Ch 53
River brought her blaster with her to lunch, keeping it strapped to her thigh. The Doctor had chosen somewhere with fewer people both for his own comfort and for River's. She sat next to him, the children on the other side of the table. She held his hand tightly beneath the table, glancing around as they ate.
Unsurprisingly, they ate without a problem and no one approached them but the waiters. The children were digging into their ice cream sundae's soon enough, getting completely messy, of course. They were made to wash up when they returned to the ship.
The Doctor brought the TARDIS back to the flat. "Do you want to come read with me?" River asked softly, pressing a kiss to his shoulder.
He nodded, relaxing at her touch.
"You feel tense." She observed, moving her hands up to rub his shoulders.
"Hadn't noticed." He murmured.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah." He nodded. "Just worried about you, you know?"
"You don't have to be." She murmured, "I'm okay. Baby's okay."
"I can't help it." He turned to face her. "We have a history of things going wrong, especially when we're expecting."
"I know. But we're being careful, so so careful." She took his hand and placed it on her stomach, "We should enjoy this time and try to relax a bit." It was advice that they both needed to take, as she was just as tense as he was.
He smiled weakly. "How about that book then?"
"I'd like that." She smiled back.
They went to the library and picked out one of their favorites to curl up on the couch with. River read first, her voice calm and soothing. He rested his head on her shoulder, eyes closed as he listened. She toyed with his hair as she read, occasionally pressing soft kisses to his forehead. He found himself getting quite sleepy, her voice lulling him. She let her voice grow softer when she felt him relaxing more and more, hoping to lull him to sleep. Her goal was achieved after a few more minutes, the Doctor snoring just a bit.
She stopped reading once he started snoring, smiling softly and kissing his head. She sat with him, closing her eyes as well.
Arthur wandered in at some point without Terra, wondering what his parents were up to. River opened her eyes when she heard her son come in, smiling softly, "Hello, love." She whispered.
"Why is dad sleeping?" He looked at the Doctor.
"He was tired." River murmured, "He fell asleep while we were reading."
"What were you reading?"
"We were reading one of our favorite books. It's a romance between two people in the Andromeda Galaxy. "
He wrinkled his nose and climbed up next to her on the couch. "That sounds boring."
"Well, your father and I like it. What have you and Terra been up to?"
He grinned. "We were playing 'Space Pirates'."
"Oh my, that sounds exciting." She smiled.
"The TARDIS made us a ship and everything."
"Where's Terra now?"
Arthur shrugged and made an 'I don't know' noise.
"Okay, we'll find her later. I want to let Daddy sleep for a bit."
He nodded. "When will the baby kick?"
"Probably not for another month." She murmured, putting her hand on her belly.
Arthur curiously put his hand there, too. "What are you gonna name it?"
"We don't know yet, we haven't decided. Do you have any ideas?"
"I like Amir, like that nice man we met when we went to see Petra being made."
River smiled, "Yes, that's a nice name. Any others?"
"Radovan," he murmured. "Like the man who sold us bread in Prague."
"Your father and I will have to talk about it." She smiled, glancing at her sleeping husband.
"How did you pick all of our names?" he asked.
"Well, you all have names that have some sort of special meaning to us. Amelia is named after your grandmum. Freya's named after Gallifrey. Your name, Arthur, was your granddad's middle name. And Terra was your other grandmum's title." She explained.
"Are you going to name it after someone?" he wondered.
"I don't know yet, maybe. Do you think there is someone we should name the baby after?"
He shrugged. "I don't know enough dead people."
She smiled weakly, "The person doesn't have to be dead in order for you to name the baby after them. Terra's middle name is Vastra and Auntie Vastra isn't dead."
"What about Uncle Jack?"
River laughed, "I don't think your father wants to name the baby after Uncle Jack."
"Why not?" Arthur frowned.
"I don't know." She murmured, "You'll have to ask him about that."
"Does dad have a dad?"
"Yes, he does, but he doesn't talk about his dad very much."
"What was his name?"
"Why don't you talk about this with him when he wakes up." She felt that any questions about the Doctor's father should be answered by the Doctor.
"You mean you don't know?" Arthur continued.
"No, I do know. But I think you need to talk to your father about this."
"Why don't we ever get to meet them? We talk to your parents all the time."
"The situation is a bit different," she murmured.
"How?" he pressed.
"I think you need to talk to your father about it," she repeated.
"You wanted to let him sleep." Arthur reminded.
"I know. I meant when he wakes up."
The boy sighed. "Fine."
They sat for a bit, talking softly so they wouldn't disturb the Doctor. Arthur inquired more about the baby like what color room it would have and if he had to be a babysitter. River asked him to take Toby out once all his questions were answered. He obliged, leaving them alone.
River watched the Doctor as he slept, surprised he had slept for so long.
The Doctor frowned in his sleep, this shoulders starting to tense.
"Sweetie..." River nudged him softly.
He didn't quite wake up, muttering something that sounded like, "Don't hurt her."
"Doctor." River spoke louder now.
His eyes flung open, his jaw tight.
"It's okay, Doctor. I'm here, you're safe we're both safe." She soothed, cupping his cheek.
He started up at her, realizing where he was and who he was with. "Right... sorry."
"Don't apologize," she murmured, "Do you want to talk about it?"
He blinked hard and sat up. "I'm sure you can make a good guess."
She nodded, "Is there anything I can do?"
He took a breath then took her hand, glancing at her middle for a moment, then back to her face.
"Would it make you feel better if we checked on the baby?"
He nodded, though logically knew that it would be fine. She stood, kissing him softly. He let her lead him to the med bay where the ultrasound was already set up. River lay back on the table.
