**Notes: Thank you to everyone that has been reviewing, favouriting and following my stories! I really appreciate it! I've read quite a few stories lately that have gotten them to a point where they are starting a relationship with three, but never delve into developing that. I hope that I'm portraying that journey accurately. Are you guys as excited for the xmas special as I am? **

Chapter Sixteen – Family Ties

Rose pulled both of her Doctors towards their room. She wanted to clean up as well and had a few ideas to win her some points back with Evander. "Come on boys, we're taking a bath," Rose said with a mental caress for both of them.

Evander huffed and rolled his eyes. "Why don't you two go ahead and I'll just..."

"Please," Rose interrupted and stopped to put her hands on his chest. "Please," she repeated as she looked into his eyes.

He looked into her eyes for a moment. He could tell that she wanted to do something to make up for their argument earlier, but didn't feel like he needed her to. It really wasn't her fault where her mind wandered. It hurt that she wasn't completely focused on him in that moment, but she didn't do it intentionally.

"You don't have to, darling. It's ok," Evander told her.

"I know, but I want to. Please," Rose said softly, her eyes pleading.

He closed his eyes and slumped a little in defeat. He really could deny her nothing. "Alright."

Rose went straight into their en suite to start filling the bath with hot water and bubbles. Their tub was more than big enough for the three of them together, but the TARDIS could fill it very quickly and by the time they had all shed their clothing, it was ready. They settled side-by-side in the hot, fragrant water and all sighed as they finally relaxed from their rescue mission.

After a few moments, Rose wrapped her arms around Evander's neck and straddled his lap. She rested her head on his shoulder and buried her face in his neck. He grasped her shoulders and moved her so that their foreheads were touching, then wrapped his arms around her waist.

They sat for several minutes, breathing in the fragrant steam as Rose twisted her fingers in Evander's hair. Little by little, the tension eased from his shoulders and he kissed her gently.

He wasn't quite ready to look her in the eye yet, so he ran his fingers along the chain of her bonding pendant as he spoke. "I love you so much, darling. Ever since the last time I regenerated, I've been very insecure. I hide it behind being grumpy and brilliant, but I don't feel worthy of a new set of regenerations. I made such a mess of the last ones. And I definitely don't feel worthy of you or Alex being here with me," Evander said and kissed her lightly.

"If any Time Lord deserved a new set of regenerations, it's you, well... us," Alex said. "How many times and in how many ways did you save the entire universe just since we separated? I'll grant that 700 years was in just one of those efforts, but to spend that much time just guarding a crack in time and space has to be worth something." Alex sat next to them and occasionally played with some of Rose's curls as they floated in the water.

Rose rubbed her nose against Evander's and sighed. "I love you, Doctor. With both my hearts, I love you. Every version of you that ever has been and ever will be. You are the greatest man I have ever known. Your bravery, your compassion, your selflessness, are all reasons why you deserve that love and why the universe needs you to keep going. To keep showing everyone how we should live. Making a stand and making things better," Rose told Evander as she stroked her hands through his silver hair and over his shoulders.

She gazed into eyes that seemed to change with his moods from bright blue to almost grey, now, she wanted to see them darken with lust and circled her hips against Evander's. He couldn't help but thrust up against her with a groan. Rose whispered reassurances of her love and devotion in Gallifreyan as she slid against him in the soapy water. Their bodies slipped together seamlessly and Alex positioned himself behind Rose and wrapped his arms around her waist.

With Evander inside her and Alex behind, Rose thought about just how lucky she was to be with them at all. If he hadn't come back after she said no, if she hadn't opened the TARDIS console when he sent her to safety, if she hadn't found a way back when the stars were going out, if they hadn't found this Doctor in time to stabilize the meta-crisis, they would be dead or horribly alone. So many forces were battling against them, but through all of that, they were here, together now.

All of them were moaning their love for each other as the passion in their bond grew stronger and stronger. Rose reached behind her to stroke Alex in time with Evander's thrusts into her and in complete synchronicity, they all saw stars at once and Rose called out their true name as they held her tightly.

