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The soft soles of her shoes echoing off the tiled floor, Rose makes her way down the hallway and toward the Director’s office, a small stack of Manila folders in one hand and her mobile in the other. The text thread with John is open, her thumb gliding across the screen as she answers his many detailed questions about their plans for the upcoming holiday. His curiosity and desire to keep her happy are just two of the many things she loves about him, even if some of his questions seem to be more on the ridiculous side.
She can’t entirely blame him for it, given that the only other time they’ve spent Christmas together it was just the two of them, her mum, and Mickey at the flat, making do with what they could afford. This time around it’ll be the two of them, plus mum, and Pete, and Tony, in a literal mansion with all the trimmings they could want. So it’s a lot different than before.
Their relationship is different now too, given that they actually have one that can be firmly defined. She loves him with everything she has, and she knows he feels the same. It’s been several months since they were essentially thrown together by circumstance, sealed away forever in a universe she is now finally starting to truly call home, and they’re happy. It took some adjusting, naturally, and they still have their moments every now and then, but for the most part, they are deliriously happy. And engaged to be married as of a month ago.
Pocketing her mobile after sending what feels like the hundredth text in mere minutes, Rose knocks lightly on the glass door and then steps through, smiling at the man behind the desk. “Got those reports all finished,” she tells him, holding up the folders. “Everything should be in there.”
He smiles back. “Excellent. Thank you. How’d it go?”
She shrugs. “Same as it always does. Thankfully no problems. Well, none we couldn’t handle. Need anything else before I head out?”
Pete shakes his head. “No, that’s alright. Tell your mum I’m gonna be home a bit late tonight. I’d do it myself, but uh…” he trails off, his face contorting slightly as he shifts in his seat.
Rose laughs quietly. “Don’t worry, I get it. Believe me. I’ll see you later.” Turning on her heel, she makes her way back out of the office and down the hall toward the lifts.
Her mobile goes off in her pocket as soon as she’s in front of the shiny metal doors, a small sigh escaping past her lips. She pulls the device out, answering the incoming call and holding it to her ear as she holds her id badge against the scanner for the lift.
“Hi, love,” she says as soon as the call connects. “I’m on my way down to you now, you ready to go?”
“Um, I think so?”
She sighs. “That sounded like a question, John,” she says, using the name they’d decided on for him when they came back to Pete’s World—John Noble, as a bit of an homage to the woman who was truly one of his closest friends. Only when they’re alone will she use the moniker ‘Doctor’, and even then it’s not all the time.
“Right, yes,” his voice echoes through the phone, “well, you see, the thing is…we were doing some testing and uh…let’s just say things didn’t go quite according to plan. Had a bit of mishap, no injuries, though, thank goodness.”
“Well, I guess that’s something. How long do you need to clean up?”
“Oh, not long. Maybe ten…fifteen minutes. Well, maybe twenty. Thirty at the most.”
She shakes her head with a quiet laugh. “Alright. Mum needed us to pick Tony up anyways since she’s busy with Christmas party prep, so I guess I’ll go do that, and then we can swing back by to get you. Think that’ll be plenty of time?”
“Should be, yeah.”
“Alright, see you soon. I love you.”
“Love you too.”
The call ends and Rose steps out of the lift into the lobby, smiling politely at the man behind the desk as she walks toward the doors leading to the parking garage. She heads straight for her usual space, climbs into her car and gets situated, then pulls out of the garage and onto the familiar streets of London.
.
.
.
“Rose Rose Rose!”
She beams when she sees her little brother toddling toward her, his tiny arms extended out and a wide grin on his face. She drops down to pull him into a hug when he reaches her, peppering his face with kisses to make him giggle and squirm. “Hi, sweet. Did ya miss me?”
He nods against her, his arms wrapped tightly around her neck. “Yes!”
She pulls back just enough to look at him. “Well good. ‘Cause I missed you too. Should we get going?”
“Where’s John?” the toddler asks, looking around them.
