Fic: The Secret to Life, the Universe and Everything
Title: The Secret to Life, the Universe and Everything
Authors: goldy_dollar and mrv3000
Pairing: Ten/Rose
Rated: G
Warnings: Baby!fic
A/N: The only way to exorcise baby!fic is to write it. And to drag others down with you. Thanks to beck_liz for the beta!
*
*
He loved that he had her eyes. The Doctor had looked through so many different pairs of eyes, that seeing his own looking back at him wouldn't have been as...something. It was hard to identify what exactly it wouldn't have been, but whatever it was, it wouldn't have been as good as Rose's eyes.
His son. Rose's eyes.
It couldn't get much better than that.
Ten fingers. Ten toes. Two hearts... For a short while there they weren't sure whether it was Human twins or one Gallifreyan, but dominant genetics had won out. Except for the eyes. When he regenerated -- and if the Doctor had anything to do with it, that wouldn't happen for a good couple of centuries -- he'd lose her eyes. But for now...
Luke blew a spit bubble at him. The only polite thing to do was to blow one back. That earned him a giggle.
The giggle disappeared as Luke's little internal clock seemed to click over that it had now been ten full minutes since Mummy was in his presence. His eyes darted around.
"Oh, calm down. She's in the bath." The Doctor waved the stuffed elephant in his face, which he grabbed and promptly stuck the trunk in his mouth.
"And since she is, now might be a good time to have a man-to-man chat."
Luke stared and drooled.
"It's time to let you in on the secret of the universe. It's what makes planets revolve around suns! It brings order to chaos! And other such things."
Luke began to chew on the trunk.
"I see I've piqued your interest."
The chewing continued and the Doctor leaned his head close.
"The secret is to keep your Mummy happy."
The baby stopped chewing.
"Ah, a skeptic. Don't worry, you'll learn. And you know, you might also want to think about the fact that you'll want to have a brother or a sister someday. Or both. Several? Hmm. Suppose we should talk about that. But anyway, the trick is to make her want more of you. Simple, yeah?"
Luke gave him a toothless grin.
"There you go! Turn on the charm! You get that from me, by the way."
The drool began again.
"And that you get from Jackie."
The Doctor heard the soft sound of a door closing from down a corridor.
"Although that part will be our little secret, all right? No need to tell your Mummy about the fact that every single bad trait of yours, including that whole spitting up thing, comes from your Gran. No need at all. But they do."
The Doctor could hear footsteps in the corridor.
"Remember, now. Happy Mummy makes the universe go 'round!"
Luke threw the elephant at the Doctor's face and laughed.
*
"I think we should have another one!"
There was a small crash as Rose dropped the toy action figure she'd been in the process of picking up.
Ever since his chat with Luke the other day, the idea of having more children kept pushing against his mind. But in retrospect, the Doctor realized that perhaps now was not the best time to be sharing his future hopes.
The room looked a little like it had been hit by a hurricane. Or a small alien invasion. He diplomatically refrained from pointing out that their son's record-breaking ability to throw things meant he was very, very special.
"I have been up for eighteen hours straight," Rose hissed. "I have dried spit-up in my hair. My hands smell like baby powder. And you want more of them?"
The Doctor decided to take that as an indication that baby-making would probably not be starting that night.
"Yes!" he said. A little too loudly.
Luke rolled over on one side and emitted a warning snort.
Rose's look told him she would chuck him out of his own TARDIS if he woke Luke up. He dutifully dropped his voice.
"Children need siblings, Rose." He nodded lots to demonstrate his point. "Especially now that Gallifrey's gone."
He told himself that bringing up his long-dead planet was, in no way, wrong and manipulative.
Rose looked a little guilty. "I guess," she said. She bent down to pick up the toy action figure, not seeming entirely enthused by the idea.
"A girl!" the Doctor said. "That's what we need! To... play tea and...and -- I know -- braid hair with!"
Rose gave a small smile. "Easy for you to say. You're not the one who has to carry a tiny succubus inside you for nine months."
