A/N: Another inspired chapter name.
And I know this chapter makes Jackie seem really scavvy, but that's the impression I got of her after watching Tootch and Claw. So...don't blame me. (Shields self)

Chapter 18 – Do Baby's Know Judo?

The first thing Rose felt when she opened her eyes was a strong undeniable urge for peanut butter and banana sandwiches. The second was a bout of nausea – whether it was morning sickness orthe rebound from the previous thought she didn't know, but the next thing she knew her head was in the bowl of the toilet. The third thing she felt however; was a godsend.

She was just making a cup of tea for herself when she felt it. Inside her stomach – something was…kicking.

It was the baby!

She smiled her broadest smile, running screaming hysterically into the sitting room where Howard was watching TV on one sofa, the Doctor laying unconscious on the other. He had started shaking again.

"The baby!" Rose gasped, staggering over to the Doctor. "It kicked! I felt it!"

Howard was immediately at her side, resting a reassuring hand on her back as she knelt by the Doctor's head.

"Doctor! Wake up! You've gotta feel this! It's kicking! It's practising judo!" She tried shaking him, but he didn't respond. Unless shivering even more was classed as a response. She shook him again, this time despairingly. "Doctor…please wake up…please…"

But he didn't.

She took his cold uninjured hand and put it to her cheek, the iciness of his fingers coming as something of a shock to her warm skin. She rested her head on his chest lightly, facing his head as she blinked back the tears threatening to overwhelm her.

"I love you Doctor," she whispered. But the only thing that answered her was the sudden ringing of the doorbell from across the room.

Jackie Tyler bounced up and down excitedly on her heels, a broad grin stretching from ear to ear as she stood outside Howard's front door, her finger easing off of the doorbell switch.

"Rose is his girlfriend, well, hopefully wife soon," she said off-handedly to the well dressed man standing beside her. "Me and him get along well. Infact, he can hardly stay away from the flat!"

She was blatantly lying, of course. She's rather be shot than to see the Doctor and Rose getting married, and to hell if the Doctor ever actually looked forward to seeing her at all.

"'Ello?" Howard suddenly appeared in the doorway, glancing between Jackie and a suited man carrying a briefcase. Wow. He looked…professional.

"'Howard!" Jackie put on a posh accent, completely ironing out all the London. "We were wondering if the Doctor would be willing to talk to me and this…" She mouthed the words with her wide grin still in place, "(multi-billionaire)" She raised her voice again, as though the last two words had never been said, "lovely man about moral matters?"

"He's asleep righ' now," Howard explained, extending a hand to shake the posh man's. "Rose is in if you wanna talk to her though."

The man shrugged nonchalantly, wincing as he pulled away his hand from Howard's vice-like grip.

"It would be an honour to meet his girl."

Howard disguised his frown of confusement as he led Jackie and the man into the sitting room, where Rose was laying relaxed against the sofa the Doctor was laying on. She looked up on the group's entry, giving a weak half smile to the visitor as he stepped forwards to her.

"Rose Tyler?" he asked in a posh accent, and Rose nodded meekly, truly feeling out of place with this well bred man here.

"That's me."

"I'm the father of Katie Hemmington – you may recall her from the crash the other night?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah, she was with the Doctor. How is she?"

"Alive, thanks to your Doctor." He smiled weakly. "Both her legs had to be amputated," he said lowly, before raising his voice again, "but she's fine. I must thank you both for your help. But," he started, his eyes hovering slightly towards her womb. "May I ask, how far are you along?"

Rose just shrugged, smiling slightly. "Y'know how it is, seems like only a couple of days ago that pregnancy tester turned red…" she trailed off, though of course, it wasn't a lie. The Doctor's baby was growing a lot quicker than any normal baby, and she now looked at least seven months pregnant - she felt it too.

Thankfully he laughed, although Rose didn't manage more than a small smile.

"I'd like to offer you and your boyfriend a cash grant reward…" The man slipped his hand inside his coat pocket, drawing out a small chequebook. Jackie's eyes glowed.

Rose immediately straightened up. "Err…thanks for the offer, but we don't take rewards."

"Please, it's my way of saying 'thank you' for saving my daughter. The least I can do is help you and your child during your boyfriend's recovery. Besides – I think you'll need a cover, what with all the stories going around."

Rose still seemed a little hesitant, but Jackie jumped in immediately.

"He's right darling, it's not safe for you and the Doctor here, not now," she said. "You need to accept help. I know you two normally manage on your own, but for once the Doctor is hurt and we need to accept help wherever it comes. I know for a fact darlin', the Doctor doesn't 'ave enough money to get stuff to keep a baby."

Rose paused for a moment, glancing between her mum and the Doctor in obvious contemplation.

"…Okay," she finally said. "And it's only 'cause we need help with the baby."

The man smiled, clicking the pen out and scribbling something down in the chequebook, Jackie peering over his shoulder.

"Will £15,000 do?"

