Some fics just don't want to be finished. I had such a hard time saying goodbye to this one. It really wasn't the plan to make you guys wait this long and I just hope it was worth the wait.

Enjoy!

XVI

Something was wrong. She just couldn't quite figure out what. Something in his eyes; something in his overly-manic enthusiasm that put her on edge. Something about him was off. Ever since he picked her up three days before, he'd been somehow different in a million miniscule ways. He had a nervous excitement in his gaze when he looked at her. At times, he seemed completely closed off, while at other times it was like he, quite literally, couldn't stop talking to her. And outside of eating, sleeping, and taking her to amazing planet after amazing planet- he made love to her with a voracity that couldn't even be matched by their first night together. He was ravenous; a man starved for her body, her attention, and her love- though that symptom she didn't really have any problems with.

So on the 4th morning, she called him out.

"Something's up. What's wrong?"

"Wrong?" He said over his bowl of cereal.

"Yes. Wrong. You're acting strange."

"I'm just happy you decided to stay this time." He tipped the bowl to his lips, slurping the milk loudly from the bowl and effectively breaking eye contact.

She stared at him as if he was a puzzle she just couldn't solve. After a long while, she spoke.

"No. That's not it. You're lying to me, Doctor." She smirked as he choked on his milk. "And I'm going to figure out what it is." Martha got up to put her coffee mug in the sink and walked out of the kitchen, secretly delighting in a confounded Doctor.

He didn't know whether or not she was just perceptive on some other-worldly level or if she really just knew him that well. He settled on a bit of both. Either way, his guilty conscience was getting him into trouble.

The Doctor had told Mickey to do the right thing… the smart thing. But right now he wasn't sure whether his own actions had been right or smart. He was sure that without his 'gentle' provocation, Mickey would, undoubtedly, find a way to weasel his way back into Martha's life as well as her heart. He knew in his hearts that taking away Mickey's option to do so would ensure that he would never have the chance to hurt Martha or their budding relationship ever again. However, his mighty brain carried the weight of his guilt: lying to Martha and intimidating her former husband- had he really resorted to school-yard bullying to get his way? And why didn't he trust Martha to make the right decision when the time came?

The truth was that he did trust her to make the right decision. He was afraid that when the time came, he'd be the one she'd give up.

"I have to go back to Earth." She said suddenly on day 5, still out of breath from the fit of passion that had just occurred against one of the thick wooden book shelves of the library.

He looked at her with pure, undisguised horror and panic. "What? Why? I thought…"

"Calm down, Old Man! Don't have a heart attack! I just need to settle my affairs."

"Affairs?" He blinked, as if it were something foreign.

"Yes. Affairs. Human adults like myself have jobs and mortgages and responsibilities that need to be taken care of before we go traipsing around the universe with our time-traveling alien lovers. I've got to resign from UNIT, wait for the replacement- which should only be about two weeks. Sell the house, or maybe just sign it over to Mickey or my mum or someone. Oh God, Mum! She's going to be so pissed! Maybe I should start mentally preparing myself for this conversation…" She rambled, much like she did that first night in the alley where he whisked her away from monotony to show her the stars. It was endearing up until Mickey came up in conversation. He bristled against her for just a moment but she noticed- she always did.

"Something wrong?"

"No… just remembering that I have some Earth-bound errands to run anyway. Maybe I could play house for two weeks."

"Errands? Like what? And besides… you don't just Play House unless it's the only option. And it's not. So you don't have to. Just drop me off and pick me up later."

"Nah!" He said, drawing out the word in the way he always did. "Could be fun! As for my errands…" He trailed off, beginning to rifle through the pockets of his pants which he then promptly pulled around his waist from their former position around his ankles. He proceeded to pull out a melted chuck of metal and plastic with charred wires protruding in certain spots.

"Is that-"

"Had to fashion it into a bomb to help the Xylophonic Rebellion overthrow a despotic leader leading them into a new age of peace and prosperity and all. You know. The usual. So, anyway, now I need a new phone."

"I'm starting to think that you're not as opposed to domestic as you claim to be, mister.

Playing house wasn't as grueling as either of them thought it would be. Martha had officially handed in her resignation from UNIT, much to Colonel Mace's dismay, and was making preparations to make her replacement's transition as smooth as possible. While she worked during the day, the Doctor assumed the role of house husband. He ran errands and visited old friends during the day while Martha was away. He had dinner on the table by the time she got home- though most nights, dinner consisted of take-away Chinese on the good china. The first week came and went with him going to bed with her every night and waking to her peacefully sleeping face every morning.

So waking up alone on Saturday morning came as an unwelcome surprise. He found her in the sitting room, a folded piece of paper in her hand. One look at her and he could see clearly that she was livid. But still he ventured to kiss her on the top of her head and murmured a quick "Good Morning". She didn't respond.

