The Greatest Night Ever

Chapter 3

The First Three Years

The Doctor felt a huge sense of relief, knowing Missy wasn't hanging around on Darillium with him because if she had happened to have put in a last-minute appearance, she would have instantly disliked this place. Plus she will have no doubt resorted to making every effort possible to become a sworn enemy of River or perhaps let bygones be bygones with her dear old friend, going as far as congratulating him on the prospects of fatherhood.

Still as crazy-minded and scheming as she was, she could be a valuable friend whenever he called on her for help against his enemies. One of her main hobbies involving her reveling in such wickedness. She would also clearly crave most of the attention aimed towards her, if any poor wee soul ended up pandering to her many needs, while she would respond with her dancing around before killing anyone who doesn't compliment her.

River and The Doctor had really set up home together now on Darillium. He briefly returns to the TARDIS a month before River was due to give birth, just so he could assemble a baby cot for their child. Of course, she had quietly followed him to make certain, he wasn't planning to embark on a sneaky but quick single-handed adventure without her. What she hadn't counted on, was her giving away her presence and position outside the TARDIS without knowing she had done - the essence of her perfume being the actual reveal for The Doctor, who it didn't take long to figure out, she still couldn't trust him.

He pops his head out from behind the blue doors of his time machine and takes her by surprise. "Oh River there you are. Guess what? I've counted every kick, our daughter or son is making every hour. You know, it's extraordinary how they grows inside a human person. It really does bring it all home to you, what responsibilities you're going to be faced with."

She laughs once she identifies the obvious excitement in his voice, the ridiculously looking grin etched across his lips and his sudden ability of understanding how well babies can communicate with the flutters of your baby kicking.

"So what are you doing in there? Apart from calculating how many kicks, a baby can make 24 hours a day." She asks, as soon as she manages to stop laughing.

"Secret project. No need for you to worry. You'll find out what it is soon enough. Anyway River, seeing as you're here; There's a certain specially reserved table waiting for you and a perfectly comfy chair for you to rest in, for as long as you want to." The Doctor's thoughtful instincts soon took over, as he suggests for her to return back to their reserved table, which he didn't want to see anyone else claiming as theirs.

"The balcony table? Gosh feels like we've had so moments at that table and yet we've got 23 years to experience even more unforgettable moments together." She caresses her baby bump, which she's grown to admire and getting use to having. 6 months into her pregnancy and he took it upon himself to sing to her bump, as his way of bonding with their baby.

"You, balcony table now or else I will take off in my blue box and I'll return with the biggest bunch of flowers and the best baby toys in the universe. So Professor what's it gonna be?" He's quick on the mark, when it comes to him insisting she sits down at their table because he doesn't want her to staying on her feet for too long.

"I hope you're not being too personal with me, Sweetie." She flirts with him, knowing a few tricks of the trade.

The Doctor raises his eyebrow questioningly for a split second before feeling the sudden need to put her straight; the only way he knows how to, in his own amusing manner. "What on earth gave you that idea, all of a sudden? I'm sure the stars themselves will agree, I'm no fake storyteller."

"Handpicking the best flowers for me. You know, I would say that means one or two things; either you want to thwart any chances of me being rocketed away in the arms of Ramone's robot body or even better you've got something marvelous in mind. Whatever it is, I hope you're not intending on keeping me waiting forevermore because you should know, my perfume magic spray can always come in handy on you too." They're getting down to the business of, trading the usual lighthearted and frisky remarks between each other.

The Doctor reckons she won't proceed with her impish threat of changing his appearance with the use of her spray.

"All will be revealed soon enough. Besides Nardole looks like someone who could do with a bit of cheering up as well." He thinks Nardole could do with much-needed company, after he spots the robot body marching round further down the long corridor, with young man looking sad and in need of reassurance and a good old proper chat.

"I haven't spoken to him for a while now. The last thing he asked me was...if I have a boy, am I going to call my child Arnolde?" She reveals to him and they choose the exact same moment to find the funnier side about this potential baby name.

"As long as he or she doesn't grow up, saying Hasta La Vista or I'll be back, over and over again, as if it's some sort of signing off catchphrase." He jokes, knowing he's heard those two annoying phrases from somewhere before.

