River came to visit her parents when she got the chance between adventures. On this visit however, there was an unspoken tension thickening the air around them as they spoke. Amy was navigating her words carefully through the fog as best she could. She stared at the clock on the wall, like a lighthouse, it guided her away from the subject. River was no fool, she'd known her mother all her life, knew how well Amy could smile while tears tugged at the corners of her eyes.

"Rory.." Amy smiled as her husband came in through the kitchen door with the mail in hand. "River's come to visit!"

"Hello, Father." River walked up and gave him a big hug.

Rory smiled and gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek. Then turned to Amy. "I'm not seeing anything from the doctor here, I mean just a regular doctor." Rory clarified. "Not THE Doctor." He sifted through the junk mail sighing. "The test results ought to be in by now."

"I'm sure we'll get word soon." Amy forced another smile. Rory didn't notice how hard she was working to keep it up.

"Well, I'm just.. really excited... you know.." Rory looked at River. "That isn't to say we're replacing you."

"Yeah, just because you're not the baby of the house anymore doesn't mean mommy and daddy love you any less." Amy joked, pouring her daughter some more tea. Amy went to get Rory a mug but he quickly took a thermos and filled it himself.

"Sorry, I have to take this one to go. I'm only in for a quick lunch, back to work after this." Rory took a sip, grabbed a snack and kissed his wife. "I promise I'll be home more when..." He touched his wife's flat tummy.

"Don't you worry about me. Now get going before you're late." Amy kissed her husband once more before he ran out the door.

"Mother," River raised an eyebrow. "Why are you lying to Rory?" She watched as Amy tensed up and became uncharacteristically speechless.

"Do you know? How do you know? Are you meeting in the wrong order? You already know, don't you?" Amy suddenly spoke all at once.

"I just figured it out. Rory's looking for a piece of mail he can't find but there's a torn envelope in the bin right behind me." River crossed her arms, disappointed in her mother. "Your test results, why are you hiding them from him? Rory deserves to know. How long are you going to keep pretending?"

Amy's tears finally started falling. "Something's wrong with me. They can't explain it. I had you easily so why can't I have kids now?! They said I was sterile. Like, it just happened. How could that just happen?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with Kovarian." River's face grew solemn. "I'm so sorry mother." She held her weeping mother in her arms, letting her cry on her shoulder. "You have to tell him." River added. "You honestly think that Rory wouldn't stand beside you through this after all you two have gone through?"

"He just wants this so bad." Amy sniffled and attempted to stifle her tears. "I know he'll never leave me but he'll never get what he wants with me. He might stay with me but is it the best thing for him? He deserves the family he wants, he deserves to be happy.."

Rory ran back inside the kitchen, "Sorry forgot my... What's wrong?" He noticed Amy crying and River with a rather grave look on her face.

"The results came, Rory. I was afraid to tell you, they're not good." Amy grabbed the crumpled paper out of the bin and handed it to him.

After Rory read it he balled it up in his fist. "We'll figure something out, we'll try something else. There's other methods we haven't tried. We'll be fine." He gave his wife a hug and a kiss. "We'll give it a few weeks and then see another doctor about other options. We'll get through this one."

River knew her father had nothing but their best interest in mind but River could already see it, his words didn't comfort Amy, they only pressured her harder. No amount of different methods will change her body now, what Kovarian did was irreversible. She knew that Kovarian would never leave an option open for them. For fear that Amy and Rory might produce another Time Lord offspring, she destroyed their chances of ever having another child together. River left for Rory and Amy to speak about the matter privately but they couldn't patch it up.

Amy already had it in her mind that Rory was better off without her. She pushed him farther and farther away. After months of Amy distancing herself from him, he finally caved. He was short and cold in his communications with her, bitterly handed her the papers to sign. It'd taken her a great deal of effort to get him to hate her, he was far too loyal for his own good. But now he was free to find someone better, Amy thought. She'd give him up forever even though it hurt if it meant he would be happy, if it meant he'd finally get the family he deserved.