Chaos Theory in Vortex Orbits in Relative Dimensions in Time and Space (17/27)
Title - Chaos Theory in Vortex Orbits in Relative Dimensions in Time and Space (17/27)
Author --
earlgreytea68
Rating - Teen
Characters -- Rose, Jackie, Pete, Mickey
Spoilers: Through the end of S2.
Disclaimer: I don't own them and I don't make money off of them, but I don't like to dwell on that, so let's move on. (Except for Brem and Athena. They're all mine.)
Summary - And then there came a day when Rose said she was having a baby. Hijinks ensue from there.
Author’s Notes - The icon was created by
punkinart , commissioned by
aibhinn , who graciously offered it to me for my use.
jlrpuck is my amazingly talented beta. Many thanks also to Kristin-who-won't-get-an-LJ, who brainstormed this fic with me endlessly, and
bouncy_castle79 , who gave it the first major outside-eyes read-through.
Ch.1 - Ch. 2 - Ch. 3 - Ch. 4 - Ch. 5 - Ch. 6 - Ch. 7 - Ch. 8 - Ch. 9 - Ch. 10 - Ch. 11 - Ch. 12 - Ch. 13 - Ch. 14 - Ch. 15 - Ch. 16
Chapter Seventeen
Rose didn’t sleep the first night. Nor did she sleep the second. She focused on the environmental issues with the lack of sleep: she missed her pillow and her mattress and the hum of the TARDIS. She felt she had to focus on those issues, because she couldn’t focus on everything else she missed or she’d drive herself mad.
It didn’t stop her from staring up at the ceiling all night.
On the third night she accepted the sleeping pill, desperate to quiet her mind for a little while. The good night’s sleep did nothing for her. She still woke up thinking of everything she missed, and worrying that she was never going to see them. She was terrified she’d forget little things about them, kept forcing herself to visualize Athena’s face, imagine Brem’s voice. She ached for their warmth as they hugged her, for the trusting adoration in their eyes whenever they looked at her. What did they think, without her? What had the Doctor told them? What were they doing, at that very moment?
Mostly people left her alone. She could tell that Pete was bewildered, had not thought, when he had decided to take Jackie back, that she’d come saddled with a daughter swiftly tipping her way into a full-blown depression. Jackie gave her space, apparently believing that’s what was needed. Rose could sense her mother was just as shell-shocked as she was, anyway. She didn’t think they’d be very effective comforting each other.
Mickey came to visit her on the fifth day, when she was sitting in the conservatory, a glass-walled room filled with plants that reminded her of the garden on the TARDIS.
“Hi,” he said, looking awkward and uncertain.
She flickered him a smile. “Hi there.”
He sat down next to her. “You look good,” he said.
“I look a wreck,” she corrected him.
“Well, I mean…” He trailed off.
Rose’s smile was cold and brittle, as she stared out of the conservatory. “I may be losing my mind, Mickey.”
“Your mum says you’re jus’ grieving, ’s all.”
“Grieving. I shouldn’t be. I’m sure they’re all fine. He’s a great father, Mickey. He’s a really spectacular father. He’ll take excellent care of them. They’ll be fine.”
She could feel Mickey watching her, tried to give the impression of being under control. “She says you’re grieving for you,” he said.
Rose chuckled humourlessly. “She may be right about that one.”
“Two kids, huh?” said Mickey, after a second.
“Yeah.”
“A boy and a girl?”
Rose nodded.
“What are they called?”
“Brem-it’s short for Bremsstrahlung-and Athena. Bremsstrahlung Jack and Athena Rose.”
“Nice names,” said Mickey. There was a moment of silence. “Bremsst…?”
Rose smiled, genuinely, and looked at him. “It’s a type of electro-magnetic radiation.” The smile faded slowly. “Or it was. In my universe.”
“I’m sure he’ll get to you, Rose. I’m sure of it.”
“It’s been five days, Mickey, and there’s been nothing. I thought by now…”
“You’ve got to give him time, babe.”
“You’ve certainly changed your opinion of him,” remarked Rose, thinking of the time she had spent on that 51st-century spaceship, listening to Mickey complain about how the Doctor had abandoned them.
“Well. He married you and everything, didn’t he?” Mickey gestured toward her diamond.
Rose looked down at it. “Yeah, he kind of did, didn’t he? I need to come up with something to do, Mickey. I’m going to go mad with boredom sitting around here, waiting for him. I’ve got to do something to pass the time.”
