Fic: Just Another Beautiful Day in Cardiff
Title: Just Another Beautiful Day in Cardiff
Disclaimer: The kids belong to myself, and Dettiot. Everything else is the Beeb’s.
Pairings: Ten/Rose
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Spoilers for Silence in the Library/Forest of the Damned.
Summary: "I don't know who I feel worse for. Her, being lied to, and made to think there's something between the two of you...or you, having to pretend, knowing what's going to happen..."
under the cut
It was a beautiful day in Cardiff, and River Song was under the impression that this didn't happen all that often. She stood in a small neighborhood, gazing at a cozy-looking brick house. In front of it, under a tree that was in full bloom were three children and a man.
The children were of very different ages. The oldest was a dark haired boy, the spitting image of his father, but a little more solid; less skinny. He looked around thirteen, and was hanging upside down from the branch of a tree in the front yard. Lying on the ground below him was a blond boy of around nine. He was skinny like his father, but his features were different. His smile was big and bright. The youngest of the three children looked to be at most four years old. She was the only girl, and had red, wavy hair. She was tiny, and sitting next to the blond boy, looking up at the brunette in the tree.
Against the tree, looking seemingly no older than he had the day they met was the man, the Doctor. He was holding a rather large book, with his glasses perched on the end of his nose, and was lounging in his shirtsleeves, his jacket hanging from the branch the oldest boy was hanging from.
River felt butterflies in her stomach as she watched the little girl crawl into the Doctor's lap and settle there. He rested his chin against the top of her head, and grinned, as he read aloud.
River swallowed and began to walk forward.
****
The Doctor kept reading but looked up from the book as he watched the woman come closer. His words slowed until he stopped altogether.
Noah, from his spot hanging from the tree was the first of the children to notice. "Da? Who's that?"
"An old acquaintance," the Doctor replied. He took a deep breath and set Miranda on her feet before getting to his own. "Come on, Noah, down from the tree. Josh, on your feet now."
Josh got up and shook some leaves from his hair as Noah pulled himself up to the branch and then hopped down. Miranda hid behind the Doctor, small fingers clinging to the leg of his trousers.
"S'alright, love," the Doctor said, reaching back to stroke the little girl's hair.
"Who is she, Da?" Josh asked, rocking on his heels impatiently.
"Someone I met a very long time ago," the Doctor replied, as the woman got closer.
The woman tried for a smile as she approached them. "Doctor."
The Doctor nodded. "Professor Song."
Noah blinked, his lips in a thin line, and eyebrow quirked. "Song?"
"Yep," the Doctor said. "Professor River Song."
Josh snorted out a laugh.
"Joshua," the Doctor admonished.
River shook her head. "Are you…? What is going on here?"
The Doctor looked around and then at the children. "We were reading - well…I was reading. They were listening. Good listeners, these three. Unless I tell 'em not to wander off. Then they're not so great at listening."
Noah stuck his tongue out petulantly, and then grinned.
The Doctor tried hard not to smile. "Stop that." He turned back to River.
"Since when have you started adopting little children…? And since when do you live in a house?"
Miranda's eyes widened, obviously alarmed. "Adopted?" she whispered.
"We're not adopted!" Josh cried. "There are baby pictures and documents and everything! Auntie Martha and Uncle Owen delivered all three of us! They said so!"
"Alright, settle down," the Doctor said. "No one is adopted here, no need to get upset." He patted Miranda's hair again and worked to pry her little hands from his trousers. "Why don't you three go inside, pop in a film, aye?"
"I get to pick!" Josh cried, taking off like a shot. "It's my turn to pick and I get to pick!"
Noah sighed heavily. "Jungle Book again then. It could be worse." He took Miranda's hand, trying to help the Doctor. "Come on, sis. We can go find Da's secret stash of jelly babies to go along with the movie."
The Doctor blew out a breath. "Second cupboard to the left in the kitchen, back of the top shelf. Miranda, love, please let go."
She looked at him with her nervous brown eyes and let go, scuffing her feet.
"There we are. You go have fun," the Doctor grinned as he watched Noah and Miranda walk off. "And if your mother calls, come and get me!"
"Okay, Da!"
River watched the kids go, and then turned to the Doctor. "They're yours."
The Doctor shrugged. "Bit obvious, isn't it? Well…except for Miranda. She looks like Rose. Except for the hair."
River blinked. "Rose."
The Doctor nodded. "Yep. They're mother."
"Your wife…"
"Well…a bit. Sort of. Yes."
