amberfocus | You're What?: Chapter Thirty-two

Fixing Things

“Is there a reason,” Rose asked the Doctor a tad bit breathily, “why you haven’t shaved in three days?”

“Mm vrown me burr ow fur de we’ing,” he mumbled incoherently.

“What?” Rose asked him not understanding a word he’s just said except possibly wedding and even that one she wasn’t sure about. She looked down at him but all she could really see were his bright blue eyes and the top of his head.

He paused in what he was doing, lifted his head up and looked at her. “I said I’m growing me beard out for the wedding.” He resumed what he’d been doing when she’d interrupted him.

“Is there any particular reason why you’re growing your beard out for the wedding?” she wanted to know.

He stopped again, unbusied his mouth, and said, “Thought it’d look dashing with a tux.” His concentration went back to his former activity and a moment later Rose gave a little sigh.

“But,” she started again, “Mum really doesn’t like it.”

This time when the Doctor broke away from his important task he frowned at her. “You’re really going to bring up Jackie now? When I’m doing this?” he asked her slightly annoyed.

“Well, but…I just need to know you’re not doing it only to annoy her,” Rose said. The Doctor’s eyes dropped back down to his unfinished task.

“I would never do something just to annoy your Mum, Rose. The fact that it does is just an added fillip of delight,” he said. “Now do you mind? I’m kind of busy here.” He got back to his task and Rose settled back down watching him work.

She leaned back on her elbows, tilting her head back and half closing her eyes for several minutes. Small noises emerged from her from time to time but the Doctor didn’t alter his concentration at all, just methodically continued the job.

“It’s just that it’s itchy,” she finally burst out.

The Doctor sighed, removed the sonic screwdriver from his mouth for the fourth time and climbed out from behind the console. “Is that really what’s bothering you?” he wanted to know. He nudged her over so she had to make room for him on the jump seat.

He picked up her hand. “What else would be bothering me?” she asked him.

“You and your mum are planning a wedding. Makes it a lot more real for you, getting married in the traditions of your home planet,” he said with a shrug. “Maybe you’re getting cold feet?”

“I am not!” she said indignantly. “Besides, you’re already my husband. Another ceremony is not going to make you anymore than what you already are.”

He leaned over and kissed her hair. “That’s good.”

“It’s just, she’s turning it into a circus. She wants all this…stuff! I don’t need stuff. I don’t need all the trimmings. I just need you. If she wants a legal, human wedding that she witnesses, why can’t we just go and stand before an official? Why does it have to be a church and a minister and a fancy reception with dinner and dancing and all of that?” Rose complained.

“Doesn’t sound all that bad,” he said softly. “It’s only one day, Rose. One day of making your Mum happy and giving her a lifetime of memories. So it’s fancy. We’ll cope.”

“But you and me, we’re not like that. We’re simpler.”

“And your mum’s complicated. We don’t have to go through with this, Rose, if you really don’t want to. We can just take off again and skip the whole dog and pony show,” the Doctor offered with a squeeze of her hand. “If you want.”

“No. No, I’d never hear the end of it if we did. And neither would you. Do you want to come back to visit Mum and hear about how we skipped out on our own wedding and left her heartbroken and in tears for the rest of our lives?” Rose asked.

“Wouldn’t have to come back for visits at all. That’d solve that.”

Rose jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. “Not a viable solution,” she told him. “I know she’s a pain, but I’d miss her too much. Besides, I want her to see Charlie and the rest of our kids grow up.”

“Rest of our kids?”

“You said you wanted more,” she reminded him. “And I…” She looked down at their hands then shyly over at him. “And I want to give them to you. Lots of them. Well, a few. So you won’t be alone anymore after I’m…gone.”

“You’re not going anywhere,” he almost growled pulling her into him tightly.

“I’m only human,” she said softly. “I won’t last as long as you.”

“Rose.”

“It’s true.”

“Look, there are all sorts of ways of expanding the human lifespan. In the 51st century alone humans can live to be 300 with just a few genetic manipulations. Ask Jack. And we’re not confined to that. We can skip ahead further to the 76th century to the rejuvenation pools. You’ll stay with me,” he insisted.

“For as long as I have,” she whispered.

“Forever,” he said fiercely. “I want you forever.”

“It’s a lovely thought.”

“And I’ll make it a reality.”

Rose sighed. Despite his words she wasn’t sure forever existed, was afraid to even say the words for some reason. Her mind flashed back on the other Rose, the one who had been so determined to get back to her Doctor. She’d promised him forever and look where it had got her.

“I don’t mind the crazy wedding, Rose. I’d say I do to you a thousand times.”

“And not go crazy yourself?”

“And not go crazy myself,” he replied. “It’ll be fine. We’ll make it fine.”

She wanted to believe him, but really this was getting them nowhere. Telling herself not to be such a cynic she turned into his arms. “So is there anything you can do about the itchy beard?” she asked returning to the previous subject, deciding she didn’t want to even think about the wedding anymore. The Doctor looked like he wanted to say more but he let it go.

“Give it a few more days and it’ll stop being so bristly and start being smooth again. Soft, silky. Bet you’ll love it then,” he told her.

“I just don’t see why you want to cover up this beautiful face,” she said. He snorted. It didn’t matter how often she told him she thought he was gorgeous. He never quite believed it. She ran her hand up to his face and traced over his cheekbones and nose, then down to his mouth.

