A/N: I was so relieved that everyone was happy with the changes I made in the last chapter. I'm looking forward to this chapter a lot because there's a nice little surprise for everyone. Thanks again for all the lovely reviews!

The Doctor woke up only a few minutes later, letting out a confused little grumble as he sat up in bed. He spotted me and looked at me for a moment before asking what I was doing there.

"Josephine told me she brought you here to rest. I thought I'd stay with you," I explained.

"That was very thoughtful of you, child, but there's no need for you to watch over me."

Child. That's at least the third time he's called me that, I considered as I watched the Time Lord step out of bed. I guess he doesn't really have any sort of feelings for me yet…

"Do you know about Josephine?" I suddenly blurted. The Doctor's eyes widened as he stared at me. "Uh… I-I mean… Do you know who she is?"

The Doctor glanced away and nodded. "Yes," he answered softly. "I do. I assume you do as well."

"Yeah… So where does, um, where does that put us?"

"What do you mean?" he asked as he slowly approached me.

"Well, what does this do to our relationship right now? I don't… think you and I are together yet at this point in your timeline."

The Time Lord smiled partially and nodded again. "Correct, my dear."

"Same for me. Not like that, at least. I mean, we're sort of dating, if you can call it that, but I haven't… You know, with Josephine yet. Or Sarah. Whatever she goes by now." I watched as the Doctor stepped towards me and finally stopped when he was standing in front of the chair. "Are you okay with that?"

"Obviously some version of me is."

"I mean right now. Is that… okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" he wondered, turning so his back was partially turned to me.

"Because… you're so young. And you're only just starting. We've only met a handful of times from my perspective. I-I wasn't sure if it made you comfortable or you didn't feel that way for me yet… And if you don't have feelings for me right now, that's fine. I-I don't want you to feel like you have to because of Josephine."

"I don't want you to feel the same either," the Doctor answered. "Don't let our future children cloud your feelings for me."

I shook my head. "No, I… I didn't mean to," I mumbled. I suddenly felt as if I needed to explain myself. "The feelings I do have for you are very real. They're genuine."

The Doctor looked at me again and the smile on his face faltered for just a second. He sighed and let his gaze drop to the floor for a few moments before he looked to me once more. "I know," he said simply. Then he took a few steps forward and pressed a surprisingly gentle kiss to my forehead. "I never doubted that."

My cheeks flushed with warmth and I couldn't help the ridiculous smile that spread across my face. I looked up at the Doctor and could feel my heart thudding away inside my chest. He took a step back and sighed heavily.

"Diana, my dear, I am sorry," he began, "but I'm afraid this is goodbye for now."

"What?" I glanced down at my body and saw the faint, golden glow that sometimes appeared when I was about to leave. "No… No, I was going to stay. I was going to be with Josephine and Susan a-and you."

"Perhaps you will. But not now, it seems."

"But Theta…" I jumped to my feet and threw my arms around the Doctor's neck, pulling him close. "I don't want to leave… I'm tired of leaving."

"I know," he sighed into my hair.

"I just want to stay… I want to stay with my family," I admitted.

I closed my eyes, refusing to see my home and the Doctor fade away once more. My arms tightened around empty air and I stumbled forward with a squeak. My eyes instinctively flew open and I grabbed at the first thing I could to keep from falling over. I grabbed ahold of a door that was ajar beside me and used it to keep myself steady.

Looking around, I saw that I had gone forward a few centuries in the Doctor's life. I was either with his ninth or tenth incarnation, if the color and style of the hallways was anything to go on. I pushed myself away from the door and took a step forward.

"At least I'm still home," I said to myself.

Since the ship seemed to be quiet, I started down the hallway in search of the Doctor's room. The ship hummed softly as I walked in silence and when I finally reached the Doctor's room, I heard what sounded like crying. But it wasn't coming from his room and it didn't sound like him. In fact, the crying sounded like a baby.

"Theta?" I called cautiously. "Theta, are you okay?"

A door a few yards past his suddenly opened up and the Doctor, big-eared and jacketless, appeared in the doorway with a baby wrapped in his arms. The baby had a small patch of red fuzz on its head and was wrapped in a yellow blanket, its face wrinkled as it cried loudly and its tiny arms flailing in mid air.

"Oh my," I breathed.

