CH 25
"River?...! You're not some recording are you?" Jack questioned.
River laughed, "No, I'm not. Are you giving my husband trouble?"
"Well I..." River was one of the very few people who could intimidate Jack. "You can never be too careful. And how was I supposed to know he wasn't lying?"
"Mmm, yes you're right, but I can assure you that it is him. Now did he tell you why we're calling?" She smiled over at the Doctor, satisfied that she had gotten Jack to believe her quicker than he did.
"Didn't give him a chance. What can I do for you, River?"
She bit her lip, trying to think of how to ask him, "Well, we need to ask a favor of you and Ianto. Are you aware that we have...children?"
"..." There was a very long pause that lasted longer than a long pause should last "Come again?"
"The Doctor and I have twin daughters." She explained, "Nobody is aware that they exist, it's safer for them that way."
"The Doctor would never have kids." He chuckled. "Wait... are you serious?"
"Yes I'm serious." She snapped, hormones kicking in, "Why would I call and tell you that if it wasn't true?"
"...Sorry. It's just... wow. Twins, really?" He was still in disbelief.
She smiled when she pictured the girls, "Yes, twins...We were wondering if you could watch them for us?"
"Like, babysit? What, are you sick of them already?"
"Yes babysit and no we're not sick of them. Actually, well...I'm pregnant, again and we need someone to watch them when I go into labour." She spoke quickly.
"Wow. The Doctor really gets around doesn't he." He chuckled to himself. "Well you're not in labor now are you? I expected a little more notice than this."
"No, I'm not. It's still a whiles away, but we were wondering if you would come and spend a day with the girls some time. That way they'll know who you are and they won't be as scared."
"Scared of old uncle Jack? They'll love me, River. Trust me." He chuckled again. "Let's see. I'm free next week. May 11th, 2016. Hey, that's Mother's day! Happy Mother's day, River."
She smiled, "Thank you, Jack. We'll be there to pick you up. And I want you on your best behavior, they're only four."
"Yeah, yeah. Got it. No buying them their first laser blaster until they're at least ten."
"Oh, you're horrible!" She teased, "I'll see you soon."
"Bye." He said in a sing-song voice, hanging up.
"Well that sounded... interesting." The Doctor commented.
"Interesting in what way, my love?" She asked, walking over to him resting her arms on his shoulders.
"Interesting as in Jack being, well, Jack. And you being you. You could sass each other out of existence." He leaned forwards for a kiss.
She laughed, kissing him. "He's coming next week on Mother's Day." She sat back down in her chair, one hand resting on her belly, "The cramps haven't stopped yet..." She breathed.
He leaned against the console, glancing at the I.V. bag. "It's not even half empty yet. You've got to give it a little more time to work. And we can try magnesium if it doesn't."
"I know..." She sighed, putting a hand to her forehead. "I just want everything to be alright."
"Me, too. And I'm going to do my very best to make sure that happens." He assured her.
She smiled up at him, "I know you will." She quickly changed the subject, "So we'll pick Jack and Ianto on May 11th, 2016 and they can spend the day with the girls preferably under our supervision."
"Sounds good. And we have a lot to catch up on anyways. I think we should wait 'till you're a bit more stable though."
She shook her head, "I think the sooner the girls meet them the better, just in case..."
"In case what?" He questioned, straightening up a bit.
She bit her lip, "In case something happens and we need them to come watch the girls."
"...Oh." His shoulders lowered a small amount. "Well, I want you to spend the rest of the day resting up. So how about tomorrow then?"
She nodded, moving closer to him and kissing his cheek. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to stress you, but I want us to be ready for anything."
He took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "We're ready." He told her. "We're quite prepared.
"Should we go check on the girls?" She asked, glancing to the door after hearing delighted shrieks coming from down the hall. He nodded, wrapping her arm around her waist.
"They probably made a mess again." He muttered.
