Ch 51
In the morning The Doctor made a huge breakfast for all 10 of the residents of the house. The girls' friends were all polite, and soon enough their parents had come to get them.
Much of the day was spent cleaning up and getting ready for their adult guests to arrive. The Doctor cooked more food for their new batch of guests and Terra giddy helped redecorate, regardless of the eye-rolls from her older sisters. Arthur pestered Freya and Amelia about their birthday gifts wanting to know what they all were and if he could play with them.
When it was time, River went to pick up their guests, going to get Vastra first. As the Doctor predicted the night before, Vastra smelled the change in River's biology but gave no hint to it other than a knowing shift in her eyes. She greeted River with a hug.
River hugged her tightly, greeting Strax and Jenny similarly. She picked up Jack next, then Clara.
"Is Bill coming?" Clara asked River as they landed back at the Song's house. The two had met some number of months ago and had taken to each other instantly.
River nodded, "She was going to drive to the house with Nardole." She opened the doors to the TARDIS where all the children were waiting to greet their guests with enthusiasm.
Terra ran to Vastra fist, tackling her with a hug. Vastra wrapped her arms around the little girl, "[Hello, little one.]" She signed once Terra let go.
"You hafta look at my decorations!]" She grabbed Vastra's hand, tugging her towards the living room.
"[I promise I will, but may I say hello to your brother and sisters first?]" She smiled at the girl's enthusiasm. Terra nodded, letting go.
Jack sauntered up to the twins, handing them each a large, wrapped box. "Happy birthday, kiddos."
"Can we open them now?" They asked, eyes growing wide.
"Sure!" He grinned.
They immediately tore into the gifts, knowing Jack always got the best, biggest ones. Each box had the same things: an assortment of items which included new clothes, gift cards to about a dozen different stores, some nail polish, and a strange looking electronic device among other things.
They dug through the boxes, beaming. "What's this?" Freya asked, pulling out the device.
"It's your very own time-hopper," he boasted.
Their jaws dropped, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" They both squealed, jumping to hug him.
He accepted the hugs, glancing at River with his 'I'm the best Uncle' face. River did not look pleased in the slightest with the new gift, glaring at him.
The twins ran off, the rest of the adults following them out. "What's the look for?" Jack asked.
"A time hopper? Really? They're sixteen, Jack." She crossed her arms.
"I knew you'd say that which is why I put tracking on them," he informed her, not yet intimidated.
That didn't make her feel much better, "We're going to finish this discussion later." She huffed, going into the other room with everyone else. Still feeling smug, Jack followed.
The twins were currently showing off their new devices to their siblings and others. River caught the Doctor's eye from across the room, shooting him a slightly distressed look.
He caught on, approaching his daughters. "Em, Freya and Amelia, I want to hold onto those for now until we can have a talk about using them later."
"Why? They're ours, Uncle Jack gave them to us." Freya frowned.
"I know that. They're still yours, but they're different from anything you've owned before and I don't want you using them until we've had a safety talk."
She huffed but handed it over, deciding not to argue. Amelia did so as well.
"Thank you." The Doctor murmured. He handed the time-hoppers to River. "Do you want to put these somewhere safe for now?"
She nodded, "Thank you."
Freya crossed her arms, resembling what her mother had looked like just a few moments ago with Jack.
The doorbell rang just then. "That's probably Bill." The Doctor announced.
River went to go put the time hoppers away while Arthur ran to the door to answer it. As predicted, Bill was at the door. Nardole had caught a ride with her and was standing behind her. "Hello!"
"Bill!" Arthur hugged her legs.
"Good to see you, too, little man. Are we on time?"
"Kinda. Everyone else is already here, but that's because Mummy got them in the TARDIS." He explained, taking her hand and pulling her in. She and Nardole followed, the latter muttering about leaving too late. Arthur lead them to where the party was where the other adult greeted them.
Vastra caught the Doctor in purposeful conversation as the mingling wen on. "I wanted to consult you before giving your daughters their birthday presents," she murmured.
"You didn't get them time travel, too, did you?"
"Not quite." She laughed, "I was going to invite them to stay with me for a part of the summer."
He raised his eyebrows. "Oh. Em, well I'd have to ask River about that."
"I suspected that was the case."
"If she says yes, then go ahead. I'm sure the girls would love that."
"Thank you." Vastra went to find River and propose the question to her.
River had come back to the party from storing away the time-hoppers and was talking with Clara and Bill. Vastra approached with a friendly smile. "Excuse me, ladies, may I borrow River for just a moment?"
The two women nodded and River stepped aside. Vastra phrased the same question to River as she did before to the Doctor.
"Oh..." River hesitated, "Are you sure you'd be alright with that?"
