10. Meet the TARDIS
Rose woke to the sound of snoring. Since she was awake, it definitely was not her making such noises. She arched her back a little and turned her head so that she could look behind her.
The Doctor's head was resting on her shoulder. He was asleep, a slight smile on his face, his arms wrapped around her. Rose snuggled deeper into him and gave him a quick kiss on his nose before turning her head back and resting it on the pillow.
He wasn't snoring, exactly, more like snuffling. It reminded her of a squeaking rodent, and although she tried desperately not to think of the Doctor as a rat, mouse, rabbit or any other small furry creature, the image of a rat with his face swam to the forefront of her mind.
She giggled.
"What?" the Doctor murmured sleepily, his hands slipping up her top and his fingers tracing circles on the bare skin of her stomach. She shivered in delight.
"Nothing," she said softly. 'Just thinking of a rat with your face' would seem like an odd thing to say, and so she refrained from doing so.
"You all right?" he asked gently, his breath tickling the skin on her neck.
"Fantastic," Rose responded, grinning.
"Mmm," the Doctor said absentmindedly, and she could almost hear him shut his eyes and try to go back to sleep. She looked over at the alarm clock.
"It's twelve o' clock, Doctor," she whispered.
"So?"
"So… time to get up." She tried to disentangle herself from his arms, but he held her close.
"Don't wanna," he said awkwardly, reminding her of a small child, and she turned to look at him, only to see him pouting at her through half closed eyes. She kissed him on the lips and turned her body fully to face him. She moved her hands down to his waist, and began to tickle him.
He squeaked and fell out of his side of the bed, taking the covers with him. Rose couldn't help laughing at him as she got up and grabbed a towel. "I'm going to have a shower," she said, looking over at him. His head was poking out from in between the covers as he sat on the floor, his hair extremely big and tousled. "Get dressed!" she instructed, and he yawned in reply. Rolling her eyes, she headed into the en suite bathroom.
"Is there a lock on that door?" she heard him ask.
She shut the door behind her. "Yes," she said in reply, "and I'm going to use it." She turned the knob for the lock and there was a satisfying click as the door locked. She heard the Doctor making noises of disapproval before she turned the shower on, undressed, and stepped into it.
x
She came into the kitchen fully dressed and showered. The Doctor was sitting at the table, the newspaper in front of him, his glasses perched on the end of his nose and a pencil in between his fingers. He was dressed in his blue pinstripes. She took some cereal from the cupboard and sat opposite him.
"You liked the suit, then?" she asked.
The Doctor looked up with an expression of puzzlement on his face. She indicated what he was wearing with a nod of her head as she munched her cereal. He grinned. "Oh, yeah. Brilliant."
She smiled back. "Doctor," she said, causing him to look up again. "I thought you could show the twins… show the twins the TARDIS today."
The Doctor frowned. "What happened to the Rose who said that she didn't want the two of them to know about me?" he asked.
"I've changed my mind," Rose said, suggestively raising her eyebrows, "after last night."
The Doctor blushed and Rose giggled as he quickly dipped his head. "What are you doing?" she enquired as he stuck the pencil in his mouth.
"Crossword," he burbled through a mouthful of wood, lead and rubber. Rose sighed and finished off her cereal, standing up and placing the bowl in the dishwasher. She leant over him and pointed to one of the gaps.
"Tendency," she said, making him jump.
"Oh, yes," he said, writing it in.
"Just like you have a tendency to talk too much, my love," she said, ruffling his hair and kissing him on the top of the head.
The Doctor was about to respond to that statement indignantly when the front door was unlocked and two sets of footsteps came hurtling into the kitchen.
"Hi, Mum!" Althea said, bouncing happily over to her mother and kissing her on the cheek, before elbowing Rose out of the way in order to wrap her arms around the Doctor's neck. She kissed him on the cheek, too, a surprisingly intimate gesture that had the Doctor reeling with pride. "Hi, Dad."
"Hi," he squeaked.
Robbie threw a tennis ball at his sister, and she caught it gleefully. "Not in the house!" Rose snapped immediately, making the Doctor jump. She'd inherited her mothering skills from Jackie, clearly.
Rose placed her hands on his shoulders and gently massaged them as she instructed the twins to sit. "Kids, your father and I… we have something to show you."
It occurred to the Doctor that Rose must be excited to step back into the TARDIS. They hadn't been inside together since they'd found each other again, and the Doctor was aware of how fond the TARDIS was of Rose (and most likely vice versa too).
Whilst he followed this train of thought, Rose quickly explained about the Doctor's ability to travel through time and the fact that he had a blue police box time machine in order to do so. They both took the news quite well, considering (but the Doctor had to remind himself that they'd readily accepted that their father was an alien, so this must be nothing to them).
"Are there robots in the future?" Robbie asked hopefully.
Rose threw her son an odd look. "Anyway," she continued, "we thought it was time that you got to know the TARDIS." She smiled and her children looked at her, and then the Doctor, moving their heads almost at the same time. The Doctor swallowed at how similar they were.
x
"Oh, she's beautiful," Althea enthused, stroking the supports of the TARDIS as if she was always meant to be there. The ship purred under her touch.
"It looks like a plant," Robbie stated bluntly, his arms folded as he leant against the console.
The Doctor bit his lip and looked at Rose, before looking back at his son. He cleared his throat. "I might teach you to fly it one day," he said, his voice shaking ever so slightly, "what do you think of that, son?"
Robbie looked at him, making him feel very small. "Don't call me son," he murmured. The Doctor swallowed and cleared his throat.
"Yes, quite right too. Sorry," he said. He looked around the interior of the TARDIS nervously as his children went to explore. Her telepathic being was telling him just how happy she was to have laughter ringing through the TARDIS once more.
x
Two Months Later
Rose smiled at the Doctor as she emerged into the console room. He looked up at the sound of her footsteps and smiled back. "Hello," he said.
"Hello," she replied. She headed towards the jump seat and sat down in it heavily. For once, the Doctor was not fiddling with the wiring of the TARDIS, just watching the screen.
"Doctor," she said, and he turned to look at her, planting a swift kiss on her forehead before moving around the console.
"Yes?"
"I'm pregnant."
The Doctor choked on his own saliva, his head popping out from behind the column in the middle of the console, his expression gaping. "You – pregnant…" he blithered.
"Yes. Me," she pointed to herself for emphasis, "pregnant." She rubbed her belly. "Yours."
"That's… that's good to know," the Doctor said faintly, his voice high. "I just have to… go… outside for a while. Yeah – go outside–"
"If you run from this, I will never talk to you ever again," Rose said sharply. The Doctor's shoulders slumped, and Rose felt awful. "Sorry," she added.
"It's okay," he mumbled. "You're probably right."
"You said that you missed out on Robbie and Althea's baby years," Rose said gently. "Don't miss out on this little one's too." She smiled wildly. "I'm looking forward to it."
He came over and sat down next to her, wrapping his arms around her and nibbling on her ear gently. "I love you," he said huskily.
"I love you," Rose replied, and then corrected herself, "We love you. Please don't leave."
"I won't," he promised, and Rose turned to look at him, kissing him on the lips. She drew back.
"I was thinking… if it's a boy," she said innocently, "how about John?"
"John," the Doctor replied, "would be perfect." He kissed her on the nose and pulled her close to him, his hearts jittering in excitement and anticipation of the new life.