This one is a fix-it that assumes the Doctor and Donna were married before the metacrisis happened, and that Ten didn't regenerate.

Donna crawled from her bed, leaving the warmth and softness of the covers behind with a soft sigh. Shaun was still asleep, his arms curled tightly around his pillow in a way he never held her. She glanced at the clock and sighed quietly as she realized that it was very early Christmas Day. She didn't bother with a dressing gown, but headed straight for the front door. It was easy to slip out unnoticed.

Her head ached. The crisp night air only made it worse, but she carried on in spite of the pain. She walked down the street, her bare feet freezing on the pavement, until she got to the small grassy lot that passed for a park in her neighborhood. She sat on the lone bench and wrapped her arms around her middle, shivering as she looked up at the night sky.

The stars shined bright and vibrant above her head, a million of them spread across the universe. It was beautiful. She used to look at them with her Gramps, but now she was all alone, miles and miles away from home. He'd asked her not to move so far away, to stay where he and her mum could easily come visit, but she hadn't listened. Shaun had wanted to get away from London, and she had wanted to make her new husband happy. She'd regretted it every day since.

As she studied the sky, her headache intensified from a dull throb to more of a hard pounding. She looked down at herself, tears welling in her eyes. "This will never do," she murmured to the baby growing inside of her. "You deserve a better mum than me. One who isn't sick all the time. One who can take you to play parks and run around after you. One who can make all of your Christmases seem magical."

She hadn't told Shaun yet. She was fourteen weeks along and just barely starting to show, but he was oblivious. He assumed her morning sickness was some kind of stomach bug, and had told her to cut down on the Pringles when he'd finally noticed her body changing. She just couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth after that.

She didn't think he would be happy about the baby, and that was the worst thing of all. He wasn't interested in children, and had told her point-blank that he didn't want any of his own. He wasn't even interested in her most of the time. Not anymore, not since they'd discovered a winning lottery ticket among their wedding gifts. Now he was all about living the wealthy life, buying fancy cars and clothes and spending time in luxury clubs with younger women with perfect bodies. When she tried to protest, he made her feel completely stupid and unattractive. He hadn't even told her that he loved her since the day after their wedding.

But she had talked him into marrying her even though she had some doubts about him, so she couldn't complain, not for herself. She had made her bed and now she had to lie in it. But what child deserves a father like that?

Sometimes, she imagined a skinny man with brown eyes and messy hair. He wasn't anyone she knew in real life, but he had been in her head since the accident, like some kind of guardian angel. In her imagination, she could tell him anything. She even dreamed about him some nights, of the two of them walking hand-in-hand through a giant outdoor market, or curled up together on a sofa in the middle of an unfamiliar library, a fire warming their feet.

Other nights, she couldn't fall asleep to save her life. On those nights, she came out here to the park and looked at the stars, the cold air working to cleanse her mind and help her get through one more day of stifling boredom and loneliness.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to the baby; to her Gramps; to the man who didn't exist. "I'm so sorry." She let out a loud, shaky sob as she tried to imagine Shaun holding their baby, the wrongness of it making her ache deep inside. Her feet were numb and her teeth chattering, the cold air too much for her weakened body, but she wasn't ready to go home yet. She still felt hollow inside. "I'm not good enough," she told the baby. "I'm not…anything enough. I'm nothing. I'm sorry."

"Don't say that."

Donna startled, knocking her elbow on the back of the bench as she turned to see who had spoken. Her breath caught in her throat as she realized who it was. She stared, her heart racing. Had she finally lost it? Had the long months of memory loss and migraines finally given way to something so much worse?

The skinny, familiar stranger approached her, his big brown eyes almost luminous in the darkness. He looked sad, so desperately sad. "Hello," he said, simply. "Happy Christmas."

"It's you," she whispered, still unable to catch her breath. Her headache intensified even more as glitter danced in her peripheral vision, a late, strange sort of aura that only happened on her worst days. She brought a hand to her forehead, rubbing uselessly to ease the pain.

"Are you all right?" the man asked. He kneeled down in front of her, his face just inches from hers.

"Fine, yeah," she whispered. "Just a headache."

"Just a headache," he repeated, his face grim. "Do you have them often?"

She wanted to lie, but it was him, so she told the truth. "Every day."

"I'm sorry." He closed his eyes, his long lashes fluttering against his freckled cheeks.

"For what?" She wanted to reach out and touch him, trace his eyes and his nose and his lips, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not yet. Not until she knew that this was real.

"For not looking after you properly. For not being here."

