Wedding Plans

Joshua and Rose stayed with her parents through that week. Things became a bit claustrophobic for Joshua. Jackie was constantly hinting at and asking about grandchildren. After the fifth time of him explaining that he still wasn't sure if they would be able to have kids, he huffed and walked out of the house. Rose looked at Jackie and glared, shaking her head.

"Stop, Mum. He's already told you that we don't know if we'll be able to. Just, stop."

"But Rose-"

"No buts, Mum." And Rose walked out on her, off to search for Joshua.

He hadn't gone far. Rose found him sitting on the swing in the back yard. He had his head propped up with one of his hands and was staring into the distance. She sat down quietly beside him and took his hand, twining their fingers together. They sat silently, neither really wanting to talk, nor really needing to. Emotions on both sides of the bond were boiling.

After a while, Jackie came back outside. Joshua tried ignoring her presence until she placed a plate in front of him with freshly made banana bread. He blinked and looked up at her. Instead of the scowl he expected, she seemed a bit dejected and resigned.

"I'm sorry for pushing, Joshua. I didn't even bother asking if that's what you wanted. I was shoving my morals and goals onto the two of you and that wasn't right. I can't lie, though. I do want grandchildren, but maybe I should let you get your lives in order before I start harping about that. Truce?" Joshua considered telling her no, but he didn't want to harbor a grudge against her. He took the plate with the peace offering of banana bread. He stood up and sat the plate down and enveloped Jackie in a hug. She was surprised at first but quickly hugged him back.

"Now, Joshua, I need to take Rose to look at dresses. I know the wedding is still a few months off, but the quicker we get most things done, the longer we'll have to get the fittings and stuff done. And no, before you ask, you can't go with us. You're not seeing the dress before the wedding. We'll let you know the color scheme so you can make sure your best man and yourself are dressed correctly. Who will be your best man?"

"Jake." Rose and Joshua said simultaneously. They grinned goofily at one another and Jackie rolled her eyes.

"Alright. C'mon, Rose. Joshua, Pete's in his study on a teleconference. Would you mind looking after Tony until he'd done?"

"Sure."

~DW~~DW~~DW~

"We're picking up Melody on the way. You said you were having her as your maid of honor?"

"Yeah, Mum. I like a lot of the girls I work with but Mel is the only person we've met since coming here that I've really connected with. She's my best friend. Better than Shireen or Keisha ever were."

"Well, Joshua seems to have taken a liking to her as well."

"That's because he met a version of her in the other Universe. He didn't tell me much but it seems that she will eventually marry the Time Lord. At least, that's what Joshua thinks."

"Wow...I'd say it's a bit difficult to see him married. I mean, I can already see some of the differences between Joshua and the Doctor. I can see how those bits of Donna's personality have changed him for the better, really."

"I like him fine the way he was, Mum." Jackie rolled her eyes at her daughter.

"Well, of course you did. But you also love him the way he is now." Jackie didn't bother asking her if it was true. It was a fact which she'd seen every day this week. But after their rocky start to the day, Jackie didn't want to push.

They picked up Melody outside her work. She had put a 'closed' sign up for the day. Rose had never seen her close her shop early. Melody slid into the back seat.

"Hello ladies. How's the bride-to-be?"

"Cranky. She and Joshua stayed with us all week. Even though they were at work most of the time, they apparently have had enough of me."

"Well duh, Jackie! No adult wants to be in the same house as her parents and the person she's shagging. They've probably had a dry spell all week!" Rose blushed while Melody and Jackie laughed. She could already tell that today was going to be a long day.

~DW~~DW~~DW~

Rose was frustrated. The three of them had been here for five hours and she was no closer to picking out a dress now than when they arrived. Rose called Joshua to vent and maybe get an idea.

"Hello."

"Hello."

"You three done yet?"

"Nope. I'm about ready to give up, actually."

"Why? I thought you enjoyed shopping." Rose could hear the smirk she was sure was on his face.

"You're one to talk. I seem to recall exactly how happy you were modeling for me."

"Well, I'll model for you later, if you want." Rose could imagine Joshua wiggling his eyebrows. She collapsed into a fit of giggles. Joshua tried to act offended but ended up laughing with her. Finally, they both quieted.

"Thank you for the laugh. I think that's what I needed."

"To laugh?"

"And to hear your voice." Then line went silent for a moment. Then soft, just barely above a whisper, Rose heard Joshua's reply.

"Rose Tyler, I love you."

"I love you too."

~DW~~DW~~DW~

Rose went back to dress shopping in a much better mood. She began looking through the dresses, trying to get ideas on how to alter them to make the perfect dress. While talking to Joshua, she'd had an idea for a color scheme for the wedding. Now she had to find a dress it would look good with.

Amazingly, it was Melody who pointed her in the right direction. Rose fell in love with the dress immediately, and it would do quite nicely for what she had in mind. After she explained her plan to the seamstress, they sat down and planned the perfect dress.

~DW~~DW~~DW~

When Rose and Jackie finally got home, Joshua was out of his mind with curiosity. Of course, Jackie insisted that he couldn't know how the dress really looked until their wedding day. Rose rolled her eyes at her Mum and mouthed 'later' to Joshua.

Rose and Jackie spent the rest of the day barricaded in Pete's study, going over wedding plans. More than once, Joshua heard yelling from the room. And some squealing. Taking a hint from Pete and Tony, Joshua stayed on the other end of the mansion, away from the clamor of their plotting.

He ended up back in the yard, on the bench swing. It's funny how his day seems to have ended in the same place where it started. Then again, all his time in the TARDIS was exactly the same. His life really hadn't changed much. This was a different adventure all together.

It was nearing six o'clock before the women extracted themselves from the study. Both looked exhausted. Rose slowly walked towards Joshua and laid her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

'Everything sorted?'

'Mostly. Still a few things. Good news is, you get to wear the blue suit.'

'Bad news?'

'It's going to be a little bigger than what we had originally wanted it. Good reason for it, but still.'

Joshua raised an eyebrow but remained silent. He trusted that they would get the details settled without him. Hopefully. He really didn't want to get into an argument with Jackie Tyler.