THREE

My Nan suddenly emerged with an umbrella held aloft, she stopped to help auntie Mavis cross the road and then the elderly but indomitable women made their way towards us. It had been such a long time since I had seen either of them, great aunt Mavis lived in a seaside town and my Nana Joan lived in Shropshire, in the same area as the rest of my mum’s family. Underneath the umbrella I embraced my Nan and then her sister, my great aunt. The warmth and familiarity transported me back to my childhood as I breathed in the sweet and heady scent of violets and wool. My aunt Mavis, the elder and bohemian of the two had all her white hair piled up and was swathed in a huge shawl that looked like a patch work quilt. My Nana Joan was dressed in her trade mark trench coat, her short, greying hair stylishly cut into a bob, though my eternally youthful and elegant Nan was still as formidable as ever.

 “What did I tell you Caroline? I knew Anna would come back, she just needed some time…” My Nan admonished her daughter but then turning her head sharply and addressing me in a manner which made me feel about six years old. “Why didn’t you call your parents girl?”

 “If you could just let me explain…” I began feebly, the only look of encouragement came from aunt Mavis who smiled sweetly at me. Where to begin?

 “Hello ladies!” The Doctor beamed again. I wouldn’t have blamed him if he had left me behind, diving into the TARDIS and dematerializing into the night, never to be seen again. But the Doctor appeared to be somewhat amused and diverted by the senior branch of my family.

The rain having turned to light drizzle my Nan closed her umbrella  and straightened her shoulders back, staring up at the Doctor who towered over her.

 “Oh so this is the Doctor is it?”

 Was there anyone in my circle of family and friends who hadn’t heard about the Doctor? My Nan’s features settled into a grim sternness, I feared the Doctor was about to receive an ear bashing. But instead my Nana Joan glanced knowingly at me and then her gaze rested again upon the Doctor, her face softening into a mischievous smile. In recent years my widowed Nana Joan has never been short of male companions and there was a definite twinkle in my Nan’s eyes as she smiled at the Doctor.

 “Might explain where my granddaughter’s been …”

 “Mum!” My mother chided angrily, thereby reversing the roles of parent and child and continuing the long running battle for dominance between Caroline Bailey and Joan Evans.  

 Returning home should not have been this embarrassing. I could feel myself blushing, if I turned round quickly and dived through those blue doors, I would be safely inside the TARDIS again. I glanced over at the Doctor but he looked utterly composed maybe he was used to this kind of thing but everyone had seen me with “my male companion” and had completely jumped to the wrong conclusion. From the first moment I met the Doctor, I was drawn to him but not because I fancied him, I mean at the end of the day he’s over nine hundred years old and an alien. This man from the stars, the last of the Time Lords, we are the best of friends. Of course now I come to think of it, this misunderstanding about our relationship has frequently occurred on our travels.

 “Maybe we should all go inside and have a cup of tea or something?” My dad interrupted, he looked very tired. He had spent too long under the same roof as Nana Joan and my mum. I had a sudden longing for a proper cup of tea and I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten.

My mum glared at my dad as if he had made the most stupidest suggestion of all time. And I was about to find out why. There was a commotion as I heard a group of people, walking nosily round the corner towards us and that’s when I saw all my  family…The Bailey and Evans families united. They had been waiting inside my parent’s house all this time, Uncle’s, Aunt’s and assorted cousins. It was my turn to be bewildered as I awaited an explanation from my parents.

 “Throughout the week, the news spread that you were missing and some of the family just happened to come round tonight to offer us support…See if they could help.”

  My mum frowned awkwardly as I gazed at all the notorious members of our family, people like aunt Claire, who enjoyed a good drama and secretly revelled in others misfortunes…But then I smiled, when I saw auntie Janet and uncle Graham, the family members who genuinely cared about me and my parents. This was turning out to be a strange and emotional homecoming.

 “Blimey Anna Bailey… Haven’t you got a big family!” The Doctor exclaimed.

 “Haven’t I just… I never realized until now Doctor.” I rolled my eyes and glanced over at the Doctor. I whispered under my breath in a conspiratorial tone. “You make a run for the TARDIS while I’ll hold them off .”

The Doctor’s response was to laugh and pat me on the shoulder.

 “Nah, you’re alright Anna, I’m rather enjoying myself.” The Doctor suddenly raised an eyebrow as my Nan winked at him. “Though don’t leave me alone in a room with your Gran.”

 The Doctor might have found all this amusing but for myself personally I felt as though my head was going to explode. I braced myself for the deluge of questions and blindingly obvious observations.

 “Caroline, David…We thought you’d disappeared as well!”

 “Anna you’re back! Where have you been?”

 “Is that the Doctor?”

