An Unwritten Song - Chapter 12: A Place For Us

By Sylva Dax

A/N: The events of this chapter happen immediately after series 7's TATM and P.S.

Thank you so much to those of you who have reviewed, alerted, and/or added my story to your favorites list. You inspire me to keep going with this story.

Disclaimer: Anything recognizable from the show is owned by the BBC.

~DW~

He was in her arms finally. Even though she'd pre-programmed the TARDIS with the coordinates that would bring her husband and son to her at this precise moment, it guaranteed nothing given the Doctor's track record. She'd waited anxiously for the TARDIS to completely materialize, an acute longing washing over her. Now she couldn't stop kissing the delighted baby who's little hands played with his mother's curls.

So focused was she on the baby in her arms that she only dimly heard Sharon exclaim, "He's madder than I thought he was. Now he's stealing babies!"

"Nonsense, Sharon," Tabetha admonished her sister. "I'm sure there's a logical explanation. Isn't there, Doctor?"

"A logical explanation? Of course there is," the Doctor answered, distracted by the joy on his wife's face.

"What is it then?" Augustus prompted when it became obvious that the Doctor had forgotten them.

"Hmm? Oh, he's ours," he responded. "River's and mine. We made him."

"What nonsense!" Sharon refuted the Doctor's claim. "You can't just make a baby."

Finally tearing her gaze from the object of discussion, River said with a bright smile, "Why, Aunt Sharon, at your age I would have thought you'd already learned about the birds and the bees. You know, when a man and a woman love each other-"

Ears turning pink, Sharon hurriedly cut her off with, "Of course I know how babies are made. It's...it's just-"

Laughing, Brian finished for her. "It's just we'd assumed you two weren't compatible; him being an alien and all."

A naughty grin spreading across her face as her response flustered the Doctor, River purred, "Oh, we're very compatible."

"Well, now that that's all settled, why don't we get Ryan out of the night air," the Doctor suggested.

"Ryan?" Tabetha asked.

"Oh, bless," River said, turning Ryan toward her family and friends. "Everyone, this is Ryan August Song. Our son."

~DW~

Once they were all settled back in Brian's house, Augustus spoke up, "Melody, did Amy and Rory know they were grandparents before they...before they went away?"

"I'm afraid not, grandpa. I didn't know myself until after we left you."

"How could you not know?" Tabetha demanded?

"I had to block her memories," the Doctor explained.

"Why would you do such a thing?" Tabetha asked, turning to the Doctor.

Looking towards his wife as she cuddled their child, he answered, "It was the kindest thing I could do."

"Kindest?" Anthony interjected, outraged. "You really are an alien if you think making a mother forget her child is an act of kindness."

"It was kinder than letting her spend countless years mourning the loss of a child she wasn't sure she'd ever see again."

"Then why didn't you just tell her?" Sharon demanded, ignoring her husband's attempts to keep her quiet.

"She's got a point," Brian commented, finally joining the fray. "If you knew you were bringing him here, why didn't you just tell her that?"

"Because he already knew he hadn't when I sent him to get our son," River explained as she reluctantly let her grandmother claim Ryan. "He did what had to be done to protect our fragile timelines and my sanity." Smiling at the Doctor, she added, "Thank you, sweetie. Just waiting these last few hours was excruciating!"

~DW~

Ryan crawled at will amongst the adults, finding his exploration of his new surroundings often impeded by their need to pick him up. He didn't mind at all. It was kind of nice. The not-mummy's hugged and kissed him, sometimes tickling his tummy. The not-daddy's swung him around, making him squeal with delight. It was a little scary at first until he was able to find his mummy and daddy in the midst of all the thoughts and feelings surrounding him. When he grew hungry, he told his daddy who always understood him, even when mummy didn't quite get it. Eventually, his belly full and bottom dry, he drifted off to sleep in the warmth and security of his mother's arms before being gently laid in his bed with the gentle hum of the TARDIS all around him.

~DW~

Brian's heart constricted as he watched his granddaughter emerge from the TARDIS, which now sat in a corner of his living room. Patting the seat next to him, he invited her to join him. "So, how long before you all have to be leaving again?" he dared to ask after River settled beside him with a bemused look on her face. "I'm sure you four are eager to return to your families." He braced himself against the inevitable answer.

The four friends looked at one another before Anita spoke for them, "Returning to our families isn't really a possibility for us. We died back there, and our families have moved on without us. According to the Library's news feed, Lux had our bodies shipped back to them. He actually had a memorial erected in our honor outside Luna U's Hall of Sciences. We can't go back."

