Ch 62

"Just the two of us now." River murmured once they were alone.

"That is the idea of a date. Do you want to change into something fancy? It's a very nice restaurant."

"I would love to." She smiled, "Would you like to help?"

He nodded eagerly. She smiled, pulling him to their bedroom. They peered into the closet.

"What about that one?" River asked, pulling out a purple and gold dress.

"Ooh, snazzy. But I don't know if I have a bow tie for it." The Doctor pondered, going over to his collection to check.

"And I don't know if I can fit in it." She murmured, trying to pull the dress on. He went to help her with the zipper, but it became clear this dress was meant for an earlier stage of maternity.

"Alright, not this one then." She muttered, searching for another one.

He pulled out a light blue one that got darker as it went down. "This one?"

"Maybe, but it doesn't look much bigger than this one." She took it to try. It was a bit looser, but still not a good fit.

They kept searching.

Six dresses later and River was growing frustrated, "How does an infinite time machine not have a dress big enough for me to fit into."

"I'm sure it does." The Doctor called from the depths of the closet.

"How about this?" He emerged with a dress of loose material. It was a navy blue, fabric draping in strategic layers from the high waistline.

"I suppose it doesn't hurt to try." She sighed, taking the dress and putting it on. This one slipped easily over her head, fitting nicely around her.

"There we are."

"Finally." She breathed

He smiled softly. "You look amazing."

She shook her head, "Oh, please. I look huge."

"Yes, being pregnant does have that effect. That doesn't mean you look any less amazing. You're glowing, love." He insisted, his hand ghosting down her arm to take her own and give it a soft squeeze.

She smiled weakly, "Well, at least one of us thinks so."

He put on some sort of mock expression of rightness. "I know for a fact that there is a universe out there with trillions of lifeforms who would agree with me."

She laughed, "Well I think it's about time we go."

"I'll meet you in the console room." He nodded, needing to get changed as well.

"What? You don't want me to stay?"

"Well I didn't wrap your surprise, and if you stayed you'd see it and it wouldn't be a surprise anymore."

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Alright, then. I'll meet you in the console room."

The Doctor changed quickly into his suit and matching bow tie, joining River ten minutes later with the surprise behind his back. River was sitting on the pilot chair, smiling when she saw him.

"Alright, River, I lied. I actually have two surprises for you." He sauntered up to her.

"Two? Well, aren't I a lucky girl." She purred.

"First," He presented a hand which was holding a sparkling silver necklace with a flat, oblong pendant that had two diamonds encrusted in it.

"Oh, my..." She breathed, "It's beautiful, Doctor."

"I thought you might like it." He grinned, helping her put it on.

"I love it, thank you." She whispered.

"And the the next one..." He took her hands and carefully wrapped her fingers around a very familiar looking blue book, though the binding and cover were new and uncracked, as were the crisp blank pages in between.

Her brow furrowed, "Another diary?"

"You ran out of room in your last one, didn't you? I thought maybe with all that was going on, it would be nice to have this to write in again."

"My old one is just fine. The TARDIS has been adding pages for me, I thought you knew that." She looked down at the book, looking a bit uncomfortable at the sight, "...Is this because of the other book you found."

He had nearly forgotten about that, having tried to put that matter aside since that was what she'd asked. "No, not at all. I just didn't know about the adding pages thing..."

"Oh." She breathed, "Well it was very sweet of you to think of this."

He could tell it wasn't really what she wanted, but he smiled weakly. "Off to dinner then?"

"Yes, dinner sounds wonderful." She nodded.

He quickly tried to move back into his enthusiasm, piloting them to their dinner reservation, which happened to be on the top of the Eiffel Tower in 2154.

River watched him with a bit of worry and apprehension. He obviously wasn't pleased with her reaction to his gift, and she should have done a better job at reacting to it, but it had made her uneasy.

The ship landed. "Ready?"

"Yes, I am." She smiled and nodded. He lead her out into the warm evening, onto the balcony of the tower. "You picked a beautiful night." She commented.

