#onelifenet

The Doctor stuck his head out of the kitchen when she slammed the door behind her. “Long day?” he asked, his left eyebrow arched when he realised she was leaning against the door with her arms splayed out, as if she were intent on keeping something out.

Rose groaned and pushed off from the door. “Just Mum,” she said, and that was enough explanation to elicit a sympathetic hum, followed by a hug.

Feeling the Doctor’s arms around relaxed her, as always, and after a few moments, she unbent enough to catch a delicious scent in the air. She pulled back and sniffed a few times, then let go of the Doctor and stepped around him into the kitchen.

“Oh, I love you,” she groaned when she spotted take out containers on the counter from their favourite Indian restaurant. The food was already dished up and on the table waiting for them, and she shrugged out of her coat and handed it to the Doctor, then took her seat while he hung it up.

“I hope so, since you agreed to marry me,” he said, a twinkle in his eyes.

Rose stuck her tongue out at him, then dug into her meal. After taking a few bites, she leaned back and shook her head. “Believe me, only love could convince me to put up with Mum planning our wedding.”

The Doctor tore off a piece of naan and swiped it through his curry before popping it into his mouth. “Is she still determined to make it the wedding of the century?” he asked after he’d swallowed.

“At least.” Rose sighed when she felt some of her earlier headache return. “I’ve half a mind to elope—it would serve her right.” She rested her chin on her hand and looked at the Doctor. “Please tell me there’s some kind of Time Lord ritual we could do instead of this… circus. Preferably something very, very private.”

The Doctor nearly choked. He’d been trying to figure out how to bring bonding up for weeks, and after all his fretting, Rose had handed him an opportunity on a silver platter.

Her eyes narrowed. “There is,” she deduced quickly. “There is, and it’s something you want.”

He swallowed his food, then took a gulp of water. “Let’s finish our meal, and then I’ll tell you about it,” he said, not bothering to deny her assertion.

Rose ate her dinner with barely concealed impatience, and as soon as they were sitting in the living room together, she looked at him expectantly. “Tell me.”

Her soft request eased some of the Doctor’s agitation. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

“It was called bonding,” he started, jumping right into the middle of the explanation.

Rose nodded. “That’s as good a word for marriage as any,” she mused. “Binding your lives together.”

The Doctor shook his head. “Bonding was more than that,” he said, stumbling over the words slightly. The butterflies in his stomach were almost unbearable. In all his years with Rose, there were only four other times he’d asked her a question that meant as much as this one—asking her to come with him when they met, asking her to continue travelling with him after he regenerated, asking her to choose him on that beach, and just six weeks ago, when he’d asked her to marry him.

Rose patted his knee. “Calm down, Doctor,” she murmured, and he realised his breathing had sped up. “Just tell me, and then we can talk about it.”

The Doctor took a breath and held it for a second before letting it out slowly. Then he said, “A bond would be telepathic, Rose. It would tie our minds together permanently.”

She turned slightly to look up at him. “Tie our minds together? What does that mean? Would we be able to read each other’s minds?”

“Not… exactly,” he hedged. “It would be more like… knowing one another so deeply that we could anticipate each other’s thoughts.”

The tiniest furrow appeared on Rose’s forehead, and his heart sank. She didn’t want it; it was too much.

“Would I even be able to do that, since I’m human?”

It took the Doctor a moment to realise she wasn’t refusing—that, in fact, she sounded interested, although the interest was tempered by caution. Then his heart sped up and he felt a grin stretch across his face, before he nodded fervently.

“Oh, yes,” he promised. “We know you’re at least a little bit telepathic, based on your ability to communicate with our TARDIS. And even if you weren’t, I’m telepathic enough to support a bond between us on my own.”

She licked her lips. “It’s permanent?”

He nodded.

“It sounds… intimate. Like we’d be completely open to one another. Always together, always… vulnerable.”

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah. Bonds had actually fallen out of favour before my time,” he admitted. “Time Lords weren’t really keen on making themselves vulnerable to others.”

Rose’s eyes sought his. “But you would trust me with… with all of you, like this?”

His heart ached with love for Rose, and he wanted to open himself up to her right there so she could see how much he trusted her. Instead, he took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it tenderly before saying, “I would trust you with everything I am, Rose.”

