A Mother's Life - Chapter Four
19 July 5119 (Earth Standard Date)
Ddraig Llyn
The woman turned a blinding smile on Samara. Her eyes widened slightly at the wetsuit, then the smile turned downright flirty.
Now, Samara didn’t usually mind flirting, but she was going to draw the line at this.
Before the woman could say anything, Samara had approached and was giving her a smile of her own, hers just a tad bit sharp. “You must be Merlin’s mother.” She stuck out a damp hand. “I’m Dr Samara Harkness…Jack’s Mom.”
Professor River Song looked surprised. “Well, I can certainly see where Jack gets his charm from.” It was said with just the slightest bit of flirty sarcasm, and she accepted Samara’s hand without complaint. She didn’t even wipe it off when she let go.
Samara only knew River Song from what Merlin had told her. That she and his father had pretty much left Merlin with the Harkness-Joneses because neither one of them could stay in one place too long, and having a child while travelling to dangerous places and times was a really bad idea. Samara could understand it, but from her position of hindsight Samara knew that abandoning a child was never a good idea.
Because she’d practically abandoned Jamys. Samara still carried around a lot of guilt over that fact, despite Jack having forgiven her.
Rhys was looking between them, and Samara had to wonder what he was thinking. He looked somewhat confused, but trying to hide it. Was he aware of River’s history? Most likely not…
Oh.
Wait.
She had to warn Rhys.
“Well, where is everyone?” River asked. “I teleported into the house and it was empty…and it’s never empty.”
“Jack, Ianto, and the children are off on Hubworld,” she answered, before Rhys could get a word in. “Nathan, Clint and Phillip’s son, was recently injured so they’re all visiting. Arthur, Merlin, and Rory are off on New Avalon; something about a trustee meeting for the school.” She figured those would be the main family members River would be interested in, but added,” Everyone else are off doing what it is they do. Oh, I do think Cadi’s added another system to her list of places not to get caught in. Other than that, it’s been quiet. Oh, and of course there’s Rhys.” She turned toward him. “Rhys Williams, this is Professor River Song, Merlin’s mother. Professor Song, this is Rhys Williams, he got picked up by a temporal-spatial event in the 21st century and deposited on Andrala, of all places. He ran with Jack and Ianto back in the original Torchwood days, and is now living here.”
River turned her smile on Rhys, and that for some reason pissed Samara off, although she managed to keep that to herself. “Pleasure to meet you, Rhys. I may call you Rhys?”
“Yeah,” he answered, sounding slightly bemused by the whole thing. His eyes sought out Samara, then went back to River. Samara could tell he was trying very hard not to roll them, and she envied him his restraint.
“Welcome back to Ddraig Llyn,” the Water Dragon added. Then she did an acrobatic, mid-air flip and dove back into the lake, her body not displacing any of the water at all.
“Actually,” River said, “I’m glad no one is around. You two are perfect to help me out.”
With that, River was striding toward the house, as if she was fully expecting them to follow.
Samara was certain River could be a nice person, but this sort of attitude was beginning to irritate her.
She reached out and snagged Rhys’ sleeve when he looked as if he was about to follow. He turned back to her one eyebrow up and questioning, but Samara waited until River was out of hearing range before she spoke.
“Rhys,” she murmured, not taking the chance that River might overhear, even though she was nearly to the house by then. “You know about Merlin’s mother, don’t you?”
He frowned. “I know a little, from what Merlin and the others have said.”
Damn. Alright, then she needed to clue him in a little more. “Whatever you do, don’t suggest letting Merlin know she’s here.”
“But why?” Now he was confused. “I get that she was a naff Mam, but wouldn’t Merlin want to know she was visiting?”
So he’d heard that at least. “Yes, but what you obviously haven’t been told was that she officially died about thirty-five Earth years ago.”
His eyes got round, and then he cursed as he figured out what she was telling him. “I bloody hate time travel.”
If anyone had a right to do that very thing, it was Rhys Williams. Being sucked up out of your own time and dumped into the future wasn’t something Samara wanted to wish on anyone. “From what Jack and Arthur have said, Merlin’s still mourning her, and the wound gets ripped open every time she shows up after his Dad told him about her dying. So, I’d like to keep him from having to suffer that again.”
Rhys was nodding. “Agreed. No mentioning calling Merlin then.”
“We’ll let Arthur know after she leaves, which she invariably does fairly quickly. River doesn’t hang around all that long.”
“Yeah, and from what I understand she didn’t do much of that when Merlin was around.” He sounded outraged on Merlin’s behalf, and Samara wanted to hug him for it.
She kept herself from doing that. “Let’s find out what she wants and then we can see about getting rid of her before the rest of the family shows up.”
Samara couldn’t help it; she felt very protective of her family. As a mother, she’d completely messed things up after Franklin had been killed and Gray taken, and she was determined to make up for past mistakes. Wanting to protect Merlin was just one more thing she saw as her duty within her now extended family.
