"Doctor?" Rose asked as she handed him his tea. "Do you mind if we go to London for a bit?"
He mock groaned. "Why?"
She settled into his lap. "I want to see mum."
"Does this have anything to do with how you've been feeling the past few days?" The Doctor asked, concerned.
"Not exactly." Rose cringed at the lie. "But it'd just be a day or two, I promise. You can spend the whole time on the couch."
"Well, I suppose." The Doctor rolled his eyes. As if he could refuse Rose anything. "Do you want to go right now?"
"In a bit." Rose settled herself against him. "I'm comfortable right now."
He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "Good. Me too."
The TARDIS materialized in the lot outside Jackie's flat. Rose dashed up the stairs, eager to see her mum.
The Doctor followed more slowly, but still mounting the stairs two at a time.
Jackie answered the door, and with a shriek, threw herself at them.
"I was just about to go out." Jackie told them, after she'd hugged and kissed them both to an inch of their lives. "But I can change the plans..."
Rose patted her arm. "No way. Don't change your plans. We'll be here for a bit anyway. We won't disappear."
Jackie shook her finger at the Doctor. "You'd better not!"
He'd already assumed his position on the couch. "I'm not going anywhere!" he protested.
"Good." Jackie hugged Rose one last time before disappearing out the door.
The Doctor heard Rose go into the kitchen.
"Bugger." He heard her muffled voice. Then louder: "We're out of anything to eat. I'm going to go grab something."
He didn't really want her leaving. Not after last time they'd been here. "We've got food on the TARDIS."
Her face appeared in the kitchen door. "Yeah, but I want some chips too."
He grinned at her. "Okay. Do you want me to come?" He moved to get off the couch.
A look close to panic shot across her face for a millisecond, before she smiled again. "I'll be fine. I'll have my phone on me the whole time."
He settled on the couch again. "If you say so. Hurry back."
"Of course!" The door shut.
He turned his attention back to the TV. Of course, he wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything until she came back through the door, he realized ruefully.
Thirty four minutes and forty seven seconds later, Rose walked back in, carrying a load of shopping bags. She set them down in the kitchen, before disappearing into the bathroom.
His mind finally at ease, now that the whereabouts of Rose were known, the Doctor relaxed again.
In the bathroom, Rose stared at the little white box. It felt like her entire life was at stake here.
Which, she realized, as she slowly opened the box, it was.
Because if she was actually pregnant, it would be the end of her life as she knew it. The human mother of a little Time Lord.
And the contents of this little box held the answer to that future.
It wasn't exactly fair, she contemplated, as her slightly shaking hand held the results up to the light. And she didn't want that future.
She waited.
The little blue plus sign reflected the light for a second, before it clattered to the floor.
Rose sank onto the edge of the bathtub. This was the beginning of the end.
The Doctor heard the clatter from the bathroom. He sat up. "Rose?"
No answer. Was she okay? He got up to knock on the bathroom door. "Rose? Are you okay?"
No answer. Growing increasingly more worried, he opened the door.
Rose was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, head in hands.
He walked across the small room. "Rose?" His shoe crunched something.
He looked down and picked the thing up. It was a pregnancy test.
He had just enough time to see the little plus sign before Rose snatched it out of his hands.
Oh.
Oh no.
"Rose?"