"Diana, thank Rassilon," the Doctor gasped. He stumbled out of the room and pushed the baby into my arms. "She won't stop crying."

I quickly took the child and held her against my chest, staring down at it in shock. "O-Okay…"

"You have to do something," he begged. "I have tried everything and she just keeps crying."

"Okay. Um…" I looked at the baby, its pale face distorted into a mess of pink wrinkles. The only experience I had ever had with a baby was my cousin's baby boy, and that had been at least a year before I came to the Doctor's universe. "Well, uh, h-have you checked her diaper? Um, has she… eaten? Is she tired?"

The Doctor walked back inside the room and I followed right behind him. I gasped when I looked around and saw that it was a baby room, fully decorated in light pinks and yellows and well furnished with a crib, a changing table, a white cupboard, a small hamper, a rocking chair, and a small twin bed.

"I've tried to feed her, but she won't eat or drink anything. I've checked her, but there's nothing wrong. And I've tried rocking her to sleep and singing, but nothing's working." The Doctor ran his hands over his face and let out a heavy, tired sigh. "Please, you have to make her sleep. You've been gone almost a week now and I've slept probably for thirty minutes."

I nodded and started rocking the still crying baby in my arms. "Okay. Okay, yeah, I'll try and get her to sleep," I assured him.

"Thank you," he groaned as he stumbled past me. I heard the nursery room door close, then heard the Doctor's door close as well.

I looked down at the baby and sighed heavily. The baby was still crying and I had no idea what to do with her. I rocked her back and forth in my arms, cooing softly and whispering reassuring words to her.

"Hey, sweetie, it's okay," I whispered to the baby. "Sweetie, it's okay. I'm here. Mom-… Mommy's here. You don't have to cry."

But no matter what I said to the child, it continued to cry and flail in my arms.

"Oh, God," I mumbled hopelessly. "What do I do with you?"

I continued rocking the child in my arms and when that didn't work, I tried bouncing her very gently as I paced back and forth in the room. I eventually moved to the rocking chair in the hopes that the rocking motion would soothe the wailing baby. Unfortunately the baby wouldn't calm down or stop crying no matter what I did.

"Sweetie, what is it?" I asked the child. "What's wrong? I don't know what's wrong."

When the baby continued crying, I nearly went into a blind panic. I didn't know how to feed it since I didn't have any natural way to do so and I didn't know if the ship had any sort of baby food. And I didn't know if the child was just feeling sick or tired either.

Feeling overwhelmed at having realized who Josephine was only hours ago and then being thrown into childcare, I pulled out my phone from my pants pocket and looked for a number to call. My options were highly limited; I could call Missy, who didn't seem the motherly type since she was more focused on flirting with me, or I could call the Doctor and hope for an incarnation who was already a dad, or I could call Jack.

After debating whether to call one of the three numbers in my phone, I slid the object back into my pocket and went back to rocking the baby in my arms. I remembered my last baby experience and how my cousin had told me that her baby fell asleep whenever she would sing a soothing lullaby. I figured it wouldn't hurt to try, even though the Doctor had already said singing hadn't helped.

I didn't know very many lullabies and the ones I did know were from movies, so I sang the first one that came to mind and prayed it would help relax the child.

"Come stop your crying, it will be alright. Just take my hand, hold it tight." I extended my finger and let the baby wrap her hands around it. "I will protect you from all around you. I will be here, don't you cry."

The baby in my arms stopped mid wail and gazed up at me in wonder. Her bright brown eyes went wide as I sang and her little mouth almost fell open. Her stunned reaction made me smile and I continued the song feeling a little more confident.

"For one so small, you seem so strong. My arms will hold you, keep you safe and warm. This bond between us can't be broken. I will be here, don't you cry."

Despite having only held the child for a few minutes and not even knowing which of my children it was, I felt my heart swell with love and adoration. Something inside of me melted at the sight of my child gazing up at me and I felt my throat constrict with tears. The most intense feeling of love I had ever felt washed over me as the child giggled.

" 'Cause you'll be in my heart. Yes, you'll be in my heart. From this day on, now and forever more. You'll be in my heart no matter what they say. You'll be here in my heart always…"

Although the baby had already fallen silent, I repeated the song to try and relax her further. Halfway through the song the second time, the baby burst into tears again and I stopped singing almost immediately. I stared to pointlessly ask the child what was wrong when she suddenly spat up on my chest.

