Chapter Six: One Last Surprise

Everyone had just finished dinner and were talking amongst themselves when Robert, Luke, Tommy, Gary, Clark and Adam stood near the TARDIS, Robert holding a microphone. AL did say this was a Dinner: Impossible challenge. May as well do it right.

“Lisa has been a good friend of mine for years, ever since the first season of Dinner: Impossible,” said Robert as everyone listened. “And she helped me out when I ran into some trouble at Food Network, so when she asked me to prepare the food for this party, I couldn’t say no. The challenge was to make a buffet and hors d’oeuvres for almost seventy people…”

“Hey!” AL shouted. “It wasn’t that close to seventy! Sixty-five, tops!”

Robert and the crowd laughed. “I have to thank Lisa’s guys: Luke, Tommy, Gary, Adam and Clark, who were chefs for a day and did a superb job.”

Everyone applauded.

“And, Lisa, please thank Lightning for me. Without him, I don’t know if I’d’ve been able to finish this challenge with twenty minutes to spare.”

“You got it!”

“Doctors, Jack, Jamie and other companions, happy anniversary and let’s hear to forty-five more years.”

There were cheers and a chorus of “Hear, hear!” that rippled through the crowd as everyone drank a toast to 45 years in the TARDIS.

AL got up and grabbed Radu to help with the cake. She picked up the microphone and said, “As my guys know, my buddy Duff always makes our cakes. We’ve done the TARDIS and things, so I asked him to do something a little more special.”

She uncovered the confectionary to reveal what could only be described as an elaborate and extremely detailed diorama. The TARDIS was there, as were gum paste figures of all ten Doctors. They also had made figures of Daleks, K9 and Cybermen (the real ones…not the ones from that alternate universe). Everything was standing on a platform that had both the seal of Rassilon and the Gallifreyan seal on it.

Everyone made sounds of amazement. Duff and the other bakers at Charm City Cakes definitely had outdone themselves this time. AL made a mental note to thank him later, then started slicing.

She didn’t sit down right away when she was done handing out the portions to everyone. A movement behind the house had caught her attention and she excused herself to go investigate.

A man dressed in a Brown tweed jacket with tweed elbow patches, bow tie, rolled up pants and black boots was watching the proceedings from behind the house. His eyes, which were mostly obscured by his hair, seemed to shift in color depending on the angle or the way the light hit them.

AL blinked. “Doctor? Wait…what?”

The Eleventh Doctor smiled. “Forgot about me, didn’t you, Lisa?”

“No! But…what? No, Doctor…I wasn’t…aware of you until this very moment. What the hell’s going on? You should’ve been invited from the get-go.” She frowned. “It’s the alter ego’s fault! Isn’t it?”

He chuckled. “For once you’re right. You, of course, are aware of me and my future selves, however, she didn’t know about me until after this party. It’s why my future selves aren’t here: she doesn’t know about them, so why should you invite them? However, I’m here now, so she sent me to you. It’s my anniversary, too, you know.”

What he was saying made sense in a sort of weird roundabout way. He was here now, so why not?

“Well,” said AL, “now that you’re here, come join

“Well,” said AL, “now that you’re here, come join us.” She held out her hand to him.

Still smiling, the Eleventh Doctor took her hand and together they walked back to the party. The other ten Doctors eyed their future incarnation with some contempt while the companions were watching with slight confusion. They ignored them.

Eleven headed for the TARDIS. Opening the doors, he said, “I brought a bit of entertainment for all of us.” He pulled out a guitar and a saxophone.

“Hey!” called MuseicalMarty. “That’s my guitar! I was gonna bring that, but I forgot it.”

“Indeed!” said Eleven. “I picked it up for you, as well as Dr. Brown’s saxophone.”

ClockworkDoc blinked. “I’ve been out of practice for years.”

Eleven shrugged. “Well, someone else can play it, then.”

“Doctor!” AL said quietly, nudging him in the side with her elbow.

The Time Lord shrugged again and smiled, handing Doc and Marty their instruments. Marty was simply delighted; he’d been dying to use the thing for a while. He got up to tune it while AL and Eleven took their places at the table.

As parties go, this one was proving to be the best. For now.

The End

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