There was a light tapping on River's face from hand's much bigger than Arthur's. Her eyes fluttered open.
"What are you doing asleep, my love?" The man in the bow tie asked. He had lifted Arthur onto his hip.
River blinked frowning slightly, surely she had only had her eyes closed for a moment, how had she not heard him or the girls come back? "Sorry, was I sleeping?"
He nodded. "You've even got marks on your face. Do you want to go lie down in bed?"
"No, no I'm alright." She shook her head, starting to stand, "I didn't mean to fall asleep, I'm alright now. How was shopping?"
"It was lovely." He nodded over to a couple of blankets they'd gotten and put in the cot.
"Good, and where are the girls?"
"Playing 'police dog' with Toby in the back yard."
"Ah, I see." She nodded, "I put the books away." She gestured to the shelf.
"Except one." He murmured, picking up the still open farm animal book on the floor and shelving it.
"Except one." She repeated, watching as the book slid into place on the shelf.
"How was your down time? Besides the nap." He asked as Arthur squirmed and reached for River.
She shrugged, "I spent most of my time picking out the books and bringing them here."
"Good choices." He murmured, looking over the shelves.
She smiled weakly, "I'm glad you think so."
Arthur reached for her again and this time, the Doctor handed him over. "Why don't I go start dinner?"
"Alright, I can help with that." She bounced the baby in her arms.
The boy giggled. "Bees!"
"What's that my sweet?"
"I believe he means peas." The Doctor informed.
"Oh, peas. We can have peas if you want."
"Bees," Arthur repeated.
"And how about for the rest of us? What are you in in the mood for?" The Doctor hummed.
River shrugged, "Nothing in particular."
"Alright, let's see what we have then."
River walked downstairs with the baby, putting him down to play with his blocks. Soon enough the adults found some chicken breast to bake and put dinner together.
River called the girls in and brought Arthur to the table, getting them all started. Amelia told them all about the police dog while they ate and both girls expressed their excitement for tomorrow's adventure.
"Are you sure you girls want to go tomorrow?" River asked.
Both of them nodded. "Yeah! Then we can tell Matty all about it!"
"Girls, you know you can't do that." River shook her head, "We've already talked about this."
"But what if we leave out the planet-y part and just say we went to a place on Earth?"
She sighed, "I still don't think it's a very good idea."
"But I wanna bring her a flower back and where am I gonna say where I got it from?" Freya pushed.
"We've talked about this. You can't bring anything back. I'm sorry, I know you want to but you can't"
"But why?" She demanded. "Flowers won't hurt her!"
"Because I said no." River frowned.
"Freya, lovie," The Doctor started, a bit more gently, "You can't bring back alien flowers to Earth because humans aren't used to them and it's very likely to make them sick. That's why Mummy keeps all her artifacts on the TARDIS."
"But we can clean it!" She suggested.
"Even then, I'm sorry, but it's just too risky. You wouldn't want to make your friend sick, would you? And you can always give her a flower from our garden, or draw her what you saw." He tried to console.
"We never get to share anything we see it's not fair!" She kicked her feet.
He sighed and looked at River. River was frowning, not looking like she had a compromise in mind.
"Maybe we can let them bring back a picture?" He suggested to River, hoping for her approval.
"Doctor." River's tone was still stern, indicating no.
He nodded his understanding. Some of the flowers on Veatir were as big as the girls were, and they weren't allowed to explain that part. "I really am sorry girls, but you just can't. I'm sure we'll all have a really nice time anyways..."
Freya huffed, crossing her arms.
"At least finish your dinner, dearie?" She sighed, eating the rest of her meal.
The rest of the meal was pretty quiet other than the occasional begs for scraps from Toby. The girls went upstairs to get ready for bed after dinner, Freya stomping up the steps.
"We ought to look into that program soon." The Doctor murmured, clearing up the dishes.
"There's a lot of things we ought to be doing soon that aren't getting done," River muttered.
"Huh?" He wasn't sure what she meant by that.
