Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters that are involved except for Ella-Marie Stark (Pond) And Darcyl Jones
Base: Doctor Who
Characters: River Song, The 11th Doctor
Summary: Punishment of being sent to Earth is slowly ebbing at the Doctor but he lives through it because he knows it will keep River happy. Plus with his wife being pregnant he's slowly starting to see the good in becoming a father. Sure enough though a spanner is thrown in the works.
"Lets do it right just this once, even if it's for a few months. Let's be a family, let's own a house, let's do it all."
Those were his words, her husband's words, the Doctor's words. River had not believed him to start with, told him he was being silly because she knew far too well that he wouldn't be able to cope. Even when he carried her into that house, she thought him to be joking.
How wrong was River though? This was month six and he was being the perfect husband, he'd even gotten himself a job at the local toy store
Today though River was sitting on the couch, a hand rubbing her belly while her bowl rested upon her swollen stomach. She had insane cravings for cereal lately and it had all seemed too much for the Doctor. She glanced over at him as he fiddled with a plug and some wiring.
For River, cereal was going out of fashion, the boxes were disappearing off the shelf fast and River was slowly becoming more and more anxious as she watched as the last trickle of cornflakes fall into the bowl.
A sigh escaped her as she poured the milk, her fifth bowl in the space of two hours and this box was empty. River chucked the box in the bin, her other hand gently rubbing the bump that she had gained over the few months. "Sweetie, we need more cereal, I'm on my last box after this bowl," River finally spoke up.
The plug clicked as metal hit against it, the screwdriver twisted in his supple hand while his tongue poked out between his lips as he worked. It was a slow job, fixing a blown plug for a lamp with a simple, every day screwdriver. When River said she needed cereal, he paused in his work and his eyes widened. That was never good. "I'll finish this up and then head out to get some!" He glanced at the clock, 12:01AM. Ah, that was going to be a problem because the large stores were out of town and the ones in Leadsworth were small shops that closed by 7PM.
River simply shrugged as she crunched her way through her last bowl, the taste of it was heavenly and she found herself addicted to it. The Doctor furrowed his brow as he watched her eat, how could she get through so much in just a few days? It amazed him because he couldn't eat that much fish fingers and custard like that.
She, on the other hand found that she would often get such intense cravings to the point she would often cause an argument between herself and her husband.
The Doctor fretted often when his wife in these moods, last time she kicked off it ended up with a vase, god knows where she got that from, being thrown at him. The plug finally clicked, the screw back in and the Doctor glanced up with a grin on his face. River glanced and raised a brow, "Why don't you use the sonic? It'll get done quicker or we'll have no iron at this rate."
A smirk slipped across the Doctor's lips as he placed the cover back onto the small bit of equipment, "It's fine, you want the human life then you've got it. This means no sonic ok?" He winked at her before grabbing the iron and making a last few adjustments. River rolled her eyes and pointed her spoon at him, "Actually you suggested it." Her spoon rose to point at him, smirking as she watched him bring the iron to his face and furrow his brow at it. A sudden smile spread across his lips, those hazel eyes widened, "Aha! I fixed it!"
River tilted her head a little at him as munching as she watched him, "Are you sure because I have a ton of ironing to do," She asked, praying to some heaven above that he had. He nodded and held it up for her to see, "Like new!" He exclaimed before setting it down on the coffee table in front of him. A chuckle escaped him, before he sat back in his chair, "Would you honestly doubt me River? I can fix just about anything. Anyway, I can do the ironing if you want?" He grinned brightly as he gestured to the iron. More than just handyman.
A soft laugh escaped River's lips, sometimes he was far too sweet for his own good. "I never doubted you sweetie, but I would be grateful if you could do the ironing for me," His offer made her heart melt a little. River rubbed her swollen belly as she thought on things. At this rate she wouldn't be able to physically get near the ironing board if her stomach grew any bigger.
