A couple of minutes later, Dad pulled up next to the curb outside the shopping centre. Mum leant across the seat to peck him goodbye on the lips.

'Thanks Pete,' she smiled and, unclipping her seatbelt, opened the door and got out. I hugged Mickey awkwardly across the seat.

'Have fun,' I grinned, and he grinned sheepishly back.

'You too,' he said. 'See you later!'

I got out of the car and stood with Mum as Dad drove off, making a U-turn back around to the road that lead to the Cybus Industries building.

'Ok,' Mum said, turning to me with eyes bright with excitement. I'd never really understood just what it was about going shopping that she found so exhilarating.

'I was thinking that we could look for some things for the baby first,' she continued, smiling, and I noticed her hand resting on her stomach, 'then we can look for some more things for you if you'd like. They've got a sale on at—'

'Yeah, that's fine,' I started walking towards the doors of the centre. 'Don't you think it's a bit early to be looking for stuff for the baby, though?'

Mum shrugged. 'Not really.'

'But it's only been three months…'

'So? Better to get everything early than late.'

I shrugged. Maybe she did have a point. We soon came to a store that looked promising, and spent the next hour or so looking at babies' bibs and booties and the like.

Mum picked up a tiny pink dress with a giggle of delight.

'Aww, isn't it gorgeous, Rose?' She lifted the dress up to show it to me. I peered out from behind the pile of baby gear in my arms, and raised my eyebrows.

'Sure, Mum,' I managed, blinking at the dress. 'But you don't even know if the baby's a girl…'

'That's true,' Mum agreed and, a looking at little crestfallen, put the dress back. 'Well, I suppose we've probably got enough for now.'

I grunted my agreement from under the weight of what I was holding, and the pair of us made our way over to the checkout. The girl from behind the counter sighed silently upon seeing us coming, and shot a glare at the blonde girl at the other checkout, mouthing 'They always come to me!' and rolling her eyes. The blonde girl snorted into her hand.

'Ahem,' Mum cleared her throat, and the other girl's attention snapped back to the pile in my arms. I dumped it on the counter, smiling pleasantly at her. She blinked back, then proceeded to swipe the barcodes of booties and jab at buttons on the register.

'That's fifty-seven pounds fifty, ma'am,' she said monotonously as Mum handed over the money. 'Thank you, have a nice day, goodbye.' The girl waved us off, glad to be rid of us. I glanced back over my shoulder to see her making a face to the other girl.

Mum frowned. 'Well, I wasn't that rude when I used to work in shops,' she muttered. I nodded vaguely, as we continued towards some other clothing stores on the 2nd floor.

We went into one and the pair of us started browsing the clothes racks.

'See anything you like?' Mum asked.

'Mmm, not yet,' I replied, flicking a couple of coat hangers aside to get a better look at one of the shirts. Mum peered around my shoulder.

'Oh, that is nice, you should try it on!' She snatched up the shirt by its hanger and herded me over to the fitting rooms. I sighed.

'Here, I'll take that,' Mum said, taking the shopping bags full of baby clothes and toys. I sighed again, relieved to be rid of them. She handed me the shirt and I pulled the curtains over the opening of my cubicle, then tried the shirt on.

It was purple with buttons down the front, and it fitted me well. I turned in front of the mirror, trying to get a look at it from different angles. I was vaguely reminded of the shirt that I'd worn when the Doctor and I had visited New Earth – perhaps it was just the colour. I swallowed back the memories, and shrugging, I pulled back the curtain so that Mum could see. She gasped softly.

'Goodness! You look… professional.' She smiled, taking in the shirt. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other awkwardly.

'Professional?'

'Yeah, I think so,' said Mum. 'And neat. You could easily get through a job interview with that.'

I raised an eyebrow, but she seemed not to notice, merely continuing to smile at the shirt, looking satisfied for some reason or other.

'It looks lovely on you, lets get it,' she said.

I nodded vaguely, and drew the curtains again so I could change.