A/N: Welcome back to a brand-new chapter! This one has a mega plot twist that you might recognize from series 6. I hope you enjoy!

Also, do you recognize the quote in the chapter title? What could that mean in this story? Read on and find out :)

Chapter 5: Once was a Joy; Twice is a Privilege

A few hours later, and after much persuasion, River returned to her parents' house, anxious to tell them about their Deviant granddaughter. Of course, the Doctor was against the idea of River leaving the TARDIS after this reveal, but River wasn't interested in arguing about it further and practically forced him to agree to let her go for at least the same amount of time as the last time she visited.

"Mels!" her mother exclaimed happily once she answered the door to her heavily pregnant daughter. "You're back so soon! You were just here, like, a week ago!"

"Wow! Has it really been a week since the last time I visited?" she chuckled with surprise as she hugged her mother. "It doesn't feel like it's only been a week. I've been gone much longer than that." It had been six months since she'd last seen her parents, maybe longer.

"I can tell," Amy nodded as she observed her daughter's perfectly round and very prominent bump. "I have to say you're looking like you're ready to pop any second."

"A lot has happened since the last time I was here," River shrugged. "I don't even know where to start. Don't worry; it's all totally spoiler-free."

"In that case, you'll have to tell me everything. Anyway, come on in; make yourself comfortable." Amy beckoned for her daughter to enter the house, and she obliged, immediately going into the Living Room. "I'll make us some tea," Amy offered as she entered the kitchen.

"That would be lovely, thank you," River replied as she settled on the sofa again, being mindful of her bloated belly by placing pillows around it as if that would make the baby more comfortable.

"How long have you got left?" Amy asked her daughter a few minutes later as she returned to the Living Room with cups of freshly brewed tea, handing one carefully to River.

"About a month-and-a-half left, the Doctor reckons," River replied as she blew on her tea to cool it, "and based on how I'm feeling now, I have to agree." At this, she rubbed her belly in seeming pain, feeling a little uncomfortable when she felt a rough kick from the baby. While attempting to ignore the pain, she looked around and frowned. "Where's my dear old father? Upstairs napping, I assume." To her, the house seemed a bit too quiet without Rory.

"Actually, he's at work," Amy sighed sadly as she settled in Rory's La-Z-Boy recliner. "He was called in to aid for an emergency surgery a few hours ago, so he won't be home for a while, sadly. Very unfortunate to be working on his supposed day off, but you know him; saving one's life is much more important than lazing about the house, doing Sudoku puzzles all day long."

"Yup, that's my father, alright," River chuckled in response as she took a sip of her tea. "That is very unfortunate. I was looking forward to seeing the look on his face when I tell him he'll soon have a granddaughter. Guess I'll have to wait another time. Bless."

Amy was surprised at this. "Oh, you're having a girl? That's so amazing, Mels! I'm so happy for you!"

"Yes, we're having a girl," River smiled back. "The Doctor is very excited about that, as am I. We just found out the child's gender not too long ago." She paused, thinking about sharing the story of her husband's slip-up in New York about the baby's gender, but she decided against it, thinking it would be too big of a spoiler for her mother, since it occurred not long after her and Rory's death when they were snatched by the Weeping Angels. Instead, she said, "Granted, we also found out something highly unusual with our daughter's DNA."

"Oh," Amy said in a slightly nervous tone, noticing River's concerned tone. "Go on."

"It's not anything life-threatening, per se," River assured her mother. "At least…we don't think it is as of right now; though it may be when she's older."

"Okay…" her mother nodded, still seeming confused.

River sighed, deciding to explain. "The Doctor told me this really disturbing story of exceedingly powerful Time Lords—even more powerful than himself—called Deviants. They were known to possess advanced powers far beyond a normal Time Lord's comprehension. Some of these 'extra powers' included very high-level telepathic abilities and the possibility of the total number of Regenerations exceeding the standard limit of twelve. The one thing that disturbed me the most was the event he shared with me that he remembered as a kid. One day, after so many Deviants were discovered, they were captured and executed on live television planet-wide. The Doctor was just a child when he was forced to watch this thing. Not long after the event, he said he had nightmares about it for weeks, fearing he'd end up like one of them and be discovered during Time Lord Initiation—of course, this didn't happen, thank goodness, or he wouldn't be alive. A few of his old friends turned out to be Deviant, and not long after he found out, they were never seen nor heard from again."

