Chapter Three

The Sonic Pacifier

"Oh my God…" Rose murmured. There was a baby entangled in the Doctor's normal wardrobe. Rose didn't have time to think about it. She quickly scooped up the baby, clothes and all and ran for the TARDIS door.

Pete grabbed her arm and held her upright.

"Where is he?" Mickey was frantic. He saw the fire in the TARDIS, anything could have happened. Mickey started to wonder if maybe the Doctor had regenerated again because he died in the crash. He would have given that Doctor a good right hook if he went and changed his face again before Rose could see him.

Rose stood still. Ignoring the burning TARDIS and carefully pulled back the coat lapel and unbuttoned the shirt buttons with one hand to reveal, a tiny baby. He, as she could see, since it's not like he had a diaper on or anything, was sucking on the end of the sonic screwdriver. She quickly pulled it out of the infant's mouth. The baby hadn't cried since Rose picked him up. She didn't understand how he was so calm.

Jackie, who was standing a bit back for safety and all that, ran up to her daughter. She looked at the small package in Rose's arms and immediately began to scream at her daughter "Rose!" She was obviously appalled at the site. "What have you done? Did you have a baby with that man! It certainly looks like him! What did you do up there in the stars!" They all looked at Rose, well, more like glared at her actually.

Rose looked up from the wonderful thing in her arms. She was still captivated by the baby and his eyes. "What? NO! …" They didn't believe her. "No really, no! We never… I only….. He never even said… We didn't do anything like that!" She looked at the baby and mumbled now. "Not even close to anything that would have the result of a baby." She was calmer.

"Well, that baby doesn't look a day old!" Jackie said. For once, she was the only person close to an expert in this matter, based on the people present that is. "Let me have a look." She reached out to the baby to hold him properly. Rose was reluctant but she did as her mum asked.

After Rose had stepped back after handing him off, he began to cry again. It was loud. Not just an unhappy baby, but a baby in pain. A terrible sound for anyone to hear. They all looked confused. He seemed just fine. No scratches on him or anything visibly wrong.

"I don't think he likes you very much, Jackie. Let me try." Pete stood in front of his wife, remembering what it was like when Tony was this age and took up the baby into his fatherly arms.

"WrAAAAAh!" the baby cried even louder. If that was even possible.

"Give him to me." Rose demanded. She took the few steps to her father and grabbed the baby. She held him close. She looked down to see his eyes again. But they were closed. He was sleeping with his hands up and under his chin and his legs slightly raised and crossed at the ankles.

"Well he knows his mum then." Jackie retorted.

"What?" Rose was getting pissed off. "I'm telling you the truth we never…. We never even kissed for Pete's sake!

"What? What do I got to do with you and your love child?" Pete asked.

"Nothing. Never mind. It's a phrase from our old world that…I guess never caught on here." Rose explained aggravated. Then she remembered. "And he's not my love child! I think I would remember having a baby and being pregnant and all that. And never mind it, we've got to save the TARDIS!"

Rose gives the baby to her mum and he starts to cry again. It's okay, the baby is safe but the TARDIS is not. They create a plan, Pete runs to the Hummer and pulls it around. Mickey and Rose attach the TARDIS to a chain, that was in the trunk (for emergencies and that sort of thing, you know). Pete drives the Hummer straight into the water with the TARDIS right behind, still on its side. The doors are open and water seeps into the foyer, over the controls that hiss and spark. Rose peeks in and sees that most of the fire is out. She signals to her father who pulls the soaked, but not burning, TARDIS back onto the beach. Mickey and Pete start talking about how they will get the TARDIS back to the mansion while Rose goes and runs back over to her mother and the baby.

"Why didn't you go back inside to look for the Doctor? He could still be in there!" Jackie says as Rose was still running up to her.

Out of breath Rose says "I don't need to. That's him." She looked at the baby. "He's sleeping for you?"

"Yeah, he fell asleep when you got the TARDIS into the water." Jackie reports.

"What?" Rose breathes. "Oh my God. What if…"

Rose took the baby and held her ear to his little body. "Only one heart is beating! He nearly killed himself. It must have back fired or something when he came through the vortex."

"Hang on. What did you say? 'That's him'? What are you talking about?" Jackie can be thick sometimes.

"This is the Doctor, mum."

"What, like, he changed his face again but now he's a baby?" Becoming a little less thick. Like a slowly melting banana milkshake.

Rose stared at the baby. "No, this is him. My Doctor. Right here. I'm not sure how. But it just is."

"How do you know for sure?" Jackie thinks she is still trying to cover up the fact that the baby is the Doctor junior.

