A Year Later

Around a year later, John had gone through with what he had promised. He had set up Clara's very own law firm, paid for her training for a year and named the law firm Smith & Oswald. They had bought a home together in a gated community, because John's fans had found their flat and kept knocking on their door. They even had to go as far as having security around their home because of a stalker issue Clara had endured. Clara had her own fame now, after the photoshoot they had done together she had been asked to do more photoshoots by herself and had been named the sexiest woman in America. John walked back through the gates, walking Alan back to their home and through the door. John had grown a full beard and his hair was getting thicker but he always swept it back. He took the lead off of Alan and let him skid across the floor on the marble floors, he looked up at the spiral staircases. "Clara?"

This past year had gone great for her. For John's birthday, she just threw him a great party and of course, awesome sex. They were awake almost all night. She welcomed the change from their flat to an actual home and she just now had her own fame and now understood John completely. Being famous was hard. She heard him call her and took in a deep breath. She had been feeling sick lately and she thought she had the flu but still, she went out of her way and asked one of the guards to buy her a pregnancy test. She could only imagine what the media would do if they saw her buying that shit. She honestly didn't know how to tell him. They had been trying to have a child of course, but now it was real. The initial shock of finding that she was pregnant wore off and she ran down the stairs and jumped into his arms, holding him close.

"I'm glad you are home!" She said excitedly, her legs and arms wrapped around him.

John laughed and caught Clara just as she jumped into his arms, he wrapped his own arms around Clara's waist and held her to him, his face nuzzled into her neck, "Hello my Clara, I've only been gone an hour. Alan's a little thirsty but don't worry, he's good," he laughed and kissed into Clara's hair, taking in her scent. He had noticed she had her hair cut short at her shoulders and he didn't really want to put her down.

"An hour's a long time." She nuzzled her face into his neck, content. "Put me down, please, there's something I have to tell you."

When he put her down she bit her lip and passed a hand through her newly cut hair. What better way to deal with stress than actually doing something drastic? She liked the haircut. She had gotten it while John was out. "Ok, um, how would you like to be a father in the next, um, 9 months or so..?" She asked shyly.

John paused and stared at her, his hand in the air as he was about to reach out to Clara and touch her hair, but he had stopped halfway and stared at her, wide eyed with surprise, "What?" He said, a bright grin on his lips. He blinked rapidly, his heart hammering against his chest. His eyes dropped to her stomach. "Really? You're pregnant?"

She nodded, her smile mirroring his excitement as she touched her stomach. "Yeah...you are going to be a father, John. We did it!" It had been hard to have a child and at some point, she had given up but now that it was suddenly so real, she felt great.

"We are going to be parents."

John dropped to his knees out of pure shock and happiness, a smile on his lips, "Hello baby," he whispered, his hands on Clara's stomach, blue eyes staring up at her.

"Oh my god, I'm going to be a father..." He trailed off, his eyes widening in shock. He had no clue about being a father.

She laughed at him as shook her head. "The baby can't hear you yet, you numpty." She threaded her fingers through his hair, even though it was slicked back with gel, she presumed.

"Yes, you are going to be a father and you are going to be a great one. No one's more prepared to be a father than you. Trust me on that."

John blinked back his tears, "I don't care if she or he can't hear me, I'm still going to talk," he laughed out of happiness and leaned forward to kiss his girlfriend's stomach. He hummed in response to what she said to him and relaxed as her fingers ran through his hair. John stood up and pressed a kiss to Clara's forehead, "And you are going to be an amazing mother."

She blinked her tears away and laughed nervously as she hugged him again. "God, I hope so. I only know how to deal with teenagers." She kissed his chest and closed her eyes.

"I've got to go to a doctor, see how far along am I."

John had gone to the doctors with Clara at every appointment, no matter what he was doing. They had been photographed going to the hospital quite a lot but they tried their best to avoid the media. They kept guessing, was Clara ill? Was John ill? And then as soon as Clara starting showing, every paper and magazine in America coated their content in pictures of Clara simply walking down the street with security surrounding her, her stomach getting bigger and bigger each month. And by December that year, the baby was arriving. John went into full blown panic and Holly had to drive him from how much he was shaking. He was about to meet his first child and he had no idea if the baby was a boy or girl. John ignored the paparazzi's questions as Holly dragged him through the hospital doors. John was late and the nurses had told him Clara was incredibly close to giving birth. He chewed his nails and both John and Holly ran into the room. John's eyes widened, adjusting his glasses as he swallowed. Then he heard Clara scream.

After it was obvious she was showing, she shared about two pictures of her belly to Instagram and one of John in the baby's room, painting the walls. They could have hired someone for that but he was hell bent on doing it himself and she thought that was extremely cute. It was December 9th now. She was at their home when her water broke and one of the security guards drove her to the hospital. The guard, Matthew, tried to reach John at work but to no avail until she told him to try with Holly. So she now waited for John, hands gripping her bedsheets as the contractions got worse and worse. If she gave birth without John by her side she would surely kill him. Then the baby was nearly about to be born, she could feel it. The doctor went to sit in front of her so he could deliver the baby when John and Holly made their appearance. She screamed when another contraction hit her and she glared at John.

"You fucking bastard! Where the fuck were you!?" She leaned back in pain, her back arching a little.

The doctor looked at John and nodded towards Clara. "Don't worry, they are all like that. Sit behind her and try to hold her down. It helps."

John stood there for about a minute, his eyes wide and his jaw dropped. He couldn't move a muscle, his brain was racing but no words or movement was happening. He snapped into action as Holly pushed him forward and he sat next to his girlfriend, leaning his elbow on the edge of her bed as he held out his arm, wiggling his fingers, "Take my hand," he ordered Clara, a smile on his face as he pushed back her hair.