Donna frowned. She was starting to feel dizzy, the world spinning around her, and she fought to get words out. "You-you're my friend."

"Yes." He opened his eyes, studying her face intently. "Do you remember?"

"I dream," she explained. "I-I imagine. You."

He smiled. "Brilliant."

"Am I imagining you now? Have I gone crazy?" She needed to know.

"No." He leaned forward and gripped her arms, and suddenly the world was still. "I'm here. I'm real."

She shivered involuntarily, a chill crawling up her back. Sound faded out for a second, the wind and the roar of traffic on the motorway two streets over disappeared only to be replaced with a high-pitched ringing. When the sound came back, he was talking about something else.

"-hurt just a bit, and then you'll be fine." He rubbed her shoulders. "Aren't you cold? You're out here in your nightdress."

"Freezing," she murmured. And then she reached out, her fingers trembling as she touched his cheek. His skin was soft, his breath warm on her fingers. And she knew.

He brought his hand up to cover hers. "Your fingers are like ice cubes."

She smiled, butterflies fluttering in her stomach. "You are real."

"Yes." He smiled back. "Now come on, let me fix you. Is that all right?"

She nodded, not at all understanding what he was talking about. She trusted him, and that was all that mattered. "Yeah, it's all right."

"Good." He brought his fingers to her temples, his thumbs resting lightly on her cheeks. "Just relax."

He closed his eyes, so Donna did, too. She wasn't sure what was about to happen, but she thought it was best to follow his lead. Pressure built up in her head, making the throbbing ache worse as glitter danced and whirled in the backs of her eyes.

And then her brain exploded.

She screamed as pain tore through her head like someone had taken a sledgehammer to her skull. Colors floated in front of her eyes, swirling and forming blobs and circles as discordant music blared in her ears. Seconds later, memories began pouring in, pushing and shoving as they tried to find their proper places inside her mind. Her stomach heaved, the pain of it all too much for her to bear. She could hear him through it all, saying something, but she couldn't quite make his words out.

Finally, mercifully, the pain and colors and music faded, and she collapsed forward into his arms, utterly exhausted. But it was wonderful, because she remembered. She really, really remembered! Everything! Lance's betrayal, her travels with the Doctor, that awful day when he had been forced to take it all away. Everything.

"Donna," the Doctor said with such hope in his voice. "Did it work? Do you remember me?"

"Spaceman," she managed to say, too weak to form any other words. But inside, her heart was soaring and all she could think was, He came back for me. He came back. He fixed me.

"Oh, Donna," he breathed, relief evident in his voice. He adjusted her in his arms and buried his face in her hair. She could feel him tremble as he held her close, and she ached to comfort him, but her limbs were too heavy and her head still felt wrong, full and stuffy like she had a cold. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm so, so sorry. For everything."

Her ears popped suddenly, and the weight was gone. She could move. "Doctor." She wrapped her arms around him, holding him as tightly as he was holding her.

"I'm sorry, Donna."

"Shh, it's all right. You came back for me." There was no way she could be angry at him, not even for a second. "You fixed me."

"No, it's not all right. You asked me not to do it, and I did it anyway." He shook even more as he started to cry, tears trailing down his cheeks and dripping into her hair. "I was selfish. I just didn't want you to die. I didn't want it to be my fault that you were gone. Not you. Anyone but you."

She wanted to know how he'd fixed her, but that could wait. There was something else to say first. "I-I forgive you," she whispered. That was the most important thing of all. "Completely."

He pulled away to look at her, making sure to steady her on the bench before he let go. "I had no other choice." He shrugged, helplessly, his eyes still watery with tears. "I had no other good-"

"I know," she said, softly. Of course he hadn't. She wouldn't have been able to stand back and watch him die, either, not when there was another option. He needed to know that. "I would have done the same if it had been you. And I'm okay now."

"Donna."

"Come sit beside me." She patted the bench, taking deep breaths.

He did as she asked, and suddenly she was back in front of the fireplace with her imaginary man, warming her feet as they talked. She smiled as she blinked the fantasy away, now knowing that it wasn't just a dream, but a memory. "I never really forgot you," she told him, firmly, as she reached for his hand. "I never stopped missing you."

"I never stopped missing you, either."

She squeezed his hand. "So how did you fix me?"

His lips turned up in the barest hint of a smile as he launched into an explanation. "Well, I had to find a way to remove the Time Lord consciousness without removing any of your own memories or causing any damage. So I built a model and ran a bunch of practice tests until I found a way to group the right bits together for a quick extraction. I had to make sure I wouldn't leave anything behind that could hurt you. It just took time, that's all. A lot of time to get it right."

