He headed into the kitchen with Kiam on his heels and stood behind Kiam as he opened the fridge and looked in.
"You've got everything I need for an omelette fines herbes, pour deux." He exclaimed pulling out the ingredients he needed and closing the fridge behind him. "So, who's the girl on the fridge?" He asked curiously.
"My friend. Sophie." Craig answered.
"Girlfriend?" He wondered as he snapped his fingers and pointed. Kiam grabbed a whisk off the counter and handed it to him.
"A friend who is a girl. There's nothing going on." Craig tried to defend himself.
"Oh, that's completely normal. Works for me."
"We met at work about a year ago, at the call center."
"Oh really, a communications exchange? That could be handy." He told Craig.
"Firm's going down though. The bosses are using a totally rubbish business model. I know what they should do. I got a plan all worked out. But I'm just a phone drone, I can't go running in saying I know best." Craig paused and looked at the two of them curiously. "Why am I telling you this? I don't even know you."
"Well, I've got one of those faces. People never stop blurting out their plans while I'm around." He explained with a mischievous grin.
"Right." Craig replied. "Where's your stuff?"
"Oh, don't worry, it'll materialize. If all goes to plan." He told Craig as he dished up three plates of eggs. He handed one to Craig and took the other two. Setting one on the coffee table he handed Kiam a fork before sitting down on the couch and starting to eat. He laughed as he watched Kiam pick the egg up with his hand and stuff it in his mouth. He tried to wipe the grin off his face as he scolded him.
"Use your fork." he told him still chuckling. "Your mother will get mad if she knows I let you use your hands." They ate the rest of the meal in silence until finally Craig leaned back and sighed.
"Oh, that was incredible. That was absolutely brilliant. Where did you learn to cook?" Craig inquired.
"Paris, in the eighteenth century. No, hang on, that's not recent, is it?" He looked at Kiam who shrugged.
"Seventh," Kiam suggested.
"No, no, no. Twentieth. Sorry, I'm not used to doing them in the right order." He apologized.
"Has anyone ever told you that you're a bit weird?" Craig wondered out loud.
"They never really stop." He admitted. "Ever been to Paris, Craig?"
"Nah. I can't see the point of Paris. I'm not much of a traveler."
"Can tell from your sofa." Kiam told Craig.
"My sofa?"
"You look like it." Kiam said matter of factly.
"Don't be rude, apologize to Craig."
"Sorry," Kiam muttered.
"I like it here. I'd miss it." Craig informed him as he absentmindedly picked up the pink fluffy keys again and started to play with them.
"Those keys."
"What?" Craig asked. "I'm just holding them."
"Right." He drew out the word as he picked up the empty plates and piled them.
"Anyway. These, these are your keys." Craig said standing up and heading to a bowl on the table by the door. He picked up a set of keys and handed them to the Doctor.
"We can stay?" He asked happily.
"Yeah, you're weird and you can cook and your kid seems well behaved enough. It's good enough for me." He held up the keys. "Right. Outdoor, front door, your door."
"And listen, Mark and I, we had an arrangement where if you ever need me out of your hair, just give me a shout, okay?" Craig told him keeping his voice low.
"Why would I want that?" He asked Craig confused.
"In case you want to bring someone round. A girlfriend?"
He narrowed his eyes at Craig. "I happen to be happily married." He held up his hand to show his ring.
"Right, so where is the misses?"
"She will materialize when our things do." He looked away from Craig. "By the way, that. The rot. I've got the strangest feeling we shouldn't touch it." He told him. After settling Kiam down to watch cartoons on the telly, he disappeared into his room to call Rose.
"Rose," He said through the head piece as the Tardis automatically answered his call. "Rose, come in Rose." He tried. After a few minutes he was starting to get worried. "Rose are you there?"
"Doctor," She exclaimed and feedback erupted through the earpiece making him wince. "Sorry," She muttered.
"Could you not wreck my new earpiece," He asked her. "And where were you, I was starting to get worried."
"Well your baby decided it was a good time to make me sick." She informed him.
"It is the hormones that cause morning sickness." He replied indignantly.
"Still caused by the baby. So when are you going to tell me whether it is a boy or a girl?"
"You'll have to wait until the baby is born."
"You know don't you?" She accused him.
Sidestepping the question, he instead asked one of his own. "How's the Tardis coping?"
"That's not fair, we should both know the gender," Rose whined. "How do you even know, I am only about three months a long. An ultra sound couldn't tell until I was five months."
"Rose that was in the 21st century and technology has advanced to the point they can tell you sooner and I have the sonic." He explained patiently. "Now how is the Tardis?"
"See for yourself." She told him as she picked up the handset and held it out so he could listen to the Tardis engines.
"Ooo, nasty. She's locked in a materialization loop, trying to land again" He informed Rose, "But she can't and whatever's stopping her is upstairs in this flat."
"So, go upstairs and sort it." Rose said.
"I don't know what it is yet. Anything that can stop the Tardis from landing is big." He replied and then flopped on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "Scary big."
"Are you scared?" Rose asked.
"I can't go up there until I know what it is and how to deal with it And it is vital that this man upstairs doesn't realize who and what I am." He pulled out his sonic and looked at it longingly. "So no sonicking. No advanced technology."
"Now all you've got to do is pass as an ordinary human being." Rose snickered into the phone.
"Simple. What could possibly go wrong?" He wondered.
"Have you seen you?" Rose chuckled. "If you want to pass as an ordinary human, first you need to lose the bow tie."
"Bow ties are cool." He answered back and walked over to the mirror in the room and adjusted the bow tie. "Come on, Rose, I'm a normal bloke, with a child. Tell me what normal blokes do."
"They watch telly, they play football."
"I could do those things. I don't, but I could." He joked as a bang sounded upstairs.
"Daddy," Kiam called out.
"It's okay," He called back. "Rose?" He asked as he looked at the clock and the saw that the numbers were going up and down rapidly. Kiam came running into the room and quickly disappeared under the bed.
"Interesting. Localized time loop." He said as he watched.
"Ow. What's all that?" Rose asked as she was flung about in the Tardis.
"Time distortion. Whatever's happening upstairs is still affecting you."
"It's stopped. Ish." Rose informed him a few moments later. "How about your end?" She asked him concerned.
"My end's good." He said back as he dropped to his knees and lifted the blanket. "It's okay you can come out now."
Kiam shook his head. "I want mummy," he cried.
"Mummy will be back soon enough." He promised.
"Teddy?" Kiam asked.
"He is on the Tardis, but later we will go out and get you a teddy for here, okay?" Kiam just nodded at him as he dropped down the blanket.
"How is he?"
"He's scared and he misses you, but he will be all right." He responded.
"I miss him, give him a big kiss from me."
"I will. How is everything on that end?"
"Doesn't sound great, but nothing to worry about?" Rose replied.
"Just keep the zigzag plotter on full. That'll protect you. Now, I must not use the sonic and I've got work to do." He told Rose.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
"And come on just a hint of what the baby might be?"
"Time Lord," He smirked as he hung up the phone and heard Rose swear on the other end.