The Family Man, Chapter 3
The lights went low in the ballroom as everyone took their seats, and waiters shuffled around silently refreshing champagne glasses. Around two hundred people had assembled for the main event, and the Doctor and Rose were at the main table before all of them. Nearby sat Jackie and Pete, along with a few of their closest friends that Rose seemed to know well.
After a long moment, Pete stood up and tapped his glass, bringing the entire room to respectful silence. Faces looked up eagerly from the audience and waited.
“I’d like to thank everyone who has made tonight possible, especially my wife, Jackie Tyler,” he began. “But I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank another individual, the one who pulled me from another universe, devoid of Jackie. It was over ten years ago that the Doctor showed up on my doorstep, just in time to fight off the impending invasion of Cybermen and save our world. It was he who introduced my lost wife and the daughter I never had, and convinced me to return with them. As all of you know, the Doctor’s deeds were heralded, as he faced another immanent peril in this world as soon as we returned. But together with Torchwood, we were able to stop the Daleks, and return peace to this dimension. Today, the Doctor is a valued member of the Torchwood team, one of our top operatives who time and again, protects Earth while cultivating intergalactic diplomacy. But he is also my son-in-law, and the one man in all of time and space who I would trust with my precious daughter, Rose. I think it would be remiss of me if I didn’t thank the Doctor, not only for the happiness brought to Jackie and myself, but for Rose and our beautiful grandchildren. He may be last of the Time Lords, protector of the dimensional realms, and an international hero, but to me he is simply this: a good man…a family man. Here’s to the Doctor, who blessed me with a family, and became part of it.”
As the crowd erupted in cheers, the Doctor flushed and looked sideways at Rose, who wasn’t bothering to hide the tears streaking down her cheeks. She shook her head as she leaned toward him and cupped either side of his face between her hands.
“Here’s to you,” she whispered as she kissed him soundly. “Go on, stand up!”
The Doctor left her embrace reluctantly, and stood on shaky legs as the audience cheered louder. He stared around nervously until he felt Rose’s warm hand pulling on his, beckoning him back down into the safety of his seat. He sighed breathily and beamed at her, remembering the warmth of her kiss.
Pete continued on then, speaking about Jackie at great length before thanking everyone for attending. A wonderful three-course dinner was served afterwards, and champagne flowed throughout the evening. After they had eaten, Rose pulled their modest gift out of her handbag and indicated toward the happy couple.
“Let’s steal them away for a tic to show them this!” she said excitedly. “Mum is going to flip!”
The Doctor nodded and followed after Rose as she spoke to her mother, and then pulled her father out of the room with them. The small party removed to a private library near the stairs, and took their seats around a large oak table in the center.
“What’s this all about, then?” Jackie asked with a grin as she opened the gift bag and peered curiously at the unknown device.
“You’ll see!” Rose replied. “Go on, Doctor. Set it up!”
The Doctor took the small Manticlean contraption and set in the middle of the table, tapping a few buttons on the side to activate it. A glowing orb of orange light grew out from the center until it encompassed Rose, the Doctor, Pete and Jackie within its purview. From inside, they could see the library as if through a waterfall, while inside, a smoky substance filled the bubble and slowly dissolved to reveal them within another opaque location.
“Wow!” Pete breathed. “Should I be terrified right now? Is this safe, Doctor?”
“Not to worry,” he answered assuredly. “Think of it like a movie theater where you’re in the movie. It’s just sensory information, it won’t hurt you.”
“Yeah, it’s like the Pensieve from Harry Potter!” Rose clarified, while nodding at her husband.
“Oh, now I get it,” Jackie said matter-of-factly. “So what memory are we looking at here?”
“Shh! Just watch!” Rose commanded excitedly.
Jackie peered out into the room, which materialized into a hospital ward. Rose was resting in a maternity suite, holding her son in her arms when Jackie ran in.
“Traffic!” she cried. “Horrible, awful traffic! I came as fast as I could!”
Rose smiled consolingly as she held up her baby and Jackie accepted him into her arms.
“You didn’t miss the best part. This part,” Rose spoke softly.
“Oh,” Jackie cooed. “Oh! Oh! I’m a gran!”
Wilfred kicked his tiny legs and cooed back at her.
The Doctor walked in shortly after, hands in his pockets and swaying back and forth next to his mother-in-law. The elated expression on his face matched his manic hair sticking out in all directions.
“Isn’t he beautiful?” the Doctor demanded, sticking one finger into Wil’s outstretched hand.
