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One would think that the pair of them surviving Canary Wharf together, along with finding a stable vortex window which allowed them to travel between Pete’s World and the prime universe, were the Doctor and Rose Tyler’s greatest challenges.
The Doctor knew better. Facing Daleks, Ice Warriors, Cybermen and Jackie on a tirade were walk in the park compared to proposing actual marriage to the woman he loved.
He could have asked her anywhere, any when, in any situation. (Like, for instance, when running, or while scrambling eggs in the morning. Or his new favorite experience, snuggled in bed together after making love.)
While those were lovely, cherished moments, they were not the grand gesture a woman of Rose Tyler's importance deserved. She deserved romantic perfection.
He already had the ring. It was white Caramarapacian gold, with a Gallifreyan sapphire and two Earth diamonds in the center. The stones were round, and if the sapphire caught the light just right, etchings within it resembling Circular Gallifreyan were visible. It couldn't have been more perfectly suited to Rose.
The stone was one of the few things he had from Gallifrey. It was precious, and it was only right that he should give it to his equally precious girl. He couldn't wait to see it on her finger.
With the perfect ring checked off his to- do list, he planned the perfect proposal experience.
He packed a picnic of fish and chips, generously provided by the TARDIS. His ship, being mostly sentient and most definitely telepathic, knew what the Doctor's intent was, and so she took extra pains to make it just the way Rose liked it.
Their picnic was set up on a blanket by a gorgeous waterfall on Flaxian Delta Prime, during their lantern festival. If all went according to plan, he'd propose next to the waterfall, then dance the night away as lanterns floated overhead. (Flaxian Delta Prime actually had a whole religion revolving around the Earth movie “Tangled,” which puzzled him to no end, but Rose loved that movie, so whatever worked.)
They never had a chance to eat the picnic food.
Just as the Doctor was about propose over chips, they were inundated by flaming arrows. They hopped up to run for cover, just as their picnic blanket burst into flames. The Doctor and Rose survived the initial onslaught by diving into the river by the waterfall.
Twelve hours, one wild waterfall ride, and three rescued princesses later, the Doctor and Rose returned to the TARDIS, exhausted. Their picnic had long been abandoned, and was probably ashes by then. “Feeling peckish, love? Maybe we could talk the TARDIS into more chips, then if you'd like, we could….”
He was answered by a soft snore. Rose had dozed off before the TARDIS dematerialized.
No proposal was made that day.
*********
They'd been quite busy saving the multiverse when Rose decided she really wanted to go visit her Mum and Pete. When they arrived on the Tyler estate and Jackie waddled out to meet them, they realized that time had flown since the last trip.
Jackie was very close to delivering Rose’s baby sibling.
“Mum! Wow!” Rose chuckled, patting her mother’s swollen abdomen. “How are you feelin’?”
“I’m huge. I look pregnant everywhere,” Jackie groused. “My back’s been killin’ me off an’ on all day. I am beyond ready to ‘ave this kid!” Then she smacked the Doctor’s arm, and he glowered at her. It wasn't his fault, he was about to say, when Jackie chastised them both. “Not like you'd know! You ‘aven’t been around for most of it! Galavantin’ off everywhere. You'd miss your own brother’s birth if I ‘adn’t called ya!”
“You still have what, two, three weeks? We won't miss anything, Mum!” Rose argued.
The Doctor, who thought Jackie was ready to pop like a tick, thought it best not to comment. Rose had warned him well. He didn't want to regenerate at the hands of a furious pregnant woman.
It turned out to be a pleasant visit, with Pete showing off his new grill, and Jackie showing off the baby’s nursery. “I don't think I would've gone with a clown theme. The poor child will end up with coulrophobia,” the Doctor commented, earning him an elbow to the side from Rose and a glare from Jackie, who most definitely did hear.
Later on, her parents sat on the patio while Rose and the Doctor walked hand in hand down the yard to the new man-made pond. “This is lovely,” Rose sighed.
“It is,” he agreed.