Mickey was silent for a second. “There’s still a Torchwood open for business on this planet. I reckon you know a thing or two about aliens.”
Rose was silent for a second in return. “I reckon I do.”
**********************
Pete thought she was fragile, she knew he did. This fragile, mad burden that had tagged along with Jackie. He walked on eggshells around her, as if he thought a wrong word would send her to the sort of insanity you read about in the papers, Daughter of Wealthy Family Kills Parents. Which was why he blinked at her in surprise when she asked him if he thought she could interview.
“At Torchwood?” he said, in unconcealed astonishment, over the morning newspaper.
“Not for anything…Not field work, not right now, I’m not sure I’m up to that, it’s been years since I’ve had to run for my life, really. But maybe some sort of consulting position. The aliens here, they mightn’t be all that different from the ones I know about. I’ve seen all sorts of things. I could help, maybe.”
“Oh, Rose!” exclaimed her mother. “I think that’s a marvellous idea. Don’t you think so, Pete?”
Rose could tell that Pete did not think this was a good idea. But he acquiesced, in the interest of keeping peace in his household. And Rose had the impression she pleasantly surprised him by being, well, sane. And relatively capable. She missed the TARDIS translation circuit dearly, but she still knew some things they didn’t. She found, happily, that she was able to sleep again. Sleep lots, actually, although her appetite lagged in returning, a fact that her mother noticed.
“Rose,” she said to her, a few weeks into life in this new universe, “I think the job at Torchwood was a good idea, but you’ve got to eat something, darling. You’ve got to keep your strength up. You’ve got to.”
Rose stared at the food on the table. Pete was working late, which was the reason why she felt able to say it. “I’m not…” She lifted her eyes to her mother and swallowed. “I’m pregnant.”
Rose saw her mother suck in breath. “Are you sure?”
“I wasn’t until this morning, when I took the test.” Rose pushed the plate of food away, leaned her elbows on the table and cradled her head in her hands.
There was silence. Rose waited for her mother to tell her how ridiculous this was, how she couldn’t have a Time Lord baby, in this strange universe, without the Doctor.
“Oh, sweetheart,” her mother said, and Rose felt her kiss the top of her head. “Congratulations.”
Rose looked up, amazed. “You’re happy?”
“I’d be happier if we had him here to help take care of a baby who’s not going to sleep. But it’s a baby, Rose. It’s your baby. How would I be anything but happy about that?” Jackie smiled down at her, her face bright with love.
“We’ve been so much trouble for you,” said Rose, apologetically. “I’ve been so much trouble for you.”
“Not at all. You’ve been the only worthwhile thing I’ve ever done in my life. He turned out in the end to be a good dad, Rose. He’ll take care of Brem and Theenie. They’ll be fine. When he gets back to you, your kids are going to be in fantastic shape. And if he finds out that you didn’t take impeccable care of the child you’ve been entrusted with, he won’t be half furious. So we need to make sure you take care of yourself and this baby, and we don’t have him to tell us how to do it anymore, so we’ve got to rely on you.”
“Right,” she agreed, and tried to think logically about this. “We’re gonna need to talk to Pete.”
“I’ll talk to him,” Jackie promised her.
**********************
“So, which movie did you want to watch tonight?” Pete asked her, face wreathed in smiles. They had begun this process shortly after Jackie had arrived, watching old movies that Jackie was familiar with so she could catch the Pete’s world differences.
“Um,” said Jackie. “Let’s hold off on that for a second. Can we talk for a bit?”
Pete got a wary look. The same look the old Pete-her Pete-had used to get when she’d asked if they could talk. Jackie smiled at the familiarity of it all. Everything old becomes new again. “Sure,” he agreed, cautiously.
“It’s Rose,” began Jackie.
“Rose? But I thought she was doing well, finally. She seems to be fitting in at Torchwood. She seems happier lately.”
Jackie was amazed that Pete could think Rose was doing anything like well. He only thought that because he didn’t truly know what Rose had been like before. Rose was happier, yes, but it was easy to be happier than suicidal. She was nowhere near the teasing, grinning, delightful daughter Jackie had used to have. “I think she’s doing better,” Jackie allowed, because she no longer sat up at night worrying that Rose might give up and end it all. Really, Rose’s steadfast belief that the Doctor would find her, which Pete thought unhealthy and counterproductive, had been the only thing that had reassured Jackie. Rose would never kill herself as long as she believed there was a chance she’d get back to her family. Jackie still felt desperate to keep that hope alive in Rose; she worried what Rose would be like when it flickered out.