Finally, a smile broke through her serious demeanour, like the sun peeking through the clouds. “Then I would love to bond with you, Doctor.”

The Doctor leaned forward and kissed her, partly in an attempt to conceal the excited squeak he felt in the back of his throat. Bonding with Rose had been his forbidden fantasy since the moment he’d used a kiss to take the Vortex from her. He’d slowly been working up the courage to mention it to her when they’d been separated, and he’d had four lonely years to regret not asking when he had the chance.

Rose curled her fingers into the Doctor’s hair as he kissed her. She could practically taste his excitement and eagerness, and they spurred on her own. When his lips moved away from her mouth to trail kisses along her jawline, she turned her head and whispered in his ear.

“Can we do it now?”

He nipped at her ear. “Oh, I intend to,” he growled, before pulling her into his lap.

Rose laughed and pushed against his shoulders, putting a little space between them. “Not what I meant, love,” she explained when he looked up at her through passion-glazed eyes.

“Then what… Oh.” He blinked a few times, and she watched some of his control return. “You mean the bond?”

Rose nodded, and the Doctor leaned back against the cushions and raked his hand through his hair. “Well…” He pressed his tongue to the back of his teeth. “We could, but I actually have plans, if that’s all right?”

“Of course,” she assured him. It struck her then in a way that it hadn’t earlier—this was something he’d really been wanting for a while, enough to plan it out before he even mentioned it to her. “As long as we can implement these plans before my mum drives me mad,” she added, remembering what had sparked the conversation in the first place.

The Doctor laughed, the tugged her closer and nuzzled into her neck. “Oh, I think that can be arranged,” he assured her. “If I can get Pete to agree to let us have two weeks off, could you be ready to go by Friday?”

“Ill! How ill?” He searched her expression for how worried heshould be.

“Sounds like she just ate something that didn’t agree with her.The nurse said no fever but that she’d been sick after lunch.”

“Hm. If that school gave our daughter food poisoning…” theDoctor grumbled as Rose moved into action, first stopping by her office to gether purse and their car keys, then back down to the car park. It was a shortdrive to the school, but Rose had a hard time not speeding (too much) to getthere.

“Mummy!” three-year-old Piper called out in a hoarse voice assoon as she saw Rose. She was pale, but otherwise looked normal. Then Rose gotclose enough to see the tear tracks down her cheeks.

“It’s alright, love. Mummy’s got you.” Rose gathered her babyup in her arms and held her close. “Does it hurt?”

Piper nodded. “Right here.”

She patted her stomach just as the Doctor stepped into thenurse’s office from the reception area where he’d signed the form saying they’dbe taking her out of school early for the day.

“Ooh, someone’sgot a tummy ache?” he asked gently. “And have you been crying? Your eyes arered, princess.”

Piper hid her face againsther mum’s shoulder at that. Rose stroked Piper’s hair and ventured a guess.

“Oh sweetheart, did youget sick in front of the other kids?”

Piper nodded but didn’tshow her face.

“Aw, don’t beembarrassed, love,” her dad reassured. “It happens to all of us. Why, one timeI was in an imperial court and right there in front of the emperor…”

Rose shook her head andraised an eyebrow to say he better stop right there.

“How about we get youhome and we can have a nice cuddle, eh?” he finished instead.

Piper raised her head fromher mum’s shoulder and nodded, looking miserable and very ready to not be atschool anymore. They thanked the nurse and headed home. By the time theyarrived, Piper was already asleep in her car seat. The Doctor carried herinside and scanned her with the sonic. While they were waiting for the sonic tocompile the results, they snuggled with her on the couch, as promised, so thatwhenever she woke up, she’d feel safe and cared for.  

“Hmm.” He held the sonic up and peered at the results.

“What does it say?” Rose asked, anxiety creeping into hervoice.

“Slight goat’s milk allergy. Where would she have had goat’smilk?”

Rose thought for a second, then remembered the school menufor the week. “Ah. The pizza cheese. They serve pizza with cheese made fromgoat’s milk.”

The Doctor sent her a look that said he both disapproved andthat that was the strangest idea he’d ever heard.

“Oi, don’t look at me like that,” Rose defended. “‘S not likeI served it. And besides, I’ve eaten far stranger things than goat’s milkcheese for you.”  

“Suppose that’s true.” He tilted his head in contemplation.

