Standing in her kitchen, mixing a bowl of cake batter, Amelia Williams, no, Pond, Amelia Pond hummed contently to herself as she snuck a few licks of her unprepared treats. She was living a good life, Amy Pond. Amy and her husband, Rory Williams, no, Rory Pond were a happily married couple of nearly five years, living in Leadworth, a quiet town with quiet old people and quiet little lives. Except today.

"RORY!" Doubling over in pain, one hand under her pregnant stomach, the other on a nearby table to steady herself, Amy cried out in pain for her husband.

Today, like most every day, Rory was riding his bike home from his hospital shift. Gently gliding over the mixed surfaces of pavement, grass, and cobblestone walkway, he came to an abrupt stop, tossing his bike to quickly rush to his wife's aid as she called out to him once more.

"RORY! It's starting!"

Upon hearing Amy's sobs, he bounded towards their front door, colliding face first into a stalk of flowers hanging from the doorway. Stumbling, he pushed on the walls for support and straightens himself out, continuing his dash back into his home without care of brushing himself off.

"Okay, okay, I'm here," Rory exclaimed, dropping on his knees in front of his suddenly much less frantic wife.

"False alarm," Amy said calmly as she licked more cake batter off her spoon.

Looking down at the big bowl atop Amy's big bumped stomach, then back up to his wife, Rory let out a breathy, "What?" in response.

"Well," Amy started to reason, moving her tongue around to push the sticky batter off the roof of her mouth so she could properly swallow and attempt to get clear words out, "I don't know what it feels like. I've never had a baby before." Before Rory could respond, Amy shoved the end of the spoon into her husband's already opened mouth.

He moaned in appreciation, and Amy moaned back her agreeing response as Rory stood to take a treat from the counter.

Still sitting with the bowl on her bump, Amy quickly clutched it and moved to stand herself up letting out a soft, disbelieving, "No" as she heard what she thought was the sound of the TARDIS engines.

"I know. Leaf blowers. Use a rake!"

Amy quickly put the bowl of cake batter down on the table with a thud. "No, it's.." And then there it is again, the most beautiful sound in all of the universe.
Looking out the window, Amy and Rory watch as the TARDIS materialized in their backyard.

"I knew. I just knew."

"And here we are, the Pond's!" The Doctor exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air in excitement before clapping them together.

"I thought we were going to meet Marilyn Monroe?"

"We were. But then I missed our friends."

"You made a mistake, didn't you?" She waited for the Doctor to respond, but he didn't, so she continued, "Five quid, you've landed in their garden.. Again." Rose said, deadpan, eyebrows raised in amusement as a smirk began to grow."

"Rose Tyler-"

"Ten quid."

"Ten quid, it is. But trust me, Rose Tyler, I'm not as bad a driver as you think." And so, the Doctor made his way confidently down the ramp of the TARDIS, Rose hot on hie heels.

He opened the door with a confident smile, and stopped in the threshold, looking down. His smile dropped entirely, turning into a mix of a grimace, pout, and frown. Reaching into one of his pockets, he fished around for a few moments until he pulled out ten quid, extending his arm over his shoulder as Rose giggled and took her well earned prize.

"Shut up."

"No idea what you're on about," Rose sing-songed, giving the Doctor's back a cat-who-got-the-canary grin as she followed him out of the TARDIS.

The Doctor began to trip over a loose brick, but Rose grabbed his shoulder and he continued to make his way down to the grass safely. Not letting go of the Doctor's shoulder, Rose jumped over the flower bed and landed beside the Doctor who put his arm around her waist to support her from falling.

And then she looked up towards the little home.

"Rory!" Rose called out to her friend as he jogged out from his house.

"Rose! Doctor!" Rory opened his arms, ready to give his friends hugs.

"The Doctor's cut your flowers," Rose pointed behind her with her free hand.

Rory lowered his arms, stopping mid stride to examine the damage.

"Oh. Amy will kill you," he sighed, titling his head to the side as his face dropped.

Guiding Rose along by the hip, the Doctor walked them up to Rory, bending down slightly to make eye contact with their friend.

"Where is she?"

"She'll need a bit longer," Rory explained without further explaination, thrusting his thumb back over his shoulder, then turning to look towards the door he indicated to.

"Whenever you're ready, Amy!" the Doctor called out.

"Oh, I see you've started training him," Rory mused with a smirk at Rose. Rory hasdknown the Doctor to be quite a prat the first few relative meetings of time they had, but once he got his infamous Rose Tyler back, his hard exterior came to steadily soften over time.

"Oi!" the Doctor glared at Rory, as Rose winked.

Upon hearing footsteps that the Doctor presumed were Amy's, he looked toward the front door, to be proven right.

"OHHHH!" The Doctor exclaimed excitedly, as he used the arm not wrapped around Rose to point at his now very large friend.

Rose noticed that Rory swung his arms towards his wife in a gesture of motioning to her appearance. A small smile playsedsoftly on her face, thinking about the sweetness and sincerity of the gesture.

"HEEEEY!" Amy replieed loudly, holding out her arms in preparation for hugs.

