love with Rose anymore. He took a way out of the situation most men didn't have, he left his duplicate with his ex-girlfriend on a beach in Norway, thinking they would get along okay.

John had told Rose the truth that day. The Doctor was going to tell Rose he loved her that time before, which seemed like lifetimes ago. He just wasn't going to tell her that day, Rose's kiss to him, John later concluded, was a last ditch attempt to arouse the Doctor's jealousy.

Of course, being the Doctor, he was completely oblivious to that. Although, he was a little distracted by the possibility that his wife's brain might blow up any second.

To say Rose was a little surprised when she looked up to see the TARDIS gone was a catastrophically huge understatement.

"He left!," she exclaimed. She looked back at John. "What's he doing?"

John didn't answer. Which was okay because Rose wasn't waiting for an answer. She was waiting for the TARDIS to come back and refused to listen to very convincing arguments from her mother and John that it wasn't.

After Rose stormed out of dinner on the ferry that night, Jackie and John were left for a very awkward pudding course.

"So," said Jackie, "back on the TARDIS what were you lot talking about?"

"Sorry?"

"Come on, I'm not stupid. You took the Doctor back. Then he came and got Martha and then Jack and then Sarah Jane went back there. You all must have been chatting about something."

"No..."

"Funny that Donna wasn't with you all. I got the impression that she was really special to the Doctor, neither of you could take your eyes off her the rest of the time." Jackie sat back in her chair, satisfied at her powers of deduction. "Strange ring she had on."

Blimey.

"I can explain," said John.

"Alright then," said Jackie.

John explained everything, what had happened after the Doctor had spoken with Rose on the beach that day, how Donna had appeared in the TARDIS, the time they spent apart and how fate had brought them together again at Adipose Industries. The whole "just mates" fiasco and how the Doctor had finally come to realize what Donna meant to him. The wedding, the honeymoon, all leading to that awful day at Shan Shen and the stolen Earth. Jackie wasn't happy, her daughter had just blown a good ten years of her life on the Doctor, but she understood. He had moved on, something Rose had not been able to do.

Then she said, "You have to tell her the truth."

He might have been a Duplicate, but John had no more desire to do that than the original had.

"Well," said Donna, "this is interesting."

John looked around. It wasn't quite the reaction he had hoped for, but examining his own flat he wondered what he had been expecting. The walls were bare, the only furniture he had managed to buy for the sitting room was a chair and a bookshelf. He had a small dinette set, given to him by Adeola when she moved in with Gareth.

Donna wasn't supposed to be here, they were supposed to meet at a Thai restaurant for their fourth date- fifth if the set up counted. Donna had a stockholders' meeting run late and her assistant had rung John to convey the message, followed by Donna ringing an hour later to see if it was alright if she dropped by with some Chinese takeaway.

She looked up at John's worried expression. "Don't panic. I haven't run out screaming, have I?" She smiled and put the bags on the table. "I didn't know what you liked so I got everything."

"I'll get plates."

"Oh, you've got plates. Very posh," said Donna as she sat at the table.

John returned with the plates. "I'm sure men usually take you to much nicer places."

Donna scoffed.

"What?," asked John.

"I take them. Men only go out with me if they need someone to foot the bill."

"I'm sure that's not true."

"I didn't mean you," Donna said quickly. "And I don't think they all start out that way. Lance did."

"Lance?," asked John, his curiosity piqued.

"My first huge mistake after my divorce. Day of the wedding I find out he's been stealing company money, so shaming. Then Shaun, bought him a sports car and he ended up leaving me. Then probably another half dozen worthless blokes just looking for a rich wife."

"What about your husband?"

She paused. "Fair enough. The night of the Cybermen, I was at work. I didn't see him again for three days, he said he was disoriented, but I didn't believe him and I ignored it. Then I had the twins and I was on bed rest for two months, but he was still going out and he said it was work. Then my dad died and he was nowhere to be found, meant to be on a golf weekend in Scotland. Ianto used the credit cards to track him to Monte Carlo where he had several charges for jewelry and women's lingerie."