"I just do." She moved the clothes around so the baby might be more comfortable. She started to get the pants, suit coat and the one shoe that survived the fire out of the pile. Then the long brown coat. Well. She put that on. It smelled like him. She hadn't forgotten his scent. And she didn't want to fold it up on the floor of the Hummer. She swaddled the baby in the shirt still with the tie around the collar. She held the baby for the whole ride home. She just watched him and made sure he was still breathing. He looked so weak an pale. She didn't know what else to do.

Rose spent the next few days getting little to no sleep. Life of a new parent. Except she wasn't his mother. They got some formula for him and diapers along with a few other items that were left over from when Tony was that age, a bassinette to put in Rose's room, for example. Since he would only sleep if she was close. She would check for both heart beats but still, only just the one. It made her very concerned. What if he was dying? Should she take him to hospital? No! She couldn't, they would find out he's an alien.

Rose asked her mum three days after she last saw the image of her Doctor, talking to her. "What was I like as a baby?"

"Well, you were sort of whinny overall. Y' never liked sitting still. You always needed to be walked around or rocked or something like that."

Rose chuckled at that. "Well that makes sense." She mumbled to herself.

"But this one is different. You grew so fast. You were gaining weight when you were this age, Tony too. Not this little one. He's not gained any weight."

"Is that bad?" Rose asked, she doesn't know anything about these right little terrors.

"Yeah. Sort of." Her mum replied.

Rose didn't sleep that night. She looked after him. He must be dying. Something must be wrong. How could she figure it out? What did the Doctor say before the TARDIS landed? There was something about dying. She wouldn't forget that, maybe something about his body dying? He did say to trust the TARDIS and to stay with him. A sacrifice? He didn't want to be alone anymore. Rose began to wonder how much time had passed for him since they were apart. It had been three years since the beach the first time around. Those years were horrible to her.

That time and distance spent apart pulled together into a memory that should be more than just buried. It should be cut into pieces, no, maybe, torn into pieces and burned in a slow flame that would make it suffer. Then after that it should be chewed by a Sicorax, spit out, eaten by any inhabitant from Rexicoricusphallivatorius and casted into a deep pit that goes to the center of the earth. Then it can be buried. Yeah, that should be good enough.

No hard feelings I'm sure.

It didn't matter anymore. Rose had hope. The baby felt right in her arms. His eyes looked at her like he knew something. Those dark, deep, brown eyes.

"By the time he grows up you'll be too old!" Jackie said over breakfast, seven days after the beach. Mickey and Pete had been thinking the same thing, but they were a bit more sensitive over the matter. Tony looked up from his cereal confused.

Rose didn't have an answer for her mother. Jackie had been nagging her for days now. Rose was worn out. She fed the baby, every few hours, changed the baby herself, watched over him and most of the time straight through the night. He cried. He wouldn't even stop for Rose and it was getting worse.

"WaaaaaH! He! He! He! Ahhh!" The baby started crying again from the next room. Rose got up immediately leaving her breakfast minus two bites without thinking. Good. She didn't have to answer her mum.

"What's wrong with my little brother dad?" Asked a cutest little Tony in the room.

Pete smiled and calmly explained "He's not you little brother, son. You're not even related. I'm sorry… What made you think that up?"

The conversation ended when Jackie slammed down her fork and followed her daughter. Rose already had the baby in her hands when she got there. "Well?"

"Well what? Shhhh, It's alright, love, I've got you." Rose didn't care what her mother had to say, she was focused on comforting him.

"Rose!"

"I don't know, mum!" She snapped and the baby started crying again. Her mother stepped back, not that Rose had never ever talked back to her, it was just different. Like a mother protecting her baby.

Rose stared at her mother waiting for something to be said. Maybe an apology. But nothing happened. Rose marched out of the room. With him, of course.

She went to the garage, where the Hummer and the TARDIS were parked. She stood by the familiar blue doors. The baby was still crying.

"Trust the TARDIS." She whispered. She looked at the crying baby. What a horrible sound. Tony never cried this loud all the time. She made up her mind and thought the baby might enjoy being inside the TARDIS. She carefully walked in. It was dark, the only light came from the open doors. The baby suddenly stopped crying. She turned to let the light shine on his face. He was barely breathing. She checked his heart beat… Still checking… Where is it? Rose was panicking. She couldn't hear either heart beating!

Then the baby started glowing.

"No!" Rose knew what was happening. He was regenerating. He had just died! Tears started to fill her eyes. He was getting heavy, too much for her to hold. What was happening? He was still the size of an infant. She fell to her knees and put the baby on the metal floor of the TARDIS. As soon as he touched the floor he began to change. An explosion of light came from all of his skin. He started to…