"But…but…"
The Doctor took a deep breath. "River…"
She shook her head. "I don't understand…we…"
"There isn't a we, River," the Doctor said gently. "There never was."
River looked at him sadly.
"This isn't the me you're looking for," he told her. "I don't think there is a me that exists that's the one you're actually looking for."
River shook her head. "I don't understand what you mean."
"You're not supposed to," the Doctor replied. "You're never supposed to. There's a reason I always came to find you and not the other way around, River."
Her look became stony. "The time lines."
The Doctor nodded. "Everything that took place between us, while it was a few years of your life...it was a week in mine, and for me it all happened many, many years ago, and it happened out of necessity." He looked up and took a deep breath. "The next time you see me will be the last time." He walked over to the suit jacket hanging from the tree branch and pulled a beat-up looking sonic screwdriver. "Take this. Tell me we were close. Tell me I cried as I gave it to you. Tell me we were in love."
"Why should I?" River said warily. "Why should I believe anything you've said today?"
"Because you want to live," the Doctor said quietly. He held the screwdriver out to her.
She snatched it up with a glare. "You never cared about me at all."
He gave her a sad look. "I did. Just not the way you wanted me to."
"Not like you love -"
River stopped as an SUV pulled to an abrupt halt in the driveway and a blonde slid out of the backseat, dusting off her black trousers. "See you tomorrow, Jack! Stay outta trouble til then!"
The Doctor's face lit up in a way that River had never seen, and he side-stepped her, moseying his way over to who River could only guess was Rose.
Rose smiled and hugged him. "Oh, it's good to be home. I'm sorry that took so long."
The Doctor hugged her back, kissing the top of her head. "Can't complain too much. Jack's brought you home in one piece. He not staying for tea?"
"Nah, he wants to go home, too," Rose smirked.
The Doctor nodded. "Come on, then. The children are all inside, watching a film."
Rose quirked an eyebrow at him. "Hold on. Who's your friend?"
"What?" the Doctor asked. "Oh! Yes!" He looked back at River. "Right. Yes."
"Well?"
The Doctor cleared his throat and pulled her over. "Rose Tyler, Professor River Song."
Rose looked to be having the same reaction the children had had to the name, but she hid it better. "Right. Well, it's very nice to meet you, Professor. What brings you?"
River opened her mouth, and then shook her head. "Nothing. I was just...in the neighborhood, and...I'd heard the Doctor was living here these days. Thought I'd see if the rumors were true."
Rose snickered and hooked an arm through the Doctor's. "Yep. Except when he's not living here. Still likes to swan off for little jaunts."
River smiled as best she could. "Of course."
The Doctor patted Rose's hand gently. "Why don't you check on the kids, yeah? I'll be inside in a few."
Rose nodded. "Yeah. Best make certain Josh hasn't tried to do a cannonball from the stairs again." She kissed his cheek and then turned to River. "Nice meeting you."
River nodded. "Likewise."
*****
Josh hopped down from the window seat in the front hall. "Mum's home!"
Noah looked up from his book. "Yeah? Finally! She's been working since last night!"
The front door opened and Rose walked in, smiling. "Hi!"
Josh bopped over and hugged her. "Hi, Mum!"
Rose smiled and hugged him back. "You three been good for your Da?"
Noah got up and nodded. "Who's that woman with the funny name?"
Rose shrugged slightly. "Your Da's very old. He's known a lot of people. Can't always keep track." She looked around, slightly perplexed. "Where's your sister?"
"Under the couch," Noah replied. "She waiting for Da to come and play hide and seek."
Rose chuckled and patted Josh's back before going over to the couch and kneeling down. "Miranda? Sweetheart?"
"Ssshhh. Da has t'come find me," Miranda replied quietly.
Rose tried not to laugh. "Okay, love. If you get hungry or tired, come out."
"Okay, Mummy."
Rose got to her feet and looked out the window, watching as River Song gave the Doctor a solemn nod, before turning and walking away. He hung his head for a moment before collecting his jacket from the tree branch, along with a book that was lying at his feet, and heading toward the house.
Rose worried her lip and turned to the boys. "Right. Time to take a page out of your sister's book."
"It's got no words!" Josh complained. "She can't read yet!"
"Can so!" Miranda cried.
Rose laughed and tousled his hair. "Go find a hiding place, you."
*****
The Doctor slowly made his way into the house, expecting to find his wife and all three of their children sitting in the living room, waiting for him.
This, however, was not the case.
In their stead, sitting on the couch, was a stuffed dragon, with a yellow sticky note on it's nose. In Rose's handwriting were the words "Come get us!"
