Married life with Rose and Alec

Chapter 16

Alec returned with his pocket watch and took Rose's hand and helped her off the sofa and over to the baby. Holding on to her, they stood over the crib and opened the watch. As half expected, nothing happened at first then suddenly, a faint light came from the centre of the watch and swirled around the three of them and then disappeared.

Rose found her voice and said, "But the Doctor said the watch was just a watch now so why was there a light? Oh, it might have been what he called residual energy or background radiation. We all had that when we came here because we had travelled through the vortex." She suddenly noticed Alec was staring at the watch and not saying a word. "Alec, are you ok? Say something, don't go all silent on me again," she continued as she put her arm around his waist, more for her support as she was feeling it by standing up.

Alec turned to her and saw her concern and led her over to the sofa and sat her down, just like he'd snapped out of something. "Rosie, you told me you couldn't keep the vortex in your head because it would kill you, right?'' Rose nodded. Alec continued," And that's because you absorbed it all at once, right?" Rose nodded again, looking even more concerned now, wondering where this was leading to. "Well what would happen if it was absorbed over a period of time, just enough to seep in bit by bit, like the dreams. What if they weren't dreams Rosie, what if they were his memories, fond memories of you and he was sending them to me so I could share all this with you?" Rose just stared at him. "And, what if they, through my memories and the little bit of time vortex left in you were to..." He stopped and kissed Rose. "Rosie, I think bit by bit – he's turning me into him. Not physically, obviously but mentally, more and more as time goes on because now, I'm beginning to understand things and then, through that, combined with the remaining vortex in you it was passed on to – our son?"

Rose just sat back at the shock of the realization. Alec leaned over and kissed her. "Rosie, I think it's his gift to both of us, what can it possibly be otherwise? There may not have been enough to make our son a Timelord, maybe only one heart is beating or maybe he does only have one heart but somehow, it keeps echoing like there's two? Maybe even he'll have a Timelord brain. Rosie, more and more things keep happening that I can't explain. That fire, for one. I did that without even thinking. There have been other things too, they might have seem insignificant at the time. I stopped having the dreams but I can still remember them all when I want to. Not all the time but you'll say something and it will trigger a memory. Then there was the fact it only took you two months to get pregnant, John arrived early, ok, maybe we were out on the date but he certainly let you know when he was ready to come out and there were no complications, it was fairly easy." Rose hit his arm. "Ouch, what was that for?" he asked, acting innocently.

"It wasn't easy for me, Inspector. It was far from it. Do you think I actually enjoyed all that pain?" said Rose but she was smiling at him. "It was all worth it though in the end. It could be why they keep hearing two heartbeats then just one but I've no-one to ask about it, no-one to show him what to do if he does turn out part Timelord." Rose stopped and grabbed both his arms. "Inspector, that's it – he's part human, part Timelord. He has to be. Because if the vortex was still present in me, it will have passed to him over the last nine months. The Timelord part comes from both of us, the vortex in me and his memories in you. You said I was in the later dreams, what about now? Are you remembering things that we did together? Maybe opening the watch again will trigger some more."

"Rosie, I don't think opening the watch again will help because I think what happened just then, that one last time was meant for me and John. I think now I'll have everything I need to teach him by the time he's old enough. Whether it will happen when we have other children, I don't know. Maybe it will only be him and he'll have to be told and so will any brothers or sisters. We could ask your dad to send a doctor from Torchwood down to examine him properly and see if there are two hearts. What about the one that was sent to look after Mickey, what was her name? Martha? Maybe she can get away without arousing any suspicion, a medical conference or something?"