Rapture Cubed - Chapter Two
Chapter One
Two.
Rose sighed, trying to find a comfortable position of the sofa now that the Doctor had fled in search of tea or, more accurately, in search of refuge from Jack’s teasing. She felt slightly guilty for telling Jack her pet name for the Doctor’s penis, but she was grumpy and uncomfortable and irritated and it had just popped out as Jack had quizzed her about just how sentient the Time Lord’s organ actually was.
Jack snaked a sympathetic arm around her, easing her against the side of his body, helping to support the weight of her bulging belly.
‘Thank you,’ she murmured, tilting her head to smile up at him. He grinned at her softly, moving his free hand to rest over hers on her tummy.
‘So, how long till this little one joins us?’ he asked.
Rose groaned. ‘Too long!’ she grumbled. ‘At least fourteen more weeks. She should drop, soon, which should make things a bit more comfortable, according to the Doctor.’ There was a quiver in her voice that Jack did not miss.
‘Not long now, then?’
Rose found tears springing into her eyes. ‘It feels like forever! I’m so uncomfortable, and he won’t let me do anything, and I understand, I do, but, God! Jack, he doesn’t have to do it all day, every day. I can’t sleep, everything aches, I can’t even get dressed properly without help anymore and he never leaves me alone! Everything’s measured and tested and poked and prodded and analysed and… I… I’m so… I feel like an experiment.’ Rose collapsed into quiet, desperate sobs. ‘I’m so sick of being pregnant!’
Jack pulled her into an awkward embrace, feeling her tears soaking his shirt.
‘It was the first time! Bloody Bob got me pregnant the first time! What if he didn’t really want me, Jack?’ she clutched at him desperately, trying to speak through her hiccupping sniffles. ‘Everything’s about the baby all the time! He only touches me to check on her!’
‘Aw, come on, Rosie! The Doctor’s mad about you, anyone can see that! He’s just worried, that’s all!’
Rubbing his hand up and down her arm, he pressed a gentle kiss on her crown.
Rose sniffed. ‘I know. I’m sorry. Hormones.’
Jack squeezed her closer. ‘You know what the trouble is? You and the Doc have got way too serious without me around! Everyone needs a little Jack in their life! Or, in my case, an enormous and talented Jack, if you know what I’m saying!’
Rose groaned, but nonetheless grinned.
‘That’s my girl!’ As Rose’s ragged breaths eased and the last of her sobs faded away, Jack moved them so he could look at Rose properly.
‘The Doctor’s wound pretty tight, huh?’
Rose nodded. ‘We had a bit of a scare.’
‘Yeah, Donna told me about the run in with the Empress. But you’re okay now, right?’
‘Pretty much. It’s just… the Doctor says its better to be safe than sorry, so I’m on virtual bed rest.’
‘Really? Sounds fun!’
Rose rolled her eyes. ‘I wish!’ Rose grumbled, ‘although, I’m not sure we even could right now! I’m the size of a house!’
Jack smirked. ‘Oh, honey, there are ways and means, believe me! I can draw you diagrams if you like?’
‘Jack, he won’t let me make my own cup of tea, he’s hardly gonna shag me!’
‘Sounds like the Doc needs a kick up the preverbal!’
‘Jack!’
Rose’s warning went unheeded, however, as, with a cunning twinkle in his eye, Jack reached for the remains of Rose’s tea. Without pausing, he upended the mug, spilling the contents all over the floor. As the liquid hit the carpet, he was on his feet, angling his face towards the kitchen as he let out an exaggerated exclamation of alarm.
‘Oh my god, Rose! The floor’s all wet! Your water’s broken!’
‘Jack, no!’ Rose reached out to try to catch Jack’s elbow, to stop him, but even as her fingers brushed against his shirt, the Doctor’s panicked cry echoed through the small flat, his frantic form reaching the lounge only milliseconds after the sound of his exclamation.
‘What?’
His face was white, his freckles starkly delineated, as he rushed into the room.
‘Rose? Rose! Don’t move! Does it hurt? Jack, is there blood? Slow breaths, Rose, like we practised.’ The Doctor stumbled to a halt before Rose, his hands, which had been reaching for her, dropping to his sides as her shaking head penetrated the fog of his distress.
‘What? Rose?’
‘I’m fine! I’m fine.’
The Doctor looked at her dubiously, his head swivelling to take in Jack, as if the Captain could explain Rose’s strange reassurance. Suspicion dawned and his brow crinkled.
‘Jack, why are you grinning?’
Jack smirked.
The Doctor looked down at the floor then returned his gaze to the ex Time Agent. His eyes never leaving Jack’s face, the Doctor dropped into a crouch before the wet stain. His looked fleetingly at the carpet and pressed one finger into the moisture there, before raising his hand to his mouth and resting his wet finger against his outthrust tongue.
‘Tea? Tea!’
Jack snorted.
The Doctor stood slowly, his face rigid. Jack’s smirk slipped slightly.
Beneath the two men, Rose shifted. Instantly, the Doctor’s attention was on her, his face softening. ‘Are you alright?’’
‘Need to pee,’ Rose grumbled.
With tender solicitude, the Doctor helped Rose to her feet, holding her securely as she sought out her balance. With a rather grumpy, rolling waddle, Rose ambled off to the toilet. As she left the room, the Doctor turned his stony gaze upon the Captain.
