Rose stepped out of the TARDIS onto the playground and took a moment to revel in the familiar surroundings. She clutched the strap of her backpack in one hand. The other rested on her stomach, which was now noticeably swollen. The Doctor stepped out beside her and took her backpack from her, swinging it up onto his shoulder.

“You ready?” she asked.

“To face your mum?” he replied, looking decidedly glum. “Nope. But there's no avoiding this, is there?”

“Nope,” Rose replied, taking her hand in his.

She started calling the instant she got the front door open. “Mum! Mum, it's us! We're back!”

“Oh, Rose!” she heard Jackie yell from the kitchen. She hurried into view, her face lit up. Then her eyes fell on Rose and she stopped dead in her tracks. “Rose, what's happened to you?”

Rose smiled uncertainly. “We're going to have a baby,” she said. “Mum...are you all right?”

Jackie suddenly whirled on the Doctor. “This is all your fault!” she yelled, and slapped him across the face. “You've done this to my Rose! You hateful man!”

“Mum, stop it!” Rose grabbed her mother's arm before Jackie could hit the Doctor again. The Doctor backed out of harm's way, looking extremely alarmed. “Mum, stop!”

Jackie finally stopped trying to attack the Doctor and calmed down enough to listen to her daughter. “It's all right, Mum,” Rose said. “We want this. I love him and he loves me and we're going to have a baby. Your grandchild. You're going to be a grandmum.”

“Oh,” Jackie said, her eyes growing wide. “Oh, I need to sit down.” She lowered herself onto the couch and Rose sat beside her. The Doctor gingerly perched on the edge of the armchair, rubbing his hands together. “How far along are you?” Jackie asked at length.

“About five months,” Rose replied. “We would have come sooner, but all sorts of things came up.”

“But you've only been gone a couple of months,” Jackie insisted.

“The wonders of time travel,” the Doctor muttered under his breath. He blinked and looked up into the kitchen. “Uh, Jackie...what's that?”

Rose followed his gaze and saw the blurred gray outline. “Mum?” she squeaked.

“Oh, don't worry,” Jackie said, suddenly brightening up. “It's just the ghost shift.”

*****

Rose opened the door of the TARDIS a crack and peered out. The Doctor had told her to stay inside no matter what, to not come out in any circumstances, but that was before the Daleks and Cybermen had gone to war. She watched them firing at each other through the warehouse, completely bewildered. Where had they all come from?

Then she caught sight of the Doctor peeking through the door. He edged further into the warehouse, and then made a dash towards one of the crates. A dying Cyberman knocked him sprawling, and for a moment he didn't get up.

Rose didn't stop to think. She flung open the TARDIS door and darted across the space separating her from the father of her child. She grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet. The Doctor snatched two objects from the crate and they dashed out of the warehouse.

“Rose!” Jackie exclaimed, sweeping her daughter into a tight hug. “You're all right.”

“I'm fine, Mum,” she said, hugging her back. Then she caught sight of the rest of the group. “Mickey? What are you doing here?”

“Long story,” he replied. “How are you? How's the baby?”

“Fine. We're both fine,” Rose said, giving up on understanding anything that was going on. “Jake, Pete. Hi.”

“Hi,” Jake said, waving.

“No time for this,” the Doctor said, glaring at Rose. “We have to get to the top floor to see what they're doing with the Genesis Ark.” Rose didn't bother asking what the Genesis Ark was. She just grabbed her mum's hand and followed as they piled into the lift.

They lined the windows on the top floor, a long white room that ended in a blank wall. They stared in horror as the Daleks poured out of the Ark, filling the sky with their malevolent forms. Rose groped for the Doctor's hand.

“What are we going to do?” she whispered.

“I have a plan,” he whispered back.

At that moment, two Daleks burst through the window, showering them with broken glass. The Doctor grabbed his companion and shielded her body with his.

“Exterminate!” the Daleks shrieked. “Exterminate!”

“Go!” the Doctor yelled. “All of you go! Back to the other world!”

It was chaos. Jake and Mickey were trying to fire while Pete dragged Jackie away from the Daleks. Rose yelled at the Doctor to do something, but he was visibly torn between protecting his lover and enacting his plan.

“Exterminate!” screamed the Daleks.

“Stop!” The voice resonated through the room, shaking the floor and lifting the fine hairs at the back of the neck. The Doctor stared at Rose in horror. She stood by the shattered window, her hair whipping in the wind. Light surrounded her in a golden halo and burned in her eyes. “Stop!” she commanded again.

