A/N: Bad news guys. This story won't be getting regular updates that much. I started University last week, and I thought beforehand, "Oh it'll be fine. I'll only go in for three days and then I have four days to work, write and be with my friends."
I had no idea how intense my course was going to be. You would not believe how much time I'm spending at Uni at the moment, and I've barely started! The assigments are demanding and time-consuming, so I don't even have time for MYSELF at the moment.
It's a bumpy road ahead, for me and for this story. But nonetheless, this story will be finished in eleven chapters time. That doesn't sound like much, but for what I have to write, it's going to take a hell of a long time. I thank you for your kind PM's and reviews, which honestly are so inspiring and motivating. But when I have the threat of failing University even if I miss ONE deadline, writing this story has to take a backseat, and I'm sorry.
I was going to write some other stuff here, but I don't have time. I have a four hour lecture this evening and I have to prepare my notes for before then.
Oh, before I forget, I'm sorry it's taking so long to reply to reviews and PM's. I have over twenty messages in my inbox, and I still haven't found the time to sit down and reply to them.
Anyhow. Enough about me. Enjoy the fluffy chapter! It'll be the last fluff you'll see in this story...at least for a while.
The Doctor awoke the next morning to the sound of bedsprings, his wife's breathless, excited laughter, and the motion of his body being moved up and down rhythmically.
Keeping his eyes closed, he turned his face into his pillow, and mumbled, "Amy, is the TARDIS malfunctioning in the vortex, or are you jumping on our bed?"
"What do you think?" was Amy's reply, and the Doctor sighed.
"Hopefully not the latter option. I'd rather not be crushed, thank you very much."
"Wrong! Get up lazy bones!"
The Doctor frowned with his eyes still shut. "How can my skeletal features be lazy?"
"It's an expression monkey boy." He heard Amy remark, and he didn't have to look at her to know that she was rolling her eyes. "Now get up!"
The Doctor blindly reached out and located Amy's pillow, which he then used to cover his head. "Nope. I only went to bed approximately an hour ago."
"Well you shouldn't have been playing with your trixic circuit all night long!" Amy told him firmly. "I told you that it didn't need rewiring, but you were too stubborn. Can't separate boys from their toys."
After she'd finished speaking, she stopped jumping, and the Doctor was relieved. However, that feeling didn't last long, because he suddenly felt Amy's pillow being snatched away from him.
The Doctor finally opened his eyes and attempted to grasp it back, but Amy threw it over to the other side of the room. His eyes narrowed, and he sat up to scowl at her. "You didn't."
"I did." And then Amy grabbed his pillow and tossed it away as well. "Now come and bounce on the bed with me."
The Doctor settled back down to sleep, sans pillow, and he closed his eyes again. "No can do. Time Lords are not interested in jumping on a mattress."
Amy nudged him with her foot. "Liar. You've bounced on the bed with me before, when I made you that fish finger and custard soup."
"That's a fair point, but don't expect a repeat performance of me attempting to do handstands on our bed." The Doctor mumbled.
He felt her step down from the bed, and he thought she'd finally given up.
"Well, I think you should be more excited about our baby scan than soup, so start bouncing, now!" Amy commanded as he heard her back away from the bed.
"Maybe I'm so excited that my body feels compelled to keep my eyes shut, and succumb me to unconsciousness." The Doctor told her sleepily, though regretted it when he heard Amy snort, and she leaped back on the bed.
"If you're not bouncing on this bed in ten seconds, you'll regret it." She said warningly, and the Doctor chuckled.
"Empty threat." He muttered, snuggling back under their duvet.
~I~
Ten seconds later, Amy began to bludgeon him with a pillow, that she'd collected when she'd left the bed briefly.
"No—Amelia Pond—stop that this instance—ow! That's my—fine, you win!"
"Good." Amy said smugly, as the Doctor finally sat up. "Knew you'd give up eventually."
"You're vicious when armed with a pillow. I couldn't take any more hits." The Doctor admitted, rising to stand with her.
Laughing, Amy grabbed his hands, and they began to bounce up and down excitedly. Ever since Amy had fully believed that she was pregnant, she'd been ecstatic, and her happiness had made her rather energetic, even more so than the Doctor. Now she would whiz around the console with him, overtaking him easily as she helped him fly the TARDIS, and she'd managed to outrun him when they explored new planets on a couple of occasions. He didn't mind too much; she'd been pretty insatiable as well. Who was he to complain about that?
