A/N Rose learns more about her baby and its father, while the Doctor learns that keeping his desires in check for the time being might not be so easy.

Chapter 28

Upon reaching the infirmary, the Doctor had Rose get situated on the exam bed, raising the upper half into a semi-sitting position and having her ease back to get comfortable. She watched as he pulled a scanning device over her from up above, aiming it down towards her, then turned and began gathering other instruments and equipment. The Doctor then moved back over to her with some items in hand. She met his eyes briefly and they shared a smile as he brushed her hair to one side, attaching an electrode to the side of her neck and then one to her inner wrist, the leads connecting to a monitoring device nearby. Rose was beginning to feel like the object of a science experiment, but she also felt her heart flip flop just a little at the level of care and attention he was devoting to her and their child. Never let it be said he didn't live up to his name.

Rose followed with her eyes and studied him carefully as he moved about the room. She had known him these near two weeks as the doctor, not knowing he was The Doctor. As she observed him with that knowledge, Rose found herself cataloging the differences between the man he was now and the man she had once known, the man who still occupied her memories.

Rose was unable to deny that she missed her first Doctor. When she allowed herself to dwell on the thought, it felt like an ache settling deep in her heart. She would never see that man again. The accent had gone from North to South, the battered leather had been exchanged for tailored pinstripes, and the quiet brooding had been replaced with manic exuberance. Although, Rose sensed this Doctor could have a dark and brooding side as well – perhaps just a little more hidden, buried deeper beneath a new exterior; but she could see its simmering potential just below the surface, shielded behind his beaming smile. She might be learning anew about things like regeneration, but Rose knew the burdens of a Time Lord were not the sort of things that could be exchanged, even if other things about him had.

For all of its splendor, life with the Doctor was never without its trials and complications, and Rose knew that accepting this change was a part of that. Apparently accepting this changed man was something she had already come to do once before, and quite well if her current state of being pregnant with said man's child was any indication. And beneath it all he was still the same man, wasn't he? That single truth settling in to her thoughts soothed over her feeling of loss. Piercing blue eyes were now an intense, deep brown, but beneath them, she could see the same man, her Doctor, gazing back at her from deep within.

Rose certainly couldn't deny her attraction to him – then or now; that had remained constant. He was a bit thinner now, though not at all in an undesirable way. In fact, as he turned his back to her to fiddle with some sort of instrument, she couldn't help but admire the way his tailored trousers fit snugly over his firm bum. Rose quickly averted her eyes from their southward gaze as he turned back. Rose smiled inwardly as her eyes flicked back over to him and continued their appreciative sweep. She could just imagine his other self referring to this version of him as a 'pretty boy.' Rose wasn't complaining, though.

The Doctor reached in his jacket and pulled out a pair of glasses, perching them on the end of his nose as he peered at the readings displayed on a monitor in front of him. Rose swallowed. She'd never seen the other him wear glasses. With his tousled fringe edging the border of the dark rims and his framed eyes focused in studious intent, Rose unquestionably found herself quite partial to this look. Yes, very partial, indeed. Then there was the hair. There was simply no denying he had really great hair. She'd noted that straight away before, and once again found her thoughts drifting to what it would feel like to glide her fingers through his thick, soft, perfectly-disheveled locks. Maybe in time she'd live out that particular fantasy. That familiar burning in her cheeks began to return as her thoughts inevitably strayed of their own accord to deliciously-wicked territory.

The Doctor swiftly straightened and turned from the monitor back towards her, sounding concerned. "Rose, are you feeling okay?"

She quickly nodded, shaking herself out of her previous thoughts. "M'fine."

He didn't look convinced. "Your sympathetic nerve fibers have released an excess of norepinephrine at their cardiac synapses, and your sinoatrial node is firing rapidly." Rose drew her brows together in confusion. "Your heart rate has increased," he clarified.

No doubt, Rose thought to herself. It seemed nothing escaped his notice. She would have to keep her thoughts in check while he had her under such scrutiny, otherwise this could get very embarrassing. "Really, I'm fine," she again assured him, clearing her throat and lifting one shoulder in a shrug. "Just thinking about...a lot of things – everything. It's still a lot to take in, yeah?"