The Doctor leapt to his feet, the iron in hand while River watched him wishing that this could be the life they would live forever. As the Doctor set up the ironing board and reaching over to plug the iron in, River laughed as her eyes drifted over her husband to catch sight of his behind. "So how's work been?" River piped up now that the Doctor had straightened out. He glanced at her and replied, "Oh, well a bunch of kids wanted to turn with this one toy but because I was demonstrating it they tackled me," The idea of working with kids and with toys, was just the perfect job for him and he loved it. Even River could see he loved it.
"They didn't hurt you did they?" She raised a brow, now placing the empty bowl on the table, returning her hands to her belly where she felt a few random kicks fro her unborn child. The Doctor shook his head as he started ironing, "No, of course not. In fact it was quite funny and I've decided I am really getting the hang of the whole kid thing!" He grinned brightly at his wife in which River returned. In fact she was proud of him as she smiled at him at that point.
After the first month of him finding out that she was pregnant, the Doctor would pace back and forth like a caged animal in their new home. He would constantly say how bad of a father he would be and yet here he was taking on the role of a parent so naturally. "I told you that you would be perfectly fine sweetie," Another kick forced River to take a breath. That one hurt. River winced, her hand rubbed her stomach a lightly before asking, "Anyway, do you have tomorrow off?"
Even though the Doctor nodded to answer her question, he was more concerned tto see River wince like she had. "Good, because I was thinking we could go shopping for baby stuff," It was just a suggestion and wasn't forcing him into anything. Perhaps if River got him focused on the baby then he would seem a little less anxious. Another kick and River gasped softly, bloody hell their unborn child had a decent kick. In seconds River was leaning forward as far as she could, lowering her head as she tried to ease the pain.
The Doctor glided the iron across one of his shirts, deep in thought unaware of River's slight predicament as of now. "A lovely idea but where could we possibly go?" His eyes finally trailed down to his wife, his eyes widened as he saw her breathing harshly. River wasn't in labour but by god the child wasn't staying still. Just like her father. "Blimey," She muttered under her breath before she finally sat back and panted. "Are you ok?! Is it coming?!" The Doctor was suddenly frantic but River simply reassured him.
"Yes, of course. She just likes to kick," She beckoned him over with a wave of her hand, gesturing for him to place his hand on her bump. He furrowed his brow and placed the iron down safely before cautiously approaching her and resting his hand on her baby bump. When he felt the kick, his eyes widened in surprise, he then glanced up at River and grinned brightly, "Wow, that's our little girl?"
River couldn't help but smile back at him, "See, I'm ok. She's and I reckon she is going to be so like her father."
"Well if she keeps kicking like that, then she'll be more like her mother," He cheekily winked at River and returned to ironing with a cheerful smile on his face. River gasped playfully and pointed at him, "More like she'll have mother's moves and father's personality. A mad girl with a decent swing!" River was adamant this was going to be for sure. The Doctor shook his head, what a horrifying thought! "Oh that will never be good!" He exclaimed before bursting into a fit of giggles.
"Enough of that, I was considering of decorating her room as well, you know. Stars on the ceiling sort of idea?" River explained what she had thought up but it seemed the good old Doctor had already planned the same thing, "Lovely! I was thinking a whole space theme! The whole works! Planets on the walls and everything." The Doctor glanced River's way and there, she caught that loving glint in his eye.
It seemed two adults were becoming increasingly happy about the idea of decorating their child's nursery. "Yes! Oh we could even incorporate a painting of the TARDIS into it as well!" It seemed all so perfect. And that was what worried River, when was the perfection going to end?
The Doctor glanced down at the ironing board as he folded away the shirt and started on some trousers. River's eyes fell to his rear as he worked; it was something that just seemingly happened as she drifted into her thoughts. "River, I know what you are doing," The Doctor piped up, a smirk on his lips as he glanced at her over his shoulder. He felt her eyes burning into the back of him. River glanced up, a brow raised, "Hmmm? What, I was thinking!"