After Jackie and Howard arrived back from their 'test drive' with the cheque for £15,000 around 8:00pm, the entire group gathered in the sitting room to watch an episode of Eastenders. Though, nobody was actually watching it. Not even the enthralling tales of Peggy and the mysterious case of the lighter and the petrol can could distract these people from their thoughts.

The atmosphere was quiet. Too quiet. Basically, everyone was waiting for the ad break to arrive so they could make their excuses and wander off to bed – wherever that might be.

Jackie looked to Rose sitting next to her, sighing as she watched her run her hand over her womb, staring unseeingly at the television. Jackie was her mother, and it wasn't hard to know what was going on inside her mind.

Two words. 'The', and 'Doctor'.

When he finally woke up, Jackie decide rather bitterly that she would kill him.

Though she couldn't help thinking – maybe it should have been an 'if' instead of a 'when'.

Jackie looked over at the Doctor, making a split second decision as she jumped onto her feet abruptly, tearing over to the sofa where the Doctor lay shaking in his sleep.

"Get some blankets for god's sake, can't ya see he's freezin'?" she boomed in a voice that was pumped full of command and authority, kneeling down next to him.

It took a few seconds for Rose and Howard to react, but God, when they did, it was like a hurricane. One minute later, the Doctor was covered in six layers of blankets and a hot water bottle had mysteriously turned up out of seemingly nowhere, and found itself wedged in between the Doctor's chest and the blankets.

"Get some tea!" Jackie instructed, clapping her hands together in impatience. "Chop, chop!"

"Phew, thanks," Rose said in a breathless voice, thoroughly exhausted from the frantic search for blankets.

"Not for you! For the Doctor!"

Rose sighed outwardly, resting a hand on her stomach where the Timelord baby was happily swimming around in the amniotic fluid with her energy.

"You little bastard," she muttered bitterly to the unborn child, but as she made to move off, pain suddenly ripped through her stomach and she groaned in pain, collapsing heavily to her knees.

"Howard! Go make some tea!" Jackie ordered as she left the Doctor's side, and helped her pregnant daughter onto the sofa the Doctor was laying on. "You okay? It's not coming is it?"

"No, just a contraction…" Rose breathed, her eyes slowly passing over her concerned mum and focusing on the shaking Doctor. "God, I hope he wakes up soon mum…"

"He will if I have any say in it Rose." Jackie smiled reassuringly at her. "This baby is his responsibility whether he likes it or not, and he will wake up in time to see the pain it's causing you." And with that, she went into the kitchen.

Rose sighed, sliding forward to lay next to the person in question on the sofa. He was still shaking, the unknown virus progressively getting worse.

She bit her lip as she stared at his face, barely inches from hers now. Now she was closer, she could see the full extent of the damage the crash had done to him. His bruised face, blooded head and scarred skin. She pulled his injured arm gently out from under the covers, placing it on her stomach. His hand felt cold, just like the rest of him was. But it was a good feeling.

"Baby, meet your father," she whispered down to her stomach. "He's not well right now, but he'll be there for you. I'll make sure of that."

Jackie suddenly appeared from the kitchen doorway, holding a cup of tea in each hand. She offered one to Rose who took it gratefully, and she momentarily set the other one down on the floor as she pulled the Doctor up to vertical position and held his head up.

"Why's 'e so freezin'?" Jackie asked offhandedly, wincing with the cold as she touched his skin. Rose could only shrug in reply as her mother pressed the scolding hot mug of tea to his lips, pinching his nose and tipping it down his throat.

He suddenly started coughing wildly, bringing it back up. Rose clutched his arm tightly in a panic, her heart in a flutter as he stopped coughing and went completely limp in Jackie's arms.

"Oh god…" Rose whispered in ultimate fear. "He's gonna die ain't he?" she asked mildly, staring pensively at her mother as she lowered the shaking Doctor back to sitting position.

"He won't Rose, I promise." Jackie disappeared out to door to the kitchen again. Rose looked back at the Doctor, holding back tears. Damn baby. Damn mood swings. Damn Doctor. Damn government. Damn buses. Damn hospitals. Damn mortality. Damn God. Damn alcohol. Damn voluntarily sex rampages. Damn hangovers. Damn everything, really.

Jackie returned from the kitchen with Howard, now holding a bowl of soup and a wet flannel.

"Here," she said, holding out the wet flannel to Rose. "Gonna try and get some food down 'im. Probably ain't eaten for a while."

Rose nodded; pressing the warm, wet flannel to the Doctor's forehead and using her other arm to support him up as Jackie brought him back up to battle a second round. She was determined. Rose had never seen her mum care for someone so much, even her own daughter.Either she really was concerned about the Doctor, or she just wanted to nurse him back to health only to take it away again with a slap for getting Rose pregnant. To be honest, in all likelihood - it was probably the latter.

Rose watched intently as Jackie spooned up some of the soup and slipped it into the Doctor's mouth. He visibly swallowed, then seemed to relax in Rose's arms. She smiled slightly. Maybe…just maybe, he would be okay.