They had taken a break the following Christmas for the holidays after spending the entire year away and gone home. Jamie had contacted Pete and got his permission to ask Rose to marry him but not to tell Jackie and wanted a special new year's party to be an engagement party. So Pete agreed to keep it quiet until Rose and Jamie had gone back to their place for a few days before the Christmas celebrations.
Jackie had clasped her hands over her mouth in surprise.
"Oh Pete! Why didn't ya tell me?" she cried at him, Tony looking up from playing with a puzzle Rose and Jamie had got him.
"Jamie wanted to surprise her Jaks, that's why," Pete replied. "Well, get onto the caterers then, you have a week or so, he'll make sure she doesn't find out."
"Find out what Dad?" Tony asked innocently.
"Never mind young man," Pete laughed as Tony seemed to know when Jamie was being talked about, let alone his sister. "It's a big surprise for Rose, we have to keep it secret. Can you do that?"
"Yeah Dad," Tony grinned back. "Does Jamie know?"
"Yes Tony, he knows," Jackie had to laugh. "It's going to make your sister really happy. Oh Pete, I thought she'd never be happy until she met Jamie, he was just what she needed."
"I know love. You may as well make a start but you're the caterer's best customer," Pete laughed.
"I'd better be," Jackie laughed back. "They'd better have a heated marquee as well. What about the invitations though?"
"Ah. I'll call Rose's secretary, she can get a rush job done on them and have the printers mail them direct and hopefully everyone will get them after Christmas and not before. We don't want Rose to find out," Pete replied.
"Well I hope they'll get them on time, I'll write a list and you find out who her friends are," Jackie suggested. "Then we can announce it in the papers."
"Do we have to Jackie?" Pete asked her.
"They'll have to get used to it. Maybe Jamie will stop draggin' her around all over the place now?" Jackie wondered.
"You know why she agreed," Pete reminded her.
"Well he doesn't know that, does he?" Jackie told him. "How no-one's ever mentioned it to him beats me."
"Because Mickey left and they went off when he came back, remember?" Pete asked her.
"Who's Mickey?" Tony wanted to know, since Mickey had made no attempt to be other than an employee when he'd gone back to work for Pete.
"Never mind," Jackie and Pete told the young boy at the same time.
Jackie knew Rose wouldn't want him on the guest list, whether she knew about the party or not. Would she want to go back to working in the same building as Mickey, Pete then wondered. At Rose and Jamie's apartment, which had been looked after while they'd been away, Rose was wrapping family Christmas presents, having just managed to post cards to her small circle of friends.
"I hope they get there in time," Rose mentioned to Jamie, who was catching up with the news.
"They only tell you to post them early so everyone's not rushing all at once," Jamie laughed. "Have you wrapped my presents yet?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Rose laughed back. "This one of Tony's is really a funny shape, he'll spend ages tryin' to guess what it is before he tears the paper off."
"Good, your dad will have time to charge the batteries," Jamie replied.
"Jamie, we should charge them before we go," Rose reminded him.
"I meant the spare ones Rose, the others will be flat in ten minutes," Jamie tried to be serious. "How did we manage before rechargeable batteries when we were kids?"
"We did without or we got toys that didn't take them," Rose replied, sticking the label on carefully and hoping it stayed on.
"Or got wind-up toys," Jamie added.
"You're showing your age again," Rose laughed at him.
"Come here and I'll show you how old I am," he replied.
Rose didn't doubt it. She loved him and wondered how serious he meant for them to get. They had been travelling around for quite a while and loving every minute of it but would Jamie want to give it all up and settle down at Torchwood again?
Maybe if an exciting project came along but they couldn't just invent one, could they? The cannon project had failed and had been shelved and Jamie might not have been interested anyway. He'd told her it was the prospect of discovering alien artefacts that had got him joining the organization.
Rose decided to take a break and went to sit beside him.
"I'm glad we came back for the holidays Jamie."
"So am I love, how could I have kept you away?" he replied, going to kiss her neck.
"Why do ya never talk about your family?" Rose wanted to know.
"Rose, you're my family now. I told you, we never got on, that's why they sent me away then to college and university. They thought by showing they were willing to pay for my education that was enough. They were not like Pete. Yes, he has money but he loves his family," Jamie told her.
