Somehow, she continued to live.

Ever since she had decided to phone Danny, if it was even possible, Clara's life had started to spiral more out of control than it had been. Danny was dead. The Doctor was gone, and was most likely never going to be back. Oh, and there was also the fact that she was pregnant.

It seemed she was always pep-talking herself, always trying to make her way out of bed and get moving, just so she could forget. She volunteered as a chaperone for numerous school trips, always talked at parent's nights to try to get her mind off all of her losses. But no matter how much Clara tried to forget, she just couldn't.

Danny as a Cyberman, the pain in his face evident as he looked at her, pleading for the last of his humanity, the last of her love for him. Betraying the Doctor, and yet him still going to hell for her, saying that he was exactly what she deserved…

Clara rushed through the kitchenette of her flat, trying to find her wallet and her purse. Assembly started at eight thirty, and it was already eight o'clock- she had to hurry. She huffed as she searched frantically through the kitchen's contents. The woman was leaning down to look in a drawer when she felt something that caused her to almost fall over backwards.

Her… her stomach had moved. It didn't feel like a hunger pain, or cramping, or even a bit of gas coming through. Clara started to panic. Then what was it?

But then glancing down at her midriff, she remembered the life inside of her.

Then it happened again. A light punch to the belly, a little tiny kick or fist pump into her stomach. A motion from her child.

The human girl's mind twisted with questions. Was this even supposed to happen so early? What was the length of Gallifreyan pregnancies anyway? How could she even manage to keep this baby if she didn't know anything about its gestation at all? She knew nothing about being a mother! She was going to be terrible; this baby shouldn't have her as a parent, of all beings in the universe. She was a failure, an embarrassment…

And like she had done a seemingly infinite number of times since she had learned of her pregnancy, Clara started to cry. Soft sniffles soon turned into wails as she completely abandoned her purse or any scheme to find her keys. Despite herself, she started to slip towards the wood floor near the oven, her face soon facing up towards the ceiling.

The floor seemed like a good place for a rest right now.

Teaching could wait.

OOO

Two weeks later she found herself leaving her flat for the weekend, to go to her gran's house for a family get-together. In all honestly Clara really didn't want to go, fearful of her dad or grandmother figuring out her pregnancy. But any distraction that could keep her mind off the fact that the Doctor was gone and that Danny was dead was welcome in the end.

The Impossible Girl sighed as she undressed in one of the guest bathrooms upstairs at her gran's. Taking off the yellow polka-dotted cardigan and blue dress that she had been wearing that evening, she thought of what had happened downstairs. It was truly nice to see her family- she loved her father, her cousins, and her gran after all. But their endless apologies about Danny and reassurances that she would be okay had really taken their toll.

Couldn't they see that she wasn't alright at all?

Clara was going to put her nightie on when she caught sight of her stomach. She tried not to look at it much, to be honest. She always felt badly about doing so- she was a mother, shouldn't she be paying more attention to her child? Shouldn't she have at least some attachment? But every time Clara managed to even think about the baby, painful memories of her boyfriend and those crazy eyebrows of the Doctor would come back to her, and then she would become a sobbing mess. And she was so very, very tired of crying, of her throat being sore and her eyes being red. She just wanted to be happy.

She just wanted a miracle.

The woman was staring at her naked body in the mirror now, turning around to view all her different parts. Though it had been almost a month since she had seen Doctor Goddard and learned of her predicament, nothing about her body had really changed. Her stomach was still only slightly protruding- so only if you were expecting her to be pregnant would you even notice it. Her breasts had become a bit tenderer, a bit bigger, that was true- but otherwise, beside the kicks and little flutters that she would feel inside her, nothing seemed to be happening.

Clara closed her eyes. Whenever she felt one of those kicks, she couldn't play her avoiding game anymore. She had to accept what was going on with her, that there was a child inside of her, a child of the Doctor, who was never coming back for her.

Suddenly, an overwhelming urge came over her, and she started to talk to her baby- the first time that she had ever done so. "It's going to be fine," the Impossible Girl whispered, gazing down at her stomach. "It's really… you know. I know it doesn't seem like it, but it's going to be fine."

She patted her bump, and laughed a little as she felt the softest of flutters hit against her. Laughter. She had laughed.

