Ch 24
In the morning the Doctor cooked what could pass for pancakes given the extraterrestrial ingredients. The children came again and were fascinated at the Earth dish, eating all the leftover "pancakes". The Doctor went back to work with the Healers, kissing River goodbye and leaving her with Venic and the kids.
River was a bit less anxious to be left alone than the day before, though she still couldn't rest until he returned. This pattern went on for a few days.
Venic's check ups on River showed that everything seemed to be getting better.
Along with the kids, other people of the town stopped by to meet River, including Milva a few times. Most others brought a gift and didn't stay long.
Rai and Theon's mother came on the fourth day, bringing more food. The children were gathered around River in bed while their mother cooked dinner in the kitchen. River was telling them a modified version of one of her adventures to entertain them.
מos'Rhovae, the mother whom most called מosa for short, was making a traditional dish that used to be made when one of the community was going to have a baby. The meal was very rare nowadays-Rai had loved it when she'd tried it before her brother was born, and Theon was very excited to try it now for the first time. The dish was to be eaten slowly, as it was currently very common to only try it once in one's lifetime.
The Doctor came home as soon just as מosa announced dinner. River smiled when she saw her husband, getting up to greet him. Today was one of the first days she was only on partial bedrest. "How did it go today?"
"We've almost finished." He gave her a kiss. "The Healers are putting it in a consumable form."
"That's good to hear." She murmured, giving him another peck, "מosa made dinner for us."
"Rai and Theon's mother?" She'd come in the middle of the day, so the Doctor hadn't met her yet. "How kind."
"She said it's traditional for when parents are expecting." She brought him over to the table.
"Tsiat cubiegh." He said the name of the dish nostalgically. "Smells wonderful."
River smiled, "מosa, this is my husband, the Doctor."
The woman smiled brightly, shaking hands with him. "The Doctor of War, yes, I know how you are. An honor to meet you, Doctor."
The Doctor offered a smile. "Good to meet you, too."
"I've been telling her about how much we've enjoyed Theon and Rai's company and what good practice it's been for the future." River had made sure to make it seem like this baby was their first.
The Doctor caught on easily, trying to forget the extra 'of War' מosa has tacked onto the end of his title. "Very good practice." He agreed. "They're very well behaved, I must say."
"That is good to hear. I was worried that they would be bothering you too much, but they do seem to love coming to visit." The woman smiled.
The children, who were already sat at the table with Venic, made comments of agreement. "Can we eat now?" Theon asked.
"Yes, but it is the custom for the parents-to-be to serve each other first." מosa explained to the boy. Theon didn't look too pleased, but the Doctor promised to be quick as he and River sat down.
River took the first slice, feeding her husband the first piece just as מosa said to do. The Doctor hummed gratefully, repeating the action back. She smiled, giving him a quick kiss as the children dug in to get their slices.
"It feels like so long ago since I've had this," מosa commented.
"Is Theon the youngest child in the town?" River asked.
מosa nodded. "Yes, he is. There's hardly enough children with us to fill the Clodiphi."
River nodded, understanding.
"It is a shame you must leave." מosa continued. "There are many traditions surrounding births here."
"Yes, I do wish we could stay."
"Perhaps, Doctor, you remember them? You could carry some of them out." מosa asked.
"Yes." He nodded slowly. "I could, thank you for the suggestion."
River took his hand, squeezing it softly. She was rather curious about some of the traditions, wondering why he had never mentioned them before.
He squeezed back, "Some of them may be difficult with only River and me alone," he added.
"Like what?" River asked.
"There's the Giving, of course." The other woman said.
"What happens during the Giving?"
"The whole town gets together and everyone gives a just little regeneration energy to the new child. It's for good luck."
"These sound like very special traditions." River murmured, looking at the Doctor, wondering why he had never mentioned them.
He looked a bit tense as מosa continued. "They are. The naming ceremonies always have a lovely feast and, well, the Cleansing wasn't so pleasant, but it was over quickly."
"What's the Cleansing?" River wanted to know more about this whole new realm the Doctor never shared with her.
"Em," מosa glanced at the children, not wanting them to hear. "I will explain it after supper."
River nodded, the topic of the conversation moving away from the traditions for the remainder of dinner. The children were content to chatter away about other facts about Gallifrey that they assumed were new to River. It was mostly about plants and the various astral events that happened every few months. There was a commit series due tonight.
River smiled as she listened, though jumped at the first opportunity to catch מosa alone after the meal and learn more about the Cleansing from her.
