Chapter 28

A few weeks later...

River was awoken by Cosmic, who was sat by the bed and barking his head off.

"You naughty dog! Shush!" The female scolded, sitting up and glaring at the puppy.

Cosmic quietened, and gazed mournfully at his mistress.

River reached down and lifted the puppy into her arms. "I'm surprised that that you haven't woken Bella up." She glanced at her daughter, who was still sound asleep in her cot.

She petted the puppy. "Are you hungry, hmm? You know that you shouldn't really be in here, you cheeky dog."

Cosmic wagged his tail at her, looking up at River with big brown eyes.

"I take that as a yes then." River chuckled, placing Cosmic back on the floor and getting up. She got her dressing gown on and made her way out of the room, the puppy following closely after her.

She went into the kitchen and fed Cosmic, who gazed at his bowl of food like he hadn't been fed for weeks.

As River was making her way back to her and the Doctor's room, Bella began to cry.

"Hello, sweetheart." River entered the room and lifted the baby into her arms. "Are you hungry, hmm?"

She sat on the bed and began to feed her daughter.

The Doctor stirred beside her.

"Hello, Sweetie." River smiled as her husband rolled over, his eyes fluttering open.

He sat up and kissed her. "Good morning, you two."

"Good morning, did you sleep well?" His wife asked.

"Yes thank you, did you?"

"Yes thanks, Bella only woke up twice in the night." She replied, snuggling her daughter against her shoulder.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I would have got up..." The Doctor looked guilty.

River kissed him. "It's okay, Sweetie. I love you."

"I love you too, River." He smiled.

Bella fussed in River's arms.

"Oh, little one, what's the matter? Would you like a cuddle with your daddy?" River cooed, placing the baby in the Doctor's arms.

"Hey, little one." The Doctor smiled, rocking Arabella gently. "Are the twins up yet?"

"No, surprisingly they're still asleep."

"Ah, they're probably making the most of having a lie in before school starts again." He replied. Aurora and Oscar were returning to school the following week.

"Yep." His wife smiled. "My love, I've been thinking."

"Yes?" He asked.

"About our wedding. I'd like to start planning it, if that's possible." River suggested.

The Doctor smiled at her. "Of course it's possible. Which planet?"

"Aeria?" His wife suggested.

Aeria was a planet filled with every type of flower and tree- Acer, tulip, oak, promise, beech- you name it. It was inhabited by an intergalactic breed of Jaguar- they could tall and were every colour of the rainbow.

"Yeah, okay."He replied. "It'd be nice to marry there."

The Doctor had taken River there for a picnic date when she was very young, still at university.

"I met a lovely jaguar... Obviously they're all nice but Selina was in particular. We chatted, and I told her that I was going to marry you one day. She said that she'd marry us if she was still alive." River reflected.

"Well, we'll visit in a few weeks and see about that, shall we?" Her husband said, passing a now sleeping Arabella back to her.

"Yep." She grinned. "I can't wait to marry you, Doctor."

He kissed her. "Mutual, sweetheart."

A few hours later...

"River, Doctor?" Amy called, making her way into the Tardis.

River, who was in the main living room, frowned. "I didn't know that Mum was visiting today."

They were in Leadworth, the Doctor had gotten bored of keeping the Tardis in the time vortex.

Aurora shot a glance at her father, which River clocked. "What's going on?"

"We're going to Granny and Grandpa's house for a sleepover." Said Oscar, who was sitting next to his twin on the sofa.

"Okay." River frowned.

"You weren't supposed to say anything! Honestly, you're rubbish at keeping secrets." The Doctor, who was sat on an armchair, Bella in his arms, covered his face with his free hand and groaned.

His wife laughed. "Says you, Sweetie!"

He frowned at her. "I'm not that bad."

"Hmm." River kissed him, lifted Arabella into her arms, and sat on the sofa next to Aurora.

"I'm sorry for ruining the surprise." The little girl looked rather sad.

"It's okay, sweetheart." Her mum reassured her. "I don't know where your daddy is taking me, so all of the surprise isn't ruined."