Rose put her arms around his neck, her fingers playing with the hair at the back of his neck. “Thanks for doing domestics with me this weekend. You're even sleeping with me in the house instead of on the TARDIS.”
“Welll….”he drawled. “That's not a surprise, is it? I've rather become accustomed to having you by my side. Even if I don't sleep, the cuddling’s brilliant.”
Rose gave him a grin, tongue on display. “Is that the only thing that's brilliant?”
“Oh, Rose, I believe you know the answer to that question,” he growled, leaning in to kiss her.
He was very aware of the little box residing in his transdimensional coat pocket, and all of a sudden, under the stars, it seemed like the perfect time to say what had been on his mind for weeks. The kiss ebbed away, and Rose spoke before he could.
“Could you ever have imagined that this would be our lives? At Canary Wharf, I thought I would lose you, but we're still together.”
“Yes we are, against the odds.”
“And we can be with my family, against all odds. Doctor, I never thought I could be so happy. You and the stars and everything, and a family here….”
She kissed the Doctor again.
The Doctor realized there'd be no better time or place than right there, while Rose was radiating happiness.
He broke the kiss, one hand caressing her cheek while the other fished around for a small velvet box in one ridiculously large pocket. “Rose Tyler, I…..”he began.
Only to be interrupted by a shriek from across the yard.
“ Rose ! Your mum’s water broke!” Pete hollered.
The back pain Jackie had been having all day turned out to be labor, and she was transitioning into hard labor quite suddenly by the time the Doctor and Rose got to them. He mentally begged every god he didn't believe in for her to make it to the hospital on time. He was afraid his medical expertise would be called upon, and he didn't want to know Jackie quite that intimately.
They made it to the hospital with only twenty minutes to spare. Anthony Peter Tyler was born, in a hurry, with Pete and Rose at Jackie’s side.
The Doctor, having seen that Jackie was safely in the care of her own doctor, investigated the little hospital’s little shop.
Life in Pete’s World became hectic at that point. Rose and the Doctor stayed three linear weeks to help out. It was an amazing thing, to hold the baby and see Rose with her little brother. The Doctor found that he didn't mind the idea of child care with Rose at all.
But as for the proposal, it got lost in the blur of activity that went along with caring for a newborn.
The Doctor had also decided that spontaneously proposing probably wouldn't be the best idea. It was time again to think of a grand, planned out proposal.
******
He made reservations for a highly sought after table in the rotating tower restaurant on the planet Florafauna. They'd have a sunset view of their purple ocean. As the sun dipped below the horizon they'd have a spectacular view of the planet’s nightly asteroid shower glittering in the sky. It would be a fireworks display of falling stars.
“You're being very mysterious,” Rose accused him.
“All will be revealed in time, Rose Tyler,” the Doctor chuckled.
While Rose went back to the wardrobe to get a dress, the Doctor set the coordinates for Florafauna.
As he piloted six stations at once in his usual frenetic dance, he let himself imagine what the ring would look like on her hand. Would she want a traditional Earth wedding? He shuddered at the thought of Jackie planning a wedding. That seemed nearly as frightening as a dalek but they'd survived that. He loved Rose enough to survive Jackie planning a wedding, if she wanted one.
The Doctor let himself imagine how beautiful Rose would look in a bridal gown. She wouldn't go for anything too fancy, he supposed. A simple, but gorgeous gown, flowers in her hair…..
Sort of like that ginger woman over by the door. The one with golden particles wafting around her. A dress just like…. Wait….
“What?!” the Doctor exclaimed
She screeched, “Where am I? I demand that you tell me right now, where am I?”
The Doctor was shocked that he was able to form words, but still he forged on. “Inside the TARDIS.”
The shouty ginger did not accept that answer.” The what?”
“The TARDIS!”
“The what?!”
The conversation was going nowhere but yet the Doctor repeated, “ The TARDIS!”
Why was she repeating “ the what?” yet again? Could she not hear him?
The Doctor shouted, “It's called the TARDIS!”
“That's not even a proper word! You're just saying things!”