The Doctor pulled off his glasses and tucked them away. He moved towards her and reached out, taking both her hands in his. The scans were momentarily put on hold as he went from the studious physician caring for her to the attentive man who loved her. His thumbs traced soothing circles on the tops of her hands. "Talk to me. Tell me what you're thinking."

Rose didn't think she was ready to tell him everything she was thinking. Again, considering her most recent thoughts, that could get rather embarrassing. But she could at least open up about some things. "It's just...you. This you. You're so...different."

The faintest of smiles tugged his lips upward. "Good different or bad different?"

He already knew the answer to this question, and it hadn't changed. "Just...different." Rose's voice was a mixture of pain and frustration as she went on. "I just wish I could remember my time with you. All the places we've been, all the things we've done..."

The Doctor tilted his head upward in thought, pressing his tongue to the back of his upper teeth, before lowering his eyes back to hers. "Tell you what, these tests are going to take a little while to complete, so why don't I tell you a few stories in the process. The Grand Adventures of the Doctor and Rose. Otherwise known as The Stuff of Legends. How does that sound?"

She grinned with delight. "Oh, I'd love that."

He smiled back, giving her hands a reassuring squeeze before turning again to the monitor he'd been studying as he began recounting some of the highlights for her while he worked. He cleared his throat and spoke with grand effect. "It all began with a sword and a satsuma..."

-:-:-:-

By the time Rose's exam was complete, she'd learned of encounters with cat-Nuns and werewolves, Cybermen and Satan. As the Doctor spoke, Rose also learned something else vitally important: she was falling in love with him in the process. That wasn't quite accurate, though; she was beginning to see this was something that had never really been lost, even if her memories had. Whether she was ready to be his wife, in every sense of the word, was still another issue, however. Despite her undeniable feelings for him, Rose knew she wasn't ready to just jump fully into where their relationship had been before her memories were lost. That was going to take more time, and she still felt like she was just getting to know him again, though she clearly knew him just a little more now.

With the thorough set of scans and tests complete, the Doctor now stood scrutinizing the data as Rose again sat up fully on the exam bed. Despite everything she'd been re-learning, Rose realized there was still so much about this pregnancy she didn't know. She wasn't even sure how far along she was. Rose decided to start with the simple questions, then move on to the ones that were unnerving – like other complications she might encounter carrying a part-alien child.

"So...how far along am I, then?" Rose asked, her hand finding a natural resting place over her belly where the tiny life was sheltered.

The Doctor looked up from the streams of data he was analyzing. He felt a flash of guilt realizing he hadn't even told her that much yet. There was so much to cover. He also felt a wave of sadness over the fact that this was something else she no longer knew. Rose had lost those first few days of her pregnancy. But considering they weren't exactly a delightful couple of days, maybe she was fortunate to have forgotten that part, anyway. The conception, however, was a different story entirely. It pained him to think that beautiful memory was yet another one now lost to her.

"I'm sorry. I should have said."

She smiled. "'S okay. We haven't really had much time yet, and you've been busy telling me of our adventures."

His eyes drifted to her belly and lingered. "You're nearly three weeks along. Early to be having any symptoms for a human pregnancy, but certain aspects of Gallifreyan development occur more rapidly in the initial stages."

The Doctor's eyes lifted to hers and held them as he came closer. This was a significant question, but one that also thrilled him. "Rose, do you...want to see the baby?"

Her voice was both nervous and edged with excitement. "We...we can see it this soon?"

A slow smile lit his features, his eyes crinkling slightly at the corners. "We can. And we can do more than that..." He dimmed the lights in the room, then switched on the scanning device that was still in position overhead.

A single beam of light shown down upon her, and Rose moved her hands away from her middle, watching as it centered on her belly. The light refracted, and in seconds an image projected upwards, suspended in the air a few feet in front of her. There was a minuscule dot in the midpoint of the lighted image, and at its very center was a faint but undeniable pulsing.

"Listen," the Doctor whispered, lifting his hand to the scanning device and turning a dial. It began so softly that it was barely audible, then he turned the dial a little more, amplifying the unmistakable sound.

With each rapidly-swishing beat Rose felt an overwhelming rush of love washing over her. "A heartbeat," she breathed in awe.

