"He's got your eyes."
River smiled down at the baby in her lap as her husband sat down beside her. Hunter blinked his green eyes up at his father, tiny face breaking into a gummy grin when the Doctor tapped him lightly on the nose.
"And your hair," she pointed out.
"But your curls." There was a sweet fondness in his tone and a smile on his face as her gaze drifted up to study his angular profile, the light casting a halo of white around his head. He gave her a long searching look, eyes ever curious, before turning them back to the grabby hands of the demanding baby.
"Don't you find it strange, knowing what he'll be like when he's older?" River asked as the Doctor lifted Hunter into his arms, raising him in the air as his laughter joined the baby's bubbling giggles.
"Not at all," he replied happily. "It's just like looking at the picture on the box to know what your puzzle should look like."
"I don't know if I like you treating our son like a puzzle for you to solve."
"Why? It's how I treated you."
"Really? I more thought of you as a stuffed animal hanging at a carnival store."
"A prize?"
"The biggest one, that you have to work hardest for," she answered and his expression softened.
"How did you win the game?"
"I became River Song." He smiled ruefully.
"River Song's just a name."
"The name of the woman you love."
"The woman I love goes by many names."
"And which one do you call her?"
"The one she chose to use."
"You are being extremely difficult," she said sharply and he grinned.
"Maybe you should have gone for one of the smaller prizes."
"Too late now."
"Of course not. Time travel, you know," he threw back, the cocky quirk of his lips belying the sadness in his eyes. She gave him a gentle smile.
"Wouldn't do me much good, I already blew all my money on the Timelord."
"And you don't regret it?"
"Never have."
"And never will?"
"Sweetie," she murmured, her tone admonishing. "I'd only come to regret it if you stopped loving me."
"Oh," he said on an exhale and seemed to deflate once the word was out. He looked up, eyes for once looking young as he quietly said, "Never, River. Never."
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