In the 3 weeks after they returned from the cottage Clara practically ballooned. It was getting increasingly difficult to hide the bump at work and they knew they were going to have to tell everyone so that morning Clara had purposefully dressed so the bump was more obvious.

Danny smiled when she walked back into the room and slipped his arms around her from behind to rest his hands on the bump. Clara's hands joined his as he rested his chin on her shoulder. "You look beautiful," he kissed her neck gently, "are you ready?"

"I think so…" she told him, "is it weird that I'm more scared of the pupils than the teachers?" Clara turned in his arms, wrapping hers around his shoulders.

"No, they're terrifying, but they are just kids. You're going to be fine," he swept her hair back behind her ear and kissed her gently. "Can you believe we're doing this?"

"No, but I'm happy," she smiled softly. "Come on, we will be late."

#-#-#-#

They walked into the staffroom as normal, ignoring the reactions of everyone as they did. Adrian very quickly ran over to her, Clara smiled at him a little sheepishly - maybe he should have broken the news to him first.

"Clara Oswald you cheeky mare! Where did this come from?!" he asked, gesturing to the bump. "And why on earth didn't you tell me?!"

"You know full well where it came from! But it's all happened kind of quickly, I ignored the signs for ages and my bump was really small till the last couple of weeks. I've only known for 3 weeks," she told him.

"I've seen you a lot in the last 3 weeks," Adrian teased, "you look positively radiant, I'm happy for you," he hugged her. "So how far along?"

Danny joined her having been collared by a couple of others on his way through, he slipped an arm around her waist as Clara continued talking.

"27 weeks tomorrow, I'm due 2 weeks before the wedding so it's gonna be a little tight," she chuckled.

"The dress or the timing?" Adrian asked and Clara hit him gently, rolling her eyes. "Well you know I'm here whatever you need, both of you." She smiled and hugged him again.

"I'm lucky to have you," she told Adrian who returned the smile and left them to it.

Many more people came over to them as the early morning went on and they went through all the wider details with each of them. Clara was grateful for the bell going, it was getting too boring repeating the same answers over and over.

Weirdly the reaction from the pupils was minimal. They walked in, a couple of them pointed at her bump before sitting down but very little was said to her directly. In fact she made it to the end of the day before she got any real answers.

"I told you!" Courtney pointed at her as she walked in with her friends. "I knew it."

"You practically told the whole school, we all knew it," Kathryn grinned as they sat down.

"Knew what exactly?" Clara asked her, approaching her desk.

"That you're pregnant, duh, it was so obvious," Courtney rolled her eyes. "Mr Pink has been so overprotective in the last few weeks there was only one explanation."

"Well I applaud your observational skills, maybe you can use them to analyse the text in front of you this afternoon?" Clara smirked and walked off, shutting them up.

Danny came into the room a few minutes after the school day had ended and was quite surprised at how cheery Clara appeared to be."You look very happy," he pointed out.

"I'm sorry I can look sad if that makes you feel better?" she questioned and chuckled. "Make yourself useful and pick up the paper off the floor," she chucked the paper bin at him which he caught.

"So how was it then?" he asked. They'd barely seen each other all day as they generally didn't on Mondays.

"Well apparently the rumour had already been spread, so it wasn't a huge surprise to any of them!" Clara chuckled. "I spoke to Arthur at lunch, the process is moving, I'll be gone in 9 weeks," she smiled a little nervously. "In 3 months we may well have a child Danny…" suddenly it hit her.

"Hey, look at me," Danny stopped her, putting the bin down. "I love you, you're going to be an amazing Mum," he kissed her gently, "they'll cry the wedding down," he chuckled and held her close. "Come on let's get home, we can tidy in the morning."

#-#-#-#

9 weeks went fast, really fast, and suddenly Clara was home while Danny went out to work and she was already bored out of her mind. She lay on the sofa, flicking through the TV channels and rubbing her bump gently.

Having a good day? xx

She text Danny in the hope of some distraction.

I've been gone 2 hours, is it that bad? xx

Clara chuckled a little at his reply, he knew her well.

I'm really bored, what am I supposed to do? This is only day 1! xx

She knew Danny would be rolling his eyes at the phone.

Go for a walk? xx

He had a point, it was being cooped up in the house that was getting her down. 36 weeks pregnant or not, she was still not one for staying indoors.

That's a plan. Sorry for distracting you xx

Danny stopped replying at that point, but then he was mid-lesson so it wasn't a huge surprise. Clara stood herself up and slipped her shoes on, grabbing her keys and purse and made her way out of the door.