"Oh my god…" Amy said, shocked. "So there was a mass execution, and the Doctor was forced to watch it as a kid?"

River nodded grimly. "Yes. The entire planet was forced to watch this thing. Not long after the Deviants were first discovered, people feared them, not knowing how powerful they truly were, so the government put a law in place to turn in any and all Deviants to have them mercilessly experimented on or executed. The Doctor lived under this law for the rest of his time on Gallifrey before he ran away, watching his Deviant friends and family members disappear or be slaughtered mercilessly on the streets."

"Blimey! Were the Deviants really that dangerous?"

River shrugged. "I don't know. The Doctor didn't believe that was true, but it didn't matter since it was the law. Even those who disobeyed the law would be executed as punishment as well."

"Damn, that's horrible! I feel so bad for him having to see all of that. No wonder he left home and never wanted to come back. I would do the exact same thing if I found out our society was like that; not that it is. I have to ask, what does this have to do with my unborn granddaughter—your daughter? Is she Deviant?"

"Actually, yes. The Doctor saw it in her DNA; if her third Regeneration strand is super bright, that's a sign. He even said I had that in my DNA as well."

"So that makes you Deviant as well?"

River shrugged again. "I suppose so."

"How does it feel?" Amy asked curiously. "To be Deviant, I mean, if that is what you are. Do you feel…I dunno…different somehow; like, different than normal?"

"Not at all," River said, shaking her head and pursing her lips. "I'm in a lot more pain than usual, but that's just from being pregnant. Other than that, I don't feel anything, no." At that moment, she winced as she felt another kick from the baby.

"What about enhanced telepathic abilities, or other complicated Time Lord stuff?"

"Not that I know of. At least, none that I have anymore. You remember, I gave up my Time Lord essence to the Doctor when I saved him from the Judas Tree poison's effects. Even if I did have enhanced telepathic abilities or extra Regenerations, I don't have them anymore; I gave them all up to bring my husband back to life."

Amy nodded. "Right, but say you did still have those abilities, how do you think that would feel?"

"I honestly don't know," River sighed in reply. "I guess I'll ask my daughter when she's older."

"I have to ask now…" Amy said while leaning forward and setting her empty teacup aside. "Considering how dangerous Deviants were back in the day—if they were truly that dangerous—what do you think will happen to your daughter when she's older? The last time you visited, you said something about not yet coming to a decision as to what you'd do if the Silence, or some other enemy, found out about your child's existence. Have you guys talked about it recently, now that this has come up?"

"Actually, we did," River nodded, "not long after we found out about her 'Deviancy,' as we have started to call it. We came up with a couple of ideas, mostly of the safest places where she would be raised. The TARDIS seemed like the most logical option to me, but the Doctor said the Silence have snuck on board the TARDIS before without him knowing, nor without you knowing, since you were travelling with him at the time. This was back when the TARDIS exploded, which caused all of the cracks in Time."

Amy nodded. "Oh yeah, I kinda remember that. Back then, I remembered seeing things at the corners of my eyes all the time while I was in the TARDIS, but whenever I'd look properly there would be no one there. Also, a lot of times I felt like I was being watched, but again, when I'd look there would be no one there. For a long time I thought I was going crazy. I never told the Doctor about it though, thinking he'd think I'm crazy."

"You weren't going crazy," River confirmed. "You were seeing the Silence; not that you'd remember truly seeing them. Anyway, since they snuck on board before, who's to say they could do it again with our daughter on board? They could snatch her from right under our very noses, and we wouldn't even notice; all we would know is that one second she's there and the next she's gone without a trace. After a little more thought, I didn't want to risk that happening either."

"What if Rory and I raised her?" Amy suggested. "Sure, we'd technically be raising our granddaughter, but what difference would it really make, since we're all family? I mean, plenty of people are raised by their grandparents. We could raise her just fine, especially since we didn't exactly get a chance to raise you after everything at Demons Run."