“Mummy?” Piper mumbled, half-awake.

“I’m here, baby.” Rose laid her hand on Piper’s back.

“Can we have soup? You’re supposed to have soup when you’resick. That’s what the book said.”

“The book?” But Piper had already settled back into sleep,snug beneath a quilt Pete’s mum had made.

“Ah,” the Doctor filled in for her, “I read her a book about abunny the other night. It gets sick and the mummy and daddy bunny nurse herback to health.”

Rose nodded in understanding. “May be a good one to pull backout, just in case she gets embarrassed again about what happened at school.”

The Doctor went to retrieve the book, and Rose watched over theirbaby girl. She was glad it wasn’t more serious than a mild reaction, but she madea note to schedule an allergy test for her all the same.

The whole situation was so unbelievably domestic, it made thecorner of Rose’s lips turn up in amusement for the millionth time since theyhad found out Rose was pregnant. Of course, her life was far from ordinary insome respects, what with a part-alien husband and child, a time machine growingin her back garden, and a job that included bringing bad aliens to justice andhelping good ones settle here on Earth or get back home. And she was proud ofall of that. But she was also proud of these little moments: being parents, aquiet night at home, phoning her mum to catch up on the latest family news,making soup for dinner. She would always be Agent Tyler, defender of the Earth,but she would also always be Mrs. Tyler, wife and mum, and a life balancingthose multiple identities seemed just about perfect.  

“Is that your real question?” She wandered in, two mugs of tea in hand, and a tray of jammy dodgers balanced atop them.

“No. Just a whine.” He sighed and took the tray, setting it on their kitchen table.

Rose leaned down to press a kiss to his lips. He’d never take for granted this new intimacy between them, not if they each lived to be 900. Which was his problem.

“I need a birthday.”

She blinked down at him. “Ah.”

Instead of sitting on his lap, which the Doctor preferred, she sat in the second chair next to him. Pity. She leaned on one hand and absently twirled her hair, eyes almost golden in the sunlight. Unable to resist—and he didn’t need to resist any more!—the Doctor leaned over and kissed her again.

Loved the kissing.

“How do I narrow down my life into eight digits?”

“Does your Gallifreyan birthdate translate into Earth time?”

He did a quick calculation then shrugged. “Are we talking the moment I was loomed? The moment I met my genetic parents? The moment I looked into the untempered schism?”

Rose opened her mouth then closed it and laughed. She sipped her tea and nibbled on a biscuit. “How about something much simpler? The day we—well, that day on—” she sighed. “How about our first day together?”

The Doctor knew what she wanted to say, that day on the beach when the Time Lord Doctor dropped them off. He didn’t bring it up, either. In the week since their return, and the week since they admitted they still loved each other, they hadn’t actually talked.

Talking was for later.

It was always for later.

“All right. And the year?”

“Can’t put your real age,” Rose mused into her tea mug. She looked up at him and tilted her head, squinting a little. “Say…what, 35-ish?”

“What?” He squawked. “Rose Tyler, I’ll have you know I do not look like a Human 35!” He sniffed. “At the most—the most!—32.”

“Oh?” She chewed her lip on a grin.

He grabbed her around the waist, hauling her onto his lap. Rose ran her fingers through his hair and the Doctor sighed.

“Does it matter?” she asked softly. “It’s a number and a lie no matter how we look at it. So’s mine, my birthdate on all this paperwork. It doesn’t matter.”

“You’re right.” He kissed her softly and breathed in the scent of home and Rose that clung to the skin of her neck. “It doesn’t. And who knows? Between my still-half Time Lordliness—” she snickered as she was meant to—“and Bad Wolf, who knows what our lifespans might be.”

Rose looked to the corner where the baby TARDIS coral soaked up the sunlight and carefully mixed nutrients they’d prepared. “Exactly.”

“I suppose age really is just a number.” The Doctor pulled back and set her feet on the floor then stood and took her hand. “And since we don’t know, it doesn’t matter.”

“Where are we going?” She asked, laughing as he tugged her through the flat.

“Out. To celebrate my birthday, of course!”

Rose leaned her head on his arm, so reminiscent of how they used to walk through alien markets or downtown London. Before. The Doctor hoped to have those trips again. Even if it was exploring this universe’s London. Together, hand in hand, with Rose.

