FIC: Flipped, Book 3 (14/14)
Title: Flipped, Book 3
Rating: heavy T, with some M/MA (this one is rated M)
Author: tkel_paris
Summary: David Noble thought he had come to terms with the strange feelings the female Doctor inspired, and it seemed to be helped by Martha Jones joining them. But when the Aubertide threaten the Doctor, protecting her requires a cover that will test his sanity and his ability to find the right thing to do. Written for tardis_mole.
Required Disclaimer: The summary should be enough to tell you I own nothing.
Dedications: My good friend tardis_mole, for helping me discover my talent at editing and for being an inspiration. You've challenged me to go beyond what I previously thought I would like, and so this is the farthest I've gone from my comfort zone so far. Who knows where I'll go next?
And another important shout-out: sykira, whose LJ post about John Barrowman's comments about how Doctor Who could eventually go was the ultimate spark for this idea. So I suppose that means the ultimate blame for this lies with the Barrowman. I can only imagine what he would think, although I suspect he would heartily approve. :P
Author's Note: Originally spawned from a different idea that split into three, this is a new version of one of those ideas revived as a birthday present. And it's spawned a slightly AU version as a Christmas present. The original prompt from TM boiled down to this: “The Doctor and Donna in a situation that's never been done before.” Ask and ye shall receive, my friend. Enjoy the second sequel. :D A VERY Belated Happy Birthday, TM! :DDD
Special Disclaimer: I refuse to be held responsible for any $2000/₤2000 lattes, spit-takes, fainting spells, workplace/school gaffes, or falling against/from things that might happen if you're not careful while reading this story. Especially in certain chapters. Read at your own risk. (I put this in because I was warned by one of my betas, cassikat, that my emails should come with a spit-take warning. So I'm looking out for y'all. ;D)
And TM, be careful that you don't hyperventilate from reading some of the sections. I know you. :P And so sorry for the delay. At least I have a legitimate excuse for not working on it last year; we had our balrog to work on. :D
Thanks to cassikat and bas_math_girl for betaing. Couldn't have done it without y'all.
Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four / Chapter Five / Chapter Six / Chapter Seven / Chapter Eight / Chapter Nine / Chapter Ten / Chapter Eleven / Chapter Twelve / Chapter Thirteen
Flipped, Book 3
Started July 14, 2013
Finished May 18, 2016
Chapter Fourteen: Denouement
Previously:
“You're too dangerous to let loose!” cried the Doctor. She grimaced and focused all her own mental powers on the barrier.
The Moment staggered but quickly stood tall. She laughed. “Then this victory will be sweeter. Meet your end, Doctor!”
And she threw her energy at the Time Lady, making the barrier flicker like it was losing power as the Doctor's eyes went huge.
“No!” David screamed.
Suddenly his scream stopped. In his mind's eye he saw the TARDIS console open, the same one that had opened for him. Energy flowed out, dragging something reddish with it, and into the cubes the Doctor had left out when she ran around the room, yet remaining connected to the Controls.
The same golden energy appeared from the cube the Doctor held, creating a second barrier between the Doctor and the Moment and reenforcing the first. It materialized into a ghostly woman's form, but nothing was clear. Her face was frozen in a harsh glare that could be seen by everyone in the room even though her back was to everyone but Rose. She stepped between the combatants and pushed the Moment back into the center without touching her., as though using the Time Demon's own energy against her. Suddenly the reddish energy faded into sprinkles absorbed by the cubs.
The Moment's eyes widened. “It can't be. TARDISes can't do that.”
You never understood love or compassion, Abomination of the Originator at his worst.
The ghostly woman's mouth didn't move, but the words were clear to everyone. Only David and Jack understood immediately that they were hearing it in their minds, not their ears.
“You can't come out of your own shell without prompting!”
Even the Originator underestimated what my kind were capable of. You tormented my Thief for 903 years, making hir believe things about the Time War that were untrue. You forced the Healer to lose control over the energy I willingly shared with him, unwittingly making the Captain immortal. In the words of the version of my Thief who kept you out of the hands of Those Who Were Not True Time Lords... No more!!!
The ghost held up her hands, sending more energy slamming into the Moment, who screamed as her body stilled. She seemed more like a broken 3-D image, in two slightly different places at once and not merging to create one whole picture. But the images were not the same, and it gave the Humans watching a headache from trying to reconcile the images.
It all lasted several seconds before the second image was captured by the energy in a ball hovering above, and now looked exactly like the image Donna had drawn in her dream book: the Initate in tattered clothing. The Moment was screaming incoherently in Gallifreyan, and nothing came from Rose.
The ghost's hands raised until they touched. I see your atoms, Moment. Every bit of what binds you together. And I divide them forever!
As her hands flew apart the energy shattered like glass, fragmenting into dust until it was sucked into the cubes, breaking all the tension and bad energy out of the room. The woman turned and flew back into the cube and inside the Controls, shutting them after her. The cubes then all turned inert and barrier vanished.
The air felt easier to breathe, and all the Humans felt the release. Although everyone looked carefully at the two females at the center.
The seal and cube fell out of the Doctor's hands as she and Rose went both from stock still to falling to the ground.
Only David flew to the Doctor's side and caught her before her head hit the ground. “Please, no,” David breathed. His own Sonic was out and scanning her in an instant. He didn't hear the spectators rushing to check on them, or the soldiers carefully scanning Rose with Kate Stewart's help while working around Jackie and Howard, who were also checking on Rose.
Sylvia was first to reach them. “Are they all right?”
David exhaled slowly, putting down the Sonic to draw the Doctor tightly against him, not caring what anyone thought. She needed to feel cared for after that fright. “They're all fine. She's just fainted from the effort.”
Geoffrey slowly knelt beside them. “That's not surprising. That looked like an enormous effort. What happened?”
“I don't believe it,” Jackie cried. “She's alive!” She bent to touch her forehead to Rose, unwilling to raise her child's head by holding her. “She's unconscious, but alive!”
Kate stood from her scan, frowning. “When Rose arrived we scanned her and found an energy signature within her that was completely unlike anything ever detected in someone known to have been inside the TARDIS once. But it's gone now.”
“I thought Rose was going to die,” Jackie said. “First from whatever the Doctor did, and then... from whatever just happened.”
“I risked a lot to spare her, Jackie.”
They all looked at the Doctor, surprised that she said anything so soon.
David helped her to a sitting position. “How are you, love?”
She smiled at the endearment and squeezed his hand. “I've been better, but we're all good. I'll need a healing sleep later, but it'll all be well. In any case, I'm going to be a mother. I felt unable to take a child away from their mother. So I decided I'd try to separate Rose from the Moment. And it worked. In the end.”
