Fic: True Love's Gifts (13/13) 10.5/Rose PG
The Twelfth Day of Christmas
“Rose, do you have those reports from Blackman? He said he left them with you.”
The voice from the doorway made Rose startle and look up guiltily. She had been trawling the internet for anything wedding: wedding dresses, wedding flowers, wedding cakes, wedding tents, anything. Despite the stack of reports that sat on her desk she found she just couldn’t concentrate on anything work-related. She was even contemplating an early lunch to check out a dress boutique when Jake had interrupted her.
“Rose, you with me?” Jake moved further into the office, shutting the door behind him and Rose could sense his concern. “Hey, you okay?”
All she could do was grin. “More than okay, Jake. In fact I would even go as far as to say I am fantastic.”
“Okay,” her partner answered, still looking and sounding skeptical at her response. “Do you have that report then?”
“Which one?” she asked giggling, gesturing to her desk and the piles of reports that sat there.
Jake’s concern seemed to deepen as he moved closer to the desk. “Rose, I want you to think very, very carefully. Did anything strange happen last night? Did you drink anything different? Swallow in any mysterious gasses? Meet anyone that seemed off?”
He was so serious that Rose couldn’t control her laughter.
“Okay, that’s it.” Jake said with authority. “I’m calling the Doctor then taking you down to medical.” His voice brooked no argument and Rose forcibly calmed herself down and reached for his hand, preventing him from reaching for his mobile.
“No, Jake. I am fine.” At his continued stare of disbelief she added, “Really, I am.”
“So you trying to tell me it is everyday that you stare off into space and burst into laughter for no apparent reason?” he asked, skepticism heavy in his words. “Sorry, Rose, not buying it.”
He went to remove her hand so he could reach his mobile, and she tried to come up with a way to stop him from his current course without telling him why she was ridiculously happy. She was about to tell him an outlandish lie about a morning program that she found amusing when she felt him still; it was only then that she realized that she was restraining him with her left hand.
His eyes looked down at her hand and after a moment shot back up meet hers. She watched as his face contorted with disbelief, then joy, and then back disbelief, before finally looking back at the ring.
“I never thought…” he stammered, “I didn’t think…I mean, I knew eventually he’d get around to it…” Rose giggled again at his disbelieving tone.
She was about to answer him, tell him everything, then beg him to keep quiet as she hadn’t told her parents yet when there was a knock at the door.
“Ms. Tyler?” It was Monica, the team’s assistant calling.
“Just a mo,” Rose answered. Shooting a conspiratorial look at Jake, which she hoped he understood to mean ‘Keep your mouth shut about this or else,’ she moved to the door and opened it.
“What do you need, Monica?”
“Just a delivery for you.” Monica was holding the most gorgeous arrangement of long stemmed red roses that Rose had seen. Each rose stood tall and the red seemed to pop with the greenery that accompanied them. “I think they are from Dr. Noble,” Monica added with a grin.
“Quite right too,” Rose answered, her eyes never leaving the flowers.
“Should I bring them in?” Monica asked, her voice tinged with amusement.
Shaking her head to clear her mind, Rose nodded as she stepped aside, allowing the woman in. “Just put them on the desk.”
“If you can find a place,” Jake deadpanned.
Monica found a corner of the desk that seemed to have very little cluttering it and placed the vase down; then she left, giving Rose a knowing smile as she shut the door behind her. Rose sighed, knowing that she would now be office gossip for the rest of the day.
“So, that the final gift?” Jake asked, his voice full of amusement.
“Looks like it. Day twelve and twelve roses. Seems fitting.” Her voice trailed off as she searched for the familiar envelope and found it disconcerting when it didn’t appear.
“No note.” She wasn’t aware of voicing this thought until Jake answered.
“Maybe this isn’t the gift then.”
“You’d know more about that than me,” Rose answered, grinning at her now stunned partner. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, Jake, just when did you and the Doctor become such close friends?”
Jake grinned and cheekily replied, “Well, I do recall a period of time where neither of you were speaking to the other. The man had to vent his frustrations somewhere and I seemed to be the only person in this universe he knew who wasn’t related to you.”
“I didn’t know. Thank you for being a friend to him. Now, what report did you need?”
“Oh no, you aren’t getting out of that so easily,” he said with a pointed look at her ring. “Grab your coat. We’re taking an early lunch.”
