River woke up in the middle of the night, shaking and screaming, another night terror disrupting her sleep.
The Doctor sat up, not having fallen asleep yet. "River? River!" Her eyes flew open as she tried to catch her breath. He squeezed her hand, tone softening. "Are you alright?"
"Yes...I'm fine." She whispered.
"You were screaming."
"I had a nightmare." She whispered.
"I could tell." He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand as Arthur started crying from the other room. River sighed, taking another moment before getting up to get Arthur.
"Mummaaah!" Arthur cried out for her.
"I'm coming!" She called as she walked into his room. He looked quite distressed, calming only slightly when she turned on the lights. "What's wrong, my sweet?" She asked, going to lift him.
He clung to her, about as distressed as she'd been. "Mummuh!"
"Did you have a nightmare?" She asked softly, rocking him and kissing his forehead to calm him. He gave an affirming whimper, tears dampening her shirt. "Okay, okay. You're alright now. Mummy's got you." She sat down in the rocking chair, humming soothingly.
He sniffled, starting to calm. "Mummuh." She hushed him, rocking him back and forth. He sniffled at looked up at her. "Papa?"
"He's in my room."
"Mummah, Papa." He insisted.
"Alright, we'll go see him."
"No need to get up." Came a voice from the doorway. River's eyes flicked up at the sound of the words. "Hey." The Doctor walked in. "Sorry, I just wanted to see if you needed help or anything."
"No, we're fine." She murmured.
"Papa!" Arthur wiggled.
"Go see him." River set Arthur on the floor so he could crawl over to the Doctor.
Arthur crawled to the Doctor, hugging his leg. The man picked him up. "Hello there."
Arthur flapped his arms, wiggling when he got picked up.
"Did Mummy make you feel better?"
"Mumma." He hummed, looking at River.
"Yes, she has that effect." He smiled softly. "Did you have a bad dream, lovie?" Arthur's eyes grew big and watery at the reminder of his nightmare. "Oh no, don't worry, Arthur. It was only a dream and nothing more. It's alright."
Despite his words of comfort, Arthur started to whimper.
"Sh, sh. It's alright." The Doctor held him close and rocked him a bit. Arthur calmed a bit after snuggling in his father's arms.
"Riv, I can put him back to bed if you want to go sleep." He murmured.
She nodded, getting up and starting to head back to bed, "Thank you."
He offered a warm smile. "No problem. I'll be back there soon." She smiled weakly, going back to bed.
The Doctor felt some of the tension that had been keeping him up leave him as he rocked his son, trying to get him to fall asleep.
"Pay." Arthur wiggled, not wanting to sleep.
"It's the middle of the night sweetheart. Maybe not..."
Arthur started to babble, but eventually grew sleepy again. "That's it lovie." The Doctor eased Arthur back into his crib. The boy snuggled up with his whale, relaxing back into sleep. His father made to leave when Arthur started snoring, turning out the light.
River was having trouble finding a comfortable position to fall back asleep in, tossing and turning in their bed. "You alright?" He asked when he came in, seeing all the shifting.
"I can't get comfortable." She murmured.
"Backache?" He tried to guess, going and sitting on the bed.
She nodded, "Yes."
"Would you like a back massage? That helped when you were this far along with the girls."
She nodded again, "I suppose it couldn't hurt to try that."
He scooted over to her on the bed and started rubbing her back. She was tense, but the back rub helped calm her. He hummed very quietly as he applied pressure. He'd done this enough to know how to move his hands in a way that helped. The tension melted as he massaged her back, and she began to fall asleep.
He continued until he was sure she was in a peaceful sleep. He went and turned the lights out, feeling brave enough to curl up with her. "Goodnight, love."
Tiber padded into the room and onto the bed for a peaceful night's rest with the Doctor and River.
In the morning, the Doctor found that in fact all of their cats were curled up among River and him. River was still fast asleep when the Doctor woke, as were the girls and Arthur.
He debated getting up and cooking breakfast but concluded not to so he wouldn't disturb the others on the bed.
The cats began to wake, stretching and jumping off the bed. The alarm went off about ten minutes later, the cats chorusing in their want for food.
River groaned, slowly waking up.
"Morning, love." He murmured.
She blinked, eyes shifting to look at him, "Morning."
