Chapter Text
In Moments Like This
Chapter 11:
“Oi! What is this?”
Charlotte and River giggle together, cuddled up in bed as they watch cartoons, the ocean lapping softly out the window. They’ve made sure to take up as much space as possible while he had a shower, their limbs spread wide and akimbo.
“I leave for ten minutes and you take over the bed?”
“Hardly ten minutes, darling,” River says, smiling as Charlotte giggles. “And it’s our Saturday girl time.”
“It’s not Saturday,” he huffs.
“How would you know?” Charlotte asks, earning a shocked look from the Doctor and laughter from her mother.
“I—well—how do you know?”
“We do it once a week,” Charlotte tells him as he towels his hair dry.
“And we decided the day we started was a Saturday,” River adds, shifting to sit back up and pull Charlotte into her side. “Can we make room for him, dear?”
“I guess,” Charlotte says dramatically, letting her head fall heavily onto River’s shoulder. “If we must.”
“No, no, you two have your ‘girl time.’ I’ll just go…tinker with the TARDIS. She’s been getting antsy about those thermo couplings. Seems to think we’ll be flying today.”
Charlotte perks up at that and glances between them. “Flying?”
“Maybe. What’s it to you?” The Doctor asks, hiding his smile.
“Can I fly her?”
“You’d have to ask her, dear,” River cuts in before the Doctor can reply.
“Can I?” Charlotte asks immediately.
“I thought we were having cartoon time,” River says, putting on a pout.
Charlotte instantly sobers, giving her an apologetic look. “Oh, mummy, I—”
“We’ll watch cartoons later,” River assures her, laughing and giving her a quick squeeze. “Go along and ask, we’ll be down in a minute.”
Charlotte squeals and vaults out of bed, skirting around the Doctor before taking off down the hall. They listen as she pounds down the stairs, giggling all the way.
“Such energy in the morning. It’s ghastly,” the Doctor says as he walks to the closet.
“Mm,” River replies, stretching. “Terrible to be woken by someone with enough pep to sustain a year’s worth of travel.”
He tosses her a glare as he reaches into the closet for his shirt. She watches as he puts it on, fumbling his way through the cuffs and buttons.
“And such cheek,” he says as he reaches out for his slacks. “And so clever. It’s really unfair. She’s too cute, River.”
“She is at that, dear,” River agrees, smiling as he hops awkwardly, one leg in his trousers.
“Aren’t you getting dressed?” he asks as he gets the other leg in and pulls them up.
“It’s much more fun to watch you.”
He gives her a look, apparently unable to decide if he’s smug or cross with her. It’s rather adorable.
“Mummy! Doctor! She said yes!”
River looks out the window and spots Charlotte dancing around in front of the house, the door to the TARDIS open as she looks up at their window.
“I suppose my watching time is over,” River says with a put-upon sigh.
“My turn,” he says gleefully, plopping down on the arm of one of the armchairs.
River laughs and goes about getting ready, taking her sweet time as she pulls off her nightdress and slips into her knickers. She reaches into the closet, tossing a wink at her husband, and the first thing she encounters is her white dress. She lets her fingers trail across the material, oddly nostalgic for it. She glances at the Doctor for a moment and catches him smiling besottedly at her.
So she puts it on.
The fabric is as comfortable as she remembers, clinging and flowing and close. She rummages around until she finds the sweater and startles as hands help her slide into it. The Doctor smiles at her in the mirror on the door of the closet.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you in white,” he offers as she meets his gaze.
“Hardly appropriate, most days,” she says. His lips quirk but he stays silent, simply staring at her.
“Mummy!”
They both startle and he gives her a crooked smile. “More appropriate now, I’d think.”
“Not considering what went on in that bed last night,” she mumbles as he leads her from the room.
“I have to talk to the poppet in thirty seconds,” he squeaks.
“I’m sure you can multi-task with your dirty thoughts,” she assures him, patting his arm as she opens the front door.
“Horrible, horrible, tease,” he decides as they walk down onto the lawn.
“It took you forever,” Charlotte announces, nearly jumping around the TARDIS as it sits, doors open on the grass.
“You could have jumped ahead by three minutes, saved yourself the trouble,” the Doctor offers, reaching out to tap her head as he strides into the TARDIS.
“Don’t go giving her your bad habits,” River chides, following him inside, Charlotte between them.
