My writing has gone out of control, it seems, and I am forced to break this story up into three books. This one is now called "The Twin Lights of Home: The Dawn" and runs about 21 chapters. The next one will be called "The Twin Lights of Home: The Storm".
As a reminder, reviews are always appreciated. I really do like to know what my readers think and reviews are a great way of letting me know that you're still reading.
Chapter 15
February 25, 2015
The Doctor had grown accustomed to working for Torchwood over the last several months, though that wasn't to say that he was enjoying it. His current project was to identify artifacts and adapt them, if possible, to terrestrial use. At first, there was a certain challenge to his work but, while he understood the assignment's merit, over time he'd felt it was a waste of his talents. He knew he was a lot smarter than his colleagues. So did his boss Paul Karré, which was why he had a supervisory position after four months. But even that wasn't satisfying to him, especially when he knew he could actually head the department itself. To be relegated to simplistic tasks (at least they were simple in his opinion; his colleagues would have disagreed) was almost demeaning and was extremely frustrating. The only plus side that he could see in it was that he occasionally was able to work with Aderyn, who had been given a position in Genetic Research. Alex and Aderyn had become close friends since they met and they learned much about each other, such as she preferred to be called either a Protector of the Great Forest of Rain or an Avian. He thoroughly enjoyed working with her as well, each of them gaining professional admiration for the other. He knew she was currently looking into the make-up of a certain alien bacteria, which he would have found fascinating. He wanted to transfer to Genetic Research himself but couldn't until he'd been in R&D for six months.
He had just identified a medical device designed to take deep tissue samples without the need to cut into the skin – though it did leave a hole similar to one left by a hypodermic needle – and was working on repairing it when Rose hurried up to him, a smile on her face.
"So, what's the plan for tonight?" she questioned.
"Tonight?" he asked, confusion plain on his face while his attention remained on the medical device.
Rose's face dropped. "You forgot, didn't you."
"Forgot?" He looked on her and, seeing that his response was not the correct one, quickly glanced at the wall calendar. "But I thought you didn't like Valentine's Day."
She sighed in exasperation. "Not Valentine's Day. That was over a week ago. You forgot."
"No," he protested. "No, I didn't forget. It's… it's… a Vitex function?"
She crossed her arms. "I can understand you forgetting Mum's on the 1st but a boyfriend is supposed to know his girlfriend's birthday."
"It's your birthday? Really?" He grinned broadly at her. "Happy Birthday!"
She couldn't help herself; she found a smile growing on her lips as her arms unfolded. "Thanks but you're missing the point. I shouldn't have to remind you."
"Probably true," he admitted, putting the medical device on his desk. "However, since a good percentage of human males have trouble remembering dates of any kind other than holidays and their own birthday, I suppose that I am perfectly normal in my lack of remembering that today is your birthday."
She giggled gently at his words. "Well, then, it's a good thing that I assumed that you wouldn't remember and made plans for tonight."
"You have? That's good. So, what are the plans?"
"You'll have to come home on time to find out," she teased, leaning over his desk. She gave him a quick peck on his lips. "Don't be late."
"I won't," he assured. "Promise." He smiled gently in return to her grin and then watched as she left the room. The moment Rose was out of his sight, his smile dropped and was replaced by a look of trepidation. He hadn't meant to forget about Rose's birthday. He'd actually made plans in his head to do something special for the occasion but he never seemed to get around to actually doing them. He was glad she wasn't making a big deal that he had forgotten. They seemed to be arguing a lot lately, at least once a week it seemed, and usually over the silliest smallest things. Fortunately, they usually made up with dinner, a movie, and possibly a bit of making out.
He knew part of the problem between them was the constant sexual tension to which he refused to submit. It couldn't be easy for Rose, whose own sexuality wasn't as restricted by biology as his. It certainly wasn't easy for him. After all, he had to cope with having a Time Lord reproductive system coupled with human hormones. Frustrating was too mild a word for the situation. Despite Rose's suggestion months before, they never did see whether fellatio would be a viable alternative.
He shook his head, forcing himself to refocus on the matter at hand and not on his raging hormones. He couldn't give Rose nothing for her birthday. The only way he could save the plans he'd wanted to do in the first place was to improvise a reasonable yet slightly complicated scenario. The problem was that he had no idea where to start. A moment later, a flash of inspiration came to him. Who was the one person outside the family – he really didn't want to get slapped by Jackie for being an inconsiderate prick again – who knew Rose well enough to give him advice? Jake Simmonds.
