Sorry for the long update! I think you've probably guessed why, I couldn't upload any documents... but it works now XD
I'm not too proud of this chapter, but it gets better later.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who.
xxx
The Doctor sat on a bench just outside Canary Warf, staring numbly into the distance. After he'd been told Rose was on maternity leave, he hadn't said anything, he'd just walked out, and was now sitting on a bench staring into space. Quite why he wasn't happy that he and Rose had had a child, Jack and Martha didn't know.
"I don't understand," Jack muttered to Martha as they watched the Doctor, "he should be happy. He and Rose love each other, and now they've got a baby. Isn't that a good thing?"
"Generally, yeah," Martha agreed. Jack decided it was about time to ask the Doctor what was going on, and sat on the bench next to him.
"So!" he said, slapping his knees, as Martha stood next to him, "What's up?"
"The sky," the Doctor muttered deadpan.
"Very funny," Jack said sarcastically, "What's wrong? You should be happy, Rose has had a baby!"
"Yes, she has," the Doctor agreed.
"So what's wrong?" the Doctor sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"It's not mine," he said quietly.
"What do you mean? Of course it's yours," Jack argued. The Doctor looked up at him.
"It can't be mine. All Time Lords are sterile, there was this curse… I can't have children," the Doctor explained sadly, "So it can't possibly be mine." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair again.
"But Eta and Deb-"
"They were before the curse," the Doctor interrupted, "it didn't affect them." Jack nodded slowly. There was an awkward silence.
"It could be yours, I mean anything's possible with you," Martha said with a small laugh.
"Not that," the Doctor muttered with a sigh. "Which means," he carried on, sitting up, "that she's got herself a boyfriend and is having a family with him," he said it somewhat distantly, his voice breaking towards the end. He looked at his two companions, and quickly put on a smile. "Which is good! Means she moving on with her life, just like she should be. She's living her own life. It's good," he looked downwards, not sure who he was trying to convince.
"Doctor," Jack said sternly, "Do you really think that Rose would get another boyfriend?"
"She could do," he answered quietly. Jack could hardly believe he was hearing this. "And if she has, then I shouldn't see her. If I just go wandering back into her life, and she's starting a family, then it'll just complicate things," he stood up solemnly, and Jack watched him in disbelief, "We should go," he said quietly, and began walking back in the direction of the TARDIS.
Before Jack could stop himself, he was on his feet, running in front of the Doctor and hitting him across the face. "Ow!" he gasped, rubbing his cheek, "What the hell did you do that for?!"
"Well if that's what it takes to knock some sense into you!" Jack shouted, "Bloody hell Doctor, for a smart guy you can sure be stupid sometimes. She loves you. I know how much she loves you, and so should you. She loves you as much as you love her, and believe me, she would not just move on like that!" Jack took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself down. "She's not got a new boyfriend or husband or whatever and is not starting a family." He stated.
"So what do you suggest happened?" the Doctor asked.
"Well, could be anything. Alien intervention, she works in Torchwood anything can happen there. Maybe it is your child and something happened which made her pregnant. Maybe it's an alien child. Maybe an experiment at Torchwood went wrong. Maybe…" he trailed off, looking around before looking back at the Doctor. "Whatever it is, I think she needs you," he said confidently, "Because believe me it's not her happily starting a family." The Doctor nodded slowly, knowing that Jack was right. "So how do we get to her?" Jack asked.
xxx
The three of them sat in the back of a rather cramped taxi, the Doctor and Martha each at a window. The Doctor was staring out the window as the London buildings flashed past, excited and nervous at the same time. As worried as he was about the possibility of Rose being in love with someone else, he knew deep down that she wouldn't be able to move on that fast. He sure couldn't.
The buildings came to a stop outside as the car slowed down. The Doctor turned around to look forward, and saw they had hit a traffic jam. The driver leant back in his seat drumming his fingers to the song on the radio, as the car crawled along at speeds they could probably walk faster than. It wasn't long before the Doctor got inanely bored of this and opened the door.
"What do you think you're doing?!" the driver yelled as he jumped out of the car, quickly followed by Jack and Martha. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the notes that he'd just got from a cash point and thrust them through the driver's window.
"Keep the change," he said with a grin, before running down the road.
"Thanks!" the driver shouted after them, gathering up his newfound fortune.
Thankfully, they weren't far from the Tyler mansion and reached it in less than a minute. The Doctor stared for a few long seconds at the huge house in front of him, as he walked almost numbly to the closed gates.
"Bloody hell," Martha gasped, "Is this where she lives??" she looked with wide eyes through the gates at the mansion in awe.
"Let's hope so," the Doctor muttered, before walking over to the intercom at the side of the gates.
