River brought Freya to Arthur's room, opening the door quietly. The baby was still sleeping, snoring softly. His whale was stuck between the bars of the crib.
River smiled softly, not daring to move the whale in case it woke him.
"He's lucky he doesn't have to worry about school at all." Freya murmured.
"When you were his age, neither did you." River hugged her daughter, wishing she could make her feel better.
"Where is my sister going to go to school?"
"Well, we don't know yet, my love." River murmured, "Daddy and I still have to pick a school."
"I hope it's close." She whispered.
"It will be, I promise."
Freya relaxed a bit as Arthur started to stir. River leaned over the crib, running her fingers along Arthur's hand, "Morning, my sweet."
He yawned and blinked up at her. "Muh!" She laughed, scooping him up and kissing his cheeks. He whined a bit. "Lulu."
"You want Lulu?" She asked, handing him the whale. He grabbed it and hugged it, cheering up again. He giggled and saw his sister. "Yaya!"
"Arthur!" Freya smiled, tickling his feet. He laughed harder, squirming away from her hands. Freya laughed, kissing his knee.
"Papa." He wiggled.
"Okay, let's go see Papa." River smiled.
The Doctor was downstairs helping Amelia pack her bag. River walked down with Arthur and Freya, bouncing the baby in her arms. Amelia grinned when she saw River, hurrying over and hugging her legs.
"Good morning, Amelia." River smiled, wrapping her free arm around her daughter.
"Freya, why aren't you ready? Amelia asked.
"I'm gonna stay home today. Mummy said I could."
"Why is Freya staying home?" She looked up at River.
"Well, after what happened yesterday, she wanted to stay home another day just to get better."
"Oh. Can I still go?"
"Of course you can." River nodded, smiling at her, "Are you just about ready?"
Amelia nodded and turned to her sister. "I'll say hi to Matty for you." Freya nodded, waving goodbye to her sister. The Doctor, Amelia, and Toby were quickly out the door.
"Now, I think we should go get dressed." River murmured.
"Can I play with Arthur?"
"How about you get dressed first."
"Alright." She agreed, hurrying upstairs.
River went up as well to get herself dressed, then Arthur dressed for the day. Arthur insisted on having his whale the whole time, very talkative today.
River talked with him, happy that he was so perky today. He mostly just babbled about his sisters, the dog, and his whale, not making too much sense aside from the names. River hummed softly as she got them ready, going to meet Freya once she was done.
Freya was already dressed in some overalls and a t-shirt, rummaging through her toy box. River set Arthur down on the floor, "What do you want to do, my love?"
"I wanna find a toy for my little sister." She said as Arthur started crawling around.
"Would you like me to take you to the toy store so you can pick one out?"
She nodded. "Should we wait for Daddy?"
"Yes, we can go when he gets back."
Freya stopped rummaging when Arthur had made it over to her, poking her with his whale. "Pay!" Arthur cheered.
She smiled and took a stuffed stingray she had, moving it in wavy motions. Arthur did the same with the whale, giggling at the motion. "This is Ray," Freya said. "Ray and Lulu can be best friends."
"Ay! Lulu!" Arthur beamed. Freya and Arthur played with their stuffed animals until the Doctor came home, announcing his arrival from downstairs.
"Freya, my love, I'll be right back." River headed down the stairs to meet her husband.
The Doctor was letting Toby out of his leash when she came down, a peony in his hand. River was about to say something when her eyes caught sight of the flower, and her voice stopped short. He looked up at her and smiled softly, following her line of sight.
"Amelia pointed them out to me. They were growing outside the school."
"It's lovely." She smiled back at him.
He offered her the flower. "Where are the kids?"
"They're upstairs playing." She murmured as she took the flower, smelling it, "I told Freya we could go to the toy store to pick out a toy for Terra."
"That's a lovely idea, but I don't doubt Freya and Arthur will want a toy, too."
"I'm sure they will."
"So, shall we go do that now or later?"
"We can go now." River murmured. "They're all dressed and ready." She smiled.
He chuckled. "Always one step ahead of me, wife." She leaned in for a kiss, laughing as well.
Toby hurried upstairs as the pair shared a kiss. River hummed against his lips, "I was thinking, maybe we could go to dinner in a few days, just us."
"Maybe on Saturday before our outing?" He suggested.
She nodded, "It can be my birthday present from you." She grinned.
"You mean my second birthday present for you." He corrected.
"There's a first?" She smiled.
"What kind of husband do you take me for?" He bopped her nose.
