Chapter 1: Clara

"Is she going to be alright?" John asked worriedly. He could feel his hands trembling in the anticipation of Rose in the hospital. He dug through his pockets, grasping the bean between his hands.

The bean was something special too him now, besides the memories he had of an old life he once lived with Rose, this bean represented hope that one day it could all begin again, maybe not for him though, but maybe for their unborn son. Rose's new brother was a bit older now since he first had come here. It had been a couple years to adjust to this human life with only one heart.

It was strange how he could remember all the moments he had, he has lived for over nine hundred years, but it's all just a story in his head. In this life now, he was human, he would grow old, and he already was starting to age. He still was clever; he used his typical human name now. But he missed being called The Doctor; it was his name after all.

The Doctor. The good old days. The Master. Daleks. Gallifrey. Oh Gallifrey! He started to grow fond of the old memories of his beautiful home, a home that was now gone. Not much despair and hatred fell upon him though at the thought of Gallifrey and the Time War. Humanity and Rose had changed him; it had brought him to peace with all the pain and fault.

He waited by the emergency room doors, the doctor stepped into view, he immediately jumped up, "Doctor. Well?" He was getting impatient. Scared. He would save Rose from aliens, rescue her from a piece of flattened skin five billion years into the future, why was this any different? The doctor looked up at him consolingly, which made John nervous.

He smiled, a gentle smile, "So far, Rose is fine. She's in labor and she's ready to push, the baby is twisted the other way I'm afraid, caught in the umbilical cord," John's eyes widened in horror but the doctor put his hands up to stop his imagination from going over the top, "It is operative. It can be fixed. Your family will survive the procedure. I just thought you ought to know the complications." John smiled at him, nodding in understanding. The doctor nodded back and walked off inside the room to tend to Rose.

Rose, who was his wife. Such a strange life for someone like him. He never thought about life like this before. He dreamed of a life with Rose, always. He never believed it to happen, he thought she'd end up with dear old Mickey, but she chose him. For once, someone had waited for him.

She always wanted to be by his side and it scared him more than ever, because he could lose her if she stayed with him, he would much rather lose her in his life if it meant saving her so she could live one he could never have. But he now has that life. It's strange how he remembers all these moments they shared that seemed as only days ago, they feel so distant and yet so close.

He plopped right back on the chair near the door, slouching down farther into the chair as he waited. He hadn't noticed he had dozed off until the doctor shook him awake, "Wake up Mr. Tyler. We have great news." John Tyler. He didn't want to go for Smith anymore. He also fancied Tyler; it was something that needed to run in the family. They were the Tyler's, defenders of the parallel Earth.

Working a normal life but defending it all the same in Torchwood. He shook his drowsiness off as he heard those last words. Torchwood. It really was different here, better than in London. The doctor spoke quickly about how Rose was healthy and in great condition after the procedure. He smiled his wide, old memorable bright smile. "Rose Tyler," he said quietly to himself in relief.

"We need you to come over here and cut the cord," the doctor told him quickly. John nodded and followed him right into the room. It was bright with the one light that surrounded Rose as she lied on a bed covered in a blue papered sheet.

She was drenched in sweat, looking exhausted. Her eyes were shut tight though, she was resting. The doctors wouldn't let him inside when she had to go in for the c-section, it made him so bothered to be separated from her. After all they'd been through; he vowed to never drive that separation between them ever again. He grabbed the surgical scissors quickly, carefully snapping them over the cord. A warm, fuzzy feeling shocked through him at the sight of the newborn baby.

It was so small, smaller than he imagined, so careful and quiet. But he noticed parts were missing. It worried him more than ever, "What's wrong with him?" Rose's voice was hoarse and quiet as she spoke, "It's a girl, Doctor. She's your daughter." His heart raced at the sound of his name, his real name from Rose's mouth, she could never fight the old habit.

He picked up the infant; she fit perfectly in his arms. She was smaller than usual babies would be, he could fit her in his pocket. She wiggled around his arms as she stretched, squeaking when her mouth gaped wide open. She was yawning and it made his one heart melt. Her big, brown eyes smiled up at him.

A cleared drop splashed on her face, he wiped it away gently as she kept wiggling around. He looked up to see where the drop was coming from, but Rose told him before he could figure all the pieces out, "You're crying."

She started smiling. She was so beautiful, even when exhausted. Her long blonde hair was tied up in a messiest bun. She gestured for him to walk to her, so he carried his daughter across the room to his wife. "What should we name her?" Rose asked him, gazing at the infant. She was beautiful. So full of life. He saved so many lives before, even seen some lives be brought back. He has saved species upon species, trying to make up for the wrongs of the war on Gallifrey.

The TARDIS was life, but his little girl was alive. She was going to grow up to be someone so beautiful. So clever. He looked up at Rose as the baby grabbed his finger, gripping it tight and he could remember the first moments of saving Rose. He couldn't think of a name until it hit him, out of all the billions of names to be pulled out of the stars, this name came to his mind like a lottery number, "Clara."

Rose cried happily as she nodded in approval, "It's perfect." Even Clara approved as she squeaked up at him. He laughed, "My Impossible Girl."

He pressed his lips against Rose's forehead gently as they both stared at Clara, whose beautiful brown eyes gazed upon them brighter than the suns of Gallifrey. For once, he felt happiness and knew it would last, no Daleks or Cybermen to ruin his day.

