THE DOCTOR'S PERSPECTIVE

"So!" I said eagerly as I rubbed my hands together. "Where to then?"

Brian hesitantly responded, "Well… I'm not sure it's even possible. It might involve a… a paradox, as Rory called it."

"I'm sorry, but the timelines are far too scrambled to go back and visit their graves, if that's what you're thinking."

"Oh, no- not at all. I'm not sure that's something I could handle anyway. There is something else though… I want to go back in time."

"As you wish," River chimed in. "Where to?"

"St. Rose's Hospital."

River, after having exchanged a puzzled expression with me, asked, "What for?"

"To sort of make up for a past mistake," he began uneasily. "You see, after many sleepless nights of remaining beside my very pregnant wife, Rory was a week overdue and Lily was getting anxious. She kept insisting her labor had started, said she was in pain and that she was having contractions, but the doctors kept sending us back home; the baby wasn't coming. After a very convincing round of contractions, we checked her in and decided to wait it out at the hospital."

"You mean she still wasn't in labor?" River gawked.

"Unfortunately not. The doctors did say that sort of mistake wasn't as rare as it seemed, though- said it was perfectly normal. But to be honest, we were tired of taking her to and from the hospital. So for five days, I sat, ate, and slept beside her, while she remained all laid out in one of those beds, just waiting for him to be born. After the week passed, though, my wife Lily decided to get me out of there for a bit. 'Go to work,' she insisted. But when I told her I wasn't going to leave any time soon, she told me to relax, 'the baby's not going to come out any time soon, either.'"

"Why didn't she just induce?" River wondered.

"Oh, the doctors would've loved if she had! She kept refusing- wanted it to be natural. Don't ask me, that was all her decision. I would've gladly had the labor induced." After clearing his throat, Brian continued, "Well, anyway, she wouldn't let me stay in the hospital any longer. 'Go on,' she nagged. 'One of us needs to make money for our family, and I can't do it from this blasted bed!'"

"So you left?" I presumed.

Ignoring the question, Brian explained, "I knew she'd made up her mind, and since work was a mere half hour away, I figured that if there was any change, the hospital would page me and I could still make it in plenty of time for the delivery. Plus, I knew that my leaving would be the only way to calm her down. So, yes… I left."

"Aha! I knew it," I grinned, turning to River with raised eyebrows, completely impressed with myself. She shook her head at me disapprovingly, however, so I bit my lip and let Brian tell the rest of his story. "Right. Sorry. Go on."

"Lily went into labor just as I was getting to work, and I couldn't be reached. Stupid me- I misplaced the pager!" Brian shook his head at the memory. "It took me hours to notice. When I finally realized it wasn't in my pocket, I tore through my office in a mad search. I eventually came to find that I'd left it in the car. I didn't even bother telling the boss I was leaving, I took off for the hospital and rushed as fast as I could. Of course, the one day I go the slightest bit over the speed limit, I get pulled over!"

"What bad luck," River sympathized.

"Tell me about it. Not only did that take forever, but I got myself a lovely three-figure ticket to top it all off," he mumbled. "But anyway, when I finally got to the hospital, after scrambling on up to the third floor and running all the way down the halls- I saw him, already born. There he was- my baby boy- all wrapped in his new blankey, being passed on to Lily by one of her doctors and his lady-friend. I missed absolutely everything."

I grimaced simultaneously with River, realizing exactly why Brian wanted to go back. She put her hand on his for comfort, as he resumed, "I just want to see my little Rory being born."

River and I subtly exchanged troubled glances, wondering if what he was asking was even possible. I shook my head doubtfully, "Brian, I really don't think we—"

"Please." His face was filled with desperation and hope… and it broke my hearts.

If I could do one thing to make this man's life just the slightest bit better, to help right the great amount of wrongI'd done by him… oh, I swear I'd do it.

"Oh, all right," I caved. "You'll have to look on from outside of the room, though. You can't go in and hold him. Now that would create a paradox."

"And probably a lot of confusion when your other self walks in," River added. "Could you imagine- suddenly having two Brians in one room!"

"Completely understood," he replied with a salute. "I promise I'll stay out of sight."

"To the TARDIS then," I exclaimed, already halfway out of the house. "Come along then!"

I led them back to my TARDIS, where Brian stopped to stare in awe; he stood at the doorway, peaking his head in and out a few times before settling in. "I'd forgotten how big it was in here!"

Just as he was about to sit on the steps, I called him over, saying, "Brian, I need you here for a moment." He came over, as dutiful and ready as ever, and I instructed, "Enter the address of the hospital."

"Actually," River said, "Coordinates work better."

"Well, yes," I admitted. "That's only if you know them. Just be specific, Brian."

Of course, I knew I could do all this faster on my own, but Brian was always so fascinated by this sort of thing- why not improve his day just bit? "Good," I commented, hovering over his shoulder. "Now you've got to enter the date. Be as specific as you can- down to the minute preferably."

"…What if I don't remember the minute?" he asked, embarrassed.