 “What’s a police public phone box doing in the middle of your street?”

 My whole life had suddenly become a circus, travelling through space and time, I thought I had experienced a fair amount of surreal and challenging things. I didn’t think there was anything left in that moment…

 “Anna… You’ve come back.”

 My relatives and the nosy neighbours that had suddenly joined the crowd, parted to reveal Mike Hilton, my ex-boyfriend. News travels fast apparently but Mike was the last man on Earth I wanted to see, though as he stood there alone and unusually vulnerable, I had to admire his courage. So maybe Mike did care about me after all but it was all a bit too late for that. There was a sharp intake of breath from both my mum and Nan. If looks could strike a person down and kill them, then Mike Hilton would be lying stone dead on the ground.

 “What are you doing here!” My mum snapped, making everyone in the crowd flinch.

 “Anna’s disappearance… I told you it was nothing to do with me. I told you Mrs Bailey!” Mike shouted back, burning with indignation. And that’s when his true, selfish character shone through as everything all became about him. “Pure spite that‘s all it is, if it wasn’t for you the police would never have pulled me in for all those hours of interrogation. You’re a vindictive and twisted woman! Yeah that’s what you are Mrs Bailey!”

 “Oi! You good for nothing…Waste of space. Don’t you talk to my wife like that !…” My dad shouted back, suddenly all fired up, his brummie accent growing more pronounced.

 The Doctor tapped me on the shoulder and gestured towards the TARDIS.

 “On second thoughts…”

 Everyone had become very animated, it was highly probable that a fight was going to break out at any moment. I really couldn’t take much more as I felt someone sidle up beside me.

 “So where exactly did you get to Anna? And this is the Doctor, the very man that whisked you away from all this?”

 The salacious tone and smug manner of my dad’s younger sister Aunt Claire was the final straw. I dug my hand in the Doctor’s deep pocket and pulled out a whistle…And then there was silence. Everyone stopped what they were doing and was staring in my direction.    

 “Right…Now I’ve got everyone’s attention. You’re all going to listen to me for once in your lives.”

 I stared directly at my mum, the last time she had heard me raise my voice was during the terrible teenage years. Though after years of being suppressed by the manipulative Mike and dare I say it a slightly overbearing mum and Nan, I think my mum was secretly proud to see her daughter get her fire back as I addressed the whole family. I took a deep breath.

 “The Doctor and me, we travel through space and time together. The Doctor is a Time Lord and this blue box, this is the Doctor’s time machine… Known as the TARDIS.” The Doctor stepped aside with an unnecessary dramatic flourish as I pushed open the doors to reveal the dazzling interior and mind blowing structure of the TARDIS. “Any more questions?” Everyone gasped with amazement and stared in stunned silence. “So is everyone happy now?” I winked at the Doctor.

 To be perfectly frank, I was past caring whether all my family and parent’s neighbours thought I was insane or some kind of demented fantasist. It started raining again, some of the neighbours and family members, including Aunt Claire walked away in a daze and muttered to themselves what a clever illusion of the mind, a bit like “something that Derren Brown off the TV would do”. The Doctor’s world can have that effect on some people. My little stunt had done the trick and had got rid of the trouble makers, the people left were the ones I loved. The only ones I could trust to share this amazing world with. The Doctor, who as you might already know is rather magnificent and never misses a beat, glanced at everyone left and clapped his hands together.

 “Right who fancies a tour around my TARDIS?” The Doctor then placed himself between my Nan and great aunt, leading them towards the light.

 “Oh I say it’s lovely.” Great aunt Mavis smiled at the Doctor, her face all lit up like a child. “It’s like Christmas!”

 “Yes… But it could do with a good clean Mavis.” My Nana Joan added as a sober counter balance to her enthusiastic sister but even I could see that she was secretly impressed.

 And for the first time in my life my mum was lost for words as I placed my arms around my parents and guided them through the doors. I turned round to see if  Mike was still there but he’d gone, which was a good thing. When I opened the TARDIS doors, I had registered his shock but then I had caught the hot stabbing envy that blazed across his face which unbeknown to myself would have repercussions for the Doctor and me in the future. But more about that later… I smiled at my auntie Jan and uncle Graham and then took my young cousin Caitlin’s hand, it‘s easy to lose touch with your family, the last time I had seen her she was a baby.

 “Do you know Santa?” My adorable cousin asked the Doctor with great trepidation.

 “I most certainly do… I’ll have you know that I’ve helped Santa a few times over the years.” The Doctor tapped the side of his nose and smiled mysteriously. And do you know what? I’m almost twenty eight years old and I believed him. Caitlin Bailey leapt excitedly around the TARDIS control room and laughed.

 I turned to my parents and smiled proudly.

 “So what do you think?”