"Why are you so good with children Doctor?" Clara asked as she sat down on the stairs beside him, her dressing gown tightly wrapped around her pyjamas as the Doctor turned to face her, a small smile covering his face as he thought about all the babies he'd been around his life.
"I did have a family once," he admitted, his smile disappearing before she shook her head. "They all died in the time war, every single one of them like every other person on my planet," he declared before standing up and moving towards the console as Clara watched in silence, regretting asking now. "My first companion, Susan, was my granddaughter," he admitted, his fingers running across the various buttons as the brunette listened. "And I've been around other people's children too," he added before turning around to face her, this time with a large smile covering his face. "There was Stormageddon," he quickly stated as Clara's eyebrows rose.
"Stormageddon," she responded.
"His parents called him Alfie but that's what he likes to be called," the Doctor explained as she stood up and nodded slowly.
"Did he tell you that?" she asked as he nodded, her eyes rolling before she walked towards him.
"And then there was River of course when she was a baby," he added as Clara's eyebrows rose. "Ah, that's something I haven't explained before."
"No, you don't say a lot about River. Like how you didn't explain that she was a woman or that she was a more than a girlfriend and was actually your wife Doctor," she began as he groaned, knowing that Clara hadn't let that go yet. "So how did you know River as a baby?" she questioned.
"I knew her as an adult first and then I met her as a baby," he admitted as the look of confusion on Clara's face grew. "She was conceived on the TARDIS, her parents were friends of mine," he explained, finding it awkward to talk about. "She was kidnapped when she was pregnant, Amy I mean, not River, and when we rescued her, she'd given birth to this tiny beautiful little girl," he smiled as he sat down and laughed. "Melody Pond, the child of the last centurion and the girl who waited."
"That sounds like a fairy story," Clara smiled as he nodded.
"Amelia Pond, I always thought her name sounded like something out of a fairy tale," he sighed before shaking his head. "We thought we'd saved her but we were tricked, she wasn't the real Melody and she was taken away from us and that's how Melody Pond became River Song. She was brought up by an evil woman in an orphanage, completely alone, to kill me and instead she fell in love with me and I kind of fell for her too," he smirked as Clara remained completely silent before smiling.
"She was brought up to kill you?" Clara questioned.
"That's a story for another day Miss Oswald," he declared before standing up and smiling at her. "You've had a bed time story, now it's time you went to bed," he teased as she rolled her eyes at him before standing up.
"I'm not a child Doctor," Clara muttered as he shrugged.
"You're a child compared to me Clara Oswald," he declared as she rolled her eyes and slowly moved towards the stairs, turning to face him before she shook her head and ran up the stairs towards her room. Relaxing back, the Doctor smiled as the TARDIS began to land somewhere and he heard the door open and footsteps approaching. It could only be one person and he knew exactly who it was.
"Hello sweetie," River's voice greeted as he looked back to see his wife standing behind him in her prison uniform, her hair pulled back away from her face as he stood up and moved towards her.
"Hello River," he smiled, leaning in to kiss her as her arms slowly moved around his neck. "I don't like your hair pulled back like this," he commented as she stared at him in amazement. Had he really just commented on her appearance? "I love your hair River but I really like it when it's going crazy and is all curly. That's when it's my favourite, when it's all magical," the Doctor admitted, reaching up to remove the tie from her hair before the curls slowly covered his hands. "Now, there's my wife," he commented as she rolled her eyes at him before stealing another kiss. "How many weeks are you?" he asked as he moved his hands to her stomach. "You were eight the last time I saw you."
"Thirteen now," she smiled. "But I haven't seen you since then but the morning sickness box you made," she began as he nodded. "Really helped, thank you."
"I wanted to make sure you were okay, I didn't want you to struggle on your own," the Doctor explained as he held her close. "The last time we talked, we discussed a scan," he whispered as she nodded and found his hand, clinging onto it tightly before he began to lead her towards the medical bay. Stepping inside the familiar room, River smiled as she quickly sat down on the table and stared at her husband in amazement. "I've got the equipment but I've never done this before," he stated as she laughed, taking in how nervous he was as he stared across at the various medical equipment.
"You can do this Doctor, it's simple and you're a clever man," River smiled before relaxing back and lifting her t-shirt up, the Doctor remaining silent as he found the gel that he knew went on her stomach. "You put it here," she whispered, running her fingers across the area of her abdomen as he nodded and followed her instructions. "You're actually listening to me?" she asked in amusement.
"You seem to know what you're doing," he stated, almost sounding like he was in shock, as her eyebrows rose.
"Why do you sound shocked about me knowing something that you don't?" River questioned as he laughed and leant across to kiss her for a brief moment before moving away and finding the rest of the ultrasound equipment. "Hurry up, I want to see our baby Doctor," she ordered as he laughed and quickly began the scan, his excitement obvious as she rolled her eyes, watching as an image quickly began to appear on the screen.
"River," he whispered as he stared at the screen in amazement. "River that's our baby, we're having a real baby," he declared, watching the image on the screen as River rolled her eyes before nodding slowly. He was more emotional than she was about the situation but that didn't surprise her. She was just having a baby, to her this was just her child, but this baby to him was practically another Time Lord, meaning that he wasn't alone in the universe anymore! "Ready?" he asked as she nodded, the sound of heartbeats quickly filling the room as she laughed in amazement.
"Two heartbeats," River stated as he nodded. "Our baby actually has two heartbeats."
"Two really strong hearts," he declared before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her stomach. "Hello baby, I'm your daddy," he whispered as River bit into her lip, watching him in amazement. "You're a strong baby, you have two strong hearts and I already know that you're going to be wonderful because you're our impossible child."