"Big enough," Martha murmured sarcastically.
"She lived in a flat before," the Doctor commented with an impish grin as he pressed the button below the grill. There was static, but no answer. The Doctor pressed it again, and a third time. He finally ran out of patience and reached for his sonic screwdriver to open gate himself, when suddenly a voice cut through the static.
"Hello?" it said. It was a female voice, and despite the static the Doctor instantly knew who it was. At the sound of her voice all his worries seemed to suddenly disappear. For a second he couldn't seem to answer, the sound of her muffled voice numbing him with relief, happiness and, to a certain extent, surprise. "Who is this?" he still couldn't seem to answer. He'd dreamt about this moment for years but when it came to it, he couldn't seem to breathe. "Anyone there?"
"Rose?" he finally managed to say, his voice little more than a whisper.
"Yeah, who is this?" a disbelieving smile played on his lips.
"It's me," he said, trying to keep in his excitement. There was a long silence on the other end, so much so that the Doctor was temped to push the button again, but her voice came back, as much as hushed whisper as his was.
"…Doctor?" she whispered, clearly also unable to believe what was happening. He laughed slightly, running a hand through his hair.
"Hello Rose," he said, his voice a mixture of emotions. There was another silence, until suddenly the gates began to open and the intercom switched off. The Doctor grinned and ran through the gates, as Jack and Martha followed him through but stayed a few metres back from him.
Inside the house, voices were shouting about why the gates were opening as one person ran laughing to the door.
The Doctor skidded to a stop half way up the drive as he saw the door open. For a moment his breath caught and his hearts stopped as in the doorway he saw her. Then there was a shriek of laughter from both sides and they were both running.
After what seemed like an eternity, they finally met in the middle. Rose threw her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her body and lifted her clean off the ground, swinging her round. She laughed gleefully as he swung her round as they held onto each other, never wanting to let go again. They both cried joyful tears as they thought of nothing but each other.
Finally the Doctor dropped her gently back on the ground and they parted just enough to see each other. But it didn't last long as Rose quickly pressed her lips to his. They both opened their mouths as their tongues slipped together, and they kissed with a suppressed passion.
After what was never going to be enough time, they separated again. Rose still had tears running down her cheeks, her eyes showing an unbridled amount of joy.
"You still love me then?" the Doctor whispered.
"Of course I do!" she almost laughed, completely lost as for why she might not love him. "Why wouldn't I?"
"I just thought… I don't know what I thought," he said, shaking his head.
"I've got something to tell you," she said excitedly, happy and nervous at the same time.
"I thought you might have," the Doctor muttered thoughtfully. He could tell Rose was nervous about telling him, and she probably should be. He lifted his hand and rested it softly on her salty cheek. "What is it?" he asked gently, wiping a tear from her eye.
"I, um…" she looked downwards, took a deep breath, then looked back at him. "I had a baby," she said, almost laughing at how silly it sounded. The Doctor nodded slowly.
"Whose is it?" he asked. Rose stared at him in astonishment.
"Aren't you surprised that I had a baby?!" she gasped.
"I found out at Torchwood, I looked for you there first," he answered, wiping a hair from her face.
"Oh," she said quietly.
"So?" the Doctor asked, "Whose is it?" she looked up at him again, still looking slightly confused.
"Whose do you think?" she asked with a laugh, "it's yours!" she couldn't help but giggle at the Doctor's expression.
"But it can't be," he whispered.
"She's got two hearts I bloody hope she's yours!" Rose laughed. The Doctor stared at her for a moment.
"She?" he whispered, and Rose nodded.
"I called her Aurora," Rose said proudly, "Aurora Gilraen Tyler."
"Gilraen?" the Doctor asked, bemused.
"It means star-wanderer," Rose explained with a slightly embarrassed smile. "Thought it was appropriate," they both laughed, but quickly sobered up.
"Aurora…" the Doctor said thoughtfully, "I like it," they both smiled at each other. "Where is she?"
"In bed," Rose answered. He nodded, as a smile crept onto his face.
"I think we're being watched," he said, glancing sideways towards the house. Rose followed his gaze and blushed slightly when she saw her parents watching them.
"He's noticed us!" Jackie shouted, with just a hint of sarcasm. But she then smiled warmly at him; for all his flaws, she was damn happy to have him back.
"Bloody hell she's smiling at me I was expecting a slap," the Doctor muttered, and Rose couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, I think Jack might want to say hi," he added, looking over at Jack. Rose looked over at him, and he was already walking up to her.
"Nice to see you again," he said with a winning grin, and pulled her into a hug. As they separated, Pete and Jackie walked up to them, and they noticed Martha for the first time.
