A/N: Sorry for the delay, but my migraines won't bugger off!
Part 2
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"Hello, Gramps!" Donna greeted Wilf when he opened the front door.
"Donna!" he cheered in return, and rushed forward to hug her. "You're looking well. Being with the Doctor obviously agrees with you!"
"Any chance of a cuppa?" she asked in answer, not wanting to explain things on the doorstep.
Wilf eagerly led the way into the house, and helped strip off her coat, hanging it reverently on the coat stand in the hallway. "Come in!" he told her. "Ooh, it's so good to see you again, my girl."
Donna immediately felt guilty that she hadn't returned home for a visit sooner. But Wilf made her feel so welcome, all that soon disappeared as he idly chatted, telling her all that she had missed so far. "And what about you?" he asked as he placed a mug of tea in front of her. "What's your news?"
"Where shall I start?" she pondered.
"How about with the ring? Why are you wearing a wedding ring?" Wilf asked pointedly.
"Oh!" she exclaimed, and looked at the ring sitting on her left hand. "The Doctor insisted I wear it after we were on Fown. The people there were really anti me and the Doctor because we weren't married. Hopping mad about it they were; threatening to execute me for being a whore. So we played it safe on the next planet after that. I think it was called Lda. By the time we got to Bempob, especially after all that fuss on Sylrania, we decided the ring was a good idea. Well, when people assume you are married they tend to leave you alone," she explained.
"So you're not actually married," Wilf queried.
"Oh no! Not in the usual way," Donna answered. "We have…" And then she blushed.
"I see," Wilf replied.
Sylvia arrived at that moment, so all current events were related again, and dissected until the Doctor appeared about two hours later looking very agitated. He was bouncing on the spot when Donna opened the front door to him. "Donna!" he cried out. "I'm so sorry it took so long. Geniuses, huh?" He swept inside, and then immediately grabbed her around the waist. "Are you okay? Did it go alright? Did you tell them?"
She placed her arms around his neck to calm him down. "Yes, I'm okay, yes it went alright, no I haven't had a chance yet. Does that answer all your questions?"
He chuckled in reply. "Almost; just one more… how's junior doing?"
She smiled softly. "Junior is doing fine, so stop fussing and come and have a cup of tea."
"Tea? Oh good! I'm gasping," he enthused. "Any cake to go with that?"
She playfully swatted his shoulder. "Yes there might be, if you ask nicely; although I'm not sure I should give you any."
"Oh please, Donna!" He made his saddest appeal he could with his eyes and a little pout. "I need rewarding after what I've just been through."
"Who have you upset this time?" she asked with a sigh.
"Only some jumped up adolescent brat, and a Sat Nav system that tried to kill me," he supplied.
"In that case," she said, reaching up slightly to place a kiss on his cheek, "welcome home."
"Aye aye! What's going on here?" called out Wilf when he spotted the Doctor in the hallway. So introductions were made, and identities confirmed with Wilf and Sylvia, who hadn't been that pleased to see the man who had whisked Donna away from her wedding.
"I've come to give Donna some moral support," he admitted when they asked why he was there. He reached out to take a firm grasp of Donna's hand as she remained standing by him. "We've got some news."
"Then we'd better sit down," Wilf replied, inviting them both to go and sit in the lounge. It hadn't escaped Wilf's attention that something was going on between the pair of them, but he waited patiently to hear what it was.
Donna and the Doctor sat anxiously on the settee. The Doctor had never experienced a situation quite like this before; one where he might actually be attacked by a mother with an axe. There was always a first time for everything, he supposed. "Go on, Donna," he softly encouraged her, and gave her hand another comforting squeeze.
Donna took a deep breath. "Mum, Gramps, I've got something to tell you," she began boldly. "I've got some news and I'm not sure if you'll be pleased about it or not."
"Has it got anything to do with that wedding ring you're wearing?" demanded Sylvia, butting in before Donna could draw a second breath.
The Doctor let Donna answer that. "No, Mum. I thought I explained that… It's to do with…. It's something else entirely. The fact is, Mum, Gramps, I'm having a baby. I'm pregnant." She let out a big sigh as she finished.
"Pregnant?" Sylvia gasped in horror. "You're having a baby with that man?"
The Doctor started at the insult, but Donna squeezed his hand back. "Mum, before you wade in with the insults, it isn't the Doctor's baby. If you must know," she paused, not wanting to reveal the name but feeling obliged to anyway, "it was Peter."
"Peter? And after me trying to get you to be nice to him! I can't believe it!" Sylvia exclaimed.
Wilf looked like thunder. "So he deliberately got you pregnant and ran, did he?"
"No, Gramps," Donna replied tearfully. "It wasn't like that, and he doesn't know. He doesn't need to know because I'm keeping it and I'm staying with the Doctor." She tried to hold in a sob, and the Doctor immediately engulfed her in a hug.
"It's okay, love," he told her as she sobbed on his chest.
Sylvia got up and pressed a hanky into Donna's hand, who took it gratefully. "It's alright, Donna," Sylvia said to her in quite a consoling voice. "Me and Dad will support you every step of the way, if this is what you want."
