A/N For those reading this who haven't read the previous story first, Pete's presence in this universe might be confusing. It's explained in chapter 30 of "Falling Slowly" where Doomsday underwent a bit of a rewrite.

Chapter 14

Rose was already in the arms of her mum when the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and into the Tyler living room. Jackie thought it was just the usual (albeit a little more enthusiastic) greeting, but the Doctor knew Rose was undoubtedly holding on to her mum just a little bit tighter. The exchange between them seconds before stepping out had done nothing to improve the current situation. He thought of pulling Rose back into the TARDIS and finishing the conversation they'd begun, or at least getting enough time to answer her question, but he honestly wasn't sure if he trusted himself to handle it correctly at the moment. And right now it seemed Rose was more content just to be in the arms of her mum, at last receiving a measure of comfort that he had not been able to give.

Later, the Doctor told himself. He would begin, somehow, to deal with all of this later. For now, they were facing the next hurdle of breaking this news to Jackie and Pete.

"Doctor," Pete greeted with a nod and a smile as he approached him. The Doctor nodded back but his smile, matching his inner emotions, was strained.

Pete cast a sidelong glance at the TARDIS now occupying the living room. Jackie had long since become accustomed to it, but he was still getting used to the ship materializing in the middle of the flat at random. He gave an imperceptible and slightly incredulous shake of his head. Never let it be said his life was now dull.

Jackie and Pete still resided at 48 Bucknall House at the Powell Estate. Despite bringing over a sizable amount of what he lightly referred to as 'pocket change' when coming to this universe, every cent had been invested in re-growing Vitex from the ground up. Pete's savvy business sense was already bringing rapid success, and it would only be a matter of time before he and Jackie could settle into a more lavish residence. For now, neither one minded one way or the other so long as they had each other. They were more than content simply having this extraordinary second chance at a life together.

Pete was also more than content to have Vitex as his sole focus, having left Torchwood behind. Early on, Captain Jack had extended the offer to have Pete join forces with Torchwood Three, knowing his experience with the organization in the other universe could prove valuable. Pete had declined, though. After the death of his first wife at the hands of the Cybermen, Torchwood had become his life. He spent three years chasing after Cybermen, doggedly hunting down those responsible for Jackie's death and contributing his steadfast commitment to the global effort of sealing them inside factories across seven continents. Those had been the emptiest years of his life, retribution his only companion. He was ready to put that behind him and move forward, having gained with this life a new-found enthusiasm for growing his corporation anew.

But Torchwood or no Torchwood, Rose's relationship with the Doctor meant Pete's life was far from void of alien encounters. One alien in particular was now standing in his flat and looking uncharacteristically tense. He and Jackie would soon learn the reason why.

"Oh, you're just in time!" Jackie announced enthusiastically as she and Rose broke their embrace, Rose somehow managing to allow a smile to her face upon seeing her mum. "I was gonna ring you up to let you know. Guess where Pete and I are gonna spend the next two weeks?" Before giving Rose a chance to respond, Jackie eagerly answered her own question. "New Zealand!"

"It's not entirely a holiday though, Jacks," Pete reminded her. "It's business."

"Well, maybe for you...," Jackie said with a cheeky grin, picturing the endless shops she would peruse while Pete attended stuffy business meetings.

The brief smile Rose had achieved instantly vanished as her face fell. "You're leaving?"

"We're taking a flight out tomorrow night," Pete said. "I've managed to secure a major investor there, and this is exactly the final break we needed to get Vitex soaring. We've been growing modestly well, but this will put us up front. No doubt about it. We're going to begin working out all of the details during this trip."

Jackie looped her arm through his, smiling up at him. She was so proud of her husband's accomplishments. Her smile slowly faded, though, when she finally noticed the Doctor and Rose's less than jovial demeanor.

"What's wrong?" she asked with a frown, looking between the two of them. "You two look like somebody died." Rose flinched at her choice of words. "And himself here hasn't even said two words yet. Now I know the world must be comin' to an end." She chuckled and looked at the Doctor, amending her statement. "Although I've seen this one when the worlds about to end, and that usually makes him happy as a clam and his gob run wild," she teased.