"Sorry," said John.

"So, if I come off like a paranoid bint, that's why."

"I would never call you that."

"So, quid pro quo, Mr. Smith," Donna said with a smile, "what happened with Rose Tyler?"

John took a deep breath. "She tried to drown me."

"What?"

"Well, she pushed me, I don't think she really meant to drown me, but I did end up in hospital with quite bad pneumonia."

"Not that there's an excuse for it, but what did you do before that?"

"There was this man... we were close. He set Rose and I up in fact, they used to go out together, well, sort of. He married this rather wonderful woman and I was trying to explain to her that he wouldn't be leaving her for Rose and she didn't want to hear that."

"Why would she think that he would leave her?"

"Well, in fairness, they hadn't seen each other for a while. She just thought he would be waiting for her."

"And what did the wife have to say about that?"

John looked up at Donna. "What would you have to say about that?"

Donna smiled. "Quite a bit. None of it polite."

"Well, she was quite similar, but she was preoccupied. She was pregnant and had some... brain problems."

"Oh, my God," said Donna, "is she alright?"

John panicked. He didn't mean to get it this far. Why hadn't he just lied? The Doctor might have had a point with the lying. He didn't know if the other Donna- or was the one in front of him the Other Donna?- was hoped, they had a plan. She would be fine, though. The Doctor would see to that. He wouldn't leave her, he wouldn't be able to stand being alone any more than John.

"She's fine. With her husband. Baby girl. They're... brilliant."

"Well, that's good," said Donna. She looked over at a package propped up against the wall. "Is that a cricket bat?"

"Yes, Gwen is trying to get me to join a cricket club. She and Adeola say I need a hobby."

"Well, everyone needs a chance to relax," said Donna.

"What about you?," asked John.

Donna snorted. "Single mum with two kids and a business to run? No. Every New Year I say I'm going to take up yoga or something and I end up falling asleep during the first class, then I'm too embarassed to go back."

"You should take better care of yourself," said John.

"Pot? Kettle? Ringing any bells here?"

John nodded.

"This cricket club, what do you have to do?"

"Practice on Wednesday evenings, matches every Saturday in Hyde Park."

"You should do it," said Donna.

"No."

"Don't you know how to play?," asked Donna.

"I do-"

"Are you any good?"

"Yes, actually. Team captain at school, it was the only thing they let me be in charge of, believe me."

"Then you should do it. It might do you some good."

"Donna, that's very nice of you, but-"

"I could come watch."

"What?"

"Well, is this the sort of thing that wives and girlfriends come to watch? Not that we're..." She took a breath. "Anyway, I could come watch you. I'm more into football, but I would come."

"That would be brilliant," said John. He took a breath. "So, you probably have to go home soon."

"No," said Donna.

"Oh?"

"They're down for the night," said Donna, smiling coyly. "Why? Do you have any ideas about how to occupy my time?"

Donna rolled off John feeling very satisfied.

"It's been a while for me," said Donna.

"Me as well," said John.

"Well, you're not out of form," said Donna.

"Neither are you," said John.

Then his mobile rang.

"You're joking!," shouted John.

Donna snorted. "Welcome to my life."

John rolled over and searched for his mobile in the pile of clothes on the floor as he hung from the bed. Donna smacked him on the bottom and he looked back at her in surprise.

"Sorry," she said smiling, "saw it and couldn't resist."

"We're going to return to this topic," he said with a grin.

"You had better."

John found his mobile in the breast pocket of his jacket. He picked it up. "John Smith."

Then Donna had the strangest one side of a phone conversation she had ever heard.

"No, I think you want Cyril Logan, he's in the dimensional transport department."

There was a pause.

"Cyril's in a coma? What seems to be the problem? Where's Mildred?"

Donna propped herself up on her elbow to watch John's face. Whatever it was seemed serious.

"Do you mean you can't find Mildred or- oh, you think she got sucked in?"

Donna's face contorted. Sucked into what?

"I thought that was locked up, who opened the vault?"