They all relaxed in the water for several minutes while their breathing slowed as well as their hearts. The only sounds in the room then were their breaths and the soft popping of bubbles. Rose didn't want to spoil the moment with any mention of the passenger currently on board the TARDIS or the strange way she seemed to sense his emotions earlier. So she stayed quiet for the moment and just revelled in the blissful feelings coming from her husbands through their link.

It was Alex that finally broke the silence. "We should probably get out of here before our fingers turn all pruny."

Rose giggled, but agreed and enjoyed the fact that their eyes couldn't leave her body as she stood up and grabbed a towel. They followed her out of the bath and she was equally enjoying the eye-candy of watching her husbands while they were naked and dripping with bath suds.

When they were all dressed again, they went to the galley to begin preparing dinner. Rose was making salad while Alex and Evander seemed to be in competition over who could make their dishes better. Evander was preparing pasta with alfredo sauce and Alex was grilling chicken to go with it.

When Rose finished with the salad, she toasted some bread to make garlic toast. She was just setting out the plates and cutlery, when Jack joined them, looking much more like himself.

"Jack!" Rose exclaimed as she ran over to give him a hug. He picked her up and spun her around before placing her back on her feet.

"How are you, little sister?" Jack asked her with a grin.

"I'm doing just fine, Jack and you look much better than you did a couple hours ago," she replied. "I know you said we were out of order, so you might not be able to answer this question, but have you met this version of the Doctor?" Rose asked as she took Evander's arm.

"I won't say if it was this face or not, because I know you picked up on something there from me, Rosie, but I know that this one," Jack said with a nod towards the grey-haired Doctor, "has added Evander to the name Doctor and the other one is now Alex." Jack shook both of their hands and grinned at them winningly. "It's been a while for me and I have no idea how far that meeting was in your future, so don't worry your pretty little head about anyone regenerating soon. It could be centuries for you guys."

"Well, why don't we have some supper and you can tell us what you've been up to, Jack," Alex said with a smile.

Rose ended up across the table from Jack, as her Doctors insisted on being on either side of her. They were all enjoying the meal thoroughly, when Rose decided that she needed to address the issue that had been nagging at her since before they had even found him in that basement. "Jack, why can I sense your emotions?"

Alex and Evander both dropped their forks and gaped at her. "What?!" Alex gasped out after a moment.

Jack smirked at their response. "I was wondering when you'd say something," Jack replied. "Relax boys, it's not quite what you're thinking. Over the last few centuries, I've noticed that I'm developing some telepathic abilities. It's still kind of weak and unpredictable, but it's growing in intensity. The last time I saw all of you, there was an incident that left Rose and I with what you called a sibling bond."

Evander frowned and furrowed his eyebrows while Alex rubbed the back of his neck and looked rather uncomfortable with the situation. They had already had some jealousy issues regarding Jack today and they weren't pleased with the prospect of their wife telepathically bonding with anyone else. Even if it was only a sibling bond. They knew that Jack would always protect Rose and they already treated each other like siblings anyway, but that wasn't the point.

"I suppose that does explain it," Rose said looking a little surprised. She could feel that her husbands were not very happy with the idea and squeezed their hands under the table. "You probably can't tell us much about what happened then, but is there anything that we need to know about it?"

"Don't worry, Rosie, it all just kind of happens. And Doctors, I know how jealous you get about Rose. Suffice it to say that even I wouldn't do my sister and that's exactly what Rose means to me. I got the message loud and clear the first night, when you told me, 'hands off the blonde,'" Jack explained with a laugh.

"Well, I suppose that's that then," Evander grumbled as he got up to clear away some of the empty plates. When he was done, he left the galley without another word.

Rose could feel tears rising in her eyes. She thought she might have finally made it up to Evander for the incident earlier and now it seemed worse than ever. Alex squeezed her shoulder and kissed her on the forehead before saying that he'd go after him. Rose's tears started to fall as she felt both of them closing off their connection to her a little. They couldn't cut it off completely, but they were shielding some of their feelings from her.

"Hey," Jack said as he moved to sit next to her. "What was that all that about? And why are you crying, sweetheart?"

Rose sniffled before trying to explain the situation despite not being entirely sure what the problem was. "He's jealous, but even more, he's insecure. I really messed up earlier today. We were having the most amazing threesome sex in the console room," Rose explained.