The city glowed beneath them and the TARDIS got rid of the new dairy that had been left on the jump seat.

The Doctor lead them over to their table. He'd reserved the whole balcony, so aside from the waiters, they were the only ones there.

"I've never seen it so empty up here." River murmured, looking out at the view from their table.

"I booked a private event." He informed, looking at how the light graced her face.

"Well, you really have outdone yourself." She murmured, "It's absolutely beautiful."

He smiled more genuinely. "I'm glad you like it."

She took in the scene around them, sighing, "You've obviously worked so hard to plan this night and make it so perfect, and I feel I've not played the right part. I'm sorry."

"How can you think that? Is this about the present? Because, really, it's fine that you don't like it. I don't have to get it right all the time."

She bit her lip and shook her head, "Never mind."

He reached for her hand. "No, tell me."

"If you don't see it as a problem then I'd rather not make it one." She shook her head again.

He nodded seeing her point. "It's just that this is all for you and I don't want you to be feeling guilty or disappointed or anything."

"I promise you, I'm not at all disappointed." She smiled.

"Then let's just enjoy the evening."

She nodded, "Of course."

The dinner went fairly smoothly after that. Nothing blew up or tried to shoot at them and the waiters brought them a wonderful assortment of food.

River and the Doctor chatted about this and that, laughing with each other and gazing at the bright city. River had quite an enjoyable time with her husband, and their dinner lasted long into the night.

After a passionate kiss under the moon, they went to the hotel the Doctor had gotten a room at. It was known for its excellent spa, but both of them were tired enough that it could wait until the morning.

River, rather tired, sat down on the bed with a content sigh. The mattress was very plush, and the blankets soft. The Doctor started changing, shedding his fancy clothes. "There's a lovely spa we can check out in the morning."

She nodded, "I'm sure it's wonderful." He moved to sit beside her. "Would you mind taking my shoes off for me?" She asked, "I'm afraid heels weren't the best footwear choice."

He nodded and kneeled in front on her to help her with the shoes. Once he got them off, he started gently rubbing her ankles.

"You don't have to do that." She murmured, closing her eyes.

"I want to." He hummed. She gave in easily and practically melted into the bed, humming contently. He massaged her feet and ankles until there practically wasn't a single knot in them, then joined her on the bed.

"You have amazing hands." She smiled, kissing his chin.

He chuckled. "I'm pleased you think so." He kissed her nose, then her cheek, then her lips.

She melted into his arms, sighing happily. "You know, I could think of a number of uses for those hands."

"Could you now?"

River nodded, taking his hands and guiding them. The Doctor grinned when he realized what she was doing, easily participating.

-x-

"Doctor?" River murmured. They lay naked under the silky sheets of their bed, his shoulder pillowing her head.

He traced circles on her skin. "Hmm?"

"Why didn't Terra regenerate?"

He paused his movements and looked at her. "Why would she have cause to regenerate?"

"Because...if I...I hurt her enough to stop her hearing then wouldn't it make her regenerate?" She avoided his eyes.

He shook his head. "No. I still don't believe that it was caused by you, just something that she developed. And if what I think is true it would explain why she didn't."

"Do you really think that it wasn't my fault?"

"I really do." He nodded resuming his soothing motions. "The inner ear is behind the skull and there's no evidence of skull or brain damage. Nothing you did could've had this result."

"Have you checked? For brain damage, I mean? Because I never-" She was growing more upset, her eyes wet.

"Yes, River. I did that test, don't worry, she's fine." He assured.

She didn't feel much better, "You shouldn't have had to do that in the first place."

"It a secondary test after we found out about her hearing." He said, making his voice as soothing as he could. "It was a precautionary scan."

"But did you think you were going to find something?" She whispered.

"It was really only to see if the hearing loss was related to deformity with her ear or a synaptic malfunction, so anything I expected to find was related to that, not the rest of her brain."

River nodded, though she still looked a bit shaken, "I'm glad you had at least some faith in me."

