So since The Wedding of River Song aired I decided to change the whole "engaged" status of my River and Doctor to married from this chapter on! It makes things easier to write! Enjoy!
River took longer strides and made it to the console quicker than even she expected. "See?" The Doctor moved the monitor so she could see. "The Clausious Nebula…" she read it slowly unsure of the place. She'd never heard of it let alone been before. "Yes…the Clausious Nebula…beautiful place…biggest interstellar cloud in the universe, the hydrogen gas burns the brightest blue…ahhh! TARDIS blue!" he took River's hand, "You'll love it River! The colors of the universe run as one, twisting, flipping, swirling, burning into a plethora of never before seen colors! Too beautiful for a normal human or alien to lay eyes on! It's the most perfect place for her to be born!" His hands were flailing about as he described the nebula. River watched with an amused smile on her face. They had a few more weeks until their daughter's due date but after finally being reunited with the right them they thought it best that a little alone time be spent before her arrival.
"We're here!" he exclaimed suddenly grabbing River's hand. He led her, as quickly as she could go, to the doors then spun on his heels to face her. "Well Song…are you ready to see what waits outside our blue box?" He grinned at her with such excitement she swore he was 5 and it was Christmas morning. "Very ready!" River smiled back squeezing his hand. "There's an air corridor of course…didn't take the time to map out how far it goes…so! Let me go first shall we?" He opened the doors and there it was.
The Doctor couldn't contain his own excitement. The TARDIS had parked itself at the center of the Clausious Nebula. The bright blue streaks of burning hydrogen swirled together with bright burning reds and pinks and yellows. Balls of burning gas dotted the areas of dark space leaving no area without a fluorescent light. A mist of light green ionized, burning gas lined the most outer rim of the nebula until ending where the depths of space began. He pushed himself up and down with the balls of his feet in a fast pace, his grin was wide, revealing his ivory teeth, his eyes were the brightest shade of auburn as he took in all that lay at his doorstep. He went to move closer, extending his other hand as if in an attempt to touch a passing ball of gas but was tugged back. He turned to see River frozen to the spot, her mouth faintly parted in a stunned smile. Her eyes marveling at the nebula that surrounded them. "It's…" she started but shook her head. "It's…unexplainable…it's…" She couldn't find any right words for this moment. "It's perfect" the Doctor finished smiling at her. She looked up and nodded. He squeezed her hand and gently pulled her to his side. They stood together in the doorway in wonder never taking their eyes off of the illustration of love and time. Their daughter would open her eyes to this beautiful place and know she was loved. The Doctor held River's hand as she leaned out of the big blue box to float amongst the swirling gases for a bit before pulling her back in.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she curled into his chest never taking her eyes off of the swirling colors of the nebula. "It's beautiful" she whispered nuzzling into his chest. He pulled her tighter against his body bringing his other arm around to wrap around her mid-section. He felt her shiver slightly before nuzzling deeper into his embrace. How could he have not felt the temperature drop? Space was freezing. He snapped his fingers and the TARDIS doors shut automatically. River looked up at him, a pout building on her features. "It will still be there later" he smiled brushing his thumb along her cheek bone, "but right now we should work on warming you up!" He put both hands on her arms and rubbed them up and down creating a slightly warm area. "Put this on!" He quickly shed his tweed jacket and helped her put it on.
