"This is the last one." Amy announced, coming up the stairs with a box in hand.
"Thanks, mum." River said as she broke down the previous box and tossed it onto the pile in the corner. It hadn't taken long to move her few possessions from her cell in Stormcage to the spare bedroom in her parents' house.
"Alright. All settled?" Rory asked, tea in hand.
River took it from him and nodded.
"Thank you guys again for letting me do this. I just want to make sure the wibbley wobbley space time continuum was safe. The TARDIS said I should stay here for awhile."
"Well its always been your home, dear. No matter what." her father said.
"Right. And besides, what sort of home could a prison cell be for this little tyke?" Amy laughed, leaning over to speak to River's stomach.
"Remind me again what exactly happened?" Rory asked, still not able to wrap his mind around the situation.
River sat on the edge of the bed and placed a hand on each thigh.
"When the Doctor and I last saw each other, the TARDIS knocked us both unconscious. The Doctor was furious," she laughed, "He couldn't understand why she'd do something like that."
"The next day I asked the TARDIS why she'd done it and she told me there was something important. A truth hidden in plain sight."
"Right. Like you being pregnant."
"Yeah. Sort of...except I wasn't. At least I didn't know I was. I was definitely not pregnant before the TARDIS knocked us out. Apparently her whole purpose in the joke was to create this baby so we could be able to fix a horrible wrong. I have to admit, I was having thoughts of denial that I was even pregnant until my class started that afternoon. I was feeling really ill and I had the Doctor come answer questions while I sat and pretended to be perfectly fine. I thought everything through and decided that, given all the facts combined with the discomfort I felt, it was the only explanation. And why would she tell me I was pregnant if I wasn't? That's when I knew. But, you see, the TARDIS also told me that if the Doctor found out before his time, he would do something completely stupid and sacrifice himself or something to that effect. I'm not exactly sure what she was getting at, but it certainly sounded like something he would do and in any case, I would rather he stay alive. She gave me instructions to follow and that's all I've been doing. That day, I knew he wouldn't see me again for a long time, but I couldn't very well tell him that or he would have refused to leave. I told him to pick me up for dinner the week after and the TARDIS made sure he was not able to arrive on time. I don't know exactly what's going on yet...but whatever it is, it must important."
They sat and thought for a minute or two before Amy asked, "What happens if he comes here looking for you?"
River looked down at her left sleeve, pulled over the now five rings of the lazimi and hiding them from her parents.
"We hope he doesn't. And if he does, he can't know I'm here."
Her phone began to ring and she reached for it, glancing at the caller ID to be sure it wasn't the TARDIS.
"Hello? Yes, this is she. What sort of expedition? Mmhmm. Sure I'll have a look. Send over the files and I'll be in touch."
"Another expedition? River you can't keep doing dangerous things." Amy pressed.
River rolled her eyes. And ran a hand over her ghost of a bump. "Honestly, mum, I only said I'd look at files. I never said I'd go."
"Where is it this time? The Island of Naboomboo?" Rory guessed with a smirk.
She laughed, "No, it's an expedition to some planet called The Library."