SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW
Chapter Forty Two Journal Entry-Alan Timelord. Rose is taking a shower at the moment, so I decided to pull my diary out and get my thoughts down before I forget. What I just witnessed out there in the store car park saddened me to the very core of my being. To think that my Rose could have been so devastated by all that had happened to her that she no longer felt happy inside. I am so glad that the Doctor left me here; I shudder to think what she’d be like now without me. Then again, perhaps he would have taken her with him if I hadn’t been around, but who knows. I frequently wonder if I was just the convenient excuse he had for getting rid of her. I hope not. She is a joy and a wonder and deserving of all the happiness the world can offer. But after what I just witnessed, I wonder if I’m not the only one who needs a bit of fixing. Alan sighed, closed his diary and put it back in his rucksack. He stared at the forty dollars for a moment and with a smile, pocketed it. “My Rose, always putting others before herself,” he murmured. “All I really want is her companionship and love, that’s worth more to me than all the money in the universe. But, if it makes her happy, I’ll accept the money. Eh, might be useful sometime. I might get a little trinket or two just to show her I’m spending it.” He suddenly had a thought, retrieved the diary and opened it up. I want to add something else to this entry. Lately, I’ve been thinking about what it would be like to have Rose as my wife. I know that we (as in me and her) haven’t known each other that long, but there is no one else I would rather spend my life with. I know she wants me as a friend and lover, but…does she want me as a husband? I want so much to propose, but at the same time I’m terrified she’ll say no. I know that she would still love me no matter what, but being married to her would be such an enormous thrill, especially when I get to tell people she’s my wife and be proud of every second of it. Perhaps this money might prove useful after all. Perhaps I can find a cheap engagement ring somewhere and try my luck. The worst case scenario is she will say no and then we’ll just go on being lovers as before. But…what if she says yes? Oh my God, I would be sailing through the time vortex on my own power then. I’ve even been thinking about a perfect place to propose. Disneyworld in front of Cinderella Castle. That structure would be the perfect romantic backdrop. Granted, there are other romantic places in the world, but I don’t wanna wait a year to reach them. I can’t wait, I want to get back to London at the end and marry her to cap it all off. A perfect end to a perfect journey. Then we’ll be husband and wife for those nine years and live in married bliss while we wait for our TARDIS to grow. The thought of it just makes me feel warm inside. I hope to God she says yes. He heard the shower shut off and quickly closed the diary and put it back in his rucksack. He grabbed the atlas and opened it to New Jersey, pretending to look it over. A moment later, the door opened and he smiled when she stepped out. “Feel better?” he asked. “Yes, tons better.” “Come here, so I can smell my purchase.” She smiled, walked over and leaned down. Alan took a whiff of her damp hair. “Mmmm, smells so good I wanna eat ya up,” he said. “With your stomach, I wouldn’t doubt it.” He nuzzled her cheek. “My turn, I guess?” he asked. “Yeah, but before you do that, get out the dirty clothes you aren’t wearing. I think the hotel has laundry service and both of us need to have our clothes laundered. And I know, I’m being afraid of my own odor by doing this.” “Uh no, actually I agree with you, they need laundered. When I said that, I wasn’t meaning the two of us should just sweat onto our clothes and never wash them, I was meaning you don’t have to drown yourself in several thousand scents all at once.” He pulled out his blue trousers and plum t-shirt and gave them an experimental sniff. “These don’t smell too bad; I’ll wear these for tonight.” “Okay and when you’re done changing; give me the polo shirt and shorts and also your socks and Y-fronts. You can go without those for awhile, can’t you?” “Oh, I suppose I can,” he said, reaching into his rucksack for them. He sniffed them and grimaced. “Ugh, yes, these can definitely do with a wash, phew!” he said, handing them to Rose. She took them gingerly and put them on the bed. She reached into her rucksack, got out her denim dungaree skirt and a blue t-shirt and