River led the Doctor from the campus grounds away from prying eyes and towards a small cafe about a five to ten minute walk. It was small and quaint, she couldn't help but notice how attractive the professor was with her wild blonde curls and an outfit that seemed fitting for the character she was.
The professor made her way through the cafe with ease, weaving through the tables and chairs like they were little more than an inconvenience. She strode over to a table that sat next to a full length window with a marvellous view of the landscape ahead. She gestured for the Doctor to follow and she did.
The Doctor sat opposite to River, watching as the rays of sun glinted across the professor's features. The waitress walked over menu in hand
"Professor, how nice it is to see you again. Will you be having your normal?" the waitress asked in a delightful manner.
"Yes, Stacey, thank you. What would you like, Jane?"
"Please call me Doctor, and tea would be lovely, and some custard creams"
The waitress wrote down their order, and if she thought the order was odd for asking for biscuits she never let on. She nodded and walked away with a cheery smile.
"So what made you become a doctor of Astrophysics?" the professor asked in curiosity.
"I have always been fascinated with the galaxies and the stars, watching the life cycle of a planet being born, watching it grow and evolve."
"Is that why you have a fascination with Time Lords and Gallifrey?"
"No, I…" They were interrupted by Stacey coming back with the drinks and the Doctor's biscuits. They both politely said thank you.
"What were you going to say?" River asked politely, intrigued at the blond woman's answer.
"It doesn't matter," the Doctor quickly said, feeling silly all of a sudden. She grabbed a biscuit and started to eat.
"You love your biscuits don't you?" River stated with amusement in her voice. The Doctor nodded and blushed furiously and River laughed, "You remind me of my husband. He had weird food fixations too."
"Sorry," the Doctor muttered feeling shy all of a sudden
"Oh no sweetie, don't take it the wrong way. It's a good thing."
"If you don't mind me asking, why archaeology?"
"I was looking for a man. That and I do love a good tomb," she happily said in reply.
The Doctor nodded again. She didn't know why she was shy and self conscious around the professor or even why the professor was giving her the light of day. Especially after she caught her trying to sneak into the archives.
"There is no need to be self conscious around me, just be yourself and enjoy the time we have."
They had idle small talk back and forth, talking about their lives. The Doctor was fascinated by Professor River Song, hanging on to every last word spoken by her. And she hoped against all hopes that the professor felt the same.
"So you married a Time Lord. How often do you see each other? If I were to ask you on another date would he interrupt?" The Doctor fired out the questions rapidly so as not to lose the nerve.
"You are the one who said I was married to a Time Lord, and we don't see each other often. He is really busy like I said, and it is not often tied down to one place. And for the final question, if you were to ask for another date I would happily accept" River replied gleefully, though there was definitely pain behind her eyes.
The Doctor took in a few deep breaths. "Would you go on another date with me?" The Doctor's cheeks tinged red again.
"Yes, of course, I would. You are quite cute when you blush."
River's complement only made the Doctor blush more. They were interrupted when River's phone rang. She quickly answered and the only things she heard were:
"Yes, how is she? Of course, I can come straight away. And I'll pay you for the rest of the day, it's not your fault she's sick."
River hung up the phone and turned back towards the Doctor,
"I'm so sorry, I am going to have to cut this date short. You see, my daughter is sick and has to be picked up from the sitter."
The Doctor was taken aback, River had a daughter. "I didn't know you had a daughter?" she said, shocked.
"It's not going to be a problem, is it? Because if it is, we can stop right now before anyone gets hurt." River stated as fact, no umm or ahhs about it. True and utter fact.
"No, it's fine, I just… never mind. May I come with you? I don't particularly want to go back to campus or an empty hotel room."
River looked momentarily taken aback by the Doctor's question. Whenever she had tried to date in the past and she had mentioned her daughter, people could not run quickly enough away from her. Be that woman, man or even android.
"Yes, if you are sure, I'm not sure how sick she is, so you might get infected with whatever she has."
"It's fine, I would love to meet your daughter. If she is anything like her mother she will be brilliant."
River smiled and simply replied, "Yes she is."
/
20 minutes later
After a short ride in the car, they had arrived at a beautiful looking cottage that was off the beaten path and surrounded by green pastures on all sides. The cottage itself was huge despite its namesake, with two floors and a brown thatched roof, and a quaint porch foreshadowing the front of the cottage.
She looked at River, the sun catching her hair just right, creating a small halo of sunlight above her bouncing curls. She quickly looked back at the cottage
"Beautiful," she gasped.
"I do try," River replied, with an amused look.
The Doctor furiously blushed, feeling her whole face go warm. "I meant… your umm. House.."
