River's sleep was restless, though when she finally did fall asleep, she stayed out long into the next day, not waking until noon. Tiber had curled up right to her face, his snores purr-like.
"Morning..." She murmured to the cat, stroking his back gently. He lifted his head and looked at her, blinking lazily.
Sun spilled onto the bed from the window, the cause of Tiber lying so close to River's face. River blinked, shielding her eyes from the sun. Slowly she stood and headed down the stairs. Tiber stayed on the bed to enjoy his sun spot but the other two cats caught up with River in the hall and followed her down.
Arthur's giggling came from the living room as well as light from the telly. River wandered into the living room, smiling when she saw the baby.
Some old recording of Sesame Street was playing, though Arthur was distracted by the Doctor and the dog. The former had a baggie of Cheerios and kept placing them on Toby's head. The dog would waste no time trying to get the cereal piece off his head and into his mouth. Arthur tried to help, but most of the Cheerios he tried to put on Toby ended up in his mouth much faster, though he was no less entertained.
River leaned against the door as she watched them, smiling at Arthur's giggles. Samantha rubbed against her leg, emitting a small noise before scurrying over to Toby.
River moved to sit beside Arthur, wincing a bit as she sat. The Doctor smiled softly at her. "There's breakfast for you in the kitchen, though it's probably a bit cold."
"I'm alright." She kissed Arthur's head.
"You're not hungry?" He looked a bit worried at that.
"Not terribly." She shrugged.
"Oh." He murmured. Arthur squealed as Toby licked his whole hand.
"What have you two been doing?"
"I showed Arthur the garden after we brought the girls to school and he insisted we watch this when we came inside, though you can see where that went." He told her. She nodded, patting Toby's head. "I talked to Clara about the spa, and she said you can go to Sunday to pick her up."
"Alright." She closed her eyes.
"Is that something you want to do today?" He asked.
"I think I'll just wait until Sunday comes on its own." She shook her head.
"Alright." He nodded. "Sleep okay?"
"Yes, but it took me a while to fall asleep last night."
He hummed sympathetically. "I guess that's why you slept so late." She nodded, rubbing at the aching muscles on her back. He looked at her carefully. "You alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine. My back's a bit sore, that's all."
"Do you want a massage?" He offered.
"I..." She hesitated, "Alright."
He scooted over to her. "Lower back or higher?"
"Higher." She murmured.
He nodded and started to give her a massage. Her muscles were tight and knotted beneath his hands. He didn't comment on it, working on each knot as best he could. She relaxed as the knots began to loosen, closing her eyes and relaxing a bit.
Arthur and Toby finished off the Cheerios, the boy tugging on River's clothes to demand more.
"No, no more my can't just eat Cheerios all day."
He pouted "Eeewos."
"I'm sorry, sweetheart, Mumma doesn't have anymore." She shook her head. He whined and plopped his head down on her knee. She smiled at him, and tapped his nose, "I'm sorry to say pouting isn't going to make Cheerios magically appear in my hands."
He didn't look like he believed her, blinking up at her with puppy-dog eyes close to his sisters'. River laughed, kissing his forehead, "Maybe if you give Mumma a nice kiss on the cheek, I'll go get some more for you."
He reached up for her, less crabbily than before. She leaned down so he could reach her face. He very sloppily smooched her cheek, the Doctor chuckling. River' smile grew and she looked happier than she had in days, "Alright, I'll go get you more now."
"I can do it." The Doctor offered. "You look awfully comfortable."
She hummed, pulling the baby into her lap. He got up to go get more snacks from the kitchen. Arthur was grinning again, happy in his mum's arms.
River was playing her favorite game with Arthur when the Doctor returned, tickling and kissing him all over until he was breathless with laughter. The man smiled at his wife, thinking he hadn't seen her smiling so genuinely in a while.
He sat back with them, putting down the plate of snacks. He'd brought back apple and cheese slices along with the cheerios. Samantha was immediately curious.
River took some of the Cheerios, giving them to Arthur, "Can you say 'thank you, Daddy?'"
"Saaa-coo Da!" He shoved a handful in his mouth. River laughed softly, nuzzling his cheek.
"That almost sounded like a full sentence." The Doctor prided.
"Almost." River smiled, "He's getting so good a speaking."
"Not too far behind where the girls were at his age." He added, picking up an apple slice. "Arthur, can you say apple?"
"Appa!" He reached for the slice the Doctor had picked up.
He let the boy have it. "Well, there's a good start."
"Appa," Arthur grinned again, chomping on the apple slice.
