A/N: Same thing with this story here that I did with Cuddles and Ginger Beer. I updated it so it's written a bit better, though everything is still the same.
He shushed quietly, mumbling words of comfort to the anxious baby as he slowly started rocking, walking around to set a steady rhythm. Gurgling and making cooing noises, the child grew less frisky as she took interest in her father's finger and reached out with her pudgy arm to get a hold. The Doctor smiled from ear to ear, not getting enough of the natural innocence radiating from the tiny creature in his arms as he bent his head down to kiss his baby's temple. The baby managed to grab his finger and gripped it tightly, bringing it towards her mouth to suckle on it. His fluttering single heart from the sight of his offspring caused a unique sense of euphoria within his chest, one that felt all-too instinctual for the half-Time Lord.
It had been three months since the routine began, and the both of them could hardly believe that their life came to this. It had been two years since Bad Wolf Bay, and despite the stress associated with parenthood they had coped well enough, especially when they fell deeply in love with their small daughter. Rose stood in the doorway to the kitchen nearby with a warm bottle in hand, feeling reluctant to interrupt the father-daughter bonding moment that she absolutely loved to witness whenever she had the chance. Sometimes she felt a bit jealous, even, because she often left for her part-time job at Torchwood throughout the week and didn't have the same opportunities as the Doctor did with their daughter.
Money was especially tight for the new parents, especially when Jackie and Pete were gracious enough to let them stay at their house until they gathered enough money to find their own place. The elder Tylers were not going to let them squander in the riches Pete had provided, and taking full responsibility of the new life Rose and the Doctor were building was their goal. Even so, it would take a few years before they gathered enough to move out. At the moment it was hard enough for them to pay the rent, which Jackie had insisted since her and Pete selflessly offered their home.
Making her way over to the proud father, Rose greeted him with a smile and held up the small bottle. "Thank you," he said, returning a smile and bringing the bottle to the baby's lips. Recognizing the familiar shape of what she knew to be dinner, the baby let go of the Doctor's finger and reached out to willingly accept it, sucking hungrily on the nipple. The Doctor giggled, like he usually did; the fact that the baby got so quiet the moment she was given the bottle always made him laugh.
Rose couldn't help herself as she lifted up her hand to pet her daughter's silky tufts of blonde hair. "It's amazing how soft they are at this age," the Doctor mused, positively fascinated with the whole experience. Even though he had been a father before, he could never get over the wonder of taking care of a baby when looming was the primary source of reproduction on Gallifrey. Being half-human and living a drastically different existence helped with the change, too, nevertheless. He used the back of his fingers to gently brush the baby's cheek, grinning brightly at his bundle.
"You look tired, Doctor," Rose observed, noticing the bags under his eyes. While Jackie, Pete, and her were all working, the Doctor was constantly left home with the baby. While Rose knew that he didn't mind being the stay-at-home father and loved spending time with his daughter, the baby still packed a good set of lungs to wake him up in the middle of the night.
The Doctor looked at her quizzically. "Me? Tired? Nah! I'm perfectly fine; fit as a fiddle!" As if on cue, he let out a gigantic yawn as Rose gave him a look.
"The moment Mum gets home, she is babysitting. No exceptions."
The Doctor gave her a mock-hurt expression, gripping their baby closer to his chest. "That vile beast will not have my baby girl!"
Rose rolled her eyes. "Marie will be perfectly fine with my mum, Doctor, now stop that."
He pouted, positioning the bottle in the baby's hands so that she can drink her formula with ease. The Doctor noticed Rose sit down on the couch with her hands rubbing her eyes, and in response he sat down beside her with an equally sleepy gaze. "You look tired yourself, Rose."
"Mm," she acknowledged, biting back a yawn. "I've been so run-down, and I hate it. I feel like an awful mother, bein' gone all the time just to pay Mum rent. If anything you're the one being the good mum right now…"
The Doctor gave her a competitive grin, tilting his body towards her slightly. "Care to prove me wrong?" Rose softly smiled, her visage brightening as she willingly accepted Marie.
"Hi, sweetheart!" she said softly, feeling ecstatic to hold her daughter since she just came back home that afternoon. Marie was still suckling, content as ever as she felt the presence of her mother. "You keepin' an eye on Daddy for me while I've been gone?"
The Doctor snorted, rolling his eyes at Rose's remark. "Your stunningly handsome dad is a caring parent and she doesn't have to worry about how amazingly good he is at being Father of the Year." All the while he cooed at Marie, running his fingers through her thin blonde hair and smiling affectionately as she finished up her formula.
