One Month Later
Idris was cross. She felt cross and she conveyed that she was cross. The feline showed this by glaring menacingly at her owner who had taken her to the vet just two hours ago. She refused to eat, drink or even lie down on the bed. No, she wanted to make it clear that she was cross.
"Please stop staring at me like that," the Doctor muttered, eyes glued to the computer screen. "It was for your own good."
Michael and Lily were currently occupied with a toy Clara had bought them a week ago. They weren't hungry just yet, so it gave Idris the opportunity to make her owner feel guilty. Mr Darcy, on the other hand, was fast asleep.
With a defeated sigh, John closed the laptop and stared back at his pet. "You can't get pregnant again, and quite frankly, I don't think I have the means to support more pets – you and the kittens just can't stop eating."
Idris remained in her spot.
The Doctor glanced at his watch. Clara would be home any minute now, along with Nan.
Ten minutes later, he heard the sound of his car pulling up into the driveway. The bet isn't over yet and he has already lent the car to Clara. Not that he minded, but the vehicle has a mind of her own and he hoped it hadn't caused too much trouble.
"Any chance he could drive me around next time?" a frail voice asked in amusement.
Clara chuckled. "I'm sure he'd be happy to," she replied before spotting John.
"How have you been, John?" Nan asked, kissing his cheek and hugging him. "I'm really looking forward to tomorrow."
He hugged her back awkwardly. "Fine, great, actually."
The elderly woman then set her eyes on the cats in the living room. "They are adorable!" she commented, releasing the Doctor and cooing over the kittens.
He took the opportunity to have a private conversation with Clara. "How was the journey?" he asked. "The car didn't give you any trouble, did she?"
She shook her head. "No, the car ran smoothly."
"That's good."
Clara glanced up and smiled. "Nan's going to have a blast tomorrow."
He hummed in reply, wondering what her grandmother would do or say. What if she meets Jack? The thought was both entertaining and terrifying. "Does she… know that the uni doesn't know we're…"
Clara's eyes widened in response. "I think I have to mention this to her."
She handed him a brown paper bag. "Nan got you chocolates."
"I know you're a sweet tooth, dear," her grandmother added settling down on the sofa with a kitten.
The Doctor flashed her an awkward smile. "Thank you," he said, disappearing into the kitchen with the bag, eager to devour some sweet snacks.
"Nan," Clara began, sitting next to her grandmother. "I know you're very excited about tomorrow, but there's something you need to know before you meet my colleagues."
"You're pregnant!" the elderly woman guessed happily.
The mathematician furrowed her brows. "No, nothing like that, but it does concern my relationship with John."
"You're planning to have children?"
She wasn't able to help herself from groaning and feeling embarrassed. "Nan, nobody at uni knows that John and I are together, and we'd like to keep it that way for some time."
"Why would you want to keep your relationship with a handsome gentleman like that from your friends at work?" Nan asked. "Is there a policy which states you can't date your colleague because if there is, it's rubbish."
Her granddaughter couldn't help but laugh. "No, we don't have that, but John and I want to keep a low profile for the time being."
The elderly woman was silent for a few seconds. "So I can't walk up to one of your friends at work and then talk about the two of you?"
At that moment, the Doctor returned to the living room, eating a bar of chocolate, looking puzzled when the two women stared at him.
Clara then said: "No, Nan… just pretend as if we still hate each other."
"Oh, alright," Nan sighed in defeat before an idea came to mind. Her granddaughter didn't say anything about mentioning them individually. She smiled at John. "At least I'll get another free lecture from you."
The Doctor was roused from his slumber the next morning by a loud alarm coming from his right side. He rolled over, silencing the phone before returning to the woman lying next to him.
"What time is it?" she asked hoarsely, eyes still shut.
"Seven," he answered, kissing the back of her neck.
"Science festival day," she murmured, lips forming into a smile.
Clara seems to be looking forward to it more than him. Well, she had every right to be since her grandmother would be visiting. "You sound a bit too happy about this," he commented, testing the waters.
She sighed in contentment before rolling over to face him. Leaning forward she planted a chaste kiss on his lips. "Good morning."
"Ohayou, Oswald-sensei."
"Show off," she laughed. "And for your information, the reason I'm so chirpy today is that I get to see you interact with nan again, at work."
She heard a groan coming from him. "I think she's too sassy… and flirty."
Once more, Clara giggled. "It means she likes you very much."
