Rating: PG
Pairing: Sarah/Harry
Beta: hhertzof
Spoilers: None
Summary: Sarah's pregnant, Harry's the father, see the title for an idea of what happens next.

Sarah took a deep breath as she sat on the bed. She had been asked so many times if she was sure and each time she had said yes, without really thinking about it too much. Now that she was here, though, the reality of what she was going to do was sinking in. They had given her a few more minutes to consider it but a few months would not have helped.

Harry was supposed to have been here, as he had promised. He had been good at coming with her to her other appointments up until this morning. It was not his fault - UNIT had got involved with something messy and he was needed there. Perhaps if he had been here she would have thought about it less and just done it. Or maybe he would be the reason she would not have done it. Either way, she thought, at least the decision would have been made.

If she went through with it, then that was it, done. No more need to worry about it. But if she told them no, she could at least try again at a later date if she had second thoughts. This could not go on forever though and there must only be so many times she could change her mind before they got sick of her.

In the end she decided to give herself the rest of the day to think about it and made an appointment for the following day. It seemed something of an anticlimax to go back to her now-normal working day, which consisted of trying to get editors to accept her freelance pieces, with varying degrees of success.

It was late by the time Harry came round and she was feeling exhausted from worrying about it. In the end she had said "sod it" and phoned them to confirm the appointment. Except that somehow she found herself cancelling it instead. Although she could get another one, she did not really feel like another day of this. It was time to accept it.

She hung his jacket up for him when he came in, trying to distract him. "How is everyone at UNIT?" she asked before he could get a word in.

"They'll live," he said, but without much conviction.

"That'll be a first." Someone always died, she had learnt that much during her time with UNIT.

"No-one you know died."

Harry looked equally exhausted. She wondered how much that was from his long day or whether someone he knew well had been seriously injured. She did not press the point though. She knew from experience that if he wanted to talk about it he would do it in his own time, and it would not help if she tried to force the issue.

There was nothing more important she could think about to discuss, so she busied herself with making some tea instead, trying to put off tackling the topic that would inevitably come up next.

"How are you?" he asked anyway.

Sarah pretended that pouring out water and milk was taking all of her concentration. It was only when she had passed a cup to him that she said anything at all. "Fine. Um, busy at work when I got there, you know the kind of thing. Deadlines and everything."

She sat down on the sofa and curled up in the corner. Harry sat on the other end and looked at her slightly suspiciously. He had a good reason, really. She did not know why it was so hard to tell him what she had done. She debating not bothering at all and just avoiding him for the next nine months, except that she knew she could not do it.

"I couldn't do it," she said, eventually.

"That's my fault, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said some of the things I did." He looked concerned now, which was not making her feel any better.

"No, you only said what I was thinking. You would think it would be easy, just a quick thing, out the same day, it's not like..." She sighed. "It's not the baby's fault, it didn't ask to exist." So instead of punishing the baby for it, she was punishing herself for her own stupidity. Which was only fair, but did not make her feel any better about it.

"So, what do you want to do now? Given that you already rejected my marriage proposal."

"It wasn't exactly the most romantic proposal I've ever had." She smiled to let him know she did not mean it unkindly. "I don't know," she continued. "Adoption is the only choice left, really."

"There is plenty of time to decide."

She nodded. "I still have all the leaflets somewhere, I'll phone them up tomorrow."

"Okay," he said. "Whatever you want." Was it her imagination or did he sound unhappy about it? Perhaps he was just tired. "I suppose we'll have to start thinking about names and things."

It was almost enough to make her run back to the phone in the hope that her cancelled appointment was still open. "Not yet, we don't. It doesn't need a name until it's born and that's not going to be for a long time." That was something she was really not thinking about. Up until now she had been focused on making this mess go away. Now it was hitting her that she was going to have to go through the rest of pregnancy and all that entailed, just to keep the baby alive. It was certainly not going to help her keep a job.

"Sarah," Harry shifted closer and put one hand on her knee. "This is going to be harder for you than me."

She shook her head. "I really don't want to talk about it right now." She needed time to get used to it; to think about how she was going to fit her life around it.

"Okay. Things looking better in the morning and all that."

She nodded, although she was not entirely convinced of that.

"Do you want me to stay?"

"No. You look like you could use some sleep."

He smiled. "You're right. But you do too."

What she really needed was some time alone to think about this.

He kissed her before getting up to put his jacket on and open the door, only to come face to face with a bearded man with his hand raised to ring her doorbell.

Sarah bit back a curse and stood up.

"I've come for the rent," he said, when he saw her, "which was due yesterday."

She came out from where she was half-stood behind Harry and said, "I'm sorry, I don't have it yet."

Mr Sedgewick looked Harry up and down and she continued quickly. Spoiling for a fight seemed to be his natural state. "I'll get paid tomorrow, you can have it then."

"Hmph," Mr Sedgewick said. "I'd better." At least he left. Harry, on the other hand, did not.

"Why didn't you tell me you were short of money?"

"I'm not, it's just there was a mix up with my pay, so it was late, that's all."

He seemed to accept that. "If you have any trouble with your landlord, you call me."

"I can fight my own battles, Harry."

"Yes, well, if you need any help." He turned to go.

Their old argument had suddenly resurfaced and Sarah did not want to them to leave it like that, so she called him back.

"Harry. Thank you. For offering."

He smiled at her. "My pleasure."

She took a step toward him and kissed him, just to make the point. "Night."

"Goodnight," he said, and left her alone again.

Share this post

• 

Fandom: Doctor Who | Type: Character: Harry Sullivan, Character: Sarah Jane Smith, Length: Long story, Pairing: Sarah/Harry, Series: Soap Opera, Type: Het | Link

Leave a Reply

If you haven't commented here before your review will be moderated and I have to approve it before it shows up. If you give your email address my reply will be emailed to you (check your spam folder if you're using hotmail or yahoo).