“Good, then,” said Pete, as if that closed the subject.
“Pete, she’s…” Jackie tried again. “She’s pregnant.”
“Pregnant?” echoed Pete. “Who’s she been sleeping with? Is it Mickey?”
Jackie sighed. Men could be such idiots. “No, you git. It’s the Doctor’s baby, obviously.”
“The Doctor’s…? You’re telling me she’s pregnant with an alien baby?”
“They don’t come out with tentacles, you know,” Jackie bristled. “She’s had two already, and I’ve never seen more beautiful children.”
“Sorry,” he corrected himself. “Right, then. So Rose is pregnant. When is she due?”
“That’s the thing, Pete. The kids look normal, but the pregnancies are…Well, the kids themselves are difficult in a way, and I think the pregnancies are more so. I mean, not difficult if you’ve got a Time Lord hanging around who knows these things, but she doesn’t have that anymore. It’s still an alien pregnancy. I think she’s going to need, well, help.”
Pete looked at Jackie for a second. “We haven’t got a Time Lord here, Jacks. We don’t have Time Lord technology. We don’t know anything about the Time Lord species. How are we going to-”
“Rose knows. Rose has done this before, and she knows. She just needs help.”
“Jackie, I don’t know what-”
“Please, Pete. We have to try. Please. She needs this baby. It’s a piece of him, and she needs it. We have to give it to her. Please.”
Pete sighed. “I’ll give her whatever she needs, Jackie. You know that. I’m just worried it might not be enough.”
**********************
Rose was mostly a loner. She didn’t seem inclined to make friends, was satisfied to keep to herself, do her work, go home at night. There were Mickey and Jake, and they tried to make her feel connected to this world, but she patiently let their efforts roll off her. She hadn’t told them yet that she was pregnant.
She was scared to, frankly. She was not sure if she would be able to have this baby. Everything seemed harder in this world. She fretted constantly over the complicated Gallifreyan baby whose DNA her body was right that moment trying to figure out how to triple helix.
Pete found her off by herself, as she usually was. “I’m not interrupting, am I?” he asked, awkwardly.
She smiled and shook her head. “Not at all. What’s up?”
He sat next to her. “I, er, understand congratulations are in order.”
“Mum talked to you,” Rose deduced, and then launched into an apology. “I’m sorry. I know it’s such a bother. The Doctor and I weren’t really very good…about birth control. I think we both would have loved another baby, and figured it would happen at the right time. I can’t believe that now is the right time.”
Pete looked at this beautiful woman whose eyes were always swamped with sadness. “I think now might be the perfect time,” he said. “Don’t apologize. It’s wonderful news. How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. A bit tired, a bit queasy. It’s typical for me at this stage.”
“When do you think you’re due?”
“I don’t know. It usually takes about a year, these pregnancies.”
“A year?” Pete couldn’t conceal his surprise.
“They’re complicated, these Gallifreyan babies,” Rose smiled, rubbing her tummy. “They need more time.”
“Right.” She could see Pete struggling to wrap his mind around all of this. “What is it that you need? For the baby?”
Rose thought. “I need a doctor. One we can trust. Who won’t be alarmed, and who won’t…tell people. If the Doctor doesn’t come get me…I don’t want this baby looked at as some sort of…Torchwood specimen.”
“Never, Rose,” Pete said, fiercely. “I would never let that happen.”
Rose immediately felt a little bit better. The idea had been worrying her. “Good. I’m glad.”
“I’ll find you a doctor,” Pete said, and then smiled. “Not the Doctor you want maybe, but I’ll try to come up with some sort of substitute.”
“I’d appreciate that.” Rose paused. “I am sorry. I know I’ve been…not what you signed up for when you signed up for my mother.”
“Are you kidding? You’re exactly like her. You’re almost exactly what I signed up for.” Rose almost laughed out loud, imagining the horror on the Doctor’s face if he’d heard her called exactly like her mother. “I know I’m not your father, Rose,” said Pete, sobering her. “But I will take care of you. And I will protect you. You and the baby. I promise.”
“Until the Doctor gets here,” said Rose.
