AN: Tenth Doctor Duplicate is John Smith. He and Rose are married, which makes Rose Rose Smith. This is a very heavy T! Detailed birth scene…
Also, I don't own The Paradox. Copyright to Paul Laurence Dunbar.
"I want some sleep."
"I know, Rose. I know."
"I hate morning sickness so much!" This sentence was punctuated with some more vomit hitting the toilet.
"It'll get better soon."
"I don't fucking care! I want it gone now!"
"Only a month or so left."
"Yeah. A month or so, John. Not now! For all you know, it won't go away!" John sighed, looking at his angry wife. She had been bent over the toilet for at least ten minutes, doing one of her least favorite activities: throwing up. Granted, he was rubbing her back, but still...
"But remember, it's going to be worth it in the end," he said, doing his best to placate her. At least a little...
"But that's not for two months!"
"Well, when you're carrying twins, the odds of going into premature labor are a little higher."
"John? Shut the fuck up."
"Sorry."
"Rose? Are you ready to see Dr. Roberts?"
"Give me a minute!"
"We're going to be late!"
"Just coming!" she called. John rolled his eyes, checking his watch to see how late they were going to be. He heard Rose shuffling down the stairs, panting heavily.
"You OK?" he asked. She glared at him. If looks could kill…
"Let's go!" she called, heading to the car.
"How have you been, Rose?" Charles Roberts, their obstetrician, asked.
"I've been better," she replied, lying back on the bed.
"Wonderful!" he exclaimed. "And you, John?"
"Good, thank you, doctor," he said.
"Excellent. Now then, Rose, if you wouldn't mind lifting your shirt up." Rose grimaced and raised the offending article of clothing. Dr. Roberts walked over and squirted some gel on her belly. She gasped and then grimaced, the gel practically freezing her stomach.
"You all right?" John asked, holding his wife's hand. She glared at him, choosing not to answer. Dr. Roberts put an ultrasound wand in the gel, and the screen behind him flickered to life, and the sound of two (completely out of sync) thumping hearts filled the room.
"All right, Rose. Everything's looking - and hearing - fine. Your children are developing nicely. It's right on schedule for the beginning of the seventh month," he said.
"Delightful," she deadpanned.
"Thank you, doctor." John said. "Anything else?"
"Still don't want to know the gender?" John and Rose both shook their heads.
"Always good to ask," he said, shaking his head. He removed the wand from Rose's stomach and set about cleaning it. John grabbed a paper towel and wiped the gel off of his wife's stomach.
"See you in three weeks, doc," Rose said, uncomfortably swinging her legs around to get off the bed.
"Bye, Rose," he replied, turning back to his papers.
"I really want these two out!"
"I know, Rose. I know." She looked at him. They had eaten and gone to bed, and now Rose was grumbling. So nothing new, really.
"Will you read to me?"
"Sure," he said, reaching for the book next to him.
"Will you read The Paradox?" she asked. John smiled.
"You really do love that poem," he said.
"Yes I do," she replied. He husband flipped the pages of the book until he arrived at the transcribed poem.
"The Paradox, by Paul Laurence Dunbar
I am the mother of sorrows.
I am the ender of grief;
I am the bud and the blossom,
I am the late-falling leaf.
I am thy priest and thy poet,
I am thy serf and thy king;
I cure the tears of the heartsick,
When I come near they shall sing.
White are my hands as the snowdrop;
Swart are my fingers as clay;
Dark is my frown as the midnight,
Fair is my brow as the day.
Battle and war are my minions,
Doing my will as divine;
I am the calmer of passions,
Peace is a nursling of mine.
Speak to me gently or curse me,
Seek me or fly from my sight;
I am thy fool in the morning,
Thou art my slave in the night.
Down to the grave will I take thee,
Out from the noise of the strife;
Then shalt thou see me and know me—
Death, then, no longer, but life.
Then shalt thou sing at my coming,
Kiss me with passionate breath,
Clasp me and smile to have thought me
Aught save the foeman of Death.
Come to me, brother, when weary,
Come when thy lonely heart swells;
I'll guide thy footsteps and lead thee
Down where the Dream Woman dwells."
John closed the book and looked at his wife. She had fallen asleep, head resting on the pillows behind them, blond hair splayed out on the aforementioned pillows. He sighed, placed the book back on the shelf, closed his eyes, and went to sleep.
One Month Later
"How are you doing, Rose?" She glared at John, the Meta-Crisis having asked that for the fifth time in as many minutes. Over tea! The audacity he's got…honestly.
"I'm eight months pregnant with twins. How the hell do you think I'm doing?" she retorted.
"I'm just checking," he defended. "For all I know, you're getting minor contractions."
"If I were getting contractions, John, you would know about - fuck."
"What?" John asked, immediately on alert.
"My water broke," she said, her voice breathless.
"Shit shit shit," John mumbled, shooting to his feet and helping Rose to her feet. "We just need to get to the car and then to the hospital. It's only twenty minutes away."
"John, calm down!" Rose yelled. "If anyone's going to be freaking out, it's gonna be me, got it?"
"OK, Rose. Now let's just get to the car, yeah?"
"Ugh. Men," Rose mumbled, rolling her eyes. She walked (well, waddled…) to the car, John right behind her (grabbing various things he's under the impression that they may need), with each step they took.