"Oh, I know what you meant," River smirked back at her before looking back at her cottage and walking to the front door. The Doctor quickly followed her walking up to the porch and through the front door.
"Skye, I'm home. How is she?" River asked, concerned.
"She has been sick twice and is running a slight temperature," the brunette girl answered.
"Thank you, Skye, this is Jane - I mean the Doctor,'' she said looking at the brunette than to the Doctor.
"Doctor, this is Skye." The Doctor looked at the brunette girl in her black skinny jeans and black crop top looking no older than her early 20s.
"It's lovely to meet you," the Doctor said happily.
"Likewise. Anyway River, I'll be going."
River went through her bag and quickly found what she was looking for before handing the brown envelope to Skye.
"Bye Skye, I'll call you when she is better."
"Thank you, bye." The front door closed with a small click.
River placed her bag on the small table by the door and her long cream raincoat on the coat hook.
"Make yourself at home, I'm just going to check on her and then I will explain everything."
The Doctor was going to say that River didn't need to explain herself to her - after all, they barely knew each other, but before she got a word out the professor had disappeared out of sight. So she took her coat off, placing her white and blue raincoat next to Rivers before looking at the room properly.
It was a large room by anyone's standards, with a grand fireplace in the heart of the living room and simple but elegant decor. She felt like she had been here before but quickly dismissed the feeling. She walked along the room looking at the 3d pictures coming from their little plaques.
There was a picture of the professor standing next to a ginger woman, hugging a man with brown hair and a little boy who was a mix of them both. That eerie feeling of the Doctor knowing them came back and now sat in the bottom of her stomach.
The Doctor moved to the next photo: this was of River and a man with chestnut brown floppy hair. They looked like they had been caught in a moment just for the two of them. Must be her husband, she thought. She felt a pang of jealousy over the man.
She walked along again and there was a picture of River and a little girl that looked like a mixture of the man from the last photo and River. With her chestnut brown hair like her dad, but curly like River. Space hair, she thought. She chuckled lightly as she studied the 3d photo some more, noticing the little girl's blue eyes and small freckles across her face. A single tear escaped her eye and made a track down her face.
"She's fine just sleeping for now," River's voice echoed through her home.
The Doctor jumped back, looking away from the photo before turning walking straight into River's tall frame.
"Sorry… um… I was just looking and I think I got carried away," she quickly said, looking away from the professor.
River took her index finger and placed it under the Doctor's chin, making her look up at her. "Why are you crying?"
"I don't know… well yes I do. I've always wanted a family but with work and travelling for lectures across the worlds, I never found the right person. The one time I did, the more I knew about them the less they knew about me. And in the end, they said they didn't want a family, not after everything they had been through on their own."
"That's quite a sad tale," River replied softly.
"It is what it is I suppose," she replied before taking a large breath, moving out of River's grasp and moving towards the small couch, sitting in front of the fire. "Tell me more about your husband and your little girl," she smiled, seeing from the photos how much the man and wife loved each other. But what got her curious was, when she looked around the room, there were no photos of the little girl and what she assumed was her father. It was just a mother and daughter duo, or the girl and the red headed woman and her family.
"Her name is Amaya Rowena Song. She literally is her father's daughter, always getting into mischief." She laughed slightly but looked away.
"The name Amaya means night rain in Arabic and Rowena means fame and joy. It's beautiful." She took a look at the woman in front of her, studying her with a keen eye. "Why does your face smile but your eyes are saddened by your words?" The Doctor asked the question softly. "How long has it been since you have seen your husband?" When again River didn't answer, she looked directly at the blonde in front of her and took her hands into her own. "It's ok. You can trust me," she whispered.
For some reason, that statement was completely true. They barely knew each other but River felt a deep seated connection to the woman sitting in front of her. She sighed and looked down at her larger hands inside the Doctor's smaller ones.
"He doesn't know about her," River whispered. "It's been two years and 10 months since I last saw my husband."
The Doctor's heart broke for the woman in front of her. Not knowing what to say or what to do in the situation she opted to stay quiet and tried to send waves of comfort.
After a few moments, River pulled herself together and neither spoke of the moment just passed.
The Doctor asked who the family were in the photo and River went to explain about who they were to her. They stayed like this for hours talking about River and her family, and River and her husband, how they met and how their relationship worked despite him being a time traveller.
They talked for hours before they heard a soft cry over the baby monitor.
"I need to see if she is ok, do you want to meet her?" asked River.
"Are you sure?" the Doctor asked, unsure of herself and the answer that River was going to give.
"Yes, even with her being sick she would love to meet you. She keeps asking for me to bring people I work with around to meet her and tell her stories."
River took the Doctor by the hand and led her through the living room and up a spiral staircase and into her little girl's room.