"Guess, I suppose. Like I said, be as specific as you can." Thinking that over, I corrected myself, "It doesn't hurt to go earlier rather than later, or you could miss it all over again. Wouldn't want that. So! Have you got it ready?"

Brian nodded as he stepped away from the console.

"Off we go then," River announced. Then, taking a (rather offensive) side-glance at me, she warned Brian, "Hold on tight."

– - – - – -

When the TARDIS came to a stop, I immediately hopped out to take a look around, but Brian had actually managed to land us inside a dumpster. The second I landed in it, I was so caught off guard that I lost my footing and fell face-first into the full-to-the-brim garbage box. I didn't know it was possible to have such poor aim, honestly. But there I was, slowly sinking into horribly foul-smelling rubbish.

"Honey," River called out. "Let's park her elsewhere, don't you think? …And perhaps you should rinse off- I like dirty minds, not dirty men."

I stumbled on my way back to the TARDIS, trying to shake something suspiciously gooey off my ankle along the way, but I lost my balance instead. River (however reluctantly) reached down and grabbed my arm, giving it a good pull. Unfortunately, she pulled a bit too hard and I ended up falling right on top of her. I lifted myself up a bit and brushed her coat off for her. "Emm…Sorry, River."

"Oh, Doctor!" She muttered, lightly pushing me away. "Look what you've done."

"Sorry!" I said again, getting all flustered.

As I was about to get up, River held onto my arm, pulled me in close, and murmured with a devilish smile, "Now we've bothgot to rinse off."

My eyes widened and my jaw hung open. No matter how often she slipped in those flirtatious remarks, I still couldn't help but get a little surprised by them (and a lot excited!) I'd really wanted to give River a kiss right then, but the filth was definitely a mood-killer.

So I stood up hastily and brushed off my trousers as River let out a soft laugh, bemused by my eagerness. She then extended her hand to me, and I helped her up. Noticing an old french fry tangled in her hair, I apologized again as I got it out for her.

River grimaced in disgust. "We're about to rinse off anyway, Sweetie. Can we hurry in, though? I feel like the Slitheen!"

I gave a quick nod and we turned around, automatically holding hands, ready to run up the TARDIS steps and jump in the shower… only to find Brian standing defiantly at the base of the staircase, his arms folded across his chest. "Doctor. Don't care much for the flirting. That's my granddaughter, and she can rinse herself off, thank you."

"Right," I said, stifling an embarrassed laugh. "Well then… um, ladies first. Go on."

Once upstairs, River made sure Brian was still at his post, keeping his eyes on me. She then met my gaze and slipped out of her dress, revealing herself to be in classy-but-sexy black lingerie.

Brian must've noticed my quite obvious gaping, because he tried to turn around, however slowly, trying to both keep his attention on me, while also trying to see what was keeping myattention. But River winked at me and scurried into the bathroom, dress in hand, before Brian could see. Moments later, the faint sound of running water echoed throughout the TARDIS.

I leaned against the console and studied Brian. "So protective," I noted.

He looked at me like I was stupid. "Well, of course. She is family, after all."

"Yet you hardly know her," I reminded.

"Doesn't matter, we Williams stick together."

"That's another thing…" I started carefully. "She's not exactly a Williams."

Brian's eyes grew so big I thought they'd explode. "What 'exactly' are you trying to say? River told me that Rorywas her father! And who else was Amy even with besides– you!?I thought she was a Time Lord because she was made in the TARDIS not because you— but that makes River your– no… no, that's sick!"

My mind was racing. Was Brian actually implying that I'd had any sort of… interactions with Amelia Pond? -That River was my wife andmy daughter? "That's not it all- I only meant that she's Melody Pond. She took her mother's name! This family may be a bit out there, but it doesn't go thatfar, mate. "

"…Ah." Brian took a sigh of relief, "Maybe you should've led with that. Nonetheless, she's family and I love her as much I did Rory and Amy."

"You never even doubted her," I recalled.

"Why would I do that?"

"If some strange girl waltzed into the TARDIS, calling me dad, or granddad for that matter, I'd sure need more proof than her say-so."

"But I didhave more than her say-so. I had yours. I consider you my friend, and I trust you enough to not be bringing home a psychopath and trying to pass her off as my granddaughter."

"Don't let River fool you- she is one hundred percenta psychopath!"

It was Brian's turn to study me. "You love her, don't you?"

I looked away to hide my blush. "Well, I married her, didn't I?"

"'Kind of,'" he smirked. "You said you were 'kind of' married."

"You really don't want the details of that one, Brian," I brushed off. "Involves me being inside a fake me, a last minute wedding without a proper proposal or consent of any kind, and the whole of time sort of revolving around and depending on us. Complicated."

"So have a do-over. Do it right. You love her, and that isn't that complicated at all, son."

"Nah, River wouldn't care for that much," I shrugged. "Too sappy and boring, I think. She'd rather be out there, saving the world, guns a'blazing."

