Part Seventeen
Unfortunately for Wilf, when Wilf had asked his question, the Doctor hadn't exactly been able to properly articulate his answer. The Doctor had started rambling for at least fifteen minutes about a whole slew of topics, none of which related to the original question. Fortunately for Wilf, River was there to translate.
"What the Doctor is trying to say, but isn't saying at all, is that Emily is Donna's daughter. Some random chance in time and space occurred and the Doctor and Donna ended up on the same planet at the same time, and they got married, and that's how Emily came to be."
"Donna wasn't gone for nine months though."
"No, she was only gone for thirteen, maybe fourteen days," River explained. "Her pregnancy with Emily only lasted ten days."
"But, I brought her back to Earth only a few hours after I figured she'd disappeared and made it look like she'd been taking a nap," the Doctor interjected.
Wilf's eyes darted back to Emily, who was oblivious to the fact that they were all talking about her. "I thought she looked like Donna," he remarked, suddenly breaking out into a grin. "Thank god Donna had a proper chance to pass on those fantastic genes."
The Doctor smiled and glanced at Emily, who was now scribbling into the paper. Well, it looked like scribbles. The Doctor was surprised that some of what she was scribbling was in fact, Old High Gallifreyan. He glanced at River, who smiled at him knowingly. "She's got fantastic genes," River agreed. "But that hair…"
"Donna's hair was the same exact way," Wilf laughed in sympathy.
"Do you think Sylvia should know?" the Doctor asked hesitantly.
Wilf took a sip from his mug and looked at the Doctor with a quizzical look. "Yes… but then again… no."
"Why is that?" River asked.
"You haven't gotten the chance to really meet Sylvia," the Doctor informed her. "Lovely woman, but she scares me some."
Wilf laughed again. He was over the moon, so much that he'd gone to Mars. The little girl who was sitting in front of him was his great-granddaughter, and he hadn't the slightest idea how to even remotely comprehend how Emily came to be, but he was determined to keep Emily a part of his life. "She should meet Sylvia. Sylvia should know."
"Doctor, I agree. Mothers are always going to be terrifying when it comes to the wellbeing of their children. It would be wrong for Sylvia not to know Emmy," River interjected.
The Doctor looked to Wilf, who was nodding. "Sylvia's at home. Should I call her up and see if she'd like to meet Emily?" he asked.
The Doctor shrugged and River rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, please do," she answered for the Doctor. "I think it will be fine."
Wilf did so, and within ten minutes, Sylvia walked into the café and saw the three people sitting with her father. "What are you doing here?" she asked the Doctor in a rude tone.
"Do you remember me telling you that we need to have a little chat?" the Doctor asked. "Well, this is the little chat I promised you. Sylvia, meet your granddaughter, Emily."
Emily managed to glance up and her eyes widened. "You're the mean lady who was mean to my daddy!"
River's eyes then widened as she turned to Emily. "Emily Artemis… that's rude!" she hissed.
"But it's the truth, and you've always told me to tell the truth."
"Some truths just aren't told," River replied, mortified.
River turned back to Sylvia, who stood with her mouth slightly agape as she stared at Emily. "Oh my god," Sylvia remarked. "How did I miss that?"
She turned to her father and still gaped. "Dad, how did I miss that? She's exactly like Donna."
"I missed it too, so don't feel bad."
"But… but how?" she asked.
The Doctor pulled a chair up to the table and gestured for Sylvia to sit down. She did so, her hands shaking and her mouth no longer agape. "A little over four years ago, Donna showed up on a planet about 300 light-years away from here, and just by chance, we got married and she got pregnant and had Emily."
"Donna can't get pregnant. All the doctors told her so."
"Not this Doctor," Wilf interjected.
"On the planet, they have this ceremony where they join their people in marriage with a slice of the palm and some agents that bind people to their mates. Because this happened to Donna and me, I'm the only person in the universe in which she can, for lack of a better way of phrasing, mate with. Furthermore, I'm the only person in the universe to which she'll feel strongly attracted to," the Doctor explained.
"So you caused this?" Sylvia asked accusingly.
"The randomness of the universe caused this," the Doctor replied defensively. "Can you not at least find the good from this? Your daughter is safe and happy, but you also have a granddaughter that is actually your daughter's biological child when you thought that she couldn't have children."
"It doesn't do her a bit of good because she can't know about the daughter she has."
"Well, that's another thing I have to explain."
"What's that?"
"I know how to fix her."
Sylvia's eyes flashed with optimism, but quickly reverted to defensiveness. "How is that?" she asked hesitantly.
"The Chameleon Arch. It's too confusing to explain, but I know how to fix her. Thing is… "
"Marissa," Wilf and Sylvia said in unison.
"Oh my god," Sylvia murmured as she realized the fullest extent of her daughter's tragedy. "You don't want to take her away from the baby by giving her back her memories because if you do, she won't stay. I know she wouldn't stay. And presumably, if she remembers you, she'll lose all happiness she has with Shaun and want to run away, and that would do more harm than good."
"And you want her to be happy," Wilf added.
The Doctor nodded. "Always."
After a moment of silence, Emily decided to put in her two cents. "Mimmy… can we get some of this broccoli stuff when we get home? I like it!" Emily chirped.
"She likes broccoli?" Sylvia asked.
"She's an odd child," River explained as she nodded to Emily.
"I'd hardly expect any less," Sylvia said with a smile.
"Do you want to know about Mr. Snuffle-Waffles?" Emily asked Sylvia, apparently over the fact that Sylvia had been rude to the Doctor when Emily first met Sylvia.
"Who is Mr. Snuffle-Waffles?" Sylvia asked, suddenly softened and agreeable to the little girl.
Emily proceeded to go on a ten-minute rant about who Mr. Snuffle-Waffles was. Sylvia and Wilf listened to the little girl in earnest while the Doctor and River just sat back and wondered when it'd end. When Emily finally finished, she sucked in a long draw of air and was poised to start again, at which point, both the Doctor and River made a move to put their hands over Emily's mouth to prevent another ten minute rant about Mr. Snuffle-Waffles' love of lasers and attacking the Daleks.
River noted that the Doctor hadn't stopped smiling since Sylvia was told of Emily's relation to her. For this, River also was smiling. Finally, it looked like the Doctor was working through the problems that had plagued him for the last few months, and for this, she was relieved.
She realized, as they finished their lunch and beverages, that that was all she wanted. She just wanted the Doctor to be happy. And if he was happy, she was happy. It was that simple.