"Hey baby, are you ok?" River asked, walking through the bedroom door.
The Doctor followed suit and looked down at the little 2 year-old girl pulling her mum into a cuddle. Her room was pink, purple, and blue with several galaxies on the ceiling. Her room was beautiful.
"Mummy, my head hurts and my tummy feels icky," she said, rubbing her tummy over the top of her PJs.
"Oh sweetheart, I was hoping you would feel better."
Amaya grabbed her favourite bunny and cuddled her tiny body into her mother's larger frame.
"Amaya, could you look at me for a minute?" Amaya looked up at her mother. "I would like to introduce you to The Doctor, Jane Smith. She is a visiting professor that teaches Astrophysics." despite the little girl being sick, she looked at the Doctor with wide eyes and her face lit up like a Christmas tree.
"You could tell me about the galaxies and the star constellations. Mummy tries but she always gets it wrong." Amaya said sweetly.
That gave the whole room a chuckle. The Doctor lent down to the small bed.
"Of course, I can tell you all about each galaxy and star constellation. After all, it is my job," she said lovingly.
The little girl untucked herself from her mother's arms and hugged the Doctor, and River gave her a warm smile for the sight of her daughter hugging the short blonde woman.
They stayed like this for a few moments before the little girl removed herself from the Doctor's arms and crawled back onto the bed.
"Do you want some magic soup to make you feel better?" River enquired, brushing the girl's hair away from her face.
"Yes please, mama. Can Jane stay here and tell me about the Milky Way please?"
River looked at the Doctor, who simply nodded in response to the little girl's question, not even pointing out to the little girl that she preferred a different name.
"Of course sweetheart," River smiled warmly before exiting the room.
The Doctor moved towards the side of the little girl's bed and they looked up at the ceiling, talking about each star and its constellation, talking about what possible life existed on every planet.
Ten minutes passed and River walked up the stairs with a breakfast tray with a bowl of soup and a plastic cup full of squash. She got to her daughter's room and was about to open the door when she heard The Doctor and Amaya talking softly to each other, describing the planet and life that may exist on it.
The more River listened to the conversion the more she knew she really liked the blonde woman talking with her daughter.
"You see that one? I think it's got little dog people on it. It's probably called Barcelona."
That was a little on the nose, River thought. She took a small breath and opened Amaya's bedroom door with her breakfast tray of food still piping hot. "That last planet, it sounded like you had been there. Are you sure you've never travelled the galaxy?" she teased
The Doctor looked up at River, her face crimson red.
"No... umm. '' she stuttered, her face fully red. She looked away quickly to cover her blush. "I've only ever travelled for work. I live a boring life"
"Oh Sweetie," she smiled and threw the Doctor a quick wink when the Doctor turned towards her.
"Mummy, it's not nice to tease people, you said it is naughty if I do it," Amaya said as a matter of fact.
The Doctor chuckled at the sass coming from the girl. River passed the little girl the soup and sat next to her.
"Yes sweetheart, you are completely right, teasing people is very bad," she lightly scolded herself for her actions making her daughter laugh.
/
Later that day
Amaya was fast asleep again and it was getting late. Night had descended.
"It was lovely to meet your daughter. She's amazing, just like her mother," the Doctor said.
"Thank you. She really is an amazing little girl," River agreed. She looked away, not being able to look the Doctor in the eye. "About her father - it's complicated. She knows all about him but he doesn't know anything about her life, as a time traveller." she sighed and rubbed her hand against her face. "When and if he ever shows up I will tell him. It doesn't affect what we have or might have"
The Doctor looked at the woman in front of her and realised that River wasn't used to showing her vulnerability to anyone. She didn't comment on the situation that River had with her husband. Instead, she opted to give hope to the second part of what she had.
"I would love to get to know both you and your daughter better," the Doctor sheepishly said.
"It's a date," River smirked. "I'll text you in the morning with a time. I have lectures all morning."
The Doctor nodded and grabbed her raincoat before heading for the front door. She opened it ever so slightly before the professor grabbed her hand and quickly spun her around to face her, and placed her lips on her in a passionate embrace.
"Oh, look at the time. Must be off. But it was very nice. It was, it was good. It was, er, unexpected," the Doctor stuttered, not knowing where to place her hands or her face.
River watched the Doctor, Jane Smith walk off from her porch and into a taxi before closing her front door.
The Doctor's words rang in her head like a broken record on repeat. An overwhelming sensation hit her that she had heard the words before so long ago. Before her husband knew who she was. How would Jane know those exact words? Was she?... no she couldn't be, he was on his last regeneration.
She shook her head, clearing her mind of all thought before heading to bed herself.