She wasn't far down the road when the pains started, but she dismissed them, rubbing her stomach gently and whispering to it to settle down. It didn't though, a little while later the same pain returned and Clara had to stop and sit down on a nearby bench. Someone nearby walked over, sitting down beside her.

"Are you okay love?" she asked, looking concerned. Clara smiled, the pain passing.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's passing. No problem," she smiled and stood up, but suddenly she felt something.

"I think it might be a problem now," the stranger pointed at the wet patch on the floor, "can I call someone for you?"

Clara suddenly started to panic, "it's too soon, this shouldn't be happening," she sat back down in shock. "I don't know what to do!"

The stranger seemed less worried than she was, definitely calmer. "Where's the father?"

"Working, he's working," Clara tried to take deep breaths but it wasn't helping much, "I need to call him," she pulled her phone out but another wave of pain took over.

"You need to get to the hospital love, my car is just down the road, I can take you. I'm a nurse at the hospital see," she pulled out her ID, "always keep that on me - you never know. Come on, you can call him on the way," she told Clara and helped her up and to the car.

Danny ran into the maternity ward and was quickly directed to Clara who was sat up in bed, currently between contractions. She smiled at Danny as he came in, holding out a hand that he took.
"Are you okay?" he asked, kissing her quickly and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Yeah, it's early, but they said there shouldn't be too many problems and it's all looking good. They also said it could be a while," she sighed, "not sure I'm really feeling enthused about that."

"I'm sure it's okay sweetheart," Danny replied innocently and he immediately for a clip round the ear as another contraction started. Clara grabbed his hand on purpose and squeezed her way through it. "Okay I take it back you're breaking my hand!"

"That's the deal here I'm afraid," the midwife arrived in the room at that moment and told him. "Are you sure you don't want any pain relief?" Clara shook her head quickly.

"No. The gas and air is fine," she spoke through the pain and finally relaxed as it settled.

"Clara you're in pain…" Danny looked concerned.

"Really? I hadn't noticed?" Clara rolled her eyes, "I don't want any, I want to be able to feel it," she told him honestly and Danny could see she meant it. "I need to," she finished.

"Then you can squeeze my hand as much as you like," he kissed her hand softly. "A broken hand would be worth it," he chuckled and Clara smiled.

"Now we've cleared that up I just need to do some quick obs," the midwife interrupted their moment as politely as she could and got on with her job.

Time passed by with each contraction but it seemed to be going on forever. Clara was getting tired now, but sleep was out of the question. Danny had resorted to coffee to stay awake with her, but it was late into the night and there was still little sign of an end.

"Why don't you want out little one?" Clara rubbed her stomach gently, "you seemed so keen," she sighed softly.

"Maybe they just realised how nice it is in there," Danny smiled at her, joining his hand with hers on her stomach. "You're doing amazingly Clara," he told her for maybe the 30th time that night. She didn't respond this time, she'd run out of witty comments and quite frankly she didn't feel amazing right now.

Silence came over the room again for a while but after about 10 minutes there was a huge scream. Danny, who had been on the verge of drifting off, suddenly jumped up in concern. Clara was hunched up (as best she could be) in pain and before they knew it 5 midwives were in the room fussing over her. The machines were beeping a lot and it took Danny a little while to look down and realise there was blood. Before he knew it they were taking the brakes off the bed and rushing her through to theatre. They said he could come, so he followed, holding Clara's hand all the way. They kept speaking about the baby being in distress, but they wouldn't say anymore, maybe they didn't know. Clara was crying, worried sick - the baby wasn't the only one in distress.

Danny had to leave her while he changed - he was pretty sure he'd never changed so fast in his life. When he got into the theatre he was led to stand by Clara's head where he could hold her hand and keep her calm.
"I've messed it all up," Clara spoke fairly quietly, but Danny heard. He got close to her, stroking her hair back carefully.

"No you haven't, this is not your fault Clara, it's just one of those things. You're in the best place now," he told her. He spent the next few minutes reassuring her, talking rubbish about his classes or whatever else came to mind.

"Mr Pink, would you like to see the birth of your child?" the doctor asked him and Danny look to Clara who nodded at him. Danny stood up again, moving a little so he could see round the drape and gasped slightly as they pulled out the baby. There was a split second of silence before suddenly a loud cry filled the room. Clara squeezed Danny's hand and he looked round, both of them with tears in their eyes. "You have a beautiful baby boy," the doctor told them as the nurses took him over to the incubator. Once they'd done a few checks they took him out and one of them came over to speak to Danny and Clara while the surgeon finished his bit.