He decided to ignore Rose's choice of words. "Actually, on Gallifrey--"
Rose plugged her fingers in her ears. "Don't want to know! Nothing that involves you and getting pregnant. Nuh-uh! Nope!"
She could be so contradictory sometimes. He frowned.
"Actually," he said. "Last time I said we could just grow the fetus in one of the TARDIS's habitation wings. But did you listen to me? Noooo. It was all: 'Doctor, this is our baby! I want to give it a natural birth!' Or -- and this one is my favourite: 'My Mum did it this way, and I turned out okay, didn't I? Don't worry, I won't break your hand when I go into labour.' Which, by the way, turned out to be a lie."
Rose crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him.
Oh, that hadn't come out right. He immediately tried to backpedal.
"Not that I don't think that was the right decision to make, mind you, given the way things turned out. Have you noticed that Luke has your eyes? Great eyes. Love those eyes." He brightened. "Also, if we had another one, we could buy more baby clothes! There's this self-cleaning bib on the planet Feta in the year 56890. Genius."
Rose grinned, but more in a you're-completely-mad sort of way and less a you-are-the-world's-most-awesome-Time-Lord way. Clearly, they'd just have to take this one step at a time.
"I think," Rose said slowly. "That Luke does deserve a sibling."
"Or two," he interjected, grinning. "Or three--or--"
Rose cleared her throat. "Except maybe in a few years? When he's not throwing things anymore?"
The Doctor figured that might never happen, but he nodded like he agreed. "Few years, yeah," he said. "Good. Good idea. Great idea. Lots of time to practice!"
He beamed at her. She beamed back.
And that smile of hers... That really *was* the secret to life, the universe and everything. Which was stealing from Douglas Adams, but the Doctor was sure he wouldn't mind as he was a decent sort of chap.
It was at that moment that Luke woke up and let out an ear-piercing wail.
"I'll just..." he gestured at the crib behind him. He carefully avoided looking at Rose's expression as he turned around to tend to his son.
"Now," he began. Remarkable that such a loud noise could come out of such a tiny person, really. "We need to have a talk about listening to your elders..."
Authors: goldy_dollar and mrv3000
Pairing: Ten/Rose
Rated: G
Warnings: Baby!fic
A/N: The only way to exorcise baby!fic is to write it. And to drag others down with you. Thanks to beck_liz for the beta!
*
*
He loved that he had her eyes. The Doctor had looked through so many different pairs of eyes, that seeing his own looking back at him wouldn't have been as...something. It was hard to identify what exactly it wouldn't have been, but whatever it was, it wouldn't have been as good as Rose's eyes.
His son. Rose's eyes.
It couldn't get much better than that.
Ten fingers. Ten toes. Two hearts... For a short while there they weren't sure whether it was Human twins or one Gallifreyan, but dominant genetics had won out. Except for the eyes. When he regenerated -- and if the Doctor had anything to do with it, that wouldn't happen for a good couple of centuries -- he'd lose her eyes. But for now...
Luke blew a spit bubble at him. The only polite thing to do was to blow one back. That earned him a giggle.
The giggle disappeared as Luke's little internal clock seemed to click over that it had now been ten full minutes since Mummy was in his presence. His eyes darted around.
"Oh, calm down. She's in the bath." The Doctor waved the stuffed elephant in his face, which he grabbed and promptly stuck the trunk in his mouth.
"And since she is, now might be a good time to have a man-to-man chat."
Luke stared and drooled.
"It's time to let you in on the secret of the universe. It's what makes planets revolve around suns! It brings order to chaos! And other such things."
Luke began to chew on the trunk.
"I see I've piqued your interest."
The chewing continued and the Doctor leaned his head close.
"The secret is to keep your Mummy happy."
The baby stopped chewing.
"Ah, a skeptic. Don't worry, you'll learn. And you know, you might also want to think about the fact that you'll want to have a brother or a sister someday. Or both. Several? Hmm. Suppose we should talk about that. But anyway, the trick is to make her want more of you. Simple, yeah?"
Luke gave him a toothless grin.