laid them on the bed along with her socks and knickers. She turned and gasped. Alan was standing by the table, butt naked, holding the rest of his clothes out to her. “Alan!” “What? It’s nothing you haven’t seen before and I figured I’d better give you these before I went and took a shower, so you don’t have to wait.” She took the clothes from him. “Now go and get your shower.” “Wait a tic; I’m just getting some nice cool air on my womb broom. Little man’s been pent up all day long.” “Will you get in the shower with that thing?” He grinned and slowly strutted towards the bathroom, making sure to go extra slow when he was passing right by her. “You know there are all these rumors that people install hidden cameras in hotel rooms so they can watch what’s going on.” “Is that so? Well then, GET AN EYEFULL OF THIS, MATES!” he screamed as he pointed to his penis. Rose laughed and collapsed on the bed as Alan looked up at the ceiling and pointed with both his index fingers. “Bet ya never saw one this big, eh? This right here is an award winner! So get a gander at my best in show, all you voyeurs out there!” “Get in the bathroom, you pervert!” Rose laughed as she pushed him towards the door. She got him in the bathroom door before he leaned back out again. “Oh, and by the way,” he said to the ceiling. “If you have a camera installed in here, I hope you enjoyed Rose’s breasts, just bear in mind, these puppies are mine!” “Go! Just go!” Rose said, laughing. He smiled at her. “I’ll be in here spanking the monkey for the hotel management if you need me,” he said. He closed the door and Rose shook her head as she settled down on the bed. “Jesus and I thought the Doctor was an enormous show off,” she muttered. She walked over to the TV and grabbed the laminated channel index. She grabbed the remote, turned it on and found The Weather Channel. She sat back down near the head of the bed, picked up the phone and dialed the front desk. “Hi, do you have laundry service here? Great, I need someone to pick up some clothes in room 206 please. Okay, I’ll be listening for the knock then, thank you.” She hung up the phone, walked over to the bathroom door and entered the steamy room. She walked over to the shower curtain and peeked around it. Alan beamed when he saw her head. “Brilliant, you wanna take another shower with me?” he said. “No, I’m in here telling you that someone is coming to get our clothes so they can be washed. So, keep the perverted talk to the imaginary camera to a minimum, yeah?” “You mean I can’t loudly narrate my own porn show in here?” “No, you cannot because if you do, I’ll go get that hunting knife in your rucksack and lob off the award winner there.” “Then what will you do?” “I’ll use a dildo and pretend it’s you.” “What’s a dildo?” Rose opened her mouth when she suddenly heard a knock at the door. “Be right back, be a good boy and keep quiet.” She leaned out, walked back to the door and closed it. She opened the door and saw a man standing there with a linen trolley. “I’ve come to pick up your laundry,” a man said. Rose walked over, grabbed it and put it inside a clear plastic bag the man was holding. He closed and tied it, marked it with their room number and thanking her, walked away. Rose closed the door, opened the bathroom door and walked back in. “I repeat, what is a dildo?” he said when she stuck her head back around the shower curtain. She smiled. “You’ve just been wondering that the whole time, haven’t ya?” “Yes, so what is it?” “It’s a…fake rubber penis that you can use to pleasure yourself with. They have some that vibrate as well and you use them to…get off on.” “And you prefer a piece of rubber to me?” She grinned. “No…I like the award winner.” “Well, good…and thank you for telling me what a dildo is, I’ll file that away in my brain along with the tampons and sanitary napkins.” She smiled and kissed him. “You do that; I’ll be out here checking the weather. You check the atlas?” “Um…well, I was going to, but I wanted to write something in my diary and by the time I was done, you were out of the shower,” he admitted. “Oh, okay, well I’m glad you’re able to use that diary then.” “Yeah, I was kinda skeptical at first, but you’re right, sometimes I need to use it to sort out my feelings.” “Good, anything that can help you do that is okay with me. Listen, are you hungry? You want me to warm up a dinner?” “Yes, that would be nice, did the laundry man come?” “Yeah, he did and when he’s done, he’ll bring out clothes back.” “Neat.” “Yeah, it’s very handy. So, I’m gonna let