Ch 96

It was the middle of the night when Terra cried out through the monitor they had set up for her.

River jumped up in an instant, any hints of sleepiness snapping away as she ran for the med bay. The Doctor was on her tail, grabbing Felix's baby monitor to keep with them. It only took a matter of seconds for the two Time Lords to burst through the doors of the medbay.

Terra could be heard crying but was nowhere to be seen. The door to the adjoining bathroom was open and the light there was on. River immediately rushed to the bathroom.

The girl was on the floor near the toilet, having tried not to get sick everywhere again. She was leaning against the wall with her knees tucked up to her chest and her hands pressed to either side of her head. Her face was red and distressed tears streamed down her face as she wailed.

River ran to her. "[It's okay. I'm here. What's wrong?]" she signed, before hugging the girl tightly.

Terra's skin was hot to the touch and she was trembling as she managed the words "head" and "pain" before dissolving into more tears and clinging to River.

River hummed to comfort her, holding her tightly. "I think she's getting a migraine from the medication. We need to give her something."

"On it," the Doctor nodded, grabbing what they needed from the other room. River kept her arms around Terra, hoping that she could at least provide the girl with some comfort while they tried to get medicine for her.

He returned with some pills and a glass of water. "[Do you think you can swallow these, sweetheart?]"

Terra whimpered but held out her hand. He placed the pills gently in her palm and moved to sit on the other side of her.

"It'll take a little while to kick in, I'm afraid," the Doctor murmured, stroking Terra's hair back as she curled into River's side sniffling. River continued to rub Terra's back, looking worriedly at her husband. He met her gaze. "Poor thing, she's hardly slept."

"I know. Hopefully, she'll be able to sleep after this."

He hummed in hopeful agreement.

Felix started crying over the baby monitor. River sighed, "I'll get him."

"No, no, I'll do it. I don't want to disturb her," he gestured to Terra who was leaning on River with her eyes firmly shut against her a headache.

"Okay." She nodded, "But he's probably going to be hungry."

"I'll bring him here if he is."

River stayed with Terra, continuing to hum softly. It was a few minutes before the Doctor returned with the baby— River having been unsurprisingly right about him being hungry again.

River slowly began to ease away from Terra, trying not to disturb her too much. Terra groaned, resisting the movement.

The Doctor tried to help, lowering Felix down into River's arms. River took the whimpering baby, "She just keeps holding me tighter."

He wasn't surprised that the girl wanted her mother, but nonetheless sat where he had before and tried to get Terra to open her eyes. "[Lean on me, my little star.]"

"Mumma..." She whined vocally.

"I have to feed him." River murmured, Felix's cries only getting louder.

The Doctor tried again to persuade Terra, explaining that she could go right back to River after Felix was fed. Terra finally gave in, not having the energy to argue much more.

He wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair back, trying to make her comfortable. River went about feeding the baby and Felix calmed immediately.

He looked over the three of them with some sort of sleep-deprived fondness. Felix, who was so calm now that anyone looking in wouldn't have had a clue that he'd been wailing only a moment ago, blinked innocently back at his father as he nursed. Terra had stopped crying a little while ago and though she still looked miserable, the Doctor could tell that the medicine was starting to kick in. And then there was his wife, exhausted and split between the needs of the two children, who he found his hearts warming at the sight of. "How are you feeling?"

She smiled tiredly, "Tired. You?"

"Can't complain," he murmured, still looking at her warmly.

"You look rather handsome in this light."

His expression softened further. "I could say the same about you."

"That's very sweet."

"I may be biased," he teased. "I think you look good in any light."

"Any light?"

"Yes," he hummed and closed his eyes, clearly remembering some examples. "Sunlight, house lights, starlight..." he opened his eyes again, tone slightly more suggestive. "No light."

"Maybe once we get these two back in bed, we could keep the lights off."

He chuckled, "Such a tease, professor."

She grinned back at him, "It would be a shame to waste a good night."

"It would be, wouldn't it."

Terra started snoring softly where she was curled up against her father. Felix had also started to drift off now that he had eaten.

"I'll put Felix to bed if you want to tuck Terra in," she offered. "Meet you back in the bedroom?"

The Doctor nodded and lifted Terra up to put her to bed.

-x-

The Doctor had only arrived a moment before River but was already settled back on the bed when she arrived. "Hey."

"Hello, sweetie." She smiled, going over to his side of the bed.

He snaked his arm around her when she was close enough, pulling her against him and stealing a kiss. She hummed against his lips, wrapping her arms around his neck. He pulled back after a moment, looking at her with the same adoration he had in the bathroom. "You're wonderful, do you know that?"

"I'm glad you think so highly of me." She laughed, "You're wonderful too."

He took her hand, pressing a kiss on her palm. "Do you remember when we first had the twins and they got their first fevers at the same time?"

She nodded, "I don't think we got any sleep that week."

He smiled softly. "I remember you triple checking everything you did. You were so worried that you were going to do something wrong."

She nodded, leaning in for another kiss. "And before the girls were born." She murmured, moving her lips to his jaw, "You wanted to triple check everything."

"Guilty as charged," he chuckled. "But I think I've gotten better."

"You think?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Surely double checking instead of triple checking is an improvement," he teased.

"I suppose so." She pressed her lips against his again.

The children slept for another few hours, allowing their parents to have some time to catch up on their own sleep and other things relating to the bedroom.

As the days passed, Terra slowly got better, her parents always there to sooth the bizarre symptoms that accompanied her illness.

While Terra was grateful for the attention of her parents, she found herself growingly jealous that her siblings got to go to school while she was at home with nothing much to do. Her parents wanted her resting for the most part, which Terra hadn't minded when her symptoms were worse, but now she was feeling mostly better and resting was boring. Her biggest sources of entertainment were the TARDIS and investigating her new little brother.