The Doctor's train of thought was broken by the sound of wood splintering, and his eyes widened. "Amy, I know I'm mad enough so that I hear things, but I swear our bed is about to—"
Suddenly the wooden bars that supported the mattress shattered, and Amy and the Doctor were jolted to the floor. He reacted quicker than her, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, manoeuvring her body so that she was on top of him, allowing him to take the brunt of the fall.
Once they were on the floor, Amy twisted her body around so that she could look down at her husband in amusement. "You don't have to cushion me you know, I'm pretty much indestructible now." She reminded him, whacking him playfully.
"Force of habit, and besides, I'm not just looking out for you anymore." Smiling, the Doctor slipped his hand in the small expanse between their bodies to touch the small curve of her abdomen. He couldn't feel their child as much as he would have liked, so he slid his hand under her pyjama shirt to run his fingers lightly across the stretch of her skin.
Amy shivered at his touch, and the Doctor removed his hand, grinning, knowing how sensitive she was at the moment, and enjoying every minute of it.
"I have to say, I don't mind too much that we broke our bed." Amy commented, folding her arms on his chest and smiling down at him.
"I do, that bed was an antique from my smelly godmother. Irreplaceable." The Doctor said glumly, slipping his arms around her waist and pressing her body closer to his. "Although I won't miss the amount of time it took to remove her stench from the wood."
Amy chuckled softly, and unfolded her arms to slide her fingers into the Doctor's dishevelled, brown locks. "I'm sorry, I promise we'll get another one later. But I'm not sorry about our position."
She began to trail feather-light kisses along his jaw, and then she tilted his head so that their lips could touch. The Doctor moved his hands to rest on her cheeks, and he used the opportunity to open up their bond when his fingertips touched her temples.
After their link had temporarily closed after their incident at the mansion in Leadworth, the Doctor had opened it again, but he'd formed a filter that worked like a psychic barrier. They'd discussed this at length before he had set one, and they both agreed that they didn't want their minds to be completely open to each other. Neither was comfortable with the idea of having the same mind. So now, they could open and close the link whenever they felt like it, allowing them to communicate physically, but allowing them to shut the other off too.
He felt Amy smile against his lips, and their kiss deepened as their fervour intensified, fuelled by each other's desire.
And then the Doctor remembered the reason for why they were on the floor in the first place. Don't we have an ultrasound scan to get ready for? Have to go and choose a bowtie.
Amy pulled back to smirk at him. We're in a time machine. We can stay down here for five minutes. Her hands left his hair, and she slid her hands underneath his TARDIS print pyjama top to trace the planes of his chest. Or thirty…or forty…or the whole day. I'm not fussy.
The Doctor couldn't stop himself from mirroring her smirk. Oh really? And who says I am content to lie on this floor for the whole day?
Amy's eyebrows rose, and she sat up slightly to start unbuttoning her own TARDIS pyjama top as her way of reply.
"I say I'm content." The Doctor remarked aloud, his eyes darkening as he flipped them over swiftly. Amy giggled as he pressed her body into the floor, always mindful that he didn't rest his full weight on her, and she fisted her hands in his hair to bring his face closer to hers, fusing their mouths together.
~I~
When Amy and the Doctor finally managed to drag themselves away from each other, the Doctor flew the TARDIS to the Reptala Hospital, in the Redic Galaxy. Having a baby scan at an Earth Hospital was simply out of the question, as trying to explain why their unborn baby had two heartbeats would be rather difficult, after all.
Amy had suggested that Rory and Hannah could conduct the scan, or that the Doctor could do it himself, as the TARDIS had the right equipment, but her husband insisted on going to the Reptala Hospital. It was only later that he told her that the Reptala Hospital was where his mother had given birth to him. Realising that going there was important to the Doctor, Amy of course agreed.
Once the Doctor had parked in one of the available parking spaces and grumbled about the cost of parking, they headed into the hospital. Amy didn't mention it to the Doctor, but she was surprised by how 'normal' the hospital looked. It looked like the hospital from Leadworth, with the exception of the alien patients, of course.
Taking her hand, the Doctor guided Amy through many corridors, searching for the Maternity ward. After fifteen minutes of walking, Amy knew they were lost, but before she could stop one of the nurses to ask for help, the Doctor announced, "Gotcha!" and pulled her towards the glass door at the end of the corridor. "Knew it was along here somewhere."
Amy rolled her eyes as she followed her husband through the door, and then stopped short at the sight of the patients in the waiting room. Alien parents were placing their young, wailing children in metal cages, a pregnant Slitheen was ripping up magazines, and a spider-like alien child was clambering up the wall.
