Chapter Text
The Doctor hadn’t just asked for a recipe when he’d quizzed Jackie the morning of the cookie disaster. He had wanted to know everything Rose had loved about Christmas as a kid, and armed with that information, he’d made more plans. Sure, the cookies had been a setback. He was relieved that Rose didn’t seem to be disappointed with him, despite being out of their home for two days while it was cleaned and repaired. And, after the literal, and proverbial, smoke cleared, the Doctor was eager to act on phase two of the Best Christmas Ever.
Jackie had informed him, while passing on the cookie recipe, that ice skating was something the pair of them had enjoyed during the holidays. “Cousin Mo always took us from the time Rose was three. She always had to treat us, ‘cos, of course I couldn’t afford the skate rental. Last time we went was the Christmas Rose was fifteen.” Upon hearing Jackie’s revelation, the Doctor had decided that Rose needed to get back out on the ice. He’d watched a few of those cheesy holiday movies for inspiration and the potential for romance while skating was not lost on him.
So, as they were leaving work on the Friday before Christmas, he had hinted heavily that she should change into warm clothes for their date night.
“So…” she bumped him with her shoulder, “do tell, what are we doing? Stargazin’ with the telescope in the back garden?”
The Doctor had filed that idea away for a potential Best New Year’s Eve Ever, and smirked. “Nope! It’s a surprise,” he’d told her, arching his eyebrow mischievously.
“You’re infuriatin’,” she’d smiled as she reeled him in for a kiss.
****
The Doctor was shutting down his computer in their newly freshened and repaired kitchen when Rose appeared, fetchingly dressed in jeans and a black and pink flannel shirt. She’d topped the shirt with a black v-neck jumper that reminded them both of the days when he had had blue eyes and big ears. “You’re gorgeous,” he told her.
She gave him that smile and asked, “What are you up to?” she asked.
The Doctor frowned a bit. He had been trying to make a playlist of Rose’s favorite Christmas music. But even that hadn’t been as easy as it should have been. The strange tasting eggs and the zeppelins in the sky weren’t the only differences between Pete’s World and the prime universe. They’d managed to keep the Beatles alive and together as a band, but the price for that was apparently several of Rose’s favorite Christmas songs. He’d discovered about half of them didn’t even exist in their universe.
The disappointment over the Christmas playlist faded as he imagined how this evening would go. Not gonna deny that I hope tonight’s activities are followed by other… activities… once we get home. This is gonna be brilliant! “Are you ready for some adventure?” he asked.
“Always,” she assured him. “I can’t wait to see what you have in store for me tonight!”
“Then...” he hopped up from his chair to kiss her soundly, “...allons-y!”
****
“Blimey, I can’t believe how brilliant this is!” Rose enthused as they walked hand in hand through the Hyde Park vendor stalls. “It’s freezin’ but it’s cozy all at the same time!”
He grinned from ear to ear at her declaration. “It’s always cozier with you.”
“Thank you for this. I love it. I hope we can do this every year.” She kissed him softly.
“That’s a date, then. Our new tradition.”
“Perfect,” she smiled. “This place is amazin’. I never noticed.” Rose gazed around at the scene, and he gazed at her, loving the way the reflection of the fairy lights sparkled in her eyes. The scent of mulled wine and baked goods wafted through the air. “I was always too busy with the dimension hops to explore London at Christmas. And you weren’t with me, so…”
The Doctor squeezed her hand. “I am now.”
Rose kissed him again, not as softly this time. When they emerged, breathless, she suggested, “Let’s do a few turns around the rink, then warm up with some wine. And then...”
“Go home and warm up?” he asked hopefully.
“Oh, yes!” She laughed.
****
After visiting a skate rental stall, they took to the ice. “Gonna have to warm up a bit,” Rose laughed as she wobbled. “Haven’t done this since… I don’t know when.” They grasped hands as they ventured out onto the slick surface.
“You were fifteen,” the Doctor told her, and her eyebrow raised. “Your mum mentioned it.” He tripped over a groove in the ice, his free arm flailing, as he barely remained upright. “Well,” he hedged, “I suspect I’m not as steady on the ice this go around.” Rose tightened his grip on his hand as he stumbled again. “I’ll be fine. Just have to get used to these part-human legs.”
“Then we’ll wobble together,” Rose reassured him. Her tongue-touched smile made him grin, and his sudden bout of insecurity was forgotten. They took a tentative step forward together, and when they didn’t crash, they laughed and continued on.