"My god, you're worse than me," Rose snickered, placing the empty bottle on the coffee table beside her as she giggled at the Doctor's affections for her.
"Oi!" He playfully swatted her arm as she chortled, watching as he got up from the sofa and headed towards the kitchen.
"Where're you goin'?"
"Just grabbing a bite," he called over his shoulder, disappearing into the other room. Rose heard the fridge open and close, and she couldn't help but reach her eyes to the sky once more. The Doctor had been rummaging through the fridge more often than not since her pregnancy began. She wasn't all that surprised since it was common for married folk, but after three months since the delivery he was still eating as though he were pregnant himself. She did admit, however, that the extra meat on his bones suited him; in a way, since he was so slender before, the extra weight managed to help him fill out in the right places, as well as earn himself a small pair of love handles, which she hardly minded. All in all, he was still relatively thin for his tall figure, yet looked a lot less pale and practically glowed with health. It didn't stop her from teasing him, though.
He reentered the living room, a large slice of apple pie on a paper plate that already had a forkful taken out of it.
"…Really?" she said, mildly disgruntled.
The Doctor paused mid-chew and glanced back at his wife. "Wha'? I haven't eaten since this morning. This usually happens after you eat breakfast, you know."
Rose ignored his sarcasm. "Yeah, but apple pie? For lunch?"
The Doctor swallowed the pastry left in his mouth, looking slightly sheepish and didn't make direct eye contact. "I was just getting rid of the pie that Jackie made for Christmas. It's been sitting there for a few days now, so, you know… can't let it go to waste."
Rose laughed through her nose, trying to hold back a wide smile with her hand. "You're just giving excuses to be a fat-arse."
The Doctor stopped the fork halfway from reaching his mouth, slowly turning his head as he set his plate down in his lap. "Well excuuuuse me, Rose Marion Tyler, for having the common symptoms of couvade syndrome! Rassilon forbid I feel similar symptoms of my beautiful, once-pregnant wife, whose well-being I care very much about, due to prolactin, testosterone, cortisol, and estradiol fluctuations. Might I remind you that it's a response to our prominent lovemaking during your ovulation." He stuck up his nose in mock-offence, snootily putting the ample piece of apple pie sitting patiently on his fork into his mouth. "And besides," he added as he chewed and swallowed, "who was I to know that it'll affect me as much as it did? I've only been alive as metacrisis for two years, and half-human might I add. Who knew that my physiology would react the way it did…"
Rose looked at him as though he were daft, feeling the need to kiss him and give him a firm smack all at the same time. "For someone who came from a Time Lord—and technically is a Time Lord, you clearly are just as oblivious as every other bloke. Since I am no longer pregnant, I don't think it's hard to claim that this"—she reached out her finger to poke his stomach—"is sheer proof that you have let yourself go; it's not because of sympathy, it's because you like to stuff yourself with pie."
The Doctor could only look down at his belly meekly as Rose snuggled up with their daughter. Placing a hand on his small 'baby bump', it humbled him a bit to notice the changes that went along with the life he came to accept and become comfortable with. He looked back up at his Rose with Marie, who had finished feeding and looked ready for a nap. Rose started rocking her gently, kissing Marie's small head as the baby slowly started to drift. The beautiful smile that his wife vivaciously spread across her face made his heart flutter with a familiar warmth. It had only been three months, and yet the tenderness coming from being a father was all too real. He wanted to see that same starry-eyed smile on her every day for the rest of his short life. The girls in his budding world were his everything, and he wouldn't have it any other way. Despite his drifting mind, he continued to play along.
"Okay… so maybe I put on a few," he admitted with a squeak to his voice, pulling at his ear as he glanced at his abdomen with mild chagrin.
"Try two stone," Rose said under her breath with a smirk, trying to burp Marie in the process.
"I heard that!" The Doctor retorted jokingly, a small smile on his face. "Don't criticize me when you were the pregnant one." He turned away, his arms crossed and chuckling to himself as he imagined the expression Rose gave him.
Rose gaped at him, her eyes wide at his comment. "I've only put on half of what you've got! That's less than the average pregnant woman, you git!"
"Still… I did not put on that much weight."
Rose groaned, playfully exasperated at her lover's behavior. "Whatever you say… fat-arse." The Doctor got up from the sofa once more, sticking his tongue out at her remark. "Where're you going now?"