Rose entered the console room, attracted by all the shouting. “Doctor, what’s….oh, hello.” The Doctor was briefly sidetracked looking at Rose in her short, low cut navy dress and red heels. For a moment, until the stranger spoke, he forgot there was anyone else on board.
“And who the hell are you?! Did he kidnap you too?!”
“No,” Rose answered, stepping up to the Doctor and linking her arm with his.
“My God, you're both kidnappers! Take me back! I demand you take me back to my wedding! I was halfway down the bleedin’ aisle! Bloody hell, it was Nerys, wasn't it! She finally got me back! Well, she can just end it right now!” The disgruntled bride spun around and bolted for the door.
“No! Stop!” the Doctor and Rose commanded. Their visitor threw the door open anyway, to a lovely view of a spiral nebula.
The Doctor and Rose did not make their reservation.
******
One would think having a time machine would make reservations irrelevant. But they had Donna Noble and a huge spider and a duplicitous fiancée keeping them busy. Then the universe called and they met Martha Jones and saved the world several times.
Their new friends traveled with them, and Rose enjoyed having the companionship. After meeting Agatha Christie, Donna and Rose took tea in the kitchen and had some girl talk.
“I could really relate, y’know. Cheating spouse, big alien space spider…..same difference,” Donna mused.
“I’ve ‘ad a cheater. Jimmy Stone, name was. Slept around, took my credit card…..”
Donna scoffed, “Men.”
“Not all of ‘em, though. What about that bloke you met? The one who works at the library? What's his name?” Rose began to laugh at the blush blooming on her friend’s face. “Ha! I knew it!”
“Lee, yeah….he’s fit. But, I'm...no, that probably wouldn't work out.”
“And why not, Donna Noble?” Rose scoffed, eyebrow raised. “You're brilliant.”
“Oh, look at you, all Doctory. ‘Donna Noble.’ I guess that's what shaggin’ a skinny alien bloke does to you,” Donna snorted.
The Doctor passed by the galley door on his way to the library, and he heard the laughter. He made an attempt to pass on by (an attempt Donna would have called ‘halfhearted’), but he had a feeling they were laughing about him.
“There's no reason you couldn't chat up that Lee. He sounds like a great guy. You deserve to be happy, Donna. Maybe he’s the one.”
“That's easy to say when you've found your ‘one.’ You're a lucky lady, skinny alien bloke or no. He's over the moon. Has he always been such a sap for you?”
Rose chuckled. “Well….I’m fairly certain he has….it's just that we haven't acted on it until fairly recently.”
“How long have you been together, then?”
“Time’s not exactly linear here...but possibly three...or so...years.”
“And he's just now …? Wow. Glad he's finally got his head out of his arse.”
Out in the corridor the Doctor heard a snort of laughter from Rose. He tried not to be offended.
He heard Donna ask, “So do ya think the pair of you will ever get married?”
The Doctor held his breath, waiting for Rose’s answer.
“We might be married according to the laws of about four planets.” She'd become an expert on dodging questions, a skill she'd learned from her skinny alien boyfriend.
“Rose, I mean ‘earth married.” With the wedding dress, hopefully not beamed into the nearest space box? Do you ever think you’d do that?”
There was a pause, and a sigh, and Rose finally said, “No, it's probably not gonna happen. Just as well, I never saw myself as a bride anyway, so….”
He heard a chair being pushed back and it startled him into moving. He walked away, eyes downcast.
So she never saw herself as a bride? Well, of course not with that wanker Jimmy and he couldn't ever imagine it happening with Mickey the Idiot. But he had thought…
Well, maybe those four other ceremonies will have to do. Maybe I could mention to her how weddings were done on Gallifrey….
The Doctor sighed, feeling the ring box in his pocket. It was funny how it would find its way to the top of all the bits and bobs he had in there, just when he didn't need it. And maybe I should just leave well enough alone, he mused. We're happy, she knows…. Dejected, he walked away. He suspected that the coward in him, the one that kept them from advancing their relationship for so long, was rearing his ugly head again. It would be easier, of course, to keep the status quo. He was happy, mostly, and she was happy.