She scrunched her nose, laughing. He laughed, too, as Toby barked from the top of the stairs.
"Alright, we're coming." River gave her husband one last peck, then headed up the stairs.
The family was out of the house pretty quickly, Arthur in his stroller chewing on Lulu's tail. River held the Doctor's hand as they walked, happy to be out with most of her family.
Their day was spent simply. The kids wanted to stay in the toy store for a good hour before Freya insisted they go to the park. She'd picked out a rattle-like thing for Terra with lots of little nobs to nibble on, as babies liked to do.
River let the kids get ice cream, getting a small bit for herself but mostly helping Arthur eat his. The boy made a mess with the treat, getting it all over his face and shirt. Luckily, River came prepared with napkins and wipes for her son's hands and face.
"I think we ought to give him a bath when we get home." The Doctor said.
"This one loves to get dirty." River kissed Arthur's cheeks once they were ice cream free. The boy giggled.
"And we ought to give Lulu a wash." The Doctor added.
"Yes, Arthur, I'm afraid Lulu will need to take a bath too."
The boy looked up at her, puzzled. He then hugged the whale closer, afraid she might take his new friend away.
"I think it's time to go home."
"I'm not done yet," Freya spoke up. "Can I bring my cup?"
"Of course." River nodded. With that they went home, Arthur growing sleepy.
River tried to make Arthur's ride home as smooth as possible so he could take a nap. He was barely keeping his eyes open by the time they got home and got his bath ready.
River held him up as he practically fell asleep in the bath. Terra nudged against River's ribs. River tried to ignore her daughter, concentrating on giving Arthur a bath.
The Doctor popped in after getting Freya settled. "Need help?"
"Yes, a bit." She nodded, "Can you hold him up?"
He nodded and went to hold up the boy who was just about fully asleep by now, the warm water lulling him.
River gently rubbed shampoo in his hair, being careful not to disturb him, "My poor baby's so tired."
"Tuckered himself out." The Doctor smiled. "Adorable, though."
River smiled, "I can't believe he's already one."
"It feels like more time than that. I wonder what the terrible two's has in store for us."
"Oh, I can only imagine."
He chuckled, pressing a kiss to the boy's forehead. River finished washing his hair, humming softly. Terra nudged again, even softer. River held her breath, ignoring the movement once more.
"We ought to pick up Amelia soon." The Doctor murmured.
She nodded, "Yes, do you want me to go?"
"If you're comfortable with it." He seemed indifferent. "Though one of us should stay and put Arthur down for his nap."
"I can stay." She offered quickly, "He may have trouble falling back to sleep if he wakes up."
The Doctor nodded and rose, moving to kiss the top of his wife's head. "I'll be back soon, then."
"I'll see you in a bit."
Freya peered in a few minutes after her father left, going to sit with River. River was taking Arthur out of the bath when she walked in.
"Where did Daddy go?"
"He went to go get your sister from school."
"Can I help put my brother to bed?"
"If you'd like." River nodded, smiling softly.
"I wanna sing to him." She informed her mum.
"Well, he's already asleep, sweetie." Freya looked up at Arthur who had slumped against River. "You can sing to him when he wakes up if you'd like."
Freya nodded, liking the compromise. "Okay."
River smiled, "I'm going to go get him dressed and put him in his crib. You can help with that if you'd like."
The girl nodded again, determined to be helpful.
River lead her into the nursery, "Can you get Arthur's green pajamas in the dresser for me?" Freya hurried over and picked them out. "Thank you, my love." She smiled.
Arthur stirred slightly as he was changed, though effortlessly fell right back asleep. Once he was warm and in his pajamas, River set him down in his cradle. He curled up happily, Freya peering through the bars.
"When my sister's born, how am I gonna sing her songs?"
River sighed, "I don't know, my sweet. That's a good question."
"Do deaf people have songs?"
"Let's go have a snack." River ignored the question, shooing her daughter out of the room.
Freya didn't bother pushing for an answer, moving right into her curiosity. "Have you ever met someone who couldn't hear before?"
"Yes, I have." River nodded.
"Who?" She asked. "Can you tell me about them?"
"I don't really remember." She shook her head.
"Oh." They got to the kitchen and Freya sat at the table, Toby joining. River got snacks for the two of them, setting them down on the table.
Freya ate happily. "Daddy said we could go to the flower place tomorrow."
"Oh, yes, I forgot." She was a bit distracted, watching Freya eat.
"Ms. L was telling us about flower pressing. Can we do that?"
