Tempered by Love

Chapter 36 Today is the day

Daniel grinned his way through dressing the twins for the day. The early morning bliss with Rose chased away the remains of the nightmare and postponed the worrisome warnings from the TARDIS. He would have skipped down the stairs two at a time if he hadn't the boys in his arms. They reflected his good mood by babbling and playing  as he  set them in their high chairs  for breakfast.  Daniel's eyes crinkled at the edges thanks to a mischievous  grin when Rose volunteered to give feeding the cheeky pair a go. "They can be a handful," he warned as he fixed porridge.

"I fed Tony when he was a baby, and I've given these two their bottles; how hard can food be?" she said.

"Right then," he said handing her two bowls. "I'll leave it to ya. No sugar in the porridge." He kissed her cheek, winked at the babies and retreated for the TARDIS. Behave! he whispered to the boys little psyches.

"Wilfred Barrow! I just washed my hair," she squealed.

Daniel quickened his pace across the lounge, chuckling at the sounds coming from the kitchen. "Wait for it," he said softly,

"James Barrow, I swear..." she cried.

"And there it is," he said, laughing. This time, taking the stairs two at time,  he made sure he shielded his  guilt from Rose.  He closed the TARDIS doors knowing  she would make him pay.

 Mauve lights still rotating in silent warning brought his attention to the more immediate problem; the unknown threat coming from space. "So, let's see what we've got, hey," he said as he gathered his tools and disappeared under the console. Almost immediately, solving the problem of what set her off absorbed his full attention. So much so that when Rose's head appeared he bumped his own.

"You deserve it. You could have told me the little tossers like to throw food."

"Well, yeah but you said you had previous, so I thought you could handle them," he teased.

"Yeah well, you could've said. It's ten, you need to come out of there."

"Uh-huh, coming," he answered. "Just need to finish realigning the ship's scanners. Can you hand me that spanner?"

"This is not how I envisioned our Saturday," she answered.

"Yeah, just need to finish this and adjust the satellite warning system. No sense in not being sure."

"I don't care how much you say you're not, you are so Him. You're fiddling on this ship tuning everything else out the same way he did. It is a bit aggravatin' actually," she said smacking his leg hard.

"Oi! That hurt!"

"Payback you big jessie. Now, solve our problem, but don't forget we have a luncheon this afternoon and if you want to live till tomorrow, we'd better not be late. Mum and Katherine will kill you," she said crawling from under the cavern. "Men and their motors, no matter the size; you're all the same," she muttered.

"I heard that," he yelled.

Rose's laughter echoed under the console as she walked out the door.

Other than the trips up the stairs, Rose spent her morning talking to Mrs Webb and playing with the twins. Watching the pair toddling around after Finn brought more than a few giggles. The dog seemed determined to teach the two to walk properly. He tolerated their tugs and pushed them to encourage their step. Rose swore the dog rolled his eyes when their bums once more met the floor. Robbie glared, called Finn to him and stomped outside.

"I think he's a wee bit jealous," Mrs Webb offered.

"Yeah. Sharing that dog with these two is gonna be tough. Robbie was there when Daniel bought him. That dog has stayed by his side from day one. After Nora died, the poor animal had an awful time trying to figure out who to support. At the wake, he followed Robbie, but every few minutes he would appear out of nowhere checking on Daniel and Addie. He was like this big white, silent, shadow checking us all out.  We all knew if he perceived a threat from anyone they'd be in A&E with holes in their arm," Rose answered.