"Sorry. I know ya don't like talking about it but do they even know what ya do now?" Rose asked him.
"Does it matter? Their solicitor knows how to reach me if the need arises, I passed your stepfather's details onto them rather than give yours, with his permission," Jamie replied. "Don't worry about it eh? Now, how about a lazy late afternoon snuggle or even more?"
Late on Christmas Eve afternoon, they made their way to Jackie and Pete's, Tony rushing to greet them while some of the staff unloaded the car and Jamie left the keys for them to put it out of the way before the evening guests arrived for the party.
"Jamie!" Tony called out excitedly. "You're back!"
"Hey, what about me?" Rose laughed as Jamie picked up the boy.
Tony held his arms out to her as well. Once inside, Rose went to get changed for the party and Jamie was grilled by Jackie as to the upcoming engagement.
"Sorry to spring it on you Jackie," Jamie was telling her.
"I should think so, you have no idea what a rush it's been, tryin' to get a marquee ordered for that day. The caterers had to pull a few strings, I'll tell ya," Jackie made sure he knew the trouble she'd had to go to. "Anyway, Rose's old secretary helped with the invitations, they've gone out, best hope everyone can cancel their arrangements and attend."
"I want it to be a real surprise for her Jackie," Jamie told her. "I think she's beginning to wonder if I'll ever get around to asking her."
"She won't," Jackie tried to assure him, not wanting to bring the subject up of the Doctor never doing anything. "What ya gonna do after the holidays? Are ya going away again?"
"We may but only until the wedding, well when we decide on a date. Maybe Rose will want to stay?" Jamie wondered. "Who am I to stop her, we had a good time while it lasted."
Jackie wondered just how much of her past Rose had told who was about to become her fiancé? The party lasted until the early hours of the following morning but Jamie was still up early as Tony came to find him to take him downstairs. When Rose emerged in the kitchen, the two of them were laughing about something and Pete was getting Jackie's breakfast.
"Rose, can I open that funny looking present?" Tony wanted to know. "Jamie said to wait for you."
"Let's wait for mum," Rose suggested as Pete drank his coffee.
"She could be a while," Pete admitted. "Why don't you help him with just your presents?" he suggested.
"Yeah!" Tony jumped onto Jamie. "Come on Jamie!"
"I'll catch up with ya," Rose told them both, getting some cereal, since the cook and her assistant were busy getting dinner ready.
"Hey, happy Christmas you two," Rose greeted the two surprised women. "Ya didn't have to volunteer to work today."
"It's no trouble Miss. Your stepfather's giving us time off when we've cleared up," Rose was told.
Rose knew only minimum staff were working and they were having the following day off. Jackie never overworked them except maybe the driver who kept taking her shopping.
While Jamie occupied Tony, Rose was wondering what Jamie had got her as a present. She was rather hoping he might give her a shiny diamond ring, she shouldn't get her hopes up though and shouldn't act disappointed if he didn't.
Pete went off with the breakfast tray so Rose hurried her breakfast and went to find Jamie and Tony, who was waiting for batteries being put in his new toy.
"This is great Jamie!" Tony was saying.
"Thank your sister as well," Jamie reminded the boy.
"Here Tony, this is just from me," Rose handed him another present.
The boy ripped the paper off, looked at it and gave Rose a hug. Then he went back to get the remote control for the off-road car they'd got for him.
"Show me Jamie," Tony was asking.
Rose went to sit on the stairs out of the way. Since Jamie had been introduced, when he was there Tony hardly had any time for her. She guessed she should be grateful Jamie was like a big brother to Tony when she'd had no-one when she'd grown up.
Pete and Jackie joined them at the tree and soon all the presents had been opened, Rose being given a diamond and sapphire bracelet by Jamie and guessed he wasn't ready to give her a ring yet. Jamie hoped she wasn't too disappointed since he intended asking a in a weeks' time to wear his ring.
Down in Sandbrook, things were not going so smoothly at the Hardy house. They were going to Tess's parents for Christmas dinner and as usual, Alec wasn't looking forward to meeting up with her relatives, even more so this year. They had tried to patch things together, Tess had promised not to see Dave out of work but they were still sleeping in separate rooms.