“Identify new threat!” one of the Daleks ordered.

“I am Bad Wolf,” the entity announced. “I am eternity. I am time, and yours is up.” She lifted a hand and the Dalek dissolved into golden sparks. The other followed not long after.

“Rose, you can't do this,” the Doctor yelled, reaching for her. “The Time Vortex is gone!”

“I cannot be undone,” the entity replied. “I create myself, and I will always exist.” She turned to look out at the war unfolding on the ground below. “This ends now.” She waved her hand. “I open the walls between the worlds, and I protect life.” One by one, Jake, Mickey, Pete, and Jackie vanished, transported to the other side of the temporal rift. Then the blank, white wall rippled, in its place a blinding white light. “I open the Howling and let it claim its own.”

Bad Wolf reached out and seized the Doctor's hand tightly as the Void began to draw everything back into itself, everything that had touched it, that was covered in its shroud. It lasted forever, the wind whistling around them, but they stood firm, anchored by Bad Wolf. The Daleks and the Cybermen vanished into the Howling, condemned to the hell they had tried to exploit.

Then the breach between the universes closed, the wind died and the light faded, leaving Rose and the Doctor standing side-by-side in the white room. Rose blinked as if waking up from a deep sleep. Then a look of horror crossed her face when she realized what she had done.

“Mum!” she screamed, running towards the wall. She slammed her hands against it. “No! Mum!” The Doctor took her by the shoulders and turned her away from the breach, wrapping her in his arms. “Bring her back,” Rose begged him. “Please, bring Mum back.”

“I'm sorry,” he murmured into her hair. “Rose, I'm so sorry. There's nothing I can do.”

She broke down into sobs, clinging to her lover as if he was her only support.

*****

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Rose asked, looking over the Doctor's shoulder.

“As sure as I can be,” he replied, intent on his work. “You won't have much time, just a couple of minutes. We're lucky to have found a supernova with the necessary energy output.”

“When will it be ready?”

“Just give me a second to finish these calibrations,” he said. He pointed his sonic screwdriver at the connections. “There we go. Stand right there.”

Rose circled the console to stand on the spot he had indicated. Suddenly, another image superimposed itself over the interior of the TARDIS: a rocky beach with white sand and her mum standing a few paces away.

“Rose!” Jackie exclaimed, stepping closer. “I knew it was you.” She paused, looking her daughter up and down. “You look like a ghost.”

“Oh, sorry,” Rose muttered, trying to keep her tears under control. “Doctor?” He used his sonic screwdriver again and the shore solidified around her. “Hi, mum.”

“Rose, I've missed you so much,” Jackie said, reaching up to touch her daughter's face. Her fingers passed through Rose's cheek, doing nothing to stem the flow of tears.

“I know. I've missed you, too,” Rose said in a choked voice. “Mum, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to send you there. I just...I just wanted you safe.”

“I know, sweetie,” Jackie said sadly. “It's all right.”

Rose looked around. “Where are we?”

“Norway. Place called Dalig Ulv Stranden. Means Bad Wolf Bay,” Jackie replied. Rose chuckled humorlessly.

“Figures. How—how is everyone?” Rose asked brokenly.

“We're all fine,” Jackie assured her. “Me, Mickey, your dad, and the baby.”

“The what?” Rose demanded, her hand straying to her own swollen abdomen.

Jackie smiled sadly. “Your little brother or sister,” she said. “I'm three months gone. But look at you! When are you due?”

“A couple of weeks,” Rose replied. “Oh, mum...” She trailed off, not knowing what else to say. “We got married,” she blurted. “The Doctor and me. On a planet called Elloras. The moons were setting and it was beautiful. I wanted you to be there.”

“I'm so happy for you,” Jackie said softly. “How much time have we got?”

Rose looked around at her husband for confirmation. “Forty-five seconds,” she said, the tears flowing unchecked. “Mum...Mum, I love you. I love you so much and I wish we could be together.”

“I love you, too, sweetie,” Jackie said. “But it's time for you to have your own life, now. My baby girl's all grown up.” She wiped at her eyes, smearing mascara. “Have a good life, Rose. Do what makes you happy. And don't worry about me. I'm all right.”

“Okay,” Rose mouthed, unable to force the words past her tears. “Okay, I will. Oh, Mum, the baby's a girl! It's a girl and we're going to call her—” Suddenly the shoreline disappeared and Rose was back in the TARDIS. The Doctor caught her as she collapsed, sobbing uncontrollably/. He held her in his arms, rocking her back and forth.