The Doctor let out a laugh and shook his head, "Thinking and enjoying the view? I know it's nice but you were staring," He waggled his butt at her playfully. River furrowed her brow at him, "View of what? All I can see is your rear and the ironing board!" Of course, she was only teasing but it amused her to wind him up.
The Doctor turned to her and pointed at her with his free hand, "Point proven." The Doctor winked at her which only made River laugh even more.
After sometime, the ironing piled high and the ctor pleased with his work, he stood there and admired the basket load for a few moments and then placed it to one side ready to put away later. "That was fun, I should do that more often," His slender finger gestured to the pile before grinning at River. "Fun? Sweetie, it's just ironing," What a bizarre thing to say?!
"Look, I know I'm being a pain sweetie but… erm… Do you mind popping to the kitchen and grabbing me some more cereal? I've kind of run out…" She held the box up and shook it, the rattling of crumbs being the only sound that came from it, "And I have no tea either…" She glanced at her cup in which the Doctor chuckled with a shake of his head. River had him wrapped around her finger.
'I'm not always going to be there to save you River' He once said. Yep, he was totally wrong about that.
The Doctor took the cup and the empty box and head for the kitchen. In a flash he whipped up the perfect cup of tea and tipped out a bowl of cereal. Upon returning he found River in her thoughts once more, her fingers twiddling with the ends of her tight curls. He cleared his throat and caught the attention of his wife who glanced up in a slight haze. "Thanks," was the word she uttered from her lips as she took the cup and bowl from him when he offered it to her.
River placed the cup of tea on the coffee table for the moment, her bowl resting on her baby bump, "Sweetie can I ask you something?" The Doctor nodded, a half smile on his face, "Why did you suggest all of this?"
The Doctor gulped, she never knew and honestly he rather wished she would never find out. He slapped on a fake smile, shrugged and replied, "I just thought what the hell and went for it!"
To her, that didn't sound right and she was going to get the truth no matter what, "But you and human life? I mean really?"
He knew that River was not going to take a simple answer, especially considering how well she knew him. "I just thought I should give it a go, you know." He reached over and laced his fingers with hers as they sat there.
"Well I am grateful for it," She smiled down at their hands, grinning as they sat there like a normal human like couple. "I really should stop eating you know, I'm going to get fatter than I am at this rate." She prodded her stomach, a huff escaping her, "Three more months and I'll be back to normal!" River just wanted to hold her little girl right now.
The Doctor on the other hand was just raring to get back to the TARDIS, he was surprised he was still sane living the boring human life. River furrowed her brow as she caught sight of her husband's expression, "Something wrong?" She asked him.
He looked up and smiled. "What? Nothing's wrong. Just thinking about how we are going to decorate the little one's room." Oh he was a horrible liar.
River couldn't help but grin like a fool at his words, buying his lie like a lamb to the slaughter. She was so blinded by the fact they were going to be parents, how a perfect husband he was being that she had never stopped to consider that there was something else behind this. "Well Stars and solar system is a definite yes."
The Doctor nodded in agreement, "Of course. The ceiling will be like a dark, dark blue so the stars stand out. The walls, I was thinking a lighter blue and purple combined together." He didn't know why he was lying. Why he couldn't bear to tell her the truth. He'd done it for so long, he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep it up.
"I like the sound of that." She thought on it, imagining the room in her head. It was the perfect life but it all seemed wrong to her. As much as she wanted their little one to grow up in a house, with two parents who could stay still long enough to watch an entire series of CSI... River just couldn't see it happening. "This won't last will it?" She glanced at him and sighed softly. The Doctor raised an eyebrow in slight yet faked confusion, "What do you mean? Oh, I suppose it could. It's up to you." He grinned. No way in hell. He was getting the ruddy TARDIS back or he would have words with his 'superiors'. "I mean... the safety, knowing she's going to not have to face what we face every day." Her hand traced circles on her bump, her little one still as ever.
"But where's the fun in that!" He chuckled softly. These last months had been hell, utter hell, and all he could do to make sure River didn't know what had happened was just put on an insane, stupid smile and go through it. Story of his life, really. River smiled however, "I know but don't forget she'll be just a child for a few years and it's dangerous for her."