He had to smile. "Right, you lot!" the Doctor cried, his melancholy falling away a little. "I am the king of hide and go seek!! There is no place you can hide, that I won't seek - oh...that's redundant." He shook out his head. "Ready or not! Here I come!"
*****
That night, after the game of hide and go seek had been played, dinner had been ordered, delivered and eaten, and the children had been rustled off to bed with stories and kisses, Rose sat down on the edge of their bed. "River Song?"
The Doctor took a deep breath and sat next to her. "River Song."
"Old girlfriend, then?"
"Sort of...not really..."
Rose nudged him. "Come on."
"I don't like talking about the things that happened while you were away," he said petulantly. "I was such a git."
"You're still a git sometimes," Rose pointed out.
"But I'm not a soppy git."
Rose tried hard not to laugh. "Just tell me."
He grumbled. "She was from the fifty-first century. Jack's time. I had to...pretend to be her boyfriend to avoid a universe-crushing paradox."
"Hmm," Rose said thoughtfully, kicking off her shoes. "And let me guess. She wasn't in on the pretending part."
"Not as such, no. Not til today," the Doctor replied. "She showed up and found me outside with the kids...who protested very loudly when River suggested they might be adopted."
Rose looked slightly worried. "Miranda didn't start crying, did she? Josh once teased her, saying she was adopted because she's ginger, and she cried for hours."
The Doctor grinned a little. "Nah, no tears. A bit of alarm, but the waterworks stayed off thankfully. Josh yelled, though." He blew out a breath. "River is now on her way to lie to me, and convince me that we become very close in my future, so that I'll save her life."
"Doesn't seem right," Rose said quietly.
"It's not," the Doctor agreed, lying back on the bed. "But she'll live."
Rose nodded, and absently set her hand on his knee.
"What's wrong?" he asked with his eyes closed.
"Using her to save her," Rose said. "I don't know who I feel worse for. Her, being lied to, and made to think there's something between the two of you...or you, having to pretend, knowing what's going to happen..."
He threaded his fingers through hers and held her hand tightly. "Best not to dwell, honestly. For me, it's over with. Life goes on as normal. Well, I say normal..."
Rose grinned and flopped back onto the mattress next to him. "Seriously, though. River Song."
"Stop it."
END
Disclaimer: The kids belong to myself, and Dettiot. Everything else is the Beeb’s.
Pairings: Ten/Rose
Rating: PG-13
Warning: Spoilers for Silence in the Library/Forest of the Damned.
Summary: "I don't know who I feel worse for. Her, being lied to, and made to think there's something between the two of you...or you, having to pretend, knowing what's going to happen..."
under the cut
It was a beautiful day in Cardiff, and River Song was under the impression that this didn't happen all that often. She stood in a small neighborhood, gazing at a cozy-looking brick house. In front of it, under a tree that was in full bloom were three children and a man.
The children were of very different ages. The oldest was a dark haired boy, the spitting image of his father, but a little more solid; less skinny. He looked around thirteen, and was hanging upside down from the branch of a tree in the front yard. Lying on the ground below him was a blond boy of around nine. He was skinny like his father, but his features were different. His smile was big and bright. The youngest of the three children looked to be at most four years old. She was the only girl, and had red, wavy hair. She was tiny, and sitting next to the blond boy, looking up at the brunette in the tree.
Against the tree, looking seemingly no older than he had the day they met was the man, the Doctor. He was holding a rather large book, with his glasses perched on the end of his nose, and was lounging in his shirtsleeves, his jacket hanging from the branch the oldest boy was hanging from.
River felt butterflies in her stomach as she watched the little girl crawl into the Doctor's lap and settle there. He rested his chin against the top of her head, and grinned, as he read aloud.
River swallowed and began to walk forward.
****
The Doctor kept reading but looked up from the book as he watched the woman come closer. His words slowed until he stopped altogether.
Noah, from his spot hanging from the tree was the first of the children to notice. "Da? Who's that?"
"An old acquaintance," the Doctor replied. He took a deep breath and set Miranda on her feet before getting to his own. "Come on, Noah, down from the tree. Josh, on your feet now."
Josh got up and shook some leaves from his hair as Noah pulled himself up to the branch and then hopped down. Miranda hid behind the Doctor, small fingers clinging to the leg of his trousers.
"S'alright, love," the Doctor said, reaching back to stroke the little girl's hair.
"Who is she, Da?" Josh asked, rocking on his heels impatiently.
