AN: Hehehe, I'm excited too Ashley. I keep writing things out of order cause I'm so excited to write them. I've already written I, the end of P, the beginning of Q, the end of T and the end of W. All of that before I've written everything inbetween xD And yep Emily, if someone takes the time to comment, I always take the time to answer any questions or respond in some way. It's the least I can do to thank you for reading. I already have a name for the baby. It's not Jo but I hope you'll like it. The name is actually linked to another plot point I have going on at the end of this series. Having said that, I will consider Jo as a middle name because that actually might sound quite nice :) Anyways, I'll stop blabbering and let you get back to reading :) x

Godparents

Rory and Stephen had asked to see them in smaller groups rather than as a larger one. While they both would've liked to have seen everyone's reactions at once, they both felt that it would be better for Rory's sake if it was done bit by bit. She was getting tired a lot lately. Callum, Boo and Freddie were out on a call and Thorpe was still at Thames House so the first people to see them were Jazza and Jerome. And they had chosen today because it was special. It was Rory's 21st birthday. It was going to be a quiet day regardless because she got worn out a lot quicker.

Stephen heard the front door open down stairs and, a few seconds later, there was a knock at the front door of the flat. Rory had just dozed off a few minutes earlier so Stephen stood quietly and made his way to the door. He opened it to see Jazza and Jerome standing there with presents. He smiled to them both. "Hey," he whispered as Jazza hugged him. "Come on in." Jerome shook his hand with a smile and a returned "hey" as they entered the flat. "Me and Rory wanted to talk to you both about something but she's just dozed off on the couch. I doubt she'll be asleep long. Just make your way through and I'll make some teas for us."

They smiled at him and gently made their way through into the living room. Stephen walked into the kitchen and put the kettle on. He got four mugs out, put normal teabags in three and a green teabag in one and waited for the kettle to boil. He drummed his fingers on the counter and paced the kitchen. He soon heard talking in the living room, Rory greeting Jazza and Jerome, Jazza and Jerome wishing her a happy birthday. She was awake. He leant against the counter, facing away from the kettle, arms folded and smiled to himself as he heard them talking about the baby. When he heard Jazza "awwww" with delight, he knew that Rory had shown them the photo of the scan they had been to a couple of days earlier. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back as he thought about the baby. The kettle boiled behind him and he cleared his throat as he turned around. He picked up the kettle, poured the water and replaced the kettle on the base. He took the milk from the fridge, added it to the teas, replaced it, got a teaspoon and stirred them before removing and binning the teabags. He took a tray from the cupboard and placed the teas on it and carried them through to the living room with expert balance. He pushed the door open with his shoulder and smiled at the group. Rory looked up at him with a smile as he set the tray down on the table. He picked up each mug individually and handed them to the others with a smile. Then he sat down on the couch next to Rory.

"So," Jazza said, taking a sip of her tea, "lovely tea, by the way, Stephen - what was it you wanted to talk to us about?"

"Yeah," Jerome agreed. "We've been curious since you phoned. We've been debating what it might be for the length of the car trip."

"Well," Rory said with a side smile to Stephen, "we've made a decision. It didn't take long to come to. In fact, it really only took a couple of minutes. We've been thinking about who the baby's godparents could be."

Jazzas eyes sparkled and she bit back a smile. "And what have you decided?"

"We've decided," Stephen answered, "that he or she is going to have three godfathers and three godmothers."

"So they'll be plenty of people to care for the baby should something terrible happen to me or Stephen. Naturally, my parents would take them first but if they were unable to, the care could fall to any of the six we've chosen. God forbid anything should happen but we do have a, sometimes, dangerous job. Because of that, we've chosen our baby's godparents with care. We've chosen people that we would trust with him or her."

"So," Jerome said with a hint of hope in his voice, "why did you ask to see me and Jaz?"

Rory smiled widely and looked at Stephen. They took hold of each other's hands and looked back to the couple opposite. "Because," Rory said, still smiling, "we want you and Jazza to be two of those godparents."

Jazza gasped and placed her hands over her mouth and then, just as quickly, stood and walked over to Rory. She sat on the arm of the couch next to Rory and hugged her, squealing the whole time. Rory laughed at her excitement. Jerome stood and shook Stephens hand with a "thank you" and a wide grin. When Jazza finally relinquished Rory and moved to hug Stephen, Jerome took her place on the arm and hugged Rory.

"Well," Rory said when the hugging was done and everyone had settled back down with their teas, "I can't wait for the baby to meet their Aunt Jaz and Uncle Jerome."

They all laughed.

Callum, Boo and Freddie came back to the office frazzled and mud splattered. Rory and Stephen made their way downstairs when they heard them come in. They both stopped in their tracks once they saw them. Rory very quickly stifled a laugh while Stephen just stared wide eyed. Eventually, he had to ask. "What...the hell...happened to you three?"

