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1. A woman's water can break at precisely midnight on her due date, and it can still end up taking twenty-two hours to have the baby.
When Rose woke at 11:59 with a general feeling of pain in her lower back and an all pervasive feeling of weirdness, she waddled to the ensuite to see if a trip to the loo would solve the problem. At midnight, November 23, she found herself standing in a small puddle on the bathroom floor. It took a couple of seconds for her sleep addled brain to comprehend what had happened, then her eyes opened wide and she hollered for the Doctor.
Once the initial flurry of activity ended and Rose was resting in a nice room at the Torchwood hospital wing, things slowed down.
10 hours in and they had walked at least 10 laps around the halls.
15 hours in and one of the midwives mentioned that since things weren't progressing, she had plenty of time to go home to eat. Rose, who had not eaten for a very long time, looked quite dangerous. The Doctor, who had once see her wave a hand and vaporize an entire Dalek fleet, didn't think the midwife knew how close she had come to the end of her life.
19 hours and strong contractions every five minutes later, Rose leaned her head on her Doctor's shoulder and despaired of ever leaving the lovely labor and delivery room. She also decided she really hated the pastoral still life she had been staring at through the last hour of contractions.
21 1/2 hours in, finally pushing, she heard, (and on some level the words registered) the Doctor murmuring in her ear, telling her how strong she was, encouraging her, keeping her focused as she had a vice grip on his hand.
22 hours in, and Rose was beginning to think her daughter would be born grounded if she missed her midnight curfew.
******
2. The Doctor's impressive gob increased in direct proportion to the nervousness (and boredom) he felt as the day wore on. Rose's tolerance of it only decreased.
The Doctor knew all about human childbirth, after all he had delivered quite a few babies on his travels. All over the universe as a matter of fact, and not just human ones.
He knew all the facts about what Rose was experiencing, and what the monitors were indicating. "Oh, that's a good one. See how the monitor represents it as a wave? Look, it's about to crest.....ow, Rose." He took back his sore hand at his earliest possible opportunity.
Rose had to keep in mind, as the day dragged on, this was his first baby ever born from a mother's womb. And he was curious. Insatiably so. "How does the contraction feel? Is it more like a cramp, or a squeeze? Can you actually feel the head?"
The Doctor also knew a lot of facts about childbirth customs on other planets. And since he was nervous and restless, he felt the need to share. His impressive gob was getting a workout. "On Zxkaczxs IV in the 53rd Century, they have a placenta ceremony. Before they eat it in a stew at a meal attended by the grandparents, godparents, and the neighbors on the left side of their yurt, they....." Rose covered his lips with her hand, muttering "no, no, no."
Once she was past the nausea, he had more to tell her. "The Charpacians of Charapax speak in sonic tones that are much too high frequency for human ears, however, each tone is roughly equivalent to a letter of the English alphabet. So right before birth, a hair is plucked from the father's arm and the resulting tone of pain the father emits becomes the first letter of the child's name....." As Rose shifted in the bed restlessly, transition into hard labor just beginning, she wondered what tone the Doctor would make if she got a good grip on an arm hair.
*****
3. Sometimes a new mum just wants her own mum. And sometimes, surprisingly, the new dad can need her mum, too.
Rose hadn't been there for Tony's birth. She was of the opinion that when the woman was in labor the only ones who really needed to be in the room were the people who conceived the baby and the midwife.
Jackie had wanted her, but she understood. She suspected part of it was due to the depression Rose was experiencing when she lost the Doctor at Bad Wolf Bay, and wrote off her daughter's absence to that. She had hoped, when or if the pair of them had a baby, she'd get to be there. She really wanted to, considering it would be her first grandchild and besides, they were going to go swanning off in that damned blue box anyways. So when the security guard told her that the Doctor and Rose had sped out of there around half one in their new family vehicle, she knew she probably wasn't going to get the call. She tried not to be crushed. After all, she'd get get to be with her granddaughter after she was born....and for many, many moments after.
Until they went swanning off, that is.
She was crushed.
Around seven, they called to tell them they were there and hopefully they'd have news soon.
About nine hours later Jackie got the call she wanted. Rose wanted her mum. And so she went tearing out. Pete wanted a driver to take her, but she'd have none of that. The speeding ticket was completely worth it.
At first the Doctor thought Jackie's incessant chattering would drive him spare, because she had an even worse gob when she was nervous and worried. Rose was a little amused at the irony of that.