She shook her head, going to wash the dishes. He decided not to push it, for now, trying to figure out what she meant while he did the drying.
She went to put Arthur to bed when they'd cleaned the dishes, "Can you put the girls to bed?"
"Yeah, sure." He nodded, going to his daughter's room.
The girls didn't give the Doctor too much trouble, wanting their usual story before bed. He made up a sweet one about kids from different planet becoming friends before tucking them in.
"Goodnight," Amelia whispered as the light was turning out.
He glanced back at them, before heading off to his and River's room. River came into the room once Arthur went down, sighing.
"Alright there, love?"
"Yes, I'm fine." She breathed.
"You sound stressed." He observed. "Anything I can do?"
"Not really." She sighed again, sitting on the edge of the bed. He scooted over, hands ghosting over her back and resting on her shoulders. She squirmed away from his touch, "Doctor, please, don't."
"Sorry." He took his hands away. She buried her head in her hands, whole body tense. "Um... How about you take a hot shower. Maybe that'll help."
"A hot shower isn't going fix anything."
"I was just hoping it would help relax you a little." He sighed.
"I don't see how I will ever be able to relax again now that we're about to have four children."
He was a bit taken back, having thought this was about the topic at dinner. "Um, well... I'm sure it will be a challenge..."
"Not helping." She muttered.
"I'm sure we can figure it out, dear. There's two of us two pairs of little helping hands sleeping in the other room." He tried again. "We've got lots of people who will be happy to help us get into the rhythm of things, even if it does take some practice."
She shook her head, staring at the floor now, "This isn't at all what I want and I just can't do it."
He wanted to reach out to her again but remembered she didn't really want to be touched. He felt a bit useless. "I'm sorry, River. I don't know if it's any consolation, but I'll be here no matter what and whatever I can do to help, I will."
"I'm going to go to bed." She went to change into her nightgown.
"Alright." He whispered.
She crawled into bed once dressed, turning out the light on her side of the bed. He turned his light out too. "Goodnight, love."
"Goodnight." She whispered back.
-x-
Thursday passed by without much said by anyone, though the Doctor tried his best to make any sort of conversation. It mostly consisted of him spouting random facts and anecdotes, which he wasn't bad at, but wasn't really helping anything.
The girls decided that they didn't want to go to Veatir yet, making it clear that extraterrestrial adventures weren't going to be enjoyable anytime soon. It turned out to be a night in, though the Doctor helped cheer his daughters up a little with some football in the backyard.
On Friday, they were starting to get back to their normal selves and insisted on a sleepover at Matty's house (which they said Matty's mum had already agreed to).
River agreed to the sleepover, feeling a bit guilty about the trip to Veatir. The sleepover would mean that the girls would be gone for a part of her birthday, though the day didn't really matter to her anyway, so she let them go.
"I have a thought." The Doctor said that afternoon. The two were sitting on the living room couch with the majority of their pets, watching an old rom-com .
"Hmm?" River hummed, stroking Toby's head, attention still mostly focused on the movie.
"You know how I was going to take you to dinner then Dundenbar? What if we do dinner tonight instead of tomorrow, and stay somewhere nice tonight, then do Dundenbar in the morning? I've got a very nice reservation for us."
She looked over at him, "Tonight and tomorrow? What will we do with Arthur?"
"Have Vastra babysit like we planned. The little man ardors her." He answered. The boy was currently upstairs, taking a nap. "We don't have to have him experience the full amount of time. We can drop him off and pick him up at the times we agreed. Time machine, remember?"
She thought it over, "Yes, I suppose that we could do it."
"The TARDIS will take care of Toby and the cats." He added.
A small smile crossed her lips, "It sounds like you thought this all through."
He nodded excitedly. "Had it planned for a while. Though I suppose it does involve you agreeing to move dinner to tonight."
"And you do realize that today is my due date." She raised an eyebrow.
