Family Day
"Mummy! Are we going to the zoo yet?" Six year old Aurora asked her mother, who was snuggled up in bed next to her husband.
River sighed and opened her eyes- a while ago, she'd got up to go to the toilet and had prayed that none of her children would pick up on the fact that one of their parents were up.
"Good morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep okay?" River asked, dropping a kiss to her daughter's forehead. "And no, not just yet."
"Okay." Her daughter nodded.
"Is Oscar awake yet?" River referred to Aurora's twin brother.
"No." The little girl shook her head. "I checked, he's still asleep."
Their conversation was interrupted by the cry of 8 month old Arabella, the youngest member of the family.
River got out of bed and lifted her baby out of the cot. "What's the matter, little one?" She cooed, cradling Arabella in her arms.
Arabella quietened, and gazed up at her, babbling.
Aurora laughed. "She's hungry."
Much to her mother's annoyance, both Aurora and Oscar had inherited their father's gift of speaking baby, and she of course, couldn't.
"Okay, there's a bottle in the fridge, could you please go and get it for me?" River asked her daughter.
"Okay." Aurora nodded, and leaned forward to give her mum a kiss on the cheek. "I love you, mummy."
"I love you too, sweetheart." River smiled.
Aurora left the room, River was left in silence for a few moments.
She checked the time- 7:30 on Earth. Soon, she'd have to go and wake Oscar up. A few years ago, she never thought that she'd be happily married to the Doctor, let alone with a family of their own. During her pregnancy with the twins, River had doubted her motherly instinct- but,as soon as she saw her newborn babies she had somehow known that everything would be okay.
Like her mother, Aurora had a head of curly blonde hair. She had inherited her mother's cheeky streak, and was always playing tricks on her twin. She was confident and self assured- a contrast to Oscar.
Oscar was more like his father-he was quiet and often shy. When he was upset he tended to withdraw into himself. Unlike Aurora, who didn't have much of an interest in the monsters that their parents had fought, and was always asking them to tell him tales of their death defying escapades. He loved Aurora fiercely, and was very protective of her.
At 8 months, little Arabella already showed an interest in the universe-her favourite bedtime story was the tale of how her father and grandparents had saved a spaceship full of dinosaurs.
One of the things that the twins had in common was their parent's love of the universe-Aurora didn't particularly enjoy stories of the monsters, she did enjoy hearing about the good aliens that her parents had encountered, and wanted to be an archaeologist like her mum.
The Doctor shifted beside his wife. "Hello, Sweetie." River chuckled, leaning down to give him a kiss.
"Good morning, my love." He replied, his eyes fluttering open. He sat up and pulled her close. "How's my beautiful wife today?"
"I'm okay, thank you. And you?"
"All the better for seeing you." He said, dropping a kiss to the top of her head.
"Good good." River Song chuckled. "I love you."
"I love you too." He replied.
Arabella babbled at her father. "Yes, I love you and the twins too Bella, don't worry!"
"Would you like to hold her? Aurora's just getting her a bottle, she's hungry." His wife said.
"Okay." Said her husband as Rive handed their daughter to him.
"Aww, I know that she loves you too." Said the Doctor as Bella babbled at him again. "She says that she loves you."
"I love you too, my baby girl." River said, smiling as Aurora's tiny starfish hand wrapped around her little finger.
"Mummy, Daddy!" Aurora said, bouncing back into the room, a bottle of milk in one hand.
"Careful, don't drop it!" River fretted.
Aurora handed the bottle (which was still in one piece) to her father, who began to feed Arabella.
"Come here, sweetheart." Said River to Aurora. Her daughter clambered onto the bed and snuggled into her mother's arms.
"I love you, you know that right?" Said River to her daughter, holding her close.
"I love you too, mummy." Aurora smiled.
"Well have to get up soon." Said the Doctor as he burped Arabella. "We don't want to be late for the zoo, do we?"
"You have a time machine, Daddy." Aurora rolled her eyes.
"So I do, but I still want to go soon, don't you?"
"Yeah!" Aurora grinned. "I'm so excited!"
The family had planned a trip to London Zoo. It was the first day of Oscar and Aurora's summer holidays, to say that they were excited was an understatement.
They went to school on the planet of Colpa, a planet near Gallifrey. The children were taught in a mixture of English and Gallifreyan, and as a result they were fluent in both. Normal subjects such as Maths and Science were taught, along with the history of the universe and how to defend yourself against various monsters. There was also a potions class were the children were taught how to mix various substances together to create drinks which would heal you against the injuries of various aliens.
There was a pitter patter of little feet, and Oscar ran into the room. "Are we going to the zoo yet?"
Like his mum, Oscar had curly hair, but it was brunette, not blonde.
"Soon, I promise." His mum smiled.
Aurora jumped off the bed and ran towards her brother. "Shall we go and get dressed, mummy?"
