Anything wrong with this story is my fault. Hope it's alright :)

Birth

"No! I don't care about that. I just want to get up! I've been stuck in a bed for over a month. Please...just let me go outside and get some fresh air."

"Don't be stupid! You can't stand up without putting too much pressure on your own body, and that would stress the baby. Just lie down and we'll get something to help you rest and sleep. You'll need your energy soon, the baby is ready to be born, and you could go into labour at any second."

Jackie watched as Rose and the Doctor bickered over his health. Those two had been bickering since the Doctor had been moved to the UNIT house he was staying at to have the baby, and with being stuck, he was getting a bit sick and tired.

Rose was right though. He wasn't female, his body not made for bearing children. His hips hadn't softened and shifted so he found it hard to walk with the added weight and width of his extended belly. His feet had swollen so even for the few minutes he got up to go walk around for a bit of exercise, he found it pained him even further.

His back was aching him even more than his feet. The past few hours, he had been complaining of nothing but that and how bored he was. Yet again, he'd been complaining of boredom since he had gotten there.

Any stress to his body stressed the baby, so mainly he had been put on almost complete bed rest.

He hated every second of it.

"Please, Rose. I need to get up. Please help me up."

Rose looked at him for a few seconds, sighed, went over to his bedside, and helped him to the floor and his feet. "Thank you. I need to pee anyway. The pressure on my bladder right now is a bit more than it usually is."

Something made Jackie frown. She didn't know what it was, but there was something weird about how the Doctor was acting than he usually did. He seemed more urgent somehow. "You alright?" she asked, watching him and Rose as they slowly and carefully made their way to the small toilet built into the room.

He nodded. "Yeah, just need to pee, like usual, and would rather do it in a toilet than a bloody bottle, thanks."

She nodded, but the frown didn't leave her face. Rose went in there with him, and stepped out as he did his business. He had to sit down now, not being able to go standing up. That also annoyed him. Yet again, everything about this was annoying him.

"Rose! I'm done!" he shouted out a few minutes later. Minutes, it shouldn't have taken him minutes to pee. God, all they needed was him also constipated. That really pissed him off.

He was walking even slower than usual. Rose helped him make his way back to the bed, and got him comfortable when he was on it again. Rose went to his feet and begun to massage them afterwards to try and help with the pain.

"No, not my feet. My back. It's really hurting today."

"You sure? Usually it's your feet."

"Yeah, back. It's been aching worse than usual."

Jackie watched as he huffed and shifted to one side, his hand at his lower back, rubbing at a spot that made warning bells go off in her head. "Doctor, I'm getting a doctor."

He looked at her with a frown. "Why? I'm fine. It's just my back. It's been hurting me for ages."

She folded her hands under her chest and arched an eyebrow at him. "Your back is hurting you more than your feet after you had just been up and for a walk? Sometimes back pain is more felt than pain at the front when someone's in labour."

He stared blankly at her. Sighing she threw her hands up in the air. "What, you think all women are the same? Typical bloody male! Some women don't ever have pain in their front at all!"

Now he was beginning to look scared and then he winced. "Bloody hell, don't say things like that, the baby is kicking up a bloody storm now, thanks to elevated heart rate."

He rubbed at his belly, while Rose rubbed at his back. After a few seconds he relaxed. "Mmm, massage makes pain go away. Nice."

Jackie watched as Rose smiled at his back, and he closed his eyes and let himself get some much needed rest. She feared she was right and that he had started having contractions and not even noticed it. She supposed they'd find out sooner or later anyway. If the pain had gone away after a bit, it was likely the next time it returned it would be worse and last for a longer stretch of time.

He slept for 2 hours, before shifting slightly and woke up with a grimace. Rose was off getting a drink, but she was who the Doctor called out for. "Rose! Ow. Pain. Please. Jackie, where is she?"

"Getting us some tea. She'll be back soon. She just needed to stretch her legs for a bit."

As if on cue, Rose entered the room again, a bright smile on her face, and three cups of tea on a tray. "Doctor, you're up. Thought you'd sleep for a bit longer."

"Sleep? Bloody hell. I'm dying is what I'm doing. Gah!" He hunched forward and held his back. "Ow. This is worse than before. Much worse than before."