"Right, um, everyone, this is Martha," the Doctor introduced, scratching the back of his neck, "Martha, this is Rose, Pete and Jackie."
"Hi," Martha said somewhat shyly. She wasn't usually one to be shy, but she felt strangely out of place here.
"Oh I get it," Jackie said angrily, "You lose Rose so you get yourself another girlfriend! What's she, Rose's replacement?"
"No," the Doctor said sternly, "No no no. She is in no way replacing Rose." Martha had to nod in agreement.
"He made sure to tell me of that the first time I got on the TARDIS," she said.
"He talked about me?" Rose asked in slight disbelief.
"Yeah, sometimes," Martha answered, slightly confused as to why Rose seemed so happy about that.
"More than you can say for Sarah-Jane," she muttered happily. Before the Doctor could say anything, Pete spoke.
"So how did you get back?" he asked, curious as always.
"Oh, that? That's a long story," the Doctor answered quickly, "Tell ya later." He gave Pete a quick smile, and while he wasn't convinced that everything was right, Jackie really didn't care how the Doctor got back because knowing him he'd just sprout off a load of technical gibberish, so instead she decided to ask them in.
xxx
The Doctor and Rose both sat on a sofa, with Jack and Martha on another sofa and Pete on the other one.
"I'll get everyone drinks," Jackie said, heading to the kitchen.
"Two years and your mothers still obsessed with tea, nothing's changed," the Doctor muttered, and Rose giggled. Jackie didn't seem to notice as she went around the room asking what people wanted, most people saying tea, other than Martha who passed on both. As Jackie headed out the room, Rose turned to the Doctor.
"How long has it been for you?" she asked, and he did a swift burst on mental arithmetic.
"About five years," he answered, and her eyes widened.
"Five years?!" she gasped, "It's only been two years for me!"
"I know," he said, then added, "How old is Aurora?"
"About six months," Rose answered.
"Is that it? How long were you pregnant for??"
"I wasn't pregnant for the first few months…" Rose answered, and had to laugh at the Doctor's bemused expression. "I was hoping you could explain what happened!" she laughed.
"I'm also hoping I can explain what happened," he said, "'Cause I'm getting increasingly curious." Then another thought hit the Doctor. "What about Jackie's baby?" he asked.
"Ooh, Jenna! She's almost a year old now," Rose answered happily, "and she's a hell of a lot easier to look after than Aurora."
"Why? She should be easy to look after."
"She just never seems to stop crying," Rose said sadly.
Before the Doctor could say anything, they were all interrupted by a sudden crying.
"Speak of the devil," Rose muttered. They looked round as Jackie came in, with a baby in her arms.
"I heard her crying, so I went to get her," Jackie explained. Rose stood up and walked over to her mother as the Doctor stared at them with wide eyes.
"Is that…?" he whispered, as Rose took her daughter into her arms. She turned to the Doctor with a smile.
"Doctor, come and meet your daughter," she said, gently rocking her baby in an attempt to calm her down. The Doctor jumped off the sofa and quickly went to Rose, staring in awe and wonder at the baby she held in her arms. Rose's heart nearly melted as she saw him look at Aurora, his eyes full of love and amazement. Rose held her out to him, and he looked at her hesitantly, before lifting his arms. She carefully placed her in his arms, and he watched his daughter with a mixture of surprise, curiosity and love.
A second later Aurora stopped crying, as she opened her deep brown eyes and reached out to her father.
"How the hell did he do that?" Jackie gasped, "we've been trying for six months to get her to stop crying and all he has to do is hold her!" she put her hands on her hips, but soon found herself smiling at them. The Doctor lifted one hand above Aurora, and she reached out to his index finger and held it tightly. He smiled in absolute ecstasy, and Rose didn't think she'd ever seen him so happy. He looked up at her with a childish delight on his face.
"Believe she's ours yet?" Rose asked with a smile.
"Yeah," he nodded, hardly believing he was saying it. "I don't know, or care how, but… she's a Time Lord," he said with a lopsided grin, "well," he interrupted himself, "Time Lady. Well… Time Tot." Rose looked at him with wide eyes as he looked back down at his daughter.
"Time Tot?" she gasped.
"Yeah, the status of Time Lord is sorta hereditary. If a Time Lord has a baby, they're called a Time Tot," the Doctor explained, still watching Aurora.
"That's so cute!" Rose laughed, "I love that, Time Tot," Rose smiled at Aurora, as the Doctor looked at her in curiosity.
"How old did you say she was? Six months?" he asked.
"Yeah," Rose answered, "why?" He looked up at her, with an expression she saw often on him.
"I wonder…" he said, as a smile grew on his lips.