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"Brilliant day, Rose Tyler! Stopped an invasion and delivered a baby," the Doctor proclaimed proudly.
As Rose settled the newborn on his mother's chest, the Doctor's treacherous brain imagined Rose exhausted, smiling, glowing with pride, cradling their child.
The Doctor quashed that thought. Centuries of rules dictated that he was not supposed to want what he could not give her. The universe wouldn't allow it.
Rose had noticed his expression had darkened. Before she could question him, the new parents were thanking them profusely.
The moment was lost and they didn't speak of it again.
******
Time passed and Rose found herself living in another universe with a half-human Doctor.
Two years after they married, what he could barely let himself imagine became their reality.
He accepted the wriggling, furious bundle from the nurse and kissed her tiny forehead and placed her on Rose's chest.
Rose was murmuring a mother's litany of comfort to her child as she helped their daughter latch on to her breast. He kissed her cheek, murmured his love to her and their pink and brown girl. He allowed himself to imagine three timelines woven tightly together, (with more joining them.) His one heart filled with joy.