“But what was that thing, the Moment?” Jackie asked. “Was it possessing her like a devil?”
The Doctor cringed. “It's hard to say. The Moment... was one of many terrible weapons created during the Dark Times of the First Great Time War, before my ancestors became Time Lords. Rassilon, before events forced him to see the truth of his actions, was the worst bipedal being that ever lived. He forged the Moment, which started as this... box with a red button at the top. It could wipe out whole systems from existence.”
“My god,” breathed Wilfred. “Was there worse than the Moment?”
“The Moment was the worst. Once he changed from Rassilon the Terrible to Rassilon the Great, he locked away all of the unused weapons as forbidden. But... the Last Great Time War came, and one by one the Forbidden Weapons were used. The person I was then... slipped past the guards and took the Moment away. The problem was that in the billion years between those wars the Moment slowly gained sentience, and took the form of an Academy initiate to speak with me. I still have trouble remembering, but I know she... beguiled me. I was tired and exhausted from the things I had to do to stop the war, and desperate to end it before it could destroy the universe. Two of my future selves were there, and together... we did something. Something that makes me now wonder if Gallifrey is as lost as I'd thought. But the Moment... she talked like she was the voice of reason, but she really wanted me to use her. When I refused, she imprinted herself on the TARDIS. And her image... was Rose's. I don't know if she had anything to do with Rose existing in the first place, or if it was a coincidence.”
“You don't believe in coincidence, Doctor,” David reminded her. “Could Rose exist because of the Moment, or was merely imprinted on?”
She frowned, closing her eyes as she thought. “Given that I was able to part the Moment from her, I think the latter.”
“You're not saying that she should be released, are you?” demanded Sylvia.
“No. It will take time to see what was the Moment and what was Rose herself. So she has to remain locked up while she comes to terms with what happened, and see if she can at least make something good of her life. I don't know if she can ever be released, Jackie.”
Jackie nodded sadly.
“What did the TARDIS do with the Moment's energy?” asked Mickey. “It had to go somewhere.”
The Doctor's lips twisted in grim humor. “She used the power of the Vortex to convert it into huon particles, which is what she uses for energy.”
“Doctor, who was that ghostly woman?” the Brigadier interrupted. “And how did we hear her?”
“It was the TARDIS.”
The Doctor started as someone beat her to it. “Jack? How did you know?”
Jack's expression was guarded, but gentle as he joined her. “She said the Moment made 'the Healer' lose control of the willingly shared energy and that made 'the Captain' immortal. Who can that mean but David and me? And she knew the age that you've been claiming, the number of years since the Time War ended. Who would know this, would call you 'my Thief' but the Old Girl herself?”
Sarah Jane was awestruck. “TARDISes can do that, draw themselves out of their shell and exert so much influence over their surroundings?”
“Not expected to,” the Doctor answered numbly. “But she was an unusual one. For years I thought I'd chosen her, but she influenced me to take her out of all of the decommissioned members of her kind. It was only after David came along that I realised that, along with that she sometimes took me not to where I wanted but where I was needed at that point in my time-line. We were connected so deeply because we each felt like outsiders among our own peoples, and then...”
“Being alone all those years made that bond stronger,” Martha guessed as she scanned the Doctor. Lengthy scans would be needed, and everything that was saved about Gallifreyan development and pregnancy would have to be downloaded from the TARDIS for select UNIT doctors to study. And for David and the Doctor's own personal study, of course. Not that she could talk about that for the time being.
“But what did the Moment mean?” Mickey asked, approaching Jackie even as he addressed the Doctor. “She said you were supposed to be Dr. David, and he was supposed to be you. How can that be?”
The Doctor shrugged. “She was a manipulator, presenting herself as the voice of reason. But I can see those memories clearly again. She wanted me to use her, and imprinted on the TARDIS in retaliation for not using her in the end. But... there's something foggy still. I can sort of see the next me, and I'll be a man again. A dark and goofy giraffe, but a man. But this me... I feel two sets of memories warring, like something altered from the original path.”
“A fixed point didn't fall apart, did it?” David asked.
“No. Things would be in chaos if one had. But I still don't know what happened.”
“This wouldn't mean that lightning strike, would it?”
Wilfred's sudden question caught the Doctor's attention. Her head turned so fast she had to close her eyes. “Ooh, not a good idea,” she whispered. Clearing her throat she managed to ask what he meant.
Sylvia tensed and looked down at the ground. “I don't remember it, and I don't like talking about things I don't remember.”
David straightened, alert. “Mum? Dad?”
Geoffrey touched Sylvia's arm, and waited for her to relax a little before speaking. “One day in 1970 we were walking home to avoid this big storm that was brewing. We should've been safe, but... out of nowhere the weather got worse. I was reaching for her hand when a bolt hit her. Knocked her out cold.”
“What?!” the Doctor exclaimed, turning as fast as she dared to face her in-laws. “When was this exactly?”
“Eight months to the day before David was born. We didn't know she was pregnant until a follow-up appointment to confirm that Sylvia was fine. No damage. Somehow. And David came out like nothing had happened.”
“Geoffrey... what did this lightning look like? Was it unusually coloured?”
He straightened, his face turning pale. “Yes, Doctor, there was some green in the bolt. Why?”
The Doctor had that distant 'solving the mysteries of the universe' look, her mind racing light-years an hour. “I was in London on that day, battling a being that used energy as a weapon. Things nearly went completely pear-shaped and I was struck by a bolt like that. Only I didn't lose awareness. I came close, and... I thought it felt like something was ripped from me and something else put back. But none of my scans afterward said anything was wrong, so I dismissed it...” She trailed off like something was dawning on her.
Wilfred shook his head. “Wait... Doctor, does that mean that the being... somehow switched some of your DNA with my grandchild's?!”
The whole room went silent.
The Doctor thought for several seconds. “It's possible. It would explain why Rose fixed on David so intently: the Moment was expecting my next self to look like that, and expected Rose would be my companion. But something... interfered and changed history. The body that was supposed to be Donna Noble lay in wait for a regeneration, and the body meant to be this incarnation spent his life growing up as a Human.”
“Then... the Moment was right?” David squawked. “I was supposed to be the Doctor?!”
She squeezed his hand, sending calming thoughts his way. “We'll never know for certain. And, like you said after the Impossible Planet, maybe it's for the best. But if I'm right, it meant that the Moment's power and influence was lessened in that Rose only travelled the one night in the TARDIS, unable to make events worse than they were because she didn't understand or wouldn't understand consequences. But it also made it harder to dislodge her, even as my ability to see her was strengthened by not being fooled into thinking I loved the person she wanted me to think Rose could become. All I know is that I knew the Old Girl's power would be needed, but I didn't know how soon or how much. What I do know is that it's over. The Moment is ended.”
