Another month aboard the TARDIS passed slowly for Rose.

A decision to be together was one thing. Spoken commitment, sure. But for the Doctor, putting that in practice was another entirely.

There were kisses now. Oh stars, how she had missed his kisses. New lips, sure, but the same man was behind them, caressing her mouth with his own.

But to Rose, it still felt like things were too slow. Like somehow they'd taken a step backward in their relationship. Which would've been okay with Rose, if not for her bloody hormones. Thanks to that, little things were just setting fire to her.

Gentle touches to her cheek when he kissed her good morning.

The way it felt when he'd stroke the back of her hand with his thumb when they would leisurely stroll in a park or beach somewhere he deemed safe enough for them.

The way he'd catch her looking at something at a market stall, and he'd wrap his arms around her from behind and gently rest his hands on her lower abdomen, often including the same loving thumb stroke.

It was making her insane.

It was no help that sometimes she'd fall asleep with him in her bed, laying against her stomach as he read aloud to their growing child, only to wake up alone. She understood that he needed substantially less sleep, but before his change he normally stayed with her until she was awake as well.

It was one such morning like this that Rose woke up and noticed right off as she stood at the foot of her bed in her pajama bottoms and tank top, her body had began visibly to change. It was amazing to Rose thinking how small her little bump was, considering if she were carrying a human child she'd be huge by six months. She grinned as she lifted her shirt to get a better view, turning to the side in the mirror and rubbing a hand over her growing child.

"Hey in there..." Rose laughed, "I see you!"

She'd been so entertained with her baby bump she'd not noticed the Doctor had come in and propped up in the doorway, watching her strike poses in the mirror as she greeted their baby.

"Look at you, then." He called with a grin, causing her to jump. She turned quickly to face him, then immediately turned to the side to show him the changes.

"Doctor." She bit at her tongue, rubbing one hand over her middle once again, "Look at them."

"Growing like a weed." He replied with a small smile, running a hand through his hair.

Rose pulled her shirt down and looked him over. Something was wrong. He looked tired, like he'd skipped his sleep cycle altogether. He wasn't put together in one of his usual suits, but had shown up in an untucked button-down shirt and khaki trousers. The only piece of his normal ensemble were his dirty white converse shoes. She furrowed her brow, the joy she'd woken up with quickly turning to worry for her partner.

"Wa's wrong?" She yawned, the yawn catching her off guard. "You look... off."

"Well, you look gorgeous enough for both of us, so I won't take it too personally." He snorted, humored.

"I'm bein' serious right now. What is going on with you?" She cleared the distance between them and took his hand.

"You left your phone in the Console Room." He said, taking the phone from his pocket with his free hand. "Your mum called, several times. So eventually, I answered. Never know, something could've been wrong."

"Yeah? Was something wrong?" She pressed.

The Doctor rolled his head back, making the 'ehhhh' noise she had come to know as 'Maybe but I don't want to tell you...', so she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Doctor. Is something wrong with my mother?" She insisted.

"Not yet." He answered finally. Rose's face fell.

"What does that mean?" She pressed, scrolling her phone, looking for any missed messages.

"Well, when she and I spoke-"

"You talked to her?" Rose interrupted.

"Rose, please. I'm trying to explain. You're going to need to let me talk." The Doctor sighed. Rose nodded and handed the phone back to him, so he could place it back in his pocket.

"Alright, yeah. Sorry, go on, then." She nodded.

"Jackie was at work the other night and had a bit of a 'spell', she called it. Said she was very light headed and passed out. The took her to hospital, and she's got an appointment with a cardiologist." The Doctor explained. "She's fine, she's at home. It wasn't a heart attack." He added, seeing the questions in her big brown eyes.

"We have to go see her!" Rose said, running over to her closet to dress.

"Rose-"

"No, really, go set course." She called over her shoulder as she shuffled into a loose sundress.

"Rose-" He tried again, watching her throw clothes into a bag.

"Now!" She huffed.

"ROSE!" He finally raised his voice. She paused, looking over at him. "We're already here."

