A high-pitched, defiant shriek of "NO!" echoed throughout the TARDIS. The Doctor cringed. This 'terrible two' phase couldn't be over soon enough.
With a resigned huff, the Time Lord abandoned his tinkering; it could wait. Irrational toddlers, on the other hand…
He found River perched on the edge of their bed looking like some sort of exhausted, very pregnant version of The Thinker. Her legs were splayed out to accommodate the size of her belly and a hand covered her face in absolute resignation. Sensing her husband's presence, River lifted her head slightly and gave him a pleading look.
Across the room, their curly-haired daughter sat huffing on the floor, clutching the leg of a rocking chair with a scowl to rival her father's very worst. Books lay scattered across the floor, obviously the unfortunate victims of her pint-sized anger. The Doctor had to bite his lip to stop himself from sniggering at the sight of it.
Steeling himself with a deep exhale, he approached the toddler, crouching down to her level. "Freya," he said calmly, with only a hint of warning. "What's happened?"
The scowl deepened.
The Doctor arched an eyebrow. "Freya."
"I want Mummy." She mumbled.
"Mummy's right there," he explained, nodding in his wife's direction.
"Nooooo." She whimpered, her voice growing sequentially louder and more emotional. "I WANT Mummy AND the CHAIRRR!"
He glanced over at his wife, his eyes meeting hers with an understanding, albeit taken aback, look.
"Freya, Mummy and I have told you this before," he explained gently, turning back to their daughter. "You can either sit on the bed with Mummy or with me in the rocking chair."
"Noooo!" The toddler wailed again, smushing her face against the chair's wooden frame.
"You can't sit on Mummy's lap."
Tiny blonde eyebrows furrowed and a quivering lip threatened to unleash another tantrum.
The Doctor let out an exasperated sigh. He was too old for this. "Do you understand why?"
The frustration on the toddler's face made it clear that she didn't. She uttered a weak cry for her mother.
"Come here, my love." River lovingly called from the bed.
The sniffling girl slowly released her iron grip on the chair and looked at her father with big, sad eyes. She held her little arms out to him in a silent request to be picked up. The Doctor smiled. How could he resist that face?
Having moved against the headboard, River propped herself up with pillows in an ongoing attempt to relieve her back pain. The Doctor gingerly placed Freya down beside her, allowing the girl to nestle herself in the crook of her mother's elbow.
"There we are," River hummed sweetly, brushing the stray curls off of their daughter's face. "Now, can I have your hand?" Freya nodded, removing a soothing thumb from her mouth. "Put it right…" River narrated as she guided the tiny palm into place on her swollen belly, "here."
The Doctor couldn't help but smirk at the look of confusion on their daughter's face.
"Wait a moment." River reassured her.
A few short seconds later, Freya pulled her hand back as if it'd been bitten.
"Did you feel that?" River asked, laughter filling her voice.
The toddler's eyes were wide with wonder as she stared at her mother's stomach.
"That's the baby in there," River whispered sweetly, running her fingers through her daughter's hair.
"Baby?" Freya asked, her toddler brain not fully processing the concept.
"Yes, the baby growing in Mummy's belly. He's saying hello."
"Hi," Freya whispered to her mother's stomach. River suddenly found herself on the brink of tears, her hearts surging with an overwhelming amount of love. She blamed her pregnancy hormones, but, looking to her husband, she found that he too was smiling at how precious their daughter was.
The Doctor leant forward to brush a shining tear off his wife's cheek, allowing his hand to linger. River took his hand in hers and pressed her lips to his palm in a moment of tender, silent thanks.
Their attention was once again drawn to the golden-haired toddler, who now lay against her mother's abdomen, her ear intently pressed against it.
"What are you doing, little love?" the Time Lord inquired.
"Shhh, Daddy!" Freya whispered sternly. "Baby's talking."
The Doctor chuckled.
"What's he saying?" River asked, her tone light with mirth.
"Swoosh swoosh swoosh swoosh" Freya relayed.
"She can hear his heartbeats" the Doctor surmised, clearly impressed. "Time Lord hearing. Brilliant!" River tried her best to suppress an eye roll.
It was at that moment that the baby delivered another swift kick. Freya yelped, startled by the sudden, unexpected movement. "No, baby!" she scolded the belly. "Be nice to Freya, okay?"
"I think he wants a story," The Doctor suggested. "Shall we read him one?"
The answer was a big, resounding "Yah!"
"Alright then," River agreed. "Off you pop. Pick a book."
The toddler scrambled to the edge of the bed and slid down to the floor.
Having retrieved her selection, she turned back to face her parents, clutching the book to her chest.
"Mummy?" she asked meekly. "I… Um… Can baby have my chair?"
"If you'd like." River answered with a smile.
Freya nodded her head adamantly. "Yeah. Baby can have it."
"That's very sweet of you," River replied.
The girl gave a small smile. She raised her arms. "Up, Daddy?"
The Doctor lifted his daughter onto the bed, feigning a groan. "So. Heavy."
"You're silly, Daddy," Freya giggled.
"That I am," he agreed with a wink.
Freya handed her mother the book, settling in beside the belly. She lay her head against its curvature, her small hands wide in an embrace. "Here, baby," she said, patting the bump gently. "Mummy's gonna read you the book."
The unborn Time Lord displayed his approval with a kick. This time, Freya responded, not with a scolding, but with a smile and a tiny, affectionate kiss.
Her parents practically melted on the spot.
"That's my girl," the Doctor mused fondly. Maybe toddlers weren't so unreasonable after all.