“What bad habits?” he asks, spinning around, already flipping unecessary switches as the doors close behind them. “I’ve not got bad ones. Just the good ones.”
“Yes, because trying to skip forward by five minutes everytime the mortals need a moment is perfectly acceptable. Never mind that you once stranded me in Paris for days because you couldn’t stand waiting on that queue to buy me some clothes.”
“We have a wardrobe. You have a wardrobe, actually, or three. What did you need to buy clothes for?”
“Because we were in eighteenth century Paris and I was walking around in a cat suit, dear.”
“If I promise not to skip ahead to miss the boring bits, can we fly and you guys stop fighting?”
River and the Doctor look down at Charlotte, who stands with her hands on her hips, still in her pajamas—ones with ducks River doesn’t recognize.
“I’m in my pajamas and I don’t need to shop for clothes, and please, please? She said we could go to Narnia.”
“Go to—how exactly does the world work here?” the Doctor asks, looking between them.
“She can put us into books?” River asks Charlotte.
Her daughter nods, eyes lit up. “And we can jump all over the story. But not how Evie pulls things out. We can go inside them!”
“Evie has perfected the art of extracting items, places, people, from any book, and we’ve explored that way,” River explains as her husband simply stares at them. “But apparently now we’ll be able to go inside the books, like, well, I suppose, like visiting planets.”
The TARDIS hums beneath her feet and she strokes a hand along one of the railings in thanks.
“I didn’t anticipate this,” the Doctor admits as he flips a few switches. River watches with amusement as his fingers hesitate over each one.
“Perhaps we should let Charlotte set her up and fly us in.”
“Into Narnia,” the Doctor says dubiously.
“Uh-huh,” Charlotte chirps, skirting around him, her little hands pressing buttons and flipping switches. She can barely reach half of them, and yet the engines whir to life beneath them.
“River,” the Doctor says, as if her name is a question and answer at once.
“I guess there are still adventures to be had with the old girl,” she supplies, patting the banister before walking up to take her Husband’s hand. “Still some running to do.”
He leans in and press his lips to hers, his arm yanking her into his chest. She stumbles into him, wrapping her arms around his neck without a second thought.
“Gu-uys!”
They break apart, laughing and leaning into each other. Charlotte glares at them from the console just as the deep gong sounds out.
“We’re here,” her daughter says, traces of disgust in her voice. “Can we go and play without kissing please?”
The Doctor growls and leaps forward, hauling Charlotte up into his arms and then backward over his shoulder, carrying her like a ragdoll as she squeals. He marches to the TARDIS doors and Charlotte giggles madly as he spins around.
“Kissing is a perfectly acceptable pass time,” he informs her daughter as he dawdles by the door, waiting as River walks slowly to join them. “And your mother is excells brilliantly at it.”
“Ew!” Charlotte exclaims.
“That’s enough, dear,” River says, surpressing her laughter as she pats Charlotte’s back. “Shall we see some of Narnia?”
They have a snowball fight in the great forest. They spend an afternoon with a talking lion. They fight in the battle. They meet Mr. Tumnus. They spend the day zooming to and fro in the book, exploring the entire land, jumping from mountain to mountain in their little blue box. It isn’t exploring planets, and the running isn’t quite life-or-death, but it’s fun, and it feels like home, like before.
Only this time, as they meander exhaustedly back to the TARDIS after the battle is over and the kingdom won, the Doctor carries Charlotte in his arms, the two of them whispering to each other as they go.
River follows behind them, watching as her daughter pulls back to meet the Doctor’s eyes to say something. His laughter rings out in response and Charlotte grins, putting her head on his shoulder with a contented sigh. River smiles at the picture they make.
The Doctor snaps his fingers to open the TARDIS doors and River closes them behind them. She watches as he sets Charlotte gently in the jump seat, the little girl sagging and half asleep. Charlotte blinks at her as River walks up to the console, where her husband is quietly piloting them home, stabilizers and breaks off and all.
“Did you have fun, sweetheart?” River asks, brushing her fingers through Charlotte’s hair.
Charlotte nods and tugs on her skirt until River sits down. She laughs as Charlotte snuggles into her, her body half off the seat to manage it. The Doctor looks over at them with soft eyes, his palms flat against the TARDIS console.
