Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or concepts from Doctor Who.
Daylight Part 1
River sat on the porch swing, watching as the daylight slowly disappeared, leaving her to see the setting in a blue tinge. She could hear faint sounds of giggling drifting from the house; the children's bedroom light reflecting small shadows onto the lawn. Turning her head to a knock on the door frame, she smiled.
"Hello sweetie. Everything alright?" Patting the seat next to her.
Charlotte nodded, sitting down with her body turned to face her best friend. "River...do you mind if I ask you something?"
River turned to copy Charlottes seated position. "Of course dear."
The child hesitated before beginning, "...What"
"Riverrrrr!" Called through the house, interrupting Charlotte's question.
Giving the girl a sweet smile, River couldn't help but sigh. "Hold that thought. Joshua, Ella, I'm on the porch!" Standing up and moving to the door she watched the staircase. "Slow down young man! Don't you dare run down those stairs!" The woman groaned as the sweet little boy followed her directions...somewhat, taking his time, sliding down each step on his bum.
Once at the bottom, he remained seated, gazing up at River with a cheeky smile."What? You said don't run?"
Bopping Joshua on the nose River couldn't help but grin."That I did. I'll choose my words more wisely next time. Ella? Sweetie are you going to come sit outside?"
"She already is." Charlotte called, causing Rivers eyebrows to rise.
Leaning towards the little boy she whispered "I didn't see her go by…Did you?"
Shaking his head and popping the "P", Joshua smiled "Nope." Standing up, he raced across the parlor and grabbed a blue book off her chair before rushing out the door.
"Joshua Ryan! Will you please stop running?" Following him out the door, she only stopped to turn on the porch light.
"River?" Charlotte asked.
"Still have that question?"
"This is new."
"What is?" Turning around she saw her blue journal opened to its final entry. Hesitating, she slowly responded "that's because...well that's because it is dear."
"Then tell us!" "Ya tell us!" "Pleassssseee!" The children begged in unison.
Exaggerating a sigh she gave in "Well alright."
Parting the way for River to sit down, Ella and Joshua scrambled to fight for a seat on her lap, while Charlotte made herself comfortable, pulling her knees up to her chin.
"Awww that's not fair! You got to sit on Riveys lap yesterday!" Whined Joshua.
Rolling her eyes she patted the seat on her opposite side. "Joshua I hope you don't whine like this at school." Her comment pulled a giggle from Ella and a puppy dog pout from the little boy as he plopped himself down."Alright...so where do I begin? Well I received a special message from my friend Madame Vastra. This special message allowed me to talk to my friends in a secret dream, especially the Doctors companion, Clara." Turning the page, a sketch of the TARDIS was revealed, drawing the children's interest.
"The Doctor" whispered Charlotte with a small smile.
River responded with a squeeze of the hand and a hidden smile as she continued..."Well this meeting was important because Madame Vastra was given a message concerning the Doctor and a special secret that only I happen know the answer to. But during our chat, my friends, well except for Clara, were kidnapped by these scary men called the Whisper Men."
"How scary is scary?" Piped Joshua.
"SHHHH! I want to hear the story!" Snapped Ella.
"It's alright sweetie. You see Joshua, these men wanted to hurt the Doctor. They saw him as a threat. So they were very scary...they even scared me." A gasp came from the twins at the thought of their "Rivey" being scared.
"But! But you're not scared of anything" Sputtered Bella, with Joshua quick to agree.
"Everyone's scared of something, Rivers just brave when it comes to scary things."
Charlottes answer blew River away. For such a young girl she was incredibly intelligent.
"Is that true Rivey?"
Flattening the top of Ella's hair, River placed a kiss on her crown. "Yes sweetie. I don't think I could have said it better myself." Glancing over at Charlotte she sent her a wink. "Anyway, as I was saying, The Great Intelligence captured my friends, only leaving Clara behind because she had to relay a message back to the Doctor. When Clara awoke from the dream, our connection was still in place allowing me to follow her around while remaining invisible to everyone else."
