Ch 111

"We can just leave him here." River murmured as she and the Doctor placed Ramone in a chair in his office. "He'll just think he fell asleep grading papers."

"With a very interesting dream," the Doctor added.

She nodded, "Let's get home then." The two disappeared from the campus.

They rematerialized in the TARDIS, instantly greeted by two of the cats. River breathed a sigh of relief, relishing in the instant comfort of the familiar ship.

Amelia was the first to appear in the console room, face lighting up at the sight of her parents. "Mum! Dad!"

"Amelia!" River smiled, going to hug her daughter. It hurt to do so, but she didn't much care.

Amelia hugged her hard. "You're back!"

"Yes, we've sorted everything out now."

"Really? No more of those things trying to kill us? You promise?"

"Yes, I think so." River was still covered in dirt and her neck and begun to bleed again. Like the future Doctor had said, the fix had held for the time being, but it wasn't permanent.

Freya came into the room as well, noticing her parents' disarray quickly. "Dad! Mum!"

"Freya!" River called, smiling and going to greet their other daughter.

"Where are your siblings?" The Doctor asked.

"They're in the library." Freya led them down the hall. "Mum, what happened to your neck?"

"It's a long story." River murmured, touching the wound on her neck.

"Maybe we should go to the medbay first?" the Doctor suggested, "And get that patched up."

"I want to see the kids." She insisted, eager to make sure her kids were alright.

"Alright, but after we're getting you fixed up," he insisted.

"Fine."

They arrived at the library. River limped straight over to Felix. Terra and Arthur were sitting with him, the three of the kids' faces lighting up.

"[What are you all doing?]" River asked, looking around at the floor around them which was littered with various photos of the family from whatever activity they were doing.

"[I'm teaching Felix your names!]" Terra answered with pride.

River smiled softly, "[Isn't that lovely.]" She looked down at the baby, "Are you learning names?"

"[Look, look!]" Terra pick up a picture of River and signed at her brother. "[Who?]"

Felix signed, "[Mum.]" It was far from perfect, but still recognizable enough for them to understand.

"[See?]" Terra beamed proudly at her mother. "[I taught him!]"

"[Oh, Terra! That's wonderful!]" River beamed, "Doctor look!"

"That's brilliant," he grinned but it was damped with worry. "Maybe he can practice in the medbay?"

"I think you're right." River agreed quietly, putting a hand to her oozing neck. She looked at the kids. "Mummy will be back in a minute."

Once they were in the medbay, River went right over to where they kept the suturing supplies, pulling out what they needed. The Doctor fixed River neck quickly and carefully. "It'll leave a scar."

"Yes, I remember you telling me." She murmured, wincing slightly.

"When did I tell you?" He looked confused.

"Oh!" Her eyes widened, realizing that it hadn't been her Doctor that had said it, "Em...Spoilers?"

He blinked at her in shock but River winced before he could ask more questions and held her arm.

"Oh, um, cast. Right." The Doctor tended to the rest of River's wounds, willing himself to keep his mouth shut and not ask about spoilers.

There was a knock.

"Yes?" River turned, looking over at Jack in the doorway.

Jack held up the baby who was whining. "He won't stop signing 'mom'."

"Oh, sweetie." She cooed as she went over to take the baby, "What's wrong, my love?"

Felix calmed once River was holding him in her good arm as if he'd never been upset in the first place. "Such a fuss just to be held?" She smiled weekly, going to sit down on one of the cots. She could feel a rush of exhaustion, the events of the past few days rushing over her.

"Not just him," Jack murmured. As soon as he said it, all the other kids poked their heads into the room. "I told them to wait until you were done. Looks like you've been missed."

She sat up a bit, "Well, I can't say the medbay is an ideal location for a reunion. Should we find somewhere a bit more comfortable to sit?"

They all nodded and soon the family found themselves in one of the TARDIS bedrooms, all piled onto the bed with pillows and blankets. River sat with her head against his husband's shoulder, the baby in his arms as the other children lay sprawled out on the bed around them. Each one of them was somehow in contact with their parents. Terra snuggled close to River's side and Arthur had one of the Doctor's legs pinned beneath him. Freya poked at her mother's toes and Amelia lay with a hand resting against her father. Jack had gone somewhere else, probably to take a break from babysitting.

Arthur took the liberty of filling his parents in on what they'd missed, which wasn't much. They'd been gone for almost a full two days.

"[Waiting was scary,]" Terra added.

"[I'm sorry.]" River apologized, "[We tried to come back as quickly as we could.]"

"[Why were they after us, anyways?]"

"[They were trying to find the strongest people in the universe to create monsters.]" She explained.

"[Monsters?]" The children looked nervous but intrigued to hear about the adventure. River began explaining the story of what happened. She left out a few of the more extreme details including the extra River, not wanting the kids to ask why she wasn't here now.

"[I'm glad you're back.]" Terra stated, hugging her mother tightly.

"[Gentle now, lovie,]" the Doctor reminded.

"It's okay." River murmured, wrapping her good arm around Terra, "She's not hurting me."

"[I'm being gentle.]" Terra added. "[Can Felix sign Mummy's cast?]"

The Doctor glanced at his wife. "What do you think?"

"[I don't think he's old enough to hold a pen, let alone spell his name.]" She smiled.

"[But he can try, right? We can help him!]" Terra insisted.

The Doctor found a marker in his pocket and handed it to Terra. Delighted, the girl scooted closer and took the baby's hand, helping to keep the marker in place. Felix didn't seem very interested in signing his name, wiggling and waving his arm around. Terra held his hand and moved the marker in the rough shape of his name.

"[How lovely!]" River smiled, kissing her daughter's forehead.

