URGENT NOTE: As you may know, the BBC starts shooting the 50th anniversary special this week. If you'd like to see a proper tribute to Sarah Jane in the special, please consider signing the petition at www dot ipetitions dot com / petition/sarah-jane-smith-dr-who-tribute (automatic link removed because we don't want to break any rules) and passing it on to any groups you belong to. If we all pass it on, we can make a difference! Time (ironically) is of the essence! Thanks!
This story is a sequel to "Unfinished Business" and "Family of Choice", but all you really need to know is that Sarah's a Time Lady, and she's having a baby. (Impossible? Nope, but you'll have to go back and read those two stories to see how!)
This is AU, of course. Have fun!
The Fourth Thursday in November...
Once she'd found out her baby was due in early November, Martha had been thrilled to accept the Doctor and Sarah Jane's invitation to spend American Thanksgiving with them, but with one stipulation: she had no intention of taking their newborn Cecily on a trip in the TARDIS, so she'd insisted that the party come to them.
And that was just fine. The Doctor and Sarah had both been looking forward to the visit and a chance to play with the baby, even if she was so small she just slept most of the time. The truth was that Sarah was, by this time, very, very pregnant, and they were itching to get their hands on a baby they could actually hold as a way to keep going until their own was born.
So while the rest of British society enjoyed a normal workday, in the Smith household, it was time for The Great Turkey Massacre.
Sarah had cooked an enormous bird the Doctor had purchased in the 34th century with a priceless antique he'd had stashed in the boot cupboard. He maintained that that wasn't cheating, and that turkeys from that era could be that big without having all of the flavor bred out of them or being pumped up with chemicals. "What's the point of having a time machine if you can't eat well?" he'd insisted. "And besides, can you think of any other good that ever came out of owning a Rubik's Cube?"
Jack and Alonzo had rounded out the meal with more side dishes than they could possibly eat, and they'd all enjoyed a huge feast, followed by Jack hooking Mickey's computer up to the television and hacking a network's computer system so they could watch college football. Now Jack and the Doctor were trying to explain American football to Mickey and Alonzo.
Having watched them for a few minutes, Martha tapped Sarah on the shoulder. "Cecily is taking a nap, so I'm going into the kitchen to start on that mountain of dishes, if you want to lower your testosterone exposure a little."
Sarah laughed and pulled herself slowly out of her chair, then waddled into the kitchen with Martha.
"Cecily is so beautiful, Martha. It's so funny that you got pregnant first, but with all the time traveling we're doing, she's just been born, and I'm almost ready to pop! Hard to believe that I've been like this for eighteen months. Oh," she sighed softly as she rubbed her tummy. "I can't wait to see little 'Who's-it' in here." She laughed again as she started gathering up the dishes and putting them in the sink for Martha. "I'd like to be able to see my feet again too."
"Oh, I know exactly how you feel," she laughed with her. "Once I got to the third trimester, all I could think about was getting her out of me and into my arms. Have you started having nesting energy yet? That was such a rush for me. I made poor Mickey do a month's worth of work with me in a week."
"We've been rushing about the TARDIS like mad trying to get everything we need into the room we turned into the nursery. Even the TARDIS is full of energy right now. I think she's almost as excited about the baby as we are."
"Did you find out yet if it's a boy or a girl? I was thrilled when we found out we were having a girl," Martha said as she rinsed off a dish and placed it in the dishwasher.
Sarah shook her head. "We decided we don't want to know. As long as the baby's healthy, the rest can be a surprise."
"Well, you did get all those neutral colored things for your baby shower, but as soon as I find out what you've had, I'm getting something gender appropriate for you to take him or her home in."
"Thank you, Martha. You know, I can't wait to see the Doctor as a father. I'm sure he's going to be wonderful at it. He's been buying all sorts of toys for the two of them to play with. He doesn't know I know, but he's even been reading up on baby care. I'm sure it's the same with you and Mickey. Don't you feel like some days you have two children instead of..." Sarah stopped cold and just stood frozen for a moment. After a few seconds she looked over at Martha. "I think I've just had a contraction," she said in amazement.
"Oh, oh," said Martha smiling excitedly. "I think we better go and get the Doctor, the dishes can wait."
Sarah nodded and headed towards the rec room.
"Doctor? I'm sorry to interrupt the big game and our little celebration, but I need you right now."
Sarah Jane's voice sounded strange. While there wasn't panic in it, there was definitely concern. The Doctor was intimately familiar with how she should have sounded, and jumped up immediately, taking her by the hand. "What's wrong?"
Sarah Jane looked a bit nervously at him. "I think I'm starting to have contractions."
The Doctor felt both his hearts stop for just a moment. "Um ... OK ... we need to... to ..." He looked wildly around, as though he expected a solution to present itself. He felt silly; surely he'd assisted in births before, why should he freeze up now? 'Because this is my child!' he shouted inside.
Jack stood up calmly, smiling. "OK, sweetie," he said, putting a steadying hand on the Doctor's shoulder and using the other to take Sarah's other hand. "How far apart are they?"
"I can't tell yet. I've only had the one so far. I'm not even sure yet it was a contraction. It could be the turkey dinner just settling in my tummy. " Sarah looked over at the Doctor. He looked like he had just been struck by lightning. "There's no pain yet either, darling." She put her hand out to him.