She laughed weakly, "I'll help you clean it up, don't worry." She rest her head against his shoulder, walking down the hall to the girls room. Inside, the twins had made the best fort they could manage. Their beds were pushed closer together and a few blankets and pillows created the roof and wall.
Freya came out of their creation, wrapped in green clothes and plastic bead necklaces. "I am the princess of the forest! You shall bow before her royal highness!"
River smiled, bowing for her, "Hello, your royal highness. You look beautiful today in all those necklaces."
"Thank you mum- er, visitor. The queen will see you now." She lifted the 'door' to the fort, inviting them in.
"Can the queen come out here and see us instead?" River asked, glancing up at the I.V. pole which definitely wouldn't be able to fit beneath all the blankets without destroying the fort they had made.
"But, mum," Freya said, breaking character. "Mia's the queen because her leg is hurt. So she can sit on the throne and not have to use it. Plus I want you to see the inside."
"I'm sorry, sweetie, but I can't go in. I'm still taking the medicine and it won't fit inside. Maybe next time." She smiled, moving Freya's hair out of her eyes.
"Hmm... Oh! I know!" Freya crawled up onto the beds and as carefully as she could, lifted the blanket roof back, only knocking over a pillow or two.
"Hi, mummy!" Amelia waved to her mother from her pillow throne. The rest of the inside was strewn with toys and pillows.
"Hello, sweetie." She waved, glancing up at the Doctor as the mess beneath the blankets was revealed to them.
He snickered. "It's absolutely lovely, girls. But how do you suppose we're going to clean it?"
"We're not!" Freya chirped, "It can stay like this forever!"
"Well, it has to be cleaned up eventually... but I suppose it can stay like this for a while. If it's okay with your mother."
River hesitated, "But we have company coming over tomorrow..."
"We'll get it done before bed." He guaranteed, glancing between her and the girls.
"Well then I guess it's alright, but I want everything put away for when Mummy and Daddy's friends come over."
"Friends? What friends?" Freya bounced.
"Jack and Ianto. They're coming over to meet you and play for a while."
"Jack and... Yantoe?" She tried pronouncing their names.
"How'd you meet them? Amelia questioned.
"Do you want to tell them?" River asked, letting him tell the story since it was more his than hers.
"Well..." The Doctor sat down at the entrance of the fort and Freya sat with him, ready for a another story. They loved his stories. "It was a very long time ago. At least three hundred years I think. No, it must've been more. Five, Six hundred...? Anyways, I was traveling with a girl named Rose and we went to London during world war two."
"Where was Mummy? Was she there too?" Freya interrupted, thinking that River would have been with them if she was friends with Jack and Ianto too.
"Er... no. Actually, this was before I met her." He admitted, scratching the back of his head. Freya nodded, crawling into River's lap as once she had seated herself next to the Doctor. "So Rose and I," He continued. "We were following this piece of, well it was space junk but we didn't know that at the time. We thought it was something valuable." He continued that story all through him dancing and how the world almost ended. It was almost an hour before he finally concluded "...and that's how I met your Uncle Jack."
Freya stared at him with wide eyes. She had cuddled into her mother a bit more during the "scary" bits. She had giggled at the thought of her daddy dancing with whoever this lady Rose was. "I want to dance with Uncle Jack!" She exclaimed, scrambling out of River's lap and jumping around them.
He laughed at the thought. "How 'bout I give you a few lessons?" He jumped up, his excitement matching her's. "Put your feet on top of mine and hold my hands." He instructed, a goofy smile on his face.
She did as she was told, stepping up onto his feet and taking his hands, already giggling. He started to move around the space that was not taken up by the fort in a sort of waltz, humming to himself to keep the beat. River laughed as she watched the two dance, her eyes full of amusement and adoration.
"Mummy, I want to dance too!" Amelia complained, upset that she couldn't because of her leg.
"Alright, come here you." She helped her out of the fort, scooping her up and spinning around with Amelia in her arms. The girl squealed with delight, holding into River's neck. River laughed, kissing her cheeks and spinning and dancing around with her.
