Nearly a week had passed since that first visit to the park, and Catherine Amelia Song was still staying at Number 13 Bannerman Road with Miss Sarah Jane Smith. Both of them were beginning to get a bit restless. Sarah Jane was because she didn't want to take the Doctor's daughter along with her on any potentially dangerous assignments - both her jobs as an investigative journalist and a Defender of Earth had gotten her into many sticky situations. Meanwhile, Catherine was getting restless because she wanted to go on an adventure. She hadn't gone this long without at least having to sit in a jail cell on one planet or another for awhile. Luckily, they were both about to get what they wanted - an escape from their boredom.
Catherine was down for a nap - even though she was a Time Lady, she was still a child, and as such, tired easily. Sarah Jane was sitting up at her computer in the attic, finishing up her latest article, when there was a knock at the door.
"Sarah Jane, there is someone at the door." Mr. Smith told her.
The investigative journalist merely rolled her eyes. "Yes, thank you, Mr. Smith. I had noticed that."
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" she called as she hurried down the stairs, intent on answering the door before her visitor had the opportunity to ring again and possibly wake Catherine up.
"What is it?" she snapped as she opened up the door.
"And what sort of greeting is that, hmm?"
8888
Catherine Song woke up slowly, although she wasn't sure why at first. It was too early for her to be done with her nap, but something wasn't right…
She rubbed at her eyes as she tried to collect her thoughts. What was it? What was it that had woken her up?
Catherine closed her eyes, extending her range on her other senses.
There. Green eyes flew open as she figured out what it was that was bothering her. There was something extra in the house. The smell of cigars and coffee - faint, but still there, and coming from the sitting room. Then there was the extra sounds- the tap of a cane, the clink of china, and the hearty laughter of her Aunt Sarah.
Laughter meant that all was well, the young Time Lady noted. But then why didn't Aunt Sarah come and get her? The few times that there had been guests since she had arrived, Aunt Sarah had always gotten her to introduce her to them - even if she was napping. She slipped out of her bed and pushed her frizzy blonde curls out of her eyes before sneaking downstairs. She stopped in the doorway to the sitting room, and peered around the edge of the doorway, only to pull back immediately when she saw someone looking straight at her.
"And who's this little one?" bellowed a man's deep voice.
Catherine gulped, before stepping out from her hiding spot.
Aunt Sarah smiled at her, but she was too busy observing this new person to really notice. The first thing that she noticed was that he held himself like Mummy did, like he was ready for anything to happen. The next thing that she noticed was that he still looked very kind, even though he was obviously some sort of soldier. She just wasn't sure what kind - he didn't dress like a soldier, at least not like any that she'd ever seen. Instead of a uniform, he wore khaki trousers, and a red sleeveless jumper over a white collared shirt and under a plaid tweed jacket. A cane was resting against the sofa next to him, and an ascot cap. The only reason that she knew what an ascot cap was was because of her Daddy's hat collection in the TARDIS.
"Hello there." the man said, smiling at her. "And what's your name?"
"Oh, Sir Alistair, this is Catherine, my… niece." Sarah said quickly. "Catherine, sweetheart, this is an old friend of mine, the Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart."
"Hello there, young lady." Sir Alistair said, smiling down at her.
The little girl's face lit up. "I know who you are!" she said excitedly. "My Daddy tells me stories about you. And Mummy says that you're absolutely amazing!"
Sir Alistair laughed. "Oh really?" he asked. "And why is that?"
This time, the child looked solemn, but anyone could see the mischief twinkling in her eyes. "Because you worked with Daddy for so long and didn't shoot him."
The Brigadier couldn't help but burst out in laughter at that, and even Sarah Jane had to work to hide her laughter. Inside, though, she was panicking. If the Brigadier found out who Catherine was…. She felt horrible hiding the truth from one of her oldest friends, but it was for everyone's safety. Professor Song had explained to her about her past, and about the aliens and monsters that were constantly after their little family.
"Is that so?" Sir Alistair asked. "And who is your father, if you don't mind me asking?"
Before she could say another word, though, Sarah Jane had interrupted.
"Catherine, would you be a dear and take K-9 for a walk?" Sarah Jane asked.
The little one nodded, and Sarah Jane helped her into her coat before sending her out the door with K-9 rolling along behind her.
As soon as the door closed behind the strange pair, the Brig turned to his old friend. "I wasn't aware that you had any siblings." he told her. But what he meant was that he knew that she didn't - UNIT was very thorough when it came to the personnel files of anyone who ever traveled with the Time Lord known as the Doctor.
"I don't." Sarah Jane said, giving the Brigadier a teasing smile. "As you are well aware."
"Then who...?" Lethbridge-Stewart asked.
"She's the daughter of a very old friend." Was all that Sarah Jane would say on the subject. "Now then, where were we…?"
"I believe that we were talking about the Zygons…" The Brig said, earning himself a nostalgic smile.
"Oh, yes!" Sarah Jane said happily. "The Loch Ness Monster!"
But now the Brigadier had been distracted by the appearance of the young Time Lady - although he had no idea that that was what she was.
"Who exactly are her parents, Sarah Jane?" Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart asked.
"I told you, they're old friends of mine. In fact, they're practically family." she said, trying to keep any hint of defensiveness out of her voice. "Why do you ask?"
