Ch 62
When the food came, River got the children set up to eat. The Doctor produced a brown bag to go with the pizza boxes, offering it to River when they all sat down.
"What's this?" She asked, opening the bag.
"Chinese food." He waggled his eyebrows smugly.
Her face broke out into a smile, "When did you order this?"
"I texted Nardole to do it when you weren't looking."
"Smug old man." She said affectionately, "Thank you."
He kissed her cheek. "My pleasure."
The family ate their dinner, with River quite content with her special meal. The children were chatty—Arthur kept going on about how great it was going to be to have a brother and babbled on about how he and his new little brother would make a boys only club as soon as the baby was old enough.
Terra didn't find this so amusing, trying to one-up his with a girls-only club. She glanced at her sisters hopefully. Amelia agreed, unable to say no to her sister's hopeful look. Freya agreed as well, though pointed out that she would get to join the boys club if she ever regenerated into a boy.
"Well, I hope you're not planning on regenerating anytime soon." River murmured, not linking the idea that her children would need to go through that one day.
"I'm not, obviously, but I'm just saying." Freya shrugged.
"Okay." River raised her hands in surrender.
"Can we name the baby Jack?" Arthur asked.
River laughed, "I'm afraid not, my love. Your father doesn't want to."
"But Uncle Jack is awesome."
"Well, don't let your Uncle hear you say that. It'll go straight to his head." She smiled softly, looking at the Doctor.
The Doctor smiled softly at her and added, "Your mother and I actually were thinking of a name today…"
"What name?" Arthur asked, curious.
"Felix." He said, finger spelling the name for Terra.
"Where did you get that name?" He asked.
"Aunt Clara suggested it and I liked it."
Arthur thought it over, "Maybe Jack can be his middle name? Felix Jack?"
"Well... I'm not sure. We'll think about it." He said unconvincingly.
"Okay." Arthur smiled, satisfied with this.
The rest of dinner went by, the adults informing the kids about River's trip next week. Terra was the only one upset by this, not wanting River to go. The twins were quick to assure Terra that River would be fine and that she did this all the time.
"[But I don't want her to go.]" She whimpered, looking desperately at her parents.
"[We'll be visiting her a few times.]" The Doctor assured. This didn't seem to make a dent in Terra's mood. He glanced at River with a slight worry.
"[Why don't you want me to go, darling?]" River asked.
"[Because what if you miss something while you're away? And what if something happens to you?]"
"[Nothing's going to happen to me.]" She soothed, "[And if something happens while I'm gone, then you can call and tell me all about it.]" She gave her an encouraging smile.
"[But last time you were gone for more than a week we didn't see you for months!]" She reminded.
"[This trip is much shorter, I promise.]" River held her arms out to comfort the girl. Terra slunk out of her seat and climbed up on River's lap. There wasn't much room for Terra on River's lap anymore, the baby occupying most of the space. Terra herself was also getting a bit big for River's lap but tried to adjust herself anyway.
Felix kicked against her weight to which Terra glared.
"[He's saying hello.]" River smiled softly.
"[It's not fair that he gets to go with you and I don't.]" She looked back up at River.
"[Well, he can't really help it, darling.]" River frowned slightly.
"[I don't want to be away from you for that long.]" She sighed.
"[Well, you can come visit, just like daddy said. I'll show you around the site and you can meet some of the people I work with.]" She kissed Terra's forehead, "[And I'll call every night and you can tell me about your day.]"
"[Can we visit every single day?]" She asked.
"[Well, if you visit every single day then I won't be able to get any work done.]" She laughed softly.
"[I can help with your work!]" She insisted.
"[Not this time, this is a dig and everything we're working with is very, very delicate and it takes a lot of years of study in order to be able to work on it.]" River explained.
Terra looked a bit disappointed. "[I can't even help a little?]"
"[I'm afraid not, darling.]"
Terra frowned more until the Doctor added. "[How about we go on our own archeology trip with mum before she leaves?]"
Her eyes lit up at that suggestion, "[Okay!]"
The family spent the next hour trying to decide where to go, agreeing that they would have a day trip the next day. They eventually agreed to go to a planet called Khejaphorax, a place that both River and the Doctor had been before. A series of wars and natural disasters had buried the once lively planet in a dusty plane that was now perfect for digging up old artifacts.
All the children were very excited about the trip, running off to bed eventually. The Doctor and River stayed up a bit later, sitting and chatting on the couch with drinks in hand.
"Khejaphorax is going to be safe, right?" River asked.
"It's been lifeless since the Delvakh Wars and we'll be far enough in the future that there won't be anything left over from chemical warfare." The Doctor eased.
She nodded, wincing and pressing a hand to her side.
"Riv?" He frowned slightly.
"Mmm?" Her eyes were shut in focus.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know." She breathed, her whole body rigid.
"Are you in pain?" He had put his glass down by now.
"Just a bit." She understated.
"I don't want to take any risks River. We're going to the med bay." He stood.
She didn't argue, "Okay, I need help getting up."
He offered a hand. She stood with his help, walking with him to the TARDIS. She was obviously in pain, leaning on her husband more heavily than she'd admit. He kept his arm around her waist, trying not to let on how worried he was. No doubt that he felt something like Amelia had earlier, though probably worse.
Slowly, they made it to the medbay, the Doctor having River sit down immediately. Her hands were shaking as she sat down, closing her eyes again. The Doctor rushed to get out the scanner, holding River's hand as he programmed it. She squeezed his hand tightly.
It felt like ages before the results beeped in, though, in reality, it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. The Doctor read them hurriedly.
"What is it?" She asked quietly, unable to imagine any answer that meant harm to Felix.