"Thank you," the girl breathed, not knowing who she was really thanking, but expressing the sentiment just the same. Maybe a miracle would happen after all, Clara thought as she finally managed to lower herself into bed, and dozed off into a dream…

OOO

Clara Oswald sat up in bed, taking a deep breath in as the dream crab the Doctor had sonicked fell off of her face. As quickly as she could she asked for a mirror, holding her face to it and with a rush of relief realized that after all she still was a young woman.

Then that man, that stupid, impossible old Time Lord, held out his hand and offered her the universe once again. There was no hesitation in Clara's response. Gone were the days of telling him to come back tomorrow, that she might change her mind. And with a quick peck to his cheek, the Doctor smiled and led his Impossible Girl back to the TARDIS to begin their adventures.

The woman grinned and sighed as she stepped into the time machine. The console gave a welcoming whir- so far different a greeting from the days when she had to call the spaceship a grumpy old cow. Clara continued to walk around the controls as the Doctor went on and on about where they could go next, what treasures they could find… She was about to sit down in the captain's chair in the room when she felt several hurried kicks from inside her abdominal area.

And Clara was suddenly forced to remember that she was pregnant.

She started to panic a bit. In her dream… well in her multiple dreams, really, there hadn't been any children to speak of. Even when she was an old woman, there had been no mention of having any grandchildren at all. No Mr. Clara. No Mrs. Clara. Just plain old Clara Oswald. She had been dying because of that dream crab, and her child might have died with her! But now her child was moving around, still alive (literally, still kicking) so they had to be alright, didn't they?

Besides her child's unknown state of health both in the dream world and in reality, there was also the fact that she had agreed to go gallivanting through the universe with the Doctor again. She had consented to go on those dangerous time travel adventures, where she was put in near death situations almost every single day. A real mother wouldn't subject her unborn child to that, now would she?

And then, the Doctor. Oh yes, that Caledonian gruffness. She had to tell him. She really, really had to explain to him what was going on. No more lies. He held my hand, Clara reasoned. He was dying along with me in my dreams just to save me, and he let me travel with him again. That had to be someone who was concerned about her, who liked her at the least. But whether the Time Lord cared for her so much that he would take to the idea of fatherhood willingly? That remained to be seen.

Clara glanced at the Doctor. He had been typing some coordinates into the TARDIS and was looking up at the screen now, still babbling something about New Earth and diamond planets. But he must have somehow sensed that she was really, truly looking at him now, so the Time Lord came to stare at her directly, one of those rare toothy grins on his face. "So," he began. "The whole universe, Clara Oswald! Where do you want to start?"

She decided to skip right to the point. No skirting around the subject… no lying. She was going to do this properly. "Doctor," she started. "Before- before we leave, and go on these crazy adventures, I just… I need to say something."

By this moment the Doctor had realized that the euphoria of their reunion was slowly dampening into more of a somber mood. His smile had turned into more of a concerned frown. 'Are you okay, Clara?" the man asked.

"Maybe I will be, once I tell you this." The Impossible Girl sighed, leaning on a bit of the console as she was ready to release all hell.

"Go on then," the Gallifreyan folded his arms, a mixture of frustration and worry flitting across his face. "What's wrong Clara?"

Her heart, her pitiful, single, human heart was pounding rapidly against her ribcage. She felt as if she might throw up- and she honestly didn't know if it was because of her pregnancy or her anxiety. "I'mpregnantwithyourchildfromthatonetimethatwedidthethinginAmorentiaohmygodDoctorI'msosorry." The woman managed to blurt out.

"Huh?" The Doctor questioned. His great eyebrows furrowed ferociously. "What did you say?"

"I'mpregnantwithyourchild," Clara said at a rapid fire beat, starting to pace around the console.

"You're prepared to eat chili?" The Time Lord tried to translate, utterly confused. "What on earth does that mean? That doesn't make any sense Clara. Why don't you try to say things a bit more slowly so I-"

"ALRIGHT!" The woman screamed, about to lose it. "I'M PREGNANT OKAY! AND IT'S YOURS!"

A hush spread about the time machine. Even the gentle whir of the TARDIS seemed to have stopped as a result of the gravitas of the situation.

Clara shut her eyes and continued walking around the area, avoiding the Doctor. The silence… he wasn't saying anything. "Go on then, Doctor. Say something. Please, please just say something, alright. Don't stand there with your mouth open like a codfish just… please, Doctor. Say something," she pleaded, and finally opened her eyelids.

The Time Lord, in fact, did not have his mouth open. In fact, he wasn't doing much of anything at all- just staring at her. When he ultimately did speak, what seemed like eons later, his voice was the quietest Clara had ever heard it. "That's not possible, Clara. We… we never did anything to warrant… that."

