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Chapter Two – Interesting Introductions

2 Weeks Later

Romana tipped a bottle of milk and let a little of it drip onto her wrist, testing the temperature. It didn't feel too cool or too hot, so she carried it into Emily's nursery. Her little girl had wanted milk ten minutes ago, but Romana had been asleep and hadn't heard her mental cries. So Emily had begun to cry, and then to scream in earnest. Romana did her best to keep calm. She'd read in a Time Lord parenting book that rushing to fulfil her baby's every whim could make Emily feel self-entitled when she was older.

Emily's eyes were shut tight, her little fists balled and her legs kicking. "Emily, Emily! I've got your breakfast here"Romana told her, feeling waves of hunger and impatience coming off of the infant. Emily peeked at her, and saw the bottle; to Romana's relief her ear splitting cries abated, and she reached up to grasp at thin air, gurgling. Romana carefully lifted her out of her cot, and settled down in the rocking chair.

Soon Emily was drinking contentedly from the bottle, looking up at Romana with those bright blue eyes. "You've got your daddy's eyes, you know" she told Emily, "Well, the eyes he used to have. You've got the hair I used to have as well. Our Emily, half me and half Doctor in one wonderful soul…I love you so much, darling" she murmured, smiling down at her daughter. She sent Emily her love through their bond and felt wisps of love in return, an instinctive display of affection. Her smile grew wider.

Where daddy? Emily asked curiously, still drinking. "He's out helping people, but he'll come back soon" answered Romana. After a lot of discussion, the Doctor had reluctantly agreed to go off occassionally and have adventures, save planets and rescue civilisations, whilst she and Emily stayed safe in the TARDIS. He hadn't wanted to leave her, or their daughter, for more than a few hours. This time he'd already been gone for eight hours, she couldn't imagine he'd stay out much longer.

/

At that moment, the Doctor was shaking the furry hands of the Cryoskian World Leaders, after saving their planet from an invasion of a neighbouring species, the Pyroskians. One planet was an Arctic wilderness, with an indigenous and peaceful species that resembled walking, talking polar bears; the other was a volcanic wasteland, with a native and war like species that resembled a cross between a tiger and an eagle. They weren't really like Earth animals at all but that was the easiest comparison.

"We are indebted to you, Doctor" one of the leaders rumbled, "You and your kind will forever be welcome here on Cryoskia". The Doctor thanked him and bowed, then made his lumbering way back to the TARDIS, and walked stiffly up to the console. The Corsair snorted at the sight of him. "Run for your lives, it's the abominable marshmallow!" he cried mockingly.

The Doctor pulled down his hood. "Ha, ha, very funny" he deadpanned, "Just dematerialise us whilst I get out of this thing". After extricating himself from the bulky snowsuit, the Doctor went straight to the nursery, where he found Romana cradling Emily and singing softly. He stood in the doorway listening to her for a minute…she had a beautiful voice. Soon she realised he was there, looked up and smiled at him. The Doctor walked over and knelt beside the chair, smiling down at Emily.

"Hello, girls, did you miss me?" he asked, pulling a funny face. Emily laughed and gurgled, waving her little hands in the air. "I missed you too. I have something for you, Romana" he said, taking Emily from her and placing a neatly wrapped parcel in her lap instead. Curious, Romana opened it to find a soft, silvery fur coat with a snowy lined hood. "Oh, Theta, it's beautiful" she said as she stood up and pulled it on. "It's a gift from the Cryoskians for saving their planet. They're a very generous species, they said we Time Lords would always be welcome there" the Doctor explained.

Romana kissed him on the lips, making Emily grumble that they were being 'icky'. "I love it. I love you" she murmured, "Doctor, I've been thinking. We should visit some of our friends, they were all so excited about Emily, and we haven't even introduced them to her yet" Romana pointed out. The Doctor smiled widely. "That's a brilliant idea! Who do you want to visit first?" he asked. It didn't take Romana long to decide on her answer; "River and Melody".

/

Further investigation revealed that River and Melody were on an excavation site in 21st century China, digging up a large plesiosaurus skeleton. It was very hot, so Romana plastered Emily with factor 80 suntan cream, put a little floppy pink hat on her head and drew the netted cover over her baby carrier. She then proceeded to do the same to herself, apart from the baby carrier thing, much to the Doctor's amusement.

There were a lot of people hard at work, painstakingly brushing and chipping away dirt from the fossilized skeleton. Wanna see! Emily demanded, so the Doctor set the carrier down and picked her up, settling her in his arms so she could look at the cliff face. "That's called a plesiosaurus" he explained, spelling it out, "later on we can go see a real live one in the past if you like". Emily gurgled in agreement.

It didn't take them long to find the 'Pond twins'; with their distinctive blond and ginger frizzy hairdos they weren't exactly hard to miss. The Corsair went to alert the two women of their presence whilst the others retreated to the shade of the tents, since Emily was starting to fuss. "Doctor, put her back in her carrier, she's too hot" Romana insisted. The Doctor, still holding Emily in one arm, said "She'll be fine, and besides, she wants to see what's going on".