I pursed my lips and closed my eyes for a moment. "Okay, kiddo," I sighed. "Not cool."

Despite the fact that the child's spit up was all over my shirt, I had to take care of her first. I started looking through the cupboard for anything that might help me clean up the mess. I pulled out some towels and wipes and then gently set the baby on the changing table. I wiped the mess off her face first, then changed her blanket and onesie. After that I set her in her crib and threw away all the dirty wipes and placed the dirty clothes and towels in the hamper.

Looking down at my soiled shirt, I very carefully pulled it off and balled it up so none of the spit up would smear. The TARDIS whirred gently as I walked out of the nursery and further down the hallway to my bathroom, where I set my shirt in the tub and started to rinse it out. After rinsing the shirt, I set it over the edge of the tub to dry and used a washcloth to clean my neck and chest. Then I hurried into my room where the TARDIS had already laid out a set of new clothes for me.

Once I had changed my clothes, I went back into the nursery to check on the baby. She wasn't asleep, but she wasn't crying either and I was relieved to see that she wasn't so worked up anymore. I walked over to the bed and lay down with a heavy sigh.

A million different thoughts were buzzing around in my head. I was still trying to grasp the realization that Sarah and Josephine were the same person and that she was my daughter. That most likely meant that Faith and Alistair were my children as well, like I had suspected. I glanced at the crib, where the baby was babbling softly. Which of my children was that baby? Was it Susan or Sarah or maybe even Faith? I thought back to the sentence the TARDIS had translated for me and recalled the other name Susan had mentioned: Hope. Who was Hope? Was that baby Hope?

Everything Josephine, or Sarah, had told me was also swirling around in my head. I remembered what she had said about her parents leaving her and her sister with family friends, and then I remembered that she also said she had run away. Who had she been left with? Was her childhood terrible and painful? Was that why she had run away from home? And the Doctor had said that she was caught by a Time Storm and thrown thirty years into the past. How deeply had that scared and hurt my daughter?

Then I remembered my time with Twelve and Clara. Although I hadn't thought about or focused on what had happened, I still felt hurt by the realization that Clara had fancied the Doctor. I had forgiven her of course because I knew she never meant to betray my trust, but suddenly it seemed like the biggest deal in the world.

I curled up into a ball on my side and buried my head in the pillow as my eyes welled with tears. I felt overwhelmed with the realizations I had come to over the last few days. My life felt like a jumbled mess and I didn't know how to manage everything that was going on. There were still so many things I didn't know or understand. When did the Doctor and I get married? Exactly how many kids did we have? What happened to my children, specifically Sarah, during their childhood? What had I done to make the Valeyard hate me so much? Why was the Master apparently romantically interested in me when he had previously only wanted me to further his power?

The baby suddenly squealed and started crying again. I immediately jumped out of bed and ran to the crib, pulling the child out and gently holding her against my chest. My worries and confusion were pushed to the back of my mind because I knew I needed to take care of the baby before anything else.

The next few hours were spent trying to comfort the child. I sang to her, rocked her, bounced her, and talked softly to her in the hopes that she would calm down and eventually fall asleep. However I didn't have any such luck and the baby continued to cry. After three long hours of the baby crying on and off, the nursery door opened and the Doctor walked in.

"Theta," I breathed. "Are you okay? Did you sleep at all?"

The Time Lord ran a hand over his face and nodded as he let out a yawn. "I managed two hours of sleep," he told me. He sighed and gently ran his thumb across the baby's head. "What about our little one?"

"Well, she spit up on me and calmed down for about an hour, I think. Then she started crying again and I wasn't sure what to do."

The Doctor sniffed the air and then took the baby out of my arms. "She smells… clean," he sighed as he propped her against his chest and began very gently bouncing her.

"I can take her. Maybe she's hungry. I haven't tried feeding her yet. Besides, you should get some sleep."

"No, it's…" He yawned again and gently patted the baby's back. "I'll be fine. I can't sleep right now."

"But you need to."

"Oi, you're her mother, not mine," he teased.

I smiled and cupped the Doctor's cheek. "And you're incredibly stubborn," I replied as I leaned in to kiss his cheek.