"He's doing really well, but he is 4 weeks early so we're taking him straight to the neonatal intensive care unit for a full checkover and he may need to stay there a little while, but that's okay. He's breathing really well which is a great sign so try not to worry. As soon as we can we'll have you up to visit him," she explained. "Obviously the C-section means there'll be a lot for you to think about in the next few weeks, but we'll talk you through all that later."

"When will I be able to walk about again?" Clara asked, suddenly realising something.

"We'll get you moving about later today, but it'll be about 5-6 weeks before you're fully healed," the midwife told her. Clara quickly looked over to Danny.

"Hey, relax, I'll take care of everything," he stroked her hair back again.

"There's still so much to do for the wedding and…" Clara stopped when Danny interrupted.

"Everything major is done, we made sure of that, and anything that requires too much moving about I can do, but a lot of it can be done at home on the sofa too and you can do that. It's gonna be okay and you're going to look absolutely beautiful," he kissed her forehead. "I love you so much." Clara accepted that and lay back as they finished up, worn out from the events and shut her eyes.

When she woke she was back in the room from before and there was sunlight. She glanced around to find the clock - just gone 6am. Danny wasn't there, she didn't know what to do. Then she remembered - her son was somewhere in this building and she had no idea where, or how he was. She sat up, ignoring the pain and going to swing her legs around when the midwife walked in.
"Woah woah no you don't, not alone anyway," she stopped her, "back into bed so I can check you over Miss Oswald."

"Oh please, Clara, Miss Oswald makes you sound like one of my pupils," she smiled a little, "how is he?"

"He's being a little supported with his breathing and his blood sugar levels were a bit low but it's looking very good. Your partner just went to visit him," she told her as she took her blood pressure.

"When can I go?" she asked, just wanting to see her son.

"Well all your obs are looking good, your bleeding seems under control, I think we can get you in a wheelchair so just give me a couple of minutes" the midwife left the room again and Clara lay back.

Eventually she got taken upstairs to the ward and found Danny sat by the incubator. The little boy inside was so small, so fragile, but he looked much better than Clara had expected. The midwife wheeled her over beside Danny and put the brakes on the chair. "Any problems I'll be just outside," she told them before leaving.

"How are you feeling sweetheart?" he asked, taking her hand.

Clara couldn't take her eyes off their little boy, he was perfect, he was strong, just like his Dad. "Perfect," Clara told him, "I don't care about the discomfort, it was all worth it," she put her hand in through the little holes in the side to touch his hand carefully. "Have you slept?"

"A little, I'm okay don't worry," he smiled. "I do have to go into work though, they can't cover me properly till next week…"

"The nurse said I probably won't get out until Friday anyway, it's okay," she told him. "At least this one waited until I had left."

"Clearly wanted to spend as much time with his Mummy as he could," Danny smiled, "he's so beautiful Clara."

"I can't quite believe he's ours? We've only had 3 months to prepare it's all happened so fast," she sounded scared.

Danny knew what to say, "Clara we were engaged in a matter of weeks. We moved in a month. We're getting married within a year. We do everything quickly and it's worked out pretty darn well so far," he told her. Clara looked up at him briefly and smiled.

"How do you do that? You always know how to make me feel so much better." Danny kissed her head softly.

"You need to phone your Dad," he told her, Clara vaguely responded in agreement "and Adrian of course."

"One of those will be a much more enjoyable conversation than the other," she sighed.

"It's his grandson Clara, he will be here in an instant," Danny spoke positively, but they both knew what had happened when they told him about the pregnancy.

"You're not even married yet!" It was hardly the response Clara had expected when she informed him she was pregnant.

"Aren't I? Damn I knew there was something I was missing," she rolled her eyes.

"Clara don't talk to your father like that!" Linda butted in and Clara just shook her head in despair.

"You're going to be a grandad and the first thing you're concerned about is that I'm not married yet? I mean really?" she despaired, Linda had more of an effect on him than even she realised sometimes. "Dad I'm 24 weeks along, this is going to happen in 4 months whether you like it or not. If you don't like it, you don't have to be involved Dad, but it was your right to know so I've told you," she held her hands up and walked out of the room.

That left Danny alone in the room with Dave and Linda and he was far from pleased. "She's your daughter, and whatever she says she's actually scared right now. Everything she's been through in the last few months and not a word of support has come from you Dave. I hope you're proud of yourself Mr Oswald." He walked out after Clara.

"He was coming round to the idea, and once he sees this little man he'll be so happy," Danny told her. "Do you want me to make the call?"

"No, no I'll do it when I get back down. There's a few people that need to know - I'll try and get hold of friends from work before the meeting but then I guess you'll have to break the news… there's so much to think about…" Clara rubbed her head. Danny squeezed her hand a little to bring her back to him.

