DW Fic: Birth Partner
Title: Birth Partner
Author: nancybrown
Characters/Pairing: River/Eleven
Words: 500
Rating: PG
Summary: Every woman in labour needs someone there to be calm and sensible. Sadly, River has the Doctor.
AN: Written for spoiler_song's Guns N' Curls Ficathon for ms_rubiks's prompt: River goes into labour. The Doctor does not remain calm.
***
"Are you sure?"
River bites down her groan. "Yes, sweetie, I'm sure."
"It's just, you've never done this before. You might be wrong. Remember the Braxton Hicks contractions you had yesterday?"
"Yes. I remember the bloody Braxton Hicks contractions." The pressure builds again, a giant cramp she breathes through. "These aren't the same."
He's doing that thing, the thing where he's playing with his hands, and can't decide if he should be comforting River or rebuilding part of the TARDIS's current console. The console looks to be winning as he drifts back towards the stairs.
"Where are you going?"
"Me? Um. Down there," he says, distracted. "I have to, um, fiddle with one of the settings." His screwdriver is in his hand. If he thinks that damn thing is going anywhere near River's fiddly bits right now, he has another thing coming.
"Just ask her to undelete the medical suite," River says sweetly, though her teeth are gritted. "I'm sure she has it saved somewhere."
"Exactly the setting I need to … " he fades off, and his shoes make loud noises on the stairs. He's so very bad at this, though it can't be easy. He just found out yesterday that she's pregnant, and he has nine months to look forward to of River's body regaining its shape until the night that will put her into this predicament.
Another ripple tears through her, and she can't stop the sharp "Ow!" that escapes. His shoes clatter up the stairs again.
"River! Are you hurt?"
She blinks at him, one hand on her aching back, the other on her enormous belly. He's wearing his stupid goggles again, holding a piece of circuitry that may or may not reactivate the part of the TARDIS's memory they need. He's clearly in over his depth. If she weren't terrified of delivering this baby on the glass floor right here, she'd think him adorable.
"Sweetie," she says as kindly as she can, "go fix the ship. Or I'm going to kill you."
"Right!" he says, and he dives in for an awkward peck on the cheek before rattling down below again. "Just a few more minutes!"
She feels the pressure building again. She glares at the console. "You could be helping, you know."
The TARDIS normally likes her. As River rests her hand, she can feel the slightest psychic tickle, and she suddenly knows the medical suite has been restored, as well as its current location.
"Still working on it!" the Doctor shouts from under her feet. "You keep breathing!"
River glances at the console, and has a distinct impression that the TARDIS has just found the proper "go boil water" busywork for him to do while River does the hard part with the ship's assistance. "I'll be in Medical," she says quietly to the ship, and grunts as the contraction hits.
"What was that?" he yells.
"Good work, dear! Keep looking for that circuit!" At least she can still walk through the pain, she thinks, trundling towards the suite gratefully.
***
The End
***
Author: nancybrown
Characters/Pairing: River/Eleven
Words: 500
Rating: PG
Summary: Every woman in labour needs someone there to be calm and sensible. Sadly, River has the Doctor.
AN: Written for spoiler_song's Guns N' Curls Ficathon for ms_rubiks's prompt: River goes into labour. The Doctor does not remain calm.
***
"Are you sure?"
River bites down her groan. "Yes, sweetie, I'm sure."
"It's just, you've never done this before. You might be wrong. Remember the Braxton Hicks contractions you had yesterday?"
"Yes. I remember the bloody Braxton Hicks contractions." The pressure builds again, a giant cramp she breathes through. "These aren't the same."
He's doing that thing, the thing where he's playing with his hands, and can't decide if he should be comforting River or rebuilding part of the TARDIS's current console. The console looks to be winning as he drifts back towards the stairs.
"Where are you going?"
"Me? Um. Down there," he says, distracted. "I have to, um, fiddle with one of the settings." His screwdriver is in his hand. If he thinks that damn thing is going anywhere near River's fiddly bits right now, he has another thing coming.
"Just ask her to undelete the medical suite," River says sweetly, though her teeth are gritted. "I'm sure she has it saved somewhere."
"Exactly the setting I need to … " he fades off, and his shoes make loud noises on the stairs. He's so very bad at this, though it can't be easy. He just found out yesterday that she's pregnant, and he has nine months to look forward to of River's body regaining its shape until the night that will put her into this predicament.
Another ripple tears through her, and she can't stop the sharp "Ow!" that escapes. His shoes clatter up the stairs again.
"River! Are you hurt?"
She blinks at him, one hand on her aching back, the other on her enormous belly. He's wearing his stupid goggles again, holding a piece of circuitry that may or may not reactivate the part of the TARDIS's memory they need. He's clearly in over his depth. If she weren't terrified of delivering this baby on the glass floor right here, she'd think him adorable.
"Sweetie," she says as kindly as she can, "go fix the ship. Or I'm going to kill you."
"Right!" he says, and he dives in for an awkward peck on the cheek before rattling down below again. "Just a few more minutes!"
She feels the pressure building again. She glares at the console. "You could be helping, you know."
The TARDIS normally likes her. As River rests her hand, she can feel the slightest psychic tickle, and she suddenly knows the medical suite has been restored, as well as its current location.
"Still working on it!" the Doctor shouts from under her feet. "You keep breathing!"
River glances at the console, and has a distinct impression that the TARDIS has just found the proper "go boil water" busywork for him to do while River does the hard part with the ship's assistance. "I'll be in Medical," she says quietly to the ship, and grunts as the contraction hits.
"What was that?" he yells.
"Good work, dear! Keep looking for that circuit!" At least she can still walk through the pain, she thinks, trundling towards the suite gratefully.
***
The End
***