She leans towards him and kisses him on the cheek, she then pulls back into own her personal space and strokes his cheek. He pauses to gaze at the glowing, smiling face of the woman he loves. "I think you're right by the way. He needs people he knows around him, to make him feel less sad and more like his lovable self again. I always like a simple challenge."

She turns to walk away and goes to make her way down the corridor, while The Doctor is watching on and is busy thinking of something useful to tell her before she ends up disappearing off with her loyal friend. Once he does "River, don't go whispering sweet nothings to Ramone or sending video messages to Stephen Fry."

Her husband really was beginning to push the boat now, with his enviousness and his duty of care for her. Well she was 8 months pregnant and he was only doing what every other half would do, when undertaking responsibilities of support.

"Stephen's too busy for me now and I believe Ramone is actually romancing another of Hydroflax's heads, she's called Leia." She puts his mind to rest, reassuring him she isn't orchestrating any plans to reconcile with any of her former husbands.

"Oh I see." He honestly doesn't know what to properly think or what to even say, to the news of Ramone's rather unusual inward romance. "Have fun with Nardole then." He calls to her, little realizing the delectable tones of his appealing Scottish accent were gaining him a lot of female attention.

River couldn't resist the urge to laugh because he's unintentionally making quite a scene for the two of them. She blows him a kiss and winks her eye at The Doctor, as if to gesture to him, she's read him loud and clear.

xxxx

River didn't like to see a lost soul amongst a huge crowd of people. She could tell Nardole didn't feel like he belonged there in the restaurant. "Nardole, Darillium has everything to offer, other than Alphonse's restaurant. The world is your oyster, you've got a metal body which can take you anywhere in the galaxy. Maybe you could try it out sometime. I'm sure The Doctor will only be too happy enough, to help out with repairing the metal body for you."

"That's really kind of you to offer, Ma'am. However I don't think I'm keen to lose my head again."

"Please I insist Nardole. I know The Doctor well enough to know, how proficient he becomes when he's getting to grips with repairing stuff." She only makes this suggestion, so she can prize her absent husband out from the TARDIS and present him with the suitable task of fixing the techs behind the main part of the robot's chest.

Meanwhile unbeknownst to River, there was unexplained smoke seeping out from within the blue box and her beloved was having a pointless disagreement with the Old Girl because she wouldn't imprint Gallifreyan language on the baby cot, which he's tirelessly constructed and fitted together. The Old Girl made sure she blew her frustrated hot and cold steam, out of each of the six panels controlled discrete functions and from the books stored in the TARDIS' library shelves.

"I task you with doing the simplest of tasks and you have a problem with inscribing Gallifreyan symbols on the baby cot. This doesn't have anything to do with me keying in last-minute co-ordinates, for you to land on that disco planet, which I fancied visiting a few years ago? Well it might go as far as explaining, why you've recently been annoyed with River too." He doesn't shout or lose his cool with the Old Girl, no he's making a sweeping and tolerant statement as he addresses her.

"Fine! I won't rush you into doing this one favour for me, regarding the baby cot. It's up to you, surprise me anytime you fancy doing so." He makes a decent and profound apology

Naturally she can never find any plausible reasons to feel upset with her owner, for what it's worth. Before he almost makes a potential blunder, the TARDIS makes a curious pop sound and then glows a brighter shade of blue. The cloud of smoke finally clears from the two places, where it had originally trickled out from.

Back at the drinks bar, while River was sipping on non alcoholic drinks and Nardole was drinking through the largest drinking straw in the galaxy, The Doctor eventually puts in an welcoming appearance - joining them at the packed bar.

"Pleasure to see you again Nardole." The Time Lord certainly looked reasonably pleased to see how happy the young man had ably become, no thanks to being in the excellent company of River.

"Doctor Song tells me you're quite a dab hand at repairing any mechanical objects, Doctor" Nardole chooses to quiz his Scottish friend, who was only too happy to answer any of the questions, put to him.

"Mostly I can...Although you'll have to pardon my Gallifreyan, if you see me getting nowhere with any of my latest projects."

"What he means is, he swears a lot when he makes the one or two mistakes." River reveals one certain weakness, no one else had known about her other half, the fact she knows and she herself has picked up on a couple of banned words in the Galifreyan language.

"I absolutely I do not...swear." The Doctor pretty much knew he was a terrible swearer but felt he had no actual reason to admit to it.