Ddraig Llyn
The woman turned a blinding smile on Samara. Her eyes widened slightly at the wetsuit, then the smile turned downright flirty.
Now, Samara didn’t usually mind flirting, but she was going to draw the line at this.
Before the woman could say anything, Samara had approached and was giving her a smile of her own, hers just a tad bit sharp. “You must be Merlin’s mother.” She stuck out a damp hand. “I’m Dr Samara Harkness…Jack’s Mom.”
Professor River Song looked surprised. “Well, I can certainly see where Jack gets his charm from.” It was said with just the slightest bit of flirty sarcasm, and she accepted Samara’s hand without complaint. She didn’t even wipe it off when she let go.
Samara only knew River Song from what Merlin had told her. That she and his father had pretty much left Merlin with the Harkness-Joneses because neither one of them could stay in one place too long, and having a child while travelling to dangerous places and times was a really bad idea. Samara could understand it, but from her position of hindsight Samara knew that abandoning a child was never a good idea.
Because she’d practically abandoned Jamys. Samara still carried around a lot of guilt over that fact, despite Jack having forgiven her.
Rhys was looking between them, and Samara had to wonder what he was thinking. He looked somewhat confused, but trying to hide it. Was he aware of River’s history? Most likely not…
Oh.
Wait.
She had to warn Rhys.
“Well, where is everyone?” River asked. “I teleported into the house and it was empty…and it’s never empty.”
“Jack, Ianto, and the children are off on Hubworld,” she answered, before Rhys could get a word in. “Nathan, Clint and Phillip’s son, was recently injured so they’re all visiting. Arthur, Merlin, and Rory are off on New Avalon; something about a trustee meeting for the school.” She figured those would be the main family members River would be interested in, but added,” Everyone else are off doing what it is they do. Oh, I do think Cadi’s added another system to her list of places not to get caught in. Other than that, it’s been quiet. Oh, and of course there’s Rhys.” She turned toward him. “Rhys Williams, this is Professor River Song, Merlin’s mother. Professor Song, this is Rhys Williams, he got picked up by a temporal-spatial event in the 21st century and deposited on Andrala, of all places. He ran with Jack and Ianto back in the original Torchwood days, and is now living here.”
River turned her smile on Rhys, and that for some reason pissed Samara off, although she managed to keep that to herself. “Pleasure to meet you, Rhys. I may call you Rhys?”
“Yeah,” he answered, sounding slightly bemused by the whole thing. His eyes sought out Samara, then went back to River. Samara could tell he was trying very hard not to roll them, and she envied him his restraint.
“Welcome back to Ddraig Llyn,” the Water Dragon added. Then she did an acrobatic, mid-air flip and dove back into the lake, her body not displacing any of the water at all.
“Actually,” River said, “I’m glad no one is around. You two are perfect to help me out.”
With that, River was striding toward the house, as if she was fully expecting them to follow.
Samara was certain River could be a nice person, but this sort of attitude was beginning to irritate her.
She reached out and snagged Rhys’ sleeve when he looked as if he was about to follow. He turned back to her one eyebrow up and questioning, but Samara waited until River was out of hearing range before she spoke.
“Rhys,” she murmured, not taking the chance that River might overhear, even though she was nearly to the house by then. “You know about Merlin’s mother, don’t you?”
He frowned. “I know a little, from what Merlin and the others have said.”
Damn. Alright, then she needed to clue him in a little more. “Whatever you do, don’t suggest letting Merlin know she’s here.”
“But why?” Now he was confused. “I get that she was a naff Mam, but wouldn’t Merlin want to know she was visiting?”
So he’d heard that at least. “Yes, but what you obviously haven’t been told was that she officially died about thirty-five Earth years ago.”
His eyes got round, and then he cursed as he figured out what she was telling him. “I bloody hate time travel.”
If anyone had a right to do that very thing, it was Rhys Williams. Being sucked up out of your own time and dumped into the future wasn’t something Samara wanted to wish on anyone. “From what Jack and Arthur have said, Merlin’s still mourning her, and the wound gets ripped open every time she shows up after his Dad told him about her dying. So, I’d like to keep him from having to suffer that again.”
Rhys was nodding. “Agreed. No mentioning calling Merlin then.”
“We’ll let Arthur know after she leaves, which she invariably does fairly quickly. River doesn’t hang around all that long.”
“Yeah, and from what I understand she didn’t do much of that when Merlin was around.” He sounded outraged on Merlin’s behalf, and Samara wanted to hug him for it.
She kept herself from doing that. “Let’s find out what she wants and then we can see about getting rid of her before the rest of the family shows up.”
Samara couldn’t help it; she felt very protective of her family. As a mother, she’d completely messed things up after Franklin had been killed and Gray taken, and she was determined to make up for past mistakes. Wanting to protect Merlin was just one more thing she saw as her duty within her now extended family.