It was Friday now and she'd missed the whole first week of school. She and River were in the living room while the Doctor picked up the older kids, Felix in a little sling on River's chest.

"[What do you mean they're not coming straight home?]" Terra asked.

"[They're going to go visit Auntie Vastra for tea and then they'll be home.]" River informed her, "[Your father and I decided that you're still not well enough to go.]"

"[But I haven't been sick since two days ago!]" Terra protested. While it was true that she'd stopped throwing up, her appetite was still null and she'd been suffering an uncomfortable combination of easy bruising and unexplained soreness.

"[I know, but that doesn't mean that you're all better. You could get sicker if you push yourself too much, and especially if we take you back to Auntie Vastra's time where you could be exposed to even more illnesses.]"

"[It's not fair.]' She looked increasingly upset. "[Everyone has gotten to go out and do things all week and I've not been allowed to do anything! I want to see Auntie Vastra.]"

"[Well, once you're better we can go visit her.]" River assured.

"[Why can't I be better now? Why can't you just give me something and fix me?]"

"[Because that's not how that works, my love]"

She didn't seem at all comforted by this. "[Everyone is seeing her without me.]"

River sighed, "[What if I call and have Vastra come here instead?]"

Terra wiped her nose and nodded. River went over to the phone, calling the TARDIS.

The Doctor picked up quickly, thinking something was wrong, though River quickly explained the situation. Things were agreed on quickly and River returned to Terra.

"[Are they coming?]" Terra asked, peering up at River with round eyes.

River nodded, "[They'll be here in a little bit.]"

Terra nodded quietly, somewhat worn out from the rush of jealousy she'd just had, despite her best efforts to prove herself fit. "[Did Auntie Vastra like Felix?]"

"[Yes, she loved him when she met him.]"

"[She's not going to like him better, is she?]"

"[Of course not. Why would you think that?]"

Terra shrugged. "[Everybody really likes him.]"

"[That doesn't mean that they don't love you.]"

"[I know...]" She looked at Felix in his sling, just able to see his head. "[Why did you being hurt make him come early?]"

River hesitated, not really knowing how to answer the question.

"[You were only hurt in the head, right?]" She continued at River's lack of an answer. "[Why did that affect Felix?]"

"[Stress can also affect the baby. My body had too much stress from the situation we were in, and that made Felix come early,]" she tried to explain.

Before Terra could question further, the TARDIS materialized in the corner of the room. River got up, going over to greet the family.

Arthur ran up to River, giving her a hug as his older sisters helped move a few plates of food into the kitchen.

"How was school, sweetie?" River asked, holding the boy so that he wouldn't squish the baby.

"Ms. Huoge yelled at Will for talking and he had to see her after class but dad let me wait for him and he seemed really upset so I gave him the answers for the maths sheet because I already finished it during lunch." He said all in one breath.

River frowned, "I'm glad you were there for him, sweetie, but you shouldn't have given him the answers to the maths sheet. That's not right."

"But why not? He would've gotten it anyway."

"Yes, but he needs to do the answers on his own. You can't cheat like that." It was a bit odd disciplining her child on something she did all the time with Amy when she was his age.

"Why is being nice cheating?" Arthur still wasn't getting it, pressing the subject as the others set up a picnic-style tea time on the living room floor.

Vastra had already made scones and sandwiches, so all the needed to be made was the tea itself. The Doctor went to the kitchen to take care of that and Vastra sat on the couch next to Terra. "[How are you, little one? Your parents told me you weren't feeling well.]"

"[I'm feeling better now! I was sick, but now I'm getting better.]" Terra insisted.

Vastra smiled softly, not commenting on the girl's pale appearance. "[Well, I do hope you're well enough to have some scones. They're blueberry.]"

"[Blueberry is my favorite!]" Terra beamed, "[I have to tell you about my baby brother!]" She went on.

Vastra glanced towards the ten-day-old in River's arms. He was still small for his age but seemed to be putting on weight at a good rate since she last saw him at the beginning of the week. She looked back at Terra, attentive to what the girl had to say. "[Yes?]"

"[He's ten days old and sometimes Mummy lets me hold him. He also sleeps a lot so you and me can still play.]"

"[That's lovely to hear. Do you like holding him?]"

She shrugged, "[Mummy said he's going to get bigger so I won't be able to hold him eventually.]"

"[Your mummy is right, but he won't be too big to hold for a while yet.]" She assured.

Terra nodded, "[But if he gets bigger you won't love him more than me right?]"

Vastra was surprised by the question but kept her expression soft. "[My dear, I love each and every one of you no more or less than the others. I promise you, that will not change.]"

"[Are you sure?]" She asked. "[Cause Mummy always talks about how cute he is and I think she likes him a little better.]"

"[es, little one. I'm very sure. Loving the baby doesn't mean we love you any less. Besides, humans are designed to find the proportions of a baby's face cute so they don't eat their young."]

Terra looked slightly horrified by Vastra's statement, "[People eat their babies?!]"

"[No, no. Humans don't eat their babies. Or at least they haven't since many millennia ago.]" Vastra assured, slightly amused. "[But some species of animals still do, like rodents and reptiles, I believe.]"

River walked in on the conversation at that moment to say hello to Vastra. Vastra rose to give her a hug, mindful of the baby. "Terra tells me you're adjusting well."

"Yes, better than before." She smiled weakly. "And it helps that Felix is such a good baby."

Vastra smiled at the little boy who was watching her amusedly. "And you're taking care of yourself?"

"Of course. And the Doctor has been spoiling me quite a bit as well."

"Anything appropriate for tea-time conversation?" Vastra teased.

River laughed, "Only some of it."

"Well, I'd love to hear all of it," she said as the Doctor announced that the tea was ready.