After a minute or two the pain died down to what it was normally and he grimaced in distress. "Bloody hell, Jackie...maybe you should go get the doctor. This cannot be normal."

Nodding, Jackie got out of there fast. No offence to the Doctor, but she really didn't like it when he was in the type of mood to swear. The doctor who would help with the birth was nearby thankfully, and she went to fetch the woman as soon as the Doctor asked her to.

Dr. Fitzgerald wasn't in her rooms. She wasn't even in the building Jackie soon found out, as one of the UNIT grunts (she knew no other word to call the soldiers that guarded the place but seemed to have no other purpose) told her. Apparently there had been some fight and the doctor had been called away to help an injured UNIT man.

"Great! The Doctor is probably in labour and none of you are ready for it. How did I know this would happen? I'm not cutting him open to get the bloody thing out!"

By the time she got back to his room, her tea was cold, but the other cups were empty, and the Doctor was once again on his feet, walking slowly from one side of the room to the other. "What the hell are you doing? Get back in the bed."

He glared at her, he hadn't glared at her like that since the last time he had been asked a personal question. "It hurts less to stand. It helps to move. I like moving. Moving is good. Oh GOD THIS IS NOT RIGHT!"

He was holding his lower back with one hand, fingers splayed as if trying to touch all of it in a calming way, and the other one under the swelling of his belly. It was cupping what she could only presume was where the baby was doing its thing in there. It was low. It had always been low, but not like this...

"Oh god, what happened?"

"I think it might have...detached itself, its playing havoc with my insides. I need it out Jackie. Where the hell did Fitzgerald disappear to? Weren't you getting her? I WANT THIS OUT OF ME! ARGH!"

"She had to leave on UNIT business. The guys outside said she'd be back shortly."

He stopped walking to lean against the bed for a few minutes, the fight having gone out of him, and he breathed deeply and as calmly as he could during those minutes. "Oh, bloody hell. I think it might still be attached, but not fully. It lowered itself further though, and it hurts like hell. I thought that contractions weren't supposed to be bad all the way through. Not like this, and it's in my front now too. It helps to stand though. Sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you. It's not your fault the doctor meant to be looking after me went AWOL."

Rose, who had been waiting patiently in a corner while he had been walking out his pain, came over to him and laid her hands on his back. "He's really in pain mum. Is this normal?"

Jackie rolled her eyes. "What? All those lessons in school and you never learnt about this? It's the most excruciating thing I ever went through."

Rose sighed and closed her eyes. "I know that, I meant with it shifting like it did in him. It's worrying, that's all."

Closing her own eyes, Jackie shook her head. "I don't know. Not like I have any experience with pregnant males before him, is it?"

The Doctor got back up on his feet, began walking in lines again, before he balled his hands into the mattress of the bed and gave out a strangled scream. He was bending at his knees and she didn't know if it was in some lame attempt of pushing, which would do squat, or if he was doing it to relieve some pressure.

"Fitzgerald better hurry up or I'll bloody kill her for putting me through this!" he ground out through clenched teeth, until the pain passed again and he slumped into a sitting position on the bed again.

He looked exhausted already. If Fitzgerald was here, she doubted that he would still be pregnant. She had said after all that as soon as he went into labour it would be well enough time to deliver. Well, it had been hours now.

What had started off close to hours apart had escalated to minutes. In a short amount of time by her standards. It had taken her twice as long to get to where he was now with Rose.

Rose was back at his side again, rubbing his lower back and holding his hand. He was getting all the emotional support he needed right then from her daughter. She was useless in anything other than stupid information that might not even apply in this situation, to getting the doctor who was conveniently missing.

"I'll go get you some water. It might help to cool you down a bit. You should try resting."

He nodded, and let Rose help him find a comfortable spot lying on his side. She went into the bathroom, grabbed his cup, filled it with water and stared at her reflection for a few minutes. There were bags under her eyes from not sleeping too much. But the same was true for Rose as well, so she ignored that.

It was the drawn look of worry that had camped itself there, written all over her face, which she could only hope went away after this mess was over. And until Fitzgerald came back, there was no hope of that. Stupid bitch.

She raised her eyebrows at her reflection at that thought, sighed, grabbed the full glass and went back out to the room. The Doctor, exhausted, was asleep. Rose was softly rubbing circles on his back still, probably never having stopped, maybe thinking it would help stop the pain from coming back again.

