Forgot to mention at the end of the last chapter that the reference to the drunken giraffe dance move was borrowed from Karen Gillan, who described some dancing Matt Smith did in the Big Bang as looking like that. It was in a Doctor Who Confidential. I thought it was quite amusing. :)

Just to warn you, it's 2:35 am here and I am reeeeeeally tired after a long day of work and then a Bible study. So if there's something that doesn't make sense, sorry in advance. Thanks for reading anyway, please review!

"What are you two doing, trading national secrets or something?" The Doctor remarked.

Amy looked up at him as if he didn't know anything, which, in this case at least, was pretty much true. She and River had removed themselves to the other side of the drawing room in order to plan River's upcoming wedding, and had been speaking in low, presumably conspiratorial tones over it until the Doctor's curiosity had gotten the best of him.

"Honestly, Doctor, do you think weddings just happen on their own? These things need to be organized," River told him matter-of-factly.

"Yes, but you've been over here for four hours. I've been counting," the Doctor complained.

"Takes a lot longer than four hours, idiot. The average time is a couple months to a year, so we're going to have do a bit of cramming," said Amy.

"A year! You're joking, right?"

Amy rolled her eyes. "See, River, this is why you're not having a ceremony on Dulkis. You don't want to be eternally bound by the laws of the universe to some impatient madman."

"Duly noted," River said with a twitch of a smile. While the Doctor was countering Amy's quip, she took the opportunity to beckon to Clarion. The Anavrinian king nodded, understanding immediately, and headed over.

"Say, Doctor, would you mind accompanying me to the palace's elevator control room? The mechanics have been working on the old machinery all week, trying to get it up and running again, but they keep encountering the same problems. Do you think you could take a look at it?" Clarion cut in.

The Doctor was torn. Part of him wanted to find out more about this wedding planning phenomenon, but the promise of tinkering with something as complex and interesting as an elevator system was tantalizing. After a few moments, the latter won out. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take just a quick peek at it," he decided.

"Excellent. Right this way."

As Clarion led the Doctor away, rambling on about cogs and gears and who knew what else, he glanced back just once to wink at River. Amy mouthed a hasty 'thank you' before he turned around.

"Frankly I have no idea how you live with than man," River commented when they were out of hearing distance.

"Beats me. Sometimes I wonder it too, whenever he does something utterly bizarre, or leaves the toilet seat up, or eats my hair."

"He eats your—"

"Yeah something about it smellin' like me; don't ask. But anyway, despite all that, there's still a lot of things I love about him; how he takes care of me and Ian and Jenna, the times he brings me the weirdest food combinations for breakfast in bed, how he went all the way back to some tiny planet we visited weeks ago to get me a bouquet just because I mentioned I liked the blue roses that grew there. I even like his stupid dance moves."

"Oh you poor dear. You are in love."

"Unfortunately, yeah."

"Well as long as Clarion doesn't try to eat my hair, I think it'll work out just fine."

"Don't worry. Pretty sure it's just the Doctor who does that. We're working on it."

River smiled and went back to the notebook where she was jotting down whatever idea either she or Amy came up with. "Back when you went off to rescue the Doctor from the pirates and there was a possibility of neither of you coming back, we talked about the option of adopting Ian and Jenna. Seeing as I am their godmother, of course. And he told me…he liked the idea of us raising a family together."

"That's wonderful news, River!"

"I know. The thing is I'm not sure if I'm ready to be a mother anytime soon."

"Well it's not like you have to be one right after you get married. Although even if it did happen earlier than planned, you'll be fine. I mean look at me; at twenty one and a wife for only a few months I wasn't exactly ready. Now here I am with two beautiful babies who I wouldn't exchange for the world."

"You're still twenty one."

"Only technically. And you're missin' the point here."

"Alright, I got it. I shouldn't worry about it, right?"

"Right."

"I'll try not to, then. Now, what do you think of red for the dress? White's a little too cliché in my opinion…"

The day of the wedding took place a week and a half after Clarion's coronation, as was tradition. Even so no one seemed to feel it was too soon; it was almost like the couple had been together for ages already. River had wanted the ceremony performed Earth-style, which the Doctor claimed was a shame since they would miss out on some kind of ritual involving a ring of fire. Whether he was making it up or not remained under speculation.

The day was a breathtakingly spectacular one, the sky blue as turquoise and the weather pleasant. The palace's cavernous chapel was filled to the brim with guests sitting in pews festooned with red bows, all softly twittering their opinions of the new rulers to their neighbors. Esther sat in the second row, Ian on her lap and Jenna passed out in the baby carrier beside her. The priest who had crowned Clarion would be officiating and was currently standing in front of the altar with Clarion, who was dressed in a white uniform and wearing his crown atop his dark curls. He couldn't seem to keep a smile off his face, his violet eyes glowing bright with anticipation. A massive restored stained-glass window behind the altar cast a wide spectrum of colors over the chapel, dappling its inhabitants in rainbow shades. An organ played a lilting melody off to the side, biding the time until the wedding was set to begin.

At last the doors at the rear of the chapel opened, and the comely matron of honor strode in, her fiery ginger hair swept back into a loose ponytail and her emerald-green, knee-length dress formfitting as usual and the precise shade of her eyes. Her rose-painted fingernails were clasped around a bouquet of blue flowers not the least bit native to Anavrin. The vine pattern on her left ring finger seemed to gleam a pure gold, perhaps because of the light from the stained-glass window.

"Real looker, that one," a young man in one of the back pews said, nudging his friend.