"Those clothes of hers -" the Brig said, referring to Catherine. She had been very determined to pick her own clothes out that morning, and had finally decided on a chartreuse striped shirt with a blue denim skirt and bright purple leggings, along with a matching purple bow tie and hair bow. Sarah Jane had tried to talk her out of it, but the child was even more stubborn than her father was.
"What about them?" Sarah asked cautiously. She had a feeling she knew where the Brig was going with this, though- after all, he had known the Doctor for even longer than she had.
"Well, its just that its the sort of thing that one would expect the Doctor to pull together." the Brigadier said with a knowing smile. "After all, the old chap was known for his knowledge, not his clothing choices."
Sarah Jane laughed. "Maybe so, but can you just imagine the Doctor as a father?" she laughed, hoping that the Brig had forgotten all about the Doctor's stories of his family back on Gallifrey.
"Yes, I suppose you're right…" he said, and Sarah Jane sighed in relief. Maybe she could get through the rest of the visit without making the Brig any more suspicious than he already was…
"Aunt Sarah! Aunt Sarah!"
...or maybe not.
Sarah Jane turned to look at the rambunctious four-year-old that had just burst through the front door.
"Yes Catherine, what is it?" she asked.
"Mummy's here!" the little one said, and Sarah Jane got up off of the sofa quickly.
"Where?"
A familiar, throaty voice said, "Right here."
Professor Song walked through the door, and Sarah Jane nearly gasped in shock. She looked wonderful! Her hair was pulled up on top of her head, so that only a few curly wisps of hair hung around her face. Her dress was all black and floor-length, with sheer sleeves and a sequined corset bodice.
"Oh, you look lovely!" She gushed, making her way over to the other woman.
River gave a half-hearted smile in reply. "Thank you." she said, before crouching down so that she was face-to-face with her daughter.
"Why don't you go upstairs and pack your things, sweetheart? That way Aunt Sarah Jane and I can talk for a bit, alright?" she asked. Catherine nodded, before thundering up the stairs to the bedroom that she had been sleeping in.
Sarah Jane laughed. "I swear, she can sound like a herd of elephants when she wants to!"
River's response was a barely there smile, before practically throwing herself down and the couch and putting her head in her hands.
"What's the matter?" Sarah Jane asked.
River answered without even looking up. "We were supposed to meet in New York, in Central Park. But instead we ended up in the late 1930s, fighting against these creatures - they're called Weeping Angels. Horrible, deadly things. They… they got my Mum and Dad, and my sweetie's best friends… I promised Catherine that she was going to meet them after this trip…"
"What am I going to do?" she mumbled, before looking up to ask for Sarah Jane's help. That was when her eyes landed on the other person in the room. "Oh, hello there. Sorry about the interruption." she said, holding out her hand to the man. "I'm Professor River Song."
The Brig took her hand, giving her a warm smile. "Brigadier Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart." he said, and his smile grew a bit when she gave a little gasp of recognition. "Ah, so you've heard of me then?"
"Of course." River told him, her eyes twinkling. "Sweetie loves talking about his old friends - and stories about you are some of my favourites."
"Is that so?" he asked. "If you don't mind me asking, who exactly is your husband?"
"You mean you haven't guessed yet? I would've thought my talking about time-travel would have tipped you off." She looked at him, and her eyes were twinkling with mischief. "He's the Doctor, of course."
The Brigadier looked completely stunned by the news. "What? But Sarah Jane said…"
Luckily, River caught on quickly. "That Catherine wasn't his daughter? Yes, but she only said that because I told her not to tell anyone whose child she was. Both my husband and I have more than our fair share of enemies, and none of them would think twice about hurting our daughter."
Just then, Catherine came clattering back down the stairs, dragging her bag along behind her.
"I'm ready, Mummy!" she called out. River got to her feet, pasting a smile onto her face, where there had been nothing but pain and fear moments earlier.
"Alright, my love, let's go then." she said warmly, before turning back to the other two adults for a moment. "We really must do this again some time - only with something a bit stronger than tea." she said, giving them a wink as she collected her daughter in her arms.
Before the Brigadier or Sarah Jane could even give a reply, though, both mother and daughter vanished with a pop and a burst of electricity.
8888
It was bedtime in the Song household, and Catherine Amelia Song had been wanting to ask her Mummy something all day. Her mummy had explained to her earlier what had happened to her grandparents, which was why she was so sad today. But there was still one thing that she didn't understand…
"Mummy, why can't we just go and visit Nan and Granddad?" she asked, confused.
"Because, sweetheart. I already told you - the timelines around New York are already unstable enough as it is, if we were to go back it could shatter the planet."
That still didn't make sense to her, but she let it go for the moment.
"Now then," River said, looking down at her daughter. "How about a new story for bedtime, hmm?"
Catherine nodded eagerly, clutching her stuffed Adipose just a little bit tighter.
"Chapter One." River cleared her throat and smiled down at her daughter before beginning to read. She could already feel the lump forming in her throat from her unshed tears, but she was determined to make it through this story, at least.
"It was the last week of the summer holidays, and Kate was in a temper. She banged around the kitchen until her mother told her to stop…"
A/N~ I'm so sorry that this update is so late! I had graduation to deal with, and then we were on vacation for a week, and now I'm moving, so I've been frantically packing for the last few days…. But enough excuses. I made this chapter much longer than usual, so hopefully that helps to make up for my negligence.
Thank you to Mermaid1108, KirkSauber, WonderfulWhovian, and Bumblebee4264 for the reviews! They are much appreciated!