A/N: I don't know what inspired me to write this. I guess I was just bored. Is it worth continuing?

Prologue:

51st Century

River Song stared down at the device in her hands. What it was telling her was impossible. She knew that. Yet, inexplicably, it seemed to be true. She swallowed, then hid the device. She couldn't let the guards find out. She couldn't let anybody find out. Especially not the Doctor. Once he knew, his enemies would find out, and the child would be in danger. She needed a plan. Which meant she would have to let someone find out. It was going to be noticeable soon enough.

Eight Months Later

River winced as another contraction arrived. She had to get out of here, and quickly. Once they realized she was in labor, they would sedate her and get a doctor in for delivery. If the child was born here, it was all over. It wouldn't be safe, it would grow up in this time of violence, and the Doctor would surely find out about it-and then his enemies would. She couldn't allow that to happen. She ran out of the prison, wondering vaguely if the guards had ever seen a woman escaping while in labor before. She set her vortex manipulator for the coordinates she was aiming for-Earth at the end of the 20th century-and took a deep breath, then traveled through time. When she arrived, she was in the year 2000, in New York City. With a faint smile, she realized there was a UNIT facility in New York, and that she could trace their technology. When she found it, she had to pick the lock to get in.

"Excuse me!" someone said, but she hardly paid attention. "You can't be here!"

She walked past them, trying to find someone who was in charge, then winced as yet another contraction came. Two minutes. She was getting closer to having the baby.

"Who are you?!" someone else asked.

Finally she gave up and said, "It's in your best interest to let me see whoever is in charge here."

"And why is that?"

She turned to look at the guard and said. "Have you heard of the Doctor?"

"Well of course we have, everyone in UNIT has heard of the Doctor."

"Well, I'm his wife."

A minute later, she was in front of a stern-looking woman with gray hair. "You in charge, then?"

"That's right. I hear you are married to the Doctor?"

"Yeah, we married in a bit of an nontraditional ceremony in an aborted timeline where all of history was frozen in a single moment."

"Right..."

"Anyway, this is his baby that I'm about to have, and seeing as I want the baby to be a secret, as in, nobody can ever know, I'm going to need your help."

Three hours later, River smiled at the little girl in her arms, but sighed as she realized she would never see her again.

"What would you like to name her?" the woman asked.

"What do you mean?"

"We're making a birth certificate for her. She was born on American soil, so she is a citizen."

"Alright. Her name is..." River frowned. She hadn't really considered this. "Emma."

"Very well. Mother's name?"

"Melody Pond."

"Do you want to put a father's name?"

"John Smith."

"All set."

"And... she'll be safe?"

"Very. We've got a couple of UNIT agents who want to raise her, and she'll have medical appointments here, to avoid suspicion."

"Okay." River sighed. "Can I have a pen and paper?"

The woman obliged, and River wrote a letter to her baby girl. Holding back tears, she put the letter in the lining of her blankets, then whispered, "Goodbye, Emma." She started fiddling with her vortex manipulator.

"Are you sure you want to time travel so soon after giving birth?"

"Haven't got much of a choice," she replied, and a moment later she was back in the 51st century. She held the memory wiping device she had stolen from UNIT in her hand. As the guards came by, she wiped each of their memories of her pregnancy. Then she did the only thing that would ensure Emma's safety from her father's enemies. She wiped her own memory, too.

Earth, 2017

"Come on, Emma, it's Christmas!" Daniel said, his whiny voice making his sister laugh.

"Danny, I don't care if it's Christmas. There is absolutely no way I am going to play that stupid game with you. Get Molly to do it!"

"Hey!" Molly said. "I resent that."

"Sorry," said Emma.

Molly and Danny continued to bicker, and Emma went upstairs, still laughing. They were good siblings. It still felt odd sometimes, being adopted when they weren't, not to mention knowing that they were different species and Molly and Danny didn't know, but she loved them, and she loved her parents.

She pulled out the letter again. As a little girl, she had read it once a week, or more, but now that she was older, she only read it a couple times a year. She knew it by heart, anyway.

Dearest Emma,

First of all, I want you to know that I love you. I have made the choices I have made purely for that reason. Now I must explain something to you: You are not human. I am part human, and partly a different species; your father is entirely this other species. I am not sure what percentage human this makes you, but you must know never to allow anyone to perform a medical examination on you who is not from UNIT. You have two hearts. And you have other abilities, abilities they can explain to you.

My name is Melody Pond, though I am known to most as River Song. I was born in the 51st century, and I am a time traveler. Actually, my parents are only eleven or so as I write this on the day you are born, June 16th, 2000. It's all a bit confusing. Your father, now, he is a time traveler too. He's from a whole race of time travelers, a species known as Time Lords. Due to an unfortunate occurrence, he is the only remaining Time Lord. Or at least, he was. My parents, Amy and Rory, traveled with him, and due to my being-er-created on his time ship, I became part Time Lord as well. And then you were born, and you're mostly Time Lord.

Now, Emma, your father, he is called The Doctor. He is the greatest man I have ever known. He is an explorer, going from star to star to see everything. But more importantly he is a hero, who goes from civilization to civilization, saving lives, always expecting nothing in return. If you understand nothing else, understand that. He is a wonderful man, if also a bit mad. Or a lot mad. But I love him very much. But what you must know is that as a hero, he has many enemies. And as such, it would be far too dangerous if he-or anyone-ever found out about you. I myself erased my memory of you, so that you would be as safe as I could make you. I want you to live as a normal child, at least as much as an immortal can. If you are very lucky, someday you may meet your father; I trust that you would be capable of keeping this information from him.

I wish you all the best in life, and know, please, that I do love you. That is why I cannot risk the Doctor's enemies ever finding you.

Love,

Your mother,

Melody

Emma put the letter back in her pocket with a faint smile. She loved to hear about her father, the hero. She had read everything about him there was that wasn't classified, which wasn't much. Then she had hacked into UNIT's classified information and found out more about her father, as well as many other things she really wasn't meant to know. Once she was an adult, she could work for UNIT, but of course, for a Time Lord, the idea of becoming an adult at eighteen was somewhat silly. They weren't really adults until 100. She looked seventeen now, sure, but she would continue to look that way for centuries. Still, she liked her life on Earth as a normal girl. She was in her senior year of high school, and lived fairly normally. She had two parents, a brother, and a sister; Danny was a year older than her, and Molly a year younger. Danny was in college now. He went to NYU, which meant he was home all the time. Emma thought she wanted to go farther away, much as she loved her family. Maybe it was the DNA of the Doctor in her, the desire to explore. The only stronger desire she had was the desire to meet her birth parents. If what her mother said about her father was true, that he went around saving people, she thought that perhaps going to areas where there was danger would get him to come. But she was afraid. If he was such a great man, would she be worthy of meeting him? And if her mother was embellishing, would he be a disappointment? They say never to meet your heroes, and he was her biggest one.

As she pulled out her computer to do some of her winter break homework, she couldn't help but think, Maybe I'll meet him soon.

Little did she know that out in space, a blue box was spinning wildly, about to come crashing down to Earth.