alone together

Roses for River

River jogged out of the exercise room. "Husband?" She called, looking for the Doctor.

"Here," she heard him call from a bedroom.

She walked over to the door and knocked.

"Come in."

She pushed the door open gently, and was overwhelmed by the smell of fertilizer.

"Hello!" the Doctor sat with a large straw hat plopped crookedly on his head and a pair of jean overalls over his nice white shirt. He was kneeling by a flower bed, and River realized that this room was a greenhouse.

"What on earth are you doing?" She crossed the room to him, hands on her hips.

"I'm planting turnips," he smiled up at her, lopsided grin in place.

"Turnips?" She laughed. "That's disgusting."

"I rather like turnips," he mumbled, digging a hole with a spade.

"I rather like your overalls," River teased, plopping down next to him. "Very futuristic."

"Oh, shut up," he snapped, dropping a plant in the fresh earth.

"Why don't you plant some nice roses?"

The Doctor looked up a bit, shook his head, and looked back down. "No, no roses. They don't seem to do well in this astrosoil."

River wiped a bit of dirt off his collar, smiling at how young he looked. He was younger than last time she'd seen him, and she had to admit the younger Doctor was much happier.

She'd never tell him, but she cried herself to sleep some nights over him. It was unfair, because she loved him so much and he would one day remember their life together and the next he would have just met Amelia.

And yet, when she met an older Doctor, she knew she couldn't stay with him. It was unfair to the younger Doctors who would need her help. Even at 900 years old, the man was a child.

She longed for a day when she could just sit with him, the man she loved,

The Doctor was watching her intensely. "Why do I get the feeling that you aren't really here?"

"What do you mean?" she focused back in on the turnips. No need to think about things that don't matter.

That's the way it always was when he came. Focus on him now, the him you have now, the time you have now.

"Well, you just dug a hole and put the soil right back it," he gestured with his spade.

She reached over, grabbed the back of his shaggy brown head, and kissed him, quickly, trying to forget her sadness. She was always sad. He made it better, but he was always gone.

He tasted like he always did, like hot tea from her mum.

She pulled away, not wanting to lead him on for too long. She smiled, savoring the taste of him.

"I told you I don't like turnips." She stood, dusting the dirt off her pants. "Why don't you plant roses?"

"So, River wants a rose?" he smiled back, planting another turnip. His voice was an octave higher, and his cheeks were bright red. "Maybe someday you can meet her." he murmured.

"Her?" River turned her head, blonde curls flying.

"Said them. Them." He looked up at her.

"She better be a plant, or I'll throw her into another universe!" River teased over her shoulder as she walked back into the Tardis hallway.