As always I don't own DW or its' characters and thanks to Luxturna for editing! Enjoy the update! By the way, chapter 26 is insanely long so I'm taking a poll, would you rather have me split chapter 26 into two shorter parts or post the whole thing as one long chapter? Let me know! :D

Chapter 25

The Doctor grimly looked at the clock. It was December 3, 2018. Something big was happening tomorrow, and it killed him that he didn't know what it was. He landed the TARDIS in the Ponds backyard and was just about to open the door when Melody burst in and gave him a big hug.

"Hello, Melody! How've you been?" The Doctor grinned as he put her down.

"Good! Come on! Mum and Dad expected you were coming tonight, and they made yours and mine favourite: fish fingers and custard for dinner!

"Yum!" The Doctor exclaimed as he let Melody climb onto his back so that he could give her a piggy-back ride inside.

She giggled and hopped off the Doctor's back once they were inside. Amy and Rory greeted him with a nervous hug. Not knowing what to expect for tomorrow.

Melody, on the other hand, seemed to have forgotten about what River had told her and was just extremely happy the Doctor was here for a visit.

After dinner, Melody got ready for bed and begged the Doctor to tell her a bedtime story and tuck her in. He willingly obliged and told her the story of the time he first met Amy and Rory. How he had saved the Earth from Prisoner Zero and the aliens, and then brought the aliens back again.

Melody fell asleep with a smile on her face and the Doctor kissed her forehead, turned out the lights, and then went downstairs to talk to Amy and Rory.

The Doctor grimly sat down on the sofa between Amy and Rory.

"Do you know what's going to happen to her tomorrow?" Rory asked.

"No, I don't, but let's keep it as normal of a day as possible. That way she won't suspect anything's wrong.

The next day, Melody woke up and went to school as normal. It was a cloudy day, but it was relatively warm for this time of year so Amy and Rory let Melody go play in the backyard after school. She played around with her outside toys for a bit before spotting the tree in their backyard.

Melody loved climbing trees, but for some reason she had never climbed the one in her backyard beside their shed. She climbed up, and when she got about 15 feet off the ground she sat back and looked around her yard. The sun had started going down and it looked like it was going to start raining any minute.

She started climbing down just as the rain started. The rain was making her hands and the branches slick, and the rain clouded her vision. Knowing she was stuck she screamed as loud as she could, "Daddy! Mummy! Doctor! Help!" She tried to get down another branch as Amy, Rory, and the Doctor came rushing out to see what was the matter.

Melody slipped and fell down the last 10 feet right as they were coming out the door. She landed on the ground with a sickening thud and they all rushed over to her calling out, "Melody!"

She struggled to open her eyes and she started to shiver and cry. Suddenly, a warmness filled her whole body and a golden light started emanating from her hands.

The Doctor, quickly figuring out that Melody was going to regenerate, pulled the Amy, Rory, and himself back a few feet.

"Doctor, what's going on?" Amy asked.

"Your daughter...she was conceived on the TARDIS. That means she can regenerate, she's part time-lord. What time is it?"

Rory quickly checked his watch, " 5:41, why?"

"In 8 minutes we can open River's letters to us and find out what's going on, but for now-"

The Doctor was cut of by a piercing scream as Melody's body contorted and changed into a new body. The Doctor winced, he knew just how painful regenerations were, and the first regeneration was always the worst. You never knew what to expect, nor how it would feel.

The golden light disappeared in a flash and Melody collapsed onto the ground.

"Where did she go?" Amy shouted as she rushed over to find her baby girl with Rory and the Doctor close at her heels.

The was a small lump in Melody's clothes. Rory gently peeled back the shirt and gasped in surprise. There was an unconscious toddler in Melody's clothes! Rory carefully picked up the little girl. She had dark skin, black hair, and looked to be about one year old.

The Doctor whipped out his sonic screwdriver and sighed both in relief and in disappointment when he saw what it said. "That is Melody Rose Pond. Her body is now that of a one and a half year old toddler. She is perfectly healthy, although she's unable to care for herself as she used to. " He was so relieved that she was okay, but he was a little disappointed at the fact that she was so small now. He was hoping that he'd be able to take Melody on her first adventure soon, but it didn't look that way now.

Rory passed Melody to Amy who smiled when she realized how much she missed holding a baby in her arms.

"I'm going to go to the garage and get her some clothes and see if we have any nappies left." Rory said as he started for the garage.

Realizing that it was still raining, Amy and the Doctor headed back indoors to dry off.

"Doctor, can I wake her up and give her a bath? I don't want her to catch a cold."

"Yeah, but put her back to bed after you finish. Regeneration takes a lot of energy, and she'll get sick if she doesn't rest." The Doctor shuddered at the memory of when he took on his tenth regeneration and was bedridden for most of the day.

The Doctor went out the TARDIS to change into some dry clothes and grab an umbrella just as Rory was coming into the house with an arm full of stuff.

He looked around and then hollered, "Amy?"

"Up here!" Was Amy's reply and he took off up the steps. He heard the water running and went into Melody's bathroom to see Amy giving Melody a bath.

"I found one nappy and here's a pair of jammies. I'm going to run to the store and get some more, I'll be back soon." Rory gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

Amy finished bathing Melody and dressed her. Then she took Melody downstairs and handed her off to the Doctor while she went upstairs to change.