"What's that?" He inquired. Though he suspected he knew exactly what it was.
"Why don't you tell me, Doctor?" She replied with a dangerous calm. She handed him the envelope.
He looked over it and feigned surprise.

Martha,
For your sake and my own sanity, I have decided to give you up. I can't go on chasing another woman who refuses to give me her all. I will always love you and I wish you nothing but the best.
Mickey

To the untrained eye, the note seemed quite benign. But Martha's eye had been trained long ago. She knew both men well enough to put two and two together. The Doctor's uncharacteristic smothering and Mickey's short concession that said more to her than the Doctor probably knew.

"How could you?"
"Martha, I-"
"You what? What excuse could you possibly have? I don't know what you did or what you said to him, and I don't care. What I want to know is why you felt the need to do it? And why you thought I was too stupid to notice?"

He started to protest again, but he decided against it. She always did have a way of seeing through him.

He sighed, defeated and exposed with no shelter- no galactic emergencies or overly complicated lies to hide behind. It was Martha and the Doctor with only the truth between them.

"You weren't there that night. You were, but you weren't."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"That night. When I came back. You were a wreck. I've never seen you like that. And I never wanted to. I spent the whole night watching you, wondering what could have possibly done this to you."

Martha listened in silence, trying to forget that hellish week without him. She'd never wanted him to see her like that either.

"Martha, I know you've heard the whole Last of the Time Lords song before, but you really are all I have. I've lost so much. I can't lose you too. I won't. And I believe I've made that perfectly clear. You are everything. I couldn't let anything threaten our happiness- the life that we've come so far in building together. He was a threat to that life; that happiness.

I would do anything never to see you like that again. It hurt me to see you like that and infuriated me that he was the one who caused it. It hurt me to know that if I would have just been there... If I hadn't left you alone, I could have spared you that pain. Martha, I've never felt as helpless as I did that night. And I couldn't let his actions go unpunished. I'm sorry that I hurt you, but I refuse to feel remorse for Mickey after what he almost did to us."

It'd been a slow realization that only dawned on him once he said the words out loud, but he wasn't sorry that he'd taken the steps to removing Mickey from their lives. He'd felt guilty in the beginning, but now he reasoned that his actions had been the only civil option to ensure that her ex-husband would be gone from their relationship permanently. Now, he felt it with the utmost conviction. He never meant for any of it to affect Martha the way that it had, but he no longer regretted his actions.

Looking at Martha now, he noticed how her eyes had softened. She left her chair to sit on the couch beside him.

"I was a bit of a mess, wasn't I?" She said with a small smile.

"Just a bit." He said with a laugh.

"Ok, I get why you did, whatever it is that you did. But you have to trust that I'm not going anywhere. I'm in this thing for as long as you are. I chose you. I love you. Always have, always will. I'll admit, Mickey did a very good job of shaking me up, but it'll take a force greater than him to tear us apart." She took his hand in her smaller one and brought it to her lips for a quick kiss.

"If I'm honest, it wasn't Mickey that did the most damage. Sure, he lit the spark, but what did the most damage was my own insecurities. He got to me because of my own doubts." She could feel the guilt radiating from him in waves, and squeezed his hand with a reassuring smile. Though she wasn't blaming him, she could tell that he was. She removed her hand from his and crawled onto his lap.

"That's something that you can help me get over. I know that living with you full time is a step in the right direction. It'll take time though."

"Then we'd better start now." He said, kissing her slow and deep, squeezing her through the thin, silky robe she wore. "Meet me in the bedroom?"

"In a minute." She stood from his lap and watched him make his way back to the bedroom. She read over the letter once more before tossing it in the garbage bin. She declared this chapter of her life officially over.

The second week passed without so much as a whiff of drama. Well, outside of Francine's thorough dislike of Martha's life choices, but that was nothing new. To make up for his earlier indiscretions, he promised Martha an extra special trip once they were back to life in the TARDIS.

"Don't open your eyes yet. No peeking."

"But Doctor, it smells like a pigsty! Where are we?"

He untied her blindfold. "Well, leave it to Martha Jones to ruin a surprise."

She was surprised, and yet not surprised to see that they were, in fact, on a patch of soggy land on the far edge of a farm.

"We've come to visit an old friend." He said with a wide smile.

"Mae." She remembered. The woman who made the delicious breakfast. "She lives here? But where is here? And what year?" She said, feeling a bit queasy about her surroundings. She could see a big plantation-style house in the distance.

"Tennessee. Your time. Now, go get some boots from the auxiliary wardrobe. The walk over could get a bit… squishy." He frowned slightly at the muddy ground beneath their feet before donning an expression of pure excitement. On her way back with two pairs of rain boots, her initial jealousy of the woman returned. She knew of the Doctor's penchant for pretty girls and wondered why he insisted on bringing her to see one of them. Nevertheless, she smiled at him, put on the boots, and walked with him, hand-in-hand, toward the plantation.

