Authors note: Hi there! I hope you're still enjoying reading my story. The next chapter has been a bit of a struggle for me, because I wasn't pleased with it the way it was so I've had to do quite a bit of rewriting. It was really really short as well. I tried to make it longer, but I can't really add too much because I don't want to change the structure of the entire story. Aaaanyway, here it is, chapter 4! Let me know if you like it! ;)

Eleanor

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of its characters, settings or plots.

4.

'Rose, do you want sugar in your tea?' Jackie called from the kitchen.

'No, thanks mum.' Her voice trembled. Keep it together, Rose, she told herself sternly. She wished the Doctor were here. He offered to come, but she'd told him that she'd best be alone when she told her mother. For his own safety.

Her mother came back into the room, holding two steaming mugs of tea. She put them on the coffee table in front of the sofa and went back into the kitchen to get some biscuits. Rose sighed and looked at her hands. They were trembling.

She had no idea how to tell her. How would she react? She knew Jackie had been a young mother herself. Maybe she would understand. On the other hand, she had always told Rose to wait, to get a good job and a house first. To save some money and to get a steady relationship. She didn't have any of those things, except for the relationship.

Repeating the things her mother had warned her for in her mind had only made her more nervous. She felt like such a failure.

Her mother re-entered the room with the biscuits and offered Rose one. 'How are you, sweetheart?' she asked as she sat down opposite her. 'And the Doctor, how is he doing?'

'Great,' Rose answered flatly. 'We're doing fine.'

'Are you okay? You seem a bit distracted.' Jackie studied her face.

Rose couldn't hold it in any longer. She felt like the secret was going to explode out of her. 'Mum,' she said, her voice trembling again, 'I'm – I'm pregnant.' She didn't dare look Jackie in the eye, so she looked at her feet instead.

An eternity seemed to pass before Jackie answered. Rose peered at her through her blond locks. She looked completely baffled.

'You're… pregnant?'

Rose looked down again and nodded.

'Rose! What were you thinking? Didn't I tell you to be careful? Didn't I tell you to use protection?'

Rose remembered a very awkward conversation she'd once had, where her mother tried to show a thirteen-year old version of herself how to use a condom. She blinked her eyes fast and focused on her mother's face in an effort to get rid of the cringey vision.

'I – I thought we did…'

'Oh, and what does that mean? "I thought we did"?'

'I don't know, mum… We were… we'd had a bit too much to drink, maybe…'

'You were blind drunk, you mean! And when did this happen? How far along are you?'

'I'm three months alo–'

'THREE MONTHS? You're three months pregnant and you tell me now? The Doctor's only been here for three months! Who does he think he is? Thinks he can live here for only one week and go and knock up my daughter! I will have a conversation with him about this later!'

'Now, mum, please don't do tha–'

'Don't you "mum" me, young lady! All those times I warned you about being a young mother! All those times I told you how hard it was for me!'

'I'm sorry,' Rose whispered, 'I didn't mean for this to happen, neither of us did. I really did think we were using protection. Something must have gone wrong.' A blush crept up her cheeks, which were wet with silent tears.

Jackie seemed to calm down a bit and sat down next to Rose on the sofa. She placed a hand on her daughter's back.

'Come on, sweetheart, there's no point in crying about it. What's done is done and we can't do anything to change it… I suppose.' Rose's head snapped up and she glared at her mother. 'No, no, we can't do anything to change it,' she said quickly. 'We need to figure out how we are going to do this. You'll need to move, love. That tiny flat of yours is no place for a baby. And the Doctor will need to get a job. Babies are expensive. Your wages alone aren't going to cut it.'

'Yeah, we already talked about that,' Rose sniffed. 'He said he would take that offer from Torchwood. He declined a few weeks back but they said they'd always have a place for him, so…'

'And maybe he should think about getting a name.'

'What?' Rose looked puzzled. 'He's got a name! He's called the Doctor!'

'Yeah, but think about it! Do you want your kid to know his own father as "the Doctor"?'

Rose looked at her hands. 'Yeah… Maybe not.' She cleared her throat. 'He might go by John Smith. He's used that name before.'

Jackie took a sip from her tea. 'I'm sorry I yelled at you before. I just thought that you'd do it all differently. I had such a hard time when you were a little girl.'

'I know you did, mum, but you were alone. I've got the Doctor. We can do this, together. I know we can.'

Jackie smiled. 'You're right. I overreacted.'

'Are you excited about becoming a grandmother?'

Jackie stared at her. 'I hadn't even thought about that! Me, a grandmother! I'm only 42!'

'So, how was it?' the Doctor asked when Rose came home.

'She wasn't too happy about it,' she answered as she took off her coat. 'But she got used to the idea after a while. I think she might still be a bit cross with you, though.' She laughed.

'I should've come with you.' He shook his head while he stirred in the pot on the stove.

Rose went to stand behind him en wrapped her arms around his waist. 'No, I'd really have hated to raise this kid on my own. Seriously, she would have killed you!' She laughed again. 'What are you making?'

'French onion soup.'

'Hmm… sounds good. Smells good, too.'

'I'm glad you like it.'

Rose leaned her head on his shoulder. 'Aren't you sad that we can't have any adventures anymore?'

'What do you mean?'

'Well… there's no running around anymore, looking for aliens, solving mysteries… You just can't do that with a baby. And in a few months I won't be able to run at all!'

'But that doesn't mean we're not having an adventure!' He turned around, his back to the stove, and put his hands on her belly. 'This! This is our adventure! The biggest one yet!'

Rose laughed. 'You're right. The scariest one as well.'

The Doctor gave her a quick kiss and turned back to his onion soup, Rose still standing behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist again.

'Have you thought about… maybe getting a name?'

'A name?'

'Yeah. I mean, you wouldn't want this kid to call you "Doctor", would you?'

'No, but I think I'd want him or her to call me "dad".'

'Yeah, but what if someone asks him what his dad is called and they tease him because he says "Doctor"?'

The Doctor was silent for a moment. 'Okay, I guess you're right.'

'So… John Smith, then?' Rose asked.

'Nice to meet you Rose Tyler!' He laughed.

Rose patted him on his shoulder and kissed his cheek. 'Thanks,' she said. She brought her lips to his ears and whispered: 'I will still call you the Doctor… when we're alone.'