Felix was nonplussed while Terra grinned and signed her name next to his. She turned to her siblings, "[You sign, too!]"

Her other siblings followed suit, Freya handing the pen to the Doctor when she was finished so he could sign, too. The Doctor shifted how he was holding Felix so he could sign, leaving a neat little Gallifreyan symbol next to the other names.

"[Now Mummy will heal faster because our names help make her feel better.]"

"[You know, your older sisters did the same thing when I hurt my foot. They decorated my whole cast in different words to help me feel better.]"

"I remember that," Amelia said. "We were, like, five or something."

"How many bones have you broken?" Arthur asked.

"I'm not sure." River shrugged, "Too many to count. I've been in a lot of fights."

"[Tell us about one!]" Arthur insisted.

"Hmm, well there was one time before any of you were born when I got a distress call from your father..." River began to tell the story.

The children listened attentively, loving the tale. Felix and Terra started to nod off near the end, each getting comfortably curled up with their parents.

The room was pleasantly quiet when she finished. "Looks like someone was tired."

"They were good while you were gone," Freya told them.

"Thank you for watching them for us. We're very proud of you."

"Jack did Felix's nappy," Amelia pointed out. "We just kept them distracted."

"Well, we still appreciate you listening and not trying to chase after us."

"We wanted to," Freya admitted. "Jack made us promise said that if you weren't back in three days that he'd go check and we'd stay."

"I'm glad you listened to him." River smiled softly, "You all are very brave and I appreciate that you want to help."

They smiled. "Are we really safe now?"

"I think so." River nodded.

"You said that before," Amelia hesitated.

River glanced at her husband, not really knowing how to respond to her daughter's observation. She was right, they had said it before and they had been wrong in the past. "Yes," the Doctor started gently, "we've said that before. And sometimes we are safe... for a while. Life is like that, sweetheart. There will always be challenges and people out there with malintent. What your mother was saying is that these ones have been dealt with."

The children exchanged glances. "Are you positive?" Arthur asked.

"Yes," he said.

"And you know we'll always keep you safe." River added.

Terra shifted in her sleep as did Felix. Amelia smiled weakly. "So, um, Freya and I got talking about stuff while you were gone—just like school and stuff... University. And we looked up that Luna has this starter thing for people our age and I was wondering if, um, we could go?"

River's eyebrows raised, surprised by the suggestion, "To Luna? What kind of starter program is it?" She hadn't realized that her daughters would take an interest in the University.

"You know like a, um, school thing—"

"It's for credits," Freya interrupted. "Basic core classes like English and Maths. You know, the Full Moon Program? They let us take classes there for credits with the expectation that we apply to the school when we're old enough to attend full time."

"Ah, I see." She nodded slowly, "Well if it's something you're interested in doing, we can look into it a bit more together. Though, I thought you girls weren't interested in Luna?"

"I never said that. That was Amelia," Freya defended. "And she only said it 'cos she thought I didn't want to go."

"Well, we can find out more about it if you'd like. I'm supposed to go to Luna next week to get some work sorted, you two can come along."

The twins brightened up and nodded. "Thank you!"

"Of course." She smiled, it was bittersweet to be talking about University for her two oldest daughters.

The Doctor squeezed River's hand and added, "We'll get the details later. I want you two to be on top of any application deadlines."

Both girls nodded, "Oh, and...we don't want Mum's help with getting in..." Freya mentioned, looking between her parents, "We want to get in on our own."

"Of course," the Doctor smiled gently. "And I'm sure you'll be amazing."

"Yes, but we were thinking...maybe we should change our last name? If people see Song on our application...they might figure it out."

River couldn't hide the slight twinge of hurt that flashed across her face for a moment.

"Oh, um..." he looked at River. "I suppose you have a point... but that, em, might be a little extreme. A good university shouldn't show that kind of bias on applications anyways."

"Yeah, but… it's Mum. You know how Luna is about Mum..." Freya half mumbled.

"Yes, well..." The Doctor glanced between his daughters and his wife as he thought about a compromise. "Perhaps you could attend in the past before Mum taught there?"

Freya and Amelia looked at one another, "...We'll think about it. Even though we don't want to get in because of Mum...she still made the uni better."

The rooms seemed to pause for a few moments until the Doctor cleared his throat and gestured vaguely to Felix and Terra. "Will you girls put Felix in his crib for me while I get Terra to bed? And Arthur you get in bed, too. We'll be there in a minute."

The Doctor waited until the kids had gone to scoop Terra up. "So. Uni," he murmured.

"I know," River breathed. "It feels...so… so… -"

"Soon?" The Doctor ventured.

"They're 16."

"They're in 6th form already, Uni isn't out of the question for them."

River sighed. "I swear we were walking them to their first day at primary school last week."

"I know," he smiled weakly then paused. "Does the name thing bother you?"

River looked away. "A little. I mean they have a good reason. It's just… they're my babies. My babies. Not some— some Mrs. Jane Doe's kids. My girls are Songs to their core."

"Of course they are? Why would a name change that, my love?"

She deflated slightly and sighed. "It doesn't really, I suppose. But our children are proof that I can do it. I can be this." She gestured to herself.

"Proof that you can, what, be a mother?" The Doctor was confused now. "River, your motherhood isn't a reflection of worth."

"I know that," she huffed. "I just don't know how to explain it. It's like they're a piece of me. Every time they step out the door a piece of me follows them. I want them to be safe and happy and I want the whole universe to be as proud as I am. To do that, I don't want them to have to hide who they are."

The Doctor smiled and kissed her temple. "Why don't we talk to them in the morning, hmm? I'm sure we can reach a compromise."

She nodded. "Alright. I love you."

"I love you, too."