"Ooh! Tell me more," Jack interrupted.

Rose smirked a little and wiped away some of her tears as she continued, "It was completely incredible, but Evander had me pressed up against the telepathic control circuits and I had this stray thought that you'd be proud of me for having hot, threesome, console sex, when the TARDIS started to take off. She must have picked up my thoughts about you and headed towards where you needed rescuing. I had to tell them what I was thinking about and they were so upset that I was thinking about another man while we were having sex. And it's all my fault..."

Rose started breaking down into tears again and Jack put an arm over her shoulders in support. He rubbed her back for a few minutes while he thought of an appropriate response.

"Aw, Rosie. Telepathic relationships are tricky enough without having every stray thought that pops into your head making things even more complicated. And as much as either one of us tells them or tries to prove to them that our relationship is not going to get in the way of your relationship with them, this is something that they are going to have to work through themselves. The rest of your family is gone, it's alright for you to develop other family-type relationships apart from your husbands. I'll try to talk to them about it, why don't you make yourself some tea and go relax for a bit?" Jack said as he headed towards the door.

"Ok, Jack. And thank you," Rose replied quietly and started making some chamomile tea to help calm her down.

"Oh and Rosie?" Jack said as he popped his head back in the room. "I AM proud of you for having hot, threesome, console sex!"

Rose finally laughed and he grinned before heading back down the hallway towards the console room where he was sure they would be either tinkering and brooding or arguing with each other.

As Jack approached the door that led into the console room, he could hear the two men arguing loudly.

"You can't be angry with her for having a close friend that isn't us!" Alex shouted. He could feel Rose crying and knew that she had been trying to make things better between them just before supper.

"I'm not angry with her!" Evander countered. "I'm upset, I can't help it." He started flicking switches ineffectually again. It was his nervous activity, when he didn't know what to do with himself.

"But you're hurting her, you have to see that," Alex said as he followed him around the console.

"Of course! I can feel it as much as you can, but I don't know what to do about it." He said as he stopped moving and closed his eyes. "I love her more than life itself and I know that it isn't intentional, but she makes me feel so inadequate."

"Woah, stop right there, Time Lord," Jack said as he descended the stairs down to where they were facing off. "Having a deep relationship with three people involved is difficult. Add to that the difficulties of a telepathic bond and the fact that the society Rose was raised in had no tolerance or knowledge of those kinds of relationships at all and I think you guys have been handling all of this very well. But, Rose doesn't know how to reassure one of you without feeling like she's abandoning the other."

"The relationship between the three of us isn't the issue here, Jack," Evander said harshly.

"I know. Right now, the issue is me," Jack answered in an equally harsh tone. "And you need to think about something. Rose was raised with very close ties to her family. That family was lost to her very recently and she is still coping with that. There is no question that she loves both of you very much, but there is nothing wrong with her having other friends and family. Rose is a social creature and she needs those connections."

Jack sat on the jump seat and leaned back with his hands behind his head. "I am not a threat to your marriage, Doctor. She's my little sister and she's my friend. One of the only friends that will be able to stick around for a while. The three of you are probably the only people in the whole universe that I have a chance of seeing from time to time through this impossibly long life of mine. And I need those kinds of connections too. Consider how she feels about the fact that she made me immortal."

"You're right, Jack," Alex said as he moved away from the console where he had been squaring off against Evander towards their friend and put a hand on his shoulder. "About all of it. We could all use some consistent family ties and you have been an excellent friend for all three of us... brother-in-law." Alex smirked and Evander flinched a little.

Evander was silent as he considered all of these points. The idea of a family stung a little bit as he thought about the last time he tried that. Amy, Rory and River had been an odd, make-shift family of sorts and it had all ended very painfully. But they never had a chance of lasting very long to begin with. Jack would be around for several billion years (until the events on New Earth) and Alex and Rose would be around until he died since all of their lives were now tied together. This family wouldn't be torn apart by death. Could he try again? He had already agreed to having a family by marrying them. It was just a matter of accepting Jack as a brother-in-law.

"I'm sorry," Evander said quietly.