He smiled. "Do you want breakfast?"
She blinked, thinking for a moment, "No, not really."
"Oh." He nodded. "We have a few minutes before we have to get the girls up. I can bring them to school if you want."
"That would be nice, thank you." She nuzzled her head against the pillows, relaxed at her newly quiet mind.
"Dundenbar." He said. "I think we should do it this weekend."
"Really? You think so?" She asked, opening her eyes.
He nodded. "You said you wanted to go before Terra came, and with that date so close, there probably won't be a better time."
"Is this because of what happened last night?" She asked.
"No." He assured. "Just timing is all."
"Oh..." She sighed softly, the memories of the night before stinging her mind.
"I'm sorry. About last night I mean." He murmured.
"I don't want to talk about it," River whispered.
He gave a small nod and Tiber jumped back on the bed, meowing at the pair.
"Shhhh." River hushed him, wanting to go back to sleep.
"He's hungry. I'll feed him." The Doctor offered. "You sleep."
River didn't protest, feeling very sluggish and sleepy. The Doctor went downstairs to feed the pets as Terra nudged softly at River's side.
River put her hand to her side, running her hand against the skin beneath her shirt. Terra's nudges migrated to follow that patterns of her hand. River let her hand fall still, palm pressing against her belly. Terra pushed against it a few more times before shifting to have her back settled against her hand.
Once her daughter had stilled, River closed her eyes, ready to slip back into sleep.
The smell of food cooking came from downstairs and eventually little footsteps could be heard going down them. River fell asleep as the girls ran downstairs, going to see what the Doctor had made for breakfast.
He was setting eggs and sausages on the table, looking over at his daughters. "Look who's awake."
"Morning!" Amelia chirped, popping into her chair.
"You two look like you're feeling a lot better. How's your head, Freya?"
"Better." The girl shrugged, though it still ached.
"Did you put ice on it?" He asked, already going to get her some.
She shook her head. "Do we hafta go back to school today?"
"I'm afraid so, but don't worry. I fixed all that nonsense with the nurse so it's alright now." He gave her the ice. "Keep that on your head."
"Can I stay home today?" She asked quietly.
"Well... why don't we ask Mummy about that once you've finished your food."
Freya nodded, sitting down to eat her breakfast. He ate with his daughters, trying to engage them in conversation. Amelia was much more talkative than Freya who was quiet for most of the meal.
When the Doctor cleared the plates away, Freya hurried upstairs to convince her mum she should stay home.
River was just starting to wake again when her daughter came in. Freya went over to River's side of the bed, peering up at her. "Mumma?"
River yawned, looking sleepily over at her daughter, "Good morning, sweetheart."
"Mummy, do I hafta go to school today?" She got right to her question.
River frowned slightly, "Are you not feeling well?" She reached out to put a hand on Freya's forehead. Her forehead was fine and she looked at the floor.
"No, I um, I don't... I don't want to go today."
River sighed, taking a minute to think about it, "Alright, just this once you can stay home, but I don't this to become a regular request."
The girl brightened. "It's almost summer, anyways. Then I won't hafta go to school then."
She nodded, "Yes, I know, but still."
Freya nodded her understanding, trying to climb up on the bed. River helped her up, wrapping the blankets around her. She cuddled up to River. "Do you and Daddy fit in with the other grown ups?"
River shook her head, "No, not really."
"Then why don't you wanna go make friends with people like us, too?"
"Well, we do have friends. We have Uncle Jack and Auntie Vastra and Jenny and Clara."
"Auntie Vastra and Jenny don't even live in this century." She sighed. "And they're different. I mean... well what do you and Daddy do while we're at school?"
"Well… we spend time with each other and Arthur. We take him to the park and we play with Toby."
"Don't you go and see your friends. Like from work or the places you've been."
"Sometimes, but we have to stay close in case you need us."
"When can we start the club thing that Daddy was talking about so we can have friends who aren't human?"
"Maybe this weekend, but I can't promise anything."
"Oh. Okay."
"Why don't you get some rest, I'm going to go check on your brother?" River murmured, starting to get out of bed.
"I'm not tired. Can I come?" Freya asked.
"Of course." She nodded, holding her hand out for the girl to take. Freya hopped off the bed and took her mother's hand.