Around them, the TARDIS hums and seems to glow. A great sense of peace washes through River and she reaches out to touch the railing, letting the light seep into her body. The deep gong rings out and the TARDIS quiets, the engines dying as they sit back on their front lawn. The Doctor watches her for a moment then walks to join them, standing at her side until her head is pressed into his sternum.
“I’d say that was a good one,” he offers as his hand makes its way into her curls, fingers tangling behind her head.
“Think you’ll be content with books and history?” she asks, looking up at him as Charlotte snuffles in her sleep.
He smiles and nods, looking perhaps the most contented that she’s ever seen him. Maybe it’s peace that she sees on his face—the peace the TARDIS feels.
“All of history, all of literature. We can go anywhere,” he says. “And we get to show her all of it, watch her see if for the first time.” River nods slowly, studying the play of emotions on his face. “It’s—River, it’s just so—”
“I know,” she murmurs.
He meets her eyes and she’s surprised to see them shining. She follows the bob of his adam’s apple and waits. But the words don’t come and he merely leans down to press his lips to the top of her head, his other hand gently tracing the slope of Charlotte’s nose.
“Thank you,” he whispers into her hair.
She takes his hand in hers and brings it to her lips, pressing the same sentiment into his skin.
(…)
“Poppet, what’s the matter?” the Doctor whispers, his voice at the edge of her consciousness. She rolls toward the sound, her hand reaching out for her husband.
“Mu—mummy’s gone!”
“No, no, she’s right here. I promise.”
River’s eyes slam open and she blinks in the dim light filtering in from the moon outside. The Doctor sits at the side of their bed, shoulders hunched and arms wrapped tight around Charlotte’s quivering body.
“But I broke. I broke and mummy went away and I looked and looked for you but you were gone and the shadows came and everything went dark,” she sobs into his chest.
“Hey, we’re right here,” he says, his lips against her temple.
River hauls herself up and crosses the bed to wrap herself around her family. She cups the back of Charlotte’s head, her lips pressed to the Doctor’s shoulder for a moment before she can gather her scattered head.
“Charlie,” she whispers, waiting until her daughter looks up at her. “Hey, sweetie.”
“Mummy,” Charlotte croaks.
“You’re okay. You’re awake now,” she promises, grabbing the hand Charlotte extends to her.
“What if I break?”
“You won’t break, poppet,” the Doctor assures her.
“But what if I do, and you’re in here, and not out there, and you can’t save everyone? What if I break and you go away forever?”
“Come ‘ere,” the Doctor murmurs, gently dislodging River so he can haul Charlotte into the bed with them.
Together, they snuggle her down between them. River bends to kiss her forehead and brushes at the fresh tears on her cheeks.
“Do you remember what you told me when I first arrived?” River asks, glancing at her husband with a smile as his fingers find hers above Charlotte’s head.
“That the Doctor saved you,” Charlotte replies, half in question, half muddlied with tears.
“That the Doctor fixed the Data Core,” River reminds her. “It’s all fixed and all working now.”
“But what if it stops? Won’t—won’t the Library die someday?”
“Not until the Universe does,” the Doctor says, smiling down at her. “And that’s a very long while from now.”
“But it happens,” Charlotte whispers, her eyes wide and shining. “And then you’re gone.”
River meets the Doctor’s eyes, floundering. “It does happen,” he agrees. “But that’s something no one can run from, poppet. Everything ends, at one point or another.”
Charlotte lets out a small sob and turns to bury her face in the Doctor’s chest. River glares at her husband. Certainly not making it better is he, even if he’s quoting her—a night in the dark on the TARDIS, a night of promises and heartbreak and the saddest “spoilers,” he’d ever uttered.
“But we’ll be together,” he continues, staring into her eyes as he cups the back of Charlotte’s head. “And no one will be alone.”
She softens at that and scoots forward to buffet her daughter. She reaches out to cup his cheek, suddenly caught in the chest with the thought of it—the thought of his death. Alone. He was alone.
The back of her mind hums, a distant melody, and she bends to press her forehead to his. Not completely alone—he had the TARDIS. But she hadn’t been there. Stupidly, on quiet nights alone in her cell, she’d thought maybe she would be. Maybe she would cheat death and be there with him at his end. Instead he was with her for hers, and then she had Charlotte.