“You keep that up and I’ll never get back to repairing the flexural drift indicator,” he told her gruffly. She stroked his face again, her eyes full of mischief. “Rose Tyler, are you trying to seduce me?” he asked her.

“Well, just how important is the flexural drift indicator?” she asked her fingers tripping down his jaw and across his throat, then trailing down his chest to his stomach.

“It’s important enough that it really needs to be fixed now,” he told her with reluctance in his voice.

“Right now?” she asked him, her hand creeping down to his belt and opening it. He sucked in his gut as the ghosting fingers moved across his zipper.

“Yes, right now,” he said. “Or the next time,” he swallowed hard, “we take off,” he gasped, “the ship might explode. Rose!” he hissed out her name. “Stop that.”

“Might explode?” she asked him lowering the zipper. “Or will?”

“Um…” he mumbled, clearly having lost his train of thought as she freed him from the confines of his jeans and boxer briefs.

“Because I know something else that will explode, given the proper attention.” She slipped off the jumpseat and knelt in front of him. “What’s it to be, Doctor?” she asked. She slipped her mouth over the head of his penis and lightly circled around it with her tongue before pulling off and looking up at him with big brown eyes.

“I…I suppose,” she licked his length and his eyes lost focus again, “um…it can—oh, Rose—wait a few more, um…I…” His speech trailed off and he gave up trying to speak altogether and Rose took him as far as she could into her mouth, her hand closing around the rest of him and working in tandem with her fabulous tongue.

He was embarrassed at how quickly she brought him to orgasm, but when he asked to return the favor she said, “That’s okay, like I said, your beard’s too itchy. For now. Just felt, like, you know, doing that for you.”

She rose to her feet and said, “I’m just off to brush my teeth and then I’ll leave you to your repairs. Mum’s expecting me for more wedding planning.” Rose wrinkled her nose. “Guess I can’t put it off any longer.”

The Doctor just sat there while she disappeared into the ship. When she returned a moment later she said, “You might want to put that away. Jack should be back from the errand Mum sent him on any minute. You don’t want him to walk in and find you with your equipment hanging out. Knowing him, he’d try to take advantage.”

The Doctor actually blushed as he put himself back together. “That was really nice, Rose,” he told her.

“Umm hmm,” she agreed. She came over and kissed him deeply then wandered out of the ship and back to the flat.

Rose was glad that she had the memory of the Doctor’s reactions to her blow job firmly in her mind as she sat at the table with her mother and looked through a mind-numbing number of catalogs for invitations. Her mind kept wandering and finally Jackie called her on it.

“Rose, this is your wedding! The least you could show is a bit of enthusiasm!”

“But it’s not my wedding, is it, Mum?” she snapped as several days worth of simmering resentment bubbled up in her. “It’s yours!”

“Of course it’s your wedding, sweetheart,” Jackie said confusion clear on her face.

“No, it’s not. I had my wedding. It was simple and beautiful and it didn’t have all of this—this—unimportant…drivel,” she finished.

“Fine,” Jackie said pushing the pile of catalogs onto the floor. “You don’t want this? Fine. You’re only my only child. It’s not like I’ll ever get the chance to see another daughter walk down the aisle. But if you don’t want it, then don’t do it! Not even for your poor old Mum!”

“But I don’t want this!” Rose wailed. “I want simple and small and—and—quiet. This is…it’s too much, Mum, it’s all too much and how can you afford it, anyway?”

Jackie frowned at her daughter. “Didn’t he tell you?” she asked. “The Doctor gave me the money. Said I was to spend it as I saw fit, give you the wedding of your dreams, and if I needed more to come back to him for it.”

“He…he did?” Rose asked.

“Yeah. Didn’t even seem upset about it. Told me to go for whatever I thought would make you happy. Actually, I kind of suspect he’s looking forward to it,” Jackie mused.

Rose frowned. Why hadn’t he told her? It was true that she’d done nothing but complain about it, some of it from her own discontent, but a lot of it from the fact that she was afraid he hated the entire idea and was just keeping quiet on her account. Was it really possible the Doctor wanted this whole showy wedding?

She bit her lip. Considering his possessive streak, showing the whole world, or at least Jackie and Rose’s friends and family, that he’d got the girl, that she was his, might be just enough of a draw to the Doctor’s ego that he would revel in it.

“Well, what makes me happy is simple,” Rose finally said. “Can we have it as big as you want but as simple as I want?” she wanted to know. “Sort of elegant and understated?”

“Of course we can. If that’s what you really want.” Though Jackie’s eyes were still a bit disappointed she was finally recognizing that this was Rose’s wedding after all and maybe her daughter should have a bit more say in it.

Jackie bent to retrieve the catalogs from the floor, then sorted through them. “I saw one…” She finally found the right one and flipped the pages until she found a very pretty pale blue invitation with silver embossed lettering, surrounded by a single line of vining ivy. “Will this one do?”

Rose smiled happily. “Now that’s more like it.” A look of silent understanding passed between mother and daughter. “Okay, then. Now we just need to figure out what it’s going to say and I’ll go down to the shop and have them give it a rush job. We can have them back in 48 hours and get them sent out.”

Heads bent together, they worked out the wording for the invitations and then Jackie was on her way. Feeling a bit better about the way things were going, Rose happily made her way back to the TARDIS. Maybe this wedding thing wouldn’t be a total disaster after all.

Ch. 33: http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/142211.html