"Oh, now that's ridiculous," began Sarah Jane. "Me, a woman who plans to be a confirmed old maid, having a baby? That's just the silliest thing..." she trailed off and turned her head away, trying to holding her tears in check as best she could and failing miserably.

John just held her for a few minutes, waiting. When she'd gotten some of it out and started to quiet down a bit, he said, "It's all right," he said. "Really."

"No it's not," she sobbed. "I've been dumped and I feel used and discarded."

John hadn't been expecting that. "Used and … certainly it can't be as bad as all that."

"How else can I feel?" He left me on the curb like last week's rubbish. I thought he'd be back for me in five minutes or less. Then after a month I realized, he never said he was coming back. He never said wait for me. He never really gave me a proper goodbye. He more or less just mumbled it to me." Sarah shook her head, still in disbelief over their parting. "I must have done something wrong. He was probably glad to be rid of me and I'll never see him again."

"Wait, wait," John said, trying to put things together. He'd assumed that the father was Harry, or the Brigadier, or even someone he'd never even heard of who'd been in her life just before he had met her, but now... "Are we talking about the Doctor here? Because from everything you've told me about him, none of this makes any sense. Starting with the baby himself. Or herself."

She laughed sarcastically. "Since when did anything the Doctor does make sense? He's definitely the baby's father, and I'm a total idiot. Not only that but right now I have a huge problem that really can't be solved." She pushed her lunch away.

"What's that?"

"Look, I don't care what anybody says about me. I'm a big girl and I can handle myself. My real problem isn't that I'm having a baby, it's that I'm having an alien baby. Don't you see," she said, grateful for the opportunity to say what she'd been holding in for so long. "I can't just walk into an obstetrician's office, hop up on an examining table and get a normal antenatal check up, now can I? I don't want to end up being sent some place where both me and my child are going to end up dissected. I can't even swallow my pride and turn to the Brig for help. I need the Doctor, John and I need him now!"

John took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "Sarah, from what I've seen working at UNIT the Brig is pretty understanding, and he really cares about you. If he knew you had a problem, I'm sure that he'd do anything he could to help you, right?"

"Of course he would, he always does. I sometimes hate having to turn to him for help because I don't want to take advantage of his friendship. That's why I'm careful about when to go to him for a favor." She paused a moment. "Well, I also know that he loves helping me out, so sometimes I ask him for little things just to make him feel good." She stopped once more considering what would happen if she confided in the Brigadier. 'No, it wouldn't work, no matter how I told him,' she thought. "This is different though, John. If I go to him now, aside from the lecture and the fact that it could turn him completely against the Doctor, I really think this is one problem he can't handle. UNIT doesn't even have an ObGyn on staff, let alone one that can deal with delivering a baby Time Lord."

"Well, I don't know about that," he said, taking her hand. "First off, I'm sure that if he knew you needed an obstetrician, he'd make sure that UNIT hired one, or at the very least he could find someone you can trust. Secondly, I've got a solution to the lecture, and your pride, and even nosy, gossipy neighbors."

John took a deep breath. "Marry me."

He put up a hand when she started to protest. "I know you don't love me, I know you're in love with the Doctor, but I …" He stopped to make sure he didn't say more than he meant to. "I mean that we can get married and say that this baby is mine and that your DNA got mutated while you were out in space or something, and that's why the baby's not completely human. And it's been this long and you're not even showing, so we probably have plenty of time even if people count the months. Then the Brig won't lecture you, and you can still go to him for help."

Sarah Jane stared at him in surprise for several moments before she could speak. "Oh John, I can't let you sacrifice yourself that way. What if I was foolish enough to say yes and then after the wedding, the woman whose ring you have on your dresser out in the shop shows up?" She shook her head. "No, that would be too much to ask of you, John, but I think you're really wonderful to be willing to do that for me."

John didn't budge. "It's not a sacrifice," he said. It occurred to him that he'd been thinking about this for some time, even as he was still trying to find out who he was. "I live here, and I have a job - two jobs - so it's only fair that I should contribute the same as you. And you've helped me, how could you think I could possibly just sit back and watch you try and do this on your own?" He could see that she still wasn't convinced. "I'll make you a deal. No strings. If we find out who I am and the mystery woman still wants me, we'll … we'll get a divorce. And if the Doctor turns up, same thing."

Sarah saw the determined look in John's eyes. This was no snap decision. "How long have you known about this, John?"

"I suspected pretty early on. Truth is," he said, looking at her tummy, "I've kind of gotten attached to the little peanut." He resisted the urge to pat her belly. "And I want to make it clear," he said quickly, "I'm just saying that we should get married for the baby. I'm not … you know … making advances or anything. I'd still sleep out in the shop, of course."

Sarah was in awe of John at that moment. Here he was, someone who had only known her for a few months, offering to give her his complete support. All this time, he had been living with her, almost sure about the fact that she was having a baby, but never saying a word about it to anyone. And now, he was even willing to marry her to save her from all the hardships of giving birth and raising her child alone.

She thought about that, and then she thought about the way he looked playing with the neighbor children. If the Doctor knew about this baby, what would he do? Would he want it? Would he reject it - and her?

She'd played these scenes out in her head dozens of times before, but she still had no idea what the results would really be. She thought she knew the Doctor better than anyone, but really how well did she know him, this man who was the father of her child? She was overwhelmed and in no condition to think. Finally she spoke. "You do understand what you're saying don't you? What you're offering me would be a marriage in name only."

"Exactly," he said. "I just … I just want to help."

Sarah Jane was so moved, and so unsure of what to do or say, that she simply put her head in her hands and cried.

John just held her. "It's all going to be all right," he said. "We can talk about it later."