Chapter two
"And now," The Doctor says checking the monitors and typing again "The final test, just how timelord is our baby?"
"This is mental," Rose thinks aloud "who would've thought when we woke up this morning, this is where we'd be?"
"It's weird isn't it," The Doctor says
"Yeah, but a good weird"
"Yeah."
"So what do you think about names?" Rose asks, relaxing on the examination table, staring up at the ceiling, not noticing The Doctor suddenly have a perplexed, and then shocked look flash across his face. "Do you think it's going to be a boy, or a girl?" she asks. "Doctor?" she says, sitting up when he doesn't reply for a little while.
"I know the gender, if you want to know" he says slowly, not really focusing his eyes on any part of the room, as his mind is too busy going into overdrive. "Well how can you tell? I'm not even more than a month gone, so how could you be able to tell if it was a boy or a girl?" she asks, sitting up a little straighter, staring at him.
"I know because our baby is a full timelord Rose, and he just told me. Up here" he tapped to his temples
"He?" Rose coos, distracting her from the important matter at hand for a second "wait did you say he told you, in your mind."
"Yep. Which means he must be fully timelord, to have such a strong telepathic presence already?"
"Wait, how would he even get inside your head?" Rose asks, very confused.
"Time lord Rose," we're telepathic, The Doctor quickly explains "and in the womb, telepathy is the first sense that the foetus develops before touch and taste and hearing and all that. I wasn't expecting his presence to be so great in my mind. I assumed that his telepathic sense would be very weak, even if he was fully timelord- because only one of the parents is telepathic"
"But you can feel him, in your mind?"
"Yeah." The Doctor says "For timelords telepathy was a big deal. Everyone was connected slightly in a way. It was how we would know if another timelord was about. But it's just strange for me I suppose. I've never been able to feel anyone up here since- since the time war. After that my mind was empty. But his presence is so great, it fills my mind. It's overwhelming."
"Wow," Rose says "I wish I could experience that kind of bond to our son."
"Well," The Doctor says "moving slightly closer to Rose "maybe you can. Would you mind if I had a look inside your mind?"
"Of course not doctor, I trust you." She says, looking up into his eyes. Soon enough his forehead is resting again hers, and his cool fingers are on her temple and it's taking a lot of her willpower not to reach her lips up a few centimetres and kissing him soundly. But she resists, because she knows that he's deep inside her mind now.
Inside Rose's mind, it is alarmingly colourful, and it takes his eyes a few seconds to adjust. It almost looks like a fire, inside a deep midnight sky, with bursts of pink and yellow blasting through, bleeding through the walls. He can see all of her memories flying past, and she isn't hiding anything from him. She trusts him not to look.
He trudges on for a while, looking for any signs of telepathy that Rose may have developed naturally, or as a side effect from time travel. Soon enough he comes across a white fog. Fog so thick it almost completely blocks out the colour. And then there are lights flying around it, swirling with gold, it almost looks like huon energy, which isn't safe to be inside a human girls mind. This isn't normal he thinks, and he goes to step into the fog before he can feel somethig pulling him out, and he's in colour again, but its fainter now. He can hear Rose's voice outside talking to him.
"Oh doctor, why did you never say?"
"Never say what?" he asks, still studying her mind, but opening one eye to look at her all the same. It has just come to his attention that her hands are now around his face and her eyes are closed.
"Your mind is so lonely, so empty. Doctor why do you never say? Just seeing this breaks my heart. It hurts doctor, how can you stand it?"
Instantly his eyes draw open and he pulls back "Rose how did you do that?"
"I-I don't know." Rose stutters quickly releasing her grip.
"Rose, I'm just going to take a DNA sample of you okay, and leave it for the TARDIS to analyse for a few days. There's something about you that isn't… human." The Doctor says, peering closely into her face trying to spot a difference, trying to spot something out of place.
"Doctor I'm scared," she says quietly, "what if I hurt our baby?"
"I promise you Rose, that will not happen." He says, stroking her face gently, before giving her a little kiss on the nose.
"Okay," she sniffs, still slightly worried.
oOo
They are sitting together in the console room about an hour later, talking about their son.
"But you've got to be the one to tell my mother that you knocked me up." Rose says, leaning back on the jump seat.
"Oh god Jackie, she's going to slap me into my next regeneration Rose! That's hardly fair"
"Oi, you're the one that did it," Rose says with a chuckle.
"Hey it takes two to tango!"
"well still, this is happening and we're going to tell her now."
"Hm, sooner rather than later, do you honestly want me to die Rose?"
"Oh come on, she won't take it that badly."
"erm yes she will. And if these are going to be my final moments of pre slapped life, I want to make them as long as possible, thank you very much!"
"Just hurry up and fly us there. Gently too! I'm with child, your child."
"Wow," he says beaming "I'll never get used to hearing that"
"I'll never get used to saying it either" she says beaming back at him.
oOo
Rose walks through the Powell estates, with the doctor grumpily trudging along behind her. "come on doctor, no backing out now. She heard the TARDIS, and saw us out the window. You're just making her more impatient." Rose says turning to The Doctor. He really is acting like a child.
"Come on Rose, why don't we just pop by later, when our little Zeroschi is about eighteen"
"Hah, if we show up with little max not being so, little anymore- she'll go doubly bezerk!"
"Max?" The Doctor scoffs.
"erm Zeroschi?" Rose says, with a 'duh' tone in her voice.
"Hey, that's the name of a prolaxian god, I'll have you know!"
"we are not naming him after a prolaxian god!"
"well were not bloody naming him max either."
"what's wrong with max?"
"too human and boring."
"fine."
And then before he can suggest the names of any other various alien gods, their outside Jackie's front door, and she's letting them, kettle already boiled. "You two took your time getting up here," she says ad then gives them both a kiss on the cheek. The Doctor cringes at the fact of the likely possibility that the kiss will be followed with a slap later.
