Ch 67

Within the next few days, the Song family was planning and packing to go camping—the kind of camping that actually involved a tent, packing the car, and cramping six people into a car for several hour drive.

The chatter of the children in the backseat wasn't full of disagreement as it could sometimes be, but it would be a three hours drive which made even the most interesting of topics a little too repetitive.

Additionally, Felix had refused to relax the night before they felt and kept River up for most of it. The volume of the other children didn't help her discomfort.

"Mum, who's taking care of the cats?" Arthur asked.

"Nardole is going to do it," River answered, rubbing her temples.

"What's wrong?" He frowned.

"I'm just tired, sweetie."

"We can stop for coffee." The Doctor suggested. They were two hours in and hadn't had a break from driving yet.

"It's fine." River shook her head, "Coffee's only going to get the baby going again."

"I have to pee." Arthur interrupted.

"Okay. We'll stop, then." River assured.

Arthur retreated to the back once more, rejoining the conversation. The Doctor reached over, taking River's hand. She squeezed back, quietly grateful for a pit stop.

The rest stop was twenty minutes down the road. All the kids were happy to escape the small car briefly. Arthur was trusted to find the restroom on his own, though Terra was made to hold River's hand.

"I suppose this is why we don't take road trips." The Doctor murmured to his wife as he watched Freya exaggerate her freedom from the car's confinement.

"I don't know if this was one of your best ideas," River agreed, hand supporting her sore back.

"It got Arthur away from asking about you know who," he murmured. "And I can't complain about getting to spend time with all of you."

"I think it would be more enjoyable if I wasn't almost six months pregnant," she sighed.

"Well, you have a very valid excuse for nightly foot rubs." He pointed out.

"And maybe some back rubs and extra kisses?" She added hopefully.

"You hardly even have to ask for those." He kissed her temple. "Think you can suffer another hour in the car?"

"If I get another kiss or two I might survive."

Terra wiggled her hand out of River's as the Doctor kissed her, not wanting to be near their displays of affection. She retreated over to her older sisters who were looking at the landscape. "[Do we have to share a tent with them?]"

"[Unfortunately.]" Freya nodded. Since they didn't camp regularly, the Songs only had one large tent for the whole family rather than a few smaller ones (though the Doctor worried about how it would work with River's, at this point daily night terrors.)

—

River asked the children to help set up upon arrival, knowing she herself wouldn't be much help. The twins were happy to help, though Terra and Arthur just wanted to run around. The Doctor pulled out some of the heavier items that she didn't think Arthur and Terra could carry.

The twins were tasked with putting the tent together. The little ones were sent to gather sticks so they could make a fire later- it wasn't necessary, but at least it was semi-useful while still filling their need to explore. The adults worked on unpacking.

River was quite exhausted by the time they were done, sitting down in one of the chairs they had brought. Freya and Amelia had taken to exploring with their siblings, leaving the adults to themselves. River closed her eyes, trying to relax now that it was quieter.

The Doctor had set up a chair next to her. "How are you holding up?"

"Alright." She murmured, "I'm pretty tired."

"We'll take it easy today." He said in the same tone.

"Don't worry, I will." She smiled softly.

"I think the kids are going to be exploring until dark."

"I don't doubt it." She laughed. "They're yours after all."

"Which means you can take a well-deserved nap." He pointed out.

"Will you come with me?" He nodded, standing and offering her a hand up.

As soon as the Doctor tried to open the front of the tent, the whole thing collapsed. "...Or not."

River sighed, "I'll help you put it back up."

"I can do it." He assured. "Why don't you sit back down?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. It's shouldn't take long." He offered a smile.

It took him a little while to fix the tent, testing it to make sure it was secure as could be before inviting River in once more.

"I'll get up in a moment." She breathed, clutching the arm of the chair.

He looked up at her. "You alright?"

She nodded, "He's just being a bit rough."

He approached her, crouching down in front of her to feel the baby. "I think he's excited to be camping."

River smiled weakly, "I would appreciate it if he calmed down just a bit."

He stroked his thumb along the curve of her belly. "Mummy wants to take a nap, Felix." The baby startled to settle against the curve to be close to the Doctor. "Oh. I didn't expect that to work." He looked back up at his wife.

"He likes the sound of your voice." She murmured, "I think he's only settling down because you're here."

"I'd better stick around then." He teased.

She smiled, "Yes, you'd better."

They spent a few minutes like that, the Doctor murmuring to Felix. He settled down over the next few minutes, to the point where River could get up without feeling too much discomfort. They resettled in the tent once he helped River up and stayed there resting until the children came running back, shouting about a rabbit they saw.