Amy caught the Doctor's gaze, and raised her eyebrows. Charming.
Ah, aliens. Always behaving so differently. Wonderful. The Doctor thought fondly, and Amy snorted.
There's no way our child is going to behave like this lot. I mean, is a cage really necessary?
The Doctor glanced at her strangely as they made their way to the desk in front. Of course! Some aliens at that age will consume anything. Antibiotics, hammers, table legs, human toes—
"Can I help you?"
Amy couldn't help but feel slightly relieved that the nurse at the desk had interrupted the Doctor's thoughts, not wanting to know anymore about the weird eating habits of baby aliens. And she'd thought the Doctor's fish finger and custard diet was strange!
"Hi, my wife and I are here for our ultrasound scan." The Doctor said to the nurse, grinning. "Surname is Pond."
Amy had to smother a laugh at that. The Doctor had been adamant that their children would carry her surname, although he still continued to argue that it was his last name now too. He'd even thought about giving his TARDIS the nickname, 'the Pond', but his ship hadn't been too pleased.
"Ah yes, I have your appointment details here." The nurse pulled out a small clock-like device and placed it on the desk. She fiddled with the clock hands for a minute, before smiling up at them. "I've just sent a message to your doctor, she'll call for you shortly."
"Brilliant. Thank you very much!" The Doctor said cheerfully, leading Amy away from the desk and towards two chairs in the corner of the waiting room, positioned a safe distance away from the human-toe eating baby aliens.
Once seated, the Doctor began flicking through one of the magazines, muttering about inaccuracy as he scanned the articles, and Amy gazed around the waiting room nervously.
Now that they were here, she was suddenly anxious, wondering about the what-ifs. What if something was wrong? What if their DNA was incompatible and their baby was malformed?
She thought briefly about sharing her concerns with the Doctor, but realised that wouldn't do anything. He'd probably be thrilled if their baby had a time head, or something like that.
So she settled for resting her head on the Doctor's shoulder, willing herself to calm down.
The Doctor of course could sense her emotions, and he felt her apprehension. Clasping her hand in his, he interlaced his fingers with hers. "Hey, what's on your mind?" He whispered, raising their entwined hands and kissing the back of her hand.
Amy knew that was a silent request for her to open her mind to him, but she chose to ignore it. "Just nerves." She replied quietly, her eyes downcast.
"Where's that bed-jumping excitement I saw earlier?" The Doctor chided her gently.
"Squashed by worry." She admitted, her tension easing when she felt the Doctor kiss the top of her head.
"I'm certain it'll come back when we see the photo of our baby for the first time."
The Doctor was right; Amy could feel excitement brewing in the pit of her stomach again. "Are we going to find out the sex today?" She asked him eagerly, sitting up to smile at him.
"Twelve weeks is the earliest time that you can tell, and I don't think that you're that far along. But hey, there's always next time."
Amy nodded, and they shared a brief kiss before she laid her head on his shoulder again.
The Doctor's attention turned back to the magazine, but he was bored of it now, so he tossed it to the Slitheen so she could rip it up.
Fortunately, their names were called then. "Ponds! Doctor Kelly is ready for you!" The nurse at the front desk called, and the Doctor grinned.
"Come along Pond!" He exclaimed, rising to his feet and offering Amy his hand to help her up.
Together, they made their way out of the waiting room through the glass door, where Doctor Kelly was waiting for them. She didn't look much different from a human, save for the intricate swirl around her right eye.
"Mr and Mrs Pond, it's nice to meet you." Their Doctor said sincerely, offering them her hand to shake.
The Doctor clasped it in his free one. "You too. But don't call me Mr Pond. I know you're a Doctor, but I'm the Doctor, so can we just call you Nurse Kelly? Don't want to cause confusion after all. Thanks."
Do-Nurse Kelly blinked in amazement, and Amy sighed. "So rude." She muttered, glaring at her husband, before turning her head to smile at their nurse. "Anyway. Hi. I'm Amy."
"I have to say, I'm honoured to meet you both." Nurse Kelly told them warmly as she shook Amy's hand. "I've heard so many stories from patients of mine about your travels together. And now you're here."
"It's not just us." Amy said, resting her hand on her abdomen, and the Doctor beamed.
"When I saw that you'd booked a ultrasound scan, I couldn't believe it. But I can hear your baby's heartbeats. Remarkable." Nurse Kelly breathed, her eyes wide in awe. "Are you positive you want me to conduct the scan? I'm not the most qualified doctor here."