He decided to change the subject. They had agreed to travel to uni via his car and that meant they couldn't be spotted together. The plan was to drop off Clara and Nan outside the university premises to avoid eyebrows being raised and then he would go on with his routine. Simple. "So I drop you and Nan off at Tesco?"
She nodded, not feeling like leaving the bed just yet. "That's the plan – it's only a five-minute walk."
John hummed in response and shifted a bit to climb out of bed, but he was stopped by a pair of arms wrapping around his neck. "Yes, Dr Bosswald?"
"We still have a few minutes to cuddle," she whispered.
By the time they had showered and dressed, Nan was already waiting downstairs, coat ready at hand, as she entertained Mr Darcy.
The journey to work was filled with anecdotes of Clara's university days, from the day she moved into halls to the day she graduated.
"Why, I remember just sitting in anticipation as they called her to the stage and she nearly tripped halfway up the steps!"
The Doctor grinned, eyes focusing on the road. "Do you happen to have a recording of this?" he asked, glancing at the woman sitting next to him. She didn't look quite as amused.
"You will see no such thing," Clara stated, punching his arm. "I really don't want to relive that moment."
"I'll take that as a yes."
"Admit it, Clara, you find it funny now," Nan added.
She tried her best not to smile or show any signs that she agreed with her grandmother as the car pulled by the side of the road.
"Have we arrived?"
"Yeah, sort of – we just have to walk five minutes from here to reach uni," Clara explained. "Can't have people seeing us together."
"I bet they're already suspecting something," Nan commented, exiting the vehicle.
John pouted. She wasn't wrong in the slightest.
Clara leaned forward and placed a quick kiss on his left cheek. "I'll see you later and thank you for driving us here."
"Give him another kiss from me!" her grandmother exclaimed.
"My pleasure," he murmured, chuckling as he saw Clara's cheeks reddening. The Doctor watched as the two disappeared up the road before making his way to the university carpark. Today is going to be very interesting. He couldn't help but wonder what would happen if Nan were to meet Jack.
"You know the plan, right, Nan?" Clara asked as they approached her office.
"Yes, yes," the elderly woman sighed. "No mentioning of you-know-what."
Happy that her grandmother has agreed to keep their little secret, she unlocked the door to her office, stepping aside to let Nan in first.
"Well, it's very cosy in here," Nan commented.
"Bit too small if you ask me but beggars can't be choosers," Clara replied. "I just need to check my emails and we can be on our way."
As her grandmother sat down on the empty chair next to the desk, she spotted John walking past. They were really serious when they said they wanted to keep their relationship a low profile.
A moment later, she spotted another gentleman passing by. They made eye contact.
"Well stick me in my Sunday's best and call me date-ready!" Jack exclaimed, flashing a bright smile. "Who might this stunning lady be?"
Clara swallowed the lump in her throat. Oh. Dear God. Two great forces meet. "This is my nan."
"Bonjour madame," he greeted, taking Nan's hand and kissing it. "I can see where Clara gets her looks from."
"And who might this fine handsome man be?" Nan inquired.
"Dr Jack Harkness, ma'am," he answered, winking. "Though you can call me Jack."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Jack, and please, call me Nan."
Jack beamed. He had a feeling that he and Nan were going to get along very well. "I hope you're as excited as everybody else about the science festival – Clara and another esteemed colleague of mine, the Doctor, will be working together," he explained before leaning closer and whispered, "Just between you and me and the rest of the department excluding Clara and the Doctor, we're convinced they're into each other despite all the insults and arguments."
Nan feigned shock. "Is that so?" she asked, hand on her chest. "I didn't know my Clara fancies one of her colleagues."
"Jack," Clara said through gritted teeth. "Out."
He shot her look. "Well, it's true," he muttered and then glanced at Nan. "It was very nice to meet you Nan, but duty calls."
"I look forward to seeing you at the festival!"
The door shut and Clara pursed her lips. "See, this is why we can't let everyone know."
Nan still wasn't convinced. "I'm sure he means well."
"He wants us to have kids so he can become godfather and they'll call him 'Don Harkness'."
Her grandmother wasn't convinced the slightest. "I'm sure he's just joking," she brushed off, remembering that she wanted great-grandchildren.
Clara shook her head and chuckled. "Come on, I have to be at the booth soon – John's probably there already."
It took less than ten minutes for Clara and Nan to find the booth there were looking for. The Doctor was seated behind a table, a stack of long paper on one side, cellophane tape and several child-friendly scissors on the other. There were three rows of chairs in front of him. He looked up and saw them approaching.