Donna lifted a tear-sodden face to look at her mother. "I do, Mum. I'm keeping this baby no matter what."
"Then we need to say 'welcome to the family, Doctor'," Wilf declared, and got up to shake the Doctor's hand.
When they got back home to the TARDIS, Martha quickly cried off from staying with them too long, saying she was exhausted and just wanted to just have a bath before crawling into bed; so the Doctor and Donna were left alone to their own devices.
"That didn't go too badly," the Doctor stated when they sat in the kitchen with their ritual nighttime cup of tea. "In fact I'm inclined to say it went excellently."
"Which bit are we talking about?" Donna enquired, as she sat holding her cup tightly. "The factory, Mum's or the fact you almost sacrificed your life again without telling me?"
"I was thinking about the bit at your mum's, but did you mind about the whole sacrificing bit?" he asked, reaching out to take her hand. "It wasn't done on purpose without your permission."
She gave a little shrug. "Of course I'm not upset you almost got killed, leaving me all on my own. It's your decision."
"So you hitting me was you not caring?" he asked her to clarify.
She gave a sniff, and tried to hold back the tears. "Yeah, I don't care, and I'm not crying about that. This is purely hormonal."
"Of course it is," he pretended to agree. "And me doing this is me not caring too," he added, as he soothed a hand through her hair and caressed her cheek.
She smiled at him. "Thought so."
"Let's get you to bed, Mrs Wife. You must be tired out," he said softly.
"I am a bit, Dr Husband," she admitted, adding in a yawn. "Are you coming too?"
"Okay. I'll come and lie with you for a bit; until you fall asleep."
She kissed the side of his hand that sat on her cheek. "Thanks! What would I do without you?"
"Buy a whippet," he instantly replied, and they giggled together.
The Doctor lay on the bed, gently stroking Donna's hair as she drifted off. She looked so peaceful now, but boy had she been annoyed with him when they had left the Rattigan Academy! And rightly so, considering he had promised he would always be there for her and he had jeopardised that fairly quickly. In a moment of guilt he leant forward and kissed her on the forehead; and then instantly wanted to laugh. There was a time when she would have been livid if he had tried to kiss her in such a way, but lately he often kissed her on the head and she often kissed him on the cheek. It sort of went with their pretend marriage; quite nicely in fact. He liked being able to caress her hair whenever he felt like it, staying with her until she slept was nice, cuddling her was even nicer, and soon there would be a mini Donna running about. That fact pleased him immensely, much to his surprise and shock. At one time he would have protested it was too domestic, but with Donna it seemed perfectly right; it seemed to be them somehow.
Donna snuffled and changed position on the bed, and he watched her indulgently, still stroking her hair to his hearts' delight. Yes, he liked this arrangement; he liked it very much he decided with a smile.
"Why're you smiling, Spaceman?" Donna mumbled at him.
"Because I have you," he readily replied, and kissed her cheek. Donna merely smiled faintly in return and went back to sleep.
Martha had initially found out about the pregnancy in the factory, when the Doctor had rescued her from her bonds, by the clone vat. Donna had watched Martha's clone die before her and had burst into tears, clutching her stomach. Martha was completely puzzled when the Doctor had instantly abandoned her and cuddled Donna, telling her things would be okay, that she wouldn't suffer in such a way; and then he'd touched Donna's stomach protectively!
Now the first thing that had flown through Martha's mind had been 'how dare he?' because she was the one that had been held hostage by the Sontarans for hours, not Donna! Until all the tummy patting started, obviously. "What's going on?" she had demanded from them both.
"Ah, you see, Martha, the thing is," the Doctor had stammered for a few seconds.
Donna being Donna was much more blunt. "What he's trying to tell you, Martha, is that I'm pregnant. In fact you're lucky I haven't chucked up in front of you with the smell of that stuff."
"But… you said…!" Martha couldn't believe her ears. The Doctor… and Donna!
"Oh no! It isn't like that at all," the Doctor insisted, waving his hands about in emphasis. "It isn't mine!"
"How lovely that he fights so much to disown me," Donna pointed out sarcastically. "He'll be telling you next that he isn't my husband."
"But I'm not!" he instantly protested; and then looked sheepish, giving a nervous laugh. "Oh, I see what you did there."
There was an awkward moment where Martha waited for further information from the pair of them, but the Doctor merely led them onto the next thing; which happened to be a trip to the Rattigan Academy. The Doctor going onto the Sontaran spaceship and offering to die with them rather diverted their attention after that.
Having Martha back in the TARDIS surprisingly made their relationship seem almost naughty! They had to creep about to talk to each other privately; and the Doctor had to sneak into Donna's bedroom to gain their nighttime routine. Why they felt they couldn't be more open and honest puzzled them, but they desperately tried to keep up appearances that 'things were not that way'.