"Oh hush, we want you." The Doctor said, smiling, liking her already.
Nurse Kelly smiled back. "Thank you. We'll get started right away then. Follow me." She whirled around and headed down the corridor, and Amy and the Doctor quickly followed after her.
~I~
Once they were inside the ward, Amy was told to lie down on one of the hospital beds and roll her shirt up, allowing Nurse Kelly to spread the lubricating jelly over the expanse of her abdomen. Amy was silent during the process, but inside of her mind, she was screaming profanities and swear words at the temperature of the jelly, and the Doctor struggled to keep a straight face as he listened to her.
After everything was prepared, the machinery was switched on and Nurse Kelly ran a probe over Amy's stomach. Amy and the Doctor waited with bated breath as they anticipated the picture of their unborn child, but they heard the heartbeat first.
The Doctor and the Nurse could already hear the heartbeat beforehand, but for Amy to hear it at last was an incredible experience for her. Her eyes filled with tears, and she grasped the Doctor's hand tightly, looking up at him in awe. He laughed in response, and kissed the top of her head lovingly.
And then the ultrasound screen flickered to life, and the image of their baby appeared. Both Amy and the Doctor gasped, and the tears that Amy had managed to withhold began to slide down her face. "Doctor...that's..."
"I know." He whispered back, his smile so broad that Amy was afraid that it would split his face. "That's our baby. We made that!"
Nurse Kelly grinned at the sight of the awe-struck parents. "Your baby is beautiful already. I can't tell the sex just yet, but the heartbeat is strong, and the foetus is growing healthily. It should be a very smooth pregnancy."
Her words should have calmed Amy, but they didn't, and her nerves from earlier returned. "Are you sure?" She asked, biting her lip anxiously. The Doctor looked at her questioningly, sensing her mood change, but she avoided his gaze. "I mean, I've travelled in the TARDIS for so long. All those time differences, all that time energy...surely it will have an effect on our baby?"
The Doctor looked astounded by his wife's question, and so did the nurse. "What do you mean?" She asked carefully, not wanting to upset Amy further.
Amy frowned, looking troubled. "Well...I don't know…could our baby have three heads? Or a Time Head, or something?"
The Doctor snorted loudly, amused, and Amy scowled at him. "What's a Time Head?" He asked her, struggling to stop himself from laughing.
"I don't know but what if our baby has one!" Amy snapped, and then her husband couldn't take it anymore. He burst into laughter, and Amy tore her hand out of his to smack him.
"Shut up! This isn't funny!" She hissed, but the Doctor couldn't stop laughing.
"Your baby will be perfectly healthy, Mrs Pond." Nurse Kelly spoke up quickly, wanting to reassure the upset mother-to-be. "But there has been an effect on the foetus."
The Doctor's laughter stopped abruptly, and he began to feel as anxious as his wife. "What?"
"Prolonged Exposure to the time vortex can create Time Lords. That's why your baby isn't human, and that's why your body is adopting Time Lord mannerisms." Nurse Kelly explained. "You'll have eternal life, like your husband and child, but unlike them, you won't be able to regenerate."
Both Amy's and the Doctor's eyes widened at the news, and they exchanged bewildered glances. "So Amy could still die as easily as a human?" The Doctor said fearfully, stunned, and Amy slipped her hand back into his, entwining their fingers.
"Fortunately, no. Think of yourself as a hybrid Time Lord Amy. You'll still be classified as a human, but as a result of the time energy in your body and the bond you have with your husband, you will live until he dies."
"I don't die, I regenerate." The Doctor reminded her.
"That won't have an effect." Nurse Kelly replied. "If you regenerate, Amy will be fine, until you use up all of your regenerations, and she will die with you. She won't be able to die in any other way, not even if she is killed by a gunshot wound. She'll just recover."
The Doctor had heard many things in his nine hundred and seven years of life, but he'd never felt so amazed. Amy however, was more stunned than amazed. "This is a lot to take in." She whispered, running her free hand through her hair.
"How are you feeling?" Her husband asked her, looking at her in concern, though of course he could feel her emotions. Still wish you'd led a normal human life and married a boring man and had normal kids? Because you can still have that, if—
"Don't talk stupid." Amy said aloud, annoyed. The Doctor opened his mouth to speak too, but she clamped her hand over his mouth. "Who wants ordinary when you can have extraordinary? Besides, I'm glad. My one fear was that I would miss out on the rest of your life and our child's life because I don't have the same life span. But now that I do, everything is going to be okay."
The Doctor still couldn't talk, but Amy felt him smiling against her hand. I love you Amelia Pond.
