Family Way
A Doctor Who Fanfic
Don't own em; wish I did. Ditto.
Warning: If Tenpreg squicks, irks or otherwise disgusts you, don't read. BWAH HA HA.
Oh, I want a Tempus Dominus for Christmas...only a Tempus Dominus will do...
Anyway, the Clone and the Doctor are linked in a very interesting way...interesting for me anyway...I just can't get enough of the Tenpreg goodness...it's like the Stuff, really. Only hotter.
Chapter One
The man named John Smith looked at Peter Tyler, then at his wife Jackie, his long, cool hands nervously smoothing the hem of his overcoat. "Jackie, Pete...there's something I need to tell you. It's important. It's also not for Rose's ears."
Pete Tyler just blinked, frowning calmly at that last, but his wife stood up, rushed over to the Time Lord where he sat on the family couch and pressed a hand to his forehead. "Are you all right, sweetheart? Ohhhh...is it another one of those sick spells like what happened at Christmas?"
He shook his head then, and softly patted her cheek. "Oh, no. Nothing like that. But I will be acting strangely before too long, needing a bit more rest, a bit less activity, that sort of thing. It'll all turn out. I just need to be more careful for a few months, until it's over." His slender hand brushed his middle in a gentle caress and his dark eyes flicked over Pete and Jackie, who were staring at each other and mumbling.
"Do you think that's what he's on about?"
"I bet! He's been looking a fair bit green these last few weeks!"
"Oh! It's right knobby, but that's almost got to be what it is."
Pete had risen from his chair as well, and now the both of them were eyeing John as though the poor man were one of Jackie's more adventurous menu items.
"Well, Doctor, er...John, we have an idea, but perhaps you could...go first, maybe...elaborate?" Pete said, giving the Time Lord's shoulder a few friendly go for it taps.
"Well, the fact that the both of you are so intent on breathing my air is a bit disturbing, especially now. Could you two sit back down again? I rather fancy my personal space, if ya don't mind." John chuckled afterward, if a little nervously, so Pete and Jackie backed off and retreated to their respective chairs.
Then he settled back into his own soft chair and smiled at them both. "Well, here goes. Right then...Jackie, Pete..." he caught their eyes with his, steeling himself. "Rose and I are going to have a child." His sigh was weary but he allowed himself a small smile when they didn't move to strike him.
Jackie fainted and struck the floor like the proverbial sack of potatoes. John rose and tried to kneel beside her, but Pete poked him in the chest with a finger and then made his own short way to his wife, who was already rousing. "No, not you, tall man. You sit back down." Pete never missed a lick. Smart one, him. He already knew what John was trying to say.
The half-human Time Lord was almost grateful for the kind reproach, partly because he didn't want to bend down in his condition, and partly because Jackie was now gaping at him like a freshly-caught fish. Meanwhile, poor Pete was trying desperately to haul her to her feet and out of striking distance.
"Oi! How'd it happen?" She cried, rounding on John despite Pete's best efforts. "Were you shaggin' each other in the laundry before dinner one evening, or was it an honest accident? Come on! Spill it then!"
He held his head as he answered, acutely aware of how exhausted he was going to be by the time he escaped the Tylers' formal Inquisition, much as it seemed they were only trying to get him to tell them how he was getting on in their own, nut-loafish sort of way. "Actually, I don't rightly know. I simply awoke one morning to find Rose gone from her room, and myself in a rather delicate way. Perhaps I was asleep and she kissed me. I can transfer DNA with a kiss, in a pinch. Yes, perhaps that is what it was, a quirk of my ability to transfer genetic material which reacted to our latent desires due to my being asleep. Frog Prince with vestigial reproductive organs, that's me."
After that, he held his breath and let himself focus on Jackie and Pete once more, stifling the urge to flee the room with a supreme effort of will. They weren't saying anything, so he let out a tentative sigh and continued in the same vein as before. "Now that you understand, are you still cross with me? With us? Well, just me, really, coz Rose still doesn't know. Wait. Did I already say that? Oh, Bollocks. Where IS she by the way? I haven't noticed her here much lately...must still be busy at Torchwood, cleaning up their mess." His hand careened down from his face, splashing across his stomach. "This baby is going to need her." His eyes fell on Jackie, and she held her tongue beneath his darkening gaze. "I'm sorry, Jacks, but...could you, ah...get me a cool cloth? I feel a bit of a fever coming on. My normal body temperature's around sixty, but now that I'm with child, it's going to spike. Rather inconvenient for everyone, 'coz it means I'll either be cross, laid up and/or tossing my chocolate digestives at a moment's notice, but other than that it's nothing much to worry about. So, in summary, basically I'll have all the normal pregnancy symptoms, sans the swollen ankles and the baby weight. Follow? Now, I'm sorry for this, but...blimey I am completely famished! Are there any bananas? I'm so hungry I'll even eat celery! What say? Aye? Aye? Oh this is beyond brilliant! Fantastic even! Oh my..." he patted his trim, firm abdominals, glancing down to stare at himself. "I can't believe...welllll...yeah. I can. The odds were nearly nothing, so I never even dreamed...but, blimey. Jackie, Pete..." He looked up again, grinning like a loon at the both of them. "I'm having a baby! Rose's baby!"
