I'm sure the title of this chapter will have some people squeeing.

FIRST PROPOSAL

"Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be." - Robert Browning

John rolled over in his sleep, reaching out blindly for the warm body that rested next to him. His fingers grasped air, and he blinked blearily as he looked at the clock.

"6:45?" he whispered to himself, rubbing his tired eyes as he sat up. On a work day he'd normally be up and moving about, but today was Sunday and it was his and Rose's official "we're staying in bed till noon" day. The en suite was dark, but as he turned his head toward the door he saw a crack of light peeking under from the main room. Clad in the boxers he'd opened Christmas morning, he shuffled to the door and went in search of Rose.

The kitchen light was on, and he could hear Rose's hushed tones from the hallway. Something about her tone made him slow down his pace, his curiosity at her odd behavior overriding his common sense.

"…not sure how to tell him." His heart rate quickened, his idle curiosity spiking into something much more acute. Was Rose hiding something from him? He thought back over the last few days, trying to remember anything about her behavior that would clue him in. She had picked at her dinner last night, not really consuming much, but he'd seen her eat a rather hearty lunch so he hadn't thought much of it. Was she sick? If it were just the flu she wouldn't hesitate to let him know so he could wait hand and foot upon her. But if it were more serious she might wait to tell him. But then who was on the other end of the phone conversation? Who did Rose trust more than him?

"I know, Mum. I'm just not sure how he'll take it." Take what? Obviously whatever it was, Rose had already confided in Jackie. His frustration began to mount as his imagination began running wild. "I've always thought it'd be me and him forever. I didn't expect this at all." He was more certain than ever that Rose had fallen ill and was only waiting until the right moment to tell him. "He does not overreact, Mum. He's just...enthusiastic." John scowled in the darkness at Jackie's barb. He did have a tendency to become excitable about certain things, but he was positive that whatever horrible illness Rose had been struck with wasn't going to excite him. He would have to take time off work, maybe even resign from the school while he researched and experimented. Pete would cover any expenses, he was sure, and he could probably even use the facilities at Torchwood as long as he cured Rose.

"I know, Mum, but look at it this way. You're gonna be the best gran this baby could hope for."

John's already tense muscles seized at the word baby and he crashed back into the wall with a resounding thud. A chair scraped across the kitchen floor and he knew Rose was walking toward the hall, but he was in such a state of shock that he couldn't move. Rose's sleep-tousled head poked around the corner, and she smirked at his vacant expression.

"Mum, I have to go. John's been eavesdropping again and I think he's about to have a coronary." Rose stared at John as her mother replied, then quickly thrust the phone in his direction. "She wants to talk to you." He seemed to snap out of his trance, though his hands were shaking as he grasped the phone and pulled it to his ear.

"Now you listen to me," Jackie was already in full rant mode, but John could do nothing but nod as she spoke. Her words washed over him absently, though he caught a few choice words like "proper" and "cherish" and something about making an honest woman of Rose. Hearing the last bit clearly, Rose flushed and snatched the phone from John's hand.

"That's enough, Mum. I'll call you later." She hung up and dropped her hand limply to her side, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth as she watched John warily. "You alright?" He nodded mutely, still too stunned to form a coherent thought. His silence was unnerving, but quite so unnerving as his stillness. In all her years of knowing him, he'd never been as motionless as he was now. "Are you sure you're -"

"A baby?" he interrupted her, having finally found his voice. She let out a slow breath and nodded, still trying to gauge his response. "We having a - a - a baby? Wha...Ho...When? I think I need to sit down." He slumped against the wall, sliding down to the carpet in a boneless heap. She dropped next to him, laying her hand on his knee as she took in his pale skin and shaky hands.

"I've been feeling off for a couple of weeks now. Nothing major; loss of appetite, mild nausea. I thought it was from job stress, but even after taking all last week off I still felt sick. Yesterday, I threw up just after I got to work, so I went down to medical to get checked out."

"And you're...that is to say we're...and we're gonna be..." Normally she would be doubled over with laughter at his inability to form a complete sentence, but she settled for a small smile as she reached for his hand.

"Yes, John. I'm pregnant, and we're having a baby." The enormity of those words hung in the air between them, and seconds ticked by as he processed everything. Suddenly a grin split his face so wide she wondered if he could taste his ears. His free hand shot forward, pressing against her abdomen as he rolled to his knees. Their eyes locked, and she could see tears brimming in his brown irises.

"A baby..." he whispered. He suddenly switched from awed to anxious in the blink of an eye. "How are you feeling now? Are you nauseous? I can make you something…tea, or maybe just a hot water with lemon." He scrambled to his feet and pulled her up gently. He guided her back into their bedroom and very nearly pushed her into the bed. He fluffed her pillow and laid the comforter over her legs. "Stay here, don't exert yourself. I'll be right back." With a quick kiss to her forehead he was gone, dashing out with a mad look in his eyes. She laughed at his antics and shook her head.

"Mum was right."

