2) You Have Always Wanted Kids
Aug. 20th, 2013 02:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starjargonLighthearted Proud Rory
He had been a father for such a relatively short time now, officially. Sure, his daughter was who knows how much older than he was, and he knew her long before she was born, but she was his nonetheless. He had never changed a diaper, or stayed up all night with a teething infant. He had missed her first steps, and had never gotten to go to any dance recitals, or- considering who his daughter was, Jiu-Jitsu/ gun handling/ fencing/ hotwiring demonstrations. He had very unknowingly talked her through her first heartbreaks and missed official father- daughter dances. He had finally processed who she was and how their relationship would be if they were to have one. And now, one thing he really, secretly hoped for during these first few months back in the real world, was to be able to show off the girl who had once stolen his heart faster than he could breathe.
He and Amy had discussed it, and though Amy was slightly opposed to it, he maintained that people who could accept a “magical” blue box with an imaginary friend showing up at their wedding could learn to accept a daughter they had known but never knew their whole life. They had explained to the Ponds and Williams that Mels had just kept running that day she stole the car, and they would hear from her on her different adventures now and again. Not a complete lie.
She would pop into their lives every few weeks or so. But, he was still a new father and he did find himself missing her when she was gone, and honestly- he wanted to be able to brag like all his other friends who were becoming fathers all around him. He was going crazy with the thought that he would never get his ‘look what my kid did’ or ‘that’s my girl moment’ like all of his friends were having.
He saw the look on Amy’s face when she would call; saw how it lit up just hearing her voice. Her parents, and his, had begun to bring up the issue of children more often than not now in their conversations, and he saw how much this hurt his wife, and he knew how much it hurt him. They had just found out Amy couldn’t have any more children, which rubbed salt on already open wounds, but made the longing for his only daughter even that much more fierce. If she was all he would ever have, then everyone in his life would know her. He was determined.
It was near Father’s Day, when he thought he would have his first opportunity to show her off. She explained she had long ago “borrowed” a vortex manipulator from a Time Agent who had tried unsuccessfully to add another notch to his bedpost when she came and zapped them to one of her digs, where he did get the enviable bragging rights of being Doctor River Song’s father. He was incredibly proud of the title, even if that was how he’d always known this incarnation. His mind kept wondering back to hours spent trying to coax Mels to open a book, to apply herself, and to her constant answering eye rolls and sarcastic, or so he’d thought at the time, ‘whatever Dad’s.’ But she had become this. The one to whom everyone else deferred. The woman who knew all the history and how to approach it. Who was in charge of the dozens of people at the site. He felt so proud he almost burst. That was enough, for now.
He then thought her birthday would be his opportunity. However, this time Amy insisted on letting River choose what they did with no complaints. And, he had to admit, when it came around, with all the sadness and pain they hadn’t fully dealt with still fresh, he couldn’t have properly planned anything anyway. She was younger this time and gave them a tour of the moon, where she proudly showed them all her classes, (Amy teased her about how she only paid attention in Earth History 303 because of the hot professor) and told him excitedly she was at the top of her class and well on her way to a doctorate. They acted appropriately surprised and asked all the right questions, then gave her their present. They had brought copies of every photo they had of her, beginning with the TARDIS’ unclear scans of his pregnant wife on through the photos Amy had long ago forced the Doctor to retrieve of young Melody, and of their life with Mels. They had captioned each of them either with a reminder of what they had been doing if they had known her, or individual declarations of love if they didn’t. They took a picture front of her school to add to the collection, and helped her paste them in her as- of- yet nearly empty, bigger on the inside diary. Later Amy and he laughed at the strange new concept that they knew more than the infamous River Song.
On his birthday, they simply stayed in. River had brought all the letters she had written them when she was a child- unsent of course. It was proving such an emotional day that he barely managed to accept all the calls and to make appropriate excuses for why Amy and he decided to stay home, citing that they wanted to celebrate the holidays together as newlyweds. So much had happened in this past year, from a Leadworth point- of- view, that he sometimes forgot that he was still a newlywed. But, he was also a newly dad. Was that a phrase? He decided he must be, because reading his little girl’s words as she hoped her daddy would come for her tomorrow broke his heart in ways he wouldn’t have thought possible a few months ago. She had even written to him as Mels, voicing thoughts that wouldn’t have made sense to him at the time. They all laughed and cried as the reminisced over times past, with the new knowledge of who had been there with them all along.