The Doctor looked down at the baby and sighed again. He smiled at the tiny child and started making a series of noises in an attempt to make her laugh. The baby slowly stopped crying and stared up at her father, her eyes wide and shining. Although I was tired from trying to comfort the child for hours on end, I felt my heart warm at the sight of the Doctor and the little baby in his arms.

"You hungry?" I asked the Doctor.

"Hm?" he hummed, his eyes still trained on the baby.

"I was thinking of getting myself a snack. Do you want something?"

He thought for a moment before glancing at me and nodding. "A banana," he said with a smile.

"Okay," I answered with a laugh. "I'll be right back."

I grabbed the Doctor a banana as requested and grabbed another for myself. I realized then that I hadn't properly eaten since breakfast a few hours earlier, so I grabbed an extra banana and a package of crisps. When I went back to the nursery, the Doctor was still cradling the baby in his arms and trying to make her laugh.

"Come on, little one," he whispered. "Who's my happy little girl? Hm? My happy little Hope."

I nearly dropped the food. That's her, I realized. Hope. Our Hope.

I lightly cleared my throat as I walked into the room. "Got you a banana," I said as I placed the food on the bed. "How's she doing?"

"Well, she stopped crying. She seems to be in a very serious mood today."

"I thought you spoke baby?" I wondered as I sat down on the bed.

The Doctor scoffed and shook his head. "Didn't get it this time around," he grumbled. "Must've deleted it when I regenerated."

"Ah. How terribly convenient," I sighed as I opened the crisps.

"Ooh, are those crisps?" the Time Lord asked hopefully.

"Hey!" I scolded. "I got you what you wanted. These are just for me."

The Doctor walked over to the bed and sat down beside me, flashing me a smile. "Can't I have one?" he asked with a pout.

I lowered my gaze and laughed softly, pulling a few crisps out of the bag. "Alright, fine," I finally relented after a moment. I leaned across the bed and extended my arm so the Doctor could bite onto the crisps. "Here."

Hope fell asleep in her father's arms soon after. I guessed that the long hours of crying had worn her out. The Doctor gently placed her back in the crib and then trudged back to the bed. He fell onto his side with a heavy sigh, his eyes shut tight. I smiled and fell onto my back so I was level with him.

"Is Dad feeling tired?" I asked playfully.

"You have no idea," he mumbled, his eyes still shut.

I turned onto my side so I was facing the Doctor and folded my arm under my head. The Doctor opened one eye to look at me and then opened the other when he saw I was watching him. He suddenly reached out an arm and looped it around my waist, tugging me across the mattress so I was pressed against him.

"Oh," I breathed in surprise.

He rested his forehead against mine with a sigh. "I am so glad you showed up when you did," he said. "At least she's finally sleeping peacefully."

"Easy for you to say. You didn't get spit up on."

"Oh, no. That was yesterday."

I laughed and moved my head so it was resting lightly against the Doctor's arm, which was splayed across the mattress. He moved his free hand so it brushed against my cheek and then leaned forward to kiss the tip of my nose.

"I am so tired."

I nodded. "Me too. Believe me." A tiny yawn worked its way out of my mouth and I ducked my head to hide it. "Man, I am so ready for a nap."

The Doctor kissed me lightly on the lips and then nuzzled his head against mine. "Hope probably won't be waking up anytime soon after the week she's had. I think it's safe to take a nap."

"Good. Although…" I looked down at the foot of the bed were the open package of crisps and the two bananas were. "I think finishing our snacks might be in order before we pass out."

"Agreed."

We quickly ate our snacks and shortly after, I lay back on the bed and closed my eyes. I was tired and didn't want to be bothered by the confused and worried thoughts that had been hiding in the back of my head. I grasped the Doctor by his jumper and pulled him down beside me.

"Nap time now," I mumbled as I cuddled up beside him.

I woke up what felt like only minutes later. The Doctor had moved to the rocking chair and was holding Hope in his arms, whispering softly to her as he rocked back and forth. Moaning lightly, I sat up and rubbed my eyes. My glasses had mysteriously disappeared while I was sleeping and I found them resting on the opposite end of the bed.

I slipped my glasses on and forced myself out of bed. The trash from our food had disappeared as well, which I knew could only be thanks to the Doctor. I walked over to the chair and gently rested a hand on his shoulder.