מosa was doing the washing up as the Doctor occupied the children in the other room. "Oh, the Cleansing? Well, it sounds worse than it is, really. The Healers usually do it. They'll, em, well they'll prolapse the womb after the baby is born to... scrape away all the after birth and bits."
River looked shocked at that. A prolapsed anything was a serious birth complication that could lead to death without medical assistance. To do it voluntarily was beyond her.
"Avoids long-term postpartum bleeding that way, you see." מosa said at River's expression, "And all of that is collected and mixed with a bit of the baby's blood, and father's if he's around."
"What do they do with all of it after? Why would they mix it?" She frowned, not understanding why the Doctor had kept this from her.
"Well it's part of a connection ceremony, but that's not until later, usually when the child learns to walk. It allows the telepathic link to be used over a very long distance. Used to be for when the children went to the Academy, but the Academy's long since been closed to us out here in the Dry Lands."
"I see..." She nodded, "Thank you for explaining, I appreciate it."
מosa smiled. "Of course. And if you don't have the Cleansing, long range telepathy with your child is still possible. It just takes much more work."
River thanked the woman again, waiting till she and the children had left before questioning the Doctor.
They were sitting on the bed facing each other, the Doctor staring at a spot on the wall over her shoulder. "It... didn't seem relevant."
"It's your history, your culture, the culture of our children. How could it not be relevant? You can't honestly expect me to believe that?"
"It was painful, River." The words sounded like they'd taken a lot of effort to admit. "Gallifrey was gone when Amei- Gallifrey was gone. I was the reason it was gone." He sighed. "I couldn't have done any of it even if I wanted to."
Her expression softened and she pulled him close to her for an embrace, "I understand, it's alright."
He hadn't expected her to let it go so easily but regardless relaxed in her arms. "I was going to give them some regeneration energy, but you were bleeding so much I used it for that instead. And I don't know what מosa told you, but the Cleansing is extremely dangerous."
"She didn't tell me that part." River murmured, "But if you want, we can do some of the less dangerous traditions for this baby." She gave him a weak smile, bringing his hand to rest on her small bump.
He breathed out slowly in quiet awe at the life growing in her, "I'd like that." He whispered. He didn't say it out loud, but they both knew that he was now capable of giving regeneration energy. He considered giving a little to the other kids too since he hadn't had the chance before. It wasn't traditional, but he liked the idea.
"You know, I think we've made a few of our own traditions."
"Have we?"
She nodded, "For every baby, we've given them your-" She paused, wincing.
His brow furrowed. "Riv?"
"It's okay." She murmured, taking his hand, "It's just a cramp."
He looked unconvinced.
"Venic said it's normal to have them every so often."
"I want her to examine you."
"Would it make you feel better?" She murmured.
"It would." He replied before calling Venic into the room.
"What can I do for you?" The woman asked, entering the room, "Is everything alright?"
"River's having cramps." The Doctor said protectively.
"I informed the professor that cramps are perfectly normal as long as they don't happen too often, but I would be happy to do an examination." She walked over.
"Thank you." The Doctor shifted out of her way so she could work. River took his hand as Venic began the examination.
The woman was quick, doing a bit of prodding and asking if it hurt where she touched. River frowned at one point, feeling like the woman was pressing a bit too hard.
"All appears fine," Venic said when she was finished. "Let your minds be at ease."
"Thank you." River breathed, glancing at the Doctor, wondering if he noticed what she did. He didn't seem to have picked up on it. He thanked her as well as she made her exit.
River waited to the woman left before bringing it up, "Were you watching her hands?" She asked quietly.
"No... was I supposed to be?" He asked. They'd glowed a bit, but that always happened when they examined River.
"No..." She murmured, wondering if maybe she was just overreacting, "She just seemed to be pressing unnecessarily hard."
"Oh." He thought it over. "Maybe she's tired. She's stayed with us all week, after all."
"I'm sure that's it." She murmured, running her hand along her abdomen protectively.
"We shouldn't worry." He put his hand over hers and kissed her temple. It was completely hypocritical, as he'd just been worried enough to call Venic in.
She nodded, not wanting to upset him. "I know."
He looked lost in thought for a moment. "We're going to have to sneak into the capital if we want them to stay away from the town."
She nodded, "How are we going to get back?" They had taken the river to get to the town and it would be too dangerous to try and swim back upstream.
"Maybe there's something here in the town..." It wasn't a very developed place and there wasn't much technology there.
"We can go look tomorrow. It's getting rather dark now."
He nodded, "Alright. Let's get some sleep in the meantime. We're going to need it."
She nodded, closing her eyes to try and get some rest.