"My wife is having a baby HELP!" This was John's sentence the moment he and Rose entered the maternity ward in the hospital. The receptionist looked up and saw him frantically jumping around while trying to help his wife, while she was breathing hard and holding her stomach.
"Someone get me on a wheelchair right now!" Rose yelled, obviously in great pain.
"Yes, that's a brilliant idea!" John shouted, just as loud as her.
"I've called someone. They should be down here shortly." Rose glared at the woman.
"Get someone down here now. If not, I swear to -"
"Oh, the wheelchair's here!" the receptionist interjected. Rose turned her head to see that the woman was correct, and she waddled over to it.
"OK, Mrs. Tyler, you're good to just lay back and wait for the time to come, all right?"
"Yeah, sure, Doctor," she said, grimacing as a contraction hit her.
"Call if you need anything," he said, leaving the room. John sat down next to her and held her hand. She looked at him.
"This is so not going to be fun."
"You'll do wonderfully," he replied.
"It's going to hurt."
"It'll be so worth it in the end."
"That's so sappy," she said. John raised an eyebrow.
"What's your point?"
Six Centimeters of Dilation Later…
(13 Hours Later)
"Aaaaahhh! I want an epidural, and I WANT IT NOW!" Rose screamed. Her contractions were getting really strong. John was holding her hand, saying whatever came through his mind in order to help soothe her.
"We're preparing it now, Mrs. Tyler," a nurse said.
"You really might want to hurry," John said.
"Ready!" Dr. Roberts said, walking over, needles (and syringe) in hand. "Please sit up, Rose," She gave him a glare, but managed to get herself up (with her husband's help). He quickly injected Rose with the contents of the syringe, and then put the hollow needle in and started the flow of painkillers. "You're all set, Rose. Give it a couple minutes, and you should be good."
Four Centimeters of Dilation Later…
(Another 3 ½ Hours)
"Rose, you're now ten centimeters dilated. You can start pushing, if you like." Dr. Roberts said.
"That took way too fucking long," Rose grunted.
"John, you can stay or you can leave," Roberts said.
"I'll stay…provide some moral support," he replied.
"Wise choice, John," Rose said, clearly preparing to start pushing.
"And there's that," John mumbled.
"Rose, push!" The midwife instructed. Rose closed her eyes tight, and visibly pushed.
"Aaahhhh!" John stared at the space between his wife's legs. This was clearly extremely painful (well, duh), and she had to give birth to two babies. "Aaahhhh!" She continued pushing, doing her best to get her children into the world.
"Bit more, Rose. You can do it!" the midwife encouraged. Rose pushed again, and the very tip top of the first head popped out.
"Come on, Rose, you're doing great!" John said, staring with equal parts fascination and disgust. She continued pushing, and the baby's head emerged even more.
"Baby's crowned!" the midwife said, positioning herself in place to catch the child. The shoulders were next. As that was happening, John could see some amniotic fluid dripping out as well. He almost turned if not for the fact that Rose would probably murder him. For whatever 'Rose' reason. "Give me a push, Rose," the midwife instructed. One push (and one scream) later, the first child popped into the world. "It's a boy!" The midwife called.
"3:29AM, doctor," a nurse said. Doctor Roberts recorded that on a sheet of paper, and waited for the second baby, while the midwife cut the umbilical cord handed the baby boy to another nurse to clean and dry.
"One more time, Rose," the midwife said, a couple minutes later.. "You can do it."
"Aaahhhh!" Rose screamed. "I - fucking - hate - this!" Each word was punctuated with a push, anther anger clearly paid off. The second baby slipped out and landed right in the midwife's outstretched arms.
"It's a girl!" she said.
"3:33AM," the nurse said. The baby girl's umbilical cord was cut and was handed off to a nurse for warmth and drying.
"Any names?" Dr. Roberts asked, a smile creeping onto his face. John walked over to Rose and they whispered, keeping everyone in suspense.
"Cormac James for the boy," Rose said.
"And Jackie Snowden for the girl," John said.
"All right!" Roberts said. "We'll leave you for a bit, let you get acquainted with your children, and then we'll have to deal with boring paperwork and stuff." He gestured to everything and they all crowded out of the room, leaving the new parents to smile and their children.
"Well done, Rose," John said, cradling Cormac in his arms.
"We did good," she replied, warmth evident in her voice. Cormac's eyes opened at the end of the sentence, revealing a blue eye and a green eye.
"Meta-Crisis residuality," he mumbled. The children of Meta-Crises typically have some sort of strange recessive gene that gets activated…in this case, it's apparently heterochromia iridum.*
"John!" Rose whispered, staring raptly at Jackie.
"What?" he asked, walking over.
"Look," she said, nodding at Jackie's eyes. John smiled. Blue and green. Just like her brother.
"Cormac, too," he said. "Tell you later." Good thing, too, because everyone was coming back in.
"I love you," Rose said, smiling at her husband and children.
"I love you too," John replied. The babies just blinked, but the love for their parents was shown nonetheless.
*Heterochromia iridum is the condition of having two different colored eyes.
AN: My Christmas present for tumblr user kingcogi. I hope you enjoyed this, old friend.
Betaed by PrimeLaughter.
Merry Christmas, everyone!