Chapter 9
The next few months went unevenfully for Jon and Rose. The mysterious dreams seemed to have ended for both of them, and they happily settled into the role of expectant parents. While the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy were never far from their thoughts, they were left at peace to experience this pregnancy as normally as possible. Rose was blossoming, she had developed a cute little baby bump, and Jon doted on her. It had been so long since he'd been a father, this time there was no loom nor Gallifreyan customs to be adhered to, and he meant to take full advantage of the human "hands on" approach to child-rearing. He talked to the baby incessantly as they snuggled together watching the telly at night, Rose often had to turn up the volume to hear her programme. He would discuss anything and everything from a brilliant advertisement to world peace, and Rose often would just shut the telly off and laugh at the inane things Jon would tell the baby.
"This baby will either be totally brilliant, or totally nutters!" she'd laugh.
On the morning they went in to Torchwood for the amniocentesis, Rose was nervous and ill. She didn't usually have much in the way of morning sickness, but this morning she was nauseous. After she finished retching over the toilet bowl, she looked up at Jon wearily and said, "You know your husband loves you when he holds your hair back while you puke."
Jon smiled sympathetically as he handed her a damp flannel to wipe her face with. "Much as I envy you, being able to carry a baby, I don't envy this part. Here, let me help you up. Steady, there now... alright?"
"I'm alright." She leaned against him gratefully for a moment, before straightening up and heading for the kitchen. "I think I'll just grab some crackers and some ginger ale to take with me."
Both were quiet on the trip into town. Rose chewed thoughtfully on a cracker, lost in her thoughts about the baby, who its father might be, where he was, what he was doing, how he'd feel about this...
"Rose!" She was startled out of her daydream by Jon's voice. "We're here, sweetheart." He smiled and reached over and squeezed her hand. "You looked like you were a million miles away."
"Further than that, actually." She amiled thinly. He nodded, understanding. His thoughts had been occupied similarly. He jumped out of the car and ran around to open her door for her. She waited for him to do so, he insisted on doing everything he could for her, and she loved him for it. She smiled gamely as he helped her out of the car, squaring her shoulders and saying with more enthusiasm than she felt, "Well, allons-y! Let's go get this over with!"
As usual, Pete and Jackie were waiting for them inside, never being ones to wait and hear about things second-hand. Having grown up without her father, and with Jackie working and doing the best she could to make ends meet, Rose adored her now close-knit family. Yet, sometimes she wished she and Jon had just a bit more privacy. This was one of those times.
"Mum, you really don't have to be here, I'll call you as soon as we know anything."
"Don't be ridiculous, Sweetie, you shouldn't have to go through this alone!" her mother admonished.
"I'm not alone, Mum, Jon will be there with me." Rose rubbed her stomach as another wave of nausea hit her. "Excuse me!" She rushed into the nearby lavatory.
Jackie patted Jon on the arm and exclaimed, "Well, you certainly can't go in there with her!" before following her in.
"Sweetie, are you alright?" she called as she entered the lavatory. As Rose leaned over the toilet basin she wondered why on Earth anyone would ask such a stupid question when she obviously was not alright. Before she could voice this thought she was overcome by another wave of nausea and was vomiting her guts up (or so it felt). Good thing she'd thought to tie her hair back at the last minute before they left home this morning.
Meanwhile Jackie grabbed two handfuls of paper towels and dampened them. When she heard Rose flush the toilet she opened the door and handed them to her. Rose wiped her face gratefully. "Thanks, Mum."
"Rose, sweetie, how long has this been going on?" Jackie asked, concern knitting her brow.
"Just the past few days, but not this bad before." Rose slowly got up and her mother took her elbow and guided her to the sinks where she rinsed her mouth out and splashed water on her face.
"Did you tell Dr. Johnson about it?"
"No, really didn't see the need, it's just morning sickness, after all."
"Well you'd better tell him about it today!"
Drying her face, Rose said, "I think I'm OK now, let's get over to the examination room and get this over with."
Jackie insisted on taking her daughter's arm and guided her out the door and over to Jon, who took the other arm and together they walked her down the hallway and through the double doors to Dr. Johnson's now-familiar examination room. He and Martha were waiting for them, and concern flashed across their faces as they saw Rose being guided in.
"What's going on with you, Rose?" Dr Johnson asked.
Rose smiled bravely, "Just morning sickness. Seems worse today, though."
"Dr. Jones, why don't you take Rose's vitals while I talk with her family?"
