Amy and Rory, who had fallen asleep lying askew across the Doctor's bed, woke to see a bleary- eyed River looking up and watching the Doctor entrenched in giggles and whispers with his daughter. He would say something quietly in her little ear, and then she would laugh into her hand before reaching up and cupping her hands secretly over his as she responded to him. The smile on their faces grew wider and wider as the duo conspired in their own little world.
"Something you two would like to share with the rest of us?" Amy asked, stretching her limbs as she broke into their secret conversation.
"We were just commenting on the lovely noises that can be heard when you three are sleeping in the same room," said her friend as her granddaughter looked up with a caught, wide- eyed look. Still, like her mother, she didn't seem very apologetic at being found out.
"Gran Amy snores really loud," said Bella with glee.
"And not all of Rory's sounds come from his mouth," continued the Doctor, stopping Amy from her retort as she snorted even as Bella fell back into the bed laughing. Rory pouted until Bella crawled to pat him comfortingly on the shoulder, before he took her by surprise and pounced on her, pinning her down and tickling her with his wife mercilessly until she called for River and the Doctor to help her.
"I got you baby. And don't worry, we won't mention what noises Mummy makes," said the Doctor as his arms pulled his daughter to freedom.
"Ow!" he said as he felt a smack to the back of his head.
"Shh! Daddy, you weren't supposed to tell her!" said Bella, trying to bury her head in her father's neck as River reached out and quickly put up a finger to her tiny lips in an effort to shush her daughter.
The Doctor held her close as he jumped off the bed, River madly dashing after them as they ran around the extraordinarily large room, jumping over things and through numerous doorways until the Doctor, his daughter still clinging fiercely to his neck, finally put a large chaise longue between them, running to the right as River lunged left, then to the left as River dived right.
"Run away, Daddy!" squealed Bella delightedly, her small legs squeezing tightly around the Doctor's body in her own effort to escape her mother's revenge.
Really, the Doctor should have seen it coming when River got that look in her eyes- the look that always signified trouble. He tried once more to read the signs of utter devious glee that marked his wife's face, even as he tightened his grip on his daughter and he made one final lunge away from his wife- and onto the outstretched foot of his best friend, who had conspired behind his back with her own child. The Doctor held Bella's head to his body for dear life as they both tumbled haphazardly sideways and onto the cushy fortress of pillows Rory had set up to break his granddaughter's fall.
There the pair laid, dead to the world, Bella panting on top of her father as though she had been the one exerting all the efforts to escape. The Doctor, breathless, patted the small head of curls on his chest even as another head of curls came into view. River's smirk was so smug he was surprised she wasn't patting herself on the back even as her arms crossed in front of her chest, her hip cocked to one side- a position that matched her mother's who came into view on his other side.
"Daddy. We fell!" exclaimed the toddler unhelpfully.
"Yes, Bella mia Bella. We rather did," he muttered only slightly grumpily as he turned to the adult ginger in the room. "Really, Pond. Whose side are you on?"
"My fellow noise makers' side, Raggedy Man. You know us snorers. We tend to stick together."
The Doctor's head fell back onto the pillow, huffing in defeat.
Bella shifted in his arms before jumping up (accidently landing one small foot on his gut, making the Doctor grunt in pain and surprise) and running full speed into Rory, who nearly fell back stunned before he caught his footing and was able to right himself, the little girl now securely in his arms, squeezing his neck tightly.
"Thank you for catching us, Granddad Rory!" His look of astonished disbelief at their unbelievable luck in finding this little girl astounded Amy once more as she smiled over her granddaughter's curls at her husband.
Bella hugged him firmly before jumping down and running to tug at River's shirt, while Amy grabbed Rory's hand and dragged him from the room to get tea made and breakfast started for the day.
"Are you awake now, Mommy?" she asked River, looking up hopefully into her mother's bemused eyes, "Can we eats breakfast now?"
River reached down and picked up the small girl, throwing her in the air lightly before she brought the giggling child down to her face and kissed her cheek.
"Am I awake? What kind of question is that, after you mock your dear old mum so early in the morning? And now you want breakfast? Well, I think if you want breakfast so much you need to just ask your oh so quiet dad, the silly old man," she teased, turning the girl and letting her fall gently into the Doctor's outstretched arms. The Doctor reared up at this and grabbed one of River's still extended hands, pulling her down beside them, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and kissing her forehead tightly, making her smile as her arm wrapped around both the Doctor and the child he was holding. The Doctor closed his eyes in contentment for a little while, his two favourite girls on each of his arms, family ensconced in a group embrace.
Then, both parents felt their daughter's squirming as she looked back and forth, trying to determine which grown up would feed her first. River laughed at her future child's impatience and, using the Doctor for leverage, picked both herself and the girl up. The Doctor followed behind them, wrapping a dressing gown around Bella lest she catch a chill through the TARDIS.