Callum glared at Stephen. "Don't ask."

"But-"

"Mate. Don't ask."

Stephen bit his lip and nodded. "Okay."

"We just came to drop the termini off," Boo said tiredly. "Now we plan to go back home, wash and change. We'll be back in an hour."

And with that the three of them left, leaving Rory and Stephen to wonder what had happened. "One day," Stephen said to Rory with a laugh, "one day they're without us and look at them. What must they have be like when we were in Louisiana?"

Rory laughed as they went back upstairs.

True to their word, they returned about an hour later, washed and changed. Callum was in a decidedly better mood when he walked into the living room of the flat. "Right," he said as he came through the door, "I'm good now. Everything's good."

Stephen nodded. "I'm glad. I won't ask what happened again."

"Mate, you don't wanna know. Ror, happy birthday love." He went over to her and gave her a hug. Boo and Freddie came in seconds later laughing about something. Boo was holding something behind her back. She came over to the table and revealed a birthday cake. "Happy birthday!" Boo and Freddie squealed together.

Rory gasped. "Oh my god. Thanks guys."

"I still can't believe we're not doing something extra special," Callum said. "It's your 21st!"

"I know," Rory replied. "But the baby makes me tired. And it's not like I can drink."

Callum conceded. "True."

Then the downstairs door opened. Callum, Boo and Freddie looked around towards the sound. "That'll be Thorpe," Stephen said. "I phoned him before. Asked him to come round. Me and Rory need to talk to you four."

"Oh," Freddie said a little worried. "What about?"

"It's nothing bad," Rory assured them. "It's good. We just want to tell the four of you together."

Boo nodded slowly. "Ok."

The living room door opened again and Thorpe stepped in, nodding to them all. "Happy birthday Rory. So," he said, "what did you need to talk about?"

Rory and Stephen looked to each other before Stephen turned his attention back to the others. He gestured towards the other couch and armchairs. "Please."

They all moved to sit and once they had, Stephen took Rory's hand. For the second time that day, Rory explained that they had reached a decision about their baby's godparents and how, if anything happened to them and her parents couldn't take the baby, the care would fall to one of the six they had chosen. Callum, Boo, Freddie and Thorpe were listening carefully, smiles widening on their faces. "We've already told two of the six, Jazza and Jerome, and they were delighted. And that's why we wanted to talk to you four together."

"Oh god." Boo put her hands over her mouth like Jazza had done as she listened with anticipation.

Stephen smiled at the four of them in turn. "We would like you to be the other four godparents."

The room exploded with cheers of delight as they all moved to hug them at once. When the hugs were exchanged and promises were made about how they were going to be the best godparents ever, Thorpe cleared his throat. "This has been wonderful but I'm afraid I must get back to Thames House. I can come back tonight if you'll all still be here."

"Probably will be," Freddie said. "We'll still be celebrating."

With a smile, Thorpe walked to the living room door. "I'll see you out," Stephen said.

"We both will," Rory added.

Rory and Stephen walked Thorpe downstairs to the front door and looked at each other. They nodded gently. Thorpe opened the door. "Thank you both again. I'm honoured you would choose me to be one of your baby's godfathers." He smiled as he stepped out the door but Rory stopped him. "Wait. There's something we want to add to what was said upstairs."

Thorpe stood in the doorway and turned his attention fully to the couple. "Oh?"

Stephen stepped forward. "The thing is, we trust everybody we've chosen with our baby if anything happened to me and Rory. We trust them implicitly. And hopefully it'll never come down to it but..."

"But if something did happen," Rory continued, stepping closer to Thorpe, "and Jazza, Jerome, Callum, Boo or Freddie got the baby, we'd be ok with that. But we are aware that we've chosen people that are still just our age, still young. And that doesn't mean they're incapable. It doesn't mean that at all. All we're saying is...if one of those five did get the baby...would you promise me, promise us," she took Stephens hand, "to keep an eye on that person and the baby. We trust them to look after him or her but would you just drop in and make sure everything's alright now and then? We only ask because, well, you're older than us and you're good at looking after people."

Thorpe looked at them both softly and nodded. He stepped closer to Rory and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "I promise, if anything happens to you both, I will protect your baby as if it were my own."

Stephen smiled while Rory let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. "Thank you." She wrapped her arms around Thorpe's middle and pulled herself into a hug. He rubbed her back softly before giving them both a final smile. "I'll be back tonight."

As the door shut, Rory turned back to Stephen and smiled. They took each other's hands and walked back upstairs to the celebrating godparents. "Rory?"

"Yeah?"

"Happy birthday sweetheart."

She smiled and nestled her head against his shoulders as they walked. "Thank you."