Disclaimer: Written with my good friend Victoriaaaaaa! Love you, sexy! The only character we own is Phoenix. No stealing Phoenix! Enjoy.
River slowly turned all the lights off inside the small cottage by the beach and took one last look at the picture on her mantle. Her mother and father, right before they vanished. They'd been so very happy...River had never seen them again after the Angels took them. She begged and begged the Doctor to take her to them, but he said no. Barely a few days had passed before the Doctor left River here on the beach. She'd cried and begged him to stay, but he didn't. He had the whole universe to see, and River was just a thing of the past. She hadn't seen him since. A few weeks later, she found out she was pregnant. Phoenix was a blessing to River. She was part Time Lord. A blessing to the race of Time Lords and a blessing to River. She was still so young...she didn't have a father. River hadn't bothered to find anyone else to fall in love with after the Doctor left her. No one was good enough for her...
River trudged up the stairs to her daughter's room and walked in with a smile. Her daughter was tucked underneath the blankets, her brown hair framing her face perfectly. She was perfect to River in every way. River smiled warmly at Phoenix as she sat down beside her daughter and put her arm around her.
"Hello, sweetie...would you like me to tell you a bedtime story?" she asked with a chuckle.
"Yes! can you tell me another story about Daddy?" her hazel eyes lit up. She looked so much like her mother, yet her eyes were entirely like her father. they sparkled with curiosity just like his. She loved hearing stories about her father travelling the universe. Her room was covered in drawings of things her mother would tell her about. sketches of the TARDIS, the Daleks, even what she thought the Silence looked like. Though there was one thing her mother never let her draw: the Weeping Angels. Phoenix knew if she drew an angel, it would come to life. River had told her the story of the angels when she asked about her grandparents. River smiled down at her young daughter.
"Of course I can, Phoenix. I think this time I'll tell you about the vashta neerada...this was the first time that your father met me." River situated herself so that Phoenix was leaning against her. "Look at the shadows. Count them. There's only one, right?" River received a nod. "Well, sometimes, there's two...the vashta neerada are what's in the dark and the shadows. They travel in hordes, and they move faster than you can blink. They take the flesh right off your bones, and you're dead in a second. Then you're just a memory...your father, the Doctor and I met at a library. There were vashta neerada there. I came with a crew. The vashta neerada got two of them. The Doctor tried to save them, but he couldn't. Nothing would work on them." River said softly. She continued through the story until she reached the end. "Then of course, your father saved the day. He saved CAL, got everyone back into the library, just like he always does. Then, he left. He swaggered on up to the TARDIS and snapped his fingers. The doors came open, and off he went. Into time and space..." River sighed nostalgically. By that point, Phoenix was fast asleep leaning against her mother, dreaming of the hero that was her father. She watched as the outline that was her father walked into a shining blue box, the TARDIS. She could never see her father's face in her dreams. He was always a distant outline, a silhouette that she couldn't reach. She always tried to call out to him in her dreams, but he would never turn around. River chuckled and tucked Phoenix in tightly, gently patting her hair.
"Goodnight, sweetie..." she murmured, glancing over at the shadows herself and counting them just to be sure. One. Just like there should be. River just shook her head at her own paranoia and looked back at her daughter. "Remember, always behave, and always be ready to run. The Doctor's watching..." River turned and left, softly shutting the door behind her. She knew the Doctor wasn't watching...he didn't know he even had a daughter...but River told her daughter that every night. Always behave, and always be ready to run...someday...someday he would come back...someday, the Doctor would return.
A/N: Please review!