Hey, my name is AnnaBelle and this is my first story! I hope you like it, I would love to hear any comments you have. Thanks for reading
Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or any of the Doctor Who characters you recognise.
"Daddy, you left the brakes on,"
The Doctor narrowed his eyes a little bit at his small daughter. "We like the sound of the brakes, Amelia."
Amelia shrugged and he smiled at her as he made his way over to the couch to unstrap her and her small sister, Susan, from their car seats that were installed on it. Apparently River was worried the girls would get hurt with him driving. He refused to admit that she was better at driving the TARDIS. Absolutely not. No way.
"Come along, Songs," he said as he lifted Susan onto his hip and placed a gentle kiss on her head. She looked just like her mother, with a head of big curls, though they were his brown colour, and her mother's smile, face and blue eyes. Amelia had straight red hair like her namesake grandmother and the Doctor's green eyes and smile. Amelia ran along in front of him towards the doors of the TARDIS.
When they stepped out the Doctor was taken aback. Standing directly in front of him was himself. His tenth self with Rose Tyler standing baffled next to him. It was quiet for a moment as they all looked at each other, between each other, speechless.
"Daddy, it's you," Amelia said. "That's you! Ten you!" she jumped up and down, excitement bursting through her. She stopped suddenly, her little eyes widening and her chin quivering slightly. "Is this going to create a pair of ducks?"
"Paradox, honey," The Doctor corrected, shaking off his initial surprise. He turned to himself. "Maybe we are, maybe we are not."
"No, no, daddy!" Susan giggled, grabbing his cheeks in her little hands and squeezing gently. "No ducks."
The Tenth Doctor's mouth was wide open, staring bewildered at his future self. Rose stood wide eyed, her eyes darting between the Doctor standing in front of him with the baby in his arms and the other little girl next to him.
The Tenth Doctor gulped and squeaked, "I'm the Metacrisis Doctor. I go by John Smith now."
The Doctor nodded, but his eyes narrowed slightly, "What are you doing here? You were stuck in Pete's world?"
"You-you have children." Rose finally said before John Smith was able to answer.
"Ah, yes, I have children now, children are cool. Say hello, Songs." The Doctor smiled. Susan smiled shyly at them and whispered a hello.
"Hi, John Smith! It's nice to meet you!" Amelia said resuming her jumping. "Hello, pretty lady."
"That's Rose Tyler, honey," the Doctor told her.
"Hello pretty lady, Rose Tyler." Amelia giggled hugging the Doctors legs and waving at the two again.
John Smith blinked twice. "It's very nice to meet you. How old are you?" He bent down to her level and smiled brightly at her.
"I'm twenty seven months old, John Smith." Amelia answered.
"Well, that's very precise. You are a very, very smart girl aren't you?"
Amelia beamed loudly and looked up at her father who smiled down at her and nodded. "I'm a Time Lady. Daddy says that that means I'll grow up to be smarter than everyone else. Mommy says that Daddy is a bit of an idiot sometimes."
The Doctor's eyes widened. "What!" he stuttered and then sighed, "Yes, she probably did say that."
"The TARDIS likes her better." Amelia told John and Rose.
"She does not!" the Doctor said horrified, his voice reaching higher levels of pitch with each word. "Well, maybe she does a bit. But she has loved me longer. We have an understanding."
John and Rose were watching the interaction closely. Rose looked a little jealous, John looked incredibly excited and didn't seem to notice the look Rose was giving the young girl. "And just what is your name, you gorgeous ginger girl, you?" he asked.
"I almost cried when she came out ginger." The Doctor muttered.
"My name is Amelia Rory Song," she told him. "My sister's name is Susan Noble Song."
"Those are very pretty names," John said. "Your mother is River Song."
"Ah yes," the Doctor interrupted, "their mother is River Song. She's fine, library happened, I went back and fixed it-"
"With Aunt Clara," Amelia chimed.
"Yes, with Aunt Clara," the Doctor said, "Took me almost a hundred years to figure out a way to save her. I lived on a cloud and moped for most of that."
John and Rose looked surprised. "A hundred years?" John asked.
