Jenny didn't know how she had never seen it before but eight months was a hell of a long time and to be quite frank she was so over the whole concept of pregnancy. Her back was always hurting, her ankles felt as though they were the size of tree trunks, she was constantly tired or hungry and she missed being able to sit and stand up by herself. Not only that but to make matters worse she seemed to always need to use the bathroom and, although she tried to go by herself, her need for assistance in getting up after being seated was becoming a problem for Vastra who Jenny could tell was growing more than a little short tempered with her. In basic terms, Jenny wanted the baby out. Unfortunately though, with still a month to go, the baby didn't seem to be showing any signs of wanting to come into the world early.
"Vastra!" The Silurian looked up from the paperwork that she had been working on in her office at the sound of her name and for a moment she debated with herself over whether or not she could get away with pretending she had not heard Jenny calling. It wasn't that she didn't want to be helpful, she knew that Jenny couldn't help needing the assistance, it was just that she was finding it very difficult to stay calm when every time Jenny called for her the girl would find some completely unnecessary task for her to do before complaining yet again about how terrible she felt and how she wished that they could just skip the next month entirely. Honestly, Vastra was becoming a little bored of it. However, knowing that she would only get herself into trouble if she tried to ignore Jenny she resigned herself to her fate and begrudgingly made her way down to the sitting room.
The fire was burning brightly in the fireplace despite summer still not having passed entirely and Jenny was stretched out along the sofa, propped up against an abundant pile of pillows and with her feet stretched out in front of her. On the coffee table she had got Vastra to fetch her a nice cup of tea (which actually wasn't as nice as she had hoped, she really did need to teach the lizard woman how to make a proper cup of tea) and a plate with a selection of cakes. However, as Vastra re-entered the room she noticed that not only were all of the cakes gone but the plate on which they had been sat also appeared to have been thoroughly licked clean. She couldn't for the life of her figure out how Jenny was eating so much in such a short period of time - she could have sworn it was only ten minutes since she had last seen the plate piled high with cake. Even taking into account that the girl was eating for two the amount of food that she managed to get through in a day was practically inhuman.
"You called?" Vastra was trying her hardest not to seem too fed up. In all honesty she could have done without Jenny calling for her every five or ten minutes while she was trying to work. The distractions seemed to be coming more and more regularly and it was starting to become nearly impossible for the Silurian to get any work done at all. Every time Vastra started to notice a pattern in a collection of crimes or thought that she had an idea about where to find a criminal Jenny would call her away and by the time she had finally made it back to the study every thought that had been held in her mind seemed to have melted away to nothing. Luckily Jenny didn't seem to notice the irritation in Vastra's voice and after looking up at the woman innocently for a moment with an apologetic gleam in her beautiful brown eyes she extended her hand out to Vastra and made miniature grabbing motions not too dissimilar to those that the baby would probably make once it was born.
"Come 'ere." With a great deal of effort the girl swung her legs back round over the edge of the sofa and, assuming that Jenny needed to relieve herself (again), Vastra sighed and hesitantly trudged over to a point just in front of where she was sitting. However, as she took hold of Jenny's clammy little hands the Silurian was surprised to find herself being pulled down next to her sweet girl and Jenny immediately began to snuggle in closely next to her. For a moment Vastra had no idea what was happening but the pure heat radiating from Jenny's body was so intense that it reminded Vastra of the atmosphere of earth back in her own time period and without realising it her eyes snapped shut and she began to purr lightly as Jenny nuzzled closer. It wasn't until the Silurian opened her eyes once more to find Jenny looking up at her and blushing that Vastra even realised what she had been doing. A deep blush tinted her own scales as realisation began to creep into her mind and Jenny giggled softly at the sight of it.
"Enjoyin' yourself ma'am?" she asked, giggling even more as Vastra covered her face with both hands in an attempt to hide her blush. She didn't know why she had gotten so carried away with just a simple cuddle but until that point the Silurian had never realised how much warmer Jenny was while pregnant. The fire probably played some part in it but even so Vastra had never noticed the heat radiating from her darling girl until that very moment. Gently Jenny peeled Vastra's hands back from her face as she made a concerted effort not to laugh any more than she already had. She didn't know what exactly had come over the Silurian but she so loved when Vastra purred in that way that she pressed a gentle kiss to the woman's nose and cuddled herself even closer to try and reassure her that there was nothing to be embarrassed about.