There was a long pause and John's face got serious.

"Of course she did. I'll be there as soon as I can."

John hung up the mobile and leapt out of bed. "I am so sorry, Donna."

"What happened? Is everything alright?"

"Everything will be fine, I just have to get there," he said pulling on his trousers. "Have you seen my shirt?"

"The floor in the sitting room where I left it," said Donna. She got up and started searching for her own clothing and getting dressed again. "Should I be worried? It's not like an alien invasion or something, is it?"

"No, no invasion, just a slight hole in the space time continuum."

"I'm sorry, the what?"

"It's nothing."

"It sort of sounds like something."

Donna drove John to Torchwood, despite his insistence there was no cause for alarm. Whatever it was, she was certain it wouldn't be helped by his waiting for the bus.

"Why are the lights out?," asked Donna.

"Power drain, I would guess." He looked at Donna. "Thanks for the ride."

"No problem."

"And the rest was..."

"Yeah."

He sat there.

"John, are you going to go deal with the hole in space time or whatever?"

"Right! I'll ring you!"

John ran out of the car and into Torchwood.

The Dimensional Transport lab only had emergency lighting on when John arrived. Pete was there, along with Rupesh, the third in command, who also looked as if he'd been rushed out of bed.

They were all looking at a door frame, or it would appear to be a door frame, actually a dimensional portal used by a resident alien living in a house on Earth. Torchwood had taken possession of it a few months back when John had warned them about it. The frame was glowing and shooting out bolts of energy, which John could only assume was what had put Cyril in the coma.

"John! Thank God! You have to stop it!"

Rose was sitting at a station. "I can stop it!"

John walked over to the computer and looked again at the door frame in front of him.

"The Balvaran Portal, I told you it was unstable," said John.

"I've got it!," Rose insisted.

John pushed Rose aside and started going through the scans.

"What have you done to the control matrix?," he asked.

"It's isomorphic," said Rupesh. "Anyone can turn it on, but only the primary user can turn it off."

"The perfect trap..." mused John. "Here."

He took a tablet computer and plugged it into the outbound cicuitry of the door frame. His fingers flew across it and soon the door frame's glow dissipated.

"What did you do?," asked Rupesh.

"Rewrote the base code. Put it into self-termination mode."

"Will it be operational again?," asked Rose.

"No, Rose, it won't. And it's certainly not going to get you back to the Doctor," said John. "A simple escape portal, it couldn't handle the load of trying to cross dimensions so its circuits fried, leaving Mildred who knows where."

"If it was operational, I could try to find her," Rose insisted. "I'm pretty good at that."

"We can't have that," said Pete. "No, Mildred will have to stay where she is. We can't go ripping holes in the universe just because we'd like to."

"What does that mean?," snapped Rose.

Pete put his hand on Rose's arm and she shook it away. "Rose, let's discuss this in my office."

"No! You can tell me here!"

Pete drew a deep breath. "You're suspended, Rose, pending further investigation."

"You can't suspend me! I saved the universe!"

John couldn't stop himself. "Sorry. You what?"

"This doesn't involve you," said Rose.

"It seems to, it seems that I have to get involved every time one of your brilliant plans backfires." He paused. "As for saving the universe, I seem to remember the woman doing that was older than you and ginger and named Donna."

"Don't drag her into this," said Rose. "You've got it wrong."

"Right. I'm going home," said John.

"John," said Pete.

"She wouldn't listen the first one hundred times, why should she now?," said John as he walked out of the lab.

"Mummy!," shouted Josh.

Donna rolled her eyes as she stood at the mirror. It was Saturday morning, she was trying to decide on an outfit for John's cricket match. She couldn't decide if she should go for sexy sundress or would that be too much? She was leaning towards the idea of jeans and a tee, but wanted to look nice.

Josh entered. He was eight, or eight and a half as he was quick to remind everyone. He was average height, with brown hair with a ginger patch in there somewhere and Donna's green eyes. He looked intently at his new Superman watch.