"Okay, there's some clean clothes for you in the laundry-hopefully the Tardis hasn't moved it." Said River.
The twins ran off to the laundry.
"Right." Said River, lifting Arabella into her arms and placing her back in her cot. "Care to join me for a shower?" She asked her husband.
"Bella's nappy needs changing first."
River wrinkled her nose. "Lovely. Seeing as she probably told you that, you can do it."
"Since when?"
"New rule, I just made it up." River grinned, and made her way to their large bathroom before he could say anything.
A while later...
"We have: spare nappies, money, drinks, and 3 children all ready to go. Anything else before we set off?" River asked. The family were in the console room, almost ready to go.
"I just did an environment check-it's raining, but it'll brighten up later so we need coats. Well, I don't, I like the rain." Said her husband.
"Thank goodness none of our children inherited that." River muttered, nipping to the coat rack down one of the Tardis halls and returning.
"Hey! What's wrong with loving the rain?"
"Wet, miserable children." River replied.
"Fair point."
"Right, everyone, let's go. Remember, if you see anything suspicious you need to tell us straightaway. And no talking about the Tardis or anything, the people on Earth don't know about it." River said. The three children were the most talked about youngsters in the universe, and there had been many attempts to kidnap them-thankfully, they'd all failed.
The family trooped out of the Tardis, which was parked a short distance away from the entrance to the zoo.
"Right, Oscar, you hold daddy's hand, Aurora, you hold the side of the buggy please." River took charge of her family.
Together, they made their way to the entrance of the zoo. River relaxed, and hoped that they'd get through today without running into trouble.
"Right, Arabella, where do you want to go?" The Doctor asked his daughter a while later when they'd got into the zoo.
"Why does she get to pick first?" Oscar huffed.
"Because she's the youngest." River replied as Arabella babbled at her father.
"She says that she wants to go to the elephants first." Said the Doctor.
"Okay." His wife consulted the zoo map and set off. "Kids, you can run ahead, but not too far, please."
"Race you!" Said the Doctor, running off. Aurora and Oscar ran off after him. River at the sight-her perfect family, her whole world-she wouldn't have it any other way.
A while later...
"Typical!" River huffed. She'd just nipped to the toilets and made her husband promise that he'd wait outside along with their three children.
It came as no surprise to the female when she exited the toilet block to see that her husband and children had vanished.
Suddenly, she heard screaming coming from the African area. River made her way in that direction, slightly worried.
She saw why the visitors were screaming. A lioness was sat in the middle of the path, contentedly having a wash.
"Doctor..." She growled under her breath-she'd stake her life on it-he was definitely involved!
"Ah, River, I can explain..." Said a voice behind her.
River turned to find her husband and children, looking slightly guilty.
"You'd better otherwise I'll slap you so hard that you'll regenerate! You do know that this park is great danger now?! Big cats are dangerous, they're not your standard household pet!" She said, lifting Bella out of her buggy and glaring at him.
"It's okay, Mummy! They can talk!" Oscar interrupted.
"Pardon?"
"What he's saying is that he and Aurora can speak lion." Said the Doctor.
"Oh, what did they say? That they wanted a nice snack?" River snapped.
At that moment, her hand brushed against the back of the lioness that she'd seen earlier.
"No, actually. My pride and myself wanted a nice stroll around the zoo-you humans aren't that tasty, anyway." Said a voice.
River jumped. "She's..."
"Yes, telepathic." The Doctor nodded. "You may not be able to speak to them verbally, but you can read each other's thoughts." He said, taking her hand and placing it on the lioness's back. "Try it. It's okay."
River closed her eyes in order to concentrate better. "What's your name?" She asked the lioness.
"My name is Lena, I'm the leader of the tribe. I can assure you that we mean no harm." The lioness replied.
"Okay. My name is River Song."
"I know who you are. The Doctor helped us out of a sticky spot a while ago when a Zygon posed as a penguin here."
"Penguin? Bet that was interesting." River smiled.
"It was." Lena agreed. "It's an honour to have you and your family here." Lena replied.
"Thank you. Lena?"
"Yes?" The lioness replied.
"Do you have a family, and do you miss where you came from?"
Lena did the mental equivalent of a shrug. "I was born in captivity-and yes, two cubs and a mate who does nothing but sleep. Typical cat."
"River, a zookeeper's on his way." The Doctor warned.
"I'm going to have to go-it was nice to speak to you, Lena."
"And you, Doctor Song. I see that you once doubted your abilities as a mother-I can assure you that your husband and children think the world of you." Said Lena. "Goodbye." She said, and walked away.
River opened her eyes, feeling slightly disorientated.
"You okay?" Her husband placed a hand on her back.
"Yes." She nodded. "I just wanted to say that I love you all very much, never forget that."
"We love you too, Mummy." The twins chorused.
"What's brought this on?" The Doctor asked with a smile.
"Just something that Lena said." River replied, giving him a kiss on the cheek.