"Don't even bother, Fineas. I hear her husband's a jealous type," the friend warned.

"Husband? She doesn't seem the marrying kind."

"Well apparently she is. Must be something to it considering they have two children."

"Are you putting me on?"

The friend shook his head. "Sorry, mate. Better luck next time, eh?"

"Guess so," answered Fineas, although the lingering glance he cast her suggested he was reluctant to have to give up so easily.

Amy was followed by the bride, who was resplendent in a mermaid-cut, sleeveless crimson gown made of finest satin. Her flyaway ringlets, although refusing to be entirely tamed, had been pinned back, clusters of what looked like holly berries and leaves gracing the hairpieces. All the red offset her porcelain skin perfectly, and Clarion couldn't help but smile wider when he laid eyes on her.

The Doctor, of course, had been unyielding about being the one to give her away. According to him it had always been a dream of his, and since River's father was no longer around it was not a request she could easily refuse. And so here he was, dressed the same except for a sprig of holly fastened to his lapel, beaming as proudly as if River actually was his daughter.

When they reached the altar, the priest cleared his throat and pushed his spectacles to the end of his noise. The words that came next were not typical to an Anavrinian wedding and therefore sounded awkward on his tongue.

"Who gives this woman to be this man's wife?" He asked.

The Doctor was fairly bursting with excitement as he said, "Amelia Pond and I." Then he handed her off to Clarion and went to stand on the other side of the priest, sending a thumbs-up in Amy's direction. She pretended to have missed it.

The priest droned through the vows—there was a lot Clarion and River had put in emphasizing their equality, but somehow he managed to make everything sound boring—and both the Doctor and Amy jumped a little when his voice changed tones.

"Do you, Ravid Hosea Clarion Swift, King of Anavrin, take this woman to be your lawfully-wedded wife and queen?"

"I do," Clarion said, a little too quickly.

"And do you, River Jayne Song, take Ravid Hosea—"

"I do," River said before he could finish. She grabbed Clarion by the red sash he wore across his uniform and kissed him furiously, to which he readily complied. The priest looked appalled.

"I, er, present to you Mr. and Mrs. Clarion Swift, King and Queen of Anavrin," the elderly man managed to get out over their heads.

The Doctor let out a loud whoop, initiating the eruption of applause in the chapel.

"I must say, receptions are the best of parties," said the Doctor as he tucked in the feast the palace cooks had whipped up after the wedding. All the guests sat around an array tables, some square, some round, and even some rectangular, mismatched due to the fact that they were on loan from families who had wished to contribute in any small way. The tablecloths—not one the same color as the next—improved the overall appearance of the hall, however.

"You're only sayin' that cause you saw there was a dance floor," Amy accused.

"And the food. Can't forget about the food," the Doctor said gleefully, spearing some sort of herb-baked fish on his fork.

Amy scrunched up her nose as she watched him stuff the bite in his mouth. It wasn't that she didn't like fish; it just wasn't particularly appetizing to her when it was a neon-yellow color. Or had green spikes sticking out of the strip of skin that had been left on.

When the meal was finished, the Doctor pulled River out onto the floor for what should have been her father daughter dance, if she'd still had a father to dance with. Amy watched with a grin from across the room as he twirled her, the perfect gentleman...if only for a few minutes. A collection of genuine fathers and daughters soon joined them.

"Hello there."

Amy glanced up at the man who had suddenly appeared beside her chair, her expression reflecting only a very mild curiosity. He was around her age—give or take a year—and had short brown hair and a weak chin that would not be in want of a razor for a while yet. It was clear he had money from the way he dressed; perhaps someone who was used to getting what he wanted, judging from the look in his eyes.

"Hi," she said as briefly as she could, returning her attention to the Doctor and River, who had transitioned from a slower dance to one that closely resembled the jitterbug.

"I'm Fineas Beck."

"Good to know."

There was a long pause.

"And what was your name again?" Fineas tried once more.

"Amy."

"Amy…?"

"Pond."

"Amy Pond. I like that."

To Amy's chagrin, the bold young man pulled out the chair next to her—the Doctor's chair—and sat down.

"It was a nice wedding. A little unorthodox for Anavrin, but still nice."

"Mhmm." Amy shifted her chair over a little, only to find her admirer following suit.

"I've never seen anyone quite like you in a wedding procession before."

"Go figure." Amy scooted her chair over a little more in hopes of catching the Doctor's eye, but he was a little too preoccupied with a dance that made him look like there wasn't a bone in his body. She was just considering using the washroom as an excuse to run away when she felt Fineas's had ghost over her leg under the table. She tensed.

In an instant the Doctor was there, hauling the unfortunate man up by his collar. "Excuse me, but I believe that is my seat. And my wife."

Fineas opened his mouth to protest, but then he saw the storm gathering in the Time Lord's eyes. He knew right from the off what would happen to him if he attempted to argue the matter. "My apologies, sir," the coward said before wriggling out of his grasp and scampering off.

"I can't even leave you for a few minutes without some slip of a bloke trying to steal you away from me," the Doctor said humorously, sitting down and resting his arm on the back of Amy's chair.

"Took you long enough. I was workin' on a plan to hide in the loo until he lost interest."

"Inspired."

"Yeah, I thought so too."

The Doctor laughed and planted an affectionate kiss on the tip of her nose.

Figured I might as well give River a middle name. Jayne is my grandma's middle name and I thought River needed something a little normal. But not entirely, of course. :)