“He’s still at the lab, had a bit of a mishap. Wanna go pick him up then go home?”
Tony nods. “Yeah!”
“Well alright then. Come on.” She stands with her brother in her arms, grateful that he’s still small enough for her to be able to do so and to still want to be held, and then tosses a smile and a wave at his preschool teacher a few feet away. She hikes him up a little higher and tucks his face closer to her body as she makes her way back toward her car, fully aware of but completely ignoring the passerby snapping their photos as they go.
It’s something she’s gotten semi-used to by now, having random people taking her photo whenever she’s out, many people are still not completely convinced by the story that was put out when she and her mum arrived in Pete’s World the first time round. Back then, she’d been spending so much time in her room sobbing and then at Torchwood focused on developing the Dimension Cannon, it was incredibly rare for photos of her to be taken by random people and then end up on gossip sites, though it did still happen on occasion.
Now though, now that she's permanently here with no serious desire to go back, she’s fully embraced the role of Vitex Heiress. She’s the woman who was kidnapped as a baby and finally found her way home after twenty years. There were a lot of photos of her in the news during those first few months back after the second go around on Bad Wolf Bay, especially photos of her and John, everyone wanting to know about her mystery man who popped up seemingly out of nowhere.
But with Tony, they all do their best to keep him out of the spotlight as much as possible. She knows her mum enjoys the luxuries they have now, and enjoys the perks of being married to such a wealthy man. But that maternal side of her wants to protect her baby from the vultures hidden in the media. Not that Rose can blame her one bit, the media can be cruel.
So far they’ve all done a fairly good job at keeping Tony out of the media’s clutches. And the little boy doesn’t really know any different, still being so young and all. He’s just excited to go to preschool most days and learn about space and the stars, something that made John one of his favorite people pretty quickly once the stories of their travels started being told as bedtime stories; many of them highly edited for various reasons.
Glancing through the rearview mirror as she pulls her car out of its space, Rose smiles at the sight of her little brother mumbling quietly to himself and gently kicking the heels of his feet against the front of the seat. She won’t deny that she never really entertained the idea of having a younger sibling, never thought she’d want one. She’d heard enough stories from friends growing up about the many pitfalls of having younger and older siblings.
But then Tony came along and she knows they’re all better off for having the little boy around. He makes things more entertaining, that’s for sure.
By the time they arrive at Torchwood, Tony is bouncing like a madman in his seat and pulling against his chest restraints. Rose just laughs quietly to herself and then climbs out of the car to help her brother out of his seat.
She manages to grab hold of his hand before he can run off and then leads him through the doors and down toward the lab where John awaits. Tony continues to bounce excitedly along beside her, eager to be the one to swipe her badge for the lifts, and then talking a mile a minute about whatever it is he did at preschool that day.
She listens attentively, asking questions at all the right places and responding appropriately to whatever Tony says. She doesn’t think she wants her brother to ever grow out of this stage, though she knows eventually he will. And now she’s sure she has some sampling of what her mum felt while she was growing up.
Soon enough, they reach the lab and Rose makes sure to keep a firm grip on Tony so he doesn’t run into the lab and get into something he isn’t supposed to. She carefully pushes open the door and peers around the room as she moves, searching for her fiancé among the various pieces of equipment and partial experiments.
“John?” she calls out, hoping he’s nearby.
“John!” Tony echoes.
Moments later, a familiar face and spiky brown hair pop up from behind a machine, a bright smile on the man’s face. “Rose, Tony, brilliant.”
Rose finally lets go of Tony’s hand then, watching as he darts across the room to leap into John’s arms, hugging him tightly. She approaches after a moment, the smile never leaving her face as she listens to Tony talk to John about everything he did at preschool and how excited he is because school’s out for the holidays now.
“Alright you two, we should get going before mum starts wondering where we are.”
John looks at her with a smile, shifting Tony to sit more comfortably on his hip. “Right you are, Rose Tyler.” He reaches out to grab her hand, lifting it to press a kiss to the back. “Let’s get going, then. See you after the holidays, Murray,” he calls through the lab.
