Ch 9
In the morning, Terra woke the Doctor and the two of them went to the kitchen without waking River.
"[Can we have waffles and ice cream?]" Terra asked, dragging her blankie around with her.
"[Not today.]" The Doctor replied, rummaging in the fridge. He was trying to remember the things he knew how to cook and waffles wasn't one of them. "[Do you know what eggs Benedict is?]" Tera shook her head. "[It's like eggs and ham on toast but better.]"
Terra blinked, "[Arthur doesn't like eggs for breakfast remember?]" For the past month or so Arthur had been refusing to eat any eggs.
"[Oh... what else goes with ham?]"
"[Cheese! We can have grilled cheese with ham for breakfast!]"
"[Now there's a brilliant idea.]" He ruffled her hair and grabbed the cheese. Melting cheese couldn't be too hard, could it?
Terra beamed, "[I'm the smartest one! That's what you always say!]"
"[Is that what I say? Well I must be right.]" He smiled affectionately.
Terra nodded, obviously agreeing. He got the other ingredients together and a pan and started cooking what he could remember.
"[Can we have tomato soup too?]"
He hesitated. "[I don't think I remember how to make that.]"
"[Mummy can make it!]"
He glanced at the time. "[We should probably let her sleep some more.]"
"[But Mummy knows how to make the best tomato soup!]" The little girl protested.
He thought about it. "[Why don't I finish cooking this and then you can wake Mummy?]" That would at least give River a little longer to enjoy sleep.
Terra nodded in agreement and her father got back to work cooking, Samantha and Mr Thomas wandering in.
Terra played with the cats on the kitchen floor, then went to find the dog, though she ended up falling asleep next to him under the table. The Doctor put the food on a plate and looked around for his daughter, smiling when he saw her. He reached under the table and scooped her up, moving to the couch.
He sat with her in his arms thinking about all that had happened in the past day and what had happened on Gallifrey, cringing a little at those memories.
After about ten minutes, River's footsteps could be heard creeping softly down the stairs. He turned his head to acknowledge her.
"Morning." She murmured, "What are you doing?"
"Sitting." He nodded to the girl in his lap.
"Obviously." She sighed, "I mean how did she fall asleep? What were you two doing?"
"I was cooking and she found Toby under the table." He murmured.
River smiled softly, "My sweet girl."
He shared her expression. "She wanted to wake you up to make tomato soup. She says you make it best."
"I'll make it in a minute." She murmured, sitting beside him, delicately touching the girl's hair. Terra shifted slightly to her mother's touch.
"I could swear her hair his getting curlier."
"You think so?" She asked, eyes still fixed on the little girl. He nodded and River added, "She looks so much like...you did." She breathed.
"A slight consolation if you ever miss my old face." He said, trying the brush it off. River nodded, looking away. "I made grilled cheese and ham." He changed the subject.
"Mmm." She hummed, "Was that Terra's idea?"
"Yeah. Apparently, Arthur doesn't like eggs anymore."
"Yes, it's been an ongoing struggle to get him to eat eggs." She murmured.
"No worries about that this morning, though. How did you sleep?"
"Very well." She smiled, "Thank you for letting me sleep in, it was a nice change."
He nodded, guiltily realizing she'd probably not been sleeping well the past few weeks due to his disappearance. "Good."
"And you? Did you sleep alright?" She asked.
"Best I've slept in years." He replied, which truly wasn't an exaggeration (least it was a good sleep after she'd joined him).
She smiled, "I'm glad. The kids probably won't be up for a while. Terra usually gets up first, Arthur and the twins won't be awake for another hour or so." She reminded him.
"Oh. I suppose I should've waited to cook so much. The three of us can eat, though."
She nodded, "Waiting would have been a better option. We can eat, but Terra should sleep. She hasn't been sleeping well lately." River looked at her daughter.
The Doctor wondered if that was also due to his absence. "How's she doing in school?"
"I had a meeting with her teacher on Thursday. She said Terra's been having a bit of trouble the last few weeks." River sighed.
"Trouble how?" He frowned.
