Clara glanced around the scene in front of her, taking in every sensation that she possibly could. The smell of rain in the air, the sounds of bouncing balls and the feeling of water smacking her umbrella. Pulling her coat closer to her body as she felt a gust of cold wind, Clara listened to the laughter of the children that she had taught and loved for so long; children she was now abandoning to take care of her own babies. A strange shiver of pleasure and fright spiked through the woman at the thought as she continued to move through the courtyard. The concrete steps up to Coal Hill School had never felt so stiff and filled with purpose, Clara marveled, as she made her way to the headmaster's office to submit her maternity leave notice.

It was the Doctor's idea to do something so responsible, much to her surprise. While she had been living in the TARDIS for a couple of months at this point, they had managed to evenly split the time between dropping her off at Coal Hill to teach, going on adventures, and relaxing in the time machine. However, with Clara soon reaching the equivalent of being six months pregnant, her ankles and feet had begun to swell, backaches constantly haunted her, and while her morning sickness had all but disappeared, indigestion was still a major problem. Not to mention what with the dizzy spells that she frequently went through, teaching was becoming ever more of an obstacle. Clara, of course, had stubbornly argued with the Doctor weeks previous that she would "work at Coal Hill until her damn water broke".

But reality had come to its true, frightening apex after their encounter with the Silence. For a while, she had been sure that her babies were going to die along with her. Nothing had ever matched the feeling of panic that had coursed through her veins when the Silence had taken over the TARDIS, asking for her Gifts. It was at that moment that the actuality of her pregnancy had hit her the most. Clara was going to be a mum, no questions asked. Maybe it wasn't at the right time, or with the most convenient person, but this was now her reality. It was her duty to protect her children and take care of herself. The Doctor had agreed, urging her to go to Coal Hill and do the deed. Besides, she thought, when had she last given herself a break from work? Even on rest days on that sentient time machine, Clara was always grading papers and coming up with lesson plans. It was time to step back for a little while.

Before she knew it, she was standing right in front of Mr. Armitage's office. Swallowing a gulp, she just hoped that he wouldn't ask too many questions. Once her baby bump had become visible, Clara had been assaulted with questions of who the father was and stares at her protruding stomach and people awkwardly rubbing it without her permission. Thankfully, she had managed to drag the Doctor into a few conversations with her colleagues when he had come to pick her up in the TARDIS, and therefore could identify him as the father (something he always seemed flustered about- if she was definitely still getting used to being pregnant, he was getting used to being the dad). However, the questions that she had hoped to seal with her Time Lord beside her merely opened new inquiries of how she had met him, and whispers in the hallways from more of her petty peers who accused her of using him as a sugar daddy. All those chats, all of those mixed emotions, came flooding back to her as the secretary, who she had greeted at the door, led her to a chair in front of the headmaster's desk.

Slowly, and rubbing her stomach as one of the twins decided to make a nasty kick, Clara sat in the chair. Though he was reading a newspaper as she had entered the room, as she soon as she had sat down, Mr. Armitage put it down and smiled her way. "Ah, Ms. Oswald!" He greeted. "Good to see you! And why have you come here today?"

"It's good to see you too, Mr. Armitage," the woman started off carefully. "Nothing is wrong, I just wanted to hand in my notice for maternity leave." She slipped the filled-out forms to him across his desk.

"I see," the portly man said, pausing for a moment to pick up the form, examine it, and take a quick glance at her belly before looking her in the eyes again. "Well, I was wondering when you would finally do that, after all! There were some serious bets that you'd work up until the day your water broke," he chuckled.

"That's exactly what my husband said," Clara blurted, before gasping in surprise when she realized what she had just said. Yes, she and the Doctor hadn't said one way or another whether they were married in conversation with her colleagues but now- oh god, she had gone and done it.

And of course, Mr. Armitage had to comment on that development. "Oh how lovely, Clara! I didn't know that you and that Doctor fellow had gotten married! Congratulations."

"Well, um, we're not married, exactly- we're… uh, engaged! Yes, engaged! Not my husband yet, but soon will be!" God, why couldn't she just keep her mouth shut?

"Spectacular news, then!" the headmaster continued. "I wish you all the best."

"Yeah, thanks," Clara sighed, defeated, sinking in her chair.

