38. Roses
Neil arrived at the Torchwood hub early that morning, but he had Karen in tow with him.
"Morning," Rose smiled as she was straightening John's desk… he had never been very tidy, even on the TARDIS.
"Morning," Karen beamed as she waddled to the doorway of John's office. She held onto her baby bump which was larger than ever.
"Wow, what are you having – twins?" John joked as he appeared, popping up from behind Matthew's desk.
"John!" Rose scolded as she hugged her best friend.
"What are you doing here?" John asked as he stood up and walked towards his wife and their best friends. "Aren't you supposed to be resting?" He directed this question at Karen.
"Thank you!" Neil agreed. "That's what I said!" He turned to Karen now. "Kaz, love… Let me take you home," He begged.
"No!" Karen demanded. "I'm staying here. And if it's okay with you John, I have a wedding to plan." She left no room for arguing.
John looked over at Neil who sighed and nodded his head.
As lunch time approached, not much had happened. The police had arrived to say that some people had gone missing under weird circumstances and John had sent Matthew, Jack, Patrick and Heather out researching it. Rose, Neil and Karen were in one of the meeting rooms, starting to plan their wedding for when after the baby is born and John was sat at Rose's desk, his feet on the table as he listened to Sherry, Kevin and Stanley converse about Karen and Neil and their baby.
John cast his eyes over to open doorway where he saw Karen hurrying as fast as she could in her pregnant form. She was heading for the toilets. John chuckled, Karen spent all her time on the toilet these days. But as Karen stopped, and grabbed hold of her bump and the wall to steady herself, John frowned.
"Karen?!" John yelled, jumping up and jumping up over pulled out chairs until he was in front of Karen.
"John?!" Karen gasped as she fell forward. John caught her and held her upper arms. "My waters just broke!"
John looked down, and sure enough, there was a puddle of water at their feet. At that moment, Karen let out a cry of pain as he contractions began.
"Oh god! What do I do?!" John cried. He looked over Karen's shoulder to see three shocked glances. "NEIL!"
"Sit me down John; sit me down!" Karen advised; her breathing heavy.
John did so, slowly. When Karen was sat on the floor, her back against the wall, Neil came running round the corner – Rose following.
"Neil, Neil!" Karen rushed as Neil crouched down next to her. "The baby's coming!" She whispered, grabbing his arms.
That night, Rose sat by the phone, eagerly waiting to hear any news. Karen and Neil had decided that they only wanted their parents present for the birth of their first child, which was completely understandable – and a decision that John and Rose respected. But that didn't mean that the two couldn't be anxious as they awaited news.
"Bedtime Darren," John said as the cartoon finished.
"That's not fair! I want to stay up longer!" Darren complained. John laughed and lifted the small boy up off the sofa. He lifted him above his head, making Darren laugh loudly.
"It's bedtime young man!" John said playfully as he placed the young boy back on the sofa.
"Don't wind him up John," Rose scolded, not taking her eyes off of the phone.
"I'm not," John argued, making faces at Rose's back. Darren laughed and copied him. "Come on you," John took Darren's hand and went to lead him out of the room.
"But, I want to know when Auntie Karen has her baby!" Darren whined. Rose turned to look at John and the two shared a silent conversation before Rose looked to the phone again.
"Okay Sport," John said picking up the small boy again and sitting on the sofa. He placed Darren beside him and put another cartoon on for him. "But if they haven't phoned in an hour, you'll have to go to bed."
"Okay," Darren said as he climbed into John's lapped and curled himself up.
40 minutes later, John was smiling down at the sleeping boy in his arms.
"Should I put him to bed?" John asked. Rose turned and smiled at the sight of her two favourite boys curled up together.
"Yeah," Rose replied getting up and placing a soft kiss on Darren's forehead.
John walked up the stairs and into Darren's bedroom. As he did so, he could hear the phone ringing from downstairs. He smiled as Rose's voice carried up to him.
"Hello? Neil? How are you?"
He proceeded in putting Darren to bed ad made sure he was tucked in before flicking the light off and pulling the door almost shut. He walked back down stairs to hear the news.
Rose was just finishing on the phone.
"Okay, we'll pop in tomorrow," She was saying. "And congratulations! Me and John send our love," She said her goodbyes and put the phone down before jumping up and down happily. She flung her arms round John who begged to hear the news.
"Well?" He asked.
"She gave birth about 3 hours ago!" Rose informed him as they sat on the sofa together. "To a little girl!"
"That's brilliant news!" John said, unable to stop the smile on his face.
"And they named her Rose!"
"Darren, you need to be on your best behaviour!" Rose said as the Smith family excited the car.
"I will!" Darren smiled as he held onto his mother's hand.
The family walked into the hospital and were directed to a maternity ward where they saw Karen sat on the bed in a hospital gown with a bundle of blankets in her arms. Neil was sat on the edge of the bed, reading a newspaper.
"Hello!" Darren said as they walked towards the new parents.
"Hello Darren," Neil said, putting the newspaper down.
"How are you?" John asked, standing at the end of the bed.
"Exhausted." Karen answered with a weak smile. "But happy."
"Is this her?" Rose asked, stepping up beside Karen.
"Yep, this is Rose," Karen said, holding the baby up for Rose to take in her arms.
"She is beautiful!" Rose whispered, unable to stop the tears forming in her eyes. She looked down at the baby in her arms and gently stoked her soft skinned cheek with her finger. She let a tear fall as John stepped up behind her and looked over her shoulder, with a comforting hold on her upper arms.
"I've never seen a more adorable baby," John complimented. "Congratulations… to both of you."
"I want to see the baby!" Darren complained as he climbed onto the end of the bed.
"Darren! Off the bed!" John scolded.
"It's okay," Karen nodded. "Just be careful!"
"I will!" Darren agreed. Rose sat down on the bed and Darren climbed over to look at the baby girl. He awed in fascination. "She's cute!" He smiled, making Neil chuckle. "What's her name?"
"Rose Imogen Scull," Neil informed them.
"That's a nice name," Darren smiled. He looked down at the baby in Rose's arms. "Welcome to the family baby Rose."
So Karen's had her baby! Baby Rose... All in all, I 10 votes for a girl (That's on here and on Wattpad) so she had a baby Rose... I'm imagining Darren treating baby Rose like an older brother. Anyone agree?