The Million-Pound Question Chapter 6

A Blue Blanket

Rose nursed her poked finger as she searched the infirmary for a bandage. She had punctured her skin while making an attempt at sewing. Her project, a deep blue blanket, was discarded in the corner of her and the Doctor's room. She bent down to check a low cabinet, and then cursed when her swollen belly prevented her from bending down low enough. The cabinet slowly slid upward, and Rose smiled.

"Thanks Old Girl," she said brightly. In the cabinet, there was a bandage just the right size, so she applied it quickly, and with a sigh, resigned herself back to her task.

Back in their room, Rose sat down with the piece of blue silk, not unlike the one she had used at her bonding ceremony not three months ago. These Time Lord pregnancies went about twice as fast as a human's did- so she was almost due. She shifted, adjusting in her rocking chair. She picked up her needle- which the TARDIS had replaced twice- and began to sew another crude line of stitches. That's where the Doctor found her an hour later, toiling over that same blanket.

"Come on love, how much time have you spent with that thing today?" He came bearing a cup of tea, and a plate of Jammy Dodgers. (He had eaten half already, but Rose didn't need to know that.)

"A little while,"Rose said. When the Doctor coughed something about being evasive, she sighed and said,"Four hours today, three yesterday, and three the previous night."

He shook his head, smiling at his wife's tenacity until he noticed her hands."What happened?" He knelt beside her, and gingerly cupped her fingers.

"I kept pricking myself," she said, embarrassed.

He rubbed her fingers gently."Come on, love. Don;t work yourself so-" he gasped, and fell backwards. He leaped back up, and ran to her stomach."I can hear him," he cried. Seeing Rose's confusion- her telepathy still wasn't so good- he touched her temples.

Rose gasped too. In the back of her head, there was a faint voice. It came in a small whisper, a slight tickle in a corner of her mind. She felt her eyes well up.

"His telepathic skills are beginning to function," the Doctor explained."He's reaching out to us now." He laid his hands on her midsection, and smiled."I showed him the blanket, and he said it looks wonderful."

"Well then," Rose replied,"I have a month and a half left. Better get this done."