"Is this what you called me down here for?" Vastra muttered, still a little embarrassed about her momentary lapse in awareness over her own actions. Despite the embarrassment however, she let her arms wrap themselves around the girl curled closely into her body and allowed herself to relax back into the seat. She knew that really she should have been getting on with her work but in her heart Vastra was much happier where she was.
"Would it be a problem if I said yes?"
"Of course not. Why on earth would you ask something like that?" Realistically the Silurian knew that it was her own fault. Her patience had been dwindling as of late and every time she was pulled away from her work she had been a bit more begrudging towards Jenny; no wonder the girl was a little upset about it, she couldn't help that she needed Vastra more than she would under normal circumstances. Jenny just shrugged in response, she didn't want to say anything that could possibly cause an argument.
"I just missed you, y'know. I know it's nothin' important an' I should 'ave just let you work but I thought you wouldn't mind sittin' with me for a few minutes. We don't really get to do this anymore an' I really wish we did." She had a point, Vastra could barely remember the last time the two of them had sat curled up together and just talked. It was strange, when Jenny had first come to live at the house the pair had spent hours every night just sat together and enjoying one another's company but since the beginning of the pregnancy Jenny barely managed to stay awake past dinner. Even on the few occasions when she did manage to sit with the Silurian rather than going to bed she would very quickly find herself falling asleep in the other woman's arms and Vastra would end up carrying her up to bed so that the girl could get a proper rest.
"Forget work my love, it is unimportant." Jenny raised an eyebrow and looked up at Vastra in shock. Teasingly she took the Silurian's head in her hands and turned it first one way and then the other, pretending to check her over as though she may have been wearing a mask.
"Who the 'ell are you an' what 'ave you done with my Vastra?" She giggled and slowly removed her grip on Vastra's head as the other woman took hold of her hands and rolled her eyes.
"What I meant is that this is the most important thing to me right now." The Silurian pressed a long and loving kiss to Jenny's forehead before leaning down to kiss her lips gently. "You, me and our little hatchling - those are the things I should be focused on, not criminals and police officers. We are going to be mothers soon..." It wasn't until that moment that Vastra truly began to understand that they really were about to have a child. The corners of her mouth quirked up slightly as realisation began to dawn on her and she locked her eyes on her darling girl's. All of a sudden it all seemed so real. At first Vastra had liked the idea of being a mother, of course, but somehow it hadn't seemed like it was actually going to happen. Yet, in only a month there would be a miniature version of Jenny and herself in the world and the thought of it was almost entirely overwhelming for the Silurian.
"Vastra? Darlin', are you okay?" Jenny was looking at her with a concerned expression on her face and as she ran her thumb gently along the smooth scales under the Silurian's eye Vastra suddenly became aware that she was crying. She nodded her head and parted her lips to speak but no words seemed to come to her. How could she possibly put everything she was feeling into such a simple form as words? In her native tongue perhaps it would have been possible but where would be the point when she could not explain to Jenny what she was saying in an eloquent enough manner. As always Jenny seemed to understand. A soft smile graced her pretty features as she continued to brush the tears from Vastra's cheeks and she regarded the woman with an sense of amazement. "I never thought I'd see the day you were reduced to tears over somethin' so sentimental as a baby."
"Not just any baby my love, ours. Our baby."
~.~.~.~.~.~
For the rest of the day neither Vastra nor Jenny moved from their spot on the sofa where they had curled up together earlier on in the day unless they absolutely had to. In fact, the only time either of them did move was when Jenny would send Vastra to get her snacks (the child was definitely going to be fat, Vastra was sure of it). As the pair spoke for hours on end it began to become very apparent to them both that they had not put as much thought into what having a child meant as they had thought. It had only just occurred to Jenny that they had not yet set up a nursery for the baby, nor had they got it a crib or toys or anything else that she knew all babies needed. They hadn't picked out any name choices or considered who would look after it when the two of them were busy working. In fact, it seemed that the only thing that Jenny and Vastra had done was to check with doctor Rackham every so often to ensure that the baby was healthy and safe. So, deciding that it was about time that they sorted something out, the two women had begun to discuss the possibilities for what they would name their child.
"You 'ave got to be jokin'! Vastra, I am not callin' my child Delana, do you know 'ow much she'd get picked on if other children 'ad to call 'er that?! She'd be a joke to 'em." Jenny was beginning to wish that she had never suggested that they should start by considering baby names. It had seemed like a good idea since it was the simplest of all of the things they needed to do but as the hours ticked away there didn't seem to be any names that the pair of them could agree on.
"Oh, and I suppose Martha is better is it?"
"Oi! My parents very nearly called me Martha, an' I think it's quite a pretty name." Vastra rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest.