And she slumped in his arms.
/=/=/=/=/
It was a relief when they returned alone to the house with a very happy Curie. She seemed to smell the good news from the instant she saw them again back at UNIT, and tried to lick the Doctor's face more than once. As Donna she had been completely accepting of the action, but David wonder if she would now be more tolerant of it than liking it.
They had left the TARDIS at UNIT, allowing the senior personnel to monitor the Aubertide and help the Old Girl keep them contained. Instead they accepted a ride, during which the Doctor slept the whole way. David had also wanted to be gone before Rose woke, not feeling it was best for him to be around.
So far the decision was that Rose would remain in UNIT custody while they questioned her to determine what she really thought and what kind of person she was. Although given that the odds were that the Moment imprinted on Rose through the brief times Rose was inside the TARDIS most suspected she was naturally inclined to not take responsibility. She would only ever see a sight outside of a cell if she showed signs that she, under supervision, could make a contribution to society.
For Jackie's sake David hoped it would happen. But he knew that Rose would always remain under guard.
The Doctor was still sleeping when they got home, but the doors were repaired already. David thanked the soldiers who had stayed to do so, grateful that none asked any questions and minded their own business back into their vehicles. He laid her on the same couch from almost three months ago, covering her with a blanket before going to fix dinner.
Now that she was pregnant as a Time Lord, the Doctor's metabolism was sure to kick in and yet again drained David's food stock. So he prepared a big meal, thinking of the foods that he knew the Doctor had benefited from eating before.
His timing was perfect. Dinner was ready to be served when he felt the Doctor wake from her healing sleep and get up. He turned his head and saw her enter with huge eyes. “Ooh, that smells heavenly. It's not just the twins crying for food right now.”
He snorted. “I can see my food costs going up drastically,” he playfully grumbled.
She grinned as she sat, allowing him to be all protective and serve her. “Remember, Earthman, we could trade on other worlds using things other than money.”
“Is it safe for the babies to be inside the TARDIS for any length of time? And could the time already spent could have hurt them?”
The Doctor paled slightly. “I don't know. There are so many unknowns, but I'm positive that it's too early in their development for any harm and my species was naturally geared toward handling time sensitivity. It's not like they were conceived inside a time field. That would likely have been a disaster. Once they hit a certain developmental phase it would be wise for me to not set foot inside, which would mean that they have to fetch everything we could possibly need before then.”
“How much of that is safety, and how much is not being able to pilot the Old Girl because of the twins getting in the way?” he asked, po-faced.
She had a spoonful almost to her mouth and she stopped, a few drops falling onto the plate. Her eyes narrowed. “Watch it, Earthman,” she growled.
But he could hear the difference between her really being aggravated with him, and just annoyed. So he pretended to be as irritated. “Oi, watch it, Spacewoman! I'm taking care of you and them, and I'd like to feel appreciated for it.”
Her eyes softened. “You are.”
Then she started eating, and few words were exchanged. At least out loud.
It wasn't until after cleaning the kitchen and going through the motions of preparing for bed that the Doctor froze. They had moved into the bedroom, and she blushed when that hit her.
David noticed as he closed the door. Her body language seemed to mirror his feelings. He stuck his hands in his jim-jam pockets. “Nervous?”
She laughed awkwardly. “Yeah. It's so strange. I've dreamed about this, but it was so much easier as a human. No worries, just getting to it.”
His lips twitched in amusement. “Even though it was your first time?”
She shrugged, flushing at the memories. “I was too excited and eager to care. I thought I was this woman who'd finally married and it was to a man I adored and wanted to be with. And I was... well, to say I was lusting after you feels inadequate as a description.”
“You know, that blush on your face is making me wonder how far down it goes. I started wondering that soon after you woke up Christmas Eve 2005.”
Still flushing, she turned and managed a saucy grin. “Why don't you find out? But didn't you learn over the past months?”
That was a challenge he'd happily take, so he smirked (one that Jack Harkness not only would have been proud of but claimed credit for teaching him) and drew her thin jacket off her shoulders. “Ah, but your biology is different. Might alter where it hits.”
She huffed. “I have all these memories of how you react. Now I have to relearn how it feels to touch through Time Lady fingers and lips.” Not that it stopped her from trying to disrobe him.
He was not making it easy for her, even though he knew that she could overpower him if she really wanted to. That she wasn't said that she wanted him to take charge as much as he did.
Once they were freed from their clothes, his hands seemed very warm against her skin. As they ought to, she realized belatedly. She had become used to them having the same body temperature more or less, and now that was no longer the case. She chuckled at her own silliness.
“What's so funny? It doesn't do a man's ego any favours to see his woman smiling at an odd moment.”
“Oh, it just dawned on me how foolish it was to be surprised that your hands are so warm.”
He paused a moment, and then he laughed. “Oh, that's right. Don't all the science fiction stories talk of a human being the cooler temperature being in inter-species mating? Leave it to us to reverse that.”
“Well, you humans have these vivid imaginations. Which side of Jack's heritage do you think the naughtiness comes from?”
“Donna, don't mention him right now.”
“Okay. Are you going to bring out that tie you threatened me with?”
His eyes darkened. “I have to make sure that you are 'punished' for that.”
“How are you going to do that?” she teased, letting him lower her to the bed.
“I figure a good long all-over body kissing would work for starters.”
Her pupils nearly consumed her irises as she moaned at the thought.
He was unprepared for feeling her rush of sensations as their bodies touches, and she hadn't imagined what it was like to feel the other person's delight in your own reactions. They enjoyed the mutual stimulation.
David had to break the kiss far earlier than he wanted. He didn't even get to kissing her chest before he was shaking from the effort to control his body. “I won't last much longer.”
“Me neither,” she breathed and tugged him close. “Come on. Let's test what the temperature differences really are.”
The previous months allowed them to quickly align themselves and join.
He hissed. “God! Cold...” he breathed.
The Doctor moaned. “Oh, I'm melting from the inside.”
Her pleasure was enough to drive him into pushing and pulling. She wanted to wrap her legs around him, but worried that her strength would be too much for him. So she made her feet brace her hips to move in counterpoint instead.
Neither lasted long. And neither could drum up enough awareness to even think of moving off each other for longer than they expected. Nor did they communicate with actual spoken words for the rest of the night.
/=/=/=/
The pressure grew once again, building to a pain that not even the Doctor could stop from screaming over.
She felt a cool cloth press lightly against her forehead and then cheeks, and panted. “I can't do this,” she moaned.
