Nine Months, Twelve Days (Whouffle fanfic)

Regrets

Clara and the Doctor marched up to the door and smiled at each other. The Doctor let go of Clara's hand and turned the doorknob, revealing Judy who had a smile bigger than the sun plastered on her face. The Doctor and Clara just glanced at each other nervously and invited them into their home. Clara rushed back into the kitchen to finish cooking the meal (and of course a soufflé for dessert).

She spent a half-hour in the kitchen putting the finishing touches on the meal. She completely forgot to actually set the table.

"Hey, John honey? Could you set the table please? I have to finish up the gravy," Clara yelled into the living room where the Doctor was telling stories about how he and Clara had met, gotten married, etc. Clara smiled as she listened, finding them oddly sweet.

"Yeah, of course!" The Doctor answered. "Hold on guys, I'll be back in a sec."

The Doctor grabbed the dishes and smirked at Clara as she tried to gain control of the mess in front of her. Clara just rolled her eyes as she transferred everything over into serving dishes. She finished just as the Doctor did, and called their guests into the dining room.

They all sat down to eat, Judy and her children thanking them over and over again for their hospitality; Hank just sat down and didn't speak much. Clara found it rude and disturbing.

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"Judy, what is it you said you did again?" Clara asked. She was trying to make her side of the story seem as real as possible.

"Oh! Um...I don't have a job. Stay at home mom," Judy said, stammering. Clara understood just what she was going through. "What about you?"

"John and I are both authors. Both stay at home. John's trying to get published right now, I'm still in the middle of my book," Clara lied. It was the only plausible thing Clara could think of as to why neither of them left the house.

"Lovely! Makes it a lot easier to raise kids," Judy said. "Speaking of which...are you guys planning on kids anytime soon?"

Clara visibly winced as the Doctor started coughing.

"Kids? No...not for a while. Not for a LONG time," the Doctor rushed. "I don't think we're ready is all."

"I can see I struck a nerve there," Judy said as Clara stared at her food, suddenly not hungry. She had always thought it was funny how certain things could ruin your appetite.

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The family left, once again thanking them. Clara did the dishes and changed into her pajamas. She was sitting on the couch, reading, when the Doctor entered the room and plopped down beside her.

"Hey, you okay? You've been really quiet since they left," the Doctor whispered.

Clara mumbled back, "I'm fine. Like...I don't know. I guess I always thought that when I did this kind of stuff, it would be for real. Doing this as a fake type of thing just seems sort of horrible, you know? I feel ridiculously fake is all."

The Doctor grabbed her and hugged her as tight as he could. He kissed her head and whispered into her hair, "I know, Clara, I know."

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Hey! So that's it for this chapter. I hope you all enjoyed. Please vote, comment, and follow. I love you all my dear readers! Be sure to watch the Season 8 premiere on Saturday :)