Well, if it did it would be a miracle, and this wasn't something that needed a miracle, this needed a doctor who was currently not here.

Not knowing what else to do, she put down the glass on the bedside table, went to the end of the bed, and started massaging his feet. At least he was off of them for a bit. Less strain on all involved because of that.

He wriggled a bit at first, but he stayed asleep. Even when Fitzgerald came barging in, looking all serious and rushed, he stayed asleep. It took the next bout of strong pain to wake him up. Thankfully, lying down seemed to give him longer stretches between.

"Sorry I was out. There was an emergency. Doctor, how are you feeling?" Fitzgerald stated, when he was awake and looking like he was about to break his teeth with how hard he was clenching them.

"I am going to kill you when this is over..." he ground out, glaring daggers at the woman. "Get this thing out of me. Now!"

"Alright. I just need you to be a little patient while one of the others goes and gets a wheelchair. Then it will be straight to the operating room."

He nodded, eyes closed, as he breathed in short puffs of air. "Okay. Waiting though, done enough of that today. Done enough of that this month. Why couldn't I get someone nice to do this? Someone who wouldn't go disappearing at all hours of the fucking day!"

And now Jackie knew he really was in pain. He never used language like that in front of her. She didn't know if he used it a lot in front of Rose, but judging by the shocked look on her daughter's face, he probably didn't.

Thankfully, the waiting was over after his little burst of rage, and he had enough energy and sense to climb off the bed he was on and into the waiting wheelchair that one of the UNIT grunts had wheeled in.

Sitting helped somewhat, as a few seconds later, he sighed out in a long breath of relief. Jackie hadn't realised she'd been holding her breath until she let out the air she was holding in too.

With her on his left, and Rose to his right, Fitzgerald wheeling him on his way to the operating room, there was no room for any more talk or thinking, as he was too busy just trying to relax for the few minutes of pain free existence he would be in until the next bout of pain.

They arrived at the operating room before that happened thankfully, and she and Rose were told to wait outside until it was over.

They would have to do a bit more of an operation on him than a normal caesarean, given that the sack the baby was in would also have to be removed. Neither of them was allowed in because of this. They'd just have to be surprised later when the baby was out and the Doctor was better.

Five minutes after going in there, they heard the loud wailing of the baby, and with grins, Jackie and Rose went to the doors to go in, at almost the same time. They didn't go in, but they had been expecting someone to come out and show them the baby.

She had no idea what it would look like. It could take after either or both parents, and she still had not been told what these Hippo aliens looked like, but she couldn't get rid of the image of a hippopotamus even though the Doctor had specifically told her they didn't look like that at all. Several times. Especially nearer to him giving birth.

Now the birth part was over, the cries of the baby almost going nonstop.

After half hour of waiting and still no sight of the baby or the Doctor, Rose turned to her with huge worried eyes and a frown. "Something's wrong, mum. What if he's died or something? Has he regenerated again? Don't UNIT know about that? They said they did."

"If that happened he'd be out of it for a while. He was last time, remember? Still, he seemed to get better after a good cup of tea and some turkey dinner. Maybe they just needed more time to get rid of the sack thingy the baby was in."

Rose nodded, but didn't look too pleased with her answer. Well, she didn't know what was going on, but the baby was definitely alive and sounded healthy. Surely it was just the operation being a little slow.

After an hour had passed, she was worrying as much as Rose was. Something bad must have happened. Just as soon as they had made up their minds to barge in there and see what the matter was, one of the nurses that was helping with the operation came out, smiling at them.

"Sorry that took so long. There was a bit of a complication. But the baby is fine, and the Doctor will be soon enough. It will do him good to get some rest though."

"Complication? What complication?!" Rose asked, glaring at the nurse.

"He had a negative reaction to the anaesthesia we gave him. We had to get the baby out right away and succeeded, but he stopped breathing. He's fine now. Just let him rest."

Rose's hands covered her mouth, before she started crying, and Jackie led her to a seat. Sitting down beside her, Jackie turned back to the nurse. "We were wondering if we could see the baby. We've been waiting a while."

"He's being checked over right now. Making sure he's alright. The Doctor told us about the physiology of the mother in case it was needed. It was."