"Don't drop me!" She giggled as they spun. She was getting a little dizzy, but she didn't care. She love dancing with her mum.
"I won't sweetie." River beamed. She tried not to think about how heavy Amelia was and how much carrying her was straining her back.
" 'm dizzy now. Can I go down?" River nodded, carefully setting her down on a few pillows. She rubbed her back as she stood. "You okay, mummy?" Amelia asked, looking up at her. Freya hopped of the Doctor's feet, curious as to what her sister and mum were up to.
"Yes, I'm fine, sweetie." She lied, forcing a smile as she continued to rub her aching back. The Doctor came behind her, discreetly taking over rubbing her back. He kept up the smile, knowing River probably had a good reason for not telling them.
"Why don't you girls clean up your room?" River leaned back against his hands, seeking more pressure on her back. The girls nodded, Freya going about putting all the toys back in the toy box while Amelia tossed the pillows back onto the bed from where she was on the floor. "Thank you." She praised.
"Your mother and I mother have to go... discuss plans for your Uncle Jack coming tomorrow." He began to usher River out of the room.
Freya grabbed onto his pant leg, tugging him back, "Is Mummy okay?" She asked, worried that her mummy was sick again.
"She's fine, Freya. She's just a little tired is all." He explained.
"That's what you said the last time. Is she going to get sick again?"
He bent down eye level to her and stroked the side of her face with his thumb. "Not if I have anything to do with it." She sniffled, hugging him tightly around the neck. He rubbed the back of her head. "She'll be fine." Freya nodded, finally letting go and going back to finish cleaning up. He felt a little bad leaving them, but he needed to see what was wrong with River.
They made it into the hallway before he asked. "River, what is it?"
"My back is killing me." She groaned, "And I think the cramps are getting worse." She let the smile fall, the pain he was feeling finally showing on her face.
"Let's see what we can do about that." Back in the sickbay, he switched her to magnesium, even though the lidocaine hadn't completely finished. "Want me to rub your back?"
She nodded eagerly, "Please do." Her lower back ached, making her feel like she could barely move.
He lifted her shirt up to expose the skin of her back. "...oh. Erm- River..." He said calmly. "You actually might not want me to do that."
"What? Why?" She asked, unable to even turn to look at him.
"I told you this would happen." He muttered to himself. "River, your burns, from when the baby regenerated, they're infected."
She sighed and buried her face in her hands, "Infected? Is it bad?"
"Well... it looks like the lidocaine aggravated it." He examined the inflamed redness of her skin. "It must be deep if it's giving you a backache this bad."
She looked up at him, trying to shift her body in the least jostling way possible. "I really didn't want to be spending my entire pregnancy in the sick bay." He sighed in agreement, rubbing her shoulder. He was trying his best to keep her healthy, but by the looks of it, it seemed more and more likely that she would be spending most of her time here.
"Will you let me give you something for it?" He remembered her refusing before.
She nodded, looking down at her hands. "If it'll help then fine."
He geniality got up and started searching the medicine cabinet. Not safe for pregnant women, ear aches, fevers, not safe, not safe, band-aids, not safe, allergies, stomach aches, sore throat, Ah! "Found it." He finally said. He held up a vile of indigo-ish liquid. "This should help."
She didn't question what it was. She had been trying to stay positive, trying her best not to worry, trying to think that everything was going to be alright. But all those positive things were quickly fading. "River.." He sat next to her, handing the medication to her. He brought a hand up to stroke along her jawline. "We'll get through this."
She looked away from him, "I was so happy that we were having another baby."
"Are. We are having another baby. Are you no longer happy about it?"
She stayed quiet for a few moments, "I don't know..." She finally whispered, "I'm worrying over everything and I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't be worrying so much, but I can't help it. Nothing ever seems to be alright, something always goes wrong. I know you said that complications with twins is more common, but it doesn't keep me from thinking that something could go wrong. Should we be concerned about when I go into labour with what happened with Amelia? Or what if Madame Kovarian comes again? What if..." She trailed off, burying her face in her hands.