Since Jake helped the Doctor to defeat the Cybermen so many years ago, the two had become friends but the half-Gallifreyan knew that Jake and Rose had a very close bond together. Jake had been Rose's first partner when she had joined Torchwood and Rose considered him to be her best friend. Well, second best friend since he knew that, as her boyfriend, he was her first best friend. Not to mention Jake had a remarkable ability to pick the perfect gift in the perfect setting every time. Just ask his boyfriend of six years. If anyone could help him figure out what to do for Rose's birthday, Jake could.
Alex stilled his mind for a moment to judge the time. It was still early enough in the day that he could get a lot accomplished, especially if he took the rest of the day off after lunch. He'd get permission from Paul to leave early and then find Jake and get his advice.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
The moment Rose was out of Alex's sight, she deflated almost physically. She had really hoped that the Doctor hadn't forgotten her birthday. She'd had a rough day as it was coping with an alien incursion in Northern Ireland and had really been looking forward to a nice evening with the man she loved. As it was, when she found that he hadn't any plans at all for the evening, she invented a story that she had known he didn't have plans and had made plans herself. She supposed it was just the fact that she wanted to be cheered up and a birthday celebration was a great way to accomplish that. Now, thanks to her lie to him, she needed to think of something to do that evening and fast.
She suddenly remembered an event a couple of years back. Jake's boyfriend Mark had found out that his mother had remarried and was bringing her new husband into town that evening. There had been very little time to plan anything at all in the way of celebration but Jake had pulled it off with flying colors. If there was anyone she knew who would be able to help her make last minute plan and who wasn't going to slap the Doctor for his forgetfulness – she certainly couldn't bring her mum in on this, even though Jackie Tyler was great at making last minute plans – it was Jake Simmonds.
Determination came over her features as marched through the corridors in search of the field agent. She found him in the locker room, cleaning his equipment in preparation for the next excursion.
"Jake, I need your help," she said without preamble.
The Northerner stopped his cleaning of his right boot and gave her a smile. "Where to this time?" he questioned, thinking that she was giving him another assignment. "Happy Birthday, by the way. The big 29."
"That's sort of the problem."
"Let me guess. You aged four years overnight, making you physically as old as the calendar says you are." He knew that, thanks to the time differential between this universe and the one Rose came from, she was actually four years younger.
She grinned at his words. "I wish it were that easy. Actually, everyone remembered that today's my birthday except Alex."
"Ah. Ouch," the Northerner commented.
"Yeah. I'd already arranged to have the evening alone with him, thinking that he had something planned. But since he didn't, I sort of told him that I did even though I don't." Seeing his eyebrows raise, she hurriedly explained, "I panicked. This is my first birthday with him since we've been together again and I really want it to be special, especially since we haven't really seen a lot of each other lately, what with us both working odd shifts. The only time we seem to see each other is at lunch or just before we go to bed and sometimes not even that. And I have no idea what I'm going to do tonight. I was thinking of maybe making reservations at a restaurant…"
"I wouldn't do that if you are serious about wanting it to be special," he contradicted her. "Nothing more awkward than trying to be intimate in front of a few dozen strangers."
Rose bit her thumb. "I suppose."
"You want a special night with the Doctor? Make him dinner. A nice candle-lit dinner is always perfect for an intimate evening."
She shook her head. "Alex is the master chef in the house, not me. If there's anything that our little competition last year showed it's that, when it comes to cooking, I'm the equivalent of a short order cook compared to him being the next Gordon Ramses."
"Your cooking isn't that bad," Jake contradicted. "You make great lasagna."
"Which takes more time than I have after work. Come to think of it, most of the dishes that I know take a lot of time. Plus we don't really have anything to work with at home right now that would make a decent meal. I'll have to get off work early and go to buy groceries."
"I'll give you my recipe for Chicken Alfredo. It's very easy to make, doesn't take a lot of time and, if I do say so myself, is sexy as hell."
"Chicken Alfredo is sexy?" she questioned with a wry smile.
"Extremely. Especially when you have it with a sexy Caesar salad and a sexy white zinfandel and eat it by the light of sexy candles."
Rose laughed heartily at his description. "You've talked me into it. Can you write it down for me and drop it off at my office? I'm probably going to leave around two o'clock, if I can make a decent enough dent in the massive pile of paperwork on my desk."