"Someone I met a very long time ago," the Doctor replied, as the woman got closer.
The woman tried for a smile as she approached them. "Doctor."
The Doctor nodded. "Professor Song."
Noah blinked, his lips in a thin line, and eyebrow quirked. "Song?"
"Yep," the Doctor said. "Professor River Song."
Josh snorted out a laugh.
"Joshua," the Doctor admonished.
River shook her head. "Are you…? What is going on here?"
The Doctor looked around and then at the children. "We were reading - well…I was reading. They were listening. Good listeners, these three. Unless I tell 'em not to wander off. Then they're not so great at listening."
Noah stuck his tongue out petulantly, and then grinned.
The Doctor tried hard not to smile. "Stop that." He turned back to River.
"Since when have you started adopting little children…? And since when do you live in a house?"
Miranda's eyes widened, obviously alarmed. "Adopted?" she whispered.
"We're not adopted!" Josh cried. "There are baby pictures and documents and everything! Auntie Martha and Uncle Owen delivered all three of us! They said so!"
"Alright, settle down," the Doctor said. "No one is adopted here, no need to get upset." He patted Miranda's hair again and worked to pry her little hands from his trousers. "Why don't you three go inside, pop in a film, aye?"
"I get to pick!" Josh cried, taking off like a shot. "It's my turn to pick and I get to pick!"
Noah sighed heavily. "Jungle Book again then. It could be worse." He took Miranda's hand, trying to help the Doctor. "Come on, sis. We can go find Da's secret stash of jelly babies to go along with the movie."
The Doctor blew out a breath. "Second cupboard to the left in the kitchen, back of the top shelf. Miranda, love, please let go."
She looked at him with her nervous brown eyes and let go, scuffing her feet.
"There we are. You go have fun," the Doctor grinned as he watched Noah and Miranda walk off. "And if your mother calls, come and get me!"
"Okay, Da!"
River watched the kids go, and then turned to the Doctor. "They're yours."
The Doctor shrugged. "Bit obvious, isn't it? Well…except for Miranda. She looks like Rose. Except for the hair."
River blinked. "Rose."
The Doctor nodded. "Yep. They're mother."
"Your wife…"
"Well…a bit. Sort of. Yes."
"But…but…"
The Doctor took a deep breath. "River…"
She shook her head. "I don't understand…we…"
"There isn't a we, River," the Doctor said gently. "There never was."
River looked at him sadly.
"This isn't the me you're looking for," he told her. "I don't think there is a me that exists that's the one you're actually looking for."
River shook her head. "I don't understand what you mean."
"You're not supposed to," the Doctor replied. "You're never supposed to. There's a reason I always came to find you and not the other way around, River."
Her look became stony. "The time lines."
The Doctor nodded. "Everything that took place between us, while it was a few years of your life...it was a week in mine, and for me it all happened many, many years ago, and it happened out of necessity." He looked up and took a deep breath. "The next time you see me will be the last time." He walked over to the suit jacket hanging from the tree branch and pulled a beat-up looking sonic screwdriver. "Take this. Tell me we were close. Tell me I cried as I gave it to you. Tell me we were in love."
"Why should I?" River said warily. "Why should I believe anything you've said today?"
"Because you want to live," the Doctor said quietly. He held the screwdriver out to her.
She snatched it up with a glare. "You never cared about me at all."
He gave her a sad look. "I did. Just not the way you wanted me to."
"Not like you love -"
River stopped as an SUV pulled to an abrupt halt in the driveway and a blonde slid out of the backseat, dusting off her black trousers. "See you tomorrow, Jack! Stay outta trouble til then!"
The Doctor's face lit up in a way that River had never seen, and he side-stepped her, moseying his way over to who River could only guess was Rose.
Rose smiled and hugged him. "Oh, it's good to be home. I'm sorry that took so long."
The Doctor hugged her back, kissing the top of her head. "Can't complain too much. Jack's brought you home in one piece. He not staying for tea?"
"Nah, he wants to go home, too," Rose smirked.
The Doctor nodded. "Come on, then. The children are all inside, watching a film."
Rose quirked an eyebrow at him. "Hold on. Who's your friend?"
"What?" the Doctor asked. "Oh! Yes!" He looked back at River. "Right. Yes."
"Well?"
The Doctor cleared his throat and pulled her over. "Rose Tyler, Professor River Song."
Rose looked to be having the same reaction the children had had to the name, but she hid it better. "Right. Well, it's very nice to meet you, Professor. What brings you?"
