Disclaimer- The closest I come to owning Doctor Who is a mug where the TARDIS disappears & reappears when you put coffee in it. (For those of you who don't realize that isn't close at all.)

Chapter 2

Somewhere on a hillside in rural Tennessee the TARDIS appeared in the middle of a forest. Summer storms had left the plants dripping with water and the humidity at unbearable levels. The door creaked open and a head with floppy brown hair looked out into the trees. His overall impression was 'damp.'

"This can't be right." The Doctor said. He ran back up to the console and checked a few dials, gauges, and doohickeys to find whatever caused them to land in the middle of the woods. However, the coordinates seemed to match those River had sent him. Well close enough anyway; a few minutes of walking wouldn't hurt them. Probably. Maybe. Didn't matter anyway; by the time he looked up Amy and Rory were already out the door. The Doctor sighed about humans wandering off and ran out after them.

"Doctor, where are we?" Amy asked. She turned towards him as he shut the blue wooden doors.

"The woods somewhere." He raised his hand when Amy opened her mouth to point out how astoundingly helpful and informative his answer was. "America, I think. Still trying to figure it out."

The Doctor spent a few seconds turning in place, taking a few steps, returning to where he started, and repeating the whole process. To an observer he was either determining the correct route or searching for something he dropped. Finally he declared, "I've got it. Come along Ponds." With that he turned around….

...and came face to face with several blue whales.

Blue whales didn't live in the forest, and they were the wrong size. Also they were printed on a pair of rubber boots. That explained it. No, wait why were there boots in a tree? The Doctor's gaze continued upwards until he saw the legs the boots were attached to (denim covered), the body the legs were attached to (wearing a blue raincoat), and the face attached to everything (young girl, brown hair tied back, hazel eyes staring at him with a look of disbelief and confusion). "Oh, hello there," he offered to the girl in the tree.

She responded by looking more surprised and nudging him in the head with her boot. "Could you stop that please?" the alien asked her, "I don't generally like footwear in contact with my head. It usually ends badly."

The girl just gaped a bit more before she responded, "I don't generally have British people appear in my backyard. Here, hold this." A large backpack flew out of the tree to hit the Doctor in the chest.

"Oof," the Doctor scrambled to catch the offending bag. The girl hooked her knees around the branch she had been sitting on and flipped out of the tree. Her boots squished into the dank forest floor as she landed.

"Thanks," she said as she brushed herself off and reached over to take her bag. She swung the backpack over one shoulder and turned to look at Amy and Rory as they approached.

"You couldn't tell us where we are could you?" Rory asked politely.

"The woods in my back yard," she answered, "but how did you make that thing just appear?" she asked, pointing towards the TARDIS.

The three time travelers glanced at each other. "Oh, don't worry, that happens a lot. What's your name?" The Doctor tried to distract her from the Police box.

She raised an eyebrow at him but answered anyway. "Brooke."

"Well Brooke, could you direct us towards the nearest interesting place? Not that this place isn't interesting, but we're meeting someone and really need to get there on time. She has a habit of getting into trouble." The Doctor slapped his hand onto Brooke's shoulder good-naturedly.

The teenager raised her eyebrow again. "Um, you're really lost aren't you? The nearest 'interesting place' is a thirty minute walk and a two hour drive away. We're in the middle of nowhere, and I do not mean the woods. But really, how did three British people and a blue telephone booth appear in the middle of the woods?"

"Um…" Rory tried to come up with an excuse, "we were going backpacking?"

"You don't have backpacks."

Amy jumped in to help her poor husband, "our friend was supposed to bring the backpacks." The ginger knew the excuse was a bit thin, but there wasn't really a good way to explain the situation. 'The blue box is a time machine and we're trying to meet our grown-up daughter but we landed in the wrong spot.' That wouldn't work.

"I just watched it appear out of thin air. I sat in that tree," Brooke pointed to her perch, "listened to the awful noise it made, and watched three full grown people step out. This needs to be explained or I will leave you all in the middle of the woods."

Amy and Rory had run out of excuses; they both looked at the Doctor. He glanced back at them and then towards the raincoat-clad teenager. "It's a special type of tent actually. We were….camping while we waited for our friend. It had to rematerialize when we were done and we ended up here." The Doctor smiled. Amy hit her palm against her forehead at her friend's response; tents didn't rematerialize.

Brooke just started at the three people in front of her. They were obviously crazy, and there was something weird going on. Three foreigners just appeared in the woods with a large blue box and make up lame excuses about how and why they ended up in her backyard. She was about to say something about trespassing when her cell phone started vibrating in her pocket. "Crap, I'm late."

The girl flipped her phone open. "Hello?...yes mom, I know they're supposed to be here soon….no, I was just reading and I lost track of time…..okay, I'm on my way. But, um I found some crazy people and I don't know what to do with them…..well they just sort of appeared out of no where…..yes I know I can't just leave them out here…..but-….yes ma'am." Brooke snapped the phone shut with a groan and replaced it in her pocket.