"Forgetting an 'L' there, lovie." The Doctor informed. Arthur pouted, not liking that he was wrong. "App-EL." The Doctor emphasized the 'L', trying to show him how to do it.
"Appa?"
He smiled and shook his head. "Good enough for today."
"Appa! Appa!" Arthur sang, bouncing in River's lap. Samantha ran behind Toby, not liking the loud toddler.
River beamed, nuzzling his cheek. Arthur was momentarily distracted by River, squirming. "Mummah!"
"What is it, my love?" She asked.
"Up!" He insisted.
River lifted him so he was standing on her lap, kissing his cheek. "How about we start practicing walking?"
He concentrated on his feet, trying not to wobble and topple over. He clung to her for balance. She lifted him again and put him on the ground, holding his upper body so he was still supported.
"Aah... Muh." He babbled, sounding unsure of his new position.
"Don't worry, I've got you." She assured.
He failed his arms as he tried to balance himself, staring at his parents. River slowly began to encourage him to move his feet forward. Arthur whimpered, dependent on River's hands to hold him up.
"It's okay!" River smiled, having no intentions of letting him go. He nervously wiggled his foot forwards, more of a slide than a step. "Good job!" She praised. He looked from her to his foot, hoping he was done now. "Can you do one more?" She asked.
Arthur frowned stubbornly. "No."
"Please? For mummy?" He looked skeptically at his feet, starting to move the other one. "Good boy." River smiled, giving him a kiss and letting him up off of his feet once more, holding his in her lap.
"I've been meaning to get out the girls' old walker thingy." The Doctor said absentmindedly.
She hummed, "Do you want to hold him?" He nodded. She passed Arthur off to him.
"Do you have thoughts about the afternoon?" He asked, cooing at his son.
River shrugged, "...What did you tell the other parents at the girls' school?" She asked after a moment.
"About what?" He drew his attention up at her.
"About my not being here?" She was remembering all of the looks she had gotten when she had gone to pick up the girls the day before.
"I said that you had an emergency on your side of the family you had to attend to." He said. "...Why?'
"They were all...giving me nasty looks yesterday." She murmured, sighing and rubbing her temples, obviously getting stressed.
"That odd... I can ask about it if you want." He offered.
"I-" She sighed, "It doesn't matter." She lied.
"Course it matters." He replied.
"If you want to ask them, you can." She murmured.
He sighed, just wanting a yes or no from her. "Do you want to come with me to pick the girls up later?"
"Not really." She shook her head. She looked up at him, feeling as though he was cross with her.
"Alright." He nodded. "Do you want to watch Sesame Street with us?"
"Okay." She whispered.
The three of them settled back on the couch, Toby trying to climb up, too. River's mood seemed to have shifted. She was quiet and distant once again. The Doctor placed Arthur between them, the boy favoring his mother to snuggle against. She held him close as they watched the show, Arthur sometimes trying to talk to the characters on the screen.
At one point, Toby jumped off the couch and tried to eat the plate of snacks left on the ground. The Doctor stopped him and brought the plate to the kitchen.
River fell asleep again, which was unlike her. Even when pregnant, she wasn't usually this tired. The Doctor wasn't in a rush to wake her, not thinking much of it. He got her a blanket and scooped Arthur up, turning off the TV.
"Looks like it's just you and me little man."
"Yee a me!" He repeated.
"Not too loud, dearie, we don't want to wake Mummy."
"Mummah?" He looked around, trying to see River.
"Right there." The Doctor pointed back to the couch where he'd tucked River in.
"Seepy?" Arthur asked.
"Yeah." He nodded. He had a few hunches about her tiredness but said none out loud.
"Seepy?" The boy said in a tone asking why.
His father shrugged. "Well... sometimes if you have a lot going on in your head it can make you tired."
Arthur didn't really understand what he was saying, soon getting distracted by Toby. "Oi, I'm not feeding you." The Doctor said to the dog. "You got fed this morning."
Toby barked, pawing at his legs. "Hush, you'll wake River."
He didn't listen, wanting food.
"Toby..." He warned, heading to the kitchen.
The dog finally stopped, eagerly trailing behind his master. The Doctor went right for the door to the yard, urging Toby out. The dog whimpered, barking again.
"Hush." He pointed to the door. "Out."
Toby slowly walked out the door, tail between his legs. The Doctor sighed looking at Arthur. "Do you want to go outside again?"
He shook his head, "Sessy Seet!" He cried, wanting to watch the show again.
"Arthur, Mummy's sleeping in the living room right now, so we can't wake her with TV." He reminded gently.