"How's she doing?" I whispered.

"Hardly a peep," he answered softly. "She's eaten and has a clean diaper. So she's a happy little baby, aren't you?"

I smiled and leaned forward to kiss the Doctor's temple. "You want me to hold onto her for a while? I'm done sleeping for now."

"Sure."

I walked around the chair so I was standing in front of the Doctor, then extended my arms. He leaned forward to give the baby to me and I gently took her and held her against my chest. Hope looked from her father to me and let out a happy little noise that made me smile.

"Hey, sweetie," I whispered as I rocked her in my arms. She babbled wordlessly at me and I gasped in fake shock. "Yes, hello there!"

I gently rocked Hope back and forth as she reached for my face with her stubby little arms. "You want Mommy to sing a song for you, sweetie?" I asked softly. "Hm? Would you like that, sweetie?"

I smiled at the baby when she giggled and babbled again. "Okay, sweetie," I cooed. Taking a small breath, I started singing very softly to the child. "Baby mine, don't you cry. Baby mine, dry your eyes. Rest your head close to my heart, never to part, baby of mine. Little one, when you play don't you mind what they say. Let those eyes sparkle and shine, never a tear, baby of mine." I pressed a kiss to Hope's forehead and continued gently rocking her back and forth."From your head to your toes you're so sweet, goodness knows. You are so precious to me, sweet as can be, baby of mine."

Hope made a gurgling sound and reached for my face again. I smiled and covered her face in tiny kisses, making funny noises so she would giggle again. The sound went straight to my heart and I beamed down at the baby as she blew raspberries at me. I bounced her very gently in my arms and started the song again.

I was so absorbed with the baby that I had completely forgotten the Doctor was even in the room. I only remembered he was there when I glanced away from Hope and spotted him gazing at me, a fond smile on his face as he watched the two of us. I blushed when I realized that he had been staring, but I went on singing to the baby anyways.

Hope had fallen asleep in my arms by the time I finished singing the song the second time. The Doctor stood up finally and pressed a light kiss to my lips, his fingers brushing against my cheek. When he pulled away, he gazed down at our baby and smiled again.

"Asleep at last," he mumbled as he kissed Hope's forehead. Then he looked back at me and ran his thumb across my cheek again. "I've missed you this week."

"I missed you too," I whispered in response. It had been a little while since I had last seen him all big-eared and Northern.

"And I definitely missed your singing," he added with a grin.

I smiled and looked down at Hope again as I felt my chest swell with pride. "Well thank you very much, Doctor," I answered softly.

He suddenly leaned in and kissed my cheek before stepping past me. "I'll be right back, alright?"

I nodded and slowly moved to take his seat in the rocking chair. Hope stirred slightly and I immediately started rocking very slowly, hoping to keep her from waking up. I leaned my head back against the chair and sighed softly as I continued rocking. I let my eyes slide closed for a few moments as I listened to Hope's light breaths.

I continued rocking back and forth with my eyes closed and Hope pressed firmly against my chest. A few minutes later, I opened my eyes again; some of the thoughts that had started to bother me earlier were creeping back to the front of my mind. I wanted to focus instead on my daughter and the Doctor, so I tilted my head down and looked at Hope as she slept peacefully. That was when something caught my eye.

"No," I breathed sadly, my voice quivering. "No, no, no, no, no. Not now."

I stood up slowly, Hope still held firmly in my arms, and started for the door. The Doctor was nowhere to be seen and I didn't want to call out for him in case Hope woke up. I turned and hurried to the crib in the corner of the room, then very gently set Hope down inside it. My arms had started to glow gold as I pulled away from the crib.

"Oh, sweetie," I sighed as I gazed down at the sleeping baby. "I don't want to go…"

I leaned over the edge of the crib and pressed my lips against her forehead. She didn't make a sound or move at all, and I laughed. "Don't give your dad too much trouble, okay?" I whispered. "Sweet dreams, Hope."

I closed my eyes and turned away as the golden glow wrapped around my body. I wished, not for the first or last time, that I didn't have to jump across time and space.

A/N: Well I know this chapter is a lot shorter than the others, but my inspiration is lacking again. But I promise to make the next chapter nice and long. Don't forget to review and tell me what you think!