Thanks to gwencarson126, Anime-King20, SilverMoon100 for following/faving my story.
NicoleR85: thanks
James softly smiled as he watched Alyssa glide across the ice. He had his skates on, ready to go out there if it looked like she was about to lose her balance. But for now she seemed perfectly fine. After the Doctor had done the ultimate sacrifice in rebooting the universe, he kept good on his promise to look after the empath. Even if the Time Lord hadn't practically ordered him to do so, he would've sought out Alyssa anyway. After all, he still had feelings for the red head thanks to the Doctor part of himself.
It wasn't even that hard to form a friendship with her so soon after they first met as it were. Which eventually became something else, once he'd dealt with a certain cheating someone. "Are you gonna stand there all day or are you going to join me?" Alyssa called, breaking through his thoughts.
"I thought I'd just stand here and look pretty", the ginger replied cheekily. She skated over to him, looking thoroughly unimpressed.
"You can't stand there and look pretty", she stated.
"And why not?" James asked her, arms folded.
"Cos you're incredibly handsome, that's why", Alyssa answered "now got out here". The meta crisis grinned and stepped out onto the ice. He took hold of her hand and started off down the frozen surface. Call him selfish and cold hearted but James was really glad it turned out this way. Now he could have Alyssa all to himself and wasn't forced to quash he true feelings as much as possible in order for her to be happy with the Time Lord he was partly created from. Although it had taken him some time to get used to life on Earth, there was no place he'd rather be.
For once he had everything. He had a life that was void of danger and most importantly, he had an incredible woman to share it with him. Plus there was a baby on the way. What could be more perfect than that?
The couple skated around the rink for about an hour before getting off the ice and going to the little café nearby for some hot chocolate and a little bit of cake. Alyssa smacked his hand away when he tried to take a sneaky forkful of her cake. "Mine", she declared, pulling the plate closer. James pouted and she just looked back at him, not at all affected by it. "That's not going to work on me mister, you shouldn't have eaten yours so fast", she pointed out. The ginger continued to pout until it turned into a smile after Alyssa accidently got some whipped cream on her nose from her hot chocolate. "What?" she asked.
"You've got a little…" James gestured to her nose "whipped cream…"
Alyssa touched her nose and giggled "Oh man, I can't believe I did that".
"I think it was kinda cute", the ginger admitted, making her duck her head in embarrassment. To make feel a bit better, he dabbed some whipped cream on his nose and patted her hand. She looked up at him and laughed. The meta crisis grinned and wiped the cream off of his nose.
When they got back to the house, Alyssa went straight to her studio. "Do you have to do that now?" James asked, loitering in the doorway as she sat down in front of the easel where a painting sat.
"I'm afraid so", the red head replied "I've been putting it off for days and it needs to get done" James came into the room and plucked the brush from her hand "hey!"
"You can do it tomorrow", he told her "I've got something much better we can do".
"What?" Alyssa questioned and James just responded with a smile, taking hold of hands and pulling her off of the stall "James, tell me".
"You'll see", the meta crisis said as he continued toward the living room. The empath smiled when she saw her favourite movie cued up on the TV.
"That's something better", she agreed.
"I knew it was", James said with a grin. They settled down onto the sofa and he pressed play. "I love you", he murmured as the opening titles scrolled up the screen. Alyssa smiled, giving him a kiss.
"I know", she whispered back and relaxed against his side. James wound an arm loosely around her waist, his hand settling on her stomach and pressed a kiss to her temple.
The expectant couple spent the next few hours watching the Star Wars movies, even going as far as having dinner in front of the TV. "Come on, we better get you to bed", James said to Alyssa when she was almost falling asleep on his shoulder.
"Ok", she mumbled. The meta crisis got to his feet, bringing her with him. He then picked her up and carefully carried her upstairs to their room.
The next morning James was the first one to wake. He smiled down at the sleeping red head in his arms. He had to admit this was his favourite thing to wake up to. "Morning", he greeted when she eventually started to stir.
"Morning", Alyssa murmured back, opening her green eyes.
"How's the little one?" the meta crisis asked, placing a hand on her small bump.
"She's fine", the empath answered.
James raised a ginger brow "She? You're sure it's going to be a girl?" he questioned.
"I just…have a feeling", Alyssa replied "and if I'm wrong then I wouldn't be too upset. I'm happy with either a girl or a boy. How about you? What would you prefer?"
