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"I don't want to be stuck here forever," Rose shouted as Jackie tried to placate her daughter, but Rose wasn't calming down.
"Rose, love, it's not forever." Jackie tried to argue, but Rose was refusing to go near her. Before Jackie could say anything more, there was a hurried knock on the door; Jackie dithered for a moment before hurrying towards it.
"Oh, John, thank god. I don't know what to do, she's freaking out in there, I can't talk any sense into her!" Jackie flustered. John put a calming hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, I'm going to talk to her. I wanted to tell her in person, but I couldn't get out of my lecture in time." John said. He shrugged out of his jacket and moved through into the living room.
"Rose," he said gently. She turned towards him and threw herself into his arms. He held her close as she clung to him. He could feel the terror resonating through her. "Calm down love." He said nervously, waiting for her to calm down before sitting her down and crouching in front of her.
"Don't leave me, John. Please. I don't know how to live like this anymore" she cried. John looked over his shoulder and nodded at Jackie who had been standing nervously in the doorway. She shuffled away, and he heard the kettle click in the kitchen.
"Love, listen to me," John said, taking her hands in his. "It's not safe for you to come with me on this trip," he said earnestly. Rose shook her head.
"I don't care." She argued. John sighed heavily.
"Rose, you know I want you next to me on this expedition- I always will- but it is not safe, and I will not put you or the baby at risk. I will not." He reiterated.
Rose began to cry again. "I don't know what I am anymore. I don't know how to live like this!" She complained. John leant across and pulled her back into a hug. He watched Jackie carry a tray of mugs into the room and settle herself in the corner.
"Who you are, is Rose Tyler; Tough, Caring, and the love of my life. You're carrying our child. And I'm telling you, that's probably harder than any other expedition we've ever shared." John said as Jackie nodded her head from the corner of the room. "You are able to overcome anything, adapt to any situation. This shouldn't be too difficult." He said softly, but he knew it would take more than that to get her to come around to Jackie and his point of view.
"I'd give up this whole expedition to spend the next 6 months staying at home with you, but you know I can't." He said. Rose agreed through her tears.
"You won't get a chance like this again." She said. John nodded silently, glad that she understood the gravity of the mission ahead of him.
"I need to do this. I need to get it done now, so I can come home and start my next adventure. Our adventure. Our miracle." He says. Rose dropped her head onto his shoulder.
He knew there'd be more arguments and conversations like this, but he also knew that eventually she'd see sense and understand what he's saying. Yet the fact remained the two of them hadn't been separate from each other in the four years they'd been dating. When John started going on expeditions, Rose was right by his side, they'd spend more time travelling and working abroad than they did in any semblance of a family home. They both stayed with Jackie when they were off work.
Maybe that had to be the first thing they changed. Maybe he needed to secure them a place of their own, in their own neighbourhood. It might settle Rose, now that they're going to be parted for 6 months. He just hoped they could both manage to get through it. Though deep down he knew there was enough on the line for the both of them to hold it together.