“We’ll be with you, always,” she promises as Charlotte turns back to look up at both of them. “And we’ve ages and ages before that. And even then, who knows if we’ll disappear. We are inside a data core. Maybe someone will upload us somewhere—take all of literature with them.”
The Doctor grins at her, nodding along. It could happen. He’s here, after all. Seems anything can happen.
“But, what if before that I get sick, or a virus, or something, or the Vashta Nerada get someone else and I have to—”
River brushes her hand over Charlotte’s cheek and the girl stops talking, staring up at them pleadingly.
“We’ll be here if anything happens to you,” she promises.
“That’s what parents are for, you see,” the Doctor adds.
Charlotte’s eyes snap to his, her whole little body tense. The Doctor, bless him, is completely oblivious. River brushes a lock of hair from Charlotte’s cheek then places her hand over the girl’s on her stomach. The Doctor looks down and catches Charlotte staring at him. He smiles easily, comforting, and adds his hand to their pile, squeezing both of theirs below.
“How about some cocoa? Chocolate always chases the dreams away.”
“Okay,” Charlotte whispers.
He nods and bends to kiss her temple, leaning over a moment later to do the same to River.
“Back in a tick.”
They watch as he clambers out of bed and bundles into a robe. He bounds from the room, leaving them in the cucoon of the bed with the waves gently lapping outside.
“Mummy,” Charlotte sighs and River looks down at her daughter.
“You’re okay now. You’re safe,” River promises.
Charlotte nods and curls into her, her fingers toying with River’s larger ones. She opens her mouth a few times but clamps it shut. After her third attempt, River takes pity on the poor thing.
“What is it, darling?”
“You’re m’parents,” Charlotte mumbles, hiding her face in River’s neck, her voice muffled.
River smiles and lets her daughter hide. She rubs her back and listens to the soft sounds of the the Doctor clinking around in the kitchen. He might be singing. She can’t be sure.
“Of course we are,” she tells Charlotte.
“I just didn’t think he’d, um,” Charlotte trails off, pulling back to peek up at her. “I—you said you’re my mummy but I wasn’t sure if—” she stops and looks up at River pleadingly.
“If he was just taking care of you because he had to?” River supplies, soft reproach in her words.
Charlotte blushes but doesn’t shy away. After a few moments, she nods.
“What did I tell you about assuming?”
“But you’re different,” Charlotte exclaims. She bites her lip and looks hesitantly up at River.
“Why?”
“Because, because—you’re already my mummy, and he’s your husband, so he has to be nice, and has to take care of me, because I’m yours. But you—I wasn’t yours and you didn’t have to at all, and I just—he didn’t ask for me. I was already here, and I don’t—I didn’t think that he’d be—I’m sorry.”
“Oh, dear, what are you apologizing for?”
“Because I sound ungrateful,” Charlotte mumbles.
River sits up and pulls Charlotte with her, glancing toward the doorway where she can see her husband’s shadow lurking in the hall. Never could keep his nose out of anything could he?
“No, Charlie,” River says, taking the girl’s face in her hands. “You sound like a girl who lived for a long time with a father that wasn’t real. That takes some time to move past, dear.”
Charlotte’s lip quivers. “He was a good daddy,” she whispers. “But he didn’t—I could tell that he wasn’t real sometimes. Not all the time. Just, just when I remembered.”
“And now you don’t have to remember and it’s overwhelming, hm?” River concludes. Charlotte nods into her hands. “That’s alright, you know.”
“But I don’t want him to think I don’t love—because I do. I really do. I just didn’t know if he—I don’t know if he—”
“He isn’t taking care of you out of a sense of obligation,” River interrupts. “And he certainly isn’t playing with you because he wants to impress me or make me happy. He loves spending time with you, thinks you make the world turn. And I mean outside of the fact that you do, literally, make the world in here turn.”
Charlotte laughs a little and curls her hands into River’s between them.
“And whether or not he is or becomes your daddy is between the two of you,” River continues, pushing through even as Charlotte looks as though she’s socked her in the gut. “Just like me being your mummy was a choice between us. But Charlie,” she waits until Charlotte meets her eyes again, “he loves you, no matter what he is to you.”
“That he does,” the Doctor announces as he strolls in.
