Loooooong chapter, a lot going on here. I cannot go on enough about all of the lovely words so many of you leave for this little fic. Some of you even review every single chapter. hat is massive, thank you. Sorry in advance.

"I don't see why she needs to even know." Donna huffed from her seat. "This is something between the Doctor and you..."

"And you too, apparently." Rose shot, arms folded.

"This does not have to take on a n acid tone." The Doctor warned. "Its a simple thing, really. Rose, you have no cause for alarm, nor concern,"

"Then why is it a big deal for anyone to tell me about what's going on." She reached across the table and took the Doctor's arm in her small hand. "If it affects you, Doctor, then I have a right to know."

Donna erupted a noise similar to a laugh but sounded more like a squelch. "Right? A right to know?"

Martha stood and raised her hands into the air in front of her. "This is out of hand, really, its no big deal. Rose, I should have allowed you to come in, it would have been a good time to explain things to you."

"If someone doesn't explain things to me soon-" Rose warned.

"You'll what?" Donna flared back.

But, the Doctor rose to stand next to Martha, who was feeling frailer and less inclined for fighting with every word spoken. "This is Martha Jones, the second bravest woman in the world."

It took twenty minutes, a series of complicated hand gestures, two pots of decaf, and a few dozen hand sketches diagrams before Rose was informed of the situation. No one really wanted her to know,but in the spirit of fairness and the fact of living in close quarters, the awful story was shared. The Doctor was visibly frustrated at the end of the tale. He slumped into his seat and spoke. To his old friend. "Rose, you must understand, this is very serious, this pregnancy is very fragile." he nodded.

"So, she could lose the baby at any time?" Rose asked, looking at Martha in a way that the pregnant woman did not like.

At all.

The Doctor either ignored her look, or did not see it. Either way, he continued on. "Yes, she must be kept from stress, a Gallifreyian pregnancy under the best of circumstances could be dangerous. These, are possibly the worst of those conditions."

"And its not yours?" Rose asked again, her words seemed to leave a hollow awkward silence in the large cluttered kitchen.

Both Martha and the Doctor shook their heads slowly. This seemed to please the blond, she shrugged her shoulders, batted her lashes, and sipped another long pull of her coffee. "I don't have a problem with it." she smiled as if her permission was all that was needed.

"Well, that's good to know," Donna muttered as she rose to clear the dishes. Martha made to joi her, but was firmly placed back into her seat. "All we needed was your seal of approval. Thanks." Donna finished in a too cheery tone.

The doctor sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. She was sure he was having some regrets about traveling with so many people. She felt sorry for him for a moment. Just a moment. "Right then, I guess that's that. So Rose, you will understand then that Martha stays on the TARDIS when we stop."

"Sure, sure." she waved away the warning. Martha could see that she was already on to something else in her mind. "I am just glad to be here again. With you."

Donna rolled her eyes as Martha ducked her head to hide a giggle. She had thought that this woman, this irreplaceable Rose Tyler, would have been gold plated, armor piercing, bright, funny, compassionate. What she could see of this woman, the picture was not completely told. The Doctor may have painted her to be the best thing since sliced bread, buttered toast, and beer in a can, but from where Martha sat, Rose Tyler was a spoiled teenager.

Rose somehow convinced the Doctor to watch a movie with her, while Donna and Martha sat in the kitchen. Martha ignored the fact that she was not allowed to do anything. Now, after the chores were finished, and Donna had insisted that Martha elevate her feet, the two friends sat together enjoying tea and sugared treats from a planet that neither one of them could pronounce.

"Can you believe her?" Donna asked with a thumb hooked back toward the door where Rose and the Doctor had left through an hour ago.

Martha shook her head with a small smirk. "I choose not to." she smiled. "Besides, she and the Doctor are old friends. I am sure whatever odd behaviors we see, maybe they are quite normal for their relationship. I mean, if you think about it, we are the interlopers here."