She barely resisted the urge to get out of bed when she heard a crash from the kitchen, but his following assurance that was okay was so adorable that she forced herself to stay put. Moments later he elbowed the door open and presented her with a tray. On it lay two pieces of toast – lightly buttered – a banana freshly peeled and a mug of warm tea.

"It's ginger root," he said with a goofy grin. "Red raspberry is the best, really, but this is good for relieving nausea." She looked down at the tray with an amused gleam in her eye.

"Okay, breathe," she joked, noting how he was now bouncing on the balls of his feet like a child in a toy store. "I am in for a rough 7 months." All the color in John's face drained and he looked heartbroken.

"You're already 2 months along? And I missed it? Rose!"

"Hey!" she laughed at his expression. "I missed it myself. I haven't been regular since I started taking birth control, so missing my cycle wasn't exactly a dead giveaway." John's expression morphed instantly from dejected to confused, but Rose cut him off. "I know, I asked the same question when the medic told me the news. Birth control isn't one hundred percent, and we have been rather…active lately." John flushed as he thought about the rather heated encounters they'd had as of late. "Guess your boys are just really good swimmers." He beamed at that and shuffled around to the other side of the bed.

"Superior biology, me," he boasted, sounding for all the world like his old self. Rose laughed at his obvious reference and snuggled under his arm as he nicked a piece of toast. She ate the other and even managed most of the tea as he gobbled down the banana in silence. After their early morning snack was done, John set the tray on the floor and pulled Rose against him.

"I still can't believe it," he whispered into her hair as she settled her head on his chest. "A baby." The sheer magnitude of what it meant hadn't fully hit him yet, and he was still in complete awe. His right hand strayed over her body and rested gently on her stomach as she sighed sleepily. "You should rest," he told her. "Got to be healthy and well for the little tyke to grow up properly." His own words bounced around in his head, spiraling off in directions he hadn't even meant to go. Rose hummed contentedly as he began absently stroking her abdomen, his mind occupied with other thoughts.

"Rose?"

"Hmm?"

"Should we get married?" She had almost been asleep, ready to discount whatever mad idea he'd conjured in favor of a few more hours' rest. But his question startled her into waking, and her eyes snapped open.

"What?" Her lead lifted, and she met his gaze with a questioning look.

"I mean…what with the baby and all. And have I mentioned how much I totally, completely, and unconditionally love you?" he added hastily at her hard look. It softened at his nervous rambling, and she lifted one hand to stroke the side of his face.

"Are you asking because of what Mum said?" He opened his mouth to tell her no, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her and he loved her with every fiber of his being. But she knew that already, and they had been perfectly content with the status quo before this latest development. And if he were being honest, Jackie had painted some rather graphic images in his head if things didn't turn out exactly the way she had them planned.

"Well yes…and no," he replied finally. "You know I love you, Rose. I am yours forever, and we don't really need any sort of ceremony or official piece of paper telling us that. I get it." She nodded in agreement, her eyes shining with tears at his heartfelt words. "But on the other hand," he continued, "Rose, I love you so much. And it would make me so happy to be able to introduce you as my wife; to let the world know how absolutely incredibly lucky I am that you're spending the rest of your life with me." Tears were spilling over her cheeks as she turned over on her side, propping herself up so she could kiss him fully. He let out a surprised gasp as her lips collided with his own, but he quickly recovered and pressed back as they fought for control. When she finally pulled back she was grinning ear to ear, and he smiled back blissfully.

"Okay," she said, effectively interrupting whatever thought was going through his mind.

"Wha?" he blinked at her before it all caught up to him, and his eyebrows rose into his hairline. "Wait, seriously? Are you – I mean you want to –"

"You asked!" she poked his shoulder teasingly as he recovered from his second shock of the night. His hands shot up to frame her face, kissing her with as much passion as he could muster. She laughed against his lips as he kissed her, and he pulled back with an offended look.

"I'm trying to celebrate here…momentous day and all." She wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her head in his shoulder as she tried to get her laughter under control.

"I'm sorry," she breathed, finally regaining herself. "Sorry," she said again, taking a deep breath. "It's just…this is all completely mental."

"It is a bit surreal," he agreed, kissing her nose and causing her to giggle again before settling against him tiredly. He stroked her hair as she drifted off to sleep, but not before she heard his last words. "But if it wasn't fantastic, Rose, it wouldn't be ours."

This one was a bit hard to write. Hopefully I did it justice. The next chapter will be going into further detail on a topic which a few of you have already commented upon. I would like to state now, for the record, that I do attempt to stay within canon on most things. That having been said, with a universe as vast as Who, "canon" tends to encompass an array of contradictory information. So while I cannot promise to stick resolutely to factual canon, I can promise to endeavor to maintain the spirit of Who while attempting to shove certain elements into a story of my own making. And if this entire author's note is completely baffling, I apologize. It will become more clear when I post the next chapter. Which should be toward the end of the week. Hopefully.