"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I said no!"

"And that is supposed to mean that I should desist? Good god woman if I listened to every alien invasion telling me I couldn't stop them there would be no Earth at all!" Alistair huffed, watching as his wife balanced herself against the kitchen side to glare at him ferociously.

"Call me 'woman' again, and you'll be sleeping at UNIT until this baby is born," she threatened. And the scary thing was, that Alistair believed she probably would change the locks if provoked enough.

"Liz," he sighed, "You are being irrational!"

"No. I. Am. Not." She hissed, turning away from him and picking up the basket of laundry he insisted was too heavy for her. She ignored the twinge of pain in her back out of sheer stubbornness. "I am perfectly capable of putting the laundry on the line!"

"Most wives would be grateful for their husbands help," Alistair threw his hands up in mock defeat "But not mine. No. I have to get one who is willing to ignore that her back is hurting because she hates being told what to do!"

Liz glanced at him in surprise, how did he know her back hurt?

"Liz," he said in a much softer tone, stepping forward to support the weight of the basket. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Liz wanted to stay angry at him. She really, really did. Because he was being the big man and offering to do everything and that always annoyed her. But he was just so genuinely concerned for her wellbeing… and she knew she was being irrational. She was practically about to give birth, feeling like a bloated whale and wondering why Alistair even bothered with her when she was so frumpy. With a look that would have made lesser men crumble, Liz relinquished her hold on the basket and sat down at the table.

Her back twinged again.

She watched as her husband negotiated the basket out to the line and began to peg up the washing in a haphazard and dysfunctional way, making Liz chuckle in sheer amusement. She had a good man.

Her back twinged again.

Liz frowned. She hadn't moved, so why –

"ALISTAIR!"

…

It had been an exceedingly traumatic few hours. Alistair had rushed her to the hospital with the bag and half-wondering if he had remembered to lock the back door in his haste to get to Liz after her wrangled scream of pain. He had paced, she had threatened him more than could be counted in single digits, crushed his hand and screamed in absolute, unendurable agony. He knew they were both getting on, so it was unlikely anyway, but he swore he was never going to put her through the pain of childbirth ever.

But now, holding his little girl in his arms, and smiling at an exhausted (and seriously annoyed looking) Liz, he could honestly say that the few hours were worth it (on his end at least). He reached across and took Liz's hand.

"Thank you," he said seriously. Liz smiled weakly as he leant in to kiss her gently. "Your turn again mummy?"

"Why thank you daddy," She muttered back with a roll of her eyes, a spark of her old fire returning. He delicately placed the tiny girl in her arms.

"I was right then," he ventured with a grin. As expected, Liz shot him a glare.

"Well, it's not exactly like we could have found out if it was going to be a boy or a girl, Liz muttered. "I'm just glad she's ok… that my age didn't cause anything to go wrong…"

Knock-Knock

"Ready for visitors?" Alistair asked gently, smoothing Liz's hair back. She appeared to steel herself before nodding.

Alistair opened the door to see Benton carrying a bunch of flowers, Yates looking awkward, Miss Grant practically jumping up and down with excitement and the Doctor holding a pink wrapped present.

"Before you come in," Alistair warned, then pointed at the present in the Doctor's hand. "Is that suitable for my daughter?"

"The cheek!" the Doctor blustered, looking highly indignant.

"Yes," Jo interrupted before he could really get going. "It's from both of us."

Alistair nodded before stepping aside to let them in. Jo and the Doctor made a beeline for the bed, the Doctor to congratulate Liz and Jo to coo over the impossibly cute baby. Benton and Yates hung back, not entirely sure what to do.

"So," The Doctor asked jovially, a little while later when Liz was wishing they would disappear and let her get some sleep. Alistair was supervising Benton holding the baby while Jo and Liz spoke quietly. All eyes turned to him. "I am assuming we won't be calling her Baby for the rest of her life. Do you two know what you are going to call her?"

The new parents glanced at each other. It was an issue they had discussed (disagreed) over many times.

"Kate," Liz said suddenly with a smile at Alistair. It was the name they had chosen weeks ago. The only one they had both agreed on. "Kate Elisabeth Lethbridge-Stewart."

The smile Alistair gave her made it all worth it.