The TARDIS ground to a halt on the dusty desert road. The Doctor peeked his head outside, checking for any spectators who may be around to gawk at them, then waved at Clara to follow him.
"Are you sure you got it right this time?" Clara asked dubiously.
"Positive," The Doctor proclaimed, "I mean, yes, there are hundreds of towns spread out across America and yes, they do change fairly rapidly through the the years, but no American is going to fool The Doctor, eh?"
Clara giggled, then turned serious again. "And you're sure the angel's gone now?"
The Doctor nodded. "Because it created the paradox, time chose to erase it. It never existed."
Clara beamed. "Works for me. Come on!" The two of them raced down the road towards the house that sat waiting for them, framed by the rays of the setting sun.
Clara was the first to reach the window. She peered through the glass into the tiny living room, careful to remain hidden from view. A woman in her late twenties was seated on the couch, surrounded by friends and relatives gushing over the baby in her arms.
The Doctor smiled broadly and spoke as if the people inside could hear him. "Congratulations, old boy. You made it. The 2000s."
"That's her, isn't it, Doctor?"
"It is, Clara. It hasn't been that long, really, only ten years or so," he mused.
"But she wouldn't remember?"
The Doctor's smile wavered. "No, I'm afraid not."
They both lapsed into a thoughtful silence. Then Clara inquired, "Is she happy, Doctor?"
"Sure looks that way," The Doctor assured her, "She's a mother now. She doesn't have any reason to be unhappy."
"Excuse me." A woman opened the door and studied Clara and The Doctor with thinly veiled suspicion. "Who are you?"
"Oh, just old friends of the happy couple," The Doctor answered. "We were in the neighborhood, so we thought we'd pop by."
"Oh." The woman blinked, perplexed, then her expression cleared and she held open the door. "Well, why don't you come in? It's cold tonight, and it doesn't seem polite to make you stay outside."
"Right." The Doctor winked as he and Clara were ushered indoors. "Because it always gets cold at night in Stone Feather, Arizona."
The woman with the baby in her arms stood and greeted The Doctor and Clara with a warm smile. "Hello. It's been a while."
"You said she wouldn't recognize us," Clara whispered to The Doctor.
"Not consciously, she doesn't. She probably just thinks we're old schoolmates." The Doctor took the baby and swung him around, making him quake with laughter. "Look at you, precious little thing! I can tell you're going to be an extraordinary one, you are!"
"He seems to know it, too," the mother chimed in.
"What's his name?" Clara asked.
Ella's eyes grew distant, as if reaching out into space to see her boy's name penciled in the stars. "It's Dean."
"That's a beautiful name," Clara told her, sharing a secret glance with The Doctor.
Ella heaved a sigh, one that contained a heavy weight from a life gone by. "Yes, Clara, I think so, too."