The Doctor, Rory, and Amy had been watching the one sided conversation. Two of them were slightly offended at being called crazy; the other was trying to figure out why the girl seemed so familiar. Brooke looked at the trio and sighed. "My mother has invited you to dinner. For some reason she doesn't think it's weird the strangers just appeared out of thin air, and we had extra food anyway because we were expecting guests for dinner. So, um…follow me I guess." Her invitation delivered, Brooke turned and walked into the woods.

"Oooh, I love dinner." The Doctor clapped his hands in excitement, and he and the Ponds ran to catch up with the girl in rain boots.

Forty-five minutes, two over-filled streams, and three fences later they finally emerged into the backyard of a quaint farmhouse. It had started raining while they had been walking through a field so all four people were soaked through by the time they reached the back porch. None of the time travelers were dressed for hiking, and they were covered in mud.

Brooke deposited her wet backpack on a convenient chair inside the back door and turned to look at the others. She chewed her bottom lip as she examined her guests. Her own boots and raincoat had saved her from the worst of the soggy stroll, but the others looked like wet dogs. "I guess you can leave your shoes and socks in the laundry room. We might be able to find some of my aunt's and uncle's clothes for you to wear, but I don't really know how well it will fit." She led them through a door into a small room with a tiled floor. A washer and dryer stood in the corner. Brooke slid her boots off and set them on the rug; after a moment the others followed suite.

"I thought you were talking to your mother on the phone. Why would your aunt and uncle's clothes be here?" Rory asked as he struggled to remove his wet socks. He awkwardly hopped around on one foot and almost knocked Amy back onto the porch.

"It's their house." Brooke answered, "I live here on the farm with my aunt, uncle, and cousins. Mom just visits a lot so I get to see her. We were supposed to have people over for dinner tonight, but I don't know where they are."

"Why dear, they're right here." A familiar voice was heard from the door to the rest of the house. Four pairs of eyes turned towards the sound; three of them widened in shock.

"Mom, what?" Brooke said.

"River!" the Doctor could barely believe what he was seeing. Of all the impossible situations he had found this woman in over the years this might be the most unexpected. What was River Song, the River Song, doing in a farmhouse in rural Tennessee?

The blonde just smiled with that grin that always promised a new adventure and all kinds of trouble. "Hello, Sweetie."

Rory and Amy just gaped. They knew they were meeting their daughter, but when they saw the surroundings when they landed they just assumed the Doctor had missed and ended up on one of his infamous detours.

The Doctor turned to face the girl that found them in the woods. "Brooke," he began in a serious tone, "what's your full name?"

The girl didn't understand why the three weird Europeans were staring at her, but she answered anyway. "Um, Song. Why does it matter?"

Rory regarded the teen. If she was River's daughter, that would explain why she looked familiar, but something didn't add up. Now that he knew the relation he could see the similarities. Their faces were similar, and the younger girl had Amy's nose. (Rory wondered how that trait got passed through River's regenerations to her daughter. The Doctor could probably explain.) But, as Rory kept looking, he realized there was still something wrong. Brooke had strait brown hair and hazel eyes. Rory's eyes were blue and his hair was a different color, so it couldn't have come from him. Maybe it came from her father. But, for some reason the combination seemed familiar...then it clicked. A shocked gasp escaped as Rory looked at the other people in the room.

While her husband was thinking internally, Amy's thought process was more vocal. She pointed at River, "you have a daughter? But how? When?" Amy kept turning back and forth between the two Songs. River was really Melody, who was her own daughter, and if her daughter had a daughter that made her, "a grandmother! How could I be a grandmother? I'm not even thirty!" The Scottish red head mentally groaned. She loved traveling with the Doctor, but for some reason it always screwed something up with her family. Right now she and Rory should be at home taking care of an infant. Instead they were an America visiting their grown up daughter who apparently had a teenage daughter of her own. Amy was too busy worrying about how they had ended up in their present situation puzzle out the strange girl's parentage.

The Doctor's expression was unreadable, and Brooke was unnerved by his intense stare as he tried to find an explanation just by looking at her. "I've got to go…change clothes." The excuse was lame, but the girl managed to escape up the stairs before her mother made her stay with the crazy people.

River chuckled at the reactions of her parents and the Doctor. She knew revealing Brooke's existence this way was a cruel joke, but one she enjoyed nonetheless. With a familiar smirk she said, "Oh, look at you three. Come on then. Dinner's already on the table, and we can't let it get cold."

She turned around and led the time travelers into a cozy looking kitchen. Paintings of various varieties of vegetable decorated the walls, and a large table was set with delicious looking food. There were dishes of mashed potatoes, green beans, and another, unrecognizable vegetable that was cut up and fried. There was even a large plate of fried chicken. The smell of pie filled the room from where the dessert was cooling on the stovetop.

Amy and Rory were still too shocked to protest as the blonde woman directed them into two seats under the window on the far side of the table from the door. The Doctor watched River intently but didn't speak when she pointed to a chair at one end of the table. River ignored the three people at the table as she fetched a pitcher of water from the fridge and began filling five glasses.

