The First Night of Many Nights (14th)

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For those who wondered what happened after the Toymaker's defeat...

Rose Noble finally understood what it was like to be a mother.

Well, not that she was, but when her own mum disappeared in the TARDIS two days ago with no sign of showing up, she was worried sick. It was like the roles had reversed. Whenever she was out late, her mum would call her every hour, and with every hour, the frequency of the calls increased. It was annoying, but now she knew how her mum felt. Rose kept looking at her phone, stuck on her mum's contact page, but there was no way to call her. Great Granddad had set up camp at the front door, waiting for the pair's return. Even with the news that the Doctor and her mum were back on Earth, her dad was up all day and night, pacing around the corridor of their temporary home while theirs was being fixed. She hasn't seen him smile since her mum left, and it wasn't until the Doctor and Donna walked through the main door did she finally hear him laugh.

"Mum!"

"Rose!"

The mother-daughter pair embraced in a tight hug, right after Shaun and Wilf had their turn. Her grandmother went right after her, but not without another slap to the Doctor's face for 'kidnapping her daughter once again'.

"Saved the world too," the Doctor rubbed the sore spot on his cheek, facial expression a little exaggerated in pain, "You're welcome."

After the greetings and the hugs, Donna dropped the news. Brilliant for everyone, except maybe her grandma, Rose couldn't tell from her face.

"The Doctor's staying."

Rose was the first to respond, her eyes filled with glee, "Forever?"

The Doctor violently shook his head and opened his mouth to speak, but her mum was always going to beat him, "Until he feels better."

She looked over to the Doctor who heaved a sigh of relief, "What're you shaking your head so hard for? You don't want to stay with us then?"

"That-"

"Well too bad, your future self left me in charge of you."

"But-"

"Hush now."

The Doctor shut his mouth, giving Sylvia the chance to speak.

"What do you mean he's staying?"

They gathered in the living room where Donna explained everything, while eating the tuna madras leftovers because the last time she had eaten was before the Meep. With the Doctor chiming in to add to the theatrics, she explained where she had gone for the past two days, what exactly happened to the human race, the Doctor bigenerating and essentially trauma-dumping everything into this Doctor while the next one happily flew off to the next adventure.

"He's here to heal," said Donna, "Because spaceman is a big idiot who doesn't know how to."

"Donna, I know how to-" the Doctor started, but one glare from Donna was enough to erase whatever he had in mind. Rose watched as he shrunk in his seat and chuckled.

Donna looked around the room, "Everyone alright with the Doctor staying?"

Rose immediately agreed, nodding her head and letting out a 'yeah!' at the same time as her father. Her great granddad laughed and gave two thumbs-up. Her grandma was hesitant, but what Donna said next made her change her mind.

"I've got a job, by the way, thanks to him," she pointed her thumb at the Doctor, "120k with 5 weeks holiday, starting next week."

"He can stay," was Sylvia's instant response.

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