It was New Year's Day. 2089 had come at last. As an added bonus, the year began on a Saturday, which meant going to bed late and sleeping in until the afternoon (or rather, trying to anyhow). Doctor Doctor shifted, pulling the dark covers over her. Professor Professor was very forgiving of her constant blanket stealing, even when she'd left him without anything but pyjamas during the time they'd been stationed in Antarctica.

"Go to sleep," Professor Professor muttered.

He reached for the blanket and finally settled to curling as close as he could to her. Quite some feat, given that he was always nuzzled up as close as he could manage.

She sighed and tried unsuccessfully to find a comfortable spot. The baby's ever-shifting positions made that nigh impossible, however. Professor Professor shifted with her, ensuring that there was never too much distance between their bodies.

"I'd sleep if I could," Doctor Doctor rebutted. "I don't know why, but for some reason your child thought it'd be a good idea to start practicing for a future in gymnastics at five in the morning."

"Really?" He was fully awake now and his curiosity had been piqued to a point where he pushed up her pyjama top and rested his hand on her swollen abdomen. "This is very fascinating. Du bist sehr wertvoll für mich, weißt du das? Worte allein werden niemals ausdrücken können, wie sehr ich dich liebe, obwohl ich dich noch nicht getroffen habe."

He rubbed his hand over her navel in slow motions. The kicking soon lulled into peace. Professor Professor leaned his head against her stomach, listening intently like the child might whisper secrets through her skin.

"Ich habe bereits keinen Zweifel daran, dass du bereits eine der Lieben meines Lebens bist," he continued to speak. "Ich kann es kaum erwarten, dir alles zu zeigen."

"Is that it?" Doctor Doctor asked. "I hope that worked. I'd really like to go back to sleep."

"I'm sure it did, but who's to say? She's my child. I'm sure whatever she does will be totally untested und highly dangerous."

Hearing him say that was enough to get her moving again. There was a throbbing ache at her back, just mere inches from one of her kidneys, and a kick inside like a persistent drumbeat. So much for her child being convinced to sleep.

"There she goes again," Doctor Doctor murmured. "Can you think of anything else?"

It didn't take long for Professor Professor to figure something out. "How about we trying watching a documentary on YouTube? Anything interest you?"

Doctor Doctor thought about it for a minute. "Well, there is that one documentary I never got around to watching before. It's about the Byzantine empress Zoë Porphyrogenita."

"I see... let me go find my tablet real quick. Be right back."

With that, Professor Professor got up out of bed and disappeared into the living room. Just as quickly as he'd left, he came back with the tablet and came back into bed and turned on the tablet. He then pulled up YouTube and found the documentary video about Zoë Porphyrogenita, which was a Jack Rackam video called "The Forgotten Empress | The Life & Times of Zoe Porphyrogenita." Neither of the two said much of anything while watching the video, not even Doctor Doctor who was watching rapt throughout the whole thing.

Suddenly, Doctor Doctor put her hand to her belly. "Oh…"

"You okay?" Professor Professor asked out of concern.

"I'm fine," Doctor Doctor replied. "I think she's doing backflips in there."

"Very interesting. What if I tried to get a rise out of her?"

"How about instead of revving her up, we try to calm her down? All I want is the magical power to make babies nap on command, that's all."

"Well, it certainly won't be easy, but I'll see what I can do." Professor Professor sifted through the books at his bedside. "Now what do we have here? Kama Sutra... I don't think so." He chuckled and set the book aside before picking up another one to sift through. "Ah, here we go. 'The Neverending Story.' This has always been one of my favorite novels. I even love the English translation." He flipped through the pages. "I used to read it for hours." He flipped open the book and started to read aloud. "'This inscription could be seen on the glass door of a small shop, but naturally this was only the way it looked if you were inside the dimly lit shop, looking out at the street through the plateglass door.' Just like how I remember it. Good stuff."

Doctor Doctor rested against him while he kept reading. She couldn't help but notice that her daughter seldom kicked the whole time he read. And just like that, he'd seemingly already finished with the reading.

"That was a great story," Doctor Doctor said.

"I could say the same about our own," Professor Professor replied.

She giggled a bit. "You've got me there."

"And there." He put his arms around her and kissed the back of her neck. "There, too… you want me to count you some sheep?"

"Go ahead. Maybe it'll lull us both to sheep, I mean, sleep."

She closed her eyes as he described all the fluffy sheep he could think of. Many of them got names and even backstories. By the time their daughter was born, she was sure the sheep would have whole kingdoms.

It only just now struck her that her insomnia had become rare, where it'd once been standard. With happiness, she'd forgotten the sleepless nights when she'd trek home after a long mission to an empty apartment and still be too exhausted to sleep.

"Sixty sheep, this one's name is Martha, and we love her. Sixty one sheep, this one's Silja, and she yodels all day long in the mountains. Sixty-two is a real winner called Egon, and he has friends who help him catch ghosts. Together, they call themselves the Ghostbusters. Sixty-three sheep, this one's Mikkel, and he's a fun-loving boy. Sixty-four sheep, her name is Katharina, and she has three children who adore her..."

His voice was soft and his breath warm against her neck. She instantly drifted off into a dreamless sleep.