Alec didn't know how much longer things were going to hold together. It was a strain and they both knew it.
"Try to look interested Alec," Tess was telling him. "Who's driving home?"
"I expect that falls to me?" Alec replied as they waited for Daisy. "Daisy, get a move on," he called through the open living room door.
"That's not going to help." Tess reminded him.
"We need to talk after the holidays Tess. Things are not working out," Alec told her.
"It takes two to make it work Alec, I'm trying my best," Tess replied.
"You still work with Harris," Alec reminded her.
"I don't have any choice Alec," Tess told him. "The chief told us to put our differences aside at work, remember?"
He remembered all too well. Why had he ever agreed to give their marriage another chance when he was about to seek a divorce? Was it just the convenience?
"Daisy, you were told to be down here ten minutes ago," Tess reminded her. "Have you got everything?"
"Have you been playing on your phone again?" Alec asked her. "You should not be on those social media sites at your age, we never had them."
"That's because there was no internet back then," Daisy replied cheekily. "I was only finding out what Rose Tyler was doing for Christmas, if she's back home or staying in another country."
"Does it matter?" Alec asked as he held the door open. "What is it with teenagers and these celebrities?"
"Come on Alec, you must have had some interests when you were growing up, even in Scotland," Tess told him as they got in the car.
He mumbled something as he started the car then wondered when his daughter had taken a sudden interest in Rose Tyler. Had Tess even told Daisy she'd dragged him to a charity event the Vitex heiress had been attending? That had been the last time they'd been out, things had fallen apart even faster after that.
Then after going to see Daisy a few times, they'd sat down and he'd agreed to go back to help financially and since he didn't really like living in a small hotel room had taken the spare room. How was he going to break the news to Daisy that it wasn't going to last?
After Christmas dinner, Jamie asked Rose if she liked her main present from him.
"It's lovely Jamie," she told him.
"Were you expecting something else maybe?" he dared ask.
"What? No, 'course not," Rose denied. "What would I be expecting?"
"Well, I don't know? I'm surprised your mother hasn't been dropping any hints," he laughed.
"Take no notice if she does," Rose smiled. "I'm happy the way things are."
"Really? Then so am I love," he agreed for her benefit, hoping he could keep it quiet for another week. "Hey, why don't we go down to Brighton or somewhere for a few days until the new year?" he suggested, so Jackie could get on with the plans.
"What brought that on?" Rose laughed.
"Well we've travelling around all over the place, it'll be nice and quiet down there for a short break, maybe get a hotel on the seafront? We could look them up, go back home tomorrow night then set off. What do you think?"
"Yeah, sounds great, I'll need to go home and get my big coat," Rose agreed.
Rose went off to tell her mother while Jamie sought out Pete.
"Good thinking Jamie, things will be a lot easier with Rose out of the way," Pete agreed.
"I thought it would Pete, Jackie might give something away," Jamie told him.
"That's why I was keeping an eye on her last night," Pete told him. "So, are you going off again after the holidays?"
"It depends Pete, on how soon Rose wants the wedding to be. We've had a good time going around, maybe she'll want to come back?" Jamie wondered.
"Ah, about that? Mickey sort of took over in your old department for now," Pete had to admit. "I'll need to know as soon as you can so I can move him. I told him it may not be permanent."
"What happened between Rose and him anyway?" Jamie wanted to know. "I thought they came from the other world together?"
"Well no, Mickey came here first then went back to help over the Cybermen," Pete reminded him. "Well you know how Rose and Jackie ended up here, then we went up to Norway so she could say goodbye to her friend?"
"Yeah but she never talks about it," Jamie replied. "I don't push her on it."
"Good, she was heart-broken over it. Well she and Mickey got into some sort of argument on the way back, lord knows how it started and when we got back, Mickey quit and went off."
"Well, I suppose that explains a few things? I wonder if Mickey was still a bit jealous over this friend she left behind?"
"Probably. When the Cybermen got loose here, Mickey was one of the first to go with the advance party to try to warn the other Torchwood. They failed though because the head was unapproachable," Pete told him. "All they could do was keep an eye out for Rose and the Doctor and help them as much as they could without giving themselves away until it was safe to do so."