"We should probably get dinner started." River murmured when they heard the kids coming back. The two had gotten rather comfortable, snuggling together in the tent.

"And set up more of the beds." The Doctor added. At the moment, they were just lying on two of the six sleeping mats they'd brought and none of the sleeping bags had been taken out.

"I'll start dinner with the kids if you want to do the sleeping mats?" She offered.

He nodded. "Deal."

She gave him a peck on the cheek before getting up and going to deal with dinner. Terra was fascinated with the rustic cooking wear that was used to make food including the not-a-stove propane camping stove and foldable pots and pans. Arthur was sent to help the Doctor and Amelia volunteered to join him.

Before too long, the dinner was made and the family was sitting around the fold up table. The sun was setting and the children were happy to discuss their little adventure.

"What did you find?" River asked.

"There's a creak down the hill that way." Freya pointed.

"And big lake at the end-" Amelia added.

"[And a bunny hole over there.]" Terra put in.

"An' there are rocks to climb on on the other side of the water," Arthur said.

"[That all sounds very exciting.]" She smiled, "Tomorrow we can all go exploring together."

"I want to swim!" Arthur declared, which was followed by various agreeing noises from his sisters.

"We could do that instead." River nodded.

"[Instead of what?]" Terra asked.

"[Instead of going exploring.]"

"[Can we do both?]" She hoped.

"[Well, we can do one tomorrow and one the next day.]" River reasoned.

"[Swimming won't take all day.]" Terra reasoned right back.

"[Yes, but I don't want to go exploring after dark. And I'm sure you'll be tired after swimming for a couple hours, so exploring won't be as fun as if we save it for another day.]"

"[I won't be tired. We can stargaze or something!]"

"[Yes, that would be good.]"

Terra brightened up. "[Does that mean I can stay up late?]"

"[I suppose it does.]" River smiled softly.

Freya declared that she got a bed on the end of the tent so she didn't have to sleep next to more than one person.

"I don't want you four fighting over where to sleep." River crossed her arms.

Amelia opened her mouth to protest then closed it again. Freya shrugged, "I'm not fighting, I'm just saying that's where I'm going to sleep."

The kids discussed sleeping arrangements briefly before they finished dinner.

After dinner, they scrambled to get pillows and blankets so they could lay outside and watch the stars. There was a clear, rocky spot a short walk from the campsite that they went to.

The night was colder, despite it being the summer. River brought a blanket, sitting against one of the rocks as the children laid out their things. The Doctor settled next to River with his arm around her. "Warm enough?"

She hummed, leaning her head against him. Terra used River's legs as her pillow. She wouldn't admit that having her mother close made her feel better in the dark.

The whole family sat and watched the stars, the children pointing out different constellations they recognized. They soon made a game out of making up their own constellations.

It wasn't until a couple hours later that the family went back to their tent, getting ready for bed. Arthur and Terra fell to sleep instantly. The twins stayed up long enough to check their phones before following suit. River and the Doctor were sleeping on the far end of the tent together.

River quickly fell asleep, though was awoken only a few hours later thanks to one of her regular night terrors. The entire tent woke at her shout, minus Terra who didn't hear it.

"I'm sorry." She breathed, once she realized that she had woken everyone up, "E-everything's fine, go back to sleep." She got up, going to leave the tent.

Arthur had turned on his torch, now looking at his sisters and father. "What happened? Is mum okay?"

The girls shrugged, looking at their father to see if he knew.

"It was just a bad dream." The Doctor murmured with hesitance. "She's fine." He got up to go after her.

River was sitting a couple feet away from the tent, head in her heads. It was quite apparent that this dream had been worse than normal due to her sniffles. The Doctor cautiously sat next to her, his voice soft. "Riv?"

"I'm okay." She tried to assure, turning her head away so he couldn't see how upset she was.

"You're not." He could hear her sniffs quite clearly. He touched her shoulder as a silent invitation for her to lean on him. She accepted the gesture, turning to his arms. He said nothing, knowing very well that there was no point in asking what the nightmare was about or what he could do. He knew the answers to both already.

They stayed like that until the torch in the tent behind them went off and they heard snoring.

"I'm sorry." She whispered softly.

"It's alright." He said in the same tone. "You don't have to be sorry." She sighed, closing her eyes. He traced circles on her arm. "It's out of your control, my dear."

"I know, but I still feel guilty for waking everyone up."

He pressed a kiss to her head. "We can figure something else out for tomorrow night."

"Okay." She nodded, "That would be good."

"Are you cold?" The Doctor asked after a beat. She nodded. "Shall we go back inside?"

"Sure." She nodded, starting to stand up. Settled back into the protection of the tent, trying their best to not wake the children again.