***
Rose let herself into the Doctor’s flat after work and grinned as she heard him banging around in the kitchen. The music was blaring, pots were clattering, and the Doctor seemed to be singing. She put her keys on the entryway table and made her way to the kitchen. She was stopped, however by a stunning bouquet of lilies on the table. Her mum’s favorite. Perhaps the Doctor was more nervous about telling her parents than he let on.
“Rose, that you?” His voice rang from the kitchen, still discernable over the din of whatever punk group he had playing.
“It’s me,” she replied, as she made her way to kitchen.
He stood there, chopping celery to add to one pot or another and she realized that she rarely saw him looking so at ease. He looked up and smiled, setting the knife on the cutting board and moving closer.
“Hello,” he whispered, his eyes darkening and his hand taking hers, his fingers immediately going to the ring he had placed there the night before.
“Hello,” she responded, stretching up to kiss him.
“Jake phoned,” he said when they parted. “I thought we weren’t telling people until Jackie and Pete knew.”
“He guessed,” she answered and moved over to the abandoned celery to continue chopping it while the Doctor moved to check on one of the other boiling pots.
They worked silently together for a few minutes, comfortable in their respective roles.
“Good day at work?” the Doctor finally asked.
“Excellent day,” she grinned. “Got your flowers.”
“Very good. I hope they weren’t too cliché,” he said, his voice a bit hesitant.
“Not at all,” she answered. After a moment she added, “There wasn’t a note though.”
“Must have slipped my mind,” he replied nonchalantly.
He gave a small, almost unnoticeable smile, as he said it, which Rose took to mean there was more to the story than that. She opened her mouth to press him a bit more but he started talking again.
“Will you check the meat in the oven and then open the wine? Pete and Jackie will be here any minute.”
***
The kitchen was clean, her parents packed off for the night with a promise to meet tomorrow to go over plans for the wedding, there was quiet music playing, and she was curled up next to the Doctor on the couch.
“Good day?” he murmured, stroking her hair.
Rose sighed and burrowed furthered into him, “The best.”
“Good.” He kissed the top of her head and then straightened up. Rose whimpered at the change in their position, but the Doctor simply smiled at her and reached over to where a book lay on the end table.
Rose watched with curiosity as he pulled a white envelope from where it had been marking the pages and handed it to her.
“I believe,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion. “I owe you this.”
Rose simply nodded, aware of the sudden change in the atmosphere.
She fingered the envelope, the last one of her Christmas season, and felt a sadness overwhelm her. There would be no more daily romantic surprises. No more white envelopes. No more hastily scrawled names or crazy antics. Tomorrow morning she would get up and head to work and resume her daily routine. She wished there was some way to catch the magic of the holiday. To find ways to extend this gift, but as with everything, this too ended.
Then she noticed the light glinting off her ring. No not an ending, she thought to herself, but a beginning.
Smiling, she opened the envelope, her mind once again reviewing the past few days. On Christmas morning she had been disappointed to find only a card with a cryptic note from the Doctor. Now, twelve days later, she had everything that she had ever wanted and so much more.
There was more than one piece of paper in the envelope. She pulled them all out and read the note on top.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, the Doctor gave to me: 12 long stemmed roses and twelve pages of sentiment.
She looked up to find the Doctor watching her closely. She smiled and shuffled the note to the back of the sheaf of pages, looking back down to begin reading the letter that was the last of her gifts.
Rose, Donna told me once that I talk all the time and never say anything important. Well, this is me trying to make up for that. Because it does need to be said and it needs to be said often. You, Rose Tyler, are brilliant. You make me better. You make me want to be better.
Rose felt tears swelling in her eyes as she read the words of love, commitment, and adoration the Doctor had penned for her. There were recollections of the day they met, moments that were so key to their relationship. There were stories that he never had shared with her before, like the day he realized he was in love with his pink and yellow companion, and how it hurt when they had said goodbye; his joy at finding her again, his faith in her, and his astonishment that she could ever love someone like him.
Feeling the weight of the Doctor’s stare on her she reached out to take his hand as she continued reading. She was overwhelmed by the raw emotion that she found in the letter and as it came to a close she searched out his face. Words seemed inadequate. She simply took him in, her Time Lord. Hers from the moment he said run.
She reached out to cup his face and he leaned into her touch. Slowly she leaned up and placed a gentle kiss on his lips, knowing there was no possible way to express her feelings towards him.
“Merry Christmas, my love.” She finally muttered.