He pulled the ring out of his pocket. He would keep it, he decided. It was a custom made piece of jewelry so it wasn't like he could return it. Maybe, someday, she might change her mind. But this isn't the right time. He wandered to the console room to fix something that didn't need repairs.
Back in the galley, Rose asked Donna, “So, are you gonna talk to Lee?”
“Maybe.”
“You never know, he could be the one,” Rose sing-songed.
“As I have said….that's easy for you to say, you found your alien skinny-boy Prince Charming. Now, honestly, tell me you'd turn him down if he asked.”
Rose smirked. “No, no I wouldn't. I just don't expect it to happen. You don't know how hard it was for us to get anything started. So I don't expect him to ask. I love him, and he loves me….but I don't think he'll ask.”
“And you're okay with it?” Donna questioned.
“I love him,” Rose repeated.
“Well, I know he's over the damn moon about you. I bet if you asked him….”
Rose snorted again. “He'd run for the hills.”
************
The Doctor didn't bring up what he overheard, because he'd have to admit he was listening in. Life went on as before, traveling with Martha and Donna, visiting the Tylers and watching Tony grow. They loved, and lived, and everything was lovely, until the trip to Harliflax XIII.
He'd thought Canary Wharf had been a nightmare. He realized he'd been so wrong as he cradled Rose, unconscious, as the unstable cavern rumbled around them.
The Doctor managed to get her to a room that was only partially collapsed. He put her down in the floor and immediately scanned her with the sonic. It couldn't diagnose all of her injuries but it did tell one important fact- her neck and spine were intact. He breathed a sigh of relief, covering her with his long coat.
The Doctor looked away from Rose’s still face, which, after all they'd been through, was almost worse than seeing her faceless. He assessed their situation. Both passages were caved in. He had food and bottled water in his pockets, so Rose wouldn't starve or dehydrate, not right away at any rate. He had no idea where Donna and Martha were. They were in front of them, so he hoped they made it to the outside of the cavern.
“Rose,” he sighed, recalling the flash of the explosion and the rocks collapsing, Rose falling. He began to talk. (Rose would have joked that he was finding solace in the sound of his own voice again, but it did calm him.). “I love you. I don't say it nearly enough, and shame on me for that. I promised I would when I almost lost you and I've failed woefully in that respect. I think...I know... I've loved you since I first took your hand and said run. You saved me.”
But I've done a horrible job of keeping you safe , he thought. “Please be okay, Rose. Please. I need you, my love. Wake up….” His eyes were stinging with dust and unshed tears. He smoothed her matted hair back from her face and kissed her.
Taking her hand, he gently stroked his thumb over her ring finger. “I overheard you and Donna talking. And you were wrong. I have wanted. I've been too much of a coward to ask. There's been so many times…...I want to join with you, Rose. In the ways of both our planets.” He kissed her hand. “And if you want an Earth wedding...I'll do it. Even with your mother planning it. We faced daleks, after all. I can face your mother.” He chuckled weakly.
Off in the distance he heard an ominous rumble. Small, loose rocks from the ceiling dislodged and rained down. He situated himself over Rose's head, in case heavier rocks caved in.
“Oh, Rose, I love you. And if it’s the only chance I get to say it…I want to marry……”
At that moment, the cave in at the front of the passage shifted and he heard the second most beautiful sound in the universe. “Oi! Spaceman!”
“Donna Noble!” the Doctor hollered back. “We’re here! Rose is hurt!”
“I'm almost through, Doctor, hang on!” Martha called.
“Doctor?” He heard the other most beautiful sound in the universe, Rose Tyler’s raspy voice. She was gazing blearily up at him.
Then before any more could be said, Donna and Martha broke through with the rescue team. It was all a blur after their arrival. Martha declared Rose able to move just as the cavern floor rumbled. The Doctor scooped up Rose and they made a run for the entrance, escaping just as the room was obliterated by falling rock. They barely had time to react before they were chased back to the TARDIS by the King’s guards. After much jiggery-pokery and hullabaloo, Donna and the Doctor liberated the planet while Martha tended to Rose in the infirmary.