The TARDIS had already begun to warm up but her body was still chilled from the exposure to space. "Thank you Sweetie!" She placed a chaste kiss on his lips before sinking deeper into the tan tweed, gripping the ends of his sleeves since they surpassed her hands. "So!" he clapped his hands together excitedly. "We have…2…64…89…124…multiply that…384 hours until our daughter is arriving! What is there still to be done?" River smiled a wide toothy grin as she watched his excitement build. She walked over tapping her chin to mock concentrated thought. "Well there is a lot to do before a new baby arrives my love…."He closed the gap between them as she spoke, encircling her waist with his arms. "We need a cot, nappies…lots of nappies of course! And clothes…we have no clothes for our daughter to wear and I don't think she'll enjoy tweed and bowties as much as her handsome daddy." The Doctor stammered for a moment. "Bow-ties are cool! And my Tweed jacket….COOL!" She giggled at his defense. "I hope she inherits my fashion sense" she muttered as she straightened his bow-tie. "She needs a room, toys, a buggy…so much my love!" He smiled down at her before kissing her forehead lightly. "It will all get done River…don't worry yourself" he whispered into her mass of curls. She took in an unsteady breath to calm herself then exhaled. "I promise to have everything ready before she arrives! All you have to do for the next 4 weeks is relax! Trust me!" River cocked an eyebrow up at him. "You'll have everything ready for her?" She asked leaning back more to see his expression. "Trust me!" he added excitedly. River giggled suddenly. "Sweetie…I can help you know? I'd feel much better actually if you let m help!" She touched his cheek lightly. "You got to pilot the TARDIS…MY TARDIS! Let me prepare for our daughter!" He was pouting now. River smiled up at him, she couldn't resist his childlike ways even if she tried. "Fine...fine!" The Doctor smiled wildly as she spoke until she began again. "But under one condition!...I get to see your progress!" He thought for a moment then nodded in defeat. "I get to choose when you check though! Only fair seeing as you always check my piloting skills whenever you want!" River laughed outwardly at his comment. "Fine my Love! Seems only fair" she said after her expression of amusement.
2 WEEKS LATER
"OW!" The Doctor yelled followed by the sound of unrecognizable clatter as heavy objects hit the floor. River hurried to find him, holding her stomach as she waddled her way towards the commotion. "Sweetie?" She yelled hoping to hear his voice, she was worrying now. "Sweetie where are you?" This wasn't the first time she couldn't find him in the last few weeks. He'd been working on a special "surprise" project for her and the baby and even the TARDIS was in on it, always keeping the room he worked in hidden or out of reach. "Sweetie!" she yelled again turning down yet another corridor. "River?...RIVER!" She heard him. "Don't come any closer" his voice was booming from a nearby open door, "I'm fine darling! Better then fine! I'm perfect! Mr. Perfect!" He was yelling from the room but River could hear as he hurried around the space, clinking, stacking, crinkling whatever he was working on.
"My love,…"she took a deep breath and rubbed her stomach lightly, "please come out?" She had stopped a few feet from the door and waited. His head of floppy brown hair suddenly popped around the corner. "What's wrong?" His expression was serious and seeing River's worried eyes made him quickly decide to leave his project for now. He stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him and made his way to River. His hands met her stomach as his eyes searched hers. "I woke up and you weren't there" River whispered looking up at him. The Doctor traced her jaw lightly with one hand as the other slid it's way around to her lower back. "I got up early to finish the project…are you having more contractions?" Recently River's contractions were becoming more frequent, increasing her hormone levels which meant tears, bursts of anger and nightmares. She nodded lightly, tears brimmed in her eyes. "No no…don't cry!" He cupped the back of her skull and pulled her head into his chest. He massaged her lower back and gently scratched her scalp, burying his hand deeper into the mass of curls. "I want my Mum" River sobbed into his chest. He smiled lightly, hiding it from his hormonal wife of course. "Oh River…my River" he whispered into her hair, "I'll set the coordinates and we'll go for a visit eh?" She sniffled before looking up at her husband. "Really?" He smiled again and traced her cheek before tapping her nose. "Yes! I'm sure your Centurion of a father has cooled down…hopefully…and they'd love a visit!"