River refrains from rolling her eyes; his immpeccable timing leaves something to be desired in tact. Charlotte squeaks and turns to watch as he carefully comes through the room, carrying three mugs. It’s a wonder he made it up the stairs. Charlotte looks back at her, panic all over her face.
The Doctor reaches the bed before River can find something soothing to say to her daughter. Instead, she helps her husband distribute the cups and settle back onto the bed until they’re all sitting against the headboard cradling their mugs with steam curling toward the ceiling.
“I don’t know how long it’s been since my children were alive,” the Doctor says after a few quiet minutes.
Charlotte nearly spills her cocoa as she startles. River places a hand on her back and looks over at her husband, who stares distantly out the window over her shoulder.
“Many thousands of years,” he continues. “Well, as I’ve traveled. I don’t know how many in linear terms exactly. And Jenny, my daughter from my tenth regeneration, she was never a child. And I don’t—I heard whispers about her. I just never managed to find her.”
River itches to reach out and touch him, but her trembling daughter needs her hand far more, and River pulls the girl into her side. Charlotte watches the Doctor as he gazes past them, her hand tight over River’s on her stomach now.
“I bet we could find her,” Charlotte says quietly.
It takes him a moment, but he tears his eyes away from the window and looks down at her. “Jenny?”
“In the books. I could—I could look now, if you’d like,” she offers.
The Doctor smiles and reaches out to tap her on the nose. “Thank you,” he says quietly. “But I’m happy with just my two girls tonight.”
Charlotte relaxes against her and River catches a smile on her face as the Doctor takes an overly large sip of his drink. He splutters a bit, then spends 30 seconds with his tongue handing out of his mouth, his eyes sad and pouting at them. Charlotte giggles as River smirks.
“Too hot for you, dear?”
He mock glares at her and slowly pulls his tongue back. “The TARDIS always equalized the temperature to perfect for drinking.”
“Yes, well, in the real world, we blow on our cocoa,” River chides.
“She is so sassy,” the Doctor says, leaning down toward Charlotte.
Charlotte doesn’t voice an opinion—clever girl—but the Doctor winks at her and River feels like maybe she’s about to be permanently outnumbered. She always suspected any child of theirs would be a complete daddy’s girl. How could a child resist?
They drink quietly. After a while, Charlotte sags against her and River plucks the cup from her smaller hands, twisting to place it on her beside along with her own. The Doctor deposits his and both of them look down at Charlotte, who blinks sluggishly back at them.
“Are you tired, poppet?” the Doctor asks. Charlotte nods and shifts away from River, moving to climb over the Doctor. “Whoa,” he says, grabbing her before she makes it very far. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“Bed,” Charlotte lets out on a yawn.
“Already in a bed. Big bed. Best bed. Come on, back in with you.” He plops her back between them and Charlotte giggles while River resets the blankets over the three of them.
“I can sleep in my bed,” the girl protests.
“But sleeping with mum and dad is always more fun,” the Doctor insists.
Charlotte’s far too busy being stunned silly by his words to notice the hitch in his voice, but River hears it clear as day. They stare at each other for a long moment before Charlotte nods and snuggles down into the bed.
“Okay,” she whispers.
River and the Doctor follow suit, and the three of them settle back into the pillows. Charlotte shifts a few times, turning back and forth to look at them before she rests with her back to River. She reaches over and tugs on her arm until River cuddles into her. The Doctor watches them for a moment before he scoots closer and lays his hand on River’s forearm over Charlotte’s waist.
“Comfortable?” he asks them.
Charlotte nods and sighs contentedly, already nodding off. River meets his eyes and winks, smiling as he grins at her. His eyes flick from her face to Charlotte’s, quickly going slack with sleep, and back.
“Will you sleep?” he whispers.
River shakes her head and reaches out with her free hand, resting her head against her bicep on the pillow. “You?”
He shakes his head and meets her hand with his, mimicking her pose. They spend the night like this, staring at each other as their daughter sleeps between them, snuffling and mumbling occasionally. They smile besottedly at her each time.
By the time the sun rises, she’s convinced that body snatchers have somehow managed to infiltrate the mainframe and steal them away. Neither of them can possibly be this sappy or maudlin, mouthing “I love you,” and staying at the edge of tears because of a girl they get to call theirs now. Couldn’t possibly be them.
“By the way,” the Doctor murmurs as the sun crests the sea outside. “You look amazing.”
River smiles. “Thank you, sweetie.”