"Oh, River." He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, peppering kisses to the side of her head. "You're not wrong for worrying. You have every right to worry with the kind of life we have. The complications with that happened with Amelia, that was because you were straining your body to hard. We can easily avoid that when this one comes 'round. And Kovarian... well." He hesitated. He knew she had managed to get out of the TARDIS alive, but not without serious injuries. "She won't be coming around for awhile. And If she does, you'll be safe. You'll all be safe and I'll make sure of that."
She leaned against him, "Why are you so good to me? "
"Because I love you. And it's my job to make everything up to you."
"You don't have to make anything up to me."
"I do." He bit his lip. "Everything that's happened, because I couldn't protect you. I was even the one who insisted you go to the Library, even though I knew what was waiting for you. How can you ever forgive me for that?"
"If I hadn't gone, then we may never have met and it really wouldn't have mattered what happened after that." She brushed her lips up against his jaw, "What happened wasn't your fault, and I want you to know that."
"But all the things that could've gone wrong..." He brought a hand up to caress her face, cherishing the touch of her skin.
She leaned into his touch, "It doesn't matter. Don't you remember what I told you when we were there when you tried take my place?"
"I'll never forget it." He sighed, knowing she was right.
She knew that he was sad, and she wrapped her arms around his chest, kissing his cheek, "I love you, so much. There are going to be hard times, and sad times. But there will always be happy times too. When I see you and when I see the girls, I know that I couldn't imagine my life any other way. I wouldn't want it any other way."
"River Song, my River Song." He fully embraced her. "How could ever have thought you were gone when you're right here in front of me?"
She smiled, "I'll always be here for you, sweetie." He pressed his forehead against hers.
"Always. And River Song, I know there are people out there who would tear the universe apart to take away our family, but don't think for one second that I wouldn't tear apart every universe to protect you and our children."
"Don't worry, I know." She squeezed his hand lightly, "You've certainly proved that to me over the years."
"And I'd do it all over again." His smile was full of love for her and love for his family. She pulled him up closer to her, kissing him again. There was suddenly a loud crash from down the hall which sounded much like shattering glass. He let out a small gasp, surprised at the sound, which was soon taken over by worry. He stood up, wondering what he might find. River stood as well, moving as quickly as she could out of the room, her eyes wide with worry. He didn't bother telling her to stay put since she probably wouldn't have listened anyways. They raced to the source of the sound which was Amelia and Freya's room.
"Amelia? Freya? What..." River trailed off as she arrived at the doorway, looking into their room.
Amelia looked up at her with teary eyes. "I... I'm sorry mummy. I was just trying to help. I didn't mean to..." The mirror that had hung on the wall had fallen and appeared to have knocked a few picture frames and a lamp.
"It's alright, sweetheart." River soothed, avoiding the glass that littered the floor as she walked over to her.
"I'm really, really sorry!" She hugged her mother, still afraid that she was in trouble.
"Shh, shhh it's okay. It was just an accident." River whispered, glancing up to see Freya on the other side of the room, about to attempt to walk through the glass. "Don't move, Freya."
"K, mummy." Freya obeyed, putting her foot back down on the clear patch of floor she was in. She seemed a lot less traumatized than Amelia was. River continued to try and calm Amelia, looking to the Doctor for help as she rocked back and forth. He looked between the glass covered floor and Freya.
"Hang on." He carefully stepped over to her. Even though he was wearing shoes, he didn't want to make it worse by stepping on the glass. He reached her and lifted her triumphantly.
"We'll clean this up, alright? It's going to be fine my love." River murmured, pressing a kiss to Amelia's head.
"Your.. not mad?" Amelia whimpered.
"Of course I'm not mad. It was an accident, you didn't mean for it to happen."
"I was trying to help. " She said, nuzzling her head into River.
"I know, I know." She kissed her head again. "I'll clean this up, you just stay put alright?"
