A month had passed since little Zoë was born. This whole parenting was still taking some getting used to, especially on Doctor Doctor's end. She still struggled with wrapping her head around having actually created life as opposed to destroying it. Could she actually devote her life to doing something other than chaos and destruction? Zoë seemed to be proof that she could, but she still wasn't all that sure. One thing was certain, though. No matter what, she would never let her daughter down. This was, after all, her own flesh and blood.

Today was the first day Professor Professor got to go back to work and just a day after his 35th birthday, no less. Doctor Doctor hadn't wanted him to start working again just yet, but work was work. Besides, he had one of the most important jobs in the world, so he couldn't afford to miss more than a couple months. She wished he could spend just a little more time with Zoë, but she figured this was one of many sacrifices he needed to make in order to ensure the world's safety. God, she couldn't help but envy him.

So while Professor Professor was off at work, probably helping Mace Windy exposit to Victor and Anita about how dangerous this week's latest foe was, Doctor Doctor had to stay home and look after little Zoë and make sure all of her needs were met. Couldn't be too hard, right? She'd studied up on the parenting manuals leading up to Zoë's birth; so surely she was perfectly capable of actually looking after a newborn by herself, much less her own, right?

An ear-splitting scream came across the baby monitor. It was go time. Her toes curled in as her feet hit the floor. The crying only got louder as she briskly made her way down to the nursery. She'd been warned numerous times about how having a child would be such a trial. Even her landlady had told her, "Everything changes when you have a little one." Maggie had regaled her countless times with stories about how she and Chandler never slept and there was crying at all hours of the night.

"It's okay, it's okay," Doctor Doctor cooed in her most soothing voice. "I've got you."

Zoë's screams died down into a series of whimpers. She hoisted Zoë to her hip as she gently warmed her frozen breast milk in a bowl of warm water. After a few minutes, the bottle was ready, and Zoë sucked away greedily at it. On television, there'd always been some kind of orchestral chorus, and they never focused on the less glamorous details like the inelegant slurps or the kinds of stains she had to get out of her blouses or the like.

Still, it wasn't all bad, certainly better than that time she had to kill a Reptogator in self-defense or when she had to live off of seals, penguins, and orcas for a time in Antarctica. Bloodstains were always such a bitch to clean up, even in the snow.

"Kazhetsya, tebe eto nravitsya," Doctor Doctor started speaking. "Eto to, chego zhelayet vashe serdtse?"

Zoë couldn't answer her mother's question, for she did not have the vocal ability to do so yet.

"Nu, nichego osobennogo, skazhu ya vam," Doctor Doctor continued. "Eto prosto to, chto roditeli delayut, chtoby ikh deti vyzhili."

Once she was certain that Zoë had finished feeding, Doctor Doctor got out a soft blue thing and laid it across her shoulder.

"Alright, Zoë, you know what time it is." She lifted Zoë up and laid her on top of the blue blanket. "That's right, it's burping time." She patted her daughter on the back a few times and shifted her from side to side. Her face hardly emoted as Zoë let out a truly monstrous, wall rattling burp. "There you go..."

Zoë had been put down for a nap, so Doctor Doctor had approximately five minutes to herself which, now that she'd thought about it, was downright decadent. What could she do with this free time? Tinker some more? Call up Oluremi and Adrian real quick and ask what they were up to? Maybe she could call Professor Professor at work and ask how U.Z.Z. was handling their foe of the week? She thought about it for a few seconds before going with the final choice.

After dialing Professor Professor's work number, she waited for him to pick up.

"Hello?" Professor Professor sounded.

"Professor Professor, how is... everything at work?" Doctor Doctor asked.

"Fine, I guess I would say. Nothing too unusual around here. How's things at home?"

"Fine. I just put Zoë down for a nap. If I'm going to be honest here, it's actually a little lonely around here. Sure, I have Zoë to keep me company, but she can't exactly hold a conversation. I don't know how much longer I could take before I go stir-crazy."

"Hmm..." Professor Professor had to think about it for a minute. "I suppose we could schedule a date sometime this month, but I don't know when exactly we could do that."

"A date? Like a 'date' date? Like the one I took you on in Dubai three years ago?"

"Exactly. Look, I don't want to make promises I can't keep nor am I going to, but I want you to know that I'll always try to find time for you and Zoë no matter what it takes."

"You really mean that?"

"Of course. Besides, the first day of summer is almost here, so I think we're due for a night out anyway. Also, you've been doing a great job as far as I can tell."

Now that he mentioned it, it would be nice to go out sometime and get some time away from the baby. Where could they go, though? They couldn't exactly travel far enough away to places like Dubai or Abu Dhabi or even Doha. Their dates would have to be restricted to Chelsea or Kensington or even Notting Hill. She gave herself a few seconds to think about this.

"Thank you," Doctor Doctor finally replied after a few seconds. "How about Notting Hill? I can't remember the last time I've been there."

"Ooh, Notting Hill sounds lovely!" Professor Professor replied. "We still need to figure out when we could go there, though."

"Right." Doctor Doctor started looking back at the door to the nursery. "Alright, I think I'll hang up now. I have to go check on Zoë before anything bad happens. Do you know when you'll be home?"

"Nein. Alright, I'll see you when I see you. Bye."

"Bye."

With that, Doctor Doctor hung up. Without hesitation, she rushed back into Zoë's room to make sure nothing had gone pear-shaped.