"Then something went wrong when those other creatures arrived there?" Jamie asked. "So Rose and Jackie may have stayed there?"
"Maybe? We would have still made sure the Cybermen left though," Pete assured him. "I may have charmed Jackie into coming back with me," he smiled. "As for Rose, she would have stayed."
"Yeah, I expect she would have done?" Jamie didn't look happy about it.
Rose was telling her mother they were going off again.
"You've really got the travelling bug again Rose," Jackie told her.
"I thought it was sweet of him," Rose replied as she twisted the bracelet on her wrist.
"When are you two gonna settle down?" Jackie wanted to know without giving anything away.
"I thought maybe soon Mum but all he gave me was this bracelet," Rose sounded disappointed.
"Rose, he loves ya, don't give up yet. Maybe he's waitin' for Valentine's day?" Jackie suggested, trying not to say it could be a lot sooner than that.
"Mum, maybe it's why he suggested we go away?" Rose suddenly thought.
Jackie hadn't thought of that and she bet Jamie hadn't either. Maybe she should suggest Jamie proposed to Rose in Brighton and come back on New Year's Eve to the party?
"I'd best go see what Jake and Tony are up to," Jackie suddenly got up. "It's a wonder Tony didn't want Jamie to play with his train set with him."
"No Mum, he likes Jamie to chase him around," Rose laughed.
Jamie just happened to be on his way to find Rose when he bumped into Jackie.
"Here Jamie, quick," Jackie pulled him into the now empty kitchen. "I hope ya already got Rose a ring?"
"Yes Jackie, I've got her a ring," Jamie looked surprised.
"Good. Then when ya take her to Brighton, take her out to the end of the pier and ask her to marry ya there," Jackie suggested.
"That's funny, Pete just said that," Jamie laughed. "That's exactly what I'll do then, the night before we come back. Then back home, grab a change of clothes and back here for the engagement party. Perfect!"
"I'm glad ya agree 'cos Rose seemed a bit upset ya only gave her a diamond bracelet for Christmas so don't let her down," Jackie warned him.
Jamie did a mock salute.
"Best go find her then? She said Tony likes to play games later on."
"Don't let him play Twister with ya," Jackie gave him another warning.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Jamie laughed.
He went to join Rose, who smiled when he sat beside her and took her hand.
"Okay love?" he asked her.
"Yeah, it's the best Christmas I've had for a long time 'cos you're here," she told him, leaning on his shoulder.
Two days later, they were looking out of their nice warm hotel room overlooking the pier that had just lit up in the late afternoon. Jamie had been lucky to find the hotel at short notice and was glad he'd looked on a late booking website.
"Let's go for a walk after dinner," he suggested as he kissed her cheek.
"I hope the rides will be open tomorrow," Rose smiled.
"Don't see why not, I bet there are plenty of people here," Jamie agreed.
Now, he wasn't sure if he wanted to wait a few more nights since Jackie had told him how disappointed Rose had been. If he did it tonight, they could enjoy the next few days even better being engaged and he could still keep the party quiet.
He was feeling a bit nervous now the time had actually arrived. They'd gone shopping separately and he'd gone to buy the ring and didn't want to wait too long to give it to her. So after dinner, he went to get their coats and they crossed the road and went through the small gate that was still open since there were plenty of people still around.
He wanted somewhere quiet though but didn't think it a good idea to go too far. So he found a spot under some lights and turned to face the way they'd just walked.
"Rose, remember what you said to me on Christmas Day?" he asked her, taking the glove off her left hand and rubbing it. "I know you meant it but maybe I should have done something special to make it even better?"
"Jamie, it was great, honestly," Rose tried to assure him.
"Rose, I saw the look on your face when you opened that box with the bracelet inside. You would have preferred something else with a diamond in it?"
"Jamie," she started to say until he put his finger over her lips and hushed her then moving his finger kissed her gently whilst fingering the small box in his coat pocket.
"Let me make up for it love?"
He kept hold of her left hand to stop it getting cold and brought out the box, Rose letting go of him to put her hands over her mouth. Since it was already frosty, he very carefully bent one leg instead of kneeling and opened the box.
"Will you marry me, Rose Tyler?"