"Oh no we're not." Donna insisted. "We were here fair and square."

"It's not about that, Donna. I just, I don;t feel very comfortable about her being here. I cannot put my finger on it."

"Jealousy maybe?" Donna asked as she popped another morsel into her mouth.

Martha pulled a face, Donna answered with another moonish glare and the two laughed like old friends. "You know," Martha began after the laughter came to a natural stop. "I never did get to know what I was on the other side."

Donna shrugged. "Not real, is it?" she asked "I mean, what does it matter? We are who we are, and those people over there, they're not really us, no more than a twin would be us at all."

"True," Martha agreed. "It was still pretty cool, I mean, you were a proper star." she gushed. "Do you think, in some way, they are a part of who we are, or maybe what we could have been?"

"Oh, don;t you start on that nature versus nurture crap. His Royal Smartness got me on a two week argument about that once, after a trip to the Ood Sphere. It's barmy. The whole thing. You are who you are, end of it. I am no more a celebrity than I was before I read that stupid internet over there. "

Martha studied her friend's face, "You talk like it hits a little home, yeah?"

Donna wore the face of someone who wished to be elsewhere at that very moment. "No, not really. I just don't see what the point is. People who think like that, well it seems to me they are unhappy with the way their own life turned out. I never pegged you as someone who was completely unhappy with her lot."

"Define happy." Martha said. "It's not as if anyone can say they are completely happy, right."

"Martha?" Donna asked, "is this about your sister?"

"Sort of," And, for the first time in a long time, Martha began to unburden, she spoke about a year that never happened, about death, and about the fragility of life itself. Martha told Donna everything, and in turn, the older woman listened with a careful ear, even while she bustled about making tea for the both of them. Twice.

"It's not as if any of it really happened-"

"Course it happened." Donna asserted. "It happened, you remember it, and it's made you the person sitting at that table right now. Whatever anyone remembers or not, it's still happened." Then, "It's like what happened to me at The Library."

"The Library?" Martha asked, suddenly ready to step out of her own pain for a while.

Donna nodded. "It was...bloody awful. I got sucked into this alternate universe. There was someone there..." Donna let her words trail off, but after a weary sigh and a furtive look upwards, she went on. "He was my husband, and I thought it was so real, it felt so real..."

"It was real." Martha assured her, using Donna's own words against her.

Martha listened this time, and felt the pain of loss for her friend. It was no less a loss, and entire world that did not exist. She felt with Donna as Donna told her about children that were as much hers as anyone had ever flet. "I don't know how to stop thinking about it." Donna confided.

Martha nodded her head. "Yeah, it's like there, all the time. Sometimes I walk past a shop in London, and I remember what it looked like in that year, and I have to shut my eyes and count to ten, to remind myself what's real."

Donna shook her head vigorously. "That's right! Sometimes I get up in the middle of the night to go check on the kids...only they aren't there. They are never going to be there."

"Did you ever find Lee?" Martha asked.

But, Donna shook her head. "No, he just, didn't exist is all." she sighed. "You know, it was the first time I ever met a guy I could stand being in the same room with without wanting to slap him."

Martha laughed. "And we know how hard those are to find, don't we?"

"Gettin' bloody harder every day." She sobered a bit and looked down at her hands. Martha was struck at how both intelligent and fragile this brash woman was. It was as if she hid behind a wall of loud just so no one could see the real her.

"I think about Lee a lot too." Donna finally admitted.

Martha nodded. "Yeah, I get that. I think there is this odd dichotomy in traveling with that crazy alien. You see so much that you never would have seen, but it kills you a little bit inside each time."

"Just a little." Donna nodded. "But it's so worth it."

"It so is!" Martha agreed with a flash. They sat at that odd, old table of questionable material and sipped the last of their fifth cup of tea. The pain each of them carried somehow lessened by the sharing of it. "You don't like her, do you?"

"Not one little bit." Donna admitted without looking up.