Before the Doctor was able to answer they heard a pop and a curvy, big curly blonde haired woman appeared next to the TARDIS.
"I hate travelling like this sometimes, it always messes up my hair." River Song smiled. She walked up to her husband and gave him a quick kiss before pulling Susan out of his arms and giving her a tight squeeze. "I missed you!" She bent down and pulled a squealing Amelia into her arms as well, picking her up and holding one on each hip. Once she was standing once more she finally noticed John and Rose.
"Oh, two Doctors. Is it my birthday, sweetie?" She smiled at her Doctor.
"No, River," he said with a smile trying to ignore the rather nasty glare that Rose was giving River.
River smiled at them. "Hello, again, it's nice to see you." She said to John, "And you are?" she asked Rose.
The Doctor could tell that she was trying very hard to ignore the look Rose was giving her and to not hit her. Or shoot her.
"I'm Rose Tyler," Rose finally said. "This is my husband, he goes by John Smith now."
"It's very nice to meet you, Rose," River said. The Doctor could tell she was biting her tongue and trying to be pleasant. "I've heard a lot about you."
"Of course you have," Rose scoffed.
River narrowed her eyes. "Well, dear," she said, turning to the Doctor. "Why don't I take the babies to see Grandfather while you talk to your friends?"
"No! No, I want to see Brian Pond too!" the Doctor argued. "Maybe you can just take the kids for a quick spin in the TARDIS around the moon? Then we can go see Brian after?"
River smiled gently at him, "Alright, sweetie." She turned to the girls, "Are you excited to see Great Grandfather?"
"Yes, but I'm more excited to see you, it's been so long, mummy!" Amelia said and little Susan nodded, wrapping her arms tight around her mother's neck.
"I know, sweetie, mummy's been working. You've gotten so big! Has daddy taken good care of you?"
"Oi! Of course I have!" the Doctor said. "And you've been gone about a month and a half, if you're interested."
"It's only been two weeks for me," River said. She turned back to John and Rose who had been watching the family's interaction silently. "It was very nice to see you again, John. And to meet you Rose." She turned to her husband. "How long should we be gone for?"
"An hour should be fine." The Doctor said.
"Daddy! Come with us!" Amelia said, reaching for the Doctor.
"You'll only be going around the moon and back, Amelia." The Doctor said giving her a tight hug. "I'll see you again in five minutes and then we will go see Great Grandpa."
River gave the Doctor a quick kiss before taking the girls into the TARDIS and a moment later it disappeared silently.
"She can fly the TARDIS?" Rose asked, "And why didn't it make the noise?"
"Well, the noise is from me leaving the brakes on. River always takes the brakes off when she flies so it doesn't make the noise. Except when I'm upset. If I'm upset she leaves them on because she knows I like the sound."
"I don't understand." John said, "The first time we met her she died. She knew our name, our real name, she had a sonic screwdriver that you had given her and a TARDIS diary and she died. She died to save me, to save four thousand people in the library… I don't understand how she can be alive. Or how you were able to have children with her. She's a human. A different species. It shouldn't be possible."
"Well, after Darillium, I sent her to the library. And then I sulked. Ah, yes, no adventures, just angry moping on top of a cloud in Victorian London for about a hundred years. But then I met Clara and she was impossible and I just had to figure her out. Then I had her help me get River back." The Doctor said. "Clara saved her, really. She went into my time stream and she replaced River and died in her place. Well, one version of Clara. It's not something you would have noticed. Clara is still fine. She travels with us. Clara and I go on our adventures every second Wednesday. Brian Pond, their great grandfather, watches them while we are away, I always come back within a few hours of being gone. River usually comes with us, but sometimes she is away working. She is an archaeologist."
"Wow, that's fantastic!" John said, "But the babies?"
