'Til Death Do Us Part

Chapter 4

The Doctor's POV

I laid down on the bed, looking up at the ceiling in wonder. I had just gotten permission to marry Rose Tyler, the girl I had met in a shop who was about to die were it not for me. She was the girl who had saved my life many times, and had done the impossible twice to save the world. She was one of the most important people in the universe, the defender of the Earth, but yet she wasn't by my side. No, instead, she was probably having some fun with dogs that had no noses. 

"Would you like some tea?" Jackie's voice asked softly, the door slightly open to the bedroom. 

"Nah," I replied with a dismissive hand wave even though she probably couldn't see it. I heard the door close quietly and laughed a bit. Jackie Tyler, my mother-in-law. I frowned when the memory of her kissing me came to mind. 

But what to get her for her engagement ring? She deserved more than precious Earth metals - she deserved something else, something more fantastic. It would have to be red, but not too big. She had changed since that night in Henrik's when all she was was a little blonde girl who sold clothes. Now she was so much more - someone who was caring, but could be tough on anyone. She didn't need an expensive jewelry piece - she wouldn't accept it - but she /deserved/ it. 

"Difficult, isn't it?" the door opened again and closed behind Pete. I looked away from the ceiling and sat up straight. "You're thinking of what to do and what to get her. Strange women are, aren't they?" 

I nodded a bit, but didn't say anything. Rose was not strange. I knew her as much as I knew myself. Five years of the first Time Lord-Human biological metacrisis still left me wondering which conscious to listen to. 

"You really are putting lots of thought into this, aren't you?" Pete asked, laughing a bit. "Good man. I do like the idea of having the wedding at Darlig Ulv Stranden, though." 

"She's been through so much there," I explained, though it felt weird talking to Pete about this. I didn't talk to him much. "I guess it's just time for a happy memory to surface from that beach." 

Pete opened his mouth to reply, but his phone buzzed against his pocket and he said, "Sorry, mate. I've got to answer this. Sales are extremely high! Good luck." 

I nodded slowly and he rushed out of the bedroom, closing the door behind him. Sighing, I threw myself back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. This wasn't really my room, but when Rose and I did stay over, this would be our room. I would sleep on the couch, and she would sleep on this bed. Maybe, in the middle of the night, she would look up at the ceiling just like this and wonder about the future or dwell on the past. 

My conversation with Pete and Jackie was over, though, so she could come back. I pulled out my own phone from my pocket and dialed her number, but she wasn't picking up. She always picked up on the third ring at most. Placing the phone on the nightstand, I figured she had just left hers in the TARDIS. Too busy playing with the noseless dogs and buying Barcelona magnets, I suppose. 

I turned my head to look at the picture that was on the nightstand. It had been taken on Rose's birthday: a picture of just Rose and me. Her hand had grabbed mine just as the camera captured the picture and I swear I could remember the moment when she caught my eye and smiled that smile that was so contagious that the picture came out looking like two star crossed lovers.