Rose smiles, giving his hand a small squeeze and then turning to lead him through the doors toward the lift.
Tony begins his storytelling again, his hands moving excitedly as he talks, hardly taking a breath in between sentences which results in him breathing heavily by the time they reach the lobby.
Rose laughs quietly, reaching out to rub a hand up and down her brother’s back. “You’ve gotta remember to breathe when you’re talking, Tony.”
He nods silently, his small chest moving as he tries to get his breathing under control.
“Good. Now let’s get home.
.
.
.
“Rose! John! Wake up! It’s Christmas!”
Rose groans, rolling over in the bed and burying her face in the firm chest beneath her, wrapping an arm around the attached body. “Make him go away.”
The low chuckle rumbles through John’s body, the vibration felt against her temple. “I don’t think that’s possible, love. He’s excited.”
Rose groans again, reluctantly pulling away from her fiancé and pushing herself up on one hand. She peers down at John through a curtain of blonde hair. “Fine. I’ll get him. But you owe me.”
He grins cheekily. “I think we can figure something out.”
Pushing the covers off of her body, Rose stands and stretches for a moment, a large yawn escaping past her lips. She briefly checks the time on the clock, and curses under her breath, fully understanding the headaches she probably gave her mum on Christmas when she was little, always waking up earlier than normal. Tony’s finally at the age where he’s really starting to understand the concept of Christmas and no longer sleeps in a crib, meaning he can easily escape his room and wake up the whole house whenever he likes.
Shuffling across the floor, Rose pulls the door open and smiles down at her little brother. “Morning, Tony.”
He beams up at her, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Rose! It’s Christmas!”
Rose laughs quietly and nods. “I know. You’re up a bit early, though, aren’t you?”
Tony just continues to grin. “It’s Christmas!”
She sighs. “Alright. Guess there’s no getting around it.” She crouches so she’s at his eye level and then leans in to whisper, “Wanna go wake John up for me?”
Tony nods enthusiastically. “I can do it!” he shouts and then darts past her into the bedroom.
She turns in time to see him pulling himself up onto the bed, moving across the mattress on his hands and knees, peering over John’s face.
Tony’s quiet for a moment before he throws his entire body weight onto John’s chest with a laugh. “Wake up, John!”
Seconds later, John reacts, wrapping both his arms around Tony and pulling the boy into a hug, immediately tickling his sides to make Tony squirm. Tony laughs even louder, mixing with John’s laughter, both sounds ringing throughout the room.
Rose can’t help but smile at the scene, not at all ignoring the way her heart jumps in her chest. It certainly isn’t the first time she’s seen him interact so well with children, but it hasn’t been until lately that it’s started stirring something inside her. Something she never truly thought she could let herself want with him when they were traveling and her feelings were growing.
Pushing those thoughts to the back burner for the time being, Rose stands and brushes her hands on her flannel sleep shorts. “You two gonna stay there all morning or should we go see about breakfast?”
Both heads pop up, brown eyes and blue eyes boring into her in anticipation.
“And presents?” Tony asks.
Rose shakes her head. “Not ‘til mum and dad are up. So let’s go get breakfast going, yeah?”
“Your sister’s right, Tony,” John speaks up. “We need a big, healthy breakfast if we want lots of energy to open our presents. And I’m sure you’ve got loads of toys that you’ll want to play with. You’ll completely wear yourself out if you don’t get some breakfast in you.”
Tony seems to be thinking over John’s words, his head tilting to the side and his tiny brows furrowing together tightly. “Okay.” He crawls off of John and across the bed, sliding down over the edge until his feet land on the hardwood floor.
Rose stays crouched to catch him in her arms and then scoops him up as she stands, holding him close and pressing a kiss to his temple. “Right then. Breakfast. Let’s go.” She spins on her heel and proceeds to make her way down to the main level of the house, muffled sounds behind her telling her that John is sure to follow at any moment.