“Merry Christmas, Rose Tyler.”
“Rose, do you have those reports from Blackman? He said he left them with you.”
The voice from the doorway made Rose startle and look up guiltily. She had been trawling the internet for anything wedding: wedding dresses, wedding flowers, wedding cakes, wedding tents, anything. Despite the stack of reports that sat on her desk she found she just couldn’t concentrate on anything work-related. She was even contemplating an early lunch to check out a dress boutique when Jake had interrupted her.
“Rose, you with me?” Jake moved further into the office, shutting the door behind him and Rose could sense his concern. “Hey, you okay?”
All she could do was grin. “More than okay, Jake. In fact I would even go as far as to say I am fantastic.”
“Okay,” her partner answered, still looking and sounding skeptical at her response. “Do you have that report then?”
“Which one?” she asked giggling, gesturing to her desk and the piles of reports that sat there.
Jake’s concern seemed to deepen as he moved closer to the desk. “Rose, I want you to think very, very carefully. Did anything strange happen last night? Did you drink anything different? Swallow in any mysterious gasses? Meet anyone that seemed off?”
He was so serious that Rose couldn’t control her laughter.
“Okay, that’s it.” Jake said with authority. “I’m calling the Doctor then taking you down to medical.” His voice brooked no argument and Rose forcibly calmed herself down and reached for his hand, preventing him from reaching for his mobile.
“No, Jake. I am fine.” At his continued stare of disbelief she added, “Really, I am.”
“So you trying to tell me it is everyday that you stare off into space and burst into laughter for no apparent reason?” he asked, skepticism heavy in his words. “Sorry, Rose, not buying it.”
He went to remove her hand so he could reach his mobile, and she tried to come up with a way to stop him from his current course without telling him why she was ridiculously happy. She was about to tell him an outlandish lie about a morning program that she found amusing when she felt him still; it was only then that she realized that she was restraining him with her left hand.
His eyes looked down at her hand and after a moment shot back up meet hers. She watched as his face contorted with disbelief, then joy, and then back disbelief, before finally looking back at the ring.
“I never thought…” he stammered, “I didn’t think…I mean, I knew eventually he’d get around to it…” Rose giggled again at his disbelieving tone.
She was about to answer him, tell him everything, then beg him to keep quiet as she hadn’t told her parents yet when there was a knock at the door.
“Ms. Tyler?” It was Monica, the team’s assistant calling.
“Just a mo,” Rose answered. Shooting a conspiratorial look at Jake, which she hoped he understood to mean ‘Keep your mouth shut about this or else,’ she moved to the door and opened it.
“What do you need, Monica?”
“Just a delivery for you.” Monica was holding the most gorgeous arrangement of long stemmed red roses that Rose had seen. Each rose stood tall and the red seemed to pop with the greenery that accompanied them. “I think they are from Dr. Noble,” Monica added with a grin.
“Quite right too,” Rose answered, her eyes never leaving the flowers.
“Should I bring them in?” Monica asked, her voice tinged with amusement.
Shaking her head to clear her mind, Rose nodded as she stepped aside, allowing the woman in. “Just put them on the desk.”
“If you can find a place,” Jake deadpanned.
Monica found a corner of the desk that seemed to have very little cluttering it and placed the vase down; then she left, giving Rose a knowing smile as she shut the door behind her. Rose sighed, knowing that she would now be office gossip for the rest of the day.
“So, that the final gift?” Jake asked, his voice full of amusement.
“Looks like it. Day twelve and twelve roses. Seems fitting.” Her voice trailed off as she searched for the familiar envelope and found it disconcerting when it didn’t appear.
“No note.” She wasn’t aware of voicing this thought until Jake answered.
“Maybe this isn’t the gift then.”
“You’d know more about that than me,” Rose answered, grinning at her now stunned partner. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, Jake, just when did you and the Doctor become such close friends?”
Jake grinned and cheekily replied, “Well, I do recall a period of time where neither of you were speaking to the other. The man had to vent his frustrations somewhere and I seemed to be the only person in this universe he knew who wasn’t related to you.”
“I didn’t know. Thank you for being a friend to him. Now, what report did you need?”
“Oh no, you aren’t getting out of that so easily,” he said with a pointed look at her ring. “Grab your coat. We’re taking an early lunch.”
