Another two months had passed since Eliza and Rose had met Oliver and Amelia, the incident becoming distance a memory as time went by, the memory emerging when Ken's 'big win' made the newspaper, being the first to win the Jackpot in over three years.
Rose was now six months along with only another one to go, and she couldn't wait to have this baby. There were some moments where she was quite content being heavily pregnant, such as watching TV. Often, she, Eliza and Jackie would watch something or other, and Rose would subconsciously begin to rub the baby bump, thinking how incredible it was she was carrying a baby, one that she already loved dearly and couldn't wait to properly meet. There were times, however, when she just wanted the baby out, especially when the unborn baby girl was in an athletic mood, kicking against the warm caged walls that kept her confined. It was on such a day when Rose had a small emotional breakdown, the fact that her child was kicking actually bringing the truth flying to her. This was an actual living being, someone who would have to depend on Rose for most of her life, someone Rose would have to teach and nurture and be a mother to for the rest of her own life. The thought was overwhelming, sending Rose to her quiet bedroom to avoid her own mother's comfort ness, which she defiantly didn't want.
Jackie herself had calmed down drastically when it came to mood swings and food cravings. Her main desire now was tomatoes, a fruit/vegetable she was growing fond of very quickly. Pete was there with her whenever he had free time, the two of them already discussing names and the possible futures of their baby, which was a boy. Pete protested about knowing the baby's gender, wanting it to be a surprise for its birth, but Jackie insisted that she knew. Pete was a little disappointed, but was soon ecstatic at the thought of having a son; like a miniature version of him, Jackie always said.
Mickey was spending more and more time at Torchwood than he was at the mansion. He had his mind set on figuring out new plans for Torchwood, even going as far to consider attempting to design a Vortex Manipulator, like he'd seen on Captain Jack Harkness. However, once his grand-mother had moved into the Tyler mansion, he was spending a lot more time at home, Eliza enjoying the company of their new resident, especially when she slapped him around the head when he said something sarcastic or cocky.
Eliza herself, well, she was on the brink of death.
Eliza watched as some of Pete's maids walked around the room. One was dusting, the other was washing the dishes in the kitchen, which she would offer to do herself if she wasn't still banned from the kitchen thanks to her last little stunt.
This was what her life had temporarily come to. She was actually watching people clean the house. What she should have been doing was whizzing through the Time Vortex, helping people wherever she could. Instead, she spent most of her time wishing this damn baby would decide to introduce itself to the world sometime soon before she died of boredom.
Flicking through the TV to find absolutely nothing on, she stared out the window to see Mickey walking Rita around the garden, him helping her with any steps she couldn't see. Eliza smiled calmly. He was a lot more happier these days, and Eliza knew it was because Rita was out of that house, the one Mickey's real grand mother had died in. Now that the last remains of his family was safe and sound, Mickey was a lot better. Even though looking out at Mickey and Rita was a happy, simple moment for the young woman, it still didn't relieve her from her boredom.
Rubbing her eyes fiercely, she jumped up onto her feet, sticking her hand in her pockets as she paced around the room, orders from Jackie to sit down brushed off immediately. It was her fault anyways. If Jackie hadn't forbade her from the kitchen- her only source of entertainment in that stinking world- she would be in there whipping up something to eat, taking more care than she did the last time, being as she now knew how to use a blender.
Looking over to her blue and white coat, she moved to grab it, her fingers tightening around the collar. "I'm gonna go out, alright?" she said to Jackie, who nodded as she turned the TV over to a re-run of Coronation Street.
Shaking her head at the blonde's love for soap operas and other TV programmes, Eliza made for the door, her hand reaching for the handle.
A sudden buzzing at the back of her mind stopped her dead in her tracks. She gripped the handle tightly, her knuckles becoming a disturbing icy white, her veins popping up from her skin. As she heard a quite, small gasp in her mind, her heart rate quickening unnaturally as her hand became increasingly clammy. "You alright, sweetheart?" Jackie asked from the sofa.
Looking down at her sharply, Eliza released her grip from the wet handle, chucked her coat messily back onto the rack and threw herself up the stairs, two steps at a time. Running through the suddenly narrow hallways, she came to Rose's room, which was shut firmly.
Thundering through the door, Eliza froze to see Rose sitting up straight in the bed, her bad flat against the head board, which was practically cracking under the strain of Rose pushing her head back, her right arm hooked around her stomach as her eyebrows furrowed in pain. "Rose," Eliza started warningly. "I don't want you to panic, but I think you've just gone into labour."
Rose shook her head violently, obviously gritting her teeth as she did so. "You said it was at least another month," she spat, her free arm being securely fastened around Eliza's shoulder as the young brunette got her into a standing position, heading straight for the bathroom. "Yeah, well sue me," Eliza replied as they stepped into the white room. "I can get things wrong sometimes."