By the time the Doctor collapsed into the chair next to Rose’s hospital bed, she was resting comfortably, sound asleep.
******
Rose recovered at her parents’ house, at the Doctor’s insistence. She insisted upon him staying with her, which he did. They barely had any time alone with Jackie hovering. By the end of the week, (the longest in recorded linear history) the Doctor was itching to go somewhere, (anywhere,) romantic, alone with Rose.
Donna, who had finally asked out the handsome man at the library, was more than willing to take some time off from the TARDIS. Martha was willing as well, having met Mickey Smith. It seemed that love was all around.
The TARDIS was certainly in the spirit, and she was also quite tired of her Thief and her Wolf. At least the pair of them had consummated their relationship. The time ship knew they desired more but as always, they danced around what they truly wanted. It was time for the TARDIS to take matters into her own hands, so to speak. When the Doctor set the coordinates, the TARDIS changed them.
When the Doctor and Rose stepped out onto the planet Amorentia, they faced a riot of pink and red.
There were actual cherubs flying though the air. He hoped they weren't planning to shoot their tiny arrows at the various bipedal creatures and humanoids drifting about on glitter covered sidewalks. The air smelled of chocolate. Everything was heart shaped, from the windows, to the doors and the clock on the tower.
The Doctor gaped for a moment. He muttered finally, “It’s like Madame Puddifoot’s exploded on Valentine’s Day.”
Rose burst out laughing. “This is certainly something!”
Unseen speakers suddenly began playing “Unchained Melody.” Apparently Elvis’ love songs were quite the rage here, as its population stopped in the streets and began to slow dance with their partners.
“And I am not….what a cliche….no, no way am I going to….not here….” The Doctor was babbling to himself as suddenly rose petals showered the crowd. He grabbed Rose’s hand and started briskly striding back to the TARDIS.
Rose stopped him. “No, no, I want to stay.”
“You told me hate Valentine's Day! You hate having a day when it's all about people’s expectations of what love should be rather than actual love! You can't tell me you'd want to be around all this….spectacle.”
Rose chuckled, “Doctor, who sent us here? Did you plan this, or was it….”
“The TARDIS,” he groaned.
“And what are the chances that we’ll actually be let in if we go back at this point?”
They both knew the answer to that question: slim to none. “I need to have a talk with her,” the Doctor stated.
“In the meantime, while we're locked out...because you know we are…. I smell chocolate. I want some chocolate.”
“Not chips?” the Doctor laughed.
“I want chocolate,” she repeated, tugging him toward the center of the village.
“I'll never get this glitter out of my clothes, you know.” he mumbled.
******
Rose was amused by the whole situation. The Doctor, on the other hand, was quite unimpressed.
This was supposed to be the day , he thought. This was supposed to be it. I'll be damned if I'll propose on a romantic cliche of a planet. She'll think I'm doing it because that's what supposed to happen in a place like this.
“Blimey, Doctor, look!” Rose pointed up to a large flat screen attached to the side of the candy store. It appeared to be broadcasting pictures from around the streets. The cameras settled on a pair of humanoid creatures wearing futuristic clothes. They stood on a pink bridge bedecked with flowers. As soon as they looked up and saw that they were on camera they burst out laughing, pointed, and then kissed. Applause started all around them.
“A kiss cam? Are you serious?” the Doctor groaned. He pulled a laughing Rose into the chocolate shop.
“Hello, lovers!” the proprietor announced.
“Well, for a change, we actually are,” Rose murmured. He glanced her. “It's just nice to not have to say ‘ we're not like that . ’ ‘Cause we are, and I'm glad.”
Those words relieved his tension. She was happy to be with him, and making the best of it. He grinned at her. “Quite right,” he whispered, then gave her a quick kiss on the top of the head.
They ordered cocoa and sat down at a table by the window. People outside were spontaneously dancing again, this time to “Love Me Tender.”
“Elvis is apparently universal,” Rose commented, then blew on her hot mug.