"sorry we took so long,"
"yeah well it's about time I had a visit. Oh Rose you'll never guess what?" Jackie says, as she puts the teabags in the three mugs she pulled from the cupboard.
"well actually mum-"
"Maycee Donavon, from 12B is engaged to the butcher's son! I knew she was getting all that nice beef for cheap, I've got mind to complain. It's the bloody recession after all" Jackie babbles quickly finishing making the tea.
"actually Jackie, although that's great, or not great I suppose, me and Rose did come down here for a specific reason…" The Doctor says.
"oh really, what's up?" Jackie says heading into the front room and sitting down on the armchair. "there aint no more of them aliens in downing street again is there? Because I am totally out of vinegar" she says taking a sip of your tea.
"No nothing like that," Rose says "it's just me and The Doctor have something to tell you. And you might not like it"
"what is it, are-are you unwell? Have you caught some weird alien disease where yo only live for like 72 hours or something."
"no nothing like that," The Doctor reassures her "it's just Jackie… Rose is- Rose is pregnant."
Jackie drops her tea on the floor. The doctor gulps "and it's mine."
"YOU BLOODY ALIEN GIT, HOW COULD YOU BOTH BE SO STUPID THE PAIR OF YOU OH MY GO-"
And Jackie completely goes off on one.
oOo
about twenty minuets later, she seems pretty worn out, and The Doctor has received none less than six slaps and his face is stinging pretty bad. Jackie has slumped down onto the sofa, finally giving up, and warily goes to sit in the armchair opposite her, and Rose sits next to her.
"Mum this wasn't planned, but we are keeping it. It's a boy, as well. And were going to raise him on the TARDIS."
"well it's not very safe is it?"
"not every planet has wars and deadly aliens Jackie," The Doctor says "we probably won't save the world as much, and spend most of our time educating him. Because he's going to be a timelord so he has certain things that he needs to know. And when he's older, we'll give him a chunk of TARDIS to grow and he can go around saving the world himself with whatever companions he chooses."
"you two really have got this all planned out haven't you."
"yep," Rose says "but I'm going to need you too mum, for advice and stuff and when he won't stop crying and I can't bloody cope with that prat," she gestures to The Doctor "blowing up bits of the TARDIS."
Jackie chuckles slightly and The Doctor rolls his eyes but smiles.
"so you two, you're together then?"
"well, I guess… sort of. We haven't really talked about it." The Doctor says, avoiding eye contact.
"well, you better piss off back to your box and talk it out then, because you've got to do something now that you're having a baby together. Come and visit again soon though, and I want to see you more often now that you're pregnant so I don't miss anything okay?" Jackie says, standing up with the two travellers and giving them both a hug.
Rose and The Doctor start heading out the door, and Jackie calls out "oh and sorry about the slaps doctor"
"don't worry about it Jackie," he says "I bloody deserved it"
oOo
they walk back quietly to the TARDIS, close but not touching. Then eventually Rose has to break the silence. "are we really going to do this then doctor?" she asks
"what?"
"raise this child"
"of course"
"then you have to confront your feelings about me doctor. Because if you can't sort your emotions out, then I'll go. And I'll take little Jake and raise him myself. What do you feel for me?"
They stop outside the TARDIS doors, and he sighs looking her in the eyes.
"Rose when I see you, all I see is radiant beauty and intelligent. I am captivated by you and your existence, and you give off energy that reflects into me. I want this so bad, me and you and little Theta mark 2, as a family." He places his hand on her stomach, and she doesn't move it.
"let's do it then." She says and he smiles, before leaning in and kissing er softly and slowly on the lips.
"you don't know how long I've wanted to do that Rose,"
"well. We better make up for lost time then."
"definitely." He says with a cheeky grin, as they head back into the TARDIS.
"Theta mark 2 then, is Theta your name?"
"nah, it was a nickname of mine back on Gallifrey, my parents and friends called me it. We all had nicknames. Like The Master, remember how I told you about him?" Rose nodded "Koeschi, he was called back then. We were good friends, a long time ago"
"well can I, call you Theta, sometimes?"
"of course you can, if you want" he says giving her another kiss
"yeah I do, it just seems very you. Although I can't imagine you as a kid or a teenager." She says with a laugh.
"here," he says reaching into his pocket and pulling out two old looking photographs. One of a small boy about eight with shining light blue eyes, and wild thick brown hair, and freckles around his nose. The background is full of rich red hues and some brown. "that's me, about nine or eight I was there" he says and she awws. Then there's a picture of three boys. Rose recognises the one in the middle as The Doctor, looking about fourteen this time. Oh his left is another boy, with dark brown hair swept slightly over his face, and big sad brown eyes. "that's Koeschi or The Master there, before he went completely nuts. He was just a bit dodgy then." Who's the other boy then?" she asks, pointing to a boy with choppy blonde hair, and really clear green eyes who looks a little older than the other two.
"That's my brother, Drayschel his nickname was. We weren't allowed to share our real names, even with family. Only our parents could know, so we made nicknames when we were in the academy. Me and my brother often stuck together, and then one day when he was about eighteen, he just vanished we all searched for him, but couldn't find him, and we couldn't feel him in our minds anymore. I still don't know what happened to him, if he returned for the war, died or if he's still out there. And believe me I've looked. I've searched for his nickname Drayschel, and the name he chose 'The Professor' but I've never heard any news of him. He could be anywhere"
Rose places her arm around his, and gives him a light hug. "I'm sure if he's out there somewhere, he's trying to get here. He may be held up, but he's coming here, as fast as he can."
"Yeah," The Doctor says, wrapping his arms around Rose "maybe he is."