Martha nodded. "Can you do me a favor?" she asked taking another deep sigh for strength. Donna rose to her feet to get another pot on, but Martha held her arm. "No, not tea. Nothing as pedestrian as that."

Donna smiled. "All right then, but I have a feeling I won't like it."

Martha shrugged. "Probably not. It's just that, we all have to live here, and regardless of what we feel or may feel about the Doctor's friend, we should try to get on here, yeah?"

Donna tilted her head back so far her neck bulged. "And why would we want that?" she asked.

"Well, he seems to really like her, and they get on pretty well. I don't know. Maybe it's because I knew him when he first lost her. I sorta feel a little sorry for them."

"You forget, Sunshine, I met him right after he lost her, and let me tell you, there was a huge difference in seeing him like that. She left him full of rage and anger and vengeance. There was nothing of that girl's leaving that wasn't a bad idea."

"He'd already been through a lot, you know that Donna."

But Donna was insistent, one thing Martha knew about her newest friend, she was dead set in her ways, an opinion formed was an opinion kept. "no, Martha He was different, immature some how. I don't think she was good for him. Is good for him."

"Be that as it may, it is not for us to sit here and decide who should be with whom. I just think that, if they want to be together, and we both care about the Doctor, then we should try to get along."

Donna shook her head again, "Nope, try again."

"I don't need all the extra stress. It's hard enough, going through all of this." she sighed here. "Anyway, I just want a quiet environment until this is over and I can go home."

"You know how to fight dirty."

"Yup," Martha smiled.

"You really care about that daft old thing, don't you?" Donna asked with a small smirk.

But Martha shook her head. "No, its not that. If it was that, I would be the first one to admit it. This is," Martha brought her hands to her middle. "Oh my God!"

Donna flew from her seat, "What? What is it? What's wrong?"

Before Martha could tell her, the Doctor came rushing in, "What?" he spoke calmly, but his eyes were alight.

Martha grabbed both his hands from where she sat and placed them on her middle. The room fell into a tense, poignant silence. "That is remarkable."

Martha nodded her head as he continued to feel what she had felt. "He moved," she smiled.

"He's moved?" the Doctor asked with a smirk. "He's doing more than moving. He's practically galloping in there! For all we know, he could be playing Quidditch. Well, that would be a bit hard wouldn't? Don't suppose you could be hiding a Firebolt in there." The look on Martha's face was all the answer he needed. "No," he agreed finally, "I suppose not."

"If you're anything to judge by your kind, he is probably practicing running." Donna smirked, but came closer. The red head reached out a hand tentatively, a hand Martha grabbed quickly and placed on a free spot.

No one spoke, for what may have been hours. The three friends sat in gentle awe of the natural but astonishing miracle. The scene would have gone on undisturbed for another long spell, had not the movie ended.

"Well, what's all this then?" Rose asked as she breezed into the kitchen. She seemed nonplussed by the actions of her fellow travelers.

"Miracles." The Doctor smiled, but kept his hands where they were.

"I thought we were watching a movie," the younger woman asked with a pout. "It was just getting to the good part."

"Don't worry," Donna said. "The Little engine makes it to the top of the hill." It was a look from Martha that seemed to remind the older woman of her promise. Donna removed her hands from Martha and shuffled off to make tea.

"So, what's all this then?" Rose asked sweetly with a timid smile.

"Oh, uh..." The Doctor seemed to suddenly remember that the blond was in the room. "Apparently the eagle has taken flight."

"I'm sorry?" Rose asked.

Martha shook her head with a smile. "He means is that the baby moved."

"Well, truth be told," The Doctor began, straightening up to stand next to Rose. "He's been moiving the whole time, its just that this is the first time any of us has noticed." he grinned.

"You think you are so clever," Martha smiled.

"Course I'm clever." he beamed. "Anyway, we were having sort of a peep show, weren't we?" The Doctor let his gaze go around the room as if looking for back up. "Well, maybe peep how was the wrong turn of phrase. We were, enjoying the moment, sharing in the wonderment, basking in the glow of new life."