"He. It's a boy. Mum, it's a boy. And he's alive. They're both alive!" Rose grabbed her into a hug, and she found herself laughing along with her daughter over the news. A boy was a change for her. She'd raised a girl, and most of the children she had helped raise had also been girls.

"I heard sweetheart. I wonder if the Doctor will be pleased. He kept it a surprise from himself."

Nodding, Rose got up and stretched, tears still falling, but the look of worry had been wiped away now that they knew both were alive and healthy for the most part. Well, if the Doctor was alive now, that was good enough. He'd at least get to see his kid.

The bed was wheeled out, the Doctor wrapped up in blankets fast asleep by the looks of him. Well, he deserved a rest after what he had just gone through. Just as a woman would. It was exhausting no matter which way it was done. And with the added bonus of having a reaction to the anaesthesia, he'd doubly need it.

He didn't stir as he was wheeled back into his room, and pulled from one bed and back into his own. Rose was sitting in her chair in minutes, grabbing one of his hands and holding it, still smiling, though tears were still slowly running from her eyes.

Still, she was one to talk. Jackie rubbed at her own eyes.

A few minutes later and a much calmer baby was wheeled into the room in a crib, which was put near the bed opposite the side Rose was sitting at. They both grinned at each other, before moving towards the crib to get a first look at the just born baby boy.

Her first look confused her more than anything. For one thing, he had scales. For another, they shined a weird shade between green and blue, with a bit of purple mixed in depending on the light and where her view was. He didn't have a head of hair so to speak, though he did have what could be more stated as a thin mane of wavy material that could be hair, starting from the top of his head and winding down to the bottom of his neck.

He opened his eyes and they were a bright shade of blue that Jackie recognised. They looked like the last Doctor's eyes.

Thankfully, his ears and nose and eyes looked to be human normal. Well, except for colour.

"Wow, he looks like his mother. Hah! Time Lord genes are superior, as if," Rose stated, grinning down at the newborn.

Jackie blinked and nodded. "Well, he doesn't look too much like a human does he? Is this what all Hippos look like? Looks like he got his dad's hair though. Colour of it anyway, look at that."

"Yeah. That'll make the Doctor happy. He likes his hair."

They laughed as quietly as they could, not wanting to wake up the Doctor. "Is it alright to hold him, you think?" Rose asked her, looking at the baby.

"Dunno. You'd have to ask one of the people running around. A doctor or nurse would be best." Rose nodded, but didn't make any move more than she did towards the door. She wrapped her arms around her daughter and smiled. "Well, at least both of them are healthy and safe now."

"Yeah," Rose replied, looking to the sleeping figure still wrapped up and now snoring slightly in the bed.

As if sensing what they were looking at and wanting to see for himself, the baby started to cry loudly. Fitzgerald came rushing in with a bottle in her hands soon afterwards. "Sorry, I forgot to leave this in here with you. He'll need to be fed regularly."

They watched as the woman picked the baby up, held him close to her and fed him the bottle. Jackie frowned. "Shouldn't you wake the Doctor up to do that? It's his after all."

Fitzgerald looked at her and shook her head. "Well, I would wake him, but he's still too much under. He was given a drug to help calm down his reaction. He'll be fine, but it left him a bit dopey. Even if he woke up now, it's unlikely he'd be able to hold the child."

"Can I do it then?" asked Rose, holding out both her hands, and smiled as the baby was placed in them.

"Sure, I don't see why not. Just make sure to support the head and keep him close. Here."

What was left of the bottle was handed to her, and with a bit of help, the baby was placed in the right position and Rose sat down in her chair with a happy baby in her arms. Jackie had never seen her daughter look happier than in that moment.

"I'll bring in some nappies and some more bottles you can give him later. Every two hours or so for feedings. When the Doctor wakes up he can look after him, but only if he is able to support him without doing any harm. He might still be a bit groggy."

Nodding, Jackie thanked the woman and watched as she left, coming in a bit later with a bag of disposable nappies and some bottles ready to be fed to the boy. She left again not long after.

With a yawn, Jackie stretched from her position near the crib and rubbed at her back. "Don't know about you, but I'm knackered. I'm going to lie down for a bit. You alright in here with him? It might help if you put him down to sleep after he's eaten. Oh, I don't know if you're meant to burp him afterwards either, so you might want to do that too. Alright?"

