A/N: Well, here it is. The prequel story you have been waiting for is finally being written! I hope you enjoy this story of how Nova Susan Song was conceived and born and what all the Doctor and River Song had to go through.
Also, for those who have already read "The Odd Life of Nova Sue" before I wrote this prequel, this story can be read as Part 0.5 or Part 1.5 of that story, depending on how you look at it.
Also, since I couldn't write a proper summary, here is the original one from AO3:
Not everybody is ready for parenthood, certainly not the Doctor. His wife, River Song, would have thought that her husband would be happy to have the chance of being a father again after many centuries of being alone, and his wife would finally have the chance of being a mother, which was a privilege her parents never had because of the events on Demons Run. When the Doctor starts to sense "abnormalities" with his and his wife's unborn daughter's health, he immediately decides to take action, and scans prove that his child may be more special than he and River had originally thought. When River is kidnapped, the Doctor never expects things to become so personal until that moment. Will he be willing to risk everything, including River Song's life and the lives of his closest friends, to save his daughter and prevent her from suffering the exact same fate as her mother? And if the rescue proves successful, will he be willing to give his daughter up in order to keep her safe from anyone who tries to take advantage of her? These could very well be the greatest and most complicated questions of the Doctor's many lives, and only his fatherly instincts can guide him to make the correct choices.
In this first chapter, there will be references to "Daleks in Manhattan" and "The Angels Take Manhattan."
Chapter 1: Two Dangerous Words
River Song, otherwise known as Melody Pond, was nervous. Nervous about seeing her wonderful husband, the Doctor, again, which was very unusual for her. It wasn't that she was nervous about meeting a particular face of his that didn't have a clue who she was (though that was something she often feared and predicted would happen in her near future), but rather she was nervous about how he would react to her present condition. Strangely enough, she was nervous to tell him two words—two of what she thought to be the most dangerous words in the universe:
I'm pregnant.
She'd found out just last week (not long after she'd last seen her husband in Manhattan, New York), when she was cooking for herself in her apartment at Luna University, when she accidentally cut her finger with a knife; and instead of the wound bleeding everywhere, it sparkled with something she never thought she'd see again, at least on herself—regeneration energy. Even long before that, she'd felt incredibly sick and often had to call in a substitute teacher to take over for her during classes, and she began sensing that these weren't normal symptoms of a typical Common Cold or other common illness. These were similar 'symptoms' of a pregnant woman. She'd taken a Pregnancy Test later that same day, which confirmed her suspicions. She was, indeed, pregnant, and she had been for at least a month.
Anxious to tell her husband the good news, she sent him a message via Psychic Paper (saying "Great news, sweetie. Come quickly. XX") and immediately rushed outside to her favorite bench on campus to wait for him.
She'd been sitting there for a few minutes at this point, but now she was beginning to have second thoughts about her decision. There were a million thoughts whirling through her head about what he might think of the news. She figured he'd be excited to have the chance to be a father again after so many centuries, but at the same time he might feel discouraged about the idea of having a child so close to the end of his life. She knew her husband was now completely out of regenerations (as was she, since she gave up the rest of hers to save him in Berlin 1938), and she was under the impression that the Silence, as well as many other enemies of his, had caught on to that fact, hence why they had been targeting him more often than they used to; of course, he wouldn't want their unborn child to be a part of that stuff either, even after birth.
A small part of River now felt regret about sending that message, as, now that she'd thought more about it, she no longer had the courage to tell him, what with knowing how sentimental he was ('the sentimental idiot,' she often called him).
She was just thinking about going back into her apartment when she heard the telltale sign of the TARDIS materializing, and she figured she didn't have a choice but to tell him, now that he'd arrived. Once the TARDIS settled in front of her, she stood up, put on the bravest face she could muster, and entered its impossible vast interior.
"Greetings, my wonderful wife!" the Doctor, dressed in his usual tweed jacket and ridiculous bow tie, exclaimed upon seeing her enter, smiling at her from the other side of the main console at the center of the elevated platform.
"Likewise, my darling Doctor," she chuckled back as she ascended the stairs, using the railing as support (just in case), and sat down on the chair across from the console.
"How is Luna University treating you?" her husband asked curiously as he adjusted a few levers to get the Old Girl travelling again. "You've just started teaching there, didn't you?"
"Oh, I've been teaching there for quite a while," she answered casually, sitting in a certain position and wrapping her blouse further around herself where she wasn't showing her slight baby bump. "Just finished my sixteenth year, and now I'm ready for a long holiday."