‘That was not funny, Jack.’
Jack attempted a grin. The Doctor’s expression stilled the tentative effort.
‘It’s too early. If she were to…’ the Doctor swallowed and Jack’s grin disappeared altogether.
‘I’m sorry, Doctor.’ The Doctor glared. ‘Fine! It was stupid! I’m an idiot! But, shit, Doc, you need to loosen up!’ The Doctor raised an eyebrow and Jack took on a more placating tone. ‘This is the last time you and Rose are going to have with just the two of you for a hell of a long while, and you’re messing it up!’
‘You don’t understand, Jack!’ the Doctor told him flatly, stuffing his hands in his pockets and stepping backwards.
‘I don’t know - reckon I’ve got a decent idea. Seen people I loved die a few times over the last hundred years or so.’
The Doctor flinched and Jack sighed, sitting on the sofa and leaning forwards, his hands dangling loosely between his knees. He glanced up at the Doctor, his expression penitent.
‘Sorry, Doc. I seem to have serious foot in mouth disease right now.’
After an awkward pause, the Doctor slumped into the adjacent armchair, running his hands up through his hair.
Jack waited for him to speak, but it seemed that the Doctor’s acceptance of Jack’s apology did not extend to a willingness to engage in conversation. Disturbed by the voluble Doctor’s prolonged silence, Jack launched himself into the breach with the same fierce bravery he’d confronted the Daleks with, but considerably more trepidation.
‘Look, Doctor, I get that you’re worried, but it’s nothing you can’t handle, right?’
The Doctor stared steadily at the wet patch on the carpet. Jack stifled a sigh. Casting a hopeful glance to heaven, he threw caution to the wind.
‘You really need to chill a little, Doc!’
The Doctor’s head shot up, his face stormy, a sharp retort already forming on his tense lips. His eyes locked with Jack’s, his mouth snapping closed, and for a long moment there was silence as the two men regarded one another. With a murmur of defeat, Jack dropped his gaze, only to look up in surprise at the Doctor’s almost whispered response.
‘I… I don’t know if I can,’ the Doctor acknowledged.
Jack swallowed, choosing his next words carefully. ‘You need to try.’ The Doctor’s tense expression spoke volumes and Jack sighed again, before deciding to play his trump card. ‘Rose was crying all over me just now.’
The Doctor’s look was sharp and pained and Jack waved him down impatiently.
‘Don’t get all mega broody! She’s just hormonal, but she’s feeling a bit like a lab rat. She needs to feel loved, Doctor, not examined.’
‘She is!’ the Doctor retorted defensively, leaning back in his chair, his fingers twitching on his knees. ‘I need to keep a close eye on her, Jack!’
Jack rolled his eyes and forced lightness into his tone, drawing on all his naughty boy charm ‘I’ve heard about that tongue of yours! You telling me that all your tests need to be done in the infirmary?’
Two spots of colour tinged the Doctor’s cheeks and Jack chortled, delighted to have prompted a blush.
‘You know, if you need any tips, I’ve got a few positions you can…’
‘Enough, Jack!’
‘You sure? ‘Cause I bet I know a few you haven’t tried yet!’
The Doctor folded his arms and lifted his chin. ‘Over nine hundred years old, Jack - I don’t think there is anything you could tell me I don’t already know.’
‘Wanna bet?’ Jack challenged.
‘Bet on what?’
Both men started self-consciously, casting guilty glances at Rose who stood in the doorway, one hand pressed into her back.
‘Was just betting the Doc that…’
The Doctor leapt to his feet.
‘Would you look at the time! Definitely time for a nap, Rose, don’t you think? A nice, lovely, snooze, all snug and yummy…’
The front door slammed and the Doctor let his ramble shudder to a relieved halt.
‘Jackie! Jackie, Jackie, Jackie!’ he cried, virtually sprinting towards the door and his salvation.
‘Right, what have you done?’
The Doctor pulled up short, his face crumpling into nervously aggrieved consternation. ‘What?’
‘You haven’t blown up the toaster again, have you? Or melted the kettle?’
‘What? No! And that was once! Once! And it wasn’t my fault!’
‘Right, the electric kettle put itself on the gas, did it?’
Jack snorted. ‘Let me help you with that, Mrs Tyler,’ Jack offered, stepping forward to take Jackie’s bulging carrier bag. ‘You think melting the kettle is bad? Did Rose ever tell you about the time he tried to perfect microwave popcorn? It was like the attack of the Thing! I swear, there was popcorn pursuing us through the TARDIS like a Hammer Horror movie!’
Rose watched her mother being led away by the Captain, as confused as Jackie by the turn of events, at least until the Doctor drew up beside her, his lips dipping to her ear.
‘Come to bed?’ he asked, his fingers drifting to link through hers.
‘Yeah, yeah, I know - nap time!’
‘Well,’ the Doctor elongated the word, wheedling and teasing and, Rose realised, her eye’s widening in surprise, just a little bit breathy. ‘Naps are good. Naps can be brilliant, but I thought, well…’ he pressed a soft kiss beneath her ear, ‘other things can be restful too!’
‘Really?’
‘Oh yes!’
Rose grinned. ‘About bloody time!’
Chapter Three