"Cool" whispered Joshua as he leaned in closer to stare at the tattered and slowly discoloring pages.
"I followed the Doctor and Clara all the way to a planet called Trenzalor, and that is where The Great Intelligence demanded that The Doctor reveal his biggest secret..."
Taking a moment to think out how she wanted to continue telling the story. She could sense that the children were forcing themselves to stay awake. River couldn't help but ask "Would you rather I continue the story tomorrow night? It's getting late..."
Joshua and Ella nodded in agreement, while Charlotte interjected. "Nooo! It's just getting good!" Making it quite clear that the oldest was wishing to hear the end of her mysterious story.
Glancing at her watch River began to negotiate, "If I let you stay up, you mustn't complain if you are tired tomorrow… agreed?"
"Yes mama."
"Alright, well let me just lay the twins down, and I will be right back dear." Carefully standing from the porch swing, River gently shook Ella and Joshua awake. "My darlings, stand up, carefully now, I don't want you falling off the swing."
Joshua was the first to stand, wrapping his little arms around her neck and his head on her shoulder. Ella stood, doing the exact same on River's opposite side. The young children slowly drifting back to sleep as River re-entered the house and ascended the stairs, careful to remain balanced while climbing each step.
Upon entering their bedroom, she nuzzled each child awake. Carefully placing them down, and leading them to their beds. "Goodnight Ella. Sweet dreams my love." Tucking the little girl in, she placed a kiss on her temple. Turning to the next bed she smiled, Joshua hadn't even bothered to get himself under the covers. There was no use trying to pull back the comforter as Joshua turned into a sack of potatoes whenever he would fall asleep. Reaching under his bed, River pulled out a spare bed sheet, draping it over the child; she brushed his hair away from his forehead. "Goodnight Joshua. Sweet dreams my darling."
The curly haired woman quietly exited the room and returned back to the porch to find Charlotte flipping through pages of her book.
"River."
"Yes dear?"
"Do you love him?"
"Very much, yes I do."
"Do you miss him?"
"More than anything in the world."
Charlotte took her time before asking her next question, hesitating only for a moment. "Do you love us?"
Thrown aback, River sat herself next to the girl, her maternal instinct kicking in as she responded, "What? Of course I do sweetie. You three are mine, biological or not."
"So… then you're not going to leave us."
"Even if I could, I wouldn't… unless I could take you lot with me. We are a family, and I would put an end to anyone who tries to take that away from us." River smiled at the girl. "Now how about we finish up this story because it's getting late."
River was nearing the end of her final journey with the Doctor as she felt herself slowly dozing off. Charlotte had gone to bed a while back, but River couldn't pry her eyes away from the familiar story.
"Go to the Tardis. The fast return protocols should be on. She'll take you home, then shut herself down."
"There has to be another way. Use the Tardis, use something. Save her, yes, but for God's sake be sensible."
I went to slap the Doctor, hoping to bring some sense to him. But instead, that amazing man stopped my hand from connecting with his cheek. "How are you even doing that? I'm not really here." I gasped.
"You are always here to me. And I always listen, and I can always see you."
"Then why didn't you speak to me?"
"Because I thought it would hurt too much."
"I believe I could have coped."
"No, I thought it would hurt me. And I was right."
With that said, the Doctor and I shared a beautifully passionate kiss that could last a life time.
"Since nobody else in this room can see you, God knows how that looked. There is a time to live and a time to sleep. You are an echo, River. Like Clara. Like all of us, in the end. My fault, I know, but you should've faded by now."
"It's hard to leave when you haven't said goodbye."
"Then tell me, because I don't know. How do I say it?"
"There's only one way I'd accept. If you ever loved me, say it like you're going to come back."
"Well, then. See you around, Professor River Song."
"Till the next time, Doctor."
With that Rivers eyes became too heavy to handle as she drifted off to sleep. Her diary slipped off her lap and onto the porch, still open, allowing for its words to flow out.
A quick note, part 2 is a continuation of this chapter. I've split it in half to make it easier to read.