Rose sat down on the toilet as Eliza ran from the room, grabbing two towels as she went. She flew down the stairs, locating Jackie and Pete immediately. "Pete, phone a doctor, Rose is in labour," she explained vaguely as she handed the towels to one of the maids. "She's in her bathroom, keep her on the toilet until her water breaks," she ordered, the maid snapping to action quickly as she jogged up the stairs.
"What do you mean 'phone a doctor'?" Pete asked as if she were mad. "We've got to get her to a hospital."
"Why?" Eliza asked, looking around the kitchen for stuff to use. "Why can't we have the little miracle here, huh? Why does it have to be in a hospital?" she asked sarcastically as she hastily wondered around he room. "I will tell you why that little girl can't be delivered in a hospital, because as soon as she's born, they'll make sure to check the baby's healthy and check her over- opps, two hearts, uh oh!" she exclaimed as she took a pair of scissors from the drawer. "Seriously, Pete, use your brain. They'd take her away. That's why we can't take her to a hospital. So, I suggest you call one of your doctors from Torchwood and have them get over here, or else I'm doing the delivery myself, 'kay?"
To say Pete was fuming was an understatement. He would be having serious words with the young woman after this was dealt with, even though her little speech did make sense. But nethertheless, he was the Director of Torchwood, and she defiantly didn't tell him what to do.
Walking to the home phone, he dialled the number of Torchwood heavily, waiting for the ringing as Eliza ran back up the stairs, Jackie close behind her. The two women soon found that Rose had been moved to one of the guest rooms, mainly due to the scream of pain coming from a room that wasn't Rose's.
Mickey and Pete were up not too long after, leaving Mickey's Nan in the safe hands of one of the maids. "I heard screamin'," he explained vaguely as two other maids went into the room. "She said Rose is givin' birth," he added, pointing to one of the younger women.
"Yeah, she told you right," Pete said, taking his mobile out. "A doctor will be 'round in a few minutes." Eliza nodded, but winced at another scream of pain that spread throughout the hallway. Pete looked down at her, Jackie muttering worriedly, "Don't remember is bein' that painful."
"The baby doesn't want to leave," Eliza told her. "This isn't just a human birth were talkin' about. Usually on Gallifrey, the doctor would encourage the baby to come out through a telepathic link, calm it so the birth would be easier." Another scream erupted from the room, sending icy chivers running down Eliza's spine. "The baby's holding on, it's not going anywhere anytime soon." Taking a long breath as the dimly lit room was filled with heavy panting, Eliza took her jumper off and threw it onto the radiator.
Walking through the door carefully, Eliza scoffed when she was ordered to leave, walking straight to Rose, who was lying down on the double bed, obviously uncomfortably. She placed one hand on the large bump, Rose grabbing the other out of panic. Unable to look at the struggling blonde in the eye, she muttered, "I'm going to need you to calm down, okay?" Quickly, Rose's breathing returned to as normal as it could get, Eliza focussing on looking for the baby, which was lodging itself tightly in Rose's womb.
She sent calming emotions to the unborn baby, ignoring the several gasps behind her as her hand began to pulsate a deep, brilliant blue. Once the baby had calmed enough, she took away her hand, smiling at Rose in earnest. "Better?" she asked, her mind still linked with the child's. Rose nodded without saying a word, her contraction coming in mere whimpers now.
Eliza jumped at the sudden bang of the bedroom door opening, turning her head sharply to see someone stood in the doorway, most probably a doctor, due to the case she was carrying. Giving Rose one last squeeze of her hand, she let go, the doctor taking her place.
Soon, it was only Rose, the doctor and two maids that were in the slowly suffocating room, the woman complaining that anyone else would only get in the way. Jackie, who was sitting on the living room sofa, had her hand placed firmly over her mouth as she struggled to contain herself, worry over her daughter overwhelming her quickly. Slipping onto the sofa, Eliza snaked an arm around Jackie's shoulder, giving her a comforting hug. "It'll be fine, Jackie," she whispered. "These birth only last an hour, usually less. She'll be fine," she promised.
Jackie nodded, giving a some what smile and placing a tight hand over Eliza's. Soon, after she'd sobered, she walked to the kitchen, for once letting Eliza follow her.
A loud, tiny cry erupted through the Tyler Mansion, letting the people inside know there was a new resident. The cry was followed by more, which was then followed by the quiet bang of a door, the two maids walking down the stairs not too long after, smiles plastered on their faces. Jackie quickly ushered the two young women to her, demanding every tiny little detail. Any hair yet, how big was she, how big were the baby's fingers, the list went on.
Taking the opportunity, Eliza hastily made her way up the stairs, making her way through the seemingly endless hallways. Stopping at the uncomfortably familiar door, she took a long breath, then placed her hand on the golden handle, pushing down with difficulty. Peeking through the small crack, her breathing hitched when she saw Rose, a bundle of towels settled comfortably in her cradled arms as she looked down at the contents with big, droopy eyes.
