Author's Note: Even though the Ponds are gone, I think there are still a few stories left untold. Inspired by "Pond Life" and waiting-for-the-tardis. Thanks in advance for comments and critiques!

Chapter One – Set sometime between "The God Complex" and "Closing Time"

Amy Pond didn't care what the Doctor said: she enjoyed Sundays. They were a break from it all: the traveling, the job searching, the possibility of getting lost on some strange planet for twenty years only to have her life rewritten. The Doctor didn't land on Sundays, which meant that she was free to lounge around the house, doing absolutely nothing.

Rory was at the hospital. Like Amy, he also enjoyed Sundays. He scheduled as many shifts as he could on Sundays – just in case he fell through a gap in time and couldn't make it to work on Monday. Amy sometimes wished he would stay home. She would like the quiet afternoon with just him. But she knew how much he enjoyed helping people. Besides, seeing as their adventures were the reason Rory often missed Monday's work – and sometimes the rest of the week – it only seemed fair to give him one day of the week off.

So Amy had the afternoon to herself. She lounged on the sofa, her eyes taking in the living room. Her and Rory's living room. It had been a couple months since the Doctor had dropped the two of them off at this beautiful house with that gorgeous red car – which Rory loved – and she still couldn't quite believe it. She hadn't seen her beloved raggedy man since, even though everywhere she looked, she half-expected to. Maybe he had meant it when he said they were done. That he was giving them up while they were still breathing. Because that's what you do when you care about someone. You put them above yourself.

Maybe this was real life now.

Still, even on a lazy Sunday like today, a part of Amy still hoped that the Doctor would come back. He would knock on her door, having already swooped up Rory from the hospital, and bring them on some spectacular adventure. It seemed hard to believe it could all be over.

Amy blinked. She could have sworn she heard– No, it must have been her imagination. After all, she had just been hoping for a knock on her door. It seemed like too much of a coincidence for it to happen now. Then again, Amy had spent enough time with the Doctor to know stranger things had happened than a knock on a Sunday afternoon.

Amy walked to the door. The packed duffel she always kept handy – just in case – was resting against the coat closet. She smiled and reached for the door handle. A single word rested on her lips. She opened the door.

"Doctor–"

Amy stopped. It wasn't the Doctor. It was a woman.

"You're my mum," Amy murmured.

Tabetha Pond still didn't feel real to Amy. Yes, Amy could recognize the red hair and warm eyes she had inherited – and she still remembered a few memories of apples and smiley faces from before the crack in her bedroom appeared – but once upon a time, her parents had been erased from all of time. Little Amelia Pond had been left alone to fend for herself. Sure, time had been rewritten. Sure, Amy's head was now filled with memories of Sunday brunch and of vacations in Scotland – but those felt like fairy tales. They were the stories lonely Amelia had told herself so many times she thought they were true.

"I'm so glad I caught you," Tabetha Pond said. "I was worried you were out again – traveling or whatever it is you and Rory have been up to."

Amy shrugged. "Not today. Rory's at the hospital though. On shift."

Tabetha Pond smiled. "That's good to hear, I suppose. He works so hard."

Amy nodded absentmindedly. She never knew quite what to say to this woman who supposedly raised her. Silence fell between them.

"So," Amy said, finally breaking the ice. "What are you doing here?"

Tabheta Pond frowned. "Checking up on you, of course. It feels like your father and I haven't seen you in years. Right after the wedding, you just upped and left for your honeymoon – which I suppose is normal, yes – but then you kept going. Kept traveling to all these places, without so much as a postcard. We wouldn't have even known you were back if Brian Williams hadn't told us."

Amy sighed. Of course Rory kept in contact with his dad. She was surprised Rory hadn't called his father from the TARDIS. Amy never had that problem. She knew she'd never be able to explain what had happened to Augustus and Tabheta Pond.

"Well, that's great, I suppose," Amy said, holding onto the door handle. "But we're all fine, so there's nothing to worry about. You can go home and relax now."

"Hold on," Tabheta Pond said before Amy could close the door. "Amelia, are you all right?"

Amy flinched. There was a reason she had given up that name. But she couldn't let Tabheta Pond see that. She might mistake it as a sign of Amy's sadness – might suspect just how fragile of a foundation her so-called daughter's life was on – and insist on coming in. After everything that had happened, Amy didn't know what would happen if she let Tabheta Pond in.

Amy smiled. "Of course, I'm fine. Super."

Tabheta Pond nodded, worry in her eyes. Amy recognized that look. She had been a mother too, even if the woman on the other side of the door did not know that. Amy could understand a mother's fears.

"You're always so distant," Tabheta Pond murmured. "Ever since you were a little girl."

"That's because I knew how to take care of myself," Amy said. It came out harsher than she expected. She tried to soften the blow. "Which means you don't have to worry."

Amy tried to place a comforting hand on Tabheta Pond's shoulder. It felt a bit awkward. She let her arm drop to her side and made a mental note not to try that again.

"Trust me, Mum," Amy said, letting the unfamiliar name slip off her tongue as smoothly as she could. "I'll be all right."