A/N: Thank you to everyone who has followed, favourited and commented on this story. Views on my chapters are finally showing up again! Five months it's been!

—

New York, 1938

It's 3rd of April 1938 and Kathy stands at the entryway of an apartment in downtown New York, shrugging on her coat and collecting her umbrella.

"I'll be back tomorrow, Mrs Reading. Eight o'clock alright?" Kathy calls.

An older woman who's in her 80s emerges from around the corner into the little hallway, her feet shuffling along the carpet. Her body heavily relies on the walking frame that she clings to.

The woman gives her a warm smile. "I told you to call me Oswald, Kathy."

Kathy smiles at her tightly, her heart breaking at the sight of the woman. Yes, she had gone and found another echo of Clara's though this was accidental but she couldn't help but stick around. As far as she's aware, this Clara hasn't met the Doctor.

"I wish you'd listen to my advice and move into a ground floor apartment or a home, Oswald."

Oswald kisses her teeth, tutting. "I told you, Kathy. I'm not moving. You go now."

With one last goodbye, Kathy steps out into the cold dark night to make her way home.

She's walking along to her flat and freezes when she sees herself along with the Doctor, River, Amy and an unknown woman with light brown hair like Kathy's spring out of a building. She stands there in shock as the Doctor, River, Amy and the unknown woman (who is that?) clamber inside the car but Kathy (future) pauses for a moment and looks up straight at current Kathy. Her blue eyes twinkle as she flashes a wink at Kathy (current) before climbing into the car along with the others, who had been yelling for her to hurry up and get into the car with them – Amy in particular which, considering that her husband has been taken by the angels, is understandable.

Once future her is inside, the car is speeding off to Winter Quay. Probably before future her had even had the chance to secure her seatbelt and while Kathy knows an accident wouldn't kill her considering she's got the power to heal herself, the inconvenience of it is not fun.

Current Kathy gapes after them before she turns her gawping towards the building they had emerged from. She had been looking down that she hadn't realised she's outside Julius Grayle's home, who's an art collector and mob boss and some of his collected artefacts include Weeping Angels.

She kind of wants to slap herself on the forehead. This is the year that Amy and Rory are sent into the past by a weeping angel to and from when they'll live out the rest of their lives never seeing the Doctor again. How had she not realised this? She blames it on being too focused on the Clara echo she'd found. Though finding the echo should have been a clue as Clara is split throughout the Doctor's timeline, why wouldn't the Doctor be nearby if she is?

She freezes when a thought goes across her mind. Julius Grayle had also kept his door very securely locked for a reason. Her gaze turns to the Weeping Angels that had been standing outside the building in the form of a woman and a child. Kathy panics when she realises they're in mid-moving towards the open door. Kathy decides she should leave before she gets involved. This is her future, she can't get involved but she can wait until Rory and Amy are sent back the final time and step in then.

—

Amy gasps awake, quickly sitting up to look around frantically. "Rory? Rory!"

She realises she's still in the graveyard that she had been in when Rory got taken and Amy made her choice, a choice she believed and that was to follow her husband but now she can't see him.

Suddenly, a hand is touching her arm gently. Amy startles and yanks back but relaxes once she realises it's Kathy.

"He's fine." The part Time Lord, part Human and part Apalapucian tries to reassure her.

"Kathy, how are you here? Where's the Doctor? What about Ivy—"

She cuts herself off when she realises something. This Kathy looks different to the one she was just with, her clothing being an obvious factor. She looks like she blends in more with 1930s New York more than the Kathy Amy had just been with. The one who had promised her that she was making the right decision. Also, her eyes somehow look younger.

"Who's Ivy?" Kathy questions frowning. "Is she the girl you were with? Who was that?"

"Uh…" Amy really should be better at this after all this time of knowing Kathy and the Doctor. How does she get out of this without spilling any spoilers? "Spoilers."

Kathy pulls a disgruntled look that Amy would normally laugh at if it wasn't for the fact that she doesn't know where Rory is.

"Urgh, I hate that River taught you that."

"Actually, you did."

Kathy blinks. "Oh yeah, maybe I did."

"AMY?!"

Rory rounds the monuments at high speed, careering towards her. Amy catches him as she keeps towards her husband.

—

Kathy opens the door to her flat, and shuffles in the tired and emotionally drained Ponds.

"You're lucky that I have a spare room and Carlyle isn't visiting." Kathy says to break the silence they've all been wrapped in on the walk over.

"Thank you, Kathy." Rory manages a small smile as he and Amy take off their shoes at the entrance.

Amy's silent, after her initial panic and then relief at finding Rory, the redhead had shut down, going into a state of shock and Kathy doesn't blame her. While she's sure that this is the right decision, Amy has to process the fact that she won't ever see the Doctor or their families again.

"Erm, yes, anyway, the room is the second door on your left as you go up the stairs," she gestures towards the stairs as they walk through the hallway, "bathroom is across the hall so please feel free to use that. There's clothes in the wardrobe for both of you though they probably won't fit you, uh, we can go shopping soon to get you some and, um—"

"Thank you, Kathy, again. Uh, we're tired so we'll just go to bed." Rory says apologetically.

Yeah, she had been rambling.

"Of course."