“I mean, really amazing. Took me a little while to figure it out, but you look as though—and don’t take this the wrong way—as though you’ve aged backward a bit.”
River bites her lip, tempted to just let him think she’s magical. Then again, his shock might be worth it. “I sort of, ah, kept turning it back, little by little, as I went. Started when I’d first regenerated in this body.”
“You—” he gapes at her for a moment before perusing her body with his eyes. “Good on you.”
“Is it?”
“Very much,” he promises, his eyes losing a bit of that paternal light to turn darker.
“Not around the daughter, dear,” she chides, even as she flushes a little under his attention.
He gives a put upon sigh, then grins down at Charlotte, all lust gone from his face. He’s got the attention of a cocker spaniel, but she can hardly care when he’s staring at her daughter—their daughter—like that.
“What are we doing today?” he asks.
“I have a lunch date with Anita and Evie, so I think you two will have to fend for yourselves.”
He beams, looking excitedly down at Charlotte. “Fantastic. The poppet and I will have a great time. An adventure.”
“Don’t wake her just to get started early,” she says quickly. She can already see him itching to tickle her awake.
“I would do no such thing,” he insists, giving her an innocent look that she doesn’t buy for a minute. “I wouldn’t.”
“And you woke me on our wedding night to go look at the color ball you’d found from the nineties because?”
“I couldn’t stand a moment without you awake, my beautiful wife?” She laughs then winces as Charlotte shifts in her sleep. “Wasn’t me,” he says cheekily.
She rolls her eyes and looks at her daughter, but she doesn’t wake.
“And you enjoyed that night,” he says as she brings her eyes back to his.
“I did,” she admits. Oh, she really did.
“And that color ball was an interesting touch in the bathroom.”
“Child present,” River reminds him, even as her own mind strays back to the damage they did to the TARDIS ensuite that night, moving around with nothing but the color ball to light their way. She had bruises for weeks. Medals of debauchery, he’d called them.
“Stop it,” he mutters.
“Stop what?”
“Stop looking like that.”
“Looking like what?”
“Like our kid isn’t in bed with us,” he insists.
“I will if you will.”
He scowls at her but his eyes are bright and she simply smirks in response. His fingers trail up her arm and move toward her collarbone before she swats him away.
“Down boy. Later.”
“You can count on it,” he growls under his breath.
“Oh sweetie, I am.”
(…)
“Mummy! Mummy! Come see what daddy and I did!”
River smiles as she crosses the lawn and makes her way to the crest of the hilld, where Charlotte dances in a small bikini with ruffles, obviously just having come from the beach.
“What did you do?” River asks, taking the girl’s hand as she reaches for it.
“Come see!”
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” she promises, laughing as they stumble down the steps together.
She can see the TARDIS parked on the sand, almost exactly where it landed the night he came. But she cannot see her husband. All the same, Charlotte makes them stop at the bottom of the stairs. River groans but suffers through the tingling sensation as Charlotte changes her into a matching two piece, only hers has a wrap skirt instead of Charlotte’s ruffled bottoms.
“I take it you had a fun day?” River asks as Charlotte nearly hauls her across the sand, headed around the bend of the cliff face a ways down the beach.
“It was great,” Charlotte enthuses as they slip and slide their way through the sand. “We went to the Hundred Acre Wood. You should have seen it! Daddy and Tigger bounced around for an hour.”
“I’m sure they did,” River says, speaking around the slight lump in her throat at Charlotte’s easy proclamation of “daddy.”
“Daddy!” Charlotte calls out.
The Doctor pops out around the jutting edge of the cliff a moment later. He grins at River, wiping his hair out of his eyes with the back of his wrist, his arms and torso covered with sand. His blue swim trunks are nearly caked with it and she can’t fight her smile when she realizes Charlotte has made them all match.
“Now, I won’t cover your eyes, or I’ll blind you. But you have to close them,” he offers by way of greeting.
River sighs but oblidges, letting them each take one of her hands to lead her around onto the next section of beach. Charlotte nearly vibrates beside her, and the Doctor isn’t much better. Whatever it is, they’ve worked very hard to make it happen.
“Are you ready to see the incredible?” the Doctor prompts.
“The truly spectacular,” Charlotte adds.
“The magnificent,” the Doctor shoots back.
“The stupendous.”