“Yes, you can.” Sylvia's voice was firm but the gentlest she had ever heard. “You've been doing it. You're almost there.”
“Yeah, the first one should be out soon,” Martha agreed, eying the scanner.
The Doctor leaned back against the pillows propping her body up. She had tried standing for a time, and the pain nearly made her fall more than once. Lying down was a barbaric method she knew had been imposed by some mad Human king who wanted to be able to see a child being born, and it was just as well that no one suggested it. So seated or kneeling it was, and this was the only position she could maintain for any length of time.
Especially as the pains were starting to permit her less than ten seconds of relief.
She couldn't tell anyone what David or Sylvia told her, but she heard it and followed it. She gripped two big stress balls, one in each hand because she didn't dare hold anyone's hand during this. “It's going to tear me apart,” she gasped.
“Hang on, love,” David encouraged, hands hovering close. “Let this one happen. I can see something.”
“Is it a head?”
“I think so.”
Sylvia's attention was caught. “What?”
“Might be the caul,” he speculated.
Another scream cut off all talking. The Doctor's wails grew as she felt something. “Is it supposed to come out so fast?!”
David's eyes were wide as he guided the blob coming out of the Doctor. It looked like the loose part under the egg shell, and just as hard to see through. Yet it felt like a baby. “Here comes the first one,” he said. “They're almost out.”
“I can feel that! This one's shoulders are trying to split me in two!”
The Doctor's body kept pushing, and the white blob came further out. David could feel like it was a baby, but there was a surprise. “It's not all out.”
“What?!”
Martha looked and her mouth slackened before she got herself together. “They're in one membrane?”
“Love, keep pushing,” David urged. “I don't dare cut into this until it's all out.”
No sooner had he said it did the Doctor bellow on a contraction, and then the blob came out in bursts; a little at a time until the Doctor gasped as she felt the lack of anything coming out.
She let go of the stress balls the TARDIS made for her and pushed herself from sitting to kneeling so she could see. Her eyes widened as she saw David carefully laid the blob down. “I heard stories about this. About the Dark Times when Gallifreyans were egg layers. Sometimes more than one baby was born.”
“Identical?” Martha asked.
David took his sonic screwdriver and felt for a spot that he felt okay cutting into. He fired it and watched as the movements inside helped tear the caul. Liquid spilled out onto the clean towels, turning them yellowish. His and the Doctor's hands helped the babies along.
Once apart enough, they quieted. Two babies with ginger hair made faces against the cold air, but were oddly silent. The stranger detail was the obvious difference between them.
“One boy and one girl,” David marveled. “He looks like me and she like you.”
The Doctor knew what to do. She very carefully, despite the discomfort in her middle, moved to take one - the girl - into her arms and whisper into her ear. Instantly the girl squawked a cry, like she didn't like whatever her mother had said.
Smiling the Doctor tried to pick up the boy, but needed David's help. She whispered into the boy's ear, and he made an answering sound to his sister's cries.
Sylvia had the camera out and was taking pictures. Given that the Doctor had a shirt covering the essentials her own modest tendencies were not set off. Of course she had the best distraction in the universe, which made her cry as Martha helped her lean back.
“We did it,” she breathed. “The lasting result of my time hiding in plain sight, and the most welcome. A little piece of Gallifrey mixed with the best of humanity - in two precious bundles who will never quite stay where they're supposed to.” She laughed. “That shouldn't surprise me, but it does. So I have to give a point to you, David, since I didn't it coming. Especially ironic given my history.”
He didn't answer. His eyes were watering as he stared at the sight.
“David?” Martha whispered.
He wiped his eyes. “I saw this coming. I'll never again doubt my visions.”
The Doctor smiled warmly. She knew which vision he was talking about. It was more than could have been seen at the end of the Time War. She had a family again, children vibrantly living, and a bonded spouse to be very proud of and for. “Life is good. Jamie and Zoe are perfect names to call them publicly.”
David nodded and drew them all into his arms.
Martha took over taking care of the caul and towels so Sylvia could photograph the family together, the new parents talking all sorts of calming words until the babies quieted. Although the camera was put away when their cries turned into obvious pleas for food. And the Doctor gasped as the euphoria she read about hit her once they were nursing.
After a minute she looked blearily at David. “Love, why am I so sleepy?”
“It's okay. You've been through a lot. We're all here. Rest if you need to.”
“What if they need to feed?”
“We'll help them. Didn't you say that Gallifreyan instincts should work in our favour?”
The idea was too appealing. She nodded and closed her eyes.
When the Doctor woke, the babies weren't in her arms but she could feel their contentment. She could hear quiet talking all around her. She opened her eyes, and smiled as she took in her surroundings.
She saw Geoffrey sitting in a chair, holding Jamie and talking in quiet tones to the baby. Her eyes watered again as she took in the slight changes to his hair from over the past year. She sensed his days were numbered even with the medicines she had procured for him, and was grateful he got to meet two grandchildren. And the beaming smile on Sylvia's face as she took photos was tinged with the relief of a dream come true.
Martha was gone, along with the containers and towels from the birth. Although she could hear her talking downstairs, possibly with fellow godparents Jack, Mickey and Sarah Jane. They had come and gone to ensure enough food and supplies were in the house.
Eileen was sitting in the rocking chair, holding Zoe as Wilfred cooed and sang to her. They looked as proud as could be, and as enraptured as anyone could be with a little baby.
A family. She was surrounded by family. And she knew that Emily and Nerys, who also got the honor of godparent status, would bring Joshua, Ella, and James with them in a few days. There was no shortage of godparents, or honorary aunts and uncles.
“How are you feeling?”
The Doctor turned to face David with a smile as he knelt next to her. “Better. But I can't imagine going through that again.”
“What?” he breathed.
She grimaced at the memories of the pain. “I've heard that some women will think rather soon about having another, but I don't see how anyone could think that. I don't know if I can go through that again.”
His face fell, ever so slightly. He swallowed and took a deep breath. “Well, another child seems a brilliant idea. Just not right away, of course. There needs to be space between each pregnancy. Not just for the mother's sake, but for some age difference between the children.”
She eyed him, reading the feelings and hints of thoughts she was picking up from their bond. Her eyes widened as she put the pieces together. “Oh... you've seen me pregnant with another child.”
He said nothing, but also denied nothing.
She thought a few seconds. His visions had proved more reliable than many prophecies they had heard over their time together. “One day,” she promised with a kiss. “Is a few years okay to wait before we think about it?”
He smiled. “It sounds perfect. Jamie and Zoe will be ready by then.”
“Good. Now... get me our babies. I want a cuddle with them.”