“Actually, he is. He’s managed to be a superstar in every galaxy. It really is brilliant.” He sighed, looking into the cup of cocoa. The marshmallows held no answers for him.
Rose placed her hand on his. “Doctor, what’s wrong? This whole place is such a lark and you seem so upset about it. What's going on?”
He looked outside, where acouple was enthusiastically snogging. “Well, that bloke will be gettin’ lucky later,” he commented.
“Doctor?” He looked back at her, and she was radiating concern. “I was hopin’ we’d get lucky later, too, but now I'm worried. What's wrong? It seemed like everything between us was okay when we came in. Are you having second thoughts about...us…? If you are, I wish you'd just say.”
His eyes widened in shock. “NO!” he blurted, loudly, attracting the attention of the proprietor. More quietly, but no less fervently, he continued, “That's not it at all! It’s good...I promise. I hope, anyway. I had something I wanted to talk to you about. I think it’s good, and at any rate, I hope that you would also think it’s good...but this was not the environment I had envisioned. Romantic, yes. Hallmark store on steroids, no. And definitely no on the kiss cam, that’s just ridiculous.”
Rose sat in silence, letting him rant, her left eyebrow arching in a manner that rivaled his. Then the penny dropped, and she smiled. “Doctor, before you really get on a roll here….I wanted to tell you somethin’. Y’see, I need to talk to you, too.”
As if on cue, the song switched and Elvis began to sing “It’s Now or Never.”
They paused, taking in the song for a beat, then they laughed. “What was it, then, Rose Tyler? What do you want to tell me?”
“It’s good,” she reassured him. “I hope you think it is, anyway.” She took a deep breath. “Remember when I was hurt, in the cave?”
The Doctor sobered. “Yes,” he murmured. “I won't soon forget that.”
“I was driftin’ in an’ out, and the one thing that anchored me was your voice. I could hear you talking and I knew if I focused on you, I could hold on and it'd be okay.”
“Oh, Rose,” he whispered, taking both her hands across the table. “I'm sorry I got you into that mess.”
“Now, stop. Please. You've nothing to feel guilty about. It happened, and it’s over now.” The Doctor looked as though he was about to apologize again, and Rose squeezed his hand. “Doctor. I wanted to you to know that I heard what you were saying. I heard you say that you wanted to marry me.”
The Doctor’s stomach dropped. Right then , he thought, this is it. “I...said...Yes. Yes I did say that.”
“And you said you overheard me talking to Donna. I said those things only because Donna wouldn't let it go…”
The Doctor chuckled. “She does have that tendency.”
“.....I didn't want to let myself believe that you ever would want more than what we have right now. Which is brilliant, and more than I ever hoped for, by the way.” Her hands were trembling in his. Or maybe his were in hers. They couldn't really tell anymore. “Anyway….l do. I want to marry you.”
The Doctor beamed. The roller coaster his stomach on which his stomach traveled took a sudden lurch upward from its’ free fall. “That's brilliant because I want to marry you.”
Rose gasped a laugh, tears beginning to bloom and fall. The Doctor stood up and walked around to her side of the table. He still wore the brilliant grin but he shed his own tears. He went down on one knee. “Oh, Doctor,” she breathed.
“This is how the Earth blokes do it, right? Rose Tyler, will you be my wife?”
“Yes, yes!”
The Doctor fumbled around in his pocket. “Hang on a tic….”. Of course, after being just under his fingertips for goodness only knew how long, the ring box had disappeared into his transdimensional pocket. “Really? Ah! No, that's that contrafribulation device I've been meaning to install….oh, bloody hell…”
Rose burst into delighted laughter. “Find it. ‘Cause I wanna snog you.”
“ Ah ha!” He exclaimed triumphantly, producing a small, blue velvet box. He opened it and offered her the ring. She claimed it from the box immediately. “The sapphire is from Gallifrey.”
“Oh, it’s beautiful,” she breathed. She pulled him to her, awkwardly as he was still kneeling, and snogged him thoroughly. When she needed needed to breathe he took the opportunity to slide the ring onto her finger. She gasped at the feel of the band sizing itself to her finger.