"There you go! Turn on the charm! You get that from me, by the way."
The drool began again.
"And that you get from Jackie."
The Doctor heard the soft sound of a door closing from down a corridor.
"Although that part will be our little secret, all right? No need to tell your Mummy about the fact that every single bad trait of yours, including that whole spitting up thing, comes from your Gran. No need at all. But they do."
The Doctor could hear footsteps in the corridor.
"Remember, now. Happy Mummy makes the universe go 'round!"
Luke threw the elephant at the Doctor's face and laughed.
*
"I think we should have another one!"
There was a small crash as Rose dropped the toy action figure she'd been in the process of picking up.
Ever since his chat with Luke the other day, the idea of having more children kept pushing against his mind. But in retrospect, the Doctor realized that perhaps now was not the best time to be sharing his future hopes.
The room looked a little like it had been hit by a hurricane. Or a small alien invasion. He diplomatically refrained from pointing out that their son's record-breaking ability to throw things meant he was very, very special.
"I have been up for eighteen hours straight," Rose hissed. "I have dried spit-up in my hair. My hands smell like baby powder. And you want more of them?"
The Doctor decided to take that as an indication that baby-making would probably not be starting that night.
"Yes!" he said. A little too loudly.
Luke rolled over on one side and emitted a warning snort.
Rose's look told him she would chuck him out of his own TARDIS if he woke Luke up. He dutifully dropped his voice.
"Children need siblings, Rose." He nodded lots to demonstrate his point. "Especially now that Gallifrey's gone."
He told himself that bringing up his long-dead planet was, in no way, wrong and manipulative.
Rose looked a little guilty. "I guess," she said. She bent down to pick up the toy action figure, not seeming entirely enthused by the idea.
"A girl!" the Doctor said. "That's what we need! To... play tea and...and -- I know -- braid hair with!"
Rose gave a small smile. "Easy for you to say. You're not the one who has to carry a tiny succubus inside you for nine months."
He decided to ignore Rose's choice of words. "Actually, on Gallifrey--"
Rose plugged her fingers in her ears. "Don't want to know! Nothing that involves you and getting pregnant. Nuh-uh! Nope!"
She could be so contradictory sometimes. He frowned.
"Actually," he said. "Last time I said we could just grow the fetus in one of the TARDIS's habitation wings. But did you listen to me? Noooo. It was all: 'Doctor, this is our baby! I want to give it a natural birth!' Or -- and this one is my favourite: 'My Mum did it this way, and I turned out okay, didn't I? Don't worry, I won't break your hand when I go into labour.' Which, by the way, turned out to be a lie."
Rose crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him.
Oh, that hadn't come out right. He immediately tried to backpedal.
"Not that I don't think that was the right decision to make, mind you, given the way things turned out. Have you noticed that Luke has your eyes? Great eyes. Love those eyes." He brightened. "Also, if we had another one, we could buy more baby clothes! There's this self-cleaning bib on the planet Feta in the year 56890. Genius."
Rose grinned, but more in a you're-completely-mad sort of way and less a you-are-the-world's-most-awesome-Time-Lord way. Clearly, they'd just have to take this one step at a time.
"I think," Rose said slowly. "That Luke does deserve a sibling."
"Or two," he interjected, grinning. "Or three--or--"
Rose cleared her throat. "Except maybe in a few years? When he's not throwing things anymore?"
The Doctor figured that might never happen, but he nodded like he agreed. "Few years, yeah," he said. "Good. Good idea. Great idea. Lots of time to practice!"
He beamed at her. She beamed back.
And that smile of hers... That really *was* the secret to life, the universe and everything. Which was stealing from Douglas Adams, but the Doctor was sure he wouldn't mind as he was a decent sort of chap.
It was at that moment that Luke woke up and let out an ear-piercing wail.
"I'll just..." he gestured at the crib behind him. He carefully avoided looking at Rose's expression as he turned around to tend to his son.
"Now," he began. Remarkable that such a loud noise could come out of such a tiny person, really. "We need to have a talk about listening to your elders..."