"Mrs. Bellows, it is a pleasure to meet you. I wish it were under better circumstances," the Doctor shook the older woman's hand and slightly bowed politely.
The woman eyed him cautiously but smiled kindly. "Mr. Smith, thank you for making the trip with my daughter. It's a comfort to know she didn't have to make the drive by herself," the gray-haired woman said in response. She then glanced around between the two of them, out the door. "Where's the car?"
"Oh, we parked up the street, mom. I figured you'd have a lot of visitors and didn't want to take up all the space in front of the house," Christine quickly explained. The Doctor smiled politely, but inside he was impressed by Christine's quick thinking. Although, they were technically parked up the street anyway, in an alley.
**--**--**
Later, the Doctor sat with Christine's mother on the front porch of the house while Christine made coffee inside. Once again, the older woman was eying the Doctor cautiously.
After a few minutes of quiet, she finally spoke up. "Has Christine told you that she's adopted, Mr. Smith?" the woman asked from her rocking chair.
The Doctor nodded. "Yes, ma'am. And please, call me John."
Mrs. Bellows nodded, looking at him a bit more directly, "Very well, though I'm curious about your name. John Smith. A very—generic—name that one is. Surprising that your parents would give you such a plain first name with Smith as your last name."
The Doctor watched as the woman eyed him carefully. He was feeling a bit nervous anyway, and her looks weren't helping. Though Christine's mother was certainly more kind and polite on first encounter than Donna's ever was.
"Yes, well—"
"It's okay—John. You don't have to explain your name to me. Just an observation," the woman said with a smile. He relaxed a bit. "If my daughter thinks you're worthy of spending time with, then I suppose I'll have to take you at your word as well. She doesn't trust easily."
The Doctor nodded slowly. He found that bit of information interesting, though not totally surprising, even if Christine had seemed to trust him rather quickly. Another piece of the mystery.
"Have you ever read any of her work?" she asked.
"Just a few pieces from the New York Times that she showed me," the Doctor answered.
"You should look at her books, they're quite interesting reads. How she gets the ideas she has—well, anyway. She's been working on a new one for quite some time now—but when the planes hit the towers—and she lost Greg and the boys—she stopped working on it. Does she talk to you about them?"
"Yes, we talk often about Titus and Jane, and Greg," the Doctor answered.
**--**--**
Late that afternoon, Christine and her mother left to go to the funeral home to make arrangements for the service for her father. While she was gone, the Doctor took advantage of the opportunity to go get the TARDIS and park it, as they had arranged, in her bedroom. It did have just enough room to park it, and with the perception filter, there should be no chance of it being seen by her mother, though Christine insisted she rarely ever went into the room.
Once he had gotten the TARDIS settled in, he found his way back to the living room of the house where he had seen a bookshelf full of books. Upon closer inspection, as he had hoped, he found two books by Christine Madison. He took the one marked the first in the series and found a comfortable chair to sit in to begin reading.
-*-*-
"So, how are we going to work out the sleeping arrangements?" the Doctor whispered to Christine after her mother had left the living room that evening to go clean up in the kitchen.
Christine leaned over and whispered back, "My dad's office is right next to my room. There's a couch in it—I told her you were going to sleep there."
"I actually can sleep on the couch, if that makes it easier," the Doctor considered.
Christine shook her head. "I know the TARDIS will be more comfortable for you, Doctor. And she never goes up stairs anyway—not since her back started giving her trouble."
**--**--**
Later on before heading to her own room, Mrs. Bellows brought a blanket and pillow to the Doctor where he and Christine sat watching TV in the living room. He smiled and thanked her graciously, then turned with a raised eyebrow to Christine after her mother had started to walk away.
An hour later they turned off the TV and headed up stairs. As they walked up the stairs the Doctor whispered. "Why do I feel as if we're doing something terribly naughty?"
Christine chuckled, "You obviously never snuck out of your parents house when you were a teenager."
"When I was a teenager I was being groomed as a Time Lord. I didn't live with my parents, I lived at the Academy," the Doctor explained.
"Never snuck out of your dorm room?" Christine asked.
"Nope." He popped the 'p' as he answered with an innocent smile.
"Goody two-shoes," she said with a smirk.
Once they reached the top of the stairs, he headed towards the office.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"I am setting up my pretend bed. I'm not taking any chances. This way it will at least look like I slept there if your mother has a miraculous back recovery and decided to check on things," the Doctor explained. Christine followed him into the office and watched as he laid out the blanket and pillow. "So," the Doctor continued as he worked. "Did you ever sneak out of the house?"
"I lived in an orphanage till I was almost 16. The Bellows took me in and cared for me, even after I was of age."
**--**--**
"John," Mrs. Bellows began to speak to the Doctor. "I have a very strange request of you."
"Yes, ma'am?"
"John, I suspect there is something very different about you—" as she continued, the Doctor started to interrupt but she held up her hand. "No, please let me continue. Something is different about you, and I have my suspicions. I won't share what those are. I can't. But—they'll either be proved or disproved when you do this favor. When you get back to New York City with my daughter. Offer to help her unpack. Ask her about her jewelry box. There's something in there I think might be of particular interest to you—if what I suspect is correct."
The Doctor gave a small scowl, his eyebrows furrowed. "Her jewelry box?"
"Just—just do it, John. For me."
YOU ARE READING
Our Story
FanfictionSometimes, the Doctor meets someone on his journey that makes him pause. Sometimes, that person becomes someone very important to him. Sometimes, he discovers they always were. Notes: This story includes references to and stories of the Doctor's tim...