“I love you, Rose Tyler,” he whispered in her ear. “Everything's going to be all right. I'm going to take care of you.”

A sudden noise made them both jump and spin around. A red-haired woman stood on the other side of the console, dressed in a wedding gown.

“What?” the Doctor sputtered.

“Who are you?” the woman demanded.

“But—” the Doctor began.

“Where am I?” The woman's voice grew more shrill.

“What?” The Doctor obviously had no idea what was going on, and Rose was too miserable to care.

“What the hell is this place?” the woman shouted.

“What?!” the Doctor yelled.

*****

The patient's name was Rose Tyler, and she was due to give birth any day. Martha Jones jotted down the information from the chart, still smarting from the morning's session with Dr. Stoker. The patient and her husband ignored Martha. He sat as close to her side as he could, holding her hand as they talked in low voices.

“Anywhere. Absolutely anywhere in the world, and you wanted London,” Mr. Tyler said.

“What's wrong with London?” Mrs. Tyler asked indignantly. “I was born in London.”

“I know, and don't get me wrong, London's a lovely place,” Mr. Tyler said quickly. “But think about. Anywhere at all. Rome, Cairo, New York, Amsterdam, Moscow, Beijing, Cardiff—”

“Cardiff?” Mrs. Tyler interrupted with an amused grin.

Her husband shrugged. She patted his hand and shook her head.

“No. London's home, and I want her born here. London, England, earth.”

“All right,” he said. “As long as you're sure.”

“I'm sure,” Mrs. Tyler said emphatically.

Martha pushed the strange conversation to the back of her mind and checked the fetal heart monitor the woman was hooked up to. Everything looked normal, so she turned to go. Swales fell into step beside her.

“Have you seen the weather outside?” Swales said. “It's raining something fierce.”

“Surprise, surprise,” Martha said. Her phone began to ring. “Oh, it's my sister. I'll just take this.” The two interns slipped into a staff room and Martha answered the phone. Meanwhile, Mr. Tyler fussed over his wife.

“Are you comfortable?” he asked, fluffing her pillow. “Do you need something to drink? Anything at all?”

“Relax, Doctor,” she said, pulling him back into his chair. “I'm fine. Stop fussing.”

“How can I stop fussing?” he demanded, his eyes wide. “You're about to give birth! We're going have a baby!”

“A baby Doctor crawling around the TARDIS,” Rose said, grinning. “Can you imagine it? It's going to be beautiful.”

“I never thought I'd have more children,” he said softly, resting one hand on his wife's distended abdomen. “The Time War...everything ended.” He smiled suddenly and tousled her hair. “And you, you're a little ape human. How come you're carrying a Time Lord baby? That's just not supposed to happen.”

“Maybe because I'm about as human as you are these days,” Rose retorted.

He laughed and kissed her cheek. “Try to get some rest,” he ordered. “You'll need it.”

That's when the building began to shake and the screaming started.

When everything was finally still, Rose ripped out the sensors and the IV, trying to stand up off the bed. “What's going on?” she demanded. “What's that?”

“Let's go see,” the Doctor grabbed her hand and they headed toward the window, where they were shortly joined by two young women in white coats.

“We're on the bloody moon!” Martha exclaimed.

“It's beautiful,” Rose said, her face wreathed in a smile. “Look, Doctor, there! You can see the earth!”

“It's real,” Martha muttered. “It's really real. Hold on!” She reached for the window latch but Swales caught her hand.

“Don't!” she cried. “We'll lose all the air.”

“Don't be silly,” Rose snapped. “The building's hardly airtight; there's got to be something else holding the air in.”

“Right you are, darling,” the Doctor said, peering out the window. He then looked over at Rose questioningly.

“Go on, then,” she said, making a shooing gesture. “Find out what we're doing here.”

“Right.” He swung around to face Martha. “Is there a balcony on this floor, or a veranda?”

“By the patient's lounge, yeah,” she replied. Unlike the other occupants of the hospital, she looked remarkably calm.

“Fancy going out?” the Doctor asked.

“Okay,” Martha said promptly.

“Good girl. Lead the way.” As they left, the Doctor half-turned and called to Swales. “My wife's having a baby. Keep an eye on her for me, will you?”

Swales was shaking, pale with fear. Rose slipped her arm around her shoulders. “Don't worry,” Rose said soothingly. “He knows what he's doing. He'll have you home in no time at all.”

“But the air,” Swales insisted. “We'll run out of air and we'll all die!”