"But I'm okay now? You're sure?"

"Absolutely." He nodded. "You're better than okay. A Christmas miracle, if you will."

She leaned against him, the cold seeping back into her bones as she realized something. "Except I'm not okay."

"You're not? What do you mean? Does your head still hurt?" He let go of her hand and wrapped his arm protectively around her shoulders instead, his usually expressive face still as he waited for her answer.

"No. Not like that." She felt sick again, her stomach swirling with butterflies just thinking about how to say it. She couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. "I, uh, got married."

"I know." He squeezed her shoulder in comfort. "I was at your wedding. Well, not at it exactly, but near enough to see everything."

"You were?"

"Yeah." He nodded, the half-smile back on his face. "You were beautiful. So beautiful."

She looked up and met his eyes. They were warm, kind and ancient, just like she remembered them. "I don't love him."

The Doctor held her gaze. "It's all right if you do," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

"But I don't." He needed to know. "I thought I did, once, but...things change. And now I remember you."

"Don't give him up because of me." He shook his head. "Please don't."

"Doctor-"

"Don't." He brought his free hand to her face, cupping her cheek gently. "I want you to be happy. I want you to have a good life with someone you can have forever with. A real, proper forever."

Donna's stomach dropped at the resignation in his voice. She blinked, trying to stop the tears that were building in her eyes. "Why did you go through all the trouble of fixing me if you want me to be with someone else?"

He didn't answer for a minute, but just looked at her, his dark eyes captivating her. "Because I want you to be happy and whole. You deserve that and more for what I did to you."

Tears fell from her eyes faster than she could blink them away, and her breath began to come in sniffles. "How long has it been for you? Since we...?"

He shook his head, and fresh tears shone in his eyes, too. "Not so long that I stopped loving you."

Donna closed her eyes, hope building in her heart. "So you do love me? Still?"

"Of course I do. Always."

"Then why don't you want me anymore?"

"Donna."

She opened her eyes. "Just answer. Please."

"I-I…I do want you." His voice was weak, broken. "But if you love this other man - and don't lie to me about it, then I won't tear you apart. I refuse. You're so much safer here. So much better off with your own kind."

"I don't love him," she said, firmly. "I was hurting and lonely and lost, so I asked him to marry me. He lost interest as soon as we left for our honeymoon. I don't care about being safe. I want to go with you. I want to go home." She shifted closer to him, wanting to wrap him in her arms and never let go. She bit her bottom lip, trying to stop the tears that were still falling from her eyes. "You don't know how much I've missed you," she said, desperately. "I had this big, empty hole in my heart that could never be filled, and now you're here and I'm better. He can't give me that. No one else can. Only you. Please."

The Doctor nodded, slowly, accepting her statement as the truth. "Okay," he murmured.

"Okay," she repeated. "I'll get a divorce. A proper one, so he won't be held back, and then we'll go home."

"Okay." And then the dam broke, and his own slow trickle of tears exploded into big, noisy sobs as he pulled her into his arms. He clung to her tightly, whispering nonsense into her hair, pressing kisses to the top of her head. "I missed you," he whispered to her, again and again. "My precious Donna."

And she whispered back.

Later, when it was time to go back to Donna's house to tell Shaun the news, Donna decided she should get the last little piece of news out there. She was reluctant to tell him, terrified that he would leave her all over again. But it had to be done. It wouldn't be fair to keep her secret from both of the men who most needed to know.

"Doctor?" she said, as they walked hand-in-hand down the street, just like they had walked in her dreams that were actually memories.

"Hmm?"

She swallowed thickly. "There's one more thing you should know before we go through with this."

"What's that?" He stopped walking to face her, but kept her hand held tightly in his.

She took a deep breath, preparing for the worst. "I-I'm… I'm, um, I'm…."

He raised his eyebrows, encouraging her. "You're…"

Her stomach was knotted with nerves and her knees felt wobbly and weak. If it weren't for his grip on her hand, she probably would have sunken to the ground. "I'm…" she tried again, but she just couldn't say it. So she pulled his hand to her belly instead, letting him feel for himself.

He looked confused for a second, but then he started to caress her tiny bump, his long fingers smoothing over her nightdress. "Oh, Donna."

"I know," she said, softly. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be sorry." He reached for her hand again. "Does this change anything with your husband?"

"No. And you're my husband," she said, a fierce edge to her voice. How could he doubt that? They were married first and he was the only husband she wanted. She hadn't even remembered him when she had married Shaun.