It was the birthday party for Amy where it first happened. They had had lunch with their parents earlier that day, and now it was all their closest friends at their favorite pub. Things were just getting underway, when in popped Melody Pond (Williams!) in all her glory, looking very pleased with herself as she held up a giant box with carefully translated alien that covered her sight as she shouted, “Happy Birthday, Mum!” The whole pub grew silent, and it wasn’t until River lowered the box that she realized her faux-pas.
Amy was speechless. The whole pub stared was staring between the three of them in confusion. River looked around, horrified, and looked as though she were about to run. Finally, Rory saw his chance. And, if Amy got mad at him later, he would point out that he’d had no choice. He ran to River’s side, put a hand on her shoulder to keep her in place, grabbed Amy’s hand, and said, “Everyone, this is our daughter- Doctor Song! Or, as you might remember her, Mels!” Amy shot him a look, but for once the Centurion who couldn’t protect his baby girl didn’t back down. He gently guided his daughter to a stunned Jeff, who was sitting in the table next to theirs, and said, “Jeff, this beautiful, intelligent, amazing woman is my daughter. Doctor Song,” he couldn’t help repeating.
River looked caught between wanting to die at her foolish gaffe and feeling sheepish under her father’s praise. “Dad, you don’t have to emphasize that every time,” she said under her breath, still unsure of her new place in their lives.
Rory stood his ground, silently holding his girls’ hands and staring at the man who had once made him feel so insecure. Good ol’ Jeff, so different since the incident with Prisoner Zero and the Doctor. He gaped for a moment more, before clearing his throat and saying, “Well, then, a toast to Amy and Rory’s… daughter. Doctor Melody Song.” Everyone awkwardly raised their glasses, trying to process this impossible information, before the crowds converged. “It’s River now,” corrected his daughter, “And my father just likes to brag.”
“Oh, let him brag!” Amy had finally come out of her daze, “I want to open my present!”
They spent the rest of the night laughing and answering millions of questions and toasting everything they could think of. Honestly, quite a bit more toasting than was absolutely necessary. Then, as River settled in once more around her former peers, charming even the most skeptical of their friends, Rory proudly found his fellow fathers and he pointed, with a colossal smile on his face and absolute pride in his voice, “Her- right there- that’s my girl.”
He had been a father for such a relatively short time now, officially. Sure, his daughter was who knows how much older than he was, and he knew her long before she was born, but she was his nonetheless. He had never changed a diaper, or stayed up all night with a teething infant. He had missed her first steps, and had never gotten to go to any dance recitals, or- considering who his daughter was, Jiu-Jitsu/ gun handling/ fencing/ hotwiring demonstrations. He had very unknowingly talked her through her first heartbreaks and missed official father- daughter dances. He had finally processed who she was and how their relationship would be if they were to have one. And now, one thing he really, secretly hoped for during these first few months back in the real world, was to be able to show off the girl who had once stolen his heart faster than he could breathe.
He and Amy had discussed it, and though Amy was slightly opposed to it, he maintained that people who could accept a “magical” blue box with an imaginary friend showing up at their wedding could learn to accept a daughter they had known but never knew their whole life. They had explained to the Ponds and Williams that Mels had just kept running that day she stole the car, and they would hear from her on her different adventures now and again. Not a complete lie.
She would pop into their lives every few weeks or so. But, he was still a new father and he did find himself missing her when she was gone, and honestly- he wanted to be able to brag like all his other friends who were becoming fathers all around him. He was going crazy with the thought that he would never get his ‘look what my kid did’ or ‘that’s my girl moment’ like all of his friends were having.
He saw the look on Amy’s face when she would call; saw how it lit up just hearing her voice. Her parents, and his, had begun to bring up the issue of children more often than not now in their conversations, and he saw how much this hurt his wife, and he knew how much it hurt him. They had just found out Amy couldn’t have any more children, which rubbed salt on already open wounds, but made the longing for his only daughter even that much more fierce. If she was all he would ever have, then everyone in his life would know her. He was determined.
It was near Father’s Day, when he thought he would have his first opportunity to show her off. She explained she had long ago “borrowed” a vortex manipulator from a Time Agent who had tried unsuccessfully to add another notch to his bedpost when she came and zapped them to one of her digs, where he did get the enviable bragging rights of being Doctor River Song’s father. He was incredibly proud of the title, even if that was how he’d always known this incarnation. His mind kept wondering back to hours spent trying to coax Mels to open a book, to apply herself, and to her constant answering eye rolls and sarcastic, or so he’d thought at the time, ‘whatever Dad’s.’ But she had become this. The one to whom everyone else deferred. The woman who knew all the history and how to approach it. Who was in charge of the dozens of people at the site. He felt so proud he almost burst. That was enough, for now.