Eight years later

"Mum!" Rose shot up at the scream for help from Clara. She jumped out of bed, trying her best to make no sound that would wake up her husband. She smiled at him though as he slept peacefully, his hair all ruffled up against the pillows. She walked down the hallway towards the room on the left where little Clara slept. She stepped inside finding Clara sitting straight up in her bed, gripping the sheets in fear.

She crossed her arms and stared at Clara, "What's wrong love?" She asked Clara as she took a seat next to her on her bed. Clara let go of the blankets and instantly crawled up to Rose, wrapping her arms around her as she cried into her shirt. Rose rubbed her back,"Shh. Clara. Don't cry. The monsters won't get you. I'm here now." Clara sniffled as her innocent brown eyes stared up at her mother. Rose couldn't believe how much she had grown. She was beautiful even more now. She wanted her to just stay a child, never grow up.

She was still smaller than the rest of the lot at her school, but Rose found her the most beautiful child there. Her teeth were perfect, which was very lucky for her. Her chocolate colored hair had grown down her back gracefully, it made getting ready for school entertaining for Rose since she had chopped her hair off again and she couldn't do much with it.

She'd always pick out Clara's clothes for school, doing her hair as Clara giggled over her father saying such strange things about old planets The Doctor had visited or as she knew, they both had visited. But they'd never tell how they'd know about these planets; the Doctor would just blurt them out to Clara over breakfast, which she loved more than anything in the world.

She ran her hands through Clara's hair as Clara explained her nightmare. "I was on a cloud Mummy. Everything was great though. There was this pretty blue castle sitting on the cloud. It shined brighter against the stars but it was all alone," Rose's heart quickened at the thought of the blue castle , her thoughts raced to the Doctor instantly, but it couldn't mean anything, she was just a child, she tried to hide her paranoid thoughts away, listening intently to Clara's nightmare.

She continued running her hands through Clara's hair as she continued on about her dream, "Something horrible grabbed me from behind. It tore me away before I could reach to the blue castle. I tried to fight it. I tried to reach out for help. I tried calling for someone to save me but everything went slow but quick at the same time and no one came. It pulled me over the cloud, taking me down with it... and I fell! I fell off the cloud! It was so high-" She buried her face in Rose's shirt again, crying more than when Rose had first come in.

She pulled her away from her shirt, "Hey. Hey. Clara, you don't need to be frightened. It was just a dream. A nightmare. You know what you need?" Clara sniffled again as Rose wiped her tears from her face gently. She spoke quietly, "What mum?"

"A Doctor." Clara's face filled with hope and curiosity, "Doctor Who?" She sat up straight in excitement. Rose laughed, "Isn't that the big question? He fights those mean monsters that you dream about. He goes by the Doctor and he lives on a cloud in the sky."

Clara raised her voice gleefully; she reminded Rose so much of her father when she got all giddy from figuring puzzles out, "Just like my dream!" Rose smiled, "Yes. Exactly. Only his blue castle is called the TARDIS. It travels through all time and space, taking him to children, just like you, to save them from their bad dreams."

She smiled again, gripping the sheets in excitement at the story. Rose told her the story of how she and the Doctor first met. Of course, she didn't say it was her, she replaced the names. It made her heart warm up inside to see her child so excited at the thought of the Doctor. To see her feel safe by the thought of him and she would never know.

Her eyelids started to fall over her eyes indicating she was ready to fall back asleep. Rose tucked her in as Clara got into position to fall asleep, ""You know what the best thing about the Doctor is?" She shook her head, grinning as she pulled all the blankets with her, warming up with the sheets.

She kissed her little head, poking her small button nose and whispered, "He will always come."

Clara fell asleep quickly after Rose clicked off the lights. She walked back to her room, the light was on. "Doctor. What are you doing up?" He took off his glasses as he read a book, "I saw you were up and I couldn't fall back asleep. Is Clara alright?" Rose nodded, "She just had a nightmare. Nothing to worry about."

She got into the blankets right next to him as he took off his glasses, putting his book on the end table on his left. He was so beautiful. No change. He really was the same Doctor she had always been with. It was so strange. It always felt like there was only one and he was here with her right now. There was no other.

"How did you get her to fall asleep?" He asked, his eyebrow doing that thing. She played with his hands, hoping he wouldn't get upset. For some reason, she hadn't fully understood yet, he didn't want Clara to know who he was or what he use to do. He wanted to forget that life because it made him sad to watch time go slow and to wait life out until the end like the rest of us, but if she knew her Doctor better than anyone else, she knew he wanted to be out in the stars again.

It's why we gave him the fake name in the first place, he never explained what was up with that, but he just said it would be better if Clara never knew; it was for her own safety. It scared Rose at first, but now she wanted to know what could be so dangerous for her to never know her real father's identity. If he had seen the look on her face at the story, maybe he would change his mind.

"I told her a story. A wonderful one." He nodded, "And what was this story?" His voice trailed off as he played with her fingers as well. "It was about a big eared man who grabbed told a girl to run."

It almost seemed to pain him to hear that last bit. Sometimes he forgot just how important he was and still is, even if he was just half human. "She loved you, you know? The real you. Not John Smith. The Doctor. Just like I do." She pecked him on the lips, smiling up at him as she lied down on the pillows. He couldn't help but smirk.

"I am so impressive," he smirked.