The Doctor glanced downward at his trainer-clad feet while Rose chewed at her bottom lip. Teasing now aside, Jackie knew something must be wrong. "What is it, sweetheart?" she asked Rose with concern in her voice. "Tell me."

Rose hesitated. She had to try and force the recent exchange between her and the Doctor out of her mind and focus on the reason why they'd come in the first place. "It's just...well...I don't really know the best way to say it, but...there's something we have to tell the two of you."

Rose looked at the Doctor. This was their first time to actually announce this to anyone. Would he want to be the one to say it?

No, of course not, she thought to herself almost bitterly. His continued silence once again gave her the answer. She looked back at the expectant faces of Jackie and Pete.

"I'm pregnant." Those two words still felt oddly surreal, both for Rose to say and for the Doctor to hear.

Jackie's mouth fell open as she gaped between the Doctor and Rose in total shock. Never had she expected to hear such an announcement because she had been told this wouldn't ever be possible for them. Her gob-smacked expression soon bloomed into a full-blown grin of enthusiasm.

"Oh, sweetheart!" she cried in joy as she embraced Rose.

"Congratulations!" Pete told the Doctor as he shook his hand. The Doctor swallowed thickly and once again forced a smile.

Jackie pulled back and gazed down at Rose's middle. "How far along are you? How long have you known? And how is this even possible?" She fired off her questions in rapid succession. "I thought you said you two would never be able to even have children!"

The Doctor figured it was his turn to finally speak and tried so hard to keep his conflicting emotions out of his voice. He was only mildly successful. "Ordinarily it wouldn't have been possible for us. And we just found out yesterday – Rose is just over a week along."

"Only a week?" Pete remarked in surprise. "And you know already?" The Doctor nodded the affirmative.

Through her exuberance, Jackie began to realize the Doctor and Rose didn't share the enthusiasm, as evidenced by the continued somber looks on both their faces. They certainly were not two people beaming with joy. "Is everything okay, though? Is...is somethin' wrong with the baby?" she quickly asked, becoming alarmed.

Was something wrong with the baby? Rose thought to herself. No, she realized. Other than being part human and having a lifespan like her, this baby was perfect.

"No, the baby is perfectly fine," Rose assured her, speaking the words with a firm confidence that she finally felt, even if she was the only one who felt it. Rose looked to the Doctor. The look in his eyes, a gaze that didn't meet hers, told her once again that he didn't share that same sentiment.

"Then why these serious faces?" Jackie asked, sagging as she let go of a sigh of relief.

"It's just...this was so unexpected," Rose stammered for a reply, knowing that didn't even cover the half of it.

The Doctor cleared his throat so he could speak again. They may as well start getting this out in the open because it would eventually have to be told. "And I suppose that brings us back to your question of how this was possible."

"Why don't we all sit down?" Pete suggested, already sensing from the two of them that this was going to be a heavy conversation.

-:-:-:-

Upon hearing the full story of what had happened on Janyeer, Jackie and Pete were justifiably indignant learning of how Rose's reproductive physiology had been altered and manipulated behind her and the Doctor's back without their consent. But despite the unethical actions that took place, they couldn't help but see this baby as ultimately a good thing.

Jackie, seated beside Rose on the couch, reached over and took her hand, giving a reassuring squeeze. "The way they went about doing what they did to you was wrong. There's no doubt about that. But the way I see it, this baby is the one good thing to come out of all this, no matter how it happened," she concluded.

Sitting in the chair across from them, Pete leaned forward on his elbows, addressing both the Doctor and Rose. "I'm with Jacks. I mean, what they did was morally reprehensible; but in the end, this has given the two of you the opportunity for the family you couldn't have otherwise had," he reasoned.

Rose felt considerable relief just hearing someone else affirm what she had been feeling, or at least wanted to feel.

Jackie was now moving into full celebratory mode over the news of her first grandchild. Half alien and brought about by people exploiting Rose for their own means as it may be, this was still her grandchild and the baby she didn't think her daughter could ever have. Nothing could dampen her joy over that.