Vastra nodded, looking hopeful. "I'm well versed in many skills, River, and caring for your children in one of them. And they're practically adults now."
"I think they'd love that." She nodded, smiling.
Vastra let out a breath of relief, hugging River. "I'll ask the girls later."
"I'm sure they'll be thrilled."
Terra came up to River, tapping her arm. "[Can we eat now?]"
"[Of course, darling.]" River nodded, scooping her up.
The large group sat down in the dining room. They had commandeered the kitchen table as an add-on to be able to fit all of them in one sitting. The food was eaten rather quickly, the Doctor getting a great number of compliments on the meal. This body had proved time and time again that he was a better cook than his last face- not that his last face was a bad cook, but his skills had somehow gone from alright to fantastic.
River brought out the cakes when it was time and the whole room sang. Jack, as usual, was the loudest and most dramatic of the bunch. Terra was nearly a match to his theatrics with her exaggerated signs.
Amelia and Freya blew out their candles, managing the fine balance between embarrassment and joy. The children all got generous slices, not waiting for the adults to be served.
"Your family gets bigger every year, I swear." Jack teased.
The Doctor took River's hand under the table. River squeezed it. "Work on your math, Jack. We only have four kids."
He glanced at Bill and Nardole. "Kids aren't the only kind of family you've got."
"That's true." She nodded, smiling.
Vastra glanced at River for a moment as Jack continued, gesturing to Bill and Nardole. "Remind us how you picked up these strays."
"Well, it's a bit difficult to remember…"
"River was working at my university for a bit. And the Doctor was too, though he's still there." Bill helped fill in.
"Yes. Nardole was working as my... assistant?"
"Their replacement for you was awful," Bill added.
River laughed, "Well I'm very sorry to hear that. You're welcome to listen in on my lectures at Luna."
"You really mean that?" Bill brightened.
"Of course." She smiled, "I know the Doctor's rambles can be a bit dull, sometimes so you're welcome to drop by and see how it's really done." She teased.
The Doctor scowled, but Bill beamed. "Thank you so much! I'll be there, definitely."
River smiled smugly, looking at the Doctor.
"I'm going to bump up your deadline for that," he muttered.
"What? That's not fair!" Bill protested.
He raised an eyebrow in challenge. "If River turns out to be a better tutor than me, you can enlist her help."
Bill smiled, "Oh yeah? Well, I think I will."
He only frowned more.
"[If Bill's going to work with you I want to come, too!]" Terra piped up.
River smiled, "[You have your own school to go to my love.]"
"[But Bill does, too.]" She frowned. "[Pleaaaassseeee?]"
"[How about you go to Daddy's class? We can trade.]"
Terra looked pleased with that, nodding. River looked back to her husband, "I don't think I've sat in on one of your lectures."
"You're welcome to as soon as you're done stealing away my students," he said with playful bitterness.
"It's not my fault they like me better." She teased right back.
"You're baiting them." He grumbled. "If you could stop being so charming for half a second, I'd appreciate it."
"Make me." She purred, their conversation growing lower.
"That sounds like a threat, Professor."
"Maybe it is."
"Promise?" He was leaning towards her now.
Before River could answer, Nardole coughed very loudly in their direction. River blinked, suddenly remembering they were around people. Nardole made a not-so-sly gesture with his head to the twins who were already flush with second-hand embarrassment. "Manners."
"Sorry." She whispered, refocusing on the cake. Clara eased back the conversation by asking the twins about their slumber party, which the girls were happy to give every last detail of.
Bill arranged to travel with River to Luna in two weeks when River was teaching a weekend class and Terra convinced the Doctor to let her come to his university on Tuesday when she had a half day The twins agreed to Vastra's gift of staying with her in the summer.
Their friends were soon bidding them goodbye and the Song Family was left to clean up after the party.
"Mum, when can I have my time-hopper back?" Amelia asked.
"After we clean up. Your father and I need to have a talk with you about it."
Once the house was clean, Arthur and Terra were made to take Toby in the backyard while River and the Doctor had a talk with the twins. They were all sat in the living room. Amelia looked attentive while Freya looked annoyed.
"Girls, the time-hoppers are not toys. They're very complicated tools." The Doctor started.
"We know. We're not babies." Freya scowled.
"No, you're not. But having these is a huge responsibility. There are rules about Time you must follow, and there will be our own rules of when you can use them." Time-hoppers didn't have the ability to travel in space, but they could travel in time at a max of 100-year jumps and needed at least 30 minutes between activations.
"So what are the rules?" Amelia asked.
"Never overlap your own timestream. You may never speak to or see your future or past selves. This goes for the rest of the family, too. You can't change the past or try to avoid a future you've already seen happen. Do your very best to avoid spoilers, and yes, that includes peaking to see if you'll win a bet or anything like that. And no using them to cheat in school."