"I bet," the Doctor nodded, luckily (to River) not paying any attention to her strange positioning on the chair. "Spending endless weeks grading papers sounds like a major bore."
"It can be at times," she nodded in agreement. "Not like I'm complaining, now that the year is over. Now I can relax and spend more time with you."
Her husband frowned at this. "'Relax?' Never in all of my lives have I ever heard River Song want to 'relax.'" This statement, apparently, made River more nervous to tell him the truth. By a slight stroke of luck, he shrugged, saying, thinking better, "Though, I suppose, after a stressful year, you deserve a long holiday, like you said." He then turned excitedly back to the console. "Where would you like to go to start your holiday?" He suddenly paused again, shaking his head. "Actually, before I suggest anything, I need to ask you—where are we in our timelines? You start."
"Manhattan, New York, 1938," she answered, though she answered in a somewhat sad tone, which the Doctor, luckily, didn't question about.
"Me too," he answered, "though, it was much earlier—November of 1930, to be specific—and I was travelling with another friend at the time, Martha Jones. That was a very long time ago for me; I wore a different face then. Daleks were messing about with the construction of the Empire State Building. Can't say I've been there with you recently."
"Spoilers," she said simply with a shrug, while, at the same time, trying not to think about that event. Her hormone levels were already high due to her pregnancy; the last thing she wanted was to have an emotional breakdown in front of her husband, and especially one whom she couldn't tell the truth to as to why or what happens (like she said, 'spoilers').
"I figured it was," the Doctor nodded in an 'I'm not surprised' tone. "Anyway, now that we know where we are, I'll ask you again. Where would you like to go to start your holiday? There's a brilliant leisure planet I know of, where you can get a decent massage. Or we can go to a place we haven't been in a while—Excelcia, where we had that candlelight dinner at the beach under the stars. Blimey, what a night that was. Or there's—"
"Actually, sweetie," River spoke up, "I think I'd rather start my holiday right here in the TARDIS. I am feeling rather tired today."
The Doctor seemed slightly disappointed at this. "Oh," he said sadly. "Okay. Well, if you're still up for that massage—"
"No, I'm not in the mood for a massage," River shook her head. "I just want you."
"Okay," the Doctor nodded, still seeming surprised that River would rather chill than go adventuring. Not that he didn't like 'chilling' with River, as he very much enjoyed it, as he considered it to be like a short vacation from all the time- and space-travelling. Despite all of that, it was still a strange thing for River Song to be acting in this way.
Deciding to put all strangeness aside for now, he slowly approached his wife and kneeled down beside her, and in turn she wrapped one arm around his torso and the other around his neck and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. They enjoyed the intimate moment for a few minutes before the Doctor pulled away slightly and asked, "Something's different with you, River. Are you feeling alright? You're not acting like your usual self, which worries me. Was it something I did in the future?"
She smiled at him. "No, sweetie, it wasn't you." She then thought better. "Actually, you did do something in the future. Something wonderful." She couldn't think of anything more wonderful than being impregnated by the one and only man she loved more than anything in the entire universe.
"Oh!" he said, his eyes widening in genuine surprise. "That's good…I think. I would like to know what it is, but since it's something in my future, it's probably best to not tell me. Spoilers and all."
To Hell with spoilers right now, River thought before saying out loud, "No, I would actually make this spoiler an exception. But only this one."
"Brilliant!" the Doctor smiled excitedly. "What is it? Tell me."
"I'm—" she started, but then she stopped, suddenly having second thoughts. She shook her head apologetically and said, staring sadly at the floor, "No, I'm sorry, my love. I can't tell you. Spoilers."
"Come on, River," the Doctor sighed, clearly hating to be left on tenterhooks. "It can't be that difficult. Please, just tell me. I'm a big boy, I can handle it."
"That's the problem," his wife replied nervously, refusing to look at him. "I don't think you will, at least not well."
"Try me," the Doctor shrugged in a careless manner. "Twelve-hundred years of Time and Space, I've seen worse things than you can imagine. Go on, tell me."
There was no turning back now; she just had to do it. "Alright," she sighed while struggling to swallow a tight knot that had formed in the back of her throat.
After a long minute, she finally looked up at her husband and placed a soothing hand on his cheek, staring straight into his eyes, straight into his soul.
"Sweetie… I'm pregnant."
TO BE CONTINUED!
By the way, you don't necessarily have to have read "The Odd Life of Nova Sue" first, though there will be references to that story throughout this one. Even if you read this story first and don't understand the references, that is perfectly okay, as you will read Part 1 later anyway.
I will hopefully update a new chapter soon (of both stories). :)