"You're babbling, you prawn." Donna offered from her position in front of the large sink.

"Wow," Rose finally spoke. "So, you really are pregnant then."

"I hope so," Martha returned with a genuine smile, "Otherwise, I have some serious gastric-enterological issues I need to see someone about."

The four of them shared a laugh, and for the first time, everyone was in on the joke.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

The weeks seemed to pass as they had done before their side trip to the alternate universe, with Martha missing home and her family more and more. She spent much of her time as an honored guest of the ancient ship, but began to feel more and more like a pampered prisoner. The four of them often ate together, with Rose and the Doctor spending more time together.

For the most part, Donna kept to her promise; she offered no ill will toward Rose, even made an honest effort to befriend the younger woman. Martha wanted the Doctor to feel as if he had come to his relationship with Rose with the full benefit of his friends.

In truth, Martha wondered where that placed her, where did she belong in this picture. She carried a child that was no more hers than it was the Doctor's but in some ways, she felt, if it really came down to brass tacks, she had a bit more of a claim over him. He was, after all, her nephew.

But, on the other side of the coin, there was the factor of his being an alien life form. No matter how much she wanted to dress up the idea that she held some form of relational tie to the baby, he would be something entirely different for her in the long run. She could never dream to cart him off to Earth; aside from how that may make her sister feel, there was no safe way to raise a child like that on a planet that still held alien life as science fiction.

If she sat too long and thought about it too hard, Martha knew there was something growing inside of her, something that was neither made of flesh nor bone. A feeling, a need to protect the life that she carried.

Rose never came into the infirmary with them. Somehow, there was always some way that the ship managed to keep her out, and no amount of pleading or staging from any party changed that.

The first trip for the three of them off of the TARDIS was when Rose learned that Martha could fly it.

"Why does she know how to work your ship?" Rose asked in an all too familiar tone.

The Doctor sighed and scratched the back of his head. "It's a mauve alert, Rose, do we really have to have this conversation now?"

But, as they all soon learned, Rose was not one to be put off when in the middle of a rant, something that both Donna and Martha secretly saw as one of she and the Doctor's commonalities.

The thing is," she went on, heedless of the flashing light on the console. "You know I always wanted to fly this thing." she punctuated her message with a great batting of her does eyes.

He managed to put her off, the alert went worse, and the three of them left the TARDIS with Martha at the helm. But, upon their return, all three haggard and worn out after an insurrection on some small planet, Rose began to act differently toward Martha. Sweeter, somehow. Martha assumed that the Doctor, possibly during some incarceration period on that planet, had managed to talk some sense into the blond.

The Doctor, however, had developed a touch fetish. He had always been a very tactile being, but lately, he took any instance he could to touch Martha, especially her middle.

She tried not to put too much stock into it, but there were times when she wondered if there was more to his need for touching her.

As Martha's pregnancy progressed, the second heart still had not restarted. The baby continued to grow, and thrive, with is single heart beating.

"Will it affect him, I mean, all of this time with only one heart going?" Martha asked as they sat in the infirmary. Donna had opted to not come in any longer, an attempt to keep Rose from being too upset.

The Doctor shrugged, "We really won't know until afterward." he hemmed. Martha had made it to her eighth month, and while she was careful of everything she did, and took care not to agitate herself, even when one of them came back injured, she still worried incessantly about how her stress levels were affecting the baby. Did she eat enough? Did she eat the right things? Were her feet better elevated, or at floor level?

"He's thriving, we should be glad for that. He is growing, good brain development, good size. In fact, apart form his second heart not starting, I would give him a clean bill of health. But, let's not push it, yeah? No dashing around. Or running races."

"Well, I don;t go out for your little exercise fests that you deem lesion entertainment." Martha smiled. "But, yes I will continue to take it easy, " she held up two fingers, and placed one hand over her heart. "Scout's honor."