THE END
Rating: heavy T, with some M/MA (this one is rated M)
Author: tkel_paris
Summary: David Noble thought he had come to terms with the strange feelings the female Doctor inspired, and it seemed to be helped by Martha Jones joining them. But when the Aubertide threaten the Doctor, protecting her requires a cover that will test his sanity and his ability to find the right thing to do. Written for tardis_mole.
Required Disclaimer: The summary should be enough to tell you I own nothing.
Dedications: My good friend tardis_mole, for helping me discover my talent at editing and for being an inspiration. You've challenged me to go beyond what I previously thought I would like, and so this is the farthest I've gone from my comfort zone so far. Who knows where I'll go next?
And another important shout-out: sykira, whose LJ post about John Barrowman's comments about how Doctor Who could eventually go was the ultimate spark for this idea. So I suppose that means the ultimate blame for this lies with the Barrowman. I can only imagine what he would think, although I suspect he would heartily approve. :P
Author's Note: Originally spawned from a different idea that split into three, this is a new version of one of those ideas revived as a birthday present. And it's spawned a slightly AU version as a Christmas present. The original prompt from TM boiled down to this: “The Doctor and Donna in a situation that's never been done before.” Ask and ye shall receive, my friend. Enjoy the second sequel. :D A VERY Belated Happy Birthday, TM! :DDD
Special Disclaimer: I refuse to be held responsible for any $2000/₤2000 lattes, spit-takes, fainting spells, workplace/school gaffes, or falling against/from things that might happen if you're not careful while reading this story. Especially in certain chapters. Read at your own risk. (I put this in because I was warned by one of my betas, cassikat, that my emails should come with a spit-take warning. So I'm looking out for y'all. ;D)
And TM, be careful that you don't hyperventilate from reading some of the sections. I know you. :P And so sorry for the delay. At least I have a legitimate excuse for not working on it last year; we had our balrog to work on. :D
Thanks to cassikat and bas_math_girl for betaing. Couldn't have done it without y'all.
Chapter One / Chapter Two / Chapter Three / Chapter Four / Chapter Five / Chapter Six / Chapter Seven / Chapter Eight / Chapter Nine / Chapter Ten / Chapter Eleven / Chapter Twelve / Chapter Thirteen
Flipped, Book 3
Started July 14, 2013
Finished May 18, 2016
Chapter Fourteen: Denouement
Previously:
“You're too dangerous to let loose!” cried the Doctor. She grimaced and focused all her own mental powers on the barrier.
The Moment staggered but quickly stood tall. She laughed. “Then this victory will be sweeter. Meet your end, Doctor!”
And she threw her energy at the Time Lady, making the barrier flicker like it was losing power as the Doctor's eyes went huge.
“No!” David screamed.
Suddenly his scream stopped. In his mind's eye he saw the TARDIS console open, the same one that had opened for him. Energy flowed out, dragging something reddish with it, and into the cubes the Doctor had left out when she ran around the room, yet remaining connected to the Controls.
The same golden energy appeared from the cube the Doctor held, creating a second barrier between the Doctor and the Moment and reenforcing the first. It materialized into a ghostly woman's form, but nothing was clear. Her face was frozen in a harsh glare that could be seen by everyone in the room even though her back was to everyone but Rose. She stepped between the combatants and pushed the Moment back into the center without touching her., as though using the Time Demon's own energy against her. Suddenly the reddish energy faded into sprinkles absorbed by the cubs.
The Moment's eyes widened. “It can't be. TARDISes can't do that.”
You never understood love or compassion, Abomination of the Originator at his worst.
The ghostly woman's mouth didn't move, but the words were clear to everyone. Only David and Jack understood immediately that they were hearing it in their minds, not their ears.
“You can't come out of your own shell without prompting!”
Even the Originator underestimated what my kind were capable of. You tormented my Thief for 903 years, making hir believe things about the Time War that were untrue. You forced the Healer to lose control over the energy I willingly shared with him, unwittingly making the Captain immortal. In the words of the version of my Thief who kept you out of the hands of Those Who Were Not True Time Lords... No more!!!
The ghost held up her hands, sending more energy slamming into the Moment, who screamed as her body stilled. She seemed more like a broken 3-D image, in two slightly different places at once and not merging to create one whole picture. But the images were not the same, and it gave the Humans watching a headache from trying to reconcile the images.
It all lasted several seconds before the second image was captured by the energy in a ball hovering above, and now looked exactly like the image Donna had drawn in her dream book: the Initate in tattered clothing. The Moment was screaming incoherently in Gallifreyan, and nothing came from Rose.
The ghost's hands raised until they touched. I see your atoms, Moment. Every bit of what binds you together. And I divide them forever!
As her hands flew apart the energy shattered like glass, fragmenting into dust until it was sucked into the cubes, breaking all the tension and bad energy out of the room. The woman turned and flew back into the cube and inside the Controls, shutting them after her. The cubes then all turned inert and barrier vanished.
The air felt easier to breathe, and all the Humans felt the release. Although everyone looked carefully at the two females at the center.
The seal and cube fell out of the Doctor's hands as she and Rose went both from stock still to falling to the ground.
Only David flew to the Doctor's side and caught her before her head hit the ground. “Please, no,” David breathed. His own Sonic was out and scanning her in an instant. He didn't hear the spectators rushing to check on them, or the soldiers carefully scanning Rose with Kate Stewart's help while working around Jackie and Howard, who were also checking on Rose.
Sylvia was first to reach them. “Are they all right?”
David exhaled slowly, putting down the Sonic to draw the Doctor tightly against him, not caring what anyone thought. She needed to feel cared for after that fright. “They're all fine. She's just fainted from the effort.”
Geoffrey slowly knelt beside them. “That's not surprising. That looked like an enormous effort. What happened?”
“I don't believe it,” Jackie cried. “She's alive!” She bent to touch her forehead to Rose, unwilling to raise her child's head by holding her. “She's unconscious, but alive!”
Kate stood from her scan, frowning. “When Rose arrived we scanned her and found an energy signature within her that was completely unlike anything ever detected in someone known to have been inside the TARDIS once. But it's gone now.”
“I thought Rose was going to die,” Jackie said. “First from whatever the Doctor did, and then... from whatever just happened.”
“I risked a lot to spare her, Jackie.”
They all looked at the Doctor, surprised that she said anything so soon.
David helped her to a sitting position. “How are you, love?”
She smiled at the endearment and squeezed his hand. “I've been better, but we're all good. I'll need a healing sleep later, but it'll all be well. In any case, I'm going to be a mother. I felt unable to take a child away from their mother. So I decided I'd try to separate Rose from the Moment. And it worked. In the end.”