And Pete hesitated only briefly before nodding. “Yes.”
Next Chapter
Author --
earlgreytea68
Rating - Teen
Characters -- Rose, Jackie, Pete, Mickey
Spoilers: Through the end of S2.
Disclaimer: I don't own them and I don't make money off of them, but I don't like to dwell on that, so let's move on. (Except for Brem and Athena. They're all mine.)
Summary - And then there came a day when Rose said she was having a baby. Hijinks ensue from there.
Author’s Notes - The icon was created by
punkinart , commissioned by
aibhinn , who graciously offered it to me for my use.
jlrpuck is my amazingly talented beta. Many thanks also to Kristin-who-won't-get-an-LJ, who brainstormed this fic with me endlessly, and
bouncy_castle79 , who gave it the first major outside-eyes read-through.
Ch.1 - Ch. 2 - Ch. 3 - Ch. 4 - Ch. 5 - Ch. 6 - Ch. 7 - Ch. 8 - Ch. 9 - Ch. 10 - Ch. 11 - Ch. 12 - Ch. 13 - Ch. 14 - Ch. 15 - Ch. 16
Chapter Seventeen
Rose didn’t sleep the first night. Nor did she sleep the second. She focused on the environmental issues with the lack of sleep: she missed her pillow and her mattress and the hum of the TARDIS. She felt she had to focus on those issues, because she couldn’t focus on everything else she missed or she’d drive herself mad.
It didn’t stop her from staring up at the ceiling all night.
On the third night she accepted the sleeping pill, desperate to quiet her mind for a little while. The good night’s sleep did nothing for her. She still woke up thinking of everything she missed, and worrying that she was never going to see them. She was terrified she’d forget little things about them, kept forcing herself to visualize Athena’s face, imagine Brem’s voice. She ached for their warmth as they hugged her, for the trusting adoration in their eyes whenever they looked at her. What did they think, without her? What had the Doctor told them? What were they doing, at that very moment?
Mostly people left her alone. She could tell that Pete was bewildered, had not thought, when he had decided to take Jackie back, that she’d come saddled with a daughter swiftly tipping her way into a full-blown depression. Jackie gave her space, apparently believing that’s what was needed. Rose could sense her mother was just as shell-shocked as she was, anyway. She didn’t think they’d be very effective comforting each other.
Mickey came to visit her on the fifth day, when she was sitting in the conservatory, a glass-walled room filled with plants that reminded her of the garden on the TARDIS.
“Hi,” he said, looking awkward and uncertain.
She flickered him a smile. “Hi there.”
He sat down next to her. “You look good,” he said.
“I look a wreck,” she corrected him.
“Well, I mean…” He trailed off.
Rose’s smile was cold and brittle, as she stared out of the conservatory. “I may be losing my mind, Mickey.”
“Your mum says you’re jus’ grieving, ’s all.”
“Grieving. I shouldn’t be. I’m sure they’re all fine. He’s a great father, Mickey. He’s a really spectacular father. He’ll take excellent care of them. They’ll be fine.”
She could feel Mickey watching her, tried to give the impression of being under control. “She says you’re grieving for you,” he said.
Rose chuckled humourlessly. “She may be right about that one.”
“Two kids, huh?” said Mickey, after a second.
“Yeah.”
“A boy and a girl?”
Rose nodded.
“What are they called?”
“Brem-it’s short for Bremsstrahlung-and Athena. Bremsstrahlung Jack and Athena Rose.”
“Nice names,” said Mickey. There was a moment of silence. “Bremsst…?”
Rose smiled, genuinely, and looked at him. “It’s a type of electro-magnetic radiation.” The smile faded slowly. “Or it was. In my universe.”
“I’m sure he’ll get to you, Rose. I’m sure of it.”
“It’s been five days, Mickey, and there’s been nothing. I thought by now…”
“You’ve got to give him time, babe.”
“You’ve certainly changed your opinion of him,” remarked Rose, thinking of the time she had spent on that 51st-century spaceship, listening to Mickey complain about how the Doctor had abandoned them.
“Well. He married you and everything, didn’t he?” Mickey gestured toward her diamond.
Rose looked down at it. “Yeah, he kind of did, didn’t he? I need to come up with something to do, Mickey. I’m going to go mad with boredom sitting around here, waiting for him. I’ve got to do something to pass the time.”