It was drenched with sweat but he didn't care. He glared at the Doctor, "She's not a mental patient, she doesn't need to be held down,"

Holly apologised to the Doctor immediately, sitting on the other side of Clara's bedside, "I'm sorry, Doctor. I think both parents are a little stressed out."

Clara indeed took his hand and gripped it tight. Her body felt on fire and she just wanted to give birth already or else she'd pass out and a C-section didn't even sound appealing. The doctor said nothing, he just smiled at Holly and went down to work, giving Clara instructions of when to breathe and push. Clara did as she was told but at one point she started crying as John held her hand. "It hurts too much..." She sniffed.

The doctor gave her some words of courage and more instructions which she followed through and then she heard the doctor exclaim. "Oh, here it is!" But the baby wasn't crying.

The doctor cut the umbilical cord quickly and gave the baby to the nurses.

"They are just going to clean him up and clear his airways. You'll have him back. Congrats!" Clara looked at John, panic etched on her face but she couldn't move much.

John gripped Clara's hand just as tight, ignoring the fact she was pretty much breaking his hand. His head kept snapping back and forth from Clara to the Doctor like he was watching a tennis match. He swallowed as Clara started to cry and his heart ached. He wanted nothing more than to stop her pain. John bent his head and kissed the top of Clara's head.

"Shh, it's okay." He soothed her, pressing kisses all over Clara's face as he heard the Doctor shout. He snapped his attention to him and stood up, his hand still in Clara's grasp.

"What? What's wrong with him? Why isn't he crying?" He demanded, his blue eyes starting to fill with tears.

"It's alright, sir. This happens often the nurses-" The doctor was interrupted when he heard the baby crying. A nurse carried it inside the room and put him on Clara's chest.

"Congratulations, that boy has got some lungs." She commented and left, leaving Clara to look at her son. He had a mop of light brown hair, almost blonde and he was white as a sheet at the moment. He had nice eyebrows and his huge eyes seemed to stare at her with curiosity. He had even stopped crying.

"Oh my god, he's perfect." She said softly and kissed his forehead. His eyes seemed to be a bit hazel at the moment, so she'd have to wait when he was older.

"The eyes are all yours, mister." She told John as she smiled at him.

John slowly sat down, tears stained all over his face. He wiped his face, his heart racing with pride for Clara. He lent across and kissed her forehead, his blue eyes casting down on his newborn son. "Nah, he'll have your eyes. Look, they inflate..." He laughed and touched his stomach, not quite believing how tiny he was. John swallowed and leaned down to kiss his forehead, lingering for a few seconds before a Nurse asked them what they were going to name their son.

Clara looked down at her son and then at John. "Not Alfie, certainly." She looked at her son again, not quite believing that he had come out of her. It seemed surreal. She pinched his cheek softly and smiled when he opened his small mouth to yawn.

"Damian Alec Smith is going to be his name." She raised her eyes and made eye contact with John. "Don't you fight me about that, John."

He raised his eyebrow and grinned down at Clara, "Never..." He said quite suspiciously, a permanent grin on his lips. John smiled down at his baby son and held out his finger and watched as he grabbed John's finger with his entire fist. John's heart melted and he nodded to the nurse.

"His name is Damian Alec Smith."

Now they were home, Damian was sleeping after she had breastfed him and was now in the middle of their bed as Alan laid at his feet, sniffing Damian's socks. Clara was sitting beside Damian, her fingers threading through his soft hair. She couldn't be happier. She knew that she better put him in his crib so he could get used to it but she didn't want to part away from him just yet.

"Isn't he beautiful?" It was a rhetoric question, of course. John was now carrying their bags and putting them down on the floor.

John laid down on the edge of the bed, exhausted from the day and he had no idea how Clara felt. He gently touched the top of Damian's head, he couldn't believe how tiny he was. John shared a look with Clara and chewed on his bottom lip, "It's almost like he isn't real with how perfect he is," he whispered, afraid he might startle Damian if he spoke any louder. John kissed Alan's head as the dog waddled over to them, laying down right beside Damian and stretching out beside him, as though the dog was the baby's protection.

Clara chuckled and yawned a little bit. "I know, right?" She took Damian's small fist in her hand and inspected them. "I'm afraid that if I go to sleep, this will all turn out to be a dream. I already feel weird because I'm not that fat anymore."

John noticed Clara's yawn immediately and carefully lifted Damian into his arms and stood from the bed, "I'm going to put our little man to bed," he told her, a smile on his face. John left their bedroom and gently placed Damian into his crib, making sure he was warm enough and secure.

He slowly made his way back to their bedroom, put Alan in his bed in the corner of their bedroom and laid down next to his girlfriend, facing her, "You could weigh twenty eight stone and I'd still marry the shit out of you."

She smiled as she saw him pick up Damian. She didn't protest, though. John hadn't had a chance to hold Damian. She had been greedy and hadn't even offered. But seeing him with his son and the smile he had on his face made her heart melt. She chuckled and touched his face, enjoying how his beard felt on her hand. She was still sitting, she didn't have the energy to lay down for the moment.

"Really? Well, I should eat more then." She winked at him. "No, in all seriousness, when I feel better I will start going to the gym. So I can be in the hottest mum's edition in some magazine." She joked.

John laughed and shook his head, his hand on Clara's shoulder as he traced his fingers on her skin, "You don't need to go back to the gym, Clara. You're already the sexiest woman in America," he winked at her and leaned forward, kissing Clara's forehead, his hand dropping to her hipbone.

"Sexiest woman alive and she's all mine."