"Well, you did get to raise me as your best friend," River corrected. "Granted, you didn't know I was your daughter until we were much older. I was, I guess you could say, 'orphaned' at the time, so in a way you and Rory sort of 'adopted' me and became like my parents when we became friends. In reality, you were my parents, but you didn't know that at the time."

"Yeah, but that's not the same thing," her mother shrugged sadly.

"I understand," River nodded, knowing Amy would've rather raised River as a normal daughter than as her best friend. "Anyway, I did suggest that as well, but unfortunately the Doctor flushed that down the toilet as well. He said that since by now the Silence know how close you are with him, if you were to raise our daughter and if they found out about her and went looking for her, this would be the first place they'll look. Plus, both of you are not always home—with Rory often being called into the hospital, and you going out on location for photoshoots and interviews and such—and our daughter would require extra protection possibly 24/7."

"So I'll quit my job," Amy shrugged again. "Be a stay-at-home mum—rather, grandmum—like I should've been all along."

River shook her head, saying, "That's not going to matter if the Silence invade your house and steal our child away without you knowing because they've made you forget them ever showing up in the first place. By now, the Silence are much cleverer and stronger than we've ever known. We can't take any chances."

At this point, River tried to remember when she last encountered the Silence, but, unsurprisingly, she ended up failing. Despite that, she figured it must've been a while back; therefore the Silence have spent much time since then, growing their numbers, skills, and new attempts on her husband's life as well as her own. If they brought her baby in on all of that… No, she didn't want to think about that.

Amy frowned, evidently confused. "So, if Rory and I can't raise her, and it's possible that the TARDIS isn't safe enough either, then where is our granddaughter going to be raised? Personally, I can't think of anywhere safer than the TARDIS."

"I agree," River nodded, "but as I said, the Silence have snuck on board before against anyone's knowledge, even the Doctor's, and they may still be on board for all we know. We can't take any chances. They can't know. Nobody can know about our child's existence. We've had several close calls alre—"

The mother and daughter paused at the sudden and loud crash that came from the kitchen.

"What was that?" River asked, turning to face the direction of the kitchen, but she couldn't see inside with the door slightly closed. She set her empty teacup aside and wrapped her other hand around her gun that was hidden in her holster at her hip.

"I don't know," Amy said as she slowly lifted herself from the recliner and began tiptoeing quietly toward the door. "Let me check."

"No, Mum, I should go check," River volunteered as she took out her gun fully from her holster. "I have a gun." She even charged it for good measure in hopes of the sound scaring off the intruder.

"It's alright, Mels," Amy shook her head, declining. "It was probably just the AC knocking something over, or maybe it was nothing. Either way, it can't hurt to check. You stay there on the sofa; protect your baby."

"Be careful, Mother," River said, failing to fight back her fear (another irritating side effect from being pregnant) as she watched Amy slowly push open the kitchen door. "If it ends up being anything else, get out of there."

"I'll be alright," Amy assured as she entered the kitchen. "I'll only be two seconds." After a short pause, she said, "Yeah, see, it wasn't anything to worry about; it was just—oh, blimey!" She screamed when she was suddenly startled by something in the room that River couldn't see from her position on the couch.

"Mum?" River frowned as she struggled to stand up due to her condition, gripping her gun tightly. "What is it?"

"Who are you?" she heard her mother scream at the apparent intruder. "What're you doing in my house? You better get the hell outta here before I—argh!" She immediately heard her mother scream in pain, followed by silence (pun intended, or possibly not intended, River didn't know).

"Amy?" River called to her mother, fearing that her theory may have, indeed, been correct. "Are you alright?" Once she was finally able to stand up, she rushed into the kitchen after her mother, all the while holding her gun out in front of her, ready to shoot at a moment's notice, and saying, "What happened? I heard you scream. What did you f—"

River's mind suddenly went blank, and the next thing she knew, she was laying back on the sofa with blurred vision and a painful migraine. She could hear yelling all around her from her parents as well as her husband, whom she didn't remember showing up at any time during her visit. In fact, she was having trouble remembering anything since she woke up, at least anything from after having entered the kitchen after hearing her mother's cry of pain, like she was attacked by something…or someone. What the hell happened in there? She thought to herself as the arguing intensified.