"I'm still hungry!" he called, paper plate and fork in hand. Carrying the baby with her, Rose followed him to find that he was scraping off the last bits of apple and pie crust from the container, which if anything was a desperate attempt on his part to indulge in Jackie's good cooking (though he didn't want to admit how much he liked it). She couldn't help but let out a small laugh as she bounced up and down in a steady beat, trying to keep Marie in a comfortable slumber as she watched her Doctor being his usual greedy self when it came to food.
"Oi, quit laughing at me!" the Doctor said, shaking the container of Reddi Whip that he received from the fridge. He glanced over at Marie, and asked her in a teasing tone, "Marie, is Daddy fat?" Rose almost lost it as he bent down with his hand to his ear as if Marie was actually giving him his undivided attention. "She clearly says no! What do you say to that, Rose Tyler?" In response, he squirted the Reddi Whip onto the piecrusts and lonely pieces of apple on his plate, and not giving a damn as he finished eating it up.
Rose was still bouncing the baby girl in her arms as her smile was from ear to ear, before finally meeting his eyes with the same jovial expression. "I'm going to respond… and say that I was kidding." Looking back at Marie, who by now had fallen asleep to her mother's movements, Rose put her in her carrier that was sitting on the table. For a moment the two of them watched as the baby turned on her side and gripped the soft blanket that encased her tiny body. It never got old.
The Doctor was caught slightly off guard as Rose wrapped her arms around his midsection, her head to his chest as he encased her with the same amount of warmth. "You look fine. There's no need to worry your pretty little head about a little extra around the tummy. You filled out a bit, that's all. It happens. Still the same man I fell in love with."
The Doctor grinned wolfishly, flashing her a white, toothy smile. "Still sexy?"
"Still sexy," said Rose, giving him her signature tongue-between-teeth smile.
"Damn right I am," he joked, giving her a wink that always managed to make her weak in the knees before planted a kiss on her head.
Rose had no idea how important it was to hear those words, to reconcile how she had accepted him. Accepted him as the Doctor; not just a copy; not just a clone, but truly her Doctor. He wanted to weep every time she told him that she loved him. Everyday he thanked the gods in the universe for giving him this one time to be happy.
They stood there for a few moments, the Doctor's arms rubbing her back as they enjoyed the embrace. The Doctor couldn't help but let his mind wander again, drifting his hands from Rose's back and trailing it across her torso and over her hips. Rose mumbled in appreciation as she dug into his pectorals, feeling his hands softly touch her thighs. Making his way back up her body, the Doctor suddenly stopped his movements when he ran a hand over her stomach.
He'd been meaning to ask her for some time now, even though they had only just begun with Marie. He didn't understand these feelings or where it came from, but somehow it felt all too right for him to have such a need with the woman he loved. Everything was so new to him now, and something that so many people took advantage of in this same situation made his stomach do flip-flops. He tried to muster up some courage, hoping that the stinging blow of her rejection would be as painless as possible.
"Rose?" She met his soft, chocolate eyes. They looked down at hers, pleading nervously yet almost seemed to glow joyfully. "Did you… I mean—" She awaited his response, slightly confused and worried at his sudden change of behavior when he was flirtatious just moments ago. The Doctor was unsure on how to voice his request, as Rose surely noticed. Looking down for a moment to lift up his empty plate to her eye level, he asked in a tone just above a whisper, "Do you… Do you want to bake another pie sometime?"
Rose blinked her hazel eyes, a look of pleasant surprise on her face.
"I mean… I know it's only been three months and Christmas just ended, and I know you're a bit stressed out at work and things aren't going very smoothly right now. And… and I'm not trying to rush anything at all, and if you don't want to then—" Amused, Rose placed a finger to his lips, and for once the Doctor was completely silent. Her red lips were curled into a soft smile.
"What flavour would you suggest?"
The Doctor could only stand there like a gaping fish, surprised at her tone, as it was his turn to blink his eyes. "Weeeellll…" he drawled, trying to think the best he could with his gorgeous wife giving him suggestive looks. "We can try for a bo—er, I mean banana cream. I like bananas. If… if you want…"
Rose could only giggle, pecking him on the lips and said quietly, "Banana cream it is, then."
A/N: This was inspired by my cousin's four-month-old baby, Aiden, and mpreg fics. Yes, mpreg fics. I don't know, either, guys. For the sake of it I'll blame Tumblr.