The First Christmas (11/11)
"Theta what are you doing?" the Professor laughed as she walked slowly towards the TARDIS, the Doctor behind her with his hands over her eyes, his thoughts unusually quiet yet she could feel his excitement half buzzing off him.
He had set them down just after setting Clara back up in her room at the Maitland's, the poor girl sleeping off her time in the Time Tunnel. She'd woken up briefly, with hardly any knowledge or memory of what she'd just lived through, all those echo lives she'd had. All she remembered was jumping into the tunnel and falling…and then it was a bit of a blur, people running past her, and then she'd woken up in the TARDIS. They'd brought her back so that she could have a proper rest in the house, somewhere more comfortable and familiar than the TARDIS. They'd dropped River off only moments before checking on Clara to see how she was doing and that was all about…2 hours ago really.
The Doctor had insisted she stay outside the TARDIS…before promptly disappearing within it and blocking his thoughts. So she'd waited, choosing to lie on the grass and look at the stairs, waiting…until the Doctor had run out, nearly bursting into the house before he realized she was right there, and pulled her gently to her feet, spinning her to the TARDIS and covering her eyes.
"It's a surprise Kata!" he cheered, opening the doors and letting her in.
She was hit with a lovely blast of warm air and, "Is that…pine?" she asked, sniffing something out of the ordinary.
"You're senses are too sharp," he complained, tapping her nose.
"Would you prefer I breathe through my mouth then?" she laughed.
He chuckled in her ear, "No, no, it's fine…because…" he pulled his hands away, "Ta da!" he grinned, moving in front of her and holding out his arms, spinning around as she looked at the state of the TARDIS before he ran to the console and quickly flicked some controls sending them off…somewhere she would probably have to check first.
"I'm not quite sure I understand…" she blinked at the decorations.
It was Christmas, literally, there were lights hanging up and streamers and an actual tree with ornaments and baubles and tinsel and garlands. There were even presents below it, a star atop it, with stockings hung up along the railings and hot chocolate with cookies resting on the console. She was half expecting him to make it start to snow inside.
"It's Christmas!" he smiled.
"Yes, I can see you decorated for it…" she nodded.
"No, I mean it's really Christmas!"
"It was August two minute ago," she pointed at the doors.
"And now it's Christmas," he nodded at the console, "Come and see if you don't believe me."
She laughed at that, "Oh I believe you," she nodded, heading up to the console too though, glancing to see he really HAD gotten them to Christmas, in 1918 for some reason, but still Christmas, "What I don't know is why."
"Because I wanted it to be the first holiday we have," he told her.
"We've had lots of holidays," she remarked, not quite following.
"Yes, but this had to be the very first for all of us."
She blinked, "Alright you've gone and managed to confuse ME," she laughed, "Care to explain?"
He just stepped closer to her, winding his arms around her but moving to the side so that just one hand came to rest on her stomach, "I needed this to be our first holiday, all of us, together," he splayed his hand across her still-flat stomach.
She smiled at that, "The baby's probably the size of a sea monkey right now Theta, it'll hardly remember this…"
"I know," he agreed, "But I will, WE will," he let out a soft breath at that, "Christmas has always been our favorite and…I wanted to give you something too…" he turned and headed over to the tree, rooting around the copious gifts spread out below it.
"But you haven't left me time or warning to get YOU anything," she frowned. They always exchanged gifts with each other, the two of them, not just one of them.
He looked up at her, seeing her arms were crossed, "Lower your hands," he told her with a wink.
She frowned at that, confused, before letting her hands fall down, and…come to rest on her stomach. She closed her eyes and shook her head, "That doesn't count," she told him.
"Does to me," he winked at her as he came back to stand before her with a small gift in his hand, a little box, "Best gift you've EVER given me."
"But I haven't given you yet," she continued to argue.
"But you will."