There’s hardly a sound coming from the lower levels of the house once they reach the bottom of the stairs. The household staff has the holidays off—something Rose knows her mum implemented on their very first Christmas here—so it’s up to their own little family to take care of things. Not that she minds all that much. While a part of her has gotten used to having staff whenever she stays at the mansion, she didn’t have that for the first two decades of her life so she never struggles whenever they’re given some time off. Plus, living in her own flat most of the time now, she doesn’t have staff there, so she’s perfectly fine without them when she’s at the mansion.
Rose can see the very moment her brother spots the pile of presents under the Christmas tree. Most of them are for him, of course, which makes perfect sense given that he’s the youngest of them all and the only kid. It’s a no-brainer that he’d have the most presents.
She gently bounces Tony on her hip to get his attention. “Not yet, sweet. Breakfast first, remember? Then presents.”
“Mummy and daddy too?”
Rose nods, carrying him into the kitchen. “Yes, mum and dad will open presents with us. Just as soon as they’re up.” She sets him down on the nearest counter, standing directly in front of him and resting her hands on the surface on either side of his small body to keep him in place. “So, what should we have?”
Familiar arms snake around her waist from behind, warm lips pressing a kiss to her neck before tugging her back just the tiniest bit.
She leans back willingly, keeping her arms bracketing Tony on the counter, and closes her eyes for just a moment, breathing deeply. She tilts her head back just enough to smile up at her fiancé. “Hi.”
He smiles back. “Hello. You two stay here,” he says, “I’ll whip us up some excellent pancakes.”
Rose stands up straight and turns around to look at him fully, raising a brow as she wraps an arm securely around her brother. “You’re gonna cook?”
“Oi! I know how to cook.” His face scrunches slightly as he rubs at the back of his neck. “I just…never did it that often. But that’s beside the point,” he says, relaxing again and letting a smile tug at his lips. “I’m gonna make pancakes for the whole family, it’s gonna be brilliant. You believe me, don’t you, Tony?”
Tony just giggles and shakes his head.
Rose stifles a laugh behind her hand as she watches John gape at her little brother, feigning offense. She shifts a little closer and rests her cheek on top of Tony’s head as she watches her fiancé with a small smile.
John stands a little taller and mimes straightening a tie because he’s only wearing his pajamas. “Well then, I’ll just have to prove you both wrong, won’t I? Prepare to be amazed.”
Twenty minutes later, nearly all the fire alarms in the house are going off. Rose merely winces at the noise while Tony shouts and covers his ears, trying to burrow himself as deep into Rose’s side as he can get to escape the beeping, and John is frowning at the burnt catastrophe in the pan like it’s personally offended him. The chaos is enough to draw her parents from their room, definitely earlier than they’d like to be awake.
“What the bleedin’ hell is going on in here? What’s with all the alarms?”
Rose glances up to see her mum storming into the kitchen, Pete right behind her still looking half-asleep, but prepared to intervene if he deems it necessary.
“Too loud!” Tony shouts, peeking over at his parents before burrowing back into Rose’s side.
Rose sighs and rubs Tony’s back. “John was tryin’ to make us breakfast. Didn’t quite go according to plan, though.”
John rubs at the back of his neck as he carries the pan over to the sink, his brows furrowed tightly. “Suppose it has been a while since I’ve done that. Guess I’m a bit out of practice.”
“A bit out of practice?” her mum shouts. “A bit out of—you nearly burnt down my kitchen! With my kids in it!”
“Mum, we’re fine,” Rose tries to reassure her. “It was just an accident, there’s no need to get all—”
“Oh, someone turn that bloody thing off before I smash it to bits myself,” her mum interrupts, glaring up at the offending device on the ceiling.
Pete steps forward then. “I’ve got it.”
It doesn’t take long for the sound to be turned off, silence encompassing the room once again. It’s a relief, to say the very least.
“Now then, that’s much better,” Pete says as he lets out a breath. “Sorry to say it, John, but I don’t think that breakfast is very salvageable.”
