It took a few seconds, but the look on his face was intense shock. "What?"
I nodded, hoping he wouldn't be angry. Maris and Oliver noticed his tone of voice and stopped running.
He moved between me and the children. "She called you 'Mummy'," he whispered. He grabbed both my shoulders. "Whose child is she? Mickey's? Some random man? Who, Rose?" He was angry. Angry and hurt. "Please." He spoke in a whisper.
"She's yours, Doctor. She's your daughter," I said quietly.
I didn't think it was possible for him to look more angry, hurt, and shocked, but I was wrong. "That's not possible. She can't possibly be..." The Doctor let go of my arms and turned around, looking at the children. He looked at Maris for a while and turned back to me. "What's her name?"
"Maris," I said.
He kept his eyes on me and said, "Maris, come here."
I peeked around the Doctor to get a look at Maris. She wasn't scared and she did as the Doctor said. However, she did make an effort to avoid the Doctor and came to stand behind me. She peeked out at the Doctor from behind my leg.
She looked up at me. "He's my Daddy?"
I locked eyes with the Doctor before I answered. "Yes, Maris. This is the Doctor, your father."
His mouth dropped open. "Are you sure she's mine?"
I laughed, a defeated laugh. "I knew I was pregnant about two weeks after we were separated the first time."
"So... on the beach... you knew?" He said quietly.
"Yes."
"And you didn't tell me?"
I looked down at Maris. "Go on, go play with Oliver."
As she walked away, the Doctor asked, "Is he your mother's child?"
I nodded.
"Why didn't you tell me about her?"
I started to cry. "I didn't want to add to your pain any more. You were losing me. I didn't want to add losing a child to that."
He pulled me into his arms. "It's not possible. The physiology doesn't match up. There's too many differences between humans and Time Lords. It's not possible."
I looked at him. "Are you angry?"
He shook his head. "Not angry. Just a little surprised and intrigued." He let go of me and turned to look at Maris. "Can she come in the TARDIS? I'd like to run some tests."
I would have screamed and shouted had anyone else been asking. But I knew the Doctor. He wasn't going to hurt Maris. "Yeah." I walked over to my little girl and picked her up.
"Now, Maris, sweetie, you see that blue box?" I started walking towards it; the Doctor had already gone inside.
"Yes, Mummy."
"That's the Doctor's ship. It's called the TARDIS. We're going to go inside, okay?"
She looked at the ship, then looked back at me. "Okay."
I smiled at her. "I have to tell you something you may not understand." I opened the door and walked inside. "Maris, it's bigger on the inside."
Her eyes got wider as she took in the interior of the TARDIS. She looked around for a minute. Then she turned back to me and said, "Yes, Mummy. It's bigger on the inside."
I was a little surprised she wasn't scared. "Are you scared?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Not really."
I put her down. "Don't touch anything."
She nodded and began walking around the TARDIS controls, studying each piece carefully.
The Doctor walked up behind me. "Rose, I need a sample of her blood."
Maris kept her eyes on the controls. "Is it going to hurt?" she asked.
The Doctor held up a vial. "It might hurt a little."
She stopped looking at the controls and turned to look at the Doctor. "Alright. Go ahead."
The Doctor grabbed my hand and asked, "Go ahead?"
"Yes," I replied.
He let go of my hand and motioned for Maris to come closer. She skipped over and held out her arm. The Doctor sat down and held the vial up to Maris' arm. She winced as her blood started filling the vial. After about thirty seconds, the Doctor pulled the vial away. He pulled out a bandage and fixed up the little girl's arm.
He stood back up. "The tests are going to take a little while. I'll set them up and we can go outside."