"You've got it, love," he agreed.
She hugged him tightly in appreciation. "Thanks, Jake. You're the best." Without waiting for his response, she exited the room and headed for her office, determined to finish her work in record time.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
It was easy for the Doctor to convince Paul to allow him to leave work at the time he normally went to lunch. Paul knew that Alex would remain longer another day to ensure that any work that he failed to finish would be done in a timely manner. With the necessary permission obtained, the half-Gallifreyan went in search of Jake. He found the Northerner in the employee cafeteria, sitting down to enjoy a cheeseburger.
"Jake, I need your help," he stated without preamble, sitting across from him.
The blond-haired man glanced up at him, a slightly knowing expression on his face. "Forgot Rose's birthday?" he questioned.
"Is it really that obvious?"
"Rose told me," Jake admitted, speaking around a mouthful of burger. He briefly thought about whether he should tell Alex about her coming to him to ask for advice and decided that it wasn't worth being on Rose's bad side. "I understand she has a nice evening planned for the two of you."
"So she told me. And that's the problem. This is her first birthday with us together in years. And I did make plans. I really did. I was going to take her to Brighton. I just… forgot to arrange it. And now that she's made plans because she knew I'd forget, I look like a complete arse. And I really don't know what to do to rectify the situation. I could make dinner reservation." He grimaced slightly, continuing his train of thought before Jake to put in a word. "But she's probably already done that. Well, I suppose I could find out where she made reservations and cancel them. But then she'd be upset with me for changing her plans without her say so…"
Jake quickly interrupted before Alex could inadvertently ruin all of Rose's plans. "Then don't make dinner reservations. You want to do something special for her? Think dessert."
"Take her to a dessert bar after dinner?" the Doctor asked with a hint of confusion.
"Dessert bars are passé," the field agent corrected. "You can't be intimate in a dessert bar. All those people around…"
"Rose and I are waiting until we're both ready before we get into intimacy."
Jake rolled his eyes. "Dessert bars just aren't romantic, got it? Even if you aren't planning on going horizontal tonight. Try bringing a box of chocolates – the real kind, not faux chocolate. Maybe some whipped cream to go with them. Or make dessert at home. Something sexy."
Alex raised an eyebrow. "Sexy dessert?"
"Get a box of truffles or chocolate covered strawberries. Or make a soufflé or…"
"Fondue," the hybrid stated abruptly, his eyes bright with realization. "I can make fondue. That's easy enough. I can even have the chocolate melting while we're at dinner. I'll go to the grocer's and pick up the ingredients. Then I'll go back to the condo and prep the fruit and bread before she gets home. But then I'll be home before she is and she might see me prepping the fondue and that would spoil the surprise."
"Did you buy her a present?"
"A present? Umm… no. She has everything she could want and what she doesn't have she just buys for herself. Well, except at Christmas. Then she actually gives me ideas for presents."
"After you prep the food, go out and buy her a rose. It'll make her feel like your doting on her and it's inexpensive."
"A rose for Rose," Alex commented, a broad grin on his face. "Maybe a white one. She mentioned white roses once as part of our story about our first date. I suppose they're her favorite. I never asked her."
"They're her favorite," Jake confirmed. "You give her a white rose and make fondue for dessert and she'll never forget tonight."
"Thanks, Jake," the hybrid told him emphatically as he stood from the table, determined now to do exactly as the Northerner suggested. "I owe you one." Without waiting for any kind of response, he hurried out of the cafeteria to enact the plan.
"You'd think neither of them ever had dates before," Jake murmured to himself as he returned to eating his lunch. Before he could even take another bite of his now room temperature burger, a fellow field agent sat across from him, a perturbed expression on her face.
"Jake, I need your help."
The blond-haired man sighed, giving up any chance of finishing his meal. It was definitely going to be a long day.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Everything seemed to be going according to plan for both Alex and Rose. Alex left Torchwood Tower a little after one o'clock and made record time in getting all the necessary items he needed to make fondue, including a fondue pot he remembered Rose didn't have. Up at the condo, he made quick work of prepping the fruit and bread he'd bought before hiding it in the back of the refrigerator with the hope that Rose wouldn't see them. After washing the fondue pot by hand, he hid it, along with the chocolate, amongst the plethora of pots and pans. He knew Rose would notice the new cooking utensil; she hardly knew that she had anything except the skillet. Once that was done, he quickly left the condo again to go procure the white rose to finish his plans for the evening.
