Notes: This takes place immediately after "The Doctor, The Widow, and The Wardrobe" and therefore contains spoilers for it and anything prior to it. Welcome to my head!canon, enjoy the ride. Special thanks once again to Charina for the beta and constant encouragement to write.

He wiped the tears from his cheek, took a deep breath to calm himself, and felt a smile cross his face. He of all people acting all humany-wumany. It had been so long since he had felt this way—allowed himself to feel this way. But it was time. It had been too long since he enjoyed being around those he loved, and even better, those who loved him back. He shook his head slightly at the thought. Spinning on his heels, his tongue was about to let loose a quip about the dinner's menu when his eyes fell on her. The deep breath he'd just taken immediately vacated his lungs in a single word.

"River," he breathed.

"Hello, Sweetie," she answered with a grin. "Merry Christmas."

"You have no idea." He knew he was grinning like an idiot at the sight of her, but he didn't care. She looked radiant in a long, cream, v-neck jumper and black leggings, but then again she looked radiant in anything. Or nothing.

If just a moment ago he was ready to shed a few tears of joy, having her here was enough to make him possibly weep. But he shook off the exuberant excess emotion with a flick of his head.

"When are you?" she asked, out of reflex he assumed.

"With regards to you, it's been a while. About six months since the regatta on Molbus Prime."

She smiled at the memory. "I told you not to feed the ducks near the dock. As did a number of signs we passed."

He felt his chest puff out and chin rise in indignation. "It's not my fault that they were hungry, I had food, they followed us around all day, and that particular species has amplified sonic quacking."

She raised an eyebrow in argument.

"Well, most of that is not my fault anyway," he muttered. "What about you?"

"Four months since the Byzantium crashed."

"You told your parents I was still alive?"

"I did."

"Why?"

"Because you were too big of a coward to come do it yourself."

The comment made him take a sudden interest in his shoes. "I'm sorry," he said softly.

"For what?" she asked, stepping forward to reach for his cheek and stroke it gently.

He raised his right hand to cover her left. "I lied again. I told Madge that I didn't have a family, even though I knew full well that you all would be here. Be expecting me. Be waiting for me to turn up after all this time. I was selfish. I ran away and hid from you all because I thought that was best. I was wrong."

"Oh, sweetie, you were just trying to protect us. We know that."

He felt the tears threaten again, and couldn't control the few that slipped out.

He moved his hand into her curls and pulled her in for a kiss. It had been too long since he'd seen her, felt her. He missed it, this connection that ran so very deep. Somewhere in his brain, the small part that wasn't focused on the taste and smell of River Song, he heard measured and familiar footsteps coming their way before he heard Rory speaking in pained tones.

"Oh, kissing and crying. Right. I'll just come back later."

River pulled away with a smirk. "Oh, shut up, Dad."

"If you two can keep your hands and mouths to yourselves, dinner is ready," Rory announced before turning to head up the stairs. "River, show him to the dining room, please. I'll be back in a sec."

The Doctor reached out his hand to intertwine his fingers with hers, not quite ready to break all physical contact when a ruckus of noise erupted from the second story of the Pond home. Instinctively, his free hand moved to his inside his tweed to grab his sonic when River's laughter made him stop.

"It's okay, sweetie."

"But all that noise. Is he being attacked? Rory!" He was ready to dash off up the stairs to aid his dear mate, but River's hand kept him in place.

"You didn't tell him?" Amy asked as she walked into the foyer from deeper within her home.

"Not yet," River answered. "I wanted to see the look on his face when he saw her."

"Her? Her who?" His mind was temporarily distracted by the fact that two golden retrievers were barreling down the stairs and heading straight for him. "Oh! Good doggies, nice doggies," he greeted with a hint of fear in his voice. He had, after all, just had his trousers stitched up not a week ago after a pack of dogs chased him around Goran Three.

"Oi! Sit!" Amy commanded, and both dogs halted right before tackling the Time Lord. "They're just excited to meet someone new," she explained.

"You have dogs?" he asked as he slowly raised a hand to their snouts so they could familiarize each other with their scents.

"Yes," she said with a shake of her head. "You gave them to us when you dropped us off here. Puppies, dream car, new home and all, remember?"

The memories clicked back into place. Golden retrievers—beautiful, friendly, loyal dogs. Animals embodying qualities he so dearly loved, appreciated, and took for granted in his friends.