“But what was that thing, the Moment?” Jackie asked. “Was it possessing her like a devil?”
The Doctor cringed. “It's hard to say. The Moment... was one of many terrible weapons created during the Dark Times of the First Great Time War, before my ancestors became Time Lords. Rassilon, before events forced him to see the truth of his actions, was the worst bipedal being that ever lived. He forged the Moment, which started as this... box with a red button at the top. It could wipe out whole systems from existence.”
“My god,” breathed Wilfred. “Was there worse than the Moment?”
“The Moment was the worst. Once he changed from Rassilon the Terrible to Rassilon the Great, he locked away all of the unused weapons as forbidden. But... the Last Great Time War came, and one by one the Forbidden Weapons were used. The person I was then... slipped past the guards and took the Moment away. The problem was that in the billion years between those wars the Moment slowly gained sentience, and took the form of an Academy initiate to speak with me. I still have trouble remembering, but I know she... beguiled me. I was tired and exhausted from the things I had to do to stop the war, and desperate to end it before it could destroy the universe. Two of my future selves were there, and together... we did something. Something that makes me now wonder if Gallifrey is as lost as I'd thought. But the Moment... she talked like she was the voice of reason, but she really wanted me to use her. When I refused, she imprinted herself on the TARDIS. And her image... was Rose's. I don't know if she had anything to do with Rose existing in the first place, or if it was a coincidence.”
“You don't believe in coincidence, Doctor,” David reminded her. “Could Rose exist because of the Moment, or was merely imprinted on?”
She frowned, closing her eyes as she thought. “Given that I was able to part the Moment from her, I think the latter.”
“You're not saying that she should be released, are you?” demanded Sylvia.
“No. It will take time to see what was the Moment and what was Rose herself. So she has to remain locked up while she comes to terms with what happened, and see if she can at least make something good of her life. I don't know if she can ever be released, Jackie.”
Jackie nodded sadly.
“What did the TARDIS do with the Moment's energy?” asked Mickey. “It had to go somewhere.”
The Doctor's lips twisted in grim humor. “She used the power of the Vortex to convert it into huon particles, which is what she uses for energy.”
“Doctor, who was that ghostly woman?” the Brigadier interrupted. “And how did we hear her?”
“It was the TARDIS.”
The Doctor started as someone beat her to it. “Jack? How did you know?”
Jack's expression was guarded, but gentle as he joined her. “She said the Moment made 'the Healer' lose control of the willingly shared energy and that made 'the Captain' immortal. Who can that mean but David and me? And she knew the age that you've been claiming, the number of years since the Time War ended. Who would know this, would call you 'my Thief' but the Old Girl herself?”
Sarah Jane was awestruck. “TARDISes can do that, draw themselves out of their shell and exert so much influence over their surroundings?”
“Not expected to,” the Doctor answered numbly. “But she was an unusual one. For years I thought I'd chosen her, but she influenced me to take her out of all of the decommissioned members of her kind. It was only after David came along that I realised that, along with that she sometimes took me not to where I wanted but where I was needed at that point in my time-line. We were connected so deeply because we each felt like outsiders among our own peoples, and then...”
“Being alone all those years made that bond stronger,” Martha guessed as she scanned the Doctor. Lengthy scans would be needed, and everything that was saved about Gallifreyan development and pregnancy would have to be downloaded from the TARDIS for select UNIT doctors to study. And for David and the Doctor's own personal study, of course. Not that she could talk about that for the time being.
“But what did the Moment mean?” Mickey asked, approaching Jackie even as he addressed the Doctor. “She said you were supposed to be Dr. David, and he was supposed to be you. How can that be?”
The Doctor shrugged. “She was a manipulator, presenting herself as the voice of reason. But I can see those memories clearly again. She wanted me to use her, and imprinted on the TARDIS in retaliation for not using her in the end. But... there's something foggy still. I can sort of see the next me, and I'll be a man again. A dark and goofy giraffe, but a man. But this me... I feel two sets of memories warring, like something altered from the original path.”
“A fixed point didn't fall apart, did it?” David asked.
“No. Things would be in chaos if one had. But I still don't know what happened.”
“This wouldn't mean that lightning strike, would it?”
Wilfred's sudden question caught the Doctor's attention. Her head turned so fast she had to close her eyes. “Ooh, not a good idea,” she whispered. Clearing her throat she managed to ask what he meant.
Sylvia tensed and looked down at the ground. “I don't remember it, and I don't like talking about things I don't remember.”
David straightened, alert. “Mum? Dad?”
Geoffrey touched Sylvia's arm, and waited for her to relax a little before speaking. “One day in 1970 we were walking home to avoid this big storm that was brewing. We should've been safe, but... out of nowhere the weather got worse. I was reaching for her hand when a bolt hit her. Knocked her out cold.”
“What?!” the Doctor exclaimed, turning as fast as she dared to face her in-laws. “When was this exactly?”
“Eight months to the day before David was born. We didn't know she was pregnant until a follow-up appointment to confirm that Sylvia was fine. No damage. Somehow. And David came out like nothing had happened.”
“Geoffrey... what did this lightning look like? Was it unusually coloured?”
He straightened, his face turning pale. “Yes, Doctor, there was some green in the bolt. Why?”
The Doctor had that distant 'solving the mysteries of the universe' look, her mind racing light-years an hour. “I was in London on that day, battling a being that used energy as a weapon. Things nearly went completely pear-shaped and I was struck by a bolt like that. Only I didn't lose awareness. I came close, and... I thought it felt like something was ripped from me and something else put back. But none of my scans afterward said anything was wrong, so I dismissed it...” She trailed off like something was dawning on her.
Wilfred shook his head. “Wait... Doctor, does that mean that the being... somehow switched some of your DNA with my grandchild's?!”
The whole room went silent.
The Doctor thought for several seconds. “It's possible. It would explain why Rose fixed on David so intently: the Moment was expecting my next self to look like that, and expected Rose would be my companion. But something... interfered and changed history. The body that was supposed to be Donna Noble lay in wait for a regeneration, and the body meant to be this incarnation spent his life growing up as a Human.”
“Then... the Moment was right?” David squawked. “I was supposed to be the Doctor?!”
She squeezed his hand, sending calming thoughts his way. “We'll never know for certain. And, like you said after the Impossible Planet, maybe it's for the best. But if I'm right, it meant that the Moment's power and influence was lessened in that Rose only travelled the one night in the TARDIS, unable to make events worse than they were because she didn't understand or wouldn't understand consequences. But it also made it harder to dislodge her, even as my ability to see her was strengthened by not being fooled into thinking I loved the person she wanted me to think Rose could become. All I know is that I knew the Old Girl's power would be needed, but I didn't know how soon or how much. What I do know is that it's over. The Moment is ended.”
