It had been a long night for the doctor; much of it spent pacing the TARDIS corridors. Sometimes his superior cognitive abilities were a curse, making the simplest decisions a maze of imagined complications. He had run through every possible scenario concerning Rose and the baby, but instead of finding clarity, the result had only been desperate worry for the two people he loved most in the universe. "What am I supposed to do?" the doctor demanded of the empty air, slamming his fists into the wall.

He was surprised to feel the TARDIS nudging him back telepathically. Although the doctor always felt connected to his ship on some level, she rarely intruded into the forefront of his mind. The ship whined, as if to chastise the Time Lord for his indecision. Slowly a picture came into focus in front of the doctor's ancient eyes. It was a woman, a woman with long blond hair, smiling softly. Though she looked different, the doctor recognized her immediately. It was Rose. Now, as the doctor gazed at her, two more figures began to materialize. One was the image of the doctor himself, same suit, same face, although he wore a few more laugh lines around his eyes. The real doctor held his breath as the third figure emerged. Could it be? A young boy stood in front of the happy images of Rose and the doctor. He looked about ten years old with wild, sandy hair and deep brown eyes. The child was grinning mischievously and held a smaller version of the doctor's own sonic screwdriver tightly in his hand.

The doctor sunk to his knees, reaching out as if to touch the child, and yet he knew it was only a projection of the TARDIS. As he stretched his arm, vainly trying to touch the boy's face, the image dissolved. The doctor found his hand resting on the cool surface of a door. The TARDIS had made her point. Whatever the doctor needed could be found behind this door. She had led him here, and she always took him where he needed to go.

Rose awoke smiling. She had been dreaming of the doctor. It was so vividly clear. He had been holding a tiny, snuffling newborn. Rose had never seen such tenderness on his face. As she returned to wakefulness though, the pain of yesterday returned to her. It was a cruel dream to have, when it seemed it could never come true. Rose sat up, pulling her knees in to her chest. Her bottom lip began to tremble, and an all too familiar tightness began in her throat. She was on the verge of tears when a shushing sound startled her. Rose looked around the room, but she was alone. It sounded like it had come from the ship itself. Probably the TARDIS was just venting some gas or other, she thought. But then she felt it, a gentle but insistent push against her mind. Rose recognized the feeling from some of her more intimate moments with the doctor, when he had they had merged their thoughts as well as bodies. The doctor wasn't here though.

"Bad Wolf" she heard the words echo in her head, as if she had thought them herself. "Bad Wolf" it came again, and then she knew. Somewhere in the depths of her being, remnants of the vortex responded to the call of the TARDIS. It was like meeting with an old and trusted friend.

"Bad Wolf," it came again, "do not be frightened, for you have seen into my heart, and I into yours. Do not despair, for you carry a child of Time and all will be well." The TARDIS comforted Rose. "You have healed the lonely traveler. Be patient and have faith in his hearts." And at that the sentient ship withdrew back into the subtle hum of her everyday state.

A moment later, the doctor opened the door. Their eyes met and powerful surge of love passed between them. The doctor moved forward and sat on the bed, wrapping Rose in his long arms. The stayed like this for a few moments, silently snuggled into each other.

"Whatever you want, Rose." The doctor whispered. "However you decide, I'll be here."

"Do you mean it?" she whispered back.

"Yes." He answered.

"I want to know what you want, Doctor." Rose told him.

"What I want doesn't matter." The doctor said.

"It matters to me." Rose insisted. "I need to know." And then the doctor did something he had never done before. Perhaps it was because of the vision the TARDIS had shown him, or perhaps it was simply his growing intimacy with Rose. The doctor took a deep breath, and ignoring the many protestations in his head, he revealed the secret feelings of his hearts.

"I want this child. I really do, Rose. Maybe I shouldn't say it, and I don't want you to feel pressured, but you said you need to know, so I'm telling you." He said it all in one breath. "I love you so much it scares me. I already love our child, this impossible child. He shouldn't even exist. Honestly Rose, I didn't think… I would never have let myself touch you, if I thought this could happen. But I did, and now I can't help but be glad." Once he started to open up, the doctor couldn't stop himself. "The universe is big, Rose. It's vast and complicated and... ridiculous and sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles. This baby is our miracle."

The doctor opened his mouth to continue his litany of heartfelt musings, but Rose put a finger to his lips. Tears were sparkling in her eyes, but for once they were tears of joy. The doctor looked at her questioningly. This is the point where she says she wants to go home, thought the doctor. Instead, Rose took his large hand and placed it onto her abdomen right above the place where their baby was growing.

"Allons-y" Rose said breaking into a grin.

"So… So we're, I mean… he's… we're having a baby?" the doctor sputtered in excitement and disbelief. Rose nodded.

"Yup" she said. The doctor gave a whoop of glee and swept Rose up into his arms, swinging her around. She laughed. The doctor set Rose's feet on the floor and started kissing her lips, her cheeks, and her forehead, all over her face. He only stopped to let Rose catch her breath.

"I hope this kid inherits your respiratory bypass system." said Rose. "But my fashion sense." she added teasingly.

"He's going to be the most brilliant baby in all time and space!" the doctor insisted. Rose and the doctor couldn't stop grinning madly. "Rose Tyler, I love you. A thousand times, I love you." The doctor kissed her again.

"I love you, my Doctor." She told him once he had released her mouth. "We better go and tell Mum the news…" The doctor swallowed hard.

"Allons-y…" he said weakly.


Sorry this chapter took so long to get up. Also, the quote about miracles is borrowed from the 11th doctor, so not mine, unfortunately. If anyone has ideas about what you would like to see next in the story or anything please let me know. And review! Thanks so much!