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Ian had barely got through the door when Johnny ran over to him, shouting "Daddy!" He ran over to hug Ian's legs and then held his arms in the air. Once Ian had taken his coat off and hung it up he obliged his son and picked him up, although he was starting to get too heavy to carry him for long. "Have you been a good boy today?" he asked, as he did every day.
"Yes," Johnny replied, as he always did, regardless of whether he had been good or not.
But today something was different and Ian realised he could hear voices coming from the living room. "Do we have visitors?"
Johnny nodded. "The Doctor's playing with my train."
Ian blinked. Johnny didn't call anyone he knew the Doctor and Ian had an odd image of an old man playing like a child. But there was no point imagining the scene, when he could easily find out, so he pushed open the living room door. Inside was a man who looked younger than the Doctor they'd met a few years ago and he was rearranging Johnny's train track. It was designed to have just enough pieces to go in an oval and Johnny had always been happy with that arrangement. Ian wondered why this man would try, but there was something in his expression that reminded him of the Doctor, which would explain a lot.
He realised Johnny was trying to get down, so he let him go back to his train and turned to the other occupants of the room. A red-headed girl and a man sat on the sofa drinking tea. Barbara, who was sitting on the room's only armchair, smiled at him.
"Ian," she said, "this is Amy and Rory."
Ian shook hands with them and wondered, if they were with the Doctor, when they were from. "You haven't lost your TARDIS again, Doctor?" he asked, as he perched on the arm of the chair.
The Doctor at last looked up from the track he was failing to make. "Oh no, I know exactly where it is. I haven't come to ask anything from you this time, Chesterton, I've come to give you something. Well, Rory has."
All eyes turned to Rory, who pulled a small box out of one pocket. "I believe this is yours," he said, and held it out to Ian.
Ian didn't recognise it at all until he took it and opened it. Inside was a ring he remembered buying several years ago. "It's the engagement ring I bought you on Perashaw," he said to Barbara, showing her. It had been just after their trip to China when she'd asked him to marry her when they got home. When he'd seen the jewellery stall in the market he'd been determined that she should have a ring to go with his promise.
"I think you'll find I bought it," the Doctor said. "It was my money."
Ian looked at the ring and then back at the Doctor. "Only because I didn't have any local currency." He'd had every intention of re-paying the Doctor when he'd had the chance, but he'd never had the opportunity. At the time he thought he'd been discreet enough that the Doctor hadn't known what he'd needed to borrow the money for. He should have known better. "I will pay you back." He pulled his wallet out. The Doctor was bound to need some currency from this time. "How much was it?" He pulled out the notes in there and was dismayed to find he only had ten pounds. He'd wanted to spend more on Barbara than that.
"About ten pounds," the Doctor said and Ian looked at him suspiciously. "I can sell it for ten times the amount in the future."
Barbara gave Ian the same look she gave Johnny when he was about to misbehave. Ian had been married for long enough now to know that it was usually best to do as he was told. And if Barbara was happy with the amount he'd spent on her ring, then he would be too. Besides, he didn't want the Doctor to have bought her engagement ring, so he handed over the money and put his wallet away.
Barbara asked Rory, "Where did you find it?"
Ian suspected Barbara was changing the subject on purpose, but he was curious about where it had been and happy enough not to think about the money.
"I was exploring the TARDIS and I found a corridor of rooms with names on them. This was in the room with 'Barbara' on the door. I wasn't prying, I was just curious."
Amy and Barbara both smiled forgiveness at him. The Doctor went red and looked away. Ian wondered what that was all about.
"We didn't take anything with us when we left," Barbara explained. "We just saw our chance and took it. I forgot all about this." She looked over at Ian apologetically.
"There were more important things to think about," he said softly. He'd rather have her than the ring any day.
"Didn't you wear it?" Amy asked.
"I didn't want to lose it," Barbara replied. "I thought it would be safer on the Ship."
Amy's right hand went to her left and Ian noticed the two rings there. Curious, he moved his gaze to Rory and found a matching ring there. He smiled and turned to Barbara. "I should give this back to you," he said to her, taking the ring out of the box.
Obligingly, Barbara held out her left hand. Although Ian had done this twice before, once with this ring and once on their wedding day, sliding the ring onto her finger felt just as thrilling. When it was done he looked up to find they had matching smiles and he leaned down to kiss her.
"Done!" the Doctor said, breaking the moment.
Ian looked over at the track, which now went in a figure of eight pattern. He frowned trying to work out how the Doctor had done it. The piece in the middle hadn't existed before today, he was sure of it. Johnny, on the other hand wasn't bothered by the impossibility of what the Doctor had just done. He was happy enough to push his train along the track and provide the appropriate sounds.
"We should go," the Doctor said, standing up.
"Why don't you stay for dinner?" Barbara suggested.
"No, we couldn't. I promised to take Amy clothes shopping."
Ian raised his eyebrows. He didn't remember the Doctor ever being particularly fond of shopping for clothes, although he had plenty in the Ship.
"She doesn't have any of the local currency," he added, at Ian's expression.
Ian had to smile at that. He no longer had any lingering doubt that this man was the Doctor.
They all said their goodbyes and the Doctor promised Johnny he'd come back and play with him again some day. After the three of them had gone Ian took Barbara's hand. "How many more times do you suppose he'll visit?"
Barbara shook her head. "And how much younger will he look each time?"
Ian had been used to thinking of him as an old man. Then, when the Doctor had visited with Martha he'd been around Ian's age and now he looked much younger. "We'll just have to wait and find out," he said with a smile. The Doctor's visits were almost as much of an adventure as travelling with him had been.