When they finally arrived, she could see that there were multiple people and animals moving about. They all waved their greetings and even some of the children stopped to hug the Doctor and ask him questions. Mostly about who she was. An old man in a rocking chair on the porch waved them through the front door the kitchen door, smiling but not speaking a word.

"Twice in the same month? To what do we owe the pleasure, mister?" An old woman stood, kneading a ball of dough on the tabletop. She was short and round, but with a beautiful face, not hardened by the years. She had skin the color of café au lait and never looked up from her task.

"I've come to introduce you to someone very special." The Doctor's grasp tightened around Martha's as he led her forward.

The older woman gave a small sigh. She wiped her hands on her apron. "Well, I thought I would have dropped dead before I finally got to meet Miss Martha Jones!" Mae sang in her southern drawl. She walked up to Martha rubbed her arm reassuringly. Any lingering doubts or jealousies she had were instantly lifted. But Martha noticed how the woman didn't really look at her. Or anything really. Her eyes were a milky grey; all-knowing and unseeing.

"Don't worry. I don't need my sight to know how beautiful you are. Been talking about you for years, this one." She said, nudging the Doctor who blushed in return. "Feels like I already know you. Welcome to the farm, child. My name is Momma Mae. Now have a seat while I cook you up a nice, homemade meal." She turned to the Doctor and turned her head, to which he promptly paid her a mandatory kiss on her full cheek.

Martha shook off the shock to thank her for her hospitality as Mae moved around the kitchen expertly, as if she didn't need her eyes to see. She learned how Mae and the Doctor met; he saved her from the alien that took her sight. "Nasty son of a bitch, too. It was hard, but our friend here helped me to see without those old eyes." Martha looked at the Doctor in awe, but the Doctor just smiled.

"It was the least I could do."

They talked and laughed while Mae cooked for them. Martha regaled the group of people that had gathered in the kitchen about her travels- with and without the Doctor- while their hosts told them old family tales; hilarious stories of childhood mischief and drunken mistakes and the family pig who thought it was a dog.

Finally, their laughter had subsided and room seemed to empty- everyone dispersed, leaving only The Doctor, Martha, and Mae in the small kitchen. Finishing her task at last, the older woman began to pile their plates with the food she made. Martha's mouth began to water as she took hers.

"Thank you so much! I don't know how I'm going to eat all of this…"

"Oh, nonsense!" Mae started. "You eat up; you're eating for two now. You can't afford to be passing up a meal. You'll be needing your nourishment." She said, smiling easily- as if she was unaware of the bomb she'd just dropped. The Doctor's fork dropped on the way to his mouth and he sat there at Mae's small kitchen table, leaning over his plate, mouth open and eyes wide. Completely shocked.

"Excuse me?" Martha said, stunned. "I'm not pregnant. I can't be." She talked more to herself than anyone else. She didn't feel pregnant.

"Oh, but you are, child." Their host smiled a motherly smile. Her milky eyes staring not at Martha, but straight ahead. She leaned down and placed her hand on Martha's flat stomach. "Still early. Very early- I'd say about two weeks, give or take a few days but I can feel it. You're gonna be a momma soon, sweetheart."

As soon as Mae let go of her, Martha was seized by yet another set of arms. The Doctor pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly and she began to cry. "We're having a baby, Martha!" She could see that he was crying as well. Martha took his face in her hands and kissed him over and over again- his lips, his cheeks, his forehead as the knowledge of this new life surged through her. She looked back up at Mae for confirmation.

"I'm going to be a mother?"

"Yes, sweetheart. And he's going to be a father again." Mae wrapped their food, knowing that eating was the last thing on their minds.

They cried together, happily in each other's arms and for the most part, Mae left them alone. They ended their visit early and practically ran to the TARDIS. That night, they fell asleep in each other's arms as they did every night. But they both knew that nothing would ever be the same again.

Done and DONE! The last chapter of my very first fic is complete. And believe me, it was a labor of love. I definitely couldn't have made it this far without all of the kind, wonderful reviews from my readers, so I thank you from the very bottom of my heart. Between school, work, and writer's block, I would've given up long ago if I didn't think that there were people out there who actually enjoyed what I was writing and would have been disappointed if I just stopped.

A VERY, VERY special thanks goes to Sheena Is A Punk Rocker, who has been there with me basically every step of the way. I literally couldn't have done it without you.

So I do have many things in the works, starting with the completion of Coming Down, then starting back up on Matters of the Heart. So definitely keep an eye out for more coming from me.

So REVIEW, guys! Let me know what you think about the ending!

xoxo, LPL