John sighs. “No, Pete, I don’t believe it is. Right shame too, it was gonna be delicious.”
“Guess we’ll just have to take your word for it, love,” Rose tells him. She breathes deeply and looks around the room. “Why don’t we all just have cereal or something and get to opening those presents out there, yeah? I don’t know how much longer Tony can wait.”
John smiles at her. “Brilliant idea, Rose Tyler. Not surprised, though. You’ve always got brilliant ideas.”
She smiles back at him and then looks over at her mother. “Mum?”
Her mum sighs. “Alright, yeah, cereal’s fine.” She shoots a pointed look at John. “But you’re buying another pan to replace that one, you hear?”
John swallows and nods. “Right.”
“Good. I’m gonna freshen up a bit and then I’ll be back down for presents. Don’t you dare start without me.” She turns and strides out of the room, leaving the rest of them alone.
Rose shares a look with Pete and John, then lifts Tony off the counter and carries him into the dining room to get him settled at the table. The sound of wood and metal clinking together tells her that Pete and John are gathering up everything needed to have a quick bite of cereal, which is probably a good thing since she can see how antsy Tony is getting to open his presents.
Soon enough, they’re all sitting around the table eating their cereal, chatting idly about their days and what they’ve all been up to recently. Tony, of course, chimes in with his own, sometimes nonsensical, stories of preschool. It makes them all laugh, though.
Once breakfast is done, they gather together in the front room, Tony making a beeline for the tree before he’s scooped up by John and flipped upside down, promptly erupting into a fit of giggles.
“What do you think you’re doing, mister?”
Rose just smiles at the scene as she settles herself on one of the couches, a cup of tea in her hands. “Oi, don’t break him,” she calls out with a quiet laugh.
John turns toward her and grins. “We’re perfectly fine, Rose. Aren’t we perfectly fine, Tony?”
Tony does his best to nod from his position hanging upside down. “Yeah! We’re fine!”
Rose simply shakes her head and waits for the two of them to get more of their energy out. If there’s one thing that John is better at than the rest of them are when it comes to Tony, it’s matching the young boy’s energy. It reminds Rose so much of their early days traveling with this younger face of his, how he was constantly bouncing and hardly standing still, always ready for the next adventure. She’s just happy he still wants to be on this slow-moving one with her.
Moments later, John is sitting next to her on the couch while her parents engage with Tony as he begins digging into his many presents. They’ll all get to theirs at some point; it’s more fun watching Tony.
Rose snuggles deep into John’s side as his arm goes over the back of the couch. She smiles when she feels the slight pressure of his lips against her hair, turning her head slightly to press a kiss to his shirt-covered chest.
“Rose! Look! From Santa!”
Rose chuckles at her brother’s excitement. “I see that. Do you like it?”
Tony nods with a grin and then turns back to his other unopened gifts.
“You know,” John starts, his voice low enough for just her to hear, “the idea of Santa Claus is actually pretty messed up. It’s one thing I never understood about humans.”
Rose’s brows furrow as she shifts enough to look at her fiancé. “What?”
“The idea of Santa,” he repeats as if she didn’t hear him the first time. “It’s ridiculous.”
She raises a brow. “Oh yeah? How’s that?”
“It’s a fat man who breaks into people's houses with presents that were made by tiny people, Rose. Add to that, he knows if you’ve been bad or good.” His eyes go wide. “How does he know, Rose? How does he know?”
“John?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re very much on your way to ruining Christmas for me. Stop.”
“Rose.”
“John, I mean it. Let’s just enjoy the holidays without some kind of existential crisis, yeah? Wouldn’t want Tony overhearing, would we?” she asks, knowing how much John cherishes how Tony looks up to him.
He goes wide-eyed for a split second before nodding. “Right, yeah. Good point.” He smiles, leaning down to give her a quick kiss. “Merry Christmas, Rose Tyler.”
She smiles brightly back at him, one hand coming up to rest on his cheek, her thumb rubbing lightly against his skin. “Merry Christmas, Doctor.”