The Doctor nodded but he was too distracted by his thoughts. He was already thinking of having the TARDIS back. He hoped to god that they were true to their word and the sentence was only 6 months... in fact, two more days from now. If they went back on their word, which he knew they were very fond of doing, he would be furious.
However, River was unaware of the truth to why they were here; River had a sudden thought, something that had worried her. Why had she not said sooner?
"Oh, someone came around the other day while you were working, to check if I was doing ok but it wasn't regular nurse..." River had decided on home visits from a nurse in case something was different about the baby. The less people who knew, the better.
He looked up. "Oh? Who were they?" Please be the ruddy Gallifreyan morons, he was desperate to get back home! River's answer came with little reassurance to who it was in all honesty, "He, he called himself Darcy? Darrel?" She furrowed her brow, damn what was his name? "Irish lad..." River replied, resting her head on his shoulder as she cuddled up to his side. The Doctor furrowed his brow, nope not who he wanted it to be and neither did he know who that was, "Huh, never heard of them." River seemed agitate by the fact this nurse had come around though, "There was something strange about him." River furrowed her brow, she could have sworn she had seen him before. The Doctor gave her hand a light squeeze, "Is... is he the only one that came around? The nurse was supposed to come today too." He sighed. Then again, the Time Lords weren't exactly supposed to be here yet. The Doctor was desperate to have the TARDIS back.
"There was supposed to be one to come around today? I thought it was once a week?" She raised a brow at him, wondering why he seemed jittery suddenly. The Doctor however tried to hide his sudden worry "Is there? I'm usually never home when they're here. I don't know..." He furrowed his brow, something was off here, more than just the missing TARDIS and the rubbish human life. Those fools had screwed up, forgotten about him! River shrugged a little, "Sweetie, you panic too much. Look the baby is fine and things are ok. You have tomorrow off so we'll sort stuff out for the baby room ok." She gave him a reassuring smile before kissing his cheek.
The Doctor's thoughts were a million miles away now, even when he received the kiss on his cheek. That's it, if they hadn't come by tomorrow night, he was finding a way to contact them. If this man was here, this one nurse that River had not recognised, there was only one explanation. It was for the child and there was no way in hell they were getting her. He stood up. "I know, River, I know." He looked over at her. "I'm going to go get food for dinner, I'll be back in a few." River glanced at him as he began to shuffle about, "Are you sure sweetie? We have something in the cupboards." She went to get up but he was already tugging on his jacket and kissing her cheek.
Outside and he was instantly rummaging around the front of his tweed coat, tearing apart a small compartment where he'd hidden the sonic. He pulled it out of his pocket and set off. Six months and he hadn't used the sonic in six bloody months. He shook his head slightly as he walked down the street.
Sure enough his legs took off, setting off down the street, pulling a face as he pulled out the sonic, scanning about. As he read the results, he knew exactly that he had been right.
However the name of the unknown nurse was playing on his mind. He went through what River had said and came to one tiny conclusion, a name he had encountered before. Darcyl, a hired assassin for HYDRA That man, he'd heard of him, but why would he be going after his kid? Was it to try and kill him? They had tried that once, and he'd gotten a wife from it so why would this be any different?
Perhaps the Silence and HYDRA working together, or was this just one big coincidence... no, there was no such thing. He rubbed his forehead, tapping his chin with the sonic as he paced down the dull and quiet road. They'd found River, they'd find him not long after. He needed to get the TARDIS back, in fact he needed to get away from here before they mounted a full-scale attack and tried to take River before the baby was born. His paternal instincts kicked in, he'd do whatever it took.
Through the veil of his own thoughts and haze he found himself in, the Doctor noted a familiar face was walking towards him. One of the High Gallifreyans. "Doctor..."
