Chapter Text
River Song gripped the steering wheel of the Ferrari 308 GTB and smiled at the Singing Towers of Darillium ahead of her in the distance. “Can I take it for a quick spin, darling? A loop around The Towers?” The owner of the vehicle took a nervous sip of his drink. How had he let himself get talked into letting her sit in his ancient classic car? “Uh, well, these cars aren’t like a space hopper ma’am, you have to know how to control them!” “Oh I do!” River Song declared. “I’ve driven cars like this before, on Earth where this car originated! Tell him, Sweetie, you saw me!”
The Doctor was taking pictures with his new camera. He had just captured River’s wide grin as she remembered being ‘Mels’. “I did see you drive a vehicle like this, but I never did ask your parents if you were actually licensed to drive one…” The Doctor catches the look of panic on the owner’s face. “However, River, I don’t think this car has enough petrol to loop The Towers, and we are several million light years away from a petrol station with the right type of fuel for this car, not to mention several hundred years out of time. River looked at the owner who was nodding in agreement with The Doctor. “Yes, no petrol! This car is only for show!” River sighed. “Oh well, I suddenly had an urge to drive once more, I miss it.” She got out of the car and joined The Doctor again.
“Maybe we should have them build us a dodgems while we are here.” The Doctor suggested and offered his arm to River as they continued to walk down the lane of the open air antique car show. This was the first real date River and The Doctor had had in a while. The Doctor and his wife, River Song, were in their third year of their twenty four years on Darillium. It had been joyful thus far, with a few surprises. River had been pregnant when they arrived, impregnated by The Doctor’s previous incarnation. Not long after she had given birth, The Doctor had rescued River’s loyal servant Nardole from the depths of the former king, Hydrofax’s body. Nardole chose to stay with River and The Doctor working as an assistant, valet, and nanny when needed. River was pregnant again and after several weeks of suffering morning sickness, The Doctor declared his wife needed cheering up and arranged Darillium’s first intergalactic car show on the land below the restaurant leading to the Towers.
As they walking along, The Doctor gave River the stats on cars that were alien to her. But most of the cars were from Earth, 20th to 21st century. The Doctor had advertised the car show as specializing in cars from that era on Earth. He wanted vehicles that River would enjoy. The only problem was, asking for cars from one era grew repetitive. Soon it became a running gag, “Oh look, a ‘60s era Corvette and this one is red and white.” But River enjoyed seeing them all and took every chance to pose with one. River had purchased The Doctor(At least he had hoped she had paid for it) a top of the line camera and The Doctor found he enjoyed having a hobby which helped him look for special moments to capture his family.
His family. It had been a long time since The Doctor had felt part of a family. Technically, he was always in a family, one didn’t change being a father or a son or a husband. But he had been alone for so long, since after Manhattan and River leaving…But now, he was arm and arm with his wife, had a child at home and another on the way. To complete the domestic picture, The Doctor had even gotten a dog.
K-9 was on a leash being casually held by River, his tiny wheels keeping a good pace with the long legged couple. K-9 was a robotic dog, more of sophisticated interactive computer than a dog, but it had been designed to have the features of a dog and The Doctor had fondly treated it like one. When The Doctor brought K-9 to their home, River had greeted K-9 as an old friend and with a raised eyebrow The Doctor questioned how she knew about his tin dog. River smirked at him. “Told you I nicked your Tardis when I needed it. One time, I found him inside, and we came to an understanding, didn’t, we boy?” River caressed K-9’s back. K-9 responded in his usual chipper synthetized voice, “Affirmative, Mistress.” The Twelve Doctor grumbled. “Some watch dog you are.”
The wind picked up, The Towers sang and immediately one could tell who was a local to Darillium and who wasn’t. The locals carried on, not noticing, just as if The Towers singing was just a clock in market square. While everyone else paused to listen as if they had never heard a clock chime before. River was the exception. She always stopped and listened, as she did now, turning to look at The Towers as if it was the first time she had heard them. The Doctor loved watching her watch The Towers. He shifted his camera bag around his back and held River around her waist from behind. His long fingers traced circles on the outside of her belly, where her womb was starting to swell. The Doctor was besotted with the idea of her caring his child. All he wanted to do was focus on comforting her. He responded to her morning sickness with gentle compassion. River thought it was just a reaction to their first child but ever since she had told him she was pregnant again, he had mellowed once again and his touch was never far away. The Towers ended their song and she turned slowly into The Doctor’s arms. The Doctor held her gently as she reached her hands up to his shoulders and leaned his head down for a sweet kiss. The Doctor returned her kiss then excitedly gave her a few more. River gave a small laugh. “Sorry, I know it’s been awhile since I did that.” The Doctor played with a curl in her hair. “I’m happy you feel better, my love.”
River Song beamed at him. “Me too!” She turned her husband back around. “Now come on, I want to see more before I start to feel too guilty about us being on our own!” The Doctor smiled at her and they continued on.
They were nearing the end of the lane of cars and River lingered at an 80’s Lamborghini Countach, trying to talk the owner into letting her drive it. The Doctor started snapping pictures of her when he noticed K-9 rolling off on his own. River had dropped his leash trying to negotiate with the owner to allow her to sit in the car. K-9 was a good computer dog and didn’t really need a leash but using a lead had amused The Doctor. He thought about a previous incarnation using a lead on K-9 and….”Hang on where was that dog going?” The Doctor muttered to himself. K-9 headed further down the lane then turned left behind a tent that was selling food. River had abandoned charm and was now offering money to the reluctant Lamborghini owner. “Uh, River?” The Doctor called out to her. “We seem to have lost our dog!” River spun on her heel and shouted back at the owner. “I am not giving up!” River started marching down the lane, “I swear if that dog has cost me the chance to drive today…” The Doctor pointing towards the tent, calling out to her. “He went back there, I could call him but I wanted to see what made him take off…” The Doctor hurried his paced to overtake River, prepared to protect her if a monster was around the corner. The Doctor peered around the tent and found K-9 stopped in front of a car. A car The Doctor had not seen or really thought about in a long time. There was parked a yellow Edwardian roadster car with the familiar license plate, Who 1. “Bessie!” River called out. The Doctor swirled around to River, his eyebrows suddenly poised for an attack. “No...No you weren’t around then…how do you know about my car?!”
River smiled and winked, “Spoilers!”
The Doctor hadn’t heard her use that phrase in a long time, it made him feel nostalgic and immediately his attack eyebrows relaxed, letting him give her a crooked smile. “Oh no you don’t! This car is my past, if you were there, I want to know.” River hummed playfully, kissed his cheek and skipped past him to pet K-9 on the head. “Good dog! What a find!”