"She hasn't been focused. She's been having trouble with some of the maths lessons..." River said slowly. Although Terra's class was only really focusing on the number line and shapes, the Doctor was usually the one to help her practice. "She's usually so excited in class..."
"I know." She looked away from him, "I think she was a bit...distracted, that's all."
"I see." He nodded slowly.
"Hopefully she'll be a bit more focused next week."
"Hopefully." He echoed.
"She missed you a lot."
Terra started to stir and he rubbed her back. "I missed her, too."
River nodded, "I don't doubt that you did."
Terra yawned and blinked awake. "[Mummy!]"
"[Hello, darling.]" She smiled, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"[Are you going to make soup?]"
"[Of course I will.]" She nodded, "[Anything for you, my sweet]"
Terra moved from the Doctor's lap. "[I want to help.]"
"[Alright, let's go wash our hands and then we can make it together. Maybe we can teach Daddy, too, so he knows for next time.]"
Terra nodded and hopped over to the kitchen.
"How's your ankle?" The Doctor asked, offering Rover a hand up.
She accepted his help, "It hurts, but I can manage."
"Alright, but sit if you need to."
"Yes, Doctor." She murmured, watching Terra push a chair over to the sink so she could reach it to wash her hands. "She's gotten so big."
"That's the thing about children." He murmured.
"Time is never on our side." She sighed.
"She not going anywhere." He reminded.
"Maybe not yet, but one day she will." She looked down, "And...I worry about that."
"She's only five, River. Do you think she won't visit us when she's grown?"
"I just don't want what happened to you happen to her." She whispered.
He was silent for a moment. "She'll always come back to us. I came back to you, didn't I?"
"I know." She shook her head, "I know, but I want her to be safe."
Terra interrupted any response the Doctor had. "[Mummy I'm all clean!]"
"[Oh good!]" River put on a smile, going to wash her hands as well. "[Now, let's see first we need tomatoes. Do you want to fetch them from the garden?]"
Terra nodded and hurried out the back door to the garden. River watched her go, then got out a pot and set it on the stove.
"Anything I can do?" The Doctor asked.
"Can you get an onion and chicken broth out of the cabinet?"
He nodded and got the items for her. River got to work making the soup, letting Terra help her once she returned with the tomatoes.
Arthur wandered down the stairs at the smell of the food.
"Good morning," River called, smiling at him.
He peered at what they were doing. "Tomato soup for breakfast?"
"Yes, Daddy made grilled cheese so we're having grilled cheese and tomato soup."
He looked at the Doctor. "He's still old."
"Yes, darling, I told you he was going to look like this from now on, remember?" River stopped what she was doing, giving her son her full attention now.
"Yeah but... forever? Really forever?"
She glanced at the Doctor, "Yes, really forever." She placed the lid on the pot to let the soup simmer, then went to take Arthur's hand, "Would you like to sit with me on the sofa? I think we should all talk some more."
He nodded and Terra asked what was going on. River beckoned Terra and her husband over, sitting on the sofa beside Arthur, "[Now, I think we need to talk about what's going to happen from now on. And if you have questions, you can feel free to ask them.]" She both signed and spoke.
"[About Daddy's face?]" Terra clarified.
"[Yes, about that.]" She nodded, "[It's not going to go away. It's going to stay like that until the next time he regenerates.]"
"[You said he only did that if he got really hurt.]" Terra frowned.
"[Yes, I did.]" She nodded.
"How did he get hurt?" Arthur had a similar expression. River signed Arthur's words for Terra.
"[I-]' She looked at the Doctor, "[I don't know.]"
The Doctor wasn't sure if River wanted him to tell that story since it wasn't really all that child-friendly. She watched him, leaving it up to him to make the decision. "[The place I went to…]" He started. "[It had some bad people who wanted to hurt all of you, so rather than letting them do that, I let them hurt me instead.]"
"[What place?]" Terra asked.
He hesitated. "[Gallifrey.]"
"Isn't that where you're from?" Arthur frowned.
"[That's right.]" He nodded.
"Why would they hurt you?"
"[Because I was getting in their way of finding here]."