The Doctor seemed to consider her as he spoke. "Martha," he began slowly, "Have you given any more thought to, afterward?"

Martha knew this conversation would come. It was the perfect venue for it, they were alone and it was quiet in the infirmary. "I didn;t know there was anything to think about. I miss home, my family, my job."

The Doctor nodded. "You know, you are welcome to stay. I mean, it may not be such a bad thing, having you here with him."

"What? And be in the way? No, I think you have all you need here, Doctor. I have really enjoyed everything, don't get me wrong. Not to mention learning to fly a ship like this one."

He offered her a small smile. "Still, it may not be easy-"

But, Martha was quick to wave away his words. "Doctor, I need to be home, Tish is still healing. I am purposely not calling them so to stick to the timeline of being home only a day from when I left. I don't want this to be all for nothing."

"It's not all for nothing, " he answered in a surprisingly small voice. "I thought, well, I thought this would be..."

Martha rose to a sitting position on the gurney, "It's fine, Doctor. I will miss being here, and Donna. I just, really need to be home."

He nodded and offered her an arm to get down from the high bed. "Still, if you change your mind."

But, Martha wasn't sure he new what he was getting into. "Have you thought about any of this? I mean, how this may change your life?"

"Oh, you know, I'm always thinking, me." he smiled. "But, yes, I have a few ideas. That is, if everything turns out favorably."

"Big plans, then?" she asked as breezily as she could manage. Since Rose had come traveling with them, Martha had imagined that the three of them, Rose, The Doctor, and whatever horrid name he had picked out, would remain on the TARDIS; a proper family. It was at the heart of her plea to Donna to relent a bit on the younger occupant. They needed time to be with each other before their lives changed irrevocably.

"Ah, mmmm." he answered noncommittally.

"Besides," she began with a plastered smile. "You will be a great Dad."

"Oh," he seemed shocked by that. "Yeah, I suppose I will be, that. A dad. Well. Didn't think of that bit of it, did I?"

Martha patted his arm as they walked the corridor back to the kitchen. "It'll come to you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

What came two weeks later was far more than any of them had expected. It was a trip to Cleff, a planet of music. The language was hymnal, everything and everyone spoke in rhythmic cadence. Martha listened as the Doctor described the location as he shoved his arms into his ubiquitous brown coat and headed for the doors, flanked by Rose and Donna.

For the first time, Martha had wanted to go with. There must have been something in her expression, because he stopped, walked back up to the ramp and took her by the arm. "We'll stay if you want."

She shook her head, "No, go, have a good time." she smiled bravely and turned to look in his eyes. "Really, I'm ok."

"You sure?" he asked. "I am sure I could find a nice dangerous location, or a desert, something not as fun."

"Oi, you! There is no guarantee that what's on the other end of that door ain't gonna try to kill us, or at the very least, make me wish I'd warn me Nikes!" Donna flared.

But the Doctor continued to fix his glare upon Martha; under his intense glare, she began to feel almost uncomfortable. Almost. "It's fine, really."

"No," he thought aloud. "Someone should stay back with you."

"Why now?" Martha asked, feeling angry at being treated like a small and fragile child.

"Yeah, she's been running that thing for bloody months." Donna flared. "Don;t treat her like an invalid, Doctor. It's not right."

"I'll stay." It was Rose who raised her hand from across the console room. "What do I need to see a planet of music for, unless Jay-Z is there?"

The Doctor seemed to consider her question for a moment. "No, no I don;t think so. I left him in New York, so I'm pretty sure he's still there."

"Well," Rose smiled big, "That settles it then. I stay, you and Donna go, have fun with your run...er trip." she smiled.

"Well, maybe I should stay." Donna hemmed. Martha could tell she really wanted to go, and after their talks about her travels with the Doctor, Martha knew that Donna was still haunted by the beauty of the Ood Song. She really wanted to go.

