The Family Man, Chapter 1
Title: The Family Man
Summary: Based on the wonderfully romantic film of the same name (2000). The Doctor wakes up to the complete domestic experience with Rose Tyler and their two half-Time Lord children. As he struggles to understand his new life, he begins to realize what he's been missing all along.
Pairing: Rose/Ten
Author's Note: Just in time for Valentine's Day! <3
The Doctor’s brain was active before he’d even opened his eyes. The events of the last few minutes played over in his mind, and from out of the darkness, he saw the electric purple storm slicing its way through his ship. Rose was screaming beside him, her voice still echoing in his ears as he sat up sharply, his body catching up with his mind and initiating the fight or flight reflex. The room around him swam into view, but it wasn’t the one he was expecting. Dumbfounded, dizzy and terrified, the Doctor scanned the unfamiliar domestic interior. He was prostrate on a large four-poster bed underneath a noisy ceiling fan. Laundry was littered carelessly around the surrounding hardwood floor, threatening to obscure it completely.
He was about to jump up and explore when a tiny voice stopped him, coming from below his left arm under a small pile of ruffled brown hair.
“Daddy?” the voice asked sleepily. “Is it time for breakfast?”
The Doctor froze, terrified that anything he said or did would be wrong. Instead, he stared at the five year-old girl who was nuzzling against his jersey t-shirt. Tiny freckles dotted her nose underneath a pair of glasses that mimicked his brainy specs.
“I want Fruit Loops,” she insisted. “Don’t make me eat the whole-grain stuff again. It’s qualitatively repulsive.”
The Doctor jerked as the bedside alarm went off, bringing about a massive rush of activity. All at once, the little girl jumped out of bed and a boy not much older came crashing into the room with a plastic airplane. He bounced on top of the Doctor, followed by three barking dachshunds.
“Wake up dad!” the boy screeched, mimicking the plane’s flight pattern over the Doctor’s head.
One of the dogs started to lick the Doctor’s hand, while another jumped on his chest and promptly stuck its rear in his face.
“Ugh!” the Doctor cried as he stood up, sending the whole party tumbling to the floor in a soft pile of feather-stuffed comforter. “What is going on?”
He couldn’t have been more shocked when Rose Tyler flounced into the room, looking exhausted in a pair of tight sweatpants and a thin white tank top.
“What’s going on is the complete mayhem that always overcomes the Tyler family on a Saturday morning!” she announced with her arms in the air. “Wil, get off the floor this instant and eat your breakfast! Arthur, K9, Butterscotch! Outside, now!”
The three dogs yelped and nipped at each others heels as they ran to obey their mistress. The Doctor remained standing as they evacuated, left clutching one end of a sheet as Rose collapsed on the bed and threw an arm over her face.
“I swear,” she vowed. “It gets worse every weekend. Please let me send the children to the zoo where they belong. Preferably on another planet…”
“Rose?” the Doctor asked tentatively.
“Don’t even ask,” she shot back. “You have to take Wilfred and Sammy to Donna and Lee’s today. You know how Josh and Ella get if they don’t have other kids to play with. Of course, you’d think the McAvoy’s would have thought about that before moving into a self-proclaimed senior community!”
“Rose,” the Doctor tried again. “We need to talk. Now.”
Rose rolled her eyes as she sat up, but then smirked as she observed his serious expression.
“Yeees?” she asked dramatically.
Just then, the little girl Rose had identified as Sammy came bounding into the room, her face smeared with purple jelly.
“Wil attacked me!” she bellowed angrily. “I was eating my cereal and he sent me a picture of a bear!”
She collapsed into a fit of tears as Rose squeezed her tight, soothing the little girl’s fears.
“Shh, don’t worry. It’s okay. Go and get ready for the car ride, alright?” Rose pleaded.
Sammy stopped sniffling long enough to cross her arms.
“I hope Wil suffers for his transgressions,” she retorted before flying out of the room. “You’re in trouble Wil!” she screamed as she ran across the hall.
“Oh god,” Rose moaned. “It’s bad enough when they hit each other, but this? You know the drill, Doctor.”
“I really, really don’t,” he said honestly as he sat down on the bed beside her. “Rose, please, you’ve got to listen to me. I don’t know what’s going on or where we are, but something is terribly wrong. My time sense is off the charts. Just one minute ago, we were on the TARDIS when a tremendous rift hit the ship…”
“Oh right,” Rose sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. “That explains my migraine. Look, seriously Doctor, are you going to sort Wil out or not? I don’t want the two of them shooting each other nasty thoughts all weekend. Donna will have enough on her hands."
Before he could respond, the phone began to ring and Rose was up and running.
“Oh, that’ll be my mum!” she screeched.
Not knowing what else to do, the Doctor followed after her, padding barefoot down the narrow hallway that separated the bedroom from the rest of the house. As he went, he was arrested by numerous pictures decorating the wall depicting himself, Rose, and the two children at various ages. One image stopped him in his tracks, as it appeared to be of him and Rose standing before an altar, her in a long white dress and veil.
“Oh nonono,” he whispered in disbelief, turning his attention to another picture.