"Nuncle have baby, like mum have Tony?" Tony said softly as he marched out from behind the couch. "Can I see? I be careful. I be good, see?" He raced to John's side and climbed up in his lap, much to the Time Lord's amusement. John ruffled the boy's hair and wrapped his short little frame in a colossal hug, squeezing him just enough so that he squealed with pleasure.
"John..." Pete said, catching the alien's gaze square on. He wanted to ask, 'Why keep it from Rose?' but something about the way John was looking at him, or rather, away from him, keeping both eyes vaguely fixed in Pete's direction, told him that the Time Lord wouldn't answer. No sense in disturbing the man...
"That's right, Tony! Very good! There is a baby growing inside me, just like when you grew inside your mum. And when it's grown big enough, it'll start to come out of me and be born, just like you did. Weeeellll, it won't be QUITE like that, but close enough for government work. What do you say to a new little niece, eh?" John said, cupping the boy's cheek with his long fingers. "I'll still love you just as much as her, you know, so you mustn't worry about a thing. Now then, all of you ought to let me alone so's I can get some sleep. I'm going to need it, these next few weeks." His eyebrows raising pure delight, he smiled again at Tony, who got in a quick snuggle against the half-human Time Lord's suit-obscured waist and then carefully slid down to the floor, making a beeline for Jackie.
"God. Do you know when it happened? You've only been with us four months..." She asked, her own brows slamming together like two bits of lodestone, her wide eyes bright as high beams as she considered his slim shape.
His blistering smile said all. "Well, not particularly, since Rose and I have, er...been together so often since that first day on the beach when we kissed...it could easily have been then. In fact, judging by how far I'm gone, it could very well have been. Anyway, as I recall my first child's gestation and add a little bit of human to the mix, I have about two weeks to a month. It's not exact with us, nature of the beast and what. But don't worry, Jackie! I should be fine! If everything goes well there'll be a quick flash of pain, a bit of dizziness, and then plop! Out she comes, bundle o' joy, baby makes two and heat up the milk! Oh, gaaah! But seriously, can you three clear off for a bit? Daddy is long overdue for his afternoon nap." His fingers ticked down over his abdomen again, sliding back and forth as he rubbed the still-taut muscles beneath his office shirt and cooed to the tiny life growing beneath them. "Oh, I am soo soo sorry to make you wait! Oh yes I am! Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes..."
Pete had gone off -probably at his wife's behest- and come back with a tray of something; Jackie was in her chair with one hand on her cheek, evidently still trying to sort it all out. "Two weeks to a month, huh? That's efficient," she griped. "Wait. Should be? What if you're not? What if it's ectopic or something? We can't do anything for you if you have complications..."
"Ectopic gestation isn't a possibility, Jackie. Neither is a tube birth or any of the other nasty problems you poor creatures have, being as that I have nothing that even remotely resembles a human ovarian structure. But I am deeply gratified that you asked, and I thank you for your concern. Though, I am beginning to wonder whose side you're on, as you seem intent on keeping me awake..."
"Jacks! For god's sake let the man rest!" Pete murmured to his wife, who looked like she was about to ply the pregnant, half-human Time Lord lounging on their couch with another barrage of questions. But she only took John's slender hand and patted his fingers gently, like any good gram would.
"Well, I guess it's okay to leave you alone for a few hours, but promise me you'll tell me if you need something else to eat, aye? It won't do for either of you to go without good food, in your state, Time Lord or no. You hear me? But, you do know it's all right if you can't manage the sandwiches? If it looks like you won't be tucking in right away, we'll just put them back up till you're about again."
The Time Lord nodded solemnly, letting his eyes drink in her motherly gaze. "Now how could I possibly see fit to starve myself with you around, Jackie Tyler? Oi!" He blew her a kiss. "Oh, go on, you! We'll be fine. Better than fine. We'll be fantastic! But I really ought to take my hour now, so if you could beat a hasty exit with your young man and Pete, there..."
So they all shuffled out as a group, leaving John alone on the couch, with the tray Pete had brought sitting on a small side table. He smiled. There was a dog-eared book of baby names, a glass of water and a white salad plate of thick little peanut butter and banana sandwiches all piled and covered in plastic wrap. Judging by the very slight mist of condensation on the inside of the plastic, the sandwiches must have been ready beforehand...Grinning at Jackie's thoughtfulness, he slipped off his red converse and eased back into the cushions, settling himself before unwrapping the happy little tower of wholesome goodies on the plate and digging in. Yes, a bite to eat and a catnap would be good for the both of them. Before long the plate was empty, the glass too, both stacked neatly on the tray again with nary a drop or crumb to show for it. After an hour or so, Jackie came in to check up on him and found him stretched out on the couch with the name book over his nose. That she removed and set down carefully on the little side table, but after that she let him be, lingering only to set a nice cool washcloth on his forehead and pull his long coat up over his legs and torso while he slept.