She stood up from the couch, now beaming. "It doesn't matter now how it happened. There's no changin' that, so it's time to move forward. It happened, that's that, and what we should do now is celebrate this baby! I'm gonna make a proper meal – a regular Christmas dinner for us tonight!"

There was no stopping Jackie now. She was a woman on a mission to celebrate. She swept Rose up into the preparations as the Doctor remained seated on the couch and fought the increasingly-strong urge to retreat back into the TARDIS. As parties go, this was not going to be history-making merriment.

Jackie quite obviously hadn't been joking when she said she was going to make the equivalent of a Christmas dinner. By the time she finished and all were seated, the table looked like it did the Christmas right after the Doctor regenerated, complete with a turkey and all the trimmings. All that was missing were the Christmas crackers and paper crowns.

Well, that wasn't the only thing missing. The joyous atmosphere that had been in the air at that meal was now replaced by an almost somber mood by at least two of the people at the table. Jackie had tried to create a festive spirit, thinking the issue here was just that Doctor and Rose needed to get past the circumstances of the child's conception.

Pete tried to do his part by keeping the conversation from dropping into silence. Halfway through the meal he'd finally run out of things to say about Vitex's business dealings. Proud as he was, even he had a limit to how much he could go on about the corporation and was frankly getting tired of talking about it to himself.

Jackie was getting tired of the glum atmosphere; and the residing tension between the Doctor and Rose didn't escape her notice either. Their body language was closed off, they barely made eye contact – it was almost as if they were two strangers. She had never seen them this way with each other, and she finally determined they needed to snap out of it.

"Oh, for goodness sake! Would you two just look at yourselves?" she spoke up at last. "You're having the baby you didn't think it was possible to ever have, and it doesn't matter now how it happened. I know it was a shock, but let it go because that's behind you now. You need to just focus on the good and be happy about this baby."

The Doctor dropped his fork with a clatter and turned his eyes sharply on her, his jaw tight as he spoke. "It isn't that simple, Jackie. You can't just...just throw a party, prepare a gluttonous feast and think that solves everything here. For one thing there are possible complications with this to consider. Possible risks."

Jackie didn't like the clipped tone he'd taken with her one bit. She also noticed how Rose seemed to retreat in on herself just a little more when he spoke. "Are you sayin' that for all the brilliance you're always claiming, a man who can change his entire body to live again, regrow a hand when it gets chopped off, and save the planet over and over from aliens whose names I don't even want to try to pronounce, that despite all that you can't even keep Rose safe through a pregnancy?" She gave him a challenging glare, crossing her arms over her chest. She honestly didn't believe that. "Well, you're always calling yourself a doctor, so now's your time to actually be one," she said brusquely. "And you had better..."

"Mum, the Doctor is doing all he can to keep me and the baby safe," Rose spoke up, feeling the need to defend the man she loved, despite things between them being so strained. If there was one thing the Doctor couldn't be accused of it was a lack of concern for Rose's physical well-being in this. Though his concern for her heart was something Rose found herself questioning more and more.

Jackie opened her mouth to speak further but Pete intervened, placing his hand on her arm. "Jacks, they can deal with this in their own way. Just leave them be."

"I bloody well will not!" she replied. "Just look at these two, Pete, actin' like two strangers an' all. And I'm tired of sittin' here pretending like they're not. They need to talk about this." She turned her eyes back on the Doctor and sharpened her gaze. "If Rose is being kept safe through this, like she said, then why, every time the baby's mentioned, do you look almost like...like you regret this? Your own child," Jackie leveled at him.

The Doctor cut his eyes over to Rose, then dropped his pained glance back down to the table.

Rose sucked in a shallow breath and pushed back from her chair. She couldn't take it anymore. "I just can't do this right now," she choked out, practically in tears as she stood and hurried out of the room.

Jackie's eyes became daggers aimed directly at the Doctor before she, too, stood and followed after Rose. The Doctor dropped his elbows to the table and sunk his head into his hands. Before Pete could say anything, the Doctor then abruptly pushed back and stood, walking a swift path to the front door and going outside for some much-needed air. His emotions had him in a stranglehold that was growing ever tighter, and he desperately needed to breathe.

So much for any hopes of this day improving. The Doctor didn't know it was about to get a thousand times worse.