“Self adjusting band of Caramarapacian white gold. Thought that might be helpful if your fingers ever swell.”
Rose burst out laughing. “That was very thoughtful of you, my Doctor.” Sobering, she cupped his cheek. “The sapphire is from Gallifrey, really?”
“Hold it up to the light,” he instructed.
“Is that...your circular writing inside?”
The Doctor nodded. “It’s a random pattern, of course. All the Gallifreyan sapphires form that way. It just so happens that the pattern this one made resembles the Gallifreyan word for how long you're gonna stay with me.” The tears in her eyes mirrored his own.
Rose cried, “Forever.”
She reeled him in for another kiss, and a cheer went up all around them, inside and outside the cafe. The Doctor broke the kiss off to look outside. The “kiss cam” had turned into a “proposal cam,” and they were the stars. “Blimey,” the Doctor breathed. Rose had gone into silent, shaking laughter, all while still crying. Her mascara was a lost cause. Privacy was also a lost cause. The Doctor could only shrug. “Hope your mum doesn't mind 1500 people knowing before she does.”
“It's a different planet, in a different universe. It's not like it's her garden club,” Rose chuckled, wiping happy tears.
“Donna will be cheesed off. I’ll have to let her think she's the first to know.” He stood up, extending a hand to Rose. All the Doctor wanted to do was run back to the TARDIS and celebrate the fact that Rose Tyler said “yes.” The proprietor intercepted them.
“All newly engaged couples get a complimentary chocolate raspberry cheesecake!” he announced.
“We’ll take that in a to-go box,” the Doctor requested. To Rose, he muttered, “I’d like to celebrate this...privately...without cameras and screens.” As they stepped out into the street, “I Can't Help Falling in Love” began to play over the speakers. He muttered, “Oh, the hell with it,” and pulled Rose into a slow dance as the small crowd around them cheered.
*****
Due to the magic of time travel, they were engaged for a good two weeks before returning to London the day after they left for Amorentia. During that time they formed a temporary bond, and the Doctor discovered that Rose was very responsive to telepathy. It shocked him, and he regretted not trying it sooner.
As always, his Rose soothed his frazzled nerves. He ran some tests and they found that she wasn't just sensitive to telepathy. The TARDIS and Bad Wolf had seen to changes that made them compatible biologically. Their life spans were tied together as well. The Doctor couldn't fathom why he deserved so much good fortune. “It’s ‘cause you're you, and I love you, and I could see everything that ever was, or will be,” she reassured him.
“I love you, my Fortuna,” he murmured in awe.
They had made several decisions by then. Although they could have eloped, they decided to face the Oncoming Wedding Planner and have a small, but proper Earth wedding.
It took place in the Tyler Estate garden, by the lake in which the Doctor nearly proposed. The TARDIS gifted Rose with a white version of her pink coronation dress. The Time ship also cheekily gave her blue Chucks.
The TARDIS also provided safe travel to Pete’s World for Donna, her new plus-one Lee, Martha and Mickey, Sarah Jane, Jack and the Brig. It was more than the Doctor and Rose could have hoped for, to have their friends and family together.
On a sunny Saturday, with the garden in full bloom, the Doctor took Rose Tyler as his bride. She walked down the aisle, carrying pink and yellow roses. Pete and Jackie escorted her. Donna and Martha shared maid of honor duties. The Doctor told everyone that Tony was his best man, but Jack, being an adult, had to serve in the official capacity.
The Doctor found his unstoppable gob silenced at the sight of his bride, and when he could speak his vows it was with tears blooming in his eyes. Rose was similarly overcome. There wasn't a dry eye in the house.
Later on, the in the privacy of the TARDIS, Rose and the Doctor bonded in the Gallifreyan way. She shivered as he whispered his true name in her ear. They were truly a part of each other, bondmates as Bad Wolf and the TARDIS saw that they would be. It was worth all the stops and starts, they agreed. Their possibilities were as endless as the stars in the sky.