"Smith," Clara greeted.
"Oswald," John said.
Nan fought the urge to roll her eyes. While it looked like they clearly hate each other, she saw much more than that. Their eyes spoke a different language.
"I'll start my demonstration first," the Doctor stated.
"More time for me to watch you get your soul taken hostage by 10-year-olds."
He couldn't help but smirk. "Are you sure it's not the other way around?"
"Is this the part where you snog each other?" Nan suddenly asked.
"How I wish," Jack said as he appeared out of nowhere.
The Doctor frowned. "Aren't you supposed to be working?" he asked in annoyance.
"I took a later shift so that means I have time to wander around," Jack answered before an idea came to him. "Say, why don't I show Nan around?"
John wanted to immediately object the idea, but he kept his mouth shut. He had to pretend he didn't know Nan. They were going to be in so much trouble.
Clara was beginning to think that bringing her grandmother to work was a bad idea.
"That's a lovely idea!" Nan exclaimed, taking the arm he offered, walking away from the couple. "So, tell me a bit about them."
Jack grinned. He loves this woman.
"Do you think she's…"
Clara shook her head. "No, Nan's probably just messing with us."
Visitors had begun flooding the university and no more than 15 minutes later, children gathered at the booth, taking their seats while their parents stood in the back.
The Doctor introduced himself and began his demonstration as the children listened in curiosity.
"I want you to think of a number, a very, very, very large number," he grinned. "Would you believe me if I told you that the number you're thinking of is closer to zero than it is to infinity?'
Some of the kids frowned while some looked confused.
"Infinity just goes on forever and ever," John explained, handing out papers and scissors.
Clara watched intently as he interacted with his audience. It was then she caught sight of Nan and Jack to her right.
"What are we going to do with these?" a nine-year-old asked, holding up the scissors and paper.
"We're going to make a Mobius strip – the symbol for infinity!" the Doctor replied before folding the paper. "Just fold it like this – twist one end and hold it there while I come and tape each and every one of it."
Clara bit her bottom lip, fighting the urge to smile. She didn't expect him to be so good with children. They were all behaving and listening to his instructions.
"You might want to keep your ovulation a little less obvious there," Jack whispered, surprising her with his sudden appearance.
"I'm not ovulating," she hushed.
"Let's be honest here, Clara, you'd have to be blind not to notice how hot the Doctor looks when he's showing off his dad skills, especially with that galaxy shirt."
He was right, but she would never admit it to him. "Jack, don't you have to be somewhere?"
"Fine, I'll leave you alone but only because you're ovulating, and I can prove it using the heat vision goggles from Mike's booth."
"Go," she half-growled.
John, on the other hand, was oblivious of what was happening behind him. "Now I want you to take your pair of scissors and cut the strip in the middle," he continued, and the loop then separated into two loops. There was a murmur of amazement from his audience as they began mimicking his actions.
A girl, no older than eight, walked up to him, lips pursed. "I can't do it," she said, showing him her work.
The Doctor flashed her a kind smile. "It's alright," he said gently. "Let's try again."
He quickly glanced to his right, feeling a pair of eyes staring at him. Clara may have a neutral expression on her face, but her eyes said otherwise.
This didn't go unnoticed as a pair of parents started chatting.
"That man is definitely going to get shagged after this," the wife whispered to her husband who was on his phone.
"What?" he asked, looking up, confused.
"The woman at the desk there, she looks as if she's ready to have his children."
Her husband blinked several times, trying to discern what his wife was saying, but he gave up and reverted his attention back to his smartphone.
Nan silently smiled to herself. It puzzled her why they were trying to hide their relationship when everyone could see what was going on.
While most of the kids were done with their activity, a boy was stuck on his and Clara locked eyes with him. "Do you need any help?" she asked gently.
He nodded shyly and handed her the loop.
"So I'm just going to flatten this bit here so it would be easier to cut through," Clara explained and the boy nodded.
"That is so cool," the child murmured as the loop separated. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Clara said, beaming as the boy ran to his mother to show her his work. She managed to catch a glimpse of John staring at her before focusing his attention on the children.
Suddenly, the phone in her pocket began ringing and she pulled it out, pursing her lips as she scanned the number. No, she was determined to have fun today and nothing was going to ruin it and so she rejected the call.
"So who wants to see another trick with the Mobius strip?"
His audience began cheering.
Clara put the phone away as she continued to observe the man she loves. Nothing is going to spoil her day.