"Ah, well that is a bit more complicated and timey-wimey. River was born Melody Pond, daughter of my companions Amelia Pond and Rory Williams. She was taken when she was born and raised to kill me. Our time streams always ran backwards before the library. The first time I met her it was the last time she met me and vice versa. I was already in love with her when I found out that she was part Time Lord and the daughter of my best friends. Talk about awkward. She didn't kill me like she was always meant to, married me instead. Well, that's not true. She did kill me. Twice. But the first time she was still a psychopath and used all of her regenerations to bring me back and the second time was a fixed point and couldn't be changed and wasn't really me it was a teselecta version, if that makes any sense at all."
"Wow, that's quite the story." Rose said.
"A fairy tale, really." The Doctor smiled, "We lost Amy and Rory a while ago, just before I had to send River to the library. Weeping Angels."
"Oh, no," John said, "I'm sorry."
"We couldn't go and get them without ripping apart New York. They lived out the rest of their days together. That's the important part." The Doctor sighed. "River can still go and visit them with her vortex manipulator. But I can't go. Amy wrote me a letter saying she never saw me again so I can never go see them. When the children are old enough they will go with River to see them. But Amelia is twenty seven months and Susan is fourteen months. They are far too young right now to travel with the vortex manipulator. River and I have been together for four hundred years. We didn't think it was possible for us to have babies but apparently she has enough Time Lady in her, from being conceived in the time vortex, that eventually she was able to get pregnant twice. I think the TARDIS probably had a bit to do with it."
"Well, look at you, marrying your companions' daughter." John laughed.
"Yes, I know," the Doctor sighed, "Amy was not incredibly impressed that I went from being her best friend to son-in-law. The first time I met River, Melody as she went by at the time, she was a month old and she laughed at my bow tie and didn't like the sound of my TARDIS. Then she was taken. It all worked out in the end, though."
A shrill noise sounded from the watch on John's wrist. "That's our cue to go back to Pete's World, we can't visit for long. This is like a vortex manipulator almost. We can only visit for an hour at a time."
"Well, may I just say that it was fantastic to meet you," the Doctor smiled, "And very nice to see you again, Rose. Although I have to say, with the glares you were giving my wife you might want to consider yourself lucky that she didn't have her gun on her."
Rose was shocked. "I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd notice. I just- it's weird. Thinking about you being with someone else. Loving someone else. Having children. I was just shocked. Tell her I'm sorry for me, please, Doctor."
John smiled apologetically at the Doctor who smiled back at them, "I will. Maybe we will see you again sometime."
"I hope so," Rose smiled. She reached forward and gave him a hug. He flailed his arms a bit uncomfortably before patting her gently on the back. "Be safe, Doctor. Be happy."
"You too, Rose Tyler," the Doctor smiled, "And you, John."
"Are you scared?" John asked suddenly, "She doesn't have any regenerations left, you said she used them to save you. And I know she didn't have any when she died in the library."
"Gallifrey gave us both a new set." The Doctor said, "I am scared to lose her, yes, always. But with our new sets we shouldn't have to worry about that any time soon."
"Gallifrey?" John gasped.
The Doctor smiled and reached forward, touching his fingertips gently to John's head and sharing with him the memory of them saving Gallifrey.
Tears welled up in John's eyes. "I can't believe it."
"I'm still trying to find it, but we did get our new sets." The Doctor said, "If I see you again, I'll be sure to update you."
John smiled and turned to Rose, who stood confused watching them. He gave her the biggest grin he could and offered her his arm, "Rose Tyler, I have quite the story to tell you when we get home." He turned to the Doctor, "Thank you for telling me. Thank you so much." And then he pressed a button on his watch and he and Rose disappeared.
"All done?"
The Doctor jumped as his wife wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. Amelia and Susan clung to his legs, hugging him tight.
"All done, dear." He turned in her arms and held her tight to him, pressing a kiss to her curls. "I love you, my dear River. And I wouldn't trade you for anything."
River looked up at him happily and kissed him gently, "Nor would I," she said. She enjoyed the feel of his arms for a few more moments before pulling away. "Alright, are we ready to go see great grandfather?" she asked and the girls both cheered. The Doctor took River's hand in one of his as she picked up Susan in her other arm and he took Amelia's hand in his other.
"Come along, Songs."
Thank you so much for reading this was my first story so I would really appreciate hearing your comments. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.