Jack poked his head out of his office to find Francine sitting on the couch watching a movie. She had her feet propped up on the coffee table and was slowly sipping a cup of tea. She was engrossed in the movie and hadn't noticed that Imogen had snuck down from her bed to join her daddy in the medi-bay. She offered to go retrieve the little girl but Jack declined. Francine had done a lot for them over the last few months and she deserved a night off. She didn't seem to mind as she immediately settled back to keep watching the movie.
Going into his office, he called Alice knowing that she would still be awake. Despite working long hours she often stayed up late. He spoke to her for almost an hour telling her about the birth of the twins and the additional surgery that the Doctor had to have. She sounded sincerely upset to hear the problems they were having and told Jack that she would stop by soon to see her new siblings. They both knew that it was a lie however as she always had an excuse about why she couldn't make it. They would see her around Christmas or when he went to one of Stevens many football games throughout the year. Neither Steven nor Imogen actually knew that they weren't cousins but Imogen was really his aunt. They were discussing how Steven was doing in school when he heard someone enter the room. Looking up, he was slightly concerned when Martha entered stopping just outside of the TARDIS.
"Hold on a moment, Alice," He said into the phone before lowering it and hitting mute. "What's the matter?"
"The Doctor would like me to inform you that he is cold," Martha told Jack. Jack shook his head as Martha came closer taking a seat on the other side of his desk across from him.
"Of course he is. Is he going to be alright for a few more minutes?" Jack questioned her slightly concerned. While he didn't want to just end his call he knew that Martha wouldn't come out to let him know that the Doctor was cold unless he was distressed as well.
"He told me about forty minutes ago that he was cold so I gave him an additional blanket as well as a heating pad. He refuses to go back to sleep, though, without you beside him and he is starting to become miserable. I don't want to sedate him if I don't have to but if you don't return soon I may have to consider it anyway," Martha explained. He nodded. He thought that the Doctor would be alright cuddling with Imogen for awhile but he should have known better. During the last ten years of their marriage, every time the Doctor was sick or just not feeling well he wanted Jack to hold him.
"I will be in there in a few minutes," Jack replied knowing that the Doctor needed to rest and that he wasn't going back to sleep until Jack was with him. Unmuting the phone he got back on speaking to Alice for another few minutes before informing her that he needed to go. Before returning to the Doctor's side, he went up to their room changing into his pajama trousers. Going back to the medi-bay, he found that while Imogen was still laying behind him and Martha had put up the railing on her side of the bed to keep her from falling off. The Doctor himself, however, was curled up on his side holding something against his chest. Tears were streaming down his cheeks and Martha was sitting beside him gently stroking his hair back. Seeing Jack enter, she moved away giving Jack room to climb up on the bed in front of him. He lifted the blankets so that he could slide under them to hold the Doctor against his bare chest to offer him warmth.
"Come here, sweethearts," Jack cooed. The Doctor uncurled from himself, sliding closer to Jack to hold him tightly. Jack felt a heating pad press between them and he quickly came to the realization that it was what the Doctor was holding. He extracted it, handing it back to Martha. The Autron energy flowing through his body kept him warm enough without having the heating pad as well.
"You left me," The Doctor whimpered.
"I know. I wanted to speak with Alice and I thought you would be alright with Imogen for a moment," Jack admitted to him.
"I wasn't," the Doctor whined. Jack dropped a kiss on the top of his head.
"I'm here now and I promise that I won't leave again tonight. Just sleep now," Jack told him. He reached one hand up to gently stroke the side of the Doctor's head in a way that he knew was comforting to the Time Lord. Soon enough, he was sleeping peacefully once more safe in Jack's arms.
-DW-
Over the next week, the Doctor slowly started to get better. He was still whiny and sore but he was now allowed to get up and leave the medi-bay even if he chose to spend most of his time in there with the twins. Unlike with Imogen, he wasn't afraid to offer his medical opinion in order to assist with the twins care. Anwen wasn't doing as well as any of them would have liked and even though the energy medication allowed her to produce the energy her body needed she was having trouble maintaining it for any length of time. Wyatt, on the other hand, consistently had low energy levels regardless of the medication they gave him. Both babies were thriving despite their energy problems and gaining the weight they needed to slowly and all of their doctors were optimistic about their futures.
As soon they were able to, they started allowing the Doctor to start holding the twins. He smiled as Anwen was laid against his chest for the first time, kissing her softly on the top of her head. Martha planned on giving Jack Wyatt to hold but as she turned around she saw the Doctor looking at her excitedly having moved Anwen slightly to the side so that he had room to hold Wyatt beside her. She looked towards Jack and he nodded his approval to give him Wyatt as well. The Doctor cuddled them both closely for a moment before allowing Jack to taken Anwen so that he was able to examine Wyatt. He checked his fingers and toes, counting them. He kissed him on the top of the head and cooed how much he loved him softly.
At the end of the time, he reluctantly returned the babies to the incubator knowing it was the best place for them. He made sure that they were comfortable. Martha watched him in concern as he then proceeded to reach into his pocket and pull out his small bottle of anti-depressants. He opened it taking one.
"How many of those a day are you taking now?" Martha questioned.
"Enough," The Doctor answered returning the bottle to his pocket. Jack held up three fingers from behind the Doctor's back. Martha nodded and the Doctor looked behind him. Jack scratched the side of his head causing the Doctor no narrow his eyes at his husband.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Martha wondered.
"Not really," The Doctor answered heading towards the door.
"I'll talk to him," Jack promised Martha as soon as the Doctor was out of hearing range.
"Are you coming, Jack?" The Doctor called from the corridors.
"Yeah," Jack yelled back before hurrying out to catch up with his husband.