He pulled her into his side and started to make their way towards the console room. "Did you finish?" River suddenly asked. The Doctor smiled smugly. "Did I finish? Of course I finished! You'll be able to see it soon enough!" He kissed her forehead lightly. The TARDIS made the trip back to the controls short and easy on River, the Doctor helped her sit in the old leather chair before walking over to the controls. "So!" The Doctor clapped his hands together and rubbed them before flexing his fingers over the levers and buttons. "Amy & Rory. 1.2.3 Weeks after we left!" He was talking to himself as he tapped each coordinate in. River watched contently from her seat, rubbing her stomach lightly, humming quietly to her daughter. "I love you" she spoke out suddenly. The Doctor turned towards her voice; she was staring at him with a large grin on her face. He pushed one final lever then made his way over, kneeling directly in front of her. "I love you River" he whispered up to her through a large smile, gently stroking her cheek with one hand. He placed his other hand over stomach, feeling his daughter kick against his touch. "I love you too my darling" he proudly giggled out before placing his lips over the spot. "We'll be there soon my love" the Doctor stated to River, "do you want to freshen up?" She nodded lightly.
After a moment of getting to her feet, River waddled off to their bed room to change with the Doctor close behind. She was still in her usual outfit, pajamas. There was no need for other clothing since their stay in the nebula, the Doctor was a fierce enforcer of her staying off her feet and that's exactly what she did. Her hormones were adventure enough for them both. She was carrying a full Time Lord baby in a Human Plus body. Her body was taking it fairly well only because the hormones were off the charts. There were days where she wouldn't even let her husband near her, and other days where she didn't want to unwrap herself from around his body. "How about this?" The Doctor was holding up a pair of black yoga pants and a TARDIS blue T-shirt. "I'm tired of plain t-shirts! I'm pregnant not Amish!" River snapped. Hormones. "It's not a plain t-shirt! Look!" He held the shirt up. There, under the neck line was an imprinted red bow-tie. "It's a shirt with a drawn on bow-tie! Isn't that cool?" River smiled at his enthusiasm. She suddenly bent over with a sharp intake of air, hands clutching her stomach. The Doctor dropped the shirt and rushed over, placing a hand on her back and the other over hers. "I think our daughter disagrees with you" she smiled painfully up at him. He smiled lightly. "Are you ok? Want to do the breathing exercises?" Yes the Doctor and River knew the breathing exercises. River spent nearly 3 days teaching them to this version of himself since his future version read every manual, every text book, every version of "Babies for Dummies" he could find. She straightened up. "No. No its passing" she smiled while wincing, "give me the shirt and pants. We'll be arriving at my parent's soon." He kissed her temple lightly then ran over and grabbed the clothes off the ground. He helped her get dressed then waited as she tossed her curls until they were a beautiful mess.
The TARDIS landed just as they finished getting ready. River grabbed the Doctor's hand and pulled him back as he reached for the TARDIS doors. "Are you sure you're ok with this?" She asked searching his face. H smiled and brushed his thumb along her chin lightly. "Yes River. It will be good for both you and your parents," he leaned down to brush his lips over hers then squeezed her hand. She smiled up at him then pulled him towards the door. She pulled opened the door and smiled at the familiar sight of Leadworth in the fall. "I smell a fire pit" she said as the Doctor shut the door behind them. "Ah! Fall! Always loved the beauty of dying foliaged!" The Doctor chimed in walking to his wife's side. He placed a hand on her lower back and looked over in the direction of the Ponds-Williams household. 'Well your father's mini is present! They must be home!" The Doctor applied a light pressure on River's back signaling to her it was time to move towards the home. The walk to the door was quick, quicker than expected. River took a breath once they reached the entrance and looked up at the Doctor. "Are you sure? We left on a bad note you know?" The Doctor simple kissed her forehead then knocked on the wooden door.
His knuckles barely left the wood before the door swung open revealing a very upset Rory. "Father?" River asked noticing his appearance. Before she could ask any further questions Rory lunged at the Doctor causing both to hurdle towards the stone walk way. River screamed in a mix of fear and surprise as she watched her father tackle her husband. "You Bastard!" yelled Rory as he grabbed the Doctor's collar. "Rory…I-I" the Doctor started but Rory's fist made contact with his nose. River screamed again. Her yell was met by a frantic Amy barreling through the open door. "River? Rory? DOCTOR?"