The Defender of Time

Thirty-Seven

PART FOUR

In which it all falls apart.

January 26 (Once more.)

There were twelve candles on the birthday cake, and Alessia watched intently as the Doctor lit the last one, shaking out the match once he was done.

"Come on, Alessia," urged Gabby. She rubbed her shoulders and leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "Make a good wish. Wish for a boyfriend."

Alessia giggled and blew the candles out in one breath. Gabby applauded and wrapped her arms tightly around Alessia. "Happy birthday! What'd you wish for?"

"I'm not telling." Alessia smirked and leaned into Gabby's embrace.

She'd rounded out age eleven with satisfactory grades and no word from anyone dangerous. She wrote to Mayzie once a month and snuck cookies to Oliver when nobody was looking.

Her parents watched silently as the floor quaked when she cried. Alessia would never know-- she could never know. A little girl with the weight on her shoulders that she was connected deep down to the very time machine which her father had spent his life with... it was too much.

She bailed Gabby out of detention eighteen times, and landed there herself seven times. A normal soon-to-be-teenage life, as far as she was aware. Things settled down. Everything was peaceful. Besides living in a time machine, Alessia Oswald was a regular girl.

January 26 (Yes, once again.)

Thirteen candles this time. The Doctor and Clara were away; something dangerous had happened, and Alessia wasn't allowed to come. Instead, she'd been staying with Gabby. The cake, this year, sat on the Malmstrom's counter. Gabby's father lit the last candle, and Alessia blew all of them out.

She made another wish, and Gabby hugged her tightly. "I wished for Aaron to kiss me on my birthday," she whispered. "What was your wish?"

"You don't get to know!"

Alessia smiled as Gabby's mother wrapped her arms around both of the girls. "It's a shame about that business trip," she said sadly. "Your parents are missing out on quite the party."

The doorbell rang, as if acting on a cue, and Gabby began to beam. She jumped off of the barstool and pounded to the door. When she pulled it open, there were two boys and two girls standing outside of it. The girls held gift bags while the boys smiled awkwardly. On the right was Aaron, and Alessia could sense Gabby smiling at him. The other was Ryan, who Alessia had, admittedly, been looking at for a while.

Gabby led the four into the living room (it was Mary-Anne and Julia, now that Alessia looked closer), and came to hug Alessia again. "Did you wish for a boyfriend?" She whispered.

January 26 (One last time.)

There was no cake this year. Alessia had grown out of cakes.

She'd grown out of Ryan, too. They dated (if you can call it that) for a few months, before Ryan decided the hockey team was more important than a stable relationship.

It wasn't very kind of him to break up with her the day before her birthday, but, as Clara had said a few hours ago, "Boys aren't kind. They only think of tennis shoes and fashion models." The Doctor had been increasingly distant, especially since Ryan had come into the picture.

They'd been out for dinner a few times, and every time Alessia came back, the Doctor was cooped up in the library or too busy to say goodnight. It hurt him, quite obviously, to see Alessia growing up, but Alessia tried not to let it get to her.