She nodded as her tears dried. The Doctor put Freya down next to Amelia. "You stay with your sister." He went to help River clean. It didn't take long for them to clean up the mess, sweeping to make sure every bit of glass was gone.
The Doctor straightened out his back and looked over at the girls. They, well, Amelia still looked pretty stunned at the events. "Why don't you girls go to the kitchen? I'll make you some hot cocoa." Freya bounded out of the room excitedly, Amelia wobbling as she tried to get up and walk around on her own. The Doctor lifted her up, glancing back at River to see if she was coming.
River followed after him slowly, her back still bothering her. He set Amelia down in the kitchen. "Do you want one, River?" He asked retrieving the mugs from the cabinet.
She smiled tiredly and nodded, "Yes that would be lovely." She helped Amelia into a chair as Freya bounced around excitedly, very enthusiastic about her hot chocolate. He smiled as he took a third mug and set it down next to the others.
A short while later, three hot chocolates, just the right temperature, with whip cream where put down in front of the three. River raised an eyebrow, "You're not going to have one?" She asked, watching as Freya got whipped cream all over her face.
"Nah." He waved his hand. "Not really in the mood for one at the moment." He pulled out a chair next to River and sat down.
"Hm...I'm surprised. You've never turned down a hot chocolate before." She teased, leaning over to kiss him.
He blushed a little. "Well, there's a first time for everything."
"So is this hot chocolate my Mother's Day present?" She smiled, pecking his cheek, "Since tomorrow is Mother's Day."
"I suppose so. But that doesn't mean it's your only present." He winked at Freya.
She looked genuinely surprised, "Really?"
"Spoilers." He grinned at her, wanting to keep it a surprise.
River yawned, still sipping at her hot chocolate. "Try not to spill that, love." She reached over, pushing Amelia's mug further way from the edge of the table.
"Sorry." Her tone wasn't timid or upset anymore. The hot cocoa was making her feel much better. River smoothed back the little girl's curls, kissing the top of her head. " 'm tired, mummy." She said through a yawn.
"Yes, I think it's time for bed. You're going to need lots and lots of energy to play with Uncle Jack tomorrow." Amelia nodded, leaning her head against River and closing her eyes a little. She scooped her up, kissing her forehead and carrying her towards the door.
The Doctor followed with a sleepy Freya in his arms. He asked in a low voice. "You still want them to sleep in our room?"
She nodded quickly, "Sweetie, do you want to go get any of your stuffed aliens?" She asked Amelia quietly, knowing she probably would.
"The Adipose." She answered groggily. "An' the blue pillow."
"Okay." River whispered, collecting the requested items from Amelia's room, as well as her pajamas before heading to her own room.
They lied the twins down in their bed, Amelia already asleep, and Freya awake enough to mutter a "G'night" before going to sleep herself.
"Good night, my love." River kissed both their foreheads, then turned to the Doctor, "We should probably go to sleep too."
"Let me have a look at your back first." He kept his voice quite as not to wake them. She nodded, sitting down on the edge of the bed with her back to him so he could look.
He delicately lifted her shirt. "It's starting to heal. I'm going to put some cream on it, is that okay?"
"Yes that's fine. Just, try to be gentle."
He nodded, leaving the room and coming back with the bottle and a q-tip to spread it on. "It's going to sting a little."
"Alright, I'm ready." She whispered, biting her lip. He lifted her shirt up again and slowly applied the cream, as genitally as he could. She only winced once, squeezing her eyes shut.
"Sorry." He apologized, hearing her breath hitch. He finished, putting the bottle on the night stand on her side of the bed. "We'll have to apply it every night before bed until it's healed."
She nodded, kissing his cheek softly, "Thank you." She turned to crawl into bed with the girls. They fell asleep, their daughters curled up between them. River slept contently, relaxed knowing the girls were safe in the bed with her. The Doctor's thoughts were on the surprise for River. He'd have to wake up early, and he'd probably need Jack's help picking it out.