Romana frowned at him, but then the Corsair returned with River and Melody. "Hello, sweeties!" they both said in unison, laughing. "Gosh, we haven't seen you guys in ages!" Melody commented; then River pointed at the baby in the Doctor's arms. "Is that…?" she asked in a tone of wonder. Romana smiled happily, her annoyance forgotten. "Yes, it is. River, Melody, I'd like you to meet our daughter, Emily Freya Smith".

The sisters showed them into a tent, where they immediately began cooing over Emily. "Oh, you are a sweetie pie aren't you, yes you are, yes you are!" River said in baby talk, before asking shyly, "I don't suppose...would it be alright if I held her?" The Doctor nodded and carefully passed Emily into River's arms. "You are so cute, look at you!" said Melody, peering over River's shoulder. Emily fidgeted and gurgled. "What's she saying?" asked Melody.

"She's asking why you're talking so oddly" the Doctor replied, before clarifying "Time Tots like Emily can understand normal adult speech from birth, they just can't speak it. Well, they can, but only telepathically and simply at first".

"So why did you let us talk to her like that?"

"Because it was funny"

"Oh, shut up"

River and Melody had to return to the dig, but they were very glad to have met Emily. "Bring her round to our flat anytime" Melody offered, and River was quick to agree. Back in the coolness of the TARDIS, the Doctor turned to Romana and asked "Who else do you want to visit?"

Romana considered, and finally settled on Martha and Mickey. She'd have liked to see Donna, but the ginger was probably busy with her own children and Romana didn't have the hearts to disturb her. They tracked the Smith-Jones' down to a comfortable looking house on the outskirts of Colchester. The Doctor knocked enthusiastically on the blue door – TARDIS blue! – And heard Martha call from within, "Okay, I'm coming! Be patient, will…Doctor!" she exclaimed, seeing him bouncing on the steps.

"Martha Jones!" the Doctor cheered, hugging his former companion tightly. He pulled back and beamed at her, asking in rapid succession "How've you been? How's Mickey? Can we come in?"

"Sheesh, Doctor, give her a chance to answer" said the Corsair, and the Doctor pouted, much to Martha's amusement. "I'm fine, Mickey's fine, and yes you can come in" she answered the Doctor's questions, before beckoning the Quartet inside. Martha led them to the living room and turned to face them. "So what's the occasion?" she asked, before her eyes fell on the baby in Romana's arms. "Is that..?"

A proud smile burst onto the Doctor's face. "It is! Martha Jones, this is Emily, Emily, this is my friend Martha" he introduced. Martha came closer and had a better look at Emily. "Oh, Romana, she's beautiful. Hello there" she cooed, reaching out to take Emily's tiny hand. The little Time Tot curled her fingers around Martha's thumb, gurgling. "What's she saying?" Martha asked curiously. Romana smiled and answered, "She says hello as well".

Mickey came downstairs, having been in the shower, and sauntered up to the others. "Hey Boss" he greeted the Doctor with a fist bump, grinning, "What are you guys doing here?"

"They've brought someone to meet us" explained Martha, stepping aside so her husband could see Emily. "Oh…wow. You make cute kids, Romana" he complimented – well, sort of – making the Doctor frown. "Hey, I helped make her!" he said petulantly. Romana offered to let Martha hold Emily, carefully passing her to the other woman. Martha rocked Emily, smiling down at her. "How come she has blonde hair?" Mickey asked out of the blue, "you two are brunettes".

"Kids don't always have the same hair colour as their parents, Mickey. Sometimes certain genes can skip a couple of generations" Martha explained, and the Doctor interjected, "Or incarnations; with Time Lords, you see, the genetics for children can be from any of the parent's past incarnations. Remember Jenny?" he asked Martha, who nodded, "She had blonde hair as well, because I used to have blonde hair, back in my fifth and sixth incarnations. Emily has inherited Romana's second incarnation's dark blonde hair, and my fourth or fifth incarnation's eyes" he explained.

Martha was keenly interested, and made a note to ask them more questions about their genetics over dinner. Of course, first she had to invite them to stay. "Would you like to have dinner with us?" she asked hopefully; she knew the Doctor didn't really do domestic, but now that he had a baby, maybe he'd changed his mind? "We'd love to, Martha, thank you very much" Romana answered, and the others all nodded in agreement. Martha smiled and gave Emily back to Romana. "Before I start cooking though, there's…something we want to tell you".

Mickey put an arm around her shoulders as Martha smiled happily at the Time Lords. "I'm pregnant" she announced, "five weeks along. We're really excited". There was a pause as the news sunk in, and then many hugs were exchanged, fists bumped and congratulations given. Romana smiled down at Emily, feeling ever so happy. Between Martha's new baby and Donna's twins, her daughter could grow up with good friends, and Romana was determined to make sure that happened.