"Right, I'm hungry. Who's for pizza?"
Amy flashes a genuine smile at the confession still trying to conceal her magazine behind one of the many books scattering the table that she was supposed to be using to help Rory with his memorizing of yet more medical terms and conditions.
"Hi, Mummy, dear." Mels greets tossing her nearly empty bookbag onto one of the only empty seats left at the table as she leans over to press a soft brush of her lips against Amy's forehead when the seated woman tilted her head upwards towards the newcomer.
One half of Amy's mouth curled in amusement at her best friend's continued insistance on the use of the call name. "Hey, Mels." she greets as Mels herself rounds the table to give Rory his own with a behind-the-back hug and a kiss of his own against the top of his head with a soft "Hi, Dad." That had Rory blushing scarlet as he gives his own mumbled "Hey Mels." In answer.
The pair had thought as soon as they all moved onto the higher leveled college courses all three had chosen to take Mels would grow tired of using the parental tiles, but it seems their shared friend wasn't about to stop quite yet.
"Thought you said you were hungry." Amy reminds as Mels swings an empty chair around to straddle it resting her arms along the back as she appraises them both.
"I am but I also want to help finish all this dull homework, so we have more time to celebrate." Mels corrects. "Also the invitation said the pizzas needed time to bake so no hurry getting there." She shrugged tugging one of the already opened books towards herself.
"What invitation?" Rory asks at the same time Amy gives an equally confused "Celebrate?" as she shares a curious glance with Rory who only shrugs in quiet answer to her unspoken question. At this Mels immediately stiffens as if she's just inadvertently let something slip, they weren't supposed to know and her hand slips to touch the place the small envelope that had been waiting for her slipped under her door she was sure by the pretty blonde she'd spotted not to stealthily walking away from her room when she'd gone to check.
True it might not be the hot time boy of Amy's tales but there was just something about the then retreating blonde that had drawn Mels to want to follow her. She hadn't but it had been a real struggle once the one in the long grey coat with the cuff of an erring decorating her ear when she'd turned the corner had vanished from Mel's view.
It was alright though. Mels just knew she'd see the not so snaky woman again.
"and what pray tell are we celebrating?" Amy presses glancing over at the date on her phone.
April 3
What was so special about today that Mels would want to celebrate?
"Penny in the air." Mels says instead of a true answer earning as she knew it would one of Amy's more annoyed eye rolls.
"I could use a break." Rory interrupts much to Mel's thanks considering both of them could see the bubbling of probing questions building on Amy's tongue. Also, after a check of her watch she noticed that if they didn't get a move on soon, they'd be late to the small party their other friends were putting together.
After all, it was her birthday. Why shouldn't she get at least one in her longer than most lifetime surrounded by everyone that matters?
"Mels you still wanting pizza?" he asks at the same time his stomach gives a particularly loud grumbling of his hunger.
"Penny drops." Amy finishes repacking her own bookbag as Mels grins and begins helping Rory gather all the books from the table.
Once they'd all been reshelved most incorrectly considering Mels seemed more than a little eager to leave the library as soon as possible the trio walked out of the place arm and arm.
Mels taking the center seeming to want to hold both Amy and Rory's hands as she led the other two up the block to her chosen pizza joint.
"Noble Romans?" Rory asks noticing the sign. "When did they put this in?" he probed as Mels finally releases his hand to tug at the door. As far as he knew this had been an empty lot.
"I'm not complaining." Amy signs "Always loved a good Roman." She muses sending Rory a teasing wink as she passed him. Why she'd done that she didn't know but it just felt right.
"Hey, Clara." Mels greets waving at the lone looking waitress leaning across the counter
"I was wondering when you three would get here." The dark-haired woman teases then sending a playful "Hey Ash, it's alright they finally showed up. No need for those lost posters we were thinking of putting up." Over her shoulder towards the kitchens.
"bout time." The voice the trio knew to be Ashilder's called back before the young woman herself joins Clara at the counter. "there are only so many flavor combinations one can think up to put on pizza before it becomes inedible."
"Is Mother still coming to join us?" Mels questions her arms still slung around Clara's shoulders in a greeting hug.
It wasn't lost on any the way Amy seemed to bristle at hearing her second best friend using a term a small part of her wanted all to herself when it came to any kind of parental role for the rambunctious young woman that was Melody Zucker.
Amy does seem to settle when Mels moves back to her side with a guilty half-smile "She might be seen as Mother, but you will always be my true mother, Amy." Mels promises "You did raise me after all." She added with a teasing wink that at once had Amy rolling her eyes
"Brat." The copper-haired woman scoffed "I didn't so much rase you as bailed you out." She points out remembering the countless times she'd been called to the police station, or the head office thought out their shared school days whenever Mels had gotten into trouble.
"Exactly. You were there when I needed you." Mels nodes
"Always." Amy vows and swears she sees the start of tears in Mel's eyes at the soft promise as she hugs Mel's shoulder a little tighter before dropping her arm and moving to quickly claim the only open seat beside Rory's own before Ash had the chance.