Mickey was silent for a second. “There’s still a Torchwood open for business on this planet. I reckon you know a thing or two about aliens.”
Rose was silent for a second in return. “I reckon I do.”
**********************
Pete thought she was fragile, she knew he did. This fragile, mad burden that had tagged along with Jackie. He walked on eggshells around her, as if he thought a wrong word would send her to the sort of insanity you read about in the papers, Daughter of Wealthy Family Kills Parents. Which was why he blinked at her in surprise when she asked him if he thought she could interview.
“At Torchwood?” he said, in unconcealed astonishment, over the morning newspaper.
“Not for anything…Not field work, not right now, I’m not sure I’m up to that, it’s been years since I’ve had to run for my life, really. But maybe some sort of consulting position. The aliens here, they mightn’t be all that different from the ones I know about. I’ve seen all sorts of things. I could help, maybe.”
“Oh, Rose!” exclaimed her mother. “I think that’s a marvellous idea. Don’t you think so, Pete?”
Rose could tell that Pete did not think this was a good idea. But he acquiesced, in the interest of keeping peace in his household. And Rose had the impression she pleasantly surprised him by being, well, sane. And relatively capable. She missed the TARDIS translation circuit dearly, but she still knew some things they didn’t. She found, happily, that she was able to sleep again. Sleep lots, actually, although her appetite lagged in returning, a fact that her mother noticed.
“Rose,” she said to her, a few weeks into life in this new universe, “I think the job at Torchwood was a good idea, but you’ve got to eat something, darling. You’ve got to keep your strength up. You’ve got to.”
Rose stared at the food on the table. Pete was working late, which was the reason why she felt able to say it. “I’m not…” She lifted her eyes to her mother and swallowed. “I’m pregnant.”
Rose saw her mother suck in breath. “Are you sure?”
“I wasn’t until this morning, when I took the test.” Rose pushed the plate of food away, leaned her elbows on the table and cradled her head in her hands.
There was silence. Rose waited for her mother to tell her how ridiculous this was, how she couldn’t have a Time Lord baby, in this strange universe, without the Doctor.
“Oh, sweetheart,” her mother said, and Rose felt her kiss the top of her head. “Congratulations.”
Rose looked up, amazed. “You’re happy?”
“I’d be happier if we had him here to help take care of a baby who’s not going to sleep. But it’s a baby, Rose. It’s your baby. How would I be anything but happy about that?” Jackie smiled down at her, her face bright with love.
“We’ve been so much trouble for you,” said Rose, apologetically. “I’ve been so much trouble for you.”
“Not at all. You’ve been the only worthwhile thing I’ve ever done in my life. He turned out in the end to be a good dad, Rose. He’ll take care of Brem and Theenie. They’ll be fine. When he gets back to you, your kids are going to be in fantastic shape. And if he finds out that you didn’t take impeccable care of the child you’ve been entrusted with, he won’t be half furious. So we need to make sure you take care of yourself and this baby, and we don’t have him to tell us how to do it anymore, so we’ve got to rely on you.”
“Right,” she agreed, and tried to think logically about this. “We’re gonna need to talk to Pete.”
“I’ll talk to him,” Jackie promised her.
**********************
“So, which movie did you want to watch tonight?” Pete asked her, face wreathed in smiles. They had begun this process shortly after Jackie had arrived, watching old movies that Jackie was familiar with so she could catch the Pete’s world differences.
“Um,” said Jackie. “Let’s hold off on that for a second. Can we talk for a bit?”
Pete got a wary look. The same look the old Pete-her Pete-had used to get when she’d asked if they could talk. Jackie smiled at the familiarity of it all. Everything old becomes new again. “Sure,” he agreed, cautiously.
“It’s Rose,” began Jackie.
“Rose? But I thought she was doing well, finally. She seems to be fitting in at Torchwood. She seems happier lately.”
Jackie was amazed that Pete could think Rose was doing anything like well. He only thought that because he didn’t truly know what Rose had been like before. Rose was happier, yes, but it was easy to be happier than suicidal. She was nowhere near the teasing, grinning, delightful daughter Jackie had used to have. “I think she’s doing better,” Jackie allowed, because she no longer sat up at night worrying that Rose might give up and end it all. Really, Rose’s steadfast belief that the Doctor would find her, which Pete thought unhealthy and counterproductive, had been the only thing that had reassured Jackie. Rose would never kill herself as long as she believed there was a chance she’d get back to her family. Jackie still felt desperate to keep that hope alive in Rose; she worried what Rose would be like when it flickered out.