"What is it, sweetheart?," asked Donna, tossing another pile of clothes back on her bed.

"What time is Daddy getting here?"

"I told you-" Donna looked at her own watch. It was now a half hour after Ethan was meant to come round to pick the twins up. "I'm sure he'll be here soon."

"Where are you going?" He had an accusatory tone about it, but Donna had come to expect it. It was just recently that Josh and Ella had come to understand Mummy had to be at work in the day. The idea that Mummy might have a life outside work that didn't include them was just too much to imagine. She had been sneaking around them and seeing John while her ex had them or while they were on play dates and occasionally after they had gone to bed. She had managed to mention she had a new friend so that it wouldn't be a complete surprise should they actually meet. She just had no idea how to conduct an introduction.

"I told you. Mummy's meeting that new friend of hers. John?"

"Again?" Josh could smell a rat.

"He's in a cricket club and Mummy promised she would come watch him. Just like I do your football matches."

"Dad promised to take me to see Manchester United."

Donna fumed internally. Just like Ethan to make promises. "That's nice, sweetheart, but you know sometimes he gets busy and Mummy could take you to see West Ham play. I could get us really great seats right by the pitch."

"I like Manchester United, Mum! You know that!"

And Ethan had made a Manchester United fan out of her precious, first born son. She could ring his neck for that.

"Well, David Beckham's not been as good since he married Scary Spice, has he?," asked Donna.

"Mummy!" Ella entered. Ella was like a smaller version of Donna, except in dress sense. She had on her usual jeans, tee and pink trainers, with a tutu and tiara as accessories. Donna wasn't surprised by this, she let it go on the weekends because every weekday morning she and the nanny had to fight Ella to get her to take it off for school. "Where's Daddy?"

"I don't know, sweetheart. I'm sure he's on his way. Would you like to help Mummy pick out an outfit?"

"I can go in your wardrobe?"

Donna nodded. She had to ban Ella from the wardrobe after finding one too many designer evening gowns on the floor and smeared with frosting or finger paint from an overenthusiastic session of dress up. "Just be careful."

Another half hour passed. Ethan was nowhere to be found, but Ella had finally helped Donna decide on jeans, a tank, cardi and a pair of sandals after Donna rejected a series of evening gowns and a white faux fur coat. The three sat on the front steps as Donna watched time tick by. Stupid Ethan. She would have to leave soon if she wanted to see John's match.

"He must be lost," reasoned Josh.

"Right," said Donna. She checked her watch again. It was tragic the way Josh always rationalized his father's absence. "Tell you what, why don't you two put your bags in the Land Rover and come with Mummy to the park?"

"But Daddy's picking us up here," protested Ella.

"Well, the park is closer to his house anyway, isn't it?," asked Donna. "You could watch part of John's match and Daddy could just meet us there."

"Yeah," said Josh, "it'll be easier for him to get to then."

"Right," said Donna. "Come on, you two."

John finished putting on the last of his gear as he looked up to see Gwen and Adeola waving at him. He grimaced and walked over.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We came to watch you play," said Adeola.

"And to meet your lady friend," said Gwen. "Is she here yet?"

"No, she's not and don't scare her off!" He shook his head. "And I'm the one without a life?"

"Oi! You just got a life a month ago!," said Gwen. "Has she seen your flat yet?"

"Gwen!," hissed Adeola.

"I didn't ask if they shagged, I was just wondering if she's seen his flat."

John looked up and saw a flash of ginger in the distance.

"She's coming," said John. "Be nice!"

"We'll be on our best behavior," said Adeola.

Donna approached and now John could clearly make out the two small figures trailing her.

"Are those her kids?," whispered Adeola. "Have you met her kids yet?"

John didn't have time to answer. Donna was soon in front of them, smiling, holding chairs and a hamper.

"Hello," she said.

"Hi," said John. "Here, let me help you." He took the chairs and hamper from her and set it down in a nice patch by Gwen and Adeola.

"Well, this is Josh and Ella. Josh, Ella, this is Mummy's new friend she told you about, John Smith."

