YEARS LATER
He sat in the dark alone after Darrillium.
The TARDIS had known it was time. She had taken off without him even pressing a button. And then he knew: River was gone. Dead. Because of him. The thought made him double over in pain, his hand clutching the console, hearts ripped out of his chest, and tears streaming down his face. River. Gone. He had lost so many: Rose, Amy, Rory, Donna, Jenny, Freya, and countless more, but none had hurt as much as this. His wife was gone.
Solemnly, he stepped out of the TARDIS once again into the library. It must have been only moments after he had left so many years ago. And still, he remembered the way…that day, after all, had re-played in his mind every day for years. He never forgot a single detail of it.
He had left her diary and his screwdriver down with Cal, he remembered. It was the only place that he knew they would be safe. He didn't know it then, but he did have some strange sense that River's diary would be the most important book to him one day.
It was still there, where he had left it: on the very seat where River had sacrificed herself. With trembling hands, he took the screwdriver and placed it in his jacket pocket. He then picked up her diary and held it in his hands, but he couldn't bear to open it…not just yet.
Then, the machines around him began to whirl. The flesh-colored podium behind him spun around, revealing CAL's youthful face.
"Are you the Doctor?" CAL asked, smiling. "You said you'd be back…"
"Um, yes. Well, best be going…" The Doctor said solemnly and he started to leave.
"Wait." CAL said, and the Doctor turned to face her.
"Yes?"
"Do you want to see her?"
The Doctor was taken aback by this question. "What?"
"Do you want to see her? River: do you want to see her?"
"Can you do that?"
CAL smiled. "Of course I can! All I have to do is save you."
A single tear rolled down the Doctor's face. "Do it then; please." He whispered.
There was a bright white light and a tingling sensation, and suddenly the Doctor found himself standing on the front lawn of a large mansion. Everything seemed so real: the air, the sun, the sky, the birds chirping in the trees. "Amazing." He sighed, staring up at the sky.
"Who are you?" He heard a small voice say.
The Doctor looked down and saw a tiny ginger haired girl standing before him with a perplexed look on her face.
"Well hello there," he said, patting her on the head. "I'm the Doctor, and who are you?"
The little girl's big brown eyes widened. "You're the Doctor?" She squealed. She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him towards the house. "Mummy's told us so much about you!"
Mummy? The Doctor thought. Surely she couldn't mean…
"Mummy! Mummy! You'll never guess who's here!" The little girl said, practically dragging The Doctor through the front doors and into the foyer.
"Who is it, Ella?" He heard the voice of an angel say from up the stairs. He never thought he would hear that voice again in his life…
"Come and see!" Ella said impatiently, stomping her foot.
Footsteps echoed closer down the hall towards the stairs. "Ella, sweetie, I don't have time right now for your imaginary…" River finally came into view, holding a stack of folded laundry in her arms. She saw the Doctor standing in the foyer below, and dropped it all onto the floor, her face filled with shock. "…friend."
The Doctor smiled, tears welling up again. "Hi honey, I'm home." He whispered.
River chocked back a sob. "And what sort of time do you call this?" She managed to utter softly.
The Doctor's wife raced down the stairs and into her husband's arms. His hearts nearly burst with happiness as she clung to him, her chest heaving from her tears of joy. She cradled the back of his head with one of her hands, entwining her fingers with his hair, and buried her head into his shoulder.
"I thought I'd never see you again." River cried, her words muffled by his jacket. "Oh, sweetie. I love you…I love you…" She repeated over and over again, for it had been far too long since she had said those words to him.
"Oh, River. My beautiful River." The Doctor whispered, rubbing her back with his hands. "I love you."
After an eternity of holding each other, River finally loosened her vice-like grip on her husband.
"Ella, go play outside with Cal and your brother…" The little girl scampered away, giggling.
Finally alone, the Doctor lifted his hands and held River's face, wiping away the stream of tears with his thumb. "Oh, River, don't cry." He said soothingly, and pressed his lips to hers.
The way she kissed him back told him everything.
"I missed you so much." She sighed into his chest, still clinging to him tightly.
The Doctor was silent. He just held his wife close, stroked her hair, and breathed in her scent.
River looked up at her husband and smiled faintly. She stepped away from him and held out her hand.
"Come with me." She said. It was a question, a plead, not a request. He took her hand and followed her upstairs.
River led him down the hallway and into was he presumed was the master bedroom.
He closed the door behind them, and began to say "River, I'm so sorry…" but he was cut off by her lips.
"Oh shut up." She murmured into his mouth and continued kissing him.
Enveloped around one another, River staggered backwards towards the bed. Her hands started groping at his clothing, and pretty soon, their garments lay on the floor. She lay down on the bed, and the Doctor crawled on top of her. He ran his fingers through her hair while he kissed her neck and collarbone, his breathing getting heavier by the moment. River's head rolled back into a pillow, and she exhaled a deep sigh of pleasure. It may have only been days since the Doctor had seen her last, but for River it felt like an eternity.
They made love desperately and passionately, tears welling up in both their eyes from the love they shared for one another.
"I love you, sweetie." River whispered as she rested her head on his chest afterwards.
The Doctor smiled and placed a kiss on her forehead, stroking her arm affectionately. "And I love you, River. You don't know how much I love you."
"Mmm, I think I do…" River purred, lifting herself up along his body so she could claim his lips once more.
The cries of a baby echoed down the hallway.
River's lips parted with his, her face glowing with happiness.
The Doctor stared at her with bewildered amazement. "Is that…"
"Sweetie, there's something I need to show you."