As the Doctor used the probe to get a good image, Terra wandered in. River waved her over, pointing to the screen, "[This is your little sibling.]"
Skeptically, Terra approached, peering at the discernable humanoid form on the screen.
"[It's still very small so it doesn't look like much.]"
She glanced between the image and River's gel-covered stomach. "[How'd it get in there?]"
"[Um... when two people love each other a lot, they are able to have a baby.]"
"[That doesn't make sense.]" Terra frowned.
River looked up at her husband, "[Well, it's a bit more complicated, but we'll tell you more about it when you're older.]"
"[I'm old enough now!]" She insisted. She was going to turn nine soon.
"[I mean when your Freya and Amelia's age.]"
"[Do they know how it works?]" She asked. River nodded and Terra made a silent resolve to ask her sisters about it when they got back and try to find some books in the meantime. "[What are we gonna do with it?]"
"[What do you mean?]"
"[What do you do with babies? They don't go to school or talk or anything."]
"[We have to take care of it and teach it things. We can hold it and play with it as it gets older.]" She smiled. "[The baby's going to need a lot of attention.]"
Terra frowned at this information, crossing her arms and glaring up at the screen. River frowned slightly as well, "[What's wrong, sweetie]?"
Terra had a big feeling that a new baby was going to occupy her parents' attention by taking away from hers, though she wasn't sure if she wanted to admit that aloud. "[You need to get a babysitter.]"
River shook her head, "[Your father and I will both take some time off of work so we can be with the baby and we'll try to fit our work schedules so at least one of us will be home with the baby at all times. We might need a sitter here and there, but we'll be able to handle it.]"
"[No, you hafta get a babysitter to do it all so you don't waste all your time.]" She insisted.
River was starting to see what was going on now, "[Oh, sweetie. The baby won't take up all of our time. Babies are a lot of work, but I promise that it doesn't mean we won't have time for you.]"
Terra didn't look at all convinced. "[I don't want to be a big sister.]"
River tried not to look hurt by this statement, "[Why not?]"
"[You're going to love it more than me!]" She blurted out.
"[No, Terra, no we won't.]" She assured, "[I promise, that will never happen.]"
"[You will because it'll be able to hear you!]" Her expression was getting more distressed.
River wiped the gel off and got off the exam table, going to comfort her daughter, "[Whether the baby can hear or not doesn't matter. We don't love you any less because you're deaf.]"
"[But it would be easier, would it?]" She sniffed. "[If you had a hearing baby, it would be easier.]"
"[It doesn't matter, sweetie. I don't want you to worry about whether it would be easier or harder because it doesn't matter, not in the slightest.]"
"[How do you know you're not gonna love it more than me? What if it comes out and you do?]"
River looked up at her husband for help, not knowing how to explain it to her daughter.
"[Love is a very special emotion, Terra.]" He crouched by them. "[It's special because you can never run out of it. Mummy and I will never run out of love for you.]"
"[But you're going to be too busy to love me.]"
"[Love isn't dependable on time, little star,]" he reminded. "[Do you remember when you had to stay with your grandparents in New York and we couldn't see each other for a long time? Do you think we didn't love you all the time we were away?]"
She shook her head, though she still wasn't happy with the idea of a new sibling.
"[We will love you through anything, including having another baby. And I promise we will always make room to spend time with you.]"
"[Pinky promise?]"
He nodded, holding out his pinky for her. She linked their pinkies, then hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her, humming comfortingly.
"[I want to go play with Arthur and Toby.]"
He nodded letting her go. She left the room, going to find her brother, leaving her parents alone once more. They stood up.
"You alright?" The Doctor asked.
"Yes, I'm fine." She sniffed, trying to hide how upset she was. Her hormones were kicking in, causing an intensified reaction to the slightly unpleasant interaction with their daughter. He placed his arm over her shoulder, pulling her to his chest. She sunk into his embrace, buried her face into his chest.
"She'll come around." He murmured.
"Maybe we were selfish when we decided to have another baby." She sniffed.
"Now River, you know that's not true." He rubbed her back soothingly.
"I just want her to be happy." She turned her head so her ear was pressed against his chest, listening to the sound of his heartbeats, "I don't want her to ever feel like she's not enough for us."
"I know." He said understandingly. He knew that Terra would probably feel this way until the baby came.
"I want to make it better, but I don't know how." She pressed her face against him again, getting his shirt slightly damp.
"Well her birthday is soon... we could do something extra special with her." He suggested.
"Okay." She nodded, trying to recollect herself, "Are you feeling any better?"
"Yeah." He nodded. His main concerns now surrounded the subject of their daughter.
"The baby looked okay?"
"Perfect." He murmured.
"Good." She placed a hand on his cheek, leaning up to kiss him. The kiss was soft and assuring. He wiped away the dampness beneath her eyes when they pulled away. She smiled weakly, just standing there for a bit in his comfort. "I think Arthur wants to have a talk with you later."
"About what?" He asked.
"Your father." She took his hand, squeezing it tightly.
He squeezed back, surprised. "How'd that topic come up?"
"We were talking about naming the baby and I was telling him about how all the kids are named after someone important. He started asking questions about your father and was wondering why we've never met your parents." She murmured.
"What do you want me to tell him?" He asked. There wasn't much of a way to answer Arthur without talking about Gallifrey.
She tensed at the thought of Gallifrey, wrapping a protective arm around her middle, "I don't know. I was going to let you decide."
He nodded. "I don't think I want to tell him too much."
"Okay." She murmured, "That's fine."
"How about I start dinner?"
"I can help." She offered. He smiled and kissed her nose, the two of them heading to the kitchen.