As far as she knew Rory was gay given the only women, he seemed to have any interest at all in interacting with outside of his work as a nurse were Mels or herself despite being sweet enough to have any woman he wanted in Amy's opinion, but he was her gay.
Ash would just need to find her own. Rory was taken.
"As if I'd miss this." Willa signs choosing that exact moment to join the lot of them carrying a large food-covered platter from the kitchens "Honestly Mels I'm hurt." She pouts with a grateful smile when Rory immediately moves to help her balance the slightly overfilled thing.
"Mels?"
Trust Rory to notice first despite his attempt to make the call around another large bite of a pizza slice but Mels was already halfway to the door in an apparent half-crazed dash before that particular shade of blonde had finished passing the front window.
"Mels." Amy this time but again the hurrying younger woman didn't bother acknowledging the call as she burst through the pizzeria doors.
"Hey."
The blonde at least slowed but didn't stop her steps as she heard more than saw Mels hurrying to catch up.
"You're not even going to stop in for a slice?" Mels scoffs jogging the last separating steps between herself and the now stopped blonde. "Seems rather foolish you doing all the setup but get nothing back in return."
The blonde bowed her head at the grumpy words. "You're missing your party," she whispers doing everything she could to keep from turning around to face the woman behind her.
"They don't even know what today is." Mels laments her eyes casting back to the happy-looking scene inside the suddenly very real eatery that just seemed to have popped up in a should have been an empty lot. Well relatively happy considering it seemed Rory was doing his best to keep a worried Amy from taring off after her. Mels does her best to reassure her younger Mother she was safe before turning her attention back to the strange blonde.
"It was the safest way."
Too late the blonde realized she'd said the words aloud as Mels plants herself between the hurrying woman and her apparent destination of something just around the next corner. "Why?"
The bowed head shakes once in apparent denial with a whisper that sounded a lot like "Spoilers."
Rather than get angry as she'd expected Mels only coaxes the bowed woman's head up to look into her eyes for several long seconds.
"Can I at least give you a kiss before you leave…" Mels leans in closer whispering the last word against the blonde's ear.
The single word shatters what little was left of the Doctor's control.
How she already knew the sheer power that small word had the Doctor hadn't the faintest idea as her hands fisted unyielding against the lapels of Mel's jacket both holding her in place as well as pulling her forward at the same time.
"Remember this?" Rory asks holding up what had been the bookmarker for his current re-reading. An out-of-date medical textbook he'd found on his desk. Why River had been thumbing through this particular book on her last visit he didn't know but whatever she'd found her sent her off with that determined look he knew all to well she'd inherited from her mother.
"Remember what?" Amy questions leaning over the back of the sofa to get a closer look at the photograph her husband was holding up. Her glasses sliding down her nose as she attempted to focus on it. "Oh yeah, that's when Mels wanted to go for pizza then you ended up eating almost two whole ones yourself."
Even now Rory felt his stomach twist uneasily at even the reminder of his foolish attempt to impress his then clueless crush into noticing him.
"Hang on…"
At once the image of the pair's younger selves each playfully biting into large slices of pizza as they attempt to grin at the camera was snatched away as Amy brings it closer squinting at something the camera had caught that at the time neither she nor Rory had noticed going on behind them.
"Who in Gallifrey is that?"
Rory immediately attempts to look over his wife's shoulder to see just what had caught her attention. "Who?" he asks when all he sees is their college-age selves enjoying a quieter moment between them.
Rather than answering Amy heads for her cell phone. A gift from the Doctor.
"Melody Williams."
Even Rory winces despite the even tone of his wife's voice when River picked up the call. Going by the added sounds of traded gunfire in the background they'd caught their daughter in the middle of something not so innocent.
"Well then finish up there then come straight home. One I have a question for you but more importantly your already late for dinner." Amy says before she abruptly ends the call.
"Oh, dear Mummy is cross. What's my lovely idiot done this time?" River questions a few moments later as she kicks off her sand-covered shoes beside the back door and hangs up her rain dampened denim jacket on the hook beside her father's.
"Who was she?" Amy demands holding up the picture in question.
"She who, Mother? This is a picture of You and Dad." River answers confusion knitting her brows as she looks from the image to her angry mother then over towards her father needing more clarification.
"Who was she Mels." Amy asks again
At this even River stiffened. Amy hardly ever used the shortened version of her true name.
River holds out her hand in quiet asking. A hand that even Rory could see was shaking with small trimmers of nervousness only those who truly knew his little girl could detect. It takes a few more beats of quiet before Amy calms enough to hand the photograph over.
It takes longer than either watching parent thinks before River's eyes widen in realization and the image is nearly lost to the floor after slipping from River's now obviously shaking grip.
"River?"
Trust Rory to be the first to kneel beside her when their daughter's knees buckle in surprised pain.
"Melody?" Amy whispers tucking a few of River's softer curls behind her ear as she kneels on her daughter's other side.
"My wife." River says "she was my wife."