Rose nodded, watching the baby in her arms, and Jackie sighed loudly, doubting one word she said had gotten through, but she was too dead on her feet right then to say it again.

Next door had been converted into a room for her and Rose. She had been staying in it only since he had reached the nine month mark, a week only. Rose had moved in here when the Doctor had. Now she would at least be able to go home and to a proper bed and some real sleep. That'd be good. She could use some.

The beds were not that comfortable and very hard even for her, and she only slept for three hours. Any more than that and it would have been a miracle. Still she was rather surprised to walk back into the room to find Rose sitting in the chair holding onto the Doctor's hand and the baby safely in his cot again.

The Doctor was still asleep, barely having moved from when he had been put in here again after the birth. Still, he looked more like he was sleeping now and not like he had been doped up. The snoring had stopped too, thank god for that.

"The baby was sick all over my top mum. I put him back in the crib after that. Never smelt anything so disgusting since this planet the Doctor took me to that had swamps everywhere. He didn't wake up when I had a shower. He looks better though, don't you think?"

Smiling and nodding she agreed. "Yeah he looks better. He deserves a good long rest anyway, after what he just went through."

"Yeah. Think I might disappear off next door and go sleep some myself. Night, mum."

"Night, Rose."

Silence was all she was left with, unless you could include the steady breathing of the Doctor and the small noises of an awake baby which was content to be ignored for the time being. It was almost an hour when the Doctor began stirring and woke up.

He winced and rubbed a hand softly over his belly and frowned. "Stitches. Groggy. What happened while I was out?"

"You had some kind of reaction to the anaesthetic and was given something to stop it. Don't worry, they got the baby out first so he wasn't doped up or anything. It's a boy by the way. You want to see him?"

He blinked at her, looked around, spotted the crib and grinned. "A boy? He's alright then? Nothing wrong?"

"He's fine. It's feeding time for him by the way, if you want to. Me and Rose have been looking after him. Rose went to bed if you're wondering. Best let her get some sleep."

The Doctor yawned and nodded, still looking rather tired himself. "Yeah, I want to see him, and give him his bottle." He tried sitting up by himself and grunted with pain. "Ow. Alright, I might need a bit of help with the sitting up. My arms are working, but the strain on my stitched muscles is rather..."

"Painful?"

"That's one word for it. I'm going more for excruciating right now. Damn, I am not doing that again anytime soon."

She went to his side, and helped him sit up the best she could with as minimal amount of bending at his waist as possible. After he was up and looking over at the crib, she went and got the baby for him.

"You could have told me what the mum looked like, you know? Might have been a bit of a help with this little one here," she stated, bringing the boy over to the Doctor and placing him in the waiting arms of his father.

He melted as soon as the baby was put into his arms, and she had never seen such a soppy expression on his face before. It wasn't even a human looking baby and yet he was already in love with him.

"Hey there, little one. I'm your dad. Yes I am! Do you want your bottle?"

Jackie handed him the nearest bottle of the milk she could get her hands on and handed it over, watching as the Doctor fed his son for the first time.

"Got any names picked out?"

He didn't look up at her, but he nodded. "I was thinking V names. His mother is Varna. So, I thought maybe Vera for a girl and Varis for a boy."

"Vera I've heard, but not Varis."

He laughed and winced as he did, and the baby let out an annoyed sound at the sudden movement, before going back to his meal. "You think all names have to be human, and if they are, from this time period?"

She blinked. "Nah, I didn't really think of that. Still, it's a nice name."

"I like it. Still don't actually remember where I got it from. Could be someone I can't really remember and it was in the back of my mind. Yet again, I could have totally made it up and I just liked the sound of it."

Jackie smiled at that. "I had no girl names at all picked out. Me and Pete had wanted Tony for a boy, but it didn't happen. We ended up naming Rose from the flowers we got sent as congratulations. Rose likes her name though. Guess it doesn't matter that she's named after a flower."

He grinned and yawned widely as a reply. Without even thinking she took the baby from his arms, burped him and put him back in the crib. By the time she was facing the Doctor again, he was asleep.

Knowing now that both baby and the Doctor truly were fine and out of danger, she decided to join Rose in their room and go back to bed.

It had been a long and rather eventful day, and now she knew they could all rest peacefully.