In the next frame, he saw Jackie Tyler squeezing him to a pulp and kissing his cheek.
“Definitely not!” the Doctor muttered, his fears mounting.
In the last photo, he saw himself and Rose standing before a house, presumably the very one he was inside at the moment. In their hands, they held up a piece of paper labeled “mortgage,” and were grinning like lunatics.
As he was momentarily rendered speechless, the Doctor walked onward like a zombie until he reached the kitchen. Surrounding a central island were the two children, laughing hysterically at a small telly on the counter. The Doctor slipped by awkwardly before turning in a circle to observe the rest of the house, opened up by the expanded living and dining room. Off to the side, he saw two adjoining rooms labeled with the children’s names in colorful wooden circles. It took him a few seconds to realize the writing was in Gallifreyan.
As he stared around at the various bric-a-brac of family life, errant toys, half-read books and leftover snacks, it occurred to him that this situation was very real. The rift might have involved some temporal anomaly, thus shifting his present time-space parameter to an altered one. It would have also affected his companion, thus relocating her in the same fashion…but something else was bothering him. How would this particular scenario have come about? And as they appeared to be located on earth in the 21st Century, where did that put his ship or like resources? He patted down his pajama bottoms, hoping to locate his sonic, but to no avail.
“I’m ready to go!” Sammy declared as she appeared before him.
Her brother joined her as he pulled on a colorful backpack.
“Wait!” Sammy demanded. “You haven’t punished Wil yet!”
The Doctor stood dumbfounded as the children shot each other dirty looks. Not knowing what else to do, the Doctor scratched the back of his head.
“Well…you know the drill, Wilfred,” he said hopefully.
Wil nodded and held out his hands, offering them up to the Doctor. In response, the Doctor took the proffered hands, infinitely small compared to his own. With a startling flash of insight, the Doctor found himself in the little boy’s mind, where Wil was walking into the corner of a dim room. In the corner, there was a small chair where he sat down and crossed his arms. The Doctor quickly realized the boy was being mentally restricted, so that he wouldn’t be able to reach out psychically to anyone until he was released.
“Amazing,” the Doctor breathed.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Wil said, turning in his chair. “I’m very sorry for attacking my sister. Please tell her I said so.”
The Doctor nodded, relinquishing the connection as they both returned to the physical present. The boy seemed unbothered, other than the fact that his sister was poking her tongue out at him.
“Wow,” the Doctor breathed, still bathing in the glow of physic connection. He hadn’t done that in hundreds of years. A fleeting image of his first-born son flashed through his mind, barely more than a memory. Not knowing how else to react, he reached down and bundled Wil up in his arms, hugging him tightly and kissing his head.
“Oi!” the boy protested. “I’m alright! You don’t have to baby me!”
“Right, of course,” the Doctor said, relinquishing the child reluctantly.
But just as soon as he was clear, Sammy jumped into his arms.
“I want a hug too!” she proclaimed, nuzzling into his shoulder.
The Doctor giggled as the little girl tickled his neck, and looked up in surprise as Rose bounded into the room.
“You’re going to be late!” she warned as she tossed the Doctor a pair of car keys and a pair of old sneakers. He prodded at them hesitantly, wondering where his converse were.
“Go on!” Rose urged.
Seeing that she was about to lose her temper, the Doctor opted for the dirty Nike’s instead.
The children ran out ahead of him through the front door, racing to reach the minivan parked outside.
“Rose, I really do need to talk to you,” he started, but she waved him off.
“As soon as you get back,” she promised. “We can chat all you want on the way to mum and dad’s. It’ll be a long drive.”
“Jackie and Pete?” the Doctor questioned, unable to think of any other man Rose might refer to as her father.
Rose slipped her hands down to sit formidably on her hips.
“Of course! Don’t tell me you forgot what today is,” she said darkly.
“Of course not!” the Doctor lied, deciding to play along for the time being. “How could I? See you later!”
He escaped before entrenching himself any deeper, making for the van in the driveway as quickly as possible. It was only once he got into the driver’s seat that he realized he had absolutely no idea where he was going.
Before giving in to the desire to bang his head on the dash, Wil surprised him by setting a GPS device there instead. It blipped to life and revealed that they were located in Marylebone near central London, a much more affluent area than Peckham, where the Powell Estates were.
“I like to watch where we go,” Wil explained as he set it to navigate them to their destination, interrupting the Doctor’s thoughts. “I’m trying to memorize all the routes for my learner’s permit.”
“Learner’s permit?” the Doctor sputtered. “Surely you can’t be more than ten years old.”
“Dad!” Wil complained, “You said yourself preparation is the key to success. And I’m nine and a half, as you well know. Besides, it’s not like I’m asking to drive the TARDIS. It’s just a car.”
The Doctor turned the key in the ignition, going ashen as he did so.
“You know about the TARDIS?” he swallowed. “Is it here?”
“It’s in the garage next to mum’s car!” Wil said obviously. “Right where you left it. Now can we go please? I promised Josh I’d show him how to fly my plane.”
The Doctor balked, momentarily distracted. “You’re going to fly a plane as well?”