"Can I stay tonight?" River asked as he glanced up from her abdomen and nodded, his smile growing at her request. He wanted River to stay, he wanted to spend time with her and savour the days they had together. He knew one day she was going to die in the library, sacrificing herself for him, and now the prospect that they had a child made it even scarier but he wasn't going to waste the time they had. He wanted to savour their lives together; the life River Song had died saving. "Let's go to bed."
XXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Staring at her as she remained fast asleep beside him, the Doctor sighed as he brushed curls away from her face as stared at the peaceful look. She was content, here in his arms and he enjoyed being the person she felt safe around and was able to be herself. She cried beside him, she laughed and they had fun and she was open. She'd comforted him when her parents were sent back and in some way he'd comforted her! He was allowed to be weak around River; she didn't judge and see him as some sort of superhero like most of his companions!
"Stop watching me and go to sleep doctor," River muttered, her eyes remaining shut as he laughed and relaxed beside her, his fingers still playing with her curls.
"How do you do that?" he laughed as she shrugged.
"Spoilers," she muttered as he groaned and buried his face into her curled hair. "You're just like a child sometimes Doctor," she moaned, her eyes slowly opening to glare up at him. "Why are you awake?"
"I was just thinking about you and you know I don't need as much sleep as I do," he admitted as his arms wrapped around her. "Are you happy River?" he asked quietly as she sat up and laughed before looking down at him.
"Of course I'm happy Doctor," River smiled. "I'm married; I'm going to have a baby. I'm not alone in the world and that's more than I ever expected as a child."
"But you're in prison because of me River. You're not even in a normal prison, you're in Stormcage because of me River," he stated, sitting up beside her as she stared down at her hands.
"And I manage to get out of there like it isn't a high security prison. I still get to live my life, I get to work and see you," she responded, hating him when he got like this.
"We'll never have a normal relationship River; it'll never be careers and family dinners in the evenings. We'll never be able to just be a family River. We'll always be separated," he stated before climbing out of bed, guilt filling his voice and covering his face as she stared at him in silence. "We'll never just be normal."
"I don't want to be normal, when have I ever said that I want to be normal," she argued, moving out of the bed before she tightly wrapped her arms around his body. "I just want to be with you Doctor in whatever form it comes; I don't care about anything else. I want to be with you and I want to keep our baby safe, that's all I want."
"But how are we supposed to keep this baby safe River?" the Doctor asked. "I couldn't keep you safe from Kovarian. I couldn't protect you from her or..."
"Is all of this because of me?" River questioned. "Is this because you're feeling guilty about losing me Doctor?"
"I always feel guilty about losing you River. I feel guilty that your childhood was taken away from you because of me, I feel guilty that you were taken from your parents and I feel guilty for the pain I put Amy and Rory through. You were their child, their only child and because of me they never had you and you think I don't feel guilty still," the Doctor blurted out before moving towards the door.
"Doctor, what are you saying?" River asked.
"Maybe having this baby is a mistake River; maybe we shouldn't risk it because something's going to happen. Danger always happens around me, people get hurt River because of me," the Doctor explained as she remained silent, anger covering her face as she stared at him. How dare he? How dare he say their baby was a mistake? "I'm going to get a cup of tea," he stated as she bit into her lip, knowing he was cross when he stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him. The Doctor was feeling guilty and that was one of the worst things ever! Pacing in the kitchen moments later, the Doctor sighed before he heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Clara standing there in silence.
"I didn't think door slamming was your style," she commented as he shrugged. "What's happened?"
"River, it's always River," he muttered before sitting down and shaking his head, angry at himself. "All I ever do is hurt her; all I ever do is make her life a living misery. I got her taken away from her parents and she was treated like a weapon. She wasn't allowed to be a child because of me. I got her put in one of the worst prisons imaginable to keep myself safe and now I've gotten her pregnant."
"How is this pregnancy a bad thing?" Clara questioned as she sat down beside him, suddenly concerned. He'd been happy earlier about the whole pregnancy and now he seemed to regret it. "This is your baby. The baby you made with the woman you love and you love this baby, I can see it whenever you discuss it. You're angry now, you're feeling guilty now but that won't change how much you love this child or your wife."
"I can't keep them safe Clara," the Doctor whispered. "I save the universe practically every day but my own wife and my own child, there's always going to be the risk. Kovarian and the Silence will always be there, there's always the risk of her taking them and then there's others. Other species will threaten them to hurt me," he stated as confusion covered Clara's face. "I'll explain about Kovarian another day."
"And the fact that she dies sacrificing herself for you?" Clara questioned as he stood up and moved away so she couldn't see his face as a tear ran down his cheek. "I think that's the main problem isn't it? The fact that she dies to save you Doctor and now you know that you have a family together, you're feeling guilty."
"I should have found some way to save her," he declared as Clara moved towards him, her arms wrapping around her as he held her close, silently crying at the memory of his wife killing herself to save him, to save their future. "The worst thing is I didn't even know who she was then. It was the first time I'd met her and she was so clever and intelligent and she was stubborn and she died. My wife died completely in love with me and I just stared at her like an idiot because I didn't even know who she was."
"It's okay Doctor," Clara whispered as she held him close for a moment, not knowing what else to say.
"I told her having this baby was probably a mistake," he admitted as Clara groaned before stepping away from him, angry at how stupid he could be.
"Go and apologise, now," she ordered as he nodded slowly and moved towards the door before turning to smile at her.
"Clara Oswald you are…"
"Now you stupid alien," she demanded, the Doctor quickly running out of the room towards his own bedroom. Stepping inside the bedroom, the Doctor stared at the perfectly made bed and the piece of paper that was resting on her pillow. Approaching it slowly, he quickly lifted it off the bed and stared at River's scribbled handwriting.
I had to go back to Stormcage.
"Shit," he hissed. He was in trouble now!
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