"You've swallowed a planet!" the Doctor breathed out, almost horrified, if not a bit impressed.

"Rude," Rose shushed, smacking the Doctor's chest a little harder than she had intended. Upon seeing the Doctor's hurt expression, she rubbed the spot soothingly in silent apology.

"I'm pregnant," Amy explained, walking closer to the Doctor as he, in turn, lets go of Rose and walks towards Amy, his eyes trained on her stomach.

"You're huge!"

"Rude," Rose coughed, causing Rory to chuckle quietly.

"Yeah, I'm pregnant," Amy said again as the Doctor reached out to place his hands on both sides of her stomach.

"Look at you," the Doctor began, pulls his hands and eyes away from Amy's stomach to look back and forth between her and her husband. "When worlds collide.."

"No, I'm pregnant," Amy tried to explain for the third time, looking to Rose for some help, some understanding, something.

"I'll beat him up later, don't worry," Rose grinned, then settles for a soft smile. "That's really so wonderful, though! Congratulations, really, both of you," she says softly, looking between Amy and Rory, swooping in to embrace them both separately with hugs as they said their thanks.

"Oh, look at you both! Five years later and you haven't changed a bit, apart from aging.." The Doctor trails over, giving Amy a hug and pointing to Rory, or more specifically, his ponytail. Rose would've chastised him for being rude, but seeing that Rory's smile hadn't faulted, she figured she'd leave them be.

"Oh, it's good to see you. Both of you."

The group stood quietly for a few moments, until the Doctor looked Amy- who was holding her stomach once more- up and down. "Are you pregnant?"

Rose rolled her eyes as Rory's mouth fell open. Amy just shook her head as she turned from the Doctor's arms to walk back inside the house.
The Doctor give a pat to Rory's cheek then shoulder before trailing after Amy.
_

"Ah, Leadworth," the Doctor sighed, walking down an empty street between Rose and Amy, with Rory next to Rose. "Vibrant as ever."

"It's upper Leadworth, actually," Rory began to explain, "We've gone slightly up market."

"Where is everyone?" asked the Doctor, as the group of four rounded a corner.

"This is busy," Amy puffed out. If she thought trying to keep up with the Doctor's pace was difficult before pregnancy...

The Doctor gave her one of his infamous just-dribbled-on-your-shirt looks, then shook his head as he looked around the dull street.

"It's quiet.. Like, really quiet," Rose observed, furrowing her brows. It was mid afternoon, normally people should have be out and about.

"Okay, yeah, but it's really restful and it's healthy," Amy said. "Lots of people around here live well into their nineties."

"Well, don't let that get you down," encouraged the Doctor. He took Rose's hand to pull her along to sit next to him on a bench. Amy and Rory follow their lead, sitting down along with them. The bench was big enough to hold them all, but it is a bit snug.

"It's not getting me down!" Amy responded, almost defensively.

"Well, we wanted to see how you were, you know me, I don't just abandon people when they leave the Tardis." The Doctor crossed his arms and looked at Amy, trying to get her to change the subject.

Something about that statement didn't sit right in Rose's stomach, so she took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as she looked about the street hoping the Doctor would only think her in deep thought of observing their surroundings. And it worked.

"This Time Lord's polite, don't laugh Rose I can feel a laugh coming on and I'm telling you now, no. I brought you tea in bed this morning, so yes, I am very polite. Tell our friends how polite I am."

Rose, grateful for the distraction, looked the Doctor up and down, biting her lip as she contemplated him for a moment. "Mmm. I'd say you're alright." She gave him her signature smile she reserved just for him, with her tongue poking out between her teeth.

"Oi!" He pouted at her for a moment before smiling with his own signature smile reserved just for her, only to then turn his attention back to Amy. "You don't get rid of your old pal, the Doctor, so easily."

"Hmm. You came here by mistake, didn't you?" Amy asked, already certain of the answer.

Rose pressed her lips tightly together to hold back a laugh.

"Yeah, a bit of a mistake," the Doctor admitted, refusing to make eye contact with anyone on the bench. "But look, what a result. Look at this… bench," he went on, awkwardly, crossing his legs and gesturing at said bench. "What a nice bench. What will they think of next?" the Doctor finishes lamely, taking a deep breath as he tried to sit still for a few quiet moments.

Looking to one side at Amy, and to the other side past Rose at Rory, he askd, "So… What do you do around here to stave off the, you know, self-harm-"

"Boredom?" Amy cut in.

Rose smacked the Doctor in the chest, giving him a warning look with her eyebrows raised. She mouthed the word, 'rude.' Yet again, the Doctor pouted in response. Sighing, Rose lifted her hand off his chest and smoothed out one of his thin eyebrows, trying to calm and reassure him. His face softened a little, but not entirely.

"We relax," Rory offered as Rose withdrew her hand back to her lap.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows, looking back and forth between Rose and Amy.

"We live," Rory went on with a sigh.

"We listen to the birds," he said, just after hearing a few birds chirping, from somewhere overhead.

"Yeah, see? Birds," Amy said in support of her husband and in defense of herself. But her voice dropped off, almost to a whisper at the end, "Those are nice."