Just as River returned the pitcher to the fridge, Brooke walked in the room. At the sight of food the girl's eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell me Uncle David made chicken?"

River smiled at the girl as they both set down. "Well, your birthday is next week, and I'll have to leave by then. So I thought I'd surprise you tonight. Plus, we have important guests, so your uncle cooked for us."

Brooke immediately served her plate and began to eat, but the rest of the table looked at River, waiting for some sort of explanation. When none was forthcoming, Rory asked, "Who is Uncle David?"

"David and Karen Penn. This is their house. They've been taking care of Brooke for me. It is difficult to raise a child from a prison cell, but I've managed. They won't be joining us tonight though. Karen thought this was one visit she didn't want to watch, so they've taken their three children to David's parents for the night."

"River," the Doctor finally broke his silence, "whose daughter is she?"

"Mine." The blonde said flatly.

"That isn't what I meant."

Their gazes met for a few seconds in silent conversation. River was the first to glance away, but instead of answering the question she turned to her daughter. "Brooke how is school going?"

The teenager took a few seconds to realize someone was speaking to her. She looked up and swallowed her mouthful of food. "Um, it's summer so I don't have school, but Cross Country tryouts were last week." Brooke resumed eating, but not with her earlier enthusiasm.

"How did that go? Your old coach said you had a chance to be first string." River continued to ignore the other occupants at the table.

"Well regulations in High School are stricter. Coach Foster said I can't be on the team because I failed my physical. It's stupid though. I'm almost as good as some of the upperclassmen, but he won't let me because of the league rules." The girl started poking bits of food with her fork, brooding.

"Why did you fail your physical?" Rory asked.

"I have a heart condition, but it's not like it's a big deal. I've never had a problem with physical activity. If anything I'm in better shape than most people at my school." Brooke said in the tone irate teenagers have mastered.

"What kind of heart condition? You wouldn't happen to have any extraneous cardiovascular tissue?" The Doctor intertwined his fingers and placed his hands on the table.

"Actually, yeah. That was what the nurse called it. I don't see the big deal." Brooke continued to push her green beans around the plate then looked up. "Wait, how did you know that?"

"Doctor…I don't get it." Amy finally spoke up. "What does that 'extra whatever stuff' mean?"

"Well Amelia Pond, it seems your granddaughter had two hearts." The Doctor returned his gaze to River who simply looked back.

"But that still doesn't make sense. I thought you were the only one that-ohhh." Amy finally realized what most of the table had figured out. Her mouth dropped open and she looked between her daughter and her friend.

"Umm. Could someone please explain what's going on here?" Brooke set her fork down. She finally gave up on eating in favor of learning the big secret that somehow involved her. The girl looked to her mother for answers.

"Brooke, meet the Doctor-" River started.

"I already met him. I found them in the middle of the woods."

River gave the girl a stern gaze to prevent any more interruptions. "Brooke, hush. This man is from a different planet. He also happens to be your father."

Brooke looked back and forth between the two adults at either and of the table. She considered the Doctor for a moment. His bowtie was still a bit soggy and off kilter from the walk through the woods, and a twig stuck out of his wild hair. The coloring might resemble her own, but lots of people had brown hair.

"No," she stated bluntly.

"Excuse me miss, but I think I would remember," River said to the teen.

"I think I would remember too, but I don't." The Doctor's expression was still unreadable, but he definitely wasn't his usual silly, cheerful self. "could you explain to me how I have a daughter without any memory of creating one. River, the last time I saw you was at Lake Silencio. Yes we got married, but the universe was falling apart; there wasn't any time for…that."

The woman at the opposite end of the table only gave a familiar smirk as she replied with a single word, "Spoilers."

"Wait a second, what do you mean 'from a different planet,' and who are these people?" Brooke asked, pointing at Amy and Rory.

"These are your grandparents, Rory and Amy Pond." River answered.

"They can't be I know my grandparents. They're old, they live in Scotland, and their last name is Williams. We go to visit them every other Christmas. Aunt Karen always gets really excited to see her old friends. Uncle Arthur and Aunt Catherine bring Laci and Blaire from London, and we all open gifts." Brooke's speech sped up gradually as she went along. She started breathing too quickly as she looked around.

"Actually our last name is really Williams. The Doctor just keeps calling us by Amy's maiden name. It sort of stuck after awhile." Rory didn't always appreciate being ignored, but he loved Amy enough to ignore the name issue.

River reached out and placed her hand on Brooke's arm. "They are your grandparents. It's just a little complicated. The Doctor is an alien called a time lord and he can travel through time and space. I thought since you were turning sixteen it was time you traveled with him for a while. You're half time lord and it's time you experienced that part of your heritage."

The teenager's eyes lost focus for a few seconds. She took some deep breaths and replied with a steady voice, "I don't know what kind of joke this is but it isn't funny. You're all crazy." With that the girl stood and ran out of the kitchen. The adults could hear her stomp up the stairs and slam a door.