But, when they had brief scare when the baby's heart rate dropped, The Doctor had never been so glad to have an extra hand to hold while it was all sorted out. Even though the brilliant Time Lord part of his brain understood what was happening, and his telepathic bond with Susannah told him she was fine, the nervous Dad part took over and he didn't really relax, all the rest of the day until Susannah made her debut, witnessed by her mother, father, and her gran. Rose had been relieved because her mother had been through it all before and she just needed a mum's reassurance. Rose couldn't have imagined doing this any other way. "Just promise me," Jackie began with a shaky voice, "if you have more....wherever you are in the universe...."
"We'll come and get you," Rose said.
*****
4. Much like a Time Lord, a newborn baby has the power to make time stand still.
22 hours and 5 minutes later, the midwife who hadn't made a comment about food was calling out encouragements, and the Doctor was clutching one of Rose's hands and craning for a look as their daughter entered the world. Jackie held tight to the other. Time stood still for a second then Susannah Jacqueline Rose Noble let out her first squawk, then her first full-fledged wail. Slightly bluish skin took on a vivid pink, and the midwife was placing their pink and brown girl on Rose's chest. Rose's arms went instinctively up to cradle her, a mother's litany of comfort streaming from her lips as tears streamed down her face. Tears streamed down the Doctor's face as well, and he was kissing her over and over, then kissing Susannah's wild brown hair. For those next few minutes nothing but the three of them existed in Rose's universe.
*****
5. Seeing the Doctor being a father would make her feel as if she had two hearts beating in her own chest.
Nothing could have prepared her for the emotions that would flood her heart, waking up in her dark hospital room after a short nap to see her husband reclined in the comfy chair, feet up on the ottoman, with their hours- old daughter resting on his chest. His eyes were closed and his hands rested protectively on her back. Rose could hear him humming softly. It was a slightly familiar tune, but she couldn't recall when she had heard it. He kissed the top of the baby's head and started singing softly, in a language the TARDIS never would have translated. Rose listened to his Gallifreyan lullaby, tears blooming in her eyes. She stayed silent, not wanting to break the spell. They were both so beautiful.
If she had been asked years earlier if she wanted children, Rose would have said no. When she traveled with the Doctor, she took it for granted that she wouldn't ever be a parent in that situation. And it was fine. But now, looking at her Doctor and their daughter, she knew she never would have missed this for the universe.
Rose could finally look back on the moment when the TARDIS disappeared on that horrible beach and feel gratitude. If things hadn't transpired the way they did, she wouldn't have Susannah. The Doctor, Rose Tyler, Susannah, and a new TARDIS. Just as it should be.
*********
What the Doctor discovered:
The Doctor leaned down to be on eye level with his wild- haired daughter. She was fresh from the womb and lying on her mother's chest, squalling. Then her eyes opened. He and Susannah locked eyes and he discovered he'd become the first Time Lord with three hearts beating.
The second thing he discovered was how much stronger his telepathic bond was with her once she grabbed his finger with her chubby little fist. His telepathic abilities had dulled somewhat in the metacrisis, along with his ability to see the timelines. Truth be told, he missed the telepathy more than the timelines. He rather liked not knowing what was to be. He knew their three lines were bound together permanently and that more threads joined it as the years went on. He didn't know how many or when, but that suited him just fine.
But the telepathy was such a relief. He could feel Rose's bond, even more strongly since she became pregnant. There was their new TARDIS, and now Susannah. He could feel all of them and it was like a warm elixir of life flowing through his veins. He felt whole in a way he hadn't in such a very long time.
His bond with Rose told him that she was awake but trying to keep so quiet. His song faded out and he opened his eyes to look at his wife. Tears were shining in her tired eyes.
"Get some more rest, love. I think she can go a little longer before she needs another feeding." he said in a low voice.
"I'm fine." She scooted over as best she could in her bed. "Come here, you two."
The Doctor stood up carefully, Susannah safely cradled in his arms. "Here we come, Mumma." He sat down on the edge of her bed, reluctantly relinquishing the baby so he could take off his trainers.
Rose cradled Susannah in her arms. Snuggled together on her hospital bed, she and her husband found themselves staring at their beautiful daughter, so peaceful in sleep. "What were you singing to her?" Rose murmured.
"A lullaby. It's very, very old. From the time before the looms. Before I existed. I can't really translate it word for word, but I was telling her 'you are safe, you are loved, the stars will bless and cradle you in your sleep.'"
"That's beautiful," Rose said. "The Gallifreyan words were gorgeous, and so is your translation. I love that you're singing to her like that." She paused. She finally remembered. "Wait...you've sung that to me before. When I've been sick or hurt or having nightmares......"
He smiled and nodded. She put her head on his shoulder and they watched their baby sleep. Their timelines spun on around them, gold and silver, binding them together. Just as it should be.