“Oh Doctor,” Jackie replied. “You’ve never done better. He is perfect. Got his daddy’s eyes and his mother’s nose.”
Jackie deposited herself on the bed and the Doctor sat next to her, holding Rose's hand as they looked on. In the next minute, Pete came bounding in.
“Bloody parking!” he cried. “Oh my god! Is that him? Hello Wilfred!”
Pete’s expression melted as he looked upon his grandson and wife. He cuddled up to Jackie who handed over the baby and wrapped one arm around her husband.
“We’re a right proper family now,” Pete said, turning his eyes to Rose and the Doctor.
They smiled lovingly and agreed.
The moment began to dissolve into another scene, and Rose’s voice could be heard whispering to her parents.
“That was my happiest memory with the two of you,” she said tenderly.
As the scenary began to exchange for an outdoor location, Jackie inhaled the scent of fresh flowers from a blooming garden.
“And what’s this?” she asked, turning her head to peer around them.
“This is the Doctor’s,” Rose explained, her voice thick with emotion.
They looked on as Sammy dug in the dirt, little more than a few years old. She was seated next to her brother, who was patiently demonstrating how to plant a seed in the ground. The Doctor was standing beside them with his hand over his mouth, hiding his brilliant smile.
Rose walked up behind him, snaking an arm around his waist.
“They getting along?” she asked hopefully.
“Marvelously!” the Doctor replied. “Look how much pride he takes in teaching her. Oh, you see there!”
Wil pressed his fingers to his sister’s temple, transferring some abstract information that couldn’t be communicated in words. Sammy laughed and dropped a seed in the hole Wil had made.
“Good job,” the half-Time Lord commended.
Jackie appeared behind the Doctor and Rose, a dirty trowel in her hand.
“How do they do that?” she pondered, addressing the Doctor. “I feel like I’m missing out on something that’s important to you and your people.”
The Doctor’s eyebrows related his surprise as he stared at Jackie in wonder.
“I never thought you’d be interested in all that,” he admitted. “I thought ‘alien’ things made you uncomfortable.”
“Now listen here,” Jackie said, holding up her gardening tool. “I’m not the conventional grandmum am I? I know you’re different, and my grandkids are too. In my eyes that just makes you more special than you already are. So why don’t you teach me something about all this telekinesis-business you get up to so that I can be included!”
The Doctor gaped in amazement while Rose called over her youngest child, cradling her in her arms as she presented Sammy to her grandmother.
“Why don’t you tell your gran how much you love her?” Rose suggested. “In your special way.”
Sammy reached out her hand and placed her slightly uncoordinated digits at her grandmother’s temple, squeezing her eyes shut to concentrate. Jackie beamed as the message came through.
“Well!” she breathed in disbelief. “Can you imagine that? What an amazing gift. Thank you Doctor!”
The Doctor ruffled his hand through his hair and tried to stop the heat from flooding into his cheeks even as he played off the pride glowing in his eyes. And the amazing thing was, the Doctor looking in on the memory could feel it too, as if the memory was his own.
The scene faded away, replaced by one from each of the children. Sammy’s favorite day with her grandparents involved them going to the zoo, while Wil had chosen the time Pete taught him how to play baseball. After that, the mnesic receptacle sucked the light back into itself, and the Tylers were left sitting in the empty library as if nothing had ever happened.
Jackie was moved to tears from the experience, and even Pete had a hard time restraining his emotions.
“That was beautiful,” the Doctor’s father-in-law stated. “Thank you both so much!”
“Best anniversary ever!” Jackie added. “Well come on, squench in!”
Rose clasped her father’s hand and leaned into a huge hug from her mother, followed by the Doctor.
“We should get back out there,” Pete cautioned after a few moments. “Don’t want the crowd to think we’ve eloped again!”
“Too right!” Jackie agreed. “We’ll see you two later. Your room’s all set up if you need some rest.”
“Thanks mum!” Rose replied as her parents left the room. She turned to face the Doctor then, and was arrested by the strange look playing over his face.
“What is it?” Rose asked as she squeezed his hand.
“Nothing, I just…” he faded out as he played the memories back over in his head.
The feeling of seeing his newborn son, of watching his children communicate for the first time, and watching them interact with Rose and his in-laws was all so real, it nearly overpowered him. He shook his head as the emotions rushed through him, and tried to keep himself grounded. This was not his reality. These things never happened to him. So why did all of it feel so completely right?
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