He then thought her birthday would be his opportunity. However, this time Amy insisted on letting River choose what they did with no complaints. And, he had to admit, when it came around, with all the sadness and pain they hadn’t fully dealt with still fresh, he couldn’t have properly planned anything anyway. She was younger this time and gave them a tour of the moon, where she proudly showed them all her classes, (Amy teased her about how she only paid attention in Earth History 303 because of the hot professor) and told him excitedly she was at the top of her class and well on her way to a doctorate. They acted appropriately surprised and asked all the right questions, then gave her their present. They had brought copies of every photo they had of her, beginning with the TARDIS’ unclear scans of his pregnant wife on through the photos Amy had long ago forced the Doctor to retrieve of young Melody, and of their life with Mels. They had captioned each of them either with a reminder of what they had been doing if they had known her, or individual declarations of love if they didn’t. They took a picture front of her school to add to the collection, and helped her paste them in her as- of- yet nearly empty, bigger on the inside diary. Later Amy and he laughed at the strange new concept that they knew more than the infamous River Song.
On his birthday, they simply stayed in. River had brought all the letters she had written them when she was a child- unsent of course. It was proving such an emotional day that he barely managed to accept all the calls and to make appropriate excuses for why Amy and he decided to stay home, citing that they wanted to celebrate the holidays together as newlyweds. So much had happened in this past year, from a Leadworth point- of- view, that he sometimes forgot that he was still a newlywed. But, he was also a newly dad. Was that a phrase? He decided he must be, because reading his little girl’s words as she hoped her daddy would come for her tomorrow broke his heart in ways he wouldn’t have thought possible a few months ago. She had even written to him as Mels, voicing thoughts that wouldn’t have made sense to him at the time. They all laughed and cried as the reminisced over times past, with the new knowledge of who had been there with them all along.
It was the birthday party for Amy where it first happened. They had had lunch with their parents earlier that day, and now it was all their closest friends at their favorite pub. Things were just getting underway, when in popped Melody Pond (Williams!) in all her glory, looking very pleased with herself as she held up a giant box with carefully translated alien that covered her sight as she shouted, “Happy Birthday, Mum!” The whole pub grew silent, and it wasn’t until River lowered the box that she realized her faux-pas.
Amy was speechless. The whole pub stared was staring between the three of them in confusion. River looked around, horrified, and looked as though she were about to run. Finally, Rory saw his chance. And, if Amy got mad at him later, he would point out that he’d had no choice. He ran to River’s side, put a hand on her shoulder to keep her in place, grabbed Amy’s hand, and said, “Everyone, this is our daughter- Doctor Song! Or, as you might remember her, Mels!” Amy shot him a look, but for once the Centurion who couldn’t protect his baby girl didn’t back down. He gently guided his daughter to a stunned Jeff, who was sitting in the table next to theirs, and said, “Jeff, this beautiful, intelligent, amazing woman is my daughter. Doctor Song,” he couldn’t help repeating.
River looked caught between wanting to die at her foolish gaffe and feeling sheepish under her father’s praise. “Dad, you don’t have to emphasize that every time,” she said under her breath, still unsure of her new place in their lives.
Rory stood his ground, silently holding his girls’ hands and staring at the man who had once made him feel so insecure. Good ol’ Jeff, so different since the incident with Prisoner Zero and the Doctor. He gaped for a moment more, before clearing his throat and saying, “Well, then, a toast to Amy and Rory’s… daughter. Doctor Melody Song.” Everyone awkwardly raised their glasses, trying to process this impossible information, before the crowds converged. “It’s River now,” corrected his daughter, “And my father just likes to brag.”
“Oh, let him brag!” Amy had finally come out of her daze, “I want to open my present!”
They spent the rest of the night laughing and answering millions of questions and toasting everything they could think of. Honestly, quite a bit more toasting than was absolutely necessary. Then, as River settled in once more around her former peers, charming even the most skeptical of their friends, Rory proudly found his fellow fathers and he pointed, with a colossal smile on his face and absolute pride in his voice, “Her- right there- that’s my girl.”