"You know what I mean. Your human husband. The father." Despite his words, there was no harshness there, only a calm, even tone.

"He doesn't know," she admitted. "I've been too afraid to tell him."

The Doctor stepped closer to her, his shoulders tensing. "You've been afraid to tell him? Why? Has he hurt you?"

"No, no, not like that. He's just hard to talk to, and I know he doesn't want to be a father," she tried to explain. "Something about him has always felt wrong to me. I've tried, but I just can't imagine him with a baby in his arms, or tucking a toddler in for bed. I've been trying to decide what to do for weeks." She shook her head, debating before telling him the last part. "I probably would have left him even if you hadn't showed up."

"You still have to tell him."

"I know." She knew she should be worried about that. Telling Shaun about the baby and asking for a divorce in one fell swoop was sure to be no easy task. But all she could do was wonder if the Doctor would still love her and have her as his wife with another man's baby growing in her belly. Her cheeks burned as she waited for him to say something.

And as if he knew what she was thinking, he pulled her in for another hug. "How far along are you?" he asked.

"Nearly four months. I'm sorry." There was usually nothing more reassuring than being in his arms, but she was too nervous to relax. A big part of her was waiting for him to push her away in disgust, but he didn't let go.

He must have felt how tense she was, because he started rubbing her back. "Hey, it's okay," he assured her. "Don't worry. We'll get through this together."

"You're not angry at me?"

"No. How could I possibly be angry?" he asked. "I know you've always wanted to be a mum, so I can't fault you for trying to move on with your life and start a family. You didn't even know I existed, and that was all my fault. You've got nothing to apologize for because you've done absolutely nothing wrong."

Donna heard the honesty in his voice and relaxed into his embrace, finally feeling like everything was going to be okay.

Shaun took the news surprisingly well. It was almost like he'd been expecting Donna to pop up and announce that she was technically already married. He agreed to go through with a divorce and was willing to let her move on as long as she let him have all of the money. He almost seemed relieved, happy even.

He seemed even more relieved when he realized that she didn't expect him to be active in the baby's life.

"I think maybe breaking up with him was the best Christmas gift anyone has ever given Shaun," Donna joked, as she walked with the Doctor, on their way to the TARDIS. She would be lying if she said that didn't hurt a bit, but at least he hadn't wanted to fight over anything.

"Well, you're certainly the best Christmas gift I've ever gotten. Twice now." The Doctor playfully bumped her shoulder with his, and Donna found herself laughing for the first time since she had been left behind.

Donna was curled against the Doctor in bed, feeling tired, achy, and just plain big. His arm was wrapped around her middle, his hand resting gently on her bulging belly. She was due any time now, and her energy had dwindled into nothingness as the pregnancy progressed. Still, she was happy, enjoying the last few truly quiet days she would have with her husband for a long while.

They'd renewed their vows just the day before in a beautiful beach ceremony on a tropical paradise planet, and it was everything she'd ever wanted in a wedding and more. She wasn't ashamed to admit they had done their best to recreate their first wedding night, too, but things were much more difficult with her looking and feeling like a beached whale.

Not that the Doctor had said she looked like a beached whale. Anything but. She smiled as she reflected on their vow renewal ceremony, thinking about the way he'd stared at her in the simple beachy wedding dress she'd chosen. It reminded her of the first time they'd met. She had been in a wedding dress then, too, and he'd done more than a fair bit of staring. He somehow made her feel sexy and desirable even when she was spilling out of her clothes and felt enormous and uncomfortable, and that made her love him just that much more.

She put her hand on top of his, feeling his ring under her finger. It was a proper wedding band, but hers was still the biodamper, now expanded to fit her swollen finger. She couldn't bear to trade it in for something else, not the first time, and certainly not for the renewal.

"Feeling all right?" the Doctor asked, his sleepy voice making her smile. He was as naked as she was from last night's events, and, for once, every bit as tired.

"Fine. You?"

"Perfect."

Donna chuckled and entwined her fingers with his, giving his hand a squeeze. "I'm glad to hear that, Spaceman." She nestled into him as well as she could and closed her eyes, needing to get some more rest. Sleep was hard enough to come by now that she was so swollen and uncomfortable, but she knew it would only get even harder to sleep after their daughter arrived. She drifted off to the soothing sounds of the Doctor's rhythmic breathing and the fireplace crackling in the background.

A/N: I don't actually think Shaun is a bad guy at all, but I used him as one here for the story.