The Doctor swallowed thickly, his eyes riveted on the flickering pinprick. There was a time when hearing that single rather than double heartbeat might have broken him, but now far from it. Now it healed something deep within him. This child's physiology might be part-human, but it was fully his and it was fully loved.

He gazed down at Rose and saw a glistening tear trail down her cheek. Reaching out, he caught the tear with his thumb, his own eyes misting over. She turned her face to him with a watery smile. His fingers drifted down her cheek before falling away, then he reached back up and turned off the device, the lights in the room rising again.

"T-that was amazing," Rose managed, her voice barely a whisper. "And to hear it this soon..."

The Doctor swallowed down hard just to be able to speak. "A human embryo's heart begins beating by the twenty-second day, but a Gallifreyan's cardiovascular system – even if only part Gallifreyan – begins development just a little sooner." Pride and awe filled his voice. "And yes, that was amazing."

Rose nodded numbly, still awestruck. "D-do we know what it is yet...a boy or a girl? Or is it too soon?"

The Doctor drew in a breath and rubbed the back of his neck. "I could very easily find out with a quick look at certain chromosomes, but that's the one thing I haven't looked at yet. We had only just found out about the baby when you lost your memory, so there hadn't been time to discuss it. I didn't know if you would want to find out early or not, so I've waited. Do you want to know, Rose?"

She worried her bottom lip between her teeth as she considered the question. She was still just trying to come to terms with the fact that she was carrying a baby. She was now even more overwhelmed and awed after having heard the evidence of its existence. Knowing with certainty whether it was a boy or girl – a son or a daughter – would make it even more profound in this moment. A part of her was anxious to know, but another part needed just a little more time to adapt to this and let it settle in. "I...I don't think I'm ready to know. Not just yet."

The Doctor nodded in understanding.

Rose tried to push aside the nervousness in her voice as she asked her next question, one she needed to know but was a little frightened of. "You said you needed to keep me closely monitored. Apart from what already happened, do you think there could be more complications?"

The Doctor paused before answering. He wasn't going to be anything less than honest with her. "Truthfully? I just don't know, Rose. There is so much about this that is atypical, and I'm not entirely sure what to expect. I know the demands on your body are going to be greater, and if my projections are correct, the gestation period will be longer – twelve months, likely."

Okay, that was scary. Rose's eyes got a little rounder as an alarming thought occurred to her. "How big will I get?"

He smiled reassuringly. "The baby won't grow beyond normal size within you, but some of its intricate systems will take longer to fully form. You'll actually be smaller in size early on and take longer to show."

Rose relaxed a little. There was still another issue, though; one that seemed to concern him earlier when she'd mentioned it. "What about how I've been feeling lately...being cold? Is that somehow because of the pregnancy?"

The Doctor glanced over at the data readings on the monitor. This was the one thing concerning him most at the moment. He didn't want to alarm her with this, however, and though honest, he tried to phrase it in a way that would not sound overly serious. "It is due to the pregnancy," he confirmed, then went on to explain. "Gallifreyans have a lower body temperature than humans, and it seems the baby requires a lower temperature as well. Not as low as if it were fully Gallifreyan, but still lower than yours. Apparently it's now caused your body's temperature to drop in order to accommodate the baby's needs. The decrease hasn't been significant enough to be a concern for you though, and your body's now trying to compensate, but I'm going to monitor this to be sure it stays within safe parameters for you both."

The Doctor kept from saying it in such a way as to tell Rose that her body's homeostatic controls were essentially warring with that of the developing embryo. With careful regulation, he should be able to prevent it from becoming a danger. But this was yet another reminder that there were differences between the two physiologies, and a cross-species pregnancy was not without its own set of risks.

Rose reflexively ran her hands up and down her chilly arms. "Well, I suppose I'll just have to start wearing more layers." She frowned. "For the next year."

Another pregnancy-related thought then came to her as a smile of realization found its way to her face. "This is why I've been craving bananas day and night, isn't it? Your obsession has been transferred to me through the baby." She knew his past self was quite partial to that particular fruit, and from what he had also said as he'd shared more than one with her, that apparently hadn't changed.

The Doctor pursed his lips in thought. "Well, I don't know if you could strictly say I'm responsible. Bananas are an excellent source of potassium, after all. And as it happens, you've been needing extra amounts of that particular nutrient. Your body's just clever and knows a good thing when it sees it."

