Epilogue: Planning the Future

Jackie was more than happy to be home when she finally walked through her door. As much as she loved going on holiday, she hated the traveling to and from.

Sometimes she wished she had her own TARDIS. To be able to disappear in one place and reappear in another would make traveling so much easier than the long plane flights.

No amount of guest service on her own private jet or zeppelin was enough to make up for the cramped confines of being relegated to one seat for hours. She never realized how much she enjoyed being able to walk around until she wasn't allowed to.

At the very least, she never had to lug her own bags around any longer.

The butler met them at the car and was already unloading the suitcases from the boot when she climbed out.

"Did you have a good trip, ma'am?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied. "Did you?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Jackie smiled.

She still enjoyed being treated like a princess, even if her daughter didn't.

On that thought, she wondered how her children had gotten along without her. Knowing Harrison, the butler, knew what he was doing, she walked into the mansion and went directly for the stairs.

Tony was the first one she checked in on.

She was surprised to find him still sleeping soundly, but she assumed he must have had an exciting night attending that wedding with the Doctor and Rose.

Quietly crossing the landing to the other hallway, she noticed the door to the Doctor's room was open and his bed looked undisturbed. He was usually a rather neat houseguest, but she had a feeling the bed hadn't been used.

When she stopped in front of Rose's door, she found it almost closed, though there was still a crack through which she could hear voices.

"I'm not saying we have to," the Doctor said quietly. "I am just saying it is an option we have."

"But do you really want children?" Rose asked. "After all your ranting about not doing domestic, I thought…"

"No, I'd love to have children," he gushed.

Conscience told Jackie to leave them, but curiosity got the better of her and she peered into the door so she could have a visual on them while she eavesdropped.

The Doctor and Rose were lying in bed facing one another, so close that they were sharing the same pillow and their foreheads nearly touched. He was running his fingers through her hair as he continued speaking to her.

Pure love and adoration were evident in his eyes.

"We just couldn't before. It wasn't safe, remember."

"Yeah, I know. The 'it could kill you' reason having to do with living in a time machine."

He laughed, "More or less."

Rose sat up and stared down at him. She was wearing a vest top that didn't quite fit her right, so Jackie could only assume it belonged to the Doctor.

That, coupled with the clothing scattered about the floor, confirmed her suspicions, but she was beyond the desire to chastise her daughter. She no longer saw Rose's relationship with the Doctor as yet another in a line of poor choices: in fact, she was willing to encourage it, if only to get more smiles out of Rose.

The Doctor may have done more than one idiotic thing, but she couldn't deny his love for her daughter.

She just wanted them to be happy together.

Whatever that entailed.

If they married and had a family, so be it.

Jackie tried to slip away unnoticed and leave them to their conversation. It didn't feel right listening in on something so seemingly important as her possible grandchildren being planned.

Unfortunately the movement of the door must have caught Rose's eye because she gasped, "Mum?"

Popping her head back in, Jackie opened her mouth to apologize, but the Doctor had bolted from under the covers and was trying to come up with some excuse as to why he was in Rose's room; though, none of what he said made much sense.

"Relax," Jackie told him when she finally got a word in. "I'm not shouting. You're fine. Get back in bed. I'm leaving. I just wanted to see that you two were alright."

The Doctor jumped back into Rose's bed and pulled the duvet up to his chest. His cheeks were flushed and he had the expression of a child having been caught doing something he shouldn't have been and knowing he should be scolded.

"I'll talk to you later when you two are dressed," Jackie laughed and shut the bedroom door.

She hoped everything would work out between them.

Rose had had enough years being unhappy, and Jackie hated to admit it, but she did hope she could look forward to having grandchildren.

Behind the closed door, she heard giggling and whispers.

It was going to be a while before she saw them.

THE END

A/N: I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I have a few other projects I need to finish, but I will say now that there is a plan for a sequel to this.

I will also say that there may be a few shot one-shots that take place before the sequel, so keep your eyes peeled.