"Apology accepted," Jack answered. "But I think you've got a more important apology to make. Now, Alex and I are going to catch up a bit and you are going to go makeup with your wife."

He nodded, his shoulders sagging as he made his way deeper into the ship. He relaxed the shields he had put over his link to Rose and thought to her, ~'May I join you, Rose?'~

~'I suppose. I'm in the garden,'~ she replied.

When he arrived, he saw that she was lying under the tree where they had made their new promises and she had given them their matching bonding pendants. He sat next to her on the grass and tentatively took her hand to entwine their fingers together.

"I'm not really doing a very good job, am I?" he asked.

"Of what?" Rose kept her eyes fixed on the simulated night sky.

"Keeping my promises. Making things better, being a good man and being your devoted husband. I was lousy at all of them today," he admitted as he rubbed the back of her hand with is thumb. "You could be perfectly happy with Alex as your husband and Jack as your brother. What am I here for? I happened to have the TARDIS, but me? I'm extraneous."

"You're not. I thought I made that clear earlier," Rose said as she finally looked at him. It was obvious that she had been crying. Her face was dry now, but her eyes were red and her cheeks were blotchy and pink where tears had been. "I've tried so hard to reassure you, but is this about me? Or Alex? Or Jack? Or is this really about you? I love you. I love Alex. And yes, I love Jack, as a brother. Is that wrong of me?"

"No, Rose. And I'm sorry that I made you feel that way. You have so much love and compassion to give. You're right that this is about me. I'm old and selfish and completely unworthy of you, but you are my wife and it's time that I tried a little harder to make myself a worthy husband instead of looking for reasons to be unhappy. Let's go for a walk," he said in a change of mood as he got up from the grass and offered his hand to help her up as well.

They walked together through the garden, with an arm around each other, and he told her about some of the adventures he had during their separation after the meta-crisis. About the star whale and Vincent Van Gogh and the Christmas trees that were alive with sparkling lights and needed to be saved from acid rain. She and Alex had spent a long time talking like this on their honeymoon and Rose realized that maybe the occasional, private honeymoon time was what Evander needed with her. To feel close for a little while, without sharing. He and Alex had been the same man, they didn't need to get to know each other again.

"Maybe it would be good for all three of us, if we planned on some time spent with me and each of you, one on one? Date nights for two once in a while? Not all the time, but it might help you feel closer," Rose suggested.

"That is a marvellous idea. And," he took a deep breath before making this suggestion. "Why don't we ask Jack to travel with us for a little while? You need some time with your brother too."

She stopped walking and wrapped her arms around his waist, going up on her toes for a kiss. "Thank you, Doctor. I love you," she said with her forehead resting against his. She noticed that this was his preferred position when they were hugging. He didn't like having her head buried in his neck or shoulder, he wanted to see her face when they were close. It meant that she wasn't wrapped as tightly around him, but she accepted that this was what he liked.

~'Alex, would you join us in the garden when you have a minute?'~ Evander asked with his thoughts open to both of his spouses.

They strolled back to the tree where she had been lying earlier and sat to look at the simulated stars the TARDIS crafted for them while they waited for Alex to join them. Rose was settled between his legs with her back to his front and his arms curled around her waist. When Alex arrived, he sat down close and faced them clasping Rose's hand in his own.

"We were thinking that it would be a good idea to plan separate evenings together as couples instead of a trio. You're part of this decision too though, so what do you think?" Evander asked.

"I think that would be good. We each get one night a week? Spend the rest of the time all together?" Alex responded as he reached up to tuck a lock of Rose's hair behind her ear, stroking her cheek.

She looked down from the stars and turned to see Evander gazing at her with love in his clear blue eyes before bestowing a beaming smile on Alex. "That sounds perfect. We were also thinking of asking Jack to stick around for a while, if that's alright with you."

"Does he get a date night too?" Alex said with a smirk.

"Well," Rose tilted her head in thought. "It might be good for the two of you to spend some time together away from me too. I certainly wouldn't call it a date with my brother though... eww."

They all laughed and shared a hug. For now, all was forgiven. The only thing left was to ask Jack if he'd stay for a while.