And she slumped in his arms.
/=/=/=/=/
It was a relief when they returned alone to the house with a very happy Curie. She seemed to smell the good news from the instant she saw them again back at UNIT, and tried to lick the Doctor's face more than once. As Donna she had been completely accepting of the action, but David wonder if she would now be more tolerant of it than liking it.
They had left the TARDIS at UNIT, allowing the senior personnel to monitor the Aubertide and help the Old Girl keep them contained. Instead they accepted a ride, during which the Doctor slept the whole way. David had also wanted to be gone before Rose woke, not feeling it was best for him to be around.
So far the decision was that Rose would remain in UNIT custody while they questioned her to determine what she really thought and what kind of person she was. Although given that the odds were that the Moment imprinted on Rose through the brief times Rose was inside the TARDIS most suspected she was naturally inclined to not take responsibility. She would only ever see a sight outside of a cell if she showed signs that she, under supervision, could make a contribution to society.
For Jackie's sake David hoped it would happen. But he knew that Rose would always remain under guard.
The Doctor was still sleeping when they got home, but the doors were repaired already. David thanked the soldiers who had stayed to do so, grateful that none asked any questions and minded their own business back into their vehicles. He laid her on the same couch from almost three months ago, covering her with a blanket before going to fix dinner.
Now that she was pregnant as a Time Lord, the Doctor's metabolism was sure to kick in and yet again drained David's food stock. So he prepared a big meal, thinking of the foods that he knew the Doctor had benefited from eating before.
His timing was perfect. Dinner was ready to be served when he felt the Doctor wake from her healing sleep and get up. He turned his head and saw her enter with huge eyes. “Ooh, that smells heavenly. It's not just the twins crying for food right now.”
He snorted. “I can see my food costs going up drastically,” he playfully grumbled.
She grinned as she sat, allowing him to be all protective and serve her. “Remember, Earthman, we could trade on other worlds using things other than money.”
“Is it safe for the babies to be inside the TARDIS for any length of time? And could the time already spent could have hurt them?”
The Doctor paled slightly. “I don't know. There are so many unknowns, but I'm positive that it's too early in their development for any harm and my species was naturally geared toward handling time sensitivity. It's not like they were conceived inside a time field. That would likely have been a disaster. Once they hit a certain developmental phase it would be wise for me to not set foot inside, which would mean that they have to fetch everything we could possibly need before then.”
“How much of that is safety, and how much is not being able to pilot the Old Girl because of the twins getting in the way?” he asked, po-faced.
She had a spoonful almost to her mouth and she stopped, a few drops falling onto the plate. Her eyes narrowed. “Watch it, Earthman,” she growled.
But he could hear the difference between her really being aggravated with him, and just annoyed. So he pretended to be as irritated. “Oi, watch it, Spacewoman! I'm taking care of you and them, and I'd like to feel appreciated for it.”
Her eyes softened. “You are.”
Then she started eating, and few words were exchanged. At least out loud.
It wasn't until after cleaning the kitchen and going through the motions of preparing for bed that the Doctor froze. They had moved into the bedroom, and she blushed when that hit her.
David noticed as he closed the door. Her body language seemed to mirror his feelings. He stuck his hands in his jim-jam pockets. “Nervous?”
She laughed awkwardly. “Yeah. It's so strange. I've dreamed about this, but it was so much easier as a human. No worries, just getting to it.”
His lips twitched in amusement. “Even though it was your first time?”
She shrugged, flushing at the memories. “I was too excited and eager to care. I thought I was this woman who'd finally married and it was to a man I adored and wanted to be with. And I was... well, to say I was lusting after you feels inadequate as a description.”
“You know, that blush on your face is making me wonder how far down it goes. I started wondering that soon after you woke up Christmas Eve 2005.”
Still flushing, she turned and managed a saucy grin. “Why don't you find out? But didn't you learn over the past months?”
That was a challenge he'd happily take, so he smirked (one that Jack Harkness not only would have been proud of but claimed credit for teaching him) and drew her thin jacket off her shoulders. “Ah, but your biology is different. Might alter where it hits.”
She huffed. “I have all these memories of how you react. Now I have to relearn how it feels to touch through Time Lady fingers and lips.” Not that it stopped her from trying to disrobe him.
He was not making it easy for her, even though he knew that she could overpower him if she really wanted to. That she wasn't said that she wanted him to take charge as much as he did.
Once they were freed from their clothes, his hands seemed very warm against her skin. As they ought to, she realized belatedly. She had become used to them having the same body temperature more or less, and now that was no longer the case. She chuckled at her own silliness.
“What's so funny? It doesn't do a man's ego any favours to see his woman smiling at an odd moment.”
“Oh, it just dawned on me how foolish it was to be surprised that your hands are so warm.”
He paused a moment, and then he laughed. “Oh, that's right. Don't all the science fiction stories talk of a human being the cooler temperature being in inter-species mating? Leave it to us to reverse that.”
“Well, you humans have these vivid imaginations. Which side of Jack's heritage do you think the naughtiness comes from?”
“Donna, don't mention him right now.”
“Okay. Are you going to bring out that tie you threatened me with?”
His eyes darkened. “I have to make sure that you are 'punished' for that.”
“How are you going to do that?” she teased, letting him lower her to the bed.
“I figure a good long all-over body kissing would work for starters.”
Her pupils nearly consumed her irises as she moaned at the thought.
He was unprepared for feeling her rush of sensations as their bodies touches, and she hadn't imagined what it was like to feel the other person's delight in your own reactions. They enjoyed the mutual stimulation.
David had to break the kiss far earlier than he wanted. He didn't even get to kissing her chest before he was shaking from the effort to control his body. “I won't last much longer.”
“Me neither,” she breathed and tugged him close. “Come on. Let's test what the temperature differences really are.”
The previous months allowed them to quickly align themselves and join.
He hissed. “God! Cold...” he breathed.
The Doctor moaned. “Oh, I'm melting from the inside.”
Her pleasure was enough to drive him into pushing and pulling. She wanted to wrap her legs around him, but worried that her strength would be too much for him. So she made her feet brace her hips to move in counterpoint instead.
Neither lasted long. And neither could drum up enough awareness to even think of moving off each other for longer than they expected. Nor did they communicate with actual spoken words for the rest of the night.
/=/=/=/
The pressure grew once again, building to a pain that not even the Doctor could stop from screaming over.
She felt a cool cloth press lightly against her forehead and then cheeks, and panted. “I can't do this,” she moaned.
