Author's note: Hi there! I'm so sorry I made you wait this long for this chapter. I've been sooo busy! I've been studying in England the last few months and I only got back a few days ago!

Anyway, I hope you'll like this chapter. Let me know what you think!

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

8.

'W–what?' Rose stuttered. 'No. No, of course not. What are you talking about?'

'Look,' John said, and he pointed at the grey fabric of their sofa. Rose turned around. There was a dark spot where she had just been sitting.

'My waters must have gone,' she mumbled. She felt a bit dazed, not fully grasping what was going on. 'What do we do?' she asked. All the preparations, all the reading she had done, it all seemed meaningless and pointless now. She couldn't remember any of it and she didn't know what to do. She was going to have a baby.

She looked at John. He looked just as scared as her.

'Relax,' he said. 'Sit down. Let's call the midwife.'

'Hang on!' Rose exclaimed. 'You haven't asked me yet!'

'Rose, honestly, do you want to do this now?'

Rose crossed her arms. 'Yes.'

'Fine.' John pulled one of her hands free and took it in his. 'Rose Tyler, will you marry me?'

'Yes!' Rose squealed. She pulled John up and kissed him.

'Will you sit down now? We have to call the hospital.'

'Can you call them while I change my clothes? These are all wet.'

'Sure.'

Rose walked back to their bedroom. She could hear John's side of the conversation as she changed into a fresh pair of trousers.

'Rose, she asks if you're having any contractions yet,' John called from the lounge.

'I don't think so…' Rose called back.

'No, she's not having any yet,' she heard John answer the conversation. She walked back to the lounge in her clean jogging bottoms. 'Yes. Okay. No. Okay, we'll do that,' John said. 'Thank you, bye.'

Rose sat down on the sofa. 'What'd she say?'

'She said we could go to hospital as soon as your having contractions. If you're not yet having contractions in 24 hours, then we should call them and go to hospital anyway.'

Rose nodded. She hoped the delivery would be quick. A few months previously, she had not been able to contain her curiosity and had looked up some labour stories and videos. It had not been a very good idea. She had read the most awful stories about 2-day labours, horrible C-sections and terrifying injuries. The videos were even worse. As she thought about those videos again, she shuddered.

'What's wrong? You okay?' John asked worriedly.

'Yeah, I'm fine… just a bit scared. I don't know… it all seems to be happening so fast. What if there's something wrong with the baby? What if–' She was breathing fast now.

John sat down beside her on the sofa. He placed one of his hands on her cheek. 'Everything is going to be all right. It will be over before you know it, and when it is, you'll have a beautiful little baby in your arms. And if anything goes wrong, I'll be there for you. You know I will.'

Rose looked into his eyes for a long moment and felt a bit reassured. John kissed her on her cheek and stood up. 'Do you want a cup of tea?' he asked. Rose smiled and nodded. He always knew how to cheer her up.

An hour had passed since John had spoken to the midwife, and Rose still hadn't had any contractions. She was getting impatient. She wanted to meet her baby now, and she hated waiting for the dreaded pain.

John looked at her. 'You okay?'

Rose sighed. 'It's taking so long. I just want to get it over with.'

'I know it's a long wait, but it'll be worth it. You could take a nap?'

Rose shook her head. 'No, I'm not tired at all.'

'We could watch a movie?' John suggested.

Rose agreed and chose a movie. It was a lame chick-flick, but she was not in the mood for anything complicated right now. She just wanted a bit of distraction.

As they were watching, Rose could tell from his face how much John hated the film. She snickered. Even though she loved him and would never hurt him, it felt sort of good to know that he had to watch something he didn't like, while she had had to carry a child with her for nine months and was now waiting for painful contractions. She smiled her sweetest smile at him, and he smiled back, pretending not to hate the film.

Rose woke with a start. Her arms were curled around her belly. A bit disoriented, she looked to her right. The bright red numbers on the alarm told her it was 3:21 AM. On her other side, John was vast asleep. She tried to wake him gently. When that didn't work, she shook him a bit harder. He grunted, turned to his other side, and continued sleeping. She sat up and groaned. She was definitely having contractions now.

'John,' she said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

'Hmm?'

'You gotta wake up, I'm having contractions.'

'Whut?' he turned to her. She could see him drowsily blinking his eyes in the moonlight shining through the window

'I'm having contractions,' she repeated. She was surprised at how calm she was.

John's eyes widened as he realised what she'd said. 'You're having contractions? Are you sure? How far are they apart? Have you packed a bag yet? Where- Where is my shirt?' He stumbled out of bed, looking for clothing and her bag and the light switch. She calmly watched him, quite enjoying the scene. He finally found the light switch and turned on the light. She could clearly see him now, a bewildered look on his face and two mismatched socks in his hands. She snorted. 'Let's just go,' she said.

She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, and John hurried to her side, still only halfway dressed. He helped her up, carried her bag (which, of course, she had packed about a month ago) and helped her into the car. The contractions were getting more and more painful, and even thought she tried to pretend they weren't bothering her that much, she saw him look her way in concern each time she had one.

At last they arrived at the hospital. They were brought to a delivery suite and John helped Rose onto the bed.

The labour seemed endless. Four hours had passed, and she still wasn't dilated enough to start pushing. The contractions had gotten worse. Every time one came, she squashed his hand and bit the pillow.

When finally she was dilated enough, she was allowed to push. Luckily, time spent pushing seemed to pass much faster than time spent waiting in agony. It was much more painful, though, and Rose felt like she was going to rip apart. Or maybe she did. She couldn't see over her round abdomen.

'Almost there!' the midwife kept saying, and Rose started feeling desperate. She wasn't going to be able to do this for much longer. She was exhausted. She looked to her side, at John.

'Come on, you can do this,' he encouraged her. 'I know you can. Deep breath… You can do this.'

'The head's out!' the midwife exclaimed. 'Just one more push, I promise!'

Rose gritted her teeth and gave every last bit of energy she had. She heard the midwife cheer excitedly, but she couldn't understand what she was saying. She listened harder, and suddenly she heard soft whimpers. A few seconds later they heard loud cries.

Time seemed to stop. Rose grabbed John's hand and looked at him. They had a baby. It seemed so impossible, and yet so natural.

'I'm so proud of you,' John whispered.

They looked away from each other as the midwife lifted the baby. 'It's a girl!' she said, and she placed her in Rose's arms. She was covered in blood and goo, but Rose couldn't care less. She looked into her daughter's big brown eyes, and felt tears roll down her cheeks. 'Hello,' she cooed. 'Aren't you a little drama queen?'

The baby stopped crying as Rose spoke, and they stared at each other in wonder.

'Would the dad like to cut the cord?' the midwife asked.

'Yes,' John said. The midwife helped him cut the cord, and when Rose and the baby where separated, one of the nurses came to take the baby away. She needed to be washed and clothed.

After what seemed and eternity, the nurse brought their daughter back. She was wearing the little striped pyjamas she had bought with her mum and there was a pink wool cap on her head. Rose held her in her arms, unable to look away. John sat next to her on the edge of her bed. They sat in silence for a while, admiring their little miracle. One of the nurses came to help with the breastfeeding, and then she left again to give them some privacy.

When Rose was done feeding her, she gave her to John. He walked around the room, softly rocking her and singing a lullaby Rose had never heard before. He gave her back to Rose when she was sleeping.

After a while, one of the nurses came back with a form. 'What are you going to call your daughter?' she asked.

They both looked up, and John answered with the name they had decided upon about a month earlier.

'Imogen.'

Looking at her new-born baby, Rose whispered: 'Our little Immy.'