"Your round ligament is inflamed." He put the screen flat and a holographic image of River rose up. He focused the image in to show her one of the ligaments that was connecting her uterus to her pubic bone. "There's some scar tissue there from Rasil— ...from your past injuries. The stretch of the pregnancy is causing some edema... swelling." He corrected to a simpler term after a moment.
She tensed at the mention of her past injuries, "Is it terribly serious or can we fix it now?" She'd been aching for a few days, but it was now that the pain was getting sharper.
"Em, it's not exactly serious, but it's not really the most fixable. There's not much of a risk posed to the baby, it's not going to harm him, but it may—probably will become more, er, uncomfortable as he grows." He explained.
She raised an eyebrow, "And you're sure there isn't anything we can really do?"
"Removing scar tissue isn't a safe option until after the baby's born and I can't promise that any pain killers we have will be effective."
River let out a groan of frustration, putting her head in her hands. He tried to think, hating that he couldn't offer any useful ideas. Though his worry about Felix had subsided, he didn't want his wife to be in incurable pain for the next three months. (Not to mention that this was going to make labour agony to bear.)
"I'm not going to be able to go on my dig now." She sighed, "There's no way I'm going to be able to crouch down for hours on end with this."
"Maybe I can figure something out before you've got to leave." He assured.
She nodded unconvincingly, looking at the floor and feeling a bit stupid for not saying anything earlier. It was just plain unfair that another thing was going wrong.
He squeezed her hand. "Is there anything I can do for you right now?"
"I'm okay." She sighed, "Just...disappointed."
He nodded his understanding. "I wish there was more I could do."
"It's not your fault." She breathed, wincing as Felix shifted.
"If I find something to help, would you go through with your trip?"
"Of course, but you only have a week."
"I also have a time machine." He tapped her nose, trying to be hopeful. "And I'm brilliant."
She smiled softly, teasing, "Ah, yes. How could I forget how brilliant you are?"
"Must've slipped your mind." He pressed a kiss to her temple.
"Must've." She squeezed his hand, "I've thought of something you could do for me."
"Hm?" He was eager to help, if not by solution than by distraction.
"It's a few things, actually. First, I think I could use a few kisses from my brilliant husband."
His expression softened and he smiled, leaning forwards. He kissed chastely her forehead, then her jaw, then the bridge of her nose. He kissed a few more locations before finally reaching her mouth. She smiled against his lips, quite pleased and pleasantly distracted from her disappointment. He lingered there for a while, cupping her face when he finally pulled back.
"That was nice." She murmured, momentarily forgetting about her other requests.
He placed one more kiss on the tip of her nose. "I don't want you to forget how much I adore you."
"That's very sweet, you sentimental old man." She beamed.
"And you love it." He hummed.
"Yes, I certainly do."
"Quite evident, darling." He put his hand gently over her middle.
"Yes, I do suppose this makes it quite obvious." She put her hand over his.
"And worth every second." He whispered.
She leaned forward, touching her forehead to his.
"I think you're right." He said, his thumb tracing absentmindedly over her skin.
"Right about what?"
"I am rather sentimental, aren't I." It wasn't really a question.
"Yes, you're a sentimental idiot, but you're my sentimental idiot." She kissed his forehead.
"Always." He felt warmth everywhere they touched. "What were the other things you wanted?"
"Well, one of them some pickle juice? I can't get it off my mind."
He couldn't help but laugh, not at the request but at the timing of it. "Alright, wife. Meet me in the bedroom?"
"Okay." She smiled, giving him one last peck on the cheek.
When River arrived in the house bedroom, she found the dog curled up on the bed. Toby had been showing his age more and more over the past few months. By saint bernard standards, the dog was ancient. He didn't go out much anymore, mostly just sitting in the backyard. Stairs had also become a challenge for him so he often stayed on the ground floor of the house.
"What are you doing in here?" She murmured, sitting on the bed beside him, stroking his head.
The dog looked tiredly up at her, moving his head to rest on her leg. This bedroom was on the next floor up, so Toby must've had a motivation to come up here.
"That's a lot of stairs for you." She murmured, stroking back his fur, frowning. He pushed his nose against her middle. "Are you saying hello to Felix?" She smiled softly, "He's very excited to meet you."
Toby licked his nose and made a noise like a whine, though it wasn't out of any distress.
"I'm going to need your help with Terra. As I'm sure she's told you she's not very pleased with getting a little brother, so perhaps we can change her mind, hmm?" She continued to speak. He blinked at her, shifting his head slightly.
The Doctor returned to River shortly, also surprised to see the dog all the way upstairs.
"I found him on the bed." River murmured.
"He must've missed you." He handed River her glass.
"Why would he miss me? I've been here almost daily."
"The same reasons I miss you at work even though I know we'll see each other that night." He hummed.
She smiled weakly, "Well, I'm here. Are you satisfied?" She asked the dog.
Toby licked his nose again, closing his eyes.
River smiled up at her husband and he smiled back, "He's getting old."
"Yes, I know." He sat down next River, giving the dog a pat. "He had a good run, though."
"Yes, he has. He's been wonderful."
He glanced between them, not really wanting to think about the dog being on his last leg. "Is that pickle juice to your liking?"
She took a sip, humming, "It's fantastic."
"Good. I've left the pickles in another jar."
"There you go again, being brilliant." She teased.
He turned to the drawers, picking out some pajamas. "Anything else while I'm at it?"
"There was one more thing. I was hoping you could take me to my dig site tomorrow so I can do a bit of paperwork?"
"Before or after we take the kids to Khejaphorax?"
"Before. It should only take about a half hour, we can go before they get up."
He agreed, starting to change. River got up once she finished her juice, getting changed as well. They settled into bed, Toby slowly moving to the floor. River rested her head against the Doctor's chest, closing her eyes for sleep