The Doctor passed a sleeping Melody off to Amy who smiled and rocked her daughter gently.

Rory soon came in with an armload of groceries, which he promptly put on the counter and then sat beside Amy.

"I kind of missed having a baby to hold." Amy admitted as she softly rocked Melody.

"Me too" Rory said as he grabbed Melody's little hands.

The Doctor cleared his throat to get their attention. "Umm, let's open River's letter, she said she explained a lot."

Rory opened the letter and began to read aloud,

"Hello Sweeties,

As you have now found out, I am part Time-Lord and can regenerate. I'll be extremely tired the next day or two, but other than that, I'll be perfectly healthy. One thing you should note is that I still have the mindset of a seven and a half year old child. Even though my body might be that of a toddler. I will probably be pretty moody at first being back in nappies, not being able to play with my normal toys, having to eat less of my favourite foods, but I will get used to it. I will probably still like the comforts of my childhood like being cuddled and held more often than I was when I was older.

Also, to Amy and Rory specifically, as I grow you will notice something unusual. I will begin to look exactly like your childhood friend, Mels. That's because I am.

"What?" Rory stopped reading and looked up at the Doctor for an explanation. The Doctor shrugged and Rory looked to Amy, who then looked down to Melody.

"Keep reading, she'll probably explain it." The Doctor replied.

In my past, the one where I was kidnapped, I grew up in an orphanage in Florida under Ms. Kovarian's watchful eye. She tormented and tortured me daily and when I was old enough, I escaped to look for my parents. However, I soon regenerated back into a toddler when I had gotten to New York and was taken to an adoption center. I knew my parents were a couple from Leadworth so when a couple from Leadworth were looking to adopt, I immediately tried to get on their good side when they visited the orphanage. The loved me and took me back to Leadworth. The only problem was that I was in an alternate timeline and the two of you were my age! So when I started school and I heard your names called on the role, I tried to become friends with you. It worked, and even though I never considered my adoptive parents my real parents, it was like you guys almost raised me. You were so caring and would scold me almost like a real parent. However, Melody won't experience all this because she wasn't kidnapped, but it still happened in your memories. As the Doctor would say, "It's wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff that's hard to explain."

Now for all of you. I suggest you should run away and live in the TARDIS again until I grow up or regenerate back to when I look like an adult version of the old Melody. Or at least until I'm in high school, and the old me would be in college. It would be hard to explain to the school how I'm suddenly a toddler and even harder to explain to Gracie and Jane what happened.

I'd like to tell you more, but, spoilers.

XOXO, River

Rory folded up the letter and sat in shock with Amy and the Doctor for a few minutes. Not only had their seven year old just turned back to a baby, but now their kid was their best friend from their past? This was just too weird, but deep down he knew it to be true.

"Well, Doctor, is it okay if we come live with you on the TARDIS for a few years?" Amy looked at him hopefully.

The Doctor grinned. "Of course it is, Pond! I missed you guys! Now let's get going." The Doctor stood up and grabbed all the grocery bags while Rory went out to the garage and gathered up all of Melody's clothes. Knowing that the Doctor probably still had the nursery set up in the TARDIS, Amy walked Melody to the nursery and lied her down in the crib.

The Doctor and Rory soon came in and Amy helped them put everything away.

"All right, ready to go?"

"Just a second" Rory said as he took out a phone and called his and Amy's parents to explain what happen.

"Oh!" Amy exclaimed. She took out her phone and called work and their neighborhood friends to say that there was an emergency and they had to move.

The hung up and they all ran to the TARDIS' console. The Doctor flipped some switches and yelled out "Geronimo!" as they flew into space.

A few days later Melody sat at a small table in the playroom colouring a picture. Amy and Rory, knowing that Melody's mind still worked like a seven year old, had left her alone in the room with the promise that they were right across the hall if she needed anything. Melody started thinking about school and her friends and began crying. She forgot that since her body worked like a toddler she couldn't cry silently and soon loud wails filled the TARDIS.

Amy and Rory came rushing in to see what was wrong. Rory picked Melody up and started rubbing her back. "What's wrong, sweetie?" Amy asked.

"Bal ba to ta go yaba" Melody tried to say that she wanted to play with Gracie, but the words weren't able to come out so she cried harder in frustration.

"What, sweetie? Try easier words and maybe you'll be able to speak." Amy suggested.

"Pwlay wit Gwracie" Melody blubbered.

Amy and Rory shared a melancholy look. "You wanna play with Gracie? Rory questioned.

Melody sniffled and nodded yes. "Sweetie, since you're so much younger now you can't play with Gracie, but I bet when you're older and your body changes again you'll get to see her. How about for now, Rory and I write her letters and give her an address to send her letters to and then you can keep in touch that way. Okay?"

Melody nodded and wiped her tears.

"That's my girl." Rory said as he put her down to go colour. They played with Melody the rest of the day in order to get her mind off of her old friends.

As much as Amy, Rory, and the Doctor enjoyed watching her regrow up, they realized she wasn't the same as she used to be. She was more reluctant to ask her help, always insistent that she could do it "all by herself." She still gave into cuddles and sleeping in her parent's bed on occasion, but she didn't do it near as often as she did the first time she was growing up. She acted like their childhood friend Mels in a way, which makes sense since she technically was their childhood friend. She was reckless and a bit of a daredevil, but since she was being raised by her real parents, she was much better behaved than their old friend was.