One
"Nurse Williams, are you looking for other employment options?"
Rory Williams looked up from his book at a colleague who was holding a phone. "What? No, of course I'm not."
"Well, this is your wife, and she wants me to tell you that the doctor arrived at your house a couple hours ago."
Rory tried not to let his eyes betray too much excitement as he held out his hand for the phone. "Thanks, Andrews." The other nurse walked away and Rory put the phone up to his ear. "Hullo, Mrs. Williams," he said cheerfully. "Has our bow-tie wearing friend come to call again?"
Amy's very Scottish voice came through sounding exasperated. "Yes, husband, he has, and I'm getting really tired of him playing Wii tennis. He's been here since, like, an hour after you left for work, and he actually tried to get me to join him. So, can you come home early?"
"What? No, I'm busy, Amy!" He glanced down at the novel he was reading. "Yeah, totally busy, it's crazy here, so actually I might be coming home late."
Amy's tone was slightly accusatory. "Are you lying to me?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Come home. He says he needs our help with something."
Rory sighed. "Fine, ok, but even if he is a time traveling alien with two hearts, I don't always come at his beck and call."
"Yes, you do."
"Fair enough. Coming home now. Give us a few minutes. Love you."
"Love you too. Hurry." Click.
Rory sighed again. Four months. Not a sight of him since the last time the Doctor had dropped them off at home. He had made maybe three or four phone calls since then, all of them messages left while both Williams' were out. He always sounded cheerful, making references to times and places he had gone, either with River Song or by himself, always assuring the Williams (the Ponds, as he called them, Amy's maiden name) that he was fine, and would come by sooner or later, but never hinting at how long it would be 'til he actually popped back. Rory told his boss that he was leaving early (that was okay, since the hospital had hardly anyone coming through) and drove home.
The TARDIS had landed on the flowerbeds again. Amy would not be thrilled when she saw that, but Rory ignored the crushed flowers and waved hello to the blue box. Since the TARDIS's soul had once been transplanted in a woman's body for a day, he had never thought of the beautiful old box as a machine again, and treated it as a person when no one could see him. Amy would probably consider it silly, though the Doctor did the same thing openly. As he walked up the path to the front door of the house, Amy, in a light blue shirt and dark jeans, opened the door. "Finally," she said. "What took you so long?"
Rory gave her a quick kiss. "Is he still on the Wii?"
Amy rolled her eyes. "Yes. He's worse then you."
"Oi," Rory retorted, and walked into the living room. Indeed, the Doctor was playing Wii tennis, fairly dancing around the room and standing on top of the couch. Rory switched the television off.
Instead of being annoyed, the Doctor twirled around, looking delighted. "Rory the Roman!" he called, dropping the remotes. "Rory Williams Pond!"
"Really not my name. Either of those. But yes, hello, Doctor. You parked the TARDIS on Amy's flowers." Rory smiled. "Bet you already got a lecture off her."
Coming down off the couch, the Doctor gave Rory a hug which left him gasping. "Who, Amy, or the TARDIS?" the Doctor asked jokingly, once he had released Rory.
"I was meaning Amy," Rory clarified. "But if your spaceship gave you a lecture, I wish I had been there. How's River?"
"She's fine. Last time I saw her she was popping off to deal with a couple of evil robots. So, basically, nothing new. What's new with the Ponds?"
"Williams'," Rory muttered.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing. We're fine, everything's fine. Although I had to leave work early. What was so important?" Rory asked.
The Doctor winked. "You'll see."
Amy was leaning against the doorframe, watching the exchange with amusement. "Come along, boys," she said. "I have a feeling we should be heading towards a certain blue box parked on my poor flowers."
