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When the Doctor's pregnant wife awakened wanting banana bread, he immediately took action. He was a Time Lord on a mission.
Even if it involved a midnight run to a shop to buy bananas.
The Doctor and Rose were on the TARDIS, but the TARDIS was parked snuggly in the corner of Rose's bedroom on the Estate. He had no choice but to go down the street to a shop to find what his beloved wanted. He couldn't take her on a trip through the vortex to the Villengard banana grove because the sound of the TARDIS would wake her mum.
He did not want to wake his mother-in-law, if he could possibly help it. The Villengard grove would have to wait for another day. He was just thrilled that Rose was craving bananas, so he couldn't be picky. If Rose was craving them, maybe that meant his daughter (or son, but even at this early stage he was sensing a girl) would also crave them.
The Doctor entertained himself the whole way back to the flat with thoughts of sharing banana splits with a little girl who smiled like Rose. "Bananas for.....Anna? Quite like that," the Doctor was muttering to himself as he entered the flat.
He was shocked a few seconds later when his head was nearly smashed by an angry woman with a cricket bat.
"What the hell!" With his lightning fast Time Lord reflexes he grabbed the bat on the downward swing and snatched it away from his furious mother-in-law.
"What the 'ell are you doin'?! You scared the life outta me! Thought somebody was breakin' into the flat, I did! Gimme my bat back!"
The Doctor held it away from her. "Y'gonna hit me with it?"
"Haven't decided yet!" Jackie hissed.
They stared at each other. It was like a showdown at high noon. Finally Jackie challenged, "How'd you break in here anyway? You have some alien lock pick gadget?"
Insulted that she'd disparage the sonic in such a nasty tone he growled, "As a matter of fact, I do. But your daughter gave me her key. So I wouldn't disturb you!"
"Well, that failed!" Jackie helpfully announced.
"No kiddin." He still had a vice grip on the bat.
Jackie seemed to relax, and although he was a bit slower to go along with her, the Doctor slowly put the bat down behind him.
"Blimey, Jackie," the Doctor breathed, his heart rate finally beginning to return to normal.
"S'not my fault I'm a light sleeper nowadays," Jackie groused, shooting him a glare.
"What? It's my fault?" he groused.
"Yeah, it is. Haven't slept properly since those daft window dummies came to life," she revealed.
The Doctor gave her a cocky grin. "Well, I took care of that, with your daughter's help. You don't have to worry about that anymore. Toddle off to bed."
The Doctor's attitude grated on Jackie's nerves. "I said that's when it started. It became chronic after Rose disappeared for a year," she stated flatly.
That took some of the wind out of the Doctor's sails. His grin faded.
"You're about to be a parent," Jackie murmured. "Maybe then you'll get it." She turned on her heel and started back to her room.
"I've been a dad," the Doctor said after a silence.
Jackie stopped and turned to face him. "You've been?"
"Told ya, my planet's gone. So are they. Mind you, it was a different thing to be a parent on Gallifrey. So, I suppose I don't know." He shifted uncomfortably, not used to revealing himself to anyone.
Jackie was taken aback. "You've lost people, and that's horrible. So forgive me if I don't understand why you treated a year's time like it was nothin' for me? I thought I'd never see my daughter again. Couldn't eat, didn't sleep....for a whole year. My cousin Mo kept tryin' to talk me into antidepressants. It was hell."
"It was twelve hours for Rose and me," he murmured.
"Lucky you," Jackie countered. "She told me you got the time a little off. I'm suspectin' you'll have to learn to be careful. Hopin' you will, at any rate. Hate to miss full years of my grandchild's life due to your carelessness."
That cut him to the quick. He schooled his features to hide it from Jackie, however. "Won't happen, gonna be careful. Don't worry," he assured her in a tight, clipped tone. Then he sighed. It was all too easy to imagine his daughter disappearing from his life the way his other children had. The way Susan had. He could easily put himself in Jackie's place. The thought terrified him.
Jackie huffed and shook her head, turning to leave the room, done with both the Doctor and the discussion. "Whatever. I'm gonna attempt to sleep. Keep it down out here."
"Jackie. I'm sorry," the Doctor blurted. "Sorry for that year. Never really considered the families of the people who traveled with me before now. It matters. I was inconsiderate."
Jackie saw the struggle playing out across his features, suspecting that it wasn't simple for him to apologize. This wasn't a man who easily admitted to his mistakes, and it impressed her. He looked miserable. She felt a tug of affection for this man. However, there was something she still needed to know to fully accept the Doctor. "So, were there many others, Doctor? Any other wives we should know about?"
"There's been plenty of other companions. None of them were Rose," the Doctor said earnestly. "And I can assure you I intend to get it right this time, with our child."
Jackie stared him down, but the lines around her eyes softened after a bit. She nodded. "I believe you. M'sorry for your losses, Doctor. And I accept your apology." Then she pointed at him. "As long as you watch your flyin' and keep them safe."
"I plan to," the Doctor vowed.
"You really think you can do this? This domestic thing? Doesn't seem like it's somethin' you'd be good at."
He smirked. "I'm good at just about everything, Jackie. I can handle it. Domestics included."
Jackie chuckled. "You'd better be. By the way....why are you wanderin' a council estate at midnight carryin' a bunch of bananas?"
The Doctor quipped, "Bananas are good." Jackie rolled her eyes. "Rose had a cravin'. Banana bread. Thought I'd...."
"Make her some? Blimey, you are domestic now!" Jackie laughed.
The Doctor frowned, slightly insulted. "Told ya I could be. I have an award winnin' recipe from Betty Crocker herself, as a matter of fact. Helped her test it."
Jackie wasn't impressed. She beckoned the Doctor to follow her. "Well, you don't have Granna Prentice's recipe. And her bread pan. C'mere, Doctor!" He shrugged and followed.
And that was how Rose found them forty-five minutes later, baking banana bread in her mother's kitchen. The flat smelled heavenly, and the Doctor was laughing at a story she was telling about Rose's childhood.
Rose leaned against the doorframe, watching them. It might have been the warmth of the scene playing out, or the hormones, but Rose's eyes filled with tears. The Doctor noticed her then and immediately dashed over to her and embraced her tightly.
A while later they sat together drinking tea and eating banana bread, which Rose pronounced just as good as anything Granna ever made.