After a couple of wobbly turns around the rink they found their legs and gained a lot of confidence, giggling with joy. All I Want for Christmas is You played, and Rose sang along. The Doctor realized the unfamiliar lyrics were another example of a difference between the universes, but he didn’t mind. His Rose was singing to him. He was enraptured by her voice.
Unable to take his eyes off her, he didn’t notice the boys skating by, far too fast for the rest of the crowd, until they cut him off. Rose stopped singing and yelled, “Watch out!” The Doctor evaded the young scoundrels but hit a groove in the ice, and crashed down hard. Rose stumbled as well, but she managed to stay upright, clutching the wall. “Doctor!” she gasped, sliding the few feet over to him. She carefully knelt beside him.
“M’fine.” At first, the Doctor felt nothing amiss, but then he moved his left ankle and a bolt of pain shot up his leg. “Ah… blimey!” he blurted, wincing.
“You’re not fine! Can you get up? We need to get you off the ice. Do you think we need to go to Medical at Torchwood?”
The Doctor was quick to reassure Rose, “No, no, I’m okay, really. I just tweaked it. Just a little twist of the old tendons. Just let me get up and skate around a bit to loosen it up.” He grabbed Rose’s arm to steady himself, pulling himself up to kneel. He attempted to stand, but as soon as the slightest weight was put on his left ankle he yelped and stumbled, nearly pulling Rose down with him.
Rose gaped at him, her eyebrows furrowed in concern. “Doctor, we need to get to Torchwood. This could be serious.”
The Doctor growled in pain and disappointment. He could already feel his ankle swelling in the skate boot. Of course I’m the one to ruin the perfect night. After all, I nearly destroyed the house just trying to bake cookies. With Rose’s help, he hobbled to the wall.
****
Two hours and a trip to Torchwood’s medical department later, the Doctor and Rose returned to the cottage. His badly sprained ankle was encased in a boot. “Wait there,” Rose told him as she parked the car.
“Not like I can go anywhere,” he grumbled, grimacing. He closed his eyes. Rose gazed at him, sighing. His mood had turned sullen and dark once they’d made it to the car at Hyde Park. He had insisted on walking, despite Rose wanting him to wait so she could bring the car around. They’d gotten snappish with each other, and Rose had finally told him to quit trying to impress her. He’d gone mostly silent after that.
She pulled the crutches from the car boot and returned to the Doctor, who had swung his legs out of the door. She extended the crutches to him, and he took them, frowning.
“Never had to use these before. I had a wheelchair for a bit in my fifth incarnation, but that was only because the regeneration went a bit wonky.” He struggled to stand. Rose reached out to help him, but the Doctor glared at her as he wobbled to a standing position on his own.
“Fine, do it yourself,” Rose muttered, frustrated. He glanced at her, and she noticed his expression had softened.
“Sorry,” he sighed. “I’m so sorry for ruinin’ the evening.”
Rose gave him a gentle smile. This is all so new to him, she thought. Gotta remember that, even if he turns into a bit of whiny toddler from the pain. “You didn’t ruin anythin’.”
“I was tryin’ to give you one of your traditions back, and I do this! I tried to bake the cookies, and I nearly burned the damn house down! I am rubbish at this and I’m so, so…”
Rose put her fingers on his lips, as she had done when he’d first divulged his Christmas tradition plan. She decided to disregard her previous vow of patience. Fiercely, she told him, “Don’t you dare say you’re sorry! You are not rubbish, not at anythin’! We need to get inside, then I’m going to take care of you. Understood? No more sorry! ” Then she leaned in and kissed him firmly. When they broke apart, he looked gobsmacked. “Ready to go in?”
“Sure,” he squeaked. He hobbled forward as Rose followed and kept an eye out for him as he crossed the short distance to the door.
****
Once they were safely inside the cottage, the Doctor’s mood, which had been quite uplifted by Rose’s enthusiastic kiss, soured at the faint scent of smoke that clung in the air. His mood deteriorated further when he realized he couldn’t remove his jacket without Rose’s help. He glowered at the Christmas tree, and slowly made his way across the room toward it. He stopped, staring at the plug on the floor, mentally running through the logistics of picking it up while not falling off of his crutches.
‘What are you doing?” Rose yelled from the kitchen.
“I want to plug in the tree!” he groused, fulling realizing the ridiculousness of his words.
“Well, good luck with that,” she snarked. Then, more gently, she added, “Please just sit down. I’m gonna elevate that foot and ice it down for a bit.”