“Happy Birthday, Doctor.”

“Oh! Transformers are brilliant! Who do I get to be?”

Tony ran to get his bag of toys, and pulled out a Mr. Potato Head. “Give him a scary face. He’s an alien potato.”

“Oh! I’ll make him a Sontaran!” the Doctor squealed as he opened the flap in back and dumped out the silly pieces.

Rose laughed in the background. “Lunch will be ready in about ten minutes, boys. Cheesy noodles.”

“Oh, brilliant!” the two ‘boys’ drawled in unison.

“I am Staal!” the Doctor said in a deep voice. “Sontar ha!”

“Sontor ha!” copied Tony.

“Did I ever tell you about the time that a Sontaran named Skunk—“

“Skunk!” Tony giggled. “Was he stinky?”

“Was he stinky? He stunk worse than a Blorgallian Bog Dog, and that is very stinky. Rose got licked by one once, and she stunk for days. Bog Dogs are very affectionate.”

“Oi! I heard that! You pushed me into that bog, if I recall,” she called from the kitchen.

“To save you from that herd of Areyouesses that was coming for you!”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Tony covered his mouth and laughed. “Was that Leather You or This Hair you?”

“Leather.”

Tony leaned in close. “Rose took me to Henrik’s last week. She was looking at leather coats. She kept sniffing 'em. Isn't that strange?” Tony whispered into the Doctor’s ear.

"Not strange at all," the Doctor grinned.

“Well I think it's weird. Did you know your birthday is coming up? You’re gonna be one!” Tony giggled. “I’m older than you are! I’m older than you are!” he sang.

The Doctor winked at him. “That’s my spy — you just keep your eyes open.”

Tony picked up his new toy. “I’m Ultimate Prime, and I’m going to save the universe from the evil emperor Zorgon!”

“Zygon?” asked the Doctor.

“No, Doctor." He rolled his eyes just like his big sister. "Zygons look like a boy thing.”

Rose snorted a laugh, and the Doctor choked.

“A Zygon tried to infiltrate 10 Downing about two years ago,” Rose called from the kitchen, still laughing. “I didn’t know that Tony was peeking over my shoulder. The little spy."

The Doctor elbowed and winked at Tony.

"He saw a picture of the thing on my laptop. He laughed about it for days.”

Tony picked up a figurine with a long pointy beard and arched eyebrows. “I’m the evil emperor Zorgon! I’m here to destroy your planet!”

“What is Skunk the Sontaran supposed to do? Jump on him? Clone him?” asked the Doctor.

“Nothing. He watches. Ultimate Prime is the hero.”

The Doctor frowned.

Playtime continued for a few more minutes until Rose called them for lunch. The toys were abandoned on the floor.

oOo

“I’m an Ood,” Tony said, mouth full, spaghetti noodles hanging down his chin.

“Put those back in your mouth, little man,” Rose admonished. “What would Mum say?”

“Mum would put me in time out, but Dad would laugh and do it too. And then Mum would say, you keep doing that and you’re cut off. What does cut off mean, Rose? Mum would never cut off Dad’s arm or something, would she?”

Rose shook her head forcefully. “No! It’s like grownup time out.”

“Do you ever get grownup time out, Doctor? You’re always doing messy stuff like Ood noodles.”

The Doctor tugged on his ear, and Rose raised an eyebrow and smirked. His head snapped towards the lounge.

“What’s wrong, Doctor?” Rose asked. “I know that look.”

“Did you hear something, Rose? Tony? I heard something. Like a high-pitched zinging sound. I haven’t heard the sound… in years. Very distinctive.”

Rose and shook her head, and Tony continued to slurp noodles.

“I didn’t hear anything, Doctor,” said Rose.

“I know I heard something.”

“Maybe it was Ultimate Prime. The package says he talks and makes sounds,” Rose suggested.

“You’re probably right.”

“Hurry up and eat already, I want to play!” Tony nagged, his plate now empty.

"Tony, you go wash the cheese off of your hands and face, and then we'll play."

Tony scurried off.

“Rose, I’m serious. That robot toy? Alien tech.”

“Come on, Doctor,” she drawled. “It’s just a toy. It whirrs and walks and talks. I put the batteries in myself, and there’s a gift receipt. Mum got it at We B’ Toys.”