They even found themselves arranging little 'dates' when they could meet without observation during the day. It was quite invigorating, like having a secret affair. Martha knew Donna was pregnant, of course; it was hard to hide the fact now, but they still felt they couldn't show that they gave each other mutual comfort, as though it was forbidden.
They had arranged to meet in the library, and were sitting comfortably on one of the large leather sofas in there having a quiet cuddle when Martha suddenly appeared. Except they didn't see her arrive; they were too busy discussing the finer points of various washing powders when used to clean baby clothes, like you do.
Martha found them wrapped around each other, whispering low, and exchanging small innocent kisses; completely engrossed in their actions. Well, they would be perceived as innocent if they weren't compelled to sneak off and do this.
Deciding to experiment in order to determine whether or not this was an innocent situation, Martha stepped outside the library and made a noise as if she were approaching the room. The reaction was instant. The Doctor and Donna jumped apart, so that when Martha walked in officially the Doctor was standing by a bookcase while Donna remained on the sofa, supposedly engrossed in a book. Martha was not convinced by their act; but it was extremely interesting.
"What have you two been up to?" she asked as nonchalantly as she could.
"Oh this and that," the Doctor replied, as though he was being dragged out of a really interesting book. "Isn't it about time for a spot of lunch?"
"I think it is," Donna readily agreed. "Are you hungry, Martha?"
It never failed to impress Martha that the pair of them managed to make her feel included in everything when she was with them even though they were obviously sneaking around doing something. Did they honestly think she would be upset if they revealed their true relationship? All the fancying nonsense was firmly in her past now that she had her fiancé Tom. The Doctor wasn't hers and never had been; she had accepted that. It stung that he had easily replaced her at first. Who wouldn't be affected in such a way? But Donna had quickly won her round with her sympathy and compassion. The more she saw them together the more she could see they were good for each other. Who was she to deny them their own piece of happiness? She wasn't immature and petty enough to hate them for it.
With that in mind, she waited until they were munching their sandwiches before she asked her pertinent question. "Why are you two sneaking around seeing each other behind my back? You don't have to do that for my sake you know."
"Sneaking around? No!" the Doctor denied. "You've got it wrong, Martha. We wouldn't do anything like that."
"Are you sure?" Martha swept her beady gaze between both the Doctor and Donna.
"I think so; don't you, Donna?" The Doctor eyed Donna quizzically, daring her to say otherwise.
"Oh yes!" she readily agreed, taking her cue from him. "Why do you ask, Martha?"
"Because you…," she began to explain as the pair of them sat and looked at her with innocent expressions. They were obviously living in denial that they were doing anything that could be deemed as suspicious at all. How do you deal with that? Do you call them bare-faced liars, when she had been spying on them in a sense? Martha decided to let it ride for the time being. "…seem to have secrets," she finished saying.
The Doctor gave a derisive snort. "We all have our secrets," he argued. "Even you."
'Nowhere near as many as you, though,' Martha thought.
Later on Martha deliberately excused herself to go to bed early, saying she had some reading she wanted to catch up on. She had no intention of lying in bed reading; she was going to creep back and see what they were truly up to in her absence. It might all be perfectly innocent and her mind had gone into overdrive, although she couldn't think of a single scenario that would work in that way. She only hoped that the TARDIS wouldn't tell on her.
Walking softly barefoot down the corridor, she made for the library where she had last left Donna and the Doctor. As before, they were wrapped around each other on the large leather sofa, talking quietly together, when Martha peeped in.
"Well, Mrs Wife, it looks like we're going to have problems with Martha after all," the Doctor said as he embraced Donna closely and kissed her forehead.
Donna tilted up her head to kiss him back on the cheek. "I know, Dr Husband. She means well, but…"
The Doctor sighed. "I know what you mean. No one seems to understand that we aren't a couple and never will be."
"Yes," Donna tried to answer, but a yawn got in the way.
"Come on, Mrs Wife; time for bed." He released his hold on her to encourage her to stand up. As they stood, he couldn't resist giving her tiny bump a fond caress. "Junior is tuckering you out. I suppose we'll be switching you over to a maternity nightdress soon."
"Not too soon, hopefully, Dr Husband. I don't want to get too big in a hurry," she answered him, wrapping an arm around his waist.
He started to lead Donna towards her bedroom, so Martha quietly dashed to hide behind her own bedroom door. She heard the Doctor reply as they walked, "You'll never look too big in my eyes."
Donna chuckled as they both entered her bedroom. "You say that now, but just you wait until I look like a whale."
There was the sound of the Doctor starting to protest at that as the bedroom door shut tight once they were in the room.
Martha was gobsmacked. What was with all the 'Mrs Wife' and 'Dr Husband' stuff they'd been coming out with? Were they just affectionate nicknames, or were they really married? And if so why weren't they admitting it? The whole thing got curiouser and curiouser!
She resolved to see how long the Doctor spent in Donna's room, by leaving her door wide open and listening for the sound of his footsteps. She tried really hard, but when she woke up the following 'morning' Martha realised she'd not heard him leave! How where they going to explain that one? If they had anything to explain, of course.
It would be a while before she got the chance to ask.