"I told Nardole, you'd be happy to fix a few of the mechanical problems that Hydroflax's body has."

"Like what?"

"Well...the feet for starters. Once you've fixed them, everything else about fixing the robot should be quite a doddle"

"You've got to be joking me." The look of shock and astonishment on The Doctor's face certainly shows what he's thinking at that moment - River's intentionally threw him in at the deep end, with an impossible challenge and he can't talk himself out of it now, otherwise she will outsmart him even better than ever.

"Oh I'm not joking, Sweetie. You clearly need a part-time hobby and this is the best one for you to take on, at least for up to a week. " She means business to a great extent, as well as having her husband's best interests at heart; well at least she thinks so, with one of his hearts.

"Ma'am, these feet do get rather itchy from time to time. They can never keep themselves at a standstill for more than twenty minutes. Ha I guess it seems like, they've still got a mind of their own." Nardole takes a moment to joke about being stuck in a pickle before an unexpected loud burp from him changes the mood. "Oh, I'm sorry about that." He whimpers and tries not to show too much of his embarrassment, while he apologizes to his two friends.

The Doctor feels he's got no substantial good case in arguing against helping out and so he agrees to take on this temporary task because he knew boredom might soon kick in for him; repairing a few wires and parts of a robot body, how hard could it possibly be?

It had taken an extra week or whatever they liked to call it on Darillium, for the Doctor to carry out restoration on the robot's body and to also prevent himself from being constantly stamped on in the process by the unpredictable attitude of the giant red shiny robot.

"There we go. So what do you think? Not too dramatic is it?" The Doctor asks River, who looks extremely impressed and tempted to seduce him at any given moment.

What The Time Lord had done was re-boost the rocket compartments within the back of the robot's feet and secondly he slightly split through the chest area with his sonic screwdriver, to help the likes of Ramone and other headless occupants to breathe.

"Do you have anything to say River or are you going to leave me looking all curious and confused because you should know, I don't do those looks as well as I use to do with my old faces." He could tell how speechless she must have felt, although he hoped she wasn't well and truly speechless because he would just become more bewildered than her.

"Ohh I could kiss you and make it last for a thousand days." She couldn't contain her utter happiness any longer, her comment left a comforting and cheerful impression on him.

"I'll have to check with the stars and see what they think themselves, with regards to your suggestion."

"And exactly what are you expecting the stars to tell you, Darling?"

"That's for me to find out first and for you to know later. I wouldn't want to go and ruin the momentum."

"Oh I'm sure I'll become capable of knowing sooner than you think."

Nardole hadn't seen a couple like The Doctor and Professor Song flirting outrageously with each other. He wonders whether they've forgotten he's still in the room with them. So he makes himself heard. "Ma'am, Doctor. I've got my own suggestion, I want to share with the two of you. I hope you don't mind what I've got to say."

River gasped in surprise, looking at The Doctor, as if to say Why didn't you remind me, we weren't alone?" The loved up couple had proved how incapable they were of losing track of time, whenever they traded flirtatious glances and playful remarks.

"Don't mind me but I'd say you two should be using that room of yours more often and making good use of it." Nardole had only said this because he knew they deserved to make the most of their very long night together, instead of keeping him company.

The Doctor didn't react as quickly on the uptake as River did, who in fact didn't seem to mind Nardole's cheeky observational comments. When The Doctor manages to finally show the capability of fully following other people's conversations.

"I wish we could, although sadly I'm meant to be taking things easy while I'm pregnant." She explains away to her dear friend.

"I have the greatest duty of care...ever Nardole and let me tell you, I'm going to do everything I can to ensure mistakes will not be made on my watch. I did make one mistake once before but frustratingly enough I really can't remember why that was and who it involved, anyway I'm wittering on and on, my apologizes if I'm boring you Nardole "

"Oh not at all Doctor. You can talk as long as you much as you like, as far as I'm concerned."

"Don't encourage him Nardole, once he gets into his stride, there's no knowing what he might say next. If I knew then, I'd be telling you to cover those ears of yours for a good while." River giggles and she playfully punches her husband's shoulder at the same time.

"Ow ow!" He mutters at first before he resorts to light groaning. " River that was really uncalled for." He behaves like she's in the wrong, when in fact it was the other way around.