"Always." He smiled weakly. "It'll be alright."

"I hope so." She tried to smile, though it did not look very genuine.

He slowly cupped her face, stroking his thumb over her skin. "Just rest now, hmm? It's been a wonderful night and there's so much more tomorrow." His voice was soft and lullaby-esque. "Our daughter his just fine, there's not need to worry."

She nodded, leaning into his touch, "Thank you for making tonight so wonderful." She murmured, trying to relax again.

He leaned forward and kissed her gently. "You're welcome, love."

She smiled when their lips touched, feeling better. They kissed for a very long moment before he pulled away from it with a soft smile. "Sleep?"

She nodded, "Sleep."

They curled up under the silky sheets, cuddling up to each other. It didn't take River long to fall into a contented sleep.

"I love you." He whispered, kissing her forehead and listened to her even breathing until he followed her into dreaming.

River slept peacefully through the night and late into the next morning. There was a plate of food on the night table on her side of the bed, something the Doctor had got for her. He'd long ago crawled back into bed, though, watching her sleep.

She started waking up, blinking up at him. He smiled, a bit of a silhouette from the light coming in the windows. "Morning."

"Morning." She smiled back at him.

"Happy real birthday." He kissed her nose.

"Thank you." She pulled him down for a real kiss. He made a surprised noise, though quickly and willingly surrendered to her lips.

She giggled against his lips, "Did I startle you?"

"A bit." He chuckled.

"I'm sorry, darling." She stroked his cheek.

He smiled. "It's fine, love."

"What do you have planned for us this morning?" She purred.

He grinned. "I booked us a spot at the spa and that'll include massages, hot tubs, and some very nice skin treatments. Then lunch wherever you want in the universe. And Dundenbar after that- unless you want a rest first, in which case we can do that in between. ...I suppose that covers more than just the morning."

"It sounds like you have a very enjoyable day planned for us." She smiled, nuzzling his cheek, "Though I hope our appointments aren't too early."

"They aren't." He assured.

"So we can stay in bed for a bit then." She murmured.

He nodded, giving her nose a kiss. "Yes, but I will point out that it's probably later than you think it is."

"Hmm?" She hummed, "What time is it?"

"Nearly eleven."

"Oh, really?" She frowned.

"Well, we did have a pretty late night." He reminded.

"Yes, I suppose we did."

He readjusted his arms around her. "We can have a late lunch."

"I'm not opposed to that." He smiled and cuddled up to her.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

"I know."

They spent another thirty minutes there, just quietly enjoying each other's company. They helped each other dress when they finally decided to get up, hands tenderly brushing over skin and doing up buttons.

The staff were waiting for them when they got down to the spa, ready to pamper them. River was enjoying their day a great deal, glowing with happiness. The pampering only made her mood better, relaxing her tense muscles. They were in the sauna when The Doctor suggested lunch.

"The morning went by so quickly." River murmured as they left and got changed for lunch.

"They say time flies if you're having a having a good time." He pointed out.

She hummed, "Well you planned a very nice day."

He grinned. "Where to for lunch? Birthday girl's choice."

"I know a place." She murmured. "It's a restaurant on Jupiter's third moon. It's excellent, I haven't been there for a while."

"No problem."

They checked out of the hotel and went to the TARDIS, piloting to the restaurant.

Their meal was light but enjoyable, the overall relaxed and happy feeling of the day carrying over. They were chuckling about a joke when they got back to the TARDIS.

"So, where to next?" River smiled, sitting down in the pilot's chair.

"Dundenbar, if you're ready for it." He said, leaning against the console in front of her.

"Maybe we could take a bit of a break first?" River asked.

He nodded, glad to put the trip off just a bit longer. He still thought it was dangerous, though wasn't going to protest so today.

"We can go in a few hours, but for now let's just...relax."

"Great idea." He agreed.

"I'm going to go find us a movie to watch, can you start the fireplace?"

"Alright." He nodded and went to start a fire.