As he was addressed, The Doctor snapped out of his personal trance and stared at the man before him. Sure enough he tugged on the hem of his tweed jacket to straighten it out. . "Eh, oh! Hello!" He grinned slightly in order to hide the slight anger he could feel burning in the pit of stomach.
The man glided towards him his robes almost draping across the floor, "Your sentence will be over tomorrow but from then on you will be serving another." As per usual, the Time Lord, The Doctor's superior was putting on a show. Drama queens, all of them. "Oh goody, what do you mean by that?" The Doctor rolled his eyes but it seemed he was not getting an answer from that any time soon. "Only time can tell Doctor. All I can say is that child of yours will be the main cause."
The Doctor narrowed his eyes, his child? He bowed his head. Why couldn't people ever just leave him alone! He knew he'd done things to deserve it, but honestly, some people took it too far. "Thank you. But one thing will I be getting the TARDIS back then? Because I need to get away from here." Probably not the best thing to ask while standing before a superior, "You stole that TARDIS, it is property of Gallifrey not of you and yet you expect to have it once more?"
Oh perfect, this was never a good sign. Ever. "I need it though; I have to protect River and our child. Please you have to understand!" The man thought on this plea, to some degree that child would effect many things including their own planet, well so foretold. "Fine but you ever darken our doors once more you will be sentenced to death." The Doctor would never even bother with Gallifrey again, he hadn't since he wrecked the planet so this was something he was willing to abide by plus he'd had worse threats before. "Thank you." He inclined his head and saluted the man before walking off.
Never had his legs carried him as fast as they were now. Upon reaching the house he was fumbling about for the keys to get in, eventually stumbling in through the door. Even with his thoughts a thousand miles away he still took the time to come in without disturbing River. Too late, she was already awake, it looked like she had another good kicking from the little one. Now she was sitting up and glancing to where he had just waltzed in. "Sweetie, I thought you were going to get dinner?"
Ah, dinner. He had forgotten. He glanced at his empty hands and cleared his throat, "I…" He was guessing he should tell her about what had happened but she wouldn't know what he was on about anyway since they had erased that part of their time on Gallifrey. All he could say was that the TARDIS would be given back, and they could go back to their normal lives. Well, as normal as it can get for them.
River sat back a little, unaware of what he was thinking. "You know you can talk to me if something is bugging you right?" River pointed out, she was actually getting a little worried about his sudden stillness. The Doctor tried to find the words before replying, "Well I was just thinking, do you want to go back to how life was before? I mean we experienced this and all and it's just…" He paused and inhaled sharply, "…I miss the TARDIS and everything." He smiled slightly but he could just tell River was not pleased with such, "You know I would love to but I'm worried that something will happen." In fact she had felt safe here than she had anywhere else in her life.
It was worrying that something would happen if they stayed here, "I know but something could happen anywhere. Even here," He sat beside his wife, taking her hand in his and staring at her. River knew he was right her head lowered, her thumb gently caressing the flesh of his hand, always so soft to the touch, "I know."
So here was the start of the secret six years River had with her husband, fighting to keep their little girl safe. River finally glanced back up at him, "If you can promise to keep the little one safe then I'll do it. I will give this all up, all of it for you."
The Doctor stared right at her and nodded, "You know I will. I won't ever, ever let anything happen to you or her."
River leaned forward and kissed him sweetly on the lips, her hand cupped his cheek while the other gave his fingers a light squeeze. River loved him too much to not trust him.
Further down the line, they'd be arguing over baby names, splattering each other with paint as they decorated a room in the TARDIS for their baby. The Doctor would tease River by asking to call the little on after him and River would be so against it. Then there would be the emotional trip of bringing up the idea of naming her after her grandmother but the Doctor struggled to even mention it even now. The Doctor would eat the same weird cravings as River did just because he loved her so (and a tiny bit curious) and River would apologise relentlessly after one of her rather scary mood swings that the Doctor would have to suffer from. Chances were he'd end up with a slap but it was worth doing so for her.
The first six months were easy on some level. The Doctor was ready for his new adventure. Fatherhood.