Noticing the added light in the room, she looked up, smiling tiredly at the curious looking figure standing in the doorway. Taking her smile for an invitation, Eliza gingerly made her way across the room, the sight of a tiny baby fitting snuggly in Rose's arms made her feel... what was the right word? Guilty? Ashamed? For what she was about to do, those word wouldn't even come close.
She gave whatever smile she could to the new mother, bringing the towel back slightly to get a better look. The baby looked up at Eliza, her mind instantly becoming filled with giddy wonder and curiosity, emotions that clearly came from the newly born being. As her tiny hand stretched out, Eliza extended one finger, which was quickly encased by the small paw. Her little brown eyes searched Eliza's blue ones suspiciously before she made a small gurgling. Rose gave a weak smile as she looked at the two, not wanting to let the bundle go. "You should get some rest," Eliza told her as Rose's eyes began to drupe.
Shaking her head in protest, the doctor came out of the bathroom, wiping her hand on a clean, blue towel. "No, Miss Tyler," the woman said in a thick accent. "The wee girl's right. Child birth can take a lot outta you the first time. Best to get some rest." She closed the case she'd brought with her, sliding her coat back on. "If you want, I can take her down to your mother and-"
"No," Eliza said hurriedly before she could stop herself. "No... I mean... if you don't mind, I'd like to hold her for a bit, before Jackie gets her all to herself." The doctor looked at the young woman carefully, then shrugged. "Doesn't bother me either way," she admitted. "I'll be 'round tomorrow to check she's alrigh'." Without any further words, the doctor pranced from the room, closing the door gently behind her.
The next few moments were deadly quiet ones, filled with Rose watching her baby look around the room with wide eyes, occasionally looking up at the woman who had carried her for six months. The sight made tears bounce to Eliza's eyes, herself having to blink them away furiously. "Really, Rose, you should get some sleep," she insisted. "You're practically dead already."
Rose looked silently down at the baby in her arms, then back up at her young friend, giving a reluctant smile. True, Rose was tired, but she wanted her little girl in her arms even more. And she could hold her as much as she wanted after she woke up, anyways. Well, unless Jackie didn't get to her first. Re-adjusting the light human in her exhausted arms, she leaned up more, ready for the unwanted transfer. Slowly, the small baby was smoothly taken out of Rose's arms and delivered into Eliza's waiting ones, where she held the baby tightly, securely.
Rose lied back down at the sight, giving a genuine smile as Eliza looked down at her baby, her eyes fluttering closed every few seconds until finally, Eliza felt her mind go silent.
Finally, she let a single tear run down her cheek. Not a happy tear, no. A sad tear. An anguished tear, which Eliza promised herself would not be followed by others. Looking down at the bundle in her arms, she quietly made her way to the door, not even looking at the sleeping woman in the bed. Closing the door, she tiptoed across the landing floor, careful not to accidentally step on the loose floor board which would give her away.
After what felt like an endless journey, Eliza's room was in sight, the little handle practically turning itself. She walked through the door, shutting it as quietly as she could. Listening for anyone who was coming up the stairs or walking through the hallways, she rushed toward the bed, placing the bundle on top of the comfortable covers. Ripping her closet open, she spotted her black coat, which she took down hastily and dressed herself in. Taking the weapons, which had shaming specs of dust on, she strapped them to her back tightly, making sure they weren't going anywhere.
Eliza bit her lip when she heard the small gurgle from the baby behind her. If she did this, it would decrease her chances of changing anything. She could bring Rose and the baby back to the Doctor, she could... but she wouldn't. She knew she wouldn't. Any promise, oath or pact she had made with herself no longer meant anything to her as thought about her family and friends in her own time. If she did this now, she would meet them again and have the happy childhood she grew up with, and the impossibly brilliant future that she was told she'd have.
She shook her head as the words of Gandalf the Grey came back to her, the words he'd said to Frodo in the Mines of Moria. "All you have to decide is what to do at the time it is given to you."
Nodding her head in finality, she turned to the baby girl, who was looking around the room in wonder, then at the trusty stranger who was making her way toward her, her arms extending with every step she took. As her ears heard the thundering footsteps of Jackie rush up the stairs, Eliza hurried even more, taking one of the metal chains on her coat and placing it in the baby's waiting hand.
She quickly scribbled a messy note onto a scrap of paper, placing the pen on the bedside table once she was finished. There was a shrilling knock at her door, telling her to hurry up. "'liza, hun, you in there?" called Jackie's voice, her hand fiddling with the handle, to no avail. Taking the note, she hesitantly walked to the door, slipping the note under the crack.
Now or never... Eliza said as she held her breath, letting herself go as she and the baby made their way into the Time Vortex.