They spoke about her maternity leave spanning from the present until May, and release from any summer school class duties over the summer. They discussed how her leave would continue until next January, when she would start to teach classes again. But no matter how positive the talk between them was, a sick feeling settled in Clara's stomach as she exited Mr. Armitage's office with a hug and a wave goodbye to the secretary that wasn't due to indigestion, or one of her babies moving around. Just one question rattled around her brain: what had possessed her to call the Doctor her husband? Their relationship was slowly growing closer, sure. It had to, what with the fact that they were soon to be parents to half human, half Gallifreyan children. But he had never once expressed any desire to be anything other than friends. Nothing more.

So why couldn't she accept that? Why was she driven wild every time she saw him? She wanted to run her fingers through his grey curls, to be snuggled against his side, to fight dangerous aliens alongside him and be pressed together, body to body, moaning as he-

Clara blushed, red growing in her cheeks. Throwing those thoughts aside in shame, she quickly dialed the Doctor's number on her phone. In seconds, the TARDIS appeared, and the woman had never been more grateful to walk through the doors of the time machine.

"How'd it go?" the Time Lord asked immediately as she stepped aside, putting his hands on her shoulder.

She fought to fight the flutter of giddy butterflies in her chest at the touch. "It went well. I'm officially on maternity leave." She smiled. "Now I'll be payed to relax and do nothing all day for the next nine months."

"Who says you'll be doing nothing? Who says resting isn't important? As far as I'm concerned, you have a very important job as a human incubator and then breastmilk pump," the Doctor deadpanned.

"Very funny," Clara sarcastically fired back. "Unless you're willing to carry these babies for me, I don't think you can really make jokes about my position right now."

The man shook his head in response, suddenly becoming very somber. "Trust me, Clara, I understand the pain you're going through right now. But that pain- "he laid a hand on her stomach- "Will become our greatest pleasure."

Before she could wipe the tears gathering in her eyes and formulate a response, the seriousness of his previous statement was wiped from the record as the Doctor plastered on his usual manic grin. "Let's go to the library, shall we? I have a treat for us there. Come on," he implored, taking off down the hallway, gesturing for her to follow him.

Her lips curled upwards in a half-smile, Clara nodded and walked (well, as best as she could, she wasn't beyond admitting that she was almost to the waddling stage) with him to the library. Stepping in, the woman's face lit up as she surveyed the tall ceilings and rows of books. No matter how many times she entered that room, it always managed to fill her with glee. What was an English teacher without her books, anyways?

"Over here," the Doctor called around a corner. When she rounded it, her grin grew even wider at the sight of a large brown leather couch with two hot teas on the stand next to it.

"Just what I needed," she sighed as she sunk into the leather, clutching a comfy throw pillow in one hand and her tea in the other. After a few sips of their respective teas in silence, Clara glanced at the Time Lord next to her, who, to her surprise, suddenly started to stroke her hair. Beaming, the woman used the opportunity of unusual affection to lean her head on his shoulder- and although the Doctor stiffened, she watched with amusement as a tiny smile lit up his face before becoming stoic again. Closing her eyes with the hot tea seemingly coursing through her veins, Clara had never felt so warm and safe in a long time. Drifting with the security, and succumbing to her usual pregnancy exhaustion, she fell asleep in a flash.

OOO

Only to be nearly shoved off the couch two hours later by the Doctor's long limbs.

"Doctor, what…?" She snapped as she tried to readjust herself back on the couch and her embrace with the throw pillow. "What's going on?"

"I… I heard… well, more like… felt… something and… I'm sorry, Clara, but can I-?" He gestured quickly in his gruff tone of voice to her stomach, but with a nervous red-hot flush in his cheeks.

Clara frowned. Although she had told him weeks ago that it was always fine, if he asked her permission, to touch her baby bump, the Doctor had still been avoidant of the gesture and embarrassed when she brought it up. "Of course, but…" However, before she asked him why, that epiphany came to light. "Doctor, are they reaching out to you?"

Her mind flitted back to weeks ago, when she had stumbled across the twins' soon-to-be nursery. The Time Lord had said that one of the only things that was different from a Gallifreyan pregnancy to a human one, besides the length of gestation, was that sometime during her pregnancy, a child would begin to develop their telepathy, reaching out to touch the minds of their parents around the seventh or eighth month. And that was exactly where she was.