He pouted. The Doctor was not so immune to the look. "How about we see it the TARDIS will play it for you, yeah?"
"Noooooo." He whined.
"What's bad about the TARDIS?" The Doctor asked.
"No mumma."
"Well, you can have either or, little man. Either cuddle with Mummy or watch TV in the TARDIS."
"Mumma en Da!"
"Not both, lovie." He reminded. "Pick."
"Mmmmmm...toad-y!" He pointed to the dog who was moping at the back door. The Doctor looked over at the dog and stepped into the backyard, sitting next to Toby.
"Puppy!"
Toby sniffed at Arthur, momentarily distracted.
The Doctor smiled. "Very good, Arthur."
"Puppy!" He cheered again, reaching to hug the dog. Toby tried not to move as the little person clung to him, rapidly moving about his tail. "Pay Puppy!" Arthur commanded, wanting to play with the dog.
The Doctor dug around in his pocket until he found a tennis ball and offered it to the boy. "Throw this and he'll play fetch."
Arthur took the ball, throwing it right at the dog's face, not realizing he was supposed to throw it away from him. Toby jumped and make a yowling whimper, moving away from Arthur.
"Puppy?" Arthur frowned, looking up at the Doctor.
The Doctor picked up the tennis ball again and tutted softly at his son. "Fetch is throwing the ball as far as you can, then the dog going to get the ball. Look." He threw the tennis ball to the other side of the yard.
Toby hesitated, trying to decide if it was safe to get the ball. After a moment, he ran after it, picking up the ball and bringing it back. "See?" The Doctor grinned at Arthur. "Try that."
"Fow!" Arthur threw the ball as hard as he could. It didn't go very far, but Toby still chased it. He trotted back and delivered a slobbered covered ball to Arthur.
Arthur stared at the slimy ball, deciding that if the dog liked to carry it in his mouth, maybe he would too. He took the ball, immediately trying to stick it in his mouth.
"Oi." The Doctor stopped him. "This isn't for eating. No eating this." Arthur looked up at him, lip trembling. "The ball is for throwing." The Timelord reminded, Toby waiting restlessly to run again. "You'll get sick if you have it in your mouth."
Arthur started to cry anyway. It was around the time he usually went down for a nap and he was growing cranky.
The Doctor put the ball down and started rubbing his back. "Oh, Arthur, It's alright. What's wrong, lovie?" Arthur sniffed sticking his fist in his mouth in response.
He stood with the boy in his arms, going back inside and allowing Toby back in too. "How about a nap with Mummy, hmm?"
"Mummah..." He nodded.
"Alright." He said softly, still rubbing his back. He went to the living room and placed Arthur down in the little nook between River and the back of the couch.
"Mummmah?" Arthur reached up to tug one of her curls.
"She's asleep, Arthur." The Doctor sat on the edge of the couch, looking at the two.
River started to stir, eyes opening slightly at the noise. "Mummah!" Arthur said more delightedly.
"Hello, sweetie." River murmured, eyes opening a bit more. He pulled on her curls again, his expression gleeful. She winced, "No, no, Arthur. Don't do that."
He pouted, possessively refusing to let go. She tried to pry the hair out of his hands, frowning.
"Noo!" He cried.
"Can you please help me?" River looked at the Doctor, wincing as her hair was pulled more.
"Arthur," The Doctor leaned over and gently stroked the backs of his little fists. "You've got to let go of Mummy's hair." Arthur started to cry again, clinging to his mum. "You don't have to leave her, honey..." He sighed. "I think he just needs a nap."
She nodded, "I'll take him upstairs." She slowly sat up with the baby in her arms.
"I'm going to pick up the girls soon, are you still going to stay here?" He asked.
She sighed, "I suppose I can come, but Arthur has to come too then."
He hesitated. "I don't think he can handle much more, poor thing."
"Well, we can't leave him home alone." She murmured.
He shook his head. "Um, you don't have to- will you stay with him?"
"Of course." She nodded, rocking the baby slowly, "Are you going to...talk to the other parents?"
"Only if you want me to." He replied.
"Well, I don't have to know, but...I'm curious."
"Alright." He nodded. "I'll see what I can figure out."
"Thank you." She carried Arthur upstairs. The boy was still whimpering, not wanting to go in his cot since it meant letting go of River.
"Shhh, Shhh." She soothed, going to sit in the rocking chair instead of putting him in his cot. He calmed down slightly when he realized she wasn't going to put him down, snuggling and sniffling against her. River rocked back and forth with him until he fell asleep, humming soothingly.