He'd only exited the building's garage and was less than a block away when Rose arrived in her SUV. Jake had delivered his recipe for Chicken Alfredo right after his lunch break, relieving much of her anxiety for the evening. However, despite her best efforts, she wasn't able to leave work until just after three o'clock. She'd hurried to the grocer's to pick up the ingredients for the dish and was able to get to the condo close to 4:30. She thought that Alex would be getting off in half an hour and would be arriving in about an hour. That would give her plenty of time to set up the mood while starting dinner.
Remembering that Jackie had given her a set of silver candlesticks with white tapered candles – a Christmas present from two years before – Rose went into her room in search of the gift. It took ten minutes to find them but once she had them she strategically placed them on the table, putting cloth napkins under them to protect the table's glass surface. She then set the table for two. With the mood set, she could focus her energies completely on making dinner.
She cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and placed them in a skillet to cook while she worked on the Caesar salad. Once the chicken and salad were ready, she started on the Alfredo sauce, following the recipe that Jake had given her. She was glad that it was exactly as quick and easy to make as Jake had told her.
She was just adding the finishing touches to the meal when she heard the front door open. She quickly made sure that the main course wouldn't burn if she left it unattended for a few minutes before going to the living room where she saw Alex waiting, his hands behind his back.
"Hi," she greeted with a smile.
"Hi," he returned the smile. "Happy birthday." Bringing his hands around, he revealed the single white rose he'd purchased.
Rose's eyes brightened at the sight of the gift. "It's beautiful."
"Not as beautiful as you." He sniffed the air with appreciation. "Something smells good."
"I made dinner. Chicken Alfredo with Caesar salad and white wine."
"I hope they aren't all in the same pot." Hearing her laugh at his admittedly bad pun, he grinned more broadly, following her back to the kitchen. "You'd better get that flower into a vase. It looks like the perfect place for it is the middle of the dining table." Without waiting to see what her response would be, he pulled out the fondue pot from its hiding place and plugged it in to heat it.
Rose watched him with curiosity, distracted from her search for a bud vase. "When did we get a fondue pot?" Not getting a response from him, she noted his pulling out various containers from the refrigerator. She gazed at him with surprise as he broke apart several pieces of milk chocolate, dropping them into the fondue pot to melt. "You sneak! You planned this all along," she commented, clearly pleased with the deception.
"Well… you know…" he replied, not meeting her eyes.
Rose wasn't sure if he was hiding something from her or was just far to engrossed in his actions to look at her. What she did know was that she felt incredibly intrusive on what was probably his plans to make a surprise dinner for her.
"I'm sorry," she told him, a sheepish expression on her face.
"What?" he questioned, his attention completely on her due to her apology.
"I have a confession to make." She hesitated, clearly uncomfortable with what she was going to say. "I lied when I said I'd made plans for tonight."
"But you're making dinner."
"Jake's idea. I told him about lying to you and he came up with dinner at home. It's even his recipe. I hope you're not angry with me."
Alex's face softened, seeing how upset she was with herself. "I'm not angry with you. I have my own confession to make. I did forget your birthday. I had been planning to take you to Brighton but time sort of got away from me – which is saying something considering my impeccable sense of time. Jake suggested dessert and a white rose. However, the type of dessert was my idea. I think fondue is very sexy, don't you?"
She giggled at his words. "Along with sexy Chicken Alfredo and sexy Caesar salad with sexy white wine."
"Oh, yeah. We definitely both talked to Jake. Sneaky bastard kept us both out of the loop of what the other was doing. Hell, he practically planned the whole thing, didn't he."
"I'm not objecting."
"Me neither." Reaching up, he brushed a strand of hair from her face. "So, how about we just forget that we had to get Jake's help for this and just enjoy the evening together?"
"Sounds good to me," Rose agreed. She gave him a quick peck on the lips and continued her search for a bud vase while Alex finished setting up dessert.
Once in a vase, the white rose was place in between the candlesticks, another napkin underneath it to protect the table. Dinner was soon served followed by the fondue dessert Alex had so carefully prepared. Once they had finished their meals, they found themselves cuddling on the couch, just as they had many times before.
Rose snuggled against her Doctor as she started to drift to sleep. She didn't get any presents other than a white rose and chocolate fondue but in her opinion she got the best birthday gift of all: a quiet evening with the man she loved and the reaffirmation that he loved her in return.