***
Rose let herself into the Doctor’s flat after work and grinned as she heard him banging around in the kitchen. The music was blaring, pots were clattering, and the Doctor seemed to be singing. She put her keys on the entryway table and made her way to the kitchen. She was stopped, however by a stunning bouquet of lilies on the table. Her mum’s favorite. Perhaps the Doctor was more nervous about telling her parents than he let on.
“Rose, that you?” His voice rang from the kitchen, still discernable over the din of whatever punk group he had playing.
“It’s me,” she replied, as she made her way to kitchen.
He stood there, chopping celery to add to one pot or another and she realized that she rarely saw him looking so at ease. He looked up and smiled, setting the knife on the cutting board and moving closer.
“Hello,” he whispered, his eyes darkening and his hand taking hers, his fingers immediately going to the ring he had placed there the night before.
“Hello,” she responded, stretching up to kiss him.
“Jake phoned,” he said when they parted. “I thought we weren’t telling people until Jackie and Pete knew.”
“He guessed,” she answered and moved over to the abandoned celery to continue chopping it while the Doctor moved to check on one of the other boiling pots.
They worked silently together for a few minutes, comfortable in their respective roles.
“Good day at work?” the Doctor finally asked.
“Excellent day,” she grinned. “Got your flowers.”
“Very good. I hope they weren’t too cliché,” he said, his voice a bit hesitant.
“Not at all,” she answered. After a moment she added, “There wasn’t a note though.”
“Must have slipped my mind,” he replied nonchalantly.
He gave a small, almost unnoticeable smile, as he said it, which Rose took to mean there was more to the story than that. She opened her mouth to press him a bit more but he started talking again.
“Will you check the meat in the oven and then open the wine? Pete and Jackie will be here any minute.”
***
The kitchen was clean, her parents packed off for the night with a promise to meet tomorrow to go over plans for the wedding, there was quiet music playing, and she was curled up next to the Doctor on the couch.
“Good day?” he murmured, stroking her hair.
Rose sighed and burrowed furthered into him, “The best.”
“Good.” He kissed the top of her head and then straightened up. Rose whimpered at the change in their position, but the Doctor simply smiled at her and reached over to where a book lay on the end table.
Rose watched with curiosity as he pulled a white envelope from where it had been marking the pages and handed it to her.
“I believe,” he said, his voice heavy with emotion. “I owe you this.”
Rose simply nodded, aware of the sudden change in the atmosphere.
She fingered the envelope, the last one of her Christmas season, and felt a sadness overwhelm her. There would be no more daily romantic surprises. No more white envelopes. No more hastily scrawled names or crazy antics. Tomorrow morning she would get up and head to work and resume her daily routine. She wished there was some way to catch the magic of the holiday. To find ways to extend this gift, but as with everything, this too ended.
Then she noticed the light glinting off her ring. No not an ending, she thought to herself, but a beginning.
Smiling, she opened the envelope, her mind once again reviewing the past few days. On Christmas morning she had been disappointed to find only a card with a cryptic note from the Doctor. Now, twelve days later, she had everything that she had ever wanted and so much more.
There was more than one piece of paper in the envelope. She pulled them all out and read the note on top.
On the twelfth day of Christmas, the Doctor gave to me: 12 long stemmed roses and twelve pages of sentiment.
She looked up to find the Doctor watching her closely. She smiled and shuffled the note to the back of the sheaf of pages, looking back down to begin reading the letter that was the last of her gifts.
Rose, Donna told me once that I talk all the time and never say anything important. Well, this is me trying to make up for that. Because it does need to be said and it needs to be said often. You, Rose Tyler, are brilliant. You make me better. You make me want to be better.
Rose felt tears swelling in her eyes as she read the words of love, commitment, and adoration the Doctor had penned for her. There were recollections of the day they met, moments that were so key to their relationship. There were stories that he never had shared with her before, like the day he realized he was in love with his pink and yellow companion, and how it hurt when they had said goodbye; his joy at finding her again, his faith in her, and his astonishment that she could ever love someone like him.
Feeling the weight of the Doctor’s stare on her she reached out to take his hand as she continued reading. She was overwhelmed by the raw emotion that she found in the letter and as it came to a close she searched out his face. Words seemed inadequate. She simply took him in, her Time Lord. Hers from the moment he said run.
She reached out to cup his face and he leaned into her touch. Slowly she leaned up and placed a gentle kiss on his lips, knowing there was no possible way to express her feelings towards him.
“Merry Christmas, my love.” She finally muttered.
“Merry Christmas, Rose Tyler.”