"Oh stop behaving like a big baby and help me into one of the nearest medical rooms... I think I'm in labour."

"You're...in labour?" The Doctor asks and repeats the question, much to River's annoyance. Although at times she felt snogging him enough, might benefit in snapping him out of his daydreaming, he succeeds in making those words she first used, far more better than her and almost causing her legs to tremble more than they were already doing.

"Yes, you're about to become a father within the next few minutes." She knows she shouldn't find his innocent worked up and enthusiastic behaviour funny

"Oh! Oh...No more waiting, I'm finally gonna become a father." He flaps his arms excitedly and then he suddenly remembers River's still expecting him to take her to the nearest available medical room as soon as possible.

"Darling, in your own time." She proves laughing is the best medicine, even while she's still going through the pain of the early stages of her labour.

"Sorry...sorry.." He apologizes before taking hold of her hand and leading her out quickly. They leave Nardole to literally take the weight off his feet - the robot body almost flattens a row of nearby tables, as it takes up most of the space in the dining room, upon sitting down.

xxxx

"I can't believe you fainted. Is the sight of a birth, really too much for you to take in?" River asked her husband, who was feeling awkward about the way he passed out, while he was holding River's hand and doing his utmost in supporting his wife. "Luckily Carlton's wife here, managed to wake you up with a decent slap."

Carlton is a Caribbean born doctor and a well known explorer or so he claims to be. His wife, Camille, is an experienced nurse. The Doctor believes, her and River might be destined to become good friends, seeing as the two ladies seem to have plenty in common with each other.

"Congratulations Sir... Madam, you have a baby girl." Carlton was soon congratulating them. He shakes The Doctor's hand and pats him on the back. It's a funny moment to witness for the two women in the room, as the Time Lord tried to make a few unsuccessful attempts to understand the truth behind a simple handshake.

Once he did come to a thankful understanding of the meaning of this, The Doctor's focus then returned back to his wife and his daughter. It was reasonable to see how River would obviously need his absolute attention and she would no doubt give him an earache this time around, if he were to get distracted again.

"I'm sorry about the fainting, River. I honestly don't know what came over me. Time Lords were never able to keep themselves on their feet for long. A Time Lord's weakness can be the sight of seeing blood." He reveals, his timing perhaps a little too late and surprising River in the process.

"Talk about bad timing Darling." River couldn't contain her laughter any longer and she just starts laughing delectably out of nowhere. Her laughter leaves a warm fuzzy feeling within The Doctor's body.

"I never quite get things right. Must because of these eyebrows of mine,keep attacking some of my best thoughts. Can you blame me?" He doesn't hold back from owning up and telling her the truth behind why his eyebrows were one of his notorious features.

River was already a natural with her own motherly instincts, well she had Amy to thank for that because of how she had gotten to know her throughout her teenage years and as a young adult, while she and Rory were traveling in the TARDIS with The Doctor. "I can never blame you. Anyway you've got your paternal duties to think about now and we've got a few important decisions to make between each other."

"Like which ones?" He asks her, even though he knows there's likely to be one or two important decisions they would need to make in due course between themselves.

"Well...um...like the two of us, for a start hopefully agreeing with each other on an appropriate name for our daughter." River insists on them taking turns on suggesting a few names. Which shouldn't actually be too difficult, so she thought.

"Names? this should be fun. You'll be better at doing that than me."

"Oh really and why have you suddenly come to this conclusion?"

"Because I called Strax, Drax once and Jenny, Wendy."

"Big deal." His sudden confession to getting names mixed up, didn't seem to bother River whatsoever.

"So you won't mind if I get a few more names mixed up then?"

"Well if you think I'm going to make a song and dance about mixing up names, then I'm very sorry to disappoint you. I've made that same mistake myself once or twice before." In contrast River soon admitted herself to being exactly in the same boat as him.

The Doctor looked surprised to learn of the previous and similar mistakes she had made around people. All is forgotten within a matter of moments, in the view of the fact - he couldn't take his eyes off his beautiful baby girl being cradled by River. "Can I hold her?"

"You don't need to ask." River genuinely adores and admires his attempts at becoming upfront and truthful. Camille a novelist as well as being a nurse, was currently occupying the corner of the room, looked in the direction of where her husband was and silently gestures that they should probably leave The Doctor and River alone in the medical room together - which they unhesitatingly did straight away.