Rose chuckled. "I'm still blaming you. And I think I'm within my rights to do so since I'm pregnant in the first place because of y..." Rose trailed off as a blush tinged her cheeks, something that was becoming a regular occurrence around him.

The Doctor gave her a look both intense and sultry as he enunciated each word very slowly. "I wasn't exactly dancing without a partner."

Rose's eyes focused on anything but his. "S'pose not," she murmured.

The Doctor moved closer to her. There were moments when the sudden intensity of his feelings left him breathless, this being one of them. Feeling the irrepressible need to simply make contact with her, he tucked a silky strand of hair behind her ear before settling his palm on the side of her cheek, stroking lightly with his thumb. Rose felt a shiver run through her, but it wasn't from being cold – suddenly just the opposite. "Do you know just how remarkable you are, Rose?" His other hand slowly reached out and came to rest on her belly, long fingers splaying protectively over the life within. "What you're doing, right now inside of you, it's incredible. You're incredible."

Rose swallowed past the emotions that welled up in her throat as she lifted her eyes to his. There had certainly been times when she'd made the conscious decision to do something that called for bravery, such as telling the Doctor to save the world even if it meant losing her by firing off missiles at their own location. But with this, there was really no choice in the matter. All she could do was hold on tight come what may. "I...I'm not...doing anything remarkable. It's all happening on its own, and I'm just trying to go along with it and not be too scared as it happens."

He smiled tenderly. "It's alright to be scared. I am, too. But we're in this together, you and me, whatever comes, okay?"

Rose nodded, her eyes still fixed on his. His words calmed and also exhilarated her. She wanted nothing more in this moment than to regain every precious memory of this man.

Maybe it's time to start making new memories, a voice spoke to Rose from within. A step at a time, though, she told herself, even as his hand slowly left her face and the other withdrew from her belly, leaving her instantly missing his touch. She wanted him closer, yet the intensity between them was a little frightening. Rose knew she just wasn't ready for more. Not yet.

The Doctor knew that too, and he would let her have control of this. Despite how much he needed her, how much he craved her, whatever happened between them would happen at her own pace. That didn't make holding his feelings in check any easier, though. After sharing the sacred moment of hearing the life the two of them had created together, a swell of powerful emotions were surging through him and threatening to spill over. He wanted so strongly to take her in his arms and celebrate the love that had created this. Every ounce of his restraint was currently being put to the ultimate test.

The Doctor turned and began putting away some of the instruments, but he couldn't help flashing his eyes back over to Rose where she sat. Her hands crept to the hem of her shirt and tugged it up a little, one hand stroking over her smooth skin as a ghost of a smile graced her lips. He suddenly had a very powerful urge to plant a trail of kisses all along the bared flesh that covered something so sacred, and then not stop until every last voluptuous inch of Rose had been adequately adored with his lips, his fingers, his eyes, his...

The Doctor swallowed, forcing his eyes off the creamy expanse of skin stirring such taunting thoughts. It was quite possible holding himself back was going to slowly drive him insane.

Rose began asking him a string of other pregnancy related questions as he finished putting things back in place. How long would morning sickness last? Did all women experience heartburn in the later stages? Would her ankles unavoidably swell? And would her banana craving last a full year?

The Doctor was answering her queries as best he could, considering his arrested focus was on the rising desire he had for the woman who currently seemed oblivious to the strong affect her simple presence in the room was having on him. The sight of her, exuding an inner radiance as her body nurtured their developing child, the cocktail of potent hormones emanating from her, broadcasting that she was carrying a part of himself inside her and quite effectively driving him mad with how that attracted him; she was assaulting every one of his senses, and it was torturous bliss.

All he could think was that surely there were words to describe exactly what he felt for this marvelous being who held his love and now carried his child; words that were brilliant and beautiful and beguiling and a host of other adjectives beginning with B, but he couldn't think of a single one because half of his brain seemed to have rapidly shorted out from escalating desire, and..."

"Doctor?"

He managed to compose himself. He was, after all, a superior Time Lord and unlike lesser men perfectly capable of maintaining control. "Yes, Rose?"

"Is it normal for my...well...for my boobs to already be getting a little bigger this soon, too?"

There went the other half of his superior brain.