"Okay." Aurora looked relieved.

"Have you two packed your bags?" River asked, rocking Arabella.

Aurora and Oscar nodded, their attention on the TV.

"Arabella's going to, if that's okay?" Said the Doctor.

"Yeah, that's fine." His wife smiled. "It's not like my parents are perfect strangers, you know." She chuckled, and got up to go and find her mother.

A while later…

"River, hurry up! Surely it doesn't take that long to get ready!" The Doctor called grumpily down the Tardis corridors. He was pacing around the central console room. By now, they'd dropped the children off at Amy and Rory's, and had landed on Afra, the planet where the Doctor was taking his wife out to dinner.

"Honestly Sweetie, we have a time machine! If we're late we can always go back so we're not late." His wife called back. She was in the Tardis wardrobe, adding the finishing touches to her outfit. "You cannot rush beauty!"

"You'd make a bin bag look good." He replied.

"Hmm." River replied, eventually making her way back to the central console room,

"Wow." The Doctor gasped when he saw his wife. "You look amazing, I was so blind when I was young… You're stunning, my love."

She was wearing the same outfit that she'd worn at the crash of the Byzantium, save for the hallucinogenic lipstick.

She blushed. "Thank you, Sweetie. You don't look too bad yourself."

The Doctor was wearing a suit, complete with a white scarf and black top hat.

"Oh, come off it." He joked. "Thank you River. Ready?"

"Mm-hm."

The couple made their way out of the Tardis, and into the purple fields of Afra.

It had no lifeforms on it, instead it was deserted. The trees were yellow with green leaves, the sky was a dark lilac, a similar colour to the grass.

"Wow…" River gasped. Afra was a planet that she'd never visited.

He took her hand. "Come on, my love."

They walked for a while, and River took her heels off-they kept sinking into the earth.

A few minutes later, they came across a table set for two underneath a large purple and blue tree. On the branches of the tree there were fairy lights, and there was a song playing.

"Did you plan this?" River gasped.

He nodded. "I may have."

"Oh, Sweetie." She smiled as he led her to the table. There were 2 plates with their respective favourite meals on, and a glass of red wine for her and water for the Doctor, who wasn't fond of alcohol.

"Don't worry, the meals haven't been there for long." Her husband reassured her.

River pulled him close to her. "Thank you so much for this. I love you." She murmured, kissing her.

"I love you too." He smiled, hugging her.

She snuggled against him, and the two stood there, nothing else mattered in that moment to them expect for the other.

The Doctor regretfully pulled away from her. "Let's eat, the food will be getting cold."

They ate, chatting and flirting. They loved their children, but it was important to spend time with just the other too.

"I haven't been this relaxed in ages. Thank you for this, I needed it." River said to her husband.

"I know you did, sweetheart." He smiled. "I love the kids and everything, but it's nice to spend some time alone with my wife too."

"I agree- our family is important, but it's important to spend some time just in each other's company."

They finished their meal.

The Doctor stood up and offered her his hand. "Come on."

She allowed him to pull her up.

The Doctor sat down on the grass and pulled River down to his lap, lest her dress got stained.

"This is nice." River said happily as he wrapped his arms around her waist and she snuggled into him.

"It is." He agreed, pressing his lips to her cheek.

She sighed in contentment. Apart from when she was with the rest of the family, her happy place was snuggled up in her beloved's arms.

They gazed up at the star dotted sky. Instead of silver, the stars were blue and purple.

River closed her eyes, committing the moment to memory.

"You know, River," the Doctor said, kissing her cheek again. "I'm so glad that I saved you from your horrible fate in the Library. I know that it was years ago, but every single day I'm thankful that I managed to rewrite time just a little bit, just enough to save you."

She turned to him. "Me too." She called him by his real name. " Thank you for what you did. I love you."

"I love you too. Anything for you, love." He replied, and held her close.

The two gazed up into the night sky, the Doctor holding his wife close. They chatted, and her pointed out the constellations to her-it happened that she knew most of them, but preferred her husband to explain them to her anyway.