Chapter 4

The Doctor and Rose spent the rest of the day with Tony. Tony was ecstatic to finally have the father, whom he had heard so much about, with him. He helped Rose show the Doctor around the mansion and showed the Doctor every toy and book he owned. At this moment, the Doctor was playing with Tony before bed. Rose looked on, happier than she'd ever been.

"He's a natural with him" Jackie commented, walking up behind Rose.

"Well they are father and son." Rose told her. "And he's been a father before."

"Before?" Jackie asked. "When?"

"Before either of us was born. They're all dead now though. They died in the Time War." Rose told her.

"You have to go and make me feel sorry for him." Jackie complained. She liked the Doctor, especially this human Doctor, but neither of them needed to know that. It was best for him to have some fear when it came to her.

Rose shook her head at her mother. "Ok, Tony." She said, hating to put an end to their bonding. "It's time for bed."

"I'll do it." Jackie told them. "You two still have things to talk about." She turned to Tony. "Come on, sweetheart."

Tony received a goodnight kiss from each of his parents and left with his grandmother.

"Where will I sleep?" The Doctor asked, unsure of himself again.

Rose was suddenly shy. "Would you want to stay with me? I mean, I still want to take things slow, but I just want to be close to you right now. I still can't believe this is real."

"I can't either. I can't believe that I'm getting a happy ending." The Doctor admitted.

"I know. I was so ready to sacrifice having my parents in order to stay with you and I get this. I still feel bad though, about the other you. What will happen to him?"

"He'll find somebody else, eventually." The Doctor answered, not realizing what he said.

"What about Donna? Why won't he have her?" Rose asked, knowing that it wasn't good. She knew something had been off from how he'd spoken of Donna, as if she was dead.

The Doctor put his face in his hands and then ran them through his hair, stressed. "He'll have had to erase her memories of us. Of everything. She'll have to go back to the same old life she led before she met me. A human isn't meant to have a Time Lord consciousness, if she remembers it will kill her. I just hope that some way, somehow, her time with me won't have been for nothing. She needs to know that she was, at one time, the most important woman in the universe."

Rose couldn't imagine the pain he was going through. She'd barely known Donna and it broke her heart. "I bet there's a Donna Noble in this universe. Maybe we can help her in some way."

The Doctor liked that and was reminded how incredible this woman really was. This was why he loved her. "I'd like that. So, what's on the agenda for tomorrow?"

"We need to go shopping." The Doctor was about to reply when she added, "We'll make a day of it with Tony. The three of us can spend time together as well as get you what you need. It won't be so bad."

The Doctor didn't quite believe her. He'd never really had to shop before and it was not something that appealed to him. However, he was now part human and therefore he needed to do human things, like shop. He looked at Rose again. If doing dull human things like shopping meant that he could have this life with her and Tony, he'd do it.

Rose hadn't realized that shopping with Tony and the Doctor would be such a hassle. It was really her fault. Because there had been no Doctor to destroy Henrik's in this Universe, it still stood. Rose had been in the habit of frequenting the store during her and the Doctor's separation, it had been one of the few small reminders she had of him. Rose hadn't realized that the trip would call for a retelling of her and the Doctor's first meeting. After that the Doctor launched into a lecture about the Nestene Consciousness. Tony was listening to his father intently.

"…You see the Nestene Consciousness is a telepathic gestalt entity and it's a being of pure psychic energy…. Best way to deal with them is anti-plastic. Ask your mum. She was the real hero that day."

"Wow." Tony gasped, looking at his father in wide-eyed admiration. Rose wasn't actually sure that Tony had any clue as to what his father was talking about aside from the fact that he and Rose had saved the earth. He was extremely smart, but he was still a toddler.

The Doctor had picked out three pairs of Chuck Taylor's, five suits, assorted shirts and ties, along with other necessities.

"Doctor, would you like to try some jeans and t-shirts? I mean, I guess you don't really need jeans, but you might like some t-shirts…" Rose trailed off.

"But Roose-" The Doctor began to whine.

"I'm just saying, it might be a good idea to get some more casual clothes. Just try one pair of jeans and a few shirts, if you don't like them we can donate them."

The Doctor conceded to get one pair of jeans and a few t-shirts. Although he hadn't decided to get them until he saw her reaction to him in jeans. She'd been looking.

"Now you just need a coat." Rose told him as they walked out of Henrik's. "I thought we might find a thrift shop to see if we can get something like it… At least to get you through until the TARDIS is ready. Then maybe we can get you the same coat from Janis Joplin."

The Doctor smiled at Rose talking about their future together, in the TARDIS. "Yeah." He agreed. "I am going to miss that coat in the meantime though."

The best they could find after a few thrift shops was a long trench coat that was not quite the right shade and cut, but it would do in the meantime.

"What do you want to do now?" The Doctor asked Rose.

Rose gave him the smile that he dreamed of. The one where her tongue shone out of the corner of her teeth. "I want chips." She told him, thinking back to their first "date." She took the Doctor's hand and the newly reunited family made their way to the nearest chippy.