There were footsteps from down the hall and some very excited, but indistinguishable words from a young voice before, "I know you're excited but you must be calm and quiet if you want to meet your sister."
River let Terra finish eating before getting themselves situated to see Arthur.
There was soon a soft knock on the door. "Come in," River called.
The whole Paternoster gang came into the room with the little buzzing two-year-old running in front of them. "Mummy!"
"Hello, sweetie." River beamed, "Do you want to meet your little sister?"
He nodded hard enough to give himself whiplash, then tried to scramble up on the bed.
"Be careful!" She warned.
Jenny moved to help him up on the bed. River held out her free hand letting him come sit with her, "Here she is, her name is Terra."
"Terra." He tested the sound out, peering at the infant in his mother's arms. Terra peered back, shying away a bit from the new person. "She's small!"
"Yes, she's very tiny so we're going to have to be extra careful around her."
Who? Terra demanded, wondering about the strangers in the room.
This is your big brother, Arthur. River angled the baby so she was fully facing her brother.
Terra blinked at him and Arthur beamed at her. He poked her cheek and touched her head and she made a small noise of recognition. Small hand?
Yes. "Arthur, be gentle."
"I am!" He defended.
Vastra and Jenny approached the bed. "She's a beautiful one, Professor." Jenny awed.
"Thank you, Jenny." She smiled, looking down at the baby, then Arthur. "Do you want to hold her?"
"Yes!" The boy cheered.
"Alright, sit down."
He settled himself in his father's lap and eagerly held out his arms. River gently placed the baby in his arms, looking to the Doctor to make sure he would help Arthur. He did, circling his arms around the two children.
"What do you think Arthur?"
"She's heavy." He murmured, having never held something as heavy as the baby before.
The Doctor smiled fondly. "You were this heavy when you were born."
"Her nose is tiny." He wiggled an arm out from under her to poke her nose. Terra shied away from his hand with a small whine.
"Careful, little man. She's still very little and delicate."
"I am being careful!" He whined, his concept of careful being very different from River and the Doctor's.
The Doctor was about to quiet him down when he realized Terra wouldn't actually be bothered by his volume. "Careful like she's made of feather's, lovie. You have to be very gentle around babies like you're holding Mr Thomas."
Arthur tried to poke her nose again, but went very slowly, thinking that constituted as gentle. Terra only wrinkled up her face for a moment then tried to wiggle her arms out of the blanket to scratch her nose. Arthur giggled, thinking the face she made was funny.
No touch. Terra complained, annoyed.
"Arthur..." River murmured, "I know it's very fun, but I don't think she likes being poked."
"But it's funny!"
"I know, but she doesn't like it. Why don't you come snuggle with me and we can let Daddy hold her for a little bit?"
He hesitated, then looked at his mother and realized he hadn't seen her in two days and moved to settle next to her. "Why did she take so long to come?"
"Because she needed time to grow and get strong." She explained, wrapping her arms around submitted to her warmth.
"But you said she was coming a while ago." He yawned. "And now it's really late and she's here."
"You know that it takes a while for babies to come. She's not very late at all."
"It's nearly eleven." The Doctor murmured.
"I didn't want sleep 'till I met my baby," Arthur said in the same tone.
River stroked his hair, kissing his temple, "Well now that you've met her, it's time to sleep." He tried to protest, but another yawn betrayed him as his eyes drooped. River rubbed his back, trying to sooth him to sleep.
It took Arthur no time at all to surrender to sleeping and soon enough he was snoring at his mother's side. River smiled, looking at the Doctor, "He looks like you when he sleeps."
"Does he? Well, I suppose." He agreed, attention still caught up with his daughter.
Toby came into the room, walking up to the bed to sniff the bundle in the Doctor's arms. The Doctor patted the bed for the dog.
"Doctor, are you sure..." River whispered. Though she had come a long way in her trust of the dog, some things he did still made her nervous. Toby hopped on the bed and sat patiently on the Doctor's legs.
"I'll protect her. "
She bit her lip, falling silent.
"Gentle now." He told the dog, who very slowly started sniffing at the bundle of blankets.
Terra whined, frightened at first by the big animal, not knowing what it was. "Shhh, it's okay, lovie." The Doctor rocked her a little. "He's friendly."
She started to cry, not knowing what was going on. Toby didn't need the Doctor to tell him to back down, jumping off the bed himself.
Terra was still crying, needing comfort. The Doctor held her closer, holding her against his chest and humming so she could feel the vibrations. She started to calm down, clutching onto the fabric of his shirt.
"Maybe you can meet Toby later, hmm?" He soothed, glancing at the dog. "Sorry, mate."
"She's hardly an hour old." River murmured, "I'm sure she'll love him, she's just overwhelmed right now."
He nodded and looked over at his wife, then his friends. "Would you like to hold her, Vastra?"
"I would love to." Vastra smiled, walking over to take the baby from him.
He shifted a sleepy Terra to her aunt's arms. Terra stared up at her aunt, reaching up to touch her face. "Oh, she's precious." She whispered.
River beamed, "Thank you."
"I'm going to put Arthur to bed." The Doctor murmured, get up.
River nodded, giving Arthur one last kiss on the forehead. The Doctor scooped up his son and left to tuck him in.
Arthur stayed asleep through the entire process, obviously exhausted. He kissed his son goodnight, running into Vastra and Jenny in the hall. "Are you leaving?"
"Jenny's going to go home," Vastra informed. "I told River I'm staying for the weekend and help get everyone adjusted. I imagine you'll both be quite tired after today."
He nodded. "Thank you both so much for everything."
"It's no problem at all." Both women smiled. He gave them an appreciative hug before wishing them goodnight and heading back to River.