"How would you know if you haven't asked?"

I thought it over and, well, he was right. I didn't want to be her 'kind of' husband- I wanted to be her husband. And the more humans we were bound to meet, the more they'd want to know things, like how I proposed or how extravagant everything was, and, frankly, I wanted to have the perfect answer. I did want it to be on par with the other fairytale adventures we always had. Not just for me, but for her… for us. "You've got a point, Bri. If she says yes, you'll be the first to get an invite! Oh and… I should've asked before, but how much time do we have to find the hospital?"

Thrown by the topic change, he answered, "We, um… We've got- let's see- a little over an hour, it seems. No rush."

A sudden quiet filled the air as the water upstairs was shut off. Brian stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at me, as if surrendering, saying, "Sounds like she's out now… I suppose I'll let you start up, but no funny business, do you get that?" I gave a salute and hurried clumsily up the stairs.

Much to my dismay, River had already slipped into a fresh, new outfit. She wore a simple white top- which rested right above her chest to reveal only a hint of cleavage- and she had just slid up a pair of black jeans as I walked in.

River couldn't have been less interested in me, though. After barely taking one step towards her, she turned away, clipped her vortex manipulator on around her wrist, saying over her shoulder, "Your turn."

While she was still glancing in my direction, I unbuttoned my dress shirt one by one and let it fall to the floor, trying my best to be alluring, but the only reaction from River was, "Oh, sweetie, no- leave the strip-teasing to me." She grabbed a brush and blow dryer and headed off to her bedroom.

Thirty minutes later, I stood in front of my bedroom mirror, adjusting the new bow tie I'd bought for myself right before the trip to Manhattan. I'd been planning on saving it for my first official date with River, but I was dressing to impress to make up for earlier.

It was a lovely little bow tie: the color was a deep, dark blue that almost appeared black. It had small white stars scattered about in the form of the Lyra Constellation (which actually makes the outline of a bow tie! A bow-tie in a bow-tie! Aren't I clever?)

I clipped on my dark blue suspenders over my pale, powder blue dress shirt, slicked back my hair, and excitedly ran down the stairs. "Ah, much better!"

"Indeed," River winked. "Except for that bow-tie of yours…"

"I thought you'd like it," I whined, self consciously rocking back on my heels.

"Not as much as I'd like to burn it," she laughed. But, as I reluctantly started to take it off, she had a sudden change in heart. "No, no, leave it. I was only kidding. It's not that bad- I mean, it's not as bad as the fez…"

"I liked that fez," I grumbled. "Fezzes are cool. What've you got against fezzes?"

"Bow ties… fezzes… suspenders…"

"What've you got against my suspenders?" I wailed in a huff.

She moved in closer and she arched an eyebrow slyly, admitting in a hushed tone, "All those silly accessories just get in the way when-"

Brian interjected with a cough, as if to remind us he was still around. (And honestly, I think River and I both needed a reminder that he was.) "Not to interrupt, but the flirting can wait. I'd rather be trying to find our way to the hospital. Thirty minutes or so left…"

"Right," I hollered, as I made my way to the console.

River beat me to it, though, saying, "Nice try, sweetie, but we both know she prefers to take her orders from me. And I'm not aiming to land in another dumpster, thank you very much."

I was ready to protest, That wasn't even me, but I decided to let her win just this once. I sighed and gestured to the controls. "She's all yours. Too bad we don't know the coordinates, or we-"

"Just leave that to me," she smirked, without taking her eyes off the console.

– - – - – -

After landing (more smoothly than my pride would have liked to admit), I opened the door carefully, peeking my head out, as to not repeat my earlier mistake. I looked up at the tall building before me and turned right back around, wearing a big grin. "Found it!"

Though the sun was setting, and the front sign was hard to read, I could still make out enough to know we were in the right spot. The others stepped out of the TARDIS behind me as I read aloud, "St. Rose's Hospital… Geronimo!"

We had Brian lead the way, and, after a lot of hiding behind walls, popping our heads around corners, and running quickly down halls (to not accidentally bump into past-Brian or someone he knew), we finally ducked into a vacant corner room. There was nothing inside it but a little closet in the back and hospital bed. The room had a large glass window that overlooked the hallway, and we kept the lights off to be sure we were out of sight.

Brian walked hesitantly up to the window, peering into the hallway longingly. He put his hand up to the glass and his breathing became noticeably heavier than before.

I went up beside him and asked, "What is it?"

River leaned into me, whispering softly in my ear, "Look beyond the hallway- doesn't someone look a bit… familiar?"

I finally noticed; on the other side of the hallway, there was another room, completely lit up, with a very pregnant woman lying in bed. She had gorgeous strawberry-blonde hair that downplayed that oddly large shaped nose of hers. Her smile was bright and quite contagious- her doctor and nurse both seemed to be completely drawn to her. They stood huddled around her bed, trying to get through reading her charts, but were obviously too busy talking and laughing instead.

"That's my wife," Brian said at long last. "That's Lily."