She fits in his arms as he's always imagined she would. His shorter stature only means she strains her neck less to kiss him. She doesn't take the time to admire his room or comment on the door with the rose engraved on it across the hall. She is too preoccupied with his aggressive kisses to care. He grinds his hips into hers and she gasps. He grins teasingly against her lips and does it again deliberately. She retaliates by bending down to nibble his neck.

He groans and let's her fall back on to the bed before climbing on top of her.

She's beautiful underneath him, with her blonde hair fanned out across his navy sheets. Her pupils are blown wide with arousal, her cheeks are pink, and she's panting lightly. Due to his respiratory bypass, he doesn't have to. She knows that and glares up at him before flipping them both over and undoing his bowtie with dexterous fingers and a mischievous grin.

Her fingers work through the buttons of his shirt with less effort and her fingers are flat against his abdomen in no time at all. There's a moment where she pauses with her hands over his hearts and she frowns before smiling sadly up at him. His eyes ask the question for him. She answers with a kiss over the heart on the right side of his chest, the heart that doesn't belong.

Her kisses trail fire back up his neck and she presses one chastely to his lips before taking off her tank top. His hands reach up to her breasts but she pushes them back down into the bed and shakes her head at him.

She needs this and he can tell.

Her lips are back on the left side of his chest, over his left heart and he gasps when she scrapes her teeth lightly over his nipple on the way down. She flicks her tongue over it and continues. When she reaches his navel, she unzips his trousers and pulls down his trousers and his pants which he kick off before she takes him into her mouth. He's harder than he's ever been in his life and the warmth of her tongue is a welcome change from his hand. She lets him go and he nearly whines in protest until he feels her tongue along the underside of his cock. It isn't as sudden as her mouth, it's slow torture.

She holds down his hips as she licks around the head and pulls him back into her mouth slowly. He feels her pull him deeper and deeper and he has to close his eyes to keep from thrashing or giving in and cumming. And then she looks up at him from under her eyelashes and smiles like she knows. Dammit, of course she knows!

He can feel her hair falling across his thighs and feel her humming around his cock. The respiratory bypass wouldn't do him much good for long. And then she lets him go, stands up, and takes off her jeans and knickers. When she's on top of him again, she takes him into her wet heat and they both moan in relief. Rose bends over him and leads him into another kiss, this one deeper and more meaningful than the rest they'd shared.

"I missed you," she whispers as he slowly thrusts up into her. Neither of them have moved yet, both holding themselves back. "I still remember doing this with him. I loved him, I really did, but I always wondered if it was the same..."

The Doctor puts a finger to her lips and shushes her before pushing her back gently onto the bed and replacing his finger with his lips. He reaches behind her to unclasp her bra. He can tell she's self-conscious by the flush of her cheeks, but he reassures her by kissing the center of her chest and trailing kisses light kisses the way she had. Only, he nearly worships each of them rather than kissing them passingly. The taste of her skin on his tongue is addicting. Their movements are a little jerky and awkward in the beginning but eventually they find their rhythm. Before they know it, they're lost in the seemingly endless movements and words of love and desire. By the end of it all, Rose is back on top of him and all of the movement stops, the words end with Rose's heat tightening around him.

The Doctor feels himself reaching his own climax as he reaches between her legs and rubs that sensitive little bundle of nerves that has her falling to pieces and calling his name. He empties himself inside her and she falls to his chest tired and content.

"I love you," she says in the end. "I know you won't always be ready to say it back, but you should know that. I didn't say it to him as much as I could have. You could live for thousands of more years, but you'll die just as surely as he did, so you should know someone loves you. Two hearts can stop just as surely as one can."

"Thank you," he says softly. "I love you, too."

She presses last kiss to the center of his chest before they fall asleep to gentle dreams.

Rose wakes to a call from D. J. telling her the coordinates for the pub Jack had taken him to. They meet the two out front and Jack takes the Doctor's hand and pulls him into a hug. "Things were so hectic earlier, I didn't get to do that. D. J. helped Gwen and I store the body before I took him out for that drink. I gotta say, you don't look that surprised to see me."

"That's because I'm not supposed to see you yet," the Doctor groans. "Rose was just worried about D. J. She's not supposed to be here. Neither of them are. This is just one, huge paradox! You're not supposed to see me again for months, Gwen's not supposed to meet me for another two years! This is just one, huge, bloody disaster!"

"Relax, Doctor," Rose says. "We're all still here, that's a good sign, right? As long as Jack goes on with his life as it is everything should be fine."