River looked at her husband, wondering if he'd had anything to do with Lux's uncharacteristic generosity. With an aching heart she regarded her displaced comrades, knowing only too well what it meant to be torn forever from your family. She had the Doctor, Ryan, and...and her parents' family, and even a town that had embraced her, in all her strangeness, as their own. What did these four young people have left, cut off from their own time and all they knew? "Then you'll just have to become part of my family," she said with a welcoming smile.

"You mean like travel with you and the Doctor?" Other Dave asked.

"That's a brilliant idea," the Doctor chimed in. "The TARDIS hasn't had a full crew since we defeated Davros and towed the Earth back to its proper orbit."

"Actually, I meant become a part of my family," River clarified by indicating her grandparents and the rest of the family, all of which smiled and nodded their heads in agreement. "Traveling in the TARDIS included, of course."

"We'd like that," Proper Dave answered for them.

Sniffing, Evangelista said, "Oh, River, you don't know how much we've dreaded having to say goodbye. We've grown so accustomed to being your family all these years."

"What?" River asked, perplexed.

A bit sheepishly, Anita confessed, "Professor, we haven't exactly been as upfront with you as we could have been. We've actually been in the data core for ages, living with the children, Dr. Moon,... and you."

River looked to the Doctor. "How is that possible?"

"Oh, that clever girl!" the Doctor said, clapping his hands. "As Sexy and I struggled to retrieve you, CAL made a back-up file of you."

"You mean there's another version of me still trapped in the Library? Does she know the truth?" River asked.

"We're not sure, Professor," Anita admitted. "But I think Charlotte needs her. She's been a wonderful mother to her and the other children."

"There are children trapped in this thing?" Margaret asked.

"Not exactly," Evangelista explained. "Charlotte's family transferred her consciousness to the mega computer that runs the Library when her failing body could no longer sustain her. Dr. Moon and the children are manifestations of maintenance programs designed to care for her needs."

"I see," Margaret sighed, feeling slightly overwhelmed.

Brian laughed and told her, "You get used to it. I had a whole year with the Doctor living with Amy and Rory to accept the new normal."

"Normal? Who needs normal? An overrated concept that squeezes all the zest from life," the Doctor protested.

A strange little smile on her face, River said, "Doctor, I think a little bit of normal may be just what we need right now."

"Nonsense, River. There's normal and then there's normal," he declared. "We're Time Lords. We visit yesterday tomorrow; dine on Barcelona – the planet, not the city; witness the birth and death of planets; have-"

"Have babies who need us to be there for them and to protect them," River reminded him. "Our children-"

"Child."

"No, Doctor. Our children," she said emphatically.

Stunned silence followed until the Doctor finally croaked, "What?"

Nodding, River answered, "We're going to have a baby. She," indicating the TARDIS, "told me after I put Ryan to bed."

"But that's impossible," Sharon insisted. "You just had a baby."

"No, Ryan was born years ago while I was still a prisoner in Stormcage. The Doctor went back and brought him to me," River corrected her.

"But, River, when?" the Doctor asked, now standing before her with wonder shining from his ancient eyes.

"The Towers," she said softly. "Seems you gave me more than just a screwdriver."

A nervous giggle escaped the Doctor before he hauled his wife up from where she sat and wrapped her in his long arms, burying his face in her curls. Soon they found themselves surrounded by family, hugging and laughing; all but Tabetha.

Noticing her grandmother swiping a tear from her eye, River went to her. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Tabetha whispered, sniffing. "I just wish your mother were here right now."

Hugging her, River said, "So do I; more than ever." Holding her hand out to her husband, who watched them with a sad little smile, she announced, "Doctor, I think we should stay in my parent's house."

"Permanently?" the Doctor asked in horror.

Laughing with the others, River shook her head, "Of course not, but I think Ryan and this little one deserve a stable place to call home while they're little. It's the perfect place for us. They'd be surrounded by family, and we would have a safe place for us to return to when we're not together." She placed a gentle hand between his hearts. "Don't worry, sweetie, we can travel whenever and wherever you want; just not all the time. Maybe we'll find you a companion who can keep you out of trouble during those times when I can't be with you, hmm?"

He looked into her eyes and saw eternity. It was just the two of them in their own little world. Time stood still for them, for once ceasing its efforts to tear the lovers apart. He was a Time Lord, a traveler by nature, his one constant, a wondrous blue box. She was his Time Lady, a paradoxical miracle, who'd sacrificed her life over and over again for him and now she'd given him something he'd never thought he'd ever have again: a family. He could give her no less.

Tapping her affectionately on the tip of her nose, he said, "River Song, you are amazing. It is about time the universe made a place for us."

~DW~

AN: Though we have come to the end of this tale, it is not the end. Their story continues in Before Yesterday Comes and Tomorrow Dawns.