"Hi," said Josh.

"Hi," said Ella.

Donna looked over. "Are you two Gwen and Adeola?"

"Yes, yes, Gwen Cooper," said Gwen quickly shaking Donna's hand. "So nice to meet you."

"Adeola Oshodi. Really great to meet you. John's told us all about you."

"I can't imagine what he said." Donna grinned at John.

"We're not staying," said Josh. He looked up at John. "Our dad's coming to pick us up."

"That's right," said Donna. "He should be round any minute to meet us."

"John!," called the team captain.

"Well, I have to go. The match is starting. Nice to meet you Josh and Ella."

The match was over. Gwen and Adeola were with John, probably chatting about Donna under the guise of congratulating him. Donna had chatted them up most of the match unable to quite follow the game, except to tell that John was really good. Not to mention sexy in the uniform. Still no word from Ethan, not so much as a text or an answer to one of the fifty-seven calls Donna had made as she snuck away from the children. Josh was losing patience and Ella had fallen asleep on the picnic blanket.

"Did you tell Dad where we are?," asked Josh.

"I did, Josh." She paused. "We could go for a pizza after this."

"Dad always takes us for pizza."

Of course he did. Ethan always did the fun things, leaving Donna with making sure they did their homework and ate their vegetables and went to bed on time. Generally, all the things that actual parents did.

Donna looked up just as John was walking over.

"Well done," said Donna.

"Thank you," said John. He looked at Josh. "Decided to stay, did you?"

"My dad will be here any minute."

John nodded. "Right." He motioned at Ella. "I see she must have found it riveting."

Donna shrugged. "Not a big sport enthusiast, I'm afraid."

John smiled. "Well, shall we wait here or would you like to get something to eat?"

"Mum, Dad will come here," whined Josh.

"There's a fun center just over the road from the park," said John. "They have an arcade and racing cars. Your dad could always meet us there."

"There, wouldn't that be nice?," asked Donna.

They roused Ella and piled back into the Land Rover. They settled into the fun center and John sent Josh and Ella off with a few notes for tokens despite Donna's protestations. John went to join Ella in a game where she was trying to win a gaudy ring by hitting a light at the correct moment. John seemed to be very good at it, he had won six so far and Ella wanted one for each finger. Donna went to check on Josh who had found a driving game. He didn't want to talk, insisting to his mother that his dad was coming. Once again, Donna snuck off to ring Ethan on her mobile.

"Ethan, Donna. Remember me? You ruined my twenties and the entire marriage would have been a waste if not for my two gorgeous children? Oh, right, the children. They've been waiting for you for around eight hours now and should you have any interest in collecting them we're at the Funscape. Of course you don't, you're probably too busy spending your maintenance!" Donna hissed as she hung up the mobile. She looked up to see John.

"So... right..."

"I'm sorry you had to hear that. I'm really not a psychotic bint, Ethan just..." She shook her head. "This was nice of you to suggest. You didn't have to."

"I thought we were spending the day together," said John.

"Well, I have to stay with them now. Ethan is missing in action, I've given Lisette the weekend off and my mum has to be notified with weeks of notice before she'll land the zeppelin-"

"Your mother lives in a zeppelin?," asked John.

"Don't sound so cheerful, I'll think you've met her," Donna quipped. "So, I'm afraid it's another evening of overcompensating for their deadbeat father for me."

"I could come."

"Sorry, you want to spend the day with my children?"

"And you. I mean, I could, if you want." He paused. "You're a package deal, aren't you?"

Donna shook her head. "John, you don't have to-"

"I love you."

"What?"

John shifted uncomfortably. "Not quite the reaction I wanted, but I can live with it."

"No, I love you," said Donna. She couldn't believe she had said that. She laughed, then quickly covered her mouth. "I just thought it was way too soon to say anything. I never thought..." She grabbed him and kissed him.

John broke it off. "That was... I used to be able to do that longer without breathing."

"Yeah..." said Donna, not quite thinking about what he had said. She smiled. "So, shall we go play skee ball?"