"But things can happen," she cut in, a…quiet note to her voice, a sort of…vulnerability, a concern, that made him pause, "Theta…" she swallowed hard, "Anything can happen the next few months and I…I don't want you to…to get your hopes up and…"
"Hey," he cut in gently, moving closer to wrap one arm around her, tugging her close, "It's alright, it'll BE alright," he promised her, "Nothing will happen to our baby, I promise you that Kata, I SWEAR it, on my life, on all my lives, our baby WILL be safe, I'll make sure of it," he leaned in, brushing his nose against hers, "We will see that little sea monkey grow bigger and we will see it enter this world, I know it," he winked at her, "Trust me, I'm a Doctor," he laughed, "And between the two of us, I think we can keep a wee baby safe eh?"
She smiled a bit at that, not voicing her lingering concerns, not even allowing her doubt and worry to filter across to him, but…bottling it up. This was…Christmas apparently, she didn't want to dampen the mood more than she already had, "Yes," was all she could offer him, "We can."
"Good," he beamed, "Now," he held up the small package, a TARDIS blue box with a white bow.
She laughed at the coloring and reached out to take it, the Doctor moving behind her to wrap his arms around her completely as she tugged the bow off and tore the wrapping off it as well. She opened the small box and let out a little breath, pulling out two pairs of little baby booties.
"I couldn't decide," he murmured in her ear, resting both his hands on her stomach as he looked over her shoulder at the two pairs, one pink and the other blue, "It's too soon to tell but…I wanted to be prepared."
"I love them," she whispered, smiling at the little shoes but…swallowing hard as well, it was…real. She was really pregnant, she was really going to have a baby if everything went right…the booties were just…the first of many to come, "Which would you prefer?" she had to ask, turning her head to glance at him, "Boy or girl?"
"Haven't we had this conversation before?" he laughed, rubbing his nose against hers.
"Yes, but I want to see if any of the data has changed," she smiled.
"I will always want a little girl," he told her, "My own little you, but I will love it no matter what, boy or girl, it's OURs and I'll love it to death."
"I want a boy," she countered lightly, "Still, I want a little you as well," she gave him a peck though, "But I agree, boy or girl, I…I just want it to be healthy and I want it to be happy."
"Oh it will be," he nodded, "With US as its parents," he let out a whistle, "It'll be the happiest child ever."
"What makes you say that?" she looked into his eyes as they looked into hers as well.
"YOU make me that happy," he told her, "We make each other happy, and that child…will be our happiness, it will BE happiness incarnate, I can feel it."
"That sounds…wonderful," she murmured, leaning in to hiss him again, before turning in his arms to hug him tightly.
She wanted that, so badly, she wanted a child that was healthy and happy, in a way she had never been growing up, she wanted it to be safe and protected, cherished and loved, and she hoped that they could do that, that they could provide all that for their child. They had a hell of a time trying to keep each other safe and happy…well, more safe than happy, the happiness, as the Doctor said, really did come naturally to them. But…she wanted more than that for her child, she wanted…she wanted to give it everything.
And, standing there in the Doctor's arms, she had the hope, for the first time in a long while, that maybe, just maybe it could be done. Despite their enemies and their pasts, their fears and their darknesses, all that they'd endured had made them stronger and closer. They could do it, she was sure, and their child would be just fine.
She couldn't help but think, as she hugged her Bonded, that she couldn't wait for their first actual Christmas with their child there, because it would be able to remember and…she wanted it to be the best memory ever, for all of them, and she had the feeling…it really would be.
A/N: It's a little on the short side, I know :( I apologize, I just really wanted a sweet Christmas moment, especially given the end of Reproduction lol :) I could see the Doctor being so over excited at just the thought that they really are pregnant that he'd do something like this ;)
I know the next chapter from the one before was supposed to be Haunted Houses, but I promised Christmas Themed stories for January 1-4 (and an extra AAO) so that will actually be the real next chapter ;)
Some notes on reviews:
I might be able to do a 4th Doctor talking about the Professor, but I don't think he'll actually be able to interact with her :( Sadly he wasn't able to actually be with her from the moment he left Gallifrey to when he saw her again during the War :( I do love the 4th Doctor from what I've read/seen in clips of him :)