“Yes, you can.” Sylvia's voice was firm but the gentlest she had ever heard. “You've been doing it. You're almost there.”
“Yeah, the first one should be out soon,” Martha agreed, eying the scanner.
The Doctor leaned back against the pillows propping her body up. She had tried standing for a time, and the pain nearly made her fall more than once. Lying down was a barbaric method she knew had been imposed by some mad Human king who wanted to be able to see a child being born, and it was just as well that no one suggested it. So seated or kneeling it was, and this was the only position she could maintain for any length of time.
Especially as the pains were starting to permit her less than ten seconds of relief.
She couldn't tell anyone what David or Sylvia told her, but she heard it and followed it. She gripped two big stress balls, one in each hand because she didn't dare hold anyone's hand during this. “It's going to tear me apart,” she gasped.
“Hang on, love,” David encouraged, hands hovering close. “Let this one happen. I can see something.”
“Is it a head?”
“I think so.”
Sylvia's attention was caught. “What?”
“Might be the caul,” he speculated.
Another scream cut off all talking. The Doctor's wails grew as she felt something. “Is it supposed to come out so fast?!”
David's eyes were wide as he guided the blob coming out of the Doctor. It looked like the loose part under the egg shell, and just as hard to see through. Yet it felt like a baby. “Here comes the first one,” he said. “They're almost out.”
“I can feel that! This one's shoulders are trying to split me in two!”
The Doctor's body kept pushing, and the white blob came further out. David could feel like it was a baby, but there was a surprise. “It's not all out.”
“What?!”
Martha looked and her mouth slackened before she got herself together. “They're in one membrane?”
“Love, keep pushing,” David urged. “I don't dare cut into this until it's all out.”
No sooner had he said it did the Doctor bellow on a contraction, and then the blob came out in bursts; a little at a time until the Doctor gasped as she felt the lack of anything coming out.
She let go of the stress balls the TARDIS made for her and pushed herself from sitting to kneeling so she could see. Her eyes widened as she saw David carefully laid the blob down. “I heard stories about this. About the Dark Times when Gallifreyans were egg layers. Sometimes more than one baby was born.”
“Identical?” Martha asked.
David took his sonic screwdriver and felt for a spot that he felt okay cutting into. He fired it and watched as the movements inside helped tear the caul. Liquid spilled out onto the clean towels, turning them yellowish. His and the Doctor's hands helped the babies along.
Once apart enough, they quieted. Two babies with ginger hair made faces against the cold air, but were oddly silent. The stranger detail was the obvious difference between them.
“One boy and one girl,” David marveled. “He looks like me and she like you.”
The Doctor knew what to do. She very carefully, despite the discomfort in her middle, moved to take one - the girl - into her arms and whisper into her ear. Instantly the girl squawked a cry, like she didn't like whatever her mother had said.
Smiling the Doctor tried to pick up the boy, but needed David's help. She whispered into the boy's ear, and he made an answering sound to his sister's cries.
Sylvia had the camera out and was taking pictures. Given that the Doctor had a shirt covering the essentials her own modest tendencies were not set off. Of course she had the best distraction in the universe, which made her cry as Martha helped her lean back.
“We did it,” she breathed. “The lasting result of my time hiding in plain sight, and the most welcome. A little piece of Gallifrey mixed with the best of humanity - in two precious bundles who will never quite stay where they're supposed to.” She laughed. “That shouldn't surprise me, but it does. So I have to give a point to you, David, since I didn't it coming. Especially ironic given my history.”
He didn't answer. His eyes were watering as he stared at the sight.
“David?” Martha whispered.
He wiped his eyes. “I saw this coming. I'll never again doubt my visions.”
The Doctor smiled warmly. She knew which vision he was talking about. It was more than could have been seen at the end of the Time War. She had a family again, children vibrantly living, and a bonded spouse to be very proud of and for. “Life is good. Jamie and Zoe are perfect names to call them publicly.”
David nodded and drew them all into his arms.
Martha took over taking care of the caul and towels so Sylvia could photograph the family together, the new parents talking all sorts of calming words until the babies quieted. Although the camera was put away when their cries turned into obvious pleas for food. And the Doctor gasped as the euphoria she read about hit her once they were nursing.
After a minute she looked blearily at David. “Love, why am I so sleepy?”
“It's okay. You've been through a lot. We're all here. Rest if you need to.”
“What if they need to feed?”
“We'll help them. Didn't you say that Gallifreyan instincts should work in our favour?”
The idea was too appealing. She nodded and closed her eyes.
When the Doctor woke, the babies weren't in her arms but she could feel their contentment. She could hear quiet talking all around her. She opened her eyes, and smiled as she took in her surroundings.
She saw Geoffrey sitting in a chair, holding Jamie and talking in quiet tones to the baby. Her eyes watered again as she took in the slight changes to his hair from over the past year. She sensed his days were numbered even with the medicines she had procured for him, and was grateful he got to meet two grandchildren. And the beaming smile on Sylvia's face as she took photos was tinged with the relief of a dream come true.
Martha was gone, along with the containers and towels from the birth. Although she could hear her talking downstairs, possibly with fellow godparents Jack, Mickey and Sarah Jane. They had come and gone to ensure enough food and supplies were in the house.
Eileen was sitting in the rocking chair, holding Zoe as Wilfred cooed and sang to her. They looked as proud as could be, and as enraptured as anyone could be with a little baby.
A family. She was surrounded by family. And she knew that Emily and Nerys, who also got the honor of godparent status, would bring Joshua, Ella, and James with them in a few days. There was no shortage of godparents, or honorary aunts and uncles.
“How are you feeling?”
The Doctor turned to face David with a smile as he knelt next to her. “Better. But I can't imagine going through that again.”
“What?” he breathed.
She grimaced at the memories of the pain. “I've heard that some women will think rather soon about having another, but I don't see how anyone could think that. I don't know if I can go through that again.”
His face fell, ever so slightly. He swallowed and took a deep breath. “Well, another child seems a brilliant idea. Just not right away, of course. There needs to be space between each pregnancy. Not just for the mother's sake, but for some age difference between the children.”
She eyed him, reading the feelings and hints of thoughts she was picking up from their bond. Her eyes widened as she put the pieces together. “Oh... you've seen me pregnant with another child.”
He said nothing, but also denied nothing.
She thought a few seconds. His visions had proved more reliable than many prophecies they had heard over their time together. “One day,” she promised with a kiss. “Is a few years okay to wait before we think about it?”
He smiled. “It sounds perfect. Jamie and Zoe will be ready by then.”
“Good. Now... get me our babies. I want a cuddle with them.”
THE END