Hello Sweetie

Chapter 23

I'm now a little over 2 months pregnant. At this point, I can't wait to get our daughter out of me. She's very strong, which is something you could normally expect from a Time Lord anyway, but I think she gets a lot of it from me. She's also discovered that kicking me is a lot of fun, and I don't get a whole lot of sleep. Normally, I couldn't care less about sleep, because I usually only need a few hours a week to do everything. But this process is tiring me out.

We haven't picked out a name. Mainly because we're both terrified that something will happen to her. So far, he hasn't taken me to a hospital, trusting the TARDIS. But I think for the birth he's going to bring me to the hospital on New Earth.

If there is a birth.

The Doctor's POV

River has me here all the time. Not really, she doesn't ask me to, but there's nothing in the universe that could keep me away from her for more than a few minutes.

She has a huge stomach by this point, but all the morning sickness has passed. It's getting more real every single time I look at her. I might be a dad. Again.

However, the only thing I can think about is her going to the Library. What happens when my baby girl grows up with us, off and on, and then one day she comes with me and never sees her mother again? There is no right way I could ever explain that to my child. I've never tried to talk to Amy and Rory about it. They've got no idea one day she'll leave, and I can't fix it. One thing I can't fix. Because if I try to, then either A) Over 4000 people in the Library die or B) I'll never have lived all those time with her and neither will she.

Parenthood is a whole different story. Obviously, I won't take the child anywhere dangerous in any way. But I don't even know how to be a parent anymore. It's been over a millennia. How do I do it without the Academy, without other Time Lord teachers (there's no way my baby's getting sent to an Earth school), without having River at my side the entire time?

She can't stay with me the whole time, because there's a ton of stuff that she hasn't done yet that I have, and if I tried to avoid it, it'll most likely make a paradox. I've learned to hate that word. Paradox.

So I decide what I need: Craig and Stormaggedon.

5 minutes later-

"River! I'm going to talk to some old friends! Want to come?" I yell towards our room. A few seconds later, she emerges, and my breath slightly stops at how good she looks. It's nothing special, really, just a pair of jeans and a black maternity shirt that the TARDIS must of made (fine, yes, it's low cut). But her hair is down, and there's not more than a drop of makeup on her face, save for some lipstick and maybe a little of the other stuff on her cheeks.

"Stop ogling me. Where are we?" She says, walking to the doors. "Right. Craig and Stormaggedon's house. And Sophie's. I just wanted to pop in, you know, say hi. I'm not going to get in trouble this time, though." She rolls her eyes. "I'll believe that as soon as it happens."

"Oi! Trouble doesn't follow me! The universe just puts me where there is because it knows I can fix it." I protest, walking over to her. She reaches into my jacket pocket and rummages around. "Whatever you say, sweetie."

She pulls out a package of- "Hey! Those are my Jammy Dodgers!" I try to swipe them back, but even pregnant, River is faster than me. "No. I want some right now. We're out of chocolate frosting, by the way."

"How are we out of chocolate frosting? The TARDIS replenishes everything at the end of the day." I ask, confused. "I ate all she had for the day, and now I want more. It's her fault for rationing me."

I groan. "River, you can't-" Then someone knocks on the door. I glance at her. "Come on, eat my biscuits. Maybe Craig will have some chocolate frosting." I tell her, opening the door and pushing her out by the small of her back. "If they don't, you have to go get me some." She says, walking right beside Craig. "Hey!" I say, pointing at him, then pulling him into a hug. "Hey, Doctor! What're you doing here?" Sophie asks, smiling. "Oh, you know, just popping around for a visit. No aliens this time, I swear."