"No, Donna, Rose I will be fine. It's nothing really, I am going to put my feet up, maybe knit a few booties. And, I am craving some butterscothc pudding." she smiled.

"Not in the console room!" the Doctor spoke quickly.

But, Rose had already taken her coat and puse off, had hung them on the one of the coral struts. "I really don't feel like running today, not after that trip to Gwalf."

"Rose, I did warn you..." The Doctor stated again for the millionth time.

Rose waved him away. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. 'Don't push the red button, Rose.' 'Don't go making trouble, Rose.' 'Don't offer people rides in the TARDIS to change established events, Rose.' 'Not in the sacred temple, Rose.' I get it. It was my fault." She sighed heavily and made a big show of plopping into the jump seat and folding her arms with all the petulance of an oncoming tantrum. "I'm staying home."

"Go ahead you two, have a great time. I'll be fine." Martha grinned to convince the others that she would be all right.

"If you're sure." the Doctor asked her again, still fixing her with that intense glare. "If you are sure, Martha."

"I'm sure." she assured him again. "Have a great time."

HE spun around the console. "Right then, You two, have a good time, but not too good." He flashed a cheesy smile at the two women. "Rose, make sure Martha does not over do it. If there is anything that goes wrong, phone me, text me, send up a flare. And You," He turned to face Martha as he stood by the door. "Take it easy, be careful. And I mean no, no pudding in the condole room."

"I am so eating pudding in the console room." Martha giggled at his manic behavior.

"Rebel!" he smiled as he opened the door.

Donna looked back at her friend. "You sure, Martha?" she asked.

"Oh, go on you, you're like an old Fishwife."

"Oh I have dated a few fish in my life. Never married any of 'em. Thank God for that. Ta!" Donna waved and followed the Doctor out of the door. Once it closed, Martha sent the TARDIS into the vortex.

"Why do I feel like our parents have gone on holiday and left us home alons?" Rose asked with a giggle.

Martha returned the smile and moved to sit on the seat next to Rose. "It always feels like that when I am alone in here."

A silence fell for a time as the two considered what to say to one another. It was Rose who finally spoke. "What's it like? I mean," she pointed to Martha's already overlarge but not quite done middle.

"Oh, it's well, hard to describe, isn't it?" Martha answered with a sigh. "It's both tedious and fantastic at the same time."

Rose nodded. "You know, when I first saw you two on here, I was a bit surprised. I had never met Donna before, but back in the other universe, well she's a celebrity. For the first three weeks here, I had to stop myself from asking her for her autograph and if Hugh Grant is still stalking her."

"Hugh Grant, really?" Martha laughed. "Oh I bet Donna would just love that!"

Rose nodded. "But you seemed familiar, only I couldn't place your face."

"I don't think you and I had ever met before Rose, but I had heard so much about you." Martha said.

"Yeah, he talks about you a lot." Rose said. "It's always 'Martha would know what to do.' and 'I hope she's all right.' Really, he sounds like one of those over freaked out father's waiting for d-day."

"He is good with comparisons, that one." Martha agreed. "Don;t feel bad, I got the same treatment about you when I first met him. I think he should really work on that thinking out loud thing he does."

Rose nodded. "Still, it took me a bit to remember you. Not this you, the one from the other side. Two celebrities on one ship."

Martha was astounded. "Really? I'm a celebrity as well? We looked up Donna's, but never got the chance to see who I am there."

"Well, I wouldn't say famous, its more like infamous." Rose's tone was both light and mildly mocking.

At some point, the conversation had turned, and Martha began to get the feeling she should not hear the rest. But she really, really wanted to. "Infamous?" Martha asked from what felt like a very great distance.

"Oh, well, yeah. It's Dr. Death you are." Rose smiled sweetly.

"Dr. Death?"

"Well, it's more like, Dr. and Mr. Death. Your husband and you. Took me a while to place him too, but Mum remembered him right off."