"Dad, you could let me stay and help him," D. J. says. "He's been telling me how long it's taken to find you and he needs a Time Lord to stay and tell him what he needs to do! I know about sensitive points in time and how important it is to preserve the timelines!"

The Doctor looks at Rose in surprise. "You've taught him about the timelines?"

"You taught him," Rose says, pointing at him. "You left me a journal and told me to give it to him when he turned eight. I don't know anything about this."

The Doctor looks back at D. J. .and places a hand on his shoulder. "You can't come with him the first time he meets the old me."

"Okay," D. J. nods with the most sincere expression the Doctor has seen on him yet.

"You can't be here at all when the planets start to disappear," the Doctor continues.

"But that's when you and Mum were separated," he speaks up. "She told me about that! How can you expect me not to–"

"D. J., that has to happen," Rose says gently. "We've already messed with the timelines enough. Jack, do you still have the retcon?"

"Ready and waiting," he replies with a wink.

"Good, use it. Forget we were ever here. Give it to Gwen too while you're at it. And D. J. try to stay out of the news while you're here, dear."

"It's not my fault I have your good looks," he says cheekily before giving her a kiss. "See you whenever?"

"Wherever," she answers. "And stay out of trouble. The next time I see you, there had better not be a curl out of place!"

He pats his own head and grins. "You like the hair then?"

"It's lovely, almost like your father's used to look in his third body."

"Hey!" the Doctor calls. "How do you know about that?"

"The TARDIS used to show me images of your old regenerations, didn't I ever mention it?" Rose says, knowing full well she hadn't.

"You should show me those sometime," Jack says.

"Not gonna happen," the Doctor mumbled. "Go choke on your retcon. Rose, we have to go soon. We have a lovely couple I'd like you to meet and New Year's is on the horizon!"

"No, it's not," Rose laughs. "Is it, Jack?"

"No, but he cheats and jumps ahead to the good parts or flips back to them."

"That's true."

"By the way," the Doctor starts. "How does Rose know about retcon?"

"I was going to give it to her before sending her back," Jack replies, looking ashamed. "Hell, I was going to slip it into her drink when she got away. Where is my vortex manipulator anyway?"

"D. J. stole it from me," Rose says. "He's a natural pickpocket."

"Is he now?" Jack asks with interest.

"You had your drink. Go home, take the retcon, and go to sleep. Alone. Call me to pick you up when the Daleks come, D. J."

"Got it, love you. Bye, Dad."

"Bye, D. J."

As soon as Rose is back in the TARDIS, the Doctor starts putting in the coordinates for their next location. She sits on the edge of the console and watches him mess with the controls and press the occasional button without a glance her way. "What's wrong?"

"...I'm a father," he states plainly. Her face falls and he is quick to leave the controls and wrap his arms around her. "No, I don't mean being a father is a problem! I've always wished for another family!"

"But?"

The Doctor continues to hold her but he can feel her start to tremble. "I... Don't know him. And maybe it takes time for some connection to happen, but he's supposed to be my son and he's twenty years old! I never got to hold him or teach him about the timelines. I never got to tell him stories about my adventures, my companions, our family on Gallifrey."

"You can tell him all about it now," Rose manages to choke out. "Or later. I just wish you could have done all that from the beginning! That he could have done it all."

He can feel her shaking getting worse so he holds her tighter. "Shush, I know, love. But what matters is I'm here now, for you and for him. It's just going to take some getting used to, that word."

"What word?"

"Dad."

That has her giggling into his shoulder. "He has your DNA and what scares you is the word 'dad'?"

"The last time anyone thought of me as family, they called me Grandfather."

"Susan," Rose says sympathetically.

"The TARDIS told you about her, too?"

"She sort of told me about everyone," Rose says sheepishly. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine. It's not a sad story. She grew up, left me with Ian and Barbara, and got married."

"Doctor," Rose says. Now it is her turn to wrap her arms around him. "You wanted her to be happy so you left her."

"She was happy," he insists. "She got married, had two children, and died peacefully in her sleep."

"You're lying," Rose challenges. "You never checked."

"No, I didn't. But I'm sure she was happy. I did see her one more time after that and she seemed fine. Mind you, it wasn't under the best circumstances: five Doctors saving Gallifrey with the help of their companions."

"There were five of you?" Rose asks.

"Oh, yes. Would you like to heat the story?"

"Let me just get the fish custard," Rose says, getting back on her feet. "What's a good story without some snacks?"