"Pain?" The Doctor yelled, grabbing her hand for dear life. "There's supposed to be pain? Of course there's supposed to be pain, you're having a baby," he said, trying to calm down but not succeeding. "You're having a baby! You're having the baby!"
"Doctor, you need to calm down," Jack said.
"Did I hear that right? Are you having that baby now?" asked Alonzo, who up til then, was concentrating on the game. His eyes growing wide with panic. "You'd better get her to a hospital right away then, Doctor."
"Hospital," the Doctor repeated. "Of course, the hospital! We've got to get you to the hospital!" he said, starting to lead her out the door.
"Hang on a second, everybody," Jack said, "I think we're jumping the gun." But he wasn't sure anybody had even heard him, much less that they'd understood it.
Sarah was trying to calm everyone down as well. Jack still had her by the hand and the Doctor had her other hand. 'Any moment,' she thought, 'I'm going to be in the middle of a tug of war'. She stopped and pulled her hands away and held them up. "Please wait. I'm not even sure I'm in labor yet. Doctor, I just need to sit down."
The Doctor practically shoved a chair under her. "Are you all right, beloved?" He seemed genuinely frightened.
Sarah Jane smiled at him. It felt so good to be so cared for by him. "Yes my dearest, I'm fine." She brushed her hand on his cheek. "I think we should call the doctor before we do anything else and see what it thinks we should do."
"Right, the doctor," the Doctor sputtered, "we should -"
But Jack already had his communicator out and in his hand. "I'm linking in with Doctor Tranq now," he said, putting a hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "I'll have him in a moment."
"In the meantime," Mickey said, "You need to get into the TARDIS so you can get ready. Trust me, I've just been through this and I know the drill."
"I hate to cause such a fuss for a little tightening feeling. Besides, I'm not even sure if this is it yet. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to go back and take a shower and change my clothes. I have a bag already packed too. I'd like to make sure I take it with me," Sarah started to mentally run through everything she needed to do before heading out to the hospital. "I'm sure there's more but I'll think of it while I'm getting ready," she smiled.
"Oh no you don't," the Doctor said, now practically lifting her out of the chair. "You're not having our baby in the shower! Your clothes are fine, and if it's time, I'll grab your bag," he insisted. "Now you just listen to me, all you need to do right now is just get into the TARDIS, and you let me take you to the hospital, all right dear?"
Jack smiled. "Listen, I'm sure it's nothing, but we should probably just get you there and have you checked out, just to make everyone feel better."
Sarah pulled at her hair and sighed. "But I don't want to go looking like this. Can't I have just ten or fifteen minutes to shower and change so I can feel a bit more presentable?"
"OK," Jack said, not even hearing her, "I'm having trouble getting through to his office, so I'm just going to pop off and get the doctor. After I get him, I'll come back for everyone here, and we'll all meet you at the hospital." And with that, he punched his vortex manipulator and was gone.
"I hate when he does that," Alonzo mumbled.
"It's all right, darling," the Doctor said as he led Sarah Jane into the TARDIS. "Everything is going to be just fine."
Martha took Sarah Jane's hand. "As someone who's gone through this before, I can honestly say, don't worry it'll all turn out just fine."
"Thank you Martha," Sarah said as the Doctor opened the TARDIS door.
The Doctor tried to calm down as he led Sarah into the TARDIS and set her on the jump seat. He knew he shouldn't be panicking, but this was literally a first-time event - and not just for him, either. There had literally never been a Time Lord baby. Oh, Gallifreyan babies, sure, but not Time Lords. Before Rassilon, Gallifreyans had been a superstitious society, steeped in magic and mystery, and traditional live bearers. Then Rassilon, Omega, and the Other had given the Gallifreyans the ability to travel through time, creating the Time Lords and giving them extra-dimensional capabilities - and overthrowing the ruling Pythia, prompting her to curse the Time Lords with sterility. If Rassilon hadn't invented the Looms, the Time Lords would have been extinct right then and there. And if the descendants of the Pythia - the Sisterhood of Karn - hadn't been destroyed in the Time War, Sarah still wouldn't be pregnant.
So the Doctor felt that his nervousness was somewhat justified; absolutely nothing was a given with this pregnancy. What if something went wrong with the delivery? What if Time Lords simply weren't able to give birth?
Thankfully, Doctor Tranq was the best xeno-obstetrician in the universe, specializing in births for species about which little was known. Once they'd gotten past the fact that he normally worked for zoos - where else would you need a xeno-obstetrician? - they'd realized that he was amazingly good at what he did, and he'd put them at ease. He reminded himself of that as he set the coordinates for the hospital Doctor Tranq had specified. "All right, Sarah, just relax, we'll be there in just a moment."
"It's alright, I'm relaxed. It's you that I'm worried about." Sarah rubbed her tummy with a blissful smile. She was imagining herself with her precious baby in her arms and the Doctor smiling dotingly at the two of them. "We're just fine daddy, aren't we my little love?"
"Good, good, you just stay fine, both of you," he said distractedly as the TARDIS thudded to a halt. Putting an arm around her, he hustled her out the TARDIS door.
Two steps later, the floor fell out from under them.