Rose was listening intently to her mother recount the events of the entire week that lead up to the 'spell' that had scared Rose so badly. The Doctor, who had already suffered through the entire story, let his mind wander as he sat on the armrest on the chair Rose was in. He was busying his hands by repairing a small wall clock her mother had said no longer kept time even with fresh batteries. Half-way through the story, the phone rang and Jackie stood to answer it in the kitchen.

"How long did it take her to tell you all this?" Rose sighed, quite bored with her mother's long tale.

"Like... forty-five minutes?" He shrugged, laughing as Rose's eyes grew wide. "What?"

"Can't believe you spent that much time on the phone with my mother." Rose shook her head. "You, who made a joke about cooking her."

"Still think a nice slow roast would be best." He replied with a wink.

The both turned as she called from the kitchen, letting them know it was one of her newest dates calling to check up on her, and that she was going to take the call in her bedroom. Rose waved as she went off, and the Doctor took the empty seat Jackie had left.

"...So..." The Doctor said, popping his lips several times, making a fish-like noise.

"So?" She parroted back.

"Are we going to... ya know..." He nodded to her stomach, which Rose had covered with a cardigan over her already flowy dress.

"Are you insane?" She hissed. "She is having heart trouble. Unlike you, she hasn't got a spare, has she? This might push her over the edge."

"Rose, Darling, I don't think waiting is the best idea either..." He reminded her.

The two of them had discussed this a few days prior. How they'd tell Jackie. Rose wasn't ready to, not so much because she was having a baby- She was twenty, on her own, and not scared of telling her mother about her grandchild. It was that her mother would have questions about when and how the relationship with the Doctor had changed, and in that aspect, she was not ready to have that conversation with her mother. Not while they were still working out 'being together' themselves.

All Rose's life, her mother had tried to keep the sort of relationship with her daughter where she would feel comfortable speaking to her mother about sex. She knew there would be more questions than she'd want to answer, and honestly, Rose thought she wanted to discuss that with the Doctor before she spilled her hormonal desires and frustrations to her mother and risk her mother not keeping the secret.

Rose shook her head.

"No. Not yet." She insisted. "The specialist appointment is in three days. We can stay until we know she's alright, yeah?"

"Of course." He nodded, not giving it a second thought. Rose beamed.

"You've changed." She teased. "You'd never agree to that before. Almost left me behind for trying to get you to stay for dinner."

The Doctor looked her over and his gaze softened.

"To be loved is to be changed." He replied quietly. Again Rose gave him one of her signature tongue-biting grins.

"Softy." She teased again, tossing a throw pillow toward him. The door to the bedroom down the hall opened and The Doctor rose from her seat as Jackie came back in, so he took his place beside Rose again.

"That was Davey. Wanted to come by later, I told him he'd have to wait, that my Rose was home." She smiled happily at her daughter. "I don't suppose you're here for long though, are you?"

"Well, actually." The Doctor spoke before Rose could. "We'd like to see you through the tests. Let us stay here with you. Rose can help you cook, I can fix anything else that needs repairing. Sounds like your washer has a knock..."

"Wha's gotten into 'em?" Jackie looked at Rose, almost shocked.

"Mum. Heart problems are serious. We talked about it, we want to help." She reiterated.

"Somethin' is different with you." She narrowed her eyes, looking from the Doctor to Rose and back again. "Both of you."

"Well..." The Doctor said, giving the 'I don't want to tell' neck roll in reply.

"We're sort of... together now." Rose finished quickly.

The Doctor reached down and took Rose's hand and held their joined hands up.

"Surprise?" He added.

Jackie looked them over again and scoffed, but then gave them a smile.

"Well, it was about time, wasn't it?" She snorted at their faces. "I knew that first time I seen her looking at you, after the 'oops its been a year' fiasco. Bout bloody time you two figured it out. I'll be glad to have you stay for a bit, yeah!" She grinned.

The Doctor squeezed Rose's hand again and looked over. He'd not had the heart to tell either of them that while Rose was in the loo and Jackie had her back to them, putting a kettle on, he'd scanned her heart himself and saw the blockages in her arteries. He felt it was better if it came from a medical doctor rather than himself. Besides, it was really quite treatable, and he simply wanted to be there for Rose and his child's grandmother.

Even if it meant being stuck in a small flat for a week with Jackie Tyler.

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