"Alright," Rory announced as he made his way down the stairs, "can't promise she's in the best of moods, but everyone is awake and ready for dinner."

The Doctor froze as the sound of tiny, quick breaths joined the noise in the entryway. Slowly his head rose to find a small girl in Rory's arms. The two had matching sandy colored hair, but she also had Amy's nose. He could also detect a bit of Scottish mischievousness in her blue eyes, even if the rest of her face held a cross expression he'd seen on Rory's face a time or two hundred.

Rory gently jostled the girl held on his hip. "Aren't you going to say hi?"

She buried her face in the crook of Rory's neck before slowly peeking to look at the stranger again.

The Doctor continued to visually scan her body, assigning certain genetic tributes to either Amy or Rory before shaking his head to remember to speak. "You had another one?" he asked unable to keep the slightly frightened expression from his face.

"If by 'another one'," Rory answered, "you mean 'beautiful daughter', then yes. Moira, meet the Doctor."

The child's face swung to her father with a look of confusion clearly written on it. A chubby hand pointed to the larger of the two dogs. "No. Doctor."

Rory nodded. "Yes, we did name the dog Doctor, but this is also the Doctor."

"You named the dog after me?" The Doctor asked in indignation. "Who's that one?" he asked pointing to the smaller of the pair.

"Tardis," Amy answered. "They're quite the inseparable pair; seemed fitting."

That bit of information caused a smile to creep upon his face as he knelt down to their eye level. "Tardis, eh? Do you think she's as sexy as mine?"

"He used to, but he also used to be completely male. One thing fixed the other." Amy answered.

The Doctor's head shot up in horror while his free hand unconsciously moved to protect his own bits his namesake was now missing. "I am so, so sorry."

River leaned down to whisper in his ear. "Sweetie, you're ignoring your sister-in-law."

"Hmm? Oh, right. Silly me." He rose and gingerly stepped towards the small girl. "Hello, Moira. I'm the Doctor."

"No," she repeated firmly, once more pointing to the dog. "Doctor."

"Quite right. In your mind, he came first. You can call me… Uncle Doctor. Less of a mouthful than Brother-In-Law Doctor, and much more plausible out in public. But I'm not that kind of Uncle, you know the one eats TARDIS's and tried to kill your parents. I'm more the kind that gives you sweets and spoils you."

The blue eyes perked up a bit at that piece of information. "Unca Doctor?"

"At your service," he replied with a tug of the bowtie.

"Sweets?" she asked with a grin.

"After dinner," her parents replied in unison.

"Fun ruiners," the Time Lord muttered.

Amy rolled her eyes before turning to move back into the house. "C'mon, you. Dinner."

Rory turned to follow her, as well as the dogs, but the Doctor tightened his grip slightly on River's hand. "We'll be just behind you."

A look of concerned crossed Rory's face. "Just be quick. You really don't want to make her wait any longer. Especially when there's food involved."

The Doctor nodded and smiled. "Understood." He paused listening to Rory walk off and whisper excitedly to Moira what delicious morsels she would find on the table in the dining room.

"So what do you think?" River asked.

"How old is she?"

"Nearly year-and-a-half."

The Doctor tried to do the math in his head, but even though he Amy had said two years, he wasn't entirely sure what event that marked.

As if reading his thoughts, River answered, "It's been nearly three years since you dropped them off here. They haven't been back on the TARDIS since. Don't worry, they didn't make that mistake twice."

"I would hardly call you a mistake, River Song."

She smiled at his retort. "You know what I mean, dear. No need to worry about them having another daughter who has extra, alien DNA in her system."

Instantly an image of a swirling, holographic helix came to mind. His brain began running calculations of compatibility. The thought had crossed his mind before, but something about today—maybe because it was Christmas, or Madge's family reunion, or even his own little family reunion—caused him to give it serious thought. He wasn't entirely sure if the mechanics would work in their favor, but it was possible. "River, have you ever thought about… I mean, do we…"

Her jaw tightened before her constant, perfected mask fell back into place. "Spoilers," she whispered.

He felt his hearts sink in sadness. Immediately, he felt a resolve tighten and solidify within him. He squeezed her hand once more. "River Song, if I've taught you anything, surely it's that time can be rewritten."

"Oh, Doctor," she breathed with a smile, "I know you will certainly try."