"Is that all?"
"No." He took a breath. "I want you two to tell me or your mother when you want to use them. We'll be monitoring your use for the first few trips and we'll be coming with you if we deem it fit. If and when it comes that you can go alone, I want you two go together and I want you to bring precautions in case you need to get home and your hopper isn't charged yet."
"When can we go on our first trip?" Freya asked eagerly.
"Next weekend. I'm going to hold onto them for now." River stated.
Freya was not at all happy about this. "That's not fair! I want to try mine today."
"No. It's a school night and you have homework to do." River was firm on this.
"I finished most of it on Friday." She argued.
"That doesn't change my answer."
Freya groaned in disappointment, sinking in her chair with her arms crossed.
"I'm sorry, love. I don't feel comfortable with you using it tonight."
"Whatever." She muttered.
River sighed, "How about you finish whatever work you have left and then do some reading."
Nodding, both girls went upstairs, leaving their parents on the couch.
River was frowning slightly as they left.
"Alright?" The Doctor murmured.
"Yeah. Freya's just been so difficult lately."
"Being a teenager is a bit difficult." He agreed.
She nodded, putting her head in her hands with a sigh. He put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. She leaned against him, finding comfort in his embrace,
"Should I have let them use the hoppers?"
"Next weekend." He repeated her decision. "They need practice with us watching first."
She nodded, closing her eyes, more than happy to just stay as they were for a few minutes. Samantha found her way over, jumping up and curling up on River's lap. She pet the cat, "I believe we were interrupted earlier. Maybe you want to give me that kiss now?"
He smiled, leaning his head down to give her a proper kiss. She moved her hand to cup his cheek. Samantha readjusted herself to River's shifting.
The Doctor hummed. "Better?"
"Not quite, maybe one more?"
He grinned and obliged without hesitation.
She smiled, "That's better."
"Glad to be of service."
"Shall we head to our room for some downtime?"
He nodded. Whether she meant downtime or "downtime" didn't matter as long as he got to be with her. They ended up just laying in bed together, talking quietly. River slowly began to fall asleep, unable to help herself after the long two days.
When he thought she was asleep, the Doctor carefully scooted down the bed, putting his head next to River's abdomen. He started murmuring to it in a gentle voice.
She only slept for about twenty minutes, stirring, "Doctor?"
He lifted his head. "Hmm?"
"Have to put kids to bed." She mumbled groggily.
"I'll do it in a minute." He offered, letting his hand trace delicate patterns over her middle.
She smiled sleepily, "Did I interrupt you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." He said innocently as he could.
"The baby?"
"Maybe." He hummed, pressing a kiss to her hip.
"Well, don't let me stop you."
He flashed a grin and continued. She closed her eyes to listen to him, falling back to sleep again. Soon he rose to go put the kids to bed, letting River sleep.
Terra and Arthur were downstairs, trying to sneak more cake. The Doctor coughed behind them when he found them. "What do you think you two are doing?"
Arthur turned around, mouth smeared with cake. Terra didn't notice, reaching for another handful. Arthur nudged his sister. She turned just as she was stuffing a huge handful of cake into her mouth.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows at them, waiting to hear their excuse.
"It was Terra's idea!" Arthur blamed his sister immediately.
The Doctor tried his best not to look amused. "[Terra, is it true that this was your idea?]"
She nodded guiltily.
"[You do know that your sisters wanted to save that cake?]"
She shook her head.
"And Arthur, you should have known better." He wasn't going to let the boy wiggle out of this.
Arthur looked down at the floor, "Sorry."
"I want you both to go apologize to your sisters." He ordered.
"But they'll be mad at us!" Arthur protested.
"And you should have thought about that before you ate the rest of their birthday cake." He challenged. "Now go apologize."
They headed up the stairs, faces and hands still messy with cake. The Doctor followed to make sure they followed through and to make sure the twins didn't attempt fratricide.
The twins could tell immediately what had happened, getting rather cross. Heads hanging in shame, the younger children apologized. After a few attempts, the twins accepted their apology with the condition that they would help make another make-up cake. The Doctor made them go wash they hands and faces and get ready for bed.
All the children were in bed within the hour. Content, the Doctor returned to his own bedroom. River was still asleep on the bed, though she stirred a bit when he came into the room. He smiled at her, crawling into bed beside her. He dropped a kiss to her forehead.
"I've got to put kids sleep..." she mumbled, curling against his body.
"Already done, my love." He whispered.
"All f'them?"
He hummed a confirmation.
"I should get the cot."
"Do it in the morning." He wrapped an arm around her. "Stay."
She hummed softly, "Okay."