you finish up here and I’ll be outside getting our food ready and checking the weather.” “Rose?” “Yeah?” “Do you love me?” Rose’s eyes boggled. She sighed. “Alan, I thought we’d gotten past all this. You mean to tell me you’re still insecure about that?” “I know you love me, but do you love me with all your heart?” She laid a hand against his cheek. “Yes, Alan, I love you with all my heart and all my soul. I don’t want to be with the Doctor anymore, I want to be with you. Will you please, please stop worrying about this?” “It’s not that I’m being insecure as such. It’s just that lately I’ve had something on my mind and…I just need to know if I’m truly the man you wanna be with for the rest of your life.” He frowned when Rose said nothing and leaned back out of the shower. “I didn’t mean to upset you and make you angry by asking that. I’m not trying to irritate you, Rose. I just need to…” He trailed off when Rose opened the shower curtain and stepped, naked, into the bathtub. She closed the curtain and put her arms around his neck. “Do you see this? Do you see me in here with you?” she asked. “I love you, alright? I’m here with you now and I won’t leave just like you said you wouldn’t leave me. I really wish you would understand that because it breaks my heart to hear you worry about it. I had no idea you were even thinking about it. Like I said, I thought this insecurity was a thing of the past. If the Doctor ever does come back and he ever finds me and he asks me to go with him, I wouldn’t do it unless you were with me because I don’t love him that way anymore. I love him as a friend, a very dear friend, but at the end of the day I would want to be in bed beside you, alright? Forever, eternity...” “Until death do us part?” “Yes. Until death do us part.” She felt him relax and a smile crept over his face. “Alright, I won’t worry about it anymore because you just eased my fear once and for all.” “Thank God,” she breathed. She laid her head against his chest and Alan kissed the side of her head. “You’re all wet again,” he said. “Yeah, I noticed, wasn’t plannin’ on another shower, but now that I’m here…” She closed her eyes and sighed contentedly while he grabbed his body wash and gently massaged her body with it. Alan smiled, his fears about proposing to her somewhat eased, although there was still a hint of nervousness in the back of his mind. She said until death do us part, though, he thought. That’s a good sign. I hope it means what I think it means. They kissed and caressed one another for awhile before finally getting out and getting dressed. Rose went to warm up the food while Alan set down on the edge of the bed. She rummaged through the rucksacks and cursed loudly. “What’s wrong?” Rose leaned back up, grabbed her purse and smiled at him as she held out her hand. “Come with me, I have another human lesson for ya,” she said. He grinned and took her hand. He stood up and Rose led him out the door and down the hall to the lift. “Just observe what I do because you might need to get change sometime,” he said. “Gotcha.” They went down to the front desk and Rose got out a twenty on purpose and asked the lady for change for the Coke machine. Alan watched quietly while the lady handed Rose three fives and five ones. Rose thanked her and they walked back to the lift. “I had a thought that you might want to get a can of soda and the machines don’t take twenties,” she explained as they got into the lift. “I had dollar bills, but I wanted to show you what to do in order to get change.” Alan smiled and nodded. They went back up to the second floor and Rose led him to the vending machines. Rose put a dollar bill in the machine while Alan watched, hit the Coke button and got it and the quarter that dropped out. “Wanna try?” she said, handing him a dollar bill. Alan took it and tried to imitate her actions. He had trouble getting the bill straight enough to get in the slot and Rose showed him how to lay it up against the front of the machine and straighten it out with her hand. He tried it again and grinned when it went in with no problem. He pushed the Coke button and grinned when he grabbed the Coke and the quarter. “Very good,” she said. “You’re a very good teacher, you know that?” he said as they walked back to their room. “Well, if you’re gonna be on Earth for ten years, you oughta know these things.” She smiled when he tried to give the quarter back to her. “Nah, keep it, you earned it.” Alan slipped it in his pocket as she unlocked their door. They went inside just in time to hear