"If you want we can try it." River nodded.
"I hope they have those flowers Daddy liked to give you. We can press those."
"We'll see, my love. If not, there will be plenty of others to choose from."
Terra nudged River's back again. River sighed, putting a hand on the spot.
"When is my sister going to get here?" Freya asked as Terra shifted against River's hand and settled.
"I don't know exactly, but sometime very soon."
"How soon?" She perked up.
"Well, it could be any day now."
"Oh boy! We gotta finish her room!"
"Yes, we do!" River laughed at her daughter's excitement.
Terra's nursery in the flat was painted and had the essential pieces of furniture, but it was still lacking in things that made it feel welcoming like a rug or toys. The TARDIS nursery, however, was finished.
The front door burst open, Amelia running through, "Freya! Freya we saw a real life police dog in school today!"
"Aw! No fair!" Freya pouted. "Why couldn't they wait until tomorrow?"
Amelia shrugged, handing her sister a picture of her with a dog draped in a police harness.
"I bet Toby could be a police dog." Freya looked over at him.
Toby barked, running to sniff Amelia, and then running to the door to see the Doctor. The Doctor arrived in the kitchen with the dog jumping all over him. "He's acting like I've been gone for eons."
"I promise, you weren't gone for eons." River smiled weakly, going over to give him a kiss.
He smiled, kissing her back as Amelia helped herself to the snacks. "I didn't miss anything, did I?"
"We have to finish our baby sister's room because she's coming now!" Freya exclaimed.
"Coming now?" He looked worriedly at River.
"No! No, not coming now." River assured, "I said coming soon, sweetie. Not now."
The Doctor relaxed. "Oh. You had me on my toes there." He looked back at Freya. "Though you do have a point about the nursery."
"We hafta finish it!" Freya repeated.
"Well, what do you think we ought to add, hmm?"
"It needs toys and blankets and books!"
"Would you like to put the toys we bought today in her room?" He asked.
Freya nodded, "Yeah, but it needs blankets and books too."
"We can give some of our books." Amelia piped up.
"But those are too hard for her to read. She needs baby books." Freya reminded.
"Perhaps we should see what's in the TARDIS library. We got a lot of your first books from there." The Doctor suggested.
The girls nodded, "And what about the blankets?" Freya asked.
"Let's see... Mummy made Arthur's and we bought yours... Maybe some shopping?"
They nodded, "We can get one for every color of the rainbow!"
He chuckled, "I don't think she'll need that many, but we can certainly get some colorful ones."
"Okay." They nodded.
"I think I'll stay here, Arthur's still sleeping." River murmured.
The Doctor nodded and gave her another kiss. "We'll bring Toby so you can have some quiet time. Maybe you can take a look in the library for books for Terra while we're out."
She nodded, "That sounds like a good idea." She kissed him once more, "Don't be gone too long."
The girls hugged her legs before following their father out.
"Don't spend too much," River added as they left.
"We won't." The Doctor called back.
Tiber promptly wandered in and rubbed up against River legs. River picked him up and brought him to the TARDIS library. He sat with her, happy to be in the quiet place and have his ears rubbed.
River picked a large stack of books and brought them back to the unfinished nursery. She placed each one carefully on the shelves.
Arthur started whining from the other room. River walked into his nursery, "It's alright, sweetheart."
"Muh." He reached for her.
"Hello, my love." She smiled as she lifted him up. The two other cats who'd been in his crib jumped out.
Arthur cheered up quickly. "Muh!"
She kissed his cheeks, "Arthur! Would you like to help me put books away?"
"Ooks!" He clapped. She smiled, bringing him back to the other room where there were still books on the floor. He wiggled excitedly, only having been in here once or twice.
River began setting the books on the shelves. Arthur grabbed one and tried to mimic River, putting the book backward and sideways. She fixed the book, "Good boy."
He reached for another, pulling into his lap and opening it. River put the rest away as he flipped through the pages. The book was about farm animals, and Arthur was delighted by the pictures.
He stopped and pointed to an image of a cow. "Moo!"
"Yes, very good!"
Arthur pushed the book towards her, wanting River to read it. She pulled him close, reading the book to him.
He delighted himself in mimicking as many animal noises as he could and tracing sloppy pictures of them on River's bump.
River was growing sleepy as she read, yawning and resting her head on the book shelf. Terra moved beneath her skin, Arthur giggling and following all his sister's movements.
River's eyes fluttered closed, breathing evening out as she began to fall asleep.