"Nothing wrong with waiting for confirmation." The Doctor isn't afraid to admit he enjoys seeking reassurance, even if he wasn't always in the picture about certain matters.

Before long The Doctor was connecting very well with his daughter, much to River's obvious delight. He didn't have no reason at all to worry himself silly about bonding with his daughter. He's an outright natural, he's embracing her correctly like any new father would do in a heartfelt moment like the one he was having there and then.

"She's amazing River. She's definitely got your eyes and my cheeks...and your nose. One question...well two questions. How long does it take for a baby to laugh and how long would it take for them to say their first word?" God knows how his mind was properly working. Still nothing hadn't changed about him, the fact he's still full of admiration and wonder. Also the many questions he seemingly likes asking her, were becoming quite frankly and amusing to say the least.

"What?" She asks. "Tell me, has time travel played a blinder on you recently? You know before Nardole helped to bring us back together, without even knowing he had helped to do this." She's curious to know why he isn't quite himself; despite the fact he's clearly giving the strong impression, he's looking forward to the prospects of fatherhood.

"Judging from the look you're giving me, I'd say you don't actually know either." He tries not to possibly frustrate River, with his comments.

"So have you got any names in mind? or will the two of us, be opting for a who picks a name of a hat draw instead?" She innocently jokes with him, hoping he might somehow feel encouraged to mull over any potential girls names.

"I don't know. Well the only thing I do know is, I've always had a liking for a few names like Sammy, Peri, Emiiia, Catriona...what do you reckon?" He suggests a couple of good girls names for their newborn daughter.

"Amelia...Emilia...Emilia it is then." River seemed perfectly fine with that certain name, seeing as it was pronounced like her mother's full first name but spelled differently.

"Hello Emilia Song." The Doctor says as he speaks to and interacts with his daughter for the first time, who wiggles her tiny toes around. He was even resorting to pulling funny faces and the baby wasn't afraid of them at all.

"You do know, your eyebrows are probably what's making Emiilia chuckle." River quips, while she's paying close attention to what was happening right in front of her. The Doctor behaving rather normal and not making any kind of fuss whatsoever, as he's protectively holding Emilia in his arms.

"You picked Emilia because you still miss your mother, don't you?" It wasn't too challenging to acknowledge how River must be feeling, knowing Amy and Rory weren't there with them, to meet their granddaughter.

"Of course I do. I tried to set co-ordinates on my

"Yes I do." She responds, with profound sadness.

"If it helps, I miss her too. Rory, who knows what he would think of my face. I guess if he was here now, he would think I'm a rubbish liar and that I've done something terrible to my former self." The Doctor does his finest to raise her spirits and to put a well deserved smile on her face.

"Plus my father would probably go as far as punching you too." River teases him, what the consequences were likely to have happened, if Rory and Amy were still around.

"Believe me, I've already found myself on the receiving end of one of Rory's punches, which certainly taught me a lesson in, how not to anger Rory Williams by winding him up about his love life." The Doctor tells her.

"Yes he told me about that one, can't say I was surprised once I heard every detail." She gladly found the funnier side of their latest conversation.

"Okay...okay no need to embarrass me even more, especially in front of Emilia. God knows what she's heard us talking about." His look of awkwardness is particularly hilarious to observe because his eyes were huger than normal and his cheeks were almost the same color as his maroon silky coat. River studies her husband's body language further before she soon expresses her thoughts on how she's having an enjoyable liking for his embarrassment.

"I never expected you to get embarrassed so quickly. Well the next few years are certainly well and truly going to be fascinating." She teases him tantalizingly, much to the secret enjoyment he was holding onto within him.

"Yes they are. Just promise me you won't get carried away with making the most of time here, by launching yourself at me every five minutes because it's likely that would add up to about a billion times in total, if you keep count of how many times you end up doing this." The Doctor doesn't mind the attention she gives him, however he didn't want it to happen too often.

"We'll see." She stays somewhat mute and tight-lipped on what ideas she has in mind for the two of them and for what type of nursery room, she would like for Emilia.

End of Chapter

All Reviews are welcome

The next chapter will include a few years jump, half way through it. Charting The Doctor and River's desire for a one-off family adventure together.