Author's Note: Writing Miracles has made me fall in love with the idea of a timebaby. This little story is about River, the Doctor, and their daughter. I imagine this story to be part of the same universe as Miracles, but you really don't need any background information to read this one. Hope you enjoy the story, and I would, of course, be grateful for feedback!
At 11 years old, Emma Song still insists on being tucked in. She sleeps less than a human child but still more than adult time lords. Even now as she gets older and her desire for sleep wanes, she still loves bedtime. Each night her parents tell her a story about anything she chooses. Sometimes it's an ancient civilization, sometimes it's about space and time, and sometimes it's about her childhood. Tonight she has a special request in mind.
"What will it be tonight?" the Doctor asks Emma as River climbs into Emma's bed, wrapping her arm around her daughter and making room for the Doctor.
"I want to hear the story of how you two met."
The Doctor feels River tense slightly, and he wonders which story she is thinking of. "Well little one," the Doctor says, addressing his daughter as he has since she was a baby despite the fact that her recent growth spurt has her approaching River's height already. "That is two stories actually."
"One tonight and one tomorrow?" Emma asks hopefully. Her parents have lived long lives with more stories than Emma has had a chance to hear yet, but she has started to suspect that there are details that they have kept from her.
"Alright then," River says trying to gather her courage. "I'll tell you the story of how I met your father." River runs her fingers through her daughter's curls; her little girl is growing up so quickly.
"Once upon a time," River begins as she does each night, "there was a child who was stolen from her parents and raised with one purpose: to murder a very good man. For years she was trained to kill him, convinced that the world would be better without him, and programmed so that even if she realized the truth about this man she would have no choice but to try to end his life. It took years, but she found the man and she carried out her task. She poisoned him, but that man – your father – he was unbelievable good. And when he was dying, he used his last breath to tell the woman that he loved her and that he forgave her."
River remembers so clearly what it felt like that day to have her life turned upside down with those words. She remembers feeling for the first time in her life that she was and would always be loved. The Doctor had loved her so completely and beautifully when she was at her very worst.
The Doctor's arms wrap tightly around River from behind. "Mummy isn't telling the story right. She's leaving out all the important parts."
"Tell me Daddy," Emma exclaims.
"You see, Mum is the bravest person in the universe. Can you imagine how scary it would be to have everything you thought you knew turned upside down in an instant? Most people would run from that don't you think?"
Emma nods her agreement and snuggles further into her mother's arms. River feels almost overwhelmed by the amount of love surrounding her. She had been afraid of her daughter finding this out, but River is realizing that Emma would never doubt her mother's goodness or her parents' love.
"But your mother, she didn't run. Rule number seven," the Doctor continues, "Mum taught it to me when I was very young, and so I returned the favor when she was young. I reminded her not to run, and she didn't. Do you know what she did instead?" Emma shakes her head, hanging on her father's every word. "Mum gave up all the regenerations she had then to save me. Your mum has such good hearts Emma that even having a childhood of being trained to be a killer couldn't stop her from loving more fiercely than anyone else I have ever known."
Emma looks up at her mum, eyes full of admiration. "So you saved Dad and then the two of you got married?"
River smiles at her daughter. "Not quite. There were still so many things that had been put in my head, and I needed to erase them so that I could be free to control my own life."
"How did you erase them?" Emma asks.
"That took a lot of hard work," River says, not wanting to explain to Emma the torment that she had endured to free herself of the Silence's influence.
The Doctor presses his lips to River's neck. Emma is staring sadly at her mother, obviously picking up on the pain of the time that River spent in the Gamma Forests rebuilding her life. "Don't fret little one," the Doctor tells his daughter. "Mummy was just fine. The next time I saw her she appeared in the TARDIS, told me that there was a lake on Asgard that I had to see, pushed me out of the way of the controls, rerouted the old girl, and took me on a lovely date on Asgard."
Emma giggles. "So you two have always fought about who gets to drive then?"
"Mum has always been bossy, more like."
"And Dad has always been a rubbish driver."
Emma laughs, but the way she continues to cling to River lets the Doctor and River know that their girl is upset by the story she's heard.
"How about another story?" the Doctor suggests.
"Really?" Emma asks happily. She always tries for a second story, but her parents rarely give in.
"Yes, little one. Any story you like," the Doctor says, reaching out to bop his daughter on the nose.
"Tell me about Asgard," Emma says.
River and the Doctor grin wickedly at each other at the memory of that night together, and the Doctor considers how to make this story suitable for a child. "Ok then Emma. Once upon a time there was a very, very good woman who fell in love with the luckiest man in all the worlds."