"I prefer the one you have."
"Yeah, well we aint discussin' what to call me, are we." Jenny was getting frustrated. She knew that she could be stubborn but in comparison to Vastra she was actually very easily persuaded. The issue they were having was that each of them preferred the names more commonly used by their own species but the cultural differences made it impossible for either of them to see the other's choices of names as acceptable.
"Darling, how could we plausibly give our child a name that would be considered normal to humans? She or he will not be a normal human child." Vastra was trying her best not to turn the discussion into an argument but Jenny just didn't seem to understand that the chances of their child even appearing to be normal were very slim. It seemed silly to give it a normal human name when they knew full well that there would be nothing normal about it.
"Just because our baby won't be normal it don't mean it 'as to be a social outcast."
"I am not a social outcast and my name is hardly what you would consider normal." Jenny just sighed. "I am right, am I not?"
"Yes, but the only 'umans who ever find out your name either 'ave a basic idea of what you are or only find it out just before you kill 'em."
"Oh, Jenny that is not true and you know it." Silence fell between them and Jenny put her head in her hands with an audible groan. She was beginning to feel as though they would never find any name that they could both agree on. It wasn't that she was entirely opposed to giving their child an unusual name, it was just that every name that Vastra had suggested seemed to sound more and more alien. Jenny at least wanted something human in her child's name.
"Okay, 'ow about this, we'll each pick a name we like an' then when the baby's born we can see which we think suits it best." A compromise seemed to be the only way Jenny could think that they would get through the process of choosing a name without falling into one of their ongoing rows. The women had a certain talent for creating arguments that never seemed to end, they were both so strong willed that it was near impossible for them to avoid such conflicts. Luckily though they had found a system to combat the issue. It had been an idea that Vastra had come up with when they had first started arguing about the ape/human situation; if the argument got too heated and lasted for too long they would pause it until the next time they saw the Doctor, then they would let him decide who was right. It was the simplest solution and actually seemed to work out fairly well. Somehow though, Jenny didn't think that allowing the Doctor to choose their child's name would be the best idea so her solution for a compromise seemed like the best option.
"Well, I suppose that would work."
"Just, please don't choose anything too abnormal. I don't want our little 'un to be miserable just because it 'as a strange name." Vastra raised an eyebrow in protest but the pleading look in Jenny's eyes deterred her from opposing the girl.
"Very well. For a girl what about," the Silurian thought for a minute, her eyes downcast in concentration, "Nyx?" Jenny pulled a disapproving face and Vastra sighed. "Fine, Azza?" Another disapproving look. Vastra hissed slightly in annoyance but decided she would try once more before questioning Jenny's system altogether - how was it supposed to work if the girl would not actually allow her to use any of the names she chose? "Alright, neither of those are any good. How about Aria?" The girl seemed to be thinking, it was at least an improvement on immediate disapproval. It took a few minutes but eventually Jenny nodded.
"I could live with that, I don't think it'd cause 'er too many problems. I was thinking maybe Sophie?" Vastra didn't even have to think. She knew why Jenny had chosen that name. Of all of the names that the girl had already suggested Sophie was the one that Vastra had liked the most. She wasn't sure why it appealed so much, perhaps because it was so soft and light, it didn't seem as harsh as some of the other human names that Jenny had suggested. With a swift nod Vastra was about to suggest a boy's name but Jenny quickly pressed her finger to the other woman's lips. She shook her head softly and for a moment Vastra's brow creased. Suggesting a name each had been Jenny's idea, why was she now going against her own solution to their problem?
"I aint negotiating a boy's name love, I already know what I want to call it if it's a boy." Her voice seemed distant and her eye line lowered slightly so that her gaze lingered on the finger that she still held pressed to Vastra's lips. The Silurian could tell that there was no point in arguing the matter, clearly Jenny had a reason for whatever name it was that she had chosen and that reason meant a great deal to the girl if her demeanour was anything to go by. Vastra wanted to ask what the name was but she didn't want to push Jenny. The girl seemed to have withdrawn into herself and for a few minutes she simply seemed to stop. She didn't move at all, her finger remaining on Vastra's lips and her eyes locked in place. Eventually though, her small voice cut through the silence as her gaze lifted to meet Vastra's own. "I want to name 'im Sam, after my brother." Vastra nodded, she understood. Jenny had been missing her brother ever since she had been kicked out of the family home, it was a good enough reason in Vastra's eyes for the girl to want to name her child after him.
"Well, that is one task completed. Which should we tackle next?"