Chapter 3: Isn't what it seems.
"How do I look?" she asked her daughter when they finished.
"You look stunning. Go get 'im, girl." River extended her hand to the child and both of them ran to the control room, where the Doctor was flying round the console, pulling levers and pushing buttons everywhere to send the TARDIS into flight. He didn't even look at them while he wrote the coordinates on the keyboard.
"We're almost there," he informed, "Here we go!" he pulled one last lever and the TARDIS parked noisily in Clara's house backyard, then he twirled on his heels to face them, "R-River..." he mumbled when he saw her, almost dropping the box he was holding in his left hand and stumbling with his own feet. Cal ran out of the TARDIS. "River, River, River…" Here it was his flirty voice again. "Damn, you look sexy, Professor Song."
"It's always about my sexiness, isn't it?"
"As if you didn't want it that way."
"What can I say? This is me… all sexiness, and hair, and high heels."
"And lots of narcissism, but who cares?"
"Oh, shut up!" she said rolling her eyes.
"I have something for you," he extended the box he was holding to her and she grabbed it.
"Oh my God! Did you keep it?" asked River when she opened the box and looked inside it.
"I did." The blonde drew out her old blaster of the box.
"Oh! You sentimental old man!"
"Actually, I made some upgrades to it. You like it?"
"I love it!" She spun the gun in her hands in a well-practiced movement that she had to admit she had missed as hell. "Can I try it here? Maybe a few quick shoots to the pool or..."
"Don't even think it! You have already shot my TARDIS once, it won't happen again." He dragged her out of the TARDIS by her hips.
"Oh Doctor, stop it! Or we'll have to ask Clara to take care of Charlotte for a few days" said River, flirty voice on, while she let him drag her out.
"Hello," Charlotte greeted to the boy who was seated outside the house working on some device, "What are you doing?"
"Working."
"On what?"
"You wouldn't understand it," said the boy without even looking at her.
"Why don't you try me?" demanded Cal as she sat by his side, "Let's see, judging how it looks, you are trying to make some kind of antigravity beam? The watch you used for it is working for the moment but you are having problems with the energy and that's why you have that car battery over there. Plus you haven't condensed the gravity field to make the beam size." Now the boy had his full attention on her. "Oh! And it'll be cooler if you use some kind of gun instead of the watch, not to mention that it would give you a scope to aim with."
"I'm Arty Maitland, and you are..?" He was really surprised, she actually knew exactly what he was doing, and she didn't think he was crazy as his science teacher had thought when he told him about this project.
"I'm Charlotte, but my friends call me Cal."
"So, can I be your friend or must I call you Charlotte?"
"Well, you can be more than that, but for the moment you can call me Cal," she said, all smiles and blinks. Okay, maybe her mother had taught her a lot of flirting with men and maybe it wasn't proper for a little girl like her, or maybe it was too embarrassing for a boy of ten or so like Artie, but how would she know that? She had never had an appropriate childhood. Anyway, it did not take long for her to realize this, as Artie blushed heavily.
"It seems you both already met," the Doctor said, as he and River approached the two children, "River this is Artie, Artie this is the Professor Song."
"Nice to meet you sweetheart," River shook hands with him, "We are going now, so you can keep talking about anything you were talking before we arrived." She winked to both of them. Obviously, she had noticed the awkward blush in the boy's cheeks and how it was growing even more now. Then, she grabbed the Doctor's hand and disappeared with him walking to the front of the house.
"Hello there! Is anybody home?" the Doctor talked through the door communicator. Nobody answered. "It's me, the Doctor! Hello?"
"I heard you the first time," was the angrier response before the door opened. "Clara! It's your boyfriend!" shouted Angie without moving her gaze from the mobile.
River raised an eyebrow.
"Let me guess… it isn't what it seems?"
"It isn't... She just... We aren't…" He scratched his cheek in an anxious gesture and River contained her laughter. She wasn't jealous; she just loved to see how nervous he got, when he thought the situation was getting out of hands.
"Calm down sweetie, I know," grinned River.
"River! You are..." said the Doctor, while he moved his index finger in front of her face, accusingly, but he didn't continue talking because Clara had just stood in the doorway, "It's Wednesday, isn't it?"
"Yep, just after Tuesday and before Thursday," Clara answered.
"So... Why haven't you packed your baggage?" But she wasn't paying attention to him. Instead she looked River profoundly. The Doctor had said that she gone forever, and here she was.
"Professor Song?" Clara mumbled.
"In the flesh," she replied, "And I really mean it, it's me... In the flesh."
"Yes, yes, River Song, Clara Oswald, whatever... I still can't see the baggage."
"He doesn't like being ignored," River grinned.
"I know. He is like a little boy looking for attention," Clara laughed.
"And he is still here!" he said and the women laughed even more.
"Mom," Cal entered to the house, "Can Artie come with us today?"
"Of course, darling," she responded, "If Clara says so, I mean."
"Hi Clara, I'm Cal," the girl extended her hand to her, "I'm River Song's daughter and a new friend of Artie and I really want him to come with us, can he?"
"Yes he can," she smiled to the child, "And by the way, nice to meet you, Cal."
"Nice to meet you too," Charlotte shouted out, running outside again.
"You should pack swimsuit and a warm coat," the doctor advised to Clara, "That's for you too Angie. I know you want come with us."
"Hold on tight everybody! The snow beach and the desert ski mountains are waiting for us," the Doctor said, pulling the starter lever of the TARDIS. There was a lot of movement and a hard landing, and everybody ended lying on the floor.
"I'll drive next time," exclaimed River, while the Doctor helped her to get up.
"No you won't."
"Of course I will. There are children aboard, for god sake," the blonde said, walking towards her daughter, "Are you okay Cal?"
"Perfectly," the girl smiled, "That was awesome! Can we repeat that doctor?"
"Oh great! Thank you, you are being very helpful, Charlotte," reproached River.
"Children," the man interrupted them, "they are all made of iron and fun, except for you Angie, you're certainly made of anything else."
"Very funny." She rolled her eyes.
"So what are we going to do first? Swim in the frozen sea with our coats on? Or ski in the sand mountains with the swimsuits?" he asked, "Oh! We can surf down the sand mountains directly toward the frozen sea! Yes, that's it! Now we just need to decide if we are going to wear the swimsuits or the warm coats…" the doctor stopped, "what are you all waiting for? Come on! Grab your baggage, the bellhop is waiting right outside the door."
"What do you mean? Are we staying in a hotel?" Clara asked.
"Yeah, these will be proper vacations, and that includes room service and mint chocolates over the pillows, come one, move people!"
Notes:
Thanks to my dear Beta FoREVer Nightwing and to all of them who are reading this.