"Maybe, I'm not sure, but maybe. So, can I?" He again motioned towards her pregnant stomach.

"Yes, you silly old man," Clara laughed. The man nodded, and cautiously, as if he was trying to contain his excitement and recognize the potential disappointment that might follow, the Time Lord lifted her blouse and closed his eyes, placing his hand on her bump. Within seconds, the woman heard him admit a gasp, and to her amazement saw what looked like tears developing in his eyes. "You can feel them, can't you?" she asked.

"Oh, Clara… they're…" Voice clogged with emotion, the Doctor soon stopped. "Can you not feel them too?"

"Um, no?" The woman replied. Nothing felt that different, besides the cool hand of the doctor on her stomach, all she could sense were a few hurried kicks that she was used to from the twins. "Maybe the whole telepathy thing doesn't work for humans?"

The Time Lord frowned. "It should. Yes, maybe you won't feel them to the extent that I do, but Gallifreyans, even partial ones, should still be able to establish a mental link with humans. Maybe…" He started to muse, but then cut himself off.

"What?" Clara demanded. "Doctor, tell me what you're thinking."

Emitting a sigh, the Doctor finally took his hand from her belly and looked her in the eyes. "The telepathic connection… maybe I need to jumpstart it. I'd have to connect your mind briefly with mine. If that's okay?"

"Sure, yeah. If there are no pianos dropped on my brain, I guess," the woman laughed.

"I promise, I'll be safe." The man said seriously, before raising his fingertips to both of her temples. "Ready?"

And as she nodded, sensations enveloped Clara in a cacophony of music and feeling that she had never felt before. Some beautiful melody echoed through her mind, while two meshes of light and colors from every spectrum of the rainbow came to her utmost attention. Two distinct bodies of feeling and thought that were emitting the most positive expression of unconditional love that she had ever sensed. She was sure her heart had skipped several beats as a sob forced its way through her throat. These were her children, reaching out to her, touching her mind, and making their presences known.

Basking in the glow of the thoughts and love of the twins, Clara barely registered that the Time Lord had taken his hands away from her temples and was now back to placing his hands on her bump. With the way that he was grinning, the woman knew he was experiencing, perhaps even more intensely, what she currently was feeling on her own now. "They're beautiful, Doctor," she finally managed to croak out amidst her sobs. "They're wonderful."

"Clara, they're the most amazing, magnificent things I've felt in a long time," the Doctor replied honestly, also choking down his tears to seemingly maintain some composure. "Thank you… I…" Abruptly, he pulled away his hands from her pregnant stomach, and stared at her. "I now realize more than ever that I have to protect this. Protect them. Protect us. I can't…" He paused and then continued in a severe, serious tone. "I can't lose any of you."

Although it was hard to push aside in that moment the lovely thoughts of her babies, Clara managed to unexpectedly easily dampen the overwhelming euphoria of feeling to a distant corner of her mind and focus on the father of her children alone. "Doctor, I know you will do a fine job doing so. Just don't meddle where you don't belong, alright? Don't rush into anything without thinking first. We'll stay safe. I know you'll protect me. And soon… well," she smirked. "Soon we'll have two beautiful children in our arms, keeping us up all hours of the night."

"Newborn Gallifreyan children are usually remarkably sleepy and unfussy," the Doctor mused, a lopsided smirk on his face matching her own.

"Tell me that again when I'm up at three in the morning," Clara joked, before leaning onto his shoulder once again, finally resettling in her comfortable position the couch. "Now, can we go back to our children again?"

"Yes, Mam, I think you've earned it," the Doctor quipped, and with another touch of his hand on her bump, the mother and father quietly marveled at the warm glow that once again enveloped them, better than after any cup of hot tea.

This took so much longer than planned, and I'm going to blame it as always, on school. College is hard, alright?

Planning to get some more chapters out soon, however. Maybe even on other works. And hopefully even some brand new fics will be coming soon...

Thanks as always for following be along on this crazy ride. Please leave comments, favorites, and bookmark or follow! That's my primary motivation that keeps me writing! Much love, friends.