River opened her mouth, and then shook her head. "Nothing. I was just...in the neighborhood, and...I'd heard the Doctor was living here these days. Thought I'd see if the rumors were true."
Rose snickered and hooked an arm through the Doctor's. "Yep. Except when he's not living here. Still likes to swan off for little jaunts."
River smiled as best she could. "Of course."
The Doctor patted Rose's hand gently. "Why don't you check on the kids, yeah? I'll be inside in a few."
Rose nodded. "Yeah. Best make certain Josh hasn't tried to do a cannonball from the stairs again." She kissed his cheek and then turned to River. "Nice meeting you."
River nodded. "Likewise."
*****
Josh hopped down from the window seat in the front hall. "Mum's home!"
Noah looked up from his book. "Yeah? Finally! She's been working since last night!"
The front door opened and Rose walked in, smiling. "Hi!"
Josh bopped over and hugged her. "Hi, Mum!"
Rose smiled and hugged him back. "You three been good for your Da?"
Noah got up and nodded. "Who's that woman with the funny name?"
Rose shrugged slightly. "Your Da's very old. He's known a lot of people. Can't always keep track." She looked around, slightly perplexed. "Where's your sister?"
"Under the couch," Noah replied. "She waiting for Da to come and play hide and seek."
Rose chuckled and patted Josh's back before going over to the couch and kneeling down. "Miranda? Sweetheart?"
"Ssshhh. Da has t'come find me," Miranda replied quietly.
Rose tried not to laugh. "Okay, love. If you get hungry or tired, come out."
"Okay, Mummy."
Rose got to her feet and looked out the window, watching as River Song gave the Doctor a solemn nod, before turning and walking away. He hung his head for a moment before collecting his jacket from the tree branch, along with a book that was lying at his feet, and heading toward the house.
Rose worried her lip and turned to the boys. "Right. Time to take a page out of your sister's book."
"It's got no words!" Josh complained. "She can't read yet!"
"Can so!" Miranda cried.
Rose laughed and tousled his hair. "Go find a hiding place, you."
*****
The Doctor slowly made his way into the house, expecting to find his wife and all three of their children sitting in the living room, waiting for him.
This, however, was not the case.
In their stead, sitting on the couch, was a stuffed dragon, with a yellow sticky note on it's nose. In Rose's handwriting were the words "Come get us!"
He had to smile. "Right, you lot!" the Doctor cried, his melancholy falling away a little. "I am the king of hide and go seek!! There is no place you can hide, that I won't seek - oh...that's redundant." He shook out his head. "Ready or not! Here I come!"
*****
That night, after the game of hide and go seek had been played, dinner had been ordered, delivered and eaten, and the children had been rustled off to bed with stories and kisses, Rose sat down on the edge of their bed. "River Song?"
The Doctor took a deep breath and sat next to her. "River Song."
"Old girlfriend, then?"
"Sort of...not really..."
Rose nudged him. "Come on."
"I don't like talking about the things that happened while you were away," he said petulantly. "I was such a git."
"You're still a git sometimes," Rose pointed out.
"But I'm not a soppy git."
Rose tried hard not to laugh. "Just tell me."
He grumbled. "She was from the fifty-first century. Jack's time. I had to...pretend to be her boyfriend to avoid a universe-crushing paradox."
"Hmm," Rose said thoughtfully, kicking off her shoes. "And let me guess. She wasn't in on the pretending part."
"Not as such, no. Not til today," the Doctor replied. "She showed up and found me outside with the kids...who protested very loudly when River suggested they might be adopted."
Rose looked slightly worried. "Miranda didn't start crying, did she? Josh once teased her, saying she was adopted because she's ginger, and she cried for hours."
The Doctor grinned a little. "Nah, no tears. A bit of alarm, but the waterworks stayed off thankfully. Josh yelled, though." He blew out a breath. "River is now on her way to lie to me, and convince me that we become very close in my future, so that I'll save her life."
"Doesn't seem right," Rose said quietly.
"It's not," the Doctor agreed, lying back on the bed. "But she'll live."
Rose nodded, and absently set her hand on his knee.
"What's wrong?" he asked with his eyes closed.
"Using her to save her," Rose said. "I don't know who I feel worse for. Her, being lied to, and made to think there's something between the two of you...or you, having to pretend, knowing what's going to happen..."
He threaded his fingers through hers and held her hand tightly. "Best not to dwell, honestly. For me, it's over with. Life goes on as normal. Well, I say normal..."
Rose grinned and flopped back onto the mattress next to him. "Seriously, though. River Song."
"Stop it."
END