"Yes..." He said slowly. "I also know that you've been complaining about her head being jammed in your ribs all day, so I'm guessing she's opposed to having a birthday today. And I do promise all the excitement will be tomorrow. This evening will be enjoyable, relaxing, and romantic if I do say so myself. If she does decide to come, well... I'll park the TARDIS close."
"Alright, alright I was just making sure you were aware. I never thought I'd hear an offer of an exciting adventure from Mister Protective on my due date, that's all." She teased.
"Mister Protective isn't taking the evening off, mind you. He'll just be quiet is all, and a tad less annoying. Though he is wondering if you've felt anything that might be worrisome and cause to stay in."
"No, I haven't felt anything even the slightest bit alarming." She smiled, "Don't you worry your pretty little head."
"So, a yes?"
"Yes." She nodded.
He grinned. "Shall we finish the movie?"
She shook her head, "What's the point in watching a romance when I can go live one?"
"You have a point there." He chuckled.
"I'll go back a bag for Arthur."
"And I'll go pack a bag for us."
She gave him a kiss. They headed upstairs to get ready.
River insisted on triple checking Arthur's bag to make sure everything he could possibly need was in it before they left.
Arthur, who was awake now, kept trying to take the toys out of the bag every time River rummaged through.
"River, dear, I'm telling you it's fine. Packed it myself, everything's in there. Relax, love." The Doctor soothed.
River sighed, finally closing the bag, "You're right, I'm sure it's fine." She breathed.
Arthur had managed to pull his whale out of the bag and hugged it close.
"It'll only be a few hours for him." The Doctor reminded as they headed into the TARDIS.
"Yes, yes I know." She still fussed over the boy on the short ride to Vastra's.
Arthur was giggling and babbling about Lulu when they landed. Vastra strolled in, a wrapped gift under her arm.
River was bouncing the boy in her arms when the woman entered. "I feel as though I haven't seen you in ages."
Vastra smiled and moved to hug the woman. "Nonsense. It's been only a fortnight."
River hugged her tightly, "Well, I'm glad to see you."
"And I, you. Happy birthday, River."
"Thank you." She smiled, though her birthday wasn't technically until tomorrow, "And thank you for agreeing to watch Arthur."
"It's my pleasure." Vastra tickled the tot's chin, eliciting a loud squeal from him. "And I brought you this." She handed over the gift.
"Oh, you didn't have to do that." River shook her head, taking the gift.
"It's your birthday, River. Did you really think I'd pass up the opportunity?"
"Well, no." She smiled, "Shall I open it now?"
"Or whatever other time you deem fit."
Arthur reached for the shiny wrapping paper. "I think Arthur would like to help me." She smiled, letting the baby pull on the wrapping till it tore.
Arthur quickly put the bit of wrapping in his mouth, excited by the new thing.
River pulled back the rest of the paper to see what her friend had gotten her. It was a thin, wooden tablet with an ancient language scrawled neatly on it in ten centered lines. The bordering was beautifully carved flowers and plants. "Oh, Vastra it's beautiful." She smiled as Arthur spat out the wrapping paper and tried to reach for the gift.
"It's a poem in the language of my people. I can't take credit for writing it, but I did carve it myself."
"Thank you so much." She went to hug her friend, holding the gift out of Arthur's reach.
"Nuh." The boy squirmed as the two friends managed a hug around him and River's large belly.
River's attention was pulled back to Arthur, "We packed everything he could possibly need, diapers, pajamas, a change of clothes, a sweater, books, toys, blankets, snacks and a bottle. He's already taken his mid-day nap, but if he gets fussy you could try to put him down again."
"I'm sure we'll be just fine." Vastra he held her arms out for the boy. River passed Arthur over, as well as his bag.
"We'll be back before you know it. I love you, Arthur." River gave him a kiss on the cheek, "And thank you again for watching him Vastra."
She nodded and smiled. "Say goodbye to your Mummy."
"Bye-bye!" Arthur waved to both of his parents.
"See you soon, little man." The Doctor waved them off as Vastra exited the ship with their son.