“The collosal.”
“Yes!” River cuts in with a laugh. “I’m ready.”
“Okay,” Charlotte says seriously. “Open your eyes.”
River blinks her eyes open, squinting slightly in the suddenly bright sunlight. She gasps a moment later.
A TARDIS. They built a complete, life-size sand TARDIS.
“Oh, my,” she gets out as they drag her toward it, marching her around so she can see how perfect it is. “This is brilliant.”
“Isn’t it?” the Doctor squeaks. “All Charlie’s idea.”
“Was it now?” River wonders, looking down at her daughter, who looks both exceedingly proud and shy at the same time. “This is amazing.”
She reaches out and presses her palm gingerly to the sandy wall. She grins at her husband and he beams back, childish delight all over his face. It is seriously impressive, and she wonders idly how they managed to make it so tall, with the light on top and everything.
“Special sand,” he offers, startling her so she slips, distracted by Charlotte running around and…taking pictures.
“Did you just make that camera?” River calls out. Charlotte shrugs guiltily and sprints around the sand TARDIS. “Just because I can’t see you doesn’t make it alright!”
The Doctor chuckles and wraps his arms around her midrif. “She’s just fine.”
“And how special is the sand, exactly?” River asks.
“Oi, I watched her do it, and made her rest and have a snack. I’m repsonsible.”
River pats his hands and nods, intentionally getting her hair in his face. He huffs but doesn’t comment. Instead, he squeezes her stomach and lifts her off her feet. River squeals and tries to fight him, but he is surprisingly strong, and she can’t get a good enough position to get out of his grip before he’s tossing her into the water.
She comes up spluttering to find both of them standing at the edge of the shore, laughing at her. She growls and swims toward them, hitting the sand with dedicated feet. Charlotte shrieks and tries to dash off but the Doctor hasn’t lived so long for nothing. Obviously deciding that teaming up on Charlotte will spare him some pain—stupid man—he nabs her before she can get very far, and together they toss her into the ocean.
She pops up with a grin, and while the Doctor is busy watching her, River kicks his feet out from under him, catches his fall, and flings him as far as she can. Charlotte giggles and River dives into the water before the Doctor can get his footing to retaliate.
They spend what seems like hours tossing each other in the waves, which eventually devolves into River and the Doctor tossing Charlotte as high as they can while she yells and shouts with laughter. Eventually, Charlotte starts yawning and they make their way back up the beach, leaving the sand TARDIS behind.
Charlotte rides on the Doctor’s back, her head lolling on his shoulder as she attempts to keep talking, babbling about their day and how much fun they had. As they near the stairs, the Doctor takes off at a run, spinning around as Charlotte laughs and clings to his neck, both of them bright and flushed.
River follows slowly, dragging her feet in the sand as a light breeze whips up the beach. She hears the light hum of the TARDIS ahead of them, mixing with the lapping of the waves, and she finds herself coming to a stop to stare out at the ocean, her husband and daughter’s voices fading a little ahead of her.
It’s peaceful across the water, and she feels it seep through her as well. A deep contentment settles in her bones, growing deeper with every smile and giggle and moment as they collect in eternity around her. She never asked for her life to become this, to end with this, but she is so pleased, so lucky, to have it now.
“River,” the Doctor calls, breaking her from her thoughts. “Dinner?”
River turns and looks toward her husband and daughter as they hover at the bottom of the steps, Charlotte grinning at her over her father’s shoulder. River makes her way to them and takes her husband’s hand as he extends it to her.
“Did you know that there’s a planet where all of the food is blue?” he asks Charlotte as they start to climb up the stairs, which widen to accommodate both of them.
“No,” Charlotte tells him, studiously avoiding River’s eyes.
“It’s very cool,” the Doctor informs her. “Maybe we can find a cookbook and go in there tomorrow.”
“Okay,” Charlotte agrees. “Sound good, mummy?”
“Sounds like a perfect day to me,” River tells her as she reaches up to smooth a lock of hair off of her face.
Charlotte smiles and blows her a kiss before she closes her eyes and presses her face into her father’s shoulder.
River watches and smiles, looking forward to their next adventure. The Doctor’s hand squeezes hers and he meets her eyes as they reach the top of the stairs. Tomorrow will be perfect, and all the tomorrow’s after that. They still have so much running to do.