Rory added on, "We didn't get a lot of time to listen to bird songs back in the TARDIS days, did we?"

"I had to learn about bird calls when I was in school for a field biology class. Don't really remember much, other than that I hated it. Drove me and my mate Shireen mad, it did," Rose quietly mused with a thoughtful look directed nowhere specific.

"Oh, blimey!" The Doctor burst out suddenly, resting a hand on his forehead, and closing his eyes before he was able to see that Rose began to clutch her own head in bother her hands at the same time as he did. "My head's a bit… ooh." He began swaying his head around, but kept his eyes closed. "No, you're wasn't a lot of time for bird song back in the day-" He finally opened his eyes but still neglected to notice Rose, as his own vision was blurring in and out of focus until finally, they shut again. As did Rory's and Amy's, and Rose lowered her arms as all four of them dozed off to sleep.
_

"Days," the Doctor said as he continued his last spoken sentence. But upon opening his eyes, he realized he must've dozed off. "What? No. Yes. Sorry. What? Oh!" He exclaimed as he rolled about the floor of the TARDIS until he was able to pull himself into a standing position.

Looking up towards the console, he spotted Amy and Rory walking in.

"Oh! You're okay! Oh, thank god, I had a terrible dream or wonderful nightmare or something or other about.." He took a deep breath before continuing his train of thought. "Don't ask. You don't want to know. Safe now," he rushed over and hugged Amy to reassure himself that they were, in fact here and safe. Then he pulled back from Amy, and snapped at Rory, pointing at him and smiling before turning back to the console. "That's what counts."

He took another deep breath. "Blimey, never dropped off like that before. Well, never really… I'm getting on a bit, you see. Don't let the cool air fool you. Now what's wrong with the console?"

While letting his gob ramble on, the Doctor failed to notice Rory watching as Amy kept placing her hands on her flat stomach. He also failed to notice Amy looking at the back of Rory's neck.

The Doctor walked around the console until he finally did notice something. "Red flashing lights.. I bet they mean something." And with that, he dropped down on one knee to exam underneath the console.

"Doctor, I also had a kind of dream thing," Rory said, somewhat nervously and with some hesitation.

"Yeah, so did I," Amy offered, starting to feel more nervous than her previous uncomfortable and confused state.

Immediately Rory turned to Amy. "Not a nightmare, though. Just, um," he rocked on his heels, holding his hands behind his back as he smiled hopefully. "… We were married."

Amy just nodded her head, trying to wrap her mind around what had all just happened. "Yeah, in a little village."

At that, the Doctor immediately jumped straight up.

"A sweet little village and you were pregnant," Rory continued, wistfully.

"Yes, I was huge! I was a boat."

"So you had the same dream, then?" Rory asked, confused and a little scared.

The Doctor tugged at the hood of Rory's jacket to look at his hair that was far to short to put into a ponytail, but he either didn't notice or at this point was this entirely used to the Doctor's weird antics and need to touch everyone and everything. "Exactly the same dream."

Offended, Amy stepped forward and stared down Rory, "Are you calling me a boat?"

Not sure how to answer, and not wanting to get a slap from Amy, Rory turned his attention to the Doctor. "Doctor, you were visiting."

"Yeah, yeah, you came to our cottage," Amy supplied, newly refocused, as the Doctor pulled aside her jacket to look at her stomach.

"How can we have had the exact same dream?" Rory asked, standing closer to Amy as the Doctor let go of her jacket. "It doesn't make any sense."

"And you had a nightmare," Amy said slowly. "Or a dream. About us. What happened to us in the nightmare, or dream, or whatever?"

"It was a bit similar in some aspects," The Doctor let out quickly in one breath.

"Which aspects?" Rory retorted.

"Well, basically all of them," The Doctor said, even quicker, refusing to mention or even think about Rose.

"You had the same dream?"

"Basically."

"You said it was a terrible dream or a wonderful nightmare." Rory wanted, practically needed to hear the Doctor's response.

"Did I? No, no, more of a, uh… Look it doesn't matter what we call it. We all had some kind of psychic episode. We probably just jumped a time tack or something. Forget it!" the Doctor practically yelled the past part, turning to quickly brush off the subject and thought of Rose. She was probably only part of his dream as part of his own subconscious, anyways. Almost always was. There was no way his companions could have had her in their dreams. "We're back to reality now."

"But Doctor, there was someone else in the dream, too." The Doctor froze at Rory's words.

"Yeah, who was she, Doctor? You seemed like you knew her well enough?"

Taking a deep breath, the Doctor closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and pretending to focus on the console as if held the answer to the universe. "Well, if she was in your dreams, too, then think. Should register something." He flipped a switch, trying to act nonchalant, but his feelings got the best of him and he flipped the switch a little too roughly.

"Doctor, just tell us," Amy pleaded.

The Doctor stood still for a moment, not breathing, not thinking, just being. He opened his mouth, unsure where to even start, until someone answered for him.

"Rose Tyler."

Turning slowly with disbelief, he hearts stopped for a single beat as his eyes met with his lost pink and yellow human.

Even with all the blood rushing and pounding in his ears, the Doctor heard the birds.