While Dr. Johnson and her family spoke in hushed tones, Martha helped her up onto the exam table, then grinned and whipped out a thermometer, Rose obligingly opened mouth and took it under her tongue. Martha then proceeded to take Rose's blood pressure, all the while chatting about the latest celebrity gossip in an effort to put Rose at ease. She took the thermometer back, noted its reading and Rose's BP on her chart just in time for Rose to feel another wave of nausea start building.
"Doctor!" Martha called as she saw Rose start to rub her stomach. Both Jon and Dr. Johnson came over.
"Allow me to try something, Rose." Jon instructed, taking off his jacket. She nodded quickly, silently urging him to hurry up. He rolled up his sleeves, flexed the fingers on both hands rather dramatically, and said, "Now let's see if I've still got the touch." Winking at Rose he whispered confidently, "Of course I know I do!"
With that he took Rose's wrist, laying three fingers across it, and felt for the correct spot, and applied steady pressure. The nausea stopped building. "Better yet?" Jon asked.
"No, but not any worse." she replied, frowning.
"Hold on, breathe deeply, slowly in through your nose, and quickly out your mouth, try to relax, and give it a little more time." Jon instructed.
As Jon was administering pressure to Rose's wrist, Martha took her leg on the same side, felt below her knee cap and found where the muscle and shin bone met, and also applied pressure. Jon nodded approvingly while Rose let out a sigh of relief.
"Wow, that is so much better!"
"Alright Martha, let's switch sides!"
They repeated their actions on Rose's other side and she visibly brightened. "That's fantastic!" she grinned. Jon and Martha beamed at each other.
Dr. Johnson took Rose's chart and looked it over, then looked at Rose. "Your blood pressure is a bit high. Not dangerously so, but I want to keep you here the rest of the day and monitor you." At her look of alarm he said reassuringly, "If all goes well, there's no reason you can't go home tonight with Jon. Meanwhile, let's get our other tests done, shall we? Mom, Dad," he instructed, looking at the Tylers, "you're going to have to wait outside."
Rose breathed a sigh of relief. "I think my blood pressure just dropped!" she whispered jokingly to Jon and Martha.
First, Rose had to drink a lot of water to fill her bladder for the sonogram. She actually had done so earlier, but it didn't have the desired effect since she'd lost it all. Once her bladder was full, they got started. Rose jumped a little as Martha squirted the jelly on her stomach. "Feels cold, doesn't it?" Martha grinned. "Believe it or not, it's room temperature!" As Martha moved the transducer over Rose's belly, they could see the picture up on a monitor mounted on the wall. Martha repeatedly swept the instrument over her belly, a slight frown on her face. Rose stole a glance at her and Dr. Johnson, both were concentrating very hard on the images, and she could see they were puzzled, but not saying anything. She quickly looked at Jon, who was grinning with delight in spite of what he knew the images must mean. He was the first to break the silence.
"Two hearts, one baby! And I can see the respiratory bypass growing! This baby is definitely Gallifreyan!"
Dr. Johnson and Martha both looked at him questioningly, "Are you sure that's normal?" Dr Johnson asked.
"Weelllll... as you know, Gallifreyan babies normally are loomed, not carried biologically by the mother, but this looks like the right stage of development for the number of weeks since conception." He looked at Rose. "Do you want to know what the sex is?"
She smiled at him. "It's a girl, isn't it?"
Jon laughed in surprise. "Rose, that's brilliant! Well, maybe not that brilliant, after all there's only two choices... but did you really know, or did you just guess?"
Rose shrugged. "I've just had this feeling it would be a girl. Can't say how or why."
"OK, I hate to interrupt," Dr. Johnson urged, "but we have one more procedure to do before we get Rose situated in a bed for the day." Rose wrinkled up her nose, she wasn't looking forward to this at all. "Dr. Jones, get the transducer in position."
Martha did so, and Dr. Johnson used the ultrasound image to guide the needle in for the amniocentesis. Jon held Rose's hand tightly and touched her temple, sending thoughts of warmth and love into her mind. Before she knew it, it was over with, and just a mild sting where the needle had entered her skin.
Jon kissed her. "You're so beautiful," he whispered.
"You were wonderful," she stated simply.
Rose was taken to a private room to rest for the day so that her blood pressure could be monitored. After Jackie and Pete had seen the ultrasound pictures and satisfied themselves that Rose was resting comfortably, Jackie went home and Jon and Pete went to work. Rose had a cup of herbal tea and watched some telly before dozing off. She had a dream about a small golden-haired girl with whom she laughed and played. Her name was Ariana.