“Not a toy.” The Doctor crossed his arms. "Transformers do not emit a level two sub-sonic universal greeting."

"Is it dangerous?" she asked.

"No, no, no!" he grinned. "Very friendly. The friendliest of greetings! Usually precedes the offering of gifts or blessings."

“All right, then. You try and take it from Tony.” Rose crossed her arms right back at him.

oOo

“Chhhhssshhhhhh!” Tony flew the robot toy above his head. He came to a screeching halt and held Bad Guy Zorgon face to face with Ultimate Prime.

“I’m Emperor Zorgon! And you will obey me!” he hissed. “Evil Ultimate Prime, I command you to fire!” Tony held the red robot high above his head.

“Tony, we have a surprise for you. Rose is going to take you to get a treat.”

“A treat, Doctor?” Rose asked.

“Yep. Ice cream.” The Doctor leveled a look that meant business.

Rose nodded, and then swept her five year old brother into his arms. “Go on, give your toys to the Doctor. Can’t have the evil robot and the emporor Zorgon threatening innocent people at the ice creamery.”

“Awwww, do I have to?” Tony whinged.

“Yep.”

Tony handed the toys to the Doctor, a thick lower lip pooching out.

oOo

Tony held the maraschino cherry above his mouth and then grabbed it with his teeth before sticking his finger into the generous dollop of whipped cream on the top of his chocolate-caramel swirl banana split.

“…so Evil Emperor Zorgon shot Ultimate Prime with his sigma ray gun, and BAM! Ultimate Prime turned evil! He can’t even transform into a train engine anymore! Now he transforms into a big roller thing like the ones that make roads! With spikes! And laser beams that shoot out of his eyes!”

“Well that is certainly terrifying, Tony. Do you think the Doctor could save him?”

“Of course he could! The Doctor can do anything.”

“Can I have a bite of your sundae?”

“No. Get your own,” he said, caramel dripping down his chin.

“Oi! You’ve been around the Doctor too much. Rude.”

“Rose, I want to be just like him when I grow up.”

“Of course you do.” Rose smiled at him fondly.

Tony dropped the spoon on the table. The chocolate ice cream quickly melted into a sticky puddle. He sighed, “I’m done. I can’t eat anymore. Can we go home? I want to play with my new toy.”

“Told ya not to get the large.” Rose rolled her eyes.

oOo

“Hey Tony! Go into the lounge. I put Transformers on the telly! It’s the new-new series, and you get to see it two years before your mates.”

“All right! Woo hoo!” Tony ran into the lounge area of the open loft, and jumped onto the enormous beanbag that was reserved just for him.

Transformers! Robots in the Skies! he sang along as he transformed Bumblebee into her VW Beetle form. He rolled the yellow car over the bumps and valleys of the beanbag as the action began to play out on the holographic screen.

“Psst, Rose,” the Doctor motioned his head towards his lab on the far side of the enormous, formerly industrial space.

Rose crossed her arms. “You’re not gonna tell me it’s alien are you?”

“Most definitely alien. Rose Tyler. I just finished fixing his universal translator. Looks like it was damaged by some sort of a laser weapon."

"You're having me on," she guffawed, but then she saw a flickering hologram projected onto the table, but glitched.

"Hold on." The Doctor pressed his sonic against the side of the robot's armour. "Let's try this again."

"Rose Tyler, you've served the universe as Defender of the Earth. Now I beg you to help us in our struggle against the evil Emperor Zorgon. I regret that I am unable to present my request to you in person, but my ship has fallen under attack, and I'm afraid my mission to bring you to Cybertron has failed. I have placed information vital to the survival of the Transformers into the memory systems of Ultimate Prime. This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Rose Tyler. You're my only hope.

Rose stared for a moment, and then burst into hysterics.

"You heard him, he needs you, Rose, and this is his desperate hour."

"Right," she drawled. She picked up the toy, turned it over, and showed him the back. "*Press here to record your holographic message* Tony's been begging for this toy for a year. You think I didn't know it could do this? Mum's refused to buy it 'cos it cost a hundred and fifty quid. He must've worn Dad down."

"Tony, you can come out now," the Doctor called. "Rose figured it out."

"Aww," he complained. "But it was a good trick, wasn't it Rose?"

"It was a great one, Tony."