"It was your job to protect my daughter—protect River!" her husband was yelling at Amy. "You were never supposed to leave her alone, and because you did, even just for one second, that put her in danger!"

"Doctor, I'm so sorry!" Amy sobbed uncontrollably in Rory's chest. "I really am! I am so sorry!"

"If you stayed by River's side, this wouldn't have happened! I trusted you to protect her, and you failed! I should never have let her come here! And now they know! You've put our entire family in danger because of your stupidity!"

"I'm sorry! I was just trying to help! I didn't know what would happen! I don't remember!"

"Exactly! They were here! They took advantage of you by deleting your memory of them! Who knows what they've done to you! To River! To my daughter! I am disgusted that you let this happen! I thought I taught you better, but clearly I was wrong!"

This was the last straw for Rory, because he stepped forward and pushed the Doctor away, shouting, "Doctor, back off! It wasn't Amy's fault!"

"How would you know?" the Doctor snapped back at him. "You weren't even here! You only just showed up!"

"Yeah, coz I wasn't going to allow an innocent person to die!" Rory argued. "And, news flash, he survived because of me! ! They needed me for that surgery, Doctor; that poor young man needed me! They couldn't find anyone else!"

"But River needed you more! If you hadn't left, you both would've been able to protect her together! You left Amy by herself with no one else to help her!"

"Oh, so now it's my fault, is it? We're not the only people that live on this planet, Doctor; there are other people that live here too, you know! That young man's life was much more important to save at the time! River, on the other hand, wasn't dying; he was!"

"But she could've died! She almost died! If neither of you were home, she definitely would've!"

"But she didn't, and neither did our grandchild! Is that not enough? Or is your anger blinding you too much to see it?"

"Mum?" River decided to speak up at this time, hoping to ease the tension between her loved ones. "Dad? Sweetie?"

"River!" the Doctor cried in relief, immediately rushing to her side.

"Mels!" Amy cried with equal relief that her daughter and granddaughter were okay…at least for now.

"What's going on?" River asked as she slowly sat up with her husband's aid. "What happened?" She then said to Amy, "I remember you entering the kitchen, and I heard you scream; then when I entered after you, everything went blank and I ended up back here on the sofa. What happened while we were in there?"

"I don't remember," her mother said, shaking her head. "But I think…" She suddenly paused, seeming afraid to confess what really happened, which skyrocketed River's fears to their peak.

"What?" River asked, concerned at her mother's silence (again, whether that pun was intended or not, she didn't know). "Tell me." She immediately placed an equally concerned hand over her belly, fearing that something terrible happened to both of them as well as their unborn family member.

After a minute, Amy finally decided to explain, albeit reluctantly, "I think the S—"

"I think it's time you returned to the TARDIS, River," the Doctor interrupted her in a pointed tone, clearly against his mother-in-law's decision to tell the truth. "It's no longer safe for you here or anywhere outside of the TARDIS."

River frowned at this. "Why? What aren't you tell—"

"Don't ask questions, River," her husband interrupted again. "Just do as you are told."

"Doctor—" she attempted to protest once more.

"Go, River! TARDIS! Now!"

River flinched, suddenly taken aback by her husband's outburst. Not wishing to argue (she knew better than to argue when the Doctor was in his 'Oncoming Storm' mindset), she got up from the couch and approached her parents.

"It's okay, Mels," Amy said as she gathered her daughter in a gentle hug. "We'll be alright. We'll see each other again soon. Go with him."

"I'm sorry, River," Rory said, hugging her as well. "I should've been here for you."

"It's okay, Dad," River assured him. "You saved a young man's life today; that's what counts. I'll be alright. I will see you guys again, hopefully with our new member of the family."

"That would be brilliant," Amy smiled as she released her daughter.

"Go on, River," Rory said as he rubbed her back and beckoned her toward the TARDIS, which was parked directly on the other side of the entry door of the house. "Don't worry about us."

"See you guys soon," River promised as she tearfully left the Doctor with her parents as she reentered the safety of the TARDIS, trying and failing to calm her nerves. She sat on the chair next to the center console, nervously and anxiously waiting for her husband to return.