"I wouldn't mind what it was as long as the baby is healthy", James replied, pressing a kiss onto her temple. To be honest, he would rather have a little girl to dote upon but since Alyssa was content with either gender, he would be happy as long as she was happy. "So…banana pancakes?"
"Is there anything else better for breakfast?" Alyssa countered.
"Not when I make them", James playfully shot back, giving her a kiss before he got out of bed "they'll be done when you come down".
"Thank you!" the woman called after him as he walked out of the room.
"You're welcome, love!" the ginger called back.
"Daddy loves to spoil us, doesn't he?" Alyssa remarked softly to her baby bump before sliding out of bed. She then grabbed her robe pulling it around herself and headed downstairs. The empath passed by her studio where she paused, noticing something off. Alyssa entered the room, frowning at the different canvas on her easel. It wasn't of Starry Night which she'd tried to work on the day before. Instead it was of a sketch of a strange box, captioned with the words: Pandorica.
She reached forward, picking up the canvas. Alyssa cried out as images flooded through her mind causing her to drop it.
"Off we go! No, hang on. How did you know to come here?" the Doctor asked little Amelia. The girl showed him the leaflet with a post it note.
"That's your handwriting!" the Time Lord said, turning to Alyssa.
"Yeah it is", the red head confirmed "you came to me while I was at work. I'd always wondered why you had me write those notes. And now I know". The Doctor grabbed a new leaflet and a couple of post it notes before he vanished in a flash of light…
"Ali!" James exclaimed when he came running, only to find her unconscious on the floor "come on, love", he gently urged as he gently held her against himself "come back to me". He then noticed the canvas on the wooden flooring and sighed. Oh River… he thought, knowing it had to be her who'd left it in their house. Why couldn't she just let him have this one thing? Was it too much to ask to actually have a life with the one that he loved?
Alyssa stared at the Doctor, hearts slowly breaking. "Please don't do this", she pleaded "there has to be another way".
"I'm sorry, love", the Time Lord said weakly. He hated to leave her and their unborn child but this was what he had to do in order to save them. The Doctor glanced at James "look after them", he said.
The meta crisis nodded "I will", he promised.
"No!" Alyssa cried as the Pandorica closed. James pulled her away from it as the metal box took off. The Time Lady collapsed to the floor, sobbing. "He's gone! He's gone!"
"I know", the ginger said softly, sitting on the floor and putting his arms around her "I know".
The empath gasped, her eyes flying open. "I remember", she breathed at him and James' heart sank.
"How much do you remember?" the ginger questioned.
"Everything", she answered "I remember everything. Stonehenge…the Pandorica…everything" Alyssa gasped again "oh god…he's gone…what am I going to do?" she started to cry "James, what am I going to do!"
James tightened his grip around her slightly "You have me, Ali", he said softly "you'll always have me" he dropped a kiss on top of her head "besides the Doctor isn't gone, not really. Like all the others you've lost, he's still alive in your memories. As long as you remember him, he'll live on".
"That's true", she sniffled. Alyssa sighed and wiped her eyes "I'm so sorry", she mumbled.
"You've got nothing to be sorry for", James assured her "it's not your fault River left that thing here", he nodded to the drawing with an annoyed look on his face. Alyssa stared at the drawing, feeling a mix of emotions welling up inside of her. Anger for making her remember one of the most painful moments of her life and gladness knowing she'd recalled everything from her actual life. But mostly she was just sad. Sad, lost and scared. The Doctor had disappeared on her. Granted he saved the whole universe and gave her a chance at some kind of happy ending…but he disappeared all the same. Who wasn't to say that one day James was going to vanish from her life too.
The meta crisis looked at the Time Lady in his arms worriedly. He felt her emotions…a literal barrage of them that was enough to make him dizzy. "Promise me you won't disappear", Alyssa suddenly said, glancing up at him "I-I can't take it if I lost you too".
James jaw clenched at the pleading look in her eyes, the sheer terror she giving off at the prospect that he was going to leave her too. He was definitely going to have words with River about this. The curly haired woman hadn't just gone and given Alyssa her memories back, she'd put her under a lot of stress. That wasn't good for both her and the baby. "I'm never leaving you", he promised "nothing is going to take me away. Nothing" he gently kissed her, doing his best to project feelings of love and devotion "i've loved you from that first kiss on the moon and I will love you for the rest of my days. I'll spend every waking moment showing you how much you truly mean to me".
Alyssa managed a smile, a fresh round of tears falling but this time they were happy tears. "I love you, James Sven", she quietly declared. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax in his arms.