"Relax, it's going to be fine. Is there anyone you want me to ring?" he asked.

"Could you ring Greg and Marlene? They'll want to know and I can't ring everyone - plus you seem to be getting on well," she smiled.

"They're lovely, and they really care about you," Clara smiled a little, "I'll ring them when I arrive at work. Speaking of which I need to get home and change…"

"You go, I'm okay here, see you tonight?"

"You'll never keep me away," he smiled, kissing her softly before disappearing.

That left Clara alone with their son. It occurred to her they hadn't even thought of names yet, but that was okay for now. He was so small, but so beautiful and everything she could have wished for. After a while she had to go back down to the ward and started to make the phone called. Adrian practically screamed down the phone at her, promising to go and visit that afternoon. Her Dad… she couldn't really tell, but he was coming down at lunch. She phoned various other people, texting a few other and by the time she had done she was shattered.

Clara woke and heard whispers in the room. She slowly opened her eyes and saw her Dad sat beside her, talking to the midwife. He quickly diverted his attention when he saw she was awake.
"You looked just like your Mum as you slept there," he smiled, "how are you doing?"

"Tired, but okay. Have you seen him?" Clara asked.

Dave nodded, "they took me up while you slept, I hope that's okay? He's beautiful Clara, absolutely beautiful."

"He's your grandson," she replied, "and this is the first time you've really shown any interest…" she sighed - the conversation was necessary.

"I'm sorry, I've really let you down recently and it's not fair. I'm here to support you and your little man now," he smiled.

"And Danny?" she questioned.

"Yes, and Danny," Dave replied but she wasn't 100% convinced. "Anyway, tell me how this ended up happening?!"

Clara explained everything and they had a couple of laughs over it all. It felt nice to be chatting to her Dad like normal, but she was still unsure about how things would be once Linda was around. They were still talking when the door opened and Tom's parents walked in.

"What are you doing here?!" Dave stood up angrily and Clara grabbed his hand, "no they have no right!"

"They have every right! Now sit down or so help me I'll get out of this bed and make you," Clara told him. Evidently the hormones hadn't settled down completely yet. She looked back round to Greg and Marlene, "I'm sorry, we're still catching up," she smiled. "Thank you for coming."

"That's alright, we got you and Danny a couple of bits…" Marlene handed over a little gift back and Clara stretched up a little to hug her.

"Thank you so much," she looked inside to see multiple different outfits, "oh this is so generous, I can't wait to see him in them."

"There's a mix in there - we already had the newborn ones but there's some prem outfits too," Clara had to wipe at her face quickly.

"Sorry, hormones," she smiled through the tears, "thank you so much." Clara looked round to see Dave sat by the bed looking a little confused by the scene in front of him.

"They've been around for me more than you have recently Dad. They've lost one son and practically disowned the other and I'm at the heart of it all, but they supported me and I can't thank them enough for that," she told him.

Dave nodded and stood up, "I'll give you some time together, I'll come back later," he told her and Clara let him go.

"One step at a time eh?" she commented once he'd gone but quickly turned her focus back.

#-#-#-#

By the time Danny had got back to the hospital Clara was shattered. She'd made him promise to go home, have a shower and eat a decent meal before he returned but in the meantime she'd had visitor after visitor, including a very overexcited Adrian. She couldn't quite understand why so many people wanted to come when they knew they couldn't see the baby yet, but they still came.

"How're you?" she asked as Danny sat down, "have you actually slept at all?"

"I had a cheeky nap in my free I'll have you know," he grinned, "how about you? You doing okay?"

"Mmm, just a constant stream of visitors has done me in a little. I went back up to see the little man after lunch though, he's doing really well. His sugar levels have stabilised now," she told Danny. "You know, we need a name for him…"

"You got any thoughts?" Danny asked her. Clara pulled out her phone and bought up the picture she'd taken earlier.

"I really like Ethan," she told him as she looked, "I think it suits him."

"Clara that's perfect, it's beautiful," he told her. "Do I get to pick the middle name?"

"As long as it goes okay…" she chuckled, "of course."

"I thought Thomas," he said and Clara quickly looked up at him in shock, "I just thought it'd be a good way of remembering him, and I'm sure our son would be honoured." He took Clara's hand and she didn't quite know what to say. "Ethan Thomas, it flows wonderfully."

"We should go and tell him," Clara finally got the words out and Danny nodded, leaving the room to get permission from the nurse before finding a wheelchair.

They made it up to NICU and sat beside the incubator. Both of them put a hand in and the other holding them together.
"Welcome to the world Ethan Thomas Pink," Clara stroked his hand carefully with her finger. "You're gonna love it."