the weather report. Alan closed the door and both of them stood in front of the TV watching the forecast. She made a face when the satellite image came up and they saw that the entire state had rain. “Good job we came in here then,” she said to Alan. “Looks like it’s gonna rain for the rest of the night.” They listened while the voiceover predicted a 90 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms for the evening, 80 percent for overnight and 30 percent for the morning before becoming partly cloudy with a high of 76 degrees. “So,” Rose said. “I guess we won’t be able to move again until late afternoon.” “Sounds like it. I guess we’ll just have to figure out ways to keep ourselves occupied.” Rose snorted. “Like giving the imaginary camera a show?” He snickered. “Among other things,” he said. “Eat first, shag later,” Rose said, putting his dinner in the microwave. After they finished their meals, they practiced the aikido for awhile and then settled down to play cards after the laundry came back and was put into their rucksacks. Rose taught him how to play Euchre and although she was able to beat him for the first few games, he quickly proved he was a fast learner and both of them were delighted when he started to win. They played a game of chess, which Alan won and then both of them grabbed the atlas and talked about what they wanted to do. Alan, by now, wanted the most expedient way possible to Disneyworld, so he subtly suggested keeping to their original plans to follow the motorway. “I would like to keep on doing that,” she said. “But, I would also like to find something to do in New Jersey besides stay in a hotel room. Do you know much about the state?” “I know it’s where Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi came from. I know it’s got Atlantic City.” Rose made a face. “Nah, I don’t feel like gambling,” she said. “Well, gee, I guess that means we give Nevada a miss then when we get to it.” She smiled. “There’s more than Las Vegas in Nevada.” “Yeah, there’s desert.” He grinned at her when she rolled her eyes. “Well, there is, Rose. Miles and miles of desert for us to cross.” “Let’s just concentrate on the here and now and worry about the deserts when we get to them,” she said. “Well, there is one other thing I know about New Jersey,” he said. Rose raised her eyebrow. “Yeah?” He grinned. “Ever heard of the Jersey Devil?” Rose shook her head. “No, what’s that?” “It’s a creature that’s said to inhabit the woods of southern New Jersey. Supposedly it kinda looks like a horse with bat wings that walks upright.” Rose rolled her eyes. “I’m talking about actual things in New Jersey, Alan. Not mythical creatures.” “Oho, how do you know it doesn’t exist?” “How do you know it does?” “I don’t, but we can explore and find out.” “You wanna go looking for a horse bat thingy?” “Sure, might be fun.” “Seriously.” “Why not?” “Because we might get lost and turned around and end up way off course. You wanna get to Disneyworld, doncha?” “More than anything.” “Why do you say that? You in a hurry to go ride the rides or something?” He gave her an enigmatic smile. “I just want to get there as fast as possible,” he said. “Well, then, let’s stick to the motorway and not go looking for bat horses and end up in Canada, yeah?” “Oh, all right, but just keep your eyes peeled when we get down south of here, you never know when the Jersey Devil might pop up.” “Yeah, well forgive me for not holding my breath waiting for it to appear,” she said. “In the meantime, I think our best bet is to ask where a library is and get on the internet and find some stuff to see so we don’t just end up walking through a bunch of fields and woods.” “Sounds good to me.” “’Sides I need to check my email and see if mum’s written.” “Well, I don’t need to do that since I don’t have an email account.” “You should get one.” “Who’s gonna email me? You?” “Yeah, I’ll show you how to set up one and I’ll email you things so you can check them. Another human thing you can do, ya know.” “Brill. In the meantime, what should we do next?” “Wanna see what’s on the telly? Or…we could watch one of the pay per view movies…not the porno, the regular stuff.” “You’re just so terrified I’m gonna get back on that porn channel, aren’t you?” “Just…making myself clear here. I’m not in the mood for it.” “Oh, I don’t know, I’m sure the nosy people taping us are, AREN’T YOU, YA NOSY WANKERS!” Rose put her head in her hands. “Why, oh why, did I tell you that?” she said as he giggled.
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