With effort, the Doctor grudgingly changed directions and huffed as he flopped onto the couch, dropping the hated crutches next to him on the floor. He groaned as the action sent another bolt of pain up his leg. Rose reappeared, a bag of ice in hand. She rearranged some pillows and helped the Doctor elevate his injured foot. Carefully, she removed the Converse from his good foot, and the boot cast from the sore leg, hissing at the sight of the bruising when she pulled his sock back. “You don’t do anything by halves, do you? You’re lucky you didn’t break it.” Rose placed the ice on his injury.
The feeling of the ice on his skin made him wriggle in his seat. “Blimey! It tickles, Rose! I can’t remember ice ever feeling so cold ,” he complained, frowning. He glanced up at Rose. She pressed her lips together, clearly trying not to laugh. Suddenly, the ridiculousness of the whole situation hit him and he burst out laughing. After a second, Rose joined him.
He moaned a bit as his ankle throbbed, and Rose’s chuckles faded as she caressed his cheek, comforting him. “I’m gettin’ us a blanket, and some hot chocolate. The pain medication should be kickin’ soon. How about a cuddle on the couch? Some Christmas music?”
The Doctor sighed. He was already feeling a bit woozy. “Okay.” She took a step away from him, but he grabbed her hand, stopping her. “Tell you what, Rose. As much as I love you and the attention, let’s not make this a Christmas tradition.”
Rose chuckled. “Agreed,” she murmured. She left him to get the blanket.
He felt pleasantly floaty, so he closed his eyes to ride the wave of relaxation. The pain in his ankle was already feeling far away, like something he barely remembered. With the discomfort out of his mind, he focused on the disappointment of yet another Christmas failure. Of course, Rose had told him stop with the guilt, as she often did. But it was easier said than done. The ankle injury, while minor in the grand scheme of things, did throw a spanner in the works. He’d have to deal with that for the rest of the season. He groaned, thinking of the inconvenience. “Bloody hell, this human body,” he grumbled.
“Yeah, they’re a bit much, aren’t they?”
He startled, jostling his foot, at the sound of Rose’s voice. He winced, then opened his eyes. Rose had turned the lights off, and the room was illuminated by the fairy lights on the tree. The sight of her in the soft light took his breath away, just as it had at Hyde Park. He was hit with the realization that he was a very lucky bloke, despite it all. He took her hand. “I didn’t mean it as an insult. I’m still getting used to a body that takes so long to heal.”
Rose nodded, then she kissed his hand. “It has to be tough. We’ll get through it. Even if you’re being rude and not ginger about it.” She gave him a little smirk, then sat down by him. He leaned against her, helping her to spread the big blanket out. She used the remote to turn on the stereo. Soft Christmas music played. The Doctor sighed again. “What now?”
“Well, that’s another thing. I tried to make you a playlist of all your favorite songs. Your mum gave me a list. Then I found out that about half the songs don’t exist here in Pete’s World. Seriously! What’s the point of having all the Beatles still alive and together as a band, if they don’t have Wonderful Christmastime! ”
“Well, to be fair, that was just Paul,” Rose pointed out.
“Ooh, what if I wrote down the words to it and took it to Abbey Road, and…” He paused at the sight of Rose grinning at him. “You’re laughing at me.”
“Well,” she drawled, imitating him, “maybe just a little. Doctor, you do realize that anythin’ we do together, from the most excitin’ adventure to just snugglin’ on the sofa is enough for me? And that we don’t have to establish every Christmas tradition right now? It’s only the first of many Christmases. It’ll take time, but we’ll get there.”
“On the slow path,” he chimed in. “I suppose there is a certain beauty to that.”
“The beauty is that we’re on the slow path together . Forever.”
He murmured, “Rose Tyler, I love you,” as he leaned in to kiss her slowly and deeply. Before they could get carried away, his foot began to ache and he had to break the kiss. “I guess we’ll be moving a little more slowly on the path for the time being.”
“We’ll manage, love. Better with two, after all. For now, let’s cuddle.”
The Doctor snuggled against her, and relaxed as the music played. Rose began to sing along with the music softly, and despite the chill of the ice pack, he felt warmed from head to toe. “Could do without the achy ankle, but I definitely love this snuggling tradition,” he whispered.
****
Over the next few days, the Doctor’s ankle improved. It slowed him down, but he was enjoying the time he spent with Rose. She brought home a lovely gingerbread kit, which they customized into a gingerbread TARDIS, complete with blue tinted icing. They decided to be sure to do that again next year. They wrapped gifts together and became familiar with the new versions of the Christmas carols. And finally, on Christmas morning, the Doctor was overcome with emotion as Jackie presented him with his own painted ornament on their tree. He put his blue ornament next to Rose’s pink one as Rose kissed him soundly on the cheek. And every year following that, they fondly remembered the Christmas disasters of that first year together.