Rory and Amy go upstairs while Kathy stays downstairs and decides she could make them some sandwiches maybe and leave it for them to eat when they want to. When she brings it upstairs, Amy, towel wrapped around her head, murmurs a quick thank you before she retreats into the bedroom once more with Rory and Kathy goes back downstairs to cook her own food.

She's happy to see them as the last time she saw them was in Hollywood earlier in the decade where they were all confronted with the Rock Quaser films, Rick "Crusty" Cobbe and slugs and it all ending with Rory having a starring role in the last serial. It's strange to think that there are still so many adventures with Amy and Rory that she still hasn't done (on TV and off) and to think she's now seen them at the end of it all.

One last thought in her mind before she goes to sleep that night is the thought that ever since she was little, she had always wanted to call one of her children, if they were a girl, Ivy.

—

After their arrival, Kathy continues to happily support the Ponds while they set up and adapt to their new life in 1930s New York. Amy especially struggles at first, hardly going out. Kathy tries little things at first, such as going to the shops for some milk or bread but then Kathy begins to encourage Amy to help her out with looking after Oswald, Clara's echo, when Kathy gets too busy. Carlyle and Ashildr turn up briefly and pull her and Rory out with them on a double date. Carlyle tells Kathy afterwards that Ashildr held back on her scathing remarks about the Doctor.

Two months into Amy and Rory's stay, there's a knock on Kathy's door. Immediately she knows it can't be Carlyle as she would have sensed it, Ashildr doesn't normally come without him and if she did, she would send a message ahead, Jack is in Cardiff and Amy and Rory have been scooping out job vacancies to start getting them on their own two feet – despite Kathy's insistence that they don't need to rush – wouldn't have returned yet so who could it be?

She opens the door and finds—

"River?"

"Hey, honey."

River is smiling hesitantly, her arms are flexing at her sides as if she's trying to hold back. Kathy realises that she must be waiting to see what Kathy will do first. She can only imagine how it must be for River. This is only the third time Kathy has met her but River's probably met her multiple times. It must hurt.

Kathy quickly smiles to show that she's happy to see her, because she is, and pulls River into a tight hug. River relaxes into it, holding her tightly and letting out a heavy sigh as she tucks her head into the gap between Kathy's neck and shoulder.

—

"Carlyle not here?" River asks as she lounges on the settee in the living room, sipping the tea Kathy had handed her.

"Er, no," Kathy replies as she sorts the cushions on her chair to make it comfortable all while trying to balance her tea in the other hand without spilling, "he and– do you know Ashildr?"

"I do." River answers, that unreadable expression on her face which often appears. Kathy hopes that one day she'll know what it means.

Kathy shakes her head and instead takes a seat, turning to River once again. "Yes, um, they're off doing their own thing. Always seem to these days. Are you close with them?"

"Spoilers." River smirks, casually sipping her tea. Kathy pulls a face. Mother like daughter it would seem. "Don't look so disgruntled, you taught me that."

"I only say it cause you do." Kathy retorts with a laugh and River returns it.

They quieten again and River then brings out her diary, flicking through. "So, when did we last see each other?"

Kathy takes a sip of her tea, taking the chance to think over her answer. Technically the last time she had seen River was at Trenzalore with a River that had been to the library. She's not going to be telling River that.

"Pandorica."

"Ah, early days then." There's a sad smile on her face. Kathy chooses not to acknowledge it for her benefit.

"Knowing you, maybe, not my lifetime. I'm one thousand four hundred eight now." She says.

"Eh, I heard one thousand four hundred eight is the new one hundred." River retorts cheekily.

Kathy laughs, rolling her eyes. "Sure."

The conversation flows easily after that, there's hardly a pause. Kathy is reminded once again how easy it is to be around River, and how they get along so well.

"River?"

Kathy and River look over to the doorway to see River's parents standing there. River is quickly wrapped in her parents' arms. Somehow River looks like a little girl between her parents despite the fact she's physically older than them. Kathy smiles at the sight.

"Hey, mum, dad, I was just visiting– um, Kathy." River gestures towards Kathy, who'd stayed back to not interrupt. There's a look shared between the three of them, which leaves Kathy feeling like an outsider.

She shakes it off, she knows she'll find out one day, and speaks, "Uh, you guys must be hungry. River when was the last time you ate?"

River smiles at her fondly. "I know how to look after myself." She retorts but there's no heat to her voice.

Kathy blushes slightly when she realises that she was mothering a bit which really isn't her place. "Sure you do." She turns to Amy and Rory who seem to be caught in a moment of staring at her and River. "Amy, Rory?"

"Uh, yeah, let's eat." Rory quickly replies shuffling into the kitchen along with Kathy and his wife and daughter.

—

River writes The Angel's Kiss: A Melody Malone Mystery book with Amy writing the afterword to the Doctor. The book's success means that Amy and Rory can find their own place as they settle in but make sure it's nearby. They have dinner once a week at which River stops by often.

As a result of the first book's success River wrote a prequel book, The Angel's Kiss, and likewise gifted the profits to her parents. Rory gets a job at the local hospital as a nurse though Kathy encourages him to one day pursue becoming a doctor if he'd like while Amy takes over Melody Malone's books from River though one day she catches sight of a familiar-looking book called Summer Falls, a favourite of a certain Clara Oswald. Kathy smirks at that.

They'll be alright.

—

A/N: Rewatched Angels Take Manhattan last night 😢