"Here to hurt us?"
He nodded. "[Yes that's what they were trying to do. But they won't.]"
"Why would they want to hurt us? Did we do something wrong?"
"[No, Arthur, you did absolutely nothing wrong. There was a prophesy they were afraid of- an old story, about someone who would one day come to Gallifrey and destroy it. They thought because of the description of that someone, that it would be one of you.]"
Arthur frowned, "I don't want to hurt anybody. I wouldn't destroy Gallifrey. And neither would Amelia or Freya or Terra." He looked up at River, "Did they think it was Mummy?"
"[They didn't know which one of you it might be, but yes, Mummy was one of the possibilities.]"
Terra crawled onto River's lap, hugging her tightly. "[I don't want them to hurt Mummy!]" She worried.
"[Nobody is going to hurt me.]" River comforted, kissing the top of her head. The children were well aware that their Mum had more enemies than friends.
The girls were making their way down the stairs now, having been partly listening to their conversation.
"[It's alright. Daddy protected us.]" River rubbed Terra's back soothingly.
"[But what if they come and get you anyway? If they're like Daddy, then they're smart and can find you.]"
She looked to the Doctor for help.
"[I did my best to make sure they couldn't track me. That's why I didn't have our TARDIS with me. That's why I crashed that other one.]"
Terra nuzzled into River, only slightly comforted.
"Mum?" The twins walked in. "Are you in danger?"
"[No, I promise I'm not.]"
They looked between themselves, unsure. They'd gotten a less watered down version of the story yesterday and knew just how desperate the Timelords were.
River glanced at the Doctor, wondering if her promise was really true. He tried to look assuring but he knew nothing was 100% guaranteed.
River tried to smile. "Since we're all up, what do you lot think of a family breakfast?"
The children nodded slowly, going to sit at the table. The adults stayed behind for a moment.
"Was that alright?" The Doctor.
"I think so. Nothing was ever going to be completely comforting..."
"No, not unless I'd lied, but I think I learned my lesson about that."
She went quiet again, smoothing her hand down her front.
He bit his tongue. "Breakfast?"
She nodded, going to sit with the kids. The food was portioned out for everyone to eat, the meal starting off quiet.
The tension in the air slowly began to dissolve as the meal continued, the children talking more and more. Terra expressed her excitement for her older sisters' football match today. It was supposed to be part of a family day in which there would be a some all-family inclusive pre-games which Terra was eager to participate in.
River smiled at the children's excitement, though she was a bit anxious since it would be the first time the Doctor was going to see their friends since his return. "[Since humans don't know about regeneration, we're going to have to...make some things up.]" She informed.
"[Like what?]" Terra asked.
"[Well, we can't tell them that Daddy is really Daddy.]" She responded, "[Right now, we're going to say he's my friend from work who's come to stay with us.]" She looked at the Doctor.
"What do we say happened to Daddy?" Arthur asked.
River bit her lip, having trouble saying what she and the Doctor had planned on.
"Just say whatever you were telling people before." The Doctor said, deciding against what they'd planned.
River looked at him, a crease in her brow, "Doctor..."
"It'll ruin the day if we say... the other thing."
She nodded, looking down at her lap. She agreed with him, though she knew they'd have to tell the other… thing eventually.
"What have you been saying? That I'm on a work trip?" He said more gently.
River nodded, "Yes, it's what made sense."
He turned to the kids. "I'd like you all to continue telling people that this weekend."
They nodded, "Okay."
"I guess that's settled for now." He murmured. "We should bring Toby."
"I don't know if Toby can last all day with all those kids." River murmured, "But we can bring him if you want."
"Mum?" Freya asked. "What happened to your foot?"
"Oh, I hurt it when I was using my vortex manipulator last night. Don't worry, it's nothing serious, it just needs to be wrapped for a few days."
"But now you can't play football with us."
She smiled softly, "It's alright, I'll watch and cheer you on."
Terra looked a bit disappointed, but the twins seemed alright with it.
River touched her daughter's head, "Eat up, darling. We have to start getting ready to go soon."
Terra nodded, finishing her soup.