While she waited, she battled against the negative thoughts running through her head. For some odd reason, a large part of her worried that her husband was banning her parents from ever seeing her again, but she shoved that to the back of her mind, not believing that to be true for one second; why the hell would it? She thought to herself. At the same time, she wondered if perhaps the Doctor had managed to catch the culprit that attacked her and her mother, though whether he caught the culprit physically or simply in the act, she didn't know. If this was true, she feared what he would say if she asked him about it. Worst case scenario, the Silence were, indeed, involved.

This thought made River fear even more for her child's safety and even began to worry that she may not spend the time she longed to spend with her child. In other words, perhaps they would have to give their child up for adoption, after all; regretfully, this was something that she didn't get around to telling Amy during her visit. When it was first discussed between she and her husband before revisiting her parents, she was very against the idea when her husband first suggested it. He believed that giving their daughter up to another family—one that had no affiliation with him whatsoever—would be the only way to ensure that she would never be discovered by his enemies, especially the Silence, and of course River was against this idea, since it would also mean that she would never see her daughter again; she would never have the privilege to be a proper mother, unlike her parents. Ever since that conversation, she prayed they would never have to make that particular decision, but after what's happened at her parents' house—whatever it was that happened there that she couldn't, for the life of her, remember at all—they may have to make that decision anyway, whether they want to or not.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her husband finally returned to the TARDIS a few minutes later; however, he still appeared to be seething in anger but was trying to keep his cool, nonetheless. River wondered if he had truly caught the culprit but was obviously refusing to say anything about it.

Either way, she couldn't help but ask anyway. "Doctor?" She paused for a few seconds, hoping he'd respond, but he didn't right away, too busy setting the TARDIS to fly, so she spoke again. "Sweetie?" This time, she began asking a question that had been eating at her since she returned to the time-machine. "What—"

"River, I need you to promise me something," he interrupted her in an urgent tone, refusing to look up from the console, despite having finished piloting the Old Girl seconds ago.

"Sure, sweetie," his wife said nervously as she rose from the chair and slowly walked toward him. "Anything."

Once she reached him, he turned to her fully and gripped her upper arms firmly. "I need you to promise that you will never leave the TARDIS until our daughter is born. Do you understand?" he said, still in that deep, urgent tone.

"Uh…of course," she scoffed with confusion. "What's going on, Doc—"

"River, I asked you not to ask questions," he snapped back at her. "I just need you to promise me this one thing. Nothing more. Please. This is very important. Nothing is more important to me right now than my daughter's and your safety. Promise me!"

"Okay!" she replied in a slightly irked tone. "I said I would! You need to calm down."

"That's not exactly possible right now, River," he sighed with a slight groan. "You don't realize how much danger you were in earlier. You could've been killed. Our daughter could've been killed! You should never have left the TARDIS in the first place! No doubt they now know of her existence!" The more he spoke, the angrier he became.

"Sweetie, it wasn't your fault," River said in a calming voice that was forced, trying to calm her husband as well as herself at the same time. "I insisted on going back."

"But I let you go!" he argued back. "I should never have done that! I should've forced you to stay in the TARDIS; then none of that would've happened!"

"So you're going to keep me from visiting my parents ever again?" River frowned, automatically thinking he was truly planning to ban her from seeing her parents—at least until the baby was born—based on what he said.

The Doctor frowned back. "No, I never said that! You can still visit them, but rather than visit them, they can come visit you here in the TARDIS. I never said I'd keep you from them; I would never do that!"

"Okay, okay. Relax," River soothed while rubbing her husband's back as he rubbed his eyes in irritation. "Take a deep breath. You're okay. We're okay—me and the baby." Then again, maybe not, as the Silence may have truly attacked the house while she was visiting. Perhaps they were after the baby, but to do what to the baby, River didn't want to know.

"Actually, the baby is okay," the Doctor confirmed, sensing his wife's fear. "Rory checked yours and the baby's vitals, and you're perfectly healthy."