"You better." She murmured, taking her hand away from his mouth. Now, why haven't you kissed me yet?
Chuckling, the Doctor cupped her face with his free hand, bringing their faces closer together. His lips brushed against hers softly, and she muttered, "Tease" before their kiss deepened.
At Nurse Kelly's polite cough, the Doctor remembered where they were. Drawing back from his wife, he smiled at the nurse sheepishly. "So uh...how far is Amy along?"
Nurse Kelly examined the screen. "Hmm...eight weeks tomorrow."
"Where were we seven weeks and six days ago?" Amy wondered, furrowing her brow as she tried to think back.
The Doctor couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Amy, time is…well…timeless. I have no idea."
Yeah, and with the way we go at it, I could have conceived anywhere, any day!
At that, the Doctor's face reddened, and he made an unintelligible noise.
"If you don't mind me saying, I'd guess that you conceived, judging by the amount of time energy surrounding your baby, where time energy is most present." Nurse Kelly told them.
"The console room!" Amy realised, her eyes wide.
"The night we got engaged!" The Doctor exclaimed. "And we moaned at Rory and Hannah for going at it!"
Amy laughed at the irony, but the Doctor quickly sobered up when he thought of something. "Hang on, if Amy conceives again, and she wasn't on the TARDIS, would our second child lack Time Lord qualities? Would they only have one life span?"
"No, after your first child is born, the time energy in Amy will be sufficient for eternity." Nurse Kelly assured him. "You'll be able to produce as many Time Lords as you like."
The Doctor's eyes lip up, and Amy rested her hand on his cheek. "Hey you, let's just have our first one before we think about repopulating the planet, okay?"
"Repopulating…now that's a good idea." The Doctor mused, beaming.
"No way am I having millions of children. How on Earth would we cope?"
"We could have twenty every one hundred years?"
You only want lots because you know that we'll have lots of fun making them.
The Doctor would have protested to his wife's thought if she hadn't been right. And judging by her smirk, she wasn't protesting to the idea of recreating the Time Lord species, much to his delight.
~I~
After their ultrasound, Amy and the Doctor had asked Nurse Kelly if she could continue to conduct their ultrasounds, and she'd been thrilled by the offer, especially when they'd also asked if she'd deliver their baby in seven months time.
Once they'd bid her goodbye, they returned to the TARDIS, both clutching photos of their unborn baby. They were quiet as they processed their day in their minds, before the Doctor spoke up.
"I don't think I've ever thanked you." He said softly, gazing down at the console, and Amy looked at him in confusion.
"For what?"
"For giving up everything…human-y. I know I've trapped you into this now." The Doctor replied, gesturing to her stomach, and then to the console room.
"Hey. Shut up." Amy said firmly, approaching him to hold his face in her hands. "I married you, didn't I? I married you, even when I was worried that I wouldn't live for as long as you. You haven't trapped me. I signed up for this life long ago, from the moment you whisked me away from Leadworth and away from Rory."
To her surprise, the Doctor actually looked guilty, and Amy hastened to continue. "And I wouldn't change my life for the world. My home is here. My family is here."
At the word 'family', the Doctor's hearts twisted in his chest. "You're certain your life is complete?" Although he hated to ask her that, he knew he had to, knowing her Aunt was dead and her parents had been erased from her memory. He had to know that he was enough, and he had to know if lying to her about her family was enough too.
"I have you, and we're having a baby together. What else do I need?" Amy asked him fondly, smiling at him.
Her question had clearly been rhetorical, but the Doctor, being the Doctor, answered it anyway. "Stability?" He guessed, knowing that's what most humans desired.
"Stability? Oh please. Give me mad instead."
Before he could say anything else, her lips were on his. Giving in, the Doctor clasped his arms around her waist and kissed her back, pulling her body closer to his.
Bed. Now.
As much as the Doctor would have loved to fulfil her request, he couldn't, remembering what had happened earlier. We can't. We broke it.
Fine then. I'm happy here.
But before anything could escalate, Amy felt her husband's reluctance, killing the mood instantly.
"You want to go and get a bed now, don't you?" She realised, releasing him and stepping away. "Instead of ravishing me."
The Doctor braved telling the truth to his normally temperamental wife. "Um...yes?"
"Fine. We can go and buy a bed now." Amy told him, before her lips curved up into a smirk. "As long as you promise to ravish me on it afterwards."
Laughing at her husband's expression, she pulled the green lever down on the console, whisking the TARDIS off to another part of the universe.