“Good, then,” said Pete, as if that closed the subject.
“Pete, she’s…” Jackie tried again. “She’s pregnant.”
“Pregnant?” echoed Pete. “Who’s she been sleeping with? Is it Mickey?”
Jackie sighed. Men could be such idiots. “No, you git. It’s the Doctor’s baby, obviously.”
“The Doctor’s…? You’re telling me she’s pregnant with an alien baby?”
“They don’t come out with tentacles, you know,” Jackie bristled. “She’s had two already, and I’ve never seen more beautiful children.”
“Sorry,” he corrected himself. “Right, then. So Rose is pregnant. When is she due?”
“That’s the thing, Pete. The kids look normal, but the pregnancies are…Well, the kids themselves are difficult in a way, and I think the pregnancies are more so. I mean, not difficult if you’ve got a Time Lord hanging around who knows these things, but she doesn’t have that anymore. It’s still an alien pregnancy. I think she’s going to need, well, help.”
Pete looked at Jackie for a second. “We haven’t got a Time Lord here, Jacks. We don’t have Time Lord technology. We don’t know anything about the Time Lord species. How are we going to-”
“Rose knows. Rose has done this before, and she knows. She just needs help.”
“Jackie, I don’t know what-”
“Please, Pete. We have to try. Please. She needs this baby. It’s a piece of him, and she needs it. We have to give it to her. Please.”
Pete sighed. “I’ll give her whatever she needs, Jackie. You know that. I’m just worried it might not be enough.”
**********************
Rose was mostly a loner. She didn’t seem inclined to make friends, was satisfied to keep to herself, do her work, go home at night. There were Mickey and Jake, and they tried to make her feel connected to this world, but she patiently let their efforts roll off her. She hadn’t told them yet that she was pregnant.
She was scared to, frankly. She was not sure if she would be able to have this baby. Everything seemed harder in this world. She fretted constantly over the complicated Gallifreyan baby whose DNA her body was right that moment trying to figure out how to triple helix.
Pete found her off by herself, as she usually was. “I’m not interrupting, am I?” he asked, awkwardly.
She smiled and shook her head. “Not at all. What’s up?”
He sat next to her. “I, er, understand congratulations are in order.”
“Mum talked to you,” Rose deduced, and then launched into an apology. “I’m sorry. I know it’s such a bother. The Doctor and I weren’t really very good…about birth control. I think we both would have loved another baby, and figured it would happen at the right time. I can’t believe that now is the right time.”
Pete looked at this beautiful woman whose eyes were always swamped with sadness. “I think now might be the perfect time,” he said. “Don’t apologize. It’s wonderful news. How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. A bit tired, a bit queasy. It’s typical for me at this stage.”
“When do you think you’re due?”
“I don’t know. It usually takes about a year, these pregnancies.”
“A year?” Pete couldn’t conceal his surprise.
“They’re complicated, these Gallifreyan babies,” Rose smiled, rubbing her tummy. “They need more time.”
“Right.” She could see Pete struggling to wrap his mind around all of this. “What is it that you need? For the baby?”
Rose thought. “I need a doctor. One we can trust. Who won’t be alarmed, and who won’t…tell people. If the Doctor doesn’t come get me…I don’t want this baby looked at as some sort of…Torchwood specimen.”
“Never, Rose,” Pete said, fiercely. “I would never let that happen.”
Rose immediately felt a little bit better. The idea had been worrying her. “Good. I’m glad.”
“I’ll find you a doctor,” Pete said, and then smiled. “Not the Doctor you want maybe, but I’ll try to come up with some sort of substitute.”
“I’d appreciate that.” Rose paused. “I am sorry. I know I’ve been…not what you signed up for when you signed up for my mother.”
“Are you kidding? You’re exactly like her. You’re almost exactly what I signed up for.” Rose almost laughed out loud, imagining the horror on the Doctor’s face if he’d heard her called exactly like her mother. “I know I’m not your father, Rose,” said Pete, sobering her. “But I will take care of you. And I will protect you. You and the baby. I promise.”
“Until the Doctor gets here,” said Rose.
And Pete hesitated only briefly before nodding. “Yes.”
Next Chapter