Back in the room, both River and Terra had fallen asleep, the baby in a crib beside the bed.
The Doctor smiled, pausing over the crib to gaze at his daughter. She slept soundly, tiny fingers flexing in her sleep. He reached down so she could wrap a small hand around his finger. "Mummy didn't mean to erase you, Terra. She was just scared. You're loved now, sweetheart. You're safe and loved."
"What?" River whispered, starting to wake up.
"Nothing, my dear. Just telling our daughter she's loved." He straightened and slipped back into bed beside his wife. "You did amazingly today."
"Thank you." She whispered, curling up beside him, "...Do you ever feel like...like maybe we've done this before?"
"We have three other kids, of course, we've done this before." He wrapped his arms around her.
"That's not what I meant. I meant this specifically this pregnancy...the past few months have just felt..." She sighed, "I don't know..."
"Deja vu?" He asked, moving his hand to her cheek.
"Sort of..."
"Do you remember?"
"Remember what?"
He shook his head, dismissing the thought. "Don't worry, River. I know what you mean. You've worked hard today, you should get some rest."
"Does this not bother you at all?" She frowned, getting a bit upset.
"Well sure it does, but what's the point of letting it?"
"Because I can't let it go! It's been bothering me for months!"
He sighed. "Just calm down a moment, yeah?" He stroked his thumb over her cheek. "That feeling, it's something I'm a bit more used to because it happens when time changes."
She pulled away from him a bit.
"River...?" He wanted to tell her, she had the right to know, but he didn't want her to remember the misery she'd gone through.
"I don't understand what's happening." She whispered.
"Our personal timeline changed, it would make sense that you don't." He said, trying to offer what comfort he could.
She sat up, moving away from him, "How do you know this, but I don't?"
"You've got a lot more human in you than I do. Full Timelords are accustomed to remembering multiple separate timelines."
"What happened?" She asked, wanting the truth.
"Well, I don't remember all of it very clearly." He warned. "But, on Arthur's first Valentine's day... I convinced you to try for Terra. You changed your mind after some time, but you were already pregnant." He paused. "It's easier just to remember the emotions, but it... well it wasn't good. I kept pushing you to try to want her, and you kept pushing back. I think you left me at some point, and I just kept thinking it would be better once she came, but it wasn't. You were scared and not ready and I just didn't understand that so... well, I think you wanted to give Terra a mother who would be a mother to her. I saw you, that version of you, on Valentine's day. You looked so tired and lost."
She swallowed, seemingly curling into herself. A barrier in her mind snapped, bringing a flood of all the feelings that she'd had at one point, all the feelings she didn't want to remember.
"River? River you have to focus on now. Your mind may not be able to handle the timelines."
She shook her head, slowly moving to get off the bed.
"Please, River. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for the way I pushed, but please don't run again. You have a beautiful daughter. Remember how happy we were when she came today?" He couldn't bare to lose her to this.
She moved to the crib, looking down at the baby, staring at her, shaking.
"I only remembered when Arthur started holding her. Oh god, I shouldn't have told you so soon."
Terra shifted, sticking her thumb in her River. She started to cry, silently, shaking her head. He quieted himself, knowing he wasn't helping.
One of her tears landed on Terra's cheek, waking the infant.
"I don't deserve her." She whispered, "I don't deserve a second chance to be her mum."
"But you have one and she needs you."
The baby started whimpering, reaching up for River. She lifted up the baby, holding her close and sobbing quietly.
Mum. Terra thought warmly, though was confused at River's distraught emotions. River shook her head, shaking. Mumma!
The Doctor stood and approached her, not going to close in case she wanted him away.
"I can't do it. I'm not good enough to be her mum."
"You're good enough to be a mum to our other children, why not her?" He asked quietly.
"Because I didn't want her." She whispered.
"But you do now, don't you? " He said, quickly worrying about what her answer would be.
"Of course, but… I didn't want her to begin with, so why should I get her now?"
"Because... because this isn't just your second chance. It's hers, too. You didn't just rewrite time to give yourself more time, you did it because she deserves a life where she is loved by her mother. You love her and you are her second chance. Not every mistake has to be irreversible. Not every mistake has to have consequences you can't reconcile with."
River hugged the baby close, kissing her temple. Terra made a gentle coo. Loved.
I love you.
Light green, then shimmering bright orange-golden flecks conveyed Terra's mutual feels. River slowly sat on the bed, holding the baby as tightly as she could without hurting her, shaking like a leaf.
The Doctor dared to sit next to her as Terra tried hard to mentally smooth her mum. River just kept mentally repeating to her daughter that she loved her. "How could I ever have given this up?"
The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder. She leaned into him, still quite obviously upset. He let out a breath and embraced the two of them, kissing River's head. "Is there anything I can do, love?"
She shook her head, her body still trembling. Terra squirmed a bit in her mother's tight grip. Not alone.
River loosened her grip, kissing Terra's head.
No sleep alone. Terra tried again.
"I want her to sleep with us," River whispered.
"We can do that." The Doctor nodded. River slowly crawled back into bed, settling in with the baby. He moved to lie next to her. "Will you be okay?"
"I don't know..." She whispered.
He lay on his side to see her and their baby who was quickly falling back asleep on her chest. "I know that this is all very... monumental, but I want you to know that we're both different this go around. If you want your space, all you need to do is ask, and if you need me, I'll be right here."
She nodded, taking his arm and pulling it around her. "Promise?"
He smiled softly. "To the bottom of my hearts. I love you, River."
"I love you too." She murmured.
Terra was just awake enough to contribute her sleepy thoughts of affection for her parents as they held each other close.
"She loves you very much."
He shifted to give his daughter a kiss. "Welcome to the family, lovie."
Family... Terra thought before falling asleep.