"But we did!" The Impossible Girl urged him to remember. "On Amorentia, remember? The aphrodisiac in the atmosphere? We did it. This is real, Doctor."

The Doctor was still staring at her, complete shock on his face. "But… that… that was just one time. That… that was your boyfriend." He almost spat. "Not me."

Clara had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. "Even a 'one time' can result in pregnancy, Doctor." She sighed. "And Doctor, you and your previous self… you're the same person. I know you try to deny it sometimes, but you are, okay?"

The alien looked her in the eyes now, and slowly, he started nodding his head. It started off slow and deliberate, but then took on more meaning, as he was working out the calculations in his head, the turn of events that made this all real, and his nods would help him come to the solution of absolute truth. "How… long?" he eventually questioned.

"Well, I had an ultrasound about a month ago," Clara began. "And the doctor said I was about three months along. So I should be four months, but…" She motioned to her stomach. "It doesn't look much like I'm pregnant at all." The Doctor was still studying her, trying to work out those mathematics problems in his head. And so Clara decided she needed to say, perhaps, the most prominent information about the life inside her. "Doctor… it… my… our baby. It has… two hearts."

Now the Time Lord seemed truly like a deer in the headlights. If Clara hadn't known the Doctor, she would almost say that condensation seemed to be filling his eyes. But of course, this gruff Caledonian soul never cried. The man rubbed his face before glancing back at Clara with the biggest, saddest expression Clara had ever seen and would most likely would for a long time. "It's… like me then."

Before the woman could reply, he nodded his head again. "Of course… Time Lord pregnancies, they're longer. You may have looked to be in the third month for a human pregnancy but were more likely in your fifth, or so…"

"My fifth month?" It was Clara's turn to be bewildered. "How exactly long are these Time Lord pregnancies, by chance?"

"Well, fourteen to sixteen months…" The Doctor started, and seeing the murderous glare in his Clara's eyes, quickly sprouted out the rest of the information. "Give or take." His shoulders sagged. "I'm… I'm sorry Clara. I should…"

The woman looked at the alien. He was so sad… perhaps the worst she had ever seen him in this body, almost as terrible looking as he had seemed during that hug in the café so many innocent months ago. "No, Doctor… you don't." She breathed deeply. "Really, it's both our faults, you know? So I guess we're just going to have to live with it."

"Live with it?" The man said, genuinely startled. "You're going to keep it?"

Clara soon also became shocked because of this question. He was so unsure about this whole situation that he made himself believe she was going to abort it? It was true though. At first, she had definitely been considering it. But then…

"Doctor," the Impossible Girl started. "At one point, yes. Yes, I might have." She saw his shoulders drooped and her heart panged. "In the end though, I couldn't." She smiled at him. "I want to give this a chance."

The Time Lord met her gaze and gave one of those smiles that he said he hated on her- a grin that conveyed happiness on the outside, but sadness within. The alien just stood there for a while, unable to act, before he gestured towards the doorway to the rest of the TARDIS. "Well then… Clara. It's been an awful long day. I can help you back to your bedroom if you want." He shuffled his feet, clearly uncomfortable with a situation where he couldn't act brash or sarcastic to her.

"Just because I'm pregnant, Doctor, doesn't mean I'm immobile," Clara laughed, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "But I appreciate the sentiment." She looked down at the floor. "Goodnight, Doctor. Thanks for taking this so well." The woman glanced at the Gallifreyan.

"You know me. King of Okay," the man grinned- yet another fake one. "Goodnight, Clara Oswald."

And that night, as the Doctor sat dazed on the console chair for hours, and as the Impossible Girl memorized every tile on her bedroom ceiling, the two had never felt more alone.


OH MY GOD. I finished it. Finally.

I'm so sorry this took such a long time guys! My only excuse is school and the various extracurriculars I do that will (hopefully) get me into a good university.

I've been really surprised- frankly, elated- at the fact that you all have given me such positive response to this. Please keep doing so; it really helps me to write more quickly!

I know a bunch of things probably don't make sense about this, but just leave a review or PM me if you have questions. I am game for anything.

I really appreciate you all! You guys are the best. Happy Valentine's Day! If you're in a relationship, I hope you and your partner have a wonderful day. If not, don't be sad and watch some Doctor Who while microwaving macaroni and cheese. Always works for me.

Again, thanks guys! Be prepared for more information about the baby (babies?) to come soon.