At the time this was said, River couldn't help but feel like the Doctor was lying (Rule One: The Doctor lies), but she automatically put that to the back of her mind. Instead, she sighed and said, "Oh, good. So I guess that means we can rest easy?"

Her husband shrugged with uncertainty. "I wouldn't really say that, but sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

At that very moment, River felt herself failing to stifle back a yawn. "Speaking of 'sleep,'" she said through the yawn, "I'm feeling a little tired now; or maybe it's the baby who's tired. I'm going to take a little nap. Care to join me?"

"In a little bit," the Doctor replied. "I would like some time to think…alone."

"You and I both know that's not always a good idea," his wife said, highly disagreeing. From past experience, whenever he said something along those lines—especially when he was in his current state—it often meant he was planning to do something stupid. She sincerely hoped that wasn't the case.

"I know, but I want to…" the Doctor said, still seeming uncertain. "Just for a bit. It's nothing to worry about."

River still wasn't sure this was an honest answer, but she decided to accept it anyway, feeling too tired to argue any further. "Okay, sweetie. Come join me when you're ready." She began ascending the stairs to the side hallway that led to the Doctor's bedroom.

Meanwhile, from the Doctor's point of view, the moment River left his side, he telepathically instructed the TARDIS to scan River's body, and by this point it was close to finishing its scan as he replied, "I will." However, once he finished speaking, the scanner finished, and he impulsively gasped at the highly disturbing results. "River!"

"Yes, sweetie?" she paused, frowning down at him from the top of the stairs, puzzled at his sudden freak-out.

He couldn't believe it! It happened again, this time to River! The exact thing that happened to Amy when he scanned her after she claimed to be pregnant but then kept changing her mind—the same results were showing on the screen. He automatically knew what that meant:

River Song wasn't River Song; at least, the woman standing at the top of the stairs wasn't the real River Song. She was a Flesh avatar!

Instead of revealing this, the Doctor shook his head at her, forced an innocent smile, and said in as calm a voice as he could muster, "I love you."

River frowned in confusion at this but thankfully didn't think much of it as she smiled back, thinking it to simply be nerves playing up after their rough day, "I love you too. Don't be too long."

"I won't," he said honestly, shaking his head again. "I'll be up shortly." At this, River left down the hall without another word.

The instant River was out of earshot, the Doctor seethed, slamming his fist on the side of the console and sending sparks flying, not caring one bit about what kind of damage it caused to his hand. Ignoring the pain, he continued to rage on, instructing the TARDIS to do the scan a couple more times, only for the same results to come up on the screen, which seemed to anger him more.

He couldn't believe the Silence tricked him again, right from under his nose, and in exactly the same way as last time. That was what happened in that kitchen—the Silence attacked and swopped River's body out for a Flesh one, and now they have his real wife's body and are taking her and his unborn daughter to who-knows-where or even when, and it was all his fault! Now more than ever, he regretted his decision to allow River to visit her parents, as he could've prevented this if he had kept her aboard. But now, it was too late.

To prevent any further issues in the family, the Doctor decided to keep this discovery a secret from everyone, at least until he figured out where his real wife's pregnant body was being kept. Once he found out River's true location, he was going to plan his revenge. He planned to get back at the Silence once and for all. They've fooled him for the last time, and he would make them pay royally for it in death, and if he died along with them, then so be it. As foretold in the prophecy, it was time for Silence to fall.

A/N: TO BE CONTINUED!

For anyone confused as to the Doctor's so-called "slip-up in New York" mentioned in this chapter, I have added a new minor detail to Chapter 2 that will be important in the series that is a minor reference to "The Angels Take Manhattan", so go check that out so you don't miss anything and to resolve any confusions. :)

As always, friendly reminder that kudos, comments, and favs are appreciated and will keep me motivated to post more often. I see that many of you are reading my works but not subscribing, favoriting, or commenting on them. I always encourage feedback from my readers and enjoy reading about my readers' favorite moments. I'm sure everyone has at least one favorite moment. Please, please, please share them! I would love to talk about them.

Also, friendly reminder that I tend to have a major habit of rewriting things, so be sure to check back every once in a while (maybe even reread the previous chapter or chapters) to keep up to date on any changes I may make or add.