“None of that,” Rose said sharply. “I don't know about you but I don't plan on dying today, so you'll stop that sort of talk. Oh!” Her hands flew to her belly. “Oh, I do hope that was supposed to happen.”

Swales pulled herself together enough to look over Rose quickly. “It's your water, ma'am,” she said, indicating the puddle on the floor. “It's broke. You're going into labor.”

Rose sighed heavily. “Fantastic,” she said.

The Doctor returned about a quarter of an hour later, Martha in tow. Rose was back on the bed, looking pale and sweaty. Her breath was coming in pants. The Doctor was at her side in a flash, fumbling for her hand. Her grip was crushing.

“Rose, what's the matter?” he demanded, alarmed.

“Nothing,” she replied. “So far, everything seems to be normal, right, Swales?”

“I'm sorry, but I'm not training to by a obstetrician!” the med student wailed.

“What are you on about?” the Doctor asked, frowning at the woman.

“The baby's coming,” Rose said through gritted teeth. “Right now. So you find out how we got on the moon, and you send us back, because my baby's not going to be born on the bleeding moon.”

“It's the Judoon,” he told her. “They used an H2O scoop to bring us here. They've started cataloging everyone. I think they're looking for a non-human.”

“That's not good,” Rose panted. “What're we going to do?”

“Well, I think your DNA still reads as human, but I'm not so lucky. I'm going to have to stay out of their way.”

“So you're serious?” Martha said. “You're really not human?”

“Looks can be deceiving,” the Doctor replied, his attention still on Rose. “We have to find whoever it is the Judoon are looking for and make sure they find them before they find me.”

She nodded, her hair clinging to her neck. A groan cut off her words as the next contraction hit. “How are you gonna do that?” she finally managed.

“I'll check through the records, see if there's any patients admitted with unusual symptoms,” he said. “Are you going to be all right?”

“I'm always all right,” she said, parroting his own words back to him. “Just go.”

“I love you,” he told her.

“Love you, too. Now get out of here.”

Rose burst out laughing when the Judoon arrived on her floor. “Space rhinos!” she shouted, not caring if they heard. “They're a bunch of space rhinos!” Then she cried out in pain as every muscle in her abdomen clenched.

“Human,” the Judoon declared, marking a black X on her hand. It scanned Swales as well and came to the same conclusion. They stomped off in search of more people to scan. Rose started laughing again.

“What's so funny?” Swales asked, her eyes large an teary.

“Space pigs, and now space rhinos,” Rose giggled. “What's next? Kangaroos?”

Her contractions were less than two minutes apart when her husband reappeared, this time without Martha. “Rose, I found who the Judoon were looking for and I have a plan but it involves me doing something stupid and I'm very, very sorry and I love you so much,” he said in a rush.

She stared at him. “What plan?” she demanded breathlessly. “How stupid?”

He took her hand tightly. “How are you holding up? How's our baby girl?”

“We're both fine,” Rose said. “But Swales said that we're running out of oxygen.”

“Don't worry,” the Doctor said, kissing her forehead. “I'll have everything sorted out in no time. I have to go, but I'll be back as soon as I can, all right?” Rose nodded and held his hand until he stepped away, their fingers sliding apart.

Minutes passed, but he didn't come back. The air grew stale and heavy, and Rose had a hard time concentrating. Swales, however, made a partial recovery and stood by Rose as the baby came, ordering her to push and catching the infant girl.

Rose cradled her daughter in her arms, wrapped in a sheet and still wet. “My little girl,” she whispered. “Born on the moon.” The baby's mouth opened and closed as if she was gasping for breath. Rose could barely keep her eyes open. Swales had succumbed minutes earlier. Rose took a deep breath, her last, and gently blew into her daughter's nostrils to fill the baby's lungs. Then everything spun into darkness.

Rose woke with a pounding headache. Every muscle in her body was sore. She opened her eyes and found she was still in the hospital.

“Good morning,” said a cheery voice to her left. She turned her head and saw the Doctor sitting beside her bed, holding their daughter in his arms. “How you feeling? Headache? That's normal for oxygen deprivation.”

“Let me see her,” Rose said, reaching for the infant. The Doctor put the baby in her arms and rested his chin on Rose's shoulder.

“Oh, she's beautiful,” he whispered. “She looks just like you.”

“Are we gonna use it?” Rose asked. “The name we picked out?”

“Yup,” he replied. He reached down to cup the infant's head in his hand. “Olivia Jacqueline Tyler.” He smiled at Rose. “Oh, Rose. You did a brilliant job.”

She smiled back. “So did you. Thanks for saving me. Again.”