Wil held up his model plane and narrowed his eyes. “Did you hit your head, dad?”
“I might have just,” the Doctor replied as he backed jerkily out of the drive. “In fact, I’m starting to hope I did.”
--
The Doctor had decided not to panic. After being in some of the strangest situations possible, he’d quickly learned that panicking never yields useful results. Much like the time he woke up to a Caznanian spider wrapping him in its web, he knew that critical reasoning and common sense were key to extracting oneself from a difficult situation. In the former case, he’d wiggled free with the help of his sonic just moments before he was devoured. In this instance, however, he was a little more than befuddled. He had absolutely no idea what to do.
“Retract that outrageous insinuation!” Sammy screamed, her voice infringing upon the polite decibel range of an interior, moving vehicle.
Wil merely turned in his seat and shook his head.
“No way!” he taunted. “Ella McAvoy has the impaired cognitive functions of her mother. It’s no wonder you get along so well!”
“You scrofulous beast!” Sammy shot back. “I’m going to tell mum you said that!”
“Now, now,” the Doctor interrupted. “This is really not appropriate behavior…”
He pressed down on the gas pedal, hoping to reduce the amount of time left on their journey.
“If you tell on me, I’ll cut the hair off your dolls!” Wil whispered in an evil voice.
Sammy screamed, causing the Doctor to swerve and nearly hit a row of stacked trash cans by the curb.
“That’s enough!” he demanded. “Both of you button up this instant or so help me Rassilon I will turn this car around!”
The Doctor blinked, hardly realizing what he’d just said. Fortunately, the GPS signaled that they’d arrived at their destination, and he parked the van neatly in the drive. He gripped the wheel uncertainly as Wil piled out of the car, flying his model plane above his head as he ran through the front yard. Sammy was more reticent, however.
“Dad?” she asked softly. “Are you okay?”
The Doctor turned back to face the girl, still strapped tightly into her seatbelt.
“I’m fine…pumpkin,” he attempted.
Sammy made an odd face and shook her head. “You don’t call me that. You call me your little Ood.”
“Little Ood?” the Doctor asked gobsmacked, if not a little repulsed.
“Because of the way I eat spaghetti,” she added helpfully. “You really don’t remember, huh?”
“What do you mean I don’t remember?” he asked uncertainly.
“I could feel it when I hugged you,” Sammy said honestly. “I could tell something wasn’t right. You’re not supposed to be here, are you?”
The Doctor’s face contorted as he tried to formulate a response, beginning to fiddle with his hair rather than answer the question straightforwardly. It was at that precise moment a persistent rapping came at his driver’s side window, startling him half to death. A buxom redhead was outside the car, smiling brilliantly.
The Doctor rolled the window down cautiously.
“Are you gonna keep Sammy locked in there all day?” the woman demanded. “Come on then, spaceboy! Let’s get a move on!”
“Hi Donna!” Sammy cried happily.
A little girl with matching red hair came bounding up beside Donna, pulling on her dress to get a better look inside the car.
“Ella!” Sammy squealed as she saw hurriedly unstrapped her seatbelt to jump out of the car.
The two girls ran off together in a fit of giggles.
“Kids, huh?” Donna posited. “Or I guess I should say: time tots and kids!”
The Doctor shrugged lamely and flexed his hands on the wheel.
“You’re looking pretty glum,” Donna remarked. “I suppose the prospect of Jackie and Pete’s anniversary tonight is bringing you down?”
“Oh yes!” the Doctor replied, eyes widening. “Their…oh let’s see…which year is it…”
“Twentieth?” Donna offered. “Yes. That’s the one. You’re supposed to give them china, traditionally.”
The Doctor nodded, hoping that Rose had already acquired any necessary gifts.
“Well…” he started awkwardly. “Better get back to the house and get ready. For the party.
Donna snorted. “I don’t envy you. Speaking of parties, don’t forget Lee’s poker game next Sunday. He’s trying so hard to make it a “thing.” I honestly think he’s trying to compete with my gardening club.”
“Right! Poker party! I won’t forget,” the Doctor said dutifully.
Donna turned, waving one hand as she went.
“Try not to beat him too badly, Doctor. You know how he is when his pride is hurt! And tell Rose I said hi!”
The Doctor waved to her retreating back and turned his attention back to the car, neatly hitting the ‘home’ button on the GPS to direct him back. After a few simple instructions, he was back on the main street. A nostalgic smile appeared on his face as he navigated the winding road, remembering when he’d driven his yellow roadster Bessie. She was certainly more posh than the sky-blue minivan. Although anything was better than a New Earth car.
“Terrible mileage,” the Doctor muttered.
He stopped at a red light and drummed his fingers on the wheel, trying to concentrate on the storm that must have brought him and Rose here. His readings had indicated a spike in gamma radiation, causing him to suspect a subspace anomaly, but if that was the case, he shouldn’t have been able to remember anything. A honking sound interrupted his thoughts, however. He’d have to give it